Chapter 346

Fourth Monday of November.

Thanks to the sylphs who volunteered for sentry duty, everyone rested comfortably. The children tidied their clothes that had become disheveled while sleeping, and the mercenaries cleaned up the tent where they had rested well the night before. Elwin, who had been lighting a bonfire for the meal, looked up at the sky for a long time before suddenly opening his mouth.

“From today, it would be best to be careful.”

“…Yes? Did you hear some sort of oracle?”

“No, it’s not that…”

He stared at the horizon laid out in the distance. All the sensitive martial artists stopped what they were doing and looked toward Elwin’s mouth. Elwin remained silent for a while longer before barely adding a single word.

“…The Oasis’s domain is coming to an end now.”

Ah. Right, the Third God had said his domain was exceptionally small. Had we been under his protection all this time? I had merely been thinking that it was fortunate there were no more swarms of monsters rushing at us. I could hardly guess what kind of efficacy that “blessing” actually had.

I pondered for a moment and asked again.

“What happens if we leave his domain?”

“Well…”

“Is the Oasis’s domain strictly only up to here?”

“That’s not it… If we go to where there is water, it is his domain again.”

And how were we supposed to find where the water was? When Hugh pinched Elwin’s side, telling him to speak properly, the sylphs watching from above laughed out loud. Watching the small things circling in the sky, playing games of pinching and being pinched among themselves, my uneasy heart easily settled.

I coaxed the camels, which were blinking their large eyes as if they hadn’t fully woken up yet, and loaded the luggage that had been unpacked overnight.

Indeed, there was nothing of note until the afternoon. We only encountered a group of orcs moving in a certain direction from a distance, just as usual. The orcs, only about four or five in number, even scurried away the moment they saw us.

The strange thing happened just as the sun was setting.

Thump. Plop… Thump. Plop…

We had just unpacked and were about to have a meal, when the unfamiliar sound was heard, everyone looked toward the same place. It was a sound coming from the northeast of where we were standing. It sounded like dragging feet, or like something was dripping drop by drop. The very small, distant sound rhythmically scraped at our nerves.

“…Is it a monster?”

“Probably. But… I’ve never heard a sound like this. It doesn’t seem to be quadrupedal….”

Thump. Plop… Thump. Plop…

The wind was blowing from west to east. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Was it a monster coming by smelling us? Unable to watch the sound getting closer and closer, Leon opened his mouth.

“Should I go take a look first?”

“No, it doesn’t seem to be a group. First, load the luggage.”

“Yes!”

At Hugh Benson’s command, the mercenaries nimbly overturned the cauldron they had just filled with water and rolled up the tent they had spread out, loading it onto the camels’ backs as it was. They even transferred a few essential items onto a single camel. It seemed they intended to abandon the beasts if the worst case occurred.

We also drew our swords and made full preparations. It was only natural for Hugh to react sensitively. We had already experienced a troll pack some time ago. If it were a matter of a week or ten days, we could endure it, but crossing this desert without survival supplies was a very dangerous matter.

A staggering figure approached until it was distinguishable to the naked eye from afar. Peter, who had been straining his eyes and glaring ahead, twisted the corners of his mouth.

“…It looks like… a person?”

“In this desert, alone? Without even carrying any luggage.”

“…Uh-huh. That is…”

There was only one opponent.

Thump. Plop… Thump. Plop…

The “thump” sound was the sound of the left foot being placed forward. The “plop” sound was the sound of the right foot being dragged forward. Moonlight sat atop the head of the shape that had drawn near. The moment I confirmed the man’s face, I drew my sword without hesitation.

I cleaved his neck in an instant, and as that wasn’t enough, I severed his limbs. And as that wasn’t enough, I slashed his wrists and ankles, dropping them. I cut what I had cut and slaughtered. Anything that was kicked underfoot, I kicked with the tip of my toe to send it far, far away.

A high-pitched ringing, like the sound of an Ajaeng, echoed in my ears.

“What, what are you doing!”

“Damn it, hey. Say something before you…!”

The companions who had chased from behind grabbed me, then were greatly shocked. Right, it was right to be shocked. What I had cut was a doll dripping with thickly congealed blood. It was something that greatly deviated from human morality and natural law, something that had disturbed the world for several years in my past life, and exactly the thing I thought I would never see again in this life.

I looked around, tensed to the maximum, but I could no longer hear any strange sounds.

I had cleared away one lost wretch, I didn’t feel happy in the slightest. I slowly looked back at the faces waiting for an explanation. How should I bring this up? I habitually stuck my sword into the sandbank once and pulled it out. The black blood dirtily stained the white sand.

“…Jiangshi.”

“Pardon?”

“It is a Jiangshi. That, I… in the Central Plains…”

I couldn’t say it right away. The Central Plains where I lived was a chaotic place. Still, until the Demonic Cult began to run rampant, I lived like a human.

