“Ooh!”
“Waaah!”
Dam Hyun’s eyes widened, and Gal Dong-tak exclaid in excitent.
However, Go Yo-ja, who looked like he might transform at any mont, didn’t do so.
“Please wait a mont!”
It didn’t seem like this transformation technique could be triggered just by burning a talisman and chanting a spell.
If the technique were that all-powerful, the world would’ve long been ruled by sorcerers or Taoist priests.
Go Yo-ja began with the expected preliminary steps.
First, he ran to the well, scooped up so water, and used it to wash his hair and clean his face thoroughly.
“Why do you need to do that?”
“If my face is dirty, wouldn’t it reduce the effect of the Mimicry Disguise Technique?”
He wasn’t wrong. If his face was covered in soot, it would be obvious even if he transford into soone else.
The na of the transformation technique seed to be Mimicry Disguise Technique.
Go Yo-ja loudly splashed around as he finished washing up with exaggerated sounds.
anwhile, Dam Hyun lit a fire and brought over a clean pot filled with water.
It was sothing Go Yo-ja had asked for.
“Please wait just a little longer. I need to fetch the herbs.”
From what they heard, the Mimicry Disguise Technique seed to lie sowhere between Mysterious Gates Escape Technique1 and dical techniques.
Apparently, various dicinal herbs were needed to make the bones more flexible and to rearrange facial muscles.
In Taoist sects that practiced external alchemy, there were often hidden storerooms for herbs.
Fortunately, even in Kunlun, one such underground herb storeroom remained.
Go Yo-ja, eyes bloodshot, retrieved the herbs and put them into the pot.
Dam Hyun, observing the whole process carefully, asked,
“What kind of ingredients are those?”
“That’s supposed to be a sect secret… No, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Go Yo-ja gave a bitter smile and explained the ingredients used for the Mimicry Disguise Technique.
“Dried green dragonflies and leeches, waterflow grass, powdered horn of the Black-hooved Horse—if you boil all this for a long ti, it turns into sothing like mud.”
Yi-gang tilted his head, the prescription sounding vaguely familiar.
And Go Yo-ja really did boil it for a very long ti.
Though it was midday when he started, he only announced it was done after the sun had completely set and darkness fell.
“…It’s ready. It’s done now.”
The group, who had dozed off, jolted awake and looked up.
The contents of the pot that Go Yo-ja had been stirring constantly had indeed turned into a grayish-brown mud.
But it gave off such a foul stench that it didn’t look drinkable at all.
“It’s not completely finished yet. A crucial catalyst is still needed.”
Go Yo-ja had been continuously infusing the pot with his Qi.
Perhaps because of that, his face had grown a bit pale as he approached Gal Dong-tak, who was seated in front of him.
“Let borrow a bit of your hair.”
“Uh, y-yes…”
Then, using a small blade, he snipped off a handful of Gal Dong-tak’s hair.
He boldly tossed it into the pot and stirred with a ladle.
“Ugh.”
Dam Hyun looked like he was about to vomit.
Yi-gang also wore a face as if he’d just bitten into an unripe persimmon.
“A-Are you going to drink that?”
“Of course. That’s how the effect becos stronger. It’s ready now.”
Go Yo-ja truly had a strong stomach.
Without so much as a grimace, he scooped the mud-like liquid into a clay bowl with a wooden ladle.
Then, after blowing on it, he gulped it down in one go.
“Ugh, mmph.”
Except, it didn’t seem easy to swallow.
“Urgh, ugh—quick, lend your clothes.”
Go Yo-ja even borrowed Gal Dong-tak’s outer robe, then looked at his face in a bronze mirror and began rubbing at it.
Strangely enough, his face began to morph as if it were made of clay.
Then, pure white steam began to rise.
Go Yo-ja quickly ford hand seals and chanted a spell.
“Surisuri mahasuri susuri sabaha!”
(修里修里 摩訶修里 洙修里 沙波訶)
Yi-gang couldn’t help but think, ‘Why is a Taoist chanting a mantra from the Sūtra of the Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara, not even being a monk?’
Thick white steam surged from Go Yo-ja’s entire body.
It was dense enough to completely obscure him.
Only after so ti had passed did Go Yo-ja’s new appearance co into view.
“Hoo, hoo… How do I look!”
Go Yo-ja’s voice was full of confidence.
But the faces of Yi-gang and Gal Dong-tak were twisted as if they had seen sothing horrifying.
“Don’t I look exactly the sa?”
“That’s… ?”
Gal Dong-tak’s pupils trembled violently.
That was understandable. Go Yo-ja’s appearance was indeed quite similar to Gal Dong-tak’s.
But there was one problem.
“Your mouth is crooked, though?”
