The Great Battle
"A suspicious individual will breach the walls of the Murim Alliance within the next few days."
The warriors guarding the front gate of the Murim Alliance paid little more than a passing ear to Yang Jeong's words.
"So where is this man now?"
"He's vanished."
"Understood. Now go on home."
When it became clear they had no intention of believing him, a fire kindled in Yang Jeong's chest.
"Please, just believe me this once..!"
"Enough. Cause any more of a scene here and we'll have you arrested."
Even the more even-tempered warriors seemed to have reached the end of their patience, letting their internal energy seep out in a low, ominous hum.
Like wind past a horse's ears. That's exactly what this is.
In the end, Yang Jeong had no choice but to turn away.
Then a brilliant idea flashed through his mind.
Wait a moment. Why am I busting my back out here? I could just drop a hint to the Alliance Leader or Young Master Baek Won-young the next time they come calling.
He had been thoroughly deflated only moments before, but his shoulders straightened at once as he turned back and glared at the gatekeepers.
"You blockheads. Here — eat this!"
Yang Jeong laid his open palm under his fist, then thrust the fist up toward them.
"You little—...............!"
The enraged warriors drew their blades as one.
He was handsome enough for his face to glow in the lamplight, so they had been inclined to let things slide, but there was no way they could just let this pass.
Whoooooosh.........
But Yang Jeong was already gone, his body technique carrying him off without so much as a backward glance.
The instant his figure vanished into the distance, the warriors' faces turned stiff.
A stunningly handsome young man had come calling in the dead of night, then melted away like a ghost.
Hoo........
"It's not like we've been possessed by a demon or anything.........."
One of the guards, staring blankly into the darkness, asked the man standing behind him.
"S-so what do we do, Captain?"
"What do we do? We call it warding off bad luck and be done with it."
The Murim Alliance was no place a suspicious character could simply waltz into.
There were more than fifteen hundred resident warriors alone, and counting the support staff who handled the menial work, the number easily exceeded two thousand.
Moreover, patrols had been stepped up of late — not even a fairly high-caliber master could cross the Alliance's walls without difficulty.
Ugh.....
"Bastards, every one of them."
Yang Jeong had been cursing ever since he crossed the Stone Bridge.
Jiang Zhou regarded him with a look of open contempt.
"Why go looking for trouble when none was asked of you?"
"I thought the warriors of the Murim Alliance would actually listen to me."
Though his shoulders were sagging to the ground, Yang Jeong's eyes suddenly lit up.
"I've got a great idea. The next time the Alliance Leader or Young Master Baek visits, we casually drop a hint. What do you think, Boss?"
"It takes you this long to think of that?"
At Jiang Zhou's reply, the gleam in Yang Jeong's eyes wavered violently.
"Huh? Boss. You'd already thought of that?"
"Yeah. The question is whether the Alliance Leader or Baek Won-young will even come by in the next few days. If they show up after the fact, just keep your mouth shut."
Tsk.....
"Understood, Boss."
"Boss, are they here yet?"
Yang Jeong, who had been repairing the stable, came running over.
"Nope."
"If the Alliance Leader or Young Master Baek shows up, let me know, will you?"
"Fine, I got it. Now get back to the stable."
"Yes, Boss."
Yang Jeong trudged back, and Jiang Zhou set about trimming dried mushrooms.
The dried mushrooms were nearly gone now — he would have to get more from the village soon.
Tap-tap....! Tap-tap.....!
The hammering finally stopped, and Yang Jeong reappeared.
"Boss, are they here yet?"
"Nope."
"Okay."
He turned around and went back to fixing the stable.
Tap-tap...! Tap-tap...!
The hammering carried on for quite a while before Yang Jeong poked his face out yet again.
"Boss. Are they still not—"
Jiang Zhou set down the dried mushroom he had been trimming.
Whoooooooosh...............
In that instant, Yang Jeong shot off like an arrow.
Whoooosh.........
Jiang Zhou took off after him just as fast.
"You're dead the moment I catch you."
"Boss! Just forgive me this once.....! Boss! It won't happen again, I swear......!"
