Chapter 350

The eyes of Daejuhwa and Deung Mochang glistened red in the firelight.

Even as their demeanor changed in an instant, Pyo Wol showed no sign of surprise.

Daejuhwa tilted her head as she looked at him.

“Strange.”

“What is? Honey.”

“Isn’t he a little too calm?”

“You’re right! What’s with this guy?”

Deung Mochang also tilted his head.

His reaction was completely different from anyone they had ever met.

Most people would panic or be at a loss when they changed their expressions like this. But Pyo Wol was far too composed.

Deung Mochang whispered to Daejuhwa.

“Honey! Did we pick the wrong one? This guy is weird.”

“Hmph! Even so, he’s just meat for our dumplings. Just imagine. How tender he’ll be.”

“Hehe! That sounds delicious.”

Drool trickled from the corner of Deung Mochang’s mouth again.

Just the thought of it was so ecstatic that his eyes lost focus. In contrast, Pyo Wol’s eyes, watching them, sank even deeper.

“So the dumplings I was offered earlier did have human flesh in them.”

Their appearance in the middle of the night was one thing, but he had thought it was strange from the moment they suddenly took out dumplings to cook.

Logically, it wasn’t something people who were lost and wandering in the mountains at night would do.

Above all, there was the unpleasant aroma when the dumplings were cooking. Though masked by numerous spices, Pyo Wol had detected a chillingly foul scent within. That was why he had refused when Daejuhwa offered him the dumplings.

He had heard stories about people who supplied human-flesh dumplings or other foods made from human flesh.

Such rumors were especially rampant during times of famine.

While most were baseless rumors, there were indeed those who had developed a taste for human flesh.

Like the couple right in front of him.

Daejuhwa and Deung Mochang hunted people passing through this mountain to make human-flesh dumplings.

The mountain was so dense and rugged that no one cared if a few passersby went missing.

Thanks to that, they had been able to continue their heinous acts without being caught.

Their chosen prey this time was Pyo Wol.

He was handsome, with fair and fine skin, and the mere sight of him made their mouths water.

Daejuhwa took out a large kitchen knife from her bundle and said,

“You’d better not think about running. I’ll give you a painless death if you don’t.”

“It seems you’ve been doing this for quite a while. What are the nearby martial arts academies or authorities doing?”

“Hmph! You think they care about what happens in these mountains?”

“Listen here, Young Master! The martial arts academies and Martial Artists are too busy with their own dog-eat-dog fights to care about what happens in a mountain village like this. Hehe!”

“We were scared when a few of them escaped and reported us, but they didn’t even bother to send a subjugation force, let alone pay any attention. That’s when I realized. Martial Artists never get involved in things like this unless there’s a profit in it.”

After realizing that fact, the couple became even bolder in their hunts.

Once you get a taste for human flesh, you can never escape it.

The couple was no different.

They had started eating human flesh by sheer chance, but now they were deeply addicted and could not break free.

Daejuhwa aimed her kitchen knife at Pyo Wol and said,

“Young Master, you’ll make a truly delicious dumpling. I can guarantee it.”

“I’ll pass.”

“Hehe! It’s no use passing. I’ve already got my eye on you.”

Daejuhwa raised her Internal Power. A bluish energy enveloped the kitchen knife.

She was an Expert who had learned Martial Arts.

The same was true for Deung Mochang.

Although they were not Experts renowned throughout the world, they had reached a level where they could sufficiently protect themselves.

With their level of martial prowess, they could have been well-treated in any Sect in the Jianghu. There was no telling why they had developed a taste for human flesh and were living in these mountains. And he wasn’t curious.

Pyo Wol asked Daejuhwa.

“You’ve been active here for several years?”

“If you count the years, I think it’s been over seven. What are you so curious about?”

“So for seven years, no one has paid you any mind.”

“Are we the only ones? The Jianghu is so vast. Do you think this is the only deserted place? You can assume that monsters live in most places like this.”

“Monsters?”

“Yes! We know it too. That we’re not normal at all. So we’re monsters. The problem is, we’re not the only monsters. Hehe! Do you know how funny people are? They go on about how this is the most peaceful era. To us, it’s the most dangerous and chaotic time.”

Daejuhwa cackled.

Sects like the Two Powerhouses and the Three Clans dominated the Jianghu, but their gazes did not reach everywhere. In fact, far more was happening in the places their eyes didn’t reach. Yet people thought this was an unprecedented era of peace.

“Hehe! For monsters like us, times like these are better. People have been blinded by the word ‘peace’ and have lost their fear. That’s why there’s no end to people like you, Young Master, camping alone in these dangerous mountains.”

