Chapter 39 The Bloodline Summit – Part 2

Chapter 39: The Bloodline Summit – Part 2

But Ma Yugyeom, who had grasped the sword hilt and was about to draw it, ultimately did not draw his sword.

No, he couldn’t draw it.

“Yik!”

His body trembled violently while gripping the sword hilt, as if suppressed by some intangible force.

Just as he had blocked Cheokgang’s killing intent earlier, it seemed the Blood Demon was now pressing down with an intangible aura.

That it could reduce Mayu-gyeom, a martial artist at the peak of his art, to such a state without so much as a twitch of a finger was nothing short of astonishing.

Suddenly, my own thought—that once I reached the pinnacle, I would reveal the offensive against the Blood Sect—seemed utterly ridiculous.

I felt utterly hollow.

The Blood Demon watched his face, clenched teeth and all, with a soft smile, then promptly turned his gaze to the next person.

Mayu Gyeom’s expression immediately turned blank and defeated, the strength draining from the hand that had gripped his sword.

He seemed to have despaired at facing an insurmountable wall.

The Blood Demon offered words of encouragement to each squad leader, including Seolpung, before entering the meeting hall.

We could only watch his retreating figure with complex expressions.

The impression he left behind was overwhelmingly powerful.

His overwhelming presence and non-action were one thing, but above all, the fact that he had just called out each squad leader by name, offering each a friendly word of encouragement before leaving, could not help but be a great shock to us.

Behind me, Biseaeng’s voice murmured in a hollow tone.

“I don’t know who the martial arts leader is.”

I couldn’t agree more.

After all, our actual leader, King Murong of the Alliance, had merely offered a perfunctory greeting.

I doubted he even remembered the names of the squad leaders, let alone the company or platoon commanders.

It was bitter.

We hadn’t even fought yet, but it already felt like defeat.

Then, suddenly, a thread of telepathic transmission reached my ears.

It was Miss Qingyan’s voice.

– Wasn’t that a bit strange just now?

Her telepathic voice made me frown in confusion.

Weird?

What exactly?

Was she referring to how Blood Demon looked too normal?

But what Miss Cheongyeon said next wasn’t that at all.

– Earlier, it seemed like the Blood Demon left some kind of telepathic message for the Demon Squad Leader.

Huh? A message?

Blood Demon to Ma Yugyeom?

I asked in surprise.

– Are you saying you intercepted the message?

– No, that’s impossible.

Well, it couldn’t be.

He’d never even heard of anyone being able to intercept secret transmissions before.

Even the absolute masters of the martial world might not be able to do it.

She continued her telepathic transmission.

– Master Ma, who was about to draw his sword, suddenly relaxed his grip and looked startled. It seemed Blood Demon had told him something astonishing.

Hearing her words, I looked at Ma Yugyeom’s face again. He was bowing his head deeply, his body trembling slightly as if in shock.

Honestly, I suspected it was simply because he felt powerless in the presence of the Blood Demon, the sworn enemy of the Sha Sect.

Even I, standing beside him, felt utterly helpless; facing him directly must have been far worse.

But given that it was Miss Cheongyeon speaking—whose observational skills far surpassed my own—I couldn’t simply dismiss it.

But…

No matter how much I thought about it, nothing specific came to mind.

What on earth could Blood Demon possibly say to Mayu Gyeom now?

Was he apologizing for the Jianchang Sect?

I couldn’t fathom it at all.

The meeting ended quickly, just like a memory from a past life, with nothing significant happening.

The four attendants, including the Blood Demon and the Iron-Skin Demon Chek Kang, immediately departed. Without looking back, the Mighty Lord and his entourage also left the Thirteenth Generation.

“Lord Mansion Leader! Please take care!”

Budae-ju Heonyeongbo shouted himself hoarse from behind, but seeing how he paid him no mind whatsoever and hurried on his way, it seemed he would remain here in this life as well.

That very evening, our Seventh Squad was on patrol duty. When night fell and we went out on watch,

Young Lady Cheongyeon suddenly addressed us.

“I have a favor to ask of you all.”

Hearing this, we looked at her with puzzled expressions.

She wasn’t just strong in martial arts; she always displayed exceptional competence in everything she did.

So while others might ask her for favors, she herself had never once asked anyone for anything.

But what she said next was nothing short of astonishing.

She said this right in front of us, who were staring at her with puzzled expressions.

“I want to believe it’s not true, but I might die soon.”

