At last, you shall see it. (4)
“Aaaaaaah! Dammit!”
Jo Geol pounded the ground with his fists.
Of course, it was a meaningless act aside from releasing his explosive emotions. All it did was drain his strength.
Yet no one could stop him or blame him for his actions. Everyone who took in the scene felt the same way.
This brutal scene crushed the spirits of anyone who beheld it.
No matter where they turned, all they saw were corpses.
Facing such a sight again, their hard-won determination creaked and inevitably began to crumble.
“…Lord Moyong.”
Upon spotting Moyong Wigyeong lying among the corpses, Yoon Jong shut his eyes tightly.
They didn’t share any particularly deep bond. But this was not how he wanted to encounter him again.
The wounds etched into Moyong Wigyeong’s body spoke of how fiercely he had resisted until his final moments. How desperately he had fought until his very last breath.
Yet again, they were too late.
Im Sobyeong, unlike his usual self, bit nervously at his lips, openly displaying his anxiety.
A hundred people were slaughtered. The fact that they were killed isn’t what matters. What matters is how they were killed.
‘They couldn’t even put up a proper resistance.’
No doubt they fought with all their might. They must have intended to stand their ground without losing their courage until the very end.
Yet not a single enemy corpse could be seen. Considering these enemies weren’t the type to carefully retrieve their comrades’ bodies, it meant the assailants had suffered virtually no casualties despite massacring nearly a hundred alliance members.
At that moment, Maeng So leaned over one of the corpses and placed his finger on a gaping wound.
“…The blood has already begun to coagulate. That means at least fifteen minutes [one gak] has passed.”
“Did you say fifteen minutes?”
Maeng So gave a heavy nod.
The Beast Palace warriors are martial artists, but they are also effectively half hunters. Their ability to estimate time based on traces is more exceptional than anyone else here.
But to think that whole fifteen minutes had passed. They ran at full speed, yet the distance has grown this much?
“We shall move first.”
At Im Sobyeong’s words, everyone nodded with grave expressions.
Lingering here, lamenting over the dead, would change nothing. If they had strength left to mourn, they needed to take at least one more step forward.
Paat.
The disciples of Hwasan kicked off the ground, following the trail left by the enemy. Yet, unlike before, their legs felt heavy.
‘Dangerous.’
A numbing sensation crept into their toes.
Jang Ilso was swiftly dealing with the scattered members of Cheonumaeng, utilizing his time with utmost efficiency. There was no wasted movement. Relying on an overwhelming difference in power, he was dispatching them with speed.
But what of this side?
Right now, the only force that can stand against Jang Ilso and his group is Hwasan. And as Hwasan pursues Jang Ilso’s trail, they’re wasting bits of time here and there.
What will happen if this wasted time keeps piling up?
‘A difference of fifteen minutes might never be closed.’
Not until all the Alliance members had been trampled, and the once mighty name of Cheonumaeng finally collapsed.
Im Sobyeong instinctively wiped his lips roughly. Then, holding his mouth shut, he continued his anxious thoughts. He could feel the uncontrolled trembling of his hands against his lips.
‘I have to do something. Right now.’
But how? Other than chasing the traces they’ve left, what can they do?
Predict the enemy’s path and get ahead of them? Easier said than done. The moment they fail even once, they will never be able to catch up to Jang Ilso again. And if that happened, even tracking his path like now would become impossible.
Then it would truly be the end.
They needed another method – something more than an uncertain gamble. Something that could promise them a real chance of victory.
And it seemed Im Sobyeong wasn’t the only one thinking along these lines.
“Shouldn’t we inform them, Nokrim King?”
Yoon Jong, who was running ahead, looked back at Im Sobyeong and raised his voice.
“If we warn the Alliance members that Jang Ilso is targeting them, at least they can prepare, right?”
But Im Sobyeong responded coldly.
“How do you propose they prepare?”
“How…”
“Should we tell them Jang Ilso is after them, so they should do their best to fight back? Or should we tell them to ‘run away without looking back’? What good does knowing do?”
“Still, if we could gather them in one place so they can prepare…”
“And you think he’d just sit back and let that happen?”
“…”
“And where and how do we even tell them? We don’t even know where our allies are.”
“Then we spread out and find them.”
“If he catches on and comes for us first, the Alliance is truly finished. No, before that, Hwasan will be annihilated. This time, for real.”
Yoon Jong closed his mouth, looking devastated. He knew the practical difficulties, but that didn’t mean they could stand by while more people were sacrificed.
“What about Baek Ah?”
At that moment, Yu Iseol’s chilling voice turned to Chung Myung.
“If it’s Baek Ah, can’t it track him down?”
“That seems unlikely.”
The reply came from Maeng So.
“…Why not?”
“The stench of corpses [시취(屍臭)] is too strong.”
Maeng So shook his head and added,
“Even a person with normal senses can barely stand it here. For a beast with a keen sense of smell, it’s even worse. No matter how skilled Baek Jeon is, trying to pick out one person’s scent in a place like this would be impossible.”
“But still…”
Yu Iseol unwilling to relinquish the last thread of hope, opened her mouth as if to say something more, but then closed it tightly.
Im Sobyeong let out a heavy sigh and interjected.
“It’s just as the Palace Lord says.”
At this, Yu Iseol shot him a reproachful glare.
Im Sobyeong understood Yu Iseol’s desperate wish to find any hope. It wasn’t hard to guess how anxious she was just from the way her fists were clenched tightly enough to cut off circulation.
But reality is reality.
“Even if that spirit beast could track Jang Ilso’s scent, the result would be the same. There’s no way he wouldn’t have prepared for that.”
“…Prepared?”
“He could have thrown away the robe he was wearing, or simply changed his clothes. In the current situation, that would be more than enough.”
Jang Ilso had even drenched himself in someone else’s blood.
Im Sobyeong didn’t want to believe Jang Ilso had planned that far ahead and hidden himself among the corpses. But what can you do when this is the outcome?
In the end, their greatest means of tracking Jang Ilso had effectively been sealed off.
“Then what?”
But Yu Iseol persisted.
“Do we give up? Just keep chasing like this?”
“Dojang.”
“Should we just say we’ve done enough? While people continue to die?”
“Sago!