Chapter 129
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Fiancée's Fury
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Crack! Cr-rack! Crack!
“Guhhh….”
“…….”
The tenth warrior collapsed limply, his face caved in.
No sooner had the battle begun than all ten warriors dropped at once.
They thrashed desperately to escape, but with their legs crushed, even flight was impossible.
Yu Hyun questioned each warrior in turn, and if they refused to answer, he struck with his fist.
It was a simple motion of grabbing and swinging, yet each one felt overwhelming terror before breathing their last in sequence.
The man named Ik-su, who had watched his subordinates die one by one to a single punch, clutched his side with trembling hands.
Death.
Warriors who wielded swords and plunged into the martial world always lived with death at their side.
Yet each accepted it with different emotions.
Some denied it, some raged, and others sought compromise.
But none of that worked on the warrior before him.
Swish. Chin.
At last, it was Ik-su's turn. The fist that had driven his subordinates to death rose unerringly toward him.
I want to live.
Being a deputy didn't make him any more detached from death than his men.
The young warrior before him was a supreme expert beyond comparison.
Not just any expert—he was a monster.
Ik-su had eaten the rice of the blade for years, but this was the first time he'd encountered such a master.
And the simple process of question and answer always ended in death.
Resist, and die. Refuse to answer, and die.
To live, he had to give an answer that would stop that fist.
“Zhuge Mulin is not here!”
“…….”
Yu Hyun halted the descending fist and stared at him, as if demanding more.
“The Qilian Three Freaks! At the Unit Leader's command, they kidnapped him and took him to the rear!”
“…….”
For the first time, hearing the answer he wanted, Yu Hyun lowered his fist and released his collar.
His anger over their trespass hadn't faded, but rescuing Zhuge Mulin came first.
“You judged well. Give me the answers I need from now on, and you'll live.”
“……!”
Yu Hyun's emphatic words relentlessly spurred Ik-su's desire to survive.
“Arghhh!”
Screams then erupted from all directions.
He arduously turned his head to see more attackers charging over the front line.
Four of them.
Each time the four warriors, who appeared to be around the same age as the youth before him, swung their weapons, the North Patrol warriors scattered like fallen leaves in autumn wind.
Where in the world had these blood clots—no, these monsters—come from?
The man before him, along with himself—the strongest among those guarding Cheonyang—and his ten subordinates, had fallen. The surviving warriors had long lost their will to fight and were fleeing the line.
The front was collapsing under just five assailants.
“Do you need time to think?”
“…….”
Yu Hyun cut off Ik-su's thoughts as he gazed in shock at the front.
“N-No, sir.”
“…….”
“Zhuge Mulin and Hyunryong Unit Leader Jeon Uk are headed to the North Patrol Unit by now.”
“North Patrol Unit. Why kidnap them?”
“Th-That’s…….”
“…….”
He seemed not to know, trailing off with a troubled expression until Yu Hyun's eyes narrowed, prompting him to blurt out hastily.
“I-I don't know the reason! We just guarded the Qilian Three Freaks' rear after the kidnapping succeeded, then pressed into Shaanxi to claim merit.”
“Good. Continue.”
Believing his survival assured, Ik-su began spilling everything he knew.
But it was mostly trivial, with little useful information. Things like how they'd merely sealed the captives' pressure points and loaded them into a carriage...
Yu Hyun pondered, his gaze fixed on Ik-su without wavering, even as the man rambled.
The Justice Alliance had likely yielded Cheonyang out of concern for Zhuge Mulin and the Hyunryong Unit Leader's safety.
Those Qilian Three Freaks, though... who were they?
It was skill enough to infiltrate deep into Justice Alliance territory undetected, but shaking off the pursuing warriors everywhere after the kidnapping meant they were no ordinary foes.
“Hmm, sealing pressure points and carting them off in a carriage... sounds like they're treating them as guests. What sort of men are these Qilian Three Freaks?”
“Th-They are the strongest under the Unit Leader...”
“…….”
Listening to Ik-su's explanation, Yu Hyun calmly sorted his thoughts.
Qilian Three Freaks. Three old monsters, brothers who had reached the realm of peak mastery among the twelve experts under the North Patrol Leader.
If such formidable masters had personally kidnapped Zhuge Mulin, the one who ordered it was undoubtedly the North Patrol Leader.
“...I see. Hostages.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind.”
Yu Hyun replied indifferently and rose to his feet.
No point in hearing more; nothing useful would come.
That said, even a suspicious man who taps a bridge ten times before crossing it had let himself get kidnapped.
“He let his guard down completely... that guy.”
Like the Sa-ryong he'd already met, Zhuge Mulin seemed utterly different from what he remembered.
“Well, no surprise there.”
He'd sent the alliance proposal, and never imagined peak masters like the Qilian Three Freaks would infiltrate the territory held by the Justice Alliance.
So he wouldn't have prepared countermeasures, making it harder to evade the kidnapping.
He didn't know the Hyunryong Unit Leader's strength, but in any case, Zhuge Mulin had always been the weakest in martial arts among the Six Saints back then. He'd made up for it with a vile tongue and cunning wisdom.
In any event, if the North Patrol Leader had sent the Qilian Three Freaks to kidnap them and cart them off in a carriage, their safety was at least assured for now.
But why take hostages in the middle of alliance talks?
They surely knew the Surong King had headed to the Southern Heaven Alliance.
With the martial world uniting, refusing alliance meant inevitable isolation.
