Swish
Splash
Numerous boats were running over the wide river. Several ships were loaded with people crossing the dock.
Those people had been marching continuously for the past five days, and their faces were full of fatigue which had been building up.
Their destination was the neighborhood of Hyewon-ri.
It was a grassland in the region. And it had a village nearby, so it was roughly called that.
It was also a tourist attraction of its own, with a good number of tourists visiting here because the scenery was good, and it was connected to the Qinghai Plateau due to its location.
“Everyone! Disembark! Get up!”
As soon as they arrived, the captain of the ship, Ma Ga-hwang, raised his voice. It was late in the night. Because of the dampness of the riverside, even a small voice was loud.
“Listen! This mission is a secret one! No one should know that we are here! Therefore, you will only be active at night, and we will return to the sect once we know the terrain of the area and the people who are attending this meeting!”
He cried out.
“If on the mission! If they discover or pursue us! Do your best to shake off them and if it doesn’t work, kill yourself! Our sect has never been involved in this, and during the mission, we are just shadows with no affiliation! If conditions are poor and there are some defectors, I will cut them down without another thought! Keep that in mind!”
“…”
“…”
The members who were physically and mentally exhausted from the march, got up at the voice of Ma Ga-hwang. It was because of the fact that his killing intent was slowly rising because any questioning was not going to be accepted.
“Let’s go! The mission starts now!”
Swish!
Swish!
Ma Ga-hwang jumped up, and soon everyone hid in the closeby forest. Their methods were different.
Swish
Some dug into the thick forest or dug into the tunnels, while others hid themselves in tall trees.
As ordered in advance, some cautiously went out to explore the surroundings.
The personnel were scattered, and small groups of men and people complained about the mission.
“Captain. No matter how much I think about it, I do not understand it.”
Two members of the Black Land Troops said to the captain, Il Gwol.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it is a fictional gathering of quite high ranking officials, come in person… at our level, would we be able to know their affiliation and position immediately?”
“Even the terrain survey? This is impossible. Isn’t this saying like we will be killed like dogs?”
“Hmm.”
Il Gwol, nodded his head.
The words made sense. According to the information received at the time of mission, the participants were on the elder level.
Needless to say, they were stronger than they were and their skills were amazing.
Even so, if they had to get close to a specific target, the possibility of being discovered was quite high. And if they get caught as such, it would be death.
“…But I cannot turn around. Because orders are orders. The mission is happening, so everyone needs to follow the orders.”
Il Gwol said calmly. Since he was reluctant to act, he did not blame the crew for their complaints.
“Think about it this way. It is a difficult mission and you will be rewarded accordingly. If successful, we will be bestowed with martial arts which we have never seen before.”
“No, for that we need to live…”
“Shut up! If you cannot do it, say it now! Do not say that you will die before even trying!”
At the roar of Il Gwol, his subordinates went silent. Since the person had declared that he would kill the deserters, anyone saying that it could not be done now was just asking to be killed.
And given the nature of the mission, it is obvious that there would be deaths. They had to just bet on luck and hoped they would not be one of the people killed.
Swish
Those people…?
On the other hand, the eyes of Il Gwol saw those who gathered together.
It was the Black Moon Troops. Unlike themselves, who had already dug into the ground and took cover, they were discussing serious things.
“What is this supposed to be?”
“When do we go?”
The people gathered around Seol-Hwi.
It was because of what he said before, so when they received the mission and heard the contents, their doubts changed to trust. Considering they were told deserters would be killed and how difficult the mission was… It was to the point where they could not understand why the higher ups had sent them to such a place, or what their higher ups were thinking.
“Everyone is silent. There should still be a watcher closeby.”
Seol-Hwi looked around and said,
“I will look around and come back, so wait. If someone comes, hide yourself as much as possible. If I open the way out, you will all be free. Live as dead men in Kangho.”
“Free…”
“Ah!”
Upon hearing the words, the eyes of several people trembled. They were people who used to have great dreams.
However, at some point, reality set in, and they saw that their dreams would remain just that, dreams. There was no such thing as a better future.
“What are you talking about! We are the members of the Great Sky Demon Order! We decided to place our lives on the line for the protection of the sect!”
Seol-Hwi’s words got rejected.
Demonic nature. Their loyalty to the sect was undoubtedly strong. Seeing that, Seol-Hwi smiled.
“There are still some who don’t know the situation.”
It was a situation where one could understand why the sect separates those who have bodies suitable for demonic nature and those who did not. Ones with a brain would know how important it was. Still this was such blind loyalty. And they were useful, right?
“Situation? What situation?”
