Chapter 228 - What Happens When You Touch My Woman

The instant the Wicked Laughing Demon finished speaking, three crows took flight. The Three Crows of the Dark Night had launched their attack.

The killing intent in his words was unmistakable, so they did not hesitate. If their opponent had resolved to kill Yeo Bulgae, their only chance of survival was to kill these intruders.

The Three Crows of the Dark Night charged from three directions: one aimed for his shoulder from the left, another for his flank from the right, and the third for his throat from the front.

No one had ever withstood this coordinated assault. These night crows were indeed skilled enough to have raised Yeo Bulgae to the position of King of the Night. Their attack was flawless in every respect—except that their opponent was the Wicked Laughing Demon.

With just one step, the Wicked Laughing Demon evaded their combined attack. Three swords skimmed perilously close to his body, yet the eyes behind his mask remained serene. Calmly, precisely, he fired.

ZIP!

The First Crow could not dodge the Blood Calamity Finger fired at point-blank range.

As the First Crow died with his throat pierced, the Second Crow shrieked and swung his sword. The opening his rage created was more than enough for a strand of finger force to slip through.

THUD!

The last survivor, the Third Crow, unleashed the finest sword move of his life, but it did no more than slice off the edge of his opponent's bamboo hat.

Had he known whom he faced, even that would have been something to boast about for years. But after a lifetime of committing atrocities under Yeo Bulgae, he was denied even the chance to utter a single boast. He, too, died with a hole through his forehead.

It happened right then!

WHOOOOOSH!

Something hurtled toward the Wicked Laughing Demon's back with tremendous power. It was Blood-Crying Spear's spear.

SHHHHK!

The spear, flying at a terrifying speed, stopped behind the Wicked Laughing Demon's back.

Geom Mugeuk had caught it in his hand.

Blood-Crying Spear was aghast. His spear was not something anyone could catch barehanded. If it were, how could he have become a renowned spear master among the unorthodox factions?

Geom Mugeuk planted the spear in the ground. Turning around, the Wicked Laughing Demon lightly flicked its shaft with a finger.

CLANG!

The clear, ringing note was his expression of thanks.

Taking that sound as his starting signal, Geom Mugeuk rushed at Blood-Crying Spear.

Blood-Crying Spear swiftly joined the two short spears strapped to either side of his waist. Given the distance between them, he had ample time to assemble his weapon—if Geom Mugeuk had not charged using the Underworld King's Step.

SLASH!

The newly joined spear was cut in two along with its owner. Geom Mugeuk held not the Black Demon Sword but a saber used by the Black and White Sabers. Still, a master calligrapher needed no particular brush.

At that very instant—

SSSSSH!

Vines sprang from the ground and wound around Geom Mugeuk's entire body. It was sinister sorcery that bound an opponent briefly.

The Yin-Yang Demons, who had been sitting before the flower garden, were already at his sides, seizing his wrists.

ROOOOAR!

The Yin-Yang Demons' internal energy poured into Geom Mugeuk through both wrists like a waterfall.

Their martial art was the Heart-Shattering Star-Absorption Art—a heinous evil art that injected their immense internal energy into an opponent, bursting the victim's heart before harvesting all their internal energy and vital essence.

Either of them alone could easily kill a reasonably skilled expert. With both attacking him now, they believed their opponent could never withstand them.

But that was a misconception born of not knowing what Geom Mugeuk was capable of when it came to internal energy.

Their internal energy continued to pour into him. By now, he should have suffered internal injuries and been vomiting blood, yet he remained perfectly fine.

The Yang Demon gave the Yin Demon a grave look, signaling that they should stop while they still could. She firmly shook her head in refusal. Experience had taught her that the stronger an opponent was, the more delicious his internal energy and yang qi would be.

Just a little more, a little more!

It seemed Geom Mugeuk would collapse, vomiting blood, at any moment.

They had injected over half their internal energy, then over two-thirds. The longer it went on, the less they could bring themselves to give up. Even the thought of wasting the energy they had already poured into him made it impossible to stop.

The Yang Demon attempted the Phantom Shadow Art.

Using another martial art while absorbing internal energy was strictly forbidden, but he had no choice now.

Geom Mugeuk's shadow rose to its feet. It should have burrowed into his mind and inflicted internal injuries.

SSSSS!

Instead, the shadow merged with Geom Mugeuk, then obediently returned to its original place.

'The sorcery isn't working!'

The Yang Demon vomited a bowlful of blood.

Only when the two had reached the point of no return did Geom Mugeuk reveal his true ability. Far from dying, he spoke to them with perfect ease.

"What now? Sorcery and internal energy happen to be the things I'm most confident in."

