Chapter 62
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Departure! [Leave!] (2)
They asked each other nothing.
How he had escaped the deadly poison formation crafted by the Poisoner. How Huarin and Hualei had come into their possession.
They drank and got drunk.
They had become one now.
There was no looking down on the newcomers, no swaggering from the veterans.
Everyone knew everyone's abilities. They had learned they could trust each other completely. Whatever came next, they would handle it far more easily.
"We can rest for about a month. Normally, we'd be out recruiting for One-Four-Six, but this time there's no need, so we can just take it easy. Not that we have anything to rest from anyway."
Hanbi said in a slightly drunken tone.
"Somehow I feel like a completely useless bastard... Leaves a bitter taste."
Wild Boar said as he gulped down his liquor.
"Hahaha!"
Hanbi laughed.
In normal times, he wouldn't have dared say such a thing. Just as he'd mentioned, they would have visited the Thunder Prison to recruit for One-Four-Six. And only after treating their wounds.
No matter what mission they completed, they never came back unscathed.
It hadn't only been One-Four-Six who died along the way. Hanbi, Jaja, and Vanguard had suffered great and small injuries too. Sometimes, wounds so severe they teetered between life and death.
Every step they'd taken had been through hell.
Yet now they were spouting nonsense about being useless, about accomplishing nothing.
In a word, they were full.
But that was fine. This was the time to drink while saying such things.
They drank and drank and drank some more. They knew they were drunk, but still they drank.
Vanguard was drunk too. He'd drunk so much he remembered nothing of the previous night.
When he opened his eyes, the sun was setting.
So he felt disoriented for a moment. He'd clearly slept, yet upon waking, the sun was already down.
"Heh heh! Awake, are you?"
Iron Sphere Grandpa found Vanguard, who still had sleep in his eyes.
"It's been ages since I got properly smashed. Haha! Can't remember the last time I felt this good while drunk."
Vanguard greeted Iron Sphere Grandpa with a smiling face.
But Iron Sphere Grandpa's expression wasn't relaxed. He was a man who rarely showed his emotions, yet today his face was dark. His worries were plain to see.
"What's wrong?"
"It seems the Zhuge Clan has made their move in earnest."
"Haha! Wasn't that expected?"
Iron Sphere Grandpa silently held out a letter.
Vanguard frowned the moment he saw it. Without taking the letter, he grumbled first.
"We just finished a mission. We have the right to rest for at least a month."
"Heh heh! You don't."
"..."
"You've never had a right to rest to begin with."
"How can you say that!"
"Take it."
"Hmph!"
Vanguard reluctantly accepted the letter.
It would contain a secret order. They'd just finished one mission, and now they were being commanded to another. Ordering someone who'd barely survived back to work.
Vanguard frowned as he opened the letter. And then,
"Th-this! They issued this as an official command?"
"Sigh!"
Iron Sphere Grandpa let out a long sigh too.
He'd seen the letter as well. He agreed it was an absurd order. But commands from headquarters were absolute. Refusal didn't exist.
"Are we the bait again this time?"
"I don't know."
"If it's hard to say outright, just give us a hint. Are we bait? Or operating solo?"
"Solo."
"Those fucking bastards!"
Vanguard cursed explosively without thinking.
"Grandpa, do you think this is something we can pull off alone?"
"Fox and Four Thousand Four showed themselves too prominently this time. And the other four are all top-tier, aren't they? Wild Boar was far off in the midfield, but everyone knows if he hadn't been, he and Hanbi would have gone to the final round."
"So because we have four top-tiers plus Four Thousand Four and Fox, they think they can dump this on us without issue?"
"I'm telling you this since you asked for a hint. You should do your best to survive, but there's no point in revealing everything. You need to know when to hold back... Tch! Consider this a mistake on that front."
"..."
Vanguard scowled deeply.
There was no choice. With the order given, they had to carry it out. Nothing else.
After a long silence, all he said was,
"Those... fucking bastards."
Vanguard brought out a jar of liquor. But unlike the previous evening, the mood wasn't jovial. His face was stiff and hardened.
"I know that look."
Fox grinned, showing his white teeth.
Hanbi and Jaja knew Vanguard's expression too. Whenever there was difficult news or an order to relay, he always spoke coldly with all mirth drained from his face.
"Let's have a sip first."
Vanguard lifted the jar and gulped it down first. Then he passed it to Wild Boar beside him.
"Who the hell do they think they are, shoving this under our noses."
Wild Boar grumbled playfully, but no one played along.
Wild Boar took a couple sips and passed it on.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
The jar passed from hand to hand, filled only with the sounds of drinking.
Fox took it last and drank.
Fox was sitting right next to Four Thousand Four. So he received the jar from Four Thousand Four's hand.
"Still plenty left. One more round?"
"Liquor's no good for me."
"Not holding back or anything?"
"I like the aroma. Try it."
"If Four Thousand Four says the aroma is good. Hmm! Let's see."
Fox gulped it down. But after just two sips, he covered his mouth with his sleeve and set the jar down.
"Cough! Hack!"
Fox coughed loudly.
"Ha! My mouth's burning. What the hell kind of liquor is this? So damn strong?"
