Chapter 132: Chapter 132
A manor situated a short distance from the Imperial Palace.
From high walls, a massive gate, thick pillars exuding majesty, to dozens of servants busily moving about something,
From an appearance that looked like seeing a small imperial palace, one could tell how towering the authority of the master of this manor was.
Clack!
Great General Ju Won-yang irritably set down his teacup.
As the first cousin once removed to Patriarch Peng, he was originally a person of the Peng Clan, but was one who had received the imperial surname bestowed by the previous emperor in recognition of his merit.
“His Majesty took quite a liking to that fellow.”
“It will not last long. For that bastard is an unruly scoundrel who knows nothing of etiquette.”
Patriarch Peng replied while watching the mood.
He was also generally confident anywhere as a martial artist of the Realm Beyond the Heavens and Patriarch of the Hebei Peng Clan, but before the Great General, he was merely a young child of the clan.
The Great General fell into deep thought.
During this time, he had embezzled quite a lot. Especially recently, together with the Hebei Peng Clan and a certain faction, he had stirred up a fake war and pocketed an enormous amount of military expenses.
However, the unique intuition that had seated him in the position of Great General was sending an unexplainable warning. Such a feeling had arisen right after meeting the man called the Heartless Wanderer.
“Let us wrap it up slowly.”
The Great General said so out of the blue.
He trusted his intuition quite a bit.
Even though he suggested closing down a business that had brought quite a large profit in an instant, Patriarch Peng merely bowed his head.
“Yes, Elder. I shall do so.”
It was not that Patriarch Peng had no regrets either. However, he had already amassed sufficient gold, and since the establishment of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance had also come to naught, there was no need to display useless obstinacy.
Rather than that, it was far more profitable to cater to the mood of Ju Won-yang, his cousin-uncle and great elder.
‘In any case, it was an impossible matter without my cousin-uncle’s help.’
Having given up like that, Patriarch Peng spoke:
“Then I will convey this to the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean as well. Since they also earned large sums of money during this time thanks to us, they will have no particular dissatisfaction.”
The Ghost of the Eastern Ocean was the master of the Eastern Ocean who was said to have appeared recently.
Of course, because their invasion and the military’s suppression process were all under the Great General’s intent in the first place, he was not actually a master of the Eastern Ocean either.
Suddenly, the Great General spoke as if displeased:
“Does that mean they could dare harbor dissatisfaction toward me?”
“Ahem! How could that ever happen? I apologize, Elder. I spoke out of turn.”
The Great General clicked his tongue.
As someone from the Peng Clan, he held goodwill toward his kin. However, they could not be used for grave matters. Fundamentally, they were only good at bulking up their bodies and clumsy at using their heads.
“I will wrap it up as having completely eradicated the Japanese pirates in about half a month, so be aware of that.”
“Yes, I understand.”
It was at that moment.
“D-Disaster has struck!”
The Great General knitted his brows slightly.
Soon, when permission was granted, an armored military officer rushed inside and reported:
It was news that Cheon Woo-jin and his friends were heading to the Shandong Peninsula.
“What? Why would those bastards go there!”
“…I-It is an imperial command.”
“Damn it all!”
Pouring out his fury, the Great General glared at Patriarch Peng. It was because he could roughly guess the reason.
Having heard that a fissure had occurred within the Martial Alliance recently leading to a large-scale inspection, that fellow called the Heartless Wanderer seemed to be targeting the Peng Clan as a member of the Inspection Hall.
Patriarch Peng’s face also turned somewhat grim.
“…It seems that bastard caught a scent of something.”
Having said so, Patriarch Peng watched the Great General’s expression for a moment, then abruptly knelt on the floor.
“Cousin-Uncle. Please help me just once. It seems to be because of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance affair. Do you know what happened to those who plotted together?”
Tang Bi-cheon was dead.
The Qingcheng Sect was cleanly exterminated.
The Zhongnan Sect and the Murong Clan flipped their bellies and pledged submission to the Alliance Leader.
According to rumors, the Myriad Gold Manor Lord who had provided funds was plagued by nightmares every day from the day after the Qingcheng Sect disappeared, and was reportedly not in his right mind.
The Great General snorted through his nose, clearly showing his displeasure. However, Patriarch Peng knew that the Great General would ultimately help. At any rate, it was an affair they had carried out together.
At Patriarch Peng’s earnest plea out of nowhere, the Great General nodded as if he could not refuse:
“It cannot be helped. How could I merely watch my nephew’s head fly off? Your father, my cousin, and I were close without formalities since childhood.”