Three days had passed, and neither the Alliance Leader nor Young Master Baek had made an appearance.
With bruises mottling his face a deep purple, Yang Jeong stared listlessly out past the edge of the forest.
"Why aren't they coming, Boss?"
"How would I know? Go fix the stable."
"I finished fixing it after lunch, though."
"Really? Then go fix another building."
Yang Jeong answered in a morose mumble.
"Boss, at this rate I'm going to have to switch careers and become a carpenter."
But it had no effect on Jiang Zhou whatsoever.
"Save the chatter and go work on one of the buildings. We need guest rooms, don't we?"
"It's already getting dark, so I'll start tomorrow."
Jiang Zhou nodded, then jerked his chin toward the corner of the kitchen.
"Go pull a He Shou Wu root out of the liquor jar."
Before he had even finished speaking, Yang Jeong's gloomy expression lit up as if it had never been there at all.
"There's truly no one like you, Boss."
He opened the jar, pulled out the He Shou Wu root, and placed it on the cutting board.
It was what remained of the root he had given to Baek Mun-do and Dokgo Yeop.
Jiang Zhou cut the root into sections.
"Put the rest back."
Tak..tak...tak....
He sliced the cut sections into thin pieces, and Yang Jeong immediately began eating them with his bare hands.
"This is honey-sweet, Boss."
Jiang Zhou picked up a few slices and ate them as well, then washed rice and set the pot over the fire.
Oooh....
"Strength is just surging up inside me, Boss."
Even without Yang Jeong saying it, Jiang Zhou could feel the energy bubbling up.
Yang Jeong darted outside and lifted the enormous boulder sitting at one side of the inn.
Grrrnngh..
The moment he exerted his strength, the boulder was wrenched from the soil and rose into the air.
"Look at this, Boss!"
Yang Jeong repeated the motion again and again, raising and lowering the boulder, which was thicker than a man's arms spread wide.
Jiang Zhou watched him with a face full of irritation.
"If you've got energy to spare, go fix a building!"
This fool had his Upper Dantian forced open in the first place, all because he kept stealing and eating the spirit herbs.
Opening one's dantian with an elixir was a gamble that demanded real risk.
The Upper Dantian was especially dangerous.
If it hadn't been for his master, that fool would have died with his whole body twisted apart — let alone opened his Upper Dantian.
When darkness fell, Yang Jeong began setting the table for dinner.
Jiang Zhou scooped rice from the pot onto the table and sat down across from him.
Just as he reached for his chopsticks, Jiang Zhou flinched and rose to his feet.
Shaaaaaaa...........
A sinister wind swept through the forest and surged toward the Murim Alliance.
"The rice is delicious tonight, Boss. Huh? What's the matter?"
Yang Jeong, who had been shoveling rice into his mouth, rose as well.
Jiang Zhou walked out without a word and climbed over the collapsed section of wall.
The moment he did, black shapes began swarming toward them.
Whooosh.........whooosh.........
Countless black shapes flew along the road toward the Murim Alliance.
More black shapes rose up from the grassy field beyond the road.
Kraaagh...! Kraaagh....!
Some rolled their eyes back and shrieked; others, their faces covered in black tattoos, radiated a cold murderous aura.
Jiang Zhou stretched out his hand toward the kitchen.
Swish...
The Ink Sword came slicing across the great distance and landed in his palm.
By then Yang Jeong already had a sword at his waist.
"Boss...... this is not looking good."
His face was filled with worry.
Jiang Zhou watched the scene unfolding before them with heavy eyes.
Five hundred? Six hundred? No — the enemy's numbers had to be at least a thousand.
Where the black wind swept past, a dead silence followed.
But the stillness did not last long. A man bearing a great spear was striding down the main road toward the Murim Alliance.
Stopping at the edge of the forest, he turned his head.
"I'll come by for a visit once my business here is done."
Jiang Zhou nodded.
"Anytime."
The sentries standing watch atop the walls spotted the enemies charging in from the darkness as well.
The foes came pouring across the grass and the road, already upon the very doorstep of the Murim Alliance.
"The enemy..........! Enemy attack.........!"
