Chapter 23 –Fruitful After the Rain(6)
The Black Death Squad means “the squad that spreads black death,” and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they were truly the most elite unit that the Black Plague Faction prided itself on. Although now the Black Plague Faction has completely fallen.
During their heyday, the Black Death Squad even had the record of capturing a Supreme master from the Sacheon Tang family, one of the five great families of the Orthodox Sect, with the Black Death Squad’s first-class warriors.
Of course, compared to then, the current Black Death Squad was incomparably shabby, but even so, the current Black Death Squad could still easily bury a first-class master who wasn’t at the peak level.
Yuan Qi, the leader and chief of the Black Death Squad , judged so. In the direct confrontations that the hypocrites of the Orthodox Sect so love, it is nearly impossible to overturn the gap in realms.
However, if one asks whether there are no means to narrow that gap, that’s not the case either. Especially if it’s not the Orthodox Sect immersed in hypocrisy, but rather the evil sect pursuing practical martial arts.
“We’ll use the Black Plague Corpse Green Phosphorus.”
“Isn’t that an extreme poison that is burdensome even to produce with the Black Plague Faction’s current capabilities?”
“When the opponent isn’t even a supreme master, isn’t this too wasteful…?”
“This battle is one we absolutely cannot lose. So fight as if the opponent is a supreme master.”
The strange poisons created by shamans who only talk with their mouths and perform bizarre acts, which are close to superstition, are on a different level. It is literally the worst extreme poison created with the full effort of the Black Plague Faction.
Even then, it was only completed after receiving support from the Black Death Squad due to a lack of funds and manpower. In other words, if they fail to retrieve it here, they may never be able to create it again.
Of course, the Black Plague Corpse Green Phosphorus is also an extremely lethal poison that Black Plague Faction currently struggles to manufacture. But when compared to that Ingoh, the scale would naturally tilt toward the Ingoh.
“Sua, can you protect Seolhwa?”
“Of course.”
“Good, but you must not allow even a single strike from their swords or hidden weapons.”
“Not even a graze?”
“They use poison arts. If the poison enters your body, it’s over. Of course, you can resist to some extent with inner strength… but even that is impossible with extreme poisons.”
Immediately grasping that the Black Death Squad ‘s movements were suspiciously ominous, Mu-myung gave advance warning to Sua. Of course, martial arts novels where poison arts are powerful are very rare.
Unless one has reached the realm of immunity to all poisons, it’s never bad to be as careful as possible. However, Sua was interpreting Mu-myung’s intentions in a completely different way.
‘To immediately recognize these villains who casually use such extreme poisons… I wonder what kind of battles Master has fought.’
Although the Murong family was cut off from interactions with the martial world, that did not mean they knew nothing about the martial world. At the very least, they knew about the evil sect, which was at odds with the Orthodox Sect.
However, even the evil sect, which favors devious martial arts, tends to mostly avoid using extreme poisons. But here, Master immediately discerned that the opponent was from the evil sect, and that wasn’t enough.
He even firmly believed that they would use extreme poisons that would take a life with just a single strike. This means that all the villains he has faced so far have been like this without exception.
No, it’s even worse.
Villains who casually use deadly extreme poisons.
Could they really guarantee that they wouldn’t use other dirty methods? They must have used all sorts of unimaginable dirty tricks. Sua herself had directly experienced it.
What kind of battles have you fought?
What kind of hell have you witnessed with those eyes?
Sua blankly stared at the back of Mu-myung standing proudly in front of her. Although he was wearing clothes that were close to ragged tatters, with white hair that resembled an old man’s fluttering in the wind.
Nevertheless.
That back seemed even more enormous than Mount Tai.
“Sister, I’m… too scared.”
“…!!”
Seolhwa’s pale hands wrapped around Sua’s waist. Seolhwa’s arms, trembling continuously like aspen leaves, were more than enough to convey her fear to Sua.
Seolhwa was someone who never showed fear in any situation. No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she accepted everything. A martial sister who kept smiling even when being one-sidedly beaten in sparring matches..
Now she was trembling with fear like a mouse in front of a cat. And at that moment, Sua recalled what her master had told her. The one thing that had made her forget all jealousy.
[People often say that a master and disciple are like parent and child. Then, wouldn’t disciples be like siblings to each other?]
