Chapter 155 : Chapter 155

Chapter 155. Flower (1)

“Ah…….”

Nam Geon, who seemed to have felt something, let out an exclamation and drew the Mother's Affection Sword.

Senior Sister Baek Hyang had also already drawn the Restoring Name Sword with a serious expression.

Senior Sister Choyeon drew her sword stealthily with her usual indifferent expression.

The Tang Clan guy also took out his fan and hidden weapons, but his expression was full of doubt.

“Assassins? What do you mean by that?”

Hwangbo Ak was grinning.

“Hehehe. Assassins. I hope there are some skilled ones.”

Just as I was about to answer the Tang Clan guy’s question, a grating voice like scraping metal was heard from beyond the tightly closed gate of the Emerald Crossing River.

“They say you are experienced for your age, but you are quicker on the uptake than I thought, Ghost Sword Young Master.”

Looking at the gate of the Emerald Crossing River, I asked him.

“Where are the residents who were here?”

This was the biggest reason why I had noticed the unease late.

All the houses in the village were dilapidated, and signs of use were evident here and there.

It looked like a village that had existed for at least several decades.

It didn't look like a temporary pavilion built by the assassins to deceive us.

Beyond the gate of the Emerald Crossing River, that unpleasant metallic sound was heard again.

“I killed them.”

A fire soared within me, and the veins on the fist holding the Master’s Blade stood out.

These trashy assassins had slaughtered dozens, perhaps hundreds, of innocent rural villagers.

For the sole reason of deceiving us.

The internal energy that surged up from my Dantian gathered in my right hand.

I swung the Master’s Blade towards the gate of the Emerald Crossing River with killing intent.

The sword Qi that soared from the Master’s Blade cut through the air and advanced.

Slice!

Beyond the neatly cut gate of the Emerald Crossing River, a person dressed in strange clothes and with a covered face was visible.

The sword Qi cut through the air and advanced towards that person, but it was blocked by a dagger of a person in red clothes that suddenly appeared from the air.

Clang!

Soon, the being dressed in strange attire slammed its staff on the ground.

“And now, it is time for you to die.”

The moment the staff, with various cursed objects like bells and rings hanging on it, touched the ground, an unpleasant metallic sound rang out continuously.

But what was even more ominous was the Qi wave.

“Gather!!!”

The moment the shout was let out, a sticky Qi wave spread out in all directions like a wave from the shaman.

I don't know if it was my imagination, but it was a Qi wave that carried a thick scent of blood.

Right after that Qi wave swept past our group, our vision changed.

The Emerald Crossing River that was in front of my eyes disappeared.

The scenery of the village that was visible around us was also nowhere to be seen.

Only a desolate land and a blood-red sky surrounded us.

“Wh, what is this.”

Hwangbo Ak looks around with a dumbfounded expression.

Except for Hwangbo Ak, everyone was standing back to back, wary of their surroundings.

Fortunately, thanks to everyone moving quickly, no one was left behind.

For Hwangbo Ak, Senior Sister Baek Hyang explained briefly in a calm tone.

“It’s a shamanistic spell.”

As my Senior Sister said.

The assassins who were targeting us, and on top of that, an unpleasant shamanistic spell.

“It seems they are from the Red Moon Falling Flowers.”

“Now that I see it, it wasn’t that Brother Hwangbo’s words became seeds, but the love letter you left behind was the problem.”

At the Tang Clan guy’s words, Nam Geon shook his head roughly.

“I, it’s not hyung-ah’s fault! Th, the Red Moon Falling Flowers are really bad guys! Th, they killed all the innocent people too.”

“Ahem. I was just saying, Brother Nam. I also think we should kill all of them.”

“Right. We have to kill them all. I should hope that even the one called the Moon Lord has come this time. So that we can exterminate them in this opportunity.”

While we were talking and being wary of our surroundings, a change occurred in the world.

From the desolate land, corpses with various parts of their bodies rotting away stood up one by one.

Nam Geon had a fit, and Hwangbo Ak asked with a startled face.

“H, heeik!?”

“Wh, what is that?!”

“Gh, ghosts. Ghosts!!”

Come to think of it, Nam Geon was afraid of ghosts.

“That’s also a shamanistic spell, Nam Geon! Don’t worry!”

I didn't know more than that, but I shouted to calm Nam Geon down for now.

At that, Hwangbo Ak, who had a startled face, snorted.

“Hmph. Then it’s just an illusion.”

“I don’t know about that either, but it feels very bad, so everyone be careful.”

Soon, the corpses that had stood up screamed and rushed at us.

- It’s because of you!!

- If only you hadn’t come to our village!!

