Chapter 368
Chapter 368
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 368
>Chapter Title: Turbulence (1)
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After the Tai Chi Sword Immortal and Yunbaek Dojang departed, Il-mok stepped out of the hall and gazed up at the sunset sky.
“…Just buy time until the Beggars' Clan finishes their verification.”
The Huangbo family, the Beggars' Clan, and Wudang were all more in a state of reservation than solidifying their alliance.
The Huangbo family and Beggars' Clan had promised to return once the imperial conspiracy was confirmed.
Wudang had added that they would ally only after verifying whether the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, operating as the Maitreya Divine Cult, had truly committed any evil deeds.
These were stringent conditions, but Il-mok didn't mind.
It would just take time, and since they hadn't lied, they would eventually return to an alliance.
“The key is how quickly the Beggars' Clan moves. Maybe about a month if they're fast…”
Il-mok resolved to somehow conceal the Maitreya Divine Cult's true identity and stall until then.
But a few days later, a warrior from the Shadow Pavilion came rushing to find him.
“The Martial Alliance has sent urgent dispatches to the major factions and families. They've revealed the Maitreya Divine Cult's true identity as the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and are recruiting people to subjugate us.”
* * *
Over ten days earlier.
While key figures from the Beggars' Clan, Huangbo family, Wudang, and Qingcheng were heading toward the Maitreya Divine Cult in Gansu Province.
At a fortress dividing the Central Plains from the northern steppes.
The eunuch known as Eunuch Cha writhed in agony, letting out pained groans.
- You bastard~!!
- I'll chase you to the ends of hell and chop off your limbs!!
It was because of Dugu Ryong, who was pursuing him even in his dreams, roaring furiously.
The Dugu Ryong who appeared in Eunuch Cha's dream looked like a ferocious ghost.
“Huh!!”
Tormented by the horrific nightmare, Eunuch Cha awoke with ragged breaths.
His entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
With a terrified expression, Eunuch Cha looked around.
The place where he lay was familiar yet strangely new.
The stiff atmosphere unique to official lodgings was recognizable, but he had no memory of falling asleep there.
Frowning in thought, Eunuch Cha belatedly muttered softly.
“It wasn't… a dream?”
Vague memories surfaced of blindly racing toward a distant fortress in a delirious state.
As he neared the fortress, the last thing he recalled was a few soldiers charging toward him from beyond the horizon.
At that moment, the door creaked open.
A middle-aged man who appeared suddenly offered a light clasped-hands salute to Eunuch Cha.
“You're awake, Eastern Depot Admiral. I am Choi Seong-gwan, Adjutant Supervisor of the Western Military Command.”
The current dynasty had established five military commands to govern the realm.
The Northern Military Command was based in the northeast, guarding against nomadic tribes and Later Silla.
The Western Military Command similarly watched the nomads and the western Xinjiang region.
The Southern Military Command was centered around Yunnan, vigilant against the southern barbarians.
The Eastern Military Command oversaw the southeastern seas, functioning much like a navy.
Finally, the Central Military Command was positioned in the heart of the Central Plains, handling security across the entire region.
The head of each command was a first-rank military official, either Left or Right Supervisor-General.
Assisting them were the vice-commanders, first-grade Supervisor-General Colleagues.
The Adjutant Supervisor who had come to see Eunuch Cha held the second-grade rank, third in the command hierarchy.
That was why Choi Seong-gwan, the Adjutant Supervisor, only offered a perfunctory salute to Eunuch Cha.
By convention, the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Rites, head of all eunuchs, was treated as equal to first-rank officials.
Officially improper, but the Chief Eunuch wielded authority second only to the emperor.
Moreover, Eunuch Cha was the Chief Eunuch's deputy and Admiral of the Eastern Depot, second-in-command among the eunuchs.
Strictly speaking, it would be proper for the command's second-in-command, the Supervisor-General Colleague, to receive him.
Even Choi Seong-gwan merely saluted formally, his face openly showing displeasure.
For an official, hating the Eastern Depot was natural—they exposed wrongdoing, inflicted brutal torture, and turned people to dust on the execution grounds.
Yet most officials feared the Eastern Depot's power too much to show such rotten expressions to their faces.
However, Eunuch Cha did not call out the man's rudeness.
Normally, he would have raged openly or investigated behind the scenes to force a punishment, but he lacked the mental fortitude now.
“How long was I out, and how much time has passed?”
“Three days have passed.”
“Damn it.”
Replying to the Adjutant Supervisor's answer with crude cursing, Eunuch Cha shouted urgently.
“Prepare a change of clothes and a horse immediately. I must return to Beijing as soon as possible.”
Eunuch Cha thought.
‘I need to inform Grand Eunuch Ta of this right away. That guy is in the north… the Demonic Cult bastards are there.’
The moment Dugu Ryong's face flashed in his mind, cold sweat trickled down Eunuch Cha's spine.
“…We'll prepare it. But why was the Eastern Depot Admiral in the north, and in such a state, no less?”
Choi Seong-gwan emphasized "such a state," but Eunuch Cha didn't even notice.
“The Eastern Depot's missions are top secret!”
He merely bellowed in a sharp voice unbecoming of his elderly appearance.
Treating the second-grade official with utter disdain, Eunuch Cha soon left the room upon hearing his horse was ready.
The generals spotted him dashing out, even using lightness skill, and gossiped behind his back.
“Heh heh heh. Running off like a dog desperate to shit.”
“How's that a dog desperate to shit? Word is he already shat himself good and proper.”
Pursued day and night by Dugu Ryong, Eunuch Cha had fled while soiling himself nonstop.
When he collapsed at the fortress gate, his clothes were caked in filth, and stripping them revealed the Eastern Depot Admiral's insignia, identifying him.
