Episode 142

Meanwhile, Ma Taryong was extremely focused on cultivation.

Snap.

There was the sound of beans being roasted.

The energy which was less than a handful was growing strongly within his dantian, which had stiffened, and continued hundreds of times through his meridians.

Crack!

As soon as the meridians in his body opened up, it felt possible to send energy to every part of his body.

Clearly, some of the lines were broken within… and are now restored completely.

Ma Taryong was amazed at the changes which had taken place in his body.

When he entered the enemy camp and turned into their prisoner, he was ready to die.

Even if he lost his life, he thought that if a fight broke out between the Second Disciple and First Disciple regarding Mount Hua, that would be enough.

But being prepared to die didn’t mean he wanted to die.

Even when he was prepared to die, his dantian broke down due to the torture he endured and despair began to sink in.

The readiness to give up on life was something he could have because he lived as a warrior.

But the fact that his dantian was destroyed meant that he could no longer live as a warrior and had become a simple savage.

Perhaps, that was the goal of his enemies.

If you break the spirit of the prisoners with torture and make them give up everything, then they will speak.

But what is the state of his body now?

“Um.”

As with his dantian, almost all of his health which had been degraded by torture had been restored.

That too was in but an instant.

What kind of harmony manifested was something Ma Taryong didn’t understand.

“Do you believe me now?”

Seol-Hwi, the one who healed him. claimed to be the captain of a scouting team, a fact which was hard to believe.

And his martial arts was something a captain of such a low level group would normally not have.

Such a person is just a captain? It felt absurd.

The fact that he came to rescue me…

Right now, he is one of the Seven Messengers.

He couldn’t handle the enemy forces of Mount Hua, so he infiltrated them like a spy, but then this guy just broke in head first and found him.

A person like that was just a captain? At this point, it felt like a bad joke.

So he thought that Seol-Hwi had some kind of plan to deceive him.

“Do I have a reason to come up with such a plan?”

“Hm…”

He couldn’t think of a motive for something like that.

And above all else, what choice did he have? What more could he do than simply trust him in a situation like this?

He wasn’t sure what his intentions were, but Seol-Hwi was definitely a talented person.

Not only did he rescue Ma Taryong, but he also treated him with a mysterious pill.

From a broad perspective, these are the things which the Fourth Disciple should be doing for him.

Maybe it is because that man is limiting himself?

What is that man even thinking…?

After finishing his cultivation, he leaned back against the stone and looked at the man immersed in meditation.

From what he heard the troops of the Demon Lord should be coming. If that’s true, then isn’t it the right decision to run away now?

What on earth is he thinking, sitting here like this?

Tak

And then came his subordinates who had gone to scout the area.

“Captain, Mount Hua’s troops are gathering around.”

“They number far greater than a hundred. It seems that it isn’t just that branch we took down but a secret one on the side too.”

“People in black robes are gathering from the other side, they must be the Demon Lord’s troops.”

Yong Jin, Yorim, and Jeok Song reported in turn.

This is what AI said, that the disciple’s men gather and Mount Hua’s two branches come and clash against each other.

“Hmm…”

Seol-Hwi listened and looked at them.

“What do you think we should do?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just stay here? This is a place which doesn’t stand out,” first suggested Yong Jin.

“I have a different opinion. A large scale fight like this should break their troops into several smaller clusters. Because of that, it will then be possible that some will come here,” Jeok Song countered.

The struggle between powers is like a ball, and where the ball ends up being hit back to is never known. In such large scale battles with more than a hundred troops, just a few warriors could change the flow of battle.

And this would be a battle in a large area.

“Then shouldn’t we move?”

Imugi asked to which Yorim shook his head.

“Even if we move, it shouldn’t be now. Right now, both sides will be too alert. If you want to get out of here, the two sides need to give us a huge opening with their chaotic fight.”

“When will that happen?”

“Well. I’m not really sure. But we will find out once they start fighting. It will be noisy for sure.”

