Chapter 166: Hae-il (1)

Cale extended his hand and pulled off the crown on his head.

He happened to make eye contact with Raon.

"Huuuuuuuu, huuuuuuuuu!"

Raon was taking some deep breaths.

"What are you doing?"

"It's nothing! Human, you looked as big as Goldie gramps for a moment but I think I was mistaken!"

That comment made Choi Han and Choi Jung Soo's eyes cloud over.

Choi Han looked down at his palm.

He had asked Cale what he had gotten and he had expected Cale to say that he got what he had wanted.

'It's completely covered in sweat.'

The moment he saw the crown-wearing Cale's stoic face… Choi Han's face had stiffen at that moment.

'Jung Soo doesn't seem to have realized it yet.'

Choi Han, who had approached closer to Cale with Raon, had seen the look on Choi Jung Soo's face as Choi Jung Soo stood a bit farther away.

'He looked scared.'

He was certain that Choi Jung Soo had been scared of Cale.

He looked as if he chickened out from getting any closer.

Of course, Choi Jung Soo looked as if he would never admit to that.

"Cale-nim."

This was the first time that Choi Han was curious about a power that Cale had gotten.

He had never experienced something like this.

"What is it?"

'What is the power you earned this time?'

That was the question he wanted to ask.

However, at that moment…

Tatatap. Tatatap!

He heard some urgent footsteps.

Chief Eunuch Wi, who ran past the blanking out Fist King on the stairs, looked at Cale.

"Young master Kim-nim!"

The cold look on his face as he temporarily took over the Sichuan Castle Lord's residence was gone and his face was full of desperation.

"The Blood Cult has released the jiangshis!"

Choi Han turned from Chief Eunuch Wi to look at Cale. Cale was looking at the ceiling. He slowly closed his eyes before opening them back.

Cale then looked back down and made eye contact with Choi Han.

"What were you trying to say?"

"It's nothing, Cale-nim. I will ask you later."

"Okay."

Cale nodded his head before putting the crown into his spatial pocket bag.

He heard the imposing voice of the Dominating Aura in his mind.

– I don't think you would lose to the God of Death we saw last time at least when it comes to your aura.

Cale ignored the extremely excited voice.

He approached Chief Eunuch Wi.

"Where have the jiangshis appeared?"

"We have received reports that they have started to appear all around the Central Plains."

Cale started walking up the stairs. Chief Eunuch Wi stuck right next to him.

"Please continue your explanation."

Chief Eunuch Wi opened his mouth to speak again.

Cale walked past the Fist King at that moment. Neither Chief Eunuch Wi nor Cale had any time to pay attention to the Fist King.

"Ho. Hoho-"

The Fist King blankly looked up at Cale who walked past him. He had no choice but to look up at Cale as he was walking up the stairs.

However, wasn't it normal for him to look up at Cale now?

That thought suddenly brushed past the Fist King's mind. He would have thought it was nonsensical in the past, but the Fist King currently did not have the courage or the guts to say that such thoughts were wrong.

He could only take deep breaths and calm himself.

Cale, who walked up without having any ideas about this, looked at the map that was open in the Sichuan Castle Lord's study and the numerous reports.

It was rare to see him looking so serious.

"…They've appeared in the Imperial Palace as well?"

"Yes, young master-nim. The jiangshis first appeared in the capital and the Imperial Palace before they started appearing in other areas as well."

"Mm."

Cale groaned. Chief Eunuch Wi bit down on his lip.

'I'm sure it is weighing heavily on him.'

Young master Kim had purified living jiangshis and had gone through all sorts of suffering until now.

But to see jiangshis suddenly appearing like this… How difficult must this be for him to handle?

Chief Eunuch Wi could not handle looking at Cale's eyes any longer and turned to look at the map.

As for Cale, he was deep in thought.

'Did the Blood Cult bastards go crazy?'

The appearance of jiangshis?

That was understandable.

He presumed that they would fight against jiangshis whenever they barged into the Blood Cult.

But he had never expected the Blood Cult to release jiangshis all around the Central Plains like this.

'Did they make the first move because they decided they couldn't let things keep going like this?'

At this point, it made sense for them to realize that there was an issue with the living jiangshis they planted in the Triumvirate. Based on that, they could take a different path.

'But still, sending jiangshis into the Imperial Palace?

They must be out of their damn minds.

Do they want to mess with the Emperor right now and end things?'

Cale heard Lee Soo Hyuk mumble at that moment.

"Did those Blood Cult bastards go crazy? Do they want to die?"

'Ah.'

Cale gasped.

Everybody focused on him.

The corners of Cale's lips twisted up.

"I guess the Blood Cult guys don't really know yet?"