Daejuhwa approached Pyo Wol, kitchen knife in hand.

She thought of Pyo Wol as prey already caught. In her eyes, Pyo Wol looked like a pale-faced scholar who couldn’t even wring a chicken’s neck.

As she approached Pyo Wol, Daejuhwa suddenly felt a strange sensation.

She couldn’t hear the voice of her husband, who should have been chattering right beside her.

Though she nagged him daily, he was the man she had spent her life with, sharing her flesh. He was more precious to her than anything.

Without turning back, Daejuhwa shouted.

“What are you doing? Get over here, now!”

“……”

“Really…”

When Deung Mochang still didn’t answer, Daejuhwa turned around irritably. In that moment, her face contorted in horror.

Deung Mochang was leaning against a rock, his tongue lolling out.

His face had turned black, and his eyes were rolled back—the unmistakable look of death.

She could see a red, string-like object wrapped around Deung Mochang’s ankle.

“A snake?”

A small snake, shining like a red jewel, was biting Deung Mochang’s ankle.

The snake’s venom was so potent that Deung Mochang had clearly died the instant he was bitten.

“Honey!”

Daejuhwa shrieked at her husband’s death.

At that moment, Pyo Wol spoke in a low voice.

“Return, Ghost Fang!”

Ssssk!

In that instant, the red snake turned towards Pyo Wol.

Only then did Daejuhwa realize that Pyo Wol had used the snake to kill her husband.

“You, you? You evil bastard! How dare you use a snake to kill my husband.”

Enraged, Daejuhwa charged at Pyo Wol without a second thought.

Pow!

At that moment, Pyo Wol kicked the bonfire, and Daejuhwa was covered in embers and ash.

“Aargh!”

With ash in her eyes, Daejuhwa screamed and swung her kitchen knife wildly.

Pyo Wol looked at her and said,

“To think you’ve survived this long with such skill.”

“Where are you? I’ll kill you!”

Daejuhwa swung her knife toward where she heard Pyo Wol’s voice. But her knife was useless, only cutting through the empty air.

Slice!

Daejuhwa’s frantic swinging came to a halt. A chilling slicing sound had come from her shoulder.

“Aargh!”

Daejuhwa then let out a throat-tearing scream.

The arm holding the kitchen knife had been severed from the shoulder. Blood gushed from the cleanly severed shoulder.

Daejuhwa tried to stanch the wound with her good hand, but it was useless.

Until her arm fell, she had not sensed any presence from Pyo Wol.

“S-save me! I was wrong.”

Only then did Daejuhwa realize her opponent was a great Expert and began to beg.

She had killed countless people, but she was afraid of her own death.

Shamelessly, she fell to her knees. But the expression on Pyo Wol’s face as he looked down at her was icy.

Pyo Wol swung his hand, and Daejuhwa’s remaining hand was also severed.

“Aargh! You demonic bastard! Uwaaagh!”

Unable to bear the pain, Daejuhwa thrashed about.

She cursed Pyo Wol with all sorts of profanities.

“Who do you think you are to do this? Do you think you’re some kind of angel of justice?”

“I haven’t lived a life gentle enough to believe in a soft word like ‘justice’.”

“Then why are you doing this? You could have just passed by quietly, couldn’t you?”

“I’m not magnanimous enough to spare those who pick a fight. Above all, you two disgust me. I don’t think I’m a normal human either, but at least I’m not a monster that craves human flesh.”

“Shut up! What do you know?”

Shhh!

At that moment, the Soul Restraining Thread grazed Daejuhwa’s neck.

Daejuhwa’s movements froze, her face stuck in the expression she had while about to scream.

Pyo Wol looked at her and muttered.

“And I don’t want to know.”

Ssssk! Thud!

A red line appeared on Daejuhwa’s neck, and then her head fell to the ground.

Pyo Wol kicked Daejuhwa’s head as it rolled to his feet.

Her head disappeared into the bushes.

Pyo Wol looked up at the dark night sky and muttered.

“Perhaps the Troubled Times began long ago.”

In a normal world, monsters who craved human flesh could not operate so openly.

Without people realizing it, the world might have already entered the Troubled Times.

＊＊＊

The Qianshan region of Anhui Province had long been famous for its beautiful scenery. Behind it, the great Mount Tianzhu stood like a folding screen, and before it, the massive Yangtze River flowed, creating a magnificent view. But what had made Qianshan more famous in recent times was a certain Sect.

The Righteous Sword Manor, one of the most powerful forces in All Under Heaven, was located in Qianshan.

