Shaking the Board (2)
The sound of ragged breathing echoed through the air.
“Huff! Huff!”
How long had he been running?
He had sprinted without thought, forgetting both distance and time. Though he had nearly memorized the entire geography of Guangdong Province, the urgency of the moment left him with no idea where he was.
“Cough!”
There was no strength left in his body.
Yayul Jeok collapsed beside a small stream and vomited blood onto the ground.
The blood was a deep, dark crimson. A foul stench mixed with the thick metallic odor of blood rose into the air. This…! Yayul Jeok’s eyes trembled violently.
Chiiiiiiik!
White smoke rose from the blood-soaked earth. The blood itself was laced with poison.
It was only thanks to the protection of his Su-wang True Qi flowing through his veins that he had survived. Had he been even slightly negligent, the poison would have spread throughout his body and killed him.
Especially this poison!
Dead Flower Pattern!
The Dead Flower Pattern, crafted from a rare poisonous plant found only in western Guangdong, was so lethal that calling it an extreme poison felt like an understatement.
Even Yayul Jeok, who possessed considerable resistance to most toxins, found it difficult to handle. The dagger that had stabbed him in the chest had been coated with exactly this poison.
That bastard…!
The only saving grace was that it had not been perfectly refined. There were a few secret techniques he had never taught his disciple as the Shadow God. One of them was the method to create the Dead Flower Pattern.
To think the boy had manufactured and used a poison he had never been taught—truly, he was an impressive one.
Whoosh!
Yayul Jeok withdrew his Su-wang True Qi and immediately raised his Eum-sin Inner Energy. When it came to dealing with poison, the energy of the Shadow God was far safer than the Su-wang’s.
“Ugh!”
Sharp pain erupted from every vessel in his body. It was proof that the Eum-sin energy was driving out the Dead Flower Pattern.
Chiiiiiiik!
Dark green smoke rose from Yayul Jeok’s body.
How much time had passed?
“Haa!”
At last, Yayul Jeok let out a sigh of relief. He had completely purged the Dead Flower Pattern from his system.
But the price had been steep. In order to extract the poison, he had been forced to sacrifice three-tenths of his existing Eum-sin Inner Energy.
It was a shame, but there was no helping it. If he had not drawn it out along with his internal energy, he would have died without being able to detoxify himself.
“Damn it all!”
Boom!
Yayul Jeok’s fist slammed into the ground. To think I couldn’t kill them.
Not only had he failed to kill them, but he had nearly died for the first time in a long while.
Had he not fled, he would have died without a doubt. In Yeon Hojeong’s eyes, he had read a terrifying resolve that said the man would never let him escape.
Yayul Jeok’s gaze deepened.
Perhaps it was because he had suppressed his Su-wang True Qi and raised his Eum-sin energy, but his mind felt clearer and colder than before. That bastard knew far too much about us.
In truth, when So Bang had told him that the boy had completely dismantled the Blood Sound Formation, he had only half-believed it.
But not anymore. The boy had recognized the nature of his energy the moment it was revealed, and he had even blocked every single one of the Su-wang’s Hundred Strike Techniques with a defense that was half a beat faster.
It was shocking enough that his cultivation had risen during a life-or-death battle, but the fact that he knew their martial arts so thoroughly was even more astonishing. Could it be… that there is a spy within the main sect?!
Yayul Jeok unconsciously shook his head.
The probability of that was practically zero. If there were a spy, they would have known long ago that the Saeum Sect had been targeting the Central Plains for years. Yet the Martial Alliance’s response proved that was not the case. Then what is it? Just who is that bastard? How does he know so much about us?
His head spun.
After pondering for a long time, Yayul Jeok shook his head again.
“No. This is not the time to be worrying about that.”
What mattered now was that he had been defeated—and that there was a chance the main base had also fallen.
He needed to confirm that first. If the main base had truly fallen into enemy hands, things would become incredibly complicated. It could simply be a bluff meant to rattle me. Even if it wasn’t, the odds are high that they walked into the traps I laid and were annihilated.
Yayul Jeok took out a small medicinal pill from his robes.
It would have been better if it were something on the level of the Eumjeongdan, but it wasn’t. Still, it was an excellent medicine for quickly stabilizing internal injuries and restoring inner energy.
Yayul Jeok swallowed the pill and spent half a day circulating his energy. He knew that rushing around while injured would only make things worse than taking the time to heal first.
The next day.
Upon entering a city near the Dragon Gate in Guangdong, Yayul Jeok immediately summoned his informant.
Swish.
In a dark alley, a hooded young man knelt before him.
“This subordinate greets the Shadow Lord.”
Yayul Jeok’s eyes narrowed.
He had caught the faint tremor in the young man’s voice. For an assassin trained to suppress all emotion to react this way meant the situation was far from ordinary.
“Tell me everything you know about what has happened over the past two days.”
“Yes.”
A short while later.
After hearing the young man’s report, Yayul Jeok’s face twisted horribly.
“……
Night Castle has fallen into the enemy’s hands.
“Night Castle has fallen into their hands?”
“That is correct.”
“How? There were a thousand elite troops stationed there. I gathered only the very best—do you mean to tell me they are all dead?”
“That is not the case.”
“Then?”
“Nine-tenths of the forces left the mountain to search for you, my lord.”
Yayul Jeok was stunned.
“They came down to find me? Who the hell gave such an order?!”
“……
It was you, my lord.”
“What… what did you say?”
“A support request from the Shadow Lord was received through the intelligence network. The exact location was unknown, but since the request came from the northwest, all assassins except for the minimum required guard force were dispatched.”
“That’s impossible! I never once sent a request for—”
Yayul Jeok suddenly fell silent. Information interference!!
