Book 15 Chapter 9

"Secret Move"

"Wh-what is this… what is happening right now?" Lim Deok-seong exclaimed in shock. It seemed that even this unruly outlaw still possessed a sense of wonder.

"Wh-who are those two? I didn't feel any presence from them until just now… And one of the three is Master Do-seong…" His rugged mouth gaped so wide it looked like his jaw might dislocate. The name Do-seong Ha Ho-sik had paralyzed his thoughts.

"I told you they were reclusive elders!" Mo Gyeong, whose mouth was as wide as his master's, shouted as if to prove him right. His voice even carried a hint of superiority.

Doubt, it seemed, couldn't be harbored at just any time. Doubt and worry were only possible when one had the leisure for thought. When one's vision narrows, leisure disappears, and a brain devoid of leisure becomes hardened. It was impossible for a mind as rigid as stone to engage in proper thought.

Mo Gyeong's annoying words sparked a flicker of heat and indignation, releasing the paralysis and bringing him back to his senses. Then, a single question arose.

"Hey, Mo Gyeong?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Everything is fine, but why aren't they attacking us?"

The uninvited guests were solely focused on attacking the group consisting of one woman and two old men. They hadn't even spared them a glance. While this meant they were safe from harm, it gnawed at Mo Gyeong. It felt like they were being ignored.

"Perhaps it's because we look too weak?"

"Weak? Us? No, me? Lim Deok-seong, the King of the Green Forest?"

Although his retort implied that Mo Gyeong was spouting nonsense at such a moment, Mo Gyeong nodded undeterred.

"I understand your disbelief, but… think about it. If three tigers are rampaging simultaneously, do they have the time to care about mere wolves scurrying nearby? Dealing with the tigers first is the order of things."

It was obvious who he was referring to as "wolves." Mo Gyeong had to restrain his desire to call them "dogs" instead of wolves.

Normally, he would have raged and thrashed about, but he wasn't in the mood for that now. Was he truly that insignificant? Lim Deok-seong felt a melancholic sadness at accepting this fact.

"Should we… join in?" the King of the Green Forest asked, tapping the sword at his waist with his rough hand. Being ignored to this extent was making his stomach churn and his hands itch with an unbearable urge. He realized he was a remarkably simple man.

"Wouldn't it just be a nuisance?" Mo Gyeong said coolly.

"They might not like it. If we cause them displeasure, wouldn't it be difficult to handle later…?"

"I suppose so…" Mo Gyeong nodded as if he had been waiting for this hesitant question, which was unlike him.

"Well, in any case, if they wanted to, they could obliterate all seventy-two branches of the Green Forest. Fortunately, they haven't been bothered enough to even consider it, let alone act on it."

Watching them, they couldn't help but acknowledge their relative weakness. They didn't know how fortunate it was for the Green Forest that these beings weren't bothered.

At this moment, the Myeolseongdae, who had keenly felt the strength of the woman who ate so heartily, were changing their tactics.

[Abandon the three. It's futile. Aim only for An Myeong-hu! Prioritize his elimination!] Sa Ma-heon used telepathy to relay the order his subordinates should have received long ago. He decided to abandon eliminating witnesses and focus on the original objective. The most important thing for them was to silence An Myeong-hu. Following his command, the masked figures focused their relentless assault on An Myeong-hu's life.

However, even changing their tactics was useless. The shift in strategy meant nothing against the overwhelming disparity in power.

The three were still playfully twirling their index fingers, tapping with wooden sticks, and stirring with chopsticks, treating the masked figures like toys.

"Your sword energy is as magnificent as ever, Sword Master! No, it has become even more perfect! 'Mind is sword, sword is mind,' and 'all streams return to the origin'… I can't keep up anymore, you know? Hohohoho." The middle-aged woman, without stopping her chopstick movements, began to chat as she laughed. With each sweep of her chopsticks, a white, frosty aura emanated from their tips. The power of the frost was absolute.

"Heh heh, your praise is too much! If the Sword Empress says that, won't this humble man's studies be shamed? This is simply due to the excellent performance of the sword I recently acquired, 'Galaxy'." He said this while holding a mere twig, which lacked any persuasive power.

After wielding the rumored, un-renowned famous sword 'Galaxy' a few more times, several more black-clad masked figures collapsed. No blood was shed, but none of them rose again.

"It's been a long time since we fought together like this! I truly miss those times! Back then, I was truly terrified…" A faint smile appeared on the woman's lips.

