Chapter 194
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: To the Moyong Family (2)
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Even though I worried we might miss each other due to the unpredictable travel time despite the complicated Central Plains geography and navigation...
"What the hell, you're actually alive and kicking."
"Sihyeon! My Sihyeon──!"
"An appropriate reunion. It's been a while."
Fortunately, the Moyong family arrived at almost the exact same time as I did in Ningxia, so I soon ran into two welcome faces and one unwelcome one.
"Everyone doing alright?"
I undid my disguises for the first time in ages, channeled the Northern Bright Divine Art to shove all the demonic energy deep into my dantian, and greeted my friends warmly as the righteous Geum Sihyeon.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries.
"Mmph."
"Luri, you've gotten even cuter in the meantime? Come chat with Big Sis for a bit."
I took in the sight of Luri getting scooped up dangling by Big Luri for a moment before we got down to business.
"I explained it briefly in the message, but it wasn't enough, right? We've caught wind of the Blood Cult's plan to unite the outer martial world and shake up the Central Plains. We should start there."
I compiled and explained the full picture from info gathered on the demon girl's smartphone and from the Demonic Cult's secret archives.
With every word I said, the Moyong family's expressions grew a bit darker... but they needed to know.
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.
These people had to understand exactly what threat we were facing.
"Hm... What about the forces of those Gale Wind bastards?"
"No idea."
Moyong Wicheon looked impressed by my straightforward answer.
Honestly, I was dying to know too, but there was no way to find out.
How was I supposed to know the strength of those Mongolian friends scattered across the vast lands of Mongolia?
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had somewhat tense relations with them too, but since their territories didn't overlap, we'd never clashed head-on, so we had no intel.
But.
"If it's the Gale Wind Division I've heard of..."
Sister Seol furrowed her brow, digging through her memories as she spoke.
She instantly had all three men's attention.
"In terms of main elite forces, they're on par with the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
Hm...
That group...?
The question swirled in my mind, but I didn't act rashly.
Why?
"Just how strong are the Embroidered Uniform Guard's forces?"
Because there was one thick-headed guy who'd jump in and ask the things even I didn't know.
I just flashed a knowing smile and nodded slightly as if I understood everything, and the conversation flowed on its own.
That was one of life's truths I'd learned in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
"You... Ha, fine."
"Tch, strutting around as a martial artist without even knowing that. What a disgrace to the Martial Alliance."
After duly praising my dutiful friend Taek for stepping up in my place, I listened intently to Sister Seol's explanation.
A brief lecture on imperial history ensued, so skipping that, the gist was.
"It's not something the Moyong Family can handle alone."
Yeah, figured as much.
If you think of the Embroidered Uniform Guard as something like the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, then a group on par with them would be like an elite law firm full of ex-judges.
It was definitely going to be a tough fight.
But...
At the end of that fight.
I felt a strange conviction that I could properly carve out my own path.
Things had been too peaceful in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, it seemed.
"Arrows incoming again!"
"Sand's kicking up on the left too! Could be reinforcements!"
"You cowardly barbarians! Fight us head-on!"
"Wicheon, shut up already...!"
Take that back.
It could've been just a little more peaceful.
.
.
.
"I wanna go toooo──!"
After prying Luri off my waist where she clung wailing pitifully and handing her over to Cheon Yuri.
"Heh. Quite the scene? My turn next time?"
"...Ahem."
I desperately ignored Cheon Yuri's meaningful words and wink, picked up the Moyong family, and took off on high-speed wolf riding.
Water from local sources or ice arts.
Provisions packed thick with preserved rations.
"Moonlit Vale! Is that Moonlit Vale?"
"H-Hiiik...! Wh-What's that beast?!"
"It's a spirit! A spirit has appeared!"
The wolf, bulked up to comfortably carry four people, leaped over the Great Wall amid the classic plot of being treated as both ferocious beast and divine spirit.
Everything was fine up to joyfully humming along to some clopping tune as we crossed the border into Mongolia.
But the real trouble started once we entered the old Mongolian remnant territories.
We quickly made contact with the Gale Wind Division's true nature.
That day, we remembered.
The terror of being ruled by the Mongols.
