Chapter 35

Chapter 35: How to Build Trust – 3

The inside of the cave was dark. However, that didn’t make moving around difficult. Chaejin was a seasoned martial artist, and such darkness could not obstruct her sight.

“Ah, be careful over there.”

I nearly tripped. Yeah. Chaejin was a seasoned martial artist, but I wasn’t, so it was only natural that I wasn’t accustomed to the darkness.

“Wouldn’t it be better to use a torch?”

“Yangmyeong might notice us if we do.”

“That’s true.”

We had no choice but to speak in low voices. In the first place, we were already walking using the Taiji steps to minimize the sound of our footsteps, so maintaining as much secrecy as possible was preferable.

Even if we were caught, it couldn’t be helped.

“Oh. The cave is getting wider.”

The path that had been narrowing suddenly widened, and faint light emanated from deeper inside. It wasn’t a fire. Could it be night-glowing pearls? Judging by the dull glow, they didn’t seem very expensive.

“How long do you think it will take to deal with Yangmyeong?”

“Well… even if it takes long, we’ll have him down within a hundred seconds.”

Chaejin spoke candidly based on the widely known information about Yangmyeong and the details she had gathered earlier from Hano.

A hundred seconds, huh.

“Can you do it in eighty seconds? You are, after all, Chaejin, the top disciple of Moonlight Sect.”

A slight smirk spread across Chaejin’s lips. Without erasing that graceful curve from her mouth, she fixed her black eyes on me and spoke calmly.

“Don’t you trust me too much? Fine. I’ll finish it in eighty seconds.”

“Good.”

If Chaejin used the Moonlight Swordsmanship, she could definitely do it in eighty seconds. I nodded lightly and walked calmly.

And we found them.

The Soul Eaters.

And the old woman, surrounded by them, concocting something in a giant cauldron.

She was a hideous old woman. Her nose was long, her eyes were slanted, and her back was hunched. Her hands looked as hard as dried wood, and her long, sharp nails were painted black.

She stirred the ladle in the cauldron with a serious expression and sighed deeply.

When she rang the bell, one of the Soul Eaters moved.

It was a young girl, even younger than Sayoon.

The old woman, who had called the girl closer, reached out and made a cut on the girl’s arm. She licked the dripping red blood with her long, slimy tongue.

At that moment, the old woman’s face became more lively.

“…Disgusting.”

Well, that’s what all the ghastly demons are like.

There are plenty of monsters that sustain their own lives by stealing the vitality of others. Fortunately, that old woman, Yangmyeong, was among the weaker ones.

“Hmm… But the Soul Eaters are a concern. I didn’t expect there to be so many.”

“I’ll take care of the Soul Eaters. I have a way to deal with them…”

At that moment, perhaps unsatisfied with the girl’s blood, Yangmyeong threw down the ladle and let out a bizarre scream before extending her hand. Another girl, better dressed than the previous one, walked out.

It was Oh Yuna, the daughter of Oh Chil, the head of the Jin Fist Hall.

Yangmyeong roughly grabbed the dazed girl, who was standing with vacant eyes and opened her mouth. Her sharp teeth gleamed under the light of the night-glowing pearl. She was probably about to bite the girl’s arm to drink more blood and absorb more vitality.

Seeing this, I realized I could no longer hesitate.

“We can’t wait any longer. Let’s charge.”

-Srrng!!

At my command, Chaejin didn’t ask any questions. She simply proved herself as a warrior. As soon as she drew her sword from its scabbard, a flash of silver sword energy targeted Yangmyeong’s head.

“Kyaaa!!”

But as Chaejin had said, Yangmyeong wasn’t entirely weak. She infused her withered hand with a dark aura, deflected the crescent-shaped sword energy, and growled in our direction.

“Who are you?!”

Her shrill voice echoed through the cavern. Chaejin had already leaped forward, responding not with words but with her sword.

-Ding…!!

With Chaejin’s sudden assault, the momentum shifted. Yangmyeong quickly shook her bell, prompting the Soul Eaters to press in on Chaejin.

