Chronicles of the Northern Heavens Chapter 137 - Winds of Blood on the Plains (2)
The Blood King Army's cavalry tactics were drawn straight from the ancient Eastern empire of Goguryeo. Sin Hwi, who had an inexplicably deep fascination with Goguryeo history, had adopted not just their strategies but their entire military structure and logistics, implementing them wholesale.
The current charging formation of the Blood King Army was one such example.
Kwajijik!
"Kraaak!"
"Kkwaaak!"
When warhorses collided with men, the outcome was predictable. No matter how much inner energy technique a Murim expert had cultivated, it made no difference. The Blood King Army pressed forward relentlessly. Those crushed or trampled by the warhorses died gruesome deaths.
The stronger ones leaped into the air to evade the danger and targeted the mounted Blood King soldiers, but they were far more than mere cavalrymen.
Whiiing!Pupupuk!
"Kraaak!"
"Kkwaaak!"
Those who had jumped skyward failed to dodge the incoming arrows and plummeted back down like porcupines. Among Seobaek's divine arsenal were bows and arrows, of course, and this moment proved their devastating power.
Flash!
Every time Sin U's spear gleamed, severed heads flew into the air. A few charged at him, but they were shredded by the Blood King Army's spears and swords before they could even close in.
"Damn it...."
A high-ranking Golden Merchant Group expert, who appeared to hold considerable authority, stared at Sin U in dazed despair. His feelings mirrored those of Cao Cao's soldiers facing Zhao Yun long ago—perhaps even more hopeless. Zhao Yun had the vulnerable infant in his arms as a weakness, but Sin Hwi had no such flaw; instead, his terrifying Blood King Army formed an impenetrable wall around him.
"We... should have just gone back...."
Thuk!
A flying sword severed his head, which was soon pulverized beyond recognition under a warhorse's hoof.
"Who said you could leave?"
One Blood King soldier sneered savagely down at the crushed skull.
* * *
'This can't be real....'
Yeom So wanted to deny the reality unfolding before his eyes. He had never imagined the Blood King Army would dominate so utterly, even if they were the Blood King Army.
"There are too many of them, Lord Yeom So! We must escape this place at once!"
His aides had already lost all will to fight. Yeom So ground his teeth.
Retreating now left him with only one path. Returning to Wang-jeok would mean being discarded, so better to vanish into obscurity where no one would find him. The secret wealth he had skimmed over the years would allow him to live out his days in comfort.
The Golden Merchant Group had no family waiting for him anyway. He kept a concubine to ease his loneliness, but a woman like that could be abandoned without a second thought.
Still, it stung.
'To end like this....'
His rise in the Golden Merchant Group had been unstoppable. As an outsider without Wang-jeok's direct bloodline, he had believed he could climb to heights no one else had reached.
But it had all come to nothing.
'I should have stayed silent when Garak stepped forward....'
Trembling with belated regret, Yeom So said weakly to his aides, "We withdraw immediately."
"Understood. We've prepared horses—mount up, my lord."
Moments later, Yeom So was in the saddle. He and his aides turned their horses toward the western plains.
Dududu!
Only ten men had escaped the battlefield with him—those he had brought when pledging loyalty to the Golden Merchant Group. They were loyal to him above all.
Dududu!
Facing the headwind and covered in dust, Yeom So shook it off and glanced back. His eyes widened in horror as he let out a strangled gasp.
"Euk!"
Yeon-hoo was pursuing them. Two of his rearguard subordinates already screamed and fell within striking range.
"Kraaak!"
"Euaak!"
Yeom So's heart felt like it would burst from his throat. Yeon-hoo wasn't riding a horse—he was chasing them on foot with lightness skill.
'I can't end my life here! I have to shake him off somehow!'
Yeom So kicked his horse's flanks repeatedly. He figured he could outlast him; no Heavenly Expert could match a horse's endurance over distance.
"Block him!"
Yeom So bellowed as he rode. If his men bought time, his chances of survival would skyrocket.
"Kraaak!"
"Euaak!"
As two more died horribly, the four closest to Yeom So veered left and right across the plains, overwhelmed by Yeon-hoo's prowess and choosing flight over fight.
"You bastards! Don't you dare run!"
Yeom So roared, but they didn't return.
Then it came.
Whiiing!
The eerie whine that had terrified him before slithered into his ears again.
Puk!
"Kraaak!"
"Euaak!"
Yeom So whipped around. The Blood Demon Chain had sliced through two more subordinates and was hurtling toward him. But by some miracle, it missed his body by a hair and returned to Yeon-hoo, widening the gap between them.
'Yes!'
Yeom So was certain Yeon-hoo couldn't catch up now. How much farther did they ride? Then, the sound of hooves from behind made him turn in disbelief.
