Chapter 185

Chapter 185: The Serpent’s Tongue

“They’re coming!”

“Everyone, prepare yourselves!”

The Righteous Alliance warriors hurriedly raised their weapons.

Three of their comrades had just been killed right before their eyes.

The martial artists closest to the demonic humans were visibly tense.

But gathered here were masters from several sects, including Master Gonghyeon of Shaolin, Sect Leader Wonmyeong of Mount Hua, and Sect Leader Cheon Gwangcheon of Kunlun.

Just as the leaders of the three sects were about to step forward—

Shing.

A low metallic sound rang through Azure Pine Garden.

Someone had drawn a sword.

For some reason, the sound was unnaturally clear.

Even amid the roars of the demonic humans and the shouts of the martial artists, that one sound pierced sharply into everyone’s ears.

I turned toward it.

Moyong Cheonhwi stood there.

He stepped forward with his sword lowered at his side.

“So these wicked things dared to hide beneath the very grounds of the Righteous Alliance.”

His voice was astonishingly calm.

Then he raised his sword.

Wooooom!

An enormous amount of internal energy surged into the blade.

Blue sword qi engulfed the entire sword.

The pressure was so overwhelming that even the surrounding air seemed to grow heavy.

Every gaze in Azure Pine Garden turned toward Moyong Cheonhwi.

The next moment—

his sword cut through the air.

Dozens of sword shadows appeared along its path at once.

Their number continued to increase until they completely filled the space in front of him.

Then the sword shadows transformed into blue sword qi and shot into the sky.

WHOOOSH!

I already knew this technique.

The First Form of the Sovereign Heaven Sword.

Heavenly Stars, Ten Thousand Rains.

“KRAAAAAH!”

Like beasts sensing danger, the demonic humans roared and charged toward the crowd.

At that instant—

the sword qi soaring into the sky changed direction.

SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!

Countless blades of sword qi rained down like a meteor shower.

The demonic humans twisted their bodies, trying to evade them.

It was useless.

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

“KRAAAGH!”

The falling sword qi struck only their vital points.

Heads.

Throats.

Hearts.

All were pierced in an instant.

But what shocked me even more than the overwhelming power...

was the precision.

Despite so many attacks falling at once, the surrounding area suffered almost no damage.

The sword qi pierced only the demonic humans.

And not long afterward—

Thud.

The last one collapsed.

Or at least...

it looked that way.

“K-Kugh....”

One of the fallen demonic humans twitched.

It was still barely alive.

A Righteous Alliance warrior noticed and shouted,

“That one is still alive!”

The demonic human crawled along the ground and raised one arm toward Moyong Cheonhwi.

“Uuugh... ah....”

It sounded almost as if it were trying to say something.

Moyong Cheonhwi looked toward it.

Then—

SWISH!

A line of sword qi shot from the tip of his blade and pierced straight through the demonic human’s forehead.

Thud.

Its body went still.

"..."

Silence settled over Azure Pine Garden.

Dozens of demonic humans lay scattered across the ground.

Meanwhile, Moyong Cheonhwi’s breathing hadn’t changed in the slightest.

He slowly slid his spotless sword back into its sheath.

Click.

Only then did voices of admiration rise from all around.

“So that is the Sovereign Heaven Sword....”

“He killed dozens of them by himself....”

“As expected of the strongest under heaven....”

The Righteous Alliance warriors stared at Moyong Cheonhwi with awe.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him either.

I had personally faced Heavenly Stars, Ten Thousand Rains when fighting Moyong Seong.

But the technique unfolding before me now was so far beyond that version that it was difficult to believe they shared the same name.

The speed.

The power.

The precision of the sword qi.

Everything was on a different level.

So this is the real Sovereign Heaven Sword.

For the first time, I truly understood why Moyong Cheonhwi was called the strongest under heaven.

Even compared to Dokgo Jinak....

It wasn’t something I could judge easily.

But at least in that moment...

Moyong Cheonhwi didn’t look inferior to Dokgo Jinak at all.

I looked over the fallen demonic humans.

Not one appeared to be alive.

He killed every last one.

They had already killed Righteous Alliance warriors.

No one would blame Moyong Cheonhwi for wiping them out.

To everyone else, he probably looked like the hero who had saved all of us.

But to me...

it looked completely different.

Silencing every witness.

