Chapter 222
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 222
Chapter Title: Golden Heaven (2)
There was absolutely no way the Hidden Triad's martial artists could come under attack.
This much, I can say for certain. Unless there's a traitor on the inside, it's utterly impossible.
The Hidden Triad's warriors are perfectly concealed.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division has been striving for ages to uncover the Hidden Triad. In fact, it's suspected that there are quite a few of their spies even within the Five Great Clans.
Yet despite all that, the Heavenly Annihilation Division still hasn't figured out the Hidden Triad.
If they had even the slightest inkling about the Hidden Triad, they would have made contact immediately. Or launched an attack.
Nothing like that has happened so far.
No signs whatsoever have emerged that the Hidden Triad has been exposed.
So this incident where the Hidden Triad was attacked comes as an enormous shock. It's like a bolt from the blue in the dead of night.
The biggest problem is that this sudden raid has exposed a significant portion of the Hidden Triad.
Fights broke out all across the Central Plains.
At least twenty or more locations saw battles, and as many warriors perished in the clashes.
Hidden Triad warriors died.
Enough of them died and were exposed to draw the Heavenly Annihilation Division's full attention.
How could the Heavenly Annihilation Division let an opportunity like this slip by?
They're pursuing every trace with eyes blazing, burrowing deeper even now. At this very moment, questions are pouring out across the Central Plains, and the searches continue.
More painful than the fact that the Hidden Triad was attacked is the fact that they've tipped off the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
Which means the traitor, the inside man, must be eliminated without fail.
The Zhuge Clan!
The inside agent identified by the Hidden Triad is the Zhuge Clan. To be more precise, Zhuge Soso.
Zhuge Soso has ample motive to strike at the Hidden Triad.
She's linking the disappearance of the Zhuge family head to the Hidden Triad. It's known that she's been eyeing them with suspicion for a long time. And she's actually tangled with the Hidden Triad before.
Should Zhuge Soso be killed?
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
The rooster crowed while flapping its wings.
The two walked on in silence. Neither fast nor slow, they descended the mountain.
"When do you think they'll make their decision?"
After a long pause, Zhuge Myeong finally spoke.
"The qi-scattering poison we took is probably the Huangbo Clan's doing."
"Hm!"
Zhuge Myeong let out a grunt.
If it's the Huangbo Clan's qi-scattering poison, then it's Nameless Poison.
Warriors sometimes spar without using internal energy, relying solely on their forms. When testing the superiority of techniques or gauging the level of training, they often engage in pure form exchanges.
But suppressing internal energy while wielding weapons in combat is extremely difficult.
Using internal energy makes forms far more powerful. Far more fluid, faster, and precise. If someone not using energy spots an opening in their opponent's energy use, it would feel like the opponent is flying through the sky.
Thus, voluntarily suppressing internal energy has its limits.
That's why they administer qi-scattering poison to temporarily disrupt it.
It's not used maliciously. It's a tool for measuring martial prowess.
The Huangbo Clan's Nameless Poison was created for exactly that purpose.
Stripping away all titles and honors earned so far, returning to anonymity to rely purely on forms—that's why it's called Nameless Poison.
Nameless Poison lasts for twelve hours.
Which means... the two of them can't use internal energy for twelve hours either.
They left the meeting site and descended the mountain.
They had bid them farewell.
For Zhuge Soso's words to turn into reality would take considerable time. Their entanglements with the Seven Clans over the years couldn't be severed as cleanly as slicing through water with a knife.
But even just bidding farewell allowed the Zhuge Clan to act independently... and that would burden them. It could become a thorn in their side.
Twelve hours... Their choice wasn't finalized yet.
Not blocking their path out of the meeting site didn't mean they'd halt their killing intent.
"That's why we should prepare our defenses too."
Zhuge Myeong said in a chiding tone.
"Heh!"
Zhuge Soso just let out a smirk.
Defenses? With what? How? If they came charging to kill, what could block them?
The Zhuge Clan was a martial house. It had unique martial arts passed down through generations, warriors trained in them, and a foundation built on that force.
They could defend themselves if they wanted.
But if they moved, the other side would move too.
If the Zhuge Clan stirred, the entire Seven Clans would mobilize. Including the Hidden Triad's assassins.
They could fight, but victory was unlikely.
Better then to... Zhuge Soso resolved to stand on the brink of a hundred-foot pole herself.
She had no choice but to gamble.
They had only suspicions, nothing solid, so she had to hold her ground boldly.
Annihilating the Zhuge Clan completely would burden even them. So if she just gave them an excuse to hold back. A bit of hesitation... just a sliver of doubt, and they wouldn't unleash their killers. They could always wipe out the Zhuge Clan later, so why not watch and wait for now?
Zhuge Soso staked her life on a gamble with less than a one-in-ten chance of success.
If she were in their shoes, and suspected someone scheming behind the scenes... she would have swung the killing sword without mercy. The burden of destroying a prestigious clan was huge, but better than letting a tumor grow inside.
Her brother surely knew this too.
The defenses he spoke of were a desperate last stand. The grit to take down one more foe before dying.
"Wait and see what they decide. Surviving that meeting alive already gives us a chance. It means we've planted even a speck of doubt in them, right?"
She flashed a bright smile.
Whoosh! Kirrrruk!
A familiar motion, a familiar sound.
"Golden-Eyed Black Eagle?"
