Unrivaled Spear Demon
Chapter 40 - Scaling the Wall (1)
Several days passed.
Facing a high wall, Chui and the Death Blossom hid themselves in a forest on a nearby hill.
It was the wall of Chojang County, on the very outskirts of Hubei province.
Just beyond this place lay a secret path that ran between Sichuan and Gansu provinces.
It was a plank road that crossed Qinghai and led directly to Xinjiang, where the Demonic Cult resided.
Chui had crossed it once before and knew the geography well.
The Intestine-Severing Cliff.
A cliff so high and perilous it was said to sever the intestines of those who crossed it.
The plank road was a precarious, single-file bridge that clung to the cliffside like a shelf.
If they could just get past that point, they would be halfway to the Demonic Cult's main headquarters.
“To do that, we have to get through Hubei… The problem is, the Wudang Sect is in Hubei province.”
The Death Blossom said, his brow furrowed.
The Wudang Sect had close ties with the Mount Hua Sect.
This was because they were both of the Daoist tradition.
Perhaps for that reason, the Sogu Pass, guarded by warriors from both the Mount Hua and Wudang Sects, was more heavily fortified than ever.
From a distance, the voice of the guard captain could be heard shouting.
“Scrutinize every traveler, and be especially strict when checking those heading east from the west!”
Behind the guards, warriors bearing the swords of Mount Hua and Wudang were visible.
Civilian and government forces were cooperating closely to capture the Death Blossom.
“Aigoo, why have the gate patrols gotten so strict lately?”
“Heard some public enemy of the martial world might be coming this way?”
“It’s because of that fella, the Death Blossom or the Damn Blossom, or whatever his name is.”
“Aigoo. And I’m in a hurry. Looks like I’ll be waiting at this gate for three or four days…”
In front of the gate, countless travelers stood in a long line, waiting to be inspected.
The guards and the warriors of the Murim Alliance checked the simple transit passes issued from the last city each traveler had passed through, and they carefully compared each face to the likeness on the wanted poster for the Death Blossom.
The walls were high and the surveillance was tight, it seemed nothing short of a bird could pass through here unchecked.
Whoosh
A wanted poster blew over on the wind.
The Death Blossom caught it and held it up to his face.
“Does it look like me?”
“The drawing is better.”
“The real thing is better, surely. Look. How could I possibly be so rough-looking?”
During their journey here, the Death Blossom had recovered enough to be able to joke with Chui.
He narrowed his eyes, probing Chui.
“By the way, the Demonic Cult must be welcoming me with open arms, to send someone like you to greet me.”
“…”
“But why did they send only you? Where are your attendants? Did you lose them to the Namgung family?”
The Death Blossom seemed to think of Chui as some kind of agent dispatched by the Demonic Cult.
Otherwise, why would he risk his life to help him get to the cult? That was his line of reasoning.
Chui did not bother to correct his misconception.
He only offered a short warning.
“The pursuit party will be here soon.”
“I suppose so. And the leader of that party will be that bastard, Bi Mugeuk.”
“You know him?”
“I do. We entered the sect at the same time. He joined the Mount Hua Sect around the same time I did, and became a Plum Blossom Swordsman a little later than me.”
“What kind of man is he?”
“He’s upright and competent, but he has a cruel and narrow-minded side. He disliked me for no reason, so we clashed a few times.”
“Is he strong?”
“He was originally weaker than me. But now that I’m one-armed…”
The Death Blossom pondered for a moment before answering.
“Now, we’d have to fight to find out.”
“…”
Chui nodded silently.
The Death Blossom looked at Chui with a hint of expectation.
“So. Do you have a clever plan to get around that wall?”
“Why go around it?”
“?”
Chui’s question left the Death Blossom looking bewildered.
The Murim Alliance’s inescapable dragnet was closing in by the second.
In such a situation, faced with a solid wall like that, what did he mean, ‘why go around it’?
Was he suggesting they go over it?
But Chui was unperturbed.
“We’re going through that wall.”
“??”
“And as soon as we’re through, we’ll turn the tables and strike the Murim Alliance’s pursuit party.”
“???”
The Death Blossom’s expression grew increasingly blank.
Chui drove the final nail in.
“They will be annihilated.”
Break through the wall.
Ambush the pursuit party.
And annihilate them.
Not a single one of those things seemed realistic.
To the Death Blossom, it all sounded like delusion.
He spoke logically.
“First, we have no way of breaking through the tight security at that wall. Second, to ambush the pursuit party… No. Forget it. I don’t know what kind of crazy talk this is.”
The Death Blossom sighed.
“You don’t seem to have any idea what their inescapable dragnet is.”
“I know. It’s the finest elites, drawn from the fifteen pillars of the Orthodox Faction, chasing us down with swords like a pack of dogs.”
“And you say such things, knowing that?”
