Away from the Third Young Master’s camp.
On the main road towards Luoyang city.
It felt like walking through a stream rather than a road.
Torrential rain and darkness.
The retreating Diancang Sect members could barely see a foot in front of them.
They could only maintain their direction thanks to the distant, glittering lights of Luoyang city piercing through the rain.
“Sect Leader! Another pack horse has broken its ankle!”
“A cart is stuck in the mud, its axle broken!”
These words seemed to blame him for ordering the retreat in this midnight downpour.
“Divide and carry only the essential luggage, don’t slow down!”
The former sect leader of Diancang shouted, and the supply officer replied:
“Even so, there’s too much luggage! The workers trudging through this mud won’t be able to endure-!”
“Then the warriors can carry it together!”
The old man’s shout, filled with internal energy, pierced through the rain.
“Do you not have hands?! Or are you missing arms?!”
At this fierce tone, bordering on killing intent, everyone shut their mouths and began dividing and carrying the luggage without complaint.
“…….”
Though he saw clear dissatisfaction on the warriors’ faces, the former sect leader of Diancang turned away, pretending not to notice.
‘Damn it…’
It’s not like he wanted to do this in this downpour, in the dead of night.
‘None of them really know. What kind of devil that Yeon So-hyeon is, what he’s capable of…’
Surely, that night too had been pouring rain like this.
The difference was…
‘…It was summer then.’
The Family Head of the Luoyang Sword House.
The one called the Master of Swords had secretly summoned him.
“Diancang’s integration into the Sword House is almost complete. But it seems you’re still not fully accepted?”
“Well… isn’t that how it usually is for a stone that’s rolled in from outside?”
“That’s why I’ve called you. I want to give you and Diancang an opportunity.”
The subjugation of Jiangnan had been successful, but that place was originally a hotbed of incidents and accidents.
“It seems I’ll have to personally handle the aftermath of this recent incident. How about if Diancang joins me and earns some merit?”
If they could achieve merit alongside the Family Head, it would undoubtedly help the existing forces of the Sword House to recognize and accept Diancang.
“…I’m sorry, but I think Diancang’s warriors are still not ready to stand on the battlefield.”
“Is that so? Then it can’t be helped.”
The Family Head earnestly implored him.
“No one must know that I’ll be away again.”
“Of course.”
But he refused.
Because…
On a rainy summer night.
In a certain mansion within the Luoyang Sword House.
“How can this massive family function properly when the Family Head, who holds all the power in one hand, leaves his post whenever he feels like it?!”
The sect leader of Zhongnan, who had become a branch faction of the Sword House much earlier than Diancang, shouted loudly.
“The future of this family is bright, but decision-making is unbearably slow! It’s a problem that the Family Head, who holds all decision-making power, is absent so often at such a crucial time when we should be gaining momentum for growth!”
The Zhongnan sect leader boasted as if he had achieved all this himself.
“That… Sect Leader. Your words are right, but your voice is too loud.”
He advised, sweating nervously, to lower his voice, but.
“In this family without the Family Head, who can silence the sect leader of the great Zhongnan Sect?!”
The Zhongnan sect leader, despite his loud voice, seemed somewhat afraid and lowered his voice to ask him.
“Well. You should make your decision soon too, right?”
“What do you mean?”
He feigned ignorance unnecessarily.
“Oh come now, the ‘grand plan.’ The grand plan to elevate this Luoyang Sword House to an even higher level.”
Grand plan, he says.
It’s a nice way of putting it, but it was nothing short of rebellion.
“…No matter what, plotting behind the Family Head’s back while he’s absent is…”
“Oh please. When doing great things, is there really a front or back?”
“That may be, but…”
He had already decided in his heart to join them.
He was just trying to buy more time and raise his price.
‘If it wasn’t for that, I would have joined the Family Head’s secret expedition long ago.’
Informing the Family Head about their plot was out of the question.
Even though the Family Head’s absence was supposed to be a big secret, the fact that the top echelons already seemed to know everything…
He was well aware that there were no true secrets in the movements of this massive family.
‘…If I’m branded as an informer, that’s really the end for me.’
“Haha. I can guess what you’re thinking.”
“…Pardon?”
The Zhongnan sect leader gave him a meaningful smile.
“You want a guarantee of a proper position after the grand plan, right? So I’ve persuaded my comrades…”
‘Good…!’
He had now extracted everything he could.
If he played hard to get any further after being offered this much, he might be eliminated.
