Chronicles of the Northern Heavens Chapter 139 - Hwasan Sect Heading to Iron Blood Family
Iron Blood Family.
Sin Hwi, who had remained in place of Yeon-hoo, saw a messenger bird fly in before him.
The report detailed the battle with the Golden Merchant Group. As he read on, Sin Hwi's eyes grew heavier, soon filling with fury.
They had achieved an overwhelming victory, but that didn't mean there were no losses on their side. Even he, known as the man of Iron Blood, always felt pain upon learning of his subordinates' deaths.
Songyeong, sitting across from him, was curious about the contents but waited patiently for Sin Hwi to speak first.
Sin Hwi opened his eyes.
"Has the Hwasan Sect arrived yet?"
"No. We haven't received any reports of their sighting."
"Our side... achieved a crushing victory."
"Ah... yes."
Songyeong finally understood. A crushing victory, but the Blood King Army's losses were not insignificant.
He wanted to offer some words of comfort, but decided it was better to stay silent and kept his mouth shut. At the same time, a strong doubt arose in him.
The Blood King Army had long been called the strongest force in group battles. And they'd even been equipped with new weapons—yet if their casualties were considerable, just how powerful had the Golden Merchant Group been?
"I'll head to the Elder Council."
"Yes, go ahead."
As Sin Hwi stepped out, Songyeong quickly snatched the report from the table.
"Huh?"
Songyeong's expression turned strange. The report stated that while the Blood King Army had some seriously wounded, most injuries were minor and posed no threat to life. The enemy, meanwhile, had suffered near annihilation, with over two hundred prisoners captured and awaiting Yeon-hoo's orders.
What? This is what he meant by heavy losses?
Songyeong was dumbfounded.
This isn't a crushing victory—it's like sweeping them away with a broom... I thought we'd taken massive casualties.
Here, Songyeong realized anew just how immense Sin Hwi's pride in the Blood King Army was.
Meanwhile, Sin Hwi headed toward the Elder Council to discuss funeral arrangements for the fallen with Sama Song.
The warriors he passed bowed their heads to him. Now, Sin Hwi held the second most influential position in the Iron Blood Family—and all of Northern Murim—after Yeon-hoo.
Even beyond the family, his title as Blood King alone qualified him for such respect across Northern Murim.
After a few steps—
"Blood King!"
Someone came running from behind. It was Seobaek.
"We've spotted the Hwasan Sect's movements!"
Sin Hwi's eyes gleamed coldly.
"Several corpses believed to be from the Hwasan Sect were found a shichen south. The traces left at the scene suggest they're heading toward the main family."
"The scale of the Golden Merchant Group pursuing them?"
"It's not specified exactly, but at least several hundred."
Sin Hwi turned his steps away from the Elder Council. Seobaek hurried alongside him.
"Heading out right away?"
"Coming with?"
"Of course."
"Then follow me."
* * *
Blood dripped steadily where Cheonggong's lightness skill had passed. Blood flowed from a wound around his waist, seeping endlessly through the split skin despite attempts to staunch it. The gash was too deep.
Yet Cheonggong couldn't stop. Three hundred pursuers were hot on their trail. Any hesitation here, and they'd be caught at any moment.
Poison Eye Sword Heo Hoe...
The one who had wounded him was none other than Poison Eye Sword Heo Hoe.
In a one-on-one, Cheonggong wouldn't have suffered like this—but amid the clash with Heo Hoe, he failed to dodge an ambush from another assailant.
Cheonggong glanced back.
Tremble...
His eyes wavered, his jaw clenching involuntarily. Of the disciples who had fled the hellish destruction of Hwasan and made it this far, barely a hundred remained. Nearly a third of them bore great and small wounds.
Cheonggong bit his lip until it bled in grief and despair.
Beside him was his junior brother, Cheongmyeong. His robes were soaked red with blood, but his eyes still burned with life.
"Senior brother, you're losing too much blood. We need to rest and tend your wound."
"I can endure. Don't slow down."
"Then just a moment."
Sizzle!
Unable to refuse, Cheongmyeong tore off his upper robe and bound Cheonggong's wound tightly.
Looking at him, Cheonggong's eyes filled with wistfulness. Beneath that wistfulness flickered a thread of hope.
Cheongmyeong was the future of the Hwasan Sect. Though they'd suffered near annihilation, with him alive, revival was possible.
"How far to the Iron Blood Family?"
"Less than half a shichen. Hold on just a bit longer."
Cheonggong gazed north. Far off, a massive mountain pierced the clouds. Beyond that peak lay the Iron Blood Family.
To save his disciples, they had to cross it.
Will they accept us?
As it drew nearer, anxiety surged. They'd chosen the Iron Blood Family as their destination after losing their home to the Golden Merchant Group's assault solely because only the North was free of their influence.
We should have gone down to the cities...
Cheonggong regretted heading into the mountains instead. Traveling through cities would have placed them amid Northern forces everywhere, deterring the Golden Merchant Group from acting rashly.
Poison Eye Sword... He knew that and deliberately drove us into the mountains.
Cheonggong had seen through Heo Hoe's intent from the start. But with their forces so outnumbered, they'd had no choice but to flee into the peaks.