The Death Blossom found Chui’s composure utterly unconvincing.
He sighed once more and continued.
“To begin with, I have no idea how you plan to get through the Sogu Pass of Chojang County, which is renowned for being an iron wall.”
“It’s easy.”
“...Easy?”
At Chui’s words, the Death Blossom’s face went blank again.
Chui nodded at his reaction.
“I’ll get you inside that wall in half a day.”
Having said his piece, Chui dusted himself off and stood up.
Then he strode purposefully toward the city gate.
The Death Blossom was so flabbergasted he couldn’t even try to stop him.
“…”
He could only stand there, dumbfounded.
* * *
A long line snaked before the city gate.
Farmers, woodcutters, hunters, brokers, liquor sellers, coachmen, peddlers, fishmongers’ wives… besides these, a great many other types of people stood in a long line, waiting for the gate inspection.
“Don’t push!”
“Let’s move it up, people!”
“Who’s cutting in line up there! Have you no shame!?”
“Here, selling roasted chestnuts! They’re great for snacking on while you wait~!”
The line was so long it could have wrapped around the entire city wall.
Anyone at the very end of it would probably have to wait outside the gate for a full week, eating sand and dust.
Just then.
A young man was humming a tune as he walked toward the front of the line.
He swaggered for a bit before suddenly slipping into the line near the front.
“Out of the way, out of the way!”
The young man swung the A-frame carrier on his back widely and stuck out his walking stick.
A child standing in line was struck by the stick and fell over, but the young man paid no mind and pushed his way in.
At that, the people behind him cried out.
“Hey, who’s that bastard cutting in line!”
“How could you hit a child with your stick!”
“What kind of shameless punk is that?”
“Hey, get out of there while I’m asking nicely. Before I drag you out.”
The child’s parents, along with a few peddlers, approached the young man with menacing expressions.
In response, the young man arrogantly produced a transit pass.
<Transit Pass>
Name: Dong go-gong
Occupation: Physician
Purpose of Entry: Delivery of medicinal herbs ordered by the Paedo Sect.
[Seal]
His name was Dong go-gong. His occupation was physician.
But that wasn’t why the people who were about to grab him by the collar hesitated.
The Paedo Sect.
That was the name of the Unorthodox sect that represented Hubei province.
“…”
“…”
“…”
All those who had been glaring at Physician Dong go-gong lowered their gazes.
Enjoying the silence that had fallen over the crowd, Dong go-gong spoke.
“Ahem. I, you see, am a man who has traveled a long way to procure medicinal herbs for Young Master Do of the Paedo Sect. As for these herbs, every single one is an aphrodisiac worth a thousand gold pieces.”
“…”
“If I am late with my delivery because of lowly peasants like you, hmm? And what if that causes a disruption in Young Master Do’s enjoyment of his pleasures? Hmmm? Are you prepared to face the consequences?”
Young Master Do of the Paedo Sect was a famous lecher in these parts.
Everyone knew of his temperament. He might not care about other things, but when it came to matters of virility, his eyes would burn with fire. Thus, they had no choice but to avoid Physician Dong go-gong’s gaze.
Dong go-gong strutted as he took a step forward.
Just then.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk”
A beggar boy standing nearby clicked his tongue.
“A physician who tends to another man’s groin, yet knows not his own deadly fate.”
“...?”
The moment Dong go-gong turned his head, the beggar boy spoke abruptly.
“You stepped on a snake and killed it on your way here, didn’t you?”
“What?”
Dong go-gong frowned as if he were looking at a complete madman.
“I don’t know. I did no such thing.”
“You did. I’m sure of it. You crushed it with your left foot.”
At the beggar boy’s words, Dong go-gong glanced down at his own left foot.
Now that he looked, there did seem to be something faintly smeared on his straw sandal.
Perhaps he had stepped on a baby snake while walking at night, a slight trace of blood was visible.
‘He couldn’t possibly be saying this just from seeing this faint mark. What is this?’
As Dong go-gong looked up, the beggar boy spoke again.
“Your shoulders feel heavy, don’t they?”
“Of course they do. I’m carrying an A-frame full of herbs.”
“Not because of that. A vengeful snake spirit has attached itself to you. It’s pressing down on your shoulders right now.”
Dong go-gong scoffed at the beggar boy’s words.
At that very moment.
Heft
The weight of the herb carrier on his back suddenly began to feel heavier.
“...?”
Startled, Donggogong hastily set the carrier down on the ground.
“Soon, your spine will grow cold. The snake’s vengeful spirit is crawling down your body.”
Just as the beggar boy said, the spine below his shoulders grew chilly.
While Dong go-gong was flustered, the beggar boy continued.
“Next is your left foot. Since all this evil began with your left foot, it will soon begin to rot.”
Simultaneously, Dong go-gong’s left foot began to grow cold and stiff.
