Volume 5 Chapter 23 – Attack

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Yeom Baek-ha’s finger pointed to a spot on the map.

“At the meeting today, the Eldest Young Master ordered us to merge with the investment delegation’s procession at this point.”

Looking at the point Yeom Baek-ha pointed to, Elder Yeom’s head nodded before he knew it.

Stroking his beard at the side, the old strategist shook his head in admiration.

“Hmm. I would like to discuss military strategy with the Eldest Young Master sometime.”

* * *

The chaotic mess, experienced for the first time in her life, was enough to drive one young lady who had no connection to such situations into a state of panic.

“Kyaaaah!”

The power that pulled the Tea Fan Maiden lady, who was simply sitting on the ground and screaming, was formidable.

Thrust straight into the carriage they had ridden in, her eyes widened at the sight of her friends looking at her.

“Now, ladies. Are you all on board with this?”

The one who closed the door last and boarded the carriage was a middle-aged man they had never seen before.

“Everyone, move a bit further away from that window. Although I have blocked all the windows in advance…”

At his words, the moment the Tea Fan Maiden ladies reflexively moved to the opposite side.

Countless arrows began to sprout through the inside of the carriage.

“?!”

Before they could realize the situation and scream, the middle-aged man who had gathered them in the carriage spoke.

“It is fine, it is fine. From what I see, this carriage will not break unless they bring a cannon. You have really poured money into this carriage.”

So saying, he grabbed the young ladies’ arms and positioned them at the opposite edge.

“Wh-who are you…?!”

Sangwan Nan-hwa asked, but the man, who was peeking through the carriage window to check the situation, talked about something else.

“Now, the second rain of arrows is coming.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than arrowheads sprouted in clusters on the carriage wall once more.

“Haha. There is no need to be tense. Because I am here.”

He sat cross-legged nonchalantly on a seat in the carriage where arrows were still piercing and introduced himself.

“I am called Cheongsu.”

The middle-aged man smiled like a mischievous child, his short hair fluttering.

“I am the person sent specially by my lord, the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family, to escort you.”

* * *

“Let me introduce the person who has newly joined Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment this time.”

Stepping forward awkwardly at Yeon So-hyeon’s gesture, Cheongsu smiled clumsily as the gazes of the crowd focused on him.

“I am Cheongsu…?”

At the exceedingly brief self-introduction, the gazes of the crowd shifted to the Eldest Young Master.

“He retired from the Main Family’s Institution this time, and has now decided to offer his sword to me.”

At the word ‘Institution’, the gazes of those gathered looked at Cheongsu again with surprise.

“Ahahaha. I look forward to working with you.”

He was the commanding warrior Yeon So-hyeon had invited to join on his way back from attending the Supreme Executive Council previously.

‘If you happen to leave the Institution, come to Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment. I will need many skilled people in the future.’

‘Oh… my name is Cheongsu. If that time comes, I will look forward to it.’

Having answered thus, he had truly left the Institution and sought out Yeon So-hyeon.

Yeon So-hyeon spoke to the gathering.

“The outstanding abilities he possesses will be of great help to us in the future.”

* * *

“Hmm. The enemy’s shooting has ended, and it looks like Elder Yeom is going to attack? As expected of the Sword Mountain Splitting Peak.”

Cheongsu, who was peeking outside through a slightly opened window, stretched his hand out the window and retrieved one of the arrows stuck in the carriage wall.

“Ho?”

Although the gazes of the Tea Fan Maiden ladies were focused on him as he examined the arrow, Cheongsu merely tucked the arrow away carefully without giving any answer.

‘Poison arrows, huh.’

He smiled broadly at the ladies’ gazes staring at him.

It was a fresh smile that did not suit his age.

Though it did not suit the situation either.

“Since we are bored, shall we take turns introducing ourselves?”

“…”

Of course, there was no response in return.

* * *

“For we are going to attack, not escort.”

Having shut the Emei Sect Abbess of Administration’s mouth like that, Elder Yeom shouted without even looking back.

“Jeong Ryung!”

The commander of the Xi’an government troops, called Jeong Ryung, shouted with a smirk on his face.

“Lads! General Yeom says he wants to see our skills after a long time!”

Along with his shout, the forty government soldiers who had skillfully hidden to avoid the arrows threw off their cloaks all at once.

Revealing light armor of a strangely practical shape, they took out the objects they had been carrying on their backs.

It was a portable repeating crossbow.

“Silk Road Guerrilla Unit!”

Their commander, Jeong Ryung, who also pulled out a repeating crossbow, shouted.

“Show the enemy what real shooting is!”

* * *

A merciless storm of arrows blew in.

The members charging forward with their weapons rolled and fell all at once as if swept away by a ferocious wave.

“Raise the shields! Raise more shields, you idiots!”

The vice leader screamed at the top of his lungs, but in the first place, the enemy’s arrows were piercing through their shields, tearing flesh and bone apart.

Moreover, by some mystery, the shooting repeated the cycle of appearing to cease only to grow fierce again.

The leader, barely catching an arrow that flew all the way to him in the very rear, grit his teeth.

“Iron arrows!”

The arrow he caught had a blackish tint.

Even against his hands infused with internal energy, the arrow merely bent and did not break.

“Damn it, those government soldiers! Were they Xi’an’s Silk Road Guerrilla Unit?!”

