Chapter 149: Soul Reaper Demon (3)

Fragmented bodies. Red blood and unknown fluids. And corpses shattered and severed all over the place.

Whether it was for torture or some kind of experiment, this place was where other races were slaughtered.

“Mm! Mmmph! Mm!”

Momentarily stunned by the shocking sight, Jang Woo-hyun resumed moving as he heard a sound from deeper inside. It seemed he had found the right place.

On a bed further in, something unusual was tied up.

“A tree?”

Surprised, Jang Woo-hyun muttered to himself.

It was really a tree. It looked like a humanoid tree.

It resembled a human female, with leaves growing to cover important parts. Long leaves extended from her head, substituting for hair, and vibrant flowers bloomed like ornaments.

Seeing a race he had never encountered before, Jang Woo-hyun stopped in his tracks. The being lying down called to him with muffled sounds. Cautiously, he removed what was covering her mouth.

As he did, a sealed energy burst outward. What had covered her mouth wasn’t just a gag; it was something that blocked all communication.

“Phaa! Hey! If you’re coming in, shouldn’t you save me right away? What are you doing? Just going to stand there and watch? Here on a field trip? Hurry up and untie my arms and legs.”

Rebuked by a talking tree he’d never seen before, Jang Woo-hyun, as if in a trance, cut away her restraints.

“Ahh, how long has it been since I stood up? Hey, did that bastard Yang Jeon-gun die?”

“Huh? Hey?”

It was the first time since arriving in the Murim Realm that Jang Woo-hyun had heard someone address him like that. He was momentarily speechless. The thought, ‘What is this?’ wouldn’t leave his head.

“What? Then are you a girl? You don’t look like a girl.”

Standing up, the tree being continued.

“I’m Cho Ryeong of the Wood Spirit Tribe. As you can see, I’m a tree person. What’s your name?”

“Jang… Jang Woo-hyun.”

“Jang Jang Woo-hyun? That’s a weird name for a human. Is your family name Jang Jang?”

Thrown off by the sudden atmosphere, he stammered once and now his name was sounding strange.

“It’s just Jang Woo-hyun.”

“Is that so? Then why’d you say it like that? You’re kind of an odd guy. Did you kill that bastard Yang Jeon-gun?”

Cho Ryeong made a slicing motion across her neck with her hand.

“You could say that.”

“Either you did or didn’t. Are you the hesitant type?”

Barraged by her rapid speech, Jang Woo-hyun couldn’t keep up. Just the fact that a tree was talking was bewildering enough, but her personality made it even harder to adjust.

He had met many strange races so far, but this was the first time a tree had spoken to him.

“You know that bastard Yang Jeon-gun’s other name is Soul Reaper Demon, right? While I was imprisoned here, he did all sorts of perverse, disgusting things to me. That deranged freak! Just thinking about it pisses me off. That bastard deserved to be torn to pieces! There were a lot who died because of him. I should’ve sucked up all his nutrients. Revenge for the dead… never mind. No point getting mad at you. You seem like a good guy since you killed that bastard. Let’s get out of here.”

Without caring for Jang Woo-hyun’s reaction, Cho Ryeong moved on her own and approached the door.

“I secretly planted a seed in that bastard. You might not understand ‘seed,’ right? In human terms, I cast a spell on him. I was looking for a chance to escape. Anyway, I sensed that the seed I planted in him disappeared, so something must have happened to him or he died. So I used another spell. I had secretly planted another seed outside. Through that, I sent my voice. No sound or presence escapes from in here. That’s how I connected the line.”

As she walked, Cho Ryeong lifted her foot. Beneath her, a thread-like root was trailing along the floor, connecting outward.

“I was hoping the others would help, but then you suddenly showed up. But why haven’t the ones upstairs come down? They should hurry and help me. Huh? Wait a second.”

Cho Ryeong, walking ahead, turned and looked at Jang Woo-hyun.

“Don’t tell me… you didn’t kill all of them, did you?”

“If you mean those strange-dressed friends upstairs, they’re all fine.”

“Really? I knew you were a good guy. And speak casually like now. Don’t mumble like those creepy mushroom bastards. By the way, are you always this quiet?”

