Chapter 74
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Impatient. And Stupid.
A suffocating silence had descended upon the room.
The only people present were Yeon Baekryang, Dong Jusam, and Yeon Gonghu.
Having heard everything from Dong Jusam, Yeon Baekryang was barely suppressing his explosive rage.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Yeon Baekryang glared at Yeon Gonghu as he asked.
"Thanks to your brilliant schemes, your little sister is headed to that cursed land, and our Yeon Clan has been reduced to doing the bidding of lowly beggars from the Hao Clan."
Yeon Gonghu offered no reply.
'Uncle. None of this would have happened in the first place if you hadn't harbored those inhuman desires.'
The root cause of the current mess lay with Yeon Baekryang.
Yet Yeon Baekryang refused to acknowledge his own faults, blaming only Yeon Gonghu.
To him, claiming Yeon Ha-min for himself was entirely natural.
Yeon Baekryang turned to Dong Jusam.
"Prepare."
"Pardon?"
Dong Jusam blinked in confusion, prompting Yeon Baekryang to furrow his brow.
"Do you have a death wish? You've scouted their location, so now we go fetch them. It's infuriating to dance to the tune of those pathetic Hao Clan scum... but we can't just leave that girl there."
"How extensive should the preparations be?"
"Eighty percent of the forces at my disposal."
Dong Jusam and Yeon Gonghu's eyes widened at his words.
With the clan head absent, Yeon Baekryang, as acting young clan head, wielded immense authority.
Mobilizing forces as he described would mean deploying nearly eighty percent of the Yeon Clan's strength.
"Why the shock? We've got the precedent with the Pang Clan. And now the Hao Clan rats are fanning the flames. We need to seize that bastard's reverse scale too. That'll require moving that many. We'll depart in three days. Make haste."
"U-understood."
Dong Jusam bowed and hurried out, his mind racing with tasks ahead.
"You're coming along too. Witness the consequences of your folly with your own eyes, you worthless wretch."
With that, Yeon Baekryang stormed out of the room.
Yeon Gonghu was left alone.
'Did the Hao Clan drag us into this... or did Ha Mu-baek pull the Hao Clan in...?'
Yeon Gonghu peered beyond the information Dong Jusam had brought.
No matter how he thought about it, the pieces fit together too perfectly.
As if someone were deliberately painting the picture.
And in Yeon Gonghu's mind, the artist behind it was undoubtedly...
'Ha Mu-baek. The Yeon Clan and Hao Clan dancing on his fingertips.'
Yeon Gonghu rose from his seat.
He had a long journey ahead and needed to prepare. As a member of the Yeon Clan, he had to obey the young clan head's orders.
"It'll be a while since we last meet."
However, he would only follow orders up to reaching the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
What he did after arriving there... even he didn't know yet.
"This is it..."
Dan Mok Un-roe muttered, staring straight ahead.
A massive great wall loomed before them. Beyond it, an ominous aura seemed to creep ominously into view.
It had been a long journey.
And they had finally arrived at its end.
The Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
And the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall that barred entry to that cursed land.
"But there's no one here."
Baek Ri-pyeong tilted his head curiously.
"The Demon-Sealing Corps can't guard every inch of the great wall. The spot we've reached is one of the quieter areas in the forest. Meaning the defenses are lax here too."
Ha Mu-baek replied nonchalantly.
Dang Jin-san eyed Ha Mu-baek with suspicion at the casual answer.
How did an instructor from the Dragon Training Pavilion know the current state of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest so well?
'Isn't the Demon-Sealing Corps' deployment classified by the Righteous Heaven Alliance?'
His thoughts turned there.
And it was likely high-level classified information at that.
Yet this Fierce Dragon Corps instructor spoke of it so offhandedly.
The more they learned, the more enigmatic their instructor became.
"How do we get in?"
Yeon Ha-min asked.
They were going into the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
That meant passing through the great wall. But no matter how they looked, it was just an impenetrable barrier.
There were no gates, stairs, or passages anywhere.
"We climb over."
Ha Mu-baek said it as if it were the most obvious thing, then lightly kicked off the ground and scaled the wall with effortless steps.
His movements were as casual as a leisurely stroll.
He placed his toes in the gaps between bricks and ascended lightly.
The cadets watched, almost fooled into thinking they could do the same with such ease.
In moments, Ha Mu-baek reached the top.
He glanced down.
"Easy, right?"
With those brief words, he vanished from sight.
"Ha."
Dang Jin-san let out a disbelieving sigh laced with anger.
Dan Mok Un-roe tried wedging his fingers into a brick gap.
No good.
Maybe half the tip of his finger at best—not enough to call it viable.
"Climb this?"
Dan Mok Un-roe muttered with a stunned expression.
"Instructor!"
Nak Woo-jin shouted up at the wall.
Ha Mu-baek's face popped back into view.
"How do we do it?"
Nak Woo-jin yelled again.
"Figure it out yourselves. Climbing is training too."
The five cadets from Squad Seven exchanged glances.
It seemed impossible with ordinary skill.
Even Baek Ri-pyeong looked troubled.
Their eyes subtly shifted to Han Seolbing, who was turning away.
She smiled brightly at their stares.
"I'm Squad Twenty's instructor."
Meaning she wouldn't help.
"What kind of insane wall is this?"
At Dang Jin-san's question, Han Seolbing replied matter-of-factly.
