Says He’ll Take That Man’s Life. (2)

“Over there! I heard a scream over there!”

“Hurry!”

Ten Thousand People Clan members ran at full speed.

“Leader! To the side! A scream came from the side!”

“Damn it! What the hell is going on? We’re going this way!”

The Ten Thousand People Clan members who had been running toward the front sharply changed direction and dashed off. Soon, a few groups passed by where they had just been, as if following.

And so, by the time the world was once again cloaked in deep silence.

“Let’s go.”

A group that had been hiding among the thick bushes leapt out.

“This way.”

“Yes!”

Baek Cheon and Im So-Byeong led the Heavenly Friends Alliance and Southern Island Sect survivors as they began sprinting across the land where the enemies had vanished.

“Soso.”

“Don’t worry, sasuk! I won’t let go even if I die.”

Tang Soso, carrying Yu Yiseol on her back, replied boldly. Baek Cheon nodded at her. Yoon Jong, carrying Jo Gul, also followed nimbly.

“What about ahead?”

“I’m watching.”

Baek Cheon drew on all his energy and spread his sense forward. What they had to do now was not to fight the enemy, but to have Chung Myung draw attention while they escaped the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains safely.

“This way, quickly!”

In an instant, Baek Cheon flashed his eyes, gave quick orders, and changed direction. Just after they hid in a nook of the towering ridge, a group of Ten Thousand People Clan members sped down the path they had just been running.

After they moved away, Baek Cheon led everyone and ran again.

“Green Forest King. How far is it?”

“The Ten‑Thousand Great Mountains span thousands of li horizontally, but not that far lengthwise. It won’t take even two hours!”

“Then let’s hurry!”

At that moment, the Southern Island Sect’s sect leader Geum Yang‑Baek came running from behind.

“Acting Sect Leader.”

“Yes, Sect leader.”

“A considerable number are heading toward the direction of Mount Hua’s Sword Saint! Is that all right?”

Deep concern shadowed his eyes.

At this rate, they might escape the Ten‑Thousand Great Mountains without a major engagement.

But that would mean the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint left behind would have to face all the Ten Thousand People Clan members alone, wouldn’t it?

The Southern Island Sect, whose majority of survivors were injured to varying degrees, might not have the right to speak, but Geum Yang‑Baek couldn’t ignore it. Southern Island Sect’s debt to the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint could no longer be expressed in words.

“The Mount Hua’s Sword Saint isn’t in good shape. Someone has to help…”

“No, don’t talk nonsense.”

It was Im So‑Byeong, not Baek Cheon, who cut him off coldly. Running beside Baek Cheon, he glared at Geum Yang‑Baek with a contorted face.

“Who is helping whom! Who is who!”

“Ah, no… but the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint’s injuries…”

“Why do you think he got injured in the first place? Because he was lugging a dead weight around, wasn’t he? Would he have suffered like that if he were alone?”

Geum Yang‑Baek sealed his lips tightly. He understood what the Green Forest King was trying to say.

It wasn’t wrong. The road from Southern Island Sect to this great mountain was extremely harsh, but if Chung Myung had tried to break through alone, it might not have been that difficult.

A few strong ones can’t easily fight perfectly against many weak opponents, but scattering those many weak opponents isn’t that hard.

A strong one with superior mobility can choose the time and place to fight. So they can swing their sword where and when they want until their opponent tires, then withdraw.

But in this battle Chung Myung met the enemies after having that mobility sealed. He couldn’t fall back because he was tired, nor flee because of injury.

It was like fighting with his body tightly bound in chains.

Conversely, because everyone put distance between themselves, for the first time Chung Myung had been freed from the shackles that bound him.

“People should know their place! What help are we offering? Not grabbing his ankle is helping him!”

Geum Yang‑Baek’s face twisted at the blatant contempt and scorn. But he also knew that the remark wasn’t entirely wrong.

Baek Cheon quietly opened his mouth to mediate the situation.

“First, focus on getting out of the mountain. He will come on his own.”

“…Understood, Acting Sect Leader.”

When Geum Yang‑Baek stepped back with a stern face, Baek Cheon let out a deep sigh.

The Green Forest King had clearly gone too far, but Baek Cheon didn’t want to blame him. The Green Forest King’s face was also hardened, unlike someone who had just scolded others.

His pride had been hurt as well.

That was understandable: Im So‑Byeong was the Lord of the Green Forest. A strategist once counted among the best in the land, now reduced to a burden, would find it hard to accept his situation calmly.

So he must have been furious at Geum Yang‑Baek for forcing him to explain the situation himself.

Baek Cheon exhaled a long breath.

‘Now is not the time for such thoughts.’

Everyone has their role at any time. What Baek Cheon had to do now was not to waste pride, but to lead the wounded and escape the mountain as quickly as possible.

“This way!”

“Yes!”

Sensing movement ahead, Baek Cheon nimbly changed direction. But this time his reaction was a bit late, and they spotted the rear of those who hadn’t had time to hide.

“Enemies!”

“Kill them!”

“Ugh.”

Baek Cheon and several others bit their lips and charged the enemies. The few Ten Thousand People Clan members were slaughtered in an instant.

“Guh!”

Seeing those collapsing with the sound of air escaping, Baek Cheon turned his head and gave orders.

“Moving together definitely draws too much attention. Scatter as we discussed earlier.”

“Yes!”

Namgung Do‑Wei, Tang Pae, and Hae Yeon nodded firmly. Those whose injuries weren’t severe had recovered considerably with just two days of rest. So leading the Southern Island Sect’s disciples respectively wouldn’t be a big problem.

“Rendezvous point as planned!”

“Understood, Acting Sect Leader.”

