Chapter 47: Theatrical Performance
“U-Urgh, aaagh!”
“Run!”
“Kyaaah!”
Not a single person in the venue mourned the dead. Everyone was far too busy trying to save their own lives and flee.
Caught completely off guard by Do Heo-ok’s attack, a large number of the congratulatory guests who had been watching from the East Heavenly Guest Hall were either killed or wounded.
Among them was Tang Hwa, who had thrown herself into Lake Chaohu together with Dong Bong-su. The instant they entered the water, a fragment of lightning energy struck her in the back, leaving a massive wound.
Judging by the blackened, charred flesh, she seemed to have suffered a considerable injury.
“Ah… ah…”
Her face twisted in pain as hot moans escaped into Dong Bong-su’s chest. Had he not embraced her and leaped into the lake, she would have already joined Danri Kang Hae and the other guests in death.
However, the reason Dong Bong-su had wrapped his arms around Tang Hwa and jumped into the lake had nothing to do with the absurd notion of saving her.
A human shield.
In gaming terms, a damage sponge.
Dong Bong-su had merely used Tang Hwa as a tool to block the fragments of lightning energy in his place. Whether she died from the impact or survived made no difference to him. The moment he embraced her and jumped into the water, he had already secured the justification that he had saved her.
No one could criticize his actions. Tang Wu would be no different. Had it not been for him, Tang Hwa would already have been dead.
Of course, that only held true so long as no one realized he had deliberately twisted his body to place Tang Hwa in the path of the lightning fragments.
However.
Regardless of his original objective, he had gained several benefits from this incident.
Three of them, no less.
His own life, a life debt from Tang Hwa, and Tang Wu’s trust.
Even at the brink of death, Dong Bong-su had managed to gain three advantages with a single move.
“Hwa!”
Tang Wu’s shout rang out nearby.
Tang Wu had just arrived at the East Heavenly Guest Hall.
He hurriedly swam toward the island where the East Heavenly Guest Hall stood.
The moment he reached land, Dong Bong-su handed the injured Tang Hwa over to him before raising his head toward Do Heo-ok.
He had seen Tang Wu launch the Dragon-Phoenix Gold Needles before flying this way, but after that, he had been too busy throwing himself clear to see what happened.
‘As expected.’
Do Heo-ok had already blocked every one of the Dragon-Phoenix Gold Needles Tang Wu had fired and was leisurely leaving the scene.
He was heading north.
Martial artists of the Namgung Family, including members of the Unhindered Sword Division and the Heavenly Wind Division who had arrived too late, moved to block Do Heo-ok’s path, but not one of them could stop him.
Every martial artist present now was merely a lower-ranked fighter.
It seemed all the true experts had been deployed to the Hall of the Emperor.
Even so, there was no denying how overwhelmingly powerful Do Heo-ok was.
‘It was all calculated.’
The very moment the Thunderbolt Saber flew toward the East Heavenly Guest Hall, Dong Bong-su had already concluded that Do Heo-ok was fully capable of blocking Tang Wu’s attack even without using the Thunderbolt Saber.
‘Perhaps his true self, the one who doesn’t use the Thunderbolt Saber or the Thunderbolt Saber Art, is even stronger.’
Do Heo-ok had not yet shed his shell.
He was still merely ‘Do Heo-ok.’
“Hahahaha!”
Bursting into his characteristic hearty laughter without restraint, Do Heo-ok slaughtered the Namgung Family martial artists standing in his way.
Pababuk! Pak!
The bizarre palm art unfolding from his hands sent the Namgung Family martial artists flying helplessly one after another.
Before long, he had completely disappeared from the venue.
“Hahaha. Then I shall pay you a proper visit before long, Great Hero Tang.”
Though Do Heo-ok was no longer here, the echoes of his laughter still drifted faintly through the air.
By the time his laughter had finally faded away, the screams and sounds of battle coming from the Hall of the Emperor had also nearly ceased.
The disturbance there had likely been almost completely suppressed as well.
From what Dong Bong-su could see, Tang Hwa’s injuries were not as severe as he had initially feared, and Tang Wu had already stabilized her condition.
However.
Do Heo-ok’s parting words continued to echo inside Dong Bong-su’s ears.
[I shall pay you a proper visit before long.]
Before long.
It meant soon.
Dong Bong-su knew very well that soon could very well mean right now.
‘Does this count as half a success?’
His warning to prevent the destruction had worked…
But it had not been a complete success.
Now.
What was he supposed to do?
He asked himself that question, but this time, even his cold, calculating mind failed to produce an answer.
Because just as Do Heo-ok knew nothing about him, he likewise knew absolutely nothing about Do Heo-ok or the force backing him.
And now Do Heo-ok was no longer here.
That meant Dong Bong-su had run out of cards to play.
Improvisation.
For the time being, even Dong Bong-su had no choice but to respond to each situation as it arose.
As cautiously as possible.
Retracing every step.
Just as he had done moments ago when avoiding Do Heo-ok’s Thunderbolt Saber.
Dong Bong-su’s pupils sank deeper into darkness.
It was the unique trait that appeared whenever he accelerated his thinking.
● ● ●
Several shijin later, inside the Hall of the Emperor.
Whoooosh.
Namgung Byeok simply sat there.
The wind brushing past his ears felt unfamiliar.
Then again, how could it not?
When had he ever sat upon the Hall of the Emperor’s throne and felt the cold wind from outside?
The roof was gone.
Through the vast opening where the roof had once stood, the wind poured in without restraint, sweeping wildly through the hall.
“Family Head…”
Standing quietly beside the platform, Namgung Bang, Commander of the Hall of the Emperor Sword Division, called softly to Namgung Byeok.
Still gazing at the place where the ceiling had once been, Namgung Byeok spoke.
“Have all the swords been recovered?”
The swords he referred to were those of the successive Family Heads that should have been embedded there.
“Yes, Family Head. Fortunately, every single sword was recovered, and not one of them was damaged.”
Namgung Byeok could not suppress a bitter laugh.
Ordinarily, should those swords not still have been embedded in the ceiling?
Yet Namgung Bang was calling it fortunate merely because they had been recovered intact.
Or perhaps he was simply pleased they had not been damaged.
Namgung Byeok found the word fortunate deeply unpleasant.
He wondered whether Namgung Bang had truly looked around at the current state of the Hall of the Emperor before saying such a thing.
The disappearance of the Hall of the Emperor’s ceiling did not merely mean the building itself had suffered damage.
The missing ceiling meant the roof was gone.
And that meant the swords of the previous Family Heads could no longer be returned to their original positions.
In other words, the Formation Core of the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation had been lost.
The subsidiary formation cores installed throughout the Namgung Family estate had now become virtually meaningless.
The Formation Core of the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation had been the swords of the previous Family Heads embedded into the roof of the Hall of the Emperor according to the formation pattern.
Keeping his gaze fixed upon the gaping hole overhead, Namgung Byeok spoke to Namgung Bang.
“How long will it take to restore the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation?”
In Namgung Byeok’s opinion, restoring the formation should have been the highest priority.
Yet both he and Namgung Bang knew full well that doing so under the current circumstances was exceedingly difficult.
“…At the very least, one month will be required, Family Head.”
“Heh…”
Only a hollow laugh escaped him.
They were surrounded by a powerful enemy, yet they would have to endure for an entire month without the protection of the formation.
Immediately after the roof of the Hall of the Emperor had collapsed that morning, they had dispatched messenger pigeons that regularly traveled to the Murim Alliance headquarters.
It had been useless.
The enemy surrounding them had already anticipated that messenger pigeons would be released and had stationed dozens of Haedongcheong Hawks around the Namgung Family estate.
The moment the messenger pigeons took to the sky, they were torn apart by the hawks’ razor-sharp talons and beaks until they were scarcely recognizable.
It had taken less than a single dagyeong for every messenger pigeon to be slaughtered.
Now, unless someone personally traveled to Zhengzhou and informed the Murim Alliance Leader, the Namgung Family would have to overcome this crisis using only its own strength.
However.
If that had been easy, Namgung Byeok’s face would not have been so troubled.
According to the reports, although Do Heo-ok had escaped, his strength had been on par with Tang Wu’s.
That essentially meant there was no one in the Namgung Family capable of defeating Do Heo-ok in a one-on-one battle.
Moreover.
“There were only… four of them.”
The ones who had reduced the Hall of the Emperor to this state, the people hiding inside Do Heo-ok’s room were, as Namgung Byeok muttered bitterly, only four in number.
The moment the Hall of the Emperor Sword Division entered Do Heo-ok’s room to search it, the hidden figures sprang from their hiding places and attacked the Namgung Family martial artists.
Although they had suspected something might happen, no one had imagined they would be so powerful.
Yet that was not the only thing that had shocked Namgung Byeok and the Namgung Family experts.
The identities of those four, discovered after subduing them, were even more astonishing.
Jade Iron Demon Whip Ok Na-pang.
One Blade, Seven Kills Pa Cheon-su.
And the Yin-Yang Twin Demons.
Those were the four people hidden inside Do Heo-ok’s room.
All four were infamous veterans of the Demonic Path whose names were known throughout the world.
What astonished Namgung Byeok most was not that they were all renowned Demonic Path experts.
It was that two of them were the Yin-Yang Twin Demons.
Most of Do Heo-ok’s fame had come from defeating the Yin-Yang Twin Demons.
Yet those very Yin-Yang Twin Demons had been hiding inside Do Heo-ok’s room.
To Namgung Byeok and the Namgung Family experts, it was utterly unbelievable.
“Everything had been planned from the very beginning…”
From his first appearance…
To entering the Namgung Family…
To marrying Namgung Hye…
Every single step of Do Heo-ok’s actions had been a flawlessly orchestrated theatrical performance.
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