Into the Fragrance of the Sword (2)
Jong Cheon-Rak was originally a person who valued principles. An answer flowed out that suited someone who was sometimes called inflexible.
“I apologize, but I cannot tell you.”
“Is it that you cannot trust me?”
“I trust you. But you know, do you not? That the crime of leaking a top-secret operation is a grave offense.”
“There is a clause saying it may be revealed in an emergency situation.”
Gal Sa-Ryang knew the Alliance rules better than anyone. But even at those words, Jong Cheon-Rak remained unmoving.
“I apologize, but it is impossible.”
Gal Sa-Ryang did not force him further.
“If that is your will, Unit Leader, then I understand. Instead, it would be best to depart immediately. I also recommend changing the original route.”
“Good. Let us do that.”
Jong Cheon-Rak walked over to the martial artists and spoke in a loud voice.
“Who was the one who shouted to alert us of the enemy’s appearance earlier?”
I stepped forward.
“It was me.”
Jong Cheon-Rak was startled. Naturally, he had thought it was one of those who had been standing watch and was about to commend him.
“How did you know?”
“I woke at dawn because I was thirsty. As I was about to stand to drink water, I saw something moving far away. I was lucky.”
Jong Cheon-Rak approached with a pleased face and patted my shoulder.
“If not for you, we might have suffered a great disaster. Thank you.”
“Not at all. I merely did what I naturally had to do.”
Jong Cheon-Rak looked at his subordinates and said,
“Now, we depart immediately.”
The martial artists of the Heavenly Palace Unit hurried to prepare for departure. In particular, the martial artists who had drunk with me on the first night sent me grateful looks. Because they had abundant practical experience, all of them knew how important my warning had been.
Gal Sa-Ryang asked me,
“Did you truly notice it by coincidence?”
“If not, how could I have known?”
The reason he asked this question was probably because of the one move I had shown during the interview.
I judged that there was no need to deliberately leave suspicion with him.
So I spoke quietly so only he could hear.
“My Martial Arts are superior to theirs. If something happens, please trust me.”
After gazing at me for a moment, Gal Sa-Ryang turned around.
“Let us go.”
“Yes.”
We once again set out toward Chongqing.
I could not know the contents of this top-secret operation, but I could guess one thing. This operation was a trap meant to kill all of us.
The atmosphere of the Alliance Lord Hall was cold.
Ma Bong-Gi, seated in the grand chair, was looking down at Zuo Tie-Long, the leader of the Bright Moon Unit, with displeased eyes.
Zuo Tie-Long wore the same indifferent expression as usual.
“I did everything exactly as you people wanted. And yet you still will not let me meet the one behind you?”
Even two years after becoming Alliance Lord, Ma Bong-Gi still had not met the one behind them. They had conveyed their will only through Zuo Tie-Long.
‘He truly is an incredibly cautious bastard.’
If one had put someone forward as a puppet, was it not human nature to want to display one’s power in front of that person?
But that bastard had put Zuo Tie-Long forward and was hiding away completely.
‘What in the world are you plotting from behind the scenes?’
He had secretly investigated Zuo Tie-Long as well. But he had uncovered nothing. He did not know why Zuo Tie-Long had sided with them, nor even how he communicated with them.
‘Could that bastard perhaps be the one behind everything?’
Truly, he thought this every time he saw Zuo Tie-Long.
But Zuo Tie-Long was not the one behind it. He was not a person who could hold meaning beyond being the leader of the Bright Moon Unit. Although he was called a lecherous maniac who was crazy for women, Ma Bong-Gi was at least confident in his eye for people.
“Did I not send out the Heavenly Palace Unit leader as you people wished?”
“Was that not because signs of the Blood Sky Cult’s revival were detected?”
The corner of Ma Bong-Gi’s mouth rose coldly.
“Do you people truly take me for a fool?”
“What do you mean?”
“I am asking whether you think I will believe in the revival of the Demonic Cult.”
“Were believable signs not detected?”
“That is!”
He stopped himself before saying, “That is something you people fabricated.” There was no point wasting his breath on this opponent anyway.
Zuo Tie-Long said calmly,
“And this matter is for your sake, Alliance Lord.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Heavenly Palace Unit leader is a figure at the center of the anti-Alliance Lord faction.”
Zuo Tie-Long said no more. In his silence was the meaning that it would be good for Ma Bong-Gi if he were removed. But as always, he merely implied and did not say it openly.
“He is a person of tremendous ability, so he will return safely.”
At Zuo Tie-Long’s words, which were instead tinged with concern, Ma Bong-Gi was dumbfounded. To think he could calmly say such a thing after driving him into a mission of death.