So, as the older sister, protect Seolhwa.
Instead of answering, Sua held Seolhwa’s hand. With just that, Seolhwa’s trembling stopped as if it had been a lie. And at that moment, swords filled with killing intent were swung toward each other.
◇
“Deploy the formation!!!”
The First Team, specialized in frontal combat, forms a battle formation and buys time, while the Second Team, specialized in poison arts, seizes that gap to unleash poison. It was a simple but effective tactic.
As the leader shouted with all his might, veins bulging in his neck, the warriors swiftly began to form a battle formation. Naturally, Mu-myung was not one to just stand by and watch.
Normally, he would have immediately rushed forward and beheaded them all. However, now Mu-myung’s ankle was unavoidably caught, and the reason was hidden weapons.
While the First Team of the Black Death Squad was forming their battle formation, the Second Team threw poison-coated hidden weapons from behind. If they had thrown them at him, he would have sneered and ignored them, charging forward.
“Clever indeed.”
“When humans try to catch a dragon, how can they afford to be choosy about methods?”
“Cowardly trash… How far have you abandoned being human?!”
At the leader’s calm response to Mu-myung’s muttering, Sua finally couldn’t hold back and burst out in indignation. Yes, what they had targeted was none other than Sua and Seolhwa.
Of course, the Black Death Squad knew that poison wouldn’t work on Seolhwa, so they had no hesitation as long as they didn’t aim for vital points. But there was no way Mu-myung and Sua could know that.
Even if they did know, they wouldn’t just stand by and watch hidden weapons dig into their skin. In the end, Mu-myung had no choice but to stay put and deflect all the hidden weapons.
And in that brief gap, the First Team succeeded in forming their battle formation and surrounding them. At their coordinated movement, Mu-myung clicked his tongue. Indeed, were they not just any second-class warriors?
“In terms of coordination, they’re far superior to the Murong family’s Righteous Dragon Hall.”
“I heard that an unidentified master sprinkled ashes on the Murong family’s nearly cooked rice… Was that you?”
“I didn’t sprinkle ashes, I cut off the evil hand.”
“I see… So this was all part of a strategy.”
Well, it’s not like they could have coincidentally picked up the deadly poison from the river.
As they exchanged words, the leader’s suspicion hardened into certainty. He had heard that their secretive collaborators had recently suffered a major setback at the Murong family and had been forced to withdraw.
‘…Could it be that this old man is…?’
“Chief, is there any problem?”
“Nothing. Quickly deploy the poison arts and kill those two.”
The leader tried to hide that fact and gave orders to his men. As the leader’s orders fell, the First Team of the Black Death Squad prepared for defense, and the Second Team took out poison to prepare their poison arts.
Moreover, some members of the Second Team were even preparing to throw hidden weapons at the children when they saw an opening. If he chose to attack, the children would die; if he only defended, they would still die from the poison arts.
Of course, if the opponent had reached the realm of immunity to all poisons, it would be a different story. But in this vast Central Plains martial world, absolute masters who had reached the realm of immunity to all poisons were few and far between.
If the Black Death Squad ‘s information was accurate, there were at most about five absolute masters in this vast martial world who had reached the realm of immunity to all poisons. And even they were all renowned masters from prestigious orthodox factions.
The Black Death Squad warriors, except for their leader, thought it was truly a checkmate. But at that moment, Mu-myung swung his sword. The sword, held horizontally, drew a line like the horizon.
Was it just a feeling that light flowed like a vast sea from the line drawn in the air? The moment their gaze was briefly captivated by the beauty of the light, that was their last memory.
The leader, who had been on guard in advance, was barely able to preserve his life. However, his eyes widened like oil lamps. The Black Death Squad was the elite unit that the Black Plague Faction prided itself on.
Even if the opponent was a supreme master, they were not ones to lose their lives with a single strike like this. That’s why he had forced this move even at the cost of sacrificing some of his men.
‘What the hell…!! What is this absurd move?!’
Having seen quite a few absolute masters from both orthodox and evil sects, the leader could clearly tell one thing: that the move wielded by this unidentified old man was an absurd one.
He had never even heard of such an absurd move until now. The name of the move that shattered the Black Death Squad ‘s formation with a single strike, which even the leader who had been through thick and thin could not anticipate, was:
Horizontal Slash [橫斬]
