The Demonic Supreme Sword Novel - Chapter 77

Chapter 77
Chapter: 77

Chapter Title: An Eye for an Eye, A Tooth for a Tooth (1)

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“Wait! Please, have mercy!”

Sobbing uncontrollably, Buyong threw herself at Sima Geon’s feet, clutching the leg that was crushing Ma Yang’s midsection.

Sima Geon stared down at her, his expression unreadable and cold.

Buyong recoiled, her hands trembling as she felt the suffocating wave of murderous intent and rage pouring from his vacant eyes. Her limbs shook with a primal fear.

As Sima Geon shifted his hand toward her, Ma Yang, who was gasping under the immense weight of the boot on his stomach, forced a few words out through his pain.

“Enough! I’ll… I’ll tell you everything… Gack!”

Ma Yang’s confession was cut short as a spray of crimson erupted from his lips.

“Division Leader!”

Buyong shrieked in terror, pulling Ma Yang into a protective embrace.

“Y-You… you can have whatever you want. Just… stop this…”

Ma Yang struggled to breathe, each inhale bringing more blood bubbling to the surface of his mouth.

Sima Geon looked at the broken man beneath his heel for several silent moments before finally lifting his foot away.

“Cease.”

At Sima Geon’s word, Cheol Woo and Noejeon instantly stopped their slaughter, leaving the Hao Gate disciples in a state of ruin.

“Consider yourself lucky, old man.”

Cheol Woo, who had been holding Du Mi Lok by the throat and was seconds away from finishing him, smirked as he dumped the unconscious body on the ground.

“M-Master!”

Ho Cheop, whose legs were uselessly mangled, dragged himself across the dirt toward Du Mi Lok. Han Seol reached him first, lifting Du Mi Lok’s head into her lap.

“Elder! Please, wake up!”

Han Seol’s cries were frantic, but Du Mi Lok remained unresponsive.

“He’s still breathing, so quit your whining,” Cheol Woo remarked, walking past her. He then raised his voice so the entire courtyard could hear.

“Is that it? We’re stopping already? There’s plenty of them left. Can’t we finish off a few more?”

The survivors turned ashen as Cheol Woo looked them over with a sadistic, wide-eyed grin.

“You heard the man. We don’t need every one of you to talk. We only need one person to tell the truth. So don’t waste this final opportunity.”

Sima Geon gave Ma Yang a grim warning, then took a steadying breath and asked with chilling composure:

“Who took my younger sister?”

Ma Yang, still leaning on Buyong for support, opened his mouth to reply.

“Division Leader, one second.”

Noejeon stepped into the center of the group, interrupting.

“Have you grown soft since you went back home? We need to verify these answers against each other. It’s the basics of interrogation.”

Sima Geon looked momentarily surprised by Noejeon’s logic, while Cheol Woo, looking annoyed at the interruption, simply turned away.

Noejeon grabbed the limp arm of the passed-out Ho Cheop and barked at Han Seol, who was still cradling Du Mi Lok.

“You. Move it.”

“Then I guess I’ll…”

Cheol Woo scanned the area and walked toward a middle-aged man slumped against a stone pillar, gasping for air.

“You look like you’ve got some status here. Let’s have a chat.”

Without waiting for a response, Cheol Woo hauled the man away by force.

Once the others were out of earshot, Sima Geon turned back to Ma Yang.

“The stories from all three of you have to be identical. Who is responsible for my sister’s kidnapping?”

Ma Yang inhaled sharply.

If they had been prepared, they might have concocted a lie, but this was too sudden. Furthermore, he had no reason to protect the culprits anymore. Since the Hao Gate’s role was already compromised, he intended to give up the perpetrators to force a conflict between the Yangtze Waterway Alliance and the Butcher Gang brothers.

“It was the Hongik Hall.”

“Hongik Hall?”

“They are a faction under the Yangtze Waterway Alliance. They don’t have many warriors, but they specialize in the human trade…”

Ma Yang stopped talking as he saw Sima Geon’s expression shift. A terrifying pressure of killing intent radiated from the man, filling the air with dread.

“Human… traffickers.”

“That is correct.”

