Chapter 184: Chapter 184
The battlefield was reaching its final stages.
The Flying Sword Squad and the Fire Spirit Squad, which had begun to run wild in earnest, subdued or struck down the attackers one by one.
“Have you almost finished already?”
At that moment, a voice was heard from the side.
Cheon-hwi smacked his lips without even turning his gaze in that direction.
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
“Would it hurt you to speak nicely?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar, who revealed his figure, frowned.
Right now, he was inwardly quite surprised while chasing after Cheon-hwi, but he was struggling to feign a calm appearance.
‘Their skills are not ordinary.’
He knew the military strength of the Mount Hua Sect very well, having heard it from other branch members.
Wasn’t the Nine Great Sects and One Gang one of the pieces of information thoroughly managed by the Beggars’ Sect, after all?
However, he doubted his eyes right now.
‘It’s completely different from the information.’
The current Mount Hua Sect was soaring again, but their military strength was much lower compared to the other sects of the current Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
A force of less than a hundred men.
And they had lost all the Plum Blossom Swordsmen who were responsible for the Mount Hua Sect’s strength.
The only competitive existence with the other Nine Great Sects and One Gang was the Mount Hua Divine Sword.
‘It was supposed to be this guy in front of me.’
Wrinkles formed on Heavenly Ear Beggar’s forehead.
His eyes deepened as he looked at the Taoists of the Mount Hua Sect running wild on the battlefield right now.
‘I need to revise all the information.’
The Mount Hua Sect had risen to a point where they could no longer be looked down upon.
They were young in age, but even compared to the rising stars of similar sects in the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, they were one step ahead.
‘If time flows in this state, they might even challenge the strongholds of Shaolin and Wudang…’
The corners of Heavenly Ear Beggar’s eyes trembled.
His gaze was fixed on the man and woman standing at the forefront among the Taoists of the Mount Hua Sect.
Their skills were outstanding compared to the other disciples.
Even if countless rising stars were lined up, they would probably be counted on one hand among them.
“The Mount Hua Sect raised their rising stars well. Our gang doesn’t have anyone showing promise.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar clicked his tongue.
Then he slyly turned his head, looked at the corpse fallen in front, and smacked his lips.
“By the way, who is this guy?”
“I think he was the mastermind.”
“Yeah, the mastermind… What? Mastermind?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar, who was trying to move on naturally at Cheon-hwi’s calm words, widened his eyes.
“D-did you kill him?”
“Yes, I did.”
“What about the information?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar’s voice rose.
“Of course you got information, right?”
“No.”
“What?”
“I don’t know if it’s because he was a tail meant to be cut off anyway, but he only spouted useless information. Besides, even if I found out their mastermind, they would have probably wiped their mouths and feigned ignorance, claiming they had nothing to do with it if they hid it this thoroughly.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar’s face crumpled in a frown.
“Still, if you tortured him…”
“What would I do after finding out like that? They’re going to pretend not to know and cut off the tail. Rather than wasting time because of that, it’s more comfortable for my mind to just kill him.”
“…”
“And wouldn’t they be more anxious if I did this?”
Cheon-hwi’s lips twisted.
“If we just quietly keep our mouths shut, they won’t be able to tell whether we found out the information or not.”
“…!”
Heavenly Ear Beggar’s eyes bulged.
“Did you aim for that?”
At the question, Cheon-hwi lightly tapped his head with his index finger and continued speaking.
“Generally, guys who use their heads not only move more cautiously, but they also tend to become highly suspicious if their plans go wrong even the slightest bit. Wondering why this went wrong.”
Cheon-hwi’s eyes shone coldly.
“And they’ll try to get information to fix what went wrong, and that’s exactly when their openings will be revealed.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar’s mouth hung wide open.
The impression of Cheon-hwi that he had seen completely changed in an instant.
“I thought you were just a guy who simply smashed everything, but you also use your head.”
“If possible, simply smashing things is the best. Anyway, Jianghu respects the strong.”
Cheon-hwi’s voice was calm.
However, the content within it was hard to believe came from a Taoist.
“There’s no one strong enough in the face of absolute power, right?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar clicked his tongue.
“I definitely felt it before, but are you really a Taoist?”
Cheon-hwi pointed at his Taoist robe.
“Can’t you tell by looking? Has presbyopia hit you?”
“Tsk! What do you mean presbyopia, you brat!”
Heavenly Ear Beggar suddenly shouted.
Even without that, he was currently eating this and that said to be good for the body because he was worried about his age recently!
“Forget it, forget it. You must be a Taoist.”
Around the time Heavenly Ear Beggar grumbled.
“Martial Uncle!”
“Junior Martial Brother!”
Jeok-geom and Cheon-hyang waved their hands.
“We’ve taken care of everyone.”
“We’ve processed them!”
