Chapter 335 Turbulent World (6)

Chapter 335: Turbulent World (6)

Dudududu.

As he dashed toward the surroundings, Iroju Jonggeuk-rin approached his subordinate clad in the reconnaissance captain’s armor.

“You can handle this, right?!”

“I told you not to worry! I’m Manpung! A man of the steppe, raised among the Jurchen since birth!”

“Well, that’s because you’re half Jurchen…”

“Heh heh heh, I see how you put it! But I’ve lived my whole life hearing I resemble my mother, so I suppose I look similar. Heh heh heh heh.”

“You seem quite proud to be told you resemble a barbarian…”

Something… something feels off.

‘This operation started because I trusted him….’

The outline of the operation was simple.

Disguised as a Yeojin scouting party, we will destroy their scouting parties and vanguards.

If this operation succeeds, it will definitely slow the enemy’s advance.

In conditions where they can’t see a foot ahead, the enemy’s available routes would be severely limited.

The problem is.

“●●●●.”

“Last time I heard it, it wasn’t that—it was more like ■■■■, right?”

“Ugh-hah-hah, I guess I got confused trying to speak Yeojin after so long. I haven’t used it much, so it seems to have deteriorated a bit. That’s why you should visit your parents during holidays…”

“……”

It’s just not very reassuring.

“Ahem, Commander Yook?”

“I know that too. So if I see even the slightest hint that things are going wrong, I plan to strike immediately.”

“I see.”

It’s fortunate that Yuk Hak, who at least has experience commanding troops, is preparing.

‘Stars truly aren’t for just anyone.’

Suppressing that uneasy feeling, he rode around on horseback when he encountered an enemy reconnaissance unit.

Piiii-!

As the high-pitched flute-like sound echoed, Manpung deftly drew his bone flute and blew it twice .

Piiii-! Piiii-!

Thinking there must be some pattern, Jonggeukrin asked.

“What’s that signal?”

“I just blew it because they were blowing it? It was weird, so I blew it again.”

“You crazy bastard?”

But the aftermath of those two flute notes was no small matter.

Woo-doo-doo-doo.

The scouting party over there began charging madly toward our forces.

Manpung alone charged out to meet them.

“■■■■!”

“■■.”

“■■■…….”

It was utterly incomprehensible, but it was clear enough that a conversation was taking place.

“■■■■■!”

“■■■■!”

Before long, Manpung turned his horse around and returned. Soon after, Jonggeukrin came out and reported to Yukhak.

[Blowing the flute twice was the signal that they’d found the villagers. That’s why they look so excited .]

[They don’t seem to have been spotted?]

[Yes, there were so many of those barbarians that they couldn’t recognize individual faces.]

[That’s fortunate.]

[For now, since we’ve agreed to move together, how about we find a suitable spot and deal with it?]

[Alright. Let’s do that.]

Clop clop clop clop.

After moving on with the enemy behind us for about an hour, we arrived at a dimly lit mountain path. Manpung turned his horse’s head a little further in.

■■■■■!

Pointing here and there with his finger seemed to be conveying false information.

He, who had been talking, suddenly made a frustrated expression and rushed forward.

Just as he was taking step after step closer.

Pluff!

“Gurgle…”

Manpung unleashed a thunderous spear strike, piercing the heart of the enemy commander he had been conversing with.

“Kill him!”

Simultaneously, the three hundred allies who had been preparing— —drew their spears and charged toward the enemies.

I joined in as well.

Flash! Thwack!

The crescent moon blade sliced the enemy’s torso in half, creating a long, bloody gash.

Thud! Crash!

The warriors of the land route, led by Yukhak, charged down that path.

Thud! Splash! Crash!

“……!”

Realizing they were no match for us, the enemy’s momentum shifted.

A few quick-witted ones tried to sneakily turn their horses’ heads and slip away.

■■■■■!

But who was I?

Wasn’t I Jeon Ju-shi, the sniper wielding the martial world’s most powerful rifle?

Moreover, with the flying skill Banwol at my disposal, escaping my grasp was harder than escaping hell itself.

Thud!

“You bastards.”

Thud!

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Thud!

“How dare you.”

Thwack!

“You come barging in.”

Whack!

“What the hell?”

Thanks to that, not a single defector occurred on the battlefield.

And.

Whoosh! Boom!

The sword energy erupting from Yukhak’s crescent blade struck the enemy group directly, causing a massive explosion.

“Ugh!”

“Kyaaah!”

“Keeek!”

They must have already felt utterly outmatched, and now facing such an attack, their morale plummeted.

“■■■■■!”

The remaining enemies belatedly raised both hands and dismounted, but our guys were merciless.

“Surrender? What surrender? You followed along excitedly when we said we were going to kill helpless civilians.”

Puff!

As Manpung said, they were scum not worth sparing.

A short while later.

After confirming the kill, we immediately departed for the next operation.

A reconnaissance unit of over thirty thousand cavalry couldn’t possibly be all there was.

‘I’m still hungry.’

Like Brother Hiddink’s famous quote, we became a pack of wolves ceaselessly craving prey, systematically hunting down and killing enemy scouts as we tore through the surrounding area.

Manpung’s performance was particularly outstanding.

Contrary to initial concerns, he obtained information about the Yeojin tribe through prisoners and relentlessly summoned the enemy using his bone flute.

Then we lured them into secluded spots and wiped them out in an instant.

They say learning never ends, right?

This too is a skill—after more than five times, I became adept at deceiving the enemy, and the time it took to annihilate them kept getting shorter.

By the time the number of enemies who died by our hands slightly exceeded a thousand, we could no longer find any scouting parties.