“Since you’ve considered me to this extent, I have no choice.”
“Are you joining us?”
As he licked his parched lips and was about to utter words of acceptance.
At that moment.
“Arrest all the traitors!” The Family Head’s personal guards and the security department.
The Agency burst in.
“Execute on the spot anyone who resists!”
“Sect Leader! We’re almost at Luoyang city!”
The former sect leader of Diancang snapped back to reality at his subordinate’s shout.
“Good! Keep moving forward!”
He urged on his exhausted subordinates.
But.
Still.
The memory of being dragged through the mud in chains on that rainy night.
Was all too vivid.
The Great Purge.
He had been there when the bloody history of midsummer began.
“Report from the scout team!”
A subordinate ran up and shouted.
“Large-scale forces approaching from the direction of Luoyang city ahead!”
The back of his neck tingled.
“Identified as Luoyang Sword House. Forces from the main family!”
The scars still on his back from that day throbbed unusually.
***
Inside the encirclement.
Fortified area of poor laborers.
There were warriors lying prone like corpses on the rooftop amidst the pouring rain.
It was the reconnaissance team of the decapitation unit.
[Current position confirmed.]
[No enemy movements detected.]
Those wearing matte-finished raincoats carefully crawled back.
[You say there’s no one…?]
The sect leader of Xingshan Northern Stream, who had created the temporary decapitation unit, wore a disgruntled expression.
[Yes. We’ve confirmed multiple times.]
[…Are you sure we haven’t mistaken our position?]
The black camouflage on the face of the Xingshan Northern Stream sect leader looked particularly awkward.
[No, we haven’t.]
The temporary reconnaissance team leader took out a waterproof map and pointed to a spot.
[This is our current position.]
There was no proper light, but even the tiny night pearl was enough for those with extraordinary internal energy to read the map.
[…Then, we’ve already completely entered enemy territory as planned.]
Yet so far.
There hadn’t been a single engagement.
Nor had they been spotted.
[Moreover, we’ve confirmed that the nearby major defensive points we had previously identified are also empty.]
[Those defensive points, aren’t they the buildings where the enemy had set explosives for self-destruction?]
[Yes, the fortified buildings. But upon checking, it seems all the explosives have disappeared as well.]
[The explosives are gone?]
[Yes. They’re not there.]
“…….”
The deliberation was brief.
[We move instead of wasting time thinking. Staying still until everything is understood in enemy territory is the worst strategy.]
[You’re right, but…]
[Is it possible that after our side’s recent surprise attack, the enemy abandoned the outskirts and gathered further inside?]
Though his practical sense had rusted considerably, the experience he had accumulated hadn’t disappeared.
[…That possibility seems the most realistic.]
These enemies had nearly allowed a surprise attack in this downpour.
There was a good chance they had temporarily abandoned the outer areas to tighten their defenses.
[So, we leave the operation teams behind and continue to advance deeper.]
At the sect leader’s sound transmission, the warrior in charge of the operation teams stepped forward.
[What are the operation teams’ tasks…?]
[You said the explosives the enemy had set are gone, right?]
The sect leader’s lips twisted into something like a smile.
[Then we set and detonate explosives to secure justification. Blow up four or five buildings.]
Because his face was painted black, only his white teeth reflected in the light of the small night pearl were visible in the darkness.
[With that, we’ll have the justification to slaughter any enemy we see, without exception.]
***
A little later.
One of the operation teams had taken position at a defensive point where no enemy could be seen.
[…To think we’d end up blowing up the buildings they were trying so hard to protect with our own hands.]
At the words of the one setting the explosives, the warrior acting as his assistant shrugged.
[You get to use the skills you learned in real combat. That’s why I find it rather fun.]
The warrior on guard duty chimed in with a grin.
[To think we can kill them to our heart’s content with just this. It’s most welcome.]
[This is the end of being looked down upon for coming from small and medium sects, that’s what I’m saying.]
[If only they had centered the operations around us instead of just government troops from the beginning…]
[If we cut off about ten of their heads and hang them from our waists, we might get a medal or two.]
[I’ll go for fifteen.]
[Then I’ll aim for twenty.]
They were in high spirits as if they had already completed their task.
But there was one who didn’t join in this conversation.
“…….”
The young warrior from Xingshan Northern Stream was only focused on his assigned task, looking down at the building below.
[What’s with that guy being so serious? He’s not trying to throw his weight around just because he’s a temporary team leader, is he?]