"It was a time I missed and feared," the white-robed old man also smiled serenely as he recalled that time. The atmosphere was leisurely, as if they were chatting over tea at noon.

However, elsewhere, those who had learned the identities of these two were thrown into chaos, as if struck by divine retribution.

"W-wait, Vice-Commander! Am I… am I hearing this correctly?" Upon Sa Ma-heon's question, Vice-Commander Lee Gye shook his head blankly.

"Y-yes, he definitely said it. Sword… Master… Sword… Empress…" Finally, Sa Ma-heon was able to ascertain the identities of the three individuals hindering his mission. But what improvement could knowing this information bring? For them, it meant a disaster of unprecedented proportions.

"Th-this… it's impossible! How can they all be in one place…?" His eyes, bulging as if blood vessels were about to burst, meticulously examined the appearances of these three monsters. It wasn't just Do-seong Ha Ho-sik. There was the Sword Master Mo Yong-jeong-cheon, still playfully swinging his wooden stick and incapacitating his subordinates, and the Sword Empress Lee Ok-sang, who used chopsticks not for eating, but for killing people… Each of them possessed the power to move the entire martial arts world. These were the three supreme beings currently reigning over the martial arts realm, the Three Saints of Heavenly Martial Arts. Three living legends were gathered in one place.

If that were the case, they would have no chance of victory unless they brought all twenty-two battalions of the Myeolseongdae. Those twenty-two battalions had been trained for the sole purpose of facing the Three Saints. There were times he had thought, 'Will it really come to that?' But now, he knew for sure. 'It's not enough… twenty-two battalions are nowhere near enough! Against these monsters…'

"This is cheating!" Sa Ma-heon's heart burst forth in a cry of protest. It was true. But in that case, the subsequent action was simple. There was only one choice.

"Retreat, retreat! At this rate, we'll be annihilated." The order to withdraw was issued immediately.

"The mission is unfulfilled," Vice-Commander Lee Gye retorted in a blunt voice.

"I will take responsibility. Do you believe we can succeed in this mission by continuing the operation under these dire circumstances?" Even this man possessed the situational judgment and discernment befitting his position.

"No!" Lee Gye answered without a moment's hesitation. It seemed he had harbored many complaints about his superior.

An Myeong-hu was located precisely in the center of a triangle formed by the Sword Master, the Do-seong, and the Sword Empress at each vertex. Currently, in his unconscious state, it was the safest place in the world for him.

"Then don't object to every decision!" Sa Ma-heon shouted indignantly.

"But that's my job," Vice-Commander Lee Gye replied without a hint of hesitation. He knew that the position of Vice-Commander had always been created to check the Commander, but his tone was infuriating.

He cast a "I'll remember this" glance at the Vice-Commander and immediately issued the retreat order. Since their fighting spirit had visibly diminished after learning the identities of the three, they obeyed the order without delay.

"Oh, oh! We can't let them escape." Sword Empress Lee Ok-sang, still seated (she hadn't moved from her seat since being presented with food), casually swept her chopsticks in all directions. The masked figures' escape routes were instantly blocked.

"Now then, shall we finish our unfinished conversation? First, where is your home!" A slender smile flickered across the Sword Empress's lips beneath her veil. It was a benevolent smile called the smile of Guan Yin Bodhisattva. However, to these Myeolseongdae, it was more terrifying and chilling than that of a hellish Rakshasa.

'Is there no other way…?' Sa Ma-heon thought, closing his eyes tightly. There was only one path he could take.

They were machines. Captured machines were useless. And machines that became unnecessary had to be disposed of immediately. This was an absolute command engraved deep within their souls. They had not been programmed with unnecessary emotions like hesitation to carry out this command.

"Heavenly Tribulation Blood Sea, Blood God's Return!" As he uttered the chant like an incantation, Sa Ma-heon bit down on the poison he had been holding between his teeth. It was an action without a hint of hesitation. Then, as if believing that this poison, which could instantly kill even a ferocious beast, was insufficient, he confirmed his self-destruction.

"Oh, this!" The Do-seong Ha Ho-sik, noticing the anomaly, cried out in alarm and tried to stop him, but Sa Ma-heon had already plunged his sword into his own heart.

*Fwush!* Blood spurted from his back like a fountain.