Naturally, the story had spread like wildfire through the command.
But Eunuch Cha, in his haste, didn't hear their mockery.
‘Hurry! I need to head south now! Hurry!!’
He used Grand Eunuch Ta's orders as an excuse, but he was simply terrified. Of staying near this fortress, close to the northern lands where Dugu Ryong lurked.
Unbeknownst to himself, his instincts urged him to flee south immediately.
From a corner of the command, an old man watched Eunuch Cha bolt like a colt with its tail on fire.
Though old, he was a sturdy man with a massive build and a scarred face, exuding unyielding resolve.
Then, the Adjutant Supervisor who had met Eunuch Cha approached the old man and saluted gravely.
“The Adjutant Supervisor pays respects to the Supervisor-General.”
“Yes. Have you learned anything?”
In a gravelly voice, the old man asked, and Choi Seong-gwan bowed his head in reply.
“My apologies. He just kept ranting about needing to return to Beijing like a senile old hag. No proper conversation was possible.”
Recalling Eunuch Cha fleeing, the Supervisor-General nodded.
“As you said, he didn't seem in his right mind.”
After their brief exchange, they watched Eunuch Cha mount up and head southeast. The Adjutant Supervisor muttered with displeasure.
“I can't fathom what that old monster Chief Eunuch Jang is scheming.”
“Our duty is guarding the border. Focus on that.”
The Supervisor-General replied thus to his subordinate, but similar thoughts swirled in his own head.
The Chief Eunuch Jang, called Grand Eunuch Ta among the eunuchs.
When the Supervisor-General had just begun building his career in the military, that man was already Chief Eunuch—over sixty years ago.
Favored by the previous emperor, he seized unchecked power, and even now, with a new emperor on the throne after the last's passing, it remained the same.
‘…I can't tell if I'm following His Majesty's orders or that man's.’
The Eastern Depot and Embroidered Uniform Guard—arms of the emperor—were in Grand Eunuch Ta's grasp, and no corner of Beijing escaped his eyes and ears.
Thus, the Supervisor-General could only repeat to himself what he'd told his subordinate.
He would simply devote himself to guarding the border.
* * *
Leaving the command, Eunuch Cha traveled southeast and arrived at an Eastern Depot safehouse in Shaanxi Province.
There, he penned a letter and ordered his men.
“Deliver this letter to Jeong Il-ho in secret.”
Having doused the immediate fire, Eunuch Cha mounted up again and headed for Beijing.
A few days later, he reached the Forbidden City, where Grand Eunuch Ta summoned him.
“I've heard the news. Demonic Cult bastards running wild in the north.”
The message Eunuch Cha had relayed via the Eastern Depot to Jeong Il-ho had already reached the Forbidden City.
“Y-yes. The Maitreya Divine Cult's true identity is the Demonic Cult.”
Seeing Eunuch Cha trembling as he replied, Grand Eunuch Ta posed an unexpected question.
“The one there—was he the Demonic Cult's Dugu Ryong?”
“Y-yes, Grand Eunuch.”
“Hmm.”
Scrutinizing Eunuch Cha closely, Grand Eunuch Ta didn't miss it.
The moment Dugu Ryong's name was mentioned, Eunuch Cha flinched.
‘Tch. So the rumors were true.’
The tale of Eunuch Cha collapsing in the north, clothes filthy with excrement, had already reached Grand Eunuch Ta's ears.
His intelligence network and influence were that vast.
“Eastern Depot Admiral.”
“Y-yes! Wh-what are your orders?”
Gazing steadily at the startled Eunuch Cha, Grand Eunuch Ta asked.
“Is Dugu Ryong that frightening? More than this old man?”
Overwhelmed by the terrifying aura emanating from Grand Eunuch Ta, Eunuch Cha stammered in reply.
“H-how dare that worm Dugu Ryong compare to you, Grand Eunuch.”
Nodding at Eunuch Cha's answer, Grand Eunuch Ta issued a command.
“Very well. You seem worn out in body and mind—take a few days' rest and report back.”
“I-I obey your command, Grand Eunuch.”
After the hastily bowing Eunuch Cha departed, Grand Eunuch Ta clicked his tongue lightly.
“Tch. He's broken.”
There was no pity in his eyes.
“Still, as long as it's not missions involving Dugu Ryong, he might still have some use.”
It was mere regret over a once-useful pawn now ruined—nothing more, nothing less.
* * *
The letter Eunuch Cha wrote reached Martial Alliance Leader Cheok Pae-myeong via the Eastern Depot.
As he checked it with Chief Strategist Gongson Hyeon, two conflicting emotions crossed Cheok Pae-myeong's face.
A new faction suddenly appearing in Gansu, bordering Xinjiang. The emptiness of not connecting them to the Demonic Cult was first.
“Ha. Who would've thought those bastards were the Demonic Cult.”
“My apologies, Alliance Leader. The Beggars' Clan boasted so confidently that we ruled out the possibility.”
Relief at finally having the pretext to crush them was second.
“But now we have justification to strike them. And that's not all, Alliance Leader. Our goal from the start was the Demonic Cult, wasn't it?”
“Hahaha. You're right. We planned to deal with the Maitreya Divine Cult then hit the Demonic Cult, but if we play this right, we can finish it all at once.”
The two men eyed each other with gleaming gazes.
Pit the Martial Alliance against the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, letting as many martial artists die as possible.
Succeed in this mission, and they could claim their long-awaited rewards.
Return triumphantly to the court, have their merits recognized, and rocket to the highest offices.
Briefly envisioning that golden future, the two men shook their heads and regained composure.
To claim that golden future, they had to see this through successfully.
“Prepare letters to send to every sect and family at once, Chief Strategist.”
“As you command. I'll draw as many factions as possible into the war against the Demonic Cult.”