Chapter 1077

Around noon, a group of black-clad men appeared atop a low hill.

Swish.

Pat, pat, pat!

At a casual wave from the man in front, several dozen of them scattered across the area to investigate what had happened here and deal with the aftermath.

“So someone got here before us.”

The man murmured to himself as he looked down the hill at the vast reed beds stretching for more than ten li¹ in every direction—and the countless birds filling the gaps between them with black.

“They must have been hungry. It can’t have been an easy journey.”

Qinghai Lake, a few days’ travel from here, was a haven for migratory birds. Reaching it meant beating their wings without rest for a thousand li¹, but enormous numbers came each year for its clean water and abundant food.

Of course, that was all in the past now.

Whoooosh.

A wind carrying a biting chill suddenly swept through the reeds. The migratory birds, busy filling their empty stomachs, shivered.

The cold was far too severe to be explained by the high elevation alone. At noon, when the sun should have been at its highest, black clouds covered the sky. Untimely frost had frozen the reed beds solid.

And these inexplicable changes, as though the seasons had forgotten their place, had been going on for more than a day or two.

Temperatures had fallen, and bitter cold raged day and night. Without enough sunlight, the plants had lost their former lushness. Elsewhere, severe drought had struck. It seemed the work of heaven’s whims or some supernatural power—especially when all of it had happened in little more than a year.

But Ma Sanbao saw things differently.

Crunch, crunch.

Frost broke beneath his feet as he slowly descended the hill. His thoughts deepened with each footprint he left behind.

This is no mere supernatural trick. His power borders on that of a heavenly god.

Heaven itself. An all-knowing, all-powerful god.

Thinking of his master, the Lord of Heaven, Ma Sanbao felt fear and reverence rise from the depths of his heart. Here was a being who could threaten the whole world, change the climate, and even bring the dead back to life.

Could someone like that truly be called human?

And why had he shared a portion of that unbelievable power with Ma Sanbao, who had abandoned even his own master—a man who had served the Lord of Heaven—and fled?

No. I’m different from my Master. I can be of far greater use to him in every way.

Ma Sanbao repeated the words to himself. The Eastern Heaven Demon Lord, whom he had served as Master all his life, had met a weak end. Ma Sanbao would not.

He would contribute greatly to the Lord of Heaven’s grand design, and rule over a part of this world as his new servant.

Caw.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Ma Sanbao noticed countless pairs of eyes glinting at him and gave a quiet laugh.

“Looks like I’ve interrupted your meal. Don’t mind me. Go on and finish.”

His kind words made no difference. The birds covering the reed beds greeted their unexpected visitor with sharp cries, their bloodshot eyes flashing.

The killing intent in those eyes was far too intense to belong to ordinary birds.

“Well, the changes have already begun.”

Clicking his tongue, Ma Sanbao studied them with interest.

Their beaks were smeared with blood. Their feathers and claws had grown thick and sharp, like those of predators. Beneath them lay the dishes that made up this lavish feast, giving off a stench of death as horrifying as the sight of them.

“Really, that instinct of yours is the problem.”

It wasn’t hard to work out what had happened.

The changing climate had frozen the plants to death, and the beasts and insects had long since disappeared. Unable to find food, countless migratory birds must have left Qinghai Lake and wandered the surrounding area. Some had finally found a meal in these nearby reed beds: the blood and flesh of monsters lying there like puppets with their strings cut.

“I needed to replenish my forces anyway. This worked out nicely.”

Ma Sanbao smiled at the birds as they began to mutate.

Lately, some lunatic called the Great Sir had been knocking his birds out of the sky wherever he found them, making it difficult to keep watch. This many new birds was an unexpected windfall.

Cawww!

First, though, he would have to imprint the birds, now savage from eating cursed blood and flesh.

“All right. From now on, I’m your master.”

Jingle.

The moment Ma Sanbao shook the ritual bell in his hand—

Whoooosh!

The countless birds hurtling toward him on beating wings changed course at once and shot high into the sky, obeying the bell’s dull, eerie chime.

And the birds weren’t the only ones to respond.

Shrrk. Rumble.

Bent knees straightened. Rigid backs unbent. Finally, tightly shut eyes opened halfway.