"......!"
Yeom So's eyes bulged. Yeon-hoo was now riding after him—likely one of his fallen men's horses. The distance was about thirty jang; one stumble, and he'd be caught.
Yeom So's hand dipped into his bosom and emerged with two daggers pinched between his fingers. He hurled them not at Yeon-hoo, but at his own mount.
Ttang!
But Yeon-hoo's palm wind deflected them harmlessly aside.
"Hya!"
In that moment, Yeom So's greatest wish was for wings to sprout from his horse. Dududu! How much farther? The gap began to widen slightly. Glancing back, Yeom So finally relaxed and spat with bravado.
"You fool! Northern whelp of a lord! A bit farther west, and we'll hit Northwest Murim territory—think you can still chase us then?"
"You don't seem to grasp what it means that I've mounted a horse to catch you here."
Yeon-hoo's voice whispered clearly into Yeom So's ear, as if from right beside him.
"What?"
"I was a bit tired earlier, but not anymore."
"......!"
Yeom So's eyes grew wider. Yeon-hoo had leaped into the air and was hurtling toward him at unimaginable speed. The legendary lightness skill, Thousand-Li Soaring Gale, had unfolded. It wasn't called legend merely for endurance—its velocity surpassed any other in the world. And the user was Yeon-hoo.
Flash!
A streak of light sliced through the legs of Yeom So's horse.
"Hiiing!"
As the horse collapsed with a pitiful neigh, Yeom So desperately vaulted into the air. The distance shrank to within the Blood Demon Chain's range.
Whiiing!
"Gasp!"
Yeom So twisted away with all his might, and the chain barely grazed his robe's hem. But then—
Puk!
"......!"
A searing pain shot up from his lower body. Instinctively lowering his head, Yeom So saw his legs, which should have been attached, separating and falling to the ground.
Only then did his scream erupt.
"Kkwaaak!"
Puk!
Yeom So crashed headfirst into the dirt. His forehead split, his jaw shattered, blood gushed—but he still breathed. Writhing like a worm, he lifted his head. Yeon-hoo stomped down, grinding half his face into the earth.
Kwak!
"Gek!"
"I'll spare you. I have business with you first."
* * *
In the midst of the horrific slaughter, two figures faced each other amid the stark contrast of killers and the dying.
Seo-wi-ryang and the Ghost Corps assassin.
Their gazes held not a shred of emotion—pure indifference. But the Ghost Corps man's eyes wavered first.
"Impressive. To encounter someone like you in a place like this...."
"You'll be even more shocked soon."
Pat.
Seo-wi-ryang vanished. He too had mastered assassination arts. Though he treated Cheol-u as an older brother, he was an elite killer who never assumed defeat.
As Seo-wi-ryang disappeared, crimson mist billowed from the Ghost Corps man's body, blood-red swords sprouting from his hands. His form then slowly rose into the air, swaying in the wind like a specter. Whether divine movement or illusion, the sight was eerie beyond measure—almost awe-inspiring.
From an unseen vantage, Seo-wi-ryang tracked the Ghost Corps man's movements. The assassin waited for him to appear.
The standoff lasted a moment, but their internal energies edged toward exhaustion. Move rashly, and Seo-wi-ryang would fall. Show weakness, and the Ghost Corps man would. Knowing this perfectly, their impasse dragged on.
Meanwhile, the Blood King Army solidified their victory on the plains. The Golden Merchant Group, stripped of fighting spirit, scattered in flight—and some blundered into the space where Seo-wi-ryang and the Ghost Corps man dueled.
Blood light exploded from the assassin's pupils.
Pupuk!
The two intruders' heads vanished without trace. Those following recoiled in terror and veered away—right into Seo-wi-ryang.
Moving would expose him, so Seo-wi-ryang endured, eyes locked on the assassin. After a few breaths, one fleeing Golden Merchant Group expert slammed into him from behind.
Puk!
"Euk!"
As the expert reeled, blood spurting from his nose with a cry, Seo-wi-ryang used the momentum to launch himself at the Ghost Corps man. At the same instant, the assassin's twin blades rained down in bloody arcs.
Puk!
"Gek!"
Seo-wi-ryang's sword pierced the Ghost Corps man's heart precisely. The twin blades, meanwhile, cleaved the Golden Merchant Group expert vertically in two.
"Kkrr...."
Blood gushed from the mouth of the man thought to be a mere ghost. It soaked Seo-wi-ryang's shoulder and dripped down his back.
"Ghosts belong in the afterlife...."
Puuk!
A red line appeared on the Ghost Corps man's back, slanting down to his groin.
Chwaaak!Thud!
Seo-wi-ryang's impassive eyes flickered faintly.
"Fool. How the hell did you let trash like this get you?"