Chapter 89 : Latent Death, Breathing a Soul into the Dead

Chapter 89: Latent Death, Breathing a Soul into the Dead

Cheonja Stronghold was a mountain stronghold located on Mount Cheonja in Hunan.

Those known to possess considerable strength even among the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds had left their base and entered Hongui in Guizhou because of a dispatch from the Chief Banner Lord, urgently ordering them to hurry.

Originally, Cheonja Stronghold had roughly two thousand fighters. Among them, about one thousand were considered second-rate martial artists or higher—those who could truly be called martial warriors.

From among these, the Stronghold Lord of Cheonja Stronghold, Gu Tae, selected five hundred who were first-rate masters or above.

Fixating on the word “hurry,” the Cheonja Stronghold Lord had limited the selection to first-rate warriors capable of maintaining a certain level of lightness skill.

Thanks to that, immediately after receiving the Chief Banner Lord’s dispatch, the bandits of Cheonja Stronghold were already closing in on Hongui, where the Green Forest’s main stronghold was located, at remarkable speed.

When they reached a distant hill from which Hongui was visible, the Stronghold Lord of Hongui raised his hand and halted his subordinates.

“Why are you stopping?”

The one who rushed over to ask was the Deputy Stronghold Lord.

In response to the question, Stronghold Lord Gu Tae answered,

“For some reason, I’ve got a bad feeling.”

At that reply, the Deputy Stronghold Lord asked again,

“Do you see something?”

“It’s too quiet. We can’t be the only ones who rushed here. There’s no way it should be this quiet.”

At Gu Tae’s words, the Deputy Stronghold Lord gazed silently at Hongui below the hill and nodded.

“You’re right. It’s quiet… like a grave.”

“Who should be closer than us?”

“There are four stockades in Guizhou alone. And two more in Guangxi.”

“Exactly. Even if we ignore the rest, the Guizhou Three Strongholds should have arrived. There’s no way it could be this quiet.”

“You mean Daebang Stronghold, Samdo Stronghold, and Taegang Stronghold.”

“Yes. Those stubborn bastards would have rushed here first.”

The stockade lords of those three were known as the Chief Banner Lord’s “three bells,” so great was their loyalty.

Not only that.

The Guizhou Three Strongholds were powerful enough to rank within the top five among the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds.

They were essentially fortresses protecting the main stronghold.

Perhaps because of that, they were notoriously arrogant and caused no shortage of trouble. If those men had gathered, it could not possibly be this quiet.

“Send a few people in.”

At Gu Tae’s command, the Deputy Stronghold Lord quickly selected several bandits and sent them down toward Hongui.

They had arrived when the sun was high overhead, yet even as it dipped beyond the western hills, the bandits of Cheonja Stronghold remained in place near Hongui.

The reason was simple—the men sent inside had not returned.

“This is definitely strange.”

Now even the Deputy Stronghold Lord’s eyes were filled with suspicion.

“This won’t do. Gather the other stockade forces that are still on their way and bring them here.”

At Gu Tae’s order, the Deputy Stronghold Lord scattered bandits in all directions.

They were to gather other stockade warriors who, like them, were rushing here after receiving the Chief Banner Lord’s dispatch.

A day passed.

And the number of stockades gathered on the hill overlooking Hongui increased to three.

Yangsan Stronghold and Namgon Stronghold had arrived in response to Cheonja Stronghold’s signal.

Those two stockades, located in Guangdong, were led by brothers. Their maternal grandfather and father had both been famous bandits—it was practically a family trade.

In fact, each brother had inherited one stockade: one from their maternal grandfather, the other from their father.

“This is really unpleasantly quiet.”

At the words of Dok Yang, the Stronghold Lord of Yangsan Stronghold, Dan Yang, the Stronghold Lord of Namgon Stronghold, nodded in agreement.

“It is. It’s strangely quiet. Did you send anyone into the city?”

At Dan Yang’s question, Gu Tae nodded.

“Of course. Yesterday, I sent three men twice. None of them came back.”

“What is this? A trap?”

As Dan Yang tilted his head, Gu Tae spoke with a grave expression.

“Whether it’s a trap or not, if something happened there, we have to consider the possibility that the Chief Banner Lord was taken down. Same goes for the Guizhou Three Strongholds.”

At those words, Dan Yang turned to look at his older brother, Dok Yang.

“This is more serious than we thought.”

“Then we go back.”

At Dok Yang’s blunt statement, Dan Yang shook his head.

“And what if the Chief Banner Lord is pulling this as some loyalty test?”