If the Martial Alliance’s Ghost Army unit had entered Guangdong, it was only natural that an intelligence unit to support them would have been dispatched as well. It’s the Beggars’ Union!
Only the Beggars’ Union could interfere with intelligence at a level that could fool his own assassins.
The young man continued.
“However, contact was lost midway. Currently, nine hundred assassins are waiting three hundred li away.”
They would not be fooled by the same trick twice.
But whether it was the Beggars’ Union or anyone else, the enemy only needed to succeed once. A bloodless occupation. They lured out most of the main base’s forces and easily reclaimed it…
Yayul Jeok let out a hollow laugh. I’ve been completely played.
To think the main base would fall into enemy hands so pathetically.
He had reigned as the king of Guangdong for well over ten years. During that time, he had solidified his power and weakened the forces of the righteous path. He had never imagined a day like this would come. If the main base has fallen into their hands… that means they didn’t fall for the traps.
They knew everything.
They had seen through every move his side would make. Otherwise, there was no way they could have executed such a perfectly timed operation. It’s him.
The person who came to Yayul Jeok’s mind was none other than Yeon Hojeong. The true mastermind behind this is not the elders or the strategist of the Martial Alliance. It is the one commanding the operation on the front lines, watching everything unfold.
For a moment, Yayul Jeok felt goosebumps rise across his entire body.
“What a monstrous…!!”
“Pardon?”
The young man asked again, but Yayul Jeok paid him no mind. What a completely insane bastard! It’s already unbelievable that someone his age possesses such martial prowess, but to think he can read the enemy’s movements so perfectly?
It was terrifying.
At this point, the boy’s mind and senses were far more frightening than his martial arts.
No matter how strong one’s martial power was, it ended at the role of a vanguard. But someone with sharp senses, exceptional strategy, and the ability to read the flow of events could aim for something far greater.
Yayul Jeok felt the world before his eyes go dark. If he truly saw through all of this and responded accordingly, then he deserves to be called a War God.
He had heard that geniuses who surpassed imagination occasionally appeared in the world.
But wasn’t this too much? How could a young man not even thirty years old possess such ability? What should I do?
If the main base had been occupied, then all the precious elixirs and intelligence documents stored there had likely been seized.
Moreover, Night Castle raised special messenger hawks capable of periodically contacting the Saeum Sect. Even without those hawks, there were many ways to contact the sect, but the speed of information delivery was far too slow.
Yayul Jeok bit his lip. There is no other choice. I must infiltrate at all costs. I have to report the current situation to the main sect.
It would be difficult to escape responsibility for allowing things to reach this point. He might even be executed.
But his own death was insignificant. If things continued like this, he would end up staining the entire history of the Saeum Sect with shame. One day… They will search every corner of Night Castle, but even in a single day, they won’t be able to uncover all the secret passages.
What suddenly came to Yayul Jeok’s mind was Sama Hyeon. If that bastard joined hands with the Martial Alliance, he may have revealed the existence of the secret passages. But he also suffered a fatal wound. It won’t be easy for him to regain consciousness within a day or two.
In other words, it was a race against time. He had to infiltrate Night Castle as quickly as possible and inform the Saeum Sect of the situation.
Yayul Jeok spoke to the young man.
“Are there any other notable matters?”
“There are.”
He had expected the answer to be none. Yayul Jeok felt his heart sink.
“What is it? What else has happened?”
“Rather than something happening, it would be more accurate to say that unusual figures have entered Guangdong.”
“Who?”
“Individuals from Shaolin.”
“……!!”
Yayul Jeok’s eyes flashed.
Since the Martial Alliance had sent the Ghost Army, it wasn’t strange for Shaolin monks to appear. Even so, this matter could not be taken lightly. The name of Shaolin carried that much weight.
“Among them, the Shaolin monks headed toward Night Castle. It appears they are acting together with the Ghost Army.”
“I see.”
“And the remaining one headed toward Foshan. We were able to clearly identify his identity.”
“Who is it?”
“It is Lee Cheol-gyeong, the sect leader of the Golden Diamond Fist Gate.”
Lee Cheol-gyeong was a rare genius among Shaolin’s secular disciples who had been taught the secret techniques of the main temple.
Of course, he was not someone who particularly impressed Yayul Jeok. No matter how much of a genius he was, he was not a monster like Yeon Hojeong.
What mattered was not Lee Cheol-gyeong, but Foshan. Foshan… Could it be?
Yayul Jeok’s eyes trembled faintly. Is he trying to summon those unidentified experts?!
It had been less than half a year since he learned that Buddhist masters were gathered in Foshan.
He had reported this fact to the Saeum Sect as well. However, because there were also Shaolin disciples among them, they had been unable to approach properly. A single mistake could lead to a major disaster.
The name of Shaolin was that terrifying. Even Yayul Jeok, who fanatically believed in the power of the Saeum Sect, would not touch them lightly.
But if the situation continued to develop like this, the story would change.
“You said my elite subordinates are waiting three hundred li from here?”
“That is correct.”
“Summon them all. Not a single one is to be left behind!”
“Where shall I direct them?”
“Call them to Night Castle. I will reclaim the land of the king that was stolen from me.”
The young man’s eyes gleamed.
“I shall obey the Shadow Lord’s command.”
“Tell them to move with utmost secrecy. They must not be detected by the enemy under any circumstances. Also, contact the Dark Bird Unit separately and order them to locate and completely paralyze the enemy’s intelligence network.”
“Understood.”
Swish.
The young man vanished like mist.
Yayul Jeok growled in a low voice.
“I was caught off guard once, but it won’t happen a second time. Since it has come to this, I shall begin the war.”