Chapter 116
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Our Big Brother Has Arrived!
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Wang Qing replied.
"This trap feels too weak. Only about a hundred men. We're holding our own, so no need to retreat."
"That's not it. These aren't all of them. There are probably more units out there."
"Units? If they're not coming out even in the middle of a fight, maybe this is it?"
Even so, Wang Qing answered properly since the plan had been devised by Zhuge Dowon.
"No. They'll come from outside. Likely some—or all—of the forces that went to the Tang Clan."
As he spoke, Zhuge Dowon spotted a dust cloud rising in the distance and sighed.
"Damn it! The forces from the Tang Clan are coming. Captain, we need to get out of here."
Wang Qing wasn't foolish enough to fight after seeing that.
"All unit members, withdraw from the manor and assemble at the rendezvous point!"
At Wang Qing's command, the White Tiger Unit warriors rushed toward the manor walls to escape.
But the Mad Blood Fiends blocked them desperately, preventing any approach.
"Stop the Murim Alliance dogs from escaping the manor! Reinforcements are coming soon!"
Hearing the Demonic Cult bastards in the manor shout that, it became clear they'd dug this trap and waited.
Wang Qing's heart grew heavy.
The Mad Blood Fiends weren't mere warriors.
They weren't just strong—they charged without fear of death, as if stripped of all terror.
Even if their legs were severed, they'd crawl forward with their arms.
If more of those fiends attacked now, when they were barely holding superiority, the White Tiger Unit's forces would crumble quickly.
Nangong Seongjin ground his teeth, eyeing the distant dust cloud.
"Soun. Looks like you won't get to see that big brother you brag about so much."
"Hahaha! Brother Nangong, that's where you differ from our big brother. He never gives up, no matter the situation. I'll survive to the end."
Nangong Seongjin wanted to see the face of this Cheon Taesan that Pang Soun spoke of so highly.
But it seemed impossible.
There was no way to break through that many Mad Blood Fiends and survive.
Un Sang approached, clutching his side with his left hand.
He'd taken a wound before even facing the reinforcements.
Zhuge Dowon approached too, swinging his sword with one arm.
It was only thanks to Wang Qing's support that he hadn't died already.
Wang Qing came over and said,
"I'll break through the rear. You all escape from here."
Pang Soun replied,
"Leave you behind, Captain Wang, and just us run away?"
"It's not running—it's a tactical retreat."
"I refuse. Brother Nangong, you go. Don't you have to succeed the Nangong Family?"
Nangong Seongjin chuckled.
"My family has plenty of brothers to succeed it. Let the Zhuge kid go."
Zhuge Dowon shook his head.
"I led us here. I have to take responsibility."
"How is this your fault? Even Murim Alliance strategists would struggle to spot such a perfect trap."
Nangong Seongjin defended Zhuge Dowon.
Un Sang said,
"If we're dying anyway, let's go find Mo Donggwak and take him with us."
Nangong Seongjin gave a wry smile.
"I tried. He'd already fled."
Wang Qing pitied these brilliant young prodigies dying here.
But even if he carved an escape route, they showed no intention of leaving.
"Then, like true heroes of the Murim Alliance, we'll fight to the death."
Wang Qing regripped his slipping sword.
The three hundred Mad Blood Fiends Neung Heo had brought crowded atop the walls.
The Demonic Cult warriors inside the manor then withdrew en masse to the walls.
This brought the battle to a temporary lull.
Neung Heo stepped into the manor's courtyard. Mo Donggwak stood at his side.
Neung Heo spoke.
"Surrender. I'll spare your lives."
Wang Qing chuckled.
"We'll fight to the last man and die."
"Pointless deaths like dogs. Surely you don't want that, Captain Wang?"
"For a warrior, what death is more meaningful than one in battle?"
"Hah, isn't that the brainwashing of you righteous hypocrites? As the saying goes, a living beggar beats a dead emperor."
Pang Soun shouted,
"What long tongues you Demonic Cult bastards have! A warrior proves his worth in death! Cut the nonsense and come at us!"
