Chapter 675

I’d thought of this place from the beginning, but I still hadn’t believed it would be here. Nanman was vast, and I was a Korean who didn’t even know the geography of the Central Plains properly.

In fact, of all the martial artists in the world, there probably wasn’t another hybrid quite like me.

An outsider in the Central Plains, for all intents and purposes. And undeniably an outsider in Nanman.

How was someone like me supposed to know exactly where we were headed, or where we would stop?

Besides, Muyaho was a spiritual creature that understood human speech, not one that could speak it.

So when the White Tiger’s pace finally slowed, I realized where we were.

Looks like “no way” really is going to get someone killed. Fuck.

The mountain looked ominous even from a distance.

Ailao Mountain was just as it had been when I left it a few days ago: dark and chilly, with a smell of blood that seemed to drift from beyond the thick fog.

In short, it was the kind of place that made me feel fucking awful every time I came here.

As far as Ailao Mountain was concerned, they ought to invent a character for “dick” and write its name with that instead of the character for “mountain.”

“…Is it really here?”

• Grrr.

“You know I’ll chop your leg off if you’re lying, right?”

• Grrrr!

“Ah. Okay.”

Damn. Guess it really was.

I gently scratched between the White Tiger’s brows to soothe its irritation and looked around.

A wolf howled now and then. Each time, mountain birds took flight with a flutter. Those were the only sounds I heard.

Yeah. At least as far as sound goes.

I checked the Quest window.

The linked Quest that had begun automatically when Muyaho and I split off from the group was short and simple for a Quest with a Grade as high as Supreme Peak.

System

Quest

I Can See Your Tracking Scent

You chose to follow the tracking scent.

At the end of the road you are traveling now, may you find what you seek.

Grade: Supreme Peak

Restriction: Jin Taekyung

Mission: Find Yohi (Incomplete)

Reward: ???

Failure: ???

Find Yohi, huh? Of course I had to succeed.

Honestly, though, it didn’t matter to me whether I found Yohi or Heugung.

Quest or no Quest, I had to do this. Those two were among my best chances of thwarting the Southern Heaven Demon Empress and Baeksang’s plans.

From what I’ve learned, no one knows where the Beast Miao King is, and the friendly forces inside the Nanman Beast Palace have effectively lost their power. With so little time left, the best move is to rescue the two Great Chieftains and take them to the Inner Palace.

Did you think I’d made Muyaho run like hell while I sat comfortably on its back enjoying the scenery? I’d thought this through on the way here.

After what happened at the Western Yao Estate, the Nanman Beast Palace considered me the greatest fucking bastard under heaven. If I charged in alone, all that awaited me were spears and blades.

But what if Heugung and Yohi—the very people who’d been abducted—came back alive with me?

That would turn the whole board around. No question.

Words carried different weight depending on who spoke them.

If Great Chieftains from the four tribes came forward to prove my innocence and reveal the truth behind the tragedy, everything happening in Nanman would take a new turn.

That was why I had to complete this Quest, one way or another. It was a brilliant move that could overturn the situation in a single stroke.

Of course…

“Can’t make a brilliant move without a Go stone to play. And getting one won’t be easy.”

I muttered the words like a sigh. Then, sensing people closing in around me from every direction, I added, “So I think I’ll catch a few of you instead of Go stones to start with… Who wants to die first?”

“……!”

As expected, no one answered. I launched myself forward without hesitation.

Whoosh. Fwoooosh!

Flamefire Path.

Flames rose with my footsteps and became a meteor’s tail, cleaving the darkness.

There were more enemies here than I’d encountered at any point since I began following the tracking scent.

I could see roughly three hundred of them, and there were probably just as many—or more—lying in wait behind the dense grass.

But…

That’s all?

I stood among the predators at the top of Murim’s vast food chain. The enemies surrounding me were nothing more than a helpless flock of sheep.

I could subdue them without sinking my teeth into their necks.

Whoosh, fwoooosh!

I shot forward amid flames that devoured the darkness. Screams erupted from the enemies who realized what was happening half a beat too late.

“H-He’s spotted us!”

“Stop him! He’s com—!”

Kwaaaang!

The shout vanished beneath a thunderous blast.

The ground overturned, and enormous trees tore free by their roots. Dozens of enemies flew in every direction at once, as if they’d agreed to do it together.

“Guh!”

“Aaargh!”

Their tightly packed formation had collapsed. Screams filled the gaps.

As I walked out, brushing dirt from my shoulder, someone shouted, “Put the beasts in front! Attack him from the rear!”

“Oh, you animal-abusing bastard.”

That aside, it wasn’t a bad choice.

Nanman’s way of fighting with beasts had earned its reputation. It was one reason Nanman warriors, despite being individually less skilled than martial artists from the Central Plains, had distinguished themselves in the Great Faction War.

Of course, that only worked when the situation called for it.

Grrrrrrr!

The moment a creature far larger than an ordinary brown bear charged at me with a roar—

Shh-shh-shhik!

A pale blur accompanied by a sharp whistle of displaced air flashed past my side and struck the alpha brown bear in the mouth.

