The Eldest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Clan Protects Her Family

Chapter 14: Black Heaven Dark Ghost

 
The leader’s laughter echoed through the night air. “That’s hardly fair. We didn’t know you were here. And I can’t exactly change my eye color, can I?”
Silence descended between them, a heavy, suffocating silence that held everyone captive.

The leader’s voice, soft and measured, broke the stillness. “However, Elder… I have a question.” His eyes narrowed. “Do you know the identity of those you’re protecting?”
Tang Min exploded. “Are you deaf?! I’m not protecting them! I’m telling you to kill them, or save them, I don't care, just do it outside of Sichuan! Are you people still recruiting muscle-heads? Brains over brawn, haven’t you heard? You need someone clever by your side, someone who can think strategically. Although, if you had someone like that…” He trailed off abruptly.
His subordinates flinched, but the leader remained unfazed. He had known all along that Black Heaven Dark Ghost was aware of their presence.

The Yoohyeon Unit, operating under the Blood Cult's Information Hall. The Information Hall gathered intelligence on the central plains and dispatched agents to carry out covert missions. However, this was the first time the leader of the Yoohyeon Unit, typically stationed outside the central plains, had personally led a mission. That alone spoke to its importance.
The leader smiled. “It seems you were sincere in your offer to let us go. You knew who we were, and yet, you were willing to let us leave.” A chilling laugh escaped his lips. “Unfortunately, our acquaintance is too brief to warrant such trust. It’s hard to build rapport in such a short time. I find it hard to believe you would truly keep our presence here a secret.”
Tang Min scowled. “You seem to have misunderstood. When I said I would let you go, I meant I would give you time to escape, not that I would remain silent forever.” Exasperation colored his voice. “I was planning to inform the Martial Alliance of your presence in a few days. That was already a generous concession. You have no conscience.”

“Conscience…” The leader chuckled, his gaze sharpening. “Does such a thing still exist in the central plains?”
Suddenly, his red eyes flickered towards the cave entrance. Tang Min’s focus wavered as well, sensing a surge of energy emanating from that direction.
The leader muttered, his voice low, “It seems reinforcements from the Tang Clan have arrived.”

Tang Min’s face crumpled. “What?! That’s impossible. They couldn’t have arrived so quickly.” Then, a mischievous smile spread across his face. “Now what? I was genuinely planning to stay quiet for a few days, but they won’t. Those sticklers for rules will fight to the death to alert the Martial Alliance of the Blood Cult’s resurgence. Ah, I should have brought a band. Instead of enjoying a romantic night of sword dances, I’m stuck listening to the gruesome sounds of slaughter.” He clicked his tongue, feigning disappointment. The leader simply stared at him, his expression unreadable.
“Then we must find another way out.”
Thump.

The leader stomped his foot, testing the ground, then sprinted across the courtyard. Thump, thump, thump. A deep, resonant vibration, like the beating of a drum, echoed beneath his feet.
A volley of throwing knives rained down on him.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-bang!

The Blood Cult warriors shielded their leader, deflecting the projectiles, but the knives, as if imbued with a will of their own, curved through the air, finding gaps in their defense.
The leader used a movement technique, his body blurring, then reappearing on the roof of a nearby house.
The throwing knives, having lost their target, embedded themselves harmlessly in the ground. But they weren’t wasted.
“Keuk.” Gurgling screams echoed through the air.

Kwaak! Bang! Kwabang!
The knives, pulled back by Tang Min’s unseen hand, ripped through the bodies of the Blood Cult warriors. In a blink of an eye, the projectiles, flying back and forth, had slaughtered nine of them.
A throwing knife, followed by a flurry of others, sliced through the air, a deadly dance of flashing steel. Unlike the chaotic flurry of throwing knives, the single knife found its mark with deadly precision, piercing a vital point. It was a display of remarkable skill, captivating even the leader.

“Tsk tsk, what good is strength if the strongest hides at the back?”
Tang Min’s figure materialized before the leader.
Kwang!

The leader deflected a knife aimed at his forehead and twisted his body, narrowly avoiding another aimed at his knee. But the moment he moved, the knife changed its trajectory, hurtling towards his wrist.
As he deflected the barrage of weapons with his sword, he heard a taunting voice. “There. Doesn't it feel good to stretch those joints? Ah, I’m such a kind soul. Be sure to tell your comrades when you get back. Oh wait, you won't be going back. So, enjoy yourself while you can.”
Amidst the swirling chaos of flying metal, the figure of a man, his hair and clothes untouched, stood calmly.

