Moon-Shadow Sword Emperor - Chapter 20
in episode 20
occurred exactly one month after I set foot in Sacheon.
As usual, after finishing my training at Hwangryongmugwan and heading to Dokgo Woojin’s house, I narrowed my eyes when I saw Seo Munhye running around the streets with an anxious expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“So Soun.”
A face that looks like it might burst into tears at any moment.
I intuitively realized that something had happened and asked to comfort her in confusion.
“Is this something to do with your son?”
Seo Moon-hye always looked calm and relaxed.
Anything that would cause her to be so anxious would most likely be related to her family.
It doesn’t make sense that Dokgo Woojin, an absolute master, got into trouble while on the road, so it had to be assumed that there was a problem with his son Dokgoseong’s personal life.
just as expected.
Seo Moon-hye, who managed to catch her breath, nodded her head in approval.
“I lost my temper.”
“Please tell me in detail.”
“When I returned home from grocery shopping, my temper had disappeared. “I’m not the type of kid to leave the house alone without saying a word.”
“Is there a place you think your son might have gone?”
“There are a few places, but I’ve already visited them all on my way back…”
A stranger might think this was excessive concern, but considering Dok Go-seong’s constitution, Seo Moon-hye’s reaction was natural.
For Dokgo-seong, who was born with a weak body, going out for long periods of time was no different from poison.
‘To begin with, Dokgo-seong is not the type to leave the house alone without saying anything. So, does that mean someone broke into the house and took Dok Go-seong away?’
For a moment, the possibility of kidnapping came to mind.
But who?
wherefore?
There is cause and effect in everything in the world.
There is no effect without a cause.
They break into a house located in the middle of a downtown area in broad daylight and kidnap a child?
The usual method of kidnapping was not an idea that came to mind.
Especially if the child’s father is the leader of the famous Hwangryongmugwan.
‘Anyone who has ever heard of Cheonquan’s reputation would never think of the idea of kidnapping his son.’
Or rather, that may be why the kidnapping was carried out in broad daylight.
If it is said that the work was done targeting Dokgo Woo-jin’s working hours, it would be roughly correct.
‘Probably one of the two.’
Either the evil beast is a powerful person who despises even the leader of the Hwangryongmugwan, or he holds a personal grudge against Dokgo Woojin.
Thoughts bit each other.
Nothing was certain.
‘There is too little information.’
At the very least, if you knew whether it was kidnapping, going out, or running away from home, you would be able to decide what action to take.
Afterwards, I exchanged several questions and answers with Seo Moon-hye, but I did not get much results.
Then, suddenly, something from not long ago flashed through my mind.
‘Now that I think about it, that Mine from back then.’
A tattered monster encountered while wandering around the streets with Dok Go-seong.
The guy was watching me and Dokgo Castle with obvious interest.
‘Even though we were being chased by the Taoists of the Qingcheng Sect.’
At the time, I thought he was interested in me.
But what if that wasn’t actually the case?
What if I was just a sideshow and the person who truly caught his interest was Dokgo-seong?
“Ma’am, there is one thing I would like to ask.”
“……?”
“You said your son has a special constitution. Do you know the exact name of that constitution?”
“Why is that suddenly…”
“It may be related to the reason why she disappeared.”
“The doctor said it was definitely a heavenly body….”
Boom!
My heart was beating violently.
I was able to immediately understand how the current situation was going.
I urgently grabbed Seo Moon-hye’s shoulder and shouted.
“Please go to the Hwangryongmu Pavilion right now and tell my story! right now!”
* * *
I immediately left the city and headed to the outskirts of Chengdu.
The speed with which I could spread the ghost beam at extreme speeds was enough to surpass that of a well-trained war horse.
‘Isn’t it too late already?’
When I heard from Seo Mun-hye that Dok Go-seong was Cheon-eumji, the first person that came to mind was Wi Su-ak, the first disciple of Cheonma of the time.
A monarch who rules over a thousand mountain peaks.
