Chapter 235: Chapter 235
Datong, located at the northernmost tip of Shanxi Province, was a northern military stronghold to prevent attacks from nomads.
Was it because of that?
Many soldiers were roaming around every street densely packed with merchants wanting to go to the Outer Realms.
Clop, clop.
With the sound of horse hooves, many people and several carriages entered the streets of Datong.
And at that moment.
“…That escort flag?”
“It’s the World Merchant Guild!”
The merchants who confirmed the symbolic flags of the World Escort Agency fluttering above the carriages surrounded by escorts stirred greatly.
The World Merchant Guild, the world’s number one merchant guild.
The appearance of the World Escort Agency directly operated by them was enough to steal the eyes and attention of the merchants.
However, that did not last long.
“…Uh?”
“But that’s…”
It was because of the three old carriages that followed belatedly. The pupils of the people who discovered them vibrated intensely as if there was an earthquake.
“Why are people pulling the carriages…”
“Are they cra… Hup!”
The merchant who was about to say ‘are they crazy’ hurriedly covered his mouth.
‘Th-that’s the uniform of the Mount Hua Sect?!’
The merchant, who belatedly confirmed the uniforms they were wearing, sneakily looked to the side.
It wasn’t just him; the other merchants had also seemingly confirmed the Mount Hua Sect’s uniforms and were frozen with their mouths wide open.
‘Why are Mount Hua Sect Taoists pulling carriages?’
‘What is happening?’
They exchanged glances filled with absurdity.
However, the Splendid Spirit Squad just continued pulling the carriages without feeling the numerous gazes concentrating on them right now.
No. To be exact, they had no time to care about the gazing eyes.
“Huff, huff.”
“Wh-when will we a… rrive?”
Every time they took a step right now, their entire bodies were screaming.
The consumption of internal energy was also considerable, but not only their feet, their shoulders supporting the carriages were giving them pain from tremendous muscle aches.
‘U-ugh! I’m dying, I’m dying!’
‘Is this something a person should do?’
Their faces were already yellow and pale.
It was already the seventh day and night since they started pulling the carriages.
The weight of the carriages fully packed with gold, silver, and treasures was so considerable that they could only be moved if six people executed footwork.
What did that mean.
It meant they had constantly executed footwork to pull the carriages for seven days and nights.
At first, they had thoughts of it being embarrassing, but as they pulled the carriages for seven days and nights, such thoughts didn’t even come to mind anymore.
They were just walking forward.
Only praying that it would please end quickly.
As they continued walking while half out of their minds like that.
“Stop!”
The Chief Escort shouted loudly.
At that voice, the expressions of the Splendid Spirit Squad brightened, and they tossed aside the ropes they had slung over their shoulders to pull the carriages.
And they flopped down on the ground.
It was the ground of a street where people were walking, but they had no hesitation in lying down.
“I-it’s over now!”
“We arrived!”
Around the time they raised both hands high towards the sky and rejoiced while lying on the ground.
Sssrrk.
A shadow was cast over them.
Cheon-hwi, who came out of the carriage, looked at them lying flat on the ground as if they were pathetic.
“This isn’t like Taoists of the Mount Hua Sect at all, you’re practically beggars of the Beggars’ Sect.”
A few Splendid Spirit Squad members twitched at those words, but no one got up.
Even Cheon Hyang and Danmok Rin.
Because it was too hard.
Cheon-hwi shook his head while looking at them brazenly lying flat.
I should tell them to rest for a moment.
Cheon-hwi withdrew his gaze from them and approached Chief Steward Oh and the Chief Escort, who seemed to be sharing a serious conversation.
“Great Hero.”
The Chief Escort, who was conversing with Chief Steward Oh, discovered Cheon-hwi approaching closely and politely took a fist salute, opening his mouth.
“I express my deep gratitude for helping with this escort agency’s escort mission.”
Cheon-hwi shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s not just words, right?”
The Chief Escort looked at Cheon-hwi with a slightly surprised expression and laughed cheerfully.
“Hahaha! How could it be just words.”
The Chief Escort, who laughed for a long time, shone his eyes.
“If you ever need the help of this escort agency, you can contact a branch of the World Merchant Guild anytime. Or…”
His gaze, having stopped talking for a moment, headed towards Chief Steward Oh, who had stepped back.
“Please contact Chief Steward Oh.”
Cheon-hwi nodded his head.
“I will.”
The Chief Escort subsequently moved his feet to greet the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
It wasn’t just him.