Operating in this business, there was no way he did not know that name.

“For what reason are those guys, who should be hanging around Yumen Pass, here of all places?!”

* * *

Although the Silk Road Guerrilla Unit’s repeating crossbow fire was powerful, their numbers were small and the enemies were many.

On top of that, the durability of the repeating crossbows, originally manufactured as portable devices, was by no means good.

At the sight of the enemies charging over the corpses turned into pincushions of arrows, Jeong Ryung shouted.

“Good! We retreat to the second line!”

The enemy’s vanguard was sufficiently broken, and with that, their role was as good as done.

Amidst the Silk Road Guerrilla Unit retreating in a double-time run without any lingering attachment, a middle-aged man of massive build stood tall.

“Are you satisfied?!”

“Well done.”

Offering a brief word of commendation, Elder Yeom pointed his sword forward toward the rushing enemies.

He slowly inhaled the air.

“Kill them!”

“Charge, you bastards!”

The smell of blood staining the earth red, the stench leaking from torn intestines, the shallow groans uttered by the dying, the spiteful screams of those trying to kill, eyes half-turned and bloodshot, the smell of oil applied to weapons, and the nostalgic scent of battle created by the mixture of fear and bloodlust.

The smell of war.

The smell of home.

“You motherf—!”

The first one to rush in was a man whose left arm was pierced by an iron arrow.

The figure of the giant holding the great sword, standing as if nailed to the ground, was overbearing in itself.

‘Kill, kill, I just have to kill him!’

However, the drugs administered right before the close-quarter combat began gave him sufficient courage.

“Die!”

He struck down with the iron mace in his hand with all his might.

He definitely struck with the mace.

But it was strange.

For some reason, in his eyes, the head of the mace seemed to have split into two.

Was it because he had overdosed on the drugs too much?

Just then, he felt a hot liquid flowing down from his forehead.

‘Uh?’

He wanted to touch his head to confirm what was happening, but with his head split open above his forehead, he could no longer do anything.

‘Am I dead…?’

* * *

Having given their word, the Emei Sect martial nuns could not leave the vicinity of the investment delegation’s procession and had to guard it.

Although they had certainly expected a fierce battle, once the combat actually began, all they did in the end was deflect the incoming arrows.

That did not mean they could abandon their responsibility of escorting and leap into the midst of the enemies, either.

Consequently, their gazes naturally turned toward Elder Yeom, who stood out alone from the formation.

Unlike the enemies charging and screaming, the sight of Elder Yeom looking so serene gave off a sense of incongruity.

And the first enemy arrived in front of Elder Yeom.

“Ah!”

From the mouths of the Emei Sect martial nuns who were watching the scene from afar with enhanced eyesight, an exclamation close to bewilderment burst out involuntarily.

Not one of them properly saw when Elder Yeom’s sword had moved.

Only after seeing Elder Yeom’s posture after finishing the strike did they realize that it had been a ‘horizontal slash’.

In that single strike, there was no momentum, no intense qi wave, not a shred of killing intent, and not even a presence.

And subsequently, among the enemies rushing in like waves, Elder Yeom’s great sword seemed to raise a gentle breeze.

The result of that gentle breeze was felt as truly bizarre.

There was no noise of clashing weapons.

The enemies’ limbs did not fly wildly in all directions.

There were no death throes.

The enemies simply lost their body parts and collapsed as they fell, maintaining the very posture they had when charging.

It was to the extent that they looked as if they had fallen over, unable to withstand the momentum of their own charge.

Within the span of just a few breaths, no one was left breathing alive around Elder Yeom.

“…”

The martial nuns’ minds went blank at the sight they could neither imagine nor comprehend.

“…Observe closely.”

The one who spoke with an unreadable expression on her face was the Abbess of Administration.

“When one first sees Yeom Gwak-chu, everyone tends to expect him to be someone who primarily uses domineering martial arts. You must have been the same.”

The martial nuns nodded with stiff expressions.

“An external martial art that has reached the limit, starting from the natural state. A swordsmanship derived from that external art that is terribly efficient, with absolutely zero waste.”

The old nun stared at Elder Yeom with eyes smoldering like coal from beneath her deep wrinkles.

“There is clearly an unusual internal energy embedded in those sword strikes, yet its application is incredibly delicate and exquisite.”

The assassins possessing internal energy, who had been hiding their presence among the enemies, sprang out.

The attacks unleashed by those holding the position of masters within the assassination group were perfect, as if they had synchronized their breathing thousands or tens of thousands of times.

“A bizarre swordsmanship to the point where one cannot tell if he is even consuming internal energy at all.”

Digging into Elder Yeom’s front, back, left, and right, they poured out their one-hit kill assassination techniques with all their internal energy.

But their weapons never reached Elder Yeom.

They too merely fell, crumbling and slicing to the ground, just like the assassins they had trained.

“The opponent has no choice but to feel as if they are contending with a rock made of swords.”

Having crushed the enemy’s main force in that manner, Elder Yeom’s appearance remained exactly the same as at the beginning, with nothing changed.

As if nothing had happened.

Without even a single breath being disturbed.

As if he alone had become a serene lake in the scene where blood and flesh splattered.

“That is the very reason why the word ‘Sword Mountain’ is included in his moniker.”