Bang So-un Confident in Victory, the Fox Turns Cold
Far in the distance, lights flickered into view. Though they appeared as mere specks from such a remove, Muyeong Bido's eyes pierced the gloom with perfect clarity. Forged through countless drills in the shadows, her vision far surpassed that of ordinary folk.
The intel was spot on.
The crucial information I Yeon had finally procured was no mistake. Lights blazing at the ancestral shrine this late at night? Suspicious as hell to anyone with eyes. If it matched the reports—rushing to erase traces of the aphrodisiac—then their frantic efforts made perfect sense.
Thwack.
Muyeong's hand dropped in signal. Slow down. No need for full-tilt lightness skill now that they'd closed in; rushing ahead risked detection before the ambush.
The squad eased its pace. Watching them, Muyeong wrestled with a dilemma.
Lord Lu will come.
The letter hadn't promised his personal involvement—likely he'd been undecided then. But she, who'd served at his side longer than most, knew better. Lord Lu would come himself. That was his nature.
Only...
We beat him here.
Lurking near Golden Dragon Battlefield had given them the edge over Lord Lu back at Red Flower Pavilion. Shorter distance, plain and simple.
Can't wait...
Quick decision. She'd hold for other missions, but this was a race against time. No dawdling for Lord Lu—and he'd expect no less.
Thwack.
Press on. Shadow Shooting Lake drew nearer. The Sa residence there was the heart of aphrodisiac production. Strike before Golden Dragon's men scrubbed the evidence.
They weren't late. Distance and timing said so.
Perfect ambush. No way the enemy expected company. Slip in silent, hit hard, wipe them clean...
Whoosh! Fwoosh!
"?!"
Right then—the flames erupted from the Sa residence. They swelled fast, devouring the night.
"Damn it!"
Muyeong cursed aloud despite herself. Stealth be damned; full speed now.
"Max throttle—everyone!"
She poured qi into her lightness skill. Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Leading the charge, distance vanishing. Enemies finally noticed, turning toward the commotion—but too late. Finish them...
Crack!
"?!"
A grotesque crunch underfoot. Not earth. Thin board splintering.
Instinct screamed trap! Muyeong leaped clear before it fully gave.
Whoosh. Thud.
She rolled through the fall, landing steady.
Trap! No time for more—she opened her mouth to bellow warning.
But...
Crack! Cr-rack!
Splintering boards echoed everywhere.
Then—
Pfsh! Pffsh! Pfsh! Pfsh!
"Gahk!"
"Aaaagh!"
"Kaaaaah!"
Agonized death-cries shattered the air. Hell on earth.
Dense spikes below, skewering her men like rags. Blood-slick tips jutted from shattered flesh—heads, necks, chests, guts, groins, thighs, arms, legs, hands, feet. Once-human forms reduced to mangled chunks, dangling limp.
No life. Just dripping gore staining the ground crimson.
"Raaaaaaaagh!"
Muyeong's mind snapped; she roared, vomiting blood-fury like a lion.
Thud-thud-thud!
The horse thundered through the dark, speed defying mortal steeds. A Sweat Blood Horse—the legendary thousand-ri galloper, Red Flower Pavilion's sole prize.
Astride it: silver-haired, red-eyed Eun Hwa-yeong, the Red-Eyed Fox.
Lightness skill too slow; she'd commandeered this beast.
"Won't be late."
She muttered to herself. Even if, Muyeong had it. She'd come just in case, but trusted her to handle anything.
She had to.
Yet...
A gnawing unease clawed her gut. Fear of Muyeong's squad tardiness? Logical, given the stakes.
But...
"No."
She shook it off. Unreliable instinct. Her mind wasn't its usual steel—urgency warped it, desperation for payoff after all their toil.
Smack.
Her hand cracked the horse's flank.
"Sorry. Dig deeper."
Neigh!
Sensing her will, it surged faster.
There.
Muyeong's squad in sight. Caught up clean. Close in and...
Then—Muyeong's crew spiked to max speed.
What the—?
Something wrong. Muyeong wouldn't burn out near the target without cause.
So...
They've started erasing evidence.
Time war. Smack—the flank again.
Thud-thud-thud!
The horse unleashed everything, closing fast.
Eh?
Passing Shadow Shooting Lake's dark thicket entrance, she felt it: hidden presences in the brush.
Ambush?!
Face hardening. Pulled into their prepared field. Not just ambush—traps too.
Stop Muyeong's squad first.
"Halt ri—"
Her shout died.
Crack! Cr-rack!
Ground collapsing ahead. Squad tumbling in.
Pfsh! Pffsh!
Spikes rending flesh—chilling.
"Graaagh!"
"Guh... gahk!"
"Kaaaaagh!"
Screams echoed.
Neigh!
The smart horse halted at her peril.
But they were deep in the kill-zone.
"..."
Silent atop her mount, Eun Hwa-yeong's expression... uncanny. Eyes open, unseeing—lost inward, dead.