The escorts and porters also approached the Plum Blossom Swordsmen and exchanged greetings.
And several escorts and porters also came to Cheon-hwi and expressed their gratitude.
“Thanks to the Great Hero, our lives were saved.”
“I will definitely repay this favor.”
“Please contact me in the future if you need this lowly one’s strength.”
Cheon-hwi roughly replied to them, who continuously expressed their gratitude, saying ‘Sure’ and ‘Repay it later’ as if it was annoying.
However, they put on satisfied faces even with that and stepped back.
After everyone’s greetings ended like that.
Chief Steward Oh approached the Chief Escort, who was about to get on his horse to conclude the escort mission.
“I ask you to take good care of it until the end.”
“Do not worry.”
The Chief Escort took a fist salute and smiled.
“I will deliver it with my life on the line.”
He, who was facing Chief Steward Oh, took a deep breath while looking at the Great Wall of China visible before his eyes.
And he looked behind and said.
“Is everyone ready?”
As soon as those words finished, the escorts and porters with tense expressions moved in perfect order and formed a formation.
The Chief Escort looked at them with a satisfied expression, then bowed his head once towards Cheon-hwi before pulling the horse reins.
“Departure.”
A moment later they left, and soon only Cheon-hwi, Chief Steward Oh, and the Splendid Spirit Squad and Danmok Rin lying on the ground were left.
Cheon-hwi looked at the Splendid Spirit Squad and said.
“Then shall we return to Mount Hua?”
However, even at those words, the Splendid Spirit Squad members were not thinking of moving at all, as if their bodies were stuck to the ground.
Only Cheon Hyang and Danmok Rin raised their bodies with great difficulty.
“Let’s… go.”
Cheon Hyang spoke in a tired voice, but.
“…”
The others closed their eyes and didn’t even budge.
‘Oh really?’
Cheon-hwi looked at them acting boldly as if to say ‘do as you please’, and lifted his scabbard.
“You’re saying you want to do martial arts training right here, right?”
Flinch!
Because it was obvious a one-sided assault disguised as martial arts training would occur, the Splendid Spirit Squad members’ eyebrows trembled slightly.
It was painful just recalling it.
However, they closed their eyes tightly.
‘If I surrender here, I have to keep pulling that.’
‘Which sect does this kind of training?’
They revealed their determination.
No matter how much they wanted to get stronger, they were at their limits now.
Look at this.
Cheon-hwi’s eyes narrowed.
To think the guys who had been doing well so far were suddenly rebelling.
Glancing over, Cheon Hyang also looked flustered.
‘Is that so?’
At that time, Cheon-hwi raised the corners of his mouth.
“The escort agency.”
When everyone was puzzled by the unexpected words he suddenly spat out, Cheon-hwi continued speaking.
“They left behind the horses they originally intended to give us. But it turned out well since it was ambiguous because we had to have twelve horses pull the carriages. As for me, I just have to ride the carriage so it doesn’t matter, so exclude me. In that case, the remaining are six horses, and for now.”
Cheon-hwi raised his hand, waved his five fingers, and slowly folded his thumb as he spoke quietly.
“It’s right for Senior Martial Sister and Junior Martial Sister who moved first to ride, isn’t it? If so, the remaining are now four horses…”
The Splendid Spirit Squad only then realized what those fingers meant.
And at that moment, they rushed over in a flurry without anyone needing to say who was first.
“I-I moved first!”
“Martial Uncle!”
* * *
Martial Alliance Shanxi Branch.
That place, which had been exceedingly leisurely as nothing had happened for decades, was currently busier than ever.
“Quickly lock them in the prison!”
“C-careful!”
The managers in charge of the Shanxi Branch’s prison couldn’t lower their tension for a single moment while leading the bound people.
Were these guys ordinary people.
It was the Heukyeong Squad, the martial force unit of the Four Black Alliances.
They were those with the cruelty and combat power to completely wipe out any decent small-to-medium sect overnight without leaving a single blade of grass.
“It’s driving me crazy.”
Gang In-hyo, the Branch Leader of the Shanxi Branch who was watching the situation of guiding the Heukyeong Squad to the prison through the window, felt dizzy in his head.
‘What kind of situation is this?’
It had already been well over forty years since the era of the Nine Provinces Three Supreme Powers had arrived.
It wasn’t that the Nine Provinces Three Supreme Powers hadn’t touched each other during that time. However, there were no major clashes, and things usually settled down as they formed agreements.
