Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 203
Chapter Title: A Single Arrow's Might
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After the new recruit joined, Ebi-ja's unit finished their brief preparations and immediately set out.
Leaving Heavenly Mountain behind, they headed straight for their destination without delay.
Most of the unit members lived scattered across the entire Xinjiang region rather than on Heavenly Mountain, so they were well-versed in the terrain and progressed without much trouble.
In that cheerful atmosphere, as they traversed a mountain path...
Glance.
Song Joa, standing at the front, shot several sidelong looks at the person beside him.
Finally unable to hold back, he spoke up.
"Hey, stop worrying so much. Your head's going to fall off at this rate."
The one Song Joa was scolding was none other than Ebi-ja.
He didn't look like the Ebi-ja that Song Joa knew right now.
Unlike his usual calm and confident self, he was constantly turning his head back with shaky eyes, like a condemned prisoner awaiting flogging.
They had passed peacefully so far, but in a situation where some fiend could appear at any moment...
The unit captain at the lead wasn't checking ahead but was fixated on the members behind them, so Song Joa sighed and added a sharp rebuke.
"I get that you're worried since it's your first mission. But these unit members survived your intense training, didn't they? Trust them a bit now. And if you, the captain, look so uneasy, it'll make the others nervous too."
He had no counterargument. Ebi-ja knew that full well.
But even after Song Joa's words, he couldn't help occasionally glancing back at the rear—specifically at Hyeok Mulin and those around him.
The unit members were noisily chattering with intense interest in the new recruit.
Not a single one among them had the slightest inkling of Hyeok Mulin's true identity.
Having lived lives far removed from power and politics as hunters, it was nearly impossible for them to recognize him just from his exposed face and voice.
Watching that scene, Ebi-ja slowly turned his head forward.
"Haa..."
A sigh heavy enough to collapse the world escaped Ebi-ja's lips.
The Cult Leader had joined the unit in disguise.
How could he even describe this?
An honor? Or a disaster?
He couldn't stop worrying about the sudden situation.
'No matter that the Heavenly Demon Army is the unit tasked with the Cult Leader's protection...'
This was a brand-new unit that didn't even have a name yet.
And their first mission was to protect the Cult Leader while subjugating a bandit stronghold.
On top of that, the fact that they had to guard the Cult Leader...
'I'm the only one here who knows.'
The more he thought about it, the deeper Ebi-ja's sighs grew.
He didn't think the Cult Leader would get hurt by some ambush, but what if—just what if?
For instance, if even a tiny scratch appeared on the Cult Leader's sacred body?
Gulp.
The creation of this new Heavenly Demon Army unit might get canceled entirely.
'Maybe this is the Cult Leader's test.'
As Ebi-ja's mind filled with thoughts of Hyeok Mulin, Song Joa—who had been watching him—shook his head and looked away.
With the captain distracted elsewhere, the vice-captain had to step up.
Song Joa checked the sun's position with half-lidded eyes.
Confirming it was high noon, he headed toward a nearby clearing he'd scouted earlier from a terrain-savvy unit member and spoke.
"Halt."
The unit stopped at Song Joa's command.
"We'll eat here and then move out."
Several hours had passed since their light breakfast.
The members moved in perfect unison at his suggestion to fill their bellies properly before continuing.
There was no need to unpack rations.
They hadn't brought much food as luggage to begin with.
'So what do they eat?'
This was the mountains.
And they were all masters of the hunt.
"I'll handle it today."
"I'll go with you."
"We'll be back within two hours."
"I feel like eating mountain rabbit today."
Some handled the hunting.
Others built fires and set up the eating area.
And some prepared for simple cooking.
Before long, the unit members naturally divided tasks to prepare the meal.
But amid all that, one person stood in the center, simply watching.
He wasn't the captain Ebi-ja or the vice-captain Song Joa.
It was the new recruit who had just joined: Hyeok Mulin.
"Hm?"
A few who noticed him tilted their heads in question, then nodded in realization and approached.
"Come to think of it, this must be your first time with something like this."
"I heard you hunted alone?"
"Looks like you don't know the group meal prep process."
"No worries. Newbies aren't supposed to know. And since you've hunted before, you know it's not much different from catching game solo and cooking it. The key is speed, though."
A middle-aged man gave Hyeok Mulin an understanding look and beckoned him to follow.
"Come with me. I'll show you how to prep for group meals today. Soon the hunting team will bring back game, and then you just skin it and drain the blood like usual..."
"Wait—!"
As the middle-aged man moved to go, a massive shout echoed across the clearing.
The unit members' eyes shook as they traced the source.
"C-Captain?"