That made both Dok Yang and Gu Tae stiffen.

Their Chief Banner Lord was absolutely capable of doing something like that. In fact, he had done something similar before.

Back then, Seoknim Stronghold of Yunnan had fallen for it and been wiped out completely. The Chief Banner Lord, together with the Guizhou Three Strongholds, had launched a sudden assault and eradicated them.

In the end, agreeing that it could indeed be a test, the three stockade lords decided to enter Hongui together with their men.

They would move as a single, tightly knit group.

If it was the Chief Banner Lord’s test, it would be infuriating but manageable. And if, as Gu Tae feared, an external force had struck, the three stockades agreed to combine their strength and withdraw together.

Thus, the total number of warriors from the three stockades slowly advancing together approached two thousand.

At their very front were not the stockade lords.

Leading the way ahead of the main force were the three Deputy Stronghold Lords and about thirty bandits selected from the stockades for their exceptional speed.

They were a combined scouting and vanguard unit.

Among them, the Deputy Stronghold Lord of Cheonja Stronghold grumbled,

“Damn it, this eerie atmosphere really rubs me the wrong way. I hear there’ve been mysterious bloodshed incidents popping up all over lately—could this be one of those?”

“Hey, don’t say such unlucky things.”

At the reprimand from the Deputy Stronghold Lord of Yangsan Stronghold, the Deputy Stronghold Lord of Namgon Stronghold stepped in.

“I don’t think it’s wrong to be cautious. There was bloodshed in Guizhou too.”

“Hey! I said stop saying unlucky things!”

Despite his bluster, unease was clearly written in the Yangsan Deputy Stronghold Lord’s eyes.

As the vanguard advanced, they saw the city gate leading into Hongui standing wide open, as if welcoming them inside.

“This just makes me even more uneasy.”

At that, anxiety spread across the others’ faces as well.

Still, they could not turn back. If they hesitated here and the stockade lords caught up, they would be mercilessly berated.

And so, after exchanging glances, the Deputy Stronghold Lords led their subordinates through the open gate.

All of them had their weapons drawn, nerves stretched taut.

From a distance, the stockade lords watched as the Deputy Stronghold Lords and the thirty-odd bandits disappeared through Hongui’s gate, then continued their advance.

And then—

“Kyaaaagh!”

The first sound that reached them was a scream.

Startled, the stockade lords exchanged looks, their expressions hardening.

They could not flee now—not after knowing their deputies and comrades were under attack. Doing so would only earn the contempt of their men.

After all, bandits lived by guts.

“Enemies! Move!”

At the command of Gu Tae, the Stronghold Lord of Cheonja Stronghold, the bandits drew their weapons and charged.

Behind them, the bandits of Namgon Stronghold and Yangsan Stronghold followed with a thunderous roar.

Thus, Hongui—into which two thousand bandits had charged—briefly descended into chaos.

However, that turmoil did not last long.

After a short while, Hongui was once again swallowed by silence, exuding nothing but a bleak, ghostly aura.

The Jade Forest Stronghold of Guangxi arrived at Hongui around midday the day after Cheonja Stronghold and the other two stockades had charged in.

As the Jade Forest Stronghold bandits approached Hongui without much thought, three men dressed like beggars suddenly appeared before them.

“What kind of son of a—… Gu Tae?”

“Yes. It’s me.”

Gu Tae’s appearance was beyond words. Blood stained him all over, and one of his arms was simply gone, leaving an empty stump.

“W-What happened to you?”

At the shocked question from the Jade Forest Stronghold Lord, Gu Tae shook his head.

“If you’re heading to Hongui, stop. It’s a trap of death.”

“A trap of death? What are you talking about?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. Hongui is a straight road to death.”

“Then who are you people—?”

The one who cut off the Jade Forest Stronghold Lord’s words was Gu Tae.

“Dok Yang.”

“Dok Yang? As in the Stronghold Lord of Yangsan Stronghold?”

“That’s right. I am Dok Yang, the Tiger of Yangsan.”

“…Damn. How did this happen…?”

While Dok Yang had not lost an entire arm like Gu Tae, his condition was no better.

His face and body were covered in wounds.

And the one standing beside Dok Yang was in the worst state of all. Half his face was ruined, and his left arm below the elbow was gone.

“And who is that?”

At the Jade Forest Stronghold Lord’s glance, Dok Yang answered,

“My younger brother, who was in charge of Namgon Stronghold.”

“The Fox of Namgon?”

“Yes. His name is Dan Yang. His face was badly injured, and his throat too, so he can’t speak right now. I ask for your understanding.”

