Chapter 36 of 100

Chapter 36

8 min read2,088 words

Chapter 35. If You Want to Live, Think (1)

"It's inside this person's body."

Xuhui was worried about what to do if there was no letter, but fortunately, that didn't happen.

Sure enough, when he thoroughly searched Geun's body as the words in front of him suggested, he found a piece of parchment that looked like a letter.

"Hmm."

Koma was the first to carefully receive the letter.

Then, Maho took it and read it.

'What's written in it?'

Xuhui had hurriedly passed it over without reading the contents.

Koma's expression was serious and rigid, and Maho, who received it next, also had a bad expression, leading Xuhui to guess that the content was not light.

A-ling, who was also curious, had subtly moved closer to Maho's side.

"What a strange guy."

At that moment, Salma, who had been standing aside watching, spoke for the first time.

"Revealing oneself as a spy is one thing, and trying to drop a guy like this from the Wu Guan Dao is another. Most importantly, although he is a third-rate, he claims to be the protector of a Heavenly Horse Disciple... "

Salma raised his head and glared at Xuhui.

"Isn't it too ridiculous that he was defeated by a guy who went to take the Wu Guan Dao test?"

"......!"

Xuhui felt his whole body freeze.

Killer intent.

A lethal killer intent he had never felt before.

An overwhelming pressure that couldn't be compared to the Taihuang Pavilion Master was emanating from Salma's entire body.

Ding!

Suddenly, a signal sounded, and power began to surge through his entire body.

[State Summary, Status Brief]

Xuhui [Low-Rank Organization Squad Member]

Stamina 100,000/100,000

Internal Energy 100,000/100,100

Combat Power 390,000 (↑300,000)

[Owned Martial Arts]

<Sohui Martial Art> Basic Level (↑Intermediate Level)

<Jishu Martial Art> Basic Level (↑Intermediate Level)

<Chogye Martial Art> Basic Level (↑Intermediate Level)

[Mind Reading]

<Sustained Skill> Basic Level (↑Intermediate Level)

[Owned Martial Arts]

<Sohui Martial Art> Intermediate Level

<Jishu Martial Art> Intermediate Level

<Chogye Martial Art> Intermediate Level

<Four Great Extreme Martial Arts Wind (風)> Beginner (New)

◆ Four Great Extreme Martial Arts Skill Table ◆

Wind God (風神): → N (Neutral) ↓↘, A <4.5x Speed>

‘Wooaaaaaah!’

Xuhui almost screamed.

Power surged through his entire body, and his dantian expanded like a vast sea without end.

Up to this point, everything was really good.

[Warning! Salma has found a weakness in Xuhui. How will you respond?]

▶ Counterattack.

▷ Defend.

▷ Flee.

‘What the hell!’

Xuhui's mind went blank in an instant.

Why? Why is the First Disciple, Salma, suddenly attacking?

No matter how strong he had become, he couldn't compare to the Heavenly Horse Disciples.

Moreover, even with his improved mind reading skill, he couldn't determine their ability values.

‘I can't die like this.’

▶ Flee.

The choice was clear, but Xuhui hesitated.

He was trying to figure out which of the Sohui Martial Art's fastest movements to use.

‘Please, somehow!’

Xuhui made up his mind and chose the third option.

Paaah!

As soon as he chose, Xuhui twisted his body with all his might.

At the same time, a scream involuntarily escaped his lips.

“Guh!”

Feeling a burning sensation from his right shoulder, he immediately collapsed.

‘Did I dodge...?’

The situation seemed to indicate that he had.

Salma, who had already drawn his sword, was pointing it at him, and he didn't feel any pain in his chest.

‘No, I was hit, but not accurately. This armor saved me...’

Xuhui, touching the area where the sword energy had grazed, realized.

Myomwangjeonpo. This armor, intricately woven with iron scales and silver threads, had deflected the sword energy.

Of course, the increase in his internal energy to 100,000 and his combat power to 400,000 had been crucial.