Most nodded at the words of Yorim. But Seo Ryeong objected,

“I cannot say that moving is right. If either Mount Hua or the disciple have greater strength… they will be vigilant regardless of the situation, and when they catch even a glimpse of us escaping, they will not let us get away.”

“Umm.”

It was a sensible thing to say.

Mount Hua would not leave them alone if they discovered them.

Would it be right to even call themselves allies of the Second Disciple?

“Then what do we do?”

“Well, the captain should make the decision.”

After sharing a few more words, everyone turned to Seol-Hwi.

Seol-Hwi’s eyes were looking at someone young.

“Songhwa.”

“Yes.”

“Can you people identify the location of other people even if they are far away?”

“…No.”

“Then…”

Seol-Hwi lowered his gaze to the ground and said,

“The Simulation told me that though.”

“…?”

“Traces of spatial movement. That when they use a high level technique, a member can see and recognize it.”

“Ah.”

Songhwa’s eyes went wide.

Clearly it was less than a day since his body handled their teleportation. Therefore, although not visible to the naked eye, the traces of the movement had to be there.

He wondered how Seol-Hwi, who wasn’t a mystic arts practitioner, knew that.

“But now there are the Ghastly Troops on the Second Disciple’s side.”

At the words of Imugi, everyone else remembered it.

Songhwa had outstanding talent, but there were many more in the Sect like him, so if some of those troops came here, it was obvious that they would bring along such talents and would know the location of Song-Hwi’s group to some extent.

“We will have to move,” said Ma Taryong, who was watching with arms crossed.

Everyone agreed with him.

If they stayed here, they would have to face them. Be it those from Mount Hua or the Second Disciple’s troops.

“Captain, then, where…?”

Seol-Hwi was already looking at the other side.

“We move to the branch.”

“Uh?”

“What?”

“Where?”

“…?”

His subordinates couldn’t understand this decision nor could Ma Taryong.

But Seol-Hwi was sure.

“We might… have to shake things up a little.”

It is said that it is darkest under the lamp.

Since they were there a little while ago and turned everything into a huge mess, Mount Hua’s troops must be angry.

So they will be too focused on looking around the area for them.

Otherwise, they would have left to fight the Second Disciple’s troops.

So, Seol-Hwi decided to head back to the branch he raided.

If he was correct, then that would have to be the safest place. First of all, he secretly climbed the mountain to try and stay away from Mount Hua’s forces.

“I don’t see a single one…”

Perhaps it was because he was careful, but he didn’t run into any troops of Mount Hua.

In a way, it might be normal.

Most of the troops must have already escaped from here or finished their search of the place.

The houses also seemed empty.

“Here.”

Seol-Hwi arrived in front of a suitable house and called his subordinates.

And when they appeared, he said,

“Everyone, give me your weapons.”

“Uh?”

“…?”

They all looked at him with puzzled eyes, but Seol-Hwi didn’t try to convince them.

“Hurry.”

In this way, they gathered all their weapons. Seol-Hwi opened up the toolbox and put them inside. Along with that, he put in his sword, belt, and shoes as well.

“Captain?”

“What was that? The weapons are all gone?”

The subordinates asked, but Seol-Hwi didn’t have the time to answer. He checked inside the toolbox once again and approached the house.

And,

The message he had been waiting for came up.

Where should I save?

He thought for a while but the answer was already decided. The first option had to be there.

The second is the same, it held the most notable weapons. He had to save it to secure them

Third.

So he chose,

Saved.

“Now.”

And Seol-Hwi took out what he put in the toolbox. His subordinates were shocked by this strange phenomenon where the weapons vanished and then reappeared.

“I will tell you later.”

Seol-Hwi didn’t want to have this discussion just yet.

“Um… well.”

The men didn’t ask further.

So far it was once or twice that Seol-Hwi acted in weird ways. Like his remarks that predicted the future or bringing them those strange weapons with strange abilities.

