novelraw Chapter 190 : Hearing Something a Hundred Times Is Not as Good as Seeing It Once
Chapter 190 : Hearing Something a Hundred Times Is Not as Good as Seeing It Once
Chapter 190: Hearing Something a Hundred Times Is Not as Good as Seeing It Once
Southeast of Shanxi Province, Hunyuan County.
Right there stood Mount Heng, one of the Five Sacred Mountains, known as the Northern Sacred Mountain.
Its precipitous, rugged, and steep mountain terrain instilled fear and awe in those who beheld it at the same time.
Because Mount Heng was militarily important as the gateway from the northern regions into the Central Plains, countless hegemons had fiercely fought to claim it since ancient times…….
“Capture him!!”
“Whoever captures him alive will receive a great reward from our newly appointed Palace Lord!”
……and that was still the case even now.
A group of martial artists clad in snow-white fur outer garments were fiercely chasing a single man.
On the right chest of every pursuer, the character Ice (氷) was vividly embroidered.
“Huuk, huff.”
Meanwhile, the man desperately fleeing from them had a deathly pale face drained of all color.
Gasping as his breath reached his throat, he glanced back and hastened his steps, using a frost-frozen spear as a walking stick.
“Damn it. Damn it. I should have taken it to heart when that bastard Moyong Bin warned me not to underestimate the Ice Palace…….”
The man, Yang Heo-gun, the successor of the Shin Chang Yang Clan, muttered to himself in a voice thick with regret.
When the North Sea Ice Palace, one of the Outer Four Palaces, invaded Shanxi, the Moyong Clan suffered heavy losses. To support them, the Shin Chang Yang Clan, a fellow member of the White Path Union, had joined the fight.
Yang Clan’s participation had been unavoidable.
The moment the Moyong Clan was annihilated, the next target would have been the Yang Clan, which was also based in Shanxi.
“No, this whole mess happened because those damn Moyong bastards couldn’t even stop a single cursed barbarian in the first place. Damn them all!”
In truth, the reason he was isolated like this was because he had ignored his deputy’s warnings—who had insisted it was dangerous—and recklessly charged into a trap set by the enemy to accumulate war merits.
Yet Yang Heo-gun’s blame did not stop with the Moyong Clan. It extended even to his own father, Yang Taek-gyeong, the Great Absolute Spear Saint, who had decided to join the war.
Just as the distance between him and the enemy continued to close—
His eyes caught sight of an old man climbing a steep mountain path while leading a mule.
‘……Wh, who is that!?’
His heart dropped at the thought of an enemy, but he sensed no aura.
The old man seemed to be a mountain dweller with no connection to the Ice Palace.
A strange light flickered in Yang Heo-gun’s eyes.
“E, Elder!”
“……Who might you be?”
Yang Heo-gun hurriedly stopped and addressed the old man.
The white-haired old man, his back deeply bent, raised his head and asked quietly.
“Haa… ferocious bandits are chasing me! If you know a shortcut down the mountain that’s faster than the main path, please tell me!”
He had once studied a map of Mount Heng during a strategy meeting, but it had long since been wiped from his memory.
Judging that this old man, who clearly knew the terrain well, might know a shortcut to shake off the pursuers, he asked in desperation.
Perhaps because the urgency in his voice was so palpable—
“……Hmm, if you pass that large rock you see over there and keep heading down, you’ll find a place to hide.”
“Th, thank you! And forgive me.”
“……What do you mea— gk!”
Along with his apology, Yang Heo-gun released internal force into the old man’s heart.
It was to silence him immediately, in case he revealed information to the enemy.
The old man collapsed onto the ground, lifeless.
Pabat!
With no time to confirm anything, Yang Heo-gun flung himself toward the shortcut the old man had indicated.
Moments after Yang Heo-gun’s figure disappeared from view—
“……Ha, what a piece of dog trash who doesn’t deviate even an inch from expectations.”
Astonishingly, the corpse slowly rose to its feet.
