Chapter 40. Four Bone Script, Four Blood Script
Just as the word "color demon" was included in his nickname, he enjoyed embracing women, but there was something he liked even more.
Blood.
The reason Pa Gahyeol had waited for more than ten years for "his" command was because he expected to savor blood to his heart's content once the order was given.
In just a few days, once the First Stratagem officially commenced, the Namgung Family would disappear. In that process, a vicious bloodbath would naturally unfold.
As he imagined the Namgung Family dyed red, Pa Gahyeol's body began to shine with an even more intense silver light. Along with it, the movements of his lower body grew ever more violent.
"Huff, huff!"
"Kya, kyaaaak!"
The pitiful sacrifice, unaware that she was about to die, rolled her eyes back in pleasure and writhed in ecstasy.
She was a martial artist whom his subordinates had captured yesterday. Since she had been heading from Bongyang toward the Namgung Family, she must have been on her way to celebrate the wedding of Shadow Shifter and Namgung Hye.
The sacrifice did not know it at all, but perhaps her family or sect would soon vanish from the martial world as well.
'Perhaps it has already disappeared.'
Gwangun was never a merciful man. Having gone to scatter the bait for the 'Second Stratagem,' the martial world of Anhui Province would be completely devastated.
Most likely, several 'clouds' had already been mobilized for the Second Stratagem. It was only a matter of order. No sect in Anhui Province would be able to escape Gwangun's hand.
On the other hand, the shadows mobilized for the First Stratagem numbered exactly seven.
'Me, Shadow Shifter, four hidden within the Namgung Family. And.'
The remaining one was responsible for the Chaohu direction.
If the Anhui branch of Heavenly Demon Castle that he led, the Namgung Family, and the force led by another shadow were to clash in Anhui, the result would be obvious without question.
Now that the First and Second Stratagems of the Martial Founder had begun, there was no possibility that the martial world of Anhui Province would remain intact.
None.
"Aaaahahaak!"
The woman, who had no way of knowing any of this, wandered in bliss even as her yin energy was being completely extinguished.
Realizing that it was time to finish, Pa Gahyeol freely absorbed the last remaining vital essence of the woman.
But at the very moment he was about to reach his climax!
Flash—! Flash—! Flash—!
Three short yet extremely intense streaks of light were captured by his eyes.
Their direction was toward the Namgung Family.
'What is that!?'
Even if the Namgung Family could be faintly seen from here, the distance was by no means close.
Unless it was an exceptionally intense light, it would be impossible for it to reach the summit of Ascending Dragon Mountain from the Namgung Family, especially at night.
A light of that intensity would have to be either sunlight or the explosion of a Thunderclap Bomb.
That was definitely not a signal sent by Shadow Shifter. Shadow Shifter had not mastered the Sun Divine Art, nor did he possess Thunderclap Bombs.
Above all, neither the heat emitted by the Sun Divine Art nor the destructive explosive flash produced when a Thunderclap Bomb detonates would carry such a gentle, unknown warmth.
Thus, Pa Gahyeol grew even more uneasy. Something inexplicable had clearly happened at the Namgung Family. It was something completely outside the plan.
"Aaaagh!"
At last, Pa Gahyeol and the woman reached climax.
Thud.
As his organ was pulled free from the woman's body, her life came to an end. His body had already returned from silver to its original color, and his organ hung limply downward.
"Immediately seal off all routes leading to Hefei."
To whom was he speaking? It certainly was not the dead woman.
"Yes, sir."
As if to prove it, a voice responded from somewhere below the rock.
At the same time, the shadows cast beneath the rock began to stretch in all directions, soon splitting into several strands.
In an instant, the shadows vanished beneath Ascending Dragon Mountain.
Several people had been secretly hiding beneath the rock where Pa Gahyeol had been performing his color art.
When the shadows disappeared, Pa Gahyeol likewise vanished from the spot as if extinguished.
Whoo—.
A cold wind blew once more across the summit of Ascending Dragon Mountain, but there was no one left to receive it. There was one, but she was already a corpse.
Now it held no meaning, but the corpse's name was Danri Hee.
***
At the same time, at the Namgung Family.
Facing the cold wind blowing in from Chaohu, two people stood atop a large ship. Dong Bong-su had already departed, but the horrific scene he left behind still lingered, weighing heavily on their hearts.
One was Namgung Hu, the leader of the Heavenly Thunder Unit, and the other was Namgung Il, the leader of the Heavenly Wind Squad, who bore responsibility for those who had died here.
"What do you think?"