The Yin-Yang Demons realized that Geom Mugeuk had tricked them. He had deliberately offered them his wrists from the start. Now, even if they tried to stop, they could not. Their internal energy kept being sucked away without end, as though it had fallen into an abyss.

With their internal energy utterly depleted and their blood vessels completely withered, the Yin-Yang Demons slumped to the ground. They had lost their lives pouring water into a bottomless jar.

Their internal energy merged within Geom Mugeuk's dantian. Born with the Heavenly Martial Physique and now at a new level, he assimilated their energy far faster and more purely than before. No matter how many rivers flowed into the sea, the sea remained as vast as ever.

Yeo Bulgae stared blankly as even the Yin-Yang Demons, his last hope, died. Then he looked dazedly around the courtyard. Every expert except himself and Hwang Yeom was dead.

'If only this were a dream.'

Astonishingly, he wished it were all a dream. He had spent his life indulging every base desire with Yelü Han's backing.

'I can't give it all up!'

Yeo Bulgae clenched his teeth.

"Take that bitch hostage!"

Hwang Yeom did not move at his sound transmission.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and take her hostage!"

But Hwang Yeom's mute point and paralysis points had already been sealed. When in the world had they subdued him amid this chaotic battle?

Yeo Bulgae had intended to have Hwang Yeom take the mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion hostage while he seized the women here himself.

But if this was how things stood...

He lunged toward the mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion.

'If I can just take that bitch hostage, I can survive.'

Just as he was about to subdue her, the Wicked Laughing Demon stepped in front of him first.

Yeo Bulgae unleashed palm force with all his strength. But the Wicked Laughing Demon would have been difficult to face even after a lifetime devoted to training. How could an old man who had cared only for women possibly contend with him?

The Wicked Laughing Demon easily neutralized the incoming palm force with his own.

Only then did Yeo Bulgae see his face beneath the bamboo hat. He stared blankly at the white mask, then recoiled in shock.

"You're—!"

Before he could say another word, the Blood Calamity Finger fired.

ZIP! THUD!

The finger force, a streak of light held back ever since their arrival, pierced his mouth. Yeo Bulgae gave a short scream and clamped his hands over it. Blood streamed between his fingers.

Then the mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion spoke to the women.

"Now, everyone, open your eyes and look."

The women opened their eyes and gasped at the scene before them. As they listened to the fighting, they had desperately hoped for this outcome, yet they had never imagined that Yeo Bulgae's powerful subordinates would truly lie scattered around as corpses.

Amid the bodies strewn in every direction, more holes were appearing in Yeo Bulgae's body.

ZIP! THUD!

His shoulder was pierced. Then the back of the hand reaching to clutch it was pierced.

Realizing that his opponent was the Wicked Laughing Demon of the Demonic Cult, Yeo Bulgae lost all will to fight and flailed helplessly. He begged for his life, but with his mouth pierced by the first strike of finger force, he could barely form the words.

He crawled across the ground to beg for mercy.

Geom Mugeuk knew what that desperation would later become. He knew how many people a moment of mercy and forgiveness could get killed.

Fortunately, his opponent today was the Wicked Laughing Demon.

CRACK!

The Wicked Laughing Demon mercilessly kicked him in the crotch. As the desire that had driven him to evil all his life was crushed, he let out an agonized scream.

"Aaaaaaagh!"

Blood poured from his mouth as he screamed.

'I'll survive somehow and get my revenge!'

Yeo Bulgae crawled toward the Wicked Laughing Demon again.

'You fucking bastard! You deserve to die! I'll repay this pain a hundredfold, a thousandfold!'

Covered in blood, he forced a smile.

"... I'll live a good life."

His words were barely intelligible, but it was clear he was promising to turn over a new leaf.

Of course, it did not work.

This time, the joints of his arms and legs were pierced. The Wicked Laughing Demon fired finger force only at places that would cause the greatest possible pain. He did not offer even a word of advice to live well in his next life. He ignored Yeo Bulgae utterly.

Finally, he pulled the spear from the ground and drove it into the belly of the writhing man.

The future the mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion had described was unfolding here, not in hell.

The Wicked Laughing Demon stared coldly at the dying man, then extended his palm toward him. The pit of fire she had spoken of was his Ultimate Demonic Rampage Palm.

BOOOOM!

His whole body was blasted away.

THUMP.

He vanished as a mangled mass of blood and flesh, leaving only the broken spear rolling on the ground. This was the Wicked Laughing Demon's answer to what happened when someone touched his woman.

At the sight, some women cheered, some shed tears of joy, and others turned away, unable to bear the gruesome spectacle.

