Not far from the valley where the battle for the steel beads took place and the mountain where the flag defense battle was happening. There was another cave located there.
Creak! Creak!
A procession of five carts led into that cave. The red-belted guards were pulling the carts and entering the cave illuminated by torches. The carts that entered the cave stopped at a certain spot.
There, the corpses of numerous boys were laid out.
"Phew. Is this the last of them? Let us move them then."
The red-belted guards who brought the carts began the work of placing the corpses side by side next to the others. It was the same for the remaining carts that arrived afterward.
Thud!
"Maybe it is because we took them out late, but the bodies are swollen."
One red-belted guard clicked his tongue as he looked at a corpse swollen with water. It was shallow valley water, but since there were some deep parts, the entire body must have been submerged. At that moment, a middle-aged man wearing a Daoist robe with a yin-yang symbol approached and spoke.
"Leave that one out."
"Is not this much fine?"
"We cannot work with this one."
"Unbelievable."
At this, the red-belted guards moved the corpse to a cart on the left side of the cave. While moving the corpse to the cart, one guard could not hold it in and ended up vomiting.
"Ugh."
Seeing this guard, the other guards clicked their tongues.
"Tsk, tsk."
"Making it obvious he is a rookie."
Of course, they said this, but they actually understood. At least the corpses laid out over there had few injuries and still maintained a human shape. However, the ones in the cart were the ones that fell behind.
None of these were intact. It was common for their heads to be crushed, and there were many missing a leg or having their organs torn out. It was so gruesome that just looking at them would make you vomit automatically.
"Get it together, rookie."
"U-understood."
The guard who emptied his stomach barely stood up and replied. Once the sorting of the corpses was somewhat finished, the ones that fell behind filled nearly three carts. Then, the middle-aged man in the Daoist robe from earlier approached and spoke to the guards.
"Now, let us go."
The middle-aged man in the Daoist robe took the lead, and the red-belted guards pulled the carts piled with corpses. The carts moved along a narrow slope and stopped only after reaching a cliff at the foot of the mountain an hour later. The middle-aged man in the Daoist robe pulled out a handful of something from his clothes.
They were talismans. The character Lock was written on them, and the middle-aged man in the Daoist robe attached a talisman one by one to the dead corpses loaded on the carts as he spoke.
"When throwing them, do not look down the cliff."
"Understood."
The red-belted guards, who answered nonchalantly, threw the corpses with the attached talismans down the cliff one by one as if they were used to it. Watching this, the rookie guard could not understand it internally. If they were unusable corpses, it would be cleaner to just burn them.
If they threw them all in a place like this, the bottom would literally be overflowing with dead bodies, would it not? Even in broad daylight, it would be so terrible that one would not dare to go down. The rookie guard asked the mentor who was carrying corpses with him.
"Senior. We could just burn them, so what is the reason for specifically throwing them down this cliff?"
"Just do as you are told, why are you curious?"
"I-I apologize."
Seeing the rookie become downcast and shut his mouth, the mentor clicked his tongue and spoke in a low voice.
"Listen and let it go out the other ear. From what I secretly heard, the stream of water coming down this cliff connects to the lower branch of the cave."
"What does that have to do with this?"
"I told you I do not know. They said something about it becoming nutrients or whatever, but lower-ranked people like us just have to do as we are told. Having unnecessary doubts will only cause trouble. Do you understand?"
"....... Understood."
Nutrients?
What kind of nutrients could they possibly become? He could not understand it at all. Anyway, if they did this every time the gate of the Corpse Blood Valley took place, just how many dead bodies were discarded at the bottom of this cliff?
Right now alone, there are over a hundred.
Chill!
He unconsciously looked down, and goosebumps instantly covered his entire body. In the darkness that seemed like it would suck him in, it felt as if something unpleasant and ominous was slowly creeping up.
Grab!
"Gasp!"
At that moment, someone grabbed his shoulder. It was the man in the Daoist robe who had been attaching the talismans. To the startled rookie guard, the man wearing the Daoist robe spoke in a low voice.
"What did I say earlier?"
"Yes?"
"I asked what I said earlier."
"T-to not look down the cliff......"
"Then it would be best if you absolutely did not look."
"Y-yes?"
The man in the Daoist robe warned the flustered guard with a meaningful tone.
"You might get bewitched."
Bewitched?
What did he mean by that?
