novelraw Chapter 29 : Chapter 29
Chapter 29 : Chapter 29
Chapter 29 - Anti-Demon Squad (4)
To the General Manager.
I have arrived safely in Wuhan.
It is definitely a place I have visited several times, but this time, it somehow feels warmer and safer.
Is it just my mood that the moonlight reflecting on the gently flowing lake seems more beautiful today?
The matter with the Murim Alliance has been concluded well.
I received a promise that for about the next year, they will only receive supplies from the Moyong Merchant Group.
Since all other merchant groups are raising transaction prices due to the Green Forest's increasingly severe tyranny, the negotiation was easier than I thought.
Now, there shouldn't be any big worries for the time being.
Since I have finished what I needed to do, it would be right to return to the Main Family, but just this once, I want to do what I want a little longer before returning.
To do that, I urgently need the Main Family's help right now…… You know that you are the only one I trust, right, General Manager?
I would like you to send about three or four people from the Medical Hall and a carriage that people can ride in to Sichuan.
Ah, not a flashy carriage, but ones thoroughly practical and modified for speed.
By the time this letter arrives, I will probably have already left for Sichuan.
So please don't say no and help me just this once.
I beg of you.
I look forward to the day we meet again with smiles.
Until then, stay healthy, General Manager.
Sincerely, Moyong Eun-wol」
Eun-wol slowly folded the letter, tied it to the leg of a carrier pigeon sitting on the inn window, and sighed.
“Un-a…….”
Eun-wol, who looked down out the window for a moment, turned around and began to pack her things one by one.
***
“You’re saying I can’t?”
“Yes. Young Lady.”
The man in black scratched his head with a troubled face.
“I, a Law Enforcer, say I will move, so who is the person stopping me?”
Along with Ice Rakshasa’s cold voice, the surrounding atmosphere settled chillily.
“……It is the Alliance Leader.”
“The Sado Alliance Leader? Why on earth?”
“He said that vacating your position for a long period immediately after moving to the Resident Official post at the Murim Alliance, barely a day later, is not responsible behavior……. Also, he said that even if he gave you full authority, he cannot just watch you neglect your responsibilities and run wild as you please.”
Ice Rakshasa’s face filled with frustration.
“Did you properly explain that this is hundreds of times more important than protecting the Sado Alliance’s face?”
“Of course. I reported everything within the scope I could report, but he asked if he really needed to smear shit on his own face just to obtain a single Peak Master.”
“Since when did that old man care so much about others’ eyes?”
Ice Rakshasa bit her lips tightly with anxious eyes.
“He’s not just a Peak Master, he’s a child who could become the Master of Ten Thousand Demons. Tsk. Should I have reported properly to the Alliance Leader?”
Ice Rakshasa, who thought about this and that for a while, sighed heavily and turned her head toward the man in black.
“Who can move freely right now in the Law Enforcement Hall?”
“It is me and Number Three (Sam-ho).”
Ice Rakshasa, pondering over the man in black’s answer, opened her mouth with a hardened expression.
“Both of you go to Sichuan. Go to Sichuan and follow Young Hero Jaun, and if it seems dangerous, just carry him on your back and run away to the Sado Alliance.”
“Young Lady. If it is as you said, it is difficult to subdue Young Hero Jaun with only our abilities.”
Ice Rakshasa took something wrapped in silk out of her bosom and threw it to Il-ho.
“It’s Sleeping Incense and Poison Avoidance Beads. The amount is enough to put a hundred people to sleep on the spot, so approach Young Hero Jaun first, bite the Poison Avoidance Bead, and just spray it all.”
Ice Rakshasa’s eyes shone in the darkness.
“Do not choose means or methods, and if it seems dangerous, bring him out. You know how much effort I have put into Young Hero Jaun until now, right?”
Il-ho bowed his head deeply and picked up the silk bundle that had fallen on the ground.
“……I will obey your command. Young Lady.”
With those words, the figure of the man in black vanished from the spot.
Ice Rakshasa sighed and looked up at the dark sky.
***
“Strategist!”
Gwang-gae’s loud shout rang through the Strategist Office.
Jegal Mu-ui touched the tip of his chin with a troubled face.
“Is the Murim Alliance really only at this level?”
Gwang-gae slammed the desk where Jegal Mu-ui was sitting with a bang.
“I fully understand what you mean. However, as you know, the Murim Alliance’s power has weakened significantly due to frequent clashes with the Sado Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Isn’t it not a bad thing for us if the Demonic Cult and the Sichuan Tang Clan deplete each other’s strength at a time like this?”