"Can't handle your booze?"
Jaja said.
"Ha! Busted? I prefer the weak stuff over something this harsh. I can drink the mild ones all night... Anyway, Vanguard! You've beaten around the bush enough. Spill it already. What's the job?"
Still, Vanguard didn't soften his rigid expression.
He did open his mouth to speak.
"Assassinate the Zhuge Patriarch."
"The Zhuge Patriarch?!"
"My god! What is this? The Merchant Bandit assassination got the Zhuge Clan involved, so now they're going straight for the Zhuge Clan?"
"Kill the Zhuge Patriarch? Hah!"
Everyone chimed in.
The Zhuge Clan was one of the Five Great Families of the murim world. A proud righteous sect, renowned for its clan's unyielding strength.
Assassinating the Merchant Bandit was a big deal, but assassinating the Zhuge Patriarch was far greater. If the Merchant Bandit was a firefly, the Patriarch was the sun.
In short, it was madness.
Vanguard continued.
"This time too... it's a public assassination. Date is one month from now, up to the first of next month. Time is midnight."
"..."
This time, no one spoke.
A public assassination. Killing the Zhuge Patriarch in secret would be hard enough, but announcing it to the enemy?
It was crueler than simply ordering them to die by the blade.
Vanguard stood as he said,
"We leave tomorrow. Fox, prepare to guide the way... You all know this won't be smooth either, so gear up thoroughly. Take whatever you want to bring."
Kill that woman's father.
Four Thousand Four thought of her.
Her name was Zhuge Soso, a woman of such brilliance she was called Northern Mysteries, Southern Radiance.
Even now, he and she stood across an uncrossable river. And after this mission... with her, it would become a relationship where one of them had to die.
The first woman he'd ever felt fondness for... a woman he truly liked... If only he could help her by his side... Even if she slapped him, it wouldn't hurt; even if she cursed him, he wouldn't get angry; even if she chased him away, he wouldn't hate her.
"Hahaha!"
Four Thousand Four laughed bitterly inside.
He'd thought himself human for a moment. Stepping into the human world turned him into a murderer who killed for any reason, but he wasn't human—he'd only thought he was human for a brief instant.
He wasn't human. He was a tool for killing people.
He'd ended up in the Nineteen Hells because he hated this, yet here he was back in the human world.
Why else would they have called him? To kill people.
"Haha! Hahaha!"
Anger surged. He loathed this situation where he was forced to do what he didn't want.
He thought of the weak point again.
Was there no choice? Did he have to obey? Was submission to the Heavenly Annihilation Division his only path until death?
"Hahaha! If they say kill, then kill."
There was no other path for him. Only obedience to the Heavenly Annihilation Division. And with all his effort.
"May I come in?"
Hanbi's voice came from outside the door.
"..."
Vanguard didn't answer.
In the pitch-dark room, without even lighting a lamp, he was lost in thought.
"I came because you didn't call. Can I come in?"
Jaja's voice came too.
Before departure, Vanguard had devised a perfect attack plan. Scout would lead them to the target, using Sasa as the main bait and Hanbi and Jaja as support to lure the enemy. Then Vanguard himself would deliver the finishing blow.
He'd formulated this entire plan with Hanbi and Jaja.
In the past, when making attack plans, he'd never consulted Sasa.
There was a reason to use Sasa as bait, and since Sasa was always a newcomer to the group, he lacked the ability to grasp tactics. Sasa just had to move as ordered.
This time, it seemed fine to put heads together with everyone.
Four Thousand Four knew his role and had exceptional abilities, so planning together might be better.
But he didn't. No one was called. He pondered alone.
No matter how he thought, no matter how he revised it, no matter how he attacked from this angle or that, there was no way to kill the Zhuge Patriarch. Especially a public assassination—how tight would the security be?
The Zhuge Patriarch wasn't a pushover like the Merchant Bandit.
The Merchant Bandit had requested aid from the Euldogate and New Moon Sect, but the Zhuge Clan asked help from no sect. Asking for aid was shame itself.
They could handle something like this alone.
On the other hand, Vanguard couldn't devise any plan. With no gap to breach, what strategy could there be?
"Vanguard, you asleep?"
Vanguard didn't answer Hanbi. He had nothing to say—what good would calling them in do?
Hanbi and Jaja withdrew.
Vanguard let out a deep sigh as he listened to their retreating footsteps.
"Preparations?"
"Done."
Scout Fox answered with a heavy expression.
He could guide them to the Zhuge Clan. Just as Vanguard said, without meeting anyone on the way. That's how he'd guide them.
"Let's go."
Vanguard said nothing more to the others.
Attack plan? Escape? Where the flanks would ultimately block?
All these should be set before departure, but this time they set off with no plan at all.
"Namu Amida Butsu, Guanyin Bodhisattva."
Iron Sphere Grandpa clasped his hands in prayer.
Even Grandpa, who usually wished them well, couldn't this time. He could only recite a Buddhist chant for their fortune in battle.
"Thank you."
Vanguard bowed with clasped hands to Grandpa.
"Come back... alive."
Vanguard gave a wry smile.