It was when about an hour and two incenses had passed since the flag defense battle started. Since a considerable amount of time had passed, nearly half of the flags had been found by the boys, and fights to defend and reclaim them were well underway. However, an unexpected variable occurred within this flag defense battle.
That was, Kwek!
Kwek!
The appearance of the evil spirit monster Horned Beast. It was already a ferocious creature that could not even be compared to a wild beast, but it was the absolute worst variable for the boys who had their internal energy restricted and possessed no weapons.
Especially the boys who were searching here and there to find flags alone without their group members were being indiscriminately attacked and killed.
Crunch!
"Aaaaargh!"
In the middle of the mountainside, another boy fell victim to the Horned Beast. The Horned Beast liked human heads, so every time it caught someone, it crushed their head with its wicked teeth and devoured it. It did not even eat the other parts.
Because of this, corpses with crushed heads were found all over the mountain, raising the boys' vigilance to the extreme.
"Damn it. What is this? Was this really caused by fighting?"
One group that had not yet found a flag discovered a corpse and could not hide their horror. No matter how they looked at it, these were not the marks of someone who died fighting.
"No matter how restricted our internal energy is, did they really get killed by a wild beast?"
"You are right. These are teeth marks."
"No. No matter if it is a wild beast, can it really chew and eat an entire head? Even a giant tiger would have left the skull behind, would it not?"
A corpse missing its entire head. No matter how much they looked, they could not understand it. The area under Mok Yu-cheon's eyes, who was with them, was sunken.
Haa.......
This place was truly like hell. While fighting a battle to reclaim a flag, they lost three of their fellow boys, and the remaining five were wandering around looking for another flag. However, in the process, they saw over twenty corpses.
Among them, only about three seemed to have died while fighting fiercely over a flag, while the rest met a bizarre death. Ten corpses with missing heads like this one. And they found seven corpses that had been killed cleanly. .......
Most of them had their necks snapped. Not all of them had snapped necks, but most seemed to have been killed in a similar manner. It did not look like they engaged in hand-to-hand combat or fought fiercely; rather, it seemed they died without even being able to put up a proper fight against someone.
What is it?
Seriously?
The ones who were killed like this seemed to have lost their lives entirely unrelated to the flags. The problem lay in this. Everyone was already struggling with bloodshot eyes just from the flag battle alone, but it seemed like something unknown was killing the boys indiscriminately.
Just who is doing these things? At the mountainside about two hundred paces east of where Mok Yu-cheon was. One of the true culprits he was curious about was placing his hand on the chest of a headless corpse and absorbing death energy.
That person was none other than Mok Gyeong-un. Mok Gyeong-un, who was rapidly absorbing the death energy, soon pulled his hand away. And he muttered as if he was displeased.
"There is so little." -You mean the death energy?
"Yes." -Naturally.
The corpses killed by the evil spirit monster are eroded by demonic energy, and most of the energy they possessed gets rapidly depleted. At Blue Spirit's words, Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue. To think that even the energy released upon death would be depleted so quickly.
It was quite troubling.
"Hmm."
He had planned to move diligently to kill more boys than the evil spirit monster Horned Beast to gain death energy, but he was actually falling behind.
"It is getting a little annoying."
Unlike himself, who needed time to absorb the death energy, this evil spirit monster called the Horned Beast would simply snatch and eat the head before looking for its next prey. At this point, it should have been full, but it constantly ate.
"I feel like I am eating the scraps left behind by someone else." -Hmm.
"What is it?" -But this thing....... seems to be eating more than expected.
Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and said.
"It seems it is not full yet." -No. Even considering that, it is too much.
It should be full by now, but it is eating quite a lot.
"It might be because it is in its growing phase." -........
I see.
"See what?" -It might be a creature that is right on the verge of becoming a mature adult.
"A mature adult?" -Yes.
Among the evil spirit monsters, there are those that require a lot of energy to reproduce or become a mature adult.
"Are you saying the Horned Beast is that type as well?" -Probably?
At Blue Spirit's words, Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin as if he was troubled. If this guy continued to eat like this, his own share would be significantly reduced. Thus, Mok Gyeong-un decided to change his direction.
"This will not do. I should just catch that Horned Beast first."
He had thought that leaving it alone would cause chaos in the surroundings and actually benefit him. However, in its current state, it was only a hindrance. That was why Mok Gyeong-un made up his mind to kill the Horned Beast first. -How do you plan to do that?