Just as Yi-gang pointed out, Go Yo-ja’s mouth was twisted slightly to the left.
Not only that, but his nose was also a bit crooked.
“I-Is that so? Maybe if I just tilt my head a bit like this?”
When Go Yo-ja tilted his face to the left, his nose and mouth seed to return to place.
“I don’t think that’s going to fix it.”
You couldn’t just walk around with your face twisted all the ti.
There was also the issue of body shape.
Even if Go Yo-ja imitated Gal Dong-tak’s face, he couldn’t replicate his massive build.
In conclusion, Go Yo-ja didn’t look like Gal Dong-tak at all.
Yi-gang reconsidered the plan Go Yo-ja had proposed.
To infiltrate the Demon Cult using a transformation technique and rescue the disciples and Ha-jun…
“Rejected. It’s too crude. You’ll get caught imdiately.”
“What! If you just give a bit more ti, I can perfect the transformation…”
Just as Yi-gang was about to shake his head in firm rejection—
Dam Hyun, who had been silently observing until now, spoke up.
“No. I think it might work.”
“Don’t look at it like that. Of course it won’t work as-is.”
And with that, Dam Hyun began unpacking all the belongings he had and laid them out on the floor.
Acupuncture tools crafted from pure gold and silver. Various protective charms. Talismans, and more.
“May I try making so improvents?”
“Improvents…? The Mimicry Disguise Technique is extrely complex and delicate. You can’t tamper with it lightly…”
Go Yo-ja was skeptical, but Dam Hyun looked confident.
“Leave it to . I think I’ve figured sothing out.”
“You only watched it for a short ti. How much could you possibly know…”
Go Yo-ja didn’t seem convinced, but in the end, he agreed.
Dam Hyun enthusiastically imrsed himself in refining the Mimicry Disguise Technique.
There wasn’t much ti, so there was no room for leisure.
Yet with just five attempts over two days, Dam Hyun managed to dramatically enhance the technique.
Go Yo-ja, who had initially been doubtful, ended up shedding tears as he spoke.
“At this level… it really might work.”
It felt like sunlight was breaking into what had been a hopeless, solitary plan.
Cheongho was bored.
Like all creatures of his age, he was still in a playful phase.
That was true even for a great yokai.
Due to its nature, the Thunderbolt White Fox takes a long ti to mature. At just around two years old, Cheongho was still practically a baby.
Even though he could communicate telepathically, Cheongho didn’t speak much, simply because he was still too young.
It had been two days since Yi-gang’s group arrived at the Kunlun Sect.
During that ti, Cheongho had reached his limit with lying around, trying to endure his boredom.
The problem was, the strong, acrid sll in the area made it hard to even walk around.
As Cheongho gave a long, lazy yawn, his ears perked up.
He sensed soone’s presence.
Quickly rising to his feet, he saw Yi-gang approaching from afar.
While Dam Hyun and Go Yo-ja groaned in front of the pot, Yi-gang and Gal Dong-tak had been busy collecting and organizing the corpses in the area.
As Yi-gang, who had been out of sight, drew near, Cheongho’s two tails began swaying gently on their own.
Cheongho eagerly ran up to Yi-gang.
“So this is where you were.”
At those words from Yi-gang, Cheongho flopped over and exposed his belly.
That usually prompted Yi-gang to scratch it for him.
However, today’s Yi-gang didn’t do that.
“Wahahahaha!”
He picked up Cheongho in that position and rubbed his face into the fox’s fur while laughing.
“Kuhuhuhuhuhu!”
Yi-gang would never do sothing like this.
Even before he could think it through, Cheongho instinctively felt discomfort and released a bolt of electricity.
BZZZZZTTT!
The output was quite strong, but if it had been the real Yi-gang, he would have been perfectly fine.
However, the one imitating Yi-gang rolled his eyes back and trembled violently.
Cheongho quickly backed away.
“Guh… heh… kuhuhuhu.”
He shook, caught between laughter and sobbing—it was hard to tell.
And then, the face that had looked like Yi-gang’s collapsed completely.
Startled by the frightening transformation, Cheongho took off running.
As he watched Cheongho’s tail disappearing into the distance, Dam Hyun smacked his lips.
“If even Cheongho couldn’t tell, then it’s a complete success.”
The improved version of the Mimicry Disguise Technique.
Thanks to the efforts of Dam Hyun and Go Yo-ja, it had produced excellent results.
Once the clothes were changed too, there wasn’t a single unnatural aspect.
Go Yo-ja, who had been observing the situation from behind, finally let out a sigh of admiration.
“To think it could be improved this much in just two days…”
Dam Hyun looked completely different in his eyes now.
He had always known Dam Hyun was capable, but his eccentric personality had been more concerning than anything else.
