Chapter 293: Chapter 293
Cheon-hwi, who stood at the mountain gate, looked around his surroundings.
The Emei Sect had turned into a gruesome state in less than a single day.
The interior of Subduing Tiger Temple was almost half-destroyed. And corpses were piled up around it.
The resulting stench of blood vibrated throughout the entirety of Mount Emei.
It was the conclusion of a gruesome war.
That horrific sight unfolded before his eyes.
“It will take time to recover its former appearance.”
Cheon-hwi muttered as he looked around.
The Emei Sect’s losses due to the Emei Holy War were severe. No, it was at a level that far exceeded the expression severe.
While looking for a long time like that, Cheon-hwi fixed his gaze on the person standing alone in the center of Subduing Tiger Temple commanding the aftermath.
“Prioritize treatment! Those who are still intact must collect the corpses, and do not neglect the surrounding guard. You never know. The Unorthodox Faction bastards might be hiding insidiously and waiting for an opportunity.”
Abbess So-hye, who had her cleanly cut area wrapped in bandages, moved her left hand this way and that, issuing orders in all directions.
The busiest in response to that were the Emei Sect disciples belonging to the Hall of Medicine treating the wounded.
“Bring the wounded this way!”
“Keuk!”
“Please endure it a little.”
“Apply the Golden Spear Medicine here…”
They were moving hurriedly without a moment’s delay.
In a situation where there were patients everywhere, they could not dawdle even a little.
“By the way, what is even more severe is…”
Cheon-hwi’s gaze, which was watching such a situation, moved to the side.
It was the place surrounded by the Emei Sect elders.
Heaviness and worry were deeply stained on their faces, which had rejoiced at the time when the Four Black Alliances’ military force retreated.
“Sect Leader…”
It was because the condition of Abbess So-un, who lay peacefully among them, was quite not good.
A pale complexion and an unstable aura.
The Hall of Medicine Lord, who was carefully taking Abbess So-un’s pulse, removed his hand with a deep breath.
“I-Is the Sect Leader okay?”
As Abbess So-jeong asked hastily, the Hall of Medicine Lord answered while wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“…She is stable now.”
“Phew, that is a relief.”
“It is a relief.”
When the gathered elders, including Abbess So-jeong, swept their chests and felt relieved.
“However, to properly treat the internal injuries, she must recuperate for at least three or four years.”
The Hall of Medicine Lord said with a bitter face.
“Three or four years, you say?”
“…Was it that serious.”
“It seems she forcibly drew up internal energy and innate true qi while in a state of having suffered internal injuries. Due to that backlash…”
The Hall of Medicine Lord blurred the end of his sentence.
However, the ones gathered here were all those who had reached a stage. They roughly knew the latter words the Hall of Medicine Lord could not bear to say.
“…Do you think she will get better if she consumes our sect’s Righteous Life Pill?”
Abbess So-jeong spoke of the Emei Sect’s spiritual medicine, but the Hall of Medicine Lord shook his head.
“Because the internal injuries are deep, consuming a spiritual medicine will rather become a poison. Meditating like this and taking a rest is the best method.”
Everyone leaked a groan.
The situation was not good.
At this time when the war with the Four Black Alliances had begun in earnest, Abbess So-un’s strength was in a situation where it was more desperate than anything else.
But to think she had to recuperate for at least three or four years.
At that time, Abbess So-un’s firmly closed eyelids went up very slowly.
“Sect Leader!”
“Are you okay?”
Abbess So-un, who opened her eyes, raised the corners of her mouth at the familiar people filling her vision.
It was a faint smile.
Subsequently, she tried to raise her upper body which had been laid down peacefully.
“Keuk.”
She, who was slowly moving her body, flinched while leaking a groan in the middle.
It was because the severe pain caused by the terrible internal injuries had still not faded away.
“Y-You must not move.”
“You must take a rest…”
When the surrounding people, startled by that, tried to support Abbess So-un’s upper body.
Seueuk-
Abbess So-un raised her right hand.
It was a hand gesture meaning she was okay.
At that, when everyone stopped their extending hands and stayed awkwardly, she caught her breath and raised her upper body again.
A short movement.
However, perhaps because she moved in a state where her internal injuries were deep, sweat flowed from her forehead.
The Hall of Medicine Lord said hastily.
“You must not move rashly. Since your internal injuries are deep, you must take a rest…”
“…How can a person called the Sect Leader continue to lie down in such a situation.”
Abbess So-un cut off her words with a resolute attitude, taking a deep breath.
And then.
Seueuk.