Namgung Il spoke first.
Even as he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on the ship's deck. There, written in magnificent calligraphy resembling a dragon ascending to the heavens, were characters. However, the scent rising from them was not ink, but the smell of blood, causing his brow to furrow.
"...…."
Namgung Hu, as the Heavenly Thunder Unit leader, had arrived here earlier than Namgung Il.
When the three flashes of light originated here, the closest guards were the Heavenly Thunder Unit members standing watch at the West Heaven Guest Hall.
After hearing the report from the Heavenly Thunder Unit, Namgung Hu had arrived at this ship first, followed shortly by Namgung Il, who rushed over after receiving reports from the Fourth Unit, which had come to relieve the Third Unit of the Heavenly Wind Squad that had died today.
Without a word, Namgung Hu pointed with his hand toward the lower chamber beneath the wall tower.
"From this alone, we cannot fully grasp the intent of the one who created this spectacle. Come and see."
Namgung Hu led Namgung Il down into the ship's lower chamber.
Thinking there must be a reason, Namgung Il followed him without saying much.
Since it was still deep night, the interior of the lower chamber was dark.
Bang!
Namgung Hu struck the side wall of the lower chamber with a palm technique, creating a hole.
The dim light of the moon streamed in, illuminating the lower chamber. Thanks to that, the previously obscured scene was revealed clearly before their eyes.
"This is!"
Embedded meticulously into the floor of the lower chamber were fragments that appeared to be human bones, forming a four-character phrase, much like the blood script on the deck above.
The grotesque sight was far more brutal than what was on the deck, yet the neatness of the characters was, just like those above, the work of a peerless master.
"The Heavenly Thunder Unit members who were on watch at the West Heaven Guest Hall arrived here first at dawn. According to what they found during their investigation, this bone script seems to have been written before the blood script on the deck. In other words, the intruder stripped the flesh and bones from the Heavenly Wind Squad members here to commit this act, then went up to the deck to write the blood script."
Namgung Hu added his explanation to the shocked Namgung Il.
After briefly praying for the repose of his subordinates' souls, Namgung Il continued speaking.
"But then, why would the intruder go through all the trouble of infiltrating just to write something like this… no, to do something like this? He must have been busy just hiding."
"Well. That, I don't know either. Why go through the effort of infiltrating the Namgung Family only to write something like this."
When the bone script in the lower chamber and the blood script on the deck were combined in order, they formed the following eight characters.
When the moon is full, the emperor falls, and I, who move slowly, become king.
After discussing the meaning of those eight characters for quite some time, Namgung Hu and Namgung Il headed toward the Imperial King Hall as dawn gradually broke.
It seemed this matter was not something that could be resolved at their level.
***
(Revised) New Murim Online Rule No. 5: When you level up, white light bursts forth from your body in all directions, and all wounds on your body are healed. At the same time, all stats increase slightly. That is, strength increases, the body becomes more agile, and intelligence rises.
Addendum: At this time, not only wounds but even lost body parts are fully restored.
※ Even now, all of these rules are neither fixed nor certain.
***
"Hey, did you hear about what happened last night?"
"What?"
"Ah, you haven't heard yet? Well, what happened is...…"
The Namgung Family was extremely noisy from early morning.
The cause was the three bright lights that had covered the Namgung Family the previous night.
Since ancient times, people have regarded the number three as sacred.
One (一) was associated with yang, two (二) with yin, and since three is the sum of one and two, it was considered a perfect number where yin and yang are harmonized.
Moreover, the light that had enveloped the entire Namgung Family last night was, in itself, so bright and gentle that it seemed capable of purifying the entire silver world.
All the guards who had been on watch at that time, as well as the few who had not been asleep, spoke in unison that the event was anything but ordinary.
Three Sacred Lights.
Passing through many mouths, the three lights gained the grand and fitting name of Three Sacred Lights.
"The Three Sacred Lights, you see...…"
Despite it still being early morning with many people not yet awake, rumors about the Three Sacred Lights spread rapidly.
[This is heaven blessing the upcoming wedding of Namgung Hye and Do Heo-ok!]
No one knew who had said it first, but before breakfast time, there was no one in the family who did not know of it.
Because of the Three Sacred Lights, even the core members and elders of the Namgung Family had all been summoned to the Imperial King Hall early in the morning.
However, the content of their meeting was far from as hopeful as the ordinary family members and guests imagined.
That was because what the Three Sacred Lights had heralded was not a blessing from heaven, but in truth an omen of calamity known as the Four Bone Script, Four Blood Script.