The warriors whispered behind his back using sound transmission.
[Who knows. They say he’s a warrior from Xingshan, maybe he thinks he’s already made it big.]
[Is he refusing to even mix sound transmissions with the likes of us from small and medium sects?]
The young Xingshan warrior could overhear all the sound transmissions of these individuals who were inferior to him.
“…….”
In the past, he would have beaten these ignorant fools to a pulp.
‘Is this a righteous fight…?’
The story that there weren’t just enemies and allies.
The image of the dead young government soldier and the young enemy soldier looking up at him from the field bed.
‘…Is this really okay?’
Dark shadows fell across his face, unkempt with an unshaven beard.
[So do we detonate it right away?]
[You idiot. Didn’t you hear we’re supposed to detonate it when the main force finishes the operation and withdraws?!]
Everyone scolded the one who hadn’t properly understood the operation.
[Think a bit. If we detonate it now, won’t the enemy swarm like bees?]
[Wait, then doesn’t that mean we have no justification…?]
[Oh for…!]
The warrior on guard duty outside clutched his chest in frustration.
[What does it matter if we detonate it later? Whether it’s now or later! The report will be all made up anyway!]
[Sigh. If you’re lacking in brains, at least don’t doze off during the instruction briefing. Don’t you dare call yourself my comrade anywhere.]
“…….”
Silence fell for a moment.
Perhaps the rebuke to his comrade was too harsh in front of everyone else’s sound transmission.
Feeling unnecessarily sorry, the warrior sent out a sound transmission.
[Hey. Are you sulking?]
There was no reply.
[Hey. I was a bit harsh. I’ll give you a few of the heads I cut off later.]
Still no answer.
[Hey! I said I’m sorry-]
The sound transmission cut off.
“……?”
The young warrior from Xingshan Northern Stream sensed something was off and gripped the handle of his sword.
[Team leader to team members. Everyone report your current status.]
He waited for a moment, but no reports came back.
‘They were just gossiping about the temporary team leader from Xingshan, are they playing some prank…?’
It might be understandable in normal times, but to play pranks on a direct superior in the middle of enemy territory during an actual operation?
That’s worthy of immediate execution.
No matter how rotten they are, they’re still warriors of the Sword House.
They can’t be that mindless.
‘Something’s happening…!’
He left his assigned observation point on the rooftop and headed down the stairs.
Creeak-.
The sound of the wooden stairs he stepped on was drowned out by the rain.
Moreover, using his lightness skill (輕身), his footsteps were bound to be even quieter.
Creeak-.
But why was the small vibration and noise transmitted through his toes so grating?
Reaching the door of the space where the explosives were being set, he carefully sent his energy inside.
‘There’s no sign of life inside…!’
Should he immediately withdraw and report to another team or the main force?
‘…Am I supposed to go report without knowing where the main force is right now?’
There was no choice.
He tucked the sword he had already drawn against his side and carefully opened the door.
Plop, plop plop, plop plop plop.
Through the slightly opened gap, he heard the sound of something like water dripping repeatedly from inside.
Was it rain leaking in because the building wasn’t completely finished?
“…….”
The water flowing from his soaked hands probably contained more sweat than rainwater.
The door he was opening as carefully as possible hit something with a small thud.
“……!”
He tried to stop his hand that was hurriedly opening the door, but whatever had hit the door rolled, causing the door to open naturally.
“Huk…!”
His gaze met eyes showing only the whites, and he swallowed hard.
What had hit the opening door was clearly the severed head of a team member who had been setting explosives.
Blood flowing from that severed head was thickly soaking the floor.
He had made eye contact with that head.
“So the last defendant in this building has arrived.”
Goosebumps ran all over his body.
Shivering all over from a chill unbelievable for April, he directed his gaze straight ahead.
“I ask you.”
It was a voice like boiling iron overflowing, like tens of thousands of vengeful spirits crying out simultaneously.
“Are you guilty, or are you innocent?”
A dark figure sitting atop a pile of explosives was wearing a twisted smile beneath a white mask.
“For reference, these were all guilty.”
In the direction he pointed with his long fingernail, the bodies of the team members with their necks cut were hanging and swaying from the ceiling.
Plop, plop plop.
Plop. Plop.
The sound he had thought was rainwater leaking was the sound of blood drops falling from those bodies hitting the floor.
“Ugh, uwaaaaah-!”