Only then did the corners of Patriarch Peng’s lowered mouth curl upward.
No matter if he was the Heartless Wanderer or whatever, at least within the enclosure called a battlefield, one could never act outside the Great General’s intentions.
Even if the Alliance Leader himself came in person, not just the Heartless Wanderer.
* * *
The Hidden Dragon Squad, including Cheon Woo-jin, was able to head to the frontlines without anyone’s obstruction.
However, what came after was the problem.
On the Shandong Peninsula, there were roughly five major frontlines, but for some reason, it felt as though they were deployed only to insignificant battlefields.
“Hmm.”
Cheon Woo-jin watched the battlefield with his Crescent Moon Staff planted into the ground.
Song Yi-yeon, Namgung Jin, and Jin Un were excited, slaughtering Japanese raiders, while the soldiers watched that spectacle with amazement.
What Cheon Woo-jin observed closely was the enemies.
Though they were said to be martial artists of the Eastern Ocean, their martial arts were quite interesting.
Most martial arts of the Central Plains were known to him through his masters’ explanations.
The martial arts of the Eastern Ocean resembled those of the Hainan Sect.
“Is it because they are martial arts of the sea?”
That was the method by which White Elder had categorized martial arts.
Martial arts of the Central Plains generally imitated mountains and heavens. Likely, the fact that all of the Nine Great Sects were situated on mountains played a large part.
The most unique was the Hainan Sect. Their martial arts imitated the sea. To borrow White Elder’s words, they were those who devoted their lives to containing waves within their swords.
When he had only heard it in words, it was difficult to understand, but seeing the martial arts of the Eastern Ocean like this, he could roughly guess what kind of feeling it was.
After watching the martial arts to his heart’s content, the thought occurred that he should slowly seek out the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean, said to be their supreme master.
However, because the Great General had personally deployed them here, breaking away from the frontlines was not easy.
Of course, Cheon Woo-jin had a plan.
– For about the next hour. Everyone, do your utmost. So that the martial artists of the Eastern Ocean can be frightened as much as possible.
Cheon Woo-jin sent a voice transmission to the Hidden Dragon Squad members.
Thereupon, Song Yi-yeon, Jin Un, and Namgung Jin were possessed as slayers, hacking down martial artists even more.
Reaching this point, the soldiers of the Central Plains had nothing particular to do. Because a contest slowly broke out among the three, saber qi and sword qi ran rampant across the battlefield.
Around the time an hour mentioned by Cheon Woo-jin had passed like that,
The Eastern Ocean warriors completely lost their will to fight and shouted something.
Seeing that everyone began swimming toward the anchored ships, a retreat order seemed to have been issued.
The Eastern Ocean warriors handled ships exceedingly well. Boarding their ships so quickly that the soldiers of the Central Plains could hardly respond, they began speeding toward the sea.
Of course, aboard that ship was a single outsider.
If they would not send him to the frontline where the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean appeared, he could simply visit the home of the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean.
– I’ll be back. I was captured as a prisoner.
At Cheon Woo-jin’s voice transmission, the Hidden Dragon Squad members wore truly dumbfounded expressions as they watched the receding ship.
Did those fleeing for their lives know? That they had taken a master of the Realm Beyond the Heavens as a prisoner.
* * *
At the same time.
The atmosphere between the Great General and Patriarch Peng had softened considerably.
Patriarch Peng had presented a golden toad under the pretext of filial respect, and the Great General had granted his request under the justification of taking care of kin.
“There will be nothing to worry about. For until the war wraps up half a month from now, that fellow will merely be rotated through insignificant frontlines the entire time.”
“Thank you, Elder. As you said, I have firmly locked the gates of the Peng Clan. Since I gave strict instructions not to open them even if the Alliance Leader visits, there will be no entering or leaving carelessly by the Inspection Hall.”
At times like this, the two worked in great harmony.
Thus, out of the shared sense of having successfully embezzled large sums of money over the past half year without any issues, it was right when they were pleasantly clinking liquor cups together.
That military officer who had previously brought the news of the Hidden Dragon Squad’s participation at the front rushed back in extreme haste.
In an instant, an uneasy look flashed across the faces of the two men.
Soon, when the Great General’s permission was granted, the military officer reported while gasping for breath:
“I-It is said that the Heartless Wanderer has vanished.”
“What!”
“According to what was heard from his friends, he was captured as a prisoner by the martial artists of the Eastern Ocean…”
Crash!
The liquor cup striking the officer’s forehead shattered completely.
Blood ran down his face and dripped onto the floor. Even so, his posture held not the slightest tremor, showing him to be truly a man of outstanding military spirit.
