Chapter 75

Chapter 75
Hearing the name Yeom Hwa-sin and discovering that their adversaries served under Yeom Sa-won, Jeong-pung stumbled backward in utter disbelief.

“I had absolutely no idea.”

“That comes as no surprise.”

“I…”

Baek So-cheon held up a hand, silencing him immediately.

“That is plenty. There is no need for prolonged explanations right in front of our enemies. We will listen to your side of the tale afterward.”

Even so, the sheer weight of the names Yeom Hwa-sin and Yeom Sa-won had already seized Jeong-pung with terror. His speech shook uncontrollably.

“You should never have set foot in this place. Now your life will be thrown away pointlessly on my account.”

“Are you truly fretting over my safety?”

“That monster is nothing short of a fiend!”

Hardly anyone could fathom the sheer extent of the threats and humiliation that bearded savage had inflicted upon him. He had been forced to surrender every single coin he had scraped together across his entire lifetime.

And to learn that their ultimate master was the direct heir of the Black Heaven Alliance Lord? Jeong-pung felt the world spinning into darkness. Even when a person believed they had crashed into rock bottom, an even deeper abyss lay waiting beneath.

Baek So-cheon, on the contrary, appeared completely at ease.

“Have you forgotten? Every single demon from that era perished beneath my blade.”

“Yet… your internal energy is entirely gone.”

“I have brought my comrades in its place.”

Right on cue, violent crashes reverberated from the entrance behind them.

Crash!

The pair of sentries stationed outside were hurled inward through the air, rolling violently across the floorboards.

Stepping through the threshold came over twenty fighters, every one of them dressed in the standard attire of the Hyun-cheon-dae. The fabric bore no insignia whatsoever aside from the bold characters reading “Hyun-cheon”—a stark simplicity that made their presence appear all the more formidable.

The bearded brute bellowed an immediate warning toward his subordinates:

“They are first-rate experts!”

His own followers were seasoned combatants as well. They required no spoken alert; a mere appraisal of the intruders’ cold gazes and sharp momentum made it clear that these newcomers were far from ordinary.

In pure martial capability, the advantage tilted marginally in favor of the Hyun-cheon-dae. In sheer numbers, however, the Black Heaven contingent held the upper hand.

Baek So-cheon viewed the clash before them as an ideal arena for his men to gather authentic battle experience.

The bearded brute let out an earth-shaking shout.

“Do you fools have any inkling who we are? The master leading our forces is none other than the legitimate successor to the Black Heaven Alliance Lord!”

It was an overt attempt to seize the psychological advantage and intimidate the intruders after taking measure of their prowess. Yet not a single member of the Hyun-cheon-dae showed the slightest flicker of hesitation. The brute had bragged to gain the upper hand, entirely ignorant of who his opponents truly were.

If anything, his boast had granted Baek So-cheon the perfect opening.

Baek So-cheon turned toward the fighters of the Hyun-cheon-dae and remarked calmly:

“I happen to have encountered that supposed successor before. He is utter garbage. We shall take his head at a later time.”

“Understood, Commander!”

The warriors of the Hyun-cheon-dae answered in a deafening, unified roar.

Among the loudest to shout back was Beon Saeng. His maiden engagement in genuine warfare pitted him straight against the hardened fighters of the Black Heaven. Baek So-cheon had playfully suggested throwing his induction ceremony right in the heat of slaughter.

*Isn’t such a reception just a bit too violent?*

Yet right beside that fleeting concern surged a pulse of electrifying excitement. Merely standing opposite the elite troops of the Black Heaven caused a thrilling chill to race straight along his spine.

The bearded brute let loose his murderous intent.

“Do you lot truly crave death in this miserable hole?”

In Baek So-cheon’s estimation, the brute’s martial capability sat roughly one rank above Wang-ho’s level.

“Wang-ho.”

“At your command, Captain.”

“Leave none of them breathing. Butcher the lot!”

Against adversaries of this caliber, any attempt at taking captives would only result in needless casualties among their own ranks. Issuing a command for total extermination stood as the only prudent path to keep their injuries to an absolute minimum.

“Slaughter them!”

At Wang-ho’s fatal decree, the warriors of the Hyun-cheon-dae sprang forward in perfect unison.

The defending combatants charged forward to clash against them head-on.

Clash! Clang-clang-clang!

A ferocious battle instantly engulfed the entire chamber.

Baek So-cheon locked his sights onto the bearded brute. Grasping his blade, the massive man stepped forward to confront Baek So-cheon directly.

“Do you think you can stomach the retribution that follows this?”

“You have no cause to stress over what comes next. You will be dead shortly in any case.”

“Arrogant whelp!”

“The spotlight does not belong to me today, so let us wrap this up swiftly—got it?”

“What nonsense are you babbling?”

The brute failed to comprehend that today was an exercise meant entirely for Baek So-cheon’s subordinates.

Surging forward with fierce bloodlust, the bearded warrior attacked, and Baek So-cheon met his momentum straight on.

A brilliant glimmer flashed.

Rip!

