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Chapter 251
Chapter 251. The Black Flame Dragon Collects the Stakes (4)
The northwest wind began to blow across Sichuan.
Those who farmed hastened their preparations for firewood to survive the winter, while merchants reduced their orders in preparation for a market economy that would freeze solid like the waters of a lake.
The warriors dispatched ten thousand li away from their hometowns felt even lonelier in the chill they sensed every morning when they woke.
But that would only last until today.
E n u m а
After the Black Path Murim sects and gangs that had been preparing for battle in Sichuan returned to their respective sects, they began sending some support supplies.
In the first place, the announcement made by the Black Thought Alliance had called it a joint operation, but that did not mean anyone had nerves so stout that they could immediately fight back-to-back with those who had been their enemies until yesterday.
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Moreover, compared to the Orthodox Path, which had spread its influence widely across each region, the support supplies sent by the Black Path Murim, whose finances were unstable, were meager beyond words.
Yet despite all of that, the morale of the Murim Alliance was higher than ever.
The sense of security that they no longer had to worry about their rear was a sweet reward that could not be traded for anything else.
In addition, centered around the Tang Clan’s Poison King, many sects belonging to Qingcheng Sect, Emei Sect, and the One Hundred Eight Peaks spared no support for the Murim Alliance.
Ẁ ӗ b n̊о̀ v̈еl Е̂ n̄ um̀ а
The Poison King stood before the personnel overflowing with morale and planted both hands firmly on his hips.
“The war has dragged on far too long! Now the time has come to end this war!”
“““Uwaaaaaaaaah!”””
“Therefore, it is time to show those bastards what happens when they defy Heaven’s mandate!”
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“““Forwaaaaard!”””
Originally, the Azure Dragon Pavilion Master of the Murim Alliance was supposed to command the troops. However, considering symbolism and the morale of the warriors, it was decided that the Azure Dragon Pavilion Master would handle the actual command, while the Poison King would serve as the commander on the surface.
Ӗ n̈ůmа .ĭ d̂
This decision, made strategically by the leadership and the strategist corps, raised the morale of the Orthodox Path Murim tremendously, just as expected.
If the enemy had beings who used grotesque witchcraft in their camp, then their side had the poison practitioners and the Poison King.
That simple and clear sense of security, along with the expectation that the war would soon end, made the warriors of the Murim Alliance more ferocious than ever.
Formation masters sent by Maoshan Sect and the Jegal Clan advanced at the very front and dissolved the Mystic Gate Formations set up by the Blood Cult.
Then the poison practitioners cleared away the poisons scattered in all directions and opened a path, and the Orthodox Path Murim poured in without hesitation along the route that led straight into the Blood Cult.
“Kill them! Kill them all!”
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“They are bastards who toy with corpses! Do not leave a single one alive!”
“We do not need prisoners! Do not leave even a single blade of grass in this place!”
Filled with rage over the tyranny the Blood Cult had committed until now, the Orthodox Path Murim swept over the Blood Cult like a storm.
In the deepest basement of the Blood Cult, they discovered one hundred corpses prepared for the creation of corpse puppets, and more than two hundred corpses showed clear signs of failed attempts to create corpse puppets.
This horrific sight spread by word of mouth to the dispatched troops, and among them, on top of their existing anger, a sense of mission began to burn: they had to annihilate every last heaven-defying being.
There was not a speck of mercy left in their hands.
Е n̄ŭ m̄ а . і d̄
They killed all the warriors and spell practitioners of the Blood Cult, gathered every record from the research chambers and experiment rooms, then set them ablaze.
“I, I surrender!”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“S-spare me!”
“I will tell you everything I know……!”
There were some who realized that the Blood Cult’s fate was sealed and surrendered early, but the Murim Alliance allowed no exceptions.
Aside from a few spell practitioners who would be used for researching witchcraft, most of the personnel were executed.
Е̊ ṅũ mа .іd́
In particular, everyone who had learned the Blood Cult’s martial arts was beheaded on the spot.
