Chapter 429

Lang-lang still vividly remembers that day.

The day her family burned, screams, blood, mom, dad, and the intense heat of the blade pressing against her belly.

“Hey, you little brat, what do you think you’re doing stabbing me out of nowhere? Taste it before you finish it off.”

“Why not have a little taste now?”

“Do you have a hobby of stabbing corpses? If you make a hole in my belly, it won’t fit in right. I just wanted to try out the daughter of a noble household.”

Lang-lang couldn’t understand.

“Why? What did I do wrong?”

“And why isn’t anyone helping me?

Everyone smiles at me, thanking me, saying I have a heart like a fairy, saying everyone in this land will be grateful to me.

Why. Doesn’t anyone help me?

I need help, this is too much, traitors.

And that person.

In the burning world, there was someone who stood elegantly, pale as a ghost.

“Oh dear. I caught a whiff of the Miljeong and came to see. Is there a sorcerer in the palace? But how clumsy it is. Young lady? How are you feeling? Such a waste to just die like this, you know.”

“Please, help me. Save me.”

“Oh dear. I’m sorry. I can help you, but I can’t save you. I don’t know how to save people, nor do I want to know, you see? But what if you could live as a monster?”

“Yes, please help me, I don’t want to die.”

That person smiles gracefully.

“Well then, take a good long sleep and let yourself fade away. When you wake up, the world will have changed.”

And so Hahoo Lang-lang died.

Even now, when she closes her eyes, she can still feel that sensation vividly, like sinking into dark water, that chillingly comforting rest.

And then Lang-lang opens her eyes.

Right after she regains consciousness, the first thought that strikes her is, ah, I’m no longer human.

But she’s alive.

She survived.

The foolish Hahoo Lang-lang, who only liked people and was used and then discarded, is no more.

Lang-lang will live for Lang-lang!

Lang-lang’s resolve!

“What should Lang-lang do now?”

“Nothing?”

“Why not? Usually, wouldn’t you be threatening me to hold onto my life? Saying that you wouldn’t want to waste this second chance at life?”

That person just smiles gently.

“You are free. Sometimes I might ask for a favor, but even if you refuse, I might just be a little disappointed, you know? Sigh. I put in four nights and dropped a hundred gold coins, how heartless of you, sniff sniff.”

“Why? Then why did you save Lang-lang?”

That person’s smile deepens.

“We are the only family in this world, you see? You might not understand yet, but as you live, you will come to understand someday. You’re a monster that cannot coexist with others, but, um… You have to realize it on your own to truly understand, right? So for now, enjoy the pleasures of the life you couldn’t fully experience?”

And then suddenly they remember something.

“Oh, by the way. I’ve hidden various useful functions in your body, you know? If you twist your left ring finger, ta-da. A spark-maker! It’s a special ability to light a fire anywhere!”

“……!?”

Lang-lang is startled and twists her ring finger.

But the ring is stuck tight.

Hehe, a clear laugh echoes.

“It’s a joke. How naive you are. But if you really want it, just say so? I could even give you a wine pouch in your chest. But if the wine leaks out, it’ll shrivel up, heh. Su-a would, hhaah, hhhaah, oh well. I can’t recommend it.”

“I don’t need that kind of function.”

“What about a blade that pops out from your arm?”

“I don’t need it.”

“Then are you seeking revenge for your family?”

Lang-lang hesitates.

“The imperial family is going to intervene anyway, but I’m interested in how it unfolds, you know? Sorry, but you’ll have to wait a bit.”

Lang-lang considers for a moment before finally answering.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s no longer my concern, nor is it Lang-lang’s business.”

“Lang-lang?”

As she’s called, Lang-lang suddenly snaps back to reality.

“Oh, how far did I get with my story? Did I mention that I’m a Blood Ghoul, also known as a Blood Ghoul?”

Lang-lang’s identity is vouched for by Jo Hak-che.

The Jo Hak-che sneaks in a question.

“Is it similar to a Jiangshi?”

“Far inferior to a Jiangshi. Comparing Blood Ghouls to Jiangshi is like comparing caterpillars to humans, or like the difference between a candle and the sun. It’s a serious insult to the noble Jiangshi. So Brother Jo, you should apologize to Lang-lang immediately.”

“……?”

“Ahem. Anyway. An incomplete Blood Ghoul is simply a ghoul, a lowly monster that can’t even restrain its own gluttony. Its entire modus operandi is centered on cannibalism.”

Lang-lang sighs and gets to the point.

“There is no way to turn a Blood Ghoul back into a human.”

This elicits a collective gasp.

At the first junction, there were Blood Ghouls tied up and under strict surveillance alongside various Salwold Sect thugs.

Even if it’s called a Blood Ghoul, they’re not fully formed and have missed their last essential step, so their realm would barely be Peak-level.

Of course, it had only been three months.

In just three months, they raised the muscle-bound youths of the city to the Peak level.

That’s why the Blood Sect was in a frenzy trying to create monsters.

Being at Peak level at twenty might suffice in terms of strength, but with everyone so obsessed with eating people, their eyes turning wild and seeking out human flesh according to their tastes, it wouldn’t be a challenge for the Martial Alliance’s combat unit to subdue them.

Especially when ears rang with horrendous screams everywhere, and people came rushing out, making it easy to pinpoint the positions of the Blood Ghouls.