Her sudden, unexpected words left us momentarily stunned, unable to grasp their meaning immediately.

“…What?!”

“Die?! What are you talking about, Cheongyeon?!”

***

That morning, as the leader and his entourage passed before the thirteen members lined up in formation.

Hae Cheongyeon sent a telepathic message to one of them.

– Long time no see. Uncle Zhuge.

It was directed at Cheonnoe Je Gal Jigang, a military officer of the Martial Arts Alliance.

Zhuge Zhijiang, who had suddenly turned his head, stared wide-eyed for a moment. He never imagined he would see her here.

– “You’re not Qingyan? What on earth are you doing here?”

– There were circumstances. Would you like to discuss the details later in the woods over there? I’ll wait.

After entering the meeting hall, Zhijang said she needed to attend to some business and would return shortly. She was able to meet Hae Cheongyeon in the woods.

“Cheongyeon greets you, Uncle.”

“Cheongyeon! What on earth is going on?! Why are you on the front lines?! Does Brother Hae know about this?!”

Hae Cheong-yeon was not only the friend of Zhuge Zhijiang’s cherished daughter, Zhuge Seo-yul, but also the daughter of one of his few close friends.

Finding her here filled Zhuge Zhijiang with fury that threatened to boil over.

But Hae Cheong-yeon answered calmly.

“Father doesn’t know yet. But once I learned what was happening here, I couldn’t pretend to be unaware. That wouldn’t be the stance of a righteous person, as Father taught me.”

Zhuge Zhijiang was momentarily speechless.

He knew well what kind of man her father was and what he always emphasized most.

“But still, no matter what, isn’t this place far too dangerous for someone as young as you, especially as a woman?”

But once again, she smiled faintly and shook her head.

“My family has a younger sister who is a year younger than me. I am now twenty-one years old, so it is time for me to do my part. Moreover, the facts I learned here were too shocking to turn away from now.”

The facts I’ve learned here…

At those words, Jegal Jigang suddenly looked at her with a complex expression.

Then, Hae Cheong-yeon smiled and spoke again.

“Don’t worry too much. It hasn’t been that dangerous yet. And I asked to see you because I wanted to ask you for a favor regarding this.”

As she spoke, Hae Cheong-yeon held out two sealed letters.

“I wrote letters to Seo Yul and Father, but since Uncle will likely come for the talks anyway, I haven’t sent them yet. Would it be alright to ask Uncle to deliver these?”

At her words, Jegal Jigang smiled and nodded.

“Alright, if that’s your wish, then so be it. Understood. I’ll deliver them for you.”

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while longer before parting ways.

But the bright smile on Hae Cheong-yeon’s face as she parted from Zhuge Zhijiang vanished the moment she turned away, replaced by a serious expression.

And though she couldn’t see it, the smile had vanished from Zhuge Zhijiang’s face as well.

***

Hae Cheong-yeon said to her comrades.

“I’ve long felt something was off about the current situation. The dire conditions on the front lines, the dangerous mines, the faults of the Blood Thief of the Wuhuang Tomb and the Zhenchang Sect that could be called the root cause, and the secret affairs of the former family head. It feels unnatural that all these things remain unknown or misrepresented to the martial world. That’s why I believed there must be a massive force managing it all.”

Bisa Yeong frowned at her words and asked.

“A powerful force? Who do you mean?”

Then Hae Cheong-yeon replied.

“Probably… the Martial Alliance.”

Cheon Ju-eun asked with a puzzled look.

“But sister, everyone knows we made a secret vow, right? Sure, the intent might be a bit suspicious, but does that really make it that strange?”

Haecheongyeon answered.

“Making that secret oath is problematic in itself, but the biggest issue, in my view, is that the secret is being kept so well.”

“…Huh?”

“The service period at the front lines is five years. In other words, if they didn’t voluntarily extend their service, there should already be quite a few people from the front lines active in the martial world. Moreover, someone who endured five years here couldn’t possibly be mediocre; they’d all be quite skilled masters, right? Then, somewhere, masters from the front lines should have definitely appeared. Especially in Guizhou, Sichuan, and Guangxi, which border Yunnan.”

Then he looked at Xian Wuzhen and asked.

“Master Sunwoo, you mentioned obtaining frontline intelligence from outside. Did you personally meet anyone from the front lines?”

At that, Xian Youjin shook his head with a hardened expression.

He, too, now seemed to grasp what she was implying.

“No. I never met a single person in Guizhou Province known to be from the front lines. I hadn’t even heard any rumors. The only place I could get information was Hao Gate.”