"You have the strength to bend a finger."

Click.

For some reason, Salma sheathed his sword.

Then, he began to approach Xuhui slowly.

Thud, thud.

‘My limbs won’t move.’

Xuhui could only look at him with a blank expression.

It was due to the overwhelming fighting spirit.

At the peak of his abilities, one could be immobilized by just a glance.

The overwhelming difference in skill made this possible.

Thud.

But Salma, who had been approaching Xuhui, suddenly stopped.

It was because of Maho.

When Maho extended the letter, Salma glanced at it and then looked elsewhere.

At Koma.

“...”

Koma said nothing.

He didn't meet his gaze or take any action.

Salma clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk...”

He turned around.

Fortunately, he didn't approach Xuhui.

‘Salma’s intention was elsewhere.’

Xuhui was slowly piecing things together.

Geun, who had fainted.

His body was now split in two, and he had died.

Salma's sword energy had been aimed not only at Xuhui but also at Geun.

He had intended to kill both Xuhui and Geun.

“You have interesting subordinates.”

Tap, tap.

Maho smiled and patted Koma's shoulder. Then, he quietly left.

“Pfft.”

A-ling, who had been staring at Xuhui, also left with a sly smile.

‘What could be written in that letter...’

Xuhui, who had been sitting there in a daze, was at a loss.

Even if Salma was involved in this, why did the other disciples react like that to the contents of the letter?

"Follow me."

Oddly, Koma turned around without further mention.

Xuhui finally felt a sense of relief.

It was good.

Just not dying was a relief.

* * *

The place Koma led Xuhui to was between two buildings.

It was a building he had never seen before, but Xuhui guessed its structure.

‘Could this be the residence of the Heavenly Horse Disciples?’

This place, also known as Gohyeon, is a villa located between the upper and lower branches.

Given that Koma was leading him here, it was clearly a place where he rested and practiced martial arts.

‘Still, for the Fourth Disciple to be this strong...’

With the increased proficiency in mind reading, Xuhui could finally determine Koma's ability values.

At first, he doubted his eyes.

His abilities were far superior to those of the others he had seen before.

[State Summary, Status Brief]

Koma [Fourth Disciple of Heavenly Horse]

Stamina 9.5 million/9.5 million

Internal Energy 8.8 million/8.8 million

Combat Power 10.5 million (+∞)

The highest values he had ever seen.

But they weren't as impressive as he thought.

More importantly,

‘What is that symbol?’

A symbol he had never seen before. It seemed to have some special meaning, but there was no additional explanation.

“We’ve arrived.”

While lost in thought, Koma stopped walking.

But something felt off.

Koma, who had been leading the way, stood still without turning around.

“Where are we?”

Xuhui asked cautiously, on guard.

The contents of the letter and the fact that he was brought here were all puzzling.

“Where do you think?”

Koma slowly turned his head, smiling.

A smile different from a normal one.

“A place to interrogate you.”

“...!”

[Warning! An unknown enemy has found a weakness in Xuhui. How will you respond?]

Warning messages blocking his view.

And an overwhelming demand for a response.

3... 2...

Speed of choice.

Because of this, Xuhui had already made a choice before he could even think.

......

“Guh!”

In an instant.

With a flash, Xuhui lost consciousness.

* * *

His eyes wouldn't open properly.

His hands and feet, bound somewhere, wouldn't move as he wished.

Just intense pain.

And messages informing him of his condition.

[Your meridians are blocked, preventing movement.]

[One of your ears is paralyzed.]

[You have six deep wounds and 32 minor injuries on your body.]

[Your qi and blood are twisted, causing continuous pain.]

And his current state.

[State Summary, Status Brief]

Xuhui [Low-Rank Organization Squad Leader]

Stamina 10,000 (↓90,000)/100,000

Internal Energy 30,000 (↓70,000)/100,000

Combat Power 350,000 (↓40,000)/390,000

All his abilities had plummeted.

