Chapter 370

The Sichuan Tang Clan had always been famous for its reclusive ways.

Even prominent figures could not easily pass through its gates. Fearing that daughters who married out might reveal the clan’s martial arts and secrets, the Tangs instead brought in sons-in-law and had them take the Tang surname.

The gates of the Sichuan Tang Clan, which had endured for hundreds of years in this manner, had been thrown wide open only seven days ago.

“Over there! Get that pillar straight!”

“Pull on three. Ready. One, two—!”

Burly laborers hauled on ropes and carried stone and lumber across the grounds.

Buildings were slowly taking shape over foundation stones still stained dark red with blood.

Farther away, dozens of Buddhist nuns had gathered to chant prayers.

“May I have no other thought at the end of this life, with Amitabha¹ alone beside me, my heart forever bound to the light from the white curl between his brows…”

The nuns, their heads shaved close and their eyes filled with spiritual energy, were from Emei Sect.

Before them, countless wooden coffins burned amid roaring flames.

“May you be reborn in the Pure Land. We will never forget your steadfast devotion or your souls.”

Several days and nights had passed, yet the fires still had not gone out.

That was how many lives had been lost in the Three-Gate Bloodbath. The Sichuan Tang Clan, in particular, had suffered catastrophic casualties.

“Whew…”

“Venerable Myoryeong, you look exhausted. Perhaps you should rest, even if only for a little while…”

“No, Daoist Myeongjin. I am merely doing what must be done, so please do not concern yourself. Let us continue.”

The Daoist studied the middle-aged nun’s pale face, then nodded gravely.

A short while later, martial artists with swords at their waists approached in a line, carrying several dozen wooden coffins.

Among them were Daoists of Qingcheng Sect, disciples from small and mid-sized sects, and beggars streaked with grime.

A group of physicians came running along behind them.

“The patient suddenly started vomiting blood? Weren’t they stable?”

“If I knew that, would I be here right now? The patient clearly suffered serious internal injuries, but I can’t make sense of these symptoms…”

“Spread out and bring the Divine Physician! Quickly!”

Emei nuns, Qingcheng Daoists, Beggars’ Sect beggars, and martial artists dispatched from sects both great and small. Alongside them were ordinary people—carpenters, stonemasons, physicians, and more.

Countless people moved through the grounds of the Sichuan Tang Clan, each diligently carrying out their own task.

From a tall pavilion, a young beggar watched the scene through an open window and muttered wearily.

“I never thought I’d live to see something like this. And in the Sichuan Tang Clan, no less.”

Hyuk Mujin, lying on a bed, answered him.

“Stop watching and go help. Don’t slack off just because you’re the Successor Beggar.”

“Slack off?”

Gung Gibang’s eyes widened as he pointed at himself.

His upper body was tightly wrapped in spotless white bandages, and one leg had been fitted with a makeshift splint. They were glorious wounds earned in battle against the Third Fiend.

“You can look at me and still say that? You call this slacking off? Huh?”

“Are you the only one who got hurt?”

Hyuk Mujin snorted, then deliberately wriggled like an earthworm.

Unlike Gung Gibang, he was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, making him look like a mummy.

“You have to get hurt this badly before people say, ‘Ah, this kid must have had a rough time.’ You understand?”

“……!”

Gung Gibang trembled.

The fact that his wounds were less severe clearly proved that his martial arts were superior, yet somehow, he felt as though he had lost.

“I had my bandages changed five times!”

“I’m lucky to be alive. Besides, wasn’t that because you were so filthy? I heard a physician tried to scrub you clean, then passed out from exhaustion. Is that true?”

“……”

“Forget it. Talking to you any longer will only subject me to more bad breath. Since we’re on the subject, ask them to brush your teeth next time, too. Every time I talk to you, I feel like I’m speaking into a street mutt’s ass.”

What a vicious tongue.

Gung Gibang was speechless for a moment. Then he stared at the ceiling and lamented.

“The Third Fiend should have killed that bastard.”

“Hey. That’s crossing a line.”

“I still don’t understand how someone like you survived that battle.”

“If you’re really that curious, try following our Captain around for two years.”

“……I’ll pass.”

For all their constant bickering, there was one thing Gung Gibang and Hyuk Mujin agreed on: Jin Taekyung.