Crack! Crunch!

Drops of blood scattered through the air, and the bear toppled forward.

With a single kitty-paw punch, Muyaho had subdued a beast that might have ranked among the three strongest here. Its eyes gleamed.

Whooosh!

I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it: a chill spreading in every direction.

This is…

Fear.

The White Tiger had been born beyond the bounds of an ordinary beast. As its overwhelming presence bore down on the area, the beasts’ growls vanished, and their bristling tails drooped toward the ground.

Another strange gleam passed through Muyaho’s moonlit blue-white eyes.

• GRAAAAAAWR!

The explosive roar made the air tremble.

The wind surged. Grass and flowers bent low. Pupils dilating, the beasts huddled down and backed away.

And they weren’t the only ones affected.

“Gasp.”

“M-My body…”

Muyaho’s aura fell short of the Water God Dragon’s, or that of some of the monsters I’d encountered. But it was enough to freeze some of the less accomplished martial artists among our enemies.

Which meant, of course, that others could still move.

“You idiots! What are you doing?!”

I heard panic and fury in the shout.

I spotted a middle-aged man wearing a leopard hide well behind the others and shot toward him like a spear.

Shaaak! Crack!

“Aaargh!”

“M-Monster!”

That was right. Here and now, I was the only monster.

Someone they couldn’t stop. Someone they’d imagined in their heads but never once thought they would have to face as an enemy.

Even if every person here stood in my way, I had the strength to keep going.

“Protect the Chieftain!”

“Stop him by any means necessary—guh!”

I tapped an opponent’s chest with my palm.

Scorching Yang Qi seeped into his body and disrupted the flow of his qi. Blood burst from his mouth like a fountain, and he crumpled.

“You bastard! How dare—!”

Whoosh! Tap.

Was the man I’d just taken down a friend of his?

He had plenty of momentum, but not enough skill.

I caught his sword between two fingers, putting Empty-Hand Seizes the Blade into practice, then shrugged at the face beyond its trembling blade.

“He’s not dead. He’ll spend about a month in bed shitting blood, though.”

“……!”

“Since you’re at it, you can shit beside him.”

Boom!

His body shot backward, sweeping more than a dozen people along with it.

I walked down the path that had opened before me and spread both hands. The fire dragon coiled in my lower dantian surged through my acupoints and settled in my hands.

Whoosh. Ssssss.

Terrible heat spread in every direction.

Water evaporated from the mud before my feet could touch it. Blue-white flames shone in the eyes of the elite warriors about to charge me.

“W-Wait…!”

I answered with both palms.

Like the former Sect Leader of the Fire Gate Clan who had once destroyed the Five Poisons Sect, I unleashed Flame Divine Palm in every direction.

Kwaaaang!

Rumble!

Flames shot through the air, swept over the undergrowth, and set the densely packed trees ablaze.

Beneath that enormous blaze, hundreds of enemies fled screaming through the darkness.

Among them, thankfully, was a middle-aged man in a leopard hide flashy enough to recognize at a glance.

“Move! Get out of my way!”

From the way he was running, he clearly wanted to live.

But no matter how hard he and his guards tried to get out of here, there was a reason the word impossible existed.

“Yeah. I’m afraid I can’t get out of your way.”

“J-Jin Taekyung!”

“They called you a tribal chieftain, but I wasn’t sure at first. I definitely saw you at the Tribal Grand Council, though. So, how’ve you been?”

Shaaak!

This was why people called sword-carrying bastards ill-mannered. I greeted him warmly, and the first thing he did was swing a weapon at me.

Whoosh, crack!

“Aaargh!”

I dodged the sword with ease and broke his wrist, drawing a scream of pain.

Then I fired Finger Qi at the five guards charging me. Muyaho appeared like the wind a moment later, and the beasts turned tail.

Whoosh. Rumble!

Flames and ash drifted overhead. Huge trees toppled one after another like dominoes. The tribal chieftain’s face went deathly pale.

“P-Please, spare me…”

“You’re a tribal chieftain. Of course I’ll spare you—if you answer my questions properly.”

“I-I’ll tell you anything you want to know!”

The chieftain I’d captured was my favorite kind of enemy. He valued his own life enough to spill things I hadn’t even asked about.

Some of it was useful, too.

“…A general mobilization order?”

The chieftain nodded frantically.

“G-Great Chieftain Baeksang has become temporary Palace Lord, and an army of nearly ten thousand is already stationed in the Inner Palace.”

“Go on.”

“The Miao people are under strict surveillance and couldn’t answer the call, but all of Nanman is on the move, led by the three tribes under Baeksang.”

Damn it.

I swallowed the curse.

With the Beast Miao King having fled, it had been inevitable that Baeksang would become the temporary Palace Lord.

But this wasn’t a net over heaven and earth cast to catch me. It was a general mobilization order.

No way.

Dread seized me.

Perhaps Dark Heaven’s plan was far bigger than any of us had imagined—and far closer to completion.

If I waste even a moment here…

I watched the flames spread rapidly across Ailao Mountain, then launched myself forward.

Into the darkness crouched over Ailao Mountain. Into the flames.