‘Damn this cursed opportunity.’

Even in pain, Xuhui gritted his teeth.

The culprit of all this.

After giving him various things, it always ended with a betrayal.

No matter how much he tried to like it, he couldn't.

“Are you awake?”

He couldn't see, but he could hear.

Relying on the faint light, Xuhui barely lifted his eyelids.

“Why... Why are you doing this?”

Koma was sitting, and five masked martial artists stood in a line around him.

“Don’t you know better?”

The question was strange.

How could he know better?

“I don’t understand. What do you mean by ‘I know better’?”

Swoosh.

Koma extended something in front of him.

Xuhui strained to open his eyes and looked at it.

- ΔΗΙθγγΩ.

It looked like a code.

Unable to decipher it, Xuhui had to ask.

“Pretending not to know, huh? I’ll tell you. The Heavenly Horse Disciples know all the codes used by the Five Angles and Nine Chambers. And this is the code of the Tianya Pavilion, which follows me.”

He held the letter to a candle on a nearby desk and continued.

“It means to execute the traitor.”

“...!”

Xuhui’s eyes, which had been half-closed, widened.

What did he mean by that?

A traitor?

What is the Tianya Pavilion that follows Koma?

Isn’t this the code of the Hongmao Yuan Gui An Ma Shou?

“The smoke is quite good.”

Koma brought his face close to Xuhui’s and continued.

“What mission were you given? Who is behind you?”

“I don’t know... Gah!”

It was bone-crushing.

The pain of bones twisting.

The torture Koma inflicted on Xuhui was far more intense than before.

And it lasted longer.

“Hahahaha...”

When the torture stopped, Xuhui couldn’t think.

The pain was so intense it numbed his senses, and the only thing he could hear was the warning-filled voice.

“I’ll help you confess easily. When the Taihuang Pavilion Master killed your subordinates, you were sent to the Thousand Days Hall. And you gave me a document called Yezhidao.”

“...”

“You told me you wanted to become stronger to win my favor. That’s why I sent you to Wu Guan Dao. But now, it seems you had the strength to surpass Wu Guan Dao. So, I speculated.”

Xuhui tried to focus his mind.

He had caught the traitor Geun, but he couldn’t be a traitor himself.

“You didn’t intend to pass Wu Guan Dao. Your goal was to gain my trust to become a spy. Isn’t that right?”

‘There must be a way. I have to find it! A way...’

Xuhui tried not to miss any of Koma’s words.

He knew better than anyone that small pieces of information could lead to significant outcomes.

So, he hypothesized.

Is it really certain that the code says “execute the traitor”?

It’s likely true, given that the Heavenly Horse Disciples turned away after seeing it.

Koma, who has no power base. If it’s the code of the Tianya Pavilion that follows him, it makes sense.

In summary, ‘someone in Koma’s camp sensed something was off,’ and they sent Geun to ‘execute the traitor,’ and the Heavenly Horse Disciples saw this code.

In simpler terms, he was a spy for someone.

From their perspective, since they had killed Geun, Xuhui, who had approached Koma, was still a ‘spy for Koma.’

They would have left the decision to Koma and left.

“I will tell you.”

Xuhui lifted his head, which had been hanging.

Koma’s expression was very distrustful, but it didn’t matter.

If it didn’t work, so be it.

“I just need to prove that I’m not from the Taihuang Pavilion Master, right?”

“...What do you mean?”

“I mean, I just need to prove that I’m not on their side, right?”

Koma’s displeasure was evident.

But he didn’t deny it.

“Can you prove it?”

“Yes.”

Xuhui lifted his head.

And he silently prayed.

Open.

There was a precious item inside that could resolve everything.

[Do you want to open the tool box?]

As always, the choice window provided a way out.

Xuhui, who had become a spy in the presence of the disciples.

This was the only way to dispel the First Disciple’s suspicion.

And a piece of evidence obtained through countless repetitions of life.

It fit the current situation perfectly.

‘It works