At Jegal Mu-ui’s answer, Gwang-gae let out a hollow laugh.
“This is a matter involving the safety of the Central Plains! If Sichuan is breached, even this Hubei cannot be safe! Knowing that the Central Plains could collapse as is if the Demonic Cult’s momentum continues like this! Why on earth……!”
Gwang-gae, unable to contain his anger, beat his chest.
“Think of it as taking one step back to advance two steps. If the Demonic Cult’s strength is exhausted while clashing with the Sichuan Tang Clan, there is a high possibility that a small peace will come for a few years. In the meantime, we just need to build up our strength in the Central Plains as much as possible.”
“……Are you doing this to this extent because the Sichuan Tang Clan refused to join the Murim Alliance?”
Jegal Mu-ui gave no particular answer to Gwang-gae’s question.
He looked out the window where darkness had settled for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the book on the desk.
Gwang-gae, who had been glaring at Jegal Mu-ui for a long time, opened his mouth again.
“……If you think of it as taking one step back to advance two steps, why did you send Squad 30 of the Anti-Demon Squad to Sichuan?”
Jegal Mu-ui slowly raised his eyes and looked at Gwang-gae.
“Still, we are the Murim Alliance in name; we shouldn’t hear talk that we just watched Sichuan collapse. We dispatched the Anti-Demon Squad, but the Demonic Cult’s offensive was stronger than expected. It’s a not-bad justification.”
A faint smile spread across Jegal Mu-ui’s face.
***
The next day.
Jaun headed to Sichuan with his squad members.
“Phew. We haven’t come down that far, but whenever I come to this neighborhood, it feels hot.”
Hyeon-dam fanned himself repeatedly with his hand.
“Start getting tense. Just a little further and it’s the center of Sichuan.”
Yeon Seung-il tightened the weapon strapped to his back.
“Are Qingcheng and Emei really not moving?”
At Baek-myo’s question, Yeon Seung-il nodded quietly.
“They say they locked the sect gates and entered a thorough defensive posture. It’s not a movement to support the Tang Clan.”
“I just can’t understand it even if I try. If the Tang Clan is annihilated and the center of Sichuan opens up, Qingcheng and Emei will soon suffer the same fate.”
Baek-myo shook her head from side to side.
Jaun, who was quietly looking into the distance from a little to the side, turned his head.
“Squad Leader, how far is the Tang Clan from here?”
“If we move fast, we should arrive within one sijin (two hours).”
“If they engage in battle with the Demonic Cult, wouldn’t the Tang Clan advance quite a bit forward to defend?”
“Wouldn’t they? Since no one would want to fight inside their own house.”
“Then what is that……?”
Far away in the direction Jaun’s finger was pointing, thick smoke was rising.
“……Baek-myo.”
Yeon Seung-il, with a hardened expression, looked back at Baek-myo.
“Got it. I’ll go first, so follow slowly. I’ll leave marks.”
Baek-myo cracked her neck.
— Pa-ang!
Then, Baek-myo’s figure sped away in an instant.
“Baek-myo will scout first and find a safe location. New recruit, stick close behind me. Hyeon-dam, watch the rear from behind. From now on, we run full speed to the Tang Clan.”
“Yes.”
Jaun and Hyeon-dam, who nodded, took their positions behind Yeon Seung-il.
“Let’s go.”
The three people began to sprint toward the Tang Clan while minimizing their presence as much as possible.
Not long after, the group arrived near the Tang Clan where smoke was rising, found Baek-myo’s mark next to a small bush on a hill, and moved toward it.
Baek-myo, who was hiding in the small bush, confirmed the group and raised her hand with a pale face to point down the hill.
The group’s gaze moved following Baek-myo’s hand.
“Over there…….”
The village commonly called the Tang Family Village.
A massive fire was swallowing the entrance of the village surrounding the Tang Clan.
— Kwa-da-dang!
Burning buildings collapsed one by one, and screams of people continued from the place filled with acrid smoke.
Sounds of clashing weapons and screams flowed from everywhere in the Tang Family Village, which was filled with extreme chaos.
“The Tang Family Village is…… collapsing.”
Baek-myo’s trembling voice filled the bushes.
***
“Aaaakh!”
A fountain of blood spurred from the back of a woman who threw away the water bucket she had brought to extinguish the fire.
“Mom!”
The head of a small child running toward the fallen woman momentarily floated into the sky and then fell to the ground.
— Thump-thump
Jaun’s mind, seized with shock upon seeing that sight, was filled with confusion.