It felt as if something was tightly constricting his leg.
At the same time, the tips of his toes began to prickle, as if bitten by a snake’s fangs.
Around then, Dong go-gong heard a laugh brush past his ear.
Heeheeheeheeheehee
Donggogong began to tremble uncontrollably.
It truly felt as if the vengeful spirit of a snake was coiling around his body, casting a curse upon him.
“Aigoo, Master Physiognomist. Please, save me.”
Dong go-gong prostrated himself before the beggar boy.
Not only was he a coward by nature, but his spirit was also weak, and he was prone to believing in folk religions and various superstitions, making him extremely vulnerable to this kind of atmosphere.
But the beggar boy merely continued to click his tongue.
“It is already too late. The vengeful spirit’s hatred has reached the heavens, a divine punishment is sure to fall.”
“I-I truly didn’t know! I didn’t even know I’d stepped on a snake, so how could this be!”
“It is a pity, but nothing can be done. The only way is to save your family.”
“M-my family? Will this calamity befall my family as well?”
“Is your home here in Chojang County?”
“Uh… yes, it is.”
“If you return home like this, the calamity will transfer to your family. It would be better for you to go far away.”
“Aigoo!”
At that, Dong go-gong grabbed the beggar boy’s feet and clung to him.
“Master Physiognomist, no, Master! Please, I beg you, save me. What must I do to live? Eh?”
“The only way is to save your family. You must not go home.”
“I won’t go home! And please, open a path for me to live as well. Sob.”
Dong go-gong desperately clung to the beggar boy.
After a long show of reluctance, the beggar boy finally opened his mouth.
“There is no other way. I am about to divulge a secret of the heavens, so clean out your ears and listen well.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Abandon all you have and leave this place.”
“Eh?”
When Dong go-gong looked surprised, the beggar boy answered firmly.
“The medicinal herbs, the carrying frame, your clothes. Leave them all behind and depart from here. And do not come down from the mountains for at least three months. You must shake off all the dust of the mortal world for the scent to fade. Then, the snake’s vengeful spirit will lose track of you.”
“I-is that so?”
“If you don’t believe me, then don’t. I’ll be on my way.”
“Aiya! Aiya! When did I say I didn’t believe you! I will do so at once!”
Dong go-gong took off his outer coat.
Then he set down all the bundles of medicinal herbs on the ground.
The beggar boy stared intently at Dong go-gong and said.
“If you have any documents with the scent of a person on them, throw them away quickly.”
“Um… should I throw away this travel permit as well?”
“Are you joking? That’s the first thing you should throw away. Do you want the snake’s spirit to chase you?”
Hearing the beggar boy’s words, Dong go-gong was startled and flung the travel permit to the ground.
He spoke with a thoroughly dejected expression.
“But even if I escape from the snake’s spirit, I am worried about what comes after. I have to deliver these medicinal herbs to the Paedo Sect.”
“Do not worry about that. I will explain it to them.”
“What? You will, Master Physiognomist?”
“I, too, am on my way after receiving an invitation from the Paedo Sect. I must read the fortune of the Sect Leader's mother. I will explain your situation then, so go without worry.”
“Ooooh! Thank you!”
Dong go-gong was filled with admiration.
A man summoned by the Lord of the Paedo Sect to read his own mother’s fortune must be truly remarkable.
Thinking that the Paedo Sect would surely treat such a remarkable fortune-teller with respect, he hastily made his way,
leaving behind the medicinal herbs, the carrying frame, his clothes, and the travel permit on the ground.
* * *
Chui collected everything Physician Dong go-gong had abandoned.
The outer coat, the carrying frame of herbs, and even the travel permit stamped with the seal of the previous county’s guard captain.
Tsssssssss…
Chui also retrieved the Spirit he had placed on Dong go-gong.
As his mastery deepened, he could pull off such minor pranks.
He couldn’t inflict a serious illness, but he could easily make someone’s body feel as ill as if they had a common cold, or make them experience auditory or visual hallucinations.
‘…Jo Yang-ja and Namgung Paengsaeng also fell for this trick and died.’
It was a technique that could ensnare even peak masters who had trained in martial arts; fooling an ordinary person like Dong go-gong was as easy as flipping his palm.
Presently, Chui took Physician Dong go-gong’s belongings and travel permit and headed for the fortress gate.
Death Blossom was naturally tall and well-built, making disguises difficult, but for Chui, it was a different story.
Furthermore, unlike Death Blossom, for whom being a public enemy of the martial world was a first, Chui had a great deal of experience in this area.
A seasoned old rover who had been through it all walked toward the Sogwan Gate, renowned for being an iron wall.
Chui adjusted the bundle of medicinal herbs meant for the Paedo Sect and thought.
‘Shall I start by causing a small disturbance?’
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