Chapter 353

Boom. Boom. Boom!

Listening to the thunderous drumbeats, an old man muttered,

“It’s been a while since I heard that.”

He was short and stocky, with coarse, unruly features. To ordinary eyes, he was nothing more than an ugly, ill-tempered old man.

But anyone who had faced him even once called him by another name.

Fiend.

The old man curled the corners of his mouth upward. Seeing the wet-behind-the-ears pups waiting for him atop the walls surrounding the Sichuan Tang Clan like an impregnable fortress, roughly three hundred yards ahead, put him in an excellent mood.

“I can almost smell the blood already. This is how I felt when we first came down from the Qilian Mountains.”

He had come into the world after a difficult birth, cursed with ugly features.

How could his two brothers, born from the same womb on the same day, have been any different? When even their father disappeared, the three brothers had nowhere left to turn. Fleeing the contempt of others, they hid in the Qilian Mountains.

“We were so young back then. Bastard or bitch, we killed them all, then killed some more…”

They had been born into an age of chaos, and so they became fiends.

By the time they finally looked around, everyone who had despised their ugliness and pelted them with stones lay submerged in pools of blood.

Then they joined the Demonic Cult’s invasion of the Central Plains and stained the world red. People came to know and fear them as the Qilian Three Fiends.

“Remembering our prime is exhilarating. Don’t you think?”

The old man, the First Fiend, turned his head with a smile, only to click his tongue when he realized his mistake.

“Good grief. Maybe it’s because I’m getting old, but I keep forgetting things.”

The two younger brothers who had followed him like shadows their entire lives were not here.

The Second Fiend had left to take charge of Qingcheng, while the Third Fiend had gone to take charge of Emei.

Before long, the two famous mountains counted among the greatest in the world would be covered in a sea of corpses and blood.

And then…

Kwahhhhhng!

At last, the signal announcing the beginning of everything rang out.

The First Fiend let out a hearty laugh at the thunderous boom coming from beyond the walls of the Sichuan Tang Clan. The time promised by the Western Heaven Demon Lord had arrived.

“The Demon Lord is calling us. Don’t you agree?”

Shing-shing-shing!

Hundreds of weapons were drawn, slicing through the dawn air.

Behind the First Fiend stood three hundred black-clad men in a long formation. They had already discarded their government-troop uniforms and donned black leather armor.

“The time has come. Raise the flag!”

The instant the First Fiend’s shout rang out, the Tang Clan martial artists atop the walls saw it.

Flap.

A flag rose high beyond the pale dawn mist.

Two characters billowed in the fierce wind.

“Dark Heaven…?”

Someone on the wall muttered the words, but the booming drums swallowed them.

Boom. Boom. Boom!

The drumbeats grew stronger, and the black-clad men began to advance in time with them.

Hot breath spilled from between their lips, but their eyes were cold. Razor-sharp killing intent rolled off their bodies.

And at their head stood a single fiend.

“By command of the Lord of Heaven…”

His blood-red eyes shone with joy.

What a magnificent day this was. The orthodox Murim would remember it. Everyone would gaze upon Dark Heaven’s flag hanging over the world and tremble with fear.

Quivering with elation, the First Fiend shouted,

“Destroy the Sichuan Tang Clan!”

“As you command!”

Boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!

The drums quickened amid fierce battle cries. Three hundred black-clad men charged toward the walls, while dark clouds rolled across the sky and smothered the sunlight that had only just begun to shine.

That was when a powerful shout erupted from atop the walls.

“These villains dare invade our family! Don’t leave a single one alive!”

“Everyone, fire!”

Shhhhhhhk! Thud!

An arrowhead shot with tremendous force pierced someone’s body and buried itself in the ground. Blood mist bloomed, followed by a scream.

“Gaaaaah!”

But there were very few casualties. Most of the black-clad men deflected the arrows with their weapons, while others emerged unharmed thanks to their armor.

“Wh-what?”

“Even the crossbows can’t pierce it? What kind of armor is that…?”

Even crossbow bolts capable of punching through thick iron plates proved useless against the armor.

As the Tang Clan martial artists faltered, a small figure streaked forward at dazzling speed.

Fwoooosh!

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! Excellent! Excellent!”

No one atop the walls knew the First Fiend’s identity. But everyone who heard his crazed laughter felt their hair stand on end.

“The Myriad-Poison Formation! Activate the Myriad-Poison Formation!”

The panicked order rang out, but the First Fiend had already vanished like a ghost and reached the gate.

His face twisting into a fiendish grin, he threw a single punch. Two jiazi¹ of internal energy spiraled into his fist like a whirlwind.

“Let’s see how Tang Family blood tastes.”

Whoom—Kwahhhhhng!

The battle had begun.

“Hm?”

“What?”

Cheongpung and I looked at each other at the same time. Then, at the same time, we realized we were thinking the same thing.

“Did you hear that?”

“Benefactor, did you hear it?”

The Divine Physician, who was checking the still-unconscious Jeok Cheongang’s pulse, looked at us in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“Just a moment.”

I raised a hand to stop the Divine Physician from continuing and quietly focused my mind.

My body might have been in the underground prison, but my senses were another matter. Amplified several times over by the power of my internal energy, my hearing escaped the labyrinthine prison corridors and rose upward, higher and higher.

And then…

Boom.

This time, I heard it clearly.

Cheongpung set down the food he had been holding and spoke.

“Benefactor, could this be…”

“That’s right.”

I looked up at the ceiling of the prison and continued,

“It’s a drum.”

Boom. Boom. Boom.