But this was.
Gang In-hyo sharply turned his head.
“Great Hero. How did this happen?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar met eyes with Gang In-hyo looking at him and gulped down his tea in one breath.
“As I said, the Heukyeong Squad moved to kill and silence the Mount Hua Sect.”
“Haa.”
Gang In-hyo placed his hand on his forehead.
‘To think that’s true.’
His head throbbed.
He had heard it in advance from his subordinate, but he asked just in case.
Gang In-hyo bit his lip and said.
“And there were also Green Forest bandits.”
“That’s right.”
“…Did they join hands?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar nodded his head.
“The Daeeun Merchant Guild also joined them.”
“The Daeeun Merchant Guild!”
Gang In-hyo’s eyes widened.
The covert movements of the Green Forest and the Four Black Alliances were somewhat grasped, but the Daeeun Merchant Guild was something completely unexpected.
“Did you not know?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar chided that Gang In-hyo.
Even the World Merchant Guild, who felt something strange in the movements of the Daeeun Merchant Guild and Green Forest, stepped forward directly, yet the guy calling himself a Martial Alliance Branch Leader didn’t know.
Gang In-hyo smiled bitterly.
“Because several incidents broke out recently, my grasp on things was late.”
Only sighs came out.
Were the incidents that broke out in just a year only one or two.
Starting with the annihilation of the White Ghost Castle, the clash between the Sun Moon Sect and the Divine Spear Yang Clan, the clash with the authorities caused by the Nine Dragons Gang, and the Shanxi Decisive Battle where the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions of Shaanxi collided.
If even the trivial ones were counted, it was to the extent that it was hard to count them on one’s hands.
Heavenly Ear Beggar looked at Gang In-hyo deeply lost in thought, and struck the table with his hand.
Thud!
“You must have relayed it to the Martial Alliance, right?”
“I relayed it.”
“And the answer?”
Gang In-hyo shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Damn it!”
Heavenly Ear Beggar put on a nervous expression and added words.
“Before this incident gets any bigger…”
However, before he could spit out all the words he hurriedly began.
“Uwaaaak!”
“Keohuk!”
Sudden screams were heard.
“What?!”
“What’s going on!”
Surprised by the increasingly closer screams, Gang In-hyo and Heavenly Ear Beggar jumped up.
And the moment they looked out the window.
“…”
The approaching screams were abruptly cut off.
As anxiety filled up in the sudden chilling silence, a fishy smell that came riding the wind stimulated their noses.
The pupils of the two shook greatly.
“This is…”
“The scent of blood?”
It was then that the two, whose anxiety grew at the thought of ‘no way’, swallowed their saliva.
Creeak.
The closed main gate slowly opened.
And through that gap, someone walked in imposingly.
A middle-aged man with a relaxed expression.
Looking like a wild beast with his long hair untied and sparse white hairs visible, he was examining the surroundings.
In the midst of that, his firmly closed lips in a straight line and his eyebrows with raised ends allowed one to vaguely guess his temperament.
“…!”
“Th-that person is…”
When the two who saw the middle-aged man couldn’t hide their astonishment, his closed lips opened.
“Where is the Branch Leader?”
A low-pitched voice that sounded like it rang from a deep underground laid down heavily.
The martial artists of the branch, who had hurriedly run over at the screams, were overwhelmed by that voice and held their breath, unable to even answer.
“It seems the Martial Alliance only accepts mutes.”
As the middle-aged man looked around.
Srrk.
The martial artists whose gazes met his trembled their bodies and lowered their eyes.
At that time.
“What brings you here?”
Gang In-hyo appeared before him.
“Are you the Branch Leader?”
“Th-that is so.”
The middle-aged man’s gaze stabbed Gang In-hyo.
“…Heup!”
Gang In-hyo felt dizzy before his eyes.
He felt as if a sharp sword had dug out his pupils.
‘Th-this kind of momentum is…’
When he slightly trembled his body.
“Stop it.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar intervened between the two.
“You are…”
The middle-aged man’s lips slowly went up.
“It’s been a while.”
Heavenly Ear Beggar, facing such a middle-aged man, broke into a cold sweat.
It was because his mental energy was being consumed by the middle-aged man’s momentum just by standing in front of him.
“Yeah, it’s been a while.”
Along with the words, Heavenly Ear Beggar looked straight into the eyes of the middle-aged man looking down at him and arduously parted his lips that didn’t want to part well.
“Green Forest Great Emperor.”