The figures flashed past one another. The bearded man stumbled several steps beyond Baek So-cheon, dragged his boots across the boards, and abruptly let out a violent cascade of crimson from his throat before toppling lifeless to the floor.

Every fighter in the chamber remained completely engrossed in their own life-or-death struggles; not a single person caught sight of the exchange. Even had someone witnessed it, Baek So-cheon’s sword stroke moved far too swiftly for human eyes to decipher its form.

He was an expert merely a step beyond Wang-ho, an opponent Baek So-cheon could dispatch without the slightest strain. His sudden demise here carried very little shock.

“Guh!”

Spotting Seok-gyeon attempting to scurry away, Baek So-cheon bounded forward and planted a forceful kick directly into the man’s temple. Being the most fragile figure among the enemy roster, he folded onto the floorboards completely unconscious from that solitary impact.

Baek So-cheon’s gaze swept across the room with razor-sharp efficiency. By centering his focus, the swirling bedlam of combat appeared to slow down around him—a phenomenon born from the mastery of the Thousand-Handed Asura God Sword, a path striving for absolute, peerless speed.

Swish.

A throwing blade shot from Baek So-cheon’s fingers.

An adversary who had slipped behind a Hyun-cheon-dae warrior to deliver a fatal strike abruptly contorted and crashed dead upon the floor.

No further peril threatened his ranks.

Their intense regimen had borne remarkable fruit. Although their opponents boasted superior numbers and solid individual skill, they stood no chance against the punishing conditioning of the Hyun-cheon-dae and the refined instruction bestowed by Baek So-cheon.

Beon Saeng was performing admirably as well. He had already brought down one foe and was aggressively trading blows with a second. He was so completely swallowed by the rhythm of the brawl that he failed to notice his own lingering nervousness.

Jeong-pung was putting up a desperate fight as well, though advancing years, unrefined instincts, and a distracted spirit prevented him from putting a rapid end to his duel.

Shing!

Baek So-cheon’s blade cut through the throat of Jeong-pung’s opponent without delay.

“Step this way.”

“Much obliged.”

Jeong-pung cast his eyes across the chamber. To his sheer bewilderment, practically all of the enemy fighters were splayed across the ground, while not a single warrior from the Hyun-cheon-dae had fallen.

He could scarcely comprehend what he was seeing. Rumors had reached him that Baek So-cheon had transferred to the central command simply to oversee an insignificant contingent belonging to the Hyun-cheon Pavilion. He had assumed the Grand Strategist had merely pulled strings behind closed doors to spare the youth’s pride.

*This force is nothing like an ordinary division!*

Just then, his gaze locked upon a particular body.

The demon-like, bearded savage lay there as an unmoving corpse, his throat carved wide open.

“Good heavens! Just when did you manage to kill that monster?”

“A moment ago.”

“By what sorcery?”

Before long, the fighting within the chamber had ceased entirely.

Wang-ho stepped up to deliver his summary of the skirmish.

“Every single one of the thirty-two adversaries has been eradicated. Three of our men sustained minor flesh wounds, but we suffered no additional casualties.”

Baek So-cheon cast a satisfied glance over his subordinates, who stood in rigid, dignified formation.

“Splendid effort, all of you.”

“Thank you, Commander!”

Only now did the members of the Hyun-cheon-dae truly grasp how drastically their might had expanded.

Martial artists—most especially elite fighters standing above the standard of the Cheol-geom-dan—derived their very purpose from personal advancement.

The respect and appreciation burning within their expressions laid their gratitude bare to Baek So-cheon.

He responded with a single, composed nod.

“Rouse that fellow over there.”

Wang-ho stepped forward and forced the unconscious Seok-gyeon back to his senses.

The instant he registered the mountains of corpses scattered across the room, Seok-gyeon let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

“Aaaagh!”

The warriors of the Hyun-cheon-dae ringed him in silence, their unsheathed swords still glistening with fresh blood.

Baek So-cheon looked down and questioned Seok-gyeon:

“What manner of creature are you? You do not belong to the Black Heaven Alliance.”

The man bore none of the distinctive martial foundations characteristic of their sect.

“You speak truly. My roots lie within the righteous factions.”

“Then why in the world are you colluding with the Black Heaven?”

“I… the truth is…”

Baek So-cheon gave a brief instruction to Wang-ho:

“He possesses nothing of worth to share with us. Sever his throat and send him to accompany his fallen associates.”

“Right away.”

“Wait! Wait, I will speak! I am an intermediary!”

“An intermediary?”

“I orchestrate the transfer of martial artists from the Murim Alliance over to the Black Heaven’s banner.”

He dressed it up with polite words, but in reality, he systematically baited individuals into compromising scenarios, blackmailed them without mercy, and coerced them into betrayal just as he had done to Jeong-pung. He was a repulsive specimen of opportunist spawned by the chaos of this war.

“What is your compensation for such treachery?”

“It varies based on their standing. A unit leader yields three thousand nyang.”

“Was that the reason you were extorting funds earlier?”

“None of that coin went into my pockets.”

