Chapter 266
Chapter 266
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 266
Chapter Title: Raid on Red Tiger Fortress
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“...So, no matter my will, I can't withdraw from the detachment?”
Danri Kwangcheon asked cautiously.
“That's right.”
Cheonhwi answered crisply.
“Not just you. No one here can leave.”
Cheonhwi glanced back as he spoke.
“You didn't think this detachment was some roadside inn where you could come and go as you please, did you?”
Most of them flinched inwardly.
Cheonhwi saw through their reactions and flashed a cold smile.
“This detachment will take on frontline duties in the war against the Evil-Black Alliance. In other words, it's a unit that could die anywhere, anytime... yet you thought you could just walk away...”
Cheonhwi's voice trailed off naturally, settling heavily in the air. Their faces, already strained from maintaining their lightness skills, paled further.
“What? Did you plan to gain half-baked fame without risking your lives?”
Danri Kwangcheon and most of the others clamped their mouths shut like they'd swallowed honey.
It struck right at the heart of the matter.
Cheonhwi scanned them one by one.
But none could meet his gaze, eyes dropping to the ground.
They know they're in the wrong.
Cheonhwi smirked inwardly and spoke.
“That would be underestimating the martial world far too much.”
His words stabbed like daggers into Danri Kwangcheon and several others' chests.
At that moment, Ho Gwanggae burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha! He's right. Who'd join a detachment like this without that resolve? Right?”
Muhong met Ho Gwanggae's gaze—he was clearly directing it at him—and nodded firmly.
“...I've already resolved to bury my bones in this detachment.”
Muhong's eyes narrowed as he replied.
This was a tremendous opportunity for him right now.
His position in the Zhongnan Sect was somewhat ambiguous.
For Muhong, he hoped to build fame and hone his martial arts through this detachment mission.
Then, recalling something he'd wanted to ask since earlier, Muhong spoke up.
“Captain, I have one question. May I ask?”
Cheonhwi looked at the serious Muhong and let out a chuckle.
“Go ahead.”
“What mission are we heading to right now?”
Everyone's ears perked up in an instant.
They'd been curious ever since he said they had work, but the atmosphere had swept them up, preventing anyone from asking.
Even knowing the mood, Cheonhwi stared steadily at Muhong.
“You'll find out when you follow.”
Muhong's eyebrow twitched at the one-sided declaration,
but he nodded readily.
“...Understood.”
He backed down.
He was just a squad member now.
And the one ahead was the captain.
Oh ho, I like him.
Cheonhwi was pleased with Muhong's immediate compliance.
A disciple from a major sect would usually press for answers.
But not Muhong.
He knew his place.
He was no longer a Zhongnan Sect disciple—he was just a detachment member.
“Tch, we'll be late at this rate.”
Cheonhwi clicked his tongue at the pace slowed by conversation and addressed the squad.
“I'm picking up speed.”
The moment he finished, Cheonhwi kicked off the ground fiercely.
Whoosh—whoosh—
The squad struggled to follow in his wake.
They pierced through the thick darkness, pressing onward.
Tadadak—
“Huff, huff.”
In the silence, only the sound of feet pounding earth and ragged breaths filled their ears.
Some looked on the verge of collapse, but no one complained.
Time flowed on relentlessly.
How long had they run? The sun, hidden when they left the Murim Alliance in the east, began to rise.
“Already half a day gone?”
Muhong shook his head as he muttered.
His body was exhausted now.
An all-night march.
Without a single break, repeating walk and sprint—it was bound to be grueling.
Ho Gwanggae, fatigue etched on his face as well, glanced ahead and clicked his tongue.
“...Damn. The captain looks fine.”
Cheonhwi, leading at the front, showed no sign of strain.
He seemed as fresh as if he'd just started his lightness skill.
And ruthless, too.
His gaze fixed on Cheonhwi's back.
What a crafty fellow.
Among those chasing, several had nearly fallen behind multiple times.
Each time, Cheonhwi halted his lightness skill and walked. Once the stragglers recovered somewhat, he resumed.
Does he see through everything?
He'd thought it coincidence at first.
Impossible without grasping everyone's internal energy.
But as it happened not once, but twice, three times, he realized it was no fluke—Cheonhwi's skill.
...Just as the rumors say.
Then Cheonhwi stopped.
Withdrawing his Flying Heaven Steps, he eyed the mountain ahead and nodded.
“Is that it?”
Cheonhwi's gaze swept over the faint dawn light illuminating the mountain softly.
“Faster than I thought.”
Cheonhwi looked satisfied.
Thanks to maintaining lightness skills through the night and walking when fatigued.
They'd reached their destination quicker than expected.
Cheonhwi turned, looking back.
The squad, arriving one by one and halting, wore grim expressions.
Cheonhwi spoke curtly.
“Half a shichen rest.”
That instant.
Thud—
Squad members, barely standing and catching breath, collapsed to the ground.
Some sprawled out flat, gasping.
“Huff, huff. Thought I was gonna die.”
“Never been this exhausted.”
Cheonhwi withdrew his gaze from them and drew on his Plum Blossom Divine Art's energy.
His sense expanded in an instant.
With sharpened senses gleaming in his eyes, Cheonhwi examined the mountain before him.
Tch, quite a few.
Presences in the mountain.
Roughly just over a hundred.
Still, good for gaining real combat experience.