He seemed to embody every upheaval under heaven. He possessed the tenacious vitality and sheer determination to survive any crisis.

And now, Jin Taekyung had reached such distant heights in martial prowess that they could scarcely believe he was human like them.

There is one more person like that.

Yeah. That guy.

The same thought crossed both their minds, and their heads turned in unison.

“Mimi, Whirlwind!”

Whirrrr!

“Good job, Mimi! Now fly through the air!”

Hiss?

“Oh. You can’t do that. Then this time…”

Hyuk Mujin and Gung Gibang wondered whether the bizarre young man ordering a snake to fly could truly be the Huashan Divine Dragon—the Sword Saint’s successor who had single-handedly defeated First Fiend, the strongest of the Qilian Three Fiends.

“Say, Gung.”

“What?”

“Do you have to be a little unhinged to become a Supreme Peak master?”

“……I don’t know. I really don’t know anymore.”

Gung Gibang avoided the question.

His own master was rather eccentric, but nowhere near as strange as Jin Taekyung or Cheongpung.

Then again, judging by the Sword Saint and the Fire King, perhaps disciples really did take after their masters.

“But what exactly is that snake?”

“A snake with horns that large? Other than an imugi,² there’s only one possibility. A Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake.”

“When I was young, I read an encyclopedia of spiritual creatures that described it as a massive, pitch-black venomous beast.”

Cheongpung shouted.

“Mimi! Lie down!”

Hiss!

“Looking at it now, it doesn’t seem like a venomous beast. It just looks like an ordinary animal.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“But why is Cheongpung here? He was barely injured.”

“Didn’t you hear that loud crash outside earlier? They say Cheongpung went out to help and ended up destroying a pavilion.”

“……Oh.”

Both men fell silent. Lying side by side on their beds, they stared up at the ceiling.

Nearly ninety percent of the clan’s buildings had been damaged, but this pavilion had somehow retained its shape. It was now serving as a temporary clinic for the most important patients.

Catching the scent of medicinal decoctions drifting in from somewhere, Hyuk Mujin suddenly murmured,

“It feels like a dream.”

“Tell me about it.”

Seven days had passed since the Three-Gate Bloodbath.

Sichuan’s Murim had united to cast a net over heaven and earth. Most of Dark Heaven’s black-clad men, who had stained every corner of Sichuan with blood, had either been killed or captured. Even the Third Fiend, who had vanished without a trace, had been seized by a mysterious figure.

And with that, the brief war had come to an end.

But…

“I don’t think this is over. What do you think, Gung?”

“Do you even have to ask? If this is really the end, I’ll sear my own palm.”

They were hardly the only ones who sensed the looming danger.

In barely two months, Henan and Sichuan had been stained with blood.

Once news of the Three-Gate Bloodbath spread to the farthest reaches of the continent, everyone under heaven would realize the truth.

The dark cloud called Dark Heaven had already reached their doorstep.

An undeniable age of turmoil was beginning—and heroes were born in such times.

Hyuk Mujin’s gaze naturally turned toward the closed door.

“When do you think our Captain will wake up?”

“Who knows? Do I look like I have an answer? Mungyeong says there’s nothing wrong with him, so all we can do is wait.”

“Speaking of which, Mungyeong may be skilled for his age, but isn’t he a little young for us to entrust the Captain to him?”

“The Divine Physician is busy, I suppose. Great Hero Jeok is still recovering his strength, and there are far too many critical patients, including Great Hero Tang Sadok. There’s no helping it.”

“I understand. I do. But even if he is the Divine Physician’s Disciple, Mungyeong is still… What could a child that young possibly know?”

At Hyuk Mujin’s worried words, Cheongpung’s head snapped up.

“Uh-oh. Don’t say that. You’ll die.”

“Young Hero Cheongpung?”

“What you just said—don’t say it in front of Grandpa Mun. I mean, especially not in front of Mungyeong.”

“What? Why would you suddenly say that?”

“Don’t. Really, don’t.”

“……?”

Hyuk Mujin and Gung Gibang exchanged bewildered looks.

Then Cheongpung suddenly gasped.

“Mimi! Where did you go, Mimi?”

Cheongpung desperately searched for the Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake that had vanished the moment he looked away.

