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Chapter 353. Escape (3)
First Company Captain of the Life-or-Death Unit.
That was Il-gak's current position.
It had not come through any formal procedure, and there was no letter of appointment, yet Il-gak felt a sense of responsibility about being the First Company Captain.
"They don't seem to be following us."
And now, he felt an irrepressible joy at having fulfilled that duty admirably.
Е̌ nûm а̃
"Unit Leader Jin! We actually did it."
He could not believe it.
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That they had escaped that hellish place.
The worst imaginable situations had erupted one after another, and yet they had pulled through.
It was not Shaolin's backing that had resolved the problem.
Nor was it the power of the Righteous Path Association.
Е nŭm а̃ . іd̀
Nor was it a case of the Murim Alliance stepping in and the matter being settled beyond his own hands.
It was his own strength and the united spirit of the academy students.
And.
"Everyone, stay on your guard until the very end!!"
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It was the decisive leadership of Jin So-un, who had commanded them all, that had seen them through this arduous ordeal.
Il-gak looked down at his own two hands, then clenched them into fists.
Ěńümа. і̃d̃
A feeling unlike anything he had ever experienced.
His entire body tingled just as it had the day he gained a fragment of enlightenment from the Tendon-Changing Classic during his facing-the-wall meditation.
But.
"What are you grinning about, baldy?"
"......"
His eccentric superior possessed an extraordinary talent for ruining someone's mood even at a moment like this.
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'......At this point, perhaps one should simply accept it as his nature?'
The Buddha's golden teaching came to mind: do not judge by outward appearances alone. But no matter how many times he repeated that teaching to himself, it was hard to focus on the man's essence.
Even so.
In the end, were not even the thorns bristling on a chestnut burr still part of the chestnut?
He truly was a man with a remarkable gift for sowing confusion.
"Unit Leader Jin. Are you not pleased?"
Е̊ n u_m̈ а̃. і̊ d̊
The academy students, too, could not contain their joy at having survived that slaughterhouse.
Despite their injuries and exhaustion, not a single person's pace had slowed.
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"Is this not something Unit Leader Jin accomplished?"
At Il-gak's words, Jin So-un's face crumpled.
"Why's everyone standing around with that blank look like it's all over? We've got a long way to go."
"What do you...... we shook them off, didn't we?"
Е ǹ um̌ а
"Ugh. What's the nearest sizable Murim Alliance branch to Jinghong in Yunnan Province?"
Yunnan Province was situated at the very edge of the region commonly known as the Central Plains.
Sometimes even classified as an outer region, it was counted among the places furthest from the Murim Alliance's power structure.
Unlike provinces at the center, which had multiple or even close to a dozen branches established within them, Yunnan had only a single small branch in Kunming.
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"Ah......"
Once his thoughts reached that far, Il-gak understood.
Ё ǹu m̃ а
"Right, we're not done yet."
"B-But still."
"Of course I know. Those bastards will figure that pursuing us further is pointless. But whatever happens, isn't it better to stay vigilant than to get blindsided?"
"......"
It wasn't over until it was over.
Muttering that to himself, Jin So-un's expression turned grave once more.
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Il-gak briefly chastised himself for his own dullness.
The reason he had felt relieved simply by escaping the Black Forest was because of the unthinking assumption that all under heaven fell beneath the Murim Alliance's authority.
And if the hardship they had endured stemmed from precisely that kind of arrogance.......
Then despite everything they'd been through, he had learned nothing at all.
'How foolish of you, Gak. How foolish.'
Since when had he gone around pretending to know the world, pretending to have grasped all of creation?
Е̊ nû m ӑ . í d
In the end, he was nothing more than a being who understood nothing.
He looked at the man standing before him, immovable as a mountain.
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"Then what should we do now? Should we seek out a reserve branch?"
"What are you going to do at some speck of a sect that's indistinguishable from a martial hall? Die together with them?"
"......Ahem. Even so, reaching Kunming with this group is unrealistic."
The wounded and the unwounded alike had already reached their limits.
È nů m̃ ã.і̀ d
From this point on, they would not fall to an enemy's blade--they would collapse under their own exhaustion.
There was no way Jin So-un didn't know this.
"I know. That's why I'm thinking."
"About...... what?"
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For an instant, Jin So-un's face hardened.
As if something terrible were--
Ё n̊u ḿ а. ì d
"......Whether this is going to cause another weird rumor."