Zhuge Myeong frowned and looked up at the sky.
High in the heavens, the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle circled silently.
No one knew when it arrived or how long it had been overhead... It circled without the slightest sound.
If it hadn't made its familiar cry, they never would have noticed it circling above unless they deliberately looked up.
That's how stealthy the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle is. Swift and ferocious.
"Kirrrruk!"
Zhuge Soso let out a sound only the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle could understand.
The Zhuge Clan had many communication methods. From everyday ones to those for times requiring utmost caution, like now.
Using the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle was just one of them.
Originally, the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle was for pursuit, not messaging. Even then, it was used sparingly on special occasions. Because it was such a rare spirit beast.
The Zhuge Clan avoided exposing the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle to the world.
Yet here it was, without even a pursuit target.
Did that mean... Four Thousand Four had made a move? Communications via the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle were reserved solely for matters concerning Four Thousand Four...
Screeech!
The Golden-Eyed Black Eagle dove like a predator snatching prey.
Its momentum was fierce. It felt like it was targeting them. Shoulders twitched, bodies stiffened. Tension rippled through every muscle.
Anyone not raised with a Golden-Eyed Black Eagle as a childhood friend would tense up without fail.
But the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle wouldn't land then. It would grow wary and attack. The human's tension transmitted straight to it.
Zhuge Soso calmly extended her arm even as she watched its hook-like talons flash toward her.
Normally, falconers wore leather bracers on their arms.
To protect against talons that could wound even their masters.
Not the Golden-Eyed Black Eagle. No bracer needed; it never harmed its soul-bonded master. Despite talons sharp enough to shred a wild boar.
Guruk! Guruk!
The Golden-Eyed Black Eagle perched on Zhuge Soso's forearm and nuzzled her cheek affectionately with its beak.
Zhuge Soso couldn't greet it warmly.
Its appearance meant something had gone wrong with Four Thousand Four.
She hurriedly untied the message tube from its leg and pulled out the note.
- Gwangju bound
Just three characters on the note.
Heading to Gwangju. No who, when, where, with whom, or why.
Even if someone snatched the eagle and checked the note, they couldn't guess the contents. "Gwangju bound." What could anyone infer from those three words?
"Gwangju? What's in Gwangju?"
Zhuge Myeong peered over her shoulder at the note and tilted his head.
"Suwol!"
Zhuge Soso unconsciously uttered a name.
"Suwol? Suwol!"
A flicker of surprise crossed Zhuge Myeong's eyes.
"Shh!"
Zhuge Soso quickly pursed her lips in warning.
Listening ears were everywhere. Even at a distance they couldn't hear, constant caution was best.
"Suwol! Why would he head to Suwol?"
Zhuge Myeong spoke urgently, unable to comprehend. But heeding the warning, his voice was a mere ant's crawl.
Zhuge Soso fell silent.
She just stood there blankly... frozen like a statue.
Zhuge Myeong started to say more but swallowed his words upon seeing her state.
Zhuge Soso's pallor began with a sinking of her spirit.
She gathered her mind into her dantian. Low and deep. Still as a windless sea.
Her breathing naturally settled.
No need to circulate energy or adjust breaths; deep, low respiration came on its own.
One-point focus. Her complexion shifted.
"We... we're alive."
After a long moment, Zhuge Soso spoke in a trembling voice.
"Alive? What do you mean?"
"Four Thousand Four... that man... he's heading to Elder Suwol."
"The note said..."
"The attack on the Hidden Triad was on Elder Suwol's orders. Do you know who Elder Suwol is? One of the Ten Heads of the Heavenly Annihilation Division. Four Thousand Four has disguised himself as one of Elder Suwol's subordinates. Ha!"
Zhuge Soso parted her cherry-red lips slightly and let out a sigh.
Vanguard was dead. Jaja, Hanbi, Fox—all dead. Four Thousand Four too. Especially Four Thousand Four, who perished after clashing palms with the supreme martial artist, Master Jigong.
No room to doubt their deaths.
As the Hebei Peng family head said, as the Hidden Triad leaders claimed, the bodies of the slain Hidden Triad warriors bore Vanguard's martial arts marks. Hanbi's and Jaja's too.
But strictly speaking, those weren't the unique arts of the seventeen elite assassins. They were the Heavenly Annihilation Division's standard techniques. Open martial arts any camp warrior could train in.
Zhuge Soso had pointed this out to the Seven Clans' heads before.
And now... her words had proven true. Vanguard's group was confirmed dead. And the mysterious raiders who attacked the Hidden Triad warriors were heading to Gwangju.
Vanguard's group and the raiders were separate.
Thus, the Zhuge Clan—which had once used Vanguard—was uninvolved in this raid.
They were saved!
The Seven Clans' heads harbored "a bit of hesitation" for good reason.
Four Thousand Four heading to Gwangju played a big part. The Seven Clans' heads had likely received word of the unknown raiders moving to Gwangju before Zhuge Soso got her message.
They'd come primed for a showdown, opened the meeting with threats despite the rug pulled out from under them. But Zhuge Soso had struck right at the heart.
'Four Thousand Four, you...'
Coincidence? Planned?
If coincidence, the timing was perfect. If planned, Four Thousand Four had even sensed the Zhuge Clan's threat. Hard to believe, but...
Zhuge Soso's eyes sparkled.