"Keok, keok."
Tang Yuhwa retched repeatedly at the foreign sensation coming down her throat.
But the something that had entered her throat continued to dig deeper into her throat.
Tang Yuhwa quickly put her finger into her throat, scraped, and tried to vomit.
"Ugh, uweeeek."
But only retching came out.
The something that had dug into her throat, far from being pushed out, dug even deeper inside.
And so, the something that had passed her throat and reached her stomach.
"Kkeuk. Kkeuk..."
It squirmed like crazy, as if it would pierce a hole in her stomach.
Tang Yuhwa's mind was hazy from the dizzying pain.
As a result, the internal energy she had been unconsciously controlling began to run wild.
Sizzzzle.
The internal energy mixed with her unique poison flowed out around Tang Yuhwa, and the floor began to melt.
The change was not only external.
The poison began to spread inside as well.
Her internal organs, especially her stomach, were the same.
As poison filled Tang Yuhwa's stomach, the something that had invaded it began to go crazy.
Although it was not visible, she could tell that it was writhing in pain.
In the end, that something escaped Tang Yuhwa's stomach, quickly crawled out through her throat, and.
"Weeeek."
It popped out of Tang Yuhwa's mouth.
Tang Yuhwa, who had confirmed what had popped out with eyes full of tears from the nausea, immediately took out a needle from her bosom and pierced it.
-Kieeeek!
Pierced by the needle, it squirmed like crazy but could not escape.
"Hah, hah."
Tang Yuhwa caught her breath, organized her breathing, and then observed the thing squirming on the floor.
It had a body that resembled a silkworm, but it had the legs of a centipede.
The thing, smaller than a joint of a little finger, had an appearance suitable to be called a bug.
'What is this? Could this be the main body of the jiangshi?'
Tang Yuhwa covered her mouth with a cloth and examined the parts other than the heart.
There were no bugs in the other places.
'Does the bug in the heart become the main body of the jiangshi?'
Tang Yuhwa quickly dissected another jiangshi.
Since she had been through it once, this time she carefully separated the heart.
-Kieeeek!!
She caught the bug.
'It's certain that this bug is having an effect.'
After analyzing the bug by flowing her vital energy into it, Tang Yuhwa did not dissect the other jiangshi but just looked inside with her vital energy.
'Now that I know the structure of the bug, I can feel the bug in the heart that I couldn't feel until just now.'
Without exception, every jiangshi had a bug in its heart.
Bugs that were so secretly hidden that if one did not know of their existence, they could not be caught with vital energy.
Tang Yuhwa compared the jiangshi whose activity had completely stopped with the jiangshi that was still active because it had only been neutralized and observed the characteristics of the bug.
'The bug of the active jiangshi is almost assimilated with the heart, and the bug of the jiangshi whose activity has stopped is slowly separating from the heart.'
Tang Yuhwa mobilized all her mental energy and observed the bug.
'This bug, it parasitizes the heart, to be precise, the middle dantian, and eats up all the energy, including internal energy.'
Tang Yuhwa was lucky.
Since her internal energy itself was a deadly poison, the bug could not endure it and had come out of her body.
While Tang Yuhwa was contemplating the jiangshi and the bug.
"It's time for the members' regular check-up."
At the sound from outside the carriage, she took her eyes off the bug and turned her head.
Tang Yuhwa was periodically checking the health of the members.
Because solving their condition was also something Baek Sowol had requested.
"Just a moment."
Tang Yuhwa organized her surroundings appropriately and stored the bug in a tightly sealed container.
Then she went out of the carriage.
"Then please line up in order like last time."
At Tang Yuhwa's words, Baek Sowol's subordinates lined up.
Tang Yuhwa grabbed the wrist of the man at the front and infused her vital energy.
And.
'This is?'
Tang Yuhwa could feel the afterimage of the being she had been observing until just now from the man.
Martial Alliance.
In the alliance leader's private training ground, Namgung Jehyun was sitting with his eyes closed, operating his cultivation method.
Around him were five pieces of a stone tablet, and an unusual energy was swirling around the stone tablet and him.
A moment later, all that energy began to be sucked into Namgung Jehyun's body.
Tuduk.
A moment later, dead skin cells formed all over his body and then fell off.
