Ch. 36 Murim Psychopath Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Fierce Battle Aboard the Ship (1)

● ● ●

The lower cabin of the Scarlet Trigram Sailing Ship.

Slice. Thud, crunch.

The sounds of flesh being cut and bones being crushed wandered through the darkness.

Each time Dong Bong-su's hand moved, the corpses lost more of their original form.

There were seven bodies.

Originally, he had intended to carve one "character" into each corpse's chest, but he had ended up one body short. So instead, he cut the corpses into pieces and drove their bones into the floor of the lower cabin, creating characters out of the remains.

The salt-cured cedar was tougher than he had expected. To embed the bones neatly into the cabin floor, Dong Bong-su had to stomp down with all his strength.

Crack, crunch.

He stomped on a rib he had just removed from one of the corpses. The bone shattered and sank deep into the cedar planks of the lower hull. With that, one stroke of the character he intended to write was complete.

Dong Bong-su continued his work.

Thud, crack. Crunch….

The chilling sounds of bones being pulverized echoed endlessly throughout the lower cabin.

How had Dong Bong-su appeared here, and what exactly was he doing?

In truth, when the members of the Heavenly Wind Division's Second Squad had carried him into the East Heavenly Guest Hall earlier, he had already memorized the entire surrounding layout and structure.

He waited until Tang Wu had entered his room and left before immediately beginning his "work."

Since it was nighttime, every martial artist staying at the guest hall was asleep. The guards standing watch were all on the mainland beyond the Cloud Bridge rather than on the island where the East Heavenly Guest Hall stood. Naturally, he had confirmed that earlier as well.

In these circumstances, as long as he did not leave through the room's door, which faced the Cloud Bridge, he would not be spotted by the guards or the congratulatory guests who were still awake.

But there was only one door.

How could he leave the room without being seen by the guards?

The answer was simple.

Every house in Anhui Province was assembled from prefabricated components. Bongyang had been the same, and so had the Namgung Family. The Heavenly Guest Hall within the Namgung Family was no exception.

To Dong Bong-su, every direction of a prefabricated building was a "door." That fact had already been proven during the Suicide Plague incident.

After observing the guards' movements through the gaps between the building's joints, he waited until they rushed toward the Scarlet Trigram Sailing Ship in confusion, stored one of the support pillars behind his room in his Inventory, and slipped out through the opening.

The spot was a blind corner that the guards beyond the Cloud Bridge could never see, and under normal circumstances, no one would have paid it any attention.

Because that place connected directly to Lake Chaohu, resembling the edge of a cliff.

To Dong Bong-su, that was actually fortunate. There were few hiding places better than dark water.

He dove straight into Lake Chaohu.

Then, following behind the guards heading toward the Scarlet Trigram Sailing Ship, he moved in secret.

A short while later.

Just as planned, the seven members of the Heavenly Wind Division's Third Squad boarded the ship.

Taking advantage of that moment, Dong Bong-su headed toward the foul-smelling oar port where he had hidden his head during the nighttime entertainment.

Just as the boatman hireling had said earlier, the oar itself was still missing, leaving the opening exposed.

The oar port was small, but so was Dong Bong-su's body. He was not short, but Sosam's physique was naturally slight. His narrow shoulders, slim hips, and gaunt frame were more than enough to squeeze through the opening.

During the process, bits of leftover excrement, the stench of urine, and yellow stains left by dried urine smeared themselves all over his body, but he paid them no mind.

Through the oar port, he slipped into the ship's lower cabin.

Soon.

Without realizing that the monster called Dong Bong-su was hiding inside, the members of the Third Squad entered the lower cabin one by one to conduct their search.

And then…

Within the darkness, they all traded both their lives and experience points for Dong Bong-su's Three Talents Sword Art.

The reason Dong Bong-su had risked appearing here in the dead of night was, of course, to break the deadlock he found himself in.

And the method he had chosen was one that suited him perfectly.

The words he was writing with bones were a kind of "warning message."

Crack, crunch,

Dong Bong-su continued separating bones from the corpses and carving his message.

About two hours later.

"Squad Leader. Something feels wrong. I think we should report this to the Division Leader…."

"Hey, you bastard. What are you planning to tell the Vice Division Leader? That we only sent our men onto the ship, they never came back down, and we were too scared to check? Is that what you're going to say? We should at least figure out what's going on before making a report, shouldn't we? Huh?"

Voices reached his ears.

Not just one, but several.

'Someone?'

He did not need to think deeply.

The contents of their conversation made it obvious, and so did the fact that these were exactly the people who would come here.

The newcomers were undoubtedly the remaining members of the same squad as the owners of the bones now being transformed into strokes and dots of his characters.

Judging by the conversation, their Squad Leader had come with them as well.

'They took too long.'