“Kekeke!! So, you’re from the Moonlight Sect!! Let’s see if you can kill me!!”

As the Soul Eaters swarmed to block her, Chaejin gritted her teeth. When she stomped her foot, her inner energy surged out, knocking the approaching Soul Eaters back. However, the force of her attack slowed down, and the crafty old Yangmyeong didn’t miss the opportunity.

She commanded the Soul Eaters to surround Chaejin and attacked her in the gaps between them.

But I wasn’t just going to sit back and watch.

-Hwaruk!!

Thanks to my consistent training, I had developed some skill with the “Five Elements Fist.”

That’s why, using the Fire Form, I was able to create fiery energy, just as Sayoon had done before.

“You despicable creature!!”

I could see Yangmyeong’s face contort in fury.

The Soul Eaters that had been aiming for Chaejin turned their attention to me, their eyes flipping over as they charged at me.

“So why did you cling so obsessively to a failed experiment like the Soul Eaters?”

I mocked the grinding Yangmyeong.

Indeed, a failed experiment.

The Soul Eaters were, as the name suggested, the product of a failed research experiment.

The Empire had conducted various experiments to combat the demonic cult, one of which aimed to create soldiers devoid of fear.

Everyone feels fear. The Empire’s research department believed that this was due to emotions tied to the soul.

So, what if they could freeze the soul and eliminate emotions?

If they could create soldiers who couldn’t feel fear and only followed orders without hesitation, they could produce an army capable of standing against demonic techniques without retreating.

The research had received significant support, but in the end, it was deemed a failure.

They had succeeded in using special drugs to block the flow of the five elements, freezing the soul and erasing fear while also strengthening the body and creating soldiers that followed orders.

But that was the problem.

Just as water naturally flows downhill and night follows day, it was only natural for people to respond to the five elements.

While this natural reaction could be suppressed through constant orders and the controller’s focus, when that was no longer possible, the Soul Eaters became overly sensitive to the five elements.

For this fatal reason, the Soul Eater production plan was abandoned, and the Empire shifted its research in a different direction.

But the researchers who had invested so much couldn’t easily let go of their work.

Especially those with strong pride, like the researchers who had received backing from the Empire.

In the end, they continued their research in an attempt to shake off the label of failure, which eventually led to their corruption.

They couldn’t accept that they had failed.

They weren’t wrong.

They simply hadn’t had enough support, too few test subjects, and hadn’t yet found the right method.

Comforting themselves with such thoughts, they continued their research.

But how could they continue without the Empire’s support?

In the end, they kidnapped civilians to secure test subjects and attacked innocent people to gather the medicinal ingredients needed for their experiments.

Blinded by the obsession to complete their so-called “great research,” they crossed moral lines.

This led to many problems, and martial artists developed countermeasures against the Soul Eaters to address these issues.

One such method was to use the five elements, to which the Soul Eaters instinctively reacted.

Fire (火).

Scholars believed that Soul Eaters hated fire, thinking it could melt their frozen souls and offer salvation.

Soul Eaters, when not given direct orders, are irresistibly drawn to flames, like moths to a deadly light.

I lured the Soul Eaters charging at me, buying as much time as possible. While doing so, I glanced over at Chaejin.

Every time the silver moonlight-like sword energy flashed, Yangmyeong cursed and retreated.

As expected, Yangmyeong couldn’t defeat Chaejin. She didn’t even have the time to give orders to the Soul Eaters.

If she tried to focus on giving commands, her head would roll instantly.

That left only one thing to do.

“Kyaaaa!!”

A gaunt woman with a haggard appearance charged at me, screaming in rage. Driven solely by instinct, she attacked to extinguish the flames I had created, but I wouldn’t let her.

If I got hit by that, Chaejin would likely double my training time.

There was no profound martial principle in the punch I threw.

It wasn’t based on any high-level martial arts or philosophy, nor did it even contain any emotion.

It was just a simple attack, a beastly instinct born of a frozen soul and an enhanced body.

I dodged the predictable attack a few times, then reached out my hand.

There was no need to block it. I simply traced a circle.