A deep smile hung on their faces as they spoke loudly.
Seeing them, Heavenly Ear Beggar smiled wickedly and struck up a conversation.
“Do they still look like Taoists even like that?”
Around the brightly smiling Jeok-geom and Cheon-hyang, corpses frothing at the mouth, fainted, or dead were lined up everywhere.
“They don’t look like Taoists.”
As Cheon-hwi opened his mouth while looking at them.
“Little Taoist!”
A loud shout was heard.
From behind, Han Yu-seong, who had been sitting on the floor with his legs giving out, somehow managed to stand his legs up.
With trembling steps, he approached.
“Thank you for helping us.”
He cupped his fists with difficulty.
Moisture stained the corners of his eyes as he raised his head, and his lips trembled slightly.
“How should I ever repay this grace?”
“It was something that had to be done.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar was surprised by Cheon-hwi’s words.
‘What? Something that had to be done?’
What kind of guy was Cheon-hwi? He was a guy who hated troublesome things and tried to finish quickly even when he happened to do work.
“Since you are a secular sect, we must take responsibility.”
However, it was a matter of course for Cheon-hwi.
Shouldn’t a leader embrace and protect their subordinates?
And if they were a secular sect, helping the subordinates of the Mount Hua Sect was a given.
But Han Yu-seong, who didn’t know such underlying intentions, couldn’t hide his joyful expression.
“There has never been a time when this lowly one was so proud to be a secular disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.”
And Heavenly Ear Beggar looked at Cheon-hwi with newly surprised eyes and held a smile.
‘Even though his methods are cruel, he really is a Taoist.’
It was barely just one word.
But with just that one word, Heavenly Ear Beggar gave Cheon-hwi a generous evaluation.
‘I can even feel the demeanor of a great hero.’
At that time, Cheon-hwi opened his mouth.
“More than that, let’s clean up now.”
As soon as those words fell, they moved in perfect order, cleaning up the corpses and gathering the fainted ones in one place to bind them.
And those who had Golden Spear Medicine or internal injury medicine distributed them unsparingly to the injured escorts and porters.
“Please apply it here.”
“Chew it slowly and thoroughly before swallowing. And if you perform Qi circulation and breathing, your internal injuries will stabilize.”
The escorts and porters looked in awe at the Taoists who unsparingly shared out not only Golden Spear Medicine but also precious internal injury medicine, bowing deeply in gratitude.
“Thank you very much.”
“I will not forget this grace.”
“Haha, what do you mean grace? It is a natural thing to do as fellow members of Mount Hua.”
“Don’t carry any unnecessary mental burdens and focus on recovering your bodies.”
“There’s a reason why the Mount Hua Sect’s reputation has grown among the common people recently.”
Watching the heart-warming scene, Heavenly Ear Beggar could confirm why the Mount Hua Sect was the Mount Hua Sect and part of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
Meanwhile, Cheon-hwi met the eyes of a bound attacker and spat out a question.
“You said you came from the Sayu Valley, right?”
“…Y-yes.”
The attacker trembled.
The skills of the Mount Hua Sect’s disciples who had fought them were outstanding, but compared to the person in front of him right now, their light faded.
Overwhelming martial prowess.
And cruel methods.
Just recalling the final moments of the one who had commanded them a moment ago, it felt as if something was caught in his throat.
“Hmm. Sayu Valley…”
Cheon-hwi stood up without asking further.
At that, Heavenly Ear Beggar felt puzzled.
“Are you not going to ask more?”
“What would I gain from asking a low-ranking grunt? He probably just followed orders.”
“Still, you never know.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar asked the attacker.
“Why did you attack the Hwayu Escort Agency?”
“I-I was just following orders.”
“See.”
As Cheon-hwi spoke with a twisted smile, Heavenly Ear Beggar’s face distorted.
“Tch!”
“Where did you say the Sayu Valley was again?”
“…What are you trying to do?”
“What else.”
The corners of Cheon-hwi’s mouth twitched.
“They provoked us first, so we have to entertain them.”
“…Are you saying you’re going to invade them?”
“Because I don’t want to live only suffering losses.”
At Cheon-hwi’s extremely dry words, Heavenly Ear Beggar smacked his lips.
“Tsk, that’s true. So are you going right now?”
“I should. We have to go before those guys get information to properly pull out their roots.”
“Well, understood. I’ll at least guide you.”
“Then I’ll ask you to guide us. Ah, right!”
Cheon-hwi met Heavenly Ear Beggar’s eyes as if he had forgotten something back then.
“More than that, did you deliver the letter? I asked you to send it because I was suddenly going to Yan’an.”
“The letter? Ah! You mean that? I thought it would be late otherwise, so I sent it hurriedly by messenger eagle. It will probably arrive in time.”
* * *
“You are the Lord of Soheung Fort.”