“So these scum hunted my sister, but because they feared the Sword Ghost elder, they manufactured those lies to distract everyone?”

Ma Yang felt a chill run down his spine at Sima Geon’s insight. A bead of cold sweat rolled down his neck.

The Hongik Hall had only known about Sima Jin because the Hao Gate had sold the information. The rumors regarding the Ha Hu Clan were a separate scheme entirely.

‘If they had known the Sword Ghost was protecting the Ha Hu Clan, they would have never dared to touch her, regardless of the profit.’

For his plan to successfully pit the Yangtze Waterway Alliance against these brothers, the Hongik Hall had to be kept in the dark about certain facts. Naturally, he had to keep those secrets from the monster standing before him as well.

‘Old Man Gwan was taken by that brute; he knows the script and will stick to it. But Han Seol is the wildcard.’

Ma Yang worried that Han Seol, now in Noejeon’s hands, might break. But there was no way for him to help her now. He could only hope she was smart enough to stay the course.

“We weren’t fully aware of the specifics at the time. We were simply hired to spread certain information and we complied…”

Sima Geon’s hand suddenly clamped around Ma Yang’s throat, silencing him.

“You took the gold, so you did the work? Is that how the Hao Gate operates? Anything for a price?”

Despite the terror in his heart, Ma Yang realized that a show of humility was his only defense.

“It wasn’t just about the money. The Hao Gate is always caught between the powerful. We are forced to bow to those who carry blades. If we refused, I couldn’t protect the lives of the countless low-level members who just try to survive day by day.”

Ma Yang looked mournfully at the bodies of several fallen entertainers before continuing.

“It sounds like a pathetic excuse, but for a group with no real power like ours, we had no choice.”

Ma Yang pulled away from Buyong and prostrated himself fully before Sima Geon.

“I know I have no right to ask, but the others were only following my lead. Take my life as payment, but please, spare the rest of them.”

Sima Geon looked down at the man bowing in the dirt, his mind churning with conflicting thoughts.

He was aware that while the Hao Gate had a massive spy network like the Beggars’ Sect, they lacked the martial strength to defend themselves. This made them easy tools for stronger factions. It was an explanation that made logical sense, even if it didn’t lessen his anger.

Before Sima Geon could respond to the plea, Cheol Woo returned, tossing Old Man Gwan onto the ground.

“What’s going on? Why is the old man kissing the floor?”

Cheol Woo shook his shoulder and looked at the scene.

“Forget that. What did you get out of him?”

“The Hongik Hall. Apparently, they’re tied to the Yangtze Waterway Alliance.”

“Anything else?”

“Not much. Just claimed they were bullied into spreading the rumors. What about your guy?”

“The same. No contradictions.”

Just as Sima Geon finished his sentence, a loud clicking of a tongue echoed through the courtyard.

“You guys have really gone soft.”

Noejeon walked back into view. He was dragging a blood-soaked Ho Cheop with one hand and holding Han Seol by her hair with the other.

“What the hell? Why are they in that condition?”

Cheol Woo frowned at the sight.

“Zip it and pay attention.”

Noejeon ignored the complaint and addressed Sima Geon quickly.

“The Hongik Hall and the Yangtze Waterway Alliance, right?”

“Yes.” Sima Geon nodded.

“The girl said the same thing.”

Noejeon shoved Han Seol away. She collapsed, her eyes glazed over in a state of shock, unable to even crawl.

“But she gave it up too easily, so I had my doubts. You’ve always said to doubt every word an enemy speaks. So I pushed a little harder. When she kept sticking to the script, I applied some real pressure.”

Noejeon dropped the mangled Ho Cheop next to her.

Ho Cheop’s body was twitching in agony. Unlike the blunt trauma from Cheol Woo, he was covered in precise, agonizing lacerations. Sima Geon and Cheol Woo realized instantly that Noejeon had tortured the man in front of Han Seol to break her.

“And then, she mentioned something quite interesting.”

Noejeon looked at Ma Yang with a mocking grin.

“What’s so interesting? Just say it before I lose my temper,” Cheol Woo growled.

Noejeon shrugged his shoulders.

“The Green Forest Eighteen Strongholds.”