“……”

Overwhelmed by her constant talking and antics, Jang Woo-hyun couldn’t get a word in.

“If you don’t talk, how am I supposed to know what kind of person you are? Aren’t you going to talk?”

As he debated how to describe himself to a tree, Cho Ryeong finished her own evaluation of him.

“Geez, you’re just like a gloomy mushroom.”

‘Isn’t that an insult?’

Judging by context, it sounded like an insult, but he couldn’t quite grasp the meaning. He had never been called a mushroom before.

And her lack of manners and rapid pace of conversation made it hard to even scold or say anything. Jang Woo-hyun was being dragged along by someone who was like a tree-person he had never met before.

“Let’s head up first.”

Jang Woo-hyun retraced his steps with Cho Ryeong and returned to the large bedroom.

“I’m back, you bastards!”

Cho Ryeong kicked open the door and shouted.

Startled at first, the people who had been hiding in the corners recognized her and rushed forward.

Most of them hugged her and cried loudly. Cho Ryeong embraced them one by one, patting their backs or stroking their heads to calm them.

A bit of time passed, and everyone had settled down.

“But you guys, did you thank this guy? No, right? You should thank him if he saved you. Do you want to act like that bastard Yang Jeon-gun?”

As she shouted, those who had been too afraid to approach Jang Woo-hyun now rushed in, repeatedly bowing and thanking him.

“But weren’t there some puppets under Yang Jeon-gun’s command here? They’re quiet.”

“I destroyed them on the way.”

“Oh, wow. You’re actually pretty strong, huh? Do you still have energy to fight?”

“Is there someone else?”

“Well, technically we don’t have to fight. There’s still someone locked up. But it’s in a special place, so we’ll have to break down the door. That’s why I asked if you still had strength.”

When Jang Woo-hyun replied that he had enough strength left, Cho Ryeong asked a woman with a body covered in scales—who seemed like a cross between a snake and a human—to guide them.

Following the snake woman, Jang Woo-hyun and Cho Ryeong left the bedroom and descended into the building’s basement.

“So, what exactly are you doing here, oppa? You don’t look like a cultivator.”

“From the Central Heavens Martial Realm.”

“Huh? Central Heavens Martial Realm? Why would a Murim martial artist be here? Did someone move to capture martial artists while I was locked up?”

Cho Ryeong asked the snake woman walking ahead, who shook her head.

“Then what is it?”

“Just ended up getting involved. We fought, and I rescued you.”

“Really? That’s interesting.”

While talking, they arrived in front of a massive door. As the snake woman manipulated something in front of the door, the huge iron gate slowly opened, revealing a wide corridor inside.

“They used to make them do all sorts of things in there. Mostly the kind done at night. Oh, just thinking about it makes me angry again. I really should’ve sucked up all that bastard’s nutrients.”

“He’s not completely dead.”

“What?”

“What was here wasn’t Yang Jeon-gun’s real body. His real body is somewhere else. What I killed was a kind of puppet he controlled.”

“What the hell! Why are you telling me that only now!”

Upon hearing the truth she hadn’t known until now, Cho Ryeong erupted in fury. She cursed furiously and then took her anger out on Jang Woo-hyun.

Watching her quietly, Jang Woo-hyun decided he had to set things straight. He had let it slide at first because the situation was hectic, but he wasn’t someone who would tolerate that kind of attitude forever—especially since he had just saved her.

“Hey, tree. If you keep acting so rudely, I might just turn you into firewood. I saved you, and that’s your attitude?”

“…….”

At Jang Woo-hyun’s cold tone, Cho Ryeong, who had been running wild, shut her mouth.

And a moment later—

“Oh! Oooh! Oppa, you’re intense? I like that. Since you saved me, if you want, I’ll burn up my whole body and warm you right up. Come here!”

Cho Ryeong opened her arms and smiled at Jang Woo-hyun.

‘Ah…….’

From that attitude, Jang Woo-hyun realized something.

‘This won’t work.’

He absolutely couldn’t win.

A formidable opponent. A type he had never encountered before.

