Chapter 161
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Tell Him to Come Himself
"Ta-hat!"
With a resounding kiai, countless swords came thrusting in.
Dan Mok Un-roe couldn't block them.
There was simply no opening to exploit.
"Hoo. I lost. What's going on? Your sword feels even sharper lately."
Baek Ri-pyeong merely smiled at Dan Mok Un-roe's question.
His gaze shifted to the edge of the training ground.
There stood a single instructor.
Jang I-geol.
The Hidden Dragon Corps instructor dispatched from the Zhongnan Sect to the Dragon Training Pavilion.
He was probably there to monitor him on orders from the sect leader.
That was Baek Ri-pyeong's thought.
He sensed that his time at the Dragon Training Pavilion was nearly up.
As such, Baek Ri-pyeong threw himself even more fiercely into his training.
'Today's the last day.'
Jang I-geol felt a twinge of regret.
The day he had stumbled upon this place by chance and watched their training.
In the mere three days since, he had visited every single day, lingering just long enough to observe.
Day by day, steady progress.
Watching Baek Ri-pyeong improve bit by bit had naturally lifted his spirits.
But today, he had to return to the Zhongnan Sect.
Most instructors spent the holiday break at their home sects.
Yet he had come without fail every day during that short period, so it was only natural that Baek Ri-pyeong had noticed his presence.
'That wary gaze again today.'
He could understand it.
Baek Ri-pyeong likely assumed he was there on the sect leader's orders.
Jang I-geol gave a wry smile and departed the training ground.
Baek Ri-pyeong glanced briefly at his retreating figure.
"We training like this tomorrow too?"
Dang Jin-san asked, looking around at the students.
They all nodded.
"You know what tomorrow is?"
Dang Jin-san asked once more.
The students merely shrugged.
"Ah, I've gotta head home today. Probably won't make it back till late afternoon tomorrow."
Only then did Dan Mok Un-roe speak up, as if it had just clicked.
"Tomorrow's New Year's Day."
At Dang Jin-san's words, the rest of the students finally made 'ah!' faces.
"Un-roe, you spend time with family. How about the rest of us grab a meal together?"
"Sounds good. Let's do it."
The moment Dang Jin-san finished speaking, Baek Ri-pyeong nodded in agreement.
Dang Jin-san grinned at Baek Ri-pyeong's quick reply, then glanced at the others.
They all nodded their assent.
Today marked the final day of the year.
Days so immersed in training that they hadn't even realized it.
The students of Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven had spent the past year with true intensity.
They resolved to make the coming year even more grueling.
Deep into the night.
The river wind blew cold.
New Year's Eve.
A pitch-black night without even a moon.
Yet countless people crowded the deck, peering into the surroundings.
Midnight was fast approaching.
The old year was dying, the new one about to be born.
And then...
Midnight struck.
"Fire 'em up!"
With a booming shout, one of the sailors launched fireworks into the sky.
Boom! Boom!
Sparks painted the dark heavens.
"Wooo!"
Cheers erupted from the passengers welcoming the new year.
Ha Mu-baek leaned against a railing in a quiet spot on deck, watching the spectacle.
"Hope this doesn't draw a swarm of river pirates."
"Haha. Even the Su-ro Pirates take New Year's Eve and Day off."
A middle-aged scholar responded to Ha Mu-baek's mutter.
Ha Mu-baek shot him a glance.
His face plainly showed his displeasure.
"What's with the look?"
"Sent by Gong Son old man?"
Righteous Heaven Alliance Chief Strategist Gong Son Dan-gyeong.
He was the one who had dispatched Ha Mu-baek to the Fierce Dragon Corps—though with the alliance leader's seal of approval.
To Ha Mu-baek, such a figure was just another geezer.
The scholar's eyes went wide at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"How did you know? The strategist said you wouldn't recognize me."
He seemed genuinely startled.
And with good reason.
He was truly just a scholar.
Not a speck of internal energy in his body.
