Book 5: Chapter 24 |
Inside the carriage.
A sigh escaped from Cheongsu, who was peeking out the window.
“Ah. In the end, their level could only draw out the ‘Sword Peak’ of the Breaking the Mountain of Swords and Peaks. What a pity. I wanted to see the ‘Breaking the Mountain’ I had only heard about….”
“Excuse me….”
Hearing the voice from behind, Cheongsu covered the window again and sat down.
“Please speak.”
Cheongsu’s carefree demeanor seemed to greatly help the Daseollang ladies regain their composure.
Sanggwan Nanhwa asked her.
“Did you say the young master of the Sword House sent you?”
Sanggwan Nanhwa’s words sped up a bit.
“Did the young master happen to mention anything about our situation? Any prior notice?”
Cheongsu tilted her head.
“Well, he did mention there might be an attack….”
Sanggwan Nanhwa interrupted.
Her tone grew more urgent and faster.
“It’s not about the attack. Right now, our Daseollang….”
But her words didn’t reach their end.
“….”
It was because Cheongsu had grasped her sword and held up a finger.
“Excuse me….”
When nothing happened even as they stayed still, Sanggwan Nanhwa tried to speak again.
At that moment, the carriage door swung open.
And simultaneously, a sword shot out from Cheongsu’s sheath as if fired.
It was a beautiful sword draw, inexplicably possible in the narrow carriage.
It was a mechanical-style variation of the sword-drawing technique from the Sword House’s common swordsmanship, Sword Heart Sword Sound.
“…!”
“…!”
The one who had opened the door to peek inside was startled.
But surprisingly, Cheongsu was equally surprised.
It was partly because the other party was wearing the nun’s robes of the Emei Sect.
But more than that, it was because the other party had succeeded in blocking her sword-drawing technique with the sword they were holding.
‘I had held back my strength at the end because I had no intention of killing….’
As expected, even when rotten, the Emei Sect was still the Emei Sect.
While Cheongsu was smiling with intrigue, the other party was gritting their teeth.
“…Eek!”
No matter how much internal energy they drew upon, they couldn’t push back or deflect Cheongsu’s sword.
What saved them was the urgent outcry of the Daseollang ladies.
“Wait a moment! This person is our teacher!”
“Teacher!”
At those words, Cheongsu tilted her head and retracted her sword.
“…Teacher?”
It was a swift and precise sheathing, just like her sword draw.
“Girls! Are you alright? Is anyone hurt?”
The one checking on the children’s well-being with worried eyes was a young nun with short-cropped hair, rather than Cheongsu.
“Yes! Teacher! We are all safe!”
“Thank goodness you are also unharmed, Teacher!”
Sanggwan Nanhwa said to Cheongsu.
“She is our self-defense teacher at the academy.”
“Ah…, is that so.”
Not a master but a teacher, huh.
Cheongsu, unfamiliar with the academy system, gave a vague response while observing the other party with her eyes.
‘Unlike other young Emei Sect nuns, she’s experienced in battle. I smell blood.’
Despite being quite a beauty, she was a nun who could only be described as unique for the Emei Sect, with no adornments at all.
Faint scars were visible on her exposed skin.
“Thank goodness, thank goodness…. I was worried about you all….”
After briefly embracing the Daseollang ladies, she looked at Cheongsu.
“Who is this person…?”
“Ah, I am from the Sword House….”
Cheongsu’s words couldn’t continue.
“You there!”
At the sharp voice, the Daseollang ladies shrank back.
The nun who was their self-defense teacher also made an unpleasant expression and stepped away from the Daseollang ladies.
The one who approached with a fierce expression was a supervising nun holding a sword.
“Do you not realize the battle hasn’t ended yet?! What on earth are you all doing, losing your minds?!”
The answer came from the roof of the carriage.
“Well, you don’t need to worry about that.”
“Who are you…?”
It was Cheongsu, who had climbed onto the carriage at some point and was surveying the surroundings.
She gazed towards the distant reeds and continued.
“It’s practically over anyway.”
***
The elite forces had been completely crushed by Elder Yeom.
Even in their drugged state, the Qingye members instinctively split apart to avoid him, overwhelmed by his might.
However, awaiting them were the warriors of the War Advisory Group, pre-positioned by the veteran military officer.
Spread out to the left and right, forming wings, they began attacking the dispersing members.
It was a one-sided massacre.
“Uwahhh!”
Occasionally, a member would miraculously succeed in an attack, but it only left a mark on the War Advisory Group’s armor.
Even the remaining martial artists among the members collapsed in the reeds without holding out for more than a few exchanges.
The remaining dozens of members formed a circular formation, entrusting their backs to each other, and desperately resisted.
“Maintain the formation!”
“Hold on, you bastards! Hold on!”
They glared with venom in their eyes, swinging their weapons forward.
The warriors under Elder Yeom simply watched them with composed expressions.
One would expect some to get hot-headed in the midst of battle, but those tempered in hundreds of battles in the northern lands never unnecessarily grew agitated.
Or perhaps this level of battle was not enough to stir their excitement.
“Damn it, charge at us! You sons of bitches!”
“I’ll bury you all, come at me!”
The warriors gave no response.
Some even let out cold sneers.
The warriors deflected the opponents’ wildly swung weapons as if encouraging them, or struck a blow through any openings that appeared.
