Chapter 22: The Wolf's Fangs (3)
About thirty li east of Hanzhong. The small town of Hawol was choked with the thick, metallic scent of blood.
On one side of the village, a mountain of corpses had been piled high. The brutally slaughtered bodies made no distinction between man, woman, young, or old. Many of the women’s corpses lay stripped bare, and barely any of the men had their limbs left intact. Their only commonality was that every single one of them had their right ear severed.
It was all too clear who had committed this atrocity. The perpetrators were currently building fortifications on the ruins of the villagers’ homes—the army of the Hui Dynasty that had marched through Shiquan County.
From the hill behind the village, a hundred black wolves watched this scene. The largest wolf among them huffed and growled in silent fury.
“Those absolute bastards! I’ll tear them limb from limb right now!”
As Il-gwang, unable to contain his wrath, prepared to charge down, So-mu grabbed his wrist.
“Hold on a little longer. We must wait until it gets darker.”
So-mu looked back at the hundred men crouching silently behind him, holding their breath. Their expressions mirrored Il-gwang’s rage. Seeing the slaughtered villagers reminded them of the citizens of Hanzhong, fueling their anger even further.
“We move in two hours. Everyone, rest up until then.”
So-mu turned back to inspect the enemy encampment.
Around twenty field tents were pitched in the center of the village, undoubtedly housing the commanding officers. Surrounding them were hundreds of makeshift shelters, consisting of nothing but overhead sheets. The enemy soldiers lay beneath them on piles of straw.
Sentries were posted throughout the camp, but none showed any signs of alertness. Most were dozing off. Some had even sneaked into abandoned homes to drink.
They were completely off their guard, which was unsurprising given how lightly they viewed their opponents.
Under the faint moonlight, So-mu looked up at the sky. It was now the hour of the Tiger, the time when sleep lay heaviest. Seeing that the moment had arrived, his lips parted.
“Il-gwang, take fifty men and sweep left from the entrance. Cheong-hae, take the rest and hit them from the right. Shake them up.”
The moment So-mu finished speaking, a murderous glint flared in Il-gwang’s eyes.
“Those soulless beasts. I’ll gouge their eyes out today.”
So-mu let out a soft chuckle at Il-gwang’s cursing.
“Our objective is to sow chaos, not to kill them all.”
But his words went unheeded; Il-gwang was already mentally bashing the skulls of the Hui soldiers.
Cheong-hae slowly drew his sword and asked, “Commander, where will you be going?”
“I’ll infiltrate first and set fire to the officers’ tents.”
“Won’t that be dangerous?”
“I’ll be fine. If things go awry, I’ll pull back immediately. I need time to sneak in, so the rest of you move out in a quarter of an hour.”
The men watched So-mu’s dark figure slip down the hill. Infiltrating an army of fifteen thousand alone seemed incredibly reckless. Yet, deep down, they held absolute faith in their monstrous commander.
So-mu glided through the shadows like a black wolf. Within moments, he merged with the darkness of a nearby tent, vanishing completely from sight.
Concealing his presence, he crouched low, targeting a tree nearby. Kicking off the ground, he soared silently like a bird.
Swish!
Landing on his perch, So-mu scanned the surroundings.
‘An expert capable of manifesting sword qi is still too much for the squad members. I must eliminate them beforehand. Assassination is not my preferred method, but tonight I have no choice.’
Against sword qi, nothing less than an equal or superior display of sword force could defend. No matter how skilled his men were, they would face a wall they couldn’t breach if they encountered such an expert.
Throughout Hawol Town, trees swayed in the gentle breeze. It seemed natural, yet a closer look revealed a strange anomaly—the leaves of one particular tree moved against the wind.
Having identified his targets, So-mu moved without hesitation. With every gust of wind, his shadow leaped from tree to tent, drawing closer to the cluster of command tents.
Within a few breaths, a dark silhouette landed silently on the roof of a large tent. So-mu crouched low, spreading his senses to read the auras inside.
‘Four targets inside. I’ll take the general first.’
He focused on the largest tent positioned at the very center. Unlike the others, its entrance was flanked by banners, and the tent itself was adorned with luxurious leopard skins. It was obvious who lay inside.
The distance was about ten zhang. Arching his back like a drawn bow, So-mu took a deep breath. Then, kicking off the roof, his body shot through the night sky.
Flit!
He cut through the air like a bat, landing softly on the target’s roof. He held his breath, making no more noise than a bird landing on a branch.
Silencing his presence entirely, So-mu positioned himself directly above the general’s aura. Without hesitation, his sharp blade sliced through the fabric of the roof.
Rip!
