Chapter 152
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: He is of the Orthodox Faction
Gong Ya Jang-cheon stared at Mun Inbaeksong with a sour expression.
He set down the fluttering messenger pigeon slip.
"What's wrong?"
Mun Inbaeksong looked at Gong Ya Jang-cheon, questioning the sudden shift in his gaze.
"Did I tell you everything in the letter?"
"You said you made a copy."
"Right. Just that one line. And yet you know the whole thing. Didn't I say using insight on stuff like this is a waste?"
Gong Ya Jang-cheon asked in a voice laced with dissatisfaction.
Mun Inbaeksong's eyes widened as he tilted his head.
"What are you talking about? This much just pops into my head naturally. No need to dig into the details."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon silently stared at him.
"Strategist Mun."
"Yes."
"You're so brilliant, it's a joy beyond words for the leader of the Saha League."
"Thank you."
"But from my personal standpoint as Gong Ya Jang-cheon, you're one unlucky bastard."
"Thank you."
Mun Inbaeksong kept thanking him even at that.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon's face soured even more.
"That doesn't seem to be the important part right now."
"You already know everything, so don't you have countermeasures in that head of yours?"
Mun Inbaeksong nodded at Gong Ya Jang-cheon's question.
"Refuse them, and scout someone new for Hao Gate Leader—one with less greed this time. Send them one of the decent secret arts from a sect wiped out in the last war."
"Refuse what?"
"They offered the Destruction Art to block that monster, right?"
Mun Inbaeksong said it like it was obvious.
"Yeah."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon nodded, recalling the letter's contents.
"Offering the Destruction Art in the first place is that vixen Yeo Cho-a's scheme."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon nodded thoughtfully at Mun Inbaeksong's words.
"True enough."
It made perfect sense once he thought about it based on the strategist's advice.
That damned monster's attitude toward the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
He treated them like blood enemies, ferocious as a murderous fiend.
The Saha League has the Destruction Art?
Saha League or not, it wouldn't matter.
The moment he found out, he'd come charging to start a bloodbath with them.
"That monster would wage war on the main sect no matter how long it took."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon nodded vigorously at Mun Inbaeksong's words.
He thought the same. He'd faced the guy, so he knew.
"Haa. That headache of a bastard, Ha Mu-baek."
Just thinking of him made a sigh escape involuntarily.
"The instant we accept the Destruction Art copy—for Hao Gate or not—we end up fighting that monster."
"Even if we ignore Hao Gate, that sly bitch Yeo Cho-a will tell him before she dies. That she handed the copy to the Saha League."
Mun Inbaeksong nodded at Gong Ya Jang-cheon's words.
"Exactly. She's that cunning."
"Should we take her out first? How dare this scheming wench toy with the Saha League?"
Mun Inbaeksong shook his head at Gong Ya Jang-cheon's suggestion.
"Didn't I tell you? Just refuse via the fastest pigeon slip. They might already be preparing to send it, so don't just refuse—threaten that if they send the Destruction Art copy to the main sect, we'll wipe out Hao Gate."
"If not, we'll send it first and see. Trying to use us as the knife in a 'borrow a knife to kill' ploy."
"She's that vicious."
"But stupid. Can't even tell who'll wield the knife and who'll end up dead."
"Limited info on that monster. Hao Gate probably thinks they've got it all figured with their intelligence network, but..."
Mun Inbaeksong shook his head.
Truth be told, even he didn't know the monster's true power precisely.
He just applied what the leader said as is.
But as a human, those feats were impossible to believe.
The prediction that the monster would go to war with the Saha League alone stemmed from his temperament and the martial realm the leader assumed.
It was his reason's conclusion, yet his senses struggled to accept it.
"Oh, and it might be good to leak a hint to Ha Mu-baek that monster. No need to spill everything about the copy—just hint at the possibility, and he'll catch on. Or maybe he's already sniffed it out through some clue."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon tilted his head at Mun Inbaeksong's words.
"But that guy's no fool. You think he'd miss the copy's existence? Hard to believe."
The Ha Mu-baek from the last war had been meticulous and sharp.
Not just strong—brilliant.
That made him scarier.
"He doesn't get arrogant like you, looking down on ordinary folk. That's why he pisses me off even more."
"Hmm."
Mun Inbaeksong pondered briefly.
Then he spoke.
"Maybe he knew and let it slide."
"Why?"
"Think of it as him showing mercy."
"Why would he?"
The Ha Mu-baek Gong Ya Jang-cheon knew wouldn't do that. Especially not with the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
"From the report on the last clash with Hao Gate, it seems Ha Mu-baek killed Yeo Cho-a's daughter."
"So what?"
To unorthodox folk like them, it was no big deal. Even they found Ha Mu-baek terrifying.
"Maybe because of his little sister? She's a bit younger than Yeo Cho-a's daughter, right? Living with her might've softened his heart or changed him inside."