“Captain, what do we do now?”

Clack!

At the question of Jeok Song, Seol-Hwi opened a map.

“We go until here.”

He pointed to the southernmost side where his subordinates hid Ma Taryong in the previous life.

“Uh? We aren’t retreating any further?”

“Yes.”

At the question of Imugi, Seol-Hwi calmly answered. Then Ma Taryong who was silent said,

“I do not think it is a good idea.”

He didn’t want to move, frowned, and continued,

“Don’t be relieved that just because the Demon Lord’s men have a high chance of winning that they are on our side. They are not.”

Be it Mount Hua winning or their own Sect’s people, they couldn’t let their guard down.

And lastly, if the Second Disciple’s people quickly come there. It would be a bigger threat for them all.

“Well. I don’t know. Rather, the crisis might come from elsewhere.”

“What are you saying?”

“Things don’t go as expected all the time.”

Is this formation which appears when the 1st option is chosen.

This allowed him to guess why Songhwa would die.

[Fighting is stupid. Sending Songhwa to them will allow you to be able to return safely to the main Sect under the escort of their troops. We will not be able to negotiate with them until they have Songhwa.]

Spatial Movement.

Was using that an incorrect decision?

The men of the Second Disciple will quickly find the location they moved to and follow them. And just that alone said that the troops had an overwhelming force.

My choices have always been this way.

He always made the worst decision and faced the worst situations. When he was given a new ability, he would cling to it.

And the result?

Have the best choices yielded him the best results?

No.

Rather, the worst judgment is what saved him from crises in the past. And that worst judgment also produced the best results.

The choices always worked like that.

Any choice in life can be good or bad.

Belief in your choices, and the courage to choose.

If he had courage, it seemed like he could live his life on his own accord and not based on choices.

“Uh, may I ask for a favor?”

When Seol-Hwi asked Ma Taryong, he nodded.

“Say it.”

“From what is predicted, sooner or later a truly powerful man will appear before us. No, it might be sooner.”

“Who is he?”

“You will see for yourself. So I would like to ask you for a favor.”

“…”

Ma Taryong frowned, he saw Seol-Hwi speaking with an extremely serious expression.

“Convince him.”

“…”

“Without you, there is absolutely nothing we can do. It might be hard to understand, but would you stand by my side this time?”

He asked with a subtle gaze, but Ma Taryong didn’t answer.

He was troubled.

What did this mean? Why was this man speaking like this?

Seol-Hwi turned his gaze.

“Songhwa.”

“Yes.”

“Is spatial movement impossible now?”

“Ah, yes. For a month…”

“I see. You must have used a lot of energy. But you said something about acceleration…”

“Yes, it is possible. It is a slightly different technique.”

“Would you use it later?”

“Ah, yes…”

Songhwa smiled and bowed his head.

It felt good to be able to contribute to a mission.

“Don’t ask me much. How did you communicate with the others in the past?”

“Communicate?”

“When we had to fight with the Kangshi, at that time there was this thing about communication.”

“Ah!”

Songhwa exclaimed and clasped his hands.

“I used fireflies.”

“…?”

“A firefly tamed by our technique and catalyst. It casts a light in the sky which only Fangshi can see. That way, everyone in the place will know something is wrong.”

“I see”

Seol-Hwi nodded, causing Songhwa to tilt his head.

“But…”

“If I give a signal can you light it up?”

“Ah, yes!”

Seol-Hwi looked at the sky and sighed.

It has been a long time.

“Captain? Aren’t we moving?”

Seol-Hwi didn’t respond to Imugi but instead said,

“Come out now.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Suddenly silence fell.

His men looked around.

Rustle

Soon a masked man broke through the bushes and appeared before them.

“Seol-Hwi, hand the child over to me.”

Surprisingly.

He was Cheol Gun-song, the Fourth Disciple’s secret warrior.