But seeing him now, saying Dam Hyun was simply “talented” didn’t do him justice.
‘He’s either a genius… or insane.’
Or perhaps both.
Yi-gang too—how did only people like this end up gathered in Azure Forest?
“So what do we do now?”
Dam Hyun asked, gently touching the wound on his face.
They had acquired a way to mimic the appearance of the Demon Cultists.
“I was originally going to wait here alone… but now, I suppose there’s no need for that.”
In that case, only one course of action remained.
“We’ll ambush the Demon Cultists who are abducting commoners.”
Go Yo-ja’s eyes flared with vengeance.
And he wasn’t lying.
The Demon Cultists really were kidnapping prodigies and commoners from the Central Plains.
Such abductions were still taking place, centered around Qinghai.
In particular, the kidnapping of commoners with no martial arts skills weren’t the actions of proper martial artists.
They weren’t part of the Demon Surge Thousand Resolves Division, nor were they affiliated with any palace among the Hundred Thousand Demon Cultists. These were rogues, operating in small groups.
“Aaagh!”
“You wench!”
They had neither wealth nor status.
Perhaps because of that, they were even more brutal toward the weak.
A woman clung to a rogue cultivator dragging her child away and was slapped across the face.
Smack!
Even if they weren’t part of any official group, the rogues had still learned martial arts.
The woman lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
“This wench bit !”
The rogue wiped his bleeding forearm a few tis, then, unable to contain his anger, kicked the unconscious woman.
He kicked her again and again—there was no rcy.
This ti, the boy they had tied up began struggling.
Eventually, he broke free and charged at the rogue.
“You bastard!”
Murderous intent flashed in the rogue’s eyes.
Just as he grabbed his wolf-tooth saber—
“Stop!”
The rogue’s squad leader struck the charging youth on the back of the head and knocked him out.
Then he glared at the subordinate who had tried to draw his wolf-tooth saber.
“Hey, you bastard. We were just about to et our quota, and you’re trying to draw your sword?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Mount them up. You’re pissing off… Tch!”
The scolded rogue lifted the unconscious young man onto the horse.
The young man’s younger sister was already dangling from it, trembling.
The rogue tapped the crying girl’s cheek lightly.
“Don’t be scared now. If you sit tight and don’t scream, we won’t eat you. Heh heh.”
“Huuuh…”
The girl sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks from a mix of fear and anger.
That morning, Demon Cultists had raided the village where the siblings lived.
Several of the resisting adults were cut down instantly.
The rogues had rcilessly kidnapped the young and healthy.
There was nothing the girl or her brother could do.
All they could do was be taken quietly.
“It’s gonna be a pain if we have to travel to the base in silence…”
A rogue grumbled.
Relatively speaking, those who at least had horses were in a better situation.
With the high officials of High Spirit Palace sending the Demon Surge Thousand Resolves Division to the frontlines, abducting civilians like this was the task assigned to them.
Why that was the case, no one knew.
That boastful squad leader over there was just a low-ranking figure within the cult anyway.
It would take about two more days of travel from here to reach their designated base.
At that mont, the squad leader riding alone at the front brought his horse to a halt.
Not just the rogues behind him, but even the frightened young girl looked ahead.
“What the hell is this bastard?”
The squad leader’s voice was stiff with tension.
Standing before him was a pale, handso young man.
He was out of place in an area like this.
More like soone you’d see in the wealthy quarters of Hangzhou.
That made him dangerous.
A young swordsman wandering alone in a region where the Demon Cult was advancing…
“Are you the one in charge here?”
Sure enough, the young man spoke up without a hint of fear, even while standing alone.
The squad leader replied with a scowl on his face.
“…Yeah, you little shit.”
“Judging by the fact that you’re the only one on horseback, I suppose that makes you the leader. And that must be a kidnapped civilian…”
“Blocking the road like this must an you’ve got a death wish, huh?”
Though he growled, the squad leader secretly gave hand signals.
The rogues tensed and gripped their weapons.
Then the young man—Yi-gang—glanced over the rogues and muttered.
“Six of them… two aren’t necessary.”
“What kind of nonsense is that…?”
And then, a flash of light streaked past.
The young girl tied to the horse flinched in surprise.
Just monts ago, the rogue who had assaulted her mother was now clutching his own throat.
“Gkk…”
Blood bubbled from his mouth.
At the sa ti, another rogue beside him clutched the hole in his chest and collapsed.
By the ti the two rogues were corpses rolling across the ground, no one had understood what had just happened.
“Get off the horse, Demon Cultist.”
Yi-gang’s cold voice rang throughout the clearing.
TL/N: previously translated as Qin Dunjia ️
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