Neung Heo smiled faintly.
"True, I've said too much, unlike myself. If you won't surrender, then die."
Mo Donggwak consoled him,
"Leader Neung doesn't care for needless killing by nature. You've done enough."
Zhuge Dowon stepped forward, figuring now or never.
"One question. Was it you, Young Master Mo, who planned this trap?"
Mo Donggwak's eyes gleamed.
"Name?"
"Zhuge Dowon."
"Ah, a Zhuge man. You must've planned the attack on this manor too."
"Yes."
"Right. I prepared this trap from when I was poisoned with Formless Toxin. Anyone would've seized that chance."
Zhuge Dowon nodded.
"I've heard rumors of someone called the Divine Demon Brain in the Demonic Cult. Is that you?"
Mo Donggwak grinned.
"Sharp as expected from a Zhuge. That's what they call me in the cult."
Zhuge Dowon surged with anger at being toyed with by Mo Donggwak.
His mistake was crafting the scheme too carelessly and trusting the enemy's planted intel too easily.
"Now that my curiosity's sated, I can die without regrets."
As Neung Heo drew the mandarin duck moon blades from his waist and opened his mouth to order the attack—
"Hahaha!"
Pang Soun suddenly burst into mad laughter. He laughed wildly, then said to Un Sang,
"Look over there."
Un Sang looked where Pang Soun pointed and widened his eyes.
Then he burst out laughing too.
"Kuhahaha! You bastards! You're all dead now!"
Wondering what even the refined Un Sang had seen, Zhuge Dowon craned his neck toward their gaze.
A figure leaped from tree to tree like a locust.
Wang Qing smiled faintly.
"He's here."
"Yes. He's arrived."
Neung Heo turned, puzzled by the talk.
The man kicking off treetops quickly approached the manor.
Peeeng!
His form landed on the manor's roof.
Pang Soun said,
"Chatting with us was your mistake. Our big brother arrived in the meantime. See? Talking isn't always bad."
Mo Donggwak found their reaction bizarre.
Was one man's arrival worth such jubilation?
Seeing the Murim Alliance folk shift from grim resolve to faces of salvation nearly drew a hollow laugh.
Mo Donggwak asked,
"Do you know who he is?"
Neung Heo thought briefly, then spoke.
"From the scholar's robes and the Pang punk calling him 'big brother,' he's probably that Scholar Sword Saint everyone's buzzing about in the markets lately."
"Oh! The Scholar Sword Saint—I know the name too."
If even Mo Donggwak knew, it was famous even in Sichuan.
"Hm, if the Scholar Sword Saint is as rumored, they might have reason for hope."
"Just empty rumors."
Neung Heo declared firmly, and Mo Donggwak tilted his head.
"Don't get complacent. If Wang Qing and that lunatic Pang Soun are cheering like that, it's not baseless."
"Even if so, he's alone. And I could kill that guy in ten exchanges solo."
Mo Donggwak had no retort.
'Coming here means he shook off Shin Eung. That alone makes him no pushover.'
But considering Shin Eung and Neung Heo's faces, he swallowed the words.
I was surprised to see not just Wang Qing, but Pang Soun, Zhuge Dowon, and Un Sang too—then relieved.
'Good thing I wasn't late. If I'd dawdled, they wouldn't have survived.'
Acting the moment I suspected a trap had been fortunate.
Decisiveness truly minimizes trial and error.
Didn't Sima Qian say it?
A hesitating tiger is worth less than a bee.
I eyed the man holding a Vault of Heaven Sword.
'That must be Nangong Seongjin.'
His face resembled Nangong Hak's, so I knew at once.
"Big brother, you here to save us? Should've come sooner. A bit later and you'd only see my head."
Pang Soun said, looking at me.
The rascal was still a rascal.
Not cowed in the slightest by this situation.
Neung Heo said,
"Did the Tang Clan's destruction send you fleeing here?"
I smiled at Neung Heo.
"You came mid-fight, so you don't know the outcome? Probably the Tang Clan won. They were short on forces, so Shin Eung was struggling. Why not go check now?"