Tang Min, grinning, was back on the rooftop, exactly where he had been before.
At the end of the path where the leader had been searching for an escape route, presumably where the exit was located.
The leader’s red eyes, narrowed in thought, fixed on him.

Whoosh.
He leaped back and unleashed a powerful horizontal slash with his sword. A wave of red sword energy, shaped like a crescent moon, shot towards the rooftop where Tang Min stood, aiming to obliterate it. But before it could reach its target, Tang Min vanished.
‘Where?’

A flash of green fabric caught his eye. A sleeve, extending from behind him, brushed against his shoulder. He twisted his body and swung his sword.
Swish. The blade connected with nothing but air, slicing through the empty sleeve.
“Oh?” A low chuckle, laced with amusement, like a teacher praising a student, sent shivers down his spine. Tang Min was toying with him, like a cat playing with a mouse.

The leader lost control. He unleashed a flurry of attacks, his sword flashing with blinding speed, yet he felt nothing, no satisfying impact of steel meeting steel. He was striking at empty air.
[Leader.] A voice echoed in his mind, a telepathic message that snapped him back to reality. It was one of his fallen men, still alive despite a fatal wound.
The elite members of the Yoohyeon Unit had been trained in a unique technique by the Blood Demon, a technique that allowed them to absorb the internal energy of others by consuming their blood. They had stored the stolen energy within their pressure points, a hidden reserve of power. The Blood Demon was said to be capable of separating and manipulating the absorbed energy, even combining it for a devastating burst of power. Unfortunately, they hadn't reached that level of mastery. Unleashing such a vast amount of energy was a gamble, a risk to their own lives. But for those already facing certain death, it was a risk worth taking.

The Yoohyeon Unit warriors, drawing upon their hidden reserves, forcibly amplified their internal energy. One of them, having recovered slightly, sent a message to their leader.
[I hear the sound of wind coming from beneath the floor. It seems Black Heaven Dark Ghost was guarding that exit.]
The leader continued his relentless assault, trying not to react to the message, keeping Black Heaven Dark Ghost's attention focused on him.

His subordinate, understanding his intent, sent another message. [Keep him occupied. I’ll open the exit within half an hour.]
[Once the exit is open, pursue them. I’ll handle Black Heaven Dark Ghost.]
There was no further communication. They had no other choice. They had to find a way out. Not only was the “demon of hidden weapons” before them a formidable opponent, but the surge of energy from the cave entrance indicated the arrival of reinforcements. If they stayed, their mission, and their lives, were forfeit.

“You’re thinking of something else, aren't you?”
The leader couldn't suppress a smile. Tang Min, sensing his sudden shift in demeanor, his newfound confidence, turned sharply.
Kwang!

One of the Blood Cult warriors had ripped open a hidden passage in the floor. Seizing the opportunity, the leader charged at Tang Min.
“Perhaps you should focus on me, Elder.”
“You insolent brats!” Tang Min dodged the incoming sword energy, a web of razor-sharp attacks, and lunged towards the opening in the floor. But it was too late. Nine of the Blood Cult warriors had already disappeared into the passage.

He followed them without hesitation, knowing the leader was right behind him.
“Leaving me behind? How rude.”
The leader attacked him from behind.

Kaang! Kang! A flurry of hidden weapons, emanating from Tang Min’s body, deflected the attack.
Turning your back on an enemy was a dangerous gamble, but he had no time to think. These were the survivors of Sohwa’s poison trap, warriors whose internal energy was potent enough to neutralize the toxin. The disciples descending the mountain wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
“Damn it!”

Emerging from the dark tunnel, Tang Min focused his senses, pursuing his family. The leader’s mocking words echoed in his mind.
- Do you know the identity of those you’re protecting? -
The patients in the thatched-roof houses had suffered life-threatening injuries. And yet, over a hundred Blood Cult members had been mobilized to capture a mere ten patients? The Blood Cult had been decimated decades ago. And now, they had resurfaced, risking exposure, sending a master with crimson eyes into the central plains.

Who were they?
A sense of urgency gripped him. Only fifty Blood Cult members had entered the Divine Physician's troupe's sanctuary. Yoonjin had reported over a hundred surrounding the village. If they had split up to block the escape routes, the disciples descending the mountain were in grave danger.
He had to reach them.

He finally understood why the Anhui branch had infiltrated Sichuan secretly. Pursuing the Blood Cult was a delicate matter, a potential scandal that could shake the Martial Alliance to its core. Prematurely revealing unverified information would only cause unnecessary chaos.
‘Still, those bastards! Now we’re all at risk of being silently eradicated! Those damn…’ He swallowed his curses and pushed himself to move faster.