Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon

Chapter 190 – Concerns (2)

***

The protesters flinched when the Buddhist Star raised his hands. Then, as if remembering something, they started screaming again. 

“Is a monk of Shaolin who follows Buddha’s will trying to kill people?”

“Are you still the Buddhist Star?”

At that, the Buddhist Star laughed bitterly and lowered his hand. “It is certainly not a situation to spill blood.”

The faces of those protesting relaxed. 

The Buddhist Star raised his hand once more. 

“There is no need to spill blood. You are merely having a terrible dream, Amitabha.”

When his words fell, he spread his ten fingers. 

Carrying divine energy, One Finger Zen slammed into the heads of those protesting — “Sleep!”

“Huff!”

“Ugh.”

Those hit fell asleep or passed out, their heads down.

The Buddhist Star had overpowered them without killing anyone. 

The Buddist Star echoed as he watched them, “May Buddha’s mercy be with them, Amitabha.”

Seeing him, the Sword Star yelled, “It looks like that’s done. You can have this back now!”

Peng—

A corpse puppet flew through the air, wreathed in fire and rubble, towards the Buddhist Star.

“Amitabha…”

***

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

Outside of the Martial Alliance headquarters, Jwa Do-gyul was climbing up the mountain with all his might. He was lacking the relaxed appearance from when he first left, scrambling like he was being chased by something. 

He did not forget to turn his head every now and then to check behind him. 

Not good.

Jwa Do-gyul clenched his teeth. 

Someone had to be chasing him. They were a long ways away, but they were definitely coming. 

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be feeling like he was running from a predator. 

Who the hell is chasing me?

Jwa Do-gyul wondered but did not stop moving. He could not keep running while looking behind back. 

Where he was headed now was where the things he needed most lay. 

I can’t give them up. 

Jwa Do-gyul quickly scaled trees to try and lose the pursuer. 

He was still the Lord of the Martial Alliance. He was a master who could be ranked at the very top of the 72 Supreme Masters. 

Jwa Do-gyul’s martial arts were not to be trifled with. The tree branches did not shake when he stepped on them, the blades of grass did not bend. 

He was not slow either. 

Each time he tapped his toe, Jwa Do-gyul would go straight up the hillside. 

He looked around as he rapidly climbed the mountain. 

Shua—

There was a flying beast searching for food, but there were no signs of anything else. 

There was a chill, as if the pursuer was still on his trail. Yet no matter where this pursuer was, they would not be able to find this place.

He looked around and approached a pile of rocks. He tapped on one with his fingertips. 

Tak-tak. 

And then something amazing happened.

A tree several meters away from the rock lowered. 

Kung-rung. 

No, it was not lowered. 

The land caved in and the trees went down with it. 

Jwa Do-gyul took a step towards it. In the meantime, a small passageway emerged from the ground. 

“Hehe.”

Looking at the passageway, Jwa Do-gyul smiled slightly. No matter how powerful the pursuer may be, they could never enter here. 

Unless you know the rules for knocking on that rock, you will never be able to get inside.

Jwa Do-gyul hurried into the passageway.

As he disappeared into the darkness, the passageway began to move again, making heavy noises. 

Kung-rung. 

A staircase appeared. The light did not hit this area, but Jwa Do-gyul seemed familiar with the layout. 

How many steps did he descend?

At the bottom of the staircase, another passageway extended. He ran through it for another length of time. 

At the end of this corridor, Jwa Do-gyul reached to his right. His hand touched an oil lamp. 

He rubbed his finger against the oil wick. 

As a flame suddenly appeared, light illuminated the area. 

The dark space was suddenly filled with light. 

A cave with a round ceiling appeared. 

The cave was laid with bedding in case of emergencies, and there was a jar filled with grain balls. There was even a device to draw water, so drinking water was also available. 

This place can last me a month. 

Jwa Do-gyul had carefully prepared this place in advance.  

Now, of course, the point of his visit was not so he could hide here. 

It was for a completely different reason. 

Jwa Do-gyul walked forward and knelt by the bed. He flipped it over, revealing a small trap door. 

Creak—

He opened the door and stuck his hand inside. Not only did the door easily open, he felt his hand touch something. 

The hidden compartment was filled with stacks of paper and letters. 

Jwa Do-gyul smiled faintly as he looked at the stack. 

“Hehe. With this, I can recover at any time.”

Although he had lost his position in the Martial Alliance, which had been built all these years for the Inverted Sky’s plan, it was not a problem.

As long as he held onto these, the Inverted Sky would continue to support him. 