Trying to make the warning more impactful had cost him too much time.

He had yet to finish all eight characters he had planned to carve.

So far, he had completed only four.

Creak. Creak.

The upper deck directly above him shook.

They had already boarded the ship and were walking across the deck.

There was no longer enough time to finish the planned "Bone Inscriptions," let alone carve the remaining four characters with his sword.

To be honest, the first four characters alone conveyed half the message.

But the remaining four were far more important.

Should he retreat now?

Or should he finish the remaining four characters before withdrawing?

If he chose the latter, he would have to eliminate every interruption.

He had already confirmed that the Third Squad members were vastly inferior to him in combat ability.

However, the Squad Leader's strength remained unknown.

Since his Spirit Eye remained silent, the only thing he could determine was that the level difference between himself and the Third Squad's Squad Leader was less than ten.

Creak. Creak.

"It's too quiet, Squad Leader. Something's definitely wrong."

Once again, disordered footsteps echoed above, accompanied by the voice of one of the squad members.

They were much closer now than before.

They had probably reached the area near the cabin.

The stairs leading to the lower cabin were directly beneath it, so they would soon descend.

The moment of decision had arrived.

Dong Bong-su's eyes glinted in the darkness.

He made his choice in an instant.

The moment he decided, his body was already moving on instinct.

"I can tell just by looking, you bastard!"

While the Squad Leader snapped irritably at his subordinate, Dong Bong-su was already slipping out through the oar port he had used to infiltrate the ship.

Had he chosen the first option and decided to flee?

The instant Dong Bong-su slipped out through the oar port, four shadows descended into the place where he had been standing moments earlier.

The light from the fire lanterns they carried quickly illuminated the lower cabin.

"Gah!"

"…!"

"T-this…!"

Their reactions differed, but the emotion they expressed was the same.

Horror.

The kind of shock one felt when confronted with something utterly unexpected.

The lower cabin reeked of blood, and human corpses had been torn apart like filthy rags and scattered everywhere.

Who would not be horrified?

Especially when those corpses belonged to their comrades….

"Sh…it…. Everyone, get out! Leave the ship immediately!"

Squad Leader Go San-gong shouted, and before he had even finished speaking, the squad member at the rear was already scrambling back onto the deck.

Crash! Clatter!

At that moment, confirming whether the enemy was still present was no longer important to them.

The scene before their eyes was simply too horrific.

Their only task now was to report everything to the Heavenly Wind Division Leader.

The ship rocked slightly as their frantic footsteps thundered across it.

Go San-gong had led the way down into the lower cabin, which now left him bringing up the rear.

As he followed behind his subordinates toward the boarding stairs, he continued watching his back.

The one responsible for this gruesome slaughter might still be hiding somewhere below.

Yet the cruel intruder never showed himself, no matter how much noise they made.

Eventually, Go San-gong relaxed slightly and turned toward the boarding stairs.

At that very moment!

"Gah! Aaaagh!"

The subordinate at the very front stepped onto the boarding stairs.

Or rather, he tried to.

Instead, his foot landed on empty air, and he plunged straight into Lake Chaohu.

"The boarding stairs… disappeared!?"

The boarding stairs that should have been there had suddenly vanished, causing the leading Third Squad member to lose his footing and fall into the lake.

Thud. Crunch.

Then came the heavy sound of a sword sinking into flesh, followed by the dull scrape of bone being ground apart.

That was the end of him.

The one who killed him was, of course,

Dong Bong-su.

He had not fled.

He had chosen the latter option.

He intended to finish what he had started.

After slipping out through the oar port, he had hidden directly beneath the boarding stairs connecting the dock to the ship, waiting for the guards to leave.

Just as he had expected, one of them stepped onto the boarding stairs.

He immediately stored the boarding stairs in his Inventory.

With the ship's staircase disappearing beneath his feet, the enemy had no choice but to misstep.

Thrust.

He drove his sword into the falling man's mouth as he plunged headfirst.

To him, that was simply the most natural kind of "guest reception service."

'One.'

There had been four people on the deck.

One was dead.

That left…

Three.

"W-What!?"

He heard them cry out in alarm.

They would not dare approach him now.

They would assume that an enemy or perhaps multiple enemies was waiting outside the dock.

As a result, they would no longer be able to leave the ship so easily.

Even with their fire lanterns, it was well past midnight.

No fool would climb down into the darkness believing enemies were lying in wait beneath the dock.

The enemies were completely thrown into confusion.

Now it was time to decide.

Dong Bong-su quickly moved along the corner where he was hanging and returned to the oar port.

Without the slightest hesitation, he climbed back into the lower cabin.

The sharp scent of blood from the half-transformed corpses assaulted his nose.

Soon enough, that scent would grow even stronger.

Dong Bong-su immediately headed toward the stairs leading up to the cabin.