Chapter 103 :

Chapter 103. The Grand Journey of Pandemonium (2)

When Jwa Daegi of the Sojeong Unit was in Beijing—

That is, when he had followed his Young Master to Beijing as a servant of the Nanjing Yuk Family Estate—he had once seen high-ranking officials go hunting.

First, hunters captured wild deer.

Deer raised on farms were too accustomed to humans and simply stood still, which apparently made hunting them no fun.

The captured deer were then starved until the hunting competition began.

If they had too much strength, they would be difficult to hunt.

At the time, I had thought that those people truly went to absurd lengths.

The deer would grow so weak that they lost their senses at the mere sight of a few grains.

They would then release the deer and begin the hunting competition.

Usually, the stags or the herd leaders were caught first.

It was not because they stood in front of the other deer as their leaders.

The leading stags usually possessed magnificent antlers, which made them easy to spot, and they could not run as quickly as the others because they were heavier.

Jwa Daegi had once said this mockingly when the elite warriors of the Martial Alliance marched off to the Righteous-Demonic War dressed in dazzling uniforms.

Unfortunately, the story provided little comfort to the Sojeong Unit, who were dressed in rags.

The reason I suddenly remembered that story was because we were now the stags in this deer hunt.

Ordinarily, those who passed the third stage gathered into groups of three or five, joining with familiar companions to form massive parties before beginning the grand journey.

That was because, unlike the previous stages where even examinees from the Nine Great Sects, the Five Great Families, and the Hundred and Eight Peaks fought fiercely against one another, the grand journey required only that they reach the Martial Academy.

Those whose success was already guaranteed had no reason to fight one another instead of cooperating.

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran had attempted to negotiate with several people who had passed the third stage.

“What? What are you suggesting?”

“C-cooperation?”

“Ha ha ha! Young Lady Namgung, I never imagined you would become such an amusing person while we were apart.”

“I’m not joking……”

“Ha ha ha ha! Once the examination is over, I shall invite you somewhere myself. Ha ha ha!”

Not a single person agreed.

People who would normally have used every possible method merely to speak a word to them now fled as though the two women carried a plague.

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran could barely process the situation.

To begin with, the number of warriors under Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran had fallen to roughly twenty percent of its original size.

Regardless of relations between sects, no one wished to take on a burden while undergoing such an important examination.

Under those circumstances, they were fortunate that the Moyong Family had joined them.

“And yet we are the ones preparing an ambush?”

“An ambush has the highest chance of succeeding when it is least expected.”

Namgung Seonhwa sighed softly.

After leaving Namak, we ran at full speed and passed Fuyang in four days.

The people following us were initially startled by our speed and hurried desperately after us.

However, when we continued running even after nightfall, they could no longer keep up.

By the time a full day had passed, we had shaken off every pursuer who had started following us from Namak.

There were occasional attackers waiting along the route after hearing the news, but our march, now strengthened by the addition of the Moyong Family warriors, never stopped.

However, the Moyong Family warriors were unaccustomed to operating without sleep and frequently collapsed one after another.

As a result, they became the first people to use the steel carriages.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes.”

“Just as you said, Young Master Jin, it is an ideal location for an ambush.”

Mount Geumdan stood between Hwal County and Bonggu County, with a river running beside it.

The mountain was not particularly high, and many reservoirs had been constructed there for farming since ancient times, so an official road ran through it.

It was the fastest route toward Hubei Province through Zhengzhou.

Not only our party but every other examinee would inevitably have to use it.

“Still, the mountain slopes are too low. Anyone who has learned even moderately advanced martial arts could climb the walls without difficulty.”

That was precisely why no mountain stronghold had ever been established there despite the terrain being well suited for ambushes.

“You do not need to worry about that. I once caught people far more terrifying than the Wudang Sect here.”

No matter how outstanding Wudang’s talents were, they could not compare with the Blood Demon Ghost Sword Unit.

The message delivered from Wudang’s main mountain through the head of its Zhengzhou Daoist compound had been severe.

—Your poor judgment has affected even your junior brothers’ examination. You must resolve this matter yourself. Should you fail, you will spend the rest of your life cleaning the Scripture Pavilion.

‘Damn it……’

Hyeonsu clenched his teeth.

Leaving aside his own defeat and Hyeonjin’s defeat, it was true that he had still been disoriented after losing to Jin Sowoon and had forced bad advice upon Hyeonjin.

However, the defeat of Hyeonhyang against Eunho and Hyeonmyeong against Geumpyo had not been his fault.

Yet those damned junior brothers had shifted the cause of the entire disaster onto him.

Because of that, one mistake could leave Hyeonsu trapped in the Scripture Pavilion for the rest of his life.

“We will reclaim the entrance plaques stolen by the Taeul Sect from the Taeul Sect itself.”

Taegun, whose success had been guaranteed after obtaining a third-stage plaque, departed for Hubei Province with the other Wudang disciples.

Hyeonsu and his remaining junior brothers waited for the moment the Taeul Sect left Namak.

“We will finish this before they reach Cheongpung County and then join the procession heading toward Hubei Province.”

“Yes……”

“Understood……”

Their responses lacked conviction.

They still looked at him with suspicion whenever he spoke.

“If you are so dissatisfied, then you devise the plan!”

“We did not say anything.”

Even if they reclaimed the plaques from the Taeul Sect, attempting the grand journey with only four people might prevent them from reaching the Martial Academy.

They absolutely had to capture them before they passed Cheongpung County.

“Senior Brother, they are moving too quickly.”

However, the Taeul Sect party began running at full speed the moment they left Namak.

“Provoke a battle! Even they will eventually be forced to stop.”

