48
Chapter 48: All Together
The series of events that occurred in the morning was a clear incident proving that Namgung Byeok, the Namgung Family, no, the entire Martial World had been thoroughly toyed with by Do Heo-ok.
If not for the 'ill omen' left by the unidentified intruder last night, they would have proceeded with the wedding ceremony as planned, and the Namgung Family might have been helplessly dealt with by Do Heo-ok.
Of course, the situation was still not good.
The fact that they had driven the culprit Do Heo-ok outside the Namgung Family and killed all four villains he had brought in didn't reassure Namgung Byeok.
This was because Do Heo-ok was still alive and the situation of the Namgung Family being surrounded had not been resolved.
Was that all?
'The guest who is not a guest is still hiding somewhere in the family, isn't he?'
Even if that person had given information beneficial to the Namgung Family, his true intentions were still full of questions.
Internal worries and external troubles.
How else could one describe the Namgung Family's current situation?
Namgung Byeok was keenly feeling that he faced the greatest crisis in his generation, no, since the Namgung Family hung up the signboard of Imperial Family by the shores of Chaohu Lake.
Looking at the sun slowly setting while thinking about the morning's events and Do Heo-ok, he lowered his head, looked at Namgung Bang, and asked.
"How many enemies have been identified?"
He had already received the report, but he was confirming once more.
It was from the heart that perhaps he had heard wrong. But the answer that came back from Namgung Bang was equally desperate.
"According to what was confirmed by the Heavenly Thunder Squad and Heavenly Sky Sword Form, there are easily a thousand at minimum."
At least a thousand.
It was definitely not a small number. Even that number alone was similar to the total number of Namgung Family warriors, excluding the congratulatory guests. According to reports so far, the martial arts level of the enemy's ordinary warriors was absolutely no less than the Namgung Family's.
No major difference in quality, and similar numbers too.
The phrase 'easily a thousand' was the minimum count, so there could be even more.
'What if there are additional forces joining the enemies?'
Though he didn't want to imagine it, there was sufficient possibility of that.
"At least a thousand..."
Namgung Byeok felt the weight of the phrase 'at least' that he was muttering pressing heavily on his shoulders.
He quietly closed his eyes and asked Namgung Bang once more.
"Has the number of peak masters on their side not been determined yet?"
In truth, in battles between Martial World sects, the number of masters was far more important in determining victory or defeat than head count.
If there were more peak masters on the Namgung Family's side, this fight could be led favorably in many ways. What Namgung Byeok was asking was confirming precisely that aspect.
But this time too, Namgung Bang's answer was pessimistic.
"...I apologize, Family Head. The family's ordinary warriors simply couldn't find that out. If we recklessly deployed the squad commanders, it seemed it wouldn't work either, so for now we're only performing general reconnaissance."
Even if they knew everything about the opponent and fought, it was questionable whether they could win, yet they knew less than they didn't know.
In contrast, it was obvious that the opponent had come knowing too well about the Namgung Family. Naturally, it went without saying that even their preparations were thorough.
This way, the Namgung Family had no choice but to be dragged along as the opponent led. They had fallen into a situation of no way forward or back—unable to go out and fight head-on, unable to sit still and take it.
"Huu... It's fine. What do you have to apologize for? It would be the same whether we investigate or not anyway. The number of peak masters will absolutely be no less than the Namgung Family's. If the opponent is them, we can know without even checking with our eyes. Don't worry about it too much."
The opponent was Heavenly Demon Castle. If they hadn't attacked it would be one thing, but at the point they started attacking, it was self-evident they had brought forces no less than this side's.
'Why in the world is Heavenly Demon Castle suddenly appearing in Anhui Province to attack the Namgung Family?'
Namgung Byeok was extremely curious about that, but there was no way for him to find out.
The situation the Namgung Family and Namgung Byeok were in right now was like.
Being beaten while having hands and feet tied and eyes blindfolded?
Though they knew nothing about the enemy, damage was accumulating rapidly.
Already in the first clash in the morning, the Namgung Family had suffered major damage.
By Do Heo-ok and the enemy hiding in his room, one Form Head and close to a dozen elders had already fallen into combat disability.
Not only that, but more than twenty percent of the Emperor Sword Form members, the Namgung Family's most elite warrior group, had died or been seriously injured.
Also, countless family warriors had died in reconnaissance without any significant gains, and were still dying even now.
Though it couldn't yet be said they had suffered fatal damage, if the current pattern continued, they would eventually be unable to endure and collapse.
Above all.
The family was damaged, but the bigger problem was that many of the congratulatory guests who came to celebrate Do Heo-ok and Namgung Hye's wedding had also died, and all of them were trembling in anxiety.
"The congratulatory guests... huu... what are they doing now?"
"They're clamoring to be allowed to leave the guest halls."
In the process of handling the morning's events, the Namgung Family had made all guests remain inside the guest halls for now. This was because they couldn't distinguish who were spies and who were guests.