“How could the stockade lords of three stockades end up like this? What happened?”

“There’s a Ghostly Being inside Hongui.”

“A Ghostly Being?”

“It seems to be the cause of the bloodshed that’s been happening everywhere lately.”

At Dok Yang’s answer, the Jade Forest Stronghold Lord’s eyes widened.

“The cause of the bloodshed… You mean a Ghostly Being that drinks blood?!”

“Thousands of subordinates were wiped out in an instant. It toyed with us like children’s playthings. To be honest, even escaping was barely possible.”

“Then those injuries…?”

“We received them in the fight. That Ghostly Being… is an opponent you absolutely cannot defeat head-on.”

“Then what about the Chief Banner Lord?”

“He was probably taken as well. No matter who it is, even the Chief Banner Lord couldn’t survive something like that.”

At Dok Yang’s answer, his face pale with fear, Gu Tae—the Stronghold Lord of Cheonja Stronghold—was seen nodding.

Dok Yang and the Jade Forest Stronghold Lord had little direct contact, despite having heard of each other. Gu Tae was different.

They had drunk together before and were fairly close. That was why the Jade Forest Stronghold Lord stepped closer to Gu Tae and asked,

“You tell me. Do you really think he was taken?”

“If not, then what? While we were dying, there’s no way he wouldn’t show his face. The hill behind Hongui is the main stronghold. With that kind of chaos, there’s no way he wouldn’t know.”

In the end, the Jade Forest Stronghold Lord had no choice but to agree with Gu Tae’s words.

As the Jade Forest Stronghold Lord looked back at the thousand or so subordinates lined up behind him, his Deputy Stronghold Lord shook his head.

It meant that regardless of the Chief Banner Lord’s dispatch, they should turn back.

As he hesitated, unable to make a firm decision, unexpected figures revealed themselves.

“Ghost Immortal?”

The first to recognize the approaching group was Dok Yang. He had recognized the Ghost Immortal of Mount Dian.

They had even crossed blades during the Orthodox–Unorthodox War, the great conflict between the Hundred Paths and the Unorthodox Factions that had taken place over ten years ago.

However, his surprise was completely buried beneath Gu Tae’s look of sheer terror.

“I-Iron Demon! My heavens—Profound Demon and even the Poison Demon!”

Because Gu Tae had once visited the Bright Cult as the Chief Banner Lord’s envoy—on account of being considered a madman—he recognized them at a glance.

The Iron Demon, now close enough, asked him,

“Who are you, that you recognize us?”

“I-I am Gu Tae, Stronghold Lord of Cheonja Stronghold of the Green Forest. I briefly met you before when I visited the Bright Cult as the Chief Banner Lord’s envoy.”

“Ah! The Green Forest’s little brat.”

As if he finally remembered, the Iron Demon answered, and Yul Han asked,

“Someone you know?”

“Yes. Vice Cult Leader. About ten years ago, before the Orthodox–Unorthodox War, he came begging for help.”

Words like begging and brat were enough to make one’s blood boil, but Gu Tae had no presence of mind to protest.

What the Iron Demon said next—while bowing respectfully to the young man—

never even reached his ears.

Because of a single word.

“Vice Cult Leader.”

“E–Emperor Salyejin!”

So shocked that the words burst out of him involuntarily, Gu Tae hurriedly covered his mouth with his remaining hand. Yul Han looked at him and said,

“How strange. People who are dead, yet do not know that they are dead.”

At Yul Han’s words, the Iron Demon’s eyes widened.

That meant that Gu Tae, Dok Yang, and the others standing before them were dead men.

The Iron Demon was about to ask how that could be, but he chose to remain silent.

Because the Profound Demon beside him stepped forward and spoke instead.

“It is Latent Death. One breathes a soul into the dead body and seals it. They can feel and move just as they did when alive, so it is said that even the dead themselves do not realize they are dead.”

At the Profound Demon’s explanation, the Iron Demon pointed toward Gu Tae and the others, who wore confused expressions.

“Then were those things also made by the one who set up the Dead Corpse Formation?”

“That would be the correct assumption.”

At the Profound Demon’s nod, the Ghost Immortal spoke,

“It seems the opponent is a master of sinister arts. Shall we request the ritual Daoists from the main sect?”

At the Ghost Immortal’s words, Yul Han shook his head.

“I don’t think we have time to wait for them.”

“What do you me—”

The Ghost Immortal’s question was cut short.

Because the eyes of Gu Tae and the others—who had been standing there just fine—began to roll back, turning white.