Chapter 46. A futile annihilation of the sect
Dong Bong-su recognized it immediately.
From the moment he opened the door and saw Do Heo-ok confronting Namgung In, he had already somewhat expected that Tang Wu would step into that fight.
Swaeeaak!
Tang Wu's body shot toward Namgung In like a flash.
He was swift like the wind, but the thunder blade energy of Do Heo-ok, which was rushing in to engulf Namgung In, was as fast as lightning. At this rate, it didn't seem like Tang Wu could possibly block Do Heo-ok's thunder blade energy.
At that moment, Tang Wu thrust his hand forward, and dozens of slender needles burst forth like shooting stars. Added to the momentum of their flight was the force projected from his hand, causing the needles to streak forth in a flash as swift as lightning.
'Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles.'
He had seen it only once before, but Dong Bong-su remembered it clearly.
Just as he recalled, the concealed weapons Tang Wu threw were indeed Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles, and originally, they were not tools meant for performing the Head-Opening Great Method. They were a type of concealed weapon used precisely for unleashing secret techniques like this.
Kwa-jajajak!
Pararararak!
Do Heo-ok's thunder blade energy, glowing with a jade-green hue, and the brown storm-like aura of the Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles tore through the air and collided ten feet in front of Namgung In.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
An enormous explosion erupted as the two energies clashed. However, all of the explosive backlash surged toward Do Heo-ok's side. Just before the collision, Tang Wu had poured in additional energy to block every stray force from flying toward Namgung In.
Tak.
After completely annihilating Do Heo-ok's powerful thunder blade energy, Tang Wu lightly landed in front of Namgung In.
"Th, thank you… Tang… uncle…."
Namgung In barely managed to express his gratitude to Tang Wu before losing consciousness on the spot.
Tang Wu gently caught Namgung In's collapsing body and laid him safely on the ground.
"Well now, the martial world has really become stingy these days. To think a son-in-law would beat his in-laws' elder half to death."
Sand billowed up violently from the aftermath of their clash.
Although the dust obscured their vision, Tang Wu's voice pierced through the thick cloud and spread across the courtyard.
The sand soon settled, leaving only tension hanging over the front yard of the East Heaven Guest Hall.
Tang Wu and Do Heo-ok glared at each other, while people stood far away, encircling them as they watched the standoff. Most of the onlookers were members and warriors of the Namgung Family, but quite a few guests from the Guest Hall had rushed out after hearing the explosions.
Everyone wore curious expressions, wondering what had happened, but the suffocating aura radiating from Tang Wu and Do Heo-ok made it difficult for anyone to open their mouths.
Still, the place was far from silent. As spectators kept gathering, a constant murmur filled the air, and above all, the explosions echoing from the Imperial King Hall had yet to stop.
No, they were only growing more intense.
From the faint screams mixed into those thunderous booms, it was clear that something truly serious had occurred.
Tang Wu glanced once toward the north, where the Imperial King Hall stood, then turned his gaze back to Do Heo-ok and spoke coldly.
"What is happening right now in the Imperial King Hall?"
"Who knows? How would I be expected to know that, Tang hero?"
Unlike Tang Wu, Do Heo-ok did not fix his gaze in one direction, instead sweeping his eyes around his surroundings.
Though Dong Bong-su stood quite far away, he could easily guess what Do Heo-ok was thinking.
'He's planning to run.'
Indeed, just as he thought, Do Heo-ok was planning to flee.
From Do Heo-ok's perspective, the plan had already gone quite awry, but it wasn't yet at the point of abandonment. After all, the Namgung Family had no way of knowing his exact identity, and even from his brief exchange with Namgung In earlier, it was easy to infer that they did not have an accurate grasp of who he was.
That being the case, the only real disruption to the plan was that the four shadows who had infiltrated yesterday were discovered by the Namgung Family.
This fact certainly had a significant impact on the First Stratagem.
However, the First Stratagem was a plan that would succeed as long as Do Heo-ok himself survived and wiped out everyone inside the Namgung Family. Originally, the plan included sparing Namgung Hye, but given how things had turned out, leaving her alive was no longer an option.
The plan was revised at this very moment.
Everyone here would be….
'Killed. No one can be allowed to leave alive.'
To accomplish that, he first had to survive and escape the Namgung Family grounds by any means necessary.
After that, if he could meet Ashen Shadow or 'Water Shadow,' he could overturn the situation at any time. If Ashen Shadow and Water Shadow combined the forces they had drawn here, it would be more than enough to destroy the Namgung Family. The four shadows who entered yesterday were merely auxiliary forces meant to ensure the plan's success more safely.
Judging from the explosions at the Imperial King Hall, the true objective of the infiltrating Four Shadows—the destruction of the core of the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation—had likely already been accomplished.
So while it was unfortunate for the Four Shadows, they were no longer necessary. It would be 'better' if they were alive, but their absence made little difference.
As long as I survive.
That was Do Heo-ok's current thought—more precisely, his intent.
Of course, the immediate problem was….
Tang Wu, who was staring him down from over there.
He himself was supposed to be the protagonist of this spectacle, but if he made a single misstep here, the leading role could very well shift to Tang Wu.
"I was never one to speak much in the first place. It would be best if you confessed nicely—your identity and what is happening here."
Tang Wu's eyes gleamed coldly as he spread both arms wide and raised them horizontally.
Perhaps because of that motion—
The dozens of Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles that had fallen to the ground after blocking Do Heo-ok's thunder blade energy began to float up into the air.