She grabbed the Reincarnation Six Rings Staff placed next to her and moved to slowly raise her body.
At that sight, the elders including the Hall of Medicine Lord looked at her anxiously.
Tak.
In the end, Abbess So-un stood up straight.
Following that, she, who straightened her waist, looked around Subduing Tiger Temple which had become a mess, making a complicated expression.
Countless corpses were seen below the mountain.
Her mouth was bitter as she watched such a spectacle.
“Many people have lost their lives.”
She, who muttered in a sad tone tinged with moisture, soon shook her head left and right and shook off her complicated feelings.
“How is the aftermath going? To what extent is the damage?”
Abbess So-jeong stepped forward at her question.
Things such as prioritizing the treatment of the wounded and running with their feet on fire to bring physicians from external medical clinics…
Abbess So-jeong quickly explained the situation after Abbess So-un fainted. Then finally, she carefully spat out words she could not bear to bring out of her mouth.
“…Those who have lost their lives number a hundred, and the majority are those with heavy and light injuries.”
“A hundred people…”
A shadow was cast under Abbess So-un’s eyes.
It was what she had already expected.
Wasn’t the opponent the Four Black Alliances, and among them, the military force composed of the Ghost Shadow Squad and the Blood Shadow Squad.
Naturally, there was no choice but for people to die.
However, when it actually struck as reality, it could not be helped that her heart fluctuated.
Abbess So-un slowly closed her eyes, then opened them.
And she spoke quietly.
“It is fine even if the collection of corpses and building restoration is a little late, so prioritize the treatment of the wounded for now, and do your best to help them rest.”
“Understood.”
Abbess So-un, who heard the answer, looked at the sky with a complicated expression, then took a step.
“Where are you trying to go?”
At Abbess So-jeong’s question, Abbess So-un made a sorrowful smile and moved her lips.
“Shouldn’t I express my gratitude.”
Along with her words, she passed the surrounding elders and walked without hesitation.
It was exactly towards the mountain gate.
Soon reaching the mountain gate, she stood before Cheon-hwi who was standing with a bored expression.
“It seems you have gotten a little better now?”
“I rested comfortably thanks to you, Young Hero.”
Abbess So-un held a smile.
It was a soft and warm smile.
‘They say a hero appears in turbulent times…’
A youthful appearance, but the martial prowess he possessed was something that could be counted on one’s fingers even in the world.
Since he was a rare prodigy of all time in the world.
Perhaps he was a being that could be counted on one’s fingers not just in the world but throughout all ages.
Since even she found it hard to fathom.
‘For such a talent to appear in this chaotic political situation, it is a great blessing.’
She was very grateful for Cheon-hwi’s existence.
If he had not been there, she would have lost her life at Nong Jil’s hands, and the Emei Sect would have been trampled.
She, who was thinking, brought her hands together peacefully.
“Amitabha.”
She, who faintly chanted a Buddhist chant, maintained her gaze looking at Cheon-hwi and spoke.
“Thank you. Young Hero.”
Cheon-hwi shrugged his shoulders, looking at Abbess So-un who bowed her head with her hands brought together.
“You are not just saying that with your mouth, right?”
“How could that be. I will not forget this grace until the day my life ends.”
“Then that is enough.”
Cheon-hwi spoke casually.
It was an appearance that looked lacking in manners for speaking to a sect leader of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
However, it felt different to Abbess So-un.
‘He is embarrassed by excessive courtesy.’
Was it because she was full of favorable feelings.
She felt goodwill towards every single one of Cheon-hwi’s actions, interpreting them as she pleased.
Abbess So-un smiled, undoing her clasped hands.
“Whenever you need our sect’s help, please tell me. I will run over immediately even barefoot. Then rest and go.”
With those words at the end, Abbess So-un turned her steps and visited the disciples and orthodox martial artists receiving treatment one by one.
“Is your body okay? Are there no more injured places?”
Abbess So-un, who spat out words of worry towards the disciples, expressed her gratitude to the wounded orthodox martial artists with her hands brought together.
“Thank you for giving us help. I will never forget this grace.”
Cheon-hwi, who was looking at Abbess So-un visiting and greeting each person one by one, soon turned his head and looked to one side.
It was the place where the Extermination Unit was gathered.
All of them were in a battered state.
Their pure white cloaks had become rags, and bloodstains showed through their torn martial arts uniforms.
Still, whether to call it fortunate, there seemed to be no dead in the Extermination Unit.
Cheon-hwi immediately approached them.
“Unit Leader!”
“Unit Leader! Keuk!”