"You bunch of scum! What do you think life, existence, is! To so carelessly discard a life like a worn-out sandal! You fools!" The Do-seong Ha Ho-sik was genuinely angry. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't forgive the very act of so easily abandoning and giving up on the most fundamental essence of life: 'to live'.

Looking around, there were no living masked figures. Whether through their own hands or the hands of their comrades, they had been fanatically obsessed with death. A mass suicide had occurred.

"Calm down. You know it well. They are killing machines, trained and brainwashed to be so! Just like other followers of darkness. It is difficult to remove this command, ingrained in their subconscious through constant repetition and hypnosis. And who knows this better than us?" The Sword Master calmed the Do-seong with a quiet, deep voice. It was a serene voice, as if reciting scriptures.

"I apologize! I lost my temper for a moment! My cultivation is still lacking. If I had known they were from the Heavenly Tribulation group, I would have prepared beforehand… To know their actions better than anyone else, yet be unable to stop them…" His voice was filled with self-reproach.

"That's the most Do-seong-like thing about you. I love that about you!" The Sword Empress said with a cozy smile, like the sunset glow of twilight. Its effect was absolute.

"Heh heh, really? If this elder sister says so…" The old man, who had long surpassed a hundred years, blushed like a boy and scratched the back of his head. He seemed delighted by Lee Ok-sang's words.

The Do-seong looked back at the scene of death with sharp eyes and murmured softly, "Is the shadow of the Heavenly Tribulation about to fall upon the martial arts world again…" His wrinkled eyes darkened slightly.

"It seems 'His' premonition has come true," the Sword Master said with profound eyes. He too could not help but be troubled by this incident.

"But the trail has been broken again," the Sword Empress said with regret. They had failed to prevent the destruction of evidence.

"Since we cannot use the Soul Returning Art, we must give up on hearing testimony from the dead," the Do-seong sounded very regretful.

"But there's still someone alive!" At the Sword Empress's words, the three pairs of eyes turned in one direction. There, still dressed in rags, sat An Myeong-hu with a dazed expression. Ironically, the cause of his being seated and having such a dazed expression was not the sharp swords and blades of the Myeolseongdae, but the identities of these three.

"Master, what should we do? Should we go and greet them?" Although Lim Deok-seong was also renowned in the martial arts world as the King of the Green Forest, his fame was merely a flicker of a firefly compared to the bright moon of the Three Saints of Heavenly Martial Arts. However, there was no sense of envy or jealousy. In fact, it was the opposite. Few martial artists did not revere the Three Saints of Heavenly Martial Arts, the saviors of the Heavenly Tribulation Blood Sea. As a martial artist himself, Lim Deok-seong respected them beyond profession or origin.

"Hmm… Should I greet them then? They are famous but not easily met," Lim Deok-seong said, scratching the back of his head with a wide grin. He was happy. Happy to meet the martial artists he admired.

There was no trace of the King of the Green Forest, the absolute ruler of the Green Forest, to be seen. It was fortunate that there were no other subordinates around, which prevented his dignity from plummeting further.

"Mmm-hmm, well, even if I didn't know, about calling them 'senile old geezers'… I should apologize to the three of them… *Mph, mph!*" Mo Gyeong, who had been shaking his head with his arms crossed, had his mouth hastily covered by Lim Deok-seong's lightning-fast hand. He glared at his brother-in-law with his beady, goblin-like eyes, a murderous intent glinting within them.

"If you utter that word, you won't survive!" Lim Deok-seong whispered, his face pale and rigid with tension, sweat dripping down his ashen face. The intention conveyed by those two fiery eyes was crystal clear.

*Mph-mph-mph…* Mo Gyeong nodded vigorously. He too did not want to become a victim of evidence destruction.

*Thump!* An Myeong-hu fell to his knees and prostrated himself on the ground.

"An Myeong-hu, Special Inspector of the Shaansi Branch of the Martial Arts Alliance, pays his respects to the esteemed presence of the Three Saints of Heavenly Martial Arts."

"Oh, dear… So, it was discovered…" With all the commotion, it was impossible for their identities to remain a secret. The plan to quietly head to Mount Hua seemed to have gone down the drain.

"Given the circumstances, we couldn't help but intervene. Besides, the Heavenly Tribulation is involved!" The Sword Master seemed continuously troubled by the matter.

"I'm glad you're safe," the Sword Empress said with a smile that filled her face. Her voice was like the sweet fragrance of fine wine, seeping into the heart. And that smile possessed a power that could bring comfort even to the hearts of those who witnessed it.

