Chapter 228
Chapter 228
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: Rumors Fly a Thousand Miles (2)
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"S-Stop!"
As the small boats waiting at the dock set off immediately, Cheol Ak shouted urgently.
The men aboard with him all turned their heads toward Cheol Ak in unison.
"Deputy Leader, if we stop now, we won't be able to link up with the Executioners."
Heo Jeon, who had once served under the Blood Flame Army and now followed Cheol Ak, pointed toward the small boats charging at the pleasure boats.
Gu Yangcho had planned a three-stage assault: first, halt the two pleasure boats with fire ships, then ambush from the World's Supreme Cult while the Executioners divided among the small boats to finish them off in one fell swoop.
Cheol Ak and his thirty subordinates were to board small boats and provide support.
"Doesn't matter. Send the signal right now. We're pulling back."
"Pulling back...?"
Heo Jeon asked with a heavy expression.
"Yeah. We can't just die like dogs here without even avenging Grandfather."
"But..."
Heo Jeon looked reluctant, but Cheol Ak shook his head firmly.
"I was such a fool. Now I finally understand why Zuo Gong, the Assembly Leader, and the State Lord—who wanted revenge on the Cult Leader more than anyone—stayed silent. Even knowing full well the enemy was retreating via the waterways, they held back."
Cheol Ak shuddered as he recalled Sima Geon leaping from the World's Supreme Cult and slaughtering dozens of Executioners with his flying sword. The sword that arrived late made it crystal clear why the Sword Empress and Sword Pavilion's reputations shook the world.
"They knew. To take on those monsters, we'd suffer massive losses. Maybe even stake the Blood Death Cult's very future on it. But the problem is, there's no real gain in it."
Cheol Ak's gaze shifted to the pleasure boat.
Gu Yangcho and So Su-rin were locked in a fierce battle atop the mostly submerged hull. Gu Yangcho seemed to have the edge in momentum, yet the fight dragged on without resolution. If anything, as time passed, the tide was slowly turning in So Su-rin's favor.
"Did you ever imagine Uncle Gu Yangcho—who's not even Sima Geon himself—couldn't handle some mere subordinate woman?"
Heo Jeon had no answer to Cheol Ak's question. And it wasn't just Gu Yangcho's fight.
"Kahahahaha!"
With a thunderous mad laugh, Cheol Woo was rampaging like a demon.
While many of the Executioners leaping from the charging small boats met their ends at Sima Geon and the Sword Empress's hands, most onlookers' eyes were fixed on Cheol Woo.
Sima Geon and the Sword Empress struck swiftly and cleanly, but Cheol Woo's punches delivered such visceral impact that they stirred a thrill of satisfaction in the watchers.
"You still think we should've attacked?"
Heo Jeon bit his lip and shook his head at Cheol Ak's question.
He had no choice but to admit it. Renowned Executioners were turning into bloody pulps and splashing into the water from Cheol Woo's wild swings. Even if they joined the fray, he doubted it would change the tide.
"Hurry up. If we dawdle and get caught, we won't escape that fate either."
"Understood."
As Heo Jeon sent the signal, the three waiting small boats swiftly turned back toward the dock. Since they'd halted right after departing, withdrawal was quick.
Cheol Ak sighed in relief as he watched his subordinates disembark hastily. His quick decision had preserved the Blood Death Cult's sole remaining support faction, small though it was.
Cheol Ak glanced at Gu Yangcho, who was still fighting precariously. Their eyes seemed to meet for a split second.
'Sorry, Uncle.'
Cheol Ak gave a slight bow toward Gu Yangcho, then turned away without hesitation.
After a grueling close-quarters battle with Gu Yangcho, So Su-rin finally seized the advantage. But the boat's complete sinking prevented her from pressing to the end. Unlike Gu Yangcho, who moved flawlessly across the scattered debris as if on flat ground, she lacked the lightness skill for it.
In the end, it was Sima Geon who finished off Gu Yangcho.
Sima Geon's hurled sword pierced the heart of Gu Yangcho, who had held out until the last. The fierce battle beneath the World's Supreme Cult thus came to a close.
As the pleasure boat sank, the Crouching Dragon Squad members who had fallen into the water began climbing aboard the Sword Pavilion's vessel one by one.
The Sword Pavilion's pleasure boat was badly damaged by the fire ships, rendering it unseaworthy, but thankfully not sinking.
Watching the Crouching Dragon Squad members struggle aboard with Black Wolf's aid—survivors from the sinking ships and enemy ambushes—Je Gal-su swallowed his rage.
It had been a sudden ambush by elite assassins following the fire ship attack.
The Crouching Dragon Squad had been caught completely off guard by killers so skilled that even one-on-one victories were in doubt.
"Only six left..."
Je Gal-su despaired that, excluding himself, only six Crouching Dragon Squad members had survived.
"B-Brother is..."
Only then did he realize Je Gal Geom was missing, his face draining of color.
As he frantically scanned the surroundings,
"You're... safe."
Je Gal Geom, the last to board with Thunderbolt's help, spotted Je Gal-su and gave a feeble smile.
"Brother!"
As Je Gal-su rushed over, Thunderbolt waved him off.
"Stop. My condition's bad."
Je Gal-su froze in shock, and Thunderbolt chuckled.
"Not dying or anything, so don't worry too much."
A few White Sword Squad members, seeing Je Gal Geom covered in blood, hurriedly removed their robes and spread them on the deck.
"Thank you."
With their help, Je Gal Geom lay down. Thunderbolt rolled over and sprawled out flat too.