However, from the congratulatory guests' perspective, it was a bolt from the blue. They had come to watch or celebrate a wedding only to face a life-threatening situation, and the Namgung Family that should protect them had even confined them inside the guest halls without any clear countermeasures...
The Namgung Family mobilized the Heavenly Wind Group and Limitless Sword Form all afternoon trying to root out whoever left the Four Bone Scripts, Four Blood Scripts yesterday, but couldn't find them.
It was natural. There was no physical evidence, not even anyone they had strong suspicions about.
Judging by the cultivation when emitting the Three Holy Lights, the only person who could be the intruder was Tang O.
'Tang O as the culprit?'
That couldn't be. That was impossible. It shouldn't be either.
He was Namgung Byeok's sworn uncle and thus the same as a member of the Namgung Family. Also, though not a major injury, his granddaughter Tang Hwa had also been injured in the morning.
"What is Uncle Tang doing?"
As thoughts reached Tang O, Namgung Byeok became curious about what he was doing now.
"He is at the Medicine Hall."
Namgung Byeok nodded.
Since Tang Hwa was injured, naturally Tang O would be staying together at the Medicine Hall for her treatment.
With a hollow expression, he raised his head again to look at the sky. The busy day was passing and the sun was slowly setting. Yet the sky was clear without a single cloud. Though such dark clouds hung over the Namgung Family, the sky alone was so clear, just like that.
Namgung Byeok closed his eyes and fell into thought, not knowing what to do right now.
Namgung Bang, who had been quietly waiting for him to give orders, carefully opened his mouth.
"Family Head. If it's not presumptuous, may I say something?"
Namgung Byeok opened his eyes and nodded toward Namgung Bang.
The Emperor Sky Sword Form Head was traditionally the Namgung Family Head's right arm, and the current Emperor Sky Sword Form Head Namgung Bang was the same. Namgung Byeok usually listened to his advice as much as possible. What more needs to be said in a situation like this?
"In my view, there are broadly three ways to deal with the current situation. Fight to the death, flee, or send a messenger. These three ways."
Namgung Byeok quietly looked at Namgung Bang, and Namgung Bang continued his story.
"Fighting to the death is exactly as it sounds—engaging in total war with the enemy here with resolve to die. Fleeing is having all personnel leave the family at once, break through in one direction, and make a frontal breakthrough that way."
Namgung Byeok shook his head left and right as if they weren't worth considering and said.
"Move on to the third. You know well too that the first two won't work, don't you?"
If there were even a fifty-fifty chance by fighting to the death, he wouldn't be having such worries.
And fleeing?
It was something that absolutely must not be done.
The moment the Namgung Family abandoned the family grounds and fled, the Namgung Family could no longer be the Imperial Family. As the Namgung Family Head, Namgung Byeok could never make such a choice even if he died gloriously in battle here.
Namgung Bang's main point was actually the third one. His story continued immediately after.
"Sending a messenger means someone conveys the current situation to the Murim Alliance and waits for support. Considering the distance from here to Zhengzhou, if using Movement Technique to go, it won't take even a week. If we really push it, with ten days and nights round trip, one could bring support troops back here."
Namgung Byeok shook his head again this time.
In fact, what Namgung Bang was saying were all methods he had already considered.
Namgung Byeok spoke in a deeply sunken voice.
"I understand your method well, but who in the Namgung Family could break through their encirclement and reach Zhengzhou?"
Namgung Bang answered immediately as if he had been waiting for those words.
"The messenger doesn't necessarily have to be someone from the Namgung Family, does it?"
As soon as he heard the words, Namgung Byeok could tell who Namgung Bang had in mind when saying this.
Someone who, though not a person of the Namgung Family, was trustworthy and whose Movement Technique and martial arts were also extremely lofty. There was exactly one person in the family now who fit that description.
"Are you saying we should send Uncle Tang to Zhengzhou?"
"Yes, Family Head. We have no choice. If not him, there's no visible way to break through the current situation."
"However, even if it's him, it's questionable whether he could break through the encirclement of so many enemies alone?"
Do Heo-ok alone was enough to compete with Tang O, so could Tang O go to Zhengzhou alone, breaking through enemies layered who knows how many times? That was Namgung Byeok's meaning.
But Namgung Bang had already thought about that point too.
"If alone, unless one is among the Two Divinities or Three Eccentrics, it would be impossible to break through that encirclement. But what if he doesn't go alone?"
"What do you mean? Are you saying we should mobilize all family members to temporarily punch a hole in the enemy lines? But if we make a mistake doing that, we might conversely suffer a counterattack and have the family's entrance breached."
At Namgung Byeok's words, Namgung Bang slightly shook his head.
"No. The method I'm thinking of isn't to create a gap in the enemy lines."
"Hmm!? What do you mean?"
"Right now there are hundreds of people in the family dying to escape."
"So?"
"The intruder who left the Four Bone Scripts, Four Blood Scripts is among them. If we can't filter him out, I think sending them all outside together is also one method."
If you can't filter them out, send them all outside together.