“Send word to Yingdong Island immediately and tell them to turn the ship around! The moment that bastard enters Yingdong Island and faces the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean, everything is finished!”
Yingdong Island was a small island located in the eastern sea. It was the Great General’s private estate and at the same time a place where the Eastern Ocean warriors resided.
Staying on Yingdong Island, whenever the Great General’s order came, they crossed over by ship and raised a ruckus.
The Great General had replenished military funds on that pretext, and in order to evade potential audits by the Eastern Depot or Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had planted a master who actually wielded the martial arts of the Eastern Ocean.
It was none other than the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean introduced by Patriarch Peng.
However, he was merely a master who used the martial arts of the Eastern Ocean well; in truth, he was a person of the Central Plains. If a master on the level of the Heartless Wanderer met him, there was a possibility he would uncover that truth.
At the Great General’s fury, the officer bowed his head:
“I will convey it at once. However, because the distance is what it is, there is also the possibility that the message will be slower than the ship…”
“If it is slow, does that mean it’s over? Does your military career end with that as well?”
“N-No, sir!”
“Run at once! No matter what happens, ensure the message arrives first!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The officer flew out as if kicked away by a foot.
However, even before the message dispatched from the manor could reach the coastline,
The situation they wished to avoid had already occurred.
* * *
“Is that the ship?”
Cheon Woo-jin spoke in his characteristically weary tone.
Around him, remnants of ships and people sprawled haphazardly, mixed in blood.
Right after disembarking from the ship, he had waited for the person called the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean.
With the thought that if he waited here, the man would arrive eventually.
Yet only strange ships kept arriving.
He attempted conversation with them, but they only spat out incomprehensible words. So he tried to ignore them, but didn’t they suddenly swing blades?
He could hardly just sit and let himself be stabbed, so he moved the Crescent Moon Staff a few times. The result of that was right now. After he killed roughly fifty people, no one dared attack him.
Because all of them had invaded from across the sea and killed quite a few commoners living on the coast, he felt no particular guilt.
Cheon Woo-jin looked at a single ship approaching.
The aura felt from there was quite different from the others.
Soon, a scrawny, hunched middle-aged man disembarked from the ship. Of course, a martial artist’s true age was difficult to discern from appearances.
“Are you the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean?”
At that calm question, the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean stared intently at Cheon Woo-jin’s face. Soon, astonishment began spreading across his face, and in the end, his eyes widened as if they would pop out.
“H-How are you here…!”
“Oh, you can speak our language. But do you know me?”
The Ghost of the Eastern Ocean could not even finish his sentence. What was contained in his face was all too evident fear.
Since this was the first time Cheon Woo-jin had seen him, it was puzzling.
At that moment, a martial artist who disembarked from the ship with the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean took a sword-drawing stance and spoke.
Of course, because it was the language of the Eastern Ocean, it was difficult to understand, but seeing that his momentum was quite fierce, he seemed to be roughly the right-hand man of the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean.
Slash!
Suddenly, his head soared into midair, scattering blood.
The Ghost of the Eastern Ocean had killed him with a single stroke.
“Who the hell does this crazy bastard think he’s talking about killing!”
Cheon Woo-jin’s eyes narrowed.
In the strike shown a moment ago, he felt an all too familiar energy.
Soon, dangling the Crescent Moon Staff, Cheon Woo-jin began approaching the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean with calm steps.
“Were you a disciple of the Dark Emperor? It is sickening.”
Just how many disciples did that bastard leave behind?
At the moment he raised the Crescent Moon Staff while having such thoughts,
“W-Wait! I have no intention of fighting you.”
The Ghost of the Eastern Ocean abruptly threw the saber in his hand onto the ground. He already knew. The fact that the Shura Demon Lord, the Lust Demon, and the Demon Physician had died by Cheon Woo-jin’s hand.
Among the disciples of the Dark Emperor, Cheon Woo-jin was already rumored to be a mad slaughterer.
Befitting the disciple of Black Elder, his skill was also astonishingly remarkable, so the prevailing opinion was that unless one was among the highest-ranking registered disciples of the Dark Emperor, one could not even face him.
Regrettably, the Ghost of the Eastern Ocean himself was not a disciple counted among the highest ranks. He was roughly on par with or slightly superior to the Shura Demon Lord, said to be the weakest among the registered disciples.
The Ghost of the Eastern Ocean spoke with a smile that was as gentle and meek, or perhaps as desperate as possible:
“I, I liked Senior Brother Black Elder. It’s true, please believe me.”