Chapter 47

Chapter 47

To catch a tiger, you have to enter the tiger’s den.
My sister-in-law reminded me of my former teacher.
I thought it was a trap and fell in.
But my teacher asked me if it was right to go in blindly.
I thought long and hard about the answer to that question and came to a conclusion.
If you don’t have teeth, you’re going to get hit with your gums.
This is my conclusion.
By this time, my teacher, the monkfish master Huang Tianhao, was in the midst of a campaign against the Red Turban enemy. I knew where he was inside and out.
* * *
The fall.
The man who had been reading the scroll smirked.
“Who sent this?”
“The …… of the Southern Palace of the Middle Kingdom, the Grand Duke.”
“Namgung…… Namgung.”
“He is currently in charge of one of the fronts against the Green Forest.”
“How are they doing?”
The monkfish troupe leader Huang Tianhao scanned through the list of achievements of the Namgung family in Shandong, and his expression was one of disbelief.
“Their achievements have risen significantly since exactly five years ago.”
“That was the day the Grand Duke stepped onto the scene.”
The adjutant standing beside Huang Tianhou flicked the documents he had organized onto the desk.
“There were two mountains in Shandong, Shandong and Taishan, and it seems that the bandits who were gradually expanding their territory were cleaned up. We’ve cleared out twenty-two mountain houses, and most of the troublemakers have been eliminated, which has eliminated the complaints from herbalists, simmani, and civilians, and we’ve been able to retain a good portion of the monk troops we’ve always sent in.”
With only a hundred and fifty or so men, this was an incredible feat.
No other person in the Zhongyuan Martial Forest had such a neat and pleasing performance. Huang Tianhou smiled with satisfaction.
“So, my request is.”
“A request for assistance.”
“After five years of silence.”
There wasn’t much to spare. The Red Turbans were in the midst of a rampage, and if they sent troops elsewhere, it would leave holes and gaps.
Nevertheless.
“You’ve worded it so well that we must come.”
“The cause is a good one. According to the proverb, we will find all the missing members of the household and cut to the root of the problem.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“We’re digging right into the loopholes. There are a lot of things that could go wrong if we don’t move.”
My curiosity deepened about the man who sent the inspectors, the Grand Duke of the Southern Palace. He seemed to know himself better than anyone else: a man who was committed to a cause, but never wasted.
A sense of inner intimacy arose.
“There’s no problem. The review is over.”
Guan’s invincibility.
Guan and Zhongyuan do not interfere with each other. Although the Huang family had taken out some Zhongyuan martial artists, it was an unwritten rule and unspoken agreement that they would not interfere with each other beyond that.
“None, if that’s what you want.”
“I see.”
Staring down at Seo-chul, Huang Tianhou pushed off the chair he was sitting in and slowly rose to his feet.
“I’ll go first.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have to report to the higher-ups.”
“I’m going to ……, sir.”
“Huh?”
Huang Tianhou turned to face his lieutenant.
“How shall we prepare?”
“How.”
His eyes drew an arc. Monkfish Sect Leader Huang Tianhou thought of the searchlight in his hand and spoke.
“Full strength.”
“Chong, I accept your order!”
When you have to show off, apart from being discreet.
When it was necessary to show more than ever.
That was Huang Tianhou’s way.
* * *
“Why is the coffin……?”
“The coffin I’ve never cared about before.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Even the martial artists of the Southern Palace seemed to find the situation incomprehensible, especially the Shandong branch leaders, Nan Gonghan and Nan Gongxue, whose requests for support and reinforcements had often been denied or ignored.
This made the situation even more incomprehensible.
One.
If there was anything that could be done to create such an extraordinary situation.
If there is someone who always does something outlandish beyond common sense.
If there is such a person here.
That person is.
“You’ve come at the right time.”
“Grand Duke?”
“Why.”
“……You’re after this?”
“Yes. Don’t you like it?”
It was Grand Duke Kirin’a of the Southern Palace.
The people who turned their gazes to the Grand Duke were dumbfounded to see that he was enjoying this situation.
I shrugged my shoulders, hating the attention that was being drawn to me, and turned my gaze to the three cultivators in front of me.
To fool the enemy, you must fool your own side. I sent the Southern Archon to deliver the message, and it was fortuitously timed. I wouldn’t have dared to do it if I didn’t know the ins and outs of the Huang Tian Lake.
Furthermore, if I didn’t know the ins and outs of the man himself, the monkfish leader, it would have been an inscrutable realm.
I managed to pull off this strategy against the odds.
I could afford to relax a bit.
“You’ve been talking a good game, and now you’re speechless.”
As if on cue, all three of the chaijus became speechless. I could only watch and roll my eyes.
I was enjoying the situation, but on the other hand, I was wary. I hadn’t seen a carrot since I confronted them.
Even mice bite cats when cornered. They’ll stick their nose in a fight they know they’ve won, and they’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive.
I was wary of the madness that might erupt. At least one thing was still unresolved, at least while I was thinking about it.
Fortunately, the solution came naturally to those who were feeling the pressure even more than we were.
“…… Whose idea was it?”
“Me.”
Hossan watched me warily, then met my relaxed expression with a tightened mouth.
“I don’t know how you managed to bake a coffin, or you wouldn’t have been allowed to come.”
“The territory you’ve trespassed on is enough for a coffin. I’ve made sure that the matter of Shi Shi is settled.”