At the same time, a powerful aura erupted from the old man, who had clearly given off no trace of energy before.
Brushing off the dirt clinging to his body from having been sprawled on the ground, the old man—
Rip.
Without hesitation, he removed his human-skin mask.
To his surprise, beneath it appeared the face of a young man past the age of thirty.
“Damn, pretending to be an old man when it’s not even in my fate—keeping my back hunched like that nearly killed me.”
Placing a hand on his lower back and stretching fully, Jang Sopyeong, the Successor Beggar of the Beggars’ Sect, spoke.
It was astonishing that Jang Sopyeong, who should have been at the Murim Alliance’s main headquarters, was instead stationed in Shanxi, the northernmost reaches of the Central Plains.
Jang Sopyeong craned his neck and looked down below.
The rapid movements of the pursuit team chasing Yang Heo-gun were clearly visible.
Unlike Yang Heo-gun, who had failed to inflict even the slightest damage on him with a surprise attack, the combat strength emanating from the North Sea Ice Palace’s pursuit team was beyond imagination.
Jang Sopyeong spoke in a bitter tone.
“……If it weren’t for our Captain, the Moyong Clan, the Yang Clan, and all of Shanxi’s murim would have been wiped out completely.”
That was right. The reason Jang Sopyeong had descended upon this battlefield was because of an order from Sewoon, the Captain of the Jecheon Unit.
Tadat!
At that moment, the North Sea Ice Palace’s tracking unit arrived at his location.
In the dual hands of the Ice Palace martial artists, yin-cold qi reminiscent of white snow shimmered and surged.
“Stop! Enemy reinforcement!”
“Who are you, you bastard!!”
“Who am I?”
Buuung! Bung!
From behind the cart the mule was pulling, Jang Sopyeong spun the hidden Beggar-Beating Staff.
“I’m your grim reaper.”
Dagadak, dagadak.
A short while later, the sound of the mule’s hooves entered deep into a cavern.
As if testifying to the fierce battle that had taken place, white frost clung everywhere to Jang Sopyeong’s clothes and the cart.
Even though no presence could be sensed at all, Jang Sopyeong continued moving deeper inside.
“Ugh… the smell of blood. Once again, corpses are piled up like a mountain.”
A woman’s voice echoed through the darkened cave.
Peng So-hye of the Peng Clan of Hebei pinched her nose and shook her head.
“They swarmed in like wolves to kill the Yang Clan’s legitimate heir.”
“He suddenly charged out alone on the battlefield like a rabid dog, so how could they possibly miss him.”
As Jang Sopyeong shrugged and replied, Peng Daeho, who had been wiping blood off his blade to the side, spoke up.
“Yang Heo-gun, was it? That bastard’s infamous for being trash. How was he?”
“Just like the rumors.”
“……You must’ve wanted to just leave him to be turned into an ice statue.”
“Mm, exactly.”
The two let out a deep sigh at the same time.
After the invasion of the North Sea Ice Palace began, they had been helping the Moyong Clan and the Shin Chang Yang Clan alliance by disguising themselves in various forms, just like Jang Sopyeong earlier.
However, the reason for their actions was absolutely not because they had betrayed the Murim Alliance and the Jecheon Unit to side with the White Path Union.
At that moment, Peng So-hye, who had been examining the condition of the corpses one by one, spoke with a dark expression.
“As expected again. More than half of the Ice Palace’s people have mastered demonic arts.”
“Yeah. With their lives on the line, nearly half of them brought out bizarre demonic arts instead of ice techniques.”
At those words, the expressions of the other two also hardened.
“……At this point, we can’t deny that what the Captain said was true.”
“Right. That the Blood Cult has infiltrated the inner ranks of the Outer Four Palaces.”
Peng Daeho spoke quietly, and Jang Sopyeong replied.
A chilling silence fell.
In their minds, the conversation they had shared with Sewoon before coming here resurfaced.
-……The Sichuan Tang Clan is going to strike Heaven-Piercing Gang after Guizhou?