To be precise.

Dudududu!

The enemy’s main force moved.

* * *

The king’s fifth son, Wanyan Bu.

He was renowned within the Jurchen as a strategist and warrior who commanded considerable .

This was precisely why the king had entrusted him with a massive army of thirty thousand men and appointed him as the vanguard commander.

Unlike other generals born with only fiery hearts, he possessed cold reason as well.

But the events of the past two days were enough to unsettle his cold mind.

Every scouting party had been wiped out, save for the one left behind in the rear.

Wanyan Bu, who had learned martial arts from a master he met in his youth, knew well.

He understood that a scouting party of one or two hundred could easily be wiped out by a sudden appearance of a martial arts master.

But when it happened nine times, that was a different story.

Such a thing could not happen unless someone was deliberately targeting them.

And those guys were definitely the ones I ran into in the west.

“Are you trying to reduce the numbers?”

He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Of course, it was effective.

After all, in just one day, they’d lost nine scouting parties and fifteen hundred men.

But this won’t work any further.

Since they can’t strike the main force, they simply need to stop sending out reconnaissance units.

. If annihilating our forces is their goal, there must be another reason they’re cutting off the reconnaissance units.

“What could it be…?”

After an hour of such contemplation, as it neared two hours, Wanyan Bu’s eyes lit up as he realized something.

“Time. It’s all about time.”

Moreover, he had completely read through the thoughts of the radio operator.

“Are you trying to protect the civilians who fled?”

Thud.

Having sorted his thoughts, he rose from his seat and stepped out of the tent.

“I can’t be dragged away.”

Flutter.

The man sitting right in front of the tent sensed Wananbu’s presence and jumped to his feet.

“Kerten!”

“Yes, General.”

Though dressed in the uniform of an ordinary soldier, he was Wanyan Bu’s most trusted commander.

“Prepare to advance immediately. We will begin our southward march.”

It was the moment the radio plan went awry.

* * *

Seeing the nearly thirty thousand cavalry advancing southward, everyone froze.

“Why can’t anything go as planned?”

“Master.”

“I know.”

His brow furrowed involuntarily at their unexpectedly swift advance.

‘ , you’ve figured out my intentions.’

I don’t know who the enemy commander is, but for an uneducated barbarian, he seems surprisingly clever.

The problem was the safety of the fleeing civilians. They needed at least two more days to escape.

And even that was the absolute minimum.

‘Just as expected of those horse-riding barbarians—their advance speed is anything but ordinary.’

Meanwhile, the fleeing civilians are trudging along, carrying heavy loads and holding children’s hands.

At least four or five more days must be secured before we can be truly safe.

There’s no choice.

“We turn back.”

Even if it’s dangerous, we have no choice but to engage them head-on.

A short while later.

Returning to the temporary base, I signaled the start of Plan B to those waiting.

Though it was a short time, they had rested and conserved their strength, and immediately began preparing for battle.

“My apologies.”

Jin-gung approached and spoke.

“What are you talking about?”

“The siege strategy. I realized that if we’d done as you suggested, we wouldn’t have had to endure this danger.”

“Exactly. You should have just done it when I suggested it. What good does it do to regret it now?”

“Hmm…”

He chuckled softly.

I gave him a small smile as he wore a troubled expression.

“Just kidding.”

“Huh?”

“Imagine burning down Xi’an. How many people would freeze to death this winter? You couldn’t call that repelling the barbarians.”

“Then why did you recommend siege warfare to me?”

“Well, I tried to get the Volcano Sect members to retreat. If I’d just left them alone, wouldn’t they have gone off spouting nonsense about sealing the jade in Xi’an?”

“Bullshit? Nonsense?”

“Come on, just let it slide. What are you, some kind of scholar nitpicking every little thing?”

He patted Jingong on the shoulder.

“Alright, forget the past and fight hard. How well you do will change the course of this battle.”

“I’ll stake my life on it.”

“……No, don’t go that far. Just give it your all.”

Anyway, he overreacts to everything I say.

While I was talking with Jingong like that, the Sword Master suddenly sent a telepathic message.

[If you ever need to risk your life, tell me instead of that guy. With fewer days left to live than I’ve already lived, it makes more sense for me to step in, doesn’t it?]

Seriously… the warriors of Hwasan are so unnecessarily serious.

“Preparations are complete.”

“Let’s go.”

A short while later.

The Iron Blood Six Paths, departing from the temporary base, raced madly with the Hwasan faction’s warriors aboard.

They raced so fast that even the Volcano Sect warriors, none of whom were amateurs, complained of dizziness .

Half a day later.

Whoosh.

We arrived at the entrance to Jangnam Mountain.

That was it.

I had planned to lure the enemies here to Mount Jangnam.

Who knows?

The spirits of the Zhongnan sages might still be alive to aid us.

Just look at our master—did he not obtain the sword techniques of Zhongnan beneath the burnt-out Daoguan?

“Then, Hwasan, prepare an ambush here. We’ll lure the enemy over.”

“Somehow, it seems only we get the easy part.”

“But once the fight starts, show those barbarians the full power of Hwasan’s sword technique.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure they taste the bitterness of the Zhaoxi Sword Art too.”

Heh.

Jin-gung, who had become someone I could joke with, handed me something.

“What is it?”

“It’s a plum badge. A token symbolizing the benefactors of Huashan. You can use it to request help or receive elixirs.”

“……But why are you giving it to me?”

“Just in case I can’t give it to you later, I’m giving it to you now.”

“No.”

Stop constantly setting up death flags.