Judging only by what was visible, Zuo Tie-Long was extremely normal. Rather, Ma Bong-Gi would end up being treated as an old Alliance Lord lost in conspiracy theories.
“Then I will take my leave now.”
Zuo Tie-Long left the Alliance Lord Hall. Watching his back, Ma Bong-Gi gripped the grand chair.
Crack.
He must have heard the sound of the grand chair breaking, but Zuo Tie-Long walked out pretending not to hear it.
A moment later, Sima Tian entered that place. Looking at the broken grand chair, he pretended not to know and said,
“Has something displeased you?”
“No. What is it?”
Sima Tian’s face suddenly changed into an urgent one as he quickly spoke.
“A missive has arrived from the Heavenly Palace Unit that went out on the mission. It is a report that they were ambushed, but fortunately, no one was injured.”
As if Ma Bong-Gi did not even want to mention that matter, he merely nodded.
“And they informed us that they would continue carrying out the mission.”
“Unit Leader Jong will handle it well on his own.”
“Yes. He is someone who can be trusted.”
Watching Ma Bong-Gi’s mood, Sima Tian hinted casually,
“You look tired. Why not rest a bit? It seems some decent girls have newly arrived.”
“Shall I?”
Ma Bong-Gi rose from his seat. Sima Tian guided him.
Together, they went down to the underground secret chamber.
A drinking table had been set, and newly arrived women acted coquettishly and nestled into the Alliance Lord’s arms. Wherever they had been found, they were even more beautiful than the women before.
Ma Bong-Gi’s face brightened as if it had never been dark.
Sima Tian humored Ma Bong-Gi’s mood, laughing loudly, and seated beside himself the woman left after Ma Bong-Gi had chosen.
He had long ago sensed that someone existed behind Ma Bong-Gi. But he was deliberately pretending not to know about that existence.
Because if it was a force behind the scenes capable of making Ma Bong-Gi the Alliance Lord, then it was certainly an extremely dangerous existence.
A corrupt Chief Strategist who clung to Ma Bong-Gi and merely supplied women.
Although he might look like trash, his lifeline would be tenacious. The one who survives longest is the victor. He was upholding that life principle.
In any case, this matter of the Demonic Cult’s revival was undoubtedly the work of the person behind the Alliance Lord.
When this order came down from above, and when it even came down saying to send the Heavenly Palace Unit leader personally, he instinctively felt that this mission was a mission of death.
There was a separate reason he had sent Gal Sa-Ryang along despite knowing that. Recently, through Gal Sa-Ryang, he had taken one hundred thousand taels in bribes.
Was that not enough? Not at all. He had now sufficiently learned the trick of using the Justice Pavilion to investigate the other party and wring out money. There was no longer any need to share with Gal Sa-Ryang.
Also, there was no need to keep alive someone who knew his weakness, and the amusement of tormenting him had also disappeared. So he reached a conclusion. He would get rid of Gal Sa-Ryang this time too.
‘Since you must go at least once anyway, go gloriously.’
At that moment, Ma Bong-Gi, who had his face buried in a woman’s chest, said to Sima Tian,
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
Sima Tian emptied his cup in one gulp and embraced the woman.
“Nothing! Since we live only once anyway, we should enjoy it to the fullest!”
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The second ambush was carried out three days later.
This time, it was not an ambush aimed at the dawn hours. As if taking revenge for last time, they launched a frontal attack. But this attack was even more thoroughly prepared than the ambush.
First, they attacked from a place surrounded by trees that could avoid arrows.
The decisive problem was not that. The man at the very front charged while carrying a large iron shield.
The man with the shield stood at the head, and behind him, five martial artists ran in a single line. Their number reached a full one hundred.
Arrows poured toward the enemies.
Shoong, shoong, shoong, shoong, shoong, shoong, shoong, shoong!
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
The arrows failed to pierce the shields and bounced off.
The internal energy of the martial artists carrying shields was not ordinary. Moreover, because they charged while weaving among the trees, it was not easy to stop them.
They closed the distance in an instant.
Shoooooong!
Bang!
The arrow Jong Cheon-Rak shot was different from ordinary arrows. The instant the arrow imbued with internal energy struck the shield, the man carrying the shield had his arm broken and was thrown backward.
But the shield was not pierced, and another man following behind picked up the shield and ran.
Shoooooong! Bang! Shoooooong! Baaang!
Jong Cheon-Rak shot arrows imbued with internal energy one after another, but the enemies were too numerous.
I drew my sword and ran out. If things were left as they were, it was clear that once close-quarters combat broke out, the damage to the martial artists of the Heavenly Palace Unit would be too great.
“Please support me.”
“You cannot!”
