Chapter 88

"Now then, who wants to be whipped first? I'll give you a chance to behave."

Dang Ran-yeong struck the ground once with his whip. Thwack! The force was so strong that the ground immediately caved in. The hunters, who had been brandishing their weapons proudly, suddenly looked tense. They clearly imagined what would happen to their bodies if hit by that whip.

"It would be better to cooperate willingly."

No sooner had Cheong-ra muttered this than the leader of the hunters charged forward, raising his club. It seemed he had judged that they could overpower the two with their numbers.

"Yaaah!"

The fierce battle cry soon turned into an agonizing scream. Though it was clearly a whip being wielded, for some reason, the sound that could be heard surpassed that of a normal whiplash. Cheong-ra briefly turned his head to look at the distant mountains. Unlike the rugged mountain peaks, the lush mountain scenery was quite beautiful and worth seeing.

After some time, the sound of people being beaten stopped. When Cheong-ra, who had been deliberately looking away, turned his head back, he saw the hunters rolling on the ground, groaning. With a bored expression, as if he had just completed an uninteresting chore, Dang Ran-yeong asked,

"How many times have you hunted spirit beasts?"

The hunters kept their mouths shut and looked wary. Dang Ran-yeong didn't wait for an answer and raised his whip.

"From now on, I'll spare only the first three people who give the correct answer."

Crack! A sound that was not just harsh but terrifying rang out. Though it seemed he had only lightly swung the whip, two people immediately coughed up blood and collapsed, as if they had suffered internal injuries. When he swung the whip again, this time the backs of three people split open. Their clothes were torn to shreds as if slashed by a blade, and blood flowed from their skin. Only after seeing blood did a faint smile appear on Dang Ran-yeong's face, which had been bored until then.

'Even considering that these guys can't properly use protective inner energy, this is too much...'

Cheong-ra, who had been whipped by Dang Ran-yeong before, frowned. It was surprising to realize that the painful whipping he had received was actually a restrained action. At least he hadn't had his skin torn and bled like this, though he had suffered severe bruising from the whip.

"Aaagh! Four! It's the fourth time!"

"Th-that's right! It's the fourth time!"

"I can tell you everything we've caught!"

Unable to endure the severe pain, the hunters confessed one after another. Some even wet themselves. Dang Ran-yeong nodded to pull out the first three who had answered. The three hunters crawled forward on trembling limbs and bowed their heads. Then, without even being asked, they spilled everything.

"A, a toad and a white monkey, and... and a bat! We caught a bat and a turtle. That's really all!"

The whip quickly lashed the remaining ones who hadn't answered promptly. Once again, painful screams rang out. The three hunters who had barely been selected trembled in shock. Dang Ran-yeong questioned them again.

"Where did you sell the by-products?"

"Jiujiang, Jiujiang... We mainly sell them in Jiujiang. Yes. There are many buyers there."

"Who did you get the information about the Golden Fox from?"

The hunters hesitated to answer this question. Not forgiving even that moment of hesitation, harsh whipping continued. Only when one person fainted, foaming at the mouth, did the hunters finally confess.

"Aaaagh! Jiu-Jiujiang! In Jiujiang! Aagh! A person called Makdong! He said he'd give us many gold taels if we brought the Golden Fox's pelt...!"

Only after whipping them almost to the point of unconsciousness did Dang Ran-yeong withdraw his whip. Even when he swung the whip one last time to shake off the blood, the hunters screamed in terror. Dang Ran-yeong tossed a large piece of silver tael in front of the most severely injured hunter and said,

"If you're caught hunting spirit beasts again, you'll die next time."

The hunters, not daring to even think of picking up the silver tael, stammered out painful replies that they would keep it in mind. Having been severely punished, it didn't seem likely that they would go fox hunting anytime soon. As they were leaving the hunters' house, Cheong-ra asked Dang Ran-yeong,

"Do you always save people and spirit beasts like this and kill Blood Cult members?"

"I'm not interested in saving people."

Cheong-ra wasn't particularly surprised by this cold answer. At a glance, Dang Ran-yeong didn't seem like someone who went around doing good deeds. However, unlike him, Cheong-ra had been concerned about the children who were said to have disappeared.

"The children who disappeared... do you think they're still alive?"

"Usually, children kidnapped by the Blood Cult are sent directly to their main sect. They're too young to be used as sacrifices, so they're brainwashed and raised as other Blood Cult members. They probably haven't been killed, for the most part."