At that, the crazy Hwangbo Ak also rushed towards the corpses.

“How dare an illusion!”

“Dangerous!!”

It wasn't like he would listen even if I said it.

“You vile assassins! Come out and have a conversation with the body of this Hwangbo!”

Hwangbo Ak spouted crazy talk and broke through towards the corpses, then brandished his iron fists wildly.

At that, the corpses flew here and there, dodging Hwangbo Ak’s iron fists, and also swung farm tools like sickles and pickaxes at him.

Rural villagers who had never learned a single martial art. Moreover, it was ridiculously agile for the movement of dead and fallen corpses.

“How dare you, you illusions!”

Hwangbo Ak finally burst the head of a corpse with his iron fist.

It was an extremely unsightly sight, but the scene that followed was even more surprising.

The corpse whose head had burst continued to move its arms and legs and attacked Hwangbo Ak.

At this, Nam Geon had another fit.

“Heeeek! Th, that’s a ghost! Gh, you can’t kill ghosts!”

“Don’t worry, big brother. It’s not a ghost. It has a physical form, doesn’t it?”

As Senior Sister Baek Hyang was soothing Nam Geon, Senior Sister Choyeon added in an indifferent tone.

“As Senior Sister said. It just seems the head is not a vital point.”

A peaceful tone that didn't suit this situation.

In the meantime, Hwangbo Ak was rampaging like a madman and fighting a bloody battle with the corpses.

“Uahaha! But at least the feel of it is certain! Alright, I’ll crush you all!”

Unfortunately, I had no more time to watch that madman.

By now, the corpses were rushing towards us beyond Hwangbo Ak.

- Kuaaaaaak!!

- Why are you harassing the innocent!!

The companions formed a circular formation and each fought against the corpses.

Perhaps because they also reacted to Hwangbo Ak’s fists, the movements of the corpses were quite agile.

“Damn it!”

The Tang Clan guy was busy brandishing his iron fan, blocking or dodging the corpses’ assault.

Occasionally, he would throw a hidden weapon, but it was meaningless.

Thud!

Although the hidden weapon was clearly embedded in a place that could be called a vital point, the corpses continued to swing their weapons as if nothing had happened.

Senior Sister Choyeon was also struggling.

Because Senior Sister Choyeon’s fighting style was also similar to the Tang Clan guy’s hidden weapons.

A clean sword art that only aims for the vital points.

Senior Sister Choyeon’s sword pierced the corpses’ throats and hearts, but it was meaningless.

- Let’s go to hell together!!!

Naturally, the two were cornered, and I had to swing the Master’s Blade relentlessly to help them.

Several strands of trajectories were embroidered in the air.

Some were the trajectories of the Master’s Blade, and some were the trajectories of scattered sword Qi.

Slice! Slice!

Cutting sounds echoed continuously, and a corpse that had been minced into dozens of pieces finally collapsed.

Senior Sister Baek Hyang’s eyes gleamed.

As if she had realized something, Senior Sister Baek Hyang began to perform a nimble sword dance.

Fast slashes were performed one after another, and the corpse in front of my Senior Sister also collapsed, minced into dozens of pieces.

It was possible to deal with the corpses, but it was a very inefficient method.

Because the consumption of internal energy and stamina was enormous.

Funnily enough, the one who was moving the most efficiently was Nam Geon.

“Gh, ghosts are scary!!”

Crack!

“G, go away!!”

Crack!

He screamed that he was scared and swung the Mother's Affection Sword wildly.

The upper body of the corpse hit by the Mother's Affection Sword literally exploded.

The swing radius of the brutally large greatsword—any corpses caught within it were horrifically crushed and torn apart.

The surprising thing was that some of the corpses whose bodies had burst by half or a third were still moving.

“It seems there’s a weak point somewhere other than the vital points, Senior Brother!”

Some disappeared as soon as they were ground away, and some were still moving even after half of their bodies had been blown away.

The problem was that the vital points were all over the place.

Some corpses disappeared when their upper bodies exploded, and some were still swinging their legs even after their upper bodies had been completely minced.

After struggling to find the weak points of the corpses for a while.

A curse naturally came out.

“Damn it.”

- Don’t harass me!!!

Once again, a few corpses were rising up, digging through the ground.

Moreover, there was a familiar face mixed in.

It was the corpse I had torn to shreds with the Master’s Blade earlier.

Perhaps the other corpses were also the ones my companions had dealt with.

At that moment, Nam Geon shouted urgently.

“I, I can’t see the bandit hyung-ah!”

Although it was a desolate place with an open view in all directions, Hwangbo Ak was nowhere to be seen.

To calm the companions who were about to be shaken, I shouted.

