Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: The Circumstances of Others
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As Ja-seong's group was about to leave Hebi, there was someone secretly watching their retreating figures.
"…Good thing they look healthy."
The man with his face covered by a bamboo hat let out a sigh of relief as he gazed at Ja-seong's group—or more precisely, at Hwa Ryeon's face.
A breeze passing through the alley lifted the edge of his bamboo hat slightly, revealing the man's face.
The man's identity was none other than Joo Ho-jeong, the young fortress lord of Tyrant Heaven Fortress.
After the martial tournament, Ho-jeong had been loitering around the main gate of the Nangong Clan whenever he wasn't tending to Un Yeop, who was still bedridden.
Fortunately, his persistence paid off, allowing him to catch a glimpse of Hwa Ryeon departing from the Nangong Clan.
Ho-jeong stared blankly at Hwa Ryeon for a moment before murmuring to himself without realizing it.
"…I wonder where you're headed this time."
He could probably find out using the Myriad Eyes Squad.
The Myriad Eyes Squad was a newly formed intelligence network, created to replace the Heavenly Net War—which had mostly vanished into thin air.
They had the capability for it.
But Ho-jeong soon shook his head.
He was not in a position to use the Myriad Eyes Squad to track Hwa Ryeon's whereabouts.
If anything, it was the opposite.
"I need to cover those ten thousand eyes myself."
If his father, Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord Joo Do-han, learned of Hwa Ryeon's location, he would never let it slide.
So, Ho-jeong had to prevent that.
Of course, he couldn't block it forever.
Hwa Ryeon's past,
The fact that her companion, the righteous wanderer friend, had entered the martial tournament and thwarted Tyrant Heaven Fortress's plans—
All of this made it clear their actions were hostile toward Tyrant Heaven Fortress.
Naturally, their movements would eventually reach his father's ears someday.
The most he could do was delay it as long as possible.
That was his way of protecting Hwa Ryeon.
"…Once Cheo Escort recovers, I should head straight back to Luoyang."
While Ho-jeong pondered his future plans, Hwa Ryeon boarded the carriage and disappeared from view.
Then, as Ja-seong, seated on the coachman's bench, tugged the reins, the carriage slowly departed from the Nangong Clan.
Seeing Ja-seong pass by the alley where he was hiding, Ho-jeong gave a wry smile.
'It'll be a while before we meet again.'
"…Righteous wanderer friend, please take good care of that girl."
Ho-jeong muttered softly, turned his body, and shortly after, two young escorts from Flower Moon Pavilion appeared, flustered and out of breath.
"Y-Young Fortress Lord…! Where on earth did you go this time? We told you the public opinion in Hebi isn't favorable toward Tyrant Heaven Fortress, so you shouldn't wander around recklessly…!"
"Ah, sorry about that. I've been stuck by Cheo Escort's side these past few days, and I just got a craving for liquor, you know."
Donning the mask of a cheeky playboy once more, Ho-jeong chuckled at the escorts' obvious sighs.
"Come on, my bad. Let's head back. Oh, how about we grab some flower wine on the way…?"
"Absolutely not."
"So stingy…."
With a small grumble, Ho-jeong departed from the Nangong Clan alongside the escorts.
Meanwhile, there was one more pair of eyes watching Ja-seong's group leave the Nangong Clan.
"Is it really okay to just let them go like that?"
"No choice. Something more urgent came up."
On the second floor of a teahouse at Hebi's south gate.
Ye So-ha, the Flame Venerable in splendid attire, shrugged at the question from Hong, who stood rigidly beside her.
In her hand were two notes she had just received.
One yellow and one red.
Yellow signified distribution-level intel, red heavenly-grade.
So-ha first rechecked the contents of the red note.
[Blood technique traces confirmed among Tyrant Heaven Fortress's low-rank warriors. Presumed to be a new technique, distinct from the existing Explosive Blood Technique.]
"A new blood technique, not Explosive Blood Technique…."
No further details were provided.
But the mere fact that low-rank warriors of Tyrant Heaven Fortress were cultivating blood techniques suggested that the Bloodwood Cult—formerly Divine Wood Cult—had burrowed deep into the fortress.
The emergence of a new blood technique meant a fresh wave of bloodshed was coming to the martial world.
With a hardened expression, So-ha issued an order to Cheong.
"Contact all branches and have them check the status of sects in their regions. This is their doing—they won't have limited blood techniques to just inside Tyrant Heaven Fortress."
"Yes, understood."
Cheong bowed deeply and vanished somewhere.
Hong, still remaining, rolled her golden eyes around.
