Chapter 64
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Departure! [Go!] (4)
"Alright! My job here's done!"
Fox dusted off his hands as he spoke.
Fox always wrapped up his missions on the mountain. And he always started them there too. The capital sprawling below had nothing to do with him. No reason to set foot there, no need to even glance at it.
Wild Boar had no need to enter the capital either. But unlike Fox, he had to keep a close eye on it.
"Gonna need your help again this time."
Wild Boar said half-jokingly, half-seriously.
"Depends on how you do. Catch me some good deer, and maybe I'll help. Heh! Deer meat really hits the spot."
"I could snag you a hundred, a thousand if you want. So how about tossing me one of those thunderclaps or whatever? With that, buying us a couple hours would be a breeze."
"Thing is, those are a pain to make."
"Got it. Fine."
It wasn't a request he could realistically expect anyway.
What Fox had used was a highly specialized explosive. Its manufacturing secret was passed down as a one-man trade secret, limiting who could produce it to just a handful of people.
Only those in the know could make it.
If such powder fell into the wrong hands... If it reached an explosives expert... they could analyze the fire-lin or thunderclap devices.
Wild Boar wasn't an explosives expert. But once something left his hands, it was no longer his. The secret could be exposed at any moment.
A thunderclap wasn't something you handed off or gifted to others.
Four Thousand Four had no idea what a massive gift he'd received. Fox hadn't just given him a pouch of thunderclaps. He'd shared one of his secrets.
Wild Boar rested his chin on his hand and scanned the surroundings.
When attacking the merchant envoy, he'd planned to just brute-force it. If the enemies pressed, he'd swing his axe a few times before dying. That had been his best bet.
Now, his best bet had changed.
Fox had sparked that shift in thinking.
Facing the enemy didn't always mean clashing with raw force. If you didn't have to fight with strength, there was no need to cross blades.
Find another way, another method.
Dig traps, make it hard for them to climb up... hold out, hold out, then swing the blade at the last moment.
Wild Boar moved to start his work.
"Come here."
Vanguard called over the three.
Now it was time to assign missions to those handling the assault.
Four Thousand Four would act as bait at the forefront. Hanbi and Jaja would provide support, while Vanguard struck the family head.
That's how Vanguard had operated so far.
Now it was time to lay out those missions. But,
"What do you think we should do?"
Vanguard said something unexpected.
For a moment, Hanbi and Jaja thought they'd misheard and stared at him.
Vanguard hadn't misspoke. He was scowling deeply at the map.
There was no answer.
Hanbi and Jaja realized the gravity and looked at the map. But they wouldn't suddenly come up with a clever solution either.
"No ideas?"
Hanbi asked Four Thousand Four.
Four Thousand Four stayed silent. He just stared at the map.
As everyone fell quiet, Vanguard pulled three maps from his bosom and handed one to each.
"Huddling here won't get us anywhere... Go somewhere comfy and think it over. Speak up if you get a good plan. We'll attack at midnight the day after tomorrow."
The time was set.
No attack plan yet, but the time came first.
At midnight the day after tomorrow, they'd infiltrate the Zhuge Clan regardless—success or failure—and go for the family head.
'Damn it!'
Jaja bit her lip hard.
Her real combat experience was top-tier even in the Heavenly Annihilation Division. Before meeting Vanguard, she'd thrown herself into big and small battles without holding back. That had honed her battle instincts to excellence.
Death!
Her instincts leaned toward fear.
As night fell, the Zhuge Clan turned into a sea of red flames. So many torches lit that the entire compound looked like a blazing fireball.
The vigilance was no different from broad daylight.
Every watchpost was an odd formation, a blade barrier.
To the Zhuge Clan, it was the ultimate sanctuary. To enemies, an impregnable fortress not even worth eyeing.
Jaja couldn't find a way to breach it.
Kill Four Thousand Four. Kill Hanbi. Kill herself too. Drive all three to death. If that opened a chance, if it gave Vanguard breathing room...
No. No chance would open.
No matter how they schemed or approached, the Zhuge Clan wouldn't budge.
And this time, it was a public assassination like before.
When stealthy infiltration was barely enough, they had to do it out in the open.
No matter how she racked her brains—smart or desperate—no plan emerged.
Even without a plan, the attack had to start. Otherwise, death followed.
The day after tomorrow, all of them died.
'Damn it!'
Jaja felt more frustrated at failing to find a way through than the looming death.
Vanguard and Hanbi stayed silent too.
The Zhuge Clan was impregnable. Not a needle's gap. It wasn't egg against rock—it was iron wall against iron wall.
Naturally, their eyes turned to Four Thousand Four.
Maybe he had a clever ploy? What was Four Thousand Four thinking? Like with the merchant envoy's compound, could he miraculously start a fire right in the heart of the Zhuge Clan? Just like then.
Four Thousand Four was silent too.
He sat calmly, gazing at the Zhuge Clan. At the torchlit grounds bright as day. But his face showed no flash of inspiration. He just stared blankly.