"To keep the monsters from crossing over. And even then, since they're jiangshi, this is barely enough to hold them back."
The five Squad Seven cadets looked daunted by her serious tone.
They were being thrown into this nightmare in just over a year.
Han Seolbing glanced back. Her two cadets were there.
"What about us?"
"We'll climb on our own."
Ju Woo-myeong stated as if it were obvious. Ha Seol-ran nodded beside him.
"Fine, if that's how you want it. I'll head up first then."
Han Seolbing shot upward.
She used hands and feet to scale the wall—somewhere between wall-climbing and lightness skill.
Soon, she crested the top.
The cadets stared blankly.
No way was this Fierce Dragon Corps instructor level.
The seven exchanged looks.
"Now what?"
Dang Jin-san asked.
"We should try every trick in the book, no holds barred."
Ju Woo-myeong said.
"Huh?"
Dang Jin-san blinked.
"He said figure it out ourselves, so methods are up to us too, right?"
Dang Jin-san nodded at Ju Woo-myeong's response.
"Makes sense. If he wanted limits, that damn instructor would've specified."
"So what's the best way?"
Baek Ri-pyeong asked, scanning the group.
They'd all seen Dan Mok Un-roe probe the gaps with his fingers.
Bare hands? Impossible.
That was their conclusion.
"Even I can't manage this."
Ju Woo-myeong shook his head under Dan Mok Un-roe and Baek Ri-pyeong's gazes.
"Tools it is, then."
Dang Jin-san concluded.
"Um, what about this?"
Ha Seol-ran pulled a dagger from her pouch and jammed it into a brick gap.
It held firm enough.
"That's it!"
Dang Jin-san exclaimed, drawing his own daggers from his pouch. Ten in total.
He wedged one into a gap and tested it—it bore weight decently.
"Anyone got daggers?"
Everyone rummaged through their pouches. Each had three or four.
Standard gear.
Pouches on backs, daggers in hands, they began climbing slowly, stabbing into gaps.
Ha Mu-baek glanced down briefly.
"Impatient. And stupid."
He muttered curtly, displeased.
Yet his eyes lingered on Ha Seol-ran with concern.
"Hmm. Not easy. If they charge up like that..."
Han Seolbing twirled her hair, murmuring.
Ha Mu-baek and Han Seolbing had made it look too simple, misleading them.
Even with tools, the wall was towering.
Midway, if stamina or internal energy ran out, they'd be stuck dangling helplessly.
And that happened sooner than expected.
Yeon Ha-min halted midway, frustration etched on her face.
She was the first to falter.
Internal energy remained, but muscle and stamina failed her.
Her arms trembled uncontrollably.
Dan Mok Un-roe spotted her first.
"What's wrong?"
"Can't move."
Yeon Ha-min answered laboredly.
"Jin-san! Hold up!"
Everyone froze at Dan Mok Un-roe's shout.
They assessed the situation.
Ju Woo-myeong had climbed farthest—about halfway.
Yeon Ha-min was at a third, exhausted.
Ju Woo-myeong shouted once grasped.
"Descending back down for now."
All complied.
Dan Mok Un-roe and Ha Seol-ran helped Yeon Ha-min down.
"Ha-min dropping first was actually lucky. We still had strength left."
Everyone nodded at Ju Woo-myeong.
If they'd all exhausted high up... unthinkable horror.
And dusk was falling besides.
"Sorry. I rushed too hard."
Dang Jin-san apologized—he'd jumped at the first method.
"We all did."
Ju Woo-myeong shook his head.
"Camp tonight, try again tomorrow. Brainstorm overnight."
Baek Ri-pyeong suggested; Dang Jin-san agreed.
"Hey. Random thought..."
Dan Mok Un-roe ventured cautiously.
"Yeah?"
Dang Jin-san prompted.
"What about a ladder?"
Dang Jin-san's jaw dropped at Dan Mok Un-roe's words.
Never crossed their minds.
Martial artists climb walls, right?
"We're not jiangshi. The wall blocks them. We use shields anyway. Bringing shields? Might as well use a ladder. Military texts say ladders are standard for sieges."
Dan Mok Un-roe rambled uncertainly.
The other six stared blankly.
Too simple.
Why hadn't they thought of it? Instead brute-forcing with daggers.
He'd said no holds barred.
"There was that option..."
Ju Woo-myeong muttered blankly.
"Yeah..."
Dang Jin-san replied weakly.
"Wait, so we can?"
Dan Mok Un-roe asked, dazed.
"Yeah. We can. We were the idiots."
Baek Ri-pyeong said.
"Sorry. There was an easy way, but I pulled out the dagger."
Ha Seol-ran bowed apologetically.
"No, my fault. A Tang Clan disciple forgetting ladders? Pathetic."
Dang Jin-san gave a wry smile.
"The instructors fooled us. Seeing them scale it barehanded planted the bias we had to use martial arts."
Nak Woo-jin glared up, annoyed at being duped.
Soon the others mirrored him.
That night passed peacefully.
Next morning early, the seven felled nearby trees and built ladders under Dang Jin-san's direction.
By lunch, complete.
They ascended effortlessly.
"Not total idiots."
Ha Mu-baek said flatly.
The cadets' expressions toward their instructor were conflicted, but they held their tongues.
Ha Mu-baek had lifted their ladder and placed it on the other side.
"Now we go down."
Dry swallows followed instinctively.