A rumor? What kind of rumor?
The man attracted more rumors than anyone alive. An absurd number of them, too.
Above all, he had seemed to not particularly care about them, so this was unexpected.
'......He was concerned about them after all?'
But whatever it was, now was not the time to worry about such things.
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They had crossed the threshold of life and death, and an unprecedented enemy had appeared to slaughter the academy students.
To hesitate over a mere "rumor" in such a situation--
"Unit Leader Jin, what foolishness is this? To agonize over something like that."
Right now, they needed to survive even if it meant stealing from others.
Survive and properly report what had happened in the Black Forest to the Murim Alliance.
Only then could they mount a defense against these fearsome enemies.
W е.bǹоv̇е̂ l E ńum̊ а̄
"Why are you fretting over something so unlike you? Is not survival the most important thing right now?"
"I know that, but. I'm worried you lot will point fingers at me using 'orders from above' as your excuse."
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Point fingers?
Il-gak felt heat rising above his scalp.
"Who...... who!! could possibly point fingers at you, Unit Leader Jin? Without your decisiveness, every last academy student would have died in the Black Forest."
"No, I know that too......"
W е̊ḃ n̆öv̊ е l̂ E n ùm а
"Even if there were survivors!! They would have been a mere handful. If anyone harbors resentment over that, if anyone seeks to slander and scheme against you--"
Il-gak stepped forward and thumped his own chest.
"I, Il-gak, will stand against them."
How could anyone distort such an achievement?
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Il-gak was so angry at the very thought that he pressed the point further.
But.
Е̂n̊ůṁ а . i d̃
"......Hm. Is that so? That's what you think."
Jin So-un spoke with an oddly tepid expression.
"Then let's put this down as First Captain Il-gak's suggestion. How about it?"
"Very well."
If filth had to be endured, he was fully prepared to endure it.
Il-gak nodded with that conviction.
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"......"
And.
He deeply regretted that decision almost immediately.
***
"Hah, hah, hah."
The elation of surviving that hell lasted only a moment before Jong Chu-ak felt ready to lose consciousness.
Wе̃ b n ӧ v̆ ѐĺ_ É nu mа
He knew better than anyone that he could not stop now, but his body was too exhausted to act on what he knew.
No, he felt like he was dying.
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He had long since forgotten whether he was even running properly.
That was only natural, given that he hadn't slept properly in days and had been running without pause, day and night.
'Is there no way?'
Reaching Kunming, where the branch was located, was an impossible task.
Ӗňu mа̇
Yet if they entered some small sect around here, far from resting properly, they might all be silenced along with their hosts.
Moreover, with this many casualties and this many people, there simply wasn't a sect in the area capable of accommodating them all.
Splitting up to request aid was just as laughable.
The enemy had been overwhelming even when everyone was together.
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The idea of facing them scattered was even more absurd.
Trapped with no way forward or back.
Еn u m̀ а.
It had been the same in the Black Forest, but in this very moment--
Jong Chu-ak felt immense relief that he was not the Unit Leader.
'Still, I wish he'd make a decision soon.'
Honestly, at this point, dying in battle didn't seem so bad.
Of course, that was just talk.
In any case, even the hardest training at the main mountain hadn't been as grueling as this.
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Then.
"Hang in there just a little longer! I'll have you resting in no time!"
A booming voice rang out from up ahead.
It was Jin So-un's.
"Our First Captain Il-gak came up with an excellent suggestion. There were some issues with it, but the rest I can handle."
Huh? Why is Il-gak's name suddenly coming up? In this situation of all times......?
Ѐn̊ u̇ m̌а
But the next words he heard obliterated every question he'd had.
"Once we reach that place, I'll get you treatment, escort protection, and comfortable rest!"
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Does a method like that exist?
Treatment and comfortable rest.......
There was no Orthodox sect of that caliber in this area.
Could there be a merchant guild or escort agency with ties to the Murim Alliance? He considered the possibility, but nothing came to mind.
Wе b̌n̂_ö v е l Е num а̂
Yunnan was so far removed from the Central Plains that aside from a few sects, not even branches had been established here.
'He must have a plan.'
Jong Chu-ak, too drained to even spend energy thinking, cleared his mind of idle thoughts.
He had no idea how much farther they ran after that.
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A murmur began to ripple through the Life-or-Death Unit.
"Wh-where are we heading?"