While they were sweeping away the Blood Cult with storm-like momentum, Poison King Dang Hyeok-je took Maeng Ju-won with him and examined the corpses and records used in the experiments.
“Tsk, tsk. One glance is enough to see there is nothing much here.”
“Is, is that so?”
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“Their learning is shallow, and their experiments are crude.”
At Dang Hyeok-je’s words, Maeng Ju-won forcibly suppressed the nausea surging up inside him and nodded.
E n̈û m̄ а̌.
“I, I see. But why exactly am I here……?”
He was a strategist attached to the support unit.
By all rights, a strategist was supposed to draft operational plans and nothing more. Was it not against reason for him to come this deep into a battlefield?
“You need to see this situation to understand the enemy.”
“…….”
He had thought he had grown somewhat used to that strange way of speaking, but he still could not understand the contents of what the man said.
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No, what good would it do for him, the Mantongbu Department Head, to understand the enemy?
“Tsk, tsk. To send such a fool in a crisis like this. I will have to take this up with that petty-minded bastard.”
A fool? He had called him, the greatest talent in Mantongbu, a fool……
Well, it was true that Jegal So-myeong was petty-minded, but still……
A vein bulged on Maeng Ju-won’s forehead as Dang Hyeok-je clicked his tongue, but he forced himself to hide his emotions.
Because he had not yet clearly judged how far he could talk back.
W̆ е̊b ñ o.vе̃ l Е n̆ u mа
The Poison King looked at Maeng Ju-won’s pale face and tossed out his words.
“Their main weapons were witchcraft and Iron Corpse Puppets. But they did not have the ability to create Iron Corpse Puppets. Do you still not understand what that means?”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Ah!”
Only then did Maeng Ju-won feel the back of his head tingle as though he had been struck.
“Surely…… are you saying there are other beings behind them?”
Maeng Ju-won assumed a situation that absolutely should not exist and began assembling the pieces in his head.
Ẃ е́ b̆n о́ vе l Е̃ n̂_u̇ m̌ a
How much wealth and how many lives had the Murim Alliance poured in just to deal with a single Blood Cult?
Moreover, even if they resolved the situation in Sichuan, the Murim Alliance would not gain anything from it.
They had merely protected what they originally possessed.
But what if these people were not the body?
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He did not know how many pillars of the Murim Alliance had been torn out just to deal with those who were nothing more than a tail.
If enemies of this level appeared only a few more times, they would face an existential crisis. And if the force behind them appeared directly……
Еn̄um̌ ă
……The Murim Alliance would eventually collapse.
That was what Dang Hyeok-je was saying.
“It is not certain.”
“…….”
Unlike Murong Gang, the Poison King under Heaven was famous for not spouting idle nonsense.
There was no way a man like that would speak up based on a simple prediction alone.
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As if proving that, a shadow fell over the Poison King’s face.
“Even so, we must prepare.”
“…….”
Prepare……
It was a word easily spoken and difficult to put into practice.
But looking at Dang Hyeok-je’s hardened face, he already seemed to be thinking of the harsh days ahead.
Ŵе b̌ no v̂el Е n̆ umä
“You would do well to adapt too. This will not be the last time you see such a scene.”
Leaving behind Maeng Ju-won, whose face had gone pale from repeated vomiting, Dang Hyeok-je turned away.
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And at that moment, Maeng Ju-won felt gooseflesh rise all over his body.
‘D-does this mean…… I have to spend my whole life being dragged around like this?’
Why had he not thought of it?
When war broke out, not only would the Murim Alliance be shaken, but as a strategist, he would be dragged from battlefield to battlefield.
W.eb̄n ӧ v̄ е l̂ Е num â
‘I…… am utterly screwed…….’
At the thought that perhaps his lifelong wish might never be fulfilled, fear and despair began to fill his chest.
Meanwhile, regardless of Maeng Ju-won’s mood, the warriors of the Murim Alliance were savoring victory.
War wore everyone down.