According to Ik-su, the terms were favorable too. Hadn't they reclaimed the six strongholds in Gansu from the Justice Alliance's grasp?
“And yet they kidnapped them?”
As Yu Hyun scowled at the unresolved puzzle, a sudden fact flashed in his mind.
In any alliance, to extract maximum gain, one must hold the advantage. So...
“...The North Patrol Leader got greedy?”
It wasn't certain, but it fit the pieces.
Just as Yu Hyun twisted his lips in a smirk, a band of warriors burst onto the mountain ridge.
“Subdue the enemy! Let none escape!”
“Waaah!”
“…….”
Amid the spirited cheers the shout provoked, the first to appear was a woman who gave off the impression of a keenly honed sword.
She appeared to be a Justice Alliance warrior, and they'd arrived remarkably quickly.
The fight was already nearly wrapped up.
Perhaps due to their arrival, the Sa-ryong—excluding Nangong Seong—approached Yu Hyun with evident relief.
“Unit Leader, the Justice Alliance has arrived.”
“…….”
Yu Hyun nodded at Gae Du-sin's energetic report.
I can see that, you fool.
“But why's that guy over there?”
“……?”
Yu Hyun asked indifferently, prompting Gae Du-sin to turn his head.
Nangong Seong was conversing with the newly arrived woman.
For some reason, the mood seemed quite grave.
He couldn't hear what they were saying, but Nangong Seong looked frustrated, and the woman appeared quite angry...
As the four watched side by side, the woman suddenly glanced their way, then strode over purposefully.
When her face came into view, Gae Du-sin and Dang Sa-dog brightened in unison.
“Ah, it's Hye-ah. I heard she joined the Hyunryong Unit...”
“Oh! It's been ages! First time since you were a kid! You've grown so much!”
Somehow, it seemed only he was in the dark. Yu Hyun glanced back and forth between them curiously before asking Dang Sa-dog.
“Hey, Gimmy. You know her too?”
“Pardon?”
“…….”
Gae Du-sin and Dang Sa-dog whipped their heads around, eyes bulging.
“Unit Leader, you don't know her?”
“…….”
What was with those looks? Like he was supposed to know?
As Yu Hyun stared blankly, Gae Du-sin cocked his head, then grinned.
“Ahem, they mentioned the Taizhong betrothal, but you haven't seen her face, I suppose.”
“……What?”
The Taizhong betrothal? No way!
“It's Nangong Hye, betrothed to you, Unit Leader. Seong-hyung's sister, Anhui Province's top beauty, and the foremost of the Five Phoenixes.”
“Ah!”
Yu Hyun finally clapped his knee and nodded.
Anhui's number one beauty, they said—and she was indeed pretty...
Yu Hyun cocked his head again, eyeing Nangong Seong's plain face as he trailed after Nangong Hye.
Half-siblings, maybe?
Weird. How could siblings look so little alike?
Truth be told, Nangong Seong was a man of no particular note beyond his family name and martial talent.
Like food without salt or chili powder—just blandness wafting off him.
“Oh, Hye-ah! Long time...”
“You've grown so much. If not for the betrothal, this genius—top prospect of the Tang Clan—would be my...”
Nangong Hye ignored the duo's cheerful alternating greetings with a cold expression and halted before Yu Hyun.
“I am Nangong Hye, third sub-leader of the Hyunryong Unit.”
“Ah, I'm...”
“I've already heard from my brother. You're the Latent Dragon Unit Leader, who will privately become my uncle, Young Master Yu?”
“Yeah.”
Yu Hyun smiled awkwardly, robbed of his words.
Even knowing of the betrothal, calling him uncle or Unit Leader was drawing a line. Exactly what he wanted...
But why did she look so pissed off?
“Why did you do it?”
“Hm?”
“Why attack the North Patrol Unit without a single discussion?”
“…….”
Yu Hyun blinked his round eyes at the rapid-fire rebuke.
“Hye-ah! What rudeness to your uncle!”
Nangong Seong, following behind, grabbed her sleeve and scolded her.
“Let go!”
“Hye-ah!”
“Do you even grasp the situation?!”
“…….”
Nangong Hye glared daggers at Nangong Seong and bellowed.
“With Strategist Zhuge and Unit Leader Hyunryong kidnapped! Do you think we just sat back watching because we couldn't retake Cheonyang?”
“……Th-That's.”
It was indeed rash. Nangong Seong grimaced and stammered.
“If something happens to them because of this attack, how will you take responsibility!”
“…….”
The Sa-ryong all clamped their mouths shut, stealing glances at Yu Hyun.
Yu Hyun nodded as if understanding her fury.
Fair point. The Justice Alliance couldn't ignore their safety.
But their position was their position.
“Responsibility? I'll take it.”
“What?”
Nangong Hye scowled instantly at the bold declaration from his mouth.
Yu Hyun smiled brightly at her and spoke again.
“I'll rescue Zhuge Mulin.”
“You... saying that now...”
“Not 'you,' Uncle.”
“…….”
Nangong Hye's eyebrows twitched as words failed her before Yu Hyun's resolute expression, locking eyes and correcting her address.
Getting the titles straight mattered.
He had no intention of honoring the betrothal anyway—Uncle would do. Or Unit Leader.
And since he'd started this mess, cleaning it up was on him.
Zhuge Mulin—his precious disciple-to-be, soon to be known as the Heavenly Mechanism Diviner. No handing him back to the Justice Alliance.
He had power now, and capable subordinates too.
Time to let them know.
The name... Yu Hyun.