As though agreeing with me, the drums sounded again at that exact moment.

Ting.

System

• An unexpected Quest has been generated.

• You cannot refuse. The Quest has been automatically accepted!

• Would you like to view the Quest information?

“…”

I stared wordlessly at the holographic window filling my vision.

The sudden drumbeats and an unexpected Quest. Neither could possibly be a good sign.

Shit, I’ve already got goose bumps all over my arms.

“This is driving me crazy.”

But there was no turning back now. The only thing I could do was find out what kind of path lay ahead of me.

View Quest information.

Ting.

A new holographic window appeared with the System’s characteristically cheerful notification sound.

Unlike the notification, of course, the contents of the Quest window were anything but cheerful.

System

Quest

Uninvited Guest

Dark Heaven’s dark clouds have finally spread across Sichuan.

The battle has already begun, and the Sichuan Tang Clan is surrounded.

May fortune favor you in battle.

Grade: ???

Limit: ???

Mission: ???

Reward: ???

Failure: Death

I read it exactly three times from beginning to end. Then I thought,

What kind of fucked-up situation is this?

I was so dumbfounded that I could barely speak.

The whole thing was absurd. Enemies had invaded. We were surrounded and couldn’t escape. It wished us luck. The end.

Goddamn, it’s disgustingly simple.

Grade, limit, mission, reward. Every last one was a question mark.

Well, at least it had made one thing perfectly clear.

If I failed this Quest, I would die.

What a revelation. If we couldn’t stop the enemies who had invaded, I would die. Such wonderfully useful information almost made me slap my balls in amazement.

Is this a Quest information window or just a Quest notification window?

Boom. Boom. Boom.

My vision swam. As the drumbeats grew louder and fiercer, cold sweat gathered on my back.

My mind, on the other hand, had gone cold as ice.

I dismissed the Quest window, took a deep breath, and spoke.

“Old Man Dong, we have a problem.”

The Divine Physician had learned martial arts, but his realm was far below ours.

Unlike Cheongpung and me, he had not heard the drumbeats. He asked with a puzzled expression,

“A problem? What do you mean?”

“Enemies have invaded.”

“Enemies? Here, at the Sichuan Tang Clan?”

“Yes. There’s no doubt. We’re already surrounded.”

The Divine Physician looked as if he could hardly believe it. That was a perfectly normal reaction. What kind of lunatics would attack the Sichuan Tang Clan?

But if those lunatics were Dark Heaven, that changed everything. They were the very people responsible for staining Shaolin Temple with blood.

Still, every second mattered. There was no time for a detailed explanation.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, so steel yourself.”

“…I understand.”

The Divine Physician nodded grimly.

Perhaps because he had traveled throughout the world and experienced countless things, he seemed to accept reality more quickly than expected.

I looked at Jeok Cheongang, who still lay there with his eyes closed.

“How is my Master’s condition?”

“As I told you before, his qi has not yet stabilized. If he suffers an external shock in this condition…”

The Divine Physician did not finish, but I had heard enough.

Jeok Cheongang’s condition was still unstable. According to the Quest window, Dark Heaven had already surrounded the Sichuan Tang Clan.

What if we broke through their encirclement and escaped?

The thought flashed through my mind, but I quickly shook my head.

Jeok Cheongang’s safety was one concern, but our chances of success were slim to begin with. Considering the forces Dark Heaven had deployed against Shaolin Temple, trying to escape might only lead us straight into a deathtrap.

Especially if a monster like the Blood Lord is out there. We have to avoid that at all costs.

After thinking it through, I arrived at a single answer.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Cheongpung.”

Cheongpung answered in a subdued voice.

“Yes, Benefactor.”

“Can I ask you for one favor?”

“Anything.”

Cheongpung was endlessly innocent and carefree, but every once in a while, he showed a serious side.

And whenever he did, I found him more dependable than anyone else.

That was why I could make this request of him.

“Stay here and protect Old Master—protect my Master. That’s my request.”

“……!”

“As you heard, we can’t get out right now. Someone has to leave and help the Sichuan Tang Clan.”

“Benefactor.”

“So…”

“Benefactor.”

I swallowed the words I had been about to say. Cheongpung was looking at me with clear eyes.

“I’ll stay if you tell me to stay, and I’ll go if you tell me to go. But, Benefactor…”

His quiet voice reached my ears.

“You have someone you need to protect, don’t you?”

“……!”

“When there was someone I had to protect, I was too scared to fight. I couldn’t protect the people I cared about. That’s why I’m such a fool.”

I hadn’t known.

I hadn’t known Cheongpung carried such thoughts.

Even afterward, he had remained cheerful and talkative, living as though he were the happiest person in the world.

That was how he had always been. It suited him. It was only natural for him.

But it wasn’t.

As if recalling what had happened in Henan, Cheongpung turned his gaze toward some distant, dark corner of the underground prison.

Then he turned back to me.

A smile appeared on his lips. The same as always, yet somehow different.

Only then did I understand.

The time had come to make a real decision.

One person stays. One person leaves.

I slowly shifted my gaze.

Cheongpung, still smiling.

The Divine Physician, his face filled with concern.

Someone’s screams and shouts, drawing closer by the moment.

And then…

Jeok Cheongang’s face beneath the shadows of the flickering torchlight.

The next moment, my lips moved before I knew it.

“Cheongpung. I have a favor to ask.”

Cheongpung’s gaze met mine.

I pointed toward the ceiling and flashed him a grin.

“Go land one on those sons of bitches and come back.”

“Yes, Benefactor!”

His answer was brighter than ever.