After thoroughly checking the presences, Cheonhwi reined in his energy.
Readjusting his energy in that fleeting moment, Cheonhwi now looked at his detachment members—now his subordinates.
Excluding about ten, all were sprawled or sitting in rest.
Some quick-witted ones.
Amid those focused on resting, he spotted some circulating energy.
They were the sharp ones who'd grasped his criteria during selection via footprints.
If I told them to circulate now since battle's coming, it'd be easy... but.
Cheonhwi deliberately said nothing.
This was real combat.
Telling them served no purpose.
They had to clash and realize.
Only then would they understand their foolishness.
No better way to learn.
Meanwhile, those somewhat recovered from rest began murmuring.
“...Is this the destination?”
“What are we doing here?”
They were baffled.
After nonstop running, they'd arrived at just some wild mountain—naturally puzzling.
Then.
“...I see.”
A Taoist in gray robes muttered as if realizing something.
All eyes turned to him.
Including fellow Taoists behind him.
“Senior Brother, did you notice something?”
At Cheolho's question, Kunlun Taoist Yuk Segon moved his lips.
“Do you know what that place is?”
As Cheolho tilted his head at the question pointing to the unknown mountain,
“Red Tiger Fortress.”
An answer popped from the side.
There stood a swordsman with a white hero band on his forehead, fluttering in a vibrant green robe.
Song Daeguk, bastard son of the Songmu Sect leader and fourth disciple.
“Plum Blossom... no, the captain plans to raid Red Tiger Fortress.”
“...!”
“R-Red Tiger Fortress?”
Finally grasping the situation, several jumped in shock, swallowing hard.
Anxiety surged simultaneously.
“I-Is that okay?”
“Raiding Red Tiger Fortress without any training...”
The detachment had formed just a day ago.
No, less than a day, precisely.
Starting a mission immediately was dizzying enough, but assaulting one of the Green Forest mountain strongholds?
Then.
“Everyone rested enough?”
Cheonhwi appeared among them.
When?!
Impossible!
Yuk Segon and Song Daeguk swallowed gasps at Cheonhwi's mysterious footwork.
But Cheonhwi ignored them, scanning surroundings as he spoke.
“Alright, time to get to work.”
Cheonhwi's eyes gleamed fiercely.
Colder, sharper than the north wind blowing now.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Division in Hyeong Mountain Stronghold, you say.”
The Red Tiger Fortress Lord muttered softly and gulped from his liquor bottle like a gourd.
It burned inside.
Much like his complicated mind now.
“What the hell happened?”
He rubbed his throbbing head.
Until recently, the Green Forest had been triumphant.
They'd joined the Evil-Black Alliance, receiving treatment rivaling the Five Evils.
But it crumbled in an instant.
The Chieftain defeated...
Unbelievable.
The raid on Mount Hua Sect was by the Green Forest Chieftain and elites. Sneaking in, they'd succeeded.
Yet they were repelled.
And the Chieftain vanished entirely, so division in the main stronghold was inevitable.
Plum Blossom Sword Immortal, was it?
His brow twitched as he pondered the situation.
He'd heard the rumors but didn't believe them.
Couldn't.
He knew the Green Forest Chieftain's prowess well.
An unreachable transcendent realm.
Practically a god.
Yet defeated by a young Taoist not even thirty?
How could he believe it?
“...Complicated. So complicated.”
As the furrow in his brow deepened,
“Fortress Lord!”
The door burst open.
Snapped from thought, the Red Tiger Fortress Lord scowled at the sudden subordinate.
“What?”
The subordinate flinched under the sharp gaze but forced trembling lips open.
“A-An attack!”
“Attack...? Who?”
“W-We can't tell exactly, but their attire... Nine Great Sects...”
“What?!”
The Fortress Lord shot up from his chair, shoving the subordinate aside and rushing out.
The sight that greeted him hardened his face.
Those swiftly climbing the mountain path to the fortress looked anything but ordinary.
Controlled auras, swift lightness skills.
All properly trained in martial arts.
Kunlun? Beggars' Sect? Qingcheng too?
Confirming their attire quickly, the Fortress Lord's brow trembled.
“From the Murim Alliance?”
He blurted in dismay.
The Green Forest now belonged to the Evil-Black Alliance.
For the Alliance to attack meant...
Declaring war?
The thought flashed, but he shook his head.
No sane man would.
Biting his lip, the Fortress Lord stomped fiercely.
Kwachik!
Crushing the ground, he leaped to the cliff atop the mountain in one bound, looking down.
He drew a deep breath.
“What do you think you're doing?!”
His lion's roar boomed.
The charging attackers paused briefly,
but then.
“Shut up.”
An irritated voice cut through.
The Fortress Lord narrowed his eyes at the source.
Mount Hua Sect?
His brow twitched.
Mount Hua means revenge?
The situation clicked.
But he couldn't let it slide.
“Attacking this branch is the same as attacking the Evil-Black Alliance. Does the Murim Alliance intend war with us?”
Deliberately omitting the Mount Hua-Green Forest incident, he glared at the Mount Hua Taoist, Cheonhwi.
Just then, his mouth opened.
“Why's your intel always so damn late?”
The sharp voice pierced his ears.
Simultaneously, one corner of Cheonhwi's mouth twisted viciously as he stared at the Fortress Lord.
“The war's already started.”