Chapter 52
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Was It You?
“Ah, but before that, I need to send word first. Head to where the messenger pigeon is.”
“Send word?”
Pang Do-won asked at Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul’s words.
“We have to let him know. That Father has set out from the Pang Clan.”
At those words, Pang Do-won’s eyes widened in shock.
It was only natural—he was suggesting they inform the enemy of the clan’s movements.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul chuckled at his brother’s reaction.
“Brother, do you really think that’s betraying the clan?”
“Well……”
Pang Do-won seemed lost in complicated thoughts.
“It’s for the clan. By any common sense I know, this is a lost cause. He’s just one man, and we’re an entire group. If he truly decides to hide, who could ever find him?”
Pang Do-won nodded at Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul’s words. He was right.
If that man was determined to go into hiding, tracking him down would be nearly impossible. And they’d spend every night sleepless, never knowing where his sword might strike from.
“Even if I don’t tell him, they’ll find out anyway. The moment the Pang Clan warriors enter Wuchang. Drawing the officials’ attention would only be bad for us too. By then, even if they learn of the clan’s movements, it won’t hinder their actions at all. Better to inform him ahead of time and earn a bit of goodwill.”
It was a logical argument, so Pang Do-won followed his younger brother’s brisk steps with heavy footfalls.
The urgent messenger pigeon Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul had sent arrived at the Dragon Training Pavilion in less than three days, and the sealed letter was delivered into Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek’s hands.
“Hmm……”
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek pondered briefly as he looked down at the letter.
To think the Pang Clan Patriarch himself would mobilize three hundred men to take his head.
“The Pang Clan Patriarch is a madman.”
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek muttered calmly.
He wasn’t afraid of fighting them.
What he feared was the killing intent he had so painstakingly suppressed reawakening within him after slaughtering them all.
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek gripped the letter and rose to his feet.
He needed to consult his master.
His master was sweeping the path near the training grounds of the Fierce Dragon Corps’ twentieth squad.
“What’s the matter?”
Wi Ji-gun asked, reading Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek’s demeanor.
“The Pang Clan has stirred up something interesting.”
Wi Ji-gun quickly scanned the letter Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek handed him.
“Heh. Three hundred……”
Unlike his incredulous tone, Wi Ji-gun appeared calmly focused on his sweeping.
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek simply stood by his side.
But an invisible barrier of qi had already enveloped them both, blocking all sound.
“Come to think of it, working here, I’ve heard all sorts of rivers and lakes rumors from the laborers. They love those stories more than I expected. Back in Cheongran-do, I was blind to how the martial world truly turned. Tsk tsk.”
Wi Ji-gun let out a small chuckle before getting to the point.
“Among them, I heard a legend about a certain young hero. They say he single-handedly annihilated two hundred Blood Cult elites on Yungjung Mountain and perished heroically?”
It was the rumor the Righteous Heaven Alliance had spread about the Yungjung Bloodbath.
A dash of truth, seasoned with just the right exaggeration.
And the tale of the young hero’s valiant last stand was perfect fuel to stir the hearts of the martial folk.
“Just a rumor the Righteous Heaven Alliance spiced up and spread.”
“Was it you?”
“Yes.”
“Heh heh. So that’s why the stench of blood clings to you so deeply.”
“I am ashamed.”
“Is it your fault? It’s the world’s fault. I know well the rage and frustration burning in your heart back then.”
Wi Ji-gun replied with a hearty laugh.
“The Pang Clan knows it was you too.”
“The Five Great Families are core members of the Righteous Heaven Alliance. Those in the upper echelons who need to know, do know. It’s just the common martial folk who don’t.”
“For something like that, quite a few seem unaware.”
“It wasn’t a story they wanted spread in detail. From their perspective, anyway. Yungjung Mountain was the Jegal Clan’s stronghold, after all.”
That was true.
Back then, the Blood Cult’s elites—more like a suicide squad of two hundred—had launched a feint to draw forces away and strike at the empty Jegal Clan headquarters, aiming to wipe out the Righteous Heaven Alliance’s strategists and tacticians.