-Captain! No—Clan Head Tang! This is completely different from the Qingcheng Sect’s case!
-……If the purpose of founding the Jecheon Unit was to fulfill your personal plans, then I cannot walk this path with you.
After annihilating the Qingcheng Sect, Sewoon had honestly told them his future plans.
Naturally, all three of them had reacted with fury and protest.
From their perspective, it was only natural.
Although they had realized the Blood Cult truly existed through the Jecheon Unit’s activities, the process itself was enough to make them suspect that Sewoon and the Tang Clan turning toward the unorthodox path and expanding their clan’s power might conceal another agenda.
If creating yet another dangerous force within the unorthodox factions was meant to stop the Blood Cult, then there would be no reason for them to continue working with the Jecheon Unit.
When they demanded an explanation from Sewoon, he replied without the slightest emotional fluctuation.
-No. You don’t need to help me. The three of you will go to Shanxi.
-……Shanxi?
-Why all of a sudden?
-You may think of this as the Jecheon Unit’s final mission.
-……!!
Sewoon gave them no explanation at all.
He merely issued a new order.
-So go there and see for yourselves.
-See what, exactly?
-You’ll know when you get there.
And finally, Sewoon said this.
-How close ‘demonkind’ has already come.
They could not grasp his meaning or intent at all.
Yet at his words that this would be their final command, they headed for Shanxi.
And two days after they arrived—
Forces from beyond the borders, led by the North Sea Ice Palace, launched an assault on the Central Plains, an event later called the Uprising of the Three Palaces.
At that point, the three immediately began carrying out Sewoon’s orders.
To thoroughly conceal their identities and support the Moyong Clan and the Shin Chang Yang Clan.
And to dismantle the enemy formations and traps installed throughout Mount Heng, the strategic chokepoint blocking the Ice Palace’s southward advance.
As they repeated this process countless times, the three finally understood the intent behind Sewoon’s words.
That the Blood Demon’s plan to dominate the jianghu had truly been proceeding in utter secrecy beneath the surface.
And that its blade had already reached their very throats.
At that moment, Peng So-hye spoke with a bitter expression.
“It’s become clear that the purpose behind creating the Jecheon Unit wasn’t for the Captain’s personal gain. Otherwise, he would never have sent us here to help the White Path Union, who are practically his mortal enemies.”
“Right. Both the Moyong Clan and the Shin Chang Yang Clan are places where the White Path Union’s power has surged since the Qingcheng Sect’s destruction. If someone else could wipe them out simultaneously, there’d be nothing better than that.”
“And with even the Namgung Clan and Shaolin Temple unable to properly assist, the Tang Clan would have no reason at all to help.”
“Hah… if we hadn’t arrived early to lend help at the right moments and prevent catastrophic losses, Shanxi itself would’ve fallen into their hands.”
Peng Daeho’s final words were undeniably true.
If Shaanxi had fallen into the hands of the North Sea Ice Palace—
Hebei, where the Peng Clan was located.
Shaanxi, where the Mount Hua Sect resided.
And finally, Shaolin in Henan.
The Blood Cult would have come into direct contact with all three regions at once.
In the end, all of this pointed to one conclusion.
Every suspicion they had held toward Sewoon had been wrong.
Peng So-hye let out a deep sigh.
“Hoo… I’m ashamed that I doubted him so late. I should’ve trusted the Captain from the start, just like those ‘two people’ did.”
“…….”
“…….”
At her words, no one could hide their bitter expressions.
Still, it couldn’t be helped.
If the situation had been reversed, having one’s comrades doubt them would have been the gravest insult imaginable.
“Ahem, for now, let’s resolve the mission here properly, then go back and offer a sincere apology to the Captain.”
“That seems right. The overall battle situation feels about evenly matched for now. If this lull continues, the Ice Palace will probably withdraw—”
Jang Sopyeong cautiously voiced his prediction, but they did not know.
That a massive dark cloud, one even Sewoon himself had not anticipated, was slowly descending over Shanxi.