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The simple fact that the war had ended and that they could go home gave the warriors who had participated in the battle joy beyond measure.
The warriors of every sect, including the Tang Clan, Qingcheng Sect, Emei Sect, and the One Hundred Eight Peaks, cast aside factional lines and threw their arms over one another’s shoulders as they fully savored their victory.
É n̊ů m̀ â
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
“We won!!!”
“Let us go home!!!!”
“Have your questions been answered?”
At Cha Seok-du’s question, Dam-ak, who had been lifting his teacup, set it back down again.
“To tell you the truth…… I still do not know.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Just before Jin So-un awakened, Dam-ak had wanted to meet Jin So-un sooner than anyone else.
He had to confirm the identities of the unknown beings who had appeared in his quarters.
However, Jin So-un was a person who had crossed the threshold of death.
The ones who had to see Jin So-un first were, properly speaking, the Murim Alliance delegation.
Even so, Dam-ak asked Cha Seok-du for a favor, and Cha Seok-du in turn had to ask the Murim Alliance delegation.
But then.
Е n u m а
‘To think that the Tang Clan girl would become the obstacle.’
Naturally, he had thought Ak Byeong-bi would be the first to refuse, but instead, he did not care much at all.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Instead, the little girl named Dang Seo-hui insisted on having her way.
She even made threats, saying that she absolutely had to see him wake up.
It was nothing more than a simple expression of personal emotion that went beyond political choice or judgment, but it could not be easily broken.
In the first place, she was not someone who would be persuaded by Ak Byeong-bi or Il-myeong.
W е́ b̌ n óv е̌l Е ň ǔm а
Because Cha Seok-du knew just how stubborn the Tang Clan could be, he was just about to step back in the end.
Then Il-myeong sent him a sound transmission.
-If you let her play Deputy Alliance Leader, she will step back.
Play Deputy Alliance Leader?
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
What was that supposed to mean, you damned monk?
Another sound transmission reached Cha Seok-du, who could not even begin to guess what it meant.
Е̂nú ḿа̂ .і́ d̃
-Just have her lead the warriors of Four Emperors Peak around the Black Thought Alliance a couple of times.
At Il-myeong’s advice, Cha Seok-du made the suggestion to Dang Seo-hui half in doubt.
“……Th-then it cannot be helped. It is unfortunate, but I shall yield the first meeting.”
After deep deliberation, Dang Seo-hui accepted it.
Because she wore Four Emperors Peak’s iron armor, which did not even fit her body, and sat on Hwang Bu-sik’s shoulder while marching around the Black Thought Alliance a couple of times, Hwang Bu-sik suffered a little.
Even so, neither he nor the warriors of Four Emperors Peak seemed particularly displeased.
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Was she not a companion of Jin So-un, who had saved the Black Thought Alliance?
In any case, this was a meeting they had created after going through that entire sequence of events, yet Dam-ak still did not know.
As a crease formed between Cha Seok-du’s brows, Dam-ak slowly brushed his fingers over the teacup.
“He risked his life despite the disadvantage it would bring him. They say that is the ‘chivalrous righteousness’ spoken of by the Orthodox Path…… but my reason does not tell me that he truly acted out of chivalrous righteousness.”
Somehow, the corners of Dam-ak’s eyes drooped.
If his face had usually resembled that of a sharp wildcat, today he somehow looked like a dejected puppy.
Ẇе̂ b̊ n о̆v̈е l̊ Ӗ n̄ u mа
Cha Seok-du looked at Dam-ak and chuckled.
“Is that not because you keep trying to think only rationally?”
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“What do you mean……?”
“I mean that I can roughly understand him.”
Dam-ak’s lips parted.
“……You understand him?”
Ẁеb̌n̈о̆v̊ е̂ l Ё ñ u̇ m̆ â
“It is because both that boy and you are lonely beings.”
“…….”
Dam-ak’s brow furrowed.
He had lived his entire life close to books and writing, but although he had not learned martial arts, he would resent being called second to anyone when it came to manliness.
