Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Ruthless Discipline
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Yi Hwan crossed the ditch and stepped into the Paeng family camp.
Song Cheon-mu followed behind.
Just then, Young Ho-chung and Paeng Mu-wi, who had returned to their tent and grasped the situation before stepping out, spotted Yi Hwan and approached.
Young Ho-chung bowed his head.
“I heard that many warriors under your command were injured. I apologize on their behalf.”
“Did you say apologize?”
“…….”
“You should beg for forgiveness.”
“I heard it was just a minor scuffle, Great Prince.”
“Injuring the Great Prince’s retainers is minor…….”
Yi Hwan drew Song Cheon-mu’s sword and hurled it at Young Ho-chung.
“……!”
Young Ho-chung merely tilted his head slightly to dodge the sword. It flew past and pierced the shoulder of one warrior behind him.
Thud!
“Urk!”
It was a Young Tiger Clan warrior.
“Great Prince! How can you do this!”
Young Ho-chung cried out, his eyes wide. Yi Hwan brushed past him and approached the groaning warrior, pulling the sword free.
“Was it you?”
“N-No, it wasn’t!”
“Then I made a mistake. So who was it?”
Yi Hwan slowly scanned the gathered Young Tiger Clan warriors. But none stepped forward.
Flash!
A streak of light flashed, and one warrior collapsed, spurting blood.
“Gah!”
“Great Prince! Please stay your hand!”
Paeng Mu-wi stepped forward. Yi Hwan shoved Paeng Mu-wi’s chest with his left hand.
Paeng Mu-wi was pushed back. This time, Young Ho-chung stepped up.
“Step back.”
“Please stay your hand, Great Prince.”
His tone was polite, but his eyes were not. Yi Hwan and Young Ho-chung’s gazes clashed fiercely in the air.
Yi Hwan sneered inwardly.
‘I’ll bet my neck you’ll back down.’
Sure enough, Young Ho-chung retreated two steps. No matter that he served under the Second Prince, he could not directly confront Yi Hwan, an imperial prince.
Clench.
His insides boiled, but Young Ho-chung ground his teeth and addressed his warriors.
“Who started the commotion! Step forward now.”
Only then did two warriors step forward.
Yi Hwan passed Young Ho-chung and approached the two.
“Explain exactly what happened from the beginning. If there’s even a fingernail’s worth of falsehood in your explanation, your heads will end up on the army’s execution posts.”
“……!”
The two warriors looked at Young Ho-chung in shock.
But Young Ho-chung could not intervene. Instead, he sent them a transmission.
[Kneel and beg for forgiveness.]
The two warriors dropped to their knees on the ground.
“Forgive us! In a moment of rashness, we committed the grave sin of injuring the Great Prince’s warrior!”
“Forgive us!”
Thud! Thud!
As the two slammed their foreheads to the ground, their skin split and blood flowed.
Yi Hwan turned to Song Cheon-mu.
Song Cheon-mu approached his side.
“Cut off their arms.”
In such situations, one would normally be shocked. But Song Cheon-mu, as if he had been waiting, severed the arms of the two warriors.
Thud!
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
The two warriors writhed in agony, their arms severed.
But neither Young Ho-chung nor Paeng Mu-wi could step forward anymore and could only watch.
In truth, had they injured a warrior under another prince instead of Yi Hwan, even their superiors might have faced punishment.
Yi Hwan turned to Young Ho-chung.
“The crime of insulting the Great Prince merits death, but considering you’ve only recently joined the camp, I’ll end it here. If something like this happens again, it won’t end with just punishing the culprits.”
“……!”
Yi Hwan turned immediately and headed to his tent.
A faint smile played on Song Cheon-mu’s lips as he followed.
“You couldn’t match him?”
“I was careless.”
“Be honest.”
“It’s true. I didn’t expect a counterattack laced with killing intent…… I’m sorry.”
“If he were the enemy, you’d already be dead. And you still call it carelessness?”
“…….”
Song Cheon-mu bowed his head.
But he was still smiling.
‘How exhilarating!’
* * *
Crash!
The camp table shattered under Young Ho-chung’s fist. His eyes blazed with fury, faintly gleaming with murderous intent.
‘I’ll repay this debt someday.’
He had dismissed Yi Hwan as laughable.
But with Yi Hwan wielding his status so brazenly, even he had no choice. No matter how incompetent the prince, a prince was still a prince—he couldn’t dare challenge him.
“Did the Great Prince say he’s joining the battle?”
“Yes. After recovering from his injuries, he’s become much more proactive.”
“Is that so?”
Poison gleamed in Young Ho-chung’s eyes.
Just then, Paeng Mu-wi entered.
His gaze looking down at Young Ho-chung’s crown held a peculiar glint. What was it? A hint of schadenfreude, perhaps?
Paeng Mu-wi sat across from him, feigning a grave expression.
“Shouldn’t we send those two warriors to the rear?”
Young Ho-chung drank cold water instead of answering.
Thud!
“Has the Great Prince always been like that?”
“Of course not. But I’ve heard he changed after suffering a severe injury and losing consciousness. Around the time I arrived here, I think? At any rate, if you judge by rumors alone and act rashly, you’ll run into trouble like today.”
Young Ho-chung stared straight at Paeng Mu-wi and asked again.
“When the Great Prince pushed you back with a gesture earlier, what exactly happened?”
“I was stepping forward and couldn’t steady myself, that’s all. Do you think I was overpowered?”
“It felt like you let yourself be pushed. Thanks to that, General, you could stand by and watch that man’s rampage, couldn’t you?”
Twitch!
“What?”
Paeng Mu-wi was about to leap from his seat.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Suddenly, the bells rang loudly. It was the signal for an enemy attack.
