Chapter 122

Chapter 122
Chapter: 122

Chapter Title: Dark Schemes (1)

—

“Haa!”

Yeongho Jung exhaled a heavy, weary breath as he stared at the moon, which seemed mockingly radiant tonight.

A cluster of empty jugs lay toppled near his feet, but regardless of the volume he consumed, the clarity of his mind refused to fade into intoxication.

‘Midnight is nearly here. The moment of truth.’

The closer the clock ticked toward the designated hour, the more his nerves frayed.

“Will I embrace my end, or shall I…”

He couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought; the alternative was too repulsive to put into words.

“That day at the pavilion… I should have stayed away.”

His features contorted in misery as he thought back to the Moonlit Pavilion, where this nightmare had taken root two weeks ago.

He had met a man there who seemed to be a mirror of his own suffering—a kindred spirit in a world of isolation.

For the first time in memory, he had found a confidant. They had spent the night wallowing in shared resentment, cursing their circumstances, their lineages, and the gods who gave them potential only to see it withered by fate.

But when the fog of wine lifted, the companion he had trusted with his secrets had left him with a monstrous gift: a parasitic demonic entity known as the Soul-Stealing Gu.

‘That agony… it was beyond comprehension.’

The physical wrecking of his body was more brutal than any torture he could imagine. It was only when he was on the verge of taking his own life to stop the screaming in his nerves that the offer was made.

I will hand you the Yeongho Clan.

It was a deadly lure, a promise of power so intoxicating that even the memory of the pain began to dim in its shadow.

To prove his capability, the stranger had effortlessly overpowered the leader of the clan—Yeongho Jung’s own father—right within the most fortified inner chamber of their home.

He felt more dread than fury, and more self-loathing than grief at the realization that he actually wanted what was being offered.

Having witnessed the clan head’s removal, the time had come for Yeongho Jung to provide his final answer.

He let out another long, troubled sigh.

“It is time.”

Yeongho Jung’s frame jerked instinctively as a voice cut through the silence.

A man was standing there, arms folded across his chest, watching him with a cold, neutral expression. He hadn’t heard a single footfall.

“I… I apologize. I was startled.”

“Have you reached a conclusion?”

Yeongho Jung felt himself wither under the weight of that freezing, detached voice.

“I would be quite let down if you were still wavering. To be honest, I expected your compliance the very night we spoke.”

“……”

“If you prefer to remain a failure, that is your prerogative.”

As the man’s eyes grew even more piercing, Yeongho Jung bit his lip so hard the iron taste of blood filled his mouth.

“May I ask one thing?”

“You wish to know my identity? I told you, that knowledge comes only after your commitment.”

“I chose my path that night. My hesitation was merely the last gasp of a dying conscience.”

A predatory grin spread across the stranger’s face.

He was pleased to see his assessment of Yeongho Jung’s greed was accurate.

“What is your question?”

“What is the catch? I refuse to be a mere puppet. If I am to betray my blood and my heritage only to become a slave, I would rather die here.”

“We maintain control without appearing to rule. That is our philosophy. Our influence remains in the shadows.”

“Can I take you at your word?”

“Your belief is your own concern, but this is a principle forged through centuries of trial and error. It is reliable.”

“Then I will trust you.”

He knew the word was hollow, a fragile lie he told himself to make the betrayal more palatable.

“A prudent decision.”

The man didn’t hide his satisfaction.

“Tell me, then. How do you intend to deliver the Yeongho Clan into my hands?”

“You have already felt the mechanism of our power, haven’t you?”

“You mean to use that parasite?”

Disappointment flickered in Yeongho Jung’s eyes.

“It does more than just cause pain. Listen well: the one who carries the child gu is biologically incapable of defying the master of the mother gu. They will be overcome by an instinctive terror, eventually surrendering their will entirely.”

“Then the creature in my head is…”

“The mother gu. And I have the children here.”