All I could see was Moyong Cheonhwi’s filthy hypocrisy.

“Alliance Leader! Thanks to you, we prevented even greater losses!”

One of the Righteous Alliance warriors offered a martial salute.

Moyong Cheonhwi didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he looked down at the fallen Alliance warriors.

“If I had moved only a little faster, those men would not have lost their lives.”

His expression turned solemn.

“As Alliance Leader, I have failed them.”

Admiring gazes gathered on him again from all around.

I snorted inwardly.

Snake bastard.

You’re still putting on that righteous act to the very end.

I couldn’t let the atmosphere continue flowing exactly the way he wanted.

“As expected of the Alliance Leader.”

At my words, Moyong Cheonhwi turned toward me.

“I’m relieved to see the Commander is unharmed as well.”

“Thanks to you, Alliance Leader.”

Then—

“However....”

I slowly looked over the corpses surrounding us.

“There is one thing I don’t understand.”

Moyong Cheonhwi gave me a puzzled look.

“You don’t understand?”

“What do you mean?”

I pointed toward the underground staircase.

“How did this many people end up here?”

"..."

“This is the Righteous Alliance.”

I continued,

“More specifically, this is the rear garden of the Alliance Leader’s Palace, where you personally reside.”

I deliberately paused.

Then added,

“And they were hiding directly beneath Azure Pine Garden.”

“The very garden you were known to cherish more than anyone.”

The moment I finished speaking...

the admiration directed toward Moyong Cheonhwi abruptly stopped.

“Come to think of it....”

“How did so many demonic humans end up right beneath the Alliance Leader’s Palace?”

“Wasn’t Azure Pine Garden the Alliance Leader’s favorite place?”

The murmurs spread quickly.

One gaze after another shifted toward Moyong Cheonhwi.

He didn’t answer immediately.

His expression suggested he was carefully measuring the situation.

Go on.

A sneer rose inside me.

Let’s hear it, you snake.

What excuse are you going to use this time?

While Moyong Cheonhwi searched for an answer...

I looked toward the exposed underground staircase.

Just as I thought.

My guess was right.

There had actually been another reason I insisted on investigating Azure Pine Garden first.

It wasn’t only to gain justification for searching the Alliance Leader’s Palace.

Several days ago...

right after setting fire to Azure Pine Garden and preparing to leave—

Wooooom.

The Heavenly Law Sword at my waist had suddenly begun to tremble.

It happened near the open area where the underground staircase had now been revealed.

What’s here?

I’d wanted to investigate immediately.

But by then, the flames had already spread too far.

Righteous Alliance warriors were rushing toward the area one after another.

I couldn’t remain any longer.

So I withdrew that night.

But I didn’t simply let it end there.

After the fire had been extinguished...

I returned to Azure Pine Garden again late before dawn.

Using Void Night Shadow Step to conceal my presence, I approached the open area.

And—

Wooooom.

The Heavenly Law Sword reacted again.

This time, the vibration was even stronger.

If I moved any closer, there was a chance the warriors guarding Azure Pine Garden would hear the sword’s resonance.

So I confirmed only the rough location and withdrew.

Even then...

I hadn’t known what was hidden underground.

I certainly hadn’t expected demonic humans to be hiding there.

But one thing had been certain.

There was something beneath this place.

And today...

I had deliberately brought a different sword instead of the Heavenly Law Sword.

If the Heavenly Law Sword reacted again in front of everyone...

I might expose its true nature.

Once I began investigating Azure Pine Garden, Moyong Cheonhwi and Heo Seongbaek settled near the open area where the fire had caused less damage.

Perhaps it was coincidence.

But it was worth confirming.

So I waited for half a sijin.

I dragged things out as though I had found nothing.

Until Heo Seongbaek and the Righteous Alliance elders stopped being wary.

Then, at the very end...

I smashed the ground.

And this was the result.

A hidden underground space.

Dozens of demonic humans concealed inside.

This turned out to be much bigger than I expected.

I stared at Moyong Cheonhwi and mocked him inwardly.

Go ahead.

Let’s see you talk your way out of this.

Something like this had been discovered directly beneath your own residence.

Even you couldn’t brush this aside easily.

The murmurs continued.

Then—

“...Remarkable.”

Moyong Cheonhwi finally spoke.