“He’s a madman, but his skills are useful, so don’t worry about him for now!”

He was the one who had escaped the Nine Dragons Fortress alone even after being framed as a traitor in his original future.

No matter how much of a trap it was, he wouldn't be defeated so easily.

- Let’s go with you!!

The moment I parried a pickaxe thrust by a corpse shouting from the front, an eerie feeling came, and a trajectory was embroidered in the air.

It was a strange trajectory.

There was no starting point.

The trajectory, which appeared as if a hole had been opened in the air, was heading towards my heart.

While deflecting the pickaxe with the Master’s Blade, I simultaneously released sword Qi to form a sword screen.

A small dagger that appeared late along the trajectory collided with the sword screen, and a metallic sound rang out.

Clang!

“The assassins have moved! Be careful of hidden weapons!”

“O, okay, hyung-ah!”

“I will be careful, Senior Brother!”

“Damn it! Do you think I’m not using hidden weapons because I don’t have any!”

The Tang Clan guy shouted in anger and threw a hidden weapon into the air.

Some of them were embedded in the corpses’ bodies, and some just cut through the air in vain and disappeared at some point.

It seemed he had thrown it out of irritation rather than having noticed something.

Soon, as if in response to the Tang Clan guy’s hidden weapon, hidden weapons flew in one after another from between the corpses.

“Damn it!!”

The Tang Clan guy brandished his iron fan diligently, blocking the hidden weapons, and Senior Sister Baek Hyang blocked or dodged them with her nimble movements and swordsmanship.

By now, Senior Sister Choyeon was sticking behind Nam Geon, using Nam Geon’s huge body as a shield.

At that, Nam Geon, who was terrified, shouted.

“I, I’ll protect you!!”

Come to think of it, it seemed Nam Geon had said something like that to Senior Sister Choyeon before.

To hide behind him if a dangerous situation arose.

It seemed he was struggling like that to keep the promise he had made then.

Although they had managed to endure the first attack, the situation was not going well.

- Dieeee!

The corpses that were screaming and rushing in from all directions. Moreover, because they were endless, no matter how many were killed, their attention was bound to be divided.

In the midst of all that, the hidden weapons that suddenly appeared from the air were very threatening.

The Tang Clan guy, whose forearm was cut by a hidden weapon, gritted his teeth and suppressed a groan.

“Kuhk…….”

Soon, the Tang Clan guy, who had noticed something, shouted in an irritated voice.

“Be careful. The hidden weapons are poisoned.”

At this rate, even if it wasn't poison, it seemed they would be taken down one by one by the hidden weapons.

I quickly asked Nam Geon.

“Nam Geon! How was the place where you were hit by the corpses?”

“I, it doesn't hurt!!”

“Not the pain! Did you feel anything when you were hit?”

“U, uh! It felt strange and cool! I, I think it’s a ghost!”

As expected. Although it was an illusion created by a shamanistic spell, it didn't seem to be completely fake.

Just by looking at Nam Geon’s state, it seemed so.

Because Nam Geon was used to fighting while being hit, his clothes were almost in tatters as he got entangled with the corpses.

It meant that we had to fight while being mindful of both the hidden weapons and the corpses.

“Phew.”

After letting out an irritated sigh, I flew my body continuously.

I swung the Master’s Blade relentlessly, cutting down the corpses, and when a trajectory was suddenly embroidered in the air, I formed a sword screen to protect my companions.

After a while of a life-and-death battle, the scenery I saw suddenly changed.

It wasn't that a change had occurred in the shamanistic spell. The change had come in my eyes.

A strange sight was reflected in my second eye, which had finally opened.

A crimson energy was flowing everywhere.

A crimson energy was also flowing in the bodies of the corpses rushing in from all directions, and a crimson energy was flowing even in the empty air.

Moreover, the crimson flow in the air and the crimson energy in the corpses’ bodies were connected. By a very small line that looked like a thread.

- Let’s return to hell together!!

A corpse rushed at me again, swinging a sickle.

Ignoring the appearance of the corpse visible to the eye, I only observed the flow of the crimson energy visible to my second eye.

Perhaps because I had dodged the crimson energy, the corpse’s sickle touched my body, but there was no wound.

This time, I swung the Master’s Blade at the corpse in reverse.

No. The crimson energy residing in the corpse and the flow of energy in the air.

The Master’s Blade advanced towards the very thin thread that connected the two energies.

The Master’s Blade touched the thread, but no cutting sound was heard.

Instead, the moment the sword Qi wrapped around the Master’s Blade and that flow of energy touched, a strange sensation was felt at my fingertips.

At the same time, the corpse that was swinging a sickle at me disappeared without a trace.