Saying this, Dang Ran-yeong headed somewhere. He circled around the hunters' house and hid in a direction where he could see it. Cheong-ra asked quietly, concealing his presence,

"Are you looking for someone trying to sneak out?"

"Yes. If we follow him, we should be able to catch the Blood Cult members."

Cheong-ra nodded and took a position next to Dang Ran-yeong. It seemed it would take some time for the groaning, injured hunters to gather themselves and seek out their Blood Cult employers. As he was staring blankly at the hunters, Cheong-ra suddenly asked,

"Are spirit beasts fatal to the Blood Cult?"

Hearing the question, Dang Ran-yeong merely turned his gaze. In the shade of the trees, his eyes curved into an arc, flashing a green light. Cheong-ra voiced a doubt he had long harbored.

"You said the Blood Cult hates spirit beasts, Buddhist monks, and Taoist priests. I thought that meant those three were fatal to the Blood Cult. That's why they're killing spirit beasts like this. That's why the Hengshan Sect was attacked too."

Without this, there was no way to explain the Blood Cult's obsessive behavior of hiring hunters to hunt spirit beasts.

"What was sprinkled on that woman Mia also contained spirit beast blood, right? ...I see. You can identify Blood Cult members using spirit beasts."

Everything made sense if one assumed that contact with a spirit beast or part of one caused pain and revealed the red eyes that were evidence of the Blood Cult. Since Blood Cult members couldn't hunt them, they had to hire hunters. Or, as in Dragon Spring, they staged events to look like spirit beast attacks and had other experts deal with them. Cheong-ra's thoughts extended further.

"For instance, if the Hundred-year-old Polygonum multiflorum... is a kind of plant spirit beast."

Muttering this, Cheong-ra frowned. He recalled that Dang Ran-yeong had been consistently feeding him the juice of Hundred-year-old Polygonum multiflorum.

"Did you think from the beginning that I might be a Blood Cult member? ...And, even after that, continuously?"

Along with this question, what came to mind was that terrible torture in the prison cell. That torture that had finally forced him to confess a connection with the Blood Cult. Somehow, he felt a chill down his spine and a tightening in his chest.

Dang Ran-yeong, who had been quietly listening to Cheong-ra's speculation, leaned his massive body forward. Another dark shadow fell over Cheong-ra in the shade of the tree.

"Those Blood Cult rats are hiding all over the Central Plains. Especially around me. Yes, you're right. There was certainly a purpose to test you with the first cup of alcohol you drank."

Green eyes glowed in the shadow. Though they weren't even touching, Cheong-ra felt heavily pressed down. Resisting the urge to lower his gaze, he looked up steadily, and firm fingers caressed his tense jaw. It was a gentle touch, as if trying to soothe a frightened animal.

"But the alcohol you drank after that wasn't necessarily meant for you to drink, you know."

The corner of his mouth, conveying the message secretly, curved up. Soon, Dang Ran-yeong removed his hand and stood up, moving away. At this, Cheong-ra came to his senses and turned his head to see one of the hunters limping out of the house.

Jumping up to follow Dang Ran-yeong, Cheong-ra thought. It wasn't necessarily meant for me to drink? Then was it just an expensive taste of mixing Hundred-year-old Polygonum multiflorum juice with alcohol? Was it just for luxury?

For some reason, he felt that wasn't the case, but given the situation, he pushed his doubts aside for now.

The hunter, thoroughly familiar with the mountain terrain, didn't get lost once despite his limping gait. Though he looked back several times, he didn't notice that Dang Ran-yeong and Cheong-ra were secretly following him.

After walking for an hour, the place the hunter arrived at was a huge mountain fortress. The hunter anxiously knocked on the fortress gate. Though it looked like it might be used by mountain bandits on the outside, the one who came out was a Blood Cult member wearing a familiar-looking mask. Red eyes glowed behind the mask.

"What's the matter? Did you catch the fox?"

"Well, about that. Just as we were about to go catch the fox, suddenly some martial arts master appeared and made a mess, demanding we hand over the fox."

The extremely nervous hunter bowed his head and poured out his grievances to the other. The gist was that unless they dealt with this martial arts master, this task would be difficult. However, the response from the Blood Cult member was very cold.

"You stupid fool! You brought a tail with you!"

"What? Wh-what do you mean..."

"Since you seem unable to grasp the situation!"

With this exclamation, the Blood Cult member instantly drew his sword and cut down the hunter. It was truly a cruel answer. And just as the Blood Cult member was about to turn around and warn the fortress, a dark shadow loomed over his head.