Chapter 635

Ding.

System

• Ailao Mountain’s Wraith has appeared!

Ailao Mountain’s Wraith.

A being and a name I had never seen or heard of before.

Before I could process the new information, the colossal Black Tiger the System had named Ailao Mountain’s Wraith let out a thunderous roar.

Gwaaaaaaaaaang!

The roar tore through the darkness and echoed across the entire mountain. The air around us rippled like water, and grass and branches shattered.

This was no ordinary beast’s cry.

It was something primal, drawing out the fear hidden deep in the heart and shaking the soul itself.

And I knew the nature of that power better than anyone else in this world.

Fear.

I had known instinctively from the moment I met its blue-white eyes: the enormous creature that had appeared before us could not be fully described as a mere beast.

I knew because, a few months ago in Hubei, I had encountered something like it.

The Water God Dragon.

The master of Dongting Lake, driven mad and stripped of its reason by Dark Heaven. A rare spiritual creature that had entered a new realm after hundreds of years.

I sensed qi like the Water God Dragon’s emanating from the Black Tiger towering like Taishan, and I was not the only one who felt it.

Whine…

By any ordinary standard, White Tiger deserved to be called a spiritual creature. But it was no match for that overwhelming Fear.

While White Tiger whimpered like a frightened puppy, someone else stepped forward without the slightest hesitation.

“Was this your doing?”

Boom!

With a furious shout, the Beast Miao King kicked off the ground. In the blink of an eye, he had covered more than ten zhang.¹

Radiant light burst from his tightly clenched fist.

Whoooosh!

His fist split the air with a heavy rush. Destructive Force coiled around it like thread, erasing everything in its path.

And at the end of that path…

Slash!

Nothing.

Only empty air.

“…!”

“…!”

It had dodged a punch from a Supreme Peak master counted among the Ten Kings.

It had happened in an instant. The Black Tiger moved through the darkness like mist, evading the Beast Miao King’s attack, then swung its enormous front paw, black as night.

Swish!

Unbelievably fast. And powerful.

Boom! Crack-crack-crack!

A deafening impact sent a tremendous shock wave in every direction. Driven back by the force of the blow, the Beast Miao King’s eyes widened.

“What the…?”

He had no time to recover from his shock. A hungry predator did not hesitate before its prey.

Gwaaaaaaaaaang!

Another roar shook Ailao Mountain.

In the modern world, Gates and monsters had become part of everyday life. But the martial artists of this world were not accustomed to Fear.

The Beast Miao King had been caught off guard all the more because he had never encountered a creature so far beyond anything he expected.

“Kh!”

He froze for the barest instant. That was probably the best the Beast Miao King could have managed, but a life-and-death duel between masters could be decided by just such an opening.

That held true even when the opponent was a beast rather than a martial artist.

Whoosh!

In a world that seemed to slow, the Black Tiger’s hooked claws tore through the air.

At that moment, a spear left my hand and streaked across the space between us in a flash of light.

Shreeeek! Boom!

A roar split the heavens. Everything within a radius of more than ten zhang¹ shook.

Qi against qi. Strength against strength.

And I won that brief clash.

Crack!

The Black Tiger flew backward as though it had become one with the spear and vanished beyond the dark forest. In the distance, dozens of towering trees snapped and swayed.

The mountain birds that had long since awakened and must have been watching us in silence took flight all at once, while countless leaves and branches poured down like a rain shower.

Tap. Rustle!

Now was the time to catch it.

But I had barely started after the Black Tiger when I had to stop.

Why can’t I sense it…?

I could not feel its presence. Not even a trace.

All it had left behind was wreckage that looked as though a bomb had gone off, and a spear lying on the ground with its blade shattered.

There were no footprints. No bloodstains.

It got beyond the range of my Qi Sense? That quickly?

As I searched the surroundings, the Beast Miao King arrived with White Tiger. Anger and shame mingled on his face.

“Where is it?”

“It seems to have run away. I can’t find it.”

“…Damn it. You saw me at my worst.”

“I understand. I mean that.”

Mungyeong and Jeok Cheongang had both been shaken for a moment by the Water God Dragon’s Fear.

The Beast Miao King was a formidable master, worthy of his place among the Ten Kings. But comparing him to those two, who had reached a realm beyond humanity, would hardly be fair.

If anything, he had shaken off the Fear faster than I expected.

Maybe growing up in Nanman, surrounded by strange venomous beasts and ferocious animals, had helped. I could not say.

What mattered right now was something else.

“It’s still alive. There’s no blood, so it doesn’t seem to have suffered any significant injury.”

The Beast Miao King nodded at my quiet words.

“I thought as much. When it knew it couldn’t dodge, it bit down on the spearhead at the last moment. A spearhead wreathed in Force, no less. I’ve lived in Nanman all my life, but I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“What do you mean?”

“The last part.”

Before he could reply, I went on.

“You may never have seen one, but you’ve heard of one. I’m sure of it.”

We could not sense the Black Tiger for now, but it might spring out at any moment. The Beast Miao King had put his back to mine as we watched our surroundings. At my words, he stiffened.