Cheonak (千岳) refers to the Cheonsan Mountain Range (天山山脈) in Xinjiang, so the nickname Cheonakgun contained the inner meaning of the ruler of the Demonic Cult.
The interesting fact is that the creator of that special issue was none other than Wi Suak himself.
Since he could not dare to refer to himself as the Heavenly Demon, he chose the nickname Cheonakgun, which is chicken instead of pheasant.
The martial art that Wei Suak learned was a flame attack with the nature of extreme yang.
There are many martial arts in the world that have prominent yin and yang characteristics, but there are none as extreme as the fire technique taught by Wei Suak.
By analogy, it was a double-edged sword.
Although it is extremely powerful, it is a highly dangerous magic attack that will self-destruct if it cannot overcome its bias.
Wi Suak used all kinds of methods to neutralize the positive energy that threatened his life from time to time.
He also took elixirs containing the properties of extreme yin, and also found the body of heavenly yin and absorbed its vitality.
‘The evil beast that kidnapped Dok Go-seong is probably an evil demon. ‘He must have intended to return to the religion by offering the body of Cheonumji to Wisuak.’
It was a question all along.
What prompted Dokgo Woojin to break from his long seclusion and commit himself to the Murim Alliance?
‘It was because of resentment.’
It turned out that out of anger over losing his son, he aimed his sword at the Demonic Cult for revenge.
The monster who would later occupy the throne of the Ten Heavenly Emperors was none other than the demon of Eomsal who brought him into the Great War of True Demons.
‘How much shit has that old man been through in his lifetime?’
I gritted my teeth and kicked the ground.
I felt irritated all over again when I remembered the rush he had made to correct the things he had done in his past life.
‘In my past life and in my present life, I feel like an old man who is of no help in life.’
What if Dok-go-seong has already been transferred to the Demonic Cult?
I had to assume that all my efforts so far would be in vain.
Asking someone to teach you martial arts should be done while observing the mood, and you cannot carelessly provoke a father who lost his son in an unfortunate accident.
Acting without notice and then making a fuss was something I didn’t want to do.
‘Damn it.’
He knew everything about the places that Eumsal demons and ghosts used as hiding places.
The problem is that it is impossible to specify which hiding place they are currently using.
I had no choice but to stop by one place at a time and check.
‘Please don’t be late!’
* * *
“Hehehehe.”
A strange warmth appeared on the old man’s face as he looked down at the boy lying dead on the bed.
He stroked the child’s cheek with his wrinkled hand.
“Mmm.”
The child frowned heavily and shook his shoulders.
Perhaps because the reaction was amusing, the old man bullied the child again.
They pinch your nose, prick your philtrum, pull your cheeks, and tickle your ears.
The child continued to toss and turn but did not wake up.
“Are you okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“For young children who are not fully grown, spotting blood can be dangerous. If you do it wrong, the blood vessels in your body may die and you may die or become disabled…”
“It doesn’t really matter.”
“yes?”
“Anyway, I just have to stay alive until I get to the religion. “Just because your blood vessels are damaged doesn’t mean you die right away.”
“…….”
“He dies this way, he dies like that, but in the end, he will die. “You don’t even feel pity, do you?”
The old man who had been muttering coldly suddenly burst into laughter.
It was a change of emotions so drastic that a third party would have felt uncomfortable if they had seen it.
However, the man across from me showed no change in expression.
As if it was familiar.
“Did you send Jeon Seo-gu (傳書鳩)?”
“yes.”
“Are you ready to leave?”
“I finished it. But wouldn’t it be better to wait for a reply before leaving?”
“There is no need for that. “There’s no way that bastard wouldn’t accept the conditions I presented.”
“Isn’t there such a thing as contingency?”
“I spent about three years working as a porter in Sacheon. Don’t you think you’ve endured this long enough?”
“…….”
“The handover went well, right?”
“of course. Even if the elder is away, work here will continue without a problem.”