"Can you help me?" -You said you could do it alone, but it seems even a mortal like you has no other choice in this situation.
Blue Spirit snorted and spoke. -Then get me out of this cramped place. At this, Mok Gyeong-un held the wooden doll she was inside, formed a hand seal, and chanted a Curse.
"Power of karmic ties, return to the source. Release!"
Sshhh!
Soon, a large shadow formed from the wooden doll, and Blue Spirit gradually revealed her form above it, holding a long pipe. Having come outside, she stretched and spoke as if she felt refreshed. -It is much better than being locked up, as expected.
Phew.
Blue Spirit took a drag from her long pipe and let out a long puff of smoke. Mok Gyeong-un spoke to her.
"Can you check where the guy is? Or, if you can get rid of it yourself, Blue Spirit, that is fine too." -I was planning to do so even without you rushing me.
Wait. Swoosh!
Blue Spirit immediately soared into the sky. Unlike the Demonic Monk, she was of a high rank, so even without possessing a physical body, her range of movement was exceptionally wide. Flying higher than the treetops, Blue Spirit surveyed the surroundings.
Her blood-red spirit eyes slowly scanned the entire mountain.
Hmm.
However, while looking around, Blue Spirit raised an eyebrow. If it was that obsessed with eating humans, she thought she would spot it right away, but contrary to her expectations, she could not see the guy with her spirit eyes.
It was right on the verge of becoming a fierce Beast, so it should be overflowing with demonic energy, which was strange. Where in the world did it go? Is it not in this vicinity?
Thus, Blue Spirit flew up higher. Because she considered that the Horned Beast might have moved farther away. While she was looking around like that, Flinch!
Her gaze was fixed on somewhere.
Ha!
An exclamation naturally flowed from Blue Spirit's mouth. She could not feel outside energy when inside the wooden doll, so she had not known this. But now, it was naturally impossible not to see.
No, it would be strange if her eyes and ears were not drawn to something this massive. In the direction of the distant cliff she was looking at, immeasurable sounds of screams were spreading out. At this, she immediately went down.
Mok Gyeong-un asked.
"Did you already find it?" -No. I do not see it.
More importantly, follow me quickly. At her somewhat excited voice, Mok Gyeong-un could not hide his confusion. Whether he was confused or not, Blue Spirit flew ahead first as if guiding him somewhere.
So Mok Gyeong-un followed her.
It was not that far away. The place, about two incenses' distance away, was in the direction of a cliff located deep on the border of the mountain. Looking at the ground, Cart tracks?
As if carts had been pulled around, the slope was full of wheel marks. While he was walking along in confusion, Flinch! Mok Gyeong-un momentarily paused his steps due to the ominous energy spreading from ahead.
Just what is this...... After his spirit eyes opened and his sixth sense was unlocked, he could not help but be sensitive to these things, so why had he not noticed this until now? Feeling doubtful, he looked around.
Then he discovered something.
Ah......
Talismans attached and incantations carved between the cliffs and the trees. These things were controlling the leaking ominousness so that it could not come outside. However, even with this many talismans attached, when he got close, such a tremendous ominous feeling was leaking out.
Just what was in there? When he reached the place where the cart tracks ended, he saw Blue Spirit sitting on the edge of the steep cliff, smoking her long pipe. -Do you see it? At her question, Mok Gyeong-un's skin trembled. -Kyaaaaaaaagh! -Aaaaaaargh! -S-save me! -Please!
Please!
Endless sounds of screams spreading from below. Along with those sounds, an ominous energy that felt sharp against the skin was crashing upward, as if anxious to rise up. -Look closer. Mok Gyeong-un approached the edge of the cliff and looked down.
"Ahhh."
It was just like a bottomless pit. Immeasurable resentment was mixed together, spewing out endless malice and ominousness. If it was to this extent even with talismans attached all over the cliff, someone with weak mental energy might faint just by looking at it. -Mortal.
Do you know what Gu poison is?
"....... There is no way I would not know."
When it came to medicinal herbs and poison, there was almost nothing he did not know. Of course, he had never seen Gu poison in person, but he remembered hearing about it from his grandfather.
A secret art derived from the southern barbarian regions, where tens or hundreds of venomous creatures are put into a single jar, and the lid is not opened until only one survives. The absolute worst creature that survives that way is called Gu poison.
"Why are you asking that?"
Blue Spirit twitched the corners of her mouth and said. -There is Gu poison down there.