Demon Spirit Jiangshi (2)
Why had no one stepped forward when every hour was so desperately precious?
The reason was brutally simple.
Because the situation was far too heavy for anyone to shoulder the blame.
Most of those present were mere messengers whose martial strength was nothing remarkable, and of course they possessed no real authority. Another crucial point weighed on every mind: even the Namgung Family—who had so confidently boasted they would handle the crisis—had failed to stop the jiangshi advance.
The Namgung Family stood at the very head of the Five Great Noble Families, a name counted among the five fingers of the righteous sects. Their influence and power matched their renown. That even such a prestigious house had been powerless against the horde made it only natural for everyone else to wonder whether they themselves could possibly endure.
But that does not mean we can simply stand here gaping.
A blade already hung above their throats; who had the luxury of fretting over a future that had not yet arrived? What was needed now was not worry, but action to solve the problem right in front of them.
“If no one else will take the lead, then I will take command of this matter myself.”
At Cheonhwa’s declaration, Namgung Myeong, Paeng Mu-jin, Beomhye, and Heogong stepped forward at once, as though they had been waiting for exactly those words.
“The Namgung Family agrees.”
“The Hebei Paeng Family likewise.”
“The Wudang Sect will also follow Daoist Cheonhwa.”
“Heh heh. Shaolin Temple concurs as well.”
It was exactly as they had arranged beforehand. Under ordinary circumstances Namgung Myeong—senior in generation, skilled, and well-regarded—would have been the more natural choice. Yet Namgung Myeong had declined the command for personal reasons.
He said he had no desire to step forward only to prop up the Namgung Family’s prestige.
For similar reasons Paeng Mu-jin had also withdrawn. Beomhye refused on the grounds that he was not the sort of man to lead others. Heogong, for his part, had gone so far as to recommend that Cheonhwa take command, having closely observed the young man’s resourcefulness in safely repelling the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace’s assault during the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering.
I had intended to stay silent if the meeting went smoothly, but that was no longer possible.
This could not continue. That sense of crisis drove Cheonhwa forward.
No objections rose. The support of the next-generation leaders from the Five Great Noble Families and the Nine Great Sects certainly helped, yet there was another reason people followed him: the strength and renown Cheonhwa himself possessed.
“Just who is that young Taoist, that he has already become a Peak Expert at such an age?”
“Come now, how can you be so behind on the news? That young Taoist is none other than Flash Sword Dragon, Daoist Cheonhwa.”
“Flash Sword Dragon—the champion of this year’s Dragon and Phoenix Gathering?”
“Not only that. The reason the damage was kept so low during the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace’s attack at the Gathering was thanks to Flash Sword Dragon’s efforts. See that white robe he’s wearing?”
“The one embroidered with cloud patterns. Looking closely, the fabric is extraordinary.”
“They say it’s the Heavenly Silk Treasure Robe the Sichuan Dang Family made for him.”
“Heavenly Silk Treasure Robe? You mean an entire robe woven from Heavenly Silk?”
“Exactly. He’s not someone you can look down on just because he’s young.”
“Haa… the rear waves of the Yangtze push the front waves onward. The old saying is truly right.”
Stories and admiration for Cheonhwa poured out on every side. The realm of a Peak Expert, the results he had shown at the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering—those two facts together made it impossible to dismiss him for his youth. They also planted the quiet hope that if Cheonhwa took command, the worst might still be avoided.
“It seems there are no objections. I will take that as acceptance.”
With no one rising against him, Cheonhwa accepted the role and moved at once.
“Daoist Heogong. Young Hero Jegal Yun.”
He called the names of the senior disciple of the Wudang Sect’s third generation—who had shared the banquet table with him—and the young martial artist serving as the Jegal Family’s liaison.
“Please request reinforcements from the Wudang Sect and the Jegal Family. Among the great sects of the Martial Alliance, only those two can respond immediately to a summons.”
Wudang and the Jegal Family were the representatives of Hubei Province among the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Noble Families. Of all the major powers belonging to the Martial Alliance, only they could possibly arrive in time. Wudang would clearly provide great help in raw martial strength; for formations and strategy, the Jegal Family’s assistance was essential.
“Understood, Daoist Cheonhwa.”
“Ah—yes, sir!”
