CLS-Chapter 532

Chapter 532:

“Huuuu.”

A deep sigh escaped.

Yeom Mong closed his eyes and slowly calmed his pounding heart. Tension was familiar to him. For someone who had always monitored the Demonic Cult from close quarters, tension was the kind of emotion that naturally accompanied him like breathing.

But the tension dominating him now was somewhat different from his past experiences.

He could endure the fear that his life might be cut short. Where would you find someone who lived without putting their life on the line? Fear was the same for everyone.

But Yeom Mong was someone who could sufficiently suppress his chronic fear with the sense of mission he possessed.

However…

The tension pressing down on him now was on a different dimension from the emotions he had felt until now.

“Huuuuk!”

Yeom Mong kept taking deep breaths.

‘Damn it, for me to be trembling like this.’

He thought he had built walls against fear. Even if Yeom Mong claimed he was a person without fear, who could dare mock him? He was someone who suffered from the terror that someone might slit his throat while he slept every time he went to bed. Yet he was someone who never abandoned his mission.

Though the world may have countless brave souls, none could deny Yeom Mong’s courage.

That same Yeom Mong was trembling.

My life disappearing wasn’t that big a deal.

If Yeom Mong failed to properly carry out this task now, how many people would lose their lives?

One thousand? Ten thousand? One hundred thousand?

It was an unimaginable number.

The fact that the fate of Jianghu rested on his shoulders was an unimaginable burden. Before such a burden, Yeom Mong’s heart and liver were shrinking.

Trickle.

Sweat flowing down his face touched his chin and dropped to the ground. Yeom Mong raised his hand to wipe his face, lowered his posture, and took deep breaths several times.

“Preparations?”

“Perfect.”

“Those bastards?”

“Approaching.”

“…There must be absolutely no mistakes. The moment we make a mistake, it’s not just us who die. You understand, right?”

“Yes!”

His subordinates also had faces full of tension.

Their trembling jaws proved that fact. Yeom Mong let out a low sigh. The fact that he wasn’t the only one nervous both gave him comfort and worry.

“Those bastards are approaching.”

“Mmm.”

Yeom Mong groaned as he watched the dust cloud blooming in the distance.

‘Not good for the heart.’

Who wouldn’t know that those Demonic Cult bastards were terrifying? But seeing such a clear sight with his own eyes made that fear feel doubled.

If swept up in that dust cloud, nothing would survive. Whether human or beast, city or nature… that asura-like dust cloud would obviously turn everything to powder.

Watching that sight, he became certain that those damned bastards absolutely must not be sent to the Central Plains.

“Prepare.”

“Yes!”

Yeom Mong let out a deep sigh.

His internal energy was almost depleted from overtaking them to reach this place first. Not just him, but his subordinates would be the same. That meant after blocking them, they wouldn’t have the strength left to flee.

He would probably die here.

Yeom Mong wasn’t afraid of death. What he feared was failing to properly carry out his mission.

‘No, honestly, I’m afraid.’

Where would you find someone who wasn’t afraid of death?

He was afraid. Insanely afraid. But he was just more afraid of failing his mission than that.

Everyone would be the same.

“If we succeed, everyone scatter and flee on your own.”

“…Yes.”

The response wasn’t very enthusiastic.

It had to be that way.

Fleeing was also an ability. Right now, they didn’t have the ability to shake off the Demonic Cult’s pursuit. Even if they scattered in all directions to disperse the chase after their internal energy was depleted, they would all be caught before going far. After that, they would weather away and disappear without even having graves in this barren land of Qinghai.

‘That’s enough for a martial artist’s death.’

Yeom Mong looked at the approaching dust cloud with lowered eyes.

“Cut it off at half?”

“No.”

The purpose wasn’t to cause damage. The purpose was to tie up their feet.

“The moment they stick their heads in, blow it up immediately.”

“Yes!”

Yeom Mong kept clenching and unclenching his fists.

‘Damn bastards.’

If only Wei Yan-ho and the others had come along, he wouldn’t be this nervous. With Wei Yan-ho’s martial prowess, escaping with them after finishing the job wouldn’t have been too difficult.

Sacrifice shouldn’t be forced.

But regret was unavoidable. Even trying not to resent, seeing that lingering attachment kept remaining, he apparently wasn’t much of a man either.

“They’re coming, they’re coming…”

Watching the approaching dust cloud, Yeom Mong bit his lips tightly.

The majesty of the Demonic Cult viewed from atop the sheer cliff was indeed tremendous.

“Just a little more…”

Yeom Mong held his breath.

Just a little, just a little more to draw them in…

Sweat beaded on Yeom Mong’s face as tension reached its peak. His belly, pressed against the rock, felt damp from the flowing sweat.

And that was the moment.

‘Huh?’

The dust cloud that had been approaching at high speed suddenly stopped.

“…What?”

Yeom Mong glared as he watched that scene.

Why? Why are they stopping? Why?

‘Did they notice?’

He had hidden his presence to the maximum using the Turtle Breathing Technique. At this distance, at this height, he thought they would absolutely never notice. But if those bizarre demon practitioners of the Demonic Cult were involved, it wouldn’t be strange if they had noticed his presence.

‘But aren’t they the Demonic Cult?’

He had already assumed the situation where they would notice his presence. But he thought they would never stop. The Demonic Cult, as arrogant as they were capable, wouldn’t stop their feet just because a few guys were hiding on the cliff. From their standpoint, that would be no different from humiliation.