"I am eternally grateful for your salvation," An Myeong-hu said with sincerity. He had been pulled from the bottom of the well of death. The rope that had pulled up that bucket had been wielded by three highly esteemed figures in the martial arts world.

"We should help each other in times of need."

"Why were you being chased by those evil individuals? Given your unusual status, there must be a story behind it," the Do-seong said. An Myeong-hu nodded.

"I was in grave danger. It seems I'm the only one left alive from our inspection team. If you three hadn't been here, I don't know what would have happened to me…" Only severed heads would be lying sadly on the ground like scattered dog heads. It was a chilling thought.

"What were you being chased for? Those pursuers were all remarkably skilled, weren't they?" It seemed out of place for the one who had toyed with those remarkably skilled individuals like children to say this. An Myeong-hu's eyes, filled with emotion, became serious again.

"Yes. Something terrible has happened."

"Terrible?" the Do-seong countered.

"You know that the Hua Shan Accord Meeting is currently being held at Heavenly Martial Peak, don't you?"

"Of course, we are on our way to watch it. That's how we met you here."

"Ah, that's right. I completely forgot. The observation by the Three Saints of Heavenly Martial Arts was a regularly scheduled official event for every Hua Shan Assembly." It was a great honor for the participants.

"But why the Hua Shan Assembly?" The Do-seong seemed to have a more impatient personality than the other two.

"That is because…" However, An Myeong-hu couldn't finish his sentence and collapsed, his eyes rolling back.

*Thump!* The Do-seong quickly caught his falling body and supported him.

"Hey, Inspector An! Wake up! What is it? What is dangerous?" The Do-seong shouted as if to shake his very soul.

"You still have something to say! Finish it clearly before you die! That way, you won't have any regrets!" the Do-seong pleaded earnestly. As if his voice reached An Myeong-hu's soul, he opened his eyes again. The three poured in even more potent internal energy.

"Uh… conspiracy… Hua… Hua Shan… dangerous… Yo… Yong… Yo…" Unable to finish his last words, An Myeong-hu's head drooped. He had collapsed from exhaustion. However, his spirit and vital energy seemed severely damaged, and there was no sign of him waking up anytime soon.

"Farewell!" The Do-seong Ha Ho-sik said softly, closing his eyes. It looked as if tears of sorrow would flow from his closed eyes.

"He's not dead yet," the Sword Empress corrected from beside him.

"We need to move him from this spot. We've administered emergency treatment, but he's not out of danger. It seems not only the poison but also his dantian are severely damaged. From what we heard earlier, he took a Ki-activating pill…"

"A Ki-activating pill…" The Sword Master moaned lowly. They too knew better than anyone what kind of effects and side effects it caused.

"He must have fled all this way using such a savage item…"

"It seems the situation is more serious than we imagined."

"What do we do?"

"First, we should have him examined by a physician. His energy needs to be restored. We also need to completely detoxify his body of any remaining residue…" First, he had to regain consciousness for them to understand the full story of the incident.

"But who will carry him?" It was at that moment. A deep male voice was heard from the side…

"Uh… could you leave that to us?" The three heads turned in that direction.

"Who are you now?" the Do-seong asked with a puzzled expression. He recognized the face. They were the rough-looking group who had been dining nearby just moments ago.

"Hehehehehe…" Lim Deok-seong and Mo Gyeong, standing idly beside him, chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of their heads.

"We are second to none in strength. As you can see, we have robust stamina and are very obedient. So, please consider this friend as a porter." Lim Deok-seong said in a respectful tone, pointing at Mo Gyeong with one hand as if presenting a severed head on a platter.

"Huh? Me?" Mo Gyeong countered with a look of disbelief.

"Then who do you expect to do it at my age?" Facing Lim Deok-seong's sharp gaze, Mo Gyeong's shoulders slumped, his energy draining away.

"I… I will do it." He answered, lowering his head. This was always the fate of the underlings, to suffer.

The Sword Master turned his gaze towards Mount Hua. Although he couldn't see it directly, his mind had already arrived at Mount Hua.

"What exactly is happening at Mount Hua…" The seed of doubt that had sprouted refused to be easily shaken off.

"I hope nothing is wrong…" Although it was just a hunch, he had a strong feeling that this Hua Shan Assembly would not end ordinarily. But now, there was no other recourse than to wish for it.