Heogong calmly bowed his head and accepted the order. Jegal Yun stammered a little from nervousness, yet still moved to carry out the command.
“Young Hero Namgung Myeong, I ask that you send word to the Namgung Family. Request that they strike the jiangshi horde from the rear while we hold them here.”
Though the Namgung Family’s combat force had clashed with the jiangshi and been defeated, that did not mean they had been annihilated. If they had, no intelligence about the horde would ever have reached them. A competent commander would have regrouped his men and withdrawn the moment defeat became obvious; the losses might not be as severe as feared. Moreover, for a Namgung Family whose face had been thoroughly lost after failing to stop the very threat they had boasted of handling, the proposal would be rain after a long drought. Distance meant they might not arrive in time, yet something was better than nothing.
“Very well. I will send a dispatch to the main house at once.”
Understanding exactly why Cheonhwa made the request, Namgung Myeong nodded readily. Having already tasted failure from their earlier stubbornness, the Namgung Family would have no choice but to accept. This, at least, ought to move even the hard-headed elders of the main house.
“Young Hero Jong-o, please ask the Beggar’s Sect to report the jiangshi’s advance continuously. We must know how far they have come if we are to respond properly.”
“Of course. I will contact the branch leader immediately!”
“Young Hero Un Mun-won, I have heard the Jinju Un Family possesses deep knowledge of jiangshi. Is there anything you can tell us?”
“In truth, after receiving the records from the Zhongnan Sect, our family has been restoring discarded texts and conducting research. However, these new jiangshi differ greatly from the old ones, so more time will be needed.”
“Understood. Please inform us the moment you discover anything.”
The beggar in charge of Beggar’s Sect communications and the scholarly man serving as the Jinju Un Family’s liaison both nodded at Cheonhwa’s requests.
“Chief Administrator Byeok Seonggun, prepare for the evacuation of the people, just in case.”
“I understand the intent, but there is nowhere suitable to flee, is there?”
“There is exactly one place the jiangshi’s hands cannot easily reach: the river itself.”
No matter how formidable a jiangshi might be, walking or running across water required at least Peak-level light-footwork. Even if a few such jiangshi existed, they would not be many—and those could be handled by the Peak Experts on their own side.
With immediate tasks assigned, the people scattered and began to move. From this moment on, it was a race against time.
Because Wuhan sat at the confluence of the Yangtze and the Han River, countless ships lay at anchor. Most of the larger vessels belonged to merchant houses and trading companies, so the Martial Alliance visited them one by one and requested cooperation.
“You want us to lend our ships for evacuation?”
“Yes. Is that possible?”
“Of course it’s possible! In fact, we would be grateful for permission to lend them!”
The merchants accepted the proposal with open arms. Helping the Martial Alliance could only benefit them—whether for sheer survival, for reputation, or simply for goodwill.
With the merchants cooperating so eagerly, the plan to evacuate people onto the river proceeded smoothly. Then a letter arrived for the Martial Alliance.
It had come from the military authorities, and its contents were a kind of warning.
“The military states that if the Martial Alliance fails to stop the jiangshi advance, they will have no choice but to mobilize troops.”
“So this is their final chance—they will not tolerate another failure. An ultimatum.”
At Jegal Yun’s report, Byeok Seonggun felt a sharp throb behind his temples.
“That they reacted so quickly means the military has been watching the jiangshi horde carefully, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. Otherwise the notoriously sluggish army would never have responded this fast.”
Jegal Yun nodded in agreement. From the military’s perspective, the present situation could hardly be welcome. Moving an army consumed vast resources and left the battlefield itself a wasteland. Yet the jiangshi’s movements had clearly crossed every acceptable line. They had left Jiangsu, passed through Anhui, and were now bearing down on Wuhan—the transportation hub of Hubei Province. Left unchecked, there was no telling how far the damage would spread.
The surest method was to find the ones who had created the jiangshi and make an example of them. But the ringleaders’ location remained unknown. As a stopgap, the horde itself had to be destroyed.
From the military’s viewpoint, they want to stop the jiangshi from spreading any farther, no matter what.
The best course would have been to deal with them while they were still gathered in Jiangsu. That water had already been spilled; now they had decided at least to bottle them up in Hubei.
“According to the letter, they were about to move at once, but when they saw how swiftly we responded, they decided to grant us one more chance.”