“Good.”
The old man nodded with satisfaction and carefully lifted the child into his arms.
Ilho silently followed behind him as he hummed and took steps.
When I got to the ground, there was a carriage waiting.
“The sky is gloomy.”
“It looks like it’s going to rain soon.”
The old man entered the carriage and No. 1 took a seat in the coachman’s seat.
Five additional horsemen appeared and lined up as if to guard the carriage.
Hee hee hee!
Following the rattling noise, the carriage wheels began to roll.
“Stop!”
When they had moved about a distance away, a man stood blocking the group’s path with his sword drawn.
The old man stuck his head out the window and narrowed his eyes as he confirmed the other person’s identity.
He was a middle-aged man with a neat appearance.
A navy blue uniform that is far from flashy.
A sword drawn on his sleeve gave away his identity.
“Why is the Qingseong Taoist here…”
“I know that you guys are connected to the rumored devil!”
The old man’s face suddenly distorted.
The horsemen trembled their shoulders at the terrifying energy wave emanating from the carriage.
“No. 1.”
“yes.”
“Cut it.”
“All right.”
Sigh!
Ilho swung his arm like a thunderbolt.
At the same time, one of the horsemen guarding the carriage screamed and fell off his horse.
The severed left arm spun around in the air, spattering blood.
“No. 21. “Didn’t you say that all the pursuers were shaken off?”
“Ugh. “I’m sorry.”
“I will not take your life in recognition of your contribution to discovering the heavenly body.”
“thank you.
“Try to stop the bleeding on your cut arm.”
“……yes.”
The Taoist monk of Qingcheng was speechless for a while as the shocking scene unfolded before his eyes.
The old demon demon, who instinctively sensed something was wrong and quietly looked at him as he slowly took a step back, muttered coldly.
“Kill it. “You must never miss it.”
“Respect!”
The horsemen all jumped up from their saddles.
The middle-aged Taoist hurriedly swung his sword and unleashed the clean wind sword technique.
Damn it!
There was a strong crash sound.
The fight between four demons and one Taoist warrior quickly became clear.
The middle-aged Taoist master had outstanding skills, but each and every one of the magicians was an expert who had reached the peak level.
“You guys! “It turns out that they are the leaders of the Demonic Cult!”
“It was too late to realize.”
“Do you think you can dare to touch a Taoist of Qingcheng and still get away with it?”
“Do you think such a trivial threat will work?”
Suddenly!
A sharp sword passed through the middle-aged Taoist’s hair.
A series of sword strikes aimed at the neck and sides.
The middle-aged Taoist hurriedly rolled onto the ground and escaped danger.
It was a technique called Naryeotagon (懶驢打滾), and the Baekdo martial arts people, who valued face, were extremely reluctant to use it.
“After all, in the face of a life-threatening crisis, there is no need to lose face or anything.”
“Even if he is a Taoist of Qingcheng, he is still a human being in the end.”
The middle-aged Taoist monk’s face was cruelly distorted by the mockery of the demons.
At that time, Il-ho, who was sitting in the coach seat and quietly watching the situation, spoke in an emotionless voice.
“It’s taking too long.”
“…!”
“There is no benefit in delaying any longer. “Let’s finish it quickly.”
“Yes! High Lord!”
The youthful energy of the demons’ swords became thicker.
The middle-aged Taoist monk’s face turned white as the magic energy poured out.
Ku-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
Immediately afterwards, a loud bang rang out.
Not only the middle-aged Taoist monk, but even the four demons opened their eyes wide and looked back at the source of the binge drinking.
The carriage was shattered as if a huge boulder had fallen.
In the center of it all, I saw an old man snoring with an angry expression.
Where the old man was looking, a boy was standing holding a child in one arm.
“Who are you?”
Before I knew it, Ilho had drawn two long swords in his hands and was running towards the boy, shouting.
The boy muttered, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
“It looks twice as big as when I saw it in the old man’s magic hall.”