The Lord of Soheung Fort sweated profusely at the momentum of the old Taoist in front of him.
‘H-how come the Zhongnan Sword Saint is here?!’
The inside of his mouth ran dry.
“For what matter has the Sword Saint come to this humble place?”
The eyes of the Zhongnan Sword Saint narrowed.
A vivid light in his narrow eyes.
For a moment, the Lord of Soheung Fort felt as if his heart was completely exposed.
“Why do you think it is?”
“This humble one’s head is ignorant so I do not know well, but could the Great Hero Zhongnan Sword Saint not give me some guidance?”
“Hohoho, your words flow like water.”
The Sword Saint let out a laugh.
However, the expression of the Lord of Soheung Fort hearing that laugh turned pale.
It was because internal energy was imbued in it.
“Do you not know the current situation in Shaanxi?”
The face of the Lord of Soheung Fort distorted.
‘As if I wouldn’t know…!’
The Lord of Soheung Fort quickly rubbed his hands together.
“Ha, haha. T-this humble one and my fort have not joined hands with the Four Supreme Powers of Sinju.”
“But you are an Unorthodox Faction.”
The tone of the Zhongnan Sword Saint was cold.
Around the time the Lord of Soheung Fort swallowed his breath at that.
“Please wait a moment!”
The Sect Leader of Ilhwa Sect ran over in one breath.
Seeing the Zhongnan Sword Saint, he politely cupped his fists and exchanged greetings.
“I am Ju Song, the Sect Leader of Ilhwa Sect. May this humble one speak a word to the Sword Saint for a moment?”
“…Speak.”
“Soheung Fort are not ones who will cause chaos in Yan’an.”
“Are you trying to protect an Unorthodox Faction?”
“That is correct.”
The Sect Leader of Ilhwa Sect spoke calmly.
“Soheung Fort helped our sect when we fell into a desperate crisis due to the attack of another Unorthodox Faction. But as a human being, how could I forget that grace and just let it pass?”
“They helped you…”
The Zhongnan Sword Saint’s eyebrows twitched.
“You mean those Unorthodox Faction members helped you?”
“That is correct.”
Meeting the eyes of the Zhongnan Sword Saint, the Lord of Soheung Fort also nodded his head desperately.
“T-that is right!”
“…”
Right when the Zhongnan Sword Saint’s expression was stiffening.
“Hmm?”
He raised his head.
A hawk with jet-black feathers was descending at a fierce speed.
“Black Eagle?”
The Zhongnan Sword Saint was slightly surprised.
The Black Eagle was a messenger eagle treasured by Heavenly Ear Beggar, and it was rarely used.
But for it to come here…
Swish-
As the Zhongnan Sword Saint raised his arm, the Black Eagle landed with soft flapping wings.
“It’s been a while.”
The Sword Saint stroked the Black Eagle’s head once, then untied the paper tied to its leg.
“…”
A short silence flowed.
The Zhongnan Sword Saint carefully folded the paper again, put it inside his robes, and smacked his lips.
“Are you acquainted with Cheon-hwi?”
The eyes of the Lord of Soheung Fort flashed.
“That is correct!”
“The words of the Sect Leader of Ilhwa Sect were true. Hoho, an Unorthodox Faction helping a Righteous Faction, huh…”
Blurring his words, the Zhongnan Sword Saint turned his body. Subsequently, as he gradually faded away, the strength completely drained from the Lord of Soheung Fort’s legs.
“I-I survived.”
Slumping down, he raised his head, looked at the Sect Leader of Ilhwa Sect, and opened his mouth.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“As a sect of Yan’a that has lived alongside for a long time, isn’t it natural to help?”
“Haha.”
The Lord of Soheung Fort laughed awkwardly.
It was because the words the Sect Leader of Ilhwa Sect was saying right now perfectly resembled the words he had said when he helped the Ilhwa Sect in the past.
‘Back then, I did it because I didn’t have a suitable excuse to give, but it’s truly strange.’
Around the time the Lord of Soheung Fort, whose heart suddenly felt restless, scratched his head.
‘But it’s strange.’
The gaze of the Sect Leader of Ilhwa Sect headed toward the Sword Saint, who had already distanced himself enough to become a dot.
‘I heard that the Zhongnan Sect is currently holding its breath close to closing its gates, so why did the Great Hero Zhongnan Sword Saint come all the way to Yan’an alone… Did some kind of mishap happen?’
Anxious feelings rose inside him for a moment.
But he soon shook his head.
Who was he?
He was an absolute master counted even in Jianghu, the Zhongnan Sword Saint who was called the Number One Master of Shaanxi since he entered the murim.
The Sect Leader of Ilhwa Sect raised his head.
Looking at the clear sky, he struggled to calm his anxiety and closed his eyes.
‘It’s a groundless fear.’
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