〈 Geumo Island (2) 〉
Shaolin Temple after the demon cultists retreated.
“Wounded people, come this way!”
“Amitabha Buddha… may you be reborn in paradise…”
Of course, it was the Shaolin Temple that suffered the most damage from this incident.
Not only did the monks who were trying to defend the grounds suffer great damage, but there were also a number of monks who were caught up in the process and suffered harm.
In addition, wasn’t the grandson, Joo Kang-in, who was entrusted here, kidnapped by the demonic cultists?
Therefore, the leaders of Shaolin Temple were busy holding meetings over and over again.
‘Of course, the Murim Alliance meeting will also be canceled. They’ll probably all go back to where they came after properly picking up the injured.’
While everyone was busy sorting out the chaos, someone approached Hugo, who was lost in his thoughts alone.
“Hey, Prince, you are here.”
It was Namgung Soran, a woman belonging to the Namgung family who had roughly wiped away the blood and dust and had her clothes as neat as possible.
She carefully approached his side, took a deep breath, and then bowed her waist.
“I was late in greeting you because I was in a hurry. Thank you for your life-saving grace. “If Confucius had not helped me, I would no longer be a person of this world.”
Instead of the bright appearance I had seen so far, his tone became much calmer.
Well, this incident must have been quite a shock to her, who had grown up beautifully as a flower in a greenhouse, as countless people who were around her had died not long ago.
“you’re welcome. “Of course it has to be done.”
Hugo also politely responded to her gratitude with humble words.
And after talking with her for a while, people started to gather one by one to where they were.
They have one thing in common.
They were all people who received help from Hugo, no matter how big or small.
“Thank you again, Eunkong.”
“Wow, it was really great back then. “At that moment, I thought a kidney from heaven had come down!”
“I wore a life jacket. “If there is anything you need my help with in the future, please contact me at any time.”
Unlike others, Hugo, who was not affected by the strange methods of the magicians, was able to show steady performance without any fluctuations in his abilities, and this was of considerable help to the later exponents around him, who were mostly top-notch.
Didn’t he even later reach the pinnacle of excellence and perform very well across the battlefield?
Because of that situation, it wasn’t long before people with different intentions began to approach Hugo.
“So, Sohyeop, are you going to go to the Zhuge family again?”
“I would like to return the favor and invite Eun-gong to my family…”
In a way, this was a development that had been predicted in advance.
Hugo… So, Ha Seung-hoon is a genius who reached the pinnacle of excellence when he was only in his early twenties.
In this era where military power is valued above all else, it was natural that people flocking to him who wanted to establish a friendship with such a talented person in advance.
Moreover, didn’t he say that he was just staying at the Zhuge family as a guest due to some connection and was not officially affiliated with any power?
Then, if only they could somehow attract him to their side….
The eyes of the later indexes who approached with that mindset sparkled.
If we could take him with us, it would be of great help in consolidating our position within the force.
In particular, such signs appeared more strongly in some women.
‘What if we catch that guy?’
‘My brother’s succession competition may be helpful. Then to me too…’
His abilities were excellent, his character shown in extreme situations was excellent, and his appearance was also very respectable.
At the same time, since he didn’t have any special connections, there was no better condition than this from his son-in-law’s perspective.
As a strange atmosphere was forming among the women who had such thoughts, Namgung So-ran slowly stepped forward and got closer to Hugo.
As if to block the women’s gaze towards him.
While silent checks were going on among some people, various conversations began to take place among the late-stage indexes gathered around.
“Anyway, I’m worried. “The revival of the Demonic Cult… Isn’t this the end?”
“Wouldn’t you say so? Rather, we should see it as just the beginning. “There shouldn’t be any major damage.”
“These are the guys who even attacked the meeting held at the Shaolin Temple. “I wonder how much we have prepared so far… I’m worried that the world will fall into chaos.”
And most of the topics that naturally flowed were about the Demonic Cult, the subject of this attack.
These people all express concern about the coming tribulation.
Of course, that was a completely natural reaction, but…
‘Oh, that’s already over.’
Hugo, who was the only one who knew the truth, smiled awkwardly.
He kept his mouth shut while others were seriously discussing measures.
How can we reveal this in the current situation?
It is said that the leader of the Demonic Cult, who had just begun his activities after breaking his long silence, became a guest of immortality before he could even return after the first attack.
‘Well, for the time being, everyone will be careful and activities will be reduced… but it won’t matter because it will get better after a while.’
As a result, as soon as a crisis occurred, the culprit was eliminated without anyone knowing, and peace came to the world.
Of course, the leaders of each force would be upset because they did not know what the devil’s plans were, but it would still be much better than if something really happened.