The moment her fist, aimed at smashing my head, lost its direction and struck nothing but air, the middle-aged woman stumbled toward me, having lost her balance.

But I didn’t stop. Using the momentum from her punch, I rotated on my right foot.

The instant my back and the woman’s back collided, I gently applied pressure.

Metal (金).

Scholars believed that Soul Eaters feared metal, perhaps because they worried it might injure their souls.

The Taiji form I used, based on the Metal Form of the Five Elements Fist, proved effective.

With just a light tap, the middle-aged woman tumbled to the ground.

“Kraaa!!”

While I dealt with her, a girl with dark circles under her eyes jumped at me. She threw her entire body into the attack as if trying to crush me, but there was no need to confront her head-on.

I simply took a step back.

Wood (木).

Scholars believed that Soul Eaters welcomed wood, thinking that the life force contained in trees might awaken their frozen souls.

Whenever Soul Eaters spotted wood, they would cling to it like reuniting with a long-lost family member.

When I used the Wood Form of the Five Elements Fist, the girl who had been falling toward me seemed to rush at me even faster. Rather than being confused by the simultaneous presence of fire and wood, she appeared more overjoyed by the energy of the wood.

I caught her as she dropped. My retreating foot became my pivot, and I spun lightly using the momentum.

Swirl.

No strength was needed, just the flow.

As I spun the girl back, she staggered and collapsed to the ground after a few steps.

“Kuwaaa!!”

“Kyaaa!!”

The middle-aged woman and the girl.

While I dealt with the two of them, the remaining Soul Eaters rushed at me. As I watched them, I stepped forward.

-Thud!!

Earth (土).

Soul Eaters avoid the earth. People are generally buried in the ground when they die.

So what about Soul Eaters?

Perhaps those whose souls had been frozen by drugs believed they were already dead?

For some reason, Soul Eaters without orders react strongly to earthen barriers, as if they might crumble at a touch, and try to avoid them.

Following the Earth Form, I stomped down, creating a wall of earth. The Soul Eaters charging at me halted and began wandering around in confusion, unsure of what to do.

But.

Among the Soul Eaters created by Yangmyeong, there was one capable of jumping over the earthen barrier.

-Thwack!!

A woman in martial robes leapt into the air, stepping on the heads of the other Soul Eaters who were hesitating in front of the wall. As she flipped through the air, she launched a punch as fast as lightning.

Was she a martial artist? Perhaps. Yangmyeong didn’t care who he captured as long as they became test subjects. Among the Soul Eaters in Yangmyeong’s possession, there had been martial artists, even a connected event in Heavenly Moon.

Her attacks were stronger and faster than the others. I reached out my hand.

My left hand extended. The left hand, representing Yin, lightly redirected the punch before landing on her face.

Water (水).

Soul Eaters reject water. Scholars believed it was because the purifying power of water neutralized the drugs that dominated them.

“Urk!”

Using the Water Form, I gathered the energy of water in my left hand through my meager inner energy. Though it was only a small amount, about the size of a small jar, it was enough.

As water energy flowed into her through my hand, she resisted by flailing her limbs.

But her attacks didn’t cause me any significant harm. After all, they were nothing more than instinctive, aimless swings, devoid of any skill.

Sure, I got hit a few times, but none of the blows struck vital points. It was the kind of thing I could laugh off.

…Though, to be honest, it did hurt a bit.

But showing pain now would be a bit much, wouldn’t it?

Unable to withstand the water energy, the woman eventually collapsed, and I gently set her down before glancing over the earthen wall.

-Shrrak!!

While I was distracting the Soul Eaters and stalling for time, Chaejin’s sword sliced through Yangmyeong’s neck.

“It took fifty seconds.”

She twirled her spotless sword and sheathed it, smiling wearily at me. I smiled back at her.

“Well done.”

Chaejin leaped over and charged toward the remaining Soul Eaters. Watching her fists knock them down, I followed her beyond the earthen wall.

“Don’t kill them. The Soul Eater state can be cured.”

With a chuckle, she aimed her fist at the Soul Eaters approaching me.

“Got it, so just stay back.”

Well, she was reliable.