Chapter 31
Baek Mu-Gun approached the window, which was the only way into the Sky Flower Pavilion. He then threw the Flying Golden Shield on his back into the sky.
The Flying Golden Shield drew a large curve as it rotated ferociously into the sky. Soon, it flew toward the Sky Flower Pavilion’s window at high speed.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
Along with the sound of the window shattering, the screams of the surprised women resonated in the room. Mu-Gun used his accurate qi senses to throw the Flying Golden Shield precisely toward the direction of the man he assumed to be a Lower Peak Realm expert. He then jumped down with one hand holding onto the parapet of the roof to enter through the broken window.
An explosive boom resonated inside. Soon, Mu-Gun saw a half-naked, middle-aged man blocking the Flying Golden Shield with his hands that were enveloped in a red aura.
The flustered middle-aged man made eye contact with Mu-Gun, who smiled widely and extended his hand toward the former in return. A golden thunderbolt formed in Mu-Gun’s hand.
At that moment, the middle-aged man deflected the Flying Golden Shield aside and charged toward Mu-Gun with a hand extended. A cloud-like red aura then enveloped his hand and flowed toward Mu-Gun. Simultaneously, numerous golden sword-shaped lightning consecutively sprang out from Mu-Gun’s hand.
Along with a thunderous roar, the red aura and the golden lightning sword shattered at the same time. However, there was more than one golden lightning sword. The second golden lightning sword, which followed after the first one, pierced through the middle-aged man’s palm.
“Kuhkkk!”
As soon as the shock lifted the middle-aged man up, three golden lightning swords lodged in his body. Four more pierced through his arms and legs before he was blasted away and slammed against the wall behind him.
The middle-aged man helplessly fell to the ground.
Mu-Gun knocked down the Lower Peak Realm expert in one fell swoop using the Five Lightning Volley—the Heavenly Descent Thunder God Sword’s second technique. However, instead of celebrating, his expression stiffened. The middle-aged man’s death had sent the gisaengs screaming.
He didn’t sustain any significant injuries during his battle against the middle-aged man because of the Blood-Jade Asura’s Palm—the martial arts his opponent used. The palm force he exerted was the ultimate skill of the Asura Cult, one of the nine great factions of the Nine Celestial Demons Sect. That meant that the Asura Cult had started moving.
Mu-Gun sighed at the never-ending ill-fated relationship he had with the Three Greatest Demonic Sects and turned to the gisaengs. The gisaengs had been screaming and making a fuss until a moment ago, but they had now pressed against each other in the corner of the room, clearly wary of him.
“Don’t be afraid. I came here at the Sky Flower House Master’s request.” Mu-Gun assured them, then turned his attention to the entrance of the room.
He could sense four different energies quickly approaching from that direction. They likely came running after hearing the thunderous roar that resonated earlier, which ultimately made them realize something was wrong.
Mu-Gun picked up the Flying Golden Shield that the fallen middle-aged man deflected, then fixed his gaze on the door.
“Leader! Are you okay?”
The four men approached the door but didn’t immediately barge in. On the contrary, they tried to figure out the situation inside first. At that moment, Mu-Gun threw the Flying Golden Shield toward the door, smashing it and flying through the four experts waiting outside.
The Flying Golden Shield hit two of them, but they blocked it instead of panicking. However, the shield exhibited a much stronger power than they had imagined. It pushed back and blasted away the two experts blocking it.
In that interval, Mu-Gun slipped through and stabbed the person on the far left with his sword.
Mu-Gun closed in the distance at lightning speed and pierced through the throat of the person on the far left while he was distracted by the Flying Golden Shield. Unable to respond properly, the latter collapsed to the ground. The man on the right then immediately charged at Mu-Gun, who extended out his left hand and executed the Vajra Exorcism Finger in retaliation.
Imbuing the technique with Heavenly Thunder Constellation Divine Art’s thunder qi, he fired a strand of thunderbolt, which penetrated the man’s forehead right in the middle.
After taking down two experts in an instant, Mu-Gun dashed toward the men his shield had blasted away. He then thrust his sword, executing the Hundred Moonlight Transformation of the Celestial Moonlight Sword Art. The technique fired off countless sword shadows at the two experts. Barely managing to deflect the Flying Golden Shield, his opponents hurriedly tried to defend themselves. However, they couldn’t instantly come up with a plan to block the myriad of burrowing sword shadows that confused them.
In a fight between masters, life and death were decided in a split second. Mu-Gun didn’t miss the moment the two experts hesitated. He penetrated their necks one after another.
“Kurghhh!”
Mu-Gun’s opponents let out a death rattle and collapsed.
“Phew.”
