Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Hundred Ghosts 1
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By the time Baek Moo-jin descended the mountain path of Hongrakjang, it was already morning. Only then did he realize the landscape around him had shifted from night to day, snapping him back to his senses.
'When did it get so bright?'
It was a path he could normally traverse in moments. But in his current situation, fully internalizing the insights from Yeomje took precedence over rushing back to the North Heaven Alliance. As he made his way down, he'd fallen into a trance pondering ways to harness Yeomje, losing track of time entirely—enough to let the entire night slip by unnoticed.
It had been three full days since he'd arrived here with Zuosa to meet Jin So-hye. He hadn't planned to be away so long. Yet in those few days, so much had transpired. Helping Jin So-hye had unexpectedly granted him a rare stroke of fortune.
Having now organized his thoughts on utilizing Yeomje, Baek Moo-jin finally turned his mind to the North Heaven Alliance.
'They must think I've gone missing.'
Baek Moo-jin paused on the mountain path, cracking his stiff limbs with satisfying pops. Then, with a single kick off the ground, he shot toward the North Heaven Alliance at a terrifying speed.
At this pace, he'd arrive faster than when he'd raced Zuosa in qinggong. But upon reaching an unfamiliar fork in the road, he halted involuntarily, letting out a low groan.
'Hmm...'
Baek Moo-jin was hopelessly directionally challenged.
In the end, he grabbed passing escorts for directions, ducked into a rundown inn to ask several more times, misunderstood the explanations more than once, and only relaxed once he spotted the familiar road he'd traveled with Zuosa and Lee Gon.
Yet as he drew nearer to the North Heaven Alliance, the surroundings grew eerily desolate. A deathly stillness hung in the air, the kind that accompanied plagues or invasions by northern tribes.
2.
Another three days and half a day had passed.
Baek Moo-jin, absent from the scene, had no way of knowing, but the North Heaven Alliance had already clashed in several small skirmishes with the Iron Blood Gang at various branches—entirely independent of his absence. The Iron Blood Gang was the one provoking them, intent on bleeding their forces dry. Sword Units had been dispatched, and First Grade Warriors scattered to assess the situation.
North Heaven Alliance Leader Goo Yang-hoo wasn't sitting idle either. He'd contacted his embedded spies and, as a precaution, dispatched couriers and messenger birds to nearby families and orthodox factions, urging them to monitor developments.
But the Iron Blood Gang had long been laying the groundwork with the Nine Heavens Alliance to strike the North Heaven Alliance.
On the second day after Baek Moo-jin departed.
The North Heaven Alliance had no choice but to recall the Sword Unit members sent to its branches. Disguised investigators from the Alliance, along with reports from certain branches, confirmed large-scale Nine Heavens Alliance forces on the move.
Iron Blood Gang Leader Gwan Min-gang, upon learning of Deputy Leader Yoo Ja-eon's death, swiftly concluded negotiations with the Nine Heavens Alliance—despite the subtle rivalry that had simmered between them.
The Nine Heavens Alliance's terms were harsh.
They demanded not only a share of the North Heaven Alliance's territory but also one of the Iron Blood Gang's core strongholds.
After weighing the gains and losses, allying with the Nine Heavens Alliance was the right call.
In the end, the Iron Blood Gang Leader accepted their demands outright upon hearing of his deputy's death and was now marching north.
Nine Heavens Alliance.
A coalition of nine Black Path factions.
Among them, the forces closest to the North Heaven Alliance were the Heavenly Dragon Society and Heavenly Phoenix Society. Neither the Nine Heavens Alliance nor the Iron Blood Gang could crush the North Heaven Alliance alone. Their own forces were spread across Gansu, from Gaohe and Jiuquan to the Qilian Mountains—not concentrated in one place.
But the Heavenly Dragon and Heavenly Phoenix Societies mobilized immediately upon receiving the Iron Blood Gang's messenger birds. Both had expanded from the Waterway Stronghold along the North Liquor River before joining the Nine Heavens Alliance. Crossing upstream into North Heaven Alliance territory took them less than half a day.
By the time Baek Moo-jin was racing back to the North Heaven Alliance, the Nine Heavens Alliance had already set foot in their domain. From here on, the path to the Alliance was straightforward. Whether Iron Blood Gang or Nine Heavens Alliance, they were bound to cross paths with Baek Moo-jin.
3.
In mid-sprint, Baek Moo-jin spotted hundreds of warriors marching in orderly ranks. He halted his qinggong instinctively, eyeing the unidentified procession.
The group had spotted him too.
But their response was almost comical.
At a casual gesture from one of them, ten warriors broke from the formation and charged toward Baek Moo-jin.
One glance at their faces, and Baek Moo-jin snorted.
'Black Path, huh. Not Iron Blood Gang, though...'
Instead of engaging, he unleashed his qinggong to gauge their numbers, overtaking the column outright.
As he streaked ahead without kicking up a speck of dust, the pursuers stared in stunned silence, exchanging words.
"What the hell? He's insanely fast."