"Hmm?"

The confused Lee Soo Hyuk's eyes clouded over for a moment.

His voice became relaxed.

"That's right. I guess they wouldn't really know yet."

"Indeed."

Tap. Tap.

Cale tapped on the capital with his finger before nonchalantly commenting.

"The Triumvirate… And the Imperial Palace… The fact that all of these forces have gathered together. The Blood Cult should not have figured that out yet."

The Blood Cult probably figured out two things.

'Young master Kim Hae-il who is a member of the Imperial family… That suspicious individual is poking around the Martial Arts world.'

'Furthermore, the living jiangshis planted in the Triumvirate have been purified.'

There was a limit to the conclusions they could come to with that information as background.

'I moved stealthily in between locations.'

During the incident in the Demon Cult, they had killed the spies and the doors of the Demon Cult had been shut, making it so that no information could leave.

Furthermore, going to the Divergent Coalition and purifying the living jiangshis was basically done in secret.

In addition, everything had not happened in a matter of months, it was within days.

'The Imperial family, young master Kim, the Orthodox faction, Unorthodox faction, and the Demon Cult.'

The Blood Cult should have realized that these groups were trying to create some sort of change.

'But they would never expect that the Triumvirate and the Imperial family were able to come to an agreement within days.'

They would just think that things would be as usual, the different groups exchanging opinions and trying to cooperate while being wary of each other.

The Triumvirate has never agreed on anything before.

"The Blood Cult would think that even if things have progressed as much as possible, it would only be at the level where the government and the Triumvirate are exchanging opinions with each other. Throughout the history of the Central Plains, such discussions have taken extremely long periods of time."

The wariness each group held for the others was extremely high.

The Fist King and Chief Eunuch Wi did not disagree with Cale.

"That is why the Blood Cult released the jiangshis. Also why they directed them at the Imperial Palace."

Cale looked toward Chief Eunuch Wi.

"In that case, the Imperial Palace would have no choice but to poke around the Martial Arts world."

Even if they know that the jiangshis are from the Blood Cult…

"The Imperial Palace would have no choice but to poke around the Martial Arts world if they cannot locate the Blood Cult."

Would the Martial Arts world be willing to open their doors to the Imperial Palace during such a situation?

'Absolutely not.'

In such a situation, the government and the Martial Arts world would not be able to come to an agreement.

"In the end, both sides would be distracted by the jiangshis, making it difficult to cooperate. Even if they ended up coming to an agreement, that would happen at a much later time."

If that was the case…

"That would be extremely beneficial for the Blood Cult."

They would be able to use those openings to cause chaos once again.

For example, instead of the Great War of the Triumvirate, they could turn it into a fight between the government and the Martial Arts world.

Those bastards would do something like that without any hesitation.

Cale's smile became even bigger.

"They are quite smart until the end."

The Blood Cult.

Not only were these bastards strong, they were true hunters.

Hunters were supposed to be great with traps.

"But oh no."

Unfortunately, the Blood Cult's actions were for naught.

"It will be difficult for things to go as the Blood Cult wants."

Team leader Sui Khan nonchalantly commented as if he agreed.

"Everybody other than the Blood Cult has already come together."

The Fist King snapped back to his senses and added on.

"That's right. We've all already come to an agreement."

They were all centered around young master Kim.

He kept that part to himself.

Kim Hae-il.

This person was someone who was far beyond anything the Blood Cult could have ever imagined.

He was the reason that the government and the Martial Arts world were able to come to an agreement so quickly. This was the first time something like this has ever happened in the history of the Central Plains.

"So-"

Cale looked toward Chief Eunuch Wi.

"So, what is the Imperial Palace's plan?"

Chief Eunuch Wi's dire face now looked calm.

"His Majesty has said that you should continue whatever you are doing, young master-nim."

'As I expected.'

Cale nodded his head.

"The government will suppress the jiangshis. His Majesty said that you do not need to worry about them."

Chief Eunuch Wi had not understood the Emperor's decree at first.

He thought that it would be better to get young master Kim's help to quickly resolve this issue.

However, the Emperor had accurately determined the order of importance.

'The destruction of the Blood Cult.'

Yes, that violent Emperor would not be satisfied with just taking down some jiangshis.

Chief Eunuch Wi looked at Cale.

"I guess in some ways, this might be good."

His mouth was going dry while looking at the smiling young master Kim.

Young master Kim spoke in a relaxed manner.

"Now that the jiangshis are out, it should be that much easier to strike the Blood Cult. Don't you think so?"

This smiling man was very scary.

It was at that moment.

"Senior!"

"What is going on?"

Chief Eunuch Wi's face instantly stiffened.