Someone impossible to detect with qi sense or the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye.
The Righteous Heaven Alliance was a coalition of righteous martial sects, but it wasn't peopled solely by martial artists.
No—in truth, to sustain its massive scale, it relied far more on non-martial folk.
The Heavenly Eye Pavilion was the core, handling every scrap of intelligence across the land and devising the alliance's strategies and tactics.
Such work lay beyond the ken of most martial artists obsessed with cultivation.
Thus, the pavilion absolutely required scholars to manage its intricate, demanding tasks.
This middle-aged man was surely one such.
"Heavenly Eye rats sniffing around a few times, then this scholar who's been hovering near me since afternoon strikes up a chat? Gotta be Heavenly Eye."
The scholar nodded at Ha Mu-baek's explanation.
It was because he'd been biding his time nearby, waiting for the right moment to approach.
Had he hung back at a distance and spoken up casually, Ha Mu-baek might not have noticed.
"I'll keep that in mind next time."
"Because of the Hao Clan?"
The scholar shook his head at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"It's the Blood Cult."
Ha Mu-baek nodded lightly at the reply.
"You've got your ears to the ground pretty well."
"Well, we all know what's going on but let it slide anyway, don't we?"
The scholar smiled faintly.
The meaning was simple.
Information gleaned from spies embedded in the Hao Clan and Sa-hwa Alliance.
"Planted 'em deep, huh? Word came back in days."
The scholar merely smiled.
"But why should I tell you?"
"The strategist said wiping out the Blood Cult remnants would be tough alone."
It was Gong Son Dan-gyeong's relayed message.
"Bullshit."
Ha Mu-baek's curt reply.
Yet the scholar kept smiling. He'd known Ha Mu-baek's temperament from the start.
"Can't handle the remnants right under your nose, but sure you'll mop up the ones in hiding."
"What do you...?"
"Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest."
"Ah...!"
A small gasp escaped the scholar, after which he fell silent.
He was right.
They'd suspected Blood Cult remnants might lurk in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Yet they'd erected the great wall and left it be.
Opposition from the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
For the sake of rivers-and-lakes peace, better to manage the demon beasts than eradicate them—such sophistry.
They wielded the power to turn that nonsense into orthodoxy, and so it had gone their way.
On this matter, neither the Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader nor Chief Strategist Gong Son Dan-gyeong had any grounds to argue with Ha Mu-baek.
What could the scholar say?
"Just scram, then."
Ha Mu-baek waved him off dismissively.
Yet the scholar's feet stayed rooted.
"I'm heading in."
Ha Mu-baek pushed off the railing and strode away. The scholar couldn't follow.
Ha Mu-baek's back fairly screamed "don't trail me."
And so Ha Mu-baek vanished into his cabin.
"Just like you said, he's a tough nut. Haha. Still some time till Wuchang."
The scholar didn't seem inclined to give up easily.
Cold air.
A clear, brilliant blue sky.
Vibrant green river waters.
New Year's morning scenery.
Ha Mu-baek puffed out a plume of white breath as he stood at the prow, gazing down at the ship's wake slicing the water.
"Haha, fine morning, eh? Sleep well last night?"
The scholar approached Ha Mu-baek with a smile.
Ha Mu-baek glanced back over his shoulder.
The middle-aged scholar, grinning with infuriating affability.
"What do you wanna know?"
He seemed to ponder Ha Mu-baek's question for a moment.
How to respond.
Straightforward with the strategist's request, or dress it up a bit?
A fleeting dilemma, resolved swiftly.
'No funny business,' he'd been told.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong's strict instruction. The scholar was loyal to orders.
"The whereabouts of the surviving Ten Elders, why Blood Ghost Shadow researched annihilation techniques, and what came of it. That's what he wants."
Implying they already knew the rest.
The moniker "Blood Ghost Shadow" had already leaked out, after all.
'Some pounding pavement till their soles sweat, while others lounge comfy, lapping it up.'