In the ensuing chase, over thirty disciples had died, and a similar number wounded—a devastating toll.
Cheonggong looked south. Cities were visible in the distance, but no doubt Heo Hoe's forces were pursuing through these mountains.
Hold on. If we collapse here, Hwasan will vanish into history's shadows without ever blooming.
Dragging his leaden body, Cheonggong pressed northward.
How much time passed?
"The enemy is closing in!"
Even amid his disciples' urgent cries from behind, Cheonggong calmly surveyed the surroundings. He pointed ahead.
"Everyone, to that spot!"
"Run! Push harder!"
The place he indicated was a vast horizontal rock face stretching across the cliffs. Holding there, they might endure even against superior numbers for a time.
Cheonggong gripped Cheongmyeong's shoulder firmly.
Squeeze.
"We'll hold there—so you go to the Iron Blood Family and seek aid, junior brother."
"Senior brother..."
Cheongmyeong hesitated. He didn't want to abandon Cheonggong. It might mean never seeing him again.
"The sect's revival rests on you. Go!"
Grip.
"Hold out until I return."
"I will."
Finally, Cheongmyeong swallowed tears and dashed north alone.
Soon after he vanished, a chilling sneer made the entire Hwasan group shudder.
"Heh heh heh. You've climbed well to reach here."
Poison Eye Sword Heo Hoe emerged from the woods, followed by hundreds swarming like hyenas.
Cheonggong stood at the cliff's edge. Hwasan disciples arrayed to his left and right, steeling for desperate resistance.
Heo Hoe sneered at Cheonggong.
"Think holding there changes anything? You don't seriously expect a heavenly god to drop from the sky to save you, do you? Or are you desperately hoping the Iron Blood Family nearby will come to your aid?"
Gulp gulp!
Heo Hoe downed a bottle of liquor handed by a subordinate and continued.
"The North wouldn't dare oppose our Golden Merchant Group. They'd never survive the backlash. They know it well—so wake from your dreams, drop your swords. I'll spare the others and make them slaves for the main cartel. Heh heh heh."
Cheonggong made no retort, focusing on regulating his chaotic inner energy. Without it, he couldn't handle Heo Hoe—and the moment he charged, annihilation would follow.
A glint flashed in Heo Hoe's single eye. His lips twisted into a mocking grin.
"Fine. I'll give you time to circulate your qi. It won't change a thing anyway. Heh heh heh."
"The Iron Blood Family is close. To be safe, we should finish this quickly..."
"Didn't I say they won't dare oppose us?"
"But their new lord is said to know no fear. I heard an assassin he sent beheaded the Wall Thunder Elder Council Chairman..."
The aide fell silent mid-sentence, sensing the killing intent in Heo Hoe's eyes.
"Forgive me. I merely..."
"Enough! One more word, and your head rolls first."
Heo Hoe brimmed with leisure. He was utterly convinced the North wouldn't intervene, just as he'd declared.
Then—
Two figures exuding eerie auras appeared behind him. Ghost Corps from the Blood Clan.
At their emergence, Cheonggong and the Hwasan disciples trembled. These had inflicted their heaviest losses thus far.
Cheonggong's senior brother—the sect leader—had chosen mutual destruction with two of them. Cheonggong had witnessed it up close.
One Ghost Corps member pointed at Cheonggong, his voice grating like steel on stone.
"We'll take that one's head."
"What nonsense. We need him alive—forgot already?"
"Grr..."
"I understand your grief over lost brothers, but duty comes first. If you charge in to kill him... even as Blood Clan kin, I won't forgive you, Ghost Corps."
Red smoke rose from the Ghost Corps members' bodies. But that was all.
Heo Hoe, appointed by Wang-jeok as commander of the Hwasan assault, held authority they had to obey.
Heo Hoe turned back to Cheonggong.
"I'll give you an incense stick's time. If you don't submit after... all but you will leave their bones here. I'll promise to tear them limb from limb before your eyes. Heh heh heh."
Heo Hoe sat on a nearby rock, extending a hand to a subordinate. He drained the proffered liquor in one go, then crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
His nonchalance felt like utter humiliation to Cheonggong. Powerless before blood-sworn foes, he bit his lip until it bled.
Then—
Scree!
A sound tore the air from somewhere. Heo Hoe's eyes snapped open at that instant.
Thud!
"Argh!"
A blue-robed man behind Heo Hoe screamed and flew back into a tree.
An arrow was embedded in the man's forehead.
Twitch.
Heo Hoe's brow furrowed.
"An arrow?"
Impossible. The blue-robe was a subordinate he'd brought when joining the Golden Merchant Group—not weak enough to fall to a mere arrow.
Then—
Thud!
"Gaaah!"
Another blue-robe collapsed, spewing blood. A massive hole gaped in his throat—the arrow had pierced clean through, embedding deeply in the tree behind.
"...!"
Heo Hoe's gaze whipped to the right forest. A towering tree reached skyward there, and atop it, a young man looked down with a grin.
"Hey, cyclops. Didn't you just say we wouldn't dare intervene?"
"...!"