Chapter 164
Translator: penny
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Uneasy Victories
Twenty-six days had passed since the new year dawned.
Exactly twenty-six days had passed since the White Tiger Unit set out from Jeongju.
After departing from the Murim Alliance, the White Tiger Unit promptly split into three grand detachments and headed toward the Shandong region.
Among them, the First Detachment, led by Yang Dogun, consisted of fewer than forty members yet had racked up a record of slaying over a hundred unorthodox martial artists.
In the two battles the First Detachment had fought, their casualties were zero dead, zero seriously wounded, and three lightly injured.
It was an overwhelming victory by any measure, but Baek Rihyeon—one of the First Detachment's members—felt deeply uneasy.
As a martial artist, Baek Rihyeon had no fear of war.
He wouldn't have joined the White Tiger Unit in the first place if he were the type to dread battle.
But….
'Is this really war…?'
Fewer than forty of them had slain over a hundred martial artists.
Put another way, it meant they'd only fought foes far weaker than themselves.
Beneath the White Tiger Unit's overwhelming might, their enemies swiftly lost the will to fight, but their blades showed no mercy.
They executed every last one under the banner of avenging their fallen comrades.
'No, they weren't even proper fighters to begin with.'
They had ambushed knowing full well they were targeting unorthodox martial artists.
Baek Rihyeon knew in his head that it was the optimal way to minimize casualties, and that it had indeed kept their losses low—but his heart wouldn't accept it.
'Where is the justice or righteousness in this slaughter?'
Killing the weak wasn't the justice Baek Rihyeon knew.
Martial arts existed to protect the weak.
Yet here they were, the strong massacring the weak—and that contradiction twisted Baek Rihyeon's mind into knots.
And Baek Rihyeon wasn't the only one harboring such thoughts.
"Squad leader, was it necessary to kill even those who'd dropped their weapons?"
Pung Wiryang—the First Detachment's vice leader and a peak-level expert—voiced the discontent on behalf of the others.
But Unit Leader Yang Dogun scowled as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Then what do you think we should have done?"
"Let them go or take them prisoner, maybe?"
"Are you insane? Let them go, and they'll come back as enemies. Take them prisoner—who's gonna watch them? And what if they break free while we're fighting the enemy?"
Pung Wiryang fell silent at Yang Dogun's words.
The First Detachment had only thirty-six members.
Detaching even a few to guard prisoners was utterly impractical with such a small force.
Of course, Pung Wiryang knew this as well as anyone.
Not just him—every member of the detachment, Baek Rihyeon included, knew it full well.
But what could they do?
Their hearts felt heavy all the same.
Sensing the mood, Yang Dogun let out a deep sigh.
"What do you all want, exactly? Life-or-death battles where we're risking our necks equally? Would you be happy if your comrades next to you started dropping dead?"
"…."
No one answered.
Who would wish for their comrades to die?
Especially when it might be them next.
"Does bullying the weak bother you that much? What if a bunch of real experts showed up in front of you—would you say the same? 'Spare us, we're the weak ones'?"
"No, sir!"
Yang Dogun scowled even deeper at the response.
"Then why bitch about it? You here to play around? We came to fight the unorthodox—hate it that much? Then fuck off!"
Silence hung over the shoddily pitched camp.
Yang Dogun looked each man in the eye and spoke deliberately.
"The White Tiger Unit came here for war. If you're scared shitless, crawl back to the Murim Alliance right now and kiss the Black Tortoise Unit's ass. I won't stop you."
With that, he stormed into the camp as if he couldn't stand the sight of them.
Once Yang Dogun was out of sight, sighs rose from all around.
"The leader's not wrong."
"Even so…."
Murmurs spread among them.
Amid it all, Baek Rihyeon approached Pung Wiryang.
"Vice leader, try to shake it off. I'm sure the leader didn't mean it."
"Nah, it's not that I'm upset. Rihyeon, doesn't something feel off to you?"
Pung Wiryang cut himself off mid-sentence with a question.
But Baek Rihyeon couldn't grasp what he meant.
"Off how?"
"The leader. Yang Dogun. Doesn't he seem weird? Look normal to you?"
"You mean the leader?"
Weird or not—it didn't seem weird.
It was exactly what the leader of the First Detachment ought to say.
Just... markedly different from the affable Yang Dogun that Baek Rihyeon knew.
"Hm, probably just the circumstances of war, right?"
Baek Rihyeon defended Yang Dogun, factoring in the peculiarities of the battlefield.
Pung Wiryang tilted his head.
"Maybe? Hmm, still feels off somehow…."
Caught in an awkward spot where he couldn't fully agree or disagree, Baek Rihyeon offered an embarrassed smile.
Sensing the mood, Pung Wiryang waved him off.
