“The Yangtze Waterway Stronghold is a blood ally of the Green Forest Alliance.”

A thick-forearmed water bandit said.

It was not only mountain bandit strongholds that belonged to the Green Forest Alliance.

These bandits who made a living as water bandits on the Yangtze were men who knew loyalty.

“The heretical cult rabble is throwing the world into chaos, and our blood allies are trapped in that Crouching Dragon Basin of Kunlun. We cannot just sit by.”

Spoken so heavily by a sailor, it sounded rather reassuring.

But anyone with a sharp eye would notice something odd.

Lee Mu-su’s face had gone slightly pale, and his leg was shaking as if in unease.

All the more, what of the bandits behind him who were readying the ship?

Some sat down as if sunk in despair, and some were chewing nervously on their nails.

As Yi-gang quietly watched this.

The man who had introduced himself as the captain, Lee Mu-su, scratched at his chin.

“On the way here we saw a great many unpleasant sights.”

Sailors were mostly men who lived seeing all manner of horrors.

What could they have seen to be like this, when they would not even snort at the sight of a bloated corpse hanging upside down from a rope over the water.

“Yokai appeared along the water and were tearing people apart. I had never seen such a thing in my life.”

Now that he looked closely, Lee Mu-su’s eyes were sunken too.

“We must hunt down and kill the bastards who made the world like this. I will see you safely to Guizhou.”

The men of the Yangtze Waterway Stronghold would crew the ships.

If they could go by ship as far as Guizhou, the journey to Nanman would be much shortened.

“Is it all right to go against the current?”

“We are men who have spent our whole lives on the river. You needn’t worry.”

And Lee Mu-su cupped his fist quite politely.

“Once you are ready, board the ship.”

Then the bandits prepared to set sail.

They had never imagined they would ride a ship run by bandits.

Most of the disciples had already embarked.

But Yi-gang and a few others were still by the riverbank.

Next to him stood Neung Ji-pyeong.

Neung Ji-pyeong, the Swift Swallow Squad leader, was someone who had formed a bond with Yi-gang since his childhood.

He had accompanied him from the Baek Clan to their visit to the Wudang Sect.

There had even been a time when he had been taught the Radiant Shadowless Art, a martial art that originated from the Quanzhen Sect.

Neung Ji-pyeong had grown older than before and was now fully middle-aged. White strands showed here and there in his beard.

“I am a man with many sins. To have survived alone…”

Neung Ji-pyeong spoke to Yi-gang with a bitter smile now that they had met again.

He had not taken part in the grand battle in the Crouching Dragon Basin.

Thus he had survived, yet he was fully tasting the pain of one who had lived on.

“Do not say such things.”

“Until the day my life ends, I will protect Young Master Yi-gang and Young Master Ha Jun.”

That was why he had volunteered for this journey to Nanman.

Everyone departing for Nanman was prepared for death.

There were several more who had volunteered.

The Nine Palaces swordsmen of Wudang.

And the Eighteen Arhats of Shaolin.

“Priest, Wudang will also take up the sword.”

“Amitabha.”

Even sects thought to have been annihilated had in truth not vanished completely.

Even if conquerors killed tens of thousands, they could not uproot all of Shaolin or Wudang.

They survived tenaciously like weeds.

Of course, if the Evil Cult truly awakened the Evil God and humans vanished, this too would be meaningless.

After they had all boarded, only Yi-gang, Yu Jeong-shin, and a few others remained.

The Hao Sect sect leader spoke to Yi-gang.

“The situation is urgent. They say that in particular, the Forbidden City in Beijing has collapsed.”

The Hao Sect’s information network still covered the whole Central Plains.

That was why they could know of the current disturbances caused by the yokai.

“Yokai are devouring people. The now hollow imperial palace cannot cope, and most Murim sects have lost their strength.”

“And the Evil Cult is sitting quietly?”

“The ones who until now pretended to maintain order are now shutting their doors completely.”

In other words, the Evil Cult were consistently taking no action, as if they had foreseen this.

Yu Jeong-shin explained.

“They must be trying to lessen the burden of causality even further. Because of that, the yokai realm and the mortal world have drawn closer.”

The Evil Cult must be preparing a large-scale ritual.

The aftereffects had yokai running rampant across the world.

“Seeing that they do not show themselves, it seems truly little time remains.”

Whatever the case, the fact that they had to reach Nanman as soon as possible did not change.

After Yu Jeong-shin boarded as well, Yi-gang stayed behind for a final farewell.

Baek Seo-ok grasped Yi-gang’s hand.

She was his grandaunt. Like Baek Do-yeom, she was an elder who had once had an awkward relationship with Yi-gang.

Yet she spoke in a fervent voice.

“Come back alive.”

The situation was no different from walking straight toward death.

At those seemingly meaningless words, Yi-gang nodded.

Yi-gang boarded the ship as well.

Over a hundred Azure Forest disciples saw them off, and over a hundred people had gathered.

Yet surprisingly, only about twenty people in total actually boarded.

Did all the rest gather at this pitch-dark dawn just to send them off?

The question remained unanswered as they said their farewells.

The ship carrying Yi-gang and the Azure Forest disciples grew smaller and smaller.

Because of the hazy dawn mist, the ship’s trace vanished completely.

It was fine weather for setting out on a quiet journey.

And those who had been standing blankly until then.

They looked at one another bathed in the red moonlight.

“Everyone, make ready.”

With a clear, ringing voice, Baek Seo-ok drew her sword.

Then everyone who had gathered drew their respective weapons at once.

It went without saying.

They had not quietly gathered here just to see anyone off.

“We will crush the Evil Cult branch outside this valley, then immediately strike the branch in Changde as well.”