“Right now, we are already surrounded.”
“What!?”
“Huk…!”
Everyone tensed up.
Between the bewildered men, glances moved here and there.
Sigh…
In particular, Jeok Myung, who was silently listening to it all, was about to bow.
“The word of the sub captain that he will cut down those who desert is a lie. We have crossed the boundaries. After crossing it, we cannot get out of here anymore.”
“What… are you saying that they opened up the encirclement?”
Nod
Seol-Hwi nodded at the words of someone.
“How can we believe that!? Are you saying that superiors just sent us to have us killed!? Why, how does that benefit them!?”
Jeok Myung responded.
Shhh
Goosebumps rose on his body. The instinctive touch which came from rolling on the ground to survive was saying Seol-Hwi was right.
But it made no sense. Even though their status was low, it was a fact that they were beneficial to the sect, and the more people they had to use, the stronger they would be.
Unlike the body, the head failed to understand.
“Sacrifice.”
“…?”
Seol-Hwi said and Jeok Myung titled his head.
“We are the sacrifices of the Supreme Pavilion Lord to the Justice Faction. They made a deal to give us up and get something else in return.”
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
Silence prevailed. Everyone’s eyes widened as they processed what they just heard.
“As if that…”
“Why…”
Not everyone seemed to be able to accept this situation easily. It was a fact that they had devoted their lives for the sake of the sect. However, they were not rewarded for their efforts.
To die for someone else’s benefit.
“Can you prove it?”
It was unfair. Jeok Myung asked Seol-Hwi.
There was a strange anxiety he felt. The man who led himself out of troubles felt a bit sympathetic to Seol-Hwi’s opinion.
His strong voice came,
“Follow me if you are curious.”
“Will you show it directly to us?”
At those words, Jeok Myung looked around.
“I will come too.”
“Me too…”
When the guys gathered, Seol-Hwi nodded and looked ahead.
Shhh. Shh…
Seol-Hwi moved deep into the forest. He walked silently, stopping at intervals and raised his hand with clenched fist.
Clench
Each time, the crew members who quietly followed behind held their breath, and the bodies moved to a bending state.
There was tension and fear. Among them, the members’ suspicion began to come to a peak.
“Captain. Couldn’t he just be lying?”
“That sounds so absurd. I wasn’t in it before, but now it seems like it.”
“You would believe that jerk? Maybe he is trying to throw us to the enemies. Is it alright to follow him like this?”
The frustration of wanting to deny reality fueled them. Even as their bodies followed Seol-Hwi, they were anxious about falling into another trap. Of course Seol-Hwi did not pay much attention to that. His eyes focused on what was ahead.
This.
It was such a strange feeling.
It reminded him of what happened in front of the wooden house in the past.
Here. It has to be here.
He broke into a bitter smile.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Well…”
Seol-Hwi stopped in front of the wooden house. Of course, Jeok Myung and his men knew nothing.
Shhh
And soon after seeing Seol-Hwi enter the wooden house, Jeok Myung led his subordinates in.
“Let’s head in. Fucking shit. Is there anything other than death waiting for us?”
Shhh
All the rooms they went into were empty with no trace of human life. It seemed like a house that had been abandoned for a long time. Strangely though, it was clean with no dust—
As if people were stopping by here regularly.
“What is this place?”
Jeok Myung asked, but Seol-Hwi did not answer back. The choices which he had predicted to appear had come.
<An enemy has appeared. Which option would you like to choose?>
A familiar phrase. It was similar to what came in the past.
But what was different was that he knew where it was coming from.
Not Goo Jong-myung…
He felt it, and a form approached his position. A warrior, master. But it was not to the point that he felt scared.
‘The System seems to like such abrupt things.’
He had experienced similar things in other times too, and he wondered if this was intentional.
<An enemy has appeared. Which option would you like to choose?> ▶It isn’t much. Let’s put up a fight. ▷Let us talk first, speak. ▷It is an opponent we cannot beat. Run away with full strength.
These were the choices which followed.
“Phew…”
The feeling was new. Before he would be so shocked and confused, but now it was different. There was no fear or anxiety, just confidence.
<You selected ‘Let us talk first, speak.’>
“Uhm, come inside. Even though it’s dark, let us meet face to face.”
It was a statement which felt cringe. But the response came.
Kiiik
A man opened the door and entered. He had a sword at his waist and a grin on his face.
“This now, seems like an interesting thing.”
After checking his face, Seol-Hwi recalled the name of the other person.
Lee Gu-myung. The disciple of Goo Jong-myung, elder of Mount Hua.
The one he met before.