"Truth is, I know it was bullshit even as I said it. Just stepping up since the men's morale was low. Don't worry about it."
"...Really?"
"I said don't worry, kid. Go do your job."
Baek Rihyeon lingered despite the dismissal.
Pung Wiryang chuckled heartily.
"Damn, bored are ya? Wanna drill White Tiger Formation with me then…? Oh, wait—ain't today the day?"
"The day for what?"
"Confinement ends. The guy you trained."
"Ah…!"
The man who'd been kicked out of the White Tiger Unit less than ten days after joining—now bearing the moniker Divine Dragon.
Mok Jimyeong.
"Time flew by that fast?"
"Yeah. Goes quick, huh? Wonder how things would've been if that guy had stuck around."
As the two delved into talk of Mok Jimyeong, nearby members gathered in small clusters.
"Leader might've been a bit milder."
"Haha, yeah. He'd think twice about spewing like that with him around."
"Wonder what'll become of him now?"
"Guy's a Harmony Realm expert, so probably some position in the Murim Alliance…."
The gloomy mood lightened considerably at the shift to Mok Jimyeong as the topic.
My secret friend—and the girl who'd been away on family business until my month-long confinement ended—Nangong Sua.
She hadn't returned to the Murim Alliance by the time it lifted.
Not that it was strange.
Hefei's Nangong Family was no day trip from the Murim Alliance in Jeongju—a round trip took well over a month.
Still, it threw a slight wrench in my plan to slot her into the Harmony Unit before departure.
"Brother, don't worry. I'll explain everything to Sua."
Moyong Hui promised to convince her, but my actual concern was something else.
'If they meet, she'll notice right away, huh?'
Secretly cultivating the Blissful Creation Art with Nangong Sua.
They hadn't crossed paths yet, so it stayed hidden, but Moyong Hui would pick up on it the moment Sua returned.
The silver lining? I'd be long gone from the Murim Alliance by then.
'...By the time I get back, Hiya will have cooled off, right?'
Heading out today meant we probably wouldn't meet for months, but I trusted she wouldn't stay mad after so long apart.
So I resolved to keep it hidden to the end.
'Sorry, Hiya.'
Oblivious to my thoughts, Moyong Hui beamed brightly.
"Alright then, brother. Travel safe."
My conscience twinged.
But I, Mok Jimyeong, wasn't some frail man to waver over this.
"Yeah, Hiya. You stay safe too—no injuries."
I hugged her with an easy smile.
Having shared a heated farewell the night before, there was no melodrama now.
I released Moyong Hui from the embrace and turned to Cheon Woojin.
"Woojin, make sure you gather that evidence I told you about."
"Evidence? Ah…."
Moyong Hui, who had been tilting her head beside us, seemed to realize something and shut her mouth.
She probably thought it was about the spies.
But the evidence I'd tasked Cheon Woojin with collecting was something else entirely.
'Proof that Je Galwi's been scheming.'
After I introduced Cheon Woojin and Je Galwi, the two had met several times alone.
And get this?
Thinking Woojin was on his side, Je Galwi had badmouthed me behind my back on multiple occasions.
-He grilled me on why I serve you, asked if it wasn't exhausting.
Cheon Woojin had played along enthusiastically to match the mood.
As someone unaware of my true relationship with Woojin, he'd apparently made various offers to recruit such a talented prospect….
'But Cheon Woojin can't escape me.'
Of course, Woojin wasn't without ambition.
Material greed? Craving fame?
He was overflowing with base desires, even hooked on brothels.
But there was one person he feared enough to bury all that greed for.
His father, Cheon Seonwoo.
With the Martial Emperor as witness, the guy could never break free.
Anyway, I'd heard from Cheon Woojin about Je Galwi's little behind-the-scenes maneuvers, but I'd played dumb for now.
I was under confinement, and lacked hard proof besides.
Unlike the Nangong Chan incident.
Nangong Chan had insulted Hiya right in front of me, but Je Galwi? Just some backbiting.
'Honestly, backtalk doesn't even bother me.'
If he'd slandered my woman, I couldn't have stood it—but trash-talk about me? I could laugh it off easy.
Hell, in my past life, plenty had cursed me.
But….
'Still, Je Galwi needs a proper thrashing.'
Not because he'd badmouthed me.
The problem was he still hadn't given up on Moyong Hui.
'Dares to eye my woman?'
Storming in now would draw too much attention; I'd save it for my return to the Murim Alliance.
With my immunity privilege in hand, all I needed was a pretext.
[Gather that evidence of Je Galwi's schemes well.]
[Don't worry, sir.]
I exchanged final telepathic words with Cheon Woojin and stepped out of the manor.
Now it was time to go lure in Baek Iryeong.