Chapter 142

“Huuu! These crazy bastards…”

Heuk Am, a complete wreck, burst out of the Ten Thousand Dharma Hall.

His face was filled with dread.

He had spent his life manipulating and mocking the minds of others.

Now, his face, which had never feared anything, was filled with the light of terror.

Jin Geum-woo, who had appeared at the end, had completely severed the remaining spirit of the Small Thunder Sound Temple with truly formidable power.

But it was not Jin Geum-woo whom Heuk Am feared.

He did not fear someone so rigid, someone who insisted on direct confrontation.

He might possess great martial power, but one could simply avoid him.

If he bided his time and waited for an opportunity, a moment for revenge would surely come.

Pyo Wol, however, was different.

It wasn’t just that his Martial Arts were profound.

Mind-reading, cruel stratagems, and a tenacity that saw things through to the very end once he set his mind to it.

He was on a different plane from ordinary Martial Artists.

Heuk Am had never seen such a Martial Artist in his entire life.

No, he had never even imagined such a being could exist.

When he became your enemy, there was no one more terrifying than Pyo Wol.

Heuk Am didn’t even dare to entertain the thought of revenge.

He had clearly witnessed what had happened to the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

“I have to get out of here right now.”

He didn’t even think about packing his belongings.

His mind was consumed by a single thought: he had to get as far away from this place as possible, as quickly as possible.

“First, I’ll go to the Potala Palace. Even he won’t be able to chase me all the way to the Potala Palace.”

He had already decided on his escape route.

The Potala Palace was a great distance from here. He believed that no matter how relentless Pyo Wol was, he wouldn’t be able to follow him there.

Heuk Am fled as if he were a madman.

At the fastest speed he could possibly muster.

After running for a long while, he was out of breath, and his heart felt like it would explode.

“Heok! Heok! I should be safe by now, right?”

He was now a considerable distance from the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

He thought he could rest for a bit.

Leaning his back against a huge tree, Heuk Am tried to calm his ragged breathing.

He didn’t plan to rest for long.

As soon as his breathing settled, he intended to leave immediately.

After a short rest, his violently pounding heart returned to its normal rhythm.

It was time to leave.

Heuk Am tried to move, pushing off the tree he was leaning against.

Twang!

Just then, something tightened around his neck, yanking him toward the tree.

“Keuk!”

Heuk Am let out a scream as the back of his head slammed against the tree.

A look of terror appeared on his face.

He knew without even having to look.

‘It’s him. He followed me.’

The Silver Thread tightening around his neck was the proof.

The Silver Thread was wrapped around both his neck and the massive tree.

If he moved even slightly, the Silver Thread would dig into his throat.

At that moment, Pyo Wol appeared before Heuk Am without a sound.

He was covered in so many wounds that he resembled a Blood Human, but his eyes were as emotionless as ever.

When a person was injured, they should show a pained expression or reveal some emotional turmoil, but Pyo Wol had none of that.

His eyes were perfectly still.

It was impossible to read any emotion or thought within them.

Conversely, it felt as if all of his own thoughts were being read.

It was as if those emotionless, still eyes were combing through every corner of his mind.

That made it all the more terrifying.

He didn’t want to look at those ominous eyes.

If he could just escape that gaze, he felt he could gouge out his own two eyes.

“Hiiik!”

Heuk Am let out a bizarre groan without realizing it.

Pyo Wol simply stared intently, taking no action, saying no words.

If he could just hear a single word, it wouldn’t be so suffocating.

This dreadful, suffocating atmosphere was too frightening.

“Just… kill… me… you demonic… bastard…”

Ssk!

At that moment, the sharp Silver Thread binding him silently dug into his neck. Yet, Heuk Am felt no pain.

His gaze was still fixed on Pyo Wol.

“I was wrong… so… just kill… me…”

Sk-guk!

In an instant, the Silver Thread sliced through Heuk Am’s neck and the tree at once.

Severed from its body, Heuk Am’s head tumbled to the ground. After rolling for a while, the head stopped as it bumped against Pyo Wol’s foot.

‘Now I’m free…’

The light completely vanished from Heuk Am’s eyes.

That was Heuk Am’s end.

Through death, he had completely escaped the terror of Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol stared impassively at Heuk Am’s head before turning away.

Fwoosh!

A pavilion with hundreds of years of history was burning.

Soma and the children watched the scene with expressions of utter relief.

It was they who had set fire to the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

It was their revenge against the Small Thunder Sound Temple, which had tormented them and their families for years.

Beside the children stood Jin Geum-woo.

Jin Geum-woo had also become a Blood Human.

He had single-handedly killed two of the Blood Thunder Ten Monks and dealt with all the remaining monks. The rest had been left to the children.

Jin Geum-woo considered the Small Thunder Sound Temple to be the root of all evil.

He judged that showing mercy out of minor compassion would only lead to future trouble, so he left no survivors.

His alias, the Iron Blood Martial Guest, was not given for nothing.

He was a man who could be more ruthless than anyone to those he deemed his enemies.

He watched the burning Small Thunder Sound Temple with his arms crossed.

The flames were so fierce that the heat reached them even from this distance.

“It’s burning well.”

Soma grinned as he watched the burning Small Thunder Sound Temple.

He did not look sane in the slightest.

Unlike Soma, Guian and Eun-yo’s expressions didn’t change. But Jin Geum-woo could feel it.

The fact that they were truly happy.

‘What on earth did they go through in this place?’

He guessed there must have been some circumstances, but he didn’t know the details.

Soma hummed a tune.

Every time he moved his neck, the Seven Deadly Wheels hanging there clinked together, making a clear metallic sound.

Just then, Pyo Wol, who had pursued Heuk Am, returned.