Gradually, the shouts of the members reeked of alcohol, their lips dried, and strength drained from their bodies.
Their venom was rapidly evaporating along with their stamina.
The veteran military officer, who had been observing their condition with a sharp gaze, waved his hand widely.
“…Now!”
The moment the warriors and members clashed between the two wings, Elder Yeom, who had been quietly watching from a distance, turned around.
“It’s over.”
As he said.
The twenty armored cavalry units of the Sword House that had charged from behind the Qingye members trampled them.
With a horrible sound of tearing flesh, arms and legs scattered in the air, and heads rolled far away.
The armored cavalry passed through between the two wings.
No one was standing there.
***
Surprisingly, the leader of Qingye was still very much alive.
“Huff… huff….”
Whether the Breaking the Mountain of Swords and Peaks intervened or not, he had known from the start that there was no chance of winning against the regular forces of the Luoyang Sword House.
‘I wonder if that deputy leader bought some time….’
Immediately after sending his members to charge, he had been escaping the battleground through a pre-scouted escape route.
“Huff… huff….”
Using lightness skill to run in this situation was something only amateurs would do.
If he had used lightness skill, he would have been turned into a beehive by the repeating crossbows of the Scarlet Silk Road Guerrilla Unit by now or eventually caught up by the cavalry.
Instead.
As the most skilled assassin in the assassination group Qingye, he was slowly and quietly crawling through the lush and wide reeds.
‘No need to feel regret. As long as I survive, I can rebuild the organization any number of times.’
The Snake Movement Skill, said to be modeled after the movement of a snake, might have looked ridiculous.
But to him, the Snake Movement Skill was a divine skill that had saved his life numerous times in life-or-death situations.
‘Good. If I can just get a little further away like this…!’
As he was muttering to himself, a woman’s voice was heard right next to him.
“Oh my~ Waiting in a place like this, another snake passes by.”
“…?!”
The energy sensation he had been spreading in all directions still didn’t detect any presence around him.
“Who…?! Arghh?!”
He swore that until now, in his entire life of being raised as an assassin and living as one, he had never let out such an undignified scream.
But no one could help it.
Slender, long fingers dug into his spine and grabbed his vertebrae.
“Urgh?! Ugh?!”
It was a pain that completely squeezed his nerves.
Except for screaming, he couldn’t control his body at all, not knowing what was going on.
‘At this rate, I’ll be captured alive…!’
He could barely move his jaw.
That too was thanks to the secret method of body control he had trained for a long time as an assassin.
“Oh my, oh my. No, no, you can’t.”
As if clearly knowing what he was trying to do, the woman’s other hand covered his face.
The woman’s fingers, wedged between his cheeks like tofu, prevented him from moving his jaw.
The suicide pill placed between his teeth became useless like that, but the woman didn’t seem satisfied with just that.
As the woman delicately moved her fingers embedded in his cheeks, his jaw joint was dislocated.
“Hoho. With this, I’ve caught both snakes~.”
Next to him, the deputy leader, whom he had expected to buy time, was already in the same state, lying down.
***
Yeon So-hyeon, who had finished introducing Cheongsu, pointed to the woman sitting next to Se-ah, smiling brightly.
“Here. There’s one more new face.”
A courtesan dressed in gisaeng attire stood up and politely greeted the group.
“Nice to meet you~, everyone.”
Although they had no idea who she was, everyone applauded to welcome her.
“Thank you~, thank you~.”
Se-ah, who had stood up with her, cleared her throat.
“She is someone hired for this plan under the young master’s orders….”
The courtesan in gisaeng attire raised her hand.
“My name is Seo Rim-cheong~.”
Once again, the group reflexively applauded.
This stunningly beautiful courtesan had a strange power to move the crowd with her gentle smile.
Of course, there was also someone in this gathering who wasn’t affected by such power.
“She is the top specialist in the dark arts I hired from Luoyang.”
At Yeon So-hyeon’s words, everyone looked at her with surprised eyes.
“Hohoho.”
She covered her mouth with her sleeve as if embarrassed.
Yeon So-hyeon briefly added.
“And based on her extensive geographical knowledge of the entirety of Luoyang, she will also be a guide to show Daseollang around various places in Luoyang.”
“Please take good care of me~!”
***
The aftermath of the battle was being handled in various places.
“The identity of those individuals is likely the notorious assassination group Qingye from Henan Province.”
Jeong Ryung was reporting to Elder Yeom.
“For now, we couldn’t find the corpse of the one who seems to be the enemy commander, so we will search beyond the encirclement….”
“Over here~!”
A woman in archer’s attire was approaching on horseback, crossing the reeds.
On her back, the leader and deputy leader of Qingye were stacked.
“They are…?!”
“They’re snakes~.”
Jeong Ryung was startled and had his subordinates secure the leader and deputy leader.
“Oh my, oh my. Since their spines have been slightly pulled out, please be careful when taking them down~.”
At her words, Jeong Ryung’s subordinates hesitated for a moment before moving very carefully.
“Young lady….”
Jeong Ryung’s gaze, about to address her, spotted the curved bow hanging from her horse and the quiver mixed with signal arrows.
“Ah! You are the one who fired the signal arrow to reveal the location of the assassination group!”
“Assassination group…?”
She covered her mouth with her sleeve and smiled.
“Hoho. If you call those mere things an assassination group, wouldn’t a real assassin somewhere be saddened~?”
