Chapter 32

Chapter 32

“Heueoeoek……!“

Peulssseok!

“With this, is it ten left?”

I threw the Muryeongwando whose acupuncture points I’d pressed to put him to sleep into the hiding place and looked up at the sky. A signal flare brightly coloring the sky.

“So they’ve arranged signals in the meantime.”

That signal flare was shot up by this batch’s Muryeongwando the moment they discovered me. Realizing they’d have a hard time facing me the moment we met, they immediately pulled out a signal flare from their bosom and shot it up.

What’s important here is that the two Muryeongwando I’d caught earlier hadn’t tried to shoot signal flares. Conversely speaking.

“That means they gathered and made contact at some point.”

The Muryeongwando were maintaining communication through some method.

“Certainly, their skills aren’t worse than I thought.”

If they shoot a signal flare just before being caught, they can pinpoint my location. And being able to pinpoint the opponent’s location in this kind of darkness could be called an advantage beyond imagination.

It was an orthodox yet quick response. That they quickly came up with countermeasures even in a sudden situation was praiseworthy. However.

That only meant they weren’t falling behind the standards ‘as Muryeongwando.’

“The trick is too obvious.”

Something is called orthodox precisely because it’s not irregular. Normally, strategies don’t follow the orthodox path directly. Then why don’t they follow the orthodox path?

That too is simple. Because honest strategies make intentions that much easier to read.

“They needed to know my location even while risking the danger of gathering together and being wiped out all at once. That ultimately means they became convinced that without taking risks, passing this test would be difficult.”

Even if they knew the location, they couldn’t ambush. Just running away wouldn’t end the test either. The condition was only one thing—stepping over Uicheonmun’s threshold before everyone was caught, wasn’t it?

Then what they’d be most wary of was also only one thing.

“They’d want to avoid the situation where I’m standing guard at Uicheonmun’s main gate.”

I let out a chuckle and tapped the sword hilt. The enemy’s intentions spread out plainly before my eyes.

“A lure strategy.”

Drawing an opponent they absolutely cannot face away from Uicheonmun’s main gate.

“Taking them all down isn’t difficult, but.”

Since I’d grasped the Muryeongwando’s intentions, crushing those intentions wasn’t difficult. If I stood guard in front of Uicheonmun, the test would end with that. The Muryeongwando wouldn’t be able to set even one foot inside Uicheonmun.

However, that would only let me know the Muryeongwando’s martial arts level, wouldn’t it?

“A lure strategy.”

After briefly examining the remaining traces, I stroked the tip of the scabbard with my finger and nodded.

“Shall I get caught up in it?”

Since it’s come to this, it wouldn’t be bad to teach them a bit earlier.

What it means to face those beyond human understanding.

***

It was a thought that came anew, but Seonwoo Gang thought his abilities were quite decent.

Well, wasn’t that so? Though they’d been pushed back by Mujeong Hall, among the Muryeon Hall trainees, those who could compete with Seonwoo Gang and have their chances of winning calculated numbered fewer than three. Moreover, when it came to assessing situations and devising strategies, wasn’t Seonwoo Gang outstanding among the Muryeongwando?

That’s why Seonwoo Gang couldn’t understand the current situation. Because.

“……Why aren’t any signal flares going up?”

The situation he’d designed was going strangely.

“Mm.”

[What’s wrong?]

At the sight of Dan Riyeon , a Muryeongwando standing beside him asking what was wrong with sign language, Seonwoo Gang let out a groan and looked up at the sky.

“It’s too late.”

Originally.

The strategy Seonwoo Gang designed was simple yet certain. Something called a lure strategy, but could also be called a feint operation.

The passing condition for the test was for anyone, even just one person, to step over Uicheonmun’s threshold. Conversely speaking, it didn’t matter who reached Uicheonmun, did it?

No matter how much the opponent possessed overwhelming martial force as an expert, sensing and responding to everyone entering Uicheonmun from each direction didn’t make sense. Then even if they knew it was a lure strategy, they wouldn’t want to lose track of those scattering in all directions.

So Seonwoo Gang made himself and the two strongest into the ‘main force,’ and made all the remaining individuals separate detachments. That’s how he arranged the routes and moved. However.

“……It’s too strange that not even one person has been caught yet.”

That’s why he couldn’t understand this situation.

Because this situation was going too favorably for them.

“You might be overestimating the opponent too much. Certainly the martial force was excellent, but there’s no guarantee an ordinary martial artist would be well-trained in tracking techniques as well.”

“That’s true, but.”

At the opinion Seomun Cheok offered, Seonwoo Gang let out a groan and nodded. Certainly that was the case.

As Seomun Cheok said, they might be having difficulty tracking due to lack of proper tracking techniques. Tracking techniques weren’t skills anyone could learn in the first place, so unless one was someone who’d trained in tracking techniques for a long time, it wouldn’t be easy to follow Muryeongwando’s tracks. It wasn’t strange if they couldn’t track.

But would it really be that simple?

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

Seonwoo Gang knew.

This mountain wasn’t the route they were originally supposed to take. The path they were supposed to take all the way to Hwayonghyeon following the main road—they’d deviated from it just because it was a shortcut, and this mountain was what they’d found.

Right. That was the problem.

‘That despite deviating from the main road, he knew our location means…… he’s learned tracking techniques.’

If he hadn’t learned tracking techniques, he wouldn’t have been able to find them after they left the main road and entered mountain travel. And he wouldn’t have been able to catch two additional Muryeongwando in the scattered situation either.

In the end, what that fact was saying was one thing.

The current situation was by no means an optimistic situation.

Having finished his judgment, Seonwoo Gang gripped his scabbard tightly with his hand and stood up from his seat.