The person who called him Senior and approached…

This person was a member of the Eastern Depot disguised as a staff member of the Sichuan Castle Lord's Estate.

"This-"

The message that he urgently delivered without even showing his respects…

Chief Eunuch Wi urgently opened it before immediately handing the message to Cale.

"Young master-nim! Apparently the Castle Lord of Yunnan is dead!"

Cale opened the message.

"And they were taken over by jiangshis, making it currently impossible to infiltrate the Yunnan Castle!"

< Death of the Yunnan Castle Lord. >

< Minimum of 1,000 jiangshis. >

< Yunnan Castle has been taken. >

They would arrive at Yunnan once they passed through Sichuan.

That area was next to Nanman, one of the Outlands.

Nanman was where they suspected a branch or the core of the Blood Cult to be located.

< Unable to enter from outside, escape from inside. >

< The residents of Yunnan are currently under watch and being held hostage. >

< Unable to contact further. >

Cale looked toward Chief Eunuch Wi.

"How did this information arrive?"

"It came through a hawk, young master-nim. They probably sent this last message before everything closed down."

Chief Eunuch Wi looked toward the Eastern Depot member.

"We have not received any other message. Furthermore, the people who went near Yunnan Castle discovered numerous dead hawks. We've also lost contact with some of the Eastern Depot members."

The Blood Cult seemed to have made their move while everything was chaotic because of the jiangshis.

"If we didn't know that the Blood Cult was in Nanman, we would think what happened in Yunnan was just like the incidents throughout the areas."

Yunnan was in the outskirts and not a very important location. In fact, Yunnan was one of those places that would be placed on the backburner after considering places like the capital and other important locations.

Cale's gaze headed toward the bottom of the message.

Dried blood…

The message was written in blood.

They must have been in a rush as the writing was extremely difficult to make out as well.

Furthermore, blood was splattered in many areas.

However, Cale could see the last phrase clearly.

< Rescue requested. >

He folded up the message and handed it to Chief Eunuch Wi.

He then nonchalantly made a comment.

"We are heading to Yunnan Castle right away."

Chief Eunuch Wi cautiously asked.

"…Are you going to purify all of these jiangshis, young master-nim?"

There were at least 1,000 jiangshis there.

How many soldiers and martial artists would they need to take to fight against all of them?

They did not have a will of their own.

They would fight until the end and aim to kill their opponents.

'Gruesome-'

Yes, it would be a gruesome fight for either side.

'Hmm?'

Chief Eunuch Wi flinched.

Cale shook his head without any hesitation.

"No."

'He's not going to purify them?

Then he is going to fight all of them?'

Furthermore, the enemy was conducting castle defense.

Now that the enemies had Yunnan Castle, which had extremely strong walls because they bordered Nanman and the Outlands…

Cale and his allies would have to work multiple times harder to take over and get past the walls.

This was why there were different methods to fight depending on if it was a fight between martial artists and sects or to take over a castle.

This was also one of the reasons that the Martial Arts world was unable to defeat the government.

'It will take some time.'

It would be difficult to quickly take Yunnan Castle back.

While Chief Eunuch Wi had that thought, he still understood.

'Yeah, it would be impossible for the young master-nim to purify over a thousand jiangshis at once. And even if it was possible, he should not do it.'

It would put young master Kim-nim's life in danger.

He did not want that to happen at all.

Chief Eunuch Wi heard Cale's voice at that moment.

"Are the walls there strong?"

"Excuse me?"

Chief Eunuch Wi wondered what he had just heard and asked back. Cale had no issue asking again.

"How strong of an attack would be needed to destroy the castle wall at once? Don't you have the blueprints?"

'…A power strong enough to destroy the castle wall in one attack...?'

As Chief Eunuch Wi questioned what he had heard…

– Cale. No, Kim Hae-il.

The Sky Eating Water asked in a low voice.

– Time to yeet them?

'Where did she learn to talk like that?'

Cale let out a sigh.

– Human! Why are you smiling while sighing?

'I know, right?

Why am I smiling?'

He answered the Sky Eating Water first.

He didn't know whether it would be a tsunami or something else, but…

For now…

"Time to yeet them indeed."

Of course, not at the full 300 percent increase.

Maybe-

– 250%?

'Mm.'

– 200%?

Call.

'That's perfect.

I probably won't cough up blood that much?'

* * *

Paaaat-!

As the sun was setting…

A bright light flashed and a couple people appeared on top of a mountain.

Of course, a young Dragon was with them.

"Human, human! That must be the castle!"

Cale looked down.

He could see the extremely sturdy looking Yunnan Castle.

—

Translator's Comments

Dun dun duuuuuun.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]