“What?”

Cheol Woo’s jaw dropped. Sima Geon also looked startled by the mention of the massive bandit syndicate.

However, Ma Yang’s reaction was far worse. He looked as if he had seen a ghost, his face pale with pure dread.

“They were the ones who ordered the background check on the Division Leader and the Deputy.”

“Why would the Green Forest…”

Sima Geon thought back to their encounter at the Golden Fox Bandit Lair and the representatives of the Green Forest Eighteen Strongholds they had met there.

Cheol Woo reached the same conclusion.

“Boss, it has to be those guys from the Golden Fox Bandit Lair.”

“It seems so. So the Green Forest is behind this?”

“After that, she started talking nonsense, so I didn’t get much else that was concrete. But if you put the pieces together, the Green Forest Eighteen Strongholds fed the intel to Hongik Hall. The motive is pretty transparent.”

Ma Yang let out a silent breath of relief.

The Green Forest was indeed involved, but the Hao Gate had been the one to lure in the Hongik Hall and start the rumors about the Ha Hu Clan to trap the Sword Ghost. It seemed Han Seol hadn’t confessed to that specific part of the plot yet.

“Did you hand over our information to the Green Forest Eighteen Strongholds?”

Sima Geon’s voice was low. Knowing he couldn’t hide it, Ma Yang nodded.

“Yes. You know how it is when we get a formal request…”

“How deep does this go? Actually, looking at you, I don’t even need to hear the rest.”

As Sima Geon’s tone turned freezing, Ma Yang pressed his face back into the dirt.

“Everything is my fault. I will take the blame, just spare the others.”

“I hear you. The Hao Gate was forced into a corner.”

“Boss!” Cheol Woo shouted, confused by the sudden leniency.

“T-Thank you. I am eternally grateful,” Ma Yang stammered, his head hitting the ground repeatedly.

“But just as your Hao Gate has a role to play, so do we.”

“What do you mean by…”

Ma Yang felt a sudden spike of dread and looked up cautiously.

“Because of your ‘role,’ my sister was taken and many people died. Don’t take this personally. It’s just a conflict of interests. Besides, I’ve already made a promise to myself.”

Sima Geon’s eyes turned murderous as he stared at Ma Yang.

“I won’t let anyone involved in this live to see tomorrow.”

Before the sentence was even finished, the observant Noejeon moved with blurring speed.

With every flash of his blade, a life was extinguished.

The terrified Hao Gate members tried to flee, screaming in panic, but most were cut down before they could take a single step.

The strongest members of the gate, including Ma Yang and Du Mi Lok, were already incapacitated, leaving the rest of the disciples defenseless.

Cheol Woo, annoyed that Noejeon had started without him and seeing that the enemy had no fight left in them, spat on the ground.

“Pathetic. Even bugs fight back when you step on them.”

*Boom!*

As if in response to his words, a streak of light shattered the wall.

“Watch out!”

Cheol Woo yelled, seeing a sword flying straight for Noejeon.

Even without the shout, Noejeon had felt the incoming attack. It carried a level of power that was impossible to ignore.

Noejeon pivoted and tried to parry the projectile with his own blade.

*Severing Flash.*

It was his fastest, most refined technique—the pinnacle of the speed he had practiced his entire life. He believed his strike was the quickest and most lethal of its kind.

In an instant, that confidence was destroyed.

“Ugh!”

A cry of pain escaped Noejeon.

His own sword was knocked away, and his hand was a bloody mess of torn flesh.

But the assault wasn’t over.

A second sword whistled through the air.

Feeling an even greater pressure than the first, Noejeon dove to the side. As he tumbled across the floor, the sword changed trajectory, following him like a living thing.

“Damn it!”

Cheol Woo cursed as he saw Noejeon struggling. He reached out and caught the flying sword with his bare hand. With a sneer, he snapped the blade in two.

“Looks like some real players have finally showed up.”

“Calling the Imperial Sword Flight a ‘trick’ is a bit arrogant, don’t you think?”

Noejeon stood up and brushed himself off. His voice was calm, but his eyes burned with a lethal intent as he glared toward the source of the attack.