The general of the Hui army lay on his cot clad in a white robe. Startled by the sudden sound, he lunged for the sword by his bedside. But So-mu was faster. Descending like a bolt of lightning, the tip of his sword pierced the general’s heart in a single stroke.
Thrust!
As his life ebbed away, the general stared up at So-mu with eyes full of disbelief and resentment. But So-mu’s hand remained cold and unyielding.
“The villagers who died by your hand must have looked at you with the exact same eyes.”
Slash!
With a clean stroke, the general’s head rolled onto the floor. It was a pathetic end for a commander leading an entire army. Grabbing the severed head, So-mu leaped back through the hole in the ceiling, looking for his next target.
‘I still have about half a quarter of an hour…’
But before he could make his next move, he froze. Fires were already erupting throughout the village, accompanied by the clash of weapons and shouts.
‘Sigh. That fool Il-gwang couldn’t even wait that long…’
He didn’t need to see it to know what had happened. Looking down, he saw officers and commanders scrambling out of their tents in a panic.
“What’s happening? A raid?!”
“Who dares?!”
Several officers rushed toward the general’s tent, shouting urgently.
“General! We are under attack!”
So-mu had to act quickly. He could sense three officers with internal energy strong enough to manifest sword qi. If they reached his men, the squad would be in grave danger.
Leaping down from the roof, So-mu landed near a burning brazier and snatched a flaming branch.
He began casually tossing the fire onto the surrounding tents. It was a brazen act that immediately drew attention. The officers emerging from the tents stared at him in disbelief.
“Who the hell is that?!”
“Capture him at once!”
Dozens of officers and soldiers lunged at So-mu. However, they stood no chance of catching him. Deploying his miraculous light movement technique, he darted through the camp, setting more tents ablaze as he went.
Once five major tents were engulfed in flames, So-mu stopped. He was instantly surrounded, with a hundred weapons pointed at him. But as their eyes locked onto what he held in his right hand, a horrified scream shattered the air.
“G-General!”
“That assassin… he killed the General!”
Taking advantage of their shock, So-mu kicked off the ground and broke through the encirclement. Soaring high, he vaulted over their heads.
Whoosh!
Landing past the officers, he bolted toward the outskirts of the village.
‘I still do not know what other masters the Hui army might have. It is best not to reveal my full strength to the enemy just yet.’
The elite forces they had encountered in Baiyang County were on a completely different level from these soldiers. To prepare for any future threat, he had to keep his abilities hidden.
The number of soldiers pursuing him quickly grew into the hundreds.
“Catch him!”
“He killed the General! Do not let him escape!”
So-mu deliberately paced himself, running just fast enough that only the officers with swift light movement techniques could keep up.
By the time he reached the hill behind the village, he glanced back. As expected, only ten commanders remained in pursuit. The rest had fallen far behind.
‘Three who can manifest sword qi. The rest are mediocre.’
Upon reaching a suitable clearing, So-mu halted abruptly.
The ten commanders quickly surrounded him. However, they soon sensed something amiss. The assassin’s expression was entirely too calm, and his breathing was perfectly steady despite the chase.
The highest-ranking officer among them asked warily, “Did you… lure us here?”
“At least one of you has a brain,” So-mu replied calmly.
Only then did the commanders realize the gravity of their situation. In their haste to give chase, they had forgotten that this man had silently assassinated their general in the very heart of their own camp.
So-mu stood with his left hand behind his back, his sword held loosely in his right. He hadn’t even taken a proper stance, clearly looking down on them.
Then, his cold voice echoed through the clearing.
“Now that I have seen what you did to the village, I am certain of one thing. None of you deserve to live.”
An ominous chill washed over them. In an instant, So-mu’s aura shifted, weighing down on them like the presence of Mount Tai. The sheer pressure made it difficult to breathe. They had to either flee or fight.
The Hui commanders exchanged desperate glances. After all, he was still just one man.
“Kill him!”
At the signal, ten swords lunged at So-mu simultaneously. Yet they struck nothing but air. So-mu glided through their coordinated assault, dodging every strike with ease.
Frustrated by their constant misses, the commanders grew desperate, their swords cutting empty air.
When So-mu finally counterattacked, the battle became a chaotic blur. The ring of clashing steel echoed continuously.
Clang! Clash! Clack!
The struggle appeared even for a brief moment, but So-mu’s movements only grew faster. He was utterly dominating them. In the face of his overwhelming martial arts, the encirclement crumbled.
Suddenly, a brilliant blue light erupted from So-mu’s blade, burning with terrifying intensity—a manifestation of pure sword force. Panic and regret flooded the commanders’ eyes, but it was already too late.
“Aaargh!”
The slaughter began as the first commander fell, his limbs severed, collapsing to the earth.