Ha Mu-baek shot a brief glare toward the alliance's distant direction.
He had no desire to play nice.
"What's the price?"
"What do you want?"
The scholar asked with leisurely composure, as if he could grant nearly any demand.
Likely bearing Gong Son Dan-gyeong's assurances and broad delegated authority.
Predictable.
Ha Mu-baek knew the old fox's mind games all too well.
Someone who grasped his nature wouldn't leave things to chance—detailed directives, no doubt.
Hence the scholar's cautious, pliant demeanor.
"Tell him to come himself."
With that, Ha Mu-baek retreated back to his cabin.
The scholar watched his back with a troubled expression.
He knew exactly who "him" meant.
Telling Chief Strategist Gong Son Dan-gyeong to come personally.
'How's the strategist always one step ahead...'
When he'd received the message, even he'd doubted.
He'd heard reports of Ha Mu-baek's wild temper from the Heavenly Eye Pavilion.
But experiencing it firsthand?
Worse than described.
"Stubborn cuss—just prod him slow once more," he'd been instructed.
The scholar muttered softly to himself.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong's words when summoning him.
Time passed quickly.
The ship raced down the Yangtze.
Three days after New Year's.
It arrived at Wuchang.
Ha Mu-baek disembarked and surveyed his surroundings.
After nearly a year here, the familiar sights felt welcoming.
As he set off toward the Dragon Training Pavilion, the scholar hurried to catch up.
"Not coming?"
Ha Mu-baek asked, sounding annoyed.
"You still haven't given me an answer."
Three days since New Year's morning.
The scholar had prodded once a day, but got nothing.
Thus, here he was, disembarking together and trailing to the pavilion.
"Told you, no big deal. You're a pain."
"No big deal? Then just spill it."
The scholar replied with a faint smile.
Ha Mu-baek turned his head and kept walking.
An irritating fellow.
Polite enough not to rile him, yet undaunted by his aura.
That slippery demeanor.
Gong Son Dan-gyeong had sent the perfect man for the job.
And that irked Ha Mu-baek all the more.
As if the strategist were saying, 'See? I know you inside out.'
The thought soured his mood further.
Qi gathered in his palm.
He clenched his right fist, then released it.
'Just flatten him?'
A momentary impulse, quickly dismissed with a headshake.
He despised acting purely on whims without cause.
To outsiders, Ha Mu-baek might seem recklessly impulsive, but every outburst had its reasons and justifications.
The scholar knew this full well, which was why he dared hover so boldly.
To fulfill his mission.
They reached the Dragon Training Pavilion soon enough.
Ha Mu-baek's expression grew peculiar as he passed the main gate.
The look of someone facing yet another annoyance.
Reading it, the scholar looked intrigued.
What could it be?
He'd find out by following.
Ha Mu-baek headed straight for Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven's training ground.
Training was in full swing there.
"What're you lot doing? It's holiday break."
"Instructor!"
Ha Mu-baek's sudden appearance.
The students all welcomed their instructor—even Ju Woo-myeong, who wasn't his student.
All but one.
Baek Ri-pyeong alone wore a complex, subtle expression.
The face of someone thinking, It's finally here.
Ha Mu-baek picked up on it.
Two hours later.
Scholar Guyang Myeong-won stared in utter bewilderment, at a loss.
Because of Ha Mu-baek's question.
"You asked what I want, right? Can you cover for me if I flip the Zhongnan Sect upside down?"
Zhongnan Sect.
One of the Nine Great Sects, even if its prestige had waned somewhat.
Moreover, the sect of the Silver River Sword Hero, who had earned great merits in the last war before dying gloriously.
Threatening to turn that place over—what could he say?
The man before him had both the ability and temperament to do it.
'Strategist. This one's beyond me.'
He was deeply troubled.
"Well, truth is, I never gave a damn about that stuff anyway."
Ha Mu-baek smirked, rose, and walked off.
All Guyang Myeong-won could do was hurriedly send word to the Heavenly Eye Pavilion.