Chapter 183 :

<Rewriting the Sichuan Blood Incident (3)>

The Martial Academy members Gu Jeongryong had taken under his command complained throughout the journey.

From their perspective, a trip that had allowed them to officially skip classes and enjoy some sightseeing had suddenly become a forced march, so their reaction was understandable.

And adults were no different from children. No matter how often he explained the severity of the situation, Elder Suheo and Elder Sangwon complained roughly seven times a day.

'And these men are supposed to be elders of the Martial Alliance.'

"It's probably bad information." "What heretical faction could there be in this day and age?" "Jin Sowoon is playing some trick."

Watching their desperate attempts to deny reality, Gu Jeongryong could not stop cursing inwardly.

"H-how could this…"

But their complaints vanished when they encountered the academy students from the Qingcheng and Emei Sects.

The Righteous Path Association members being escorted by the Twelve Peaks Fortress personnel looked like the remnants of a defeated army.

Hardly any could walk properly, and some were being carried on stretchers.

After assigning some men to protect them, Gu Jeongryong increased the pace.

Normally, Suheo and Sangwon would have complained about the rush. Now they kept their mouths firmly shut and matched the speed of Gu Jeongryong and Shenghu Hall.

Eventually, when they encountered the Mount Hua and Kongtong groups, they could not contain their shock.

"W-what on earth happened?"

"Where is Elder So? You lot! Where did Elder So go…?"

They must have fled in utter desperation. Countless academy students had even lost their swords, which were as precious as life itself to a martial artist.

Their losses were twice as severe as those of the Qingcheng and Emei students in the third line.

"According to the message we received by carrier pigeon… Surely… The losses weren't this severe."

The damage exceeded their expectations.

The Kongtong contingent was particularly badly affected. Most academy students from its affiliated sects had been crippled or lost their ability to speak. Only some disciples of the Kongtong Sect itself had barely survived.

"…A-after we e-evacuated, w-we were a-attacked… A-again."

The student could not meet their eyes and kept stammering. Listening to his report, Gu Jeongryong, Suheo, and Sangwon all maintained grim expressions.

"If the second line suffered this much… The first line must have suffered even more."

Gu Jeongryong clicked his tongue at the elders, who could offer no reply.

"For now, we'll keep moving."

"Right now?"

"We should move as quickly as possible. Who knows what might happen if we delay?"

At Gu Jeongryong's words, Suheo's eyes darted about.

"If things are this bad here, as you say, then up ahead…"

Suheo could not finish.

Gu Jeongryong's face crumpled.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"…Ahem!"

"Would you state it clearly?"

"…Never mind."

Gu Jeongryong selected some Shenghu Hall members and academy students and ordered them to escort the Mount Hua and Kongtong students to where the Qingcheng Sect personnel were gathered.

Then he turned his horse and raced toward the first line again.

Just then—

Ring—

A strange sound pierced Gu Jeongryong's mind as he rode with his energy sense heightened to its limit.

"Halt!"

As Gu Jeongryong abruptly stopped the march and backed away, Gam Cheonak approached.

"Is it that sorcery?"

"Can you feel it?"

"My heart is pounding a little."

"Can you break through it?"

Gam Cheonak gave Gu Jeongryong a surly look.

"What kind of bullshit are you talking about?"

"Did you just say 'bullshit'?"

"When did I say that?"

"…So can you do it or not?"

Gam Cheonak let out a long sigh.

"I'll be honest. Even if we get through here, will anyone up ahead still be alive?"

If the third and second groups were in such a state, the first group must have suffered even greater losses.

Even if they belonged to the renowned Shaolin and Diancang Sects, academy students who had yet to receive proper training could not have survived that hellscape.

Gu Jeongryong nodded, but he did not change his mind.

"I know. But Jin Sowoon went ahead, didn't he?"

"…"

"If he went down that road, we should at least make the effort to follow."

Gam Cheonak muttered under his breath.

"Ha… Fucking bastard. All he has to do is give orders, so he comes up with all sorts of nonsense."

"What was that, you brat?"

Gam Cheonak shrugged shamelessly.

"I didn't say anything."

"…"

Looking at the red currents wavering before them, Gam Cheonak spoke.

"Doesn't this deadly formation seem a little unstable?"

"It doesn't seem to cover the upper section properly."