Hae Cheong-yeon then looked around at the others and said.

“Does this even make sense? Not a single person from Zhenxian in Guizhou Province, right next to Yunnan Province? And in the martial arts world, where rumors spread faster than words, not a single piece of news about Zhenxian has reached us?”

Her words made the expressions on the people’s faces grow increasingly serious.

Na Se-yu swallowed hard and asked.

“Qingyan, are you saying…?”

***

Around the same time, Zhuge Zhijiang, staying at the inn, gazed briefly at the letter Hae Cheongyeon had entrusted to him before breaking its seal.

He began to read its contents.

But as he read, Zhuge Zhijiang’s expression grew increasingly stiff.

The letter Hae Cheong-yeon had sent to her father detailed the situation on the front lines.

The mines emerging from that area, the dire state of the front where seasoned warriors had fallen and only young fighters remained, even secret information about the Zhanchang Sect.

And at the end of the letter, she wrote that she couldn’t understand why all this had to be kept secret, or how it could have remained unknown to the martial arts world until now.

Hae Cheong-yeon’s letter was ultimately a plea to her father, asking if he could investigate the matter.

After reading the entire letter, the initially stern expression on Zhuge Zhijiang’s face had now completely turned expressionless.

After a long period of deep thought, he finally seemed to make a decision, letting out a faint smile.

Then he began burning Hae Cheong-yeon’s letter after reading it.

“Cheongyeon, Cheongyeon. A secret oath is a promise to keep secrets. For Seo-yul’s sake, I’d like to just pretend I don’t know… But if I leave you be, even if not now, you’ll eventually tell your father these things, won’t you? So this uncle has no choice. I don’t have the strength to bear your father learning the truth.”

Then, suddenly thinking of her father, he added.

“I’m sorry, Brother Hae. But… even if one of your three daughters is gone, you still have two left. All of this is because of your rigid nature, so please understand.”

Having said that, he began writing a letter.

It was a secret letter to be sent to the Martial Arts Alliance.

***

In the dark of night, Do Hee-young, one of the women belonging to the Thirteenth Division, the Fifth Squad, bolted upright in bed.

It seemed she had had a strange dream.

But after waking, she couldn’t remember anything.

Her head just felt a bit foggy.

“That’s strange. Why is this happening?”

Muttering to herself, she tried to fall back asleep, but suddenly recalled the Blood Demon and his group she had seen that day.

It was when the Blood Demon was greeting each of his subordinates one by one, and everyone’s attention was focused there.

She had felt like she heard something strange and had turned her head to look at the four who had come with the Blood Demon.

Then, her eyes met those of the smallest-built man among them, the man in the black robe.

He happened to be lifting his hood slightly at that moment, gazing at her.

He was a man with red eyes that felt somehow unpleasant.

‘But then he immediately looked away.’

I didn’t want to meet his gaze for even a moment because it made me feel so uncomfortable.

And then nothing happened.

Could it be…

Suddenly, fear gripped him.

The thought struck her—could she have been possessed back then?

But she swallowed her fear and quickly shook her head.

Even if she was the weakest martial artist in the Fifth Division, it was absurd to think she could be possessed just from a single glance, wasn’t it?

If she had been possessed, she wouldn’t even be able to think like this now.

‘Right, it couldn’t be. I’m just being overly sensitive.’

Do Hee-young reached that conclusion and tried to fall back asleep.

The thought of being possessed by the Blood Cult, turning against her comrades, and then being killed by them was too horrifying to even imagine.

Do Hee-young desperately wanted to believe that such a thing could never happen to her.

But shortly after falling asleep, she was tormented by nightmares once more. Nightmares she remembered nothing of upon waking.

***

Mayu Gyeom slowly opened the door to the lodging.

Though no one was inside, his hand trembled slightly as he opened the door.

He entered with a stiff, frozen expression. Upon discovering the neatly placed letter and box on his bed, he froze solid like ice.

Then he squeezed his eyes shut.

But after standing motionless for a long while, he finally took a deep breath and had to unfold the letter.

His trembling hands unfolded the letter, and his eyes fell upon the familiar handwriting.

It was a handwriting that was all too familiar, yet one he hadn’t seen in a very long time.

His face, already twisted in shock upon seeing it, began to contort even more as he read the letter.

And when he finally finished reading to the end of the letter, he crumpled it in his hands and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It was a voice filled with deep sorrow, grief, and despair all mixed together.