Е̇ńŭ m̂ а.. i d
"Beats me...... well, the Unit Leader sounded pretty confident. There must be a way."
"Am I the confused one? This isn't somewhere we should be going......"
They were worried about that? Must still have energy to spare.
Jong Chu-ak didn't care what or where it was. As long as he could rest soon, he'd have no complaints.
"Wait, wait, th-this is strange."
"Y-Yeah."
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The voices of confusion grew louder.
"S-surely not."
"They said Il-gak came up with the suggestion. Surely not."
"No matter what......"
"......"
As the murmuring grew louder, Jong Chu-ak snapped in irritation.
Е n.u má . id̈
"Shut up and run. It's the Unit Leader's order!"
"Brother Jong. Even so......"
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"What? Now that you're alive, suddenly you're embarrassed about following orders? And you call yourselves practitioners of the Orthodox......"
"No, Brother Jong! Look closely. Here! Do you even know where this is?"
Jong Chu-ak snorted and followed the man's pointing finger with his eyes.
"As if I'd know the geography of Yunnan......"
Ẁe b́nо̀ v̇ё l Е̃ n̂ů ḿа
And at the place the man indicated--
"......"
Banners bearing snakes and spiders stood in a row along the road.
"You still don't know after seeing those?"
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"......"
How could he not?
Ŵ еb̈nov̄е̇ l̀ Е ň_ú m ӑ
That emblem was one of the most feared symbols among Orthodox disciples.
"......Why, why are we here......"
Snapping to attention, he looked ahead and saw a massive hall looming before them.
Its entrance, built not of wood but of stone masonry, was constructed so tall it looked like a fortress wall.
The crude, unrefined shape made it abundantly clear that this structure could be converted into a defensive fortification at any moment.
And atop the gate--
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"This place is......"
--was the crest identifying the owner of every emblem they'd passed along the way.
"T-Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect?!!"
***
Dan Se-ung, Sect Leader of the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect, had retired to his chambers earlier than usual.
Days of restless nights caused by the ongoing commotion in the Black Forest had taken their toll.
Е ǹ ū m а
'Damn bastards.'
The academy students, who visited once every twelve-year cycle, never failed to put the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect on edge.
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It was not that he worried they would cause the sect direct harm.
No matter how talented they were, they were still greenhorns fresh into the murim.
What bothered him was those greenhorns trampling all over the Black Forest.
After all, the Black Forest was the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect's greatest treasure trove.
Е n̆ ũ ma
A place teeming with countless venomous creatures, where new ones kept appearing.
The Black Forest was such a treasure vault for poison practitioners that even the Tang Clan had considered establishing a branch there.
The thought of greenhorns rampaging through such a place, leaving destruction in their wake, was enough to make anyone's blood boil.
Of course, in the past, the students had always set up camp in the same spot each time and simply bided their time before leaving, so there hadn't been much cause for worry. But this time, they had caused quite a stir.
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Whatever they were doing out there, explosions kept going off, and at night they lit what seemed like countless torches.
'Are they hunting divine spirits? ......This batch must be full of lunatics.'
Е̊_n̆ u̇ mà
Those things weren't prey that could be hunted in the first place.
Dan Se-ung knew this better than anyone, having attempted the hunt himself.
Those creatures were not beings of the mortal world. They had clearly tumbled right out of the celestial realm.
In any case, there had been voices within the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect suggesting they should send people into the Black Forest to investigate, but ultimately, no one was dispatched.
The Murim Alliance was inexplicably sensitive about the academy students' events.
Considering the potential hassle down the line, it was better to close one's eyes and plug one's ears, never creating a connection in the first place.
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As his thoughts continued, one figure came to mind.
'That one is the academy representative, they said.'
The Orthodox practitioner he'd seen at the Black Thought Alliance.
They had never exchanged greetings up close, but the fellow had left quite an impression.
Unofficially, he was the man who had truly saved the Black Thought Alliance.
'What a peculiar fellow.'
Е̌ n̊ù mа̃ .id̃
When searching for the spy who had infiltrated the Black Thought Alliance, the man had pulled stunts so mad it was impossible to tell him apart from a Black Path practitioner.
And he had even risked his life to rescue the Grand Strategist of the Black Thought Alliance, which was practically his sworn enemy.
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For Dan Se-ung, who occupied a key position within the Black Thought Alliance, the man undeniably stirred a complicated mix of feelings.
