Chapter 288: You Gave Me Hell

TL: FoodieMonster007

Baek Cheongeong stared at the doll.

Geom Mugeuk focused on the change in his expression.

Is the doll the cause?

Baek Cheongeong's dazed eyes cleared. It was a phenomenon of terminal lucidity, where one's mind becomes clear just before death.

His reaction was unexpected. Baek Cheongeong looked at the doll and laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

Baek Cheongeong's gaze shifted from the doll to Geom Mugeuk.

"I should have taught you how to carve when you asked."

The doll was that poorly made.

Geom Mugeuk smiled.

"Isn't this excellent for a first piece?"

"Just don't go around saying I taught you."

Blood streamed steadily from Baek Cheongeong's mouth as he spoke, though he was not even conscious of it. Geom Mugeuk felt a pang of regret. He had not wanted to kill him.

"I feel dizzy."

As Baek Cheongeong's body slowly collapsed, the surrounding trees began to disappear back into the ground. The final secret technique's enclosed space vanished, and sunlight illuminated Baek Cheongeong's pale face.

"Just tell me if it was him!"

Baek Cheongeong knelt, looking at the grass around him. As his life faded, the grass and trees died with him.

"You gave me hell… why should I tell you anything?"

It was not just resentment for being killed. The hell was dying with the suspicion that he might have lived as someone's puppet for the past ten years.

He raised his head and looked at the wooden dolls set up all around. Those dolls were also losing their energy. The dolls I carved for the past ten years weren't for myself?

"……Don't talk nonsense."

He denied Geom Mugeuk's words.

The surrounding grass and trees shook violently as if a strong wind had blown. His anger was imbued in them, but they also seemed to mourn his death.

Geom Mugeuk slowly walked over and sat facing him. Their eyes met.

"I will get revenge. I'll get your revenge too. So please, tell me!"

Geom Mugeuk knew the more desperate he was, the angrier Baek Cheongeong would become, but he could not help it. It was too important to know if Baek Cheongeong had heard his words.

Baek Cheongeong's eyes began to close.

"No! Don't die!"

Geom Mugeuk placed his palm on Baek Cheongeong's chest and injected qi. Baek Cheongeong coughed, splattering blood on Geom Mugeuk's face and body, but Geom Mugeuk did not stop.

Baek Cheongeong opened his eyes again.

"Yes… you said you wanted revenge too?"

Geom Mugeuk held the doll out in front of him again. He said nothing, but Baek Cheongeong understood. The face carved on the doll was Geom Mugeuk's enemy.

The truth finally flowed from Baek Cheongeong's lips.

"Your revenge has nothing to do with me. The person who approached me… was not him."

Geom Mugeuk was startled.

"It wasn't this person?"

"He… did not look like this."

In the final moments of his life, he did not seem to be lying.

"Then who was it? How can I meet him?"

However, Baek Cheongeong did not tell him. The last person he thought of before he died was Jin Haryong.

"……I'm sorry to Haryong."

Deep regret filled his face.

"I told them to kill her if I didn't return on time."

Startled, Geom Mugeuk shouted urgently.

"Where is she?"

He had never imagined that Baek Cheongeong would have given an order to kill her.

"……It's already too late."

"Where is she!"

Baek Cheongeong used his last ounce of strength to look to one side. A flash of movement followed as Geom Mugeuk flew in that direction using the Swift Step.

"……I will apologize to that child in the afterlife."

With those final words, Baek Cheongeong's head slumped.

As he died, all the surrounding trees withered and died with him.

Now, only the wooden dolls, completely devoid of energy, silently watched over his death.

Jin Haryong's heart sank the moment she saw Chorim enter the room. The look in his eyes was different from usual. It would have been a relief if they held killing intent, but instead, his eyes were filled with apology.

"You've come to kill me."

Chorim readily admitted it. The Master had given a strict order, so he had to kill her.

"I have no personal grudge against you."

For the first time, Jin Haryong felt the presence of death. I'm going to die? It did not feel real.

"I don't want to die in a stuffy place like this. Let me see the sky one last time."

When Chorim hesitated, she pleaded again.

"Please."

"Very well."

The moment Chorim turned to open the door, Jin Haryong lunged.

SHWIIIIK! PAAT!

She swung what was in her hand and stabbed at Chorim's neck. It was a wooden nail that had been stuck in the bed.

She felt she had missed as Chorim dodged. She kicked the door open and threw her body outside.

After rolling on the ground, she started to jump up and run but froze.

Chorim walked out from the hut behind her, clutching his neck.

"I understand."