I could even get a spot in the Imperial Court if I wanted to. 

Jwa Do-gyul had a relieved expression on his face. 

It was all because the stack of papers in his hand documented his relationship with the Inverted Sky. 

If he was threatened, he would release them. The Inverted Sky would listen to him for some time. 

Jwa Do-gyul grabbed the stack and tried to exit through another passageway. 

‘Always have multiple plans.’ 

With this in mind, he would never make only one passageway. 

I can get out of here.

That was what Jwa Do-gyul thought, until he heard a voice right behind him…

“So this is it.”

Jwa Do-gyul froze. A chill crawled down his spine. 

At first, he thought he heard wrong. He might have been convinced, if not for the cold feeling behind him. 

Jwa Do-gyul swallowed. How had he not noticed such a huge presence until now?

He did not know how this person had managed to chase himself here. You couldn’t even come inside unless you knew the code. 

Unless…

At that moment, a flying beast burst into cries. 

Turning his head, Jwa Do-gyul noticed an eagle sitting on the man’s shoulder. 

The eagle’s entire body was black as night. It was the very bird Jwa Do-gyul had seen when he entered. 

Damn it.

Jwa Do-gyul just remembered that there was a technique for a human to share eyes with a bird…

What should I do?

If he stalled for a little, could he escape?

He didn’t think for long. Jwa Do-gyul quickly twisted and threw weapons. 

Kuakuakua—

A massive wave struck Woon-seong. 

“It worked!”

Jwa Do-gyul felt the sensation from the palm of his hand and was delighted. 

And so he tried to run.

But…

Shua—

A hand protruded from the explosion and grabbed hold of his hand. 

Woon-seong slid their hands together, intertwining their fingers. 

Crunch—

“Gahhh!”

As Woon-seong did so, he crushed Jwa Do-gyul’s hand with a powerful grip.

The man screamed like he was dying. 

“Uaghhhh!”

Woon-seong pulled him closer and made eye contact. He growled, “Why did you come here? You didn’t really think that you were smart, did you?”

Unlike his growling voice, Woon-seong’s face was full of smiles. 

It was a cold smile, like that of an Asura. 

From the beginning, everything had been planned. 

From the moment the two corpse puppets appeared, to the fact that Woon-seong’s attack had not reached Jwa Do-gyul.

It was also part of Woon-seong’s plan for to explode in anger. 

Woon-seong’s true fury was not like an active volcano, but rather the cold winds of the North Sea, so it was all smoke and lies. 

It was also planned that the Twin Stars would not be involved with the death of Jwa Do-gyul. 

Ah, there was something not planned for. 

It was the myriad of landmines that had buried the Martial Alliance, those had certainly been unexpected. 

Everything else had gone according to Woon-seong’s plan, which had read into all of Jwa do-gyul’s movements. As proof of that, Jwa Do-gyul had guided Woon-seong straight to the evidence he needed. 

“Oh, how…?” Jwa Do-gyul trembled as he asked. 

Woon-seong reached out and grabbed the man by the head. 

Kuak—

With his other hand, he grabbed Jwa Do-gyul by the neck. 

Weng—

With his grip, he could wring the man’s neck and pull his head off right now. 

But Woon-seong did not wield his power. 

Instead, with a swinging force, he pulled the man’s face closer. 

“Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot.”

“Knng, Knng!”

Jwa Do-gyul wriggled in Woon-seong’s grip. Every time, a powerful force would slam down on Woon-seong’s body. 

However, none of it was fatal to Woon-seong. It was primarily because of the power of the Black Dragon Robe, but also because Woon-seong dispersed the power. 

“What should I do when I meet you? How can I kill you in the most painful way? What can I do to resolve my grudge against you? I’ve been thinking about this a lot.”

“Ugh…”

Jwa Do-gyul twisted. For him, Woon-seong was just an enemy, not such a hostile life or death foe. 

But what was with this man’s deep grudge?

Jwa Do-gyul continued to twist and struggle, as if asking why. 

As if he had just remembered something, Woon-seong suddenly said: 

“Oh, did you know that my name is Hyuk Woon-seong?”

Hyuk Woon-seong. 

It was a common name. That was why Jwa Do-gyul did not recognise Woon-seong’s identity right away. 

Woon-seong continued to speak, reminding Jwa Do-gyul. 

“The disciple of Spearmaster Nok Yu-on was also named Hyuk Woon-seong.”

At that moment, Jwa Do-gyul’s eyes widened, like they were about to be torn apart. 

“You won’t be dying so easily.”