There was no reason to shy away from a position like this, a position that was indispensable, even a position that would surely make a mark. It was a good one.
Even if he hadn’t. However, if it was Huang Tianhu, he would definitely come.
At the sight of that, the great lord Hossan’s eyes twitched.
“You’re actually quite intelligent.”
“You’re complimenting me, right?”
“It’s a compliment. ……There’s no way for everyone to live.”
“At least you have a conscience.”
The fact that there are so many bandits, even in good conscience, means that there is a threat to civilian life. Knowing this, the monkfish captain set out on his own.
A group with enough troops to cover hundreds of bandits without any gaps, without a single escape route, and enough organization to not be easily defeated by them.
There were a thousand of them.
Thud.
From far below, the clashing of armor could be heard, accompanied by a rumbling sound.
“Advance in unison-!”
Although the Agudan are a clandestine organization, they have a strong military orientation. Their spears were sharpened to a point that would not falter in the face of a ragtag assortment of bandits.
Perhaps the most intimidating army of all.
Kwazizik!
Blood and flesh separated with each movement of Agudan.
“Kaaaaaah!”
Kwadduk.
No individual power, but the unity of a tangled mass of force known as the Legion.
“Mee, it’s coming!”
Poof! Fubberfubberfubber!
Agidan’s spears pierced through the horde of bandits without faltering.
“Stop them! Throw everything you’ve got!”
The bandits, fueled by evil, screamed and shouted at Aguidan, struggling against the oncoming threat. It was a struggle for survival.
“We’ll negotiate.”
The madman stepped forward and waved the woman he held in his left hand. It was Yumimi.
“If you’ll let the three of us go, I guarantee you’ll leave her and this guy alive.”
She lifted her foot over the tossed-out Namgung family name.
It was all they could do, I realized.
“Bastards.”
I pitied the bandits who trusted them. The three unflinching lords didn’t even bother to look at their men.
At my words, they shook their hostages as if they didn’t care.
I offered him a carrot.
“We’ll make a path.”
The three men’s eyes lit up at my words.
“But if you continue to hold the hostages, there is no room for negotiation.”
“They could come after us.”
“If you’re not confident of that, then we’ll all die here.”
The three chaiju are mangu.
“……A tiger knows its responsibilities and moves unafraid, but a mango does not. They hide when you hide, and they run when you run. ”
They know when to step up and when not to step up.
Now is the time.
I was telling them that this was the only time their hostages could play a role.
“We’re only holding them until we get out of here.”
“I see. Me and the Iron Blooded Swordsman will accompany them for their safety.”
The great lord Hosan nodded, his mind racing at my words. He seemed hesitant at the mention of the Iron Blood Sword Castle, but realized it was the best they could do.
If it was just the two of them.
I shifted my gaze to the martial artists of the Southern Palace, reassuring them that they were at my disposal. It was the only gap in the mountainous landscape that had already become a chaotic mess of abysses.
Jab, jab, jab.
Three captors and two hostages.
We slowly made our way to the ridge of the mountain, me and my uncle maintaining silence.
The walk was long and slow.
I heard the heads of the men walking ahead.
“They know when it’s time to strike, and they strike, just as no predator can handle ten thousand of them. ”
The tip of my sword and the uncle’s moved in synchronization. And the shadow that followed us.
Shaaaah!
Flick, flick, flick.
As soon as I saw the bottom of the mountain, I was about to slash the arms of the hostages.
“Not bad.”
“It’s a mess.”
With great vigilance, the chieftains threw the hostages into the air to protect my arms. The Chaijus were planning to separate the hostages and flee.
Luckily.
“……You brought another rat with you.”
I shrugged at Hossan’s comment. The Black Tiger had caught the two hostages as they were flying through the air. After safely picking up the confused hostages, Black Ho looked at their condition and nodded.
“Woohoo.”
“Fuhhhh.”
The three chaiju, including Gwangbae and Pekgap, turned around and looked at us. Seeing that they were laughing, I also lifted the corners of my mouth. They bared their teeth.
“Very, very foolish.”
“…….”
“Plain and simple. To think they’d let us go like this. What a bunch of hostages. Drop the idea of capturing us.”
The mangoes chuckled. At the entrance to Mount Shandong, they had taken it easy. Though they’d let the hostages go, they were pleased to see that they’d escaped unharmed.
What the hell.
What could they be so happy about?
I was happy too.
And it seems I wasn’t the only one.
“Patience is bitter, fruit is sweet. I have endured long. For her in your clutches.”
My uncle, a man of iron-black eyes, took a step forward.
“Thank God, you’re safe, thank God.”
He took another step.
“……for that.”
A storm erupted from An Bai’s entire body, an aura that could fill the entire mountain range. At the same time, it was a storm of blades that could slice through the three cultivators at once if they dared to step out of line.
“I’ll kill you in one fell swoop.”
There was a man who blocked the path of the elderly man who was about to jump in and cut down the three.
“Uncle.”
It was me.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, but I have to go first.”
“I’m going to play …….”
He looked at me and stopped talking.
Jab, jab, jab.
I had no intention of giving in.
As furious as his anger was, I had a fury brewing in the pit of my stomach.
I felt a surge of energy fill my body. It was the aura of the Thunder King Divine Duke, who had finally come to see the polarity.
Hmph.
The tip of the sword drew out smoothly.
A faint stream of brain energy flowed through it, and it moved like a dragon. That was my rage.
“I’ll make sure you know who you dared to touch.”