"That's something, at least."

"Can you do it?"

Gam Cheonak turned his flat gaze toward Gu Jeongryong.

"You told me to do it. So I'll do it."

Gam Cheonak looked back.

"Hey! Four of you, come here!"

No sooner had he spoken than four Shenghu Hall members stepped forward.

"We need to get through here. You're all fine with that, right?"

"…You want us to go through this incredibly ominous thing?"

Their expressions were little different from Gam Cheonak's.

As though he had expected this, Gam Cheonak nodded and pointed at Gu Jeongryong.

"Yeah. That damned… I mean, our hall leader wants to go through here."

"He's completely out of his fucking mind…"

"Isn't he insane?"

Listening beside them, Gu Jeongryong lowered his voice.

"I'm standing right here, you bastards."

"…Seriously. Why's he making a fuss about overhearing his subordinates?"

As the Shenghu Hall members muttered, Gam Cheonak clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Anyway, we're going through. Get that straight."

"What do we get if we go through?"

Gam Cheonak glanced at Gu Jeongryong, then scratched his cheek.

"If we get through here and save Jin Sowoon, he'll buy us a Sichuan specialty called 'Evil-Banishing Spirit-Exorcising.'"

"Oooh!"

The mood changed instantly.

"Evil-Banishing Spirit-Exorcising! Just the name sounds delicious!"

"I've never heard of a dish called that! This is why you need rich friends!"

Watching the delighted Shenghu Hall members, Gam Cheonak smiled brightly.

"What a bunch of fucking idiots…"

Even Gu Jeongryong agreed with him as he watched the excited men in dismay.

Meanwhile, Gam Cheonak pressed the four men's acupoints.

"I'm going to disable your sight and sense of touch. You'll probably hear things that aren't there. Ignore them as best you can and move only according to the voice transmissions."

"Understood!"

Gam Cheonak looked at Gu Jeongryong.

"Let's begin."

"…Be careful."

"If you're so worried, you could do it yourself…"

"I have faith in you!"

Gu Jeongryong quickly disabled Gam Cheonak's sight and sense of touch.

Tap, tap-tap, tap-tap-tap.

After his acupoints were pressed, Gam Cheonak raised a hand and waved it before his eyes.

Then he thrust an insulting fist gesture toward Gu Jeongryong.

"Hall Leader, what am I doing right now?"

"Committing blatant insubordination."

"Oh! Am I? I couldn't tell because I can't see."

Having delivered his insult, Gam Cheonak drew his sword.

Gu Jeongryong quickly climbed a tree and began giving instructions while surveying the deadly formation.

—Keep going! You've veered right. Turn left again and go straight!

"Hah!"

The Shenghu Hall members began moving together at Gu Jeongryong's direction.

The same blood-robed men appeared inside the deadly formation.

Gu Jeongryong urgently shouted through a voice transmission.

—Enemies!

Gam Cheonak's voice transmission came back.

—Don't just say "enemies"! Tell us where they are! You're so frustrating, how are we supposed to work together?!

Gu Jeongryong realized his mistake, but still cursed inwardly.

'That little bastard…'

Following Gu Jeongryong's directions, the Shenghu Hall members wielded their swords with precision.

Clang, clang, clang-clang-clang!

At this strange display, not only the academy students but even the elders stared in a daze.

"Gaaah!"

"Aaaargh!"

Fortunately, there were not many blood-robed men, and all of them were in poor condition.

They were in no state to evade Shenghu Hall's lightning-fast blades.

After the last blood-robed ambusher died at Gam Cheonak's hands, there were no further attacks.

Once the Shenghu Hall members had passed through the deadly formation under Gu Jeongryong's guidance, they restored their senses, starting with Gam Cheonak.

Then they raced at full speed toward the art practitioners.

After cutting down the remaining blood-robed men guarding them, they killed every art practitioner.

When they destroyed the devices the practitioners had installed, the ominous deadly formation blocking the road vanished completely.

Returning to the troops, Gam Cheonak tilted his head.

"There's something odd about their condition."

"What?"

"They looked like they'd been beaten up somewhere, or hadn't slept for days. Internal energy aside, their killing intent was dull for people who've been slaughtering others all this time."

Gu Jeongryong also frowned involuntarily.

"Now that you mention it, their numbers were quite different from what the survivors reported, too."