Seeing blood seeping from Thunderbolt's body as well, Je Gal-su cried out in alarm and ran up.
"Brother, you're wounded too...?"
"No need to fuss. It's not serious. Just tired."
Thunderbolt waved him away irritably.
Despite his words, Thunderbolt's injuries were far from minor.
Under Gu Yangcho's orders, the Executioners had targeted Sima Geon's group relentlessly, and he'd overexerted himself saving Je Gal Geom from a fatal blow.
"Hey, what're you doing down there?"
Cheol Woo, arriving late aboard, nudged the prone Thunderbolt with his foot.
His playful tone belied the gravity in his eyes.
"Damn it! Can't you see I'm hurt?"
Thunderbolt scowled and snapped.
"Snapping like that? Guess you're fine."
Cheol Woo's stern gaze softened as he turned to So Su-rin, who was examining Je Gal Geom.
"How is he?"
Je Gal Geom, conscious just moments ago, had already lost consciousness.
"Lucky the vital spots were missed. But it's no light wound. And he's lost too much blood."
So Su-rin carefully probed his meridians and sprinkled hemostatic powder from the Sword Pavilion onto the injuries.
"Will he really be okay?"
Je Gal-su asked in a trembling voice.
"Don't worry. He'll pull through."
So Su-rin forced a smile to reassure him, but Je Gal-su remained uneasy.
"You okay?"
Cheol Woo asked So Su-rin.
"Me? Eh."
So Su-rin gave a wry smile, gesturing to her torn clothes everywhere—wounds that would be fatal on a normal body.
"That leader guy was seriously strong, like you said."
"He was. Honestly, if not for this damn body, I'd be dead already."
"Heh heh! Gotta thank that Yin whatever..."
Cheol Woo trailed off as So Su-rin's eyes turned icy. He awkwardly chuckled and looked away.
"Anyway, no idea how the Sword Pavilion's holding up."
As Cheol Woo slipped away, So Su-rin murmured at his back.
"Thank him? I'd rather die."
At that moment, Thunderbolt—who'd seemed unconscious—twitched.
The door burst open.
Sima Sang, Yul So-seong, and Yul Cheon-gyeong's gazes turned to Oh Chu, leader of the Gold Command, as he entered.
Normally an unforgivable breach of etiquette, no one objected.
"What happened?"
Sima Sang shot to his feet and demanded.
"They were wiped out. All of them."
Oh Chu said gravely.
"All of them..."
Sima Sang slumped back weakly, strength drained.
"A hundred men. You're saying that entire force was massacred?"
Yul So-seong asked incredulously.
"That's the report so far. No survivors from the Executioners."
Feeling something off in Oh Chu's words, Yul Cheon-gyeong tilted his head.
"From the Executioners? Meaning others survived—like Cheol Ak and his men."
Sima Sang and Yul So-seong both looked to Oh Chu.
"Yes. Escort Leader Cheol and his followers escaped unscathed."
"Hah! Is that supposed to be a silver lining?"
Sima Sang let out a hollow laugh.
Cheol Ak surviving was fortunate, but losing the Executioners—the Blood Death Cult's prized assassins nurtured with utmost care—was an irreplaceable catastrophe.
"Escaping that mess must've been no easy feat."
At Yul So-seong's words, Oh Chu's expression flickered slightly.
"They didn't participate in the battle."
"What? They didn't join the fight?"
"According to the scouts observing, Escort Leader Cheol and his men didn't engage—they just withdrew. They added that if they had joined, they'd have been wiped out too."
Silence fell.
"Heh. Ambiguous. Wise judgment or cowardly flight?"
Sima Sang smiled wryly, but Yul Cheon-gyeong defended Cheol Ak.
"You know his character. Coldly rational, sharp judgment. Loyal too. Not the type to run just to save his skin. He must've been certain of defeat and held back for future plans..."
"No."
Yul So-seong shook his head with cold eyes.
"Cold judgment? Fine, granted. Loyal? Sure. But abandoning comrades to retreat? Unthinkable. If you don't start the fight, maybe—but once committed, you live and die together. That's camaraderie."
Yul So-seong's gaze turned to Sima Sang.
"This could undermine discipline. Must punish severely."
"I agree."
"Zuo Gong! He's the Blood Flame Army Protector's grandson, no less."
Sima Sang nodded at Yul Cheon-gyeong's protest.
"Precisely why we must be strict. He's a future leader of the cult."
Sensing from Sima Sang's tone that it wouldn't go to extremes, Yul Cheon-gyeong fell silent.
"Hoo! Nothing's gone right lately."
Sima Sang sighed deeply, darkening Yul So-seong and Yul Cheon-gyeong's faces too.
"How's the Shaolin matter? Any word?"
Yul So-seong asked Oh Chu.
"Not yet."
"Attack confirmed?"
"Yes. They're likely in the thick of it by now."
"We'll know the outcome past tonight."
"Yes. Even the fastest messenger pigeon takes that long."
Yul Cheon-gyeong frowned.
"They'd better succeed. We need Shaolin crushed at minimum."
"They will. But that's worrying too. North Sea Ice Palace and Iron Blood Palace aren't pushovers. If the Cult Leader were hale and our forces intact, no issue—but with the Executioners like this, headache. They're no fools; they'll sense the situation. Hoo! Head hurts thinking how to handle relations ahead. Might have to concede a lot."
Sima Sang clutched his head and sighed as if the ground would cave in.
As the one shouldering the Blood Death Cult until Yul Hon rightfully reclaimed his place as Cult Leader, his anguish only deepened.