Tang Wu's unique empty-space manipulation art, the Flying Butterfly Qi Art, was being exerted on the needles.
Woooong—.
Each Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needle vibrated strangely, exuding an extremely lethal presence.
"Haha. That's unfortunate, but…."
Do Heo-ok honestly wanted to test himself against Tang Wu in a one-on-one fight here, but more than anyone else, he knew that now was not the time.
If he foolishly started a battle here and more Namgung Family warriors came rushing in, he would end up burying his bones in this place today. That alone would already signify the failure of the First Stratagem.
He needed to bind Tang Wu here and escape somehow.
Keeping Tang Wu's attention fixed, he continuously glanced around at the surrounding situation out of the corner of his eye.
He spotted Sosam standing in one corner of the East Heaven Guest Hall, but that alone wasn't enough to give him confidence. No matter how close their master-disciple-like relationship might have been, it seemed unlikely that Tang Wu would risk himself to save someone who had only recently been a Horse Stable Hireling.
Then—
Do Heo-ok noticed someone approaching from behind Sosam, someone who could properly tie Tang Wu's feet in place.
'That's it.'
With that, there was no longer any need to choose the risky option of fighting Tang Wu directly.
A sinister smile, unlike any before, formed on his cold face. Now that there was no need to read the situation anymore, his true nature began to surface.
"I'm not particularly talkative by nature either, hero."
Dong Bong-su had been watching Do Heo-ok's eyes closely for a while now.
Naturally, he knew that Do Heo-ok had been glancing in this direction.
But when Do Heo-ok first looked this way, there had been no change in his expression—until suddenly, it shifted. Then Dong Bong-su saw that faint smile spread across his entire face.
'What is it?'
With Tang Wu releasing such overwhelming energy right in front of him, there shouldn't have been any leeway to attack this side. Just as Dong Bong-su thought that—
"Huh? Why is grandfather over there?"
A woman's puzzled voice came from behind.
"…!"
It was Tang Hua, who had only now rushed over from the West Heaven Guest Hall after hearing the explosions.
Only then did Dong Bong-su understand why Do Heo-ok had been looking this way with that sinister smile.
What Do Heo-ok had glanced at wasn't him, but Tang Hua approaching from behind him.
In that case, the meaning of that faint smile was obvious.
Whack—crash!
Killing intent.
Without even thinking about how Do Heo-ok would evade Tang Wu's attack and strike this side, Dong Bong-su immediately turned around, pulled Tang Hua into his arms, and hurled himself sideways.
"Ah!?"
Caught completely off guard by Dong Bong-su's sudden embrace, Tang Hua could only let out a short cry, unable to even think of resisting.
Because—
Paaang!
She was staring straight at Do Heo-ok's thunder blade, brimming with terrifying energy, flying directly toward the East Heaven Guest Hall—toward the very spot where she had been standing.
Do Heo-ok, who had been facing off against Tang Wu, had suddenly hurled his thunder blade at her, as if he had completely abandoned the fight with Tang Wu.
"What kind of lunatic does that!?"
Tang Wu had not anticipated Do Heo-ok's action in the slightest.
Who would ever think to throw their life-bound weapon elsewhere while facing someone one-on-one?
Yet—
That was exactly what had just happened.
And in that direction, Tang Sam was there.
In a panic, Tang Wu scattered all the Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles he had been levitating with the Flying Butterfly Qi Art toward Do Heo-ok.
Tang Wu's life-bound ultimate technique, Soul-Chasing Flying Butterfly, was unleashed.
Pararararak!
A sound like countless butterfly wings colliding, amplified tens of thousands of times, erupted as the Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles surged toward Do Heo-ok all at once.
After that, Tang Wu hurled himself toward the spot where Dong Bong-su and Tang Hua had been, moving at the absolute limit of his speed—but it was already too late.
The thunder blade that had left Do Heo-ok's hand was already passing over the Yun Bridge that connected the East Heaven Guest Hall to the shore.
The only fortunate thing was that, somehow sensing it, Tang Sam had grabbed Tang Hua and leapt toward Chaohu.
Swaeeeaak—!
The thunder blade, saturated with lightning energy, was the very embodiment of thunder's wrath.
Even if one managed to evade it, the ensuing explosion would unquestionably be devastating.
Jijijijik, tididitik!
The sound of it shredding the air as it flew was so fast and destructive that it resembled hundreds of beans popping simultaneously.
After throwing himself through the air, Dong Bong-su subtly twisted his body sideways midair.
The movement was so natural that no one could tell it was intentional on Dong Bong-su's part—though in truth, there was no one here who could afford to notice such a detail anyway.
Just as the two entangled bodies were about to plunge into Chaohu, the thunder blade finally reached the spot where they had been standing.
Splash.
Puuuuoong! Crash!
"Gaaah!"
"G, guuugh!"
"Ah!"
As the lightning energy detonated, everything within a 15 meter radius of where the thunder blade struck was completely scorched into ruin, and the East Heaven Guest Hall, caught in the aftermath, collapsed entirely.
As a result, the only remaining bloodline of the Danri Family in this world, Danri Ganghae, died a violent death.
His death was just as futile as that of his father, Danri Cheon-u, and his younger sibling, Danri Hee.
Still, at the very least, he died knowing that he was about to die—so perhaps, among the three of them, his was the least empty death of all.
[Read more chapters on my website: https://revengernovel.com/ or https://ko-fi.com/reaper87 ]