Yang-Ho shouted as he tried to stop me, but I was already charging toward a martial artist carrying a shield.
Shoong!
Slice!
As I slid in, I cut the ankle of the man carrying the shield. At the instant the man pitched forward, I flung my body to the side and shouted,
“Now!”
Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping!
Arrows poured down on the men behind the shield who were trying to attack me. They had enough skill to knock away incoming arrows, but that was when the arrows were ordinary. When the powerful and precise attacks shot by the elites of the Heavenly Palace Unit concentrated on them, they could not block them.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
The martial artists behind him collapsed like porcupines.
Without watching the result, I was already rushing toward the second shield.
This time too, my target was the martial artist carrying the shield. When the shield man collapsed, a rain of arrows poured down again.
Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping!
As if sliding, I avoided a sword and once again cut the legs of a martial artist carrying a shield.
The third shield seemed to have seen how his comrades had been defeated earlier. He protected his legs while bringing the shield down to crush me.
But I was not aiming for his legs. Kicking off the ground, I leaped and crossed over the shield. I spun forward in the air and swung my sword.
Swish.
Paak!
The man’s head was cut off, and he collapsed.
This time, because I immediately crossed over the shield, I became entangled with the martial artists behind it.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
The next moment, arrows flew in, grazing past me. The accurately flying arrows attacked the men behind. Of the five men, two collapsed.
The martial artists of the Heavenly Palace Unit in charge of sniping had begun shooting arrows accurately.
I charged toward an enemy who had knocked an arrow away. I trusted the skill of the martial artists of the Heavenly Palace Unit. At least, they would not hit me.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
His attacks were sharp and fierce, but they were no match for me as I displayed the skill of having mastered the White Moon Sword Art.
Slice!
In five moves, I cut him down.
The next instant, a sound came from the side.
Ping. Thud!
An arrow lodged in the neck of another man who had been charging in to cut me.
Ping, ping, ping, ping!
He collapsed like a porcupine under the arrows that flew in afterward. The arrows hit every shot. Elites from among the Heavenly Palace Unit had come out, and among them, the archery of the martial artists in charge of sniping was truly fantastic.
The bastards were already retreating far away.
By then, the attack from the front had already been blocked as well. No matter how much they had used shields and terrain, they could not break through Jong Cheon-Rak with an attack from only one side.
Hearing about my performance, Jong Cheon-Rak wore a startled expression.
“Your Martial Arts skill is considerable.”
“As you saw, I personally killed only one enemy. Everyone here accomplished the rest.”
When I turned the credit toward the martial artists who had supported me, they smiled pleasantly.
“I thought I only needed to remove the shields. Fortunately, the movements of those carrying shields were restricted, so I was able to remove them easily.”
“It is not easy to think of running out in an urgent moment and removing the shield bearers.”
As he said that, Jong Cheon-Rak looked at Gal Sa-Ryang. It seemed he thought Gal Sa-Ryang had told me. I said nothing. It was more natural if he thought that instead.
The martial artists of the Heavenly Palace Unit examined the corpses. Like those who had attacked earlier, no clues could be found.
In the middle of that, Yang-Ho looked at me and said,
“You saved us again.”
There was a certain trust in the expression he directed toward me.
“I was lucky.”
“When luck overlaps, we call that luck skill. In any case, thank you.”
The other martial artists had similar expressions. Perhaps they regarded me not as a strategist, but as a special martial artist sent from the Justice Pavilion to protect Gal Sa-Ryang.
Because Gal Sa-Ryang had been the former Chief Strategist, regardless of the recent rumors, it would not be strange for an expert to protect him.
I approached Gal Sa-Ryang and asked,
“Are you all right?”
“I am fine.”
What mattered was Gal Sa-Ryang’s heart. From our first meeting until now, I had been working to gain his trust.
“What kind of mission is this, that they are trying so desperately to stop us?”
Gal Sa-Ryang shook his head and said,
“I cannot know. One thing is certain: we have fallen into great danger.”
We had to turn back even now. But Jong Cheon-Rak showed no thought of giving up. What kind of order in the world had been given, for him to take this much risk?
As Gal Sa-Ryang walked toward the carriage, he looked back at me and said,
“I wonder what would have happened if I had not selected you.”
It was Gal Sa-Ryang’s way of saying thank you.
Several days later, we entered Chongqing, and we arrived only half a day’s distance from our destination, the Sword Fragrance Forest.
Fortunately, there had been no other attack on the way here.
But no one felt reassured. Rather, everyone was tense, as if an even stronger attack were waiting.
Gal Sa-Ryang took me with him and walked toward Jong Cheon-Rak. Now it was time to hear about this mission.
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