“More of them survived than I expected.”

As Ma Sanbao murmured, watching the monsters rise to their full height throughout the broad reed beds, the black-clad men who had gone off earlier returned to report.

“We’ve checked everything.”

“What did you find?”

One of the men respectfully held out something he was carrying.

Part of its face had been pecked away by birds. Otherwise, it looked just as it had in life, its perfectly natural expression frozen in place.

It was someone’s head. Until a few days ago, the man had been Ma Sanbao’s subordinate and their comrade.

“Most of them were in this condition.”

“This…”

Ma Sanbao’s eyes widened as he examined the head.

He was a sorcerer, but his martial skill had also reached Supreme Peak. Even so, the sword mark left on the head was so faint that it sent a chill down his spine.

“…A killing sword. One honed to its utmost.”

“What does that mean?”

“There’s a man called No Shadow. The Great Nation’s imperial household raised him as its finest assassin. He guarded the Son of Heaven from the shadows, and even the East Depot I once served couldn’t determine his true identity.”

But even No Shadow couldn’t leave a sword mark like this.

Ma Sanbao knew that well. Through relentless investigation and pursuit, he had once obtained the body of someone No Shadow had killed.

Now another man came to mind: a lame old man Jin Taekyung had killed during the bloodbath at the Grand Banquet a few months earlier.

Gye Yabu.

The last heir of Salcheonmun, the greatest assassin sect in the world, long believed to have vanished.

Why had he come to mind now?

Ma Sanbao soon found the answer.

“The Slaughter Saint…”

Yes. His presence explained everything.

Why not a single human corpse remained in these vast reed beds, where a fierce battle must have taken place. And why so many monsters had avoided a second death, even though the sorcerers had been eliminated.

“He finished it quickly. He knew exactly where we were vulnerable.”

Muttering to himself, Ma Sanbao flung his subordinate’s head far away.

The power bestowed on him by the Lord of Heaven allowed him to raise the dead, but not without limit.

“We’re leaving. By now, they must have left Qinghai Lake. We’ll hurry back and carry out the next order.”

The damage was done. At least they had recovered a considerable number of their forces and gained new subordinates. Ma Sanbao put his regret aside and turned to leave.

Or rather, he was about to.

“However…”

One of the black-clad men spoke up hesitantly.

“One man. Just one man is missing.”

“What?”

“We found a mutilated wrist, but no body anywhere.”

“Then…”

“It seems they captured him alive.”

“……!”

Ma Sanbao’s face twisted before he could stop himself.

After all his warnings to be careful, the man hadn’t even died. He’d been captured.

But his anger and agitation lasted only a moment. They had lost some valuable subordinates, and one had been taken alive, but those men were only minor branches of a much greater whole. Ma Sanbao hadn’t entrusted them with much information.

What bothered him a little was what his subordinate said next.

“The ritual bells they were carrying are gone, too. Every last one.”

“…What are they, thieves? They made sure to take everything.”

Ma Sanbao frowned, thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“No need to worry. Even with the bells, they can’t do anything.”

A country bumpkin couldn’t become a Supreme Peak master overnight just by getting hold of a divine weapon. Likewise, using the bells properly required extensive training.

“Besides, even if the man they captured betrays us, he can command only a few hundred.”

“That’s impossible. We know him. He’s loyal to the Heavenly Court, yes, but more than that, he’s simply not the sort of man who could betray anyone…”

Seeing his subordinates defend their captured comrade, Ma Sanbao let out an involuntary laugh.

“He will.”

“Pardon?”

“He will betray us. No—they’ll make sure he does.”

Ma Sanbao added quietly, “If that son of a bitch I know is involved, they will.”

The face of that son of a bitch flashed before his eyes, and he reflexively reached inside his robe.

He remembered the note Jin Taekyung had handed him a few months earlier, pretending it was an important secret letter to deceive him. More precisely, he remembered the mysterious symbols written on it—symbols that even Ma Sanbao, for all his learning, couldn’t decipher.

—You fucking dumbass lol

Still unable to make sense of them, Ma Sanbao ground his teeth.

Just wait. I’ll pay you back soon.

His gaze, fixed on the east, seemed to be directed at someone crossing Qinghai Lake.