Black-clad Jeolhwadae swarmed behind, tightening the noose.
"...Ah, I see."
Intel leaked? No—the intel was the trap.
New chief fed it deliberately, knowing spies lurked. He'd sensed I Yeon in the passage.
Spared her on-site, baited with false info instead.
And she'd swallowed it.
"...Foolish."
When last had she been played? Childhood, maybe—forgotten.
Irrelevant now.
"Yeon-ah..."
Her sole friend's name escaped. If things reached this, I Yeon captured—maybe dead.
Darkness crushed her. Chest caved like a blade-stab.
Crunch. Nails bit palm, blood dripping.
All her fault. Greed blinded her, sent a friend to die.
That was ruthless judgment. Cold calculus.
Her way.
But unknown: emotions too vast to bear. Heart-shredding grief.
So...
So...
"..."
Eyes squeezed shut, lips bitten bloody, she trembled.
Then—
"Raaaaaaaagh!"
Muyeong's soul-shattering roar of pain and loss.
A man's mad wail—natural. Family like brothers, sons, lost in one blow. Few survivors—and their fate obvious.
"..."
Eun Hwa-yeong's eyes reopened. Face icier than ever.
No grief. No rage. Those were for the blameless.
This tragedy: hers.
Be cold. Utterly cold.
Find a path. In this near-hopeless field, her move. The move.
Swish. Gaze swept back: Jeolhwadae sealing retreat, inching in.
Even Sweat Blood Horse couldn't punch through.
Abandon escape.
Instead—red eyes fixed ahead.
Trap-ravaged ground. Frayed their formation too—no tight entry.
They encircled from afar.
Odd: mountain path open, lake route blocked.
Why? Traps there too. Flee up-mountain? Spike-field redux.
"..."
But.
Neigh!
Suddenly, she wheeled toward the mountain path, charging fierce.
"Haha, that's that."
Jang Il laughed heartily. Facing carnage and corpses for the first time? Yet grinning—guts of steel.
Any Murim dabbler braced for this, like it or not.
"Don't get cocky, punk. I tell you this all the time."
Bang So-un chuckled wryly.
True enough. Muyeong Squad—enemy elite—nearly annihilated. Leader and scraps left. Barely ten souls, morale in the gutter.
Against Peak expert Yeon Su-rin and twenty first-rate Jeolhwadae? No chance.
And one more.
Bang So-un eyed the mounted Eun Hwa-yeong. Isolated mid-field. Jeolhwadae squeezing her retreat.
No way out. Lone wolf trapped.
Variable? Laughable. Humiliating capture awaited.
Confidence brimmed in his gaze. Reverse-trap to flawless execution—peak setup.
Then—
Neigh! Thud-thud!
Eun Hwa-yeong bolted for the mountain path.
"Huh?"
Bang So-un's eyes widened. Fleeing there...? No idiot misses the trap-field; why leave it wide open otherwise?
Yet this sharp vixen charges it...?
Damn! Rumor wrong, or shock-broken? Block her now.
Her death voids the intricate plot.
"Front six—intercept! Bring her alive, whatever it takes!"
Foremost Jeolhwadae six shot toward the path. Yeon Su-rin among them.
Flying Swallow Step master. She'd make it.
Bang So-un bit his lip, praying.
Tat-tat-tat!
Six forms streaking her way.
"...As expected."
Huh?
Bang So-un blinked. Did she glance his way?
That instant—
Thud-thud-thud!
Horse veered hard near traps. Impossible for normal nag—prime beast, he realized.
Straight at him.
The six halted futile at trap-edge, wheeled—but lagged.
"...Tch, clever bitch."
Late to her game, Bang So-un scowled self-mockingly.
Bait from the start—lure his force out. Knowing she was the prize.
He'd sent them inevitably; she flipped it, ditching six behind.
Force halved, disorganized. She charged the gap at mad speed.
"Wha—? She's... coming here, young master?"
Jang Il gaped, baffled.
"...Anyone can see that."
"Huh?"
"Shut up and block her! Somehow!"
...The same Bang So-un who'd just nutted claiming uselessness now bared teeth, sword drawn, plugging the path's edge.
"R-Right!"
Jang Il lumbered to flank him...
Then backed off far.
"You bastard!"
"Y-You called me secret weapon earlier..."
"Argh, you troll."
"...Kidding, kidding."
Jang Il sidled up again, resigned.
But—
"Raaaaagh!"
Surviving Muyeong Squad charged too. Last shot.
Jeolhwadae pursued hot, but they'd hit first.
"What a clusterfuck!"
Bang So-un snarled, pissed.
"Come on, all of ya! Bring it, you fucks!"
Showing Golden Dragon chief's dignity...
"...Block 'em good, bitches."
"Yes, Great Lord."
"...Young master."
"Hm?"
"Almost had a cool moment."
"Good you're joking."
"Not a joke..."
"Whatever—here they come!"
Thud-thud-thud!
Finally closing in from afar.
The Red-Eyed Fox, Eun Hwa-yeong.