Their reactions differed, but they all felt the same thing. Nothing filled their minds but the joy of finally escaping this hell...

RUMBLE, BOOM!

As though the sky had been watching this moment, rain began to pour.

SHHHHHHH!

All the women looked up at the sky. It felt as if the rain were washing away all the suffering they had endured.

The mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion walked over to them.

"It's time to go home now."

Of course, she intended to keep the women with her until this affair was settled. Geom Mugeuk knew that she could help them now more than anyone else. No one would tend their wounds better than she would.

The women bowed deeply to the three of them.

"We will never forget that you saved us."

At the thought of seeing their families again, their tears would not stop. How much must their families miss them? How desperately must they be searching?

The mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion helped them to their feet.

The middle-aged woman who had tried to save the younger woman earlier asked, her face wet with tears,

"Please, at least tell us your names, benefactors."

Geom Mugeuk smiled.

"As you heard earlier, this lady owns a pleasure house, that gentleman is her kept man, and I'm the kept man's friend."

Understanding that he did not intend to reveal their identities, she asked no further questions. Instead, she expressed what they all felt.

"We will remember this kindness for the rest of our lives."

It was time to leave.

Geom Mugeuk approached Hwang Yeom, the sole survivor, whose paralysis points and mute point remained sealed. Releasing his mute point, he asked,

"Do you want to live?"

"Yes!"

Hwang Yeom nodded frantically.

He was a subordinate well suited to his master. What loyalty could possibly matter now that his master was dead? Who in the world could dispatch Yeo Bulgae and his subordinates so easily?

Geom Mugeuk swiftly dug a pit using sword force, then used object manipulation through the air to throw the bodies inside. In an instant, he filled it in.

The pounding rain washed away all the blood.

Meanwhile, the women tidied the courtyard, and the Wicked Laughing Demon brought over the large carriage parked in the backyard.

Geom Mugeuk told Hwang Yeom,

"On our way out, tell the men you're going away with Yeo Bulgae for a while. If you want to try any bullshit, go ahead. I'll lock you in a torture chamber until you die. I'll keep you alive as carefully as I would myself, and keep you with me for the rest of your life."

"That won't happen."

They helped the women into the carriage. Hwang Yeom took the reins himself, and Geom Mugeuk sat beside him.

The carriage sped out of Yeo Bulgae's residence. Hwang Yeom performed even better than instructed, forbidding anyone from entering the inner courtyard. With that, news of Yeo Bulgae's death would not spread before they reached Yelü Han.

The Poison King and Seo Daeryong were waiting about ten li away.

Seo Daeryong took the reins, and the Poison King now took charge of the mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion and the women.

"Please spare me as you promised!"

"I never promised. I only asked whether you wanted to live."

Just as Hwang Yeom was about to protest—

THUD!

Geom Mugeuk's fist struck his chest. His reward for helping was a painless death. In truth, this man deserved a painful death too for acting as Yeo Bulgae's lackey, but there was no time for that now.

Geom Mugeuk dug a deep pit in a nearby forest and disposed of the body. Meanwhile, the Poison King and Seo Daeryong finished preparing to depart.

"Then I'll leave them in your care."

When Geom Mugeuk entrusted the women to the Poison King, he said something unexpected.

"When you get back, let's try making that poison we failed at last time again."

He was inviting him to visit the Thousand-Poison Forest again. It was his roundabout way of telling him to finish this task safely and return.

"As long as you let me stay far away by the door again."

The mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion did not send Geom Mugeuk and the Wicked Laughing Demon off on a solemn note either.

"Please take good care of my man."

"As I always tell you, you should be asking the Laughing Demon to take care of me."

Seo Daeryong was by far the most worried. As he handed over the Black Demon Sword he had been keeping, he repeated his warning several times.

"I know how skilled you are, Pavilion Master, but please be careful. Be careful, and then be careful again. If things go wrong, run! Don't get reckless for no reason!"

"If you're that worried, come along."

Seo Daeryong flinched and took a step back.

"Unfortunately, there'd be no one to drive the carriage."

Beside him, the Poison King casually remarked,

"I could drive it. Shall I try my hand at it again? It's been a while."

Pretending not to hear, Seo Daeryong said to Geom Mugeuk,

"Then I'll be waiting. As always."

Geom Mugeuk smiled and patted his shoulder once. Keep growing, Seo Daeryong. One day, the time will come for us to fight together.

With their farewells complete, Geom Mugeuk and the Wicked Laughing Demon began running toward the place where Go Wol awaited them. They had to face Yelü Han now, but Geom Mugeuk was not afraid. The man watching his back was the Wicked Laughing Demon.

SHHHHH!

The two ran on without rest through the pouring rain.