Moreover, she wasn’t even human—she was a tree. Shutting his eyes tightly, Jang Woo-hyun thought Cho Ryeong was just as difficult to deal with as a True Immortal.

“Come here!”

With arms spread wide, Cho Ryeong kept shouting. He had to stop her somehow. He couldn’t just slash her without warning.

“……Let’s just go.”

“What? You’re not doing it? I said come in. Come here!”

“Let’s just go. I think I made a mistake.”

“If a man says something, he should stick to it. Are you not coming in?”

Jang Woo-hyun turned his head away from her.

“Aww, you gloomy mushroom.”

“That… mushroom—no, forget it. Let’s just go.”

It clearly sounded like some kind of strange insult, but he decided to ignore it.

Beside him, a tongue-clicking sound of “Tsk” could be heard, but Jang Woo-hyun kept walking.

“Sorry for getting mad. You saved me, and I was way too rude. I think I got too worked up after hearing that bastard Yang Jeon-gun is still alive.”

“The Wood Spirit Tribe… they’re tree people, right?”

Accepting Cho Ryeong’s apology, Jang Woo-hyun asked something he had been curious about.

“Calling us tree people is a bit off. We’re just trees, really. You can think of us as talking trees. Trees that walk and speak.”

“Are they all as noisy as you?”

“Noisy? That’s kind of rude. I just express myself a lot. Most aren’t like this. They’re quiet. I’m just a special case.”

Jang Woo-hyun asked a few more questions, and Cho Ryeong in turn asked about Yang Jeon-gun. As they continued talking and walking, before they knew it, the three arrived in front of a massive iron door.

“Inside should be the place. The power source of this Moving Manor.”

“The power room?”

The idea that someone was imprisoned in a power room didn’t make sense, so Jang Woo-hyun asked again.

“Yeah, something like that. I heard there’s a horned unnie and a weird skull bastard trapped in here. I’ve never seen them myself though.”

“I can’t open this one.”

“Your turn now, oppa.”

At the snake woman’s words, Jang Woo-hyun stepped forward and swung his sword.

“Oh!”

Seeing him slice through the massive door in one stroke, the snake woman and Cho Ryeong’s eyes sparkled.

The three entered inside.

On the floor of the spacious room was a spell formation, and in the center of it, a woman had collapsed.

Her limbs were bound in unknown metal, and a cord was lodged in her back, hanging from the ceiling.

“Oww…”

“Ugh…”

Perhaps remembering what they had endured, Cho Ryeong and the snake woman stopped in their tracks at the sight. Feeling their subtle groans and roughly grasping the situation, Jang Woo-hyun moved forward.

As he walked, he swung his sword and severed everything connected to the woman’s body in the center of the spell formation.

Jang Woo-hyun walked slowly and straightened the woman’s body.

Dark blue hair and eyes of the same hue. Contrasting pink lips and pale skin. Though she looked haggard, she was beautiful. Unusually, two small horns protruded from her head.

As he held up her upper body, a faint glimmer returned to her hazy eyes.

“Who…”

“I came to rescue you.”

At those words, the woman flinched. But her condition must have been poor, as she neither spoke further nor moved.

“Cho Ryeong.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

At his call, Cho Ryeong and the snake woman approached.

“They said this is a medicine made from the blood of the Iseo. Can I give it to her?”

Jang Woo-hyun pulled out a pill he had previously received from Maeng Ye-ju from the Inner Robe.

“You said it’s made from Iseo’s blood? Then it’s a top-grade healing medicine. It can even reattach severed limbs. Hurry and give it to her. No, give it to me. This unnie doesn’t look so good.”

Jang Woo-hyun handed over the woman, and watched as Cho Ryeong administered the pill.

“They said one more person is imprisoned. Where is that?”

“I’ll take care of this unnie. You two go.”

The snake woman once again led the way, and Jang Woo-hyun followed behind.

Going deeper from their current location, they arrived at another small iron door. Jang Woo-hyun broke it down and entered.

This space was smaller than the previous one.

Inside, a spell formation was also drawn on the floor, and at its center was a large crystal.

‘What exactly have they been collecting?’

Inside the transparent crystal sat a skeleton clad in black robes, seated in meditation.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep