Chapter 34. Amazing, Isn’t It?
Dang Jong was horrified.
“Huh?! That’s our clan’s hidden-weapon launcher! How do they have that?”
The Heavenly Life-Ending Needle Launcher was a hidden-weapon device the Tang Clan had recently developed for mass killing.
Unless someone protected themselves with a barrier of condensed qi, it was almost impossible to dodge.
Even though Dang Jong was the young master of the Tang Clan, he was not in charge of every major and minor affair of the family. Because of that, he had no way of knowing where the clan’s hidden weapons were being sold.
But the real problem was that the Western Gorge Gang was a faction of the Black Path.
The Tang Clan did sell hidden weapons, but only to sects belonging to the White Path martial world.
If they sold Tang Clan hidden weapons to the Black Path, Unorthodox Path, or Demonic Path, they would be condemned by the orthodox factions.
It could even threaten the Tang Clan’s very position in the martial world.
Despite using poison and hidden weapons, the Tang Clan had managed to remain firmly rooted in the White Path for hundreds of years precisely because they had always followed such rules without exception.
Yet that boundary had now been broken.
That was why Dang Jong was so shocked.
Jaha looked at Ma Gi, the leader of the Western Gorge Gang, and inwardly admired him.
So the nickname Black-Hearted Jade Devil Grass really suits him.
Ma Gi might look underhanded, but he had thoroughly prepared a way to fight Hwancheonma.
Hwancheonma’s greatest techniques were his invisible movement art and illusion techniques.
No matter how fast his movement technique was, it would be useless against hundreds of hidden weapons pouring down at once.
Seeing how thoroughly Ma Gi had prepared for Hwancheonma, Jaha finally understood why the word Black-Hearted was part of his nickname.
He’s similar to me.
Jaha felt that Ma Gi was the same kind of person as himself.
Black-Hearted Jade Devil Grass Ma Gi spoke proudly.
“What do you think? Amazing, isn’t it? Hwancheonma’s movement technique may be the best under heaven, but even he won’t be able to dodge these hidden-weapon launchers.”
Hwancheonma gave him a cold smile.
“Do you truly believe you can stop this lord with toys like those?”
Ma Gi replied,
“I do. These aren’t ordinary hidden-weapon launchers. So let me give you some advice. If you retreat now, you won’t lose any face. As you can see, I’ve prepared several more besides these. Do you think I would personally come here without making proper preparations?”
Suddenly, Hwancheonma burst into loud laughter.
“Hahahahaha! Do you even know who this lord is?! I am Hwancheonma, one of the Seven Heavenly Demons of the Demonic Cult! I’ll show you right now why I am called Hwancheonma!”
Hwancheonma leisurely walked toward the Western Gorge Gang warriors, who had formed a wall while holding their hidden-weapon launchers.
“Fire!”
Ma Gi did not hesitate for even a moment.
At his order, the warriors sitting on their comrades’ shoulders pulled hidden-weapon launchers from their clothes and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Fine needles shot from three launchers, covering the area around Hwancheonma in darkness.
It looked like an enormous swarm of bees flying through the air.
Strangely, however, Hwancheonma vanished at that exact moment.
“Huh?”
Small cries of shock escaped from those who had instantly lost sight of him.
“Above!”
Ma Gi shouted.
Before anyone realized it, Hwancheonma was floating in the air.
A palm force erupted from his hand.
The warriors hurriedly tried to aim their launchers at Hwancheonma, but his palm strike was faster.
A crimson wave of palm force swept past the heads of three warriors.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With sounds like ripe watermelons bursting apart, the warriors fell to the ground.
“Take the bodies and retreat!”
At Ma Gi’s command, the four warriors who had been supporting them on their shoulders dragged away their dead comrades and quickly withdrew.
They moved immediately whenever an order was given.
From their disciplined movements alone, it was obvious that they were among the Western Gorge Gang’s elite.
After breaking the formation Ma Gi had been so proud of, Hwancheonma grinned.
“Why don’t you try a little more? You’re giving up too quickly.”
Ma Gi had withdrawn the formation quickly because he feared Hwancheonma might steal the hidden-weapon launchers.
As long as they still possessed those weapons, they could at least restrain Hwancheonma to some degree.
“This time, I shall face you myself, Senior.”
“Is that so? I thought you were going to wait until all your subordinates died before stepping forward.”
Hwancheonma spoke as though he were already looking at a dead man.
Ma Gi smiled as if he still had something to rely on.
“Would you like to see another gift I prepared specifically for you, Senior?”
Hwancheonma answered as though telling him to try whatever he wanted.
“Do as you please. Since my junior worked so hard preparing for me, it would only be polite for me to watch.”
No matter what Ma Gi had prepared, Hwancheonma was confident.
Ma Gi cupped his fists.
“Thank you.”
Then he shouted toward his men behind him.
“Spread everything we brought across the ground!”
Ma Gi’s subordinates brought forward several large bundles.
When Jaha first saw the bundles strapped to their backs, he had wondered what they contained.
But what came out was something completely unexpected.
Inside were piles of pitch-black powder.
“Poison?”
Hwancheonma asked.
“Something as simple as poison would never be enough to defeat you, Senior.”
Ma Gi’s subordinates spread the black powder across the ground within roughly five jang around him.
“Then if it isn’t poison, what exactly is this?”
Hwancheonma seemed just as curious.
Ma Gi smiled.
“Wouldn’t it be too boring if I simply told you, Senior?”
“Fine. I’ll find out soon enough what little trick you’re planning.”
The moment he finished speaking, Hwancheonma shot toward Ma Gi.
His movement truly deserved to be called lightning-fast.
One moment he had been calmly talking, and the next he attacked without warning.
That was one of Hwancheonma’s habits.
It was a way to make the most effective use of his incredibly fast movement technique.
But Ma Gi was no ordinary martial artist.
He seemed to have already understood Hwancheonma’s habits.
He quickly took a defensive stance, yet strangely remained completely still.
Jaha and the others watching immediately sensed that Ma Gi was at a disadvantage.
He should be defending while moving. That’s the only way to fight Hwancheonma when he moves invisibly.
Anyone who understood martial arts would naturally think the same thing.
Then it happened.
Ma Gi suddenly thrust his sword into empty air.
The others found his action ridiculous, but Jaha nodded.
Because of Byeokho’s Baekryeong, he could sense that Hwancheonma was actually there.