As I spoke, I spun three spirit orbs while drawing up my inner energy.
'Huh? Was there that much power in the Silk Sac?'
More inner energy than expected flowed from the Silk Sac acupoint.
As Neung Heo moved to order an attack, I flicked one inner orb.
Peeeng!
Neung Heo blocked with his mandarin duck moon blades.
Kang!
The orb sparked against the blades and bounced into the air.
"Trying cheap parlor tricks from who knows where. All men..."
As Neung Heo tried ordering again, he raised the blades to block his brow.
It required full focus to block, so he clamped his mouth shut and concentrated.
'The orb's faster than before. No need to tap the Silk Sac at this rate.'
Suddenly, Neung Heo shielded Mo Donggwak, splitting the moon blades between both hands and whirling them like a dance.
I'd flicked an orb at Mo Donggwak.
Kagagang!
Thus, Neung Heo couldn't issue attack orders and focused solely on protecting Mo Donggwak.
It turned into a duel between me and Neung Heo.
Neung Heo wrinkled his nose at the floating orb, showing irritation.
At my gesture, about twenty orbs poured toward Neung Heo.
"What?!"
Neung Heo looked shocked, not expecting me to control that many orbs in an assault.
Kakangkakang!
At my gesture, the orbs converged in midair.
"If I go all out, I could kill Young Master Mo—who hasn't recovered his qi—even if Leader Neung survives."
Having blocked them himself, Neung Heo couldn't reply.
He knew it rang true.
"I'm saying this for one reason. Withdraw. Then I won't attack."
Mo Donggwak stepped forward.
"Isn't that a bad deal for us?"
"With your life on the line, how is it bad? If anything, I'm the one losing out."
Mo Donggwak chuckled at my response.
"Trying to haggle big with orb tricks."
"Ask Leader Neung. Is my offer unreasonable?"
Neung Heo looked at Mo Donggwak.
"Hard to believe, but it's true. I could block him, but not protect you too, Young Master."
Neung Heo wasn't one for empty words.
If he said it, they needed to rethink.
"Withdrawing like this wastes my scheme..."
"Life comes before schemes, Young Master."
Neung Heo's expression was more serious than ever.
Mo Donggwak, thinking blind faith in the scholar's words foolish for withdrawal, opted for a petty ploy.
[Sneak behind the scholar and attack him.]
He transmitted to the Demonic Cult warriors.
Ten Demonic Cult warriors leaped onto the roof simultaneously, attacking the scholar.
No direction to evade.
They'd sealed every angle.
But the scholar smirked as if forewarned, waving his hand through the air.
Peopeopeopeopeok!
The ten warriors' foreheads pierced by orbs in midair.
They fell like puppets with cut strings.
Thud!
The orbs that skewered the ten regrouped above Mo Donggwak's head.
These were innate true qi-enhanced warriors, peak experts in all but name.
That one orb pierced their brows without resistance shocked Mo Donggwak.
Pang Soun muttered,
"Whoa, you've become a monster now. Wasn't like this before?"
Un Sang replied,
"What's scarier is that doesn't seem his limit. He's probably hiding even greater power."
How many in the martial world could slay ten Mad Blood Fiends at once?
Nangong Seongjin stared blankly at the scholar.
"That's the Scholar Sword Saint."
Far beyond the rumors?
'No wonder he reformed Mubai. Who wouldn't straighten up under such a master's tutelage?'
The scholar said,
"Time to decide."
Calm and commanding.
A voice devoid of fear.
Nangong Seongjin's heart pounded.
Mo Donggwak, worthy of the Divine Demon Brain moniker, didn't overplay his hand to reverse the tide.
"Withdraw."
Neung Heo bit his lip at Mo Donggwak's words.
The humiliation of retreating empty-handed stung.
"Just you wait!"
Words he'd never uttered in his life slipped out.
"Hm, Pavilion Lord Ojuhyang said that too."
Neung Heo ground his teeth at the scholar's remark.
He had no retort.