"Did something happen before we arrived?"

"…We'll find out when we get there."

Shenghu Hall and the academy students picked up speed again.

The sight they encountered afterward was a horrific battlefield.

"Good heavens…"

"What is this…"

"Was there an actual war here?"

There were enough corpses to shock even the Shenghu Hall members.

Blood flowed across the ground in streams as though monsoon rain had fallen, and bodies lay scattered as commonly as stones.

"Everyone, stay alert!"

At Gam Cheonak's command, the Shenghu Hall members spread out in every direction with disciplined movements.

Gu Jeongryong also approached the scene of the brutal battle.

'Hm?'

But there was something strange about the bodies.

The blood-robed men made sense, since they were the ones who had attacked the academy students. But no matter how generously he interpreted it, the clothing of those lying dead alongside them could hardly belong to the Righteous Path Association, the Martial Academy's elite.

'Bandits…?'

Their clothes were a mismatched assortment, and some had covered themselves in animal skins.

A few were not even wearing anything on their upper bodies.

"They seem to be from the Green Forest strongholds around here."

Gu Jeongryong looked appalled at Gam Cheonak's words.

"Why would bandits be here?"

"…How would I know?"

"What the hell is going on?"

If the enemy was not limited to the unidentified blood-robed men, the situation was even more serious.

"Are we going to keep going?"

If both sorcery-wielding enemies and the overwhelming numbers of the Green Forest strongholds descended on them, there was no telling what might happen.

However brave Shenghu Hall might be, some things were within their abilities, and others were not.

Gam Cheonak's cool voice carried through the surroundings.

"If we keep going, we'll be putting ourselves in danger, too."

"…"

Receiving no answer from Gu Jeongryong, he spoke again.

"It's unfortunate, but even Jin Sowoon…"

Just then, a Shenghu Hall member keeping watch shouted.

"Unidentified people approaching!"

Gu Jeongryong snapped his head up from his troubled thoughts.

What if the blood-robed men were coming this way after finishing off the first group?

Or what if it was the Green Forest bandits, whose involvement remained a mystery?

"Everyone, prepare for battle!"

At Gu Jeongryong's shout, the Shenghu Hall members immediately gathered and drew their swords.

Clang, clang, clang-clang-clang!

Without anyone needing to say a word, every Shenghu Hall member took position in the Azure Dragon Half-Moon Formation. Overwhelmed by their intensity, the academy students swallowed nervously and cautiously drew their own swords.

"Phew…"

Silence settled so deeply that someone's exhalation sounded loud in their ears.

Then the unidentified people began appearing before them, one by one.

'What an odd combination.'

The people at the front made a peculiar group.

One carried a bow, another had an enormous build, and one was a woman.

The man in the middle carried a bundle the size of a watermelon.

Sharpening his vision to identify them, Gu Jeongryong let out an incredulous exclamation.

"Jin Sowoon?"

Gam Cheonak craned his neck and looked ahead.

"Huh? It really is him. The ones behind him seem to belong to Shaolin and the Diancang Sect."

Jin Sowoon seemed to notice them as well and waved casually.

At the sight, even Gam Cheonak, famous for his usually expressionless face, let out a disbelieving laugh.

"He really is something. In the middle of this hell…"

His eyes remained fixed on Jin Sowoon.

"He actually saved them."

As Gam Cheonak marveled and sheathed his sword, Gu Jeongryong spoke quietly.

"Hey. You know the bastard who just called them unidentified people?"

"Yes."

"Give that bastard hell."

"…Understood."

Releasing his pent-up tension with a long sigh, Gu Jeongryong looked at Jin Sowoon with renewed wonder.

The second and third lines had suffered devastating losses, yet the first line's losses did not appear particularly severe.

Judging from the battlefield, he seemed to have fought his way through both the blood-robed men and the Green Forest bandits.

Just as he had promised, the brat had saved his people and returned.

It was utterly unbelievable.

'A mere academy student did all this?'

Bloodflame Dragon was counted among the rising stars of the murim world, but even so, this was no feat an ordinary rising star could accomplish.

'Just what is this brat?'

Gu Jeongryong had agreed to help Jin Sowoon at Maeng Juwon's request.

Yet somehow, his curiosity about Jin Sowoon only continued to grow.