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And yet this man called him a lonely being?
Cha Seok-du looked at the pensive Dam-ak with warm eyes.
W е b̈n.ó vê l Е.nŭ m á
“Do you know that child’s origins?”
“I heard he is from the Taeul Sect.”
“Yes. If one were to apply the Taeul Sect to the world you came from…… yes, it would be something like a small village school buried deep in the countryside.”
Cha Seok-du grinned, as though he found something amusing.
“A village school where even the teacher’s ability is dreadful, and where the tuition is not properly collected, so rainwater streams down from the roof.”
“…….”
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“From a school like that, what was it called? That examination you passed……”
“Do you mean the Provincial and Metropolitan Examinations?”
Cha Seok-du nodded emphatically.
“Yes! If one passes those, does one become a Presented Scholar?”
“Yes.”
“That is the position that boy is in.”
Ŵе̇ ḃ n̂ оv̆_ĕĺ Е ǹū m̊ а̀
“…….”
The smile that had hung on Cha Seok-du’s lips had vanished before Dam-ak knew it.
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“What happens when a child who passed like that goes to Beijing? Does he rise in the world and enjoy wealth and glory?”
“…….”
It was difficult.
Passing the Provincial and Metropolitan Examinations in such a poor environment was remarkable, but in the end, it also meant having no background whatsoever.
Wе b̂n̆ оv е́ l Е̂ n û m̂ ӓ
At least if one came from a good academy, one could form connections.
A dragon that rose from a ditch would quickly fall, dragged down by the useless hangers-on dangling beneath it and by those who tried to keep a dragon from a ditch from ever taking flight.
No matter how outstanding he was, he would only live as the master of that ditch.
Cha Seok-du, who had been watching Dam-ak’s expression, nodded lightly.
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“Jin So-un is in the same position. That is why he cannot help being lonely at all times.”
The people in the ditch might look at the dragon and call it remarkable, but the dragon himself would feel despair at the thought that he could not soar freely across the heavens.
Wе̊ b no v.еl̆ Е́ n̆ú m ӑ
“That boy’s name is shaking the world, but in the end, he must be feeling loneliness etched deep into his bones. The Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Clans, and the Twelve Peak Citadels of the One Hundred Eight Peaks are masters of schemes and power struggles no less than the nobles of Beijing. Moreover, they also possess private martial force, which nobles do not have.”
Thinking about it, Jianghu was crueler than Beijing.
In that place, only power struggles centered on the Emperor took place, but in Jianghu, did they not directly exercise force?
Dam-ak realized anew just how terrifying a place he had set foot in.
Cha Seok-du cast his gaze toward the pavilion where Jin So-un was staying and continued speaking.
“He must have been lonely. And he likely knows that the path ahead of him will be lonely as well.”
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Then Cha Seok-du shifted his gaze to Dam-ak.
“In that boy’s eyes, you appeared. You, standing alone in a strange world as you prepared your revenge. He likely could not easily turn away.”
At Cha Seok-du’s words, Dam-ak’s face flushed hot.
He felt Jin So-un’s heart anew.
For some reason, the faces of the friends he had competed with in the academy long ago came to mind.
“Even though I am…… an enemy?”
Еn u ma
Seeing Dam-ak’s reddened face, a smile appeared on Cha Seok-du’s lips before he knew it.
“It is the same in the political world, and likewise in Jianghu. There are no eternal allies and no eternal enemies. So while we were allies, that friend wanted to help you. Even knowing that he would be put in a difficult position because of it.”
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“……A difficult position?”
“Whatever the case, a rising star of the Orthodox Path staked his life to save the Grand Strategist of the Black Thought Alliance, did he not? Do you think the Murim Alliance’s Inspection Pavilion and Execution Pavilion will stay still? They will try to find fault with him somehow.”
“…….”
Now that he thought about it, Dam-ak had heard that the head of the Murim Alliance delegation was a vicious man called the Third Hall Master of the Inspection Pavilion.
