Brothers Must Understand Each Other's Circumstances
“Fire the arrows.”
Gang Gu’s face showed no emotion whatsoever.
Could feelings possibly get tangled up in a situation like this?
If the fortress fell, not only would they be slaughtered, but so would the countless civilians inside.
The lives of the people outside the walls were precious too, but this was an unavoidable choice.
It might sound cruel, but they couldn’t sacrifice countless lives just to save a few.
Gang Gu kept her eyes fixed on the Cho Country soldiers advancing right up to the base of the walls. Her gaze wavered.
The soldiers atop the walls, looking down at the civilians, had pity in their eyes. These were all people of Kang Country, after all.
Yet the soldiers had no choice but to draw their bowstrings.
There was no other way. Truly none.
Just as the bowstrings were about to release from the soldiers’ hands, a deputy commander at Gang Gu’s side shouted urgently.
“Marshal, look!”
Looking where he pointed, she saw twelve black wolves charging toward the fortress.
It was Yeop Hyeon.
The moment Yeop Hyeon appeared, the walls erupted in cheers.
“Yeop Guksa! Yeop Guksa has come to our aid!”
Someone shouted his name, and in an instant, the soldiers began chanting it in unison.
Yeop Guksa!
At that moment, a massive roar echoed from inside the fortress.
Meanwhile, Gang Gu, who had confirmed Yeop Hyeon’s face, let out a relieved expression as she slowly unclenched her tightly gripped fists. Blood trickled from both her palms in thin streams.
Yeop Hyeon and his twelve companions spurred their black wolves straight toward the Cho Country siege forces.
Ten Divine Fusion Realm experts, plus Yeop Hyeon and Luk Ban-jang, who were even stronger—their charge was pure terror incarnate.
Though only twelve in number, their momentum surpassed that of any small army.
As the black wolves surged forward like gales, Yeop Hyeon’s group reached the siege lines in a flash. The Cho Country cavalry hadn’t even reacted yet.
“Kill them!”
With Yeop Hyeon’s roar, a sword emerged from his body. At that instant, the Spirit Water Sword flashed, and over a dozen heads flew clean off in a heartbeat.
“Let’s wipe them all out!”
Neung Han and the others behind Yeop Hyeon plunged into the ranks of soldiers as well.
Divine Fusion Realm powerhouses—ordinary soldiers couldn’t hope to stop their slaughter. Of course, the ambush before the enemy could reorganize played a part in the soldiers’ panic too.
At that moment, Gang Gu shouted from atop the walls.
“Open the gates!”
The Kang Country civilians who had reached the base of the walls poured inside. Then, countless soldiers surged out like a tidal wave.
“Don’t panic!”
A man who appeared to be a Cho Country general began rallying the troops.
“Pair up in groups of five…”
Right then, a streak of sword light flashed through the camp, and a sword pierced straight between the general’s brows.
That sparked it—officers dropped dead one after another.
To catch a band of thieves, strike the leader first.
Yeop Hyeon’s group was acting on that ironclad principle.
Deprived of leadership in moments, the Cho Country soldiers fell into chaos.
“Run!”
Countless soldiers dropped their weapons and fled. But Yeop Hyeon and the others gave them no path to survival. Wherever the twelve black wolves passed, mountains of corpses piled up and rivers of blood flowed.
Thus, they pursued the fleeing Cho Country soldiers to the end, thrusting swords into their backs.
At that moment, a middle-aged man watching from the Cho Country main camp swung his heavy sword and bellowed.
“Charge!”
Nearly a hundred thousand cavalry thundered forward, kicking up vast clouds of dust toward the fortress. The ground shook like an earthquake across the entire area.
The sight of a hundred thousand cavalry charging at once was unimaginably terrifying.
Yeop Hyeon halted the fight and stared at the madly approaching horsemen.
“Fall back,” Gang Gu said, having approached at some point. Yeop Hyeon nodded.
“Retreat!”
With his shout, Yeop Hyeon’s group and the Kang Country soldiers hurriedly withdrew into the fortress and barred the gates.
The pursuing cavalry halted their advance. Cavalry couldn’t breach gates.
And so, the armies inside and outside the fortress faced off.
Then, a middle-aged man slowly walked out from among the cavalry. He raised his head toward Yeop Hyeon and called out.
“Are you Kang Country’s Yeop Guksa?”
Gang Gu whispered to Yeop Hyeon at her side.
“That’s Cho Country’s cavalry commander, Xiao Yunshan. Peak Divine Fusion Realm powerhouse.”
Yeop Hyeon nodded lightly at the explanation, then looked down and said,
“You got something to say?”
“I’ve heard plenty that you’re Kang Country’s greatest genius since An Ranxiu. How about I give you a lesson today?”
Gang Gu frowned at his words.
“It’s a trap. He wouldn’t casually challenge a duel like that—not in the middle of battle, as the commander of an army!”
Right then, countless Kang Country soldiers atop the walls raised their weapons and roared.
“Fight him!”
“Fight him!”
Tens of thousands shouting in unison was deafening.
The soldiers couldn’t hide their eager anticipation as they gazed at Yeop Hyeon.
His fame in Kang Country had soared beyond all reason. To the people and soldiers, Yeop Hyeon was an invincible warrior under heaven.
Kang Country’s pride, the sword cultivator—Yeop Hyeon.
The expectations of everyone in Kang Country weighed heavily on his shoulders.