His graying hair fell out, and black hair began to grow.
The body of Namgung Jehyun, who had been a middle-aged man, changed into the appearance of a young man who had just entered his twenties.
"Phew..."
After the change in his body was over, Namgung Jehyun quietly opened his eyes and organized his breathing.
Although his eyes were hazy, they looked endlessly deep and clear.
"Have you surpassed it?"
Sima Woon, who had confirmed that Namgung Jehyun had come to his senses, approached his side.
"It seems I have stepped into a realm beyond the transcendent."
At Sima Woon's question, Namgung Jehyun quietly muttered.
As soon as the answer came back, Sima Woon politely bowed his waist towards Namgung Jehyun.
"Congratulations on achieving a great feat that no martial artist has achieved."
"That was not the case."
At Sima Woon's words, Namgung Jehyun shook his head.
The path of martial arts he had just seen.
It was certain that beyond the transcendent, there were countless footsteps of someone.
Besides that, it was proof that someone had already walked the path beyond the transcendent.
'Who on earth is it?'
Feeling a question, Namgung Jehyun looked around.
Although he had barely surpassed it with the help of the pieces of the divine object left by the Marquis of Wu, numerous spirit medicines, and the bug that Sima Woon had researched.
The footsteps beyond the transcendent were leisurely moving forward as if to laugh at him.
"Do you mean there is a person who has already gone beyond the transcendent?"
"That's right."
"Hah, who on earth..."
Sima Woon's expression became serious again.
"I have risen with the help of a divine object and all sorts of spirit medicines."
Even though Namgung Jehyun had stepped into a new realm, his expression was not particularly bright.
And so, a silence fell.
"Come to think of it, it's possible. But there's no law that such a person is a person of this era, is there?"
It was Sima Woon who broke that silence.
"Indeed. That could be the case."
"On top of that, Alliance Leader, you did not just normally surpass the transcendent, did you?"
Saying so, Sima Woon took out a transparent jar from his bosom.
Inside, a silkworm-like bug with numerous centipede legs was squirming.
Seeing that, Namgung Jehyun frowned.
"That is unpleasant no matter when I see it."
"Well, since you have also seen the failures, Alliance Leader, I understand."
Sima Woon quietly stroked the jar.
"But what was used on you, Alliance Leader, was a success."
The bugs inside the jar were busy eating each other.
"A one-of-a-kind success."
Sima Woon looked at such bugs with an affectionate gaze.
"The path that a one-of-a-kind martial artist will walk."
As a result of the bugs eating each other, only one bug remained in the jar.
After confirming the progress in the jar, Sima Woon turned his gaze to Namgung Jehyun.
"Now that you have surpassed the transcendent, Alliance Leader, has not the time come to execute the grand plan?"
Namgung Jehyun, whose eyes met Sima Woon's, gritted his teeth and shut his mouth for a moment.
Namgung Jehyun, who had been in deep thought about something, opened his mouth as if his worries were over.
"The time has come. Gather the army."
In his eyes, the deep and clear feeling from before was gone, and madness flashed.
"Now we will destroy Shaolin."
At Namgung Jehyun's command, Sima Woon bowed his waist deeply with courtesy.
"I will receive your command."
And so, after a few days had passed, numerous martial artists of the Martial Alliance and Namgung Jehyun moved towards Shaolin.
A few days after the Martial Alliance's army had departed for Shaolin, at the Chokhan Sect in Shaanxi.
There, Zhuge Hyun was receiving information from one of his adopted sons.
"Namgung Jehyun, that heavy-bottomed human has finally moved."
Zhuge Hyun sat crookedly and fanned his white feather fan.
"The movement of the Kunlun Mountains?"
"Although the check on Jeomchang failed due to a mysterious attack, fortunately, there seems to be no particular movement."
"Hmm."
Zhuge Hyun quietly stroked his beard and fell into thought.
"A mysterious force... as expected, is it them?"
"If it's an unidentified force, isn't there a high probability that it is?"
Zhuge Hyun thought about them.
Around the time he had entered Shaanxi and was proceeding with his work, he had been able to notice that there was a force moving the Central Plains from behind, besides himself.
The purpose of that force was unknown.