'Hmm...... perhaps while I'm in the area, I should pay him a visit......'
But Dan Se-ung quickly shook his head.
The man was, after all, a benefactor to the Black Thought Alliance.
Ӗ ńû.m̌ ӑ . і̆ d
If Dan Se-ung were to visit, it would inevitably entangle the man in uncomfortable rumors, which in turn could harm his future career within the Murim Alliance.
He could not inflict such inconvenience upon a benefactor.
And it would draw unwanted attention to himself as well.
If he were ever to meet that man again.......
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'That would only be possible on a battlefield.'
The Black Path and the Orthodox Path were that kind of relationship, after all.
W е b̊ n о̃_v el̃. Ѐ n̊ u̇m̃а̂
Just then.
THUD, THUD, THUD.
Rough footsteps echoed from the corridor.
Then came the tense voice of an attendant.
"S-Sect Leader, sir. Are you asleep?"
The man knew perfectly well how long it had been since Dan Se-ung had last retired to his chambers in comfort, and yet he came calling at this hour.
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Dan Se-ung could not keep his voice pleasant.
"What is it!"
"Y-Y-You need to come out, I think......"
Come out, just like that?
At this late hour, to the Sect Leader himself?
Dan Se-ung furrowed his brow and sighed.
W е̇b̃ n̆ òv̀ е l Е̇ n̈ů mа
"I asked what happened."
"W-Well......"
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Hesitation seeped through from behind the door.
In the end, Dan Se-ung roughly threw aside his blankets, climbed out, and flung the door open hard enough to produce a loud bang.
"What matter could possibly warrant disturbing me at this hour!!!"
"W-Well, a guest...... no, an enemy...... hah, what would you even call it......"
Ěn̊u̇m̌а̇_. і̀.d̊
As his subordinate rambled and stammered, Dan Se-ung's face grew steadily redder.
"You...... would you like to spend the next week coughing up blood from your rear?"
"EEK! N-No, sir. It's not that. It's just that someone...... no, a person is here asking for you."
"Asking for me?"
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At this hour?
He had retired somewhat early, but it was still well into the night.
Ѐn̆ ŭm а. і d̄
Who had the gall to disturb the evening of Dan Se-ung, known as the Night King of Yunnan?
Dan Se-ung pulled on a robe and shoved past his subordinate, striding forward.
Within the robe were enough poisons to reduce any intruder to a pool of blood before they could take five steps.
He walked at a measured pace, leaving his chambers, crossing through the halls, passing the training ground.
And when he reached the main gate--
"Hah......"
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He scowled deeply at the sight of every last subordinate of the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect standing at rigid attention.
"What is this?! Is someone attacking us?!"
"At first, we thought so too......"
He passed the subordinate, whose words trailed off in an infuriating manner unique to this evening, and arrived before the main gate.
The flustered gatekeeper moved aside, and the great gate swung open with a prolonged creak.
And.
E n u m̌a
"Ah! Hello!"
......Standing before the gate, offering a greeting he had never in a thousand years expected, was a figure he had never in a thousand years expected to see.
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"How have you been? You look even healthier than last time I saw you."
The sheer casualness of the man asking after his well-being made Dan Se-ung briefly wonder if they'd actually been close.
"Jin So-un......"
"Ah! You remember me, Sect Leader."
Ёn̄ umá .іḋ
Dan Se-ung's gaze shifted to the scene behind Jin So-un.
Behind him was an even more spectacular sight.
Young men and women who appeared to be Orthodox disciples stood in tattered, beggar-like states, their expressions rigid.
"......What in the world is going on?"
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"Ah, well, you see."
Jin So-un curled his lips into a casual grin.
Ѐ_n̆ u m̃ а
"To put it simply, we had a bit of trouble."
Just as Dan Se-ung was about to retort at such an absurdly simple explanation--
"So, here's the thing......"
Jin So-un's voice continued, bold and unwavering.
"Would you mind providing medical treatment for our wounded and a place to stay?"
With a face so nonchalant it was as though he'd come to pick up a parcel he'd left behind--
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"......"
Dan Se-ung could not find a single word to say.
"You can imagine how desperate we must be to have come all this way."
The greasy grin plastered across Jin So-un's face as he said--
"You understand, right?"
--was something Dan Se-ung did not understand at all.
Еṅ um̌а̃ . i.d̂_
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