Episode 237

Myung Se-chan’s pigeon arrived at a restaurant.

Location of Three Paths Village, and the location of the Third Palace that the Central Murim Alliance is pursuing.

It was an order given by the Sect Leader himself, who was known to have been in seclusion for quite some time.

The Lower District, one of the largest intelligence and information sects in the Central Plains, awoke from a long slumber, and hundreds of birds flew ceaselessly towards the entire northern side of the Central Plains.

The disciples who received the message began to buy information at random using the money saved up from the traders, and collected any information which could come in handy and organized them in an orderly fashion.

One day since then.

This time, the pigeons flew from all over the north.

“Heavenly Lord!”

Myung Se-chan ran to Jinmu, holding a pigeon that had just flown in.

Jinmu, who had fully absorbed the qi from the Purple Cloud Pill which remained in his body, slowly opened his eyes.

At the same time, a dark blackish qi exploded and disappeared momentarily, and Myung Se-chan shouted out in surprise.

“We found the location of the Three Paths Village. The distance is around 400 km from here, so about two days from here. In addition, we have confirmed the the warriors of Justice Faction are also moving to the same side.”

“……”

Hearing Myung Se-chan’s words, Jinmu got up and smiled.

“So, you’re saying it exists?”

Jinmu’s eyes were full of greed.

It was clear that if it was the right place, where the base of Third Palace was, the defenses would be strong.

But Jinmu didn’t want to fight. In any case, what he was aiming for was the treasure equal or close to 30 gold coins and the Purple Cloud Pill.

He only took care of what he needed and would leave the fighting to the Central Murim Alliance.

“Se-chan! I am heading there!”

“Yes!”

There is no rebuttal.

The order was issued and Myung Se-chan was ready to follow him at any time.

After leaving the county, Jinmu and the party ran without stopping.

They sent a pigeon to Jeok Saeng, who was coming to help and told him to stop at Mei county, and then return to the Clan after resting. They had left some traces there.

Even if there were no casualties among the residents, rumors would spread that an entire village had been cleared out.

Myung Se-chan suggested revealing the Heavenly Strong Clan to prevent that, but Jinmu allowed them to act on their own.

Due to the nature of the Lower District Sect, he had to maintain close ties with the Central Murim Alliance, and any rumor spreading amongst the people could be stopped in an instant.

Focusing the attention on the Heavenly Strong Clan and completely erasing traces of Jinmu.

Manipulating such information is Myung Se-chan’s true speciality.

He is a natural when it comes to scamming people, even a thousand people at once if he wanted to. A person who has reached the peak state of scamming. That is the main reason he is one of the kings of the Evil Sect.

If Myung Se-chan learned beating from Jinmu, then it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Jinmu learned scamming and acting from Myung Se-chan… well.

Moreover, even though Mei county was one thing, it wouldn’t be possible for the Heavenly Strong Clan to move all the way to the Nameless Village.

It would only be a waste of energy for the troops to cross paths with the Central Murim Alliance. Because the Central Murim Alliance needed to fight at the base of the Third Palace.

Jinmu was accompanied only by Myung Se-chan and his subordinates. It was because his identity as the Sword of Wudang was evident, and the Secret Troops are good at hiding, so if the Central Murim Alliance appears, they can all run instantly.

After running for two full days from Mei county, Jinmu and the others finally arrived at the Village.

Sigh, exhale…

Even Jinmu was breathing roughly because he ran so hard.

“You alright?”

“……”

He wanted to punch Myung Se-chan’s clean face as he asked, worried.

How come they aren’t even shedding a drop of sweat?

They are so good at running, probably because they trained only in stealth and footwork.

Even Hwang Shin, who had returned to the Secret Troops, looked sane and fine as he concentrated on the surroundings, but he too was panting with a red face.

Damn it, maybe I should have worked on my footwork too.

Even if the Secret Troops are a group of people who have learned the art of footwork, I, who is a warrior in Kangho, am unable to believe that I, let alone Myung Se-chan, arrived at the same pace as these bastards.

“Heavenly Lord. Shall we take a short break?”

“What? I am fine! This won’t do much for me.”

How can he show weakness in front of those below him?

I have to be respected for I am the Heavenly Lord.

Jinmu took a deep breath and slowly looked down at the mountains and rivers in front of him.

A huge basin spread out beneath the mountain where he stood. The Three Paths Village.