After the Righteous Sword Manor was established, Qianshan became more famous and attracted many people. The Manor Lord of the Righteous Sword Manor, Jang Pyeong-san, was one of the foremost Sword Heroes in All Under Heaven, and any Martial Artist learning the sword wished to be taught by him.

It was said that he was half a step behind the Sword Venerable Han Yu-cheon, but the consensus in the Jianghu was that the difference was extremely minimal.

All members of the Righteous Sword Manor were Martial Artists who practiced the sword.

Unlike other Sects where one could learn various Martial Arts such as fist, sword, blade, or palm depending on their talent, the Martial Artists of the Righteous Sword Manor practiced only the sword.

It is often said, “Hundred-Day Spear, Thousand-Day Blade, Ten Thousand-Day Sword.”

This meant that it took a hundred days to learn the spear, a thousand days to learn the blade, and more than ten thousand days to master the sword. That was why many people called the sword the King of All Weapons. However, there were not a few who raised objections to this.

Their opinion was that in terms of utility or destructive power, the sword was the most inferior, and that the spear or blade was far superior. To such people, the Martial Artists of the Righteous Sword Manor were nothing short of a disaster.

The Martial Artists of the Righteous Sword Manor believed with iron conviction that the sword was the King of All Weapons, and they branded those who opposed this as followers of the Evil Path.

For this reason, Martial Artists who did not wield a sword were extremely reluctant to come into contact with the members of the Righteous Sword Manor.

It was so extreme that one could hardly find a Martial Artist carrying any other weapon within the Qianshan region.

On the other hand, scholars and artists visited the Righteous Sword Manor without hesitation. Unlike their exclusionary attitude towards users of other weapons, they treated scholars and artists with the utmost respect.

Jang Pyeong-san enjoyed interacting with scholars and artists, and thanks to this, he was able to cultivate an excellent eye for art. He himself also had outstanding skills in painting. That was why the people living in Qianshan praised him as a perfect Martial Artist, accomplished in both literary and martial arts.

At least, the image Jang Pyeong-san showed to the outside world was flawless, with nothing to criticize. But those who knew, knew.

They knew how terrifying a man he was, and how obsessive.

In particular, his obsession with famous swords was truly frightening.

Jang Pyeong-san was especially obsessed with swords made long ago. Famous swords with historical value. Among them, his obsession with the swords used by the monarchs who had dominated their eras bordered on madness.

Jang Pyeong-san entered the Secret Depot after a long time.

Inside the Secret Depot were all the famous swords he had collected so far.

Famous swords, the leak of even one of which would cause a stir in the world, were lined up in rows.

Jang Pyeong-san admired his collection for a long while before muttering.

“It’s still not enough.”

His gaze turned to an empty sword stand.

It was a sword stand he had specially commissioned from a master craftsman.

A sword named Gongpo was supposed to be placed on this stand.

He had believed without a doubt that he would be able to obtain the Gongpo Sword. But the Gongpo Sword had disappeared, and the sword stand had remained empty ever since.

The thought of the Gongpo Sword made anger surge in his heart.

The one sword he had wanted but could not obtain. That was why his obsession grew stronger.

“Tsk!”

Jang Pyeong-san clicked his tongue and turned away.

Admiring the famous swords should have filled his heart, but instead, his anger only grew.

Thump!

The Secret Depot closed as Jang Pyeong-san came out.

Someone was waiting for Jang Pyeong-san outside.

“Manor Lord, you’ve come out.”

The man bowing his head was Yang Jeong-hak, the Steward of the Righteous Sword Manor.

It was extremely rare for Yang Jeong-hak to wait in front of the Secret Depot, so Jang Pyeong-san asked.

“What is it?”

“Some rather interesting news has come in.”

“Interesting news?”

“Yes! It’s about the Reaper.”

“The Reaper?”

“They say he has appeared at Tai Lake in Jiangsu Province.”

Jang Pyeong-san showed a look of interest.

In Qianshan, where the Righteous Sword Manor was located, there was also a lake named Tai Lake. Of course, it was incomparably smaller than Tai Lake in Jiangsu, but its scenery was no less beautiful.

The fact that Pyo Wol had appeared at a lake with the same name naturally piqued his interest.

“And so?”

“We don’t know the detailed circumstances yet, but it’s said that Tai Lake has been devastated. However, that man, Pyo Wol, has left Tai Lake and is heading south towards Anhui Province.”

“Anhui Province?”

“Yes! It’s not far from our manor.”

“How interesting. The man who killed my second son dares to come near the Righteous Sword Manor?”