“Even I had no idea such a place existed beneath Azure Pine Garden.”

The voices around us gradually quieted.

Moyong Cheonhwi looked down at the underground staircase.

“If this many people were hidden inside a space of that size...”

He paused.

“then this could not have been prepared in only a day or two.”

He slowly looked around.

“It appears their hands reached into the Alliance much earlier than we realized.”

What?

What the hell is he suddenly talking about?

Then Moyong Cheonhwi continued.

“The Demonic Cult...”

His eyes darkened.

“To think they managed to infiltrate all the way here.”

Don’t tell me...

he was really going to turn the situation around like that?

As if on cue, Heo Seongbaek stepped forward.

“Alliance Leader.”

He looked over the corpses.

“Then are you saying this fire and these demonic humans may both be connected to the Demonic Cult?”

As expected of Heo Seongbaek.

He was already widening the escape route Moyong Cheonhwi had created.

But Moyong Cheonhwi didn’t agree immediately.

Instead, he shook his head with a cautious expression.

“We should not jump to conclusions.”

Heo Seongbaek gestured toward the surrounding ruins.

“But Alliance Leader, the Jesaeng Pavilion, the Demon Expulsion Pavilion, and this place all burned on the same day.”

His expression grew grave.

“That is far too convenient to dismiss as coincidence.”

"..."

Moyong Cheonhwi appeared to think for a moment.

Then he looked toward the dead demonic humans.

“We will only know for certain after a proper investigation.”

And then, almost as though merely adding an afterthought—

“However, if they had been hiding within the Alliance for such a long time...”

His voice lowered.

“then we cannot exclude the possibility that they started the fires to erase their own traces.”

Clever.

He hadn’t actually declared anything.

Instead...

he had simply guided everyone into naturally connecting the Demonic Cult with the fires.

Sure enough—

“That would make sense.”

“If they secretly built something like this without even the Alliance Leader knowing....”

“How long have Demonic Cult bastards been hiding inside the Alliance?”

The Righteous Alliance elders began talking among themselves again.

Some were already nodding along.

Others...

still looked between the underground staircase and Moyong Cheonhwi without saying anything.

Moyong Cheonhwi... you slippery bastard.

He was even using the fires I had started as part of his own excuse.

Only moments ago, people had been questioning why demonic humans had been found beneath the Alliance Leader’s Palace.

Now they were discussing Demonic Cult infiltration instead.

Still...

not everyone had fallen for it.

Master Gonghyeon silently observed the dead demonic humans and the underground staircase.

Sect Leader Wonmyeong said nothing.

Sect Leader Cheon Gwangcheon also continued watching Moyong Cheonhwi closely.

So I spoke again.

“If what you say is true, Alliance Leader, then there is one strange point.”

Moyong Cheonhwi looked at me.

“What is strange?”

“The location.”

I pointed toward the underground staircase.

“No matter how secretly the Demonic Cult moved...”

I continued,

“it is difficult to believe they could build a place of that size beneath the rear garden of the Alliance Leader’s Palace and hide dozens of people inside without anyone noticing.”

My voice grew firmer.

“Especially when this isn’t a place where just anyone can come and go.”

Then—

“Which means—”

“However.”

Moyong Cheonhwi suddenly cut me off.

“Before that, there is something I would like to ask as well.”

His voice was perfectly calm.

"..."

I didn’t like where this was going.

“What would you like to ask?”

Moyong Cheonhwi shifted his gaze toward the stone floor I had shattered.

“Something about your actions just now has been bothering me.”

I frowned.

“My actions?”

“Yes.”

He continued slowly.

“You spent nearly half a sijin inspecting Azure Pine Garden.”

“You searched the walkways, the pond, and nearly every corner.”

"..."

Then—

“But at the end...”

His eyes returned to me.

“you didn’t hesitate at all.”

The surrounding area grew quiet.

“You walked straight here and struck that exact spot with your sword.”

Every gaze moved between me and the shattered stone floor.

Moyong Cheonhwi asked gently,

“Was that coincidence?”

"..."

Then—

“Or did you already know from the beginning...”

His eyes narrowed.

“that something was hidden beneath that ground?”

Every gaze instantly turned toward me.

Suspicion and caution mixed in their eyes.

I stared straight at Moyong Cheonhwi.

So this pit viper is planning to bite me now.