Of course, there were a couple of close friends who went to the afterlife early while punishing evil-doers. Still, among those who survived, we killed evil sect members and saved the children of the white path and commoners until we were well into our forties.

Even if we had to fill our hunger with a bowl of noodles, we didn’t starve, and we dressed ourselves neatly so as not to be shameful in others’ eyes. If I walked the main road wearing the Namgoong clan’s blue robe with the Changcheon sword at my waist, the gazes of those who looked up to us would often follow.

What I fought and won against back then were wicked, vicious humans with two arms and two legs. I felt rewarded in everything I did.

I survived for quite a long time. So, I thought I was a lucky person.

But all of that scattered like a mirage, on that very day and time when the Demonic Cult ran rampant.

The Demonic Cult’s headquarters was in a barren land said to be very far away, even after traveling a long way from Kunlun, called Shingang. The story that the Demonic Cult’s members claimed their cult leader was a god of this world was something I had heard through the grapevine as a story from long ago, but I didn’t think much of it. It was because the Demonic Cult was too far away, and death was always close by.

Then one day, the Demonic Cult members rose up, saying they would unify the Murim and place it under the cult leader’s feet.

They acted more viciously than any evil sect members. While evil sect members kidnapped children to use as meat shields for their swords, the Demonic Cult members would bury a hundred children in a pit and use the one survivor as a meat shield.

Demonic Cult members with terrifying epithets like the Blood-Swallowing Ghost Demon or the Small Lake Heavenly Maiden roamed the Murim.

A sound-attack expert who laughed boisterously saying a person’s scream was finer than the sound of a Pipa, a soul-abducting expert who used unknown sorcery to make commoners sit side-by-side and take each other’s breath away, an assassin who was said to be able to handle ten thousand heaven-silk threads….

Among them, the one who tormented me the most was the Jiangshi master, the Thousand-Faced Evil Ghost, and his direct disciples.

A Jiangshi was a vicious sorcery that used the corpse of a dead person to harm others. Among them, the most common was called an Iron Jiangshi, said to have skin as tough as steel. Those who couldn’t use sword energy couldn’t cut that hide. Also, no matter how much they were cut, they didn’t feel pain. If an arm fell off, they used their legs, and if they had no arms or legs, they bit and killed everything they saw with their teeth.

The Jiangshi didn’t distinguish between beasts and humans, nor between commoners and martial artists. Hundreds died. No, thousands died. They would die, wake up, and then kill their own family members again…

A martial artist who had reached a high level became a stronger Jiangshi. Even if you buried the heads and bodies of family members separately to hold a funeral, it was useless. The corpse of a loved one swinging a sword toward allies broke people’s bodies and hearts alike.

So, how shocked must I have been when I first saw a magic golem in this land? [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Knowing that a magic golem only mimicked a human and didn’t use a corpse couldn’t erase the horrible feeling.

And yet, in this land, and again here.

It was my fault for not completely shattering that damn bastard. The mongrel that chased after me was a sorcerer of the Demonic Cult. I shouldn’t have been satisfied with tearing him limb from limb; I should have ground his soul to pieces as well. The killing intent I couldn’t hold back overflowed. A creaking sound came from my tightly clenched fist.

Then, I came to my senses at a hand affectionately pulling me. It was Ruben.

The child pulled the shocked me and buried my face in his shoulder. I was dazed, so I was dragged as he led, and was embraced as he held me. The sweet and familiar floral scent filled my lungs. Only then did I know that Ruben had been calling me the whole time.

“Mika… Look at me. Mikaaa…”

“…Hm.”

“…Are you conscious?”

“Yes… I am sorry.”

When I lifted my head, the image of Benjamin and Elwin blocking the front of Marianne was the first thing I saw. I realized now that the rest of the guys were standing awkwardly, unable to go far and unable to stick close, just watching. I… had momentarily lost my mind. The moment I realized it, I was startled and checked Ruben.

“What, are you okay?”

“Ung. I’m okay.”

No, He is not okay. There is no way he would be okay.

Ruben’s fingertips, which had hugged the killing intent of a Sword Master head-on, were trembling. Seeing the cold sweat flowing on his temple, I felt so embarrassed I didn’t know what to do.

I would have been better off if he had hit my head to make me come to my senses. There is more than one person here who could have stopped me, so why did Ruben specifically struggle to soothe me?

No, I knew the reason best. After showing such a disgraceful appearance, who should I blame? Seeing Ruben, who was anxiously checking my expression even with a pale, white face, I felt so guilty that my throat choked up. I couldn’t even say sorry in time. After standing facing each other like that for a while, Ruben pushed my chest away with his hand.

And with a composed face, he asked affectionately.

“I am really okay. So, Mika, tell me what you know.”