The procession of carts continued outside the castle of Murim Alliance.
Members of the sects, martial families, and the Alliance warriors dressed in special clothing were pulling carts containing corpses sealed with cloths and other things.
All of the carts headed toward a quarantine location.
The location also included an incinerator. All the objects and people that had come into contact with the poison were moved into isolation to prevent the poison from spreading.
Upon arrival at the quarantine facility, the head of the Tang family gave out an order.
“Take all the poisoned people and dead bodies into the chamber, and burn anything which came into contact with the poison.”
“Yes!”
Everyone there responded in unison. The number of corpses inside visibly exceeded thirty.
They were the warriors who died inside the basement.
“Take the arm.”
“Damn, this is so heavy.”
“Do not talk and just move.”
Since there was no need to use a stretcher to carry bodies into the room, the people there grabbed the corpses’ arms and legs to move them individually and save space.
As the bodies were moved into the quarantine chambers, the people could hear coughing from the corpses.
“Cough!”
“Uh?”
The infirmary members became shocked at this and approached them. They clearly heard something similar to a cough from the corpses.
“What is it?”
“I definitely heard a cough.”
“It was from this way.”
At that moment, a corpse that was soaked in blood jumped up in its place. Everyone there was shocked when they saw a dead body rise back up.
Because the corpse’s eyes looked alive.
“A-alive?”
“Right. I am alive.”
“…!?”
Papak!
“Kuak!”
“Ack!”
The infirmary members and Tang family warriors gathered around the body were killed instantly without knowing what had hit them.
It was a person of a diminutive height and dark red eyes.
It was Baek Hye-hyang.
‘Tch, they cannot even see me.’
She was a woman who had used the ghost resting technique to block her airways to appear as a corpse.
Urrr!
She could feel movement outside as she made her way out of the chambers. As she opened the door, she came face to face with the Tang family head and his warriors.
The Tang family head commented on this absurdity.
“Huh! So this was quite well planned! To act like a corpse.”
Who would have thought of this?
He had been the person who said he would accompany the procession here as he checked all of the poisons in the corpses.
‘We have completed all the body verification, so that means that this is a mask.’
But still, it was too late to realize it now. She looked elsewhere as if she didn’t care about the warriors cornering her.
“The sword?”
“Over here.”
Swish!
Something had flown over their heads and landed in Baek Hye-hyang’s hand.
“What?”
The Tang family head looked behind him and saw a member of the infirmary team with their face covered standing next to the cart. He had been holding the Blood Demon Sword.
“Shit!”
The person he thought was a member of the infirmary was a spy! Looking back to the front, Baek Hye-hyang was now holding a sword with a talisman attached to it.
‘Was everything checked?’
They had been the ones who had taken off the talismans to check the swords. However, when he looked closely at the talisman attached to the sheath of the sword in Baek Hye-hyang’s hand…
‘It is the real one!’
He wasn’t sure how she had managed to get the right sword. Nevertheless, she was now holding it in her hand, and the Tang family head shouted.
“Catch him! Do not let that sword go!”
“So late.”
Baek Hye-hyang pulled the sword from the sheath, tearing the talisman that had been sealing it up.
It was a silver sword with a unique pattern on its surface.
‘!?’
Baek Hye-hyang frowned.
The Tang family head, who was nervous, pulled out his sword and said.
“Stupid thing. You brought in a fake one.”
Anyone who was at the battle would remember it.
The appearance of the Blood Demon Sword was a sword that was as red as blood.
It had taken the lives of hundreds of people.
At that moment, she touched the sword’s tip with her index and middle finger.
“You are the ones making a mistake.”
“What?”
“The reason that the Blood Demon Sword doesn’t look bloody right now is because red isn’t the sword’s original color.”
As she said that, an intense killing intent flowed from Baek Hye-hyang.
Creepy!
‘W-what kind of energy…’
The red haze began to rise from her shoulder. A surprising thing happened as she swiped the blade with her fingers.
The silver blade was stained with blood, shocking the Tang family head.
“B-Blood Demon Sword!”
Inside the castle of the Murim Alliance.
In the southeast of the complex, not far from where all the work was happening.
It was an area between the main and military buildings that held the infirmary.
A person hurriedly ran into a room inside that place. It was Zhuge Won-myung.
He was also followed by two groups that included his escort.
Zhuge Won-myung’s expression wasn’t relaxed.
“Are you serious?”
He asked as he headed to the room.
“Yes, they said people came out from the basement with swords with talismans on them.”
“How much did they notice to do all that?”
The reason why Zhuge Won-myung was so serious was simple. It was because the real Blood Demon Sword was also hidden in the basement space under the material rooms.
He knew that there would inevitably come a situation where the Blood Demon Sword could be stolen, so he decided to hide it in a place that no one would think of. It was a place that only he knew about.
‘But how did that sword end up leaving the basement?’
He was the only one who knew where the sword was hidden.
He didn’t even tell his own escorts about it.
‘If the sword gets taken away this easily, it will remain an eternal shame for the Alliance.’
Zhuge Won-myung entered the infirmary room where all the medicine and books were scored.
The escort warriors looked at Zhuge Won-myung with puzzled eyes as he opened a chest that should contain medicinal herbs. He then pulled out a couple of books from inside.
And then came a shocking sight.
Kukuku!
The room suddenly felt wider as a door appeared between the bookshelf and the medicine chest.
‘Hidden passage!’
The guards were shocked.
This was the skill of Zhuge Won-myung, renowned as the best in strategy and defense formations.
“Wait here.”
Zhuge Won-myung opened the door and entered.
After fumbling through the dark room, he found a candle wick and lit it up to light the room.
Inside this secret place was a long wooden box which he opened in a hurry.
‘…!’
Zhuge Won-myung frowned. The sword with talismans attached was right there.
‘It is here.’
He had been worried that the sword was stolen, but that didn’t seem to be the case. At that moment, he heard a thumping sound from behind him.
‘What is it?’
As he closed the chest and turned around…
“Kuak!”
Someone stabbed him right through the stomach. It happened so quickly that he didn’t even have the time to react to it. There, under the flickering light of the lamp…
“No, Man Wang…”
It was his escort, Man Wang!
Zhuge Won-myung was shocked but immediately attacked Man Wang’s chest. Thanks to this, the sword was pulled back, and his stomach was stained with blood.
“Kuak.”
Zhuge Won-myung groaned in pain and, without missing this chance, Man Wang moved and kicked him in the face and chest.
“Kuak!”
Zhuge Won-myung hit the wall, and his body slowly slid down it.
With his upper body leaning back against the wall, he struggled to say.
“Why are you?”
Man Wang was a warrior who had spent twenty years beside him. He had a clean background and had no affiliation with any sects.
So his betrayal was a shock.
Man Wang opened the chest.
“So it was here.”
Man Wang tilted his head and lifted it up. He ripped the talismans around the sword and gently pulled it out.
Srng!
The sword was only slightly pulled out. Talismans were still attached to the sheath.
“The difference between the fake and real thing.”
The fakes didn’t have talismans on the sword’s blade. Meanwhile, the real one also had talismans on the blade to suppress its evil energy.
“Kuak!”
However, he felt dizziness overcome him after only unsheathing it by a couple of inches.
Man Wang, who felt the dark energy and felt the hair on his body rise, pushed it back into the sheath.
‘As expected of a demon sword.’
He now understood why the blade shouldn’t be unsheathed. It was not a lie that this sword would eat away at a person’s mind.
Zhuge Won-myung’s words then filled his ears.
“… who made you do this? It cannot be the Blood Sect.”
“Why do you think so?”
“If the Blood Sect knew the sword was here, they wouldn’t have used explosives in the stadium.”
“As insightful as ever, Commander Zhuge.”
Man Wang slowly approached him with a bright face and pressed his foot into the old man’s stomach.
“Kuaaak!”
“Guess with that clever brain.”
“Ugh… why are you doing this?”
“Again, you look so weak now. Your status makes no sense. Wouldn’t it be nice if you looked around carefully at the things happening around you?”
“How?”
“Someone had been by your side for 20 years, and all you used them for was as an escort while you kept rising higher. You wouldn’t even look at other humans unless they had a famous title or name.”
Zhuge Won-myung understood the anger in that voice. It wasn’t an anger that had only recently built up.
He let out a bitter chuckle.
“I have been waiting so long for this day to come. This moment of shock and anguish on the face of the man who pretends to be smart and knows the whole world.”
Puak!
“Kuak!”
Man Wang kicked Zhuge Won-myung with his foot. He truly enjoyed seeing this man suffer.
Man Wang waved the Blood Demon Sword in his hand and said.
“If this disappears, your Murim Alliance’s prestige will no longer make sense. To re-establish the name, you will have to fight with the Blood Sect again. All of this is thanks to you. But this time, I wonder how well you can fight against them, considering the soldiers who once helped you in the past no longer want to fight with you.”
At his words, Zhuge Won-myung glared at him and said.
“… you really think people won’t unite after this?”
Man Wang chucked as if saying yes.
“If I had decided to follow the Double Martial forces and not you in the past, I would have gotten to a higher position without having to wipe the asses of these fucking people.”
“How… ah. I see.”
“Knowing that isn’t going to change your destiny now.”
Zhuge Won-myung groaned.
“Don’t you want to know why I never made you more than just an escort?”
“…?”
“First, your growth has been good. Secondly, what kind of person with such growth and skill would decide to stay all this time silently?”
“Till the very end, trying to have the upper hand!”
Man Wang was enraged by his words and stomped harder. His intestines must be crushed inside him, but Zhuge Won-myung continued.
“Third!”
“What?”
“I do not trust anyone.”
‘…!?’
Papapak!
“Kuak!”
At that moment, something sharp pierced Man Wang’s stomach, making him stagger back in pain.
Zhuge Won-myung held something like a cylinder in his hand.
“T-this…?”
“This is something that is held by a warrior of the Tang Family.”
Poison.
It was a small weapon developed by the Tang Family that contained gunpowder within a vial and could launch like a cannon.
“How long can you live without cultivation after the poison hits?”
Shhh!
Zhuge Won-myung aimed the cylinder at Man Wang’s hand.
“Damn it!”
Shocked by this unexpected resistance, Man Wang moved back and covered his face with the Demon Dragon Sword’s sheath.
He was clearly afraid of the threat of poison, which gave Zhuge Won-myung time to breathe.
‘Idiot… if such a thing could happen, then the entire working of Murim would have changed.’
It was simply a one-shot dagger launcher that used gunpowder. It was used to deceive the opponent.
A rumbling sound then came from outside.
And someone entered the secret room.
“You!”
It was So Wonhui.
In his hand was the Demon Dragon Sword that Man Wang had fled with.
Seeing this, Zhuge Won-myung couldn’t help but smile.
It was because there was no reason for So Wonhui to be here.
“I was hoping it wasn’t…”
Puak!
“Kuak!”
Before he could finish his words, So Wonhui’s hand went to Zhuge Won-myung’s throat. His sword then pierced his neck as if there was no other way that he could live.
[Sorry. This is the most annoying thing.]
‘…!!’
So Wonhui left the room without any regrets.
With a distorted face, Zhuge Won-myung looked down at the sword that was stuck in his neck. It was Man Wang’s sword.
Now everyone would think that his own escort had committed the betrayal. A final thought entered his mind as his consciousness began to fade.
‘… as expected… I wasn’t wrong.’
There was no more room to doubt.
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