A place where three paths converged at one point.

The division of the region was vague, so there was no clear boundaries and there were no markings.

According to Se-chan, it is a flat area surrounded by mountains, but there are no roads for which to come and go, so people aren’t aware that there is land there.

A place only vaguely marked on the map.

He doesn’t know why they named it Three Paths ’s Village, but its nothing to think about deeply.

Wheeing.

The wind blowing between the mountains passed by and cooled the heat off Jinmu.

“Se-chan.”

“Yes.”

“Where is the location of the Central Murim Alliance?”

“The closest one is the Yongbong Hall, led by the Sword Wisdom Byeok Eun-young. It’s about half a day from Three Paths Village.”

Half a day. That’s enough time.

Right, let’s just get our money’s worth and get out of there quickly. Time is full and the need is high.

“It’s strange. There is the base of the Palace in this place.”

“……”

Jinmu nodded at Myung Se-chan’s words.

According to the words of the guy called Mu Young, there had to be a village here, but nothing was there in the village down there.

“Can the information be wrong?”

It cannot be.

The location mentioned by Mu Young and the destination of the Central Murim Alliance warriors found by the Lower District Sect was a match. Even if the incident in Southern Edge was by luck, there is no way that Zhuge Hyeop-jin could have moved so many warriors in vain.

The location will be accurate. But what if it seems like nothing exists?

“Se-chan.”

“Uh?”

“Throw a stone.”

“Stone… this?”

“Yes.”

“How far?”

“To the center of the place.”

Myung Se-chan nodded at Jinmu’s words and picked up a small stone.

“Yah!”

“Uh?”

“A big one, you jerk. A huge one.”

That way, even after throwing it, it can be seen.

Myung Se-chan looked around and picked up a stone the size of a head.

And as soon as Jinmu nodded, the stone flew in with a huge arc.

Swish- Pick!

The boulder flying through the air seemed to reach somewhere in the center of the basin, and then disappeared without a trace.

It didn’t fall to the ground, it just vanished in thin air.

“Hwang Shin!”

“…?”

“Did you hear the sound of the stone falling?”

At Jinmu’s words Hwang Shin quickly pricks his ears up and then shakes his head.

“Heavenly Lord, you mean?”

At Myung Se-chan’s words, Jinmu nodded with a cold smile.

Right, as expected, what he thought was correct.

The basin of the Three Paths Village. It isn’t that there is nothing down there. It was clear that it was being obscured by a huge illusion.

“Se-chan.”

When Jinmu called, Myung Se-chan quickly ordered the Secret Troops to move.

The members, both hands full of small stones, circled the place and then began to throw them one by one.

Then, the work was done to carve a mark by scratching a tree located in a place where the stone was hidden.

It was a task to evaluate the size of the circle.

They had to be careful. This was because if he entered without knowing what the other side had prepared, they could fall into a trap.

“Heavenly Lord.”

Myung Se-chan returned after investigating the surroundings of the basin and gauging the rough size of the circle.

“The circumference is around 11km.”

It’s bigger than you think.

At around 11km, it was probably something comparable to a castle, excluding the outer fort at the Evil Sect’s Heaven, which was built on Mount Cheon-jung.

“Spit it out.”

“If it was a village there would have to be around 1,000 houses or more. The population living here is probably about 3-4 thousand people.”

“What is the extent of the enemy’s base?”

“Based on similar sizes, the Demonic Cult would have around 700 warriors , the Central Murim Alliance would have around 1,500 warriors and Evil Sect’s Heaven would have around 2,000 warriors.”

Myung Se-chan answered Jinmu’s question by providing examples.

Well, based on the original size of the Evil Sect’s Heaven, there were approximately that many people staying there.

“Then, roughly there could be around 2,000 Palace warriors around.”

“That means at least 2,000 people are down there.”

“……”

This bastard.

Jinmu glanced at Myung Se-chan.

He never did that before, but somehow he kept talking. Is it because he looks young now?

Well, good then. Because that isn’t important now.

Jinmu rubbed his chin.

Myung Se-chan’s analysis isn’t much more than bringing in information from numerous forces and coming up with an average figure.

However, for an organization that is planning something, the quality and quantity of warrior personnel compared to the number of people are almost identical.

This is because only then can an organization run smoothly.

However, this couldn’t accurately determine the level of enemies.

How many more warriors are at the expert level in here? How many are at the level of enlightenment or close to it?

Since each organization and group runs differently, it was impossible to classify them using regular numbers.

Well, no matter what, all they have to do is figure out how they are keeping their guard up without having to fight.

“Se-chan.”

“Yes.”

“How do you think we should organize more than a thousand warriors to guard the outskirts of an 11km long base?”

“Well, let’s use the mountain’s main formation as a standard, like being surrounded by warriors.”

That is right.

At that time, there were many natural enemies, so the boundaries of one’s nature were greatly strengthened.

It would be better if they could see the inside, but for now they could only rely on guesswork.

“Assuming that there is a leadership and main warrior unity there, the number of warrior units which can be monitored outside would be half of what is inside.”

“Half of that monitors the outside land?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

If they spread a thousand people over a distance of 11km, then it would be around one person for every 4 feet.

But there wouldn’t be a crazy person who would set up a border formation like that. If the border is constructed as densely as possible, the distance between the borders is approximately five to ten feet.

Jinmu quietly rubbed his chin and opened his mouth.

“Dae-gung.”

“Yes. Heavenly Lord.”

“How many do you have?”

Among the Secret Troops, he is one who uses the iron bow.

The reason he uses the bow is to suppress fleeing enemies.

In response to Jinmu’s question, Dae-gung glanced at the arrows on his back and answered.

“22 shots.”

That is enough.

First, they had to check out the perimeter of the enemies who might be waiting on the inside of the area.

“Go around and shoot at five-number intervals. Let us see how it turns out.”

“Yes!”

As soon as the order was issued, the man cocked the iron bow to cast a string and walked around the pre-marked formation, and fired the iron arrows with internal qi.

Even after waiting a long time after firing the iron arrows, there was no response.

Jinmu asked Hwang Shin if he heard anything, but even he shook his head.

This is odd. There has to be some reaction, right? Is there no boundary watch?

Or maybe the illusion itself was a warning network?

It could be a possibility that they would also know that the Central Murim Alliance had begun to search for the spy and that the warriors had put up a fight with the Heavenly Strong Clan and Jinmu.

They must have realized that the base would be exposed without fail.

Damn it, the more I thought, the more confusing things got.

Well, it cannot be helped.

The more elaborate the plan, the better, but even now, the Central Murim Alliance will continue to approach.

My money is right there, I cannot just wait here.

Jinmu moved to a place where no iron arrows were fired and took a seat there, waiting for some unexpected situation.

If the illusion itself was an alarm system, the vigilance in the area where the arrows flew had to hold strong.

Srrng.

Jinmu picked up One Slash.

“Everyone, listen now. The expected number of enemies is around 2,000. If we rush in, we don’t know how many will attack us at once. Don’t risk your life just to fight. Spread out and enter as soon as you can, and if needed, hide right away.”

The members all held their weapons with determined looks, speaking in a tone which worried them.

“We have just one purpose.”

“…?”

“Their valuables, treasures and safes. An item worth at least 30 gold coins. As long as each person secures one, they can run.”

“…Uh?”

“Uh?”

Am I not telling them?

So listen up now.

Not just the members but Myung Se-chan too was shocked at the unexpected order, but Jinmu didn’t care and just continued.

“There is no need to fight the enemy. Leave the fight to the Cetral Murim Alliance. We just need the money. Okay?”

“…Just money?”

Wei Mok looked puzzled.

Look at this damned guy! Just money? Did he say just money? That is my precious money. My gold!

Jinmu glared at the nervous people, who were looking less anxious.

“You want to get beaten up? Is there no answer?”

“Yep!”

Brats, you shouldn’t want to get hit.

“Se-chan!”

“Break down the formation circle.”

When Myung Se-chan nodded Jinmu’s words, he moved close to Jinmu.

There are so many types of formation circles which are impossible to know, but there are just two ways to destroy any formation.

Either the one who made the circle destroys it and creates something else there, or shatter it with enormous amounts of qi.

And Jinmu, who extremely disliked worrying, usually chose the latter one.

Woong!

From Jinmu’s waist, poised as he was holding a sword, One Slash let out a long awaited slash with a forceful clash, and Myung Se-chan’s book began to boost the qi.

Here I go!

Swish!

As Jinmu’s sword was pulled out and slashed horizontally, Myung Se-chan’s hand stretched out straight, and the force created by the two roughly smashed the circle to pieces.