‘Rather than that—that’s not what’s important right now.’
Hugo’s somewhat relaxed expression became serious.
In the process of organizing the information obtained through Cheonma, I vaguely learned something about their plan.
‘Based on that, we need to decide on a route on how to move forward. First of all, I want to make contact with Geumodo.’
It was all because of them that the Demonic Cult, which had been silent for a long time after the bloody death of the imperial palace, finally began its activities in earnest.
Of course, they did not come to the forefront, but they were active in the shadows, working secretly in the darkness of each region or absorbing other dark forces such as blood cults.
‘I also need more information about the dragon child.’
Hwangson Joo Kang-in, a sickly young man who was referred to the Shaolin Temple due to symptoms of unknown origin.
In fact, the biggest purpose of the Demonic Cult’s attack on this place was to secure him.
Aiming to overthrow the martial faction of the political faction on the day of the meeting was merely an act of convenience in the process.
‘The Dragon’s Child and the Pearl River…’
And he knew another person who had the same symptoms as Hwangson.
‘Jegalhyemi.’
…I felt like I had to go back to the Zhuge family first.
ASAP.
***
The fact that Hans stepped forward and quickly killed the Heavenly Demon was a bigger event than expected.
In terms of a game, the final boss that appeared briefly as an event in the tutorial was hunted down using cheat keys.
It may have been dirty and unfair from Cheonma’s point of view, but from this point of view, it was a great development that could not have been more efficient.
However, despite capturing the enemy’s leader, there was not much information he could immediately obtain.
‘There are limits to how much you can manipulate the mind of a master as big as Hyeon-kyung.’
Because of that, wasn’t all he could do in the past to plunge into the abyss into the spirit and body of the Heavenly Demon Emperor and rescue some fragmentary memories?
However, since Cheonma was a higher level expert than him, there was no need to talk about its difficulty level.
Of course, compared to then, Hans has grown even more, and more than anything, the ‘spirit bead’ that assists mental abilities has been added, so there may have been some potential…
‘Anyway, that guy from Buncheonhoeju is not helpful in any way.’
This time, he was unable to use his full strength because the divine power within the Heavenly Demon’s body prevented him from delving into his mind carelessly.
Even though Hans has gained some resistance to the divine power of Buncheonhoeju, there is a limit to that.
In the first place, the resistance was only a matter of slightly reducing external damage, so it was not of much help in such a delicate task.
‘Still, it’s a shame because the harvest isn’t zero.’
After much trouble, I was able to obtain some information.
One of them was that Cheonma was not simply a subordinate of the Buncheonhoe, but was a settler from Earth that had been arranged for a long time ago.
‘And for at least several decades. In the beginning, I used my unique skills to establish myself, and later I mainly trained martial arts to prepare for the situation after the system’s assistance disappeared.’
The process involved was so systematic that one can be impressed even when looking at only fragmentary information.
I could clearly understand why there were so many strong people in the Buncheonhoe.
Hans shook his head and clicked his tongue.
‘It’s like… the organization is supporting and nurturing scholarship students. If you include other worlds, how many more cases like this will there be?’
Since the investment was made by selecting people with the right talent from the beginning, there is no other expression that would be as appropriate.
Another thing I was able to learn was the importance of the ‘Dragon Child’.
From the moment I became suspicious of their symptoms, I suspected that something was out of the ordinary, but the results I obtained roughly through Cheonma far exceeded my expectations.
After all, they are people who have a direct connection with the gods of this world. How awesome is this?
‘…Well, even if the god of this town is a laissez-faire type, he can’t stand still when the world becomes like this.’
They were beings arranged by the main god of this world’s Ganghwa world.
A seed of hope born to restore this world that has been torn apart by the dragon’s heart, the source of mystery.
Although he could not find out the details because there was only so much he could find out from the Cheonma right now, Hans did not care much about such trivial matters.
“Hehehe, shall we go right away then?”
You can hear the latter part from other people who know.
“We can start from their base first.”
It was a case that was a clue to the restoration of Kang Hwan-gye, for which various methods had been sought.
The people who made the world this way couldn’t have kidnapped them for no reason, so they needed to act quickly before they did any more nonsense.
‘In the meantime, we also retrieved the kidnapped Joo Kang-in.’
I had no intention of going out and looking for the kidnappers who were moving in secret.
If you just wait quietly at the final destination, they will crawl in one by one on their own, so why bother wasting time like that?
‘I’m not sure of the coordinates… but I know roughly where it is. If you search the area, it will come out on its own.’
In addition, the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Church is the largest evil headquarters in the Ganghwa world, so there will be enough materials to make the highest quality Gangshi.