Having displayed intense movements without stopping to even catch his breath, Mu-Gun took his time to breathe before walking over to the middle-aged man he had defeated. By the time he checked if the middle-aged man was still conscious, the latter had already stopped breathing.
To be fair, it would’ve been strange if he didn’t die immediately. After all, the Five Lightning Volley had torn off one of his arms and left three holes the size of a forearm on his chest and abdomen.
“Damn it. I wanted to get more information about the Asura Cult from him.”
Mu-Gun smiled bitterly upon confirming his first opponent had died.
If he knew this would be the case, he wouldn’t have killed the four first-rate experts he faced. That would’ve given him the chance to interrogate them. However, according to Mu-Gun’s observation, it was highly unlikely that the four first-rate experts’ martial arts were related to the Asura Cult.
The Asura Cult—no, the Nine Celestial Demons Sect traditionally enjoyed overthrowing murim using infiltration squads, which were composed of people disguised as main figures of nameless martial families and sects. These individuals would grow and develop their forces while keeping their true identity and the Nine Celestial Demons Sect hidden from the murim organization they had infiltrated.
Hence, Mu-Gun wouldn’t have learned anything about the Asura Cult even if he interrogated the four first-rate experts. He’d be able to find out about the forces aiming for the Heavenly Secret Hall through them, but he could easily get that information from the remaining people in the Sky Flower House anyway.
“Young hero! No, I mean, great hero! Did the House Master really send you?” One of the gisaengs hiding at one side asked carefully. Her elegant beauty stood out, though her eyes still showed fear.
“Yes, so just rest easy and wait here. I’ll have all the people that have taken control of the Sky Flower House dealt with before the night ends.”
“Is the House Master safe?”
“She is, so stop worrying.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
The gisaengs thanked Mu-Gun with great joy, seemingly expressing how delighted they were to learn she was safe. That gave Mu-Gun a glimpse of how much Cheon Yu-Hwa meant to the gisaengs.
Leaving them behind, Mu-Gun exited the Sky Flower Pavilion and began silently eliminating the remaining enemies throughout the Sky Flower House, fully demonstrating his experience as an assassin in his previous life. Of course, he didn’t forget to identify his enemies.
Mu-Gun found out through several people that the invaders were from the Great Sima Family of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. The Great Sima Family had grown rapidly since ten years ago, but some of the forces in murim were suspicious of their unclear roots.
Those suspicions ultimately proved true, considering the Asura Cult was involved.
If he could, he’d immediately charge at the Great Sima Family and root out the Asura Cult, but he still lacked the strength to do that. For now, he was satisfied with finding traces of the Asura Cult and figuring out the identity of the people aiming for the Heavenly Secret Hall. He decided it would be better to deal with the Asura Cult members that had disguised themselves as part of the Great Sima Family after visiting the Medicine King Family.
After dealing with all of his enemies in the Sky Flower House, Mu-Gun returned to the Heavenly Secret Hall’s secret manor.
***
“Welcome back.”
When Mu-Gun arrived at the Heavenly Secret Hall’s secret manor, Dan Seol-Young was the first to greet him.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Yes. I was worried something would happen to you. I’m glad you came back safely.”
“Thank you for worrying about me.”
“What happened to the matter you went to deal with?” Seol-Young inquired.
“I’ve eliminated all of the enemies left in the Sky Flower House.”
“As expected of the Thunder God’s successor.”
“Has Hall Leader Cheon woken up?” Mu-Gun expressed concern on Yu-Hwa’s condition.
“Yes. She woke up a while ago.”
“I see. Let’s go meet her, then.”
Mu-Gun and Seol-Young headed to the inner room of the main building, which was where Yu-Hwa was at.
“Hall Leader! The Thunder God’s successor has returned,” Seol-Young informed Yu-Hwa upon arriving at the entrance of the inner room.
“Let him in,” Yu-Hwa replied weakly.
Seol-Young quickly opened the door and gestured for Mu-Gun to head inside.
“Please come in.”
Mu-Gun bowed slightly to Seol-Young, then entered the inner room. Yu-Hwa set her bedding aside and sat while leaning on the table. Considering she still didn’t look that great, it seemed the poison’s aftereffects hadn’t yet dispersed.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Baek Mu-Gun,” Mu-Gun politely greeted Yu-Hwa. Her eyes trembled as she looked at him. In her eyes, Mu-Gun’s face overlapped with someone she had yearned for all her life.
Yu-Hwa shut her eyes tightly, then opened them again and looked at Mu-Gun, removing the image of her beloved. However, she could still somehow see that person’s features in Mu-Gun’s.
“Hall Leader!” Seol-Young called out to Yu-Hwa, who just kept staring at Mu-Gun instead of greeting him back. Upon hearing Seol-Young, Yu-Hwa came to her senses and apologized to Mu-Gun.