The Azure Forest disciples going to Nanman were as good as the only hope left in the Central Plains.

They could use Fuxi’s Eight Trigrams Diagram to hide their presence, yet they could not in truth handle everything in secret.

The supplies and provisions prepared for them.

The ships of the Yangtze Waterway Stronghold.

The gatherings of disciples from sects that had closed their gates.

Those were not things that could be concealed with sorcery or treasures.

Such movements would already have flowed into the Evil Cult’s information network.

“In the meantime, we will cause as much commotion as possible.”

It was not an order to act covertly, but the opposite.

They had to draw attention.

It was for camouflage.

They were not sending a suicide squad to Nanman, but making it look as if forces opposed to the Evil Cult were attacking those branches.

“We fight until we die. We will not be taken alive.”

In this way, Baek Seo-ok and the ones remaining would draw the Evil Cult’s gaze.

By burning up their own bodies.

“If you seem likely to be captured, take your own life.”

Their trail would eventually be found.

To buy that brief span of time, they drew their swords and descended the mountain.

That night, the blood of countless people flowed in the Changde region.

Kkiik, kkiik.

The sound of oars rowing rang out.

Below the hold there were holes on both sides where oars could be set.

The bandits took turns rowing there.

They used not only human strength but the power of the wind.

Captain Lee Mu-su’s words had not been empty boasting.

Even in this dark dawn, the bandits piloted the ship skillfully.

Yi-gang sat on the swaying deck.

And he stared vacantly toward the direction they had boarded from.

Since they had already gone quite a distance, nothing could be seen.

Yet Yi-gang kept his eyes fixed that way.

As if watching the river at dawn where only river mist could be seen.

Yi-gang was not the only one on deck.

Ha Jun was beside him.

Standing next to him, Ha Jun spoke.

“I never thought I would see Grand-Aunt again.”

His tone was calm.

“Yes. There were quite a few clan warriors too.”

“I never thought the elders would help us like that.”

Yi-gang was not the only one who had bad memories of the elders.

But now that the Baek Clan had fallen.

Those who still acted under the clan’s name were the elders who had been old and obstructive.

That stirred gentle ripples in Ha Jun’s heart as well.

“I hope we can see them again someday.”

At those words, Yi-gang flinched.

He could not answer for a moment.

“Yes. It would be good if we could.”

And so he said.

Ha Jun didn’t notice the brief hesitation before Yi-gang’s reply.

“I would like to be alone for a while. Go in ahead.”

He still listened well.

Ha Jun left Yi-gang and went into the cabin.

Kkiik, kkiik.

Silence settled again, and only the sound of the oars rang out.

After the sound of the oars, someone’s voice was heard.

「Your younger brother is a little foolish。」

It was obvious who it was that had come.

It was Nezha.

Nezha had shrunk his body to about the height of a human knee. His form was that of a blue-skinned boy.

「Those humans will have died. They had faces resolved to die.」

He was speaking of Baek Seo-ok and the others who had stayed behind.

Yi-gang furrowed his brows.

‘Stop acting like a know-it-all. I already know.’

「You are perceptive。」

Their faces had clearly been those of people who had accepted death.

Yi-gang knew because he had already seen such faces more than a few times.

Perhaps the reason they had not gone out of their way to say so was so as not to burden them.

Yi-gang felt terribly tormented.

Whenever that happened, Yi-gang would take out a hand mirror from his breast.

It was a round mirror about the size of a palm. The mirror the Immortal Divine Sword had said to pass on to Yi-gang.

His own face reflected in the mirror.

He was not exactly about to cry, but his expression was not good.

Finding that pathetic, Yi-gang tried to put the mirror back inside his robe.

Nezha stopped him.

「What on earth is that mirror? You shoved it at me last time too。」

His voice held a hint of curiosity.

「Could it be some remarkable treasure?」

Nezha was a being somewhat like the incarnation of treasures.

In truth, the very root of his birth had been a treasure called the Spirit Pearl, and he was someone who used six heavenly treasures, any one of which alone could throw the world into chaos.

Perhaps that was why his obsession with treasures was so strong.

When Yi-gang did not answer and only stared bluntly, his curiosity seemed to grow all the more.

「Let me see!」

Then he actually lunged at Yi-gang like some child.

Yi-gang quickly lifted the mirror so Nezha could not touch it.

「Give it here. I’ll only look!」

Yi-gang kept snatching his hand away, then suddenly felt pathetic and lowered it.

He had no way of knowing whether something was hidden in it or if it was truly an ordinary object anyway.

If anything, it might be better to show it to Nezha, who was well versed with treasures, and see if some answer came out.

“It is my great-grandmother’s mirror. They say my ancestor told them in a dream to pass this mirror on to me.”

Nezha half listened as he examined the mirror.

Then he quickly made a disappointed face.

「It feels like there is something to it, but… it’s nothing more than an old, worn-out mirror. You’re better off throwing it away.」

“Why would I throw it away?”

In the end, neither Dam Hyun, nor Yu Jeong-shin, not even Nezha.

None of them could say anything about it.

Yi-gang tucked the mirror back into his robe.

Yi-gang’s ears pricked up.

He rose quietly to his feet.

Looking around, it seemed the bandits on deck noticed nothing.

“What is that?”

The commotion was coming from below the deck.

Yi-gang went down the stairs to the cabin, then further down to the hold.

Inside the hold, people were swarming together.

They seemed to be surrounding something.

“How did this get in here?”

“Wait. Don’t get too close to it.”

With long strides, Yi-gang walked over and saw what they were looking at.

What the bandits had surrounded was a single turtle.

Yi-gang met eyes with the turtle as it blinked.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep