Chapter 679
The scouting party, composed of swift elites, moved at a rapid pace.
Despite numbering over two hundred, they reached the northeastern border in just over three short days, taking intermittent rests along the way.
However, none of them—not even the two tribal chiefs leading the scouting party—expected to encounter another group of uninvited guests before facing the unidentified monster known as the Blood Monk.
And this unexpected situation was nothing compared to the news they delivered.
“Now… what did you just say?”
“What nonsense is this!”
Chief Jang and Chief Ko’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Shocking information that no one could have anticipated.
If the one who delivered this news hadn’t been the young palace lord of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, they would have dismissed it as mere nonsense.
No, they would have rather it were nonsense.
But despite their desperate hopes, Yal Mok’s answer remained unchanged.
“It is all true.”
The truth reflected in his trembling pupils. Finally realizing that all of this was reality, the two tribal chiefs could only sigh.
“What in the world…”
“Why did the palace lord make such a choice, why!”
Yal Mok, clenching his fists so tightly they might bleed, spoke.
“Father judged that since many tribal chiefs had already joined hands with Uncle Baek—no, Baek Sang—it would be impossible to go against the tide.”
“Even so, did he willingly take such a risk to save a few Han people?”
“He did not willingly take a risk.”
“What?”
“Father sent me and the others to the prison and said: ‘Repaying a righteous act righteously is fidelity, and turning a blind eye to those who helped us is injustice. Therefore, today, I will stake my fate on fidelity. On Jin Taekyung and Baek Sang. On those two.'”
The two tribal chiefs closed their eyes with shallow sighs.
Having long assisted the Beast Miao King by his side, they had vaguely guessed. What kind of person he was, what choices he would make.
But…
“This time, the palace lord was wrong. He should have rather gathered all the power of the tribes following him and the Miao people to eliminate the rebels inside the inner palace.”
“Even conceding a hundred times, trusting Jin Taekyung might have been the right choice. If the story the young palace lord told is true, he ultimately left alone to keep his fidelity. However, Baek Sang, that man is different.”
Seeing the two tribal chiefs speaking as if declaring a verdict, Yal Mok, who had been watching with a faint hope, opened his mouth.
“It is too early to judge hastily. If Baek Sang accepted Father’s request…”
“Young palace lord.”
Chief Jang interrupted Yal Mok and continued in a despondent voice.
“Subdue the Han people within the scouting party and escort them to the inner palace. This is the first and last order we received. Do you understand what this means?”
Just as Yal Mok hesitated, Nam Ho, who had been quietly observing the situation from behind, suddenly realized something and muttered like a groan.
“He deliberately didn’t inform us.”
“Old Man Nam, what do you mean by that?”
“Needless to say, the two tribal chiefs here and the warriors of the scouting party are those who follow the palace lord. If they were informed of the trouble brewing in the inner palace, they would surely interfere in some way, so he must have planned to summon us only after everything was settled.” Nam Ho continued with a profound look in his eyes.
“Or he intended to leave the handling to the Blood Monk. That old monster.”
“A scheme of killing with a borrowed knife. Baek Sang and Dark Heaven chose a suitable blade to use. No, in this situation, it wouldn’t even be someone else’s blade. It’s highly likely that the Blood Monk is also in league with them.”
A cold silence enveloped the group. Feeling their wavering gazes, Nam Ho felt his heart grow heavy.
‘Not good. This is the worst.’
Behind them, the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, which by now had likely fallen into the hands of Baek Sang and Dark Heaven. Ahead of them, an unidentified supreme master they couldn’t hope to match on their own.
Moreover, in this situation, even Jin Taekyung, more reliable than anyone, was absent.
‘What in the world are we supposed to do?’
Even for him, who had spent his entire life in the Silent Heaven Pavilion, an answer didn’t come easily. But a decision had to be made before it was too late.
As if an invisible iron chain were binding his entire body, in the midst of this stifling feeling, Nam Ho parted his lips with difficulty.
“Where are the others?”
Chief Jang, understanding Nam Ho’s meaning, answered.
“As for the other Han people, we’ve detained them as a precaution. We haven’t harmed them in any way, only pressed their sleep acupoints.”
“Do you intend to send them back to the Central Plains?”
A remark that precisely hit the mark. After a brief silence, Nam Ho nodded heavily.
“My apologies. But for now, this is the best course. If they cross the Yangtze and spread news of the Southern Barbarians, the Martial Alliance will never stand idly by.”
“…The Martial Alliance.”
“I was born in the Southern Barbarians and spent half my life in the Central Plains. Though I’m just a powerless old man, I understand the affairs of both the Southern Barbarians and the Central Plains better than anyone. If it’s the Martial Alliance I know, they will somehow help the Southern Barbarians.”
A calm voice filled with strong resolve.
The two tribal chiefs, conflicted as they gazed beyond the lush grassy thicket where they were hiding toward the endlessly flowing waters of the great Yangtze, spoke as if sighing.
“Damn it.”
“What should we do?”
Nam Ho, having already finished his deliberations, answered without hesitation.
“There are two methods. First, release the Han people, immediately leave this place, and bide our time, avoiding Baek Sang’s notice. Second, head to the Central Plains together with the Han people.”
“Head to the Central Plains together? There are no ships of that scale in this vicinity. By what means…”
“There is. A ship capable of carrying everyone.”
A voice that suddenly came from somewhere. Simultaneously, at the end of the shifting gazes of the people, there was Sama Pyo, supported by Taesan, staggering to his feet.
“Is that true?”
In response to Chief Jang’s question, Sama Pyo answered with a pale face.
“How do you think we managed to come all the way to the Southern Barbarians?”
“Does that mean perhaps…”
“The Swift Ship of the Yangtze Waterway Alliance are not far from here. Half a day’s journey to the west. Perhaps if we go for just half a day, we can rendezvous with them.”
At this unexpected good news, hope rose on the faces of the two tribal chiefs.
If they could just reach Sichuan by following the tributaries of the Yangtze, they would be within the sphere of influence of the Central Plains’ martial world.
Even if Baek Sang and Dark Heaven had seized control of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, if the reinforcements of the Martial Alliance, spearheaded by the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families, arrived, it would be more than enough to turn the situation around.
‘In Sichuan alone, there are three renowned major sects. Even if the Martial Alliance’s formal reinforcements are delayed, they are different.’
Nam Ho calmly organized the situation.
The Emei Sect, the Qingcheng Sect, and the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Although they shed much blood and their power weakened due to the past Sichuan bloodshed, their roots are deep and solid enough that not even Dark Heaven could pull them out at once.
Moreover, all three sects consider Jin Taekyung their benefactor. If they answer the call and lead the martial forces of Sichuan toward the Southern Barbarians…
‘From the return journey, at the fastest, seven days and nights. At the latest, ten days.’
Nam Ho was neither a hot-blooded youth nor a martial artist who believed in his own martial prowess. Therefore, his judgment was colder and more accurate than anyone else present.
‘If we turn back the way we came now, it’s certain death. But if we bring the power of the Central Plains, the odds are evenly split. Until then, Jin Taekyung and the Beast Miao King…’
There is nothing to do but believe.
Please hold on. Please stay alive until we return.
And just as he muttered a hope he himself couldn’t be sure of in his heart.
*Boom. Boom. Booom!*
Nam Ho—no, everyone hiding in the forest overlooking the endlessly flowing river—could see and hear it.
The drum sounds emitting low reverberations and the sleek ship hull approaching, carried by the mighty flow of the Yangtze.
“That is…”
“The Yangtze Waterway Alliance! It’s the ship of the Yangtze Waterway Alliance!”
But the next moment, the two tribal chiefs, whose faces had lit up with joy, soon sensed something strange and closed their mouths.
Why had the ship, which should have been at least half a day’s journey to the west, appeared here?
The doubt that suddenly crossed their minds turned into unease the moment they saw Nam Ho and Sama Pyo’s hardened expressions, and it became reality with Nam Ho’s single word, uttered like a groan.
“Prepare for… battle.”
Amidst the group shrouded in chilling fear, Nam Ho recalled.
The one person who wasn’t by his side now. His presence, more desperately needed than ever.
‘Damn it. I’m sorry.’
Along with the thought that they might die before even saving him.
‘Swoosh. Thud!’
The ship hull, cutting through the water current unhindered, roughly ascended onto the sandy shore.
And…
‘Step’
In the spot where a wave had swept through, a single person’s footsteps were engraved.
* * *
‘Shwoop!’
Two streaks of light flying through the air, tearing through space.
Toward the Twin Wheels that arrived like a flash, contrary to their bizarre movement, I slanted White Flame diagonally downward.
‘Kwaang! Gugu-goong!’
Along with a tremendous roar, a shockwave erupted and shook the space, but this wasn’t the end.
My five senses, sharp as a blade, were reading every single movement of the Twin Wheels occurring behind me in detail.
‘They’re coming again.’
Grabbing Muyaho’s scruff as it was being pushed back, I simultaneously twisted my body.
‘Swoosh, Seokeok!’
A blue flash narrowly grazing my body. Along with a sharp cutting sound, I saw White Tiger’s snow-white fur scattering in the air.
Along with the wild-haired freak charging like a mad bull in my tilted vision.
“You—!”
Black Hand Demon Fist.
Just as unfamiliar as that nickname, a black aura coated his pitch-black fist, then shot toward my chest.
‘Whoosh!’
I could feel it. The vibration of the air. And the terrifying power contained within his single fist. But…
‘This won’t do.’
With a small mental remark, I straightened my heavily twisted posture. Meanwhile, the black aura that had reached right before my very eyes spewed a sinister light.
Beyond it, Black Hand Demon Fist’s eyes, gleaming with madness, seemed to whisper to me.
You’re dead now.
A gaze filled with certainty. It was the very same gaze I had seen in many enemies I had faced so far.
From third-rate swordsmen to supreme masters. Regardless of their martial prowess, they were always like that, and in the end, when everything was over, the one standing on two feet was me.
‘Swoosh.’
In the slowed-down world, the cool sensation of the spear shaft left my grasp.
A situation where the spear’s advantage had disappeared due to Black Hand Demon Fist’s perfectly timed charge.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I released the spear shaft and extended a single palm strike.
‘Kwaang!’
With a roar, two auras of different colors collided.
Everything within a radius of over ten zhang melted under a dreadful heat, and Black Hand Demon Fist’s eyes widened.
“You…”
A single clash. But it was enough to gauge each other’s strength.
Despite reacting half a beat late due to the Twin Wheels’ influence, I had easily blocked Black Hand Demon Fist’s single fist. Looking at his wavering pupils, I spoke calmly.
“An unknown nobody. Right?”
He must have realized something was wrong, but it was already too late.
I clenched my other empty hand.
‘Whoosh’
Azure-white flames surged forth, enveloping my fist.
Flame Extinguishing Divine Fist.
‘Kwaaaaang!’