"Why the sudden yell...?"
Thud. Thud.
Ebi-ja, who had shouted, now walked quietly toward Hyeok Mulin.
The members couldn't hide their bewilderment.
He was the one who enforced grueling training and never yielded to pleas, a man of ironclad composure who never showed heated emotions.
They'd never seen the captain yell like this, so after a moment of shock, they guessed at the reason.
While everyone else busied themselves, the newest recruit stood idle—how could anyone see that positively?
Assuming the captain was furious, the members tried to calm him while defending Hyeok Mulin.
"Captain, he's new and not used to it yet, so he was just standing there."
"That's right. I'll drill him properly, so please calm down."
But Ebi-ja ignored them and approached Hyeok Mulin.
'Trouble.'
'He's really pissed.'
The members looked at the newbie with pity.
They figured he'd get thoroughly chewed out by the captain, just like they had.
But moments later, when Ebi-ja stopped right in front of him and spoke, it left them even more flustered than before.
"The newbie is exempt from meal prep."
"What?!"
"What does that mean?"
The newest member should be running around the most, yet exempt from meal prep?
And the stoic captain had bellowed it out while making that call—the members rebelled with eyes full of doubt.
But Ebi-ja shut down their protests with a firm shout.
"Don't you know there's something more important for the unit's newest member than preparing meals?!"
"Something more important...?"
"Exactly. From now on, during meal times, he'll learn our unit's core archery technique, the Muyang Archery Method."
At that, the members clapped as if they'd forgotten, suddenly remembering.
"Right, as a newbie, he hasn't learned archery yet."
"Yeah, that's way more important than meals."
The Muyang Archery Method was the archery technique Ebi-ja had personally devised, standardized for members who used haphazard styles before.
It was an essential step for anyone joining the unit, but that wasn't Ebi-ja's real aim.
'I absolutely can't have the Cult Leader handling game.'
What? Pluck fur and drain blood?
The moment he heard that, Ebi-ja felt every hair on his body stand on end and the blood drain from him.
He couldn't allow that, so after racking his brain, he'd decided to pull the Cult Leader out under the pretext of archery training.
Fortunately, the members agreed, accepting the exemption for Hyeok Mulin.
"This way."
Ebi-ja led Hyeok Mulin to a slightly secluded spot.
Once they were far enough that the members couldn't hear, he cautiously said,
"Cult Leader, we're good now. Please rest a bit."
Ebi-ja wanted to give the Cult Leader at least a moment to relax once the members' attention shifted.
But Hyeok Mulin lightly refused.
"What are you saying? Didn't you say you'd teach me archery?"
"Pardon? That was just a way to pull you from meal prep..."
"If you pulled me out but I don't actually learn archery, won't they get suspicious? Hurry and teach me."
"...Understood."
Not having thought that far, Ebi-ja was convinced and began teaching the Muyang Archery Method.
From the first hour to the fifth.
Starting with basics like correcting shoulder and back alignment, gaze, and posture, plus reading the wind and aiming, he gradually explained the technique in detail.
Ebi-ja, holding the bow himself, fired two arrows in rapid succession, then demonstrated splitting shots into three directions and hitting a target over a hundred jang away before setting the bow down.
Watching from afar, the members sent sympathetic looks toward Hyeok Mulin.
"He's in for some suffering."
"Even we couldn't draw the string properly on day one."
"Don't get too discouraged at first."
Now they wielded archery skillfully, but everyone had struggled greatly learning the Muyang Archery Method initially.
Discarding lifelong habits to learn a new technique—a martial art, no less—wasn't easy.
So they all expected Hyeok Mulin to face the same hurdles they had.
Ebi-ja thought the same.
'The weapon the Cult Leader wields is a sword.'
He'd seen him use fist and staff techniques involving the body, but never other weapons.
Having reached the pinnacle with the sword, there'd be no need for others.
Ebi-ja assumed Hyeok Mulin wouldn't be familiar with them.
"It'll take some time to get proficient with the bow."
Among weapons, the bow was in a league of its own.
Swords and staffs touched the opponent directly, but the bow attacked from afar—fundamentally different.
As he nodded to himself, predicting the Cult Leader couldn't master it immediately...
Kwaaaaaang!
A earth-shaking roar erupted from Hyeok Mulin's direction, where he'd briefly looked away.
Startled by the sudden noise, Ebi-ja whipped his gaze over, and upon seeing the cause, his pupils trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
"This is... what in the...?"
A massive hole had been blasted in the center of the rocky cliff ahead of them.
And the creator of that astonishing sight?
A single arrow loosed from Hyeok Mulin's hand.