“Ah! I’m sorry. I was reminded of Young Master Guyang, the predecessor of the Thunder God’s successor, when I saw Young Master Baek. That made me absent-minded for a moment. I heard you cured me of the poison in my body, Young Master Baek. For that, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude. I don’t know how I can repay your great kindness.”
Mu-Gun smiled bitterly at Yu-Hwa, who kept staring at him and remembering Guyang Hwi.
Having retained the consciousness of his earlier reincarnations, he felt like he was still Guyang Hwi even though he was in the body of Baek Mu-Gun. He was unaware he would experience an odd mix of emotions upon meeting someone from his previous life. After all, there was a huge interval between each reincarnation, which made it impossible for him to meet anyone he knew before.
For a moment, he wanted to reveal to Yu-Hwa that he was Guyang Hwi, but he felt like that wouldn’t be right. It would be best to create a new connection with her as Baek Mu-Gun.
“Calling it kindness is going overboard. It is only natural for me to take care of the Heavenly Secret Hall as the Thunder God’s successor.”
“May I ask what was the matter that you had to deal with?”
“I eradicated the people trying to take control of the Heavenly Secret Hall.”
“Did you manage to find out who they were?”
“It’s the Great Sima Family.”
“The Great Sima Family?”
“To be more accurate, the Asura Cult is manipulating the Great Sima Family behind the scenes.”
“Isn’t the Asura Cult one of the Nine Celestial Demons Sect’s factions?” Yu-Hwa asked in surprise.
“Yes.”
“Does that mean that the Nine Celestial Demons Sect has begun to move?”
“I’ll have to check on it to confirm the exact reason, but the Asura Cult wouldn’t have made a move on its own.”
“There will be bloodshed in murim again, huh.”
“Well, we’ll have to stop that from happening.”
In a way, finding traces of the Nine Celestial Demons Sect before they could do a full-scale mobilization was fortunate. They should be able to minimize the damage by investigating those traces and breaking the Nine Celestial Demons Sect’s goals in advance.
And if they could prepare countermeasures against the Nine Celestial Demons Sect before the latter could go on a rampage, they’d be able to achieve a different result than that of his previous life.
“On another note, I have a question for you that I’m not sure I should ask,” Yu-Hwa said cautiously.
“If you have a question, I should of course give you an answer. Ask me anything.”
“The predecessor of the Thunder God’s successor died before he could have a descendant. How did Young Master Baek become the Thunder God’s successor?”
“I obtained the legacy Master Guyang secretly left behind,” Mu-Gun lied, showing not a hint of panic.
Since he couldn’t tell them about the Nine Lives Reincarnation Spell, he made up a believable excuse instead.
“I see.” There seemed to be a tinge of disappointment in Yu-Hwa’s voice.
“Do you have any other questions?”
“No. You came looking for the Heavenly Secret Hall to turn us into your followers as per the Thunder God’s covenant, right?”
“Yes. However, if you do not want to, you are free to refuse, Hall Leader Cheon.”
“Are you serious about that?”
“Even though I want the Heavenly Secret Hall, it’s meaningless if you do not follow me wholeheartedly.”
“Don’t worry. The Heavenly Secret Hall will abide by the Thunder God’s covenant and wholeheartedly follow Young Master Baek.”
“Master Guyang left behind a message in his legacy, stating that Hall Leader Cheon, although a woman, was more faithful and loyal than most men. As expected, he was right.”
“Did he really say that?” Yu-Hwa’s eyes brightened up upon hearing what Mu-Gun just said.
“Yes.”
He wasn’t lying.
Mu-Gun—no, Guyang Hwi truly thought of Yu-Hwa that way.
Yu-Hwa smiled brightly, then changed the topic to more pressing matters. “Now that the true identity of the Sky Flower House has been revealed to the Great Sima Family, I think we should move the Heavenly Secret Hall’s headquarters. Do you have any place in mind?”
“My home is located in Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province.”
“Understood. I’ll move the Heavenly Secret Hall’s headquarters there.”
Yu-Hwa immediately made a decision according to Mu-Gun’s words.
“Thank you. Please go to Wenzhou ahead of me after settling matters here. I still have matters to attend to in Shandong Province.”
“How should I get in touch with you when we get there?”
“If you leave a message at Wenzhou’s Mountain Sea Pavilion, I’ll come looking for you.”
“Understood.”
“You need to recover your energy before departing for the long journey ahead of you, so rest up.”
“I should be the one saying that. Young Master Baek has to be exhausted after treating me around the clock for three days, then proceeding to eliminate the martial artists the Great Sima Family sent. Please get some rest. Seol-Young, take care of Young Master Baek.”
“Yes, Hall Master. Please come with me.”
Seol-Young guided Mu-Gun.
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