As their cries echoed out, the black shapes kicked off the ground and leapt skyward.
Tatak.....! Tak...!
Kicking off the walls to launch themselves, their bodies came down atop the ramparts.
But the warriors of the Murim Alliance were no pushovers either.
They swung their weapons at those trying to land on the wall.
Clang-clang-clang.......!
Steel rang against steel in a piercing clash, and the bodies of those descending onto the wall were knocked back and flung away.
Kaargh....! Guhhk..!
But the enemy was not one or two men.
Those who did make it onto the wall slit the throats of the Alliance warriors and carved open their chests.
Then they kicked off the ground again and flew into the heart of the Murim Alliance.
Shaaaaak................
The bodies of the black shapes that had soared into the air split apart all at once.
The blood gushing from their bodies poured down like rain.
BOOM...! BOOM........!
At the same moment, great holes were punched one after another through the massive front gate of the Murim Alliance.
BOOM-BOOM-CRASH........!
Crack-rumble.......BOOM...!
At last, the Alliance's front gate came crashing down in a thunderous clamor.
But those who had smashed through it did not come out unscathed either.
Shaaaak...........
Heads rolled in unison, and severed torsos tumbled across the ground.
Through the ruined gate appeared Baek Mun-do.
"Comeeee.......!"
His lion's roar shook the Murim Alliance to its foundations and spread out into the darkness.
The black shapes flinched at the roar and shuddered.
But it was only for a moment.
Kraaagh...! Kraaakh.....!
Those with eyes rolled white came rushing at him.
Clang-clang-clang............! Bang.......! CRASH........!
Alliance warriors poured out behind Baek Mun-do, colliding with the enemy in a storm of steel.
Swish......swish.....
Baek Mun-do advanced, cleaving through the enemy's bodies.
Even with limbs severed and chests split open, the white-eyed ones kept lunging at him.
But Baek Mun-do showed not the slightest hint of alarm.
Swish....swish......thwack...
Once heads rolled and great holes gaped in their chests, they too collapsed.
As he cut his way forward through the enemy, Baek Mun-do suddenly brought his body to a stop.
A fierce energy was pressing toward him from up ahead.
A man holding a great spear in one hand stepped out of the darkness and smiled at him.
"It's been a long time, Mun-do."
The black tattoos kept Baek Mun-do from recognizing his face.
But he remembered the voice.
"Bi-ja. Truly...........is that you?"
He had hoped, sincerely and desperately, that the man his son had spoken of was not Jo Bi-ja.
If it were him, it would be more than his heart could bear.
"You've still got quite the presence about you."
Swish.....swish.....
Beheading the enemies that lunged at him, Baek Mun-do raised his voice.
"Why are you among them.......?"
"When you meet an opponent you cannot defeat no matter how you struggle, you have no choice but to submit."
An opponent you couldn't defeat no matter how hard you struggled?
There had once been such a man.
But that man had died by Eldest Brother's blade in the end.
"The leader of the Blood Cult is dead......!"
Kkkkkk.............
Jo Bi-ja let out a grotesque laugh.
"You know nothing."
"What is it I don't know.........?"
"I..........stood face to face with God."
With those words, his body vanished from before Baek Mun-do's eyes.
Baek Mun-do moved as well, cleaving through the space on his right.
BOOOOOM.......!
The instant spear met sword, shockwaves erupted in every direction.
Having knocked the spear away, Baek Mun-do shot up into the air.
Simultaneously, the great spear was plunging down from the sky toward the earth.
CRASH.............!
"I stopped by to pay my respects, so I'll take half of what you have."
Jiang Zhou and Yang Jeong had come out to the main road and stood watching the Murim Alliance.
The distance made it hard to see clearly, but they could feel the murderous aura filling heaven and earth.
"Boss, flames are shooting up over there!"
Just as Yang Jeong said, a blaze could be seen burning bright beyond the walls.
"So the Murim Alliance was breached after all."
Only moments ago, he had never even imagined the Alliance could fall this easily.
But watching the countless black shapes streaming toward it had changed his mind.
"Shouldn't we go help the Murim Alliance?"