The normal reaction would be to send some up the cliff to eliminate them while simultaneously attempting a breakthrough.

That was Yeom Mong’s conclusion from watching the Demonic Cult for twenty years.

But contrary to his prediction, that massive main force had stopped.

Yeom Mong’s face contorted.

‘What should I do?’

What was the best judgment he should make now?

‘Should I blow it up now?’

He couldn’t cause any damage, but blocking the path would be the same. If so, it would be better to blow it up now. If he blew up the red cliff right now to block the path and fled, his chances of survival would increase a little.

But Yeom Mong chose to wait.

Rather than increasing his chances of survival, he chose to keep those bastards here for even one more shichen. If he waited for them to climb the cliff and then blew up the cliff, he could buy that much time. Yeom Mong bit his lips tightly.

His life and time…

“What the hell, those bastards?”

Yeom Mong, who had prepared for death with determination, looked down at the Demonic Cult with bewildered eyes.

The Demonic Cult was retreating backward at twice the speed they had been charging forward. No, that wasn’t retreating. They were changing direction and beginning to advance toward the rear.

With an incomparably ferocious momentum.

Faster and more fiercely than invading the Central Plains.

“No way…”

Yeom Mong, left speechless, stood up from his position and watched the retreating dust cloud.

In an instant, the dust cloud disappeared beyond the horizon.

Yeom Mong, who had been staring blankly at that scene, opened his mouth in bewilderment.

“What the hell is this about…”

It was something he absolutely couldn’t fathom.

“W-what do we do?”

Even to his subordinate’s question, Yeom Mong couldn’t give an immediate answer. He couldn’t properly grasp what kind of situation this was either. After pondering for a long while, Yeom Mong opened his mouth.

“Send a message to headquarters. The Demonic Cult has changed direction. Say that we succeeded in buying time for now.”

“Have they completely withdrawn?”

“That can’t be.”

Yeom Mong shook his head.

They had waited twenty years. He didn’t know what business made them withdraw, but that withdrawal wouldn’t mean their will had changed. They would solve the problem and invade again with even stronger momentum.

“Do we wait?”

“…We withdraw.”

“But the explosives are still…”

“Those bastards came right up close. That means they confirmed we’re here. Next time they approach this place, they’ll send scouts first to clear the cliff top. It would just be a dog’s death.”

“Ah!”

“We’ve achieved our small objective. We withdraw for now.”

“Do we go to the Central Plains?”

“The Central Plains…”

Yeom Mong stuck out his tongue to lick his lips.

He didn’t know why they had withdrawn. But he thought he knew because of whom they had withdrawn.

‘Wei Yan-ho.’

Wei Yan-ho had said he would pacify the masterless land of Xinjiang. Yeom Mong didn’t know what that meant, and he didn’t bother to pry either. The fact that Wei Yan-ho spoke so evasively meant he wouldn’t reveal the truth to Yeom Mong. So he had no choice but to let him go.

However…

“We pursue.”

“Captain!”

“Prepare. From now on, we pursue those bastards.”

“There’s nothing to gain from pursuing them.”

“Right, there probably isn’t. But…”

Yeom Mong, who had been looking up at the sky for a long while, grinned and opened his mouth.

“Who knows, we might pick up even a wounded lazy one.”

“…Huh?”

His subordinate, not understanding Yeom Mong’s meaning, asked back stupidly.

***

“…What exactly are you doing right now?”

The old man looked at Wei Yan-ho with an utterly bewildered expression.

Wei Jeong-han and Jang-il understood the old man’s feelings. If they could, they wanted to apologize on his behalf.

But Wei Yan-ho was perfectly calm.

“This is a bit difficult to explain.”

“Difficult?”

“Yes. This was definitely something that should be called thievery just a moment ago, you see?”

Thievery?

The old man’s lips trembled.

“But with you coming, old man, this is now changing into robbery. The grade has gone up.”

“His character too.”

“His manners too.”

At Jang-il and Wei Jeong-han’s interjections, the old man couldn’t collect himself.

“Th… This!”

The old man’s vision went dizzy. His blood pressure boiled up so much he almost lost consciousness.

Where was this place?

The Demonic Cult.

It was already blood-boiling enough that the most important headquarters of the Demonic Cult had been invaded, but the ones who invaded that headquarters were such bastards!

“These crazy bastards!”

“We hear that a lot.”

Wei Yan-ho sighed.

“But it’s really strange, you know. When you barge into someone else’s house and turn it upside down, this kind of stuff all gets broken anyway. When we’re taking stuff that’s going to break and become unusable anyway to use for good purposes, I don’t know why they call it crazy. Don’t you think so?”

Jang-il asked with curiosity.

“Good purposes?”

“Good purposes. Feeding beggars, feeding children.”

“…Now that I hear it, that makes sense. Don’t forget your words. You must feed me.”

“Are you the only beggar in the world?”

“I’m the beggar representative. If you feed me, you feed everyone.”

“Want to get beaten as a representative?”

The old man, listening to the conversation between Wei Yan-ho and Jang-il, finally couldn’t stand it and shouted.

“You damn bastards!”

At the same time, a terrifying energy surged from the old man’s body. Black demonic energy flowed out, making the old man’s white hair stand on end. It was a chilling sight just to look at.

“I’ll kill you all!”

Wei Yan-ho’s impression of the shouting old man was quite simple.

“Wow, the old man’s got quite a temper.”

Even while saying this, Wei Yan-ho was still fondling the porcelain in the display case.