‘I heard the Divine Cult’s laws are rather stricter than the Central Plains……? How can they do such a thing.’
It didn’t matter if they learned martial arts or held weapons.
The people in black, with red Asura patterns engraved in the middle of their chests, knew no mercy.
Surging like a dark red wave, they were destroying and slaughtering everything in front of their eyes.
The group, who hurriedly came down from the forest, couldn’t speak at the horrific scene unfolding before their eyes.
“The Demonic Cult is engaging in all-out war…….”
Baek-myo’s body trembled slightly.
Until now, the Demonic Cult’s attack targets had been limited to martial artists.
But this attack was an indiscriminate massacre that included civilians.
It was certain that the contest of strength between the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the Murim Alliance, which had only continued as a war of nerves between martial artists and local skirmishes, had entered a different phase.
“Squad Leader! We have to go save the people right now…….”
“Shh.”
Yeon Seung-il, restraining Hyeon-dam’s words, looked around with cold eyes.
“Hardly any martial artists of the Tang Clan are visible. They must have gone out somewhere in Sichuan to block the Demonic Cult’s main force. Then that means the bastards here are a separate detached unit…….”
Yeon Seung-il slowly looked around.
“Forming a detached unit with this number means the Demonic Cult has made up its mind properly, so requesting support comes first.”
Just the visible Demonic Cultists numbered over a hundred.
Judging by the ceaseless sound of weapons from everywhere in the burning Tang Family Village, it was certain that at least two hundred or more personnel had been deployed here.
“Baek-myo. retreat to the rear immediately and send a request for support to the Anti-Demon Squad. Say we need support including at least three Combat Squads. There is no time. Although they say the Tang Clan’s mechanism formations are of a considerable level, it is uncertain how long they can hold out. There are too many Demonic Cult bastards.”
At Yeon Seung-il’s words, Baek-myo nodded and hurriedly threw her body toward the back.
“Hyeon-dam. Jaun. You follow behind me. Absolutely do not act rashly and just follow my back.”
Yeon Seung-il, who looked with pitiful eyes at the place where the tragedy was taking place, gestured to Hyeon-dam.
“First, we enter the Tang Clan and join the Tang Clan people. Rescue comes after that.”
Hyeon-dam, who watched the flaming Tang Family Village for a long time, ran toward the manor with his teeth gritted tight, and Yeon Seung-il and Jaun also began to run toward the Tang Clan’s manor.
***
— Kwa-dang!
Yeon Seung-il, who opened the manor gate and entered inside, looked around.
The Tang Clan people, startled by the entry of strangers, hurriedly put their hands inside their sleeves.
“I am Yeon Seung-il of the Murim Alliance’s Anti-Demon Squad! Where are the elders of the Tang Clan!”
At Yeon Seung-il’s words, a young man wearing a green robe who was flustered on one side stepped forward.
“I, I am called Tang Hun of the Tang Clan. To meet people from the Murim Alliance…….”
“Calm down.”
Yeon Seung-il, who calmed the young man whose body was trembling, asked again urgently.
“Where are all the elders?”
The young man took a deep breath and answered.
“Everyone…… Cough! They went to block the Demonic Cultists. But suddenly…….”
“Who is the commander here right now?”
“It, it is Uncle Tang Il-bi, but the door to the closed-door cultivation cave hasn't opened yet.”
Yeon Seung-il, looking around with a hardened face, turned his head toward Hyeon-dam.
“Hyeon-dam. Go out with Jaun for now, rescue the people of the Tang Family Village as much as possible, and bring them inside the manor. If the Demonic Cult’s personnel get close, don’t overdo it and seal the gates.”
“Yes. Squad Leader.”
“You there, did you say Tang Hun? You wait here, and if the gates close, activate the mechanism formations immediately. You know how to operate the mechanisms, right?”
At Yeon Seung-il’s rapidly pouring words, the young man trembled and nodded.
“I will go bring Il-bi. Establishing a proper command system is the priority right now. Hyeon-dam and Jaun. You two evacuate the villagers as much as possible while I bring Il-bi.”
“Understood, Squad Leader. Come back quickly.”
Yeon Seung-il, having heard Hyeon-dam’s answer, ran toward the inner castle like an arrow.
“Squad Leader! I sent the carrier pigeon!”
Hyeon-dam, with a grim expression, grabbed the wrist of Baek-myo who opened the door and entered just in time.
“Let’s go. We have to save even one more person.”
The figures of Baek-myo, Hyeon-dam, and Jaun shot out of the Tang Clan’s gate at high speed.