The man reached into his robes and produced a small container made of wood. Inside, a dozen tiny, pale larvae squirmed.

“These are new. Their numbers are limited, so deploy them only against the key figures necessary to collapse the clan’s hierarchy.”

Even before the instructions were finished, Yeongho Jung was already mentally listing the names of those he wished to see groveling at his feet.

“Now, reveal your identity.”

“Once you know, the bridge behind you is burned. Not even the grave will offer an escape from us.”

“I am ready.”

“Excellent.”

Looking into eyes consumed by ambition, Gam Chuk, the master of the Blood Oath Cult’s Bronze Token, smiled.

Under the cover of night, the Blood Oath Cult moved another piece forward in their grand design to subjugate the martial world of the Central Plains.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“What… what happened here?”

A panicked, young voice rang out. Umjeok So stood at the entrance of the Undying Cave, clad only in his sleeping robes, his face as pale as a shroud.

The sentries posted to guard the entrance were sprawled on the ground—a sign of total disaster.

“No! This can’t be!”

Gripping his head in his hands, Umjeok So dashed into the darkness of the cavern.

“It’s gone! One of them is missing!”

A roar of pure rage erupted as Umjeok So came flying back out of the Undying Cave.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

His scream, sounding more like a banshee’s wail than a human voice, echoed throughout the entirety of Myriad Poisons Valley.

Shortly after, the valley’s lone remaining elder, Bloodfiend Granny, arrived in a state of disarray—her hair was wild and her robes were half-fastened, clearly having been jolted from her bed.

She threw a sharp look at the disciples who had arrived before her, but they were just as clueless, having only arrived seconds earlier.

“Valley Lord.”

Bloodfiend Granny spoke with extreme caution.

Umjeok So turned to look at her, and his eyes were devoid of any reason. The madness within them was far more volatile than his typical eccentricity.

“Gone! I told you, it’s gone!”

“What has been lost?”

“You useless fools! You allowed it to get away!”

Umjeok So lunged at the unconscious guards and began to stomp on them with animalistic fury.

Bloodfiend Granny noticed something chilling; the men didn’t even groan or flinch as their bones snapped and limbs were mangled. They were already dead.

Fearing his uncontrolled rage, she moved past him to inspect the bodies.

She saw a massive, jagged hole in one of their chests.

Her heart skipped a beat. That wasn’t the work of the Valley Lord’s boots.

‘Gone? Escaped? Impossible!’

The weight of Umjeok So’s words finally hit her.

“What has happened to the Poison Blood Fiends?”

The mention of the name caused Umjeok So to freeze mid-strike.

“Valley Lord!”

He turned his head slowly.

Seeing the wild light in his eyes dim slightly back toward coherence, Bloodfiend Granny took a breath and pushed further.

“Tell me what occurred.”

“I had a vision of my sister weeping blood. I was telling her how the Poison Blood Fiends—the pinnacle of the Undying Myriad Poison Sovereign Art—were nearly perfected, and then I woke up. I felt a chill and came to check, and found these idiots dead.”

His eyes twitched as he gestured to the corpses, but he remained focused. Bloodfiend Granny stayed tense, worried he might snap again.

“I went inside… and one of the subjects was missing.”

“Are the others secure?”

“Yes. Twelve remain. But one has vanished.”

“Did the process fail, or… Hic!”

Bloodfiend Granny clamped her hand over her mouth, a hiccup escaping her as Umjeok So’s gaze turned murderous.

“Pardon this old woman’s clumsy words, Valley Lord.”

“Are you suggesting a failure? Who would dare say such a thing? It is impossible for it to fail.”

His voice had become a low, terrifying hiss.

“F-forgive me. My mind wandered for a moment…”

She bowed low, trembling.

In that moment, a shout from the distance saved her.

“There are tracks over here!”

Umjeok So’s mood shifted instantly.