A Paeng family warrior burst in, shouting.
“General! Zhao Kingdom troops are charging!”
* * *
Yi Hwan, entering his tent, stopped at the sound of the enemy attack bells and turned around.
Warriors were rushing out from camps everywhere. Song Hoe was among them.
Yi Hwan looked at Song Hoe and asked calmly.
“Has Mu-ok not returned yet?”
“No, Great Prince!”
“Assemble the Dragon-Tiger Army and move them to the south of the camp. Leave a few to guard Jung-kyeong.”
“Understood!”
Song Hoe dashed toward the Dragon-Tiger Army like the wind.
Yi Hwan headed to Hwang Ho’s tent. Song Cheon-mu followed.
At the same time, Paeng family warriors were rushing out of their tent toward the south of the camp.
* * *
“Enemy forces number nearly twenty thousand!”
“After their last crushing defeat, they must be coming prepared. Let’s head to our posts.”
“Yes.”
Hwang Ho and Jeong Cheon exited their tent. Yi Hwan entered just then.
“Welcome, Great Prince.”
“Have you confirmed the enemy’s scale?”
Jeong Cheon answered instead.
“We’ve confirmed around twenty thousand.”
Twenty thousand was a massive force. It was the entire garrison at the Zhao Kingdom’s forward base.
“We can’t rule out reinforcements from their main camp.”
“Of course. That’s why we’ve sent scouts to their main base as well.”
“Let’s go.”
Yi Hwan led the way.
Hwang Ho and Jeong Cheon exchanged glances and followed. Hwang Ho said.
“Please take the rear, Great Prince.”
“Worried about me again?”
“We received orders from Crown Prince to ensure your safety.”
“If the defensive line breaks, do you think the rear will be safe? For now, holding the line is best—focus, and don’t worry about me.”
“…….”
Normally, Hwang Ho would have insisted once more. But not now. He was overwhelmed by Yi Hwan’s presence.
Waaah!
Clang!
“Argh!”
“Gaaah!”
Combat had already begun at the outer defensive line. Enemy shouts and agonized screams from unknown soldiers pierced the forest faintly.
Yi Hwan thought of Yi So.
‘Since I decided to help the Crown Prince, I have no choice but to give it my all.’
But without knowing the exact level and number of Zhao Kingdom experts, he couldn’t predict the battle’s outcome. What bothered him most were the owners of the demonic qi confirmed from the scout corpses.
‘In the end, victory or defeat will come down to the martial artists’ skills.’
That was Yi Hwan’s concern.
“General.”
“Yes, Great Prince.”
“Leave the enemy martial experts to the Paeng family and Young Tiger Clan. Send every single one into battle without exception.”
“Understood.”
“General Jeong, stay behind the line and wait. Rush to aid any point that starts to give. I say again—do not cross the defensive line.”
“……Yes, Great Prince.”
Yi Hwan took command. Strangely, Hwang Ho and Jeong Cheon followed his orders without realizing it.
Yi Hwan stopped and stared at Hwang Ho.
“Are you confident?”
“We’ll hold with our lives.”
“Then see you later.”
Yi Hwan moved with Song Cheon-mu to find the Dragon-Tiger Army. Hwang Ho and Jeong Cheon watched, belatedly showing surprise.
‘I followed the Great Prince’s orders without thinking. As if it were the most natural thing.’
Jeong Cheon asked gravely.
“Will it be alright?”
“What can we do? He’s not one to back down if we try to stop him.”
Yi Hwan’s sudden change.
It was already firmly etched in Hwang Ho’s mind. Enough to make him forget Crown Prince Yi So’s orders.
* * *
Crunch!
Clang!
“Hold! We must defend our positions!”
“Sweep them all!”
“Argh!”
“Gaaah!”
At the southern canyon defensive line, allies and enemies were already intermingled in close-quarters combat.
It was the shortest path from the enemy camp, so it had the heaviest defensive troops. Knowing this, the Zhao Kingdom army chose a direct assault anyway.
They were that confident—and right there were the Blood Ghosts.
The leader and all his men, drenched in blood, were savagely assaulting the Yeon Kingdom troops.
The Yeon Kingdom warriors resisted with all their might, but the vast gap in martial prowess meant the line was already showing signs of collapse.
The Blood Ghost leader sneered coldly.
“To lose the camp to trash like this.”
“If we push now, we can retake it faster than expected!”
“Don’t get excited. Your job is to deal with the Hebei Paeng family brutes! Move the moment they appear!”
“Yes!”
Before the leader finished speaking.
“The Paeng family is here!”
* * *
Paeng Mu-wi, ascending to the defensive line, sharply surveyed the battlefield. He spotted the blood-soaked men staring their way and hardened his gaze.
‘Those guys? The ones who massacred our scouts a few days ago?’
The thought made their overwhelming presence feel all the more ominous.
Paeng Mu-wi turned to Young Ho-chung and called out lowly.
“Those are the ones we must face!”
“Understood.”
Young Ho-chung nodded silently and drew his sword.
Shing!
The Young Tiger Clan warriors drew theirs in unison. As they did, a sharp aura swirled like a storm.
Paeng Mu-wi added one more thing.
“We must show they couldn’t have won without us. Give it your all.”
“Of course.”
Boom!
Young Ho-chung kicked off the ground and leaped forward. His clan warriors followed, and Paeng Mu-wi and the Paeng family warriors launched themselves as one.
Leading the charge, Young Ho-chung scanned the battlefield. Then he spotted Yi Hwan emerging at the southern line.
‘Watch closely. I’ll make you realize I didn’t avoid you out of fear.’