Blood flowed from his neck, but the wound was not deep. Chorim was a master. Killing him with a surprise attack while she had no inner arts was no easy task.

Even though he was behind her, Jin Haryong did not run. No, she could not run.

Dozens of martial artists waited in front of the door.

Jin Haryong turned back to Chorim.

"What the hell do you understand? You're not the one dying, I am. You think acting all gentlemanly will lessen your guilt? You're worse than a vile scoundrel."

"I understand everything."

"Fine, if you really understand me as you say…"

Jin Haryong raised the wooden nail. With her inner arts suppressed, she was no match for him, but she had no intention of dying while just staring at the sky.

"Surely you're not going to kill me while my inner arts are suppressed? Release them. Let's have a proper fight."

Even if her inner arts were released, her chances of survival were slim with so many enemies. Still, she tried to find a way.

"If you release my inner arts, I'll fight with this as my weapon. Your subordinates are watching. You should act like a leader."

She had hoped to provoke his pride into releasing her inner arts, but Chorim had no intention of doing so.

"You are the greatest prodigy of Hubei. If I carelessly release your inner arts, could I handle you?"

"So? You're going to kill a woman resisting with a wooden nail while her inner arts are suppressed, like a coward?"

Even if she had to die, she would not go down quietly. She had to at least scratch his pride and wound his heart.

Chorim spoke in a slightly annoyed tone.

"This makes me feel a little better."

Jin Haryong charged. Even with her inner arts suppressed, she had the skills to reach the finals of the Young Dragon Tournament. The wooden nail in her hand stabbed sharply through the air. She naturally aimed for vital spots like the eyes and neck, places that could incapacitate an opponent instantly.

After a dozen exchanges, Chorim's fist flew straight into Jin Haryong's face.

PWAK!

Jin Haryong was sent flying.

"My apologies. I seem to have struck the face of Hubei's greatest beauty."

The watching subordinates burst into laughter. Chorim and his men were all enjoying the situation.

Touching her face, Jin Haryong got up from the ground.

"From now on, live honestly. This is your true self. Kidnapping, beating, killing, and jeering with delight."

Chorim did not deny it. As she said, he was not a good person. Everyone here was the same. They were criminals on the run with deep grudges against the Murim Alliance, people who could not live in the light. Otherwise, they could not have hidden here for the past ten years.

Baek Cheongeong had made a promise. Once he killed the Murim Alliance Chairman, he would grant them all a pardon.

SHWIIIIK! SHWIK!

Jin Haryong's attacks only cut through the air.

Amidst the onlookers' laughter, Jin Haryong aimed for just one move.

A lucky shot.

But Chorim's skill level was not one where luck would work.

PWAK!

This time, a blow to the stomach sent her flying. The pain made it hard to get up, but she shot to her feet and charged again.

After toying with her a few more times, Chorim decided to end it. Tree roots grew from the ground, wrapping around her legs and arms and immobilizing her completely.

Chorim raised his hand. A leaf flew from somewhere and landed in his palm.

It was an ordinary leaf when it flew, but it radiated a sinister aura once in his hand.

"Your death will not be in vain. You will become fertilizer for these trees."

Jin Haryong shot back coldly.

"Why? Because you despicable things can't even become fertilizer?"

At those words, Chorim revealed his true colors. He spoke to her with a wicked glint in his eyes.

"If it weren't for the order to be polite to you and never touch you, you would have died while receiving the love of all of us."

A look of regret flashed across Chorim's face. Knowing what that meant, Jin Haryong felt the greatest killing intent of her life. She truly wanted to kill him. To die at the hands of someone like this was too unfair.

Chorim raised the leaf sword to slit her throat.

Even in the moment of death, Jin Haryong did not close her eyes. She stared straight at him, trying not to show any fear, but her heart filled with despair.

So this is how I die.

She never thought her end would be like this. She had at least thought she would die more gallantly.

She had hoped to die nobly, reflecting on her past life. The thought of her grandfather and Orabeoni grieving made her even angrier.

Losing his granddaughter after his child, her grandfather's grief would be beyond words. Her Orabeoni, too, would lose the only person he could open his heart to.

If they had done this to her, they would be prepared to harm them as well.

When her thoughts reached that point, the person who came to mind was Geom Mugeuk.

You're the only one I can trust.

To think she would be thinking of him in her final moments.

Just as the leaf sword was about to fly and cut her neck!

SHWAAAAAAAAK!

A piercing sound of wind tore through the air, followed by screams.

PAPAPAPAPAK!

A giant dao swept through the martial artists, flying toward them.