However, he could tell that it was a force that could not be ignored.
"For now, let's discuss the unknown force later."
Zhuge Hyun decided to focus on the immediate problem rather than the unknown force for now.
"Although the picture doesn't fit perfectly, it's somewhat as expected. We will also move according to the plan."
At Zhuge Hyun's words, the face of the adopted son who was reporting brightened.
"Are we finally executing it?"
It was a face that, far from brightening, seemed as if it would rush out right away.
"Then should we raise the flag of the Chokhan Sect?"
"No."
Zhuge Hyun's lips curled up crookedly.
"Raise the flag of the Zhuge family clan."
"Ooooooh!! I understand! Head of the family!"
That day, in that place, the flag of the Chokhan Sect was lowered, and the flag of the Zhuge family clan was raised.
Near Sichuan.
Zhuge Uhyeon and Zhang Sanfeng had joined Hong Yungae and Zhuge Hwaryeong's party.
And so, an expedition to find Baek Yoonjun was formed.
"Senior brother, so where are we going?"
They hit their first snag.
No one present had decided where to go.
And for some reason, everyone's gaze was directed at Hong Yungae.
'Are they telling me to decide?'
Although that gaze was very burdensome for Hong Yungae, for some reason, he felt his shoulders straighten.
'I have the right to decide!'
Hong Yungae felt his back straighten.
Confidence filled his chest, and he felt good.
'Hmm, but where should we really go?'
But just because he felt good didn't mean a method would appear.
Hong Yungae's mind was spinning.
'If I ask someone else, won't the current gazes be dispersed?'
Asking others for their opinion and having the gazes that were solely on him be dispersed was somehow not to his liking.
'Think, Hong Yungae. You can do it.'
In Hong Yungae's mind, which was spinning, a piece of information came to mind.
'Come to think of it, a monk-like person from Shaolin was going around asking for various rumors.'
Hong Yungae recalled the monk from Shaolin he had encountered while helping the beggars.
'Shaolin...'
Hong Yungae recalled the longing for martial arts he had had since before he had met Baek Yoonjun.
'At that time, I also had a dream of entering Shaolin.'
Thinking so, heading for Shaolin seemed somewhat reasonable.
'Since the monks of Shaolin seem to be gathering information, if I'm lucky, I might be able to hear about the whereabouts of Master or my second senior sister.'
Having half made up his mind, Hong Yungae opened his mouth.
"We are going to Shaolin."
"May I ask why you have made such a decision, Junior Hong?"
At Zhang Sanfeng's question, Hong Yungae stated the reason without any hesitation.
"I saw the monks of Shaolin gathering information. If we go to their main base, might there not be some useful information?"
Of course, he did not bring up the fact that he was going because he wanted to.
"That's certainly true."
"For a senior brother, it seems like a good idea."
Fortunately, the party agreed with Hong Yungae's words.
And so, Hong Yungae's party headed for Shaolin.
Baek Sowol was led by Tang Yuhwa's hand and entered the carriage.
"Why did you call me?"
Instead of answering, Tang Yuhwa showed her the bug pierced by a needle.
As soon as Baek Sowol saw the bug, she frowned as if she had seen something she shouldn't have.
"What? What is this disgusting thing?"
"A bug that was parasitizing the heart of a jiangshi."
"This is?"
Baek Sowol unconsciously reached out her hand towards the bug.
"You can't touch it."
Tang Yuhwa stopped Baek Sowol's hand.
"If you take it out of the heart, it will rush at another person. I was almost parasitized too."
"What? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. More importantly, I have something important to say."
"What is it?"
As Baek Sowol asked, Tang Yuhwa quietly pointed outside the carriage.
"The same thing is in the hearts of your subordinates."
"What?"
As Baek Sowol asked back in surprise, Tang Yuhwa pointed at the bug again.
"This bug."
She pointed outside again.
"Is in the hearts of your subordinates."
Baek Sowol was at a loss for words.
As she was silent, Tang Yuhwa pointed at the bug with her finger again.
"This bug."
"No, I heard you. Stop."
Restraining Tang Yuhwa, who seemed about to explain again, Baek Sowol wrapped her head.
(End of Chapter)
Reviews
All reviews (0)