“Could it be…?”

“You’re probably thinking of the right thing. Something similar happened in Hubei Province.”

“…You mean that imugi?”²

The words came out like a groan. He continued, “The Murim Alliance mentioned it in a letter. But I thought the story sounded far-fetched.”

“Are you really the Palace Lord of the Nanman Beast Palace? Your only son rides around on a White Tiger, and you couldn’t believe that?”

“He rides a White Tiger, not an imugi.”²

“…Ah.”

Fair enough.

An imugi² belonged in myth. Even coming from the Murim Alliance, the story would have been hard to believe.

His brief, blunt answer left me with nothing to say. The Beast Miao King spoke up abruptly.

“If that is the case, was that creature that just appeared also the work of the Southern Heaven Demon Empress—that witch?”

“I can’t be sure. But it’s likely.”

Too much about this felt wrong for me to rule it out.

Ailao Mountain had been quiet for more than a hundred years, despite once being the Five Poisons Sect’s headquarters. Now a massacre had happened here, and a Black Tiger of astonishing power had appeared. It all reminded me of the Water God Dragon.

Ailao Mountain’s Wraith.

What was it really?

Where were the two hundred warriors who should still have been here, aside from the people now sprawled around us as cold corpses? And where were the ferocious beasts they commanded?

I was slowly scanning the area with a heavy gaze when—

Grrr.

Having barely recovered from the Fear, White Tiger suddenly crouched low and raised its tail high.

The Beast Miao King and I understood what that meant and turned at once.

Far away, the darkness was rippling.

That’s…!

We had both overlooked something while we talked.

An animal’s sense of smell was dozens, even hundreds of times keener than a human’s. A tiger, which usually hunted at night, had a nose to match.

Which meant…

White Tiger can smell farther than my Qi Sense can reach.

The moment it clicked, the Beast Miao King and I kicked off the ground together.

As we chased it, I learned exactly why people called tigers mountain lords.³

Ah. Look at that fucking bastard.

I swallowed the curse and glared at the black shape racing far ahead.

No matter how far we ran along the winding ridges, no matter how many cloud- and mist-covered peaks we crossed, we could not catch it.

Its strength, inexhaustible Stamina, and elusive movements kept it ahead of the Beast Miao King and me. Even White Tiger—a spiritual creature with white fur to boast of—could not catch up.

If anything, White Tiger was growing more anxious by the moment.

No wonder. That’s no ordinary tiger.

A mountain lord was not just the king of a mountain. The term could also refer to a mountain spirit. But that creature was no spirit of Ailao Mountain.

It was its wraith. Perhaps something still more ominous: an evil spirit.

What we saw as we pursued the Black Tiger only strengthened that thought.

“That damned beast…!”

The Beast Miao King’s voice seemed to boil like lava. His furious gaze had fallen on bodies with their limbs hanging limp.

Deep valleys. The edges of cliffs. Ravines that must once have run clear but had now been stained black by poison…

The corpses of Nanman warriors lay along our route like signposts. The wind carried a sickening mix of blood and foul odors.

“How dare they? How dare they do something like this!”

A savage wave of qi poured from the Beast Miao King as the horrific sights flashed past us.

He was angrier than ever, and his movements grew rougher with it.

“You bastard!”

Tap-tap—shreeeek!

In an instant, his body shot forward at a terrifying speed and streaked toward the Black Tiger without hesitation.

But his opponent was a creature called Ailao Mountain’s Wraith. A head-on fight might be another matter; in natural physique and speed, the Beast Miao King could not match it.

Papat!

Just as I expected.

The Black Tiger, far beyond an ordinary spiritual creature, pulled farther ahead instead of being caught. Soon it vanished into a deep, dark valley.

It gave us a look that seemed to say, Come and get me if you dare.

What?

Only then did I slow down and look around.

Ancient trees and vines filled every direction, while the hot, humid air mixed with mist carried the distinctive stench of poison.

I did not know exactly where we were, but after running mindlessly in pursuit of the creature, I could at least guess that we had reached the heart of Ailao Mountain.

This…

I had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

But while I slowed, the Beast Miao King charged straight into the valley without a hint of hesitation.

“Great Hero Yayul, wait—!”

Crack!

There was no time to stop him. Even if there had been, he would not have listened.

A little anger could wake a dulled mind. Too much could put it to sleep.

“Damn it.”

I muttered under my breath and looked at White Tiger, which had gone quiet.

It was pacing anxiously at the valley entrance where the Beast Miao King had disappeared, as though it had already sensed the danger. When it met my eyes, it shook its head like a person.

“Was that supposed to mean it’s dangerous?”

Grrr.

“This guy’s pretty smart. We agreed for the first time. But there’s nothing we can do this time.”

Grrr…

“You don’t have to come. Go back from here, and if you run into your master or anyone else, tell them we’re here.”

White Tiger was clever enough to count as a spiritual creature. I trusted it had understood me.

As Yayul Mok had done, I gently stroked it between the eyes, then stepped toward the valley.

Without a trace of fear.

With my head held high.

“…”

I’ll make it back alive, right?