Chorim retreated, dodging the giant dao as it cut through his subordinates.

"……"

The giant dao embedded itself in the stone wall behind them.

A shocked Chorim looked in the direction the giant dao had flown from. A path had been cleared through his subordinates, with a dozen of them lying in bloody heaps on either side.

"Raise the Ironwood Wall!"

TSEUREUREUREUK!

Trees rose from the ground in the direction the dao had come from, beginning to form a shield.

The wall erected in front of Chorim was the largest and thickest. After raising it, he approached Jin Haryong again.

"No matter what, I will kill you!"

Just then, Jin Haryong saw it.

Someone leaped lightly over the giant dao stuck in the wall behind Chorim.

The movement was so light and nimble that not even the sound of wind could be heard.

Only when the person landed right behind Chorim did he sense a presence and turn around.

What he saw was a single line.

SHWIIIIIIIIK!

SEOGEOK.

A swiftly drawn sword sliced his head clean off.

Chorim's head fell without him even letting out a death cry.

The person who appeared before the fallen Chorim was none other than Lee Ahn.

The giant dao that had flown in was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's Heaven Destroying Dao.

Lee Ahn had been clinging to the giant dao as it flew. Because the dao was larger than a person, they had missed her hiding on the other side of the blade.

It was a feat made possible by the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's inner arts and by Lee Ahn's skill, which had reached the level of the Soaring Sky Sword Art.

At Chorim's death, one of the martial artists screamed as if having a seizure.

"Kill those bitches first!"

They charged toward Jin Haryong and Lee Ahn. Lee Ahn had no time to release Jin Haryong's inner arts.

Lee Ahn cut down the charging martial artists. After she felled four in a row, the enemies changed their strategy. They targeted her attempt to protect Jin Haryong as a weakness.

"Fire sword qi!"

The martial artists capable of using sword qi all fired at once.

Lee Ahn shouted to Jin Haryong.

"Get behind me!"

She could not evade. To save Jin Haryong, she had to neutralize all the incoming sword qi.

SHWAAAAAAAAK!

A dozen streams of sword qi simultaneously rushed toward Lee Ahn. Lee Ahn was not confident she could block so many at once, but she did not dodge. She could not let Jin Haryong die.

In that desperate moment!

SHWIIIIK!

PUUUUK!

Something descended in front of the two women, embedding itself in the ground and blocking the incoming sword qi.

KWANG! KWAANG! KWAKWA! KWAAAANG!

The sword qi struck it repeatedly but failed to break or penetrate it, dissipating completely.

Lee Ahn saw it. The giant dao blocking their path, and the person who had planted it there.

Surprisingly, it was the Heaven Destroying Dao.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon had somehow flown over, pulled the giant dao from the wall, and planted it firmly before the two of them.

At the same time, a sound like thunder erupted with a boom.

URRRRRRUMBLE! KWAAAANG!

The Ironwood Wall they had erected shattered, sweeping away those who were nearby. The one who had destroyed the Ironwood Wall, which they were confident would never break, with a single punch was none other than the Fist Demon.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was in front, the Fist Demon was behind.

One of the enemies saw the Fist Demon and shouted.

"Kill that monster first!"

The moment he finished speaking, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon said curtly with a look of pity.

"Oh dear."

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon pulled Lee Ahn and Jin Haryong, who were exposed, behind the Heaven Destroying Dao for cover.

The next moment.

A deafening thunderclap was heard.

KURRRRRUKWAKWANG!

Lee Ahn and Jin Haryong had never heard such a loud and terrifying thunder. It was so loud they wanted to cover their ears.

The next moment!

HWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

An enhanced qi of immense power rushed past the sides of the planted Heaven Destroying Dao. If the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had not been supporting the dao with both hands and infusing it with qi, the force would have ripped it out and sent it flying.

A single thunderclap.

And then, silence.

Lee Ahn and Jin Haryong cautiously peeked out from behind the Heaven Destroying Dao.

The two women were stunned by the sight that unfolded outside.

There were no survivors. In a single blow, the enhanced qi from the fist had swept everyone away and turned them into corpses.

The Fist Demon stood alone, his large fists hanging at his sides.

Seeing that sight, even Lee Ahn, who was on his side, felt fear. He was completely different from when they trained together. In a real battle, the Fist Demon was truly another person. Lee Ahn saw clearly today why the Heavenly Demon trusted him the most among the Demon Supremes.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon pulled the Heaven Destroying Dao from the ground and slung it on his back. The Fist Demon began to walk toward them through the corpses.