Of course, there are countless craftsmen with relevant knowledge.
“Huh, killing two birds with one stone.”
Hans, with a strange smile twisting the corners of his mouth, slowly rose from his seat.
Then, I turned and measured the angle and distance to where I needed to go.
Wedge—!
With a sharp noise that seemed to cut the air, his body shot forward across the sky.
In that subspace, there is the body of the person who was the strongest person in the world until recently.
***
Yongzhong Mountain, where the Zhuge family is located.
A huge man appeared at the mouth of the mountain.
“Tsk, is it already too late?”
The man, Gwangma Harley, glanced around and lightly clicked his tongue.
Although they flew in hastily using the “Hero’s Footsteps,” the messed up area indicated that a storm had already passed here.
Trees and rocks scattered everywhere, including scars from weapons left all over the remains of the forest.
Numerous formations that had been installed in several layers, starting from the beginning of the mountain to the center where Zhuge family’s family was located…
‘They were all destroyed.’
Harley’s eyes narrowed.
His steps, which had been slowly moving forward, became faster and faster.
A familiar smell that I had smelled not long ago came in through the burnt smell coming from all over the forest.
‘The smell of blood.’
And the smell of death mixed with despair, grief, and bitterness.
Harley climbed up a peak and looked in the direction of the Zhuge family’s headquarters.
‘The survivors… are not that few. It looks like they managed to defeat it somehow.’
I could feel the bustling energy of familiar people inside the building.
Although it seemed like they had suffered a lot of damage, they seemed to have somehow succeeded in repelling the intruders, as they are specialized in defense.
‘But I can’t detect Zhuge Hyemi’s presence. Are they hiding in another formation inside? Either that…’
…or the attackers achieved their goal and meekly retreated.
Even with such doubts in mind, Harley did not approach hastily and looked around with keen eyes like a hunter.
Now, they are in a very sensitive state due to the sudden attack.
In the current situation, if Harley, a stranger with a very unique appearance, barged in, it would only end up tiring them out.
‘hmm?’
Sniff—
Meanwhile, Harley’s sensitive sense of smell detected a subtle sense of strangeness.
Something hidden in the smell of the battlefield where all kinds of emotional residue are mixed together.
As soon as he sensed it, his body moved like a thunderbolt.
After covering several kilometers in an instant, his grip dug into some bushes
.
Clink!
“Huh?!”
With the sound of something breaking, a middle-aged man wearing an old uniform was dragged out from inside, grabbed by the collar.
And the corners of Harley’s mouth were torn apart, revealing vicious teeth like saw blades.
“What are you? Why were you hiding here? Is it related to the guys who attacked here?
“What about you?”
“Hmm, I’m late in answering. After all, it would be easier to just rip off one arm and start a conversation.”
“Now, just wait a moment!”
Hearing the hot-tempered Harley mutter coldly, the pale-faced monk opened his mouth, repeatedly waving his hands.
“I think there’s some misunderstanding! I belong to the Mosan faction… so I belong to Geumodo! yes! It has nothing to do with the devils! “In fact, you could say they are enemies!”
“ok? Geumodo?”
“Uh… it looks like that person is not a member of Geumo Island. Still, aren’t we compatriots? Let’s leave this aside and talk calmly…”
Harley momentarily paused at the sudden feast of unexpected words.
Perhaps thinking that this was a positive response, the monk who was being held by the collar breathed a sigh of relief and spoke again.
“Huu, I am said to be a blue official under the former Blue Dragon. “I was just about to report to my superiors when I went out on a mission and witnessed an incident that occurred at the Zhuge family…”
Judging from the fact that he gave special emphasis to the word ‘blue dragon’ in the middle of his speech, he must have been a very trustworthy ally. It was.
Even so, this person who didn’t know anything wasn’t impressed at all.
Harley looked strangely at the middle-aged Taoist who was being held by his collar.
‘They are of the same race… This is very sophisticated.’
Now that I think about it, the smell coming from this Taoist monk named Cheong-gwan was slightly different from the people from the Kang-hwan world I had encountered so far.
Apparently, this person was also a monster who hid his identity and hid in the human world.
This was an unexpected encounter, but…
‘Good, I can save time.’
Harley, who happened to pick up the monster, gently curved the corners of her eyes and turned up the corners of her mouth.
And, feeling satisfied, I slowly moved my tongue and licked my lips without thinking about it.
“Ugh! “I don’t have any taste! It’s from fresh water, so it has a bit of a fishy smell and…!”
Afterwards, it took some more time to resolve the misunderstanding.
Apparently, this monster friend was more timid than I thought.