"That guy, more ruthless than any unorthodox scum?"
Gong Ya Jang-cheon asked incredulously.
"He is of the orthodox faction."
It was an answer that left him speechless.
"Hoo."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon sank deeper into his chair with a deep sigh.
The Hao Gate letter had already been reduced to ashes by the Three Flames True Fire technique.
"Got my seal? Proceed as discussed. Skip leaking to that monster. Better not tangle with him even by a hair."
He turned his gaze out the window.
Toward the rugged peaks of Mount Hengshan.
"Understood."
Mun Inbaeksong gave a curt reply and slipped back out the way he came.
"I wonder what he's up to."
Ha Mu-baek muttered with a grin as he kicked off the ground with full power.
He was genuinely curious.
It was a chance he'd given out of character, swayed by a shred of sympathy.
Considering the mother's grief over her lost daughter.
Would Yeo Cho-a recognize it as an opportunity?
Or had vengeance blinded her into doing the forbidden?
Such thoughts raced through his mind as he dashed forward at lightning speed.
Faint Light Myriad Li Step.
His sect's fastest movement technique.
It had been ages since he'd unleashed it at full throttle with true intent.
He became a streak of light hurtling forth.
Ha Mu-baek shot straight toward Chang'an.
Mountains? He vaulted them. Rivers? He skimmed across the water.
No obstacle halted him; he pierced straight through.
From Henan’s Tianzhong Mountain to Shaanxi’s Chang’an.
Straight-line distance: roughly 1,300 li.
A well-trained steed covers about 300 li a day.
Pushed to exhaustion and death, three or four days.
Ha Mu-baek covered it all with pure lightness skill.
Save for an hour of sleep, he pushed at full speed.
Three days later.
He entered Chang’an.
First thing upon arrival: find a decent inn and crash.
He'd overdone it, eager to finish quick and head back.
Reckless, sure—but after breaking through last time, it barely fazed him.
The previous war had strained him more.
After sleeping a full day, he circulated his qi to recover.
Thanks to his realm, his dantian held firm despite the push.
Just some inner energy spent.
"That bastard's in Chang'an?"
Yeo Cho-a shot up in shock.
Chang'an was pure Hao Gate territory.
Every soul entering flowed nonstop to their headquarters.
For a top-priority like Ha Mu-baek?
Instant report the moment he hit the inn.
His speed was so blinding, no one caught him scaling the walls.
The inn he chose was even Hao Gate-run.
Whether he knew or not.
Half of Chang'an's inns and brothels fell under their sway.
Impossible to evade their eyes and ears inside the city.
"Eek."
Yeo Cho-a gnawed her nails, face etched with anxiety.
A recent habit.
Started precisely when the Saha League's reply arrived.
Via the fastest pigeon, Haedong Qing.
Its contents made her grit her teeth.
'No help—handle it yourselves. Send the copy, and we'll exterminate your main sect? Damn bastards. All the intel and tribute we've handed over...'
Betrayal shook her to the core.
The Saha League—union of the unorthodox seas.
Grand promise to shelter all underlings.
Yet they abandoned them.
Yes, they’d touched the orthodox taboo, Chaos Blood Destruction Art—but this betrayal?
Saha leader Gong Ya Jang-cheon was capable when he wanted.
That’s why they never dared rebel.
Ha Mu-baek was one man; Saha was a collective.
Unorthodox powerhouses banded together.
Splitting the martial world with the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
Yeo Cho-a couldn't defy that.
'I'll never forget this grudge.'
She gnashed her teeth.
Just two days ago.
And today, that monster entered Chang'an.
As if he knew everything.
"His movements?"
"Still sleeping."
"Why's he here?"
Her subordinate hesitated.
Protector Lee answered.
"Probably what we expected."
Yeo Cho-a's eyes trembled fiercely.
The deed that bred her paranoia.
"We crossed a line we shouldn't have."
Protector Lee said in resignation.
"Why! Hao Gate just wants to grow stronger! What's wrong with that?!"
Yeo Cho-a screamed.
Protector Lee stayed silent.
'The method was wrong.'
He kept the thought inside.
"What do we do?"
Her rage spent, Yeo Cho-a asked Protector Lee, still anxious.
He shook his head.
"No way out. If Saha helped, maybe. Truth is, even their leader would need to come personally to stop him..."
Despair crept into Yeo Cho-a's eyes.
"Ha... He's stayed quiet till now. What the hell does he want now..."
Her mutter dripped resentment.
When heading to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, they'd meddled, aiding Yeon Clan and sabotaging—yet Ha Mu-baek ignored Hao Gate.
With that bastard's nature, he'd have razed Chang'an already.
No way he'd stay quiet months.
She thought it'd blown over. Or maybe it was the calm before the storm.
Hence her anxiety disorder.
"I don't know."
Protector Lee shook his head.
That was the limit of his thinking.