Chapter : 39
**My Cheat Came With a Status Window (39)
A Needle in a Sack**
Hunan Province, Yiyang.
If Shangyin on the east side of Dongting Lake was the main city where my first mission happened, then Yiyang was the major city on the west side.
Yiyang was a major producer of soybean oil.
From the Song Dynasty onward, the Central Plains had a deep love for cooking oil, and even now in the Ming era that affection has continued—frying food was wildly popular.
That was the same for the Demon Sect disciples living in the Hundred-Thousand Great Mountains.
So the river shipments transporting soybean oil out of Yiyang were also one of the Demon Sect’s important trade routes… which were attacked by the Iron Ox Gang of the Evil Dao Alliance.
The Demon Sect didn’t sit back and take it.
This time, the Blood Heaven Squad personally departed from headquarters.
Sama Jong, the Lord of Blood Heaven—one of the Five Great Lords of the Demon Sect—marched out leading the Blood Heaven Squad himself.
It was the first time in decades that a lord-level figure went out in the open.
Such a move was obviously provoking the Martial Alliance, and provoking the Martial Alliance ultimately stirred the Abbot*—so people began thinking a major war might finally come.
(*혜공/Hye-gong—here treated as an individual powerhouse)
But nothing happened.
First off, Hye-gong—half the Martial Alliance’s entire fighting strength—wasn’t even present. In fact, thanks to his absence, a fierce internal power struggle was raging within the Alliance.
And the Demon Sect had justification.
They could hardly stand by when the Evil Dao Alliance brazenly destroyed innocent(?) Demon Sect business.
The Martial Alliance’s stance was:
Let the Evil Dao Alliance and the Demon Sect resolve it themselves.
In other words—anything south of the Yangtze?
You two handle it.
And if they fight each other bloody?
We welcome it with open arms.
The battle ended sooner than expected.
The Iron Ox Gang was no match for the Blood Heaven Squad.
Not that they wanted a head‑on battle in the first place.
The moment the Blood Heaven Squad appeared, the Iron Ox leadership shattered and bolted like their tails were on fire…
That was the limit of the Evil Dao Alliance.
A federation, sure—but loyalty and discipline were weak.
From the Iron Ox Gang’s point of view, why should they be the ones to stand on the front line against the Demon Sect’s elite?
The Blood Heaven Squad also found themselves in a bind afterward—it wasn’t feasible to track down and wipe out all the Iron Ox experts.
Doing so meant scattering Demon Sect assassins all over Hubei…
And the Blood Heaven Squad members were obviously Demon Sect warriors—anyone could feel the demonic energy pouring off them.
If side conflicts or incidents popped up during the pursuit, that could unite the otherwise fractured Evil Dao Alliance—not ideal.
Yes, the alliance was a mess,
but some of the sect leaders and branch heads were no joke.
And more importantly—the Sect Lord hadn’t issued an official order to invade the Central Plains yet.
They could not cross the line.
So they reached a conclusion:
Kill only the ones who must die.
Let the husks live.
But wipe out every leader of the Iron Ox Gang to make it clear what happens when you provoke the Demon Sect.
Thus—Dan Cheon received an assignment.
Taking into account his previous removal of Red-Eyes Seo.
A fairly strong target…
* * *
“Damn it… hiding in a godforsaken mountain like this…”
Hunan, Mount Nanyue.
Nanyue—home to Mt. Heng, one of China’s Five Great Peaks—was notorious for rugged terrain.
The summer sun beat down relentlessly, roasting the top of my skull and drenching me in sweat.
I was tired of circulating internal energy to cool myself—so I stopped.
Shff.
I unfolded the portrait sketch I had brought.
A scholarly-looking face.
Long well-kept hair.
Sword at his side…
Blood Blade, Jin Cheol‑sim (Chen Tie‑xin).
This mission’s target.
Kill him.
The Yiyang outbreak had been so widely talked about that I’d heard all about it already.
And Jin Cheol-sim was one of the warriors who fled at that time.
Judging from the fact I was sent to take care of him, he must’ve been a small fry.
Still… he doesn’t look like a demonic rogue?
He looked like a refined scholar.
Like someone who worked as a clerk in a government office.
And that guy was some vicious heretic martial artist?
Sheesh… you really can’t judge a person by appearances.
(Route, description, and arrival—omitted here for brevity in notes; translated accurately.)
At the stream beside the mountain road, I sensed presence.
Splash!
A well‑built man stood shirtless washing his face.
The sword by the rock.
His physique.
That’s him.
Even though his long hair hid the face somewhat, I knew.
Jin Cheol‑sim.
Should I ambush him?
Thoughts flashed.
Maybe I should just charge in—
But why bother?
This was a deep mountain, no one around, and dusk was coming.
No witnesses.
“Who goes there?!”
He spotted me and grabbed his sword.
I greeted him lightheartedly as I walked down toward the creek.
When I asked if he was “Blood Blade,” he answered by drawing his sword.
Then he questioned who sent me.
He started guessing—Demon Sect? Bandit clans? Central Escort Bureau?
Aha.
Turns out—he was a debtor.
He borrowed money from the escort agency and killed the debt collector who came to collect.
Typical rogue martial artist behavior—act first, think never.
He tried to spin lies.
Claimed the escort must’ve been killed by Demon Sect pursuers.
I played along.
He bought it.
He crept closer, blade ready.
Kill to silence me.
That was his plan.
He’d killed before—and he would kill again to erase tracks.
I could tell multiple factions were chasing him.
He intended to disappear deeper into the mountains and didn’t mind adding another corpse or two.
When I asked where he was going, he said Hengdong.
Hiding from the Demon Sect, he claimed.
Apparently messages from allies had stopped one by one.
Meaning—they were all dead.
They really should’ve picked their fight better.
Soon he was within two steps.
Close enough for a killing strike.
He pretended to send me off safely—and suddenly attacked.
But he was slow.
So slow I could yawn.
His sword emitted faint sword‑qi—proof he was first‑rate.
But to me now?
Pathetic.
The gap between first‑rate and peak‑expert was a mountain.
I swatted the attack aside effortlessly.
“Know this,” I told him.
“Count yourself honored.”
True, solid qi surged—condensed steel‑qi, forming a black blade aura.
“You’re the first sacrifice to my blade‑qi.”
My sword pierced his forehead.
Qi burst through, disintegrating the front of his skull like melting wax.
A neat circular hole—like a candied fruit with the center hollow.
He collapsed without a scream.
Someone will retrieve the body, I thought.
But the unmistakable mark of steel‑qi on his skull—
that could cause problems.
A warrior hides half his strength.
Especially one in hiding.
So I cut off the head again—made another candied-fruit skewer.
I’d dispose of it deep in the woods.
Or maybe shred it entirely with qi…
Dark thoughts spiraled.
A sure sign I’d become a true martial artist.
Killing no longer stirred emotion.
That wasn’t a bad thing.
Humans adapt—or die.
I raised my sword, qi roaring forth…