The Nine Heavens Alliance had its share of swift runners, but Baek Moo-jin's speed would make even qinggong masters whistle in admiration.
A Heavenly Dragon Society commander addressed his subordinates.
"Report to the Society Leader. Looks like reinforcements from the Baekri Family or orthodox factions. I thought Heavenly Phoenix Society had sealed them off completely."
"Understood."
One warrior peeled off to report, while the rest stood dumbfounded, watching Baek Moo-jin recede into the distance.
Someone muttered.
"Heard Heavenly Phoenix Society cast a heaven-net first and nabbed the couriers, but looks like one slipped through."
"Pick up the pace."
Baek Moo-jin was brazenly scouting the large marching force with his qinggong.
He took in their attire, movements, and rough skill levels.
Only the Iron Blood Gang or Nine Heavens Alliance could muster this near the area.
'Could these be the Nine Heavens Alliance? A hundred, hundred fifty... easily two hundred.'
As he'd guessed, they were the Heavenly Dragon Society, part of the Nine Heavens Alliance.
Finally overtaking the entire formation, Baek Moo-jin glanced at the corpses piled roadside as he passed.
A dozen or so martial artists lay abandoned.
They'd clearly grabbed and killed passersby like him.
'More must have gone ahead.'
The road led to a bustling commercial district under North Heaven Alliance protection. Now, not even a stray dog stirred.
'Everyone actually fled?'
Naive thinking.
Baek Moo-jin spotted corpses strewn inside the transport offices and inns with a quick glance. Then, at the mouth of an alley, a protruding foot caught his eye, drawing him closer unbidden.
The pants looked familiar.
'No way—North Wind Sword Unit?'
North Heaven Alliance's North Wind Sword Unit wore distinctive dark sand-colored uniforms, easy to identify. Sure enough, in the narrow alley, a North Wind Sword Unit warrior lay slumped against the wall, dead. But it wasn't just one body.
Staring at the heap of corpses, Baek Moo-jin's head and body grew feverishly hot.
'Damn it all.'
Baek Moo-jin wasn't the Alliance Leader.
He'd never been called to strategy meetings or received faction movement reports.
But North Wind Sword Unit warriors lay dead in North Heaven Alliance territory, chased by what he presumed were two hundred from the Nine Heavens Alliance. No matter how mighty Alliance Leader Goo Yang-hoo was, this was a sucker punch from the Iron Blood Gang Leader, who'd orchestrated the Black Path alliance in advance.
As Baek Moo-jin turned to exit the alley, a faint voice spoke from deeper within.
"Baek hyung..."
He whipped around in shock, but saw no one. Yet only one person called him "Baek hyung" now: Joo Ja-woon.
Stepping back in, Baek Moo-jin called out.
"Joo hyung? Joo hyung!"
Rushing about, he found a man with just his head protruding from under other bodies, gazing at him.
Baek Moo-jin shoved the corpses aside and hauled Joo Ja-woon up.
For some reason, Joo Ja-woon wore black warrior robes, drenched in his own blood.
Baek Moo-jin was more flustered than the fallen man. Cradled in his arms, Joo Ja-woon murmured weakly.
"So pathetically..."
"What happened? Who did this?"
"Nine Heavens, I think..."
Gathering some final strength, Joo Ja-woon clutched Baek Moo-jin's collar fiercely.
"Seo Moon hyung and I went outside to request reinforcements..."
"Ah, even Seo Moon hyung?"
Joo Ja-woon's half-lidded eyes strained as he continued.
"Baek hyung... I..."
He trailed off, hacking up blood. To Baek Moo-jin's eyes, Joo Ja-woon's wounds were too grave; there was no hope of recovery. Suddenly, Joo Ja-woon gazed past him into the distance, whispering faintly.
"I'll go on ahead."
With that, his head lolled limply. His eyes remained open. Baek Moo-jin stared down at him for a moment. He couldn't believe Joo Ja-woon, who had joined the Alliance alongside him, had died so pointlessly.
'Joo hyung, it's only been days.'
Baek Moo-jin lingered, gazing at him far longer than he should have. Moments later, the Nine Heavens pursuers—who'd caught up at a brisk pace—spotted the alley and shouted.
"He's in here!"
Letting out a long sigh, Baek Moo-jin finally closed Joo Ja-woon's eyes.
"Hoo..."
No time or chance to recover the body. He bid farewell as it lay.
"Rest easy, Joo hyung."
Heavenly Phoenix Society warriors charged into the alley mouth, weapons drawn. Baek Moo-jin laid Joo Ja-woon back down, rose, drew his sword, spun, and unleashed a straight sword qi.
The seven or eight entering the alley had limbs shear off cleanly with wet bursts.
Baek Moo-jin walked out of the now-silent alley with a bitter smile. The marching column of forty or fifty had halted, staring at him.
But Baek Moo-jin glanced down at his clothes. Joo Ja-woon's blood stained the collar where he'd gripped it, vivid and fresh.
Taking a deep breath, he strode toward the encircling foes.
Today, there'd be no leisure to flick the blood from his blade.