Instantly, Soma’s face broke into a bright smile.

“Ah! It’s Hyung-ah.”

He greeted Pyo Wol by hopping up and down on the spot, like a puppy seeing the first snow.

Jin Geum-woo wore a confused expression, unable to adjust to Soma’s dissonant behavior.

“I killed them all, Hyung-ah! Every last one of them… Hehe!”

Soma looked up at Pyo Wol like a puppy waiting for praise.

Pyo Wol ruffled Soma’s hair with his hand before approaching Jin Geum-woo.

Pyo Wol spoke.

“I’m in your debt. I will be sure to repay it.”

“There’s no need to repay it. I’m in your debt as well. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to save Ga-yeong.”

“That’s that, and this is this.”

“My, you’re quite something. Can’t you just accept a favor as a favor?”

“There’s no such thing as a favor without a price in this world.”

“You’re so rigid. Then again, having lived in such a world, it’s probably natural for you to think that way.”

Jin Geum-woo nodded his head with a look of complete understanding.

For some reason, that look was irksome, but Pyo Wol said nothing. In any case, it was true that he had received help.

Jin Geum-woo asked.

“What will you do now?”

“I’m going back.”

“To Chengdu?”

“Yes!”

“We can go together, then. My companions are still there.”

Pyo Wol nodded and looked at Soma and the children.

They were staring intently at Pyo Wol, like puppies waiting for their master.

Pyo Wol said to them.

“You all should go back home too.”

“And when we go back?”

Soma asked out of the blue.

“…”

“When I go back, will my dad and my older brother welcome me? Can I live among them?”

“…”

“Can those two handle me? Can we live as if nothing ever happened? I’m not confident. I’m scared I’ll get angry and hurt them without meaning to.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Hyung-ah, please take me with you. You’re stronger than me. Even if I get angry and go wild, you won’t die. So please, Hyung, take me in and raise me. Huh?”

It was then.

Eun-yo, who had been quiet until now, came over and took Pyo Wol’s hand.

“Take me too.”

“…”

“My mom and dad are both dead. I have nowhere to go.”

Then Guian also approached.

He stood behind Pyo Wol as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Seeing this, Jin Geum-woo let out a chuckle.

“You’ve suddenly got a string of burdens attached to you. Congratulations! On gaining companions of your own.”

Mundu was now a man in his late thirties.

He was dressed just like any other person living around the Southern Wood Forest.

His hair was grown out to his shoulders, and his clothes were ordinary. But he was by no means an ordinary person.

Mundu was his monastic name.

He was a monk from the Potala Palace, the sect with the longest history in Tibet.

The Potala Palace had been watching the Small Thunder Sound Temple for a long time.

The Small Thunder Sound Temple was the Potala Palace’s greatest threat.

They had annihilated the Grand Thunder Sound Temple, their very roots. The martial power they displayed in that process was more than enough to arouse the Potala Palace’s vigilance.

Because of that, the Potala Palace had a trusted disciple renounce his vows and stay near the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

It was to secretly monitor the movements of the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

Mundu was one such person dispatched.

He had grown his hair long to hide the fact that he was a monk of the Potala Palace and had been keeping a close watch on the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

Mundu had been watching the recent movements of the Small Thunder Sound Temple with unease.

For several years, the Small Thunder Sound Temple had been kidnapping children and turning them into Arangdae. Children had been kidnapped from the village where Mundu was staying as well.

Even as he watched the children being kidnapped before his eyes, Mundu did nothing.

If he acted rashly, his identity would be exposed.

Losing his own life was one thing, but it could provoke a direct confrontation between the Potala Palace and the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

If the two most powerful forces in Tibet were to clash, mutual destruction was inevitable.

‘It can’t be helped. One wrong move and all of Tibet will be engulfed in the flames of war. I have to prevent such a worst-case scenario.’

Mundu justified his own cowardice this way.

He looked away when his fellow villager, Yeop So-pyeong, was frantically searching for his son, and when Ah-myeong screamed in rage.

Then, a man of unknown identity arrived.

A man with skin whiter than a woman’s and a beautiful face. The moment he saw him, Mundu felt an inexplicable shiver.

He had instinctively sensed something terrifying. So he hid himself even more and did not step forward.

It was a cowardly act, but since no one knew his true identity, he had no qualms.

The man entered the Southern Wood Forest, where the Small Thunder Sound Temple was located, without hesitation. And ten days passed.

Mundu thought the man must have been killed by the Small Thunder Sound Temple. But suddenly, flames shot up from the middle of the Southern Wood Forest.

Without realizing it, Mundu ran into the Southern Wood Forest.

The formation that had previously blocked outsiders’ entry had been dispelled.

As he got closer to the Small Thunder Sound Temple, he felt an intense heat.

Enduring the heat, Mundu pushed forward, and the burning Small Thunder Sound Temple appeared before him.

The ancient temple, with its hundreds of years of history, was engulfed in flames, screaming.

“Ah!”

Mundu covered his mouth with his hands without thinking.

It was a sight he had never once imagined.

He had believed the Small Thunder Sound Temple would stand strong forever. No matter how hard he tried, he could not picture the fall of the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

Even if the entire Potala Palace attacked, they would not be able to bring down the Small Thunder Sound Temple. At best, it would end in mutual ruin.

That was how strongly the perception of the Small Thunder Sound Temple as an impregnable fortress was embedded in his mind.

The Small Thunder Sound Temple, which seemed like it would never fall, was burning.

Not a single survivor could be seen.

It was a truly perfect annihilation.

“How can this be!”

Mundu’s body trembled in fear.

A single man had accomplished what the entire Potala Palace could not.

A man whose name and identity he did not know.

“Good heavens! A Reaper from the Jianghu has come.”