Jegal Yun spoke while cold sweat beaded on his brow. Had the Martial Alliance still been hesitating without Cheonhwa’s leadership, the army would have marched without even this warning. The jiangshi might have been wiped out cleanly—but the ground where army and jiangshi collided would have been left nothing but ashes. In that case the prestige of both the Namgung Family and the Martial Alliance would have plummeted to the bottom of the abyss.
“Thank heaven we have Daoist Cheonhwa.”
Byeok Seonggun felt a stinging heat at the corners of his eyes. To him, Cheonhwa was nothing less than a savior who had solved in an instant the problem that had been giving him a splitting headache. He wanted to bow his head in gratitude, yet there was simply no time. Instead he busied his brush with the work that had to be done. When everyone else went out to fight, he, as Chief Administrator, would remain at his post. At the very least he wished to help them with everything he himself could do.
On the broad open plain near Wuhan, Cheonhwa and the Martial Alliance forces had formed their lines.
The Beggar’s Sect had run their feet raw confirming the jiangshi’s line of advance. Fail to stop them here and the horde would crash straight into Wuhan. By any means necessary, they had to hold this ground.
Cheonhwa sharpened his vision with the Six Harmony Sensory Path and watched the front. Beyond the horizon a beggar came hurtling toward them at a furious pace. The man poured every scrap of light-footwork into his flight, swept in like a gale, and shouted before he had even drawn breath.
“The jiangshi are coming!”
At the Beggar’s cry the waiting martial artists drew their weapons as one and settled into combat stance. Cheonhwa likewise pulled Okgyeong from its place across his back. Moments later a thick cloud of dust became visible in the distance—the harbinger raised by the jiangshi horde that had raced without rest all the way from Jiangsu.
Cheonhwa studied their forms in detail.
They truly look nothing like ordinary jiangshi.
A common jiangshi wore a talisman on its forehead, possessed the ashen complexion of a corpse, and hopped stiffly about on rigid limbs—literally a walking dead. The approaching horde, however, had cast off every such trait. No talismans marked their brows; their movements were not stiff but those of trained martial artists. The only outward signs were their pallid faces and the white film clouding their eyes. Because they moved as a mass, even from afar one could sense the strange, malevolent aura of demonic qi.
“So those are the new jiangshi?”
“They say they named them Demon Spirit Jiangshi because they carry demonic qi.”
“Seeing them in the flesh is more blood-chilling than I imagined. Can we actually win against that?”
“Whether it turns out porridge or rice, we have no choice but to try. If we fall back here, what becomes of the righteous path’s name?”
Uneasy murmurs rose on every side. Most of those present were far from elite, and facing living corpses stirred an instinctive dread. Worse, these were the same creatures that had shattered the Namgung Family’s strike force. Bodies instinctively shrank; thoughts of failure crept in.
At this rate morale will collapse completely.
When morale sank too low, even a winnable battle exacted a terrible price. Normally a commander would deliver a rousing speech, yet Cheonhwa possessed no such gift with words.
So I will simply do what I can.
He drew a deep breath and began to raise his inner power.
The yellow aura of the Balanced Heaven Qi Accumulation Art.
The white aura of the Vast Heaven Qi Art.
The black aura of the Dark Heaven True Qi.
And the blue aura of the Blue Heaven Qi Art.
Power that had surpassed the Triple Layer and reached the Quadruple Layer erupted outward. The white robe embroidered with cloud patterns billowed violently in the gale of force.
Every eye was drawn to him as though by a magnet. Bearing the weight of those gazes without a word, Cheonhwa began to walk forward. Their eyes followed the back of the white-robed figure of their own accord.
His stride toward the oncoming host never faltered. That proud bearing did not come from the absence of fear, but from the presence of something he had to protect. Watching him prove it through action rather than speech, the people stepped forward as if spellbound.
It might have been a foolish act—no different from moths flying into a glittering flame. Yet their hearts were pounding all the same. The back that strode ahead seemed to ask them: Will you stop here? From deep within, a surge of righteous spirit answered that they could not, and shoved them onward.
Their steps became a run. The heavy atmosphere was swept up in the spreading heat and began to blaze. Weapons gripped tight, they fixed their eyes on the enemy growing clearer by the second. The distance between the two forces shrank in an instant—
And in the next moment, the Martial Alliance and the Demon Spirit Jiangshi crashed together.