The Appearance Of The Small-Hand Art (3)

Neung Je-gang overtook the Necromancer Cult believers carrying supplies. How long had he run like that? In the distance, he discovered a camp swarming with people. No, it was not even a camp. The Necromancer Cult believers were sitting or lying anywhere without even tents, and those occupying the tents were the people who had come down from Kunlun and the warriors who had led the Necromancer Cult believers here.

Neung Je-gang waited for night to fall. He naturally slipped in among the Necromancer Cult believers. Thanks to the sheer number of people, no one regarded him as suspicious even though he did not particularly hide himself.

Soul Hunters were also keeping watch here, but they were only paying attention to intruders coming from the Black Alliance’s side. They never expected someone to seep in from the rear.

“She said Byeon Bong was leading the Kunlun people confronting the Black Alliance. Then would he be in the largest tent?”

In any group, the leader’s lodging was usually made a little better. That was the same even for Kunlun, despite being Taoists.

He searched for the largest tent, but there was no one there. It seemed to be a kind of conference room, a space made so that several people could gather.

“There is no need to search around. If I wait here, all the important figures will gather here.”

The fact that they had made a separate conference room like this was proof that they used this place often. They would not deliberately set up a tent they did not use.

The problem was that he had to kill all the people who entered for the meeting at once.

Neung Je-gang secretly left the tent and went to the place where the smell of food was coming from. Though he had obtained food from Sohee, soft food naturally tempted his appetite more than dried food.

He went to the place where food was being made, secretly stole a few things, and returned to the conference tent. The empty tent used only for meetings was no different from Neung Je-gang’s lodging.

Dawn broke. When he sensed a presence near the tent, Neung Je-gang opened his closed eyes wide. He flew behind a large map hanging like a situation board and hid there. Unless someone deliberately lifted the map, he would not be seen. Now, when people entered to hold a meeting, a large-scale slaughter would occur.

But Neung Je-gang’s expectation missed the mark. The people who entered the tent were not the command, but Necromancer Cult believers. They packed up the objects inside the tent for movement and even took down the tent.

Neung Je-gang secretly avoided their eyes and went outside. Sure enough, that vast number of Necromancer Cult believers were all swarming south. In their hands were farm tools such as clubs and hoes, and various weapons that seemed to have been taken after killing Black Alliance warriors. Another battle had begun.

“Waaaah!”

“Kill them!”

A fight began from the shouts of a few people. No, it was not a fight, but a battle. A large-scale war and battle.

Neung Je-gang moved to a faraway place and watched the battle between the Black Alliance and the Necromancer Cult. The way the fight unfolded was favorable to the Black Alliance in the early stage and favorable to the Necromancer Cult in the later stage. At first, many Necromancer Cult believers who did not know martial arts were killed, but from around the time the Black Alliance warriors began to tire, the Black Alliance repeatedly retreated like split bamboo.

The fight stopped around the time darkness fell. The Necromancer Cult’s command did not seem to intend to press in all at once and settle things. Well, if those who had learned martial arts deliberately retreated, the Necromancer Cult believers would not be able to catch up.

When the fight ended, the Necromancer Cult believers once again collapsed anywhere and lay down. There was nothing like sentry duty or preparation against a Black Alliance raid.

A little while later, the rear unit arrived. As soon as the rear unit arrived, the first thing they did was prepare food and distribute it to the Necromancer Cult believers. For the sake of that one meal, the Necromancer Cult believers had fought with their lives on the line.

He also understood why they did not stand guard. Neung Je-gang discovered the ones who had learned the assassin martial arts he had seen near U-gak Hobong. The Soul Hunters who arrived with the rear unit flew toward the direction where the Black Alliance had retreated and hid themselves. They were the ones responsible for the night watch.

“Would it be better to eliminate them and have the Black Alliance launch a raid? Or should I go around each tent and kill everyone?”

Neung Je-gang’s thoughts were similar to the Demon-Steed Branch Master’s. He thought this war would end if only the leaders were killed. The leaders he thought of were, of course, the three Deungs. He believed the war would end once only they were killed.

If possible, he did not want to kill the Necromancer Cult believers. They were truly pitiful people who had been mobilized for war while not in their right minds.

“Then again, even if I kill the leaders, there is no way the Black Alliance will leave the Necromancer Cult believers alone.”

In any case, just like when the old Necromancer Cult was destroyed, the Necromancer Cult believers who were not in their right minds could already be considered as good as dead. Even if he eliminated the leaders, the Necromancer Cult believers whose minds had already been stolen would surely slowly die without knowing what to do.

Neung Je-gang flew toward the Black Alliance’s side. He found the places where the Soul Hunters were hiding in concealment and cut off their breathing one by one. He was the one called the greatest assassin under heaven. No matter how proficient the Soul Hunters were in assassin martial arts, they could not avoid his killing arts.

Sseuk

As many as thirty Soul Hunters had their necks cut.

The best way to avoid making a mistake when killing a person was to cut the neck completely. Stabbing the heart was also a good method, but depending on the person, the heart’s position could differ slightly, so there were cases where one could not say with certainty that the person was dead.

After confirming that he had dealt with all the Soul Hunters standing guard, Neung Je-gang flew again and approached the camp that the Black Alliance had built after retreating.

“Hehe!”

Unlike the Necromancer Cult, the Black Alliance was maintaining thorough vigilance. Burned by human-wave tactics, they could not feel safe just because it was night.

Neung Je-gang discovered three tents of similar size. Large bonfires had been lit in front of the tents, so it was not particularly difficult to confirm the scale of the tents.

No one in the Black Alliance noticed Neung Je-gang sneaking in. Neung Je-gang searched the tents one by one for a face he knew. Fortunately or unfortunately, the one he found first was the Demon-Steed Branch Master. When they first met, he had been uncomfortable to deal with, but later, he had given great help.

The Demon-Steed Branch Master was not asleep. Well, with repeated defeats and continuous retreat, he probably had no leisure to sleep comfortably.

“Who are you?”

The Demon-Steed Branch Master was no pushover. Perhaps his martial arts might even be above Cheon Jang-myeong’s or Jo Je-hun’s. There was no way Black Cloud Demon had taught the Demon-Steed Branch Master, who had been his stable boy, carelessly.

“It is me.”

Neung Je-gang revealed himself. The sound the Demon-Steed Branch Master had shouted did not leak outside. It was not a time to make a noisy fuss.

“Secret Shadow?”

“That’s right.”

“They said you had gone missing…….”

The Demon-Steed Branch Master looked at Neung Je-gang with suspicious eyes. Since a person surrounded by rumors that he had gone missing or died had suddenly appeared, it was only natural for him to look suspiciously.

“I was captured in Kunlun for a while.”

Neung Je-gang calmly went to sit on a chair inside the tent.

“But…… you seem to have changed a great deal.”

“Should I call it a fortuitous encounter? Something like that happened. Someone said that I had reached Returning to the True Self. I think I can now contend with the retired Alliance Lord as an equal……. Does it not look that way?”

The person who confirmed that Neung Je-gang had reached the realm of Returning to the True Self was Sohee. She had said excitedly that his graying sideburns and his outward appearance, which looked as if he had not learned martial arts, were unmistakably Returning to the True Self. To those who had learned martial arts, Returning to the True Self or Reverse Aging was no different from legend.

“Returning to the True Self! I see. Those graying hairs and that outward appearance that makes it seem as if you have not learned martial arts are certainly the Returning to the True Self I have only heard of in words. Heoheoheo! You are still so young, yet already Returning to the True Self. Just how much stronger do you intend to become? But even so, I cannot believe that you have become stronger than Master.”

To the Demon-Steed Branch Master, Black Cloud Demon was a god. No matter how strong Neung Je-gang became, the Demon-Steed Branch Master’s belief that Black Cloud Demon was the strongest would not be broken.

“But why have you come so secretly?”

“This happened in Kunlun. ……And this is how it turned out.”

Neung Je-gang told the Demon-Steed Branch Master everything he had gone to Kunlun and seen, heard, and learned. He also informed him of the conspiracy plotted by the organization called the Cheon-geum Domain.

“How can this be! Deung Gak was such a person?”

After hearing of the Cheon-geum Domain’s conspiracy, the Demon-Steed Branch Master was shocked even more greatly than Neung Je-gang had been. If the targets were the peak experts of the martial world, then the lives of hundreds of Black Alliance experts were also in danger.

“That conspiracy has not been activated yet. But they say Deung Gak and Deung Hyeon are currently nowhere to be seen in Kunlun and the Necromancer Cult. The one now disguised as Deung Gak is Deung Myeong. Perhaps Deung Gak and Deung Hyeon are aiming for the Martial Alliance Leader in order to reverse this situation.”

The Martial Alliance Leader had not joined the Martial Alliance forces in Seon-yeong. He was guarding the Martial Alliance in Zhengzhou, which had become almost empty. If Deung Gak and Deung Hyeon aimed for his life, it was a situation where he might be taken down in vain.

But contrary to Neung Je-gang’s worry, the Demon-Steed Branch Master shook his head hard.

“Have you ever seen that person?”

“Who do you mean? The Martial Alliance Leader?”

“Yes.”

“I have only heard of him. I have not seen him yet.”

That was certainly true. Even though Neung Je-gang had gone in and out of the Martial Alliance so much, he had in fact had almost no contact with high-ranking figures other than Go Won-gi. It was a little strange.

But that was only natural. The high-ranking figures of the Martial Alliance were so-called leaders of the orthodox sects. No matter how famous Neung Je-gang became under the name Secret Shadow, to them, he was merely treated as one assassin of the heretical side-paths.

Even if they commissioned work from Neung Je-gang for their own convenience, they had no desire to form personal ties with him.

“I have seen him. It was a very long time ago, but Master and that person once met.”

“And?”

“At that time, Master said something. He said he had been able to personally confirm just how strong a person could become. The Martial Alliance Leader is exactly such a person. He is not someone who would lose his life to something like a surprise attack.”

“We cannot simply think that way. Have you not considered that among the Alliance Leader’s close aides or family, there could also be Deung Gak’s pawns? Also, according to what I found out, Deung Hyeon has hidden his identity and infiltrated the Martial Alliance. If he is disguised as one of the Alliance Leader’s close aides, the incident could happen at any time. There is no way Deung Gak made the Martial Alliance Leader’s death the key to activating the Cheon-geum Domain without such a thought.”

“Hmm! That could be. Then what do you want us to do?”

“First, you must inform the Alliance’s experts about the Cheon-geum Domain. Perhaps they may use a method of spreading a rumor even if the real Martial Alliance Leader has not died. So you must prepare defenses in advance.”

“Ah! I see.”

“In addition, you must win the war against the Necromancer Cult as quickly as possible. Whether it is here or the Martial Alliance near Seon-yeong, it would be best to push up and occupy Kunlun, which is their base.”

“Kunlun?”

The Demon-Steed Branch Master’s expression turned somewhat sour. Kunlun was a Taoist holy land. No matter what, occupying Kunlun seemed likely to provide a cause for grievance from other Taoist sects later.

“Kunlun is already gone. It has all turned to ashes.”

“Ashes? Kunlun burned? Did you do that?”

“To be precise, I did not do it. You could call it Kunlun’s internal strife. A person opposing Deung Gak set fire to Kunlun with tears in her eyes. In any case, that is not the current problem. Is the immediate issue not defeating the Necromancer Cult before you?”

“That is true. But at present, there is no method. The number of warriors is far too insufficient. That said, we cannot bring all the warriors guarding the Alliance here either.”

“Have you not thought of launching a surprise attack?”

“It is not that we only thought of it. We have attempted surprise attacks several times. But we only lost the experts mobilized for those surprise attacks. I do not know what kind of people those standing guard are, but their skills are not ordinary.”

Certainly, the Black Alliance had not simply retreated without trying anything. It meant they had tried everything that could be tried.

“Attempt another surprise attack tonight. No, drive it into a full-scale battle.”

“Being night does not give us an advantage……. The moment we sortie, we will be caught by the enemy’s eyes and ears.”

“After watching nearby for several days, I saw that the ones standing guard spent the night without changing shifts. When I came, I put all of them to sleep. Tonight, there will be no one guarding. And I will infiltrate again and make sure those who came from Kunlun never wake up again. Once the command system collapses, the Necromancer Cult believers will be nothing more than scarecrows who do not know martial arts.”

“Ohh! Is that true? We were planning to retreat to Seokmyeong Mountain and freeze the front line there……. While waiting for the Martial Alliance to exhaust the Necromancer Cult’s food.”

The Demon-Steed Branch Master sprang to his feet. As said earlier, an army whose command had disappeared would become a disorderly mob. If things turned out as Neung Je-gang said, it would not be particularly difficult to push up to Kunlun.

“Please understand it that way. I will take my leave now. I will assassinate several of the command and head toward Seon-yeong, so please take care of the aftermath yourselves.”

“Understood. We always end up receiving your help in difficult situations.”

“Please do not say that. Thanks to you informing us in advance about the matter at Kuaiji Mountain last time, we avoided great damage. Compared to the help you gave then, this is nothing.”

To Neung Je-gang, the matter at Kuaiji Mountain, where he had been able to save his master Nam Yeong’s life and keep the women and children safe, was the greatest matter of all.

“Will you leave without meeting the others?”

“It would only waste time for no reason. I will probably see them again later.”

After finishing his conversation with the Demon-Steed Branch Master, Neung Je-gang went out of the Demon-Steed Branch Master’s tent.

When the Demon-Steed Branch Master came outside to see him off, all he saw were the guards standing watch in front of the tent, startled when they saw him.

“Did you not see anyone leaving just now?”

“We did not. Wasn’t the Hall Lord alone in the tent?”

The guards asked back with puzzled expressions.

The Demon-Steed Branch Master gave a bitter smile and shook his head. If Neung Je-gang set his mind to it, one would die without knowing when it had happened.

“Indeed, the fame of the greatest assassin under heaven is not empty.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing. Ah! Go now and inform the two lords that I wish to see them.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. Tell them it is a matter of utmost urgency. And have the others wake all the warriors and prepare for battle. We will launch a large-scale surprise attack tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“Do not ask. Just do as I say.”

“Ah, understood.”

The guards who had been guarding his tent suddenly became messengers and ran here and there. The entire Black Alliance camp, which had been quietly sunk in sleep, soon became noisy.