The Jegal Clan had fallen completely for the Blood Cult’s ploy, sending reinforcements in haste, but the only one to arrive on time was Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek alone.
The others arrived three days later, and in that time, he had annihilated the entire Blood Cult suicide squad by himself.
Afterward, the few who knew of Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek deified him as a true hero, but most did not.
The battle wasn’t recorded in the Righteous Heaven Alliance’s official annals. It was merely a fabricated rumor, shaped by the Jegal Clan’s influence, that spread through the martial world.
A nameless hero who perished.
That was Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek.
To cover the Jegal Clan’s failure and prevent a new hero’s rise.
That’s how it had gone.
Through that, Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek had seen the Righteous Heaven Alliance’s dark underbelly, and that’s why he had joined hands with Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong.
The result, after the war ended, was his demotion by the White Path Society and assignment to the Dragon Training Pavilion.
“Single-handedly wiping out two hundred Blood Cult suicide soldiers, and now they bring three hundred elites…… The numbers don’t matter, but I’m worried about you.”
“I’m worried about Seol-ran. If the smell of blood returns to my body, she’ll be scared and anxious.”
That was what troubled Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek.
“What will you do?”
“I came to seek your advice on that.”
The sweeping hand slowed.
“For now, you need to get far from here.”
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek nodded at Wi Ji-gun’s words.
“If you’re worried about the blood soaking in, then just don’t let it soak in. No need to kill them all, right? Your skills are more than enough.”
“Ah……”
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek let out a low exclamation.
How steeped in war was he that he hadn’t considered such a simple solution and only thought of slaughtering them all?
“The blood still lingers in my body.”
“It’ll fade with time.”
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek clamped his mouth shut at Wi Ji-gun’s words.
“But don’t go easy on them. They’ll come again. You need to smash them thoroughly so they never dare try again.”
“I’ll shatter all their dantians.”
“And a bit of blood is inevitable.”
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek nodded.
Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang.
Leaving him alive meant he’d surely target him again. Or worse, target Ha Seol-ran next time. He had to be dealt with.
But doing so would make them blood enemies with the entire Pang Clan.
“Pang Do-yul. Go meet that friend again.”
“Understood.”
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek bowed, prepared simple gear in his quarters, and swiftly left the Dragon Training Pavilion.
‘I’ve been careless.’
Stopping first at a smithy to procure a suitable bow and arrows, Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek berated himself.
He’d thought simply that if they came at him, he’d crush them all, so he hadn’t paid much mind to Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul’s request.
Why would a tiger care if a pack of rabbits charged?
But it wasn’t so simple.
He wasn’t a beast.
He was human.
That was why he had to care. There were things he had to protect.
For Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek now, that was his little sister, Ha Seol-ran.
He’d only thought of eliminating anything that could harm her, never considering that he himself might become a source of harm.
Looking back now, when he’d turned Pang Gun-ho into pulp, the look in Seol-ran’s eyes hadn’t been just worry for him—it had held fear of his actions too.
How had he not noticed?
As he’d told his master, the blood was too deeply ingrained in his body.
Last summer’s efforts to purge it weren’t nearly enough.
Because he hadn’t thought of that, he’d assumed he could just smash anyone who came. Overlooking the blood he’d bathe in during the process.
Now, he had to consider everything.
‘It’s hard.’
That’s exactly what it was. Difficult. But necessary.
Sorting his thoughts, Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek pushed his lightness skill harder.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul’s letter had even included the Pang forces’ route, so his steps were unhesitating.
The procession of Pang Clan warriors drew eyes wherever they went.
How could it not?
The overwhelming pressure of three hundred warriors marching in perfect order was no small thing.
Such a group entered Kaifeng.
Beggars were visible everywhere along the streets. Who knew Kaifeng, this great city, had so many?
One oddity: beggars appeared especially often around the Pang Clan warriors. And they all looked tensely on guard.