Just then, a strangled shout erupted from beyond the tightly closed door.

“Ghk! You damn snake!”

The three men’s gazes collided in midair.

At the same time, several voices calling one person’s name rang out all the way outside the pavilion.

“Benefactor!”

“Captain!”

“Jin Taekyung!”

The shout sent the people working outside into an uproar.

“Did you hear that?”

“Could he have woken up?”

“Tell the Sect Leader! Hurry!”

I had a nightmare.

In pitch-black darkness where I couldn’t see an inch ahead, a snake was slowly tightening around my neck.

I couldn’t breathe. My vision turned white.

Then I opened my eyes and expelled the breath trapped in my lungs.

“Ghk!”

Hiss.

“……?”

Hiss? What the fuck?

My brain stopped working for three seconds.

At last, I realized what my nightmare had been. I grabbed the horn of the snake coiled tightly around my neck.

“You damn snake!”

I didn’t care whether it was called a Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake or Mimi-chan. Starting today, this bastard’s name was Snake Wine.

“You’re living on dew from now on. Chamisul.”³

I was about to whirl it around and slam it into the floor when the tightly closed door shattered and someone burst into the room.

“Benefactor!”

Cheongpung’s thunderous shout made my skull ring.

Behind him, Hyuk Mujin came wriggling like an earthworm while Gung Gibang hopped in on one leg.

“Captain!”

“Jin Taekyung!”

“……Why do you two look like that?”

Hyuk Mujin bounced his body vigorously and answered.

“The Third Fiend. That crazy old monster did this to me.”

Gung Gibang helpfully elaborated.

“It’s a miracle he survived. That lunatic Hyuk Mujin threw dirt and rocks at the Third Fiend. If the Seven Fairies hadn’t stepped in to protect him, he would have been torn limb from limb.”

“……?”

Who the hell was the Third Fiend, and who were the Seven Fairies? Kim Seonja was my high school disciplinarian’s name…⁴

These lunatics.

My relief at surviving the underground prison lasted only a moment. A headache came on, and I pressed a hand to my forehead.

I had clearly told them to stay put at the Divine Physician’s residence, but apparently they hadn’t been able to resist crawling out and fighting to the death.

Thank goodness they had survived. What would have happened if they had died?

“Were you two that desperate to die? What kind of trouble did you cause this time?”

“……?”

“……?”

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

The three of us—everyone except Cheongpung—exchanged bewildered looks.

“Is there a problem?”

“Of course there is.”

“You told us to go save Emei Sect, Captain.”

The first answer came from Gung Gibang. The second came from Hyuk Mujin.

They were both talking nonsense, so I deliberately frowned.

“What are you talking about? I did?”

“Yes. That’s what Mungyeong told us. Did you hit your head?”

That couldn’t be it.

I had felt it the instant I opened my eyes. Powerful qi boiled throughout my entire body.

Everything within my sight, along with the energy of nature surrounding me, felt clear and vivid.

So this is Supreme Peak…

I wanted to test this power immediately. Not to mention the System messages that must have piled up like a mountain by now.

But before listening to any more of this nonsense, there was one thing I needed to ask.

“Is everyone all right?”

They knew who I meant by everyone.

Instead of answering, Cheongpung threw open the enormous window.

“See for yourself, Benefactor.”

As if in a trance, I slowly walked toward the window.

A warm spring breeze brushed across my face. An oddly quiet atmosphere greeted me as I leaned my head out beyond the window.

“Ah.”

I looked down and found myself speechless.

There were people below.

Nuns, Daoists, craftsmen who appeared to be carpenters, and physicians dressed in spotless white robes. Countless eyes were fixed upon me, all filled with the same emotion.

Awe.

The next moment, they paid their respects as though they had made an agreement beforehand.

Some formed a fist-and-palm salute. Some bowed their heads slightly. Others prostrated themselves and bowed deeply.

Then a vast chorus rose as one.

“We pay our respects to the Blazing Flame Divine Dragon!”

A shudder ran through me from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes.

Ding.

System

Your accomplishments and Fame will resound throughout the Central Plains.

You have acquired a new sobriquet!

As the System alert rang in my ears, I spotted someone in the distance.

“Well done.”

I smiled back at Jeok Cheongang.