Jin Gaju Jin Jagang approached Wang Woo, the deputy sect leader of the Salwold Sect, who was rolling around covered in blood.

It wasn’t the Orthodox Warrior who had made the move.

His clothes were already torn and his flesh shredded; it is more accurate to say that the Orthodox Warriors rescued Wang Woo from the Blood Ghouls.

“Do you have something to say?”

“It’s so unfair! I really didn’t know! The new disciples were all managed by Bang Jeoksa, the chief strategist of the Sado Sect!”

“You should choose your words wisely. You’re effectively accusing the Sapa of creating the Blood Sect’s evil monsters.”

Wang Woo froze.

But Wang Woo truly feels wronged.

What the hell, Sado Sect? Those Sapa brats!

They tricked us and played with our faction!

His teeth grit in fury, fire in his chest.

“That’s right! Those Sapa bastards said they needed to take Gwangju, so they sent a box of elixirs and Bang Jeoksa! They promised twenty of our faction, fifteen each from the Gold Robbery Guild and Gwangju Seonbang, a total of fifty warriors, and said they’d support us to raise another fifty after that!”

That’s why Jin Gaju couldn’t bring in disciples.

First, they’d bring in fifty with elixirs and then promise another fifty after.

The youths of Gwangju had merely been waiting excitedly for the next recruitment by Sapa.

At that, Jin Jagang and the combat unit leader, the Shaolin disciple Wol-ryang, exchanged glances.

This is no ordinary situation.

Rumors say that the Blood Sect’s brats have been sending reinforcements to every city they’ve terrorized.

What if the Sapa had teamed up with the Blood Sect?

Is the long-lasting peace of the martial world truly going to be shattered like this?

“First, let’s break their limbs and subdue them. Um. It would be best to take them to the Alliance.”

At that, the Orthodox Warriors stepped forward with combat weapons like swords and daggers.

“Come on, just a little bit closer!”

The Blood Ghouls showed no sign of backing down and rather drooled, licking their lips.

And then it happened.

“Oh no, my lord! Please don’t! You’ve misunderstood something! My son Haseong is such a good boy, how could he do such a thing…!”

An old woman rushed out from the crowd, shielding her son and beginning to plead with a tearful voice.

She was already on her knees, rubbing her hands together, pleading that her son was never like that, that he was too good-hearted to do such a thing.

“Lady, please step aside. Your son has already…”

“Oh my! My lord! If he’s done wrong, just scold him! This old woman will take him to the government office and have him beaten! I am this old lady’s only child, how can you do this? Just cut me down instead, son, oh what are you doing? Hurry! Apologize! Right now!”

Just as she was saying this and trying to grab her son’s hair, Haseong’s eyes lit up.

He suddenly stretched out his neck and lunged at his mother.

He bit into the back of her neck, and they both tumbled to the ground with his head buried in her wound.

Gulp, gulp, a sound like liquid passing down a throat echoed like thunder.

“Damn it! Stop!”

“Get him off!”

The Orthodox warriors struggled with their bound limbs, crying out in desperation as Haseong’s teeth sank deeper into his mother.

“Yummy, mother, hehe, I’m sorry, but it’s just too delicious! Let go! Let go! Mother!”

The Blood Ghoul wailed pitifully, sounding like it was laughing. Lying under the Orthodox warriors, it kept howling for its mother, “Let go! She’s mine, my mother!”

Qing rushed towards the woman.

Her flesh was torn mercilessly, and the wounds were not just from a blade; it was a gruesome, gnawing injury, torn apart by teeth.

There was no way to save her now.

“Gah! Cough cough.”

Qing shoved his hand into the gaping wound, gripping the veins above and below, placing his palm over her mouth to stifle a prayer.

At least he hoped she could say her last words before she went.

“My son, my son, don’t worry about me, my lord, please forgive, please, forgive. My child has always been good, he’s really good…”

The woman’s eyes lost their focus.

Qing quietly stood up.

Step, step. Qing slowly walks away.

“Smell! Ugh! What’s that smell! My nose! Get it away, move it away!”

“Young Lady Seomun?”

Hmm. No matter how you look at it, she seems like a bit of a brat since birth.

Isn’t it said that every child looks precious in their parents’ eyes?

While others might see a spoiled brat, to the mother, the child is usually the good one, corrupting due to bad friends.

Perhaps she got corrupted by those Blood Sect brats.

Or maybe she truly was good and turned into a Blood Ghoul, unable to overcome her monstrous nature?

What does it matter now?

The deed is done, and if I had cut her throat earlier, that poor mother wouldn’t have to go to the afterlife.

Suddenly, Qing feels a sense of relief, an inexplicable comfort, like his mood is lifted.

Oh look, it turns out there are indeed beings in this world that I can kill without a second thought.

Puppies that can be burned alive, smashed, and crushed without a care.

*Crunch.*

The massive blade of the Moonlight Sword, Ten, dug deep into the nape of the monster.

“Don’t think you’ve benefited from your mother. If it were up to me, I’d like to break off bits of you starting from your fingertips.”

Before dying, a child that had once been detestable—there’s no need to not grant them a peaceful end because of a reasonable wish.

And finally, a proper silence descended upon the square.

The characteristics of the monster that you’d only hear about in stories, a ghoul fixated solely on gluttony.

A monster that can no longer return to being human.

Only after witnessing it devour its own mother did Lang-lang’s explanation finally hit home for everyone around.

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