“Tch. The Beggars’ Sect?”
The Beggars’ Sect naturally came to mind for beggars in Kaifeng.
One of the Nine Great Sects.
A sect whose sheer numbers could claim to be the greatest under heaven.
“P-Patriarch. Could you spare a moment?”
A wizened old beggar cautiously approached Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang and spoke.
Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang glanced at his waist.
He was checking the knots on the hemp belt marking the Beggars’ Sect rank.
Six knots.
A Sixth-Knot Disciple.
A respectable rank in the Beggars’ Sect.
“Lead the way.”
Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang followed the beggar to a spot in Kaifeng.
A quiet area with a large shack.
At the entrance stood an old beggar radiating sharp eyes.
Eighth-Knot Disciple.
The Beggars’ Sect Vice Sect Leader, Iron Gall Beggar.
“Long time no see, Iron Gall Beggar.”
“It’s been ages since I last saw you, Pang Clan Patriarch. Our Sect Leader is away at the Righteous Heaven Alliance, so please understand me greeting you in his stead.”
A Vice Sect Leader was more than sufficient for greeting a clan patriarch, but Iron Gall Beggar spoke humbly out of respect for Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang’s face.
“I saw the Sect Leader when he visited our main sect recently.”
And he had tried to dissuade him.
Don’t touch Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek, the Beggars’ Sect Leader had come to warn him personally.
“Why did you wish to see me?”
“It’s a humble place, but please come in for a moment.”
Iron Gall Beggar gestured inside the shack. Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang dismounted and entered without protest.
It was a shack, but no ordinary one.
It was the Beggars’ Sect headquarters.
“Now, to the main point.”
In a room deep within the shack, Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang sat on the floor, took a sip of the tea Iron Gall Beggar offered, and spoke.
“Go back.”
At the perhaps-expected reply, Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang frowned.
“This is the Pang Clan’s affair.”
“He’s not at the Dragon Training Pavilion.”
A flicker of surprise crossed Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang’s face at the response before vanishing.
“From the day you left the Pang Clan, our Beggars’ Sect’s eyes and ears have been fixed on both him and you. It took you five days to get here, right? Two days ago, word came that he vanished from the Dragon Training Pavilion.”
“Hmph…… Where did he go?”
“We lack the ability to track him.”
Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang furrowed his brow again and muttered softly.
“Do-ryang, Do-won…… Those bastards.”
The ones who had opposed him to the bitter end. They must have tipped him off.
“Ha Mu-baek, Ha Mu-baek, my foot. Nothing special after all. Tucking tail and fleeing at news of our march.”
Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang chuckled. At his words, a look of utter disbelief flashed across Iron Gall Beggar’s face.
“Do you truly believe that?”
“Then what should I think? Are you saying he’s coming for us?”
That possibility.
Based on the intel the Beggars’ Sect had gathered on Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek, there was a full ten-out-of-ten chance he was en route to target Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang.
“Was he the only one who vanished from the Dragon Training Pavilion?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then the second target remains.”
He’d already heard about Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek’s sister from the somewhat-recovered Pang Gun-ho.
The goal of this expedition was the siblings.
Take Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek’s head, and make his sister Gun-ho’s concubine.
“I implore you to desist with full force.”
The Beggars’ Sect had only learned of his sister’s existence after the Fierce Dragon Corps’ twentieth squad was reformed.
And their analysis concluded she was someone who must never be touched.
She was Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek’s reverse scale itself.
“The tea was good.”
With that, Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang rose abruptly.
Iron Gall Beggar shook his head with a resigned expression and stood as well.
And left one final warning.
“Please be careful crossing the mountains, if you would. If possible, avoid entering them altogether. That way, you might preserve some of your forces.”
The unwelcome advice soured Patriarch Pang Mu-ryang’s mood.
And with it, Daebyeol Mountain came to mind.
To enter Wuchang, they had to cross mountains regardless, and their chosen route passed through Daebyeol Mountain.