“We need to move right now. Seomun Cheok. Dan Riyeon. From now on, we’ll run at full power regardless of traces. Any objections?”

“None. If you’ve judged it that way, it must be so. Understood.”

[Confirmed.]

Seonwoo Gang smiled slightly while looking at Seomun Cheok and Dan Riyeon, who each answered in their own way, then kicked the ground with internal energy. His body instantly stretched out in a long line.

‘It doesn’t matter what strategy the opponent uses.’

Right.

If the opponent showed suspicious movements, this side just needed to proceed with the orthodox method. The opponent was only one person anyway.

Unless the opponent was an immortal using Earth Shrinking techniques, catching all the scattering individuals one by one while chasing them was impossible. Even with ‘that kind of’ martial force, it wouldn’t be an easy task.

──He thought so.

Pasasak!

“Heugeok!“

Until he saw the shadow that burst out from the front.

Chaaeaeng—!!!

Surprised by the suddenly appearing shadow, Seonwoo Gang involuntarily struck out, then frowned at the stinging pain reverberating through his wrist and stepped back one pace. And at that moment, the shadow let out a bewildered cry.

“A-Amitabha. What kind of damned benefactor did I meet? Why are you attacking!”

“……Unjin? Why are you here?”

At the sight of his colleague in familiar monk’s robes, Seonwoo Gang unconsciously opened his mouth to throw a question. Then Unjin answered.

“What are you saying, you told me to come, didn’t you?”

“……What on earth are you talking about?”

“That something was suspicious, the plan had changed, and to gather here. With the code carved here and there. Wasn’t it you who did it?”

“What?”

He’d never carved such code. It was obvious in the first place, wasn’t it?

To carve code for other Muryeongwando to see, he’d have to infiltrate the Muryeongwando’s paths and carve the code. From Seonwoo Gang’s position, having to head straight for where Uicheonmun was located, it was an impossible task.

However.

Paseusseuk!

“What, where are the others?”

One by one.

“The plan has changed, what’s happening?”

One by one.

At the sight of Muryeongwando revealing themselves, Seonwoo Gang unconsciously examined the nearby trees and widened his eyes.

[Something suspicious. Plan changed. Gather at the junction heading to Uicheonmun.]

Code used only within Muryeon Hall, which he’d never carved, was inscribed there.

“Th-this…… What on earth?”

Seonwoo Gang, who’d been blankly touching the code carved on the tree, hurriedly looked around. The night forest exuding an eerie atmosphere.

“The code was cracked……?”

That was impossible.

Muryeon Hall’s code continuously changed its decipherment every six months. Even if the opponent were a former Muryeongwando, it meant there was no way to figure out the current code at this point. But deciphering the code one by one in a situation without prior knowledge?

‘It doesn’t make sense……!’

What was the Murim Alliance’s code?

They were things created by the scribes of the Jegal family, said to be unparalleled in the world at using their heads, all wracking their brains together. Of course, due to frequent renewal, if you looked at it intently for a month or two, you could decode it to some degree.

However.

To accomplish that alone, and in this short time?

That.

“That’s impossible……!”

It could only be explained as monstrous, close to the bizarre .

“Everyone, prepare for combat…….”

At Seonwoo Gang’s appearance, chewing and spitting out words after grasping the entire situation, most of the Muryeongwando realized the situation and gripped their signature weapons. Then Seomun Cheok, looking around, let out a groan.

“Is this all?”

“……More might come.”

Seven people.

Neither many nor few. Considering the original number of sixteen Muryeongwando, it was a number that didn’t even reach half.

‘Calm down.’

Seonwoo Gang, who’d grasped the current situation, settled his thoughts as calmly as possible.

‘Except for the first signal flare, not a single signal flare has been shot yet. That means no one has been caught yet.’

The last confirmed number of survivors was ten. Even if all those people gathered, breaking through Baek Riyun would be impossible.

But even so, the strategies they could use were endless. They could deploy another feint operation, or use a time-stalling strategy. Their numbers were many, and the opponent couldn’t injure them, could he? If they even grabbed the hem of his robe and held on, somehow…….

Countless thoughts squeezed through Seonwoo Gang’s mind, making it dizzy, then escaped. Like enduring in the middle of the sea where waves crashed, Seonwoo Gang continued his thoughts. And.

When those thoughts were organized.

The sound of stepping on grass.

Echoed.

“……Muryeongwando?”

Without answering someone’s question, Seonwoo Gang quietly gripped his sword hilt firmly. Then, as if answering that question, a shadow walked out quietly.

“──The first thing I killed after being assigned to the corps for the first time wasn’t a Demonic Cult member or Sapa member, but a fellow corps member.”

The tree branches that had been casting thick shadows here and there trembled and lifted their curtain. Moonlight spread forward as if opening the way.

“He was a peer who’d studied together for three years in the hall. He had mediocre martial arts and talent, but he was someone who worked harder than anyone. But during the first mission, he stabbed a sword into my back while crying.”

“Only after I became desperate and killed him did I learn. About the demonic energy clinging to his body and such.”

“I learned then that codes or systems made by humans are meaningless in fights with things that aren’t human.”

Slowly.

The leather shoes with rough traces stepped on the grass. Leisurely, as if out for a stroll.

“Until dawn, about half a shichen?”

And soon, Baek Riyun, who’d arrived in front of the Muryeongwando, erased the smile he’d been wearing and opened his clenched hand, dropping signal flares that someone hadn’t managed to set off.

Hudududeuk!

“The first test seems to have failed, so let’s move on to the second test. The test content is simple.”

“……What is it?”

“Survive. The time limit is──.”

Confirming the drawn Uicheongeom shining as it received the moonlight, Seonwoo Gang bit his lip in dismay. And.

“Until dawn.”

Again, darkness descended.