Hyeonsu sent several swift-footed warriors ahead to provoke a fight.

Yet the Taeul Sect ignored them and continued running at a ridiculous speed.

There was also one thing Hyeonsu had overlooked.

The enemy numbered only slightly more than one hundred, while his own group numbered nearly four hundred.

Naturally, their formation stretched much farther.

At this rate, they would risk being ambushed before they could catch the Taeul Sect.

“Damn it. Reorganize the procession. Send an advance party so that we do not lose them.”

They were human as well.

No matter how hard they ran, they would eventually have to stop.

As long as the advance party did not stop them prematurely, Wudang could hunt them down at any moment.

“Senior Brother, they are not resting.”

“It is already almost the Hour of the Dog.”

“What in the world are they thinking?”

The march that had begun in the morning continued without pause even after the sun set and the moon rose.

The enemy was undoubtedly growing tired, but the Wudang members were also steadily exhausting themselves because they had not eaten a single meal.

“Stop for now and perform a brief reorganization. They are human, so they will eventually sleep. Send more people to the advance party so that we do not miss that opportunity.”

Once again, Hyeonsu’s prediction proved wrong.

They continued moving without sleeping.

“These lunatics…… Fine. Let us see who wins.”

At that point, Hyeonsu’s stubbornness took over.

Instead of allowing them to sleep, he gave them enough time for roughly one double-hour of breathing cultivation and then resumed the pursuit.

In terms of internal energy, Wudang’s people were incomparable to the Taeul Sect’s party.

If the enemy intended to use a war of attrition, Wudang would certainly emerge victorious.

Sure enough, news finally arrived that they had stopped.

“They reportedly saw part of the group enter a valley at Mount Geumdan.”

“Did they?”

Half of their people would continue moving as though nothing had happened while the other half launched an ambush to delay the pursuers.

It was a basic military strategy and an excellent method for a small force to fight a larger one.

Unfortunately, they had chosen the wrong opponent.

“They are underestimating Wudang.”

The advance party reported that a road ran through the center of the mountain valley, making it favorable terrain for an ambush.

However, it was not difficult enough to pose a serious obstacle to martial artists.

“How far ahead is the advance party?”

“Half a day.”

Had the distance already grown that wide?

They had only been running together for three days, yet Hyeonsu found it difficult to believe that such a gap had formed.

“Senior Brother Hyeonsu, we need time to recover from our exhaustion before we fight.”

“What?”

Hyeonsu turned toward Taemyeong and saw that his face looked terrible.

“We have not slept at all for four days. We have barely eaten properly either.”

Only then did Hyeonsu realize that there was a difference in internal energy between himself and his junior brothers.

“We will resume after one double-hour of personal rest and preparation.”

“Haah…… Understood.”

Those gazes filled with dissatisfaction would have been unimaginable in the past.

But it would all end today.

Once he reclaimed the plaques and showed the Taeul Sect the price of insulting Wudang, neither his junior brothers nor Wudang itself would make a major issue of what had happened.

Had he not passed Wudang’s own internal evaluation, which was said to be even more difficult than the Martial Academy examination?

When it was time to depart again, everyone still looked exhausted.

A brief nap and a meal of dry rations could not possibly restore their strength like proper rest.

“Endure a little longer. They must be tired as well.”

By the time the sun had disappeared beyond the western mountains and the moon had risen, the Wudang Sect finally reached Mount Geumdan.

“Thirty people are positioned on each side of the valley.”

“Is there a path leading above the valley?”

“Not from this direction.”

“Did they choose this place because the path is blocked?”

“That appears to be the case.”

“How high are the valley walls?”

“The tallest sections are about five jang, while the lowest are around three jang.”

This was it.

This was where the difference between a prestigious great sect and a weak sect revealed itself.

The difference in thought.

They believed the height was sufficient merely because they themselves could not climb it.

For disciples of the Wudang Sect, a height of five jang was easily surmountable.

“Jin Sowoon…… What about him? Did he leave ahead of them?”

“No. He is inside the valley with his junior brothers.”

Hyeonsu nodded and looked toward his junior brothers.

“Our schedule was disrupted, but we can still proceed according to plan. Let us go.”

The difference in terrain would cause some casualties.

However, considering their tenfold numerical advantage and the difference in martial skill, they could easily overcome those losses.

They activated the Grass-Treading Flight from the entrance of the valley.

Nearly four hundred people moved, yet the only sound echoing through the valley was the rustling of fallen leaves.

After they had advanced deep into the valley—

Boom.

A tremor shook the ground as a massive boulder the size of a person fell into the center of the valley.

“It is them!”

At Hyeonsu’s shout, dozens of stones the size of human heads rained down from both sides.

Several people were struck by the violently falling rocks and lost consciousness on the spot.

However, following their earlier instructions, the others kicked off the ground and leaped toward the top of the valley.

“Jin Sowoon! Where are you?”

The instant Hyeonsu kicked off the huge boulder, he unleashed his internal energy and soared into the air.

After stepping once on a protruding section of the valley wall, he quickly reached the top.

However, Jin Sowoon was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, Hyeonsu heard a strange sound.

Roooooar.

‘Water?’

Seeing the Taeul Sect party holding rocks and preparing to throw them from above the valley had been within his expectations.

The sound of water reaching his ears, however, was not.

How could the sound of a river or stream be coming from such a dry valley?

Hyeonsu forced himself to focus, dismissing the thought as impossible, and prepared to swing his sword.

Then he saw it.

The members of the Taeul Sect party had stopped throwing rocks and were now clinging tightly to large trees.

Crash.

And from above the valley, an enormous surge of water was rushing directly toward him.

“What is this?!”