“Of course. It isn’t fully matured yet. It would have to leave a trail.”

With eyes burning with a renewed mania, he sprinted toward the discovery.

Torches soon flickered all across the mountain as men began a desperate search.

“Secure it! It cannot have moved far!”

Bloodfiend Granny’s voice screeched like metal on stone.

“Do not let it slip away. Find it at all costs!”

However, searching the vast, rugged terrain with only a few dozen men was a near-impossible task. Furthermore, despite being weakened by the experiments, the escapee was a member of the Divine Demon Division—the elite of the Heavenly Demon Cult. If they wanted to stay hidden, they would not be easily found.

“Check every crevice! Not even a shadow should move without us seeing it!”

Bloodfiend Granny continued to scream at her subordinates until her voice began to fail.

‘That old wretch!’

So Surin, the only survivor of the Divine Demon Division to break free from the Undying Cave, was currently buried in the dirt beneath a thicket just thirty feet away, perfectly concealed.

‘I will slaughter them. Every single one.’

Holding her breath to the point of silence, So Surin’s entire being was focused on survival.

She had been a prisoner in that cave, a mere ingredient in a series of grotesque trials. She had been treated as less than human, subjected to agonies that defied description.

The only thing that had kept her spirit intact through the soul-crushing pain was her absolute need for retribution.

If she could just get away, if she could restore her broken form, she would return this suffering a thousand times over.

The shouting around her began to grow faint.

The elder’s screeching died down as the search moved elsewhere.

Just as So Surin felt a wave of relief wash over her…

A jagged, cold intuition swept through her body.

Her combat-sharpened senses detected a minute shift in the atmosphere.

A soft ripple in the air.

A sound so faint a normal person would never have heard it.

Before her mind could even identify the threat, her instincts took control.

Moments before Bloodfiend Granny’s palm could strike the earth, So Surin exploded from her hiding spot.

“You little vermin! I knew you were close.”

The soil where she had hidden was a fraction of a shade off from the rest of the ground.

In the dark, it was a near-perfect disguise, but a clumsy subordinate had dropped a torch nearby, and the extra light had given her away.

The elder hadn’t been certain, but the gamble had paid off.

“Hohoho! You thought you could flee from me?”

Bloodfiend Granny laughed a shrill, poisonous laugh and launched another strike.

So Surin couldn’t risk a direct block; she threw herself into a desperate roll.

Her tattered red clothing was shredded further, yet her skin remained strangely unmarked. However, her internal energy was a chaotic mess, sending jolts of white-hot pain through her body with every movement.

Bam!

The elder’s palm slammed into So Surin’s ribs.

The sound that followed was not the thud of hitting a person, but the ringing of metal—as if she had struck a pillar of solid iron.

‘What is happening? What kind of body is this?’

Bloodfiend Granny watched in shock as So Surin was sent flying, only to scramble to her feet and keep running.

The elder’s blow was powerful enough to pulverize stone, yet this emaciated girl had survived it. Anger flared in her, but so did a perverse sense of accomplishment.

It was proof that the Undying Myriad Poison Sovereign Art had actually worked. Though the final, most dangerous stage of the Poison Blood Fiend transformation wasn’t finished, the results were undeniable. Umjeok So’s madness, born from the loss of his sister, had produced a miracle.

“She’s not human! Do not hesitate—kill her!”

Before the command had even fully left her lips…

“Agh!”

A cry of pain cut through the air. A man attempting to intercept So Surin was suddenly gone.

Crunch!

A sickening sound of grinding bone echoed from the shadows.

By the time the searchers turned their torches, five more of their comrades were dead.

“It was… you… little one…”

As her consciousness began to slip, So Surin felt thick fur beneath her fingers and held on tight.

Awooooo!

A massive beast—the legendary Black Wolf of the Divine Demon Division—stood there. With So Surin on its back, the creature let out a thunderous howl and vanished into the darkness in a blur of speed.