Gang Gu’s expression darkened more by the second.
If Yeop Hyeon refused the duel amid this fervor, it would crush the soldiers’ morale.
As Gang Gu agonized, Yeop Hyeon smiled and said,
“I accept!”
With those words, Yeop Hyeon drew his sword and leaped toward Xiao Yunshan.
Xiao Yunshan, seeing Yeop Hyeon jump down, smirked faintly and gripped his blade, springing toward Yeop Hyeon as well.
Under the gaze of countless soldiers, their swords clashed.
At that instant, the Spirit Water Sword slyly altered its trajectory, aiming for Xiao Yunshan’s throat.
Xiao Yunshan’s meaningful smile flashed.
He didn’t dodge—instead, he thrust straight for Yeop Hyeon’s heart.
Life for life!
Just as the Spirit Water Sword was about to pierce Xiao Yunshan’s throat, he caught it barehanded. But as his sword neared Yeop Hyeon’s heart, Xiao Yunshan sensed something wrong.
He’s giving up his heart this easily?
No, something’s off!
Right then, Xiao Yunshan’s sword was suddenly sucked into Yeop Hyeon’s body.
As Xiao Yunshan panicked at the split-second event, Yeop Hyeon twisted the Spirit Water Sword.
Schwick—!
With a gruesome sound, Xiao Yunshan’s entire right arm flew off.
Swoosh—!
The wind-cutting whistle followed as the Spirit Water Sword now arced toward Xiao Yunshan’s head.
At that moment, three black-robed warriors blocked their path.
Experts so skilled they hadn’t even been sensed.
In a flash, one blocked the Spirit Water Sword while the other two swiftly targeted Yeop Hyeon’s neck.
Fast!
But as if he’d anticipated it, Yeop Hyeon yanked back the Spirit Water Sword and retreated several zhang.
At the same time, Neung Han and the others leaped down to stand by Yeop Hyeon.
Ten Divine Fusion Realm experts, plus Luk Ban-jang!
The black-clad assailants vanished as mysteriously as they’d appeared, their attack foiled.
As Yeop Hyeon moved to pursue, a white-robed elder appeared before him.
It was Changmok Academy of Jungto Sinju’s Ho Won Venerable.
The white-robed elder stared silently at Yeop Hyeon, then turned his head to one side. A middle-aged man walked out from where his gaze landed.
Neung Han and Neung Yak nearly jumped in shock upon recognizing the man’s face.
It was none other than the Neung family patriarch, Neung Cheon!
Neung Cheon glanced at the Neung brothers and barked without preamble,
“Return to Jungto Sinju right now!”
Neung Han said in a subdued voice,
“Patriarch… what brings you here…”
“Our family won’t get involved in this. You two follow me back to Jungto Sinju immediately.”
“No!”
Neung Han shouted coldly.
Neung Cheon’s face twisted in fury.
“Do you want two thousand seven hundred Neung family members buried with you?!”
Neung Han clenched his fists, speechless.
At that moment, the sound transmission stones on Ya Ri and the others began to vibrate. Luk Ban-jang’s did too.
A moment later, they exchanged troubled glances.
“What’s going on?”
Yeop Hyeon asked. Ya Ri replied gravely,
“The patriarch’s summoning us back immediately.”
Gam Mu-wi looked at Yeop Hyeon.
“Me too…”
The others nodded one by one.
The white-robed elder looked at Neung Han and the rest, saying,
“Changmok Academy and the Shadow Alliance have no desire to make enemies of your families. Withdraw from this now, and we’ll consider everything that’s happened erased. But if you insist on opposing us, Changmok Academy and the Shadow Alliance will have no choice but to draw our blades against your families!”
Ya Ri and the others froze at his words.
In truth, if their families allied, they’d form no small force. Especially Luk Ban-jang’s Luk family, renowned even in Jungto Sinju. The problem was their patriarchs would never allow it.
There was no reason for them to fight this war.
Amid it all, their sound transmission stones kept buzzing relentlessly.
Neung Cheon, beside the white-robed elder, sighed and said,
“I get that friends are important, but what about family? Don’t your parents who raised you matter? Do you even realize how many lives hang on your choice?”
Neung Han silently balled his fists tighter.
Ya Ri’s group looked ashen-faced too.
Changmok Academy and the Shadow Alliance had declared total war. That meant even Myriad Laws Realm experts would join the fray. Any related families would be deemed enemies.
And Neung Han’s families wanted no part of that.
One wrong move, and entire clans could crumble in an instant.
Then, Yeop Hyeon, who had been quietly watching, spoke up.
“What do you think brothers are?”
As Neung Han and the others looked at him, Yeop Hyeon smiled and continued,
“If brothers can’t understand each other’s circumstances, they’re not brothers—they’re just selfish bastards!”
Yeop Hyeon looked each of them in the eye.
“As leader of the Bandit Mercenary Corps, I order you: return home to Jungto Sinju right now and wait for me. Trust me! We will meet again!”
To Yeop Hyeon, they were true brothers.
For him, brotherhood wasn’t just sharing life and death—it included understanding each other’s situations.
Failing to understand that was pure selfishness.
Was going to a brother in need just to borrow money true brotherhood?
Complaining only about your own hardships without regard for theirs was just self-centeredness.
To outsiders, Yeop Hyeon might seem selfish. But not to his brothers.