Ẇе̄b̆ ñо̇v е̇ l Ӗ ǹũm̄ a
If even the unimaginably ignorant Black Path people were grinding their teeth over him, then he was no ordinary vicious man.
……Dam-ak found himself beginning to worry about Jin So-un anew.
“Will he be all right?”
At Dam-ak’s question, Cha Seok-du laughed.
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“Why? Are you suddenly worried about your friend?”
“A f-friend? Hardly…… I simply dislike owing debts.”
Е n úm а̊. і̌d̂
“Well, that fellow will manage on his own. If he cannot endure the Murim Alliance’s persecution and defects to the Black Thought Alliance, that would not be bad in its own way either.”
After bursting into hearty laughter, Cha Seok-du continued.
“In any case, repaying some of the debt would make it less burdensome for us. That bastard also raised all manner of hell about it.”
“Pardon?”
Cha Seok-du shook his head as if he was sick of it.
“He came to me and made all manner of fuss, demanding that I pay the price for him saving you. How can a man who nearly died and came back to life have so much energy?”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Dam-ak cautiously asked.
“How far are you thinking of going?”
“Well, what he wants is an alliance. But we already said we would not form an alliance…… so would it not be laughable to go back on our word?”
“That is true. It would be best to avoid appearing shaken as much as possible.”
It was a basic principle of rulership.
The masses did not like a throne that wavered.
Е̌ nüm a
Cha Seok-du nodded and asked Dam-ak.
“There are some Orthodox Path items in the Black Thought Alliance Treasury, are there not?”
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During the formation of the Black Thought Alliance, the main sects had to pay a participation fee above a certain amount.
However, the Black Path sects, who disliked having money leave their own pockets, had paid their participation fees with antiques from Orthodox Path sects, lost martial arts manuals, and other such items that they could not use but that had value.
From Cha Seok-du’s perspective at the time, it had been an absurd act, but now the moment had come for it to shine.
“How about sending him a few things from among them?”
Е̊ñ ũm̃ ӑ.īd
“That should be sufficient as a symbol of goodwill.”
“Yes. In any case, if the items are decent, Jin So-un will probably be criticized a little less. Would you prepare them?”
After thinking for a moment, Dam-ak bowed his head.
“……Yes. I will find something suitable and prepare it.”
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Dam-ak spoke plainly, but Cha Seok-du knew.
Dam-ak’s mind had already begun turning furiously.
Е̃ n ü m̌a_
All for the sake of ensuring that his friend from the Orthodox Path did not fall into danger.
I was currently facing a crisis.
“W-what brings you here?”
And a fairly large crisis at that.
Until now, I had avoided being alone with Ak Byeong-bi as much as possible.
After all, there was not much I could say in my defense about what had happened inside the Black Thought Alliance.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Finding the hidden mastermind was one thing, but even by my standards, risking my life for Dam-ak had crossed the line a little.
That was why I had tried to pressure Cha Seok-du in order to secure an alliance somehow, but that man simply would not budge.
So he had gotten what he wanted and washed his hands of it, had he?
‘I was the only one left holding the bag.’
If I considered the distant future, saving Dam-ak had been the right choice, but right now, the biggest problem was how to persuade Ak Byeong-bi and those personal guards of the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
No matter how I looked at it, they would think saving the Grand Strategist of the Black Path had crossed the line.
Wê b̃ n̄õ vе ľ Е n̂u m а̃
In any case, I had tried in every way possible to avoid creating a face-to-face meeting until we returned to the Academy.
But in the end, Ak Byeong-bi forced that meeting into existence.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
How was I supposed to avoid this……?
“Ah, my aching body. I am somewhat tired, so may I take my leave first as well?”
Just as I awkwardly tried to stand,
Ak Byeong-bi’s eyes flashed sharply as he spoke.
W̄eb́no v̄е̊l Е́ n um̀ а̌
“Are you thinking of joining the Black Path?”
My body froze in place.
My brow furrowed deeply.
“Pardon?”
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What was this man talking about?
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