"No matter how urgent the situation, letting the warrior we've waited for all these long years just walk away like that… I don't get it. The warrior should be more important than 'this world's' affairs."
"If we ignore it, this world will end up destroyed by them, just like the others. You want that?"
"No, but…."
Hong lowered her head.
So-ha gently stroked her hair and spoke softly.
"Don't worry too much. I'm not sending her off without any countermeasures."
"Huh? What do you mean…?"
So-ha smiled faintly at Hong's tilted head and asked,
"Do you remember? The guardian stone I gave to the previous Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord."
"Oh, that talisman you said it was? What about it?"
"Our warrior has it."
"…Huh? How did that happen?"
As Hong's eyes widened in surprise, So-ha recalled the past.
Over ten years ago already.
So-ha had discovered traces suspected to be from the Bloodwood Cult inside Tyrant Heaven Fortress and approached the previous lord, Joo Cheon-mu.
'I warned him there might be Demonic Cult minions inside Tyrant Heaven Fortress, but he didn't believe me.'
In the end, to prepare for the worst, she had handed over a guardian stone she'd made, calling it a talisman.
When she heard news of the rebellion inside Tyrant Heaven Fortress and Joo Cheon-mu's death, she thought he'd just tossed it away.
'He gave it to his daughter, and she passed it to our warrior… How did things turn out like this?'
Quite the amusing connection, wasn't it?
Nodding to herself, So-ha turned to Hong and said,
"So, as long as the guardian stone is with our warrior, we can pinpoint her location anytime. No need to worry, right?"
"…For now, I guess."
Hong grumbled that So-ha had known all along but hadn't mentioned it sooner.
Gazing at her fondly, So-ha straightened her expression and thought about future tasks.
'First, I need to interfere so Tyrant Heaven Fortress can't track our warrior's group. Maybe collaborate with Heavenly Firmament Merchant Guild for that?'
They wouldn't want their previous lord's forbidden love exposed to Tyrant Heaven Fortress either, so they'd welcome the Beggars' Sect's cooperation.
Beyond that, locating and investigating the new blood technique, preparing for the Poison Flower Calamity…
"Busy, so busy."
So much to do, yet so little time.
'The silver lining is that our warrior's matters don't require rushing.'
The Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord was probably too furious right now to spare attention elsewhere.
So-ha smirked at the second note, the yellow one.
The yellow note bore just five characters.
But those five characters carried immense impact.
[Bloodlight Corps Annihilated]
"Who could it be? The incredible person who wiped out those human butchers, the Bloodlight Corps."
*
The annihilation of the Bloodlight Corps.
This news, of course, reached Luoyang as well.
-Crash!
"Eek!?"
The priceless blue-and-white porcelain, said to be worth ten gold taels, shattered into pieces.
At the sound, the maids screamed briefly and fled, while the man with his head bowed squeezed his eyes shut.
The man.
Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord Joo Do-han glared at Grand Steward Jin Mu-gun with terrifying eyes and demanded in a voice trembling with rage,
"Say that again. What happened to the Bloodlight Corps?"
"They were raiding the bandit stronghold as planned, but fell into a trap and burned alive…"
-Boom!
This time, the rosewood desk split in two.
Along with it, a sinister aura emanated from Do-han's body.
"Ugh…!"
Though he held the high position of grand steward, Mu-gun had never properly trained in martial arts, let alone mastered demon steps.
There was no way he could withstand Do-han's ferocious pressure.
"Cough…!"
Under Do-han's aura, Mu-gun collapsed, trembling, his face rapidly paling.
The overwhelming pressure had him struggling even to breathe.
Just as Mu-gun, enduring the blocked breath, was about to faint, the pressure began to subside.
"Cough! Hack!"
As Mu-gun coughed and gasped for air, Do-han's sinister voice reached his ears.
"…In other words, the ones who took the manual are still alive?"
"Cough…! P-Probably so…."
"Find them."
Do-han's eyes blazed with demonic fire as he issued the curt command.
"Do whatever it takes to find them. Kill them all and retrieve the manual."
"Y-Yes! Understood."
"Get out."
Mu-gun nodded frantically and hurriedly fled the office at the dismissal.
"Hoo…."
Alone in the room, Do-han pressed his forehead and let out a deep sigh.
Then, a woman's voice sounded in his ear.
"You seem quite troubled."
When Do-han looked up, a bewitching beauty of about twenty stood before him.
Despite appearing without a sound, Do-han greeted her as if accustomed to it.
"Come in, Divine Wood Branch Master.