Those who were treating their wounds rejoiced at Cheon-hwi’s appearance, then leaked groans.
Cheon-hwi looked at them like that and opened his mouth.
“Still, everyone held out quite well.”
Ho Gwang-gae scratched his hair greasy with blood and sweat, laughing awkwardly.
“Hahaha. Just as the Unit Leader ordered, we endured while running away if it seemed dangerous.”
At those words, awkward smiles also lingered on the faces of the other Extermination Unit members one by one.
Cheon-hwi quickly scanned those unit members.
As the internal energy of the Plum Blossom Divine Art was loaded, Cheon-hwi’s pupils emitted a faint colourless light.
“…”
The Extermination Unit members who met that gaze instantly stiffened like stone statues.
It was because the moment they met the eye light tinged with a faint red color, it felt like they were stripped naked.
‘It would be better to rest a little.’
Cheon-hwi, who scanned them thoroughly, quickly grasped the Extermination Unit members’ wound conditions.
Unlike how serious they looked on the outside, it was not a state that would be that much of a problem.
It was to the extent that they would heal enough if they meditated and rested for about three days.
“You will have to recuperate for the time being.”
At those words, all the Extermination Unit members who met his gaze nodded their heads as if possessed.
“Let us just rest at the Emei Sect for about four days.”
* * *
Jjoreureu-
Tea was poured into the teacup.
The profound tea fragrance filled the narrow room, emitting a warm temperature.
Seueuk-
Dragon Pearl Beggar glanced at the teacup held out before his eyes, then gulped it down at once as soon as he received it.
Even though it was hot tea that had just been brewed, there was no hesitation.
“Ugh, it is bitter, bitter.”
Dragon Pearl Beggar muttered with a reluctant expression as if he ate something inedible, then spoke to the opponent in front.
“Why did you call me?”
To the question spat out as if he was annoyed at first glance, Zhuge Gong sitting opposite brought the teacup in his hand to his mouth and took a sip before opening his mouth.
“There is something I want you to grasp.”
“Grasp?”
Dragon Pearl Beggar tilted his head.
“What is it about?”
“It is this.”
Zhuge Gong held out a scroll.
The scroll wrapped with a string tinged with golden light looked important even at a glance.
Without delay, Dragon Pearl Beggar unfolded the scroll.
And the moment he read down its contents.
“…!”
He glared his two eyes.
On the scroll, the names of quite well-known people inside the Martial Alliance were listed.
All of them were those with high reputations. Not only the elders of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, but even those who occupied high positions in the Martial Alliance.
Among them, Beggars’ Sect members also existed.
“…Are these the suspected ones?”
Dragon Pearl Beggar asked carefully.
“That is right.”
Zhuge Gong nodded his head.
“When did you find this out?”
“I sorted out those who moved the most actively after the war was declared.”
Dragon Pearl Beggar immediately grasped his intention.
“…In other words, you are telling me to grasp these guys’ recent whereabouts.”
“That is right.”
“Tsk, it will take a long time.”
Dragon Pearl Beggar grumbled as he put the scroll densely written with dozens of names into his bosom.
“Then is your business done now?”
The moment Zhuge Gong nodded at the grumbling Dragon Pearl Beggar’s question.
Kung! Kung!
A disturbance suddenly arose outside.
“What is it?”
When Dragon Pearl Beggar was about to narrow his glabella.
“S-Strategist!”
A shout was heard from outside.
“What is the matter?”
“A-An urgent report has arrived.”
Zhuge Gong glanced at Dragon Pearl Beggar, then towards the closed door, moved his lips.
“Come in.”
The door was flung open.
Beyond that door, a young man with a face fallen into confusion was trembling his body.
Even though he saw Dragon Pearl Beggar, he ran straight to Zhuge Gong without any sign of surprise or panic.
And then he laid down several missives that were in his bosom on the table.
“I-It is an urgent report sent from the Iron Blood Squad, the Divine Dragon Squad, and the Death God Squad!”
“What? The Iron Blood Squad did?”
Dragon Pearl Beggar looked with surprised eyes.
It was an unprecedented thing for the Iron Blood Squad to send an urgent report.
However, if it was to the extent that they sent an urgent report, it was clear that it was something unusual.
When Dragon Pearl Beggar looked on with surprised eyes, the strategist casually picked up the missive.
And he took out the missive and checked its contents.
“…”
For a moment, his eyes grew cold.
It was because the contents written inside were things even he had not expected.
[Iron Blood Squad routed.]
[One battalion of the Divine Dragon Squad annihilated.]
[Mission failed. Thousand Swords Villa exterminated.]