“Good luck!”

“Yes!”

Those who had been told in advance took their groups and scattered in all directions. Watching their backs, Baek Cheon looked at Yoon Jong and Tang Soso, who were guarding him, and said quietly.

“Let’s go too.”

“Yes, sasuk.”

Baek Cheon, leading the Southern Island Sect’s disciples, ran forward, then glanced back at the Ten‑Thousand Great Mountains shrouded in darkness.

‘Don’t be late, damn you.’

❀ ❀ ❀

“Unit Flowing Seven has been hit!”

“Location?”

“W‑well, the location can’t be determined right now!”

“What kind of bullshit are you spouting! You said they were attacked!”

“R‑right now everyone is rapidly moving from their assigned sectors. Exactly where they were hit…”

“That’s not an answer!”

Ho Ga‑Myung’s aide emitted a grim murderous aura at the reporter. Startled, the subordinate flattened himself, but that wouldn’t conjure an answer out of nothing.

The news that followed was equally stomach‑turning.

“Unit Five Men has been hit too!”

“The Third one Ghost Sword troops also suffered!”

“The enemy’s exact position cannot be determined at present! Our reporting lines are insufficient!”

No clear conclusion could be drawn even after putting together the nonstop yelling of the messengers.

All that could be gleaned from the reports was that the hastily organized men scattered across the Ten‑Thousand Great Mountains were being slaughtered here and there.

“C-commander.”

The aide called Ho Ga‑Myung in a trembling voice.

But Ho Ga‑Myung, having heard all the reports, did not react and only stared at the darkened mountain.

Swallowing dry saliva, the aide thought to call Ho Ga‑Myung again but finally fell silent. It wasn’t that Ho Ga‑Myung was unaware of the situation; he didn’t react because reacting would be useless.

Ho Ga‑Myung’s eyes were dim. His chapped lips parted and a hoarse voice leaked out.

“…It feels like we’ve stuck our heads into a tiger’s den.”

Facing the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint… no, that Plum Blossom Sword Ghost couldn’t be easy for scattered men. He knew that much. But the reports now were far beyond even his expectations.

It felt as if they weren’t chasing him, but he was luring everyone to where he wanted and hunting them one by one.

By now the Southern Island Sect’s main force was probably escaping the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. Ho Ga‑Myung wasn’t someone who couldn’t predict that.

But there was no way to catch them now. With communications collapsed and people charging the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, there was no way to recall them and issue new orders.

All that remained was the outcome of being thoroughly toyed with by the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint and losing the main force.

Since the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint had recovered and appeared faster than he expected, the result was almost predetermined.

‘From where did it go wrong?’

Should he have been more thorough? Once they lost the trail of that bastard, if they hadn’t rashly dispersed forces and had waited calmly, things might have been better.

No, even if not that, there would have been other ways.

But Ho Ga‑Myung thought such musings were meaningless.

The more finely tuned a plan, the more a small twist can render it useless. No matter how perfectly he planned, that Plum Blossom Sword Ghost could forcibly warp the plan.

All of this was the price of targeting an opponent they couldn’t handle.

“…Withdraw the troops.”

“C-commander!”

“We must reduce unnecessary sacrifices.”

The aides bit their lips until they bled.

Although they knew it was the right order, they couldn’t bring themselves to transmit it immediately. The moment they retreated, all plans would end in failure—and wouldn’t that mean Ho Ga‑Myung’s utter defeat?

They all knew what consequences this failure would bring.

“C-commander! We haven’t…”

“Don’t make me commit a sin against the Alliance lord any longer.”

In the end, the aides silently bowed their heads.

The sacrifice was far too great to claim the hundred people loss or the Southern Island Sect’s heads as achievement. The unauthorized operation had failed, so even Ho Ga‑Myung of the world couldn’t escape responsibility.

Ho Ga‑Myung clenched his eyes shut, about to let everything go.

Screeeeeech!

A strange sound was heard. At that moment his eyes snapped open.

A horn? No, it wasn’t a horn. It was the cry of a beast he well knew.

‘Could it be?’

He hastily raised his head. In the night sky without even starlight, a faint red glow hovered in the middle.

When Ho Ga‑Myung instinctively thrust his arm forward, the light hovering in the air solidified like lightning and settled onto it.

Flap.

It was a crimson hawk.

It flapped once and sat on his arm; Ho Ga‑Myung’s eyes trembled as he looked at the small hawk.

“A‑Alliance lord…”

The aides who recognized the hawk’s identity turned sallow.

They all knew that this small hawk with red and black feathers was Jang Ilso’s trusted beast, the one that carried only his orders.

Ho Ga‑Myung carefully opened the tube tied to the hawk’s foot and took out a letter. Even until he unfolded it, his hand trembled faintly.

While he read, everyone held their breath waiting for his reaction. But after reading the letter, Ho Ga‑Myung closed his eyes for a moment and showed no emotion.

At last, after suffocating anticipation, Ho Ga‑Myung opened his eyes again. Folding the letter, he spoke.

“Withdraw those fighting him to the second line.”

“C-commander, then…?”

“Continue the pursuit.”

“…Yes?”

Ho Ga‑Myung’s eyes reflected the cold light of the darkened mountain.

“The Alliance lord says he will take that bastard’s life.”

A strange heat of joy bloomed on his face.

Ho Ga‑Myung could hardly contain himself. The Mount Hua’s Sword Saint… no, one ought to call him the Plum Blossom Sword Ghost now. But…

‘If the Alliance lord steps in, everything changes.’

No matter how much of a Plum Blossom Sword Ghost he was, now he would have to accept the end of his fate.

From now on, the one he must face is none other than Hegemony Lord Jang Ilso.