The humiliation of being forced to wear the queue hairstyle...!
"Whirr, whish, whish!"
"Kee-yohohot!"
Normally, you'd freak out at the sight of a house-sized giant wolf.
But these Mongols were different, as expected.
Chanting Tengri endlessly, they rode tiny horses incomparable to the wolf yet unleashed a steady rain of arrows with unshakable calm, showing their extraordinary skill.
And even.
"Kugh...!"
"Those arrows carry powerful qi! Be careful!"
True to the bloodline that conquered the Western Regions with the Nine Banners, their shots were sharp enough that ignoring them and fleeing wasn't an option.
In fact, the frail and pathetic Moyong Wicheon even got grazed on the cheek, drawing blood.
Though it was karmic payback for his loudmouth aggro-pulling.
"Hoo, guess it's time for this body to step up."
But those barbarians picked the wrong opponent.
Not knowing you don't challenge an ADC nation with ADCs—they clearly hadn't seen the movie about the decisive weapon, the bow.
Shing!
I drew my seldom-used bow-sword and lightly plucked the string: twang, twang, twang.
Now far beyond firing qi-infused arrows by having the bow absorb my qi, my pure will infused the bowstring.
Laced with deadly poison at the tip.
Invisible, blended with Crimson Rainbow Palm Force's subtleties.
Applied Six Meridian Divine Sword principles for trajectories even more unpredictable than Crimson Rainbow Palm Force's variations.
My formless arrows, practically "Spirit-Controlled Arrows," left my hands in an instant and cleaned up the pursuers.
The wind isn't calculated—it's overcome.
That is archery.
Of course...
It was a feat possible only because the wolf was faster than them, and with my inner energy overflowing and a backup battery at hand.
I couldn't spam dozens at once, naturally, and prepping the next volley required warmup time.
Moreover, taking out just a few wasn't enough—they had more numbers than expected.
But.
Our countermeasures were no slouch either.
"I'll put up a qi barrier!"
Crackle──!
As the surrounding air seemed to freeze in an instant from Moyong Seol's thick chill slowing the incoming arrows.
"Ha! Vulgar, vulgar attacks!"
Moyong Wicheon gleefully batted arrows away: ping, ping.
And Taek.
"Ooh, ooh──"
Having been outpaced in power by Moyong Wicheon at some point, and with Seol and Wicheon handling defense fine.
Was faithfully fulfilling his role as my backup battery.
Only natural.
The top firepower in this party was me.
Having a support feed inner energy to the imperial ADC was a given, so I conserved mine while using Taek's.
Very economical.
Fortunately, no one capable of properly blocking my attacks had shown up yet.
Being on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert probably helped—there were occasional first-rate peak-level guys firing qi arrows, but nothing beyond...
Screeeee──!
Boom──!
"Whoa, damn."
"Wh-What?!"
"A spear...?"
"That's qi energy...!"
I reflexively swatted away the suddenly flying javelin with my bow, but it threw off my balance slightly, making my wrist throb.
A bit more off-target, and it would've speared the wolf.
I expanded my senses to the max, bracing for follow-ups.
"They're pulling back...!"
"Hoo, persistent bastards."
The foes, who had been harassing us from a distance, began vanishing over the horizon.
"...Wolfie. Let's hurry a bit more."
"Kyawoong!"
They probably weren't fully retreating but falling back temporarily to call reinforcements after gauging our response.
So we needed to speed up and shake off the pursuit quickly.
"Not bad."
The man who threw the spear, Kara Darmala, paid his respects to the opponent who tensed up, if only briefly.
His martial arts looked quite advanced, but he hadn't expected him to deflect it so easily.
He wanted to charge in right then for an honorable duel worthy of his name.
"But the Khan's orders make that impossible."
There would surely be martial artists heading north through the Central Plains, so he was told to engage any he encountered briefly, report back immediately if it seemed dicey.
The Khan's command was absolute.
So he harassed with arrows at range before returning to the temporary outpost.
After dispatching a messenger with the news.
"How many clans can we muster from nearby?"
He rechecked available forces.
Report first, as ordered.
Chasing and settling things after reporting was no issue at all.