Seok-gyeon threw a nervous glance at the corpse of the bearded savage, clearly indicating that the brute had claimed every last silver piece.

“So you degraded yourself into a running dog for a paltry three thousand nyang?”

Baek So-cheon gave a curt order to Wang-ho:

“Interrogate him and uncover every single person he has ensnared.”

“Understood.”

Wang-ho hauled the trembling wretch away.

Baek So-cheon walked over to Jeong-pung.

The man stood completely frozen, taking in the aftermath like a phantom.

He had genuinely possessed no clue that the Black Heaven Alliance pulled the strings from the shadows.

“Tell me what transpired.”

Jeong-pung let out a hollow breath and began to recount the affair.

“That wretch Seok-gyeon came calling under the pretense of paying his respects. He claimed he was launching a fresh timber operation out in Jeol-gang. We met once or twice after that to discuss it… and then on our third gathering, he arrived with a woman.”

Baek So-cheon exhaled a soft sigh. It was the most standard trap imaginable—glaringly obvious in hindsight, yet lethally devastating in practice.

“I drank far too much and lost my senses… When dawn broke, she was stretched out across the sheets, lifeless and stripped bare. I retained no recollection of what occurred.”

“And that was the precise moment he burst into the room.”

“Precisely so. He brought witnesses along to seal the trap—not ordinary townsfolk, but hidden operatives from the Black Heaven.”

“You were not the one who committed the deed.”

“I am well aware of that truth.”

Yet Jeong-pung’s features remained deeply etched with crushing remorse.

“Why carry such a despondent expression, then?”

“Because I find it impossible to forgive what I have done.”

“Cast aside that self-reproach. It is almost certain they laced your cup with stimulants to weaken your restraint.”

After lingering in heavy silence, Jeong-pung uttered quietly:

“It was not merely the effect of drugs.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I succumbed to the temptation entirely of my own accord while inebriated. She was breathtakingly youthful and radiant… and I simply could not master my own desires.”

Only now did Baek So-cheon comprehend the profound melancholy haunting the elder, the ceaseless sighs that had echoed across his private study.

It went beyond the cunning nature of the trap itself.

Leading right up to the act of sharing a bed, his personal volition had played a part. For an individual who had walked an honorable path his entire life without straying, the burden of remorse bore down on him with crushing weight.

“The fellow was an expert at this craft. He undoubtedly selected a woman tailored precisely to your preferences.”

Even the most cautious and disciplined heart could crumble before an intricately orchestrated trap.

His conduct had been profoundly flawed, beyond any shadow of a doubt. Yet Baek So-cheon found no desire within himself to berate the man. He was already suffering an unbearable torment from his own conscience.

Sensual allure remained the most perilous snare for any man—and for one well along in years, a breathtaking young woman served as the deadliest poison of all.

“We shall settle this matter entirely off the official record.”

Jeong-pung raised his eyes, his expression asking whether such leniency was truly permissible.

“No classified intelligence was compromised, and the funds extorted came strictly from your personal reserves. It should blow over without issue. You might face an internal reprimand regarding moral conduct… but I will make sure the incident stays confidential.”

“…My deepest thanks.”

Before long, Wang-ho returned carrying a documented roster detailing the other fighters Seok-gyeon had systematically trapped, alongside exhaustive confessions. Paralyzed by fear, the man had divulged every shred of information he held.

“The interrogation is complete, Captain. What shall we do with the prisoner?”

Baek So-cheon walked over to where Seok-gyeon knelt.

“I have surrendered every detail I possess—I beg of you, grant me mercy!”

With a single fluid sweep of his blade, Baek So-cheon parted the man’s head from his shoulders. A creature of that sort was far more vile than even the Black Heaven filth. There was no reason to waste alliance grain keeping such scum in a cell.

After ensuring that even the remains of the Black Heaven fighters were thoroughly cleared away, Baek So-cheon took his leave of Jeong-pung.

“Until our paths cross again.”

“Thank you. I shall carry the debt of this day to my grave.”

“This resolution came about thanks to you as well.”

“What could you possibly mean?”

“It was not divine destiny that brought our blades here; your personal attendant was the one who summoned us.”

“You mean Kang Jung-myeong?”

“Indeed.”

“Had you treated that man with cruelty, he never would have sought our aid, and this salvation never would have arrived. In truth, you rescued yourself.”

At long last, warm tears spilled over the elder’s weathered cheeks.

Blessed with such a devoted household and steadfast companions… succumbing to a moment of fleeting lust cut him to his very core.

“I will drop by your quarters for wine another time. See to it that you do not offer cheap vintage.”

As Baek So-cheon turned around to depart, Jeong-pung called out toward his back.

“The next time you visit, I shall treat you with the finest feast imaginable.”

There was no telling what state the elder would be in when that day arrived. Would he stand as a broken husk, or would his home be completely torn apart?

Baek So-cheon could only offer a silent wish. He hoped the elder would accept this harsh ordeal as a necessary awakening after a lifetime of smooth fortune, holding tighter to the treasures he still possessed.

And that someday, they might share a quiet drink together, looking back on the trials of this day with peace in their hearts.