Four Thousand Four had no plan either.
Thinking is done with wisdom.
Thinking is done with experience.
Experience and wisdom build up, uncovering old methods or forging new ones. Like one plus two equals three. That new three couldn't emerge without the experiences of one and two.
But there's a limit here.
One plus two only yields three.
If it spat out four or five... that wasn't the right way.
'Meeting a ghost in a dream' is the wrong way.
In dreams, you can meet ghosts or the Jade Emperor. Who couldn't? Can't you keep a golden calf at home? What's ten concubines?
The difference between right and wrong ways is proof.
The right way can be proven. Anyone doing one plus two experiences three.
The wrong way can't be proven. How do you prove a dream?
Yet... this wrong way stems from experience and wisdom too.
Right or wrong, provable or not... it's all your own story.
Vanguard, Hanbi, and Jaja viewed the Zhuge Clan through the right way.
They judged the overall situation with cold reason, scouted enemy strength, and tried crafting meticulous plans.
That was thinking.
Four Thousand Four had abandoned thinking. Long ago... from the moment he entered the Nineteen Hells, he'd discarded the word itself.
He thought nothing.
'Good. Easy.'
The first thought upon entering the Nineteen Hells.
Good. No more killing people. Body and mind at ease. They fed you on schedule. No one interfered. What could be better?
Good. Easy.
The instant those words echoed in his heart, thinking fled.
And the wrong way arose.
The wrong way isn't thought. It happens on its own. Like steam rising in spring—when conditions align, dreams bloom naturally.
He didn't call his dreams the wrong way.
Of course, they couldn't be proven, like the wrong way. No way to explain what happened to him. But something occurred, and he moved accordingly.
His dreams aligned with conditions.
Now, the Zhuge Clan was an iron wall. An immovable fortress no one could challenge. Couldn't force a breach. Couldn't even attempt it.
What to do?
No way.
Recognizing no way is thinking. Yes. Thinking leads to no way. In times like this...
He watched the brilliantly lit Zhuge Clan.
At midnight, the Zhuge Clan extinguished half the torches.
The daytime-bright compound darkened in an instant. But that darkness was temporary. It had been too bright before, so half-off felt dark now.
The Zhuge Clan was still bright.
Ox hour... Tiger hour... Dawn rushed on, yet the torches didn't dim.
The patrolling warriors showed no slack. Tense as when they'd first taken positions.
Breaching a place like that was madness. Only a lunatic would try something so reckless.
There were unguarded spots too.
At a glance, they might seem ideal infiltration points. But those were death traps. One step, and a storm of hidden weapons would rage.
Four Thousand Four stood.
Vanguard, Hanbi, and Jaja had dozed off.
They'd watched till Ox hour, but past that, they'd curled up to sleep.
Wild Boar and Fox were deep in slumber too.
All around was dead silent, like a tomb. No one stirred in the darkness. Dawn would break soon, though.
He started down the mountain path.
Flash! Flash!
In the dark, eerie blue glints flashed.
Five pairs of eyes pierced the gloom. Only blue glows sparkled in the blackness.
'That guy!'
Vanguard watched Four Thousand Four descend the path.
Hanbi and Jaja silently tracked his descent too.
They hadn't slept. They'd regulated their breathing into deep lying meditation, searching for infiltration routes.
Wild Boar thought of the Zhuge warriors who would swarm like tidal waves.
He couldn't sleep this night. If preparations were needed, tomorrow. The day after left no fingernail's worth of time. That was a sprint toward death.
That's when Four Thousand Four moved.
When infiltrating the merchant envoy's compound, he'd probably groped down a night path like this. Woke up to find him gone. Must've slipped down a predawn trail this way?
Then... was Four Thousand Four scouting an infiltration route?
Jaja moved to rise. But a hand pressed her shoulder. Vanguard's.
Vanguard shook his head.
"If we follow..."
"Leave him. That's Four Thousand Four's way. If you interfere, you'll just hinder him."
"Then..."
"Heh! Wanna bet? I say that guy's gonna pull something right in the heart of the Zhuge Clan."
"Pfft! Who'd take that bet."
Jaja let out a chuckle.
An unbelievable turn. Just moments ago, despair had gripped them all. But one action—Four Thousand Four moving—sparked hope. No one would bet against him breaching the Zhuge Clan. They were convinced he'd stir something in its core.
"What about us?"
"We craft our own attack plan. One thing's sure: whatever we come up with, that guy's got our back. Heh heh heh! Lucky for us, we've got an extra day. Sorry for him, but let's get some solid sleep tonight. Heh heh!"
Vanguard laughed.
'Come back alive.'
Fox watched Four Thousand Four too.
Couldn't look away. Her gut said... he'd leave tonight. Like before the merchant envoy ambush. So she couldn't sleep. Had to see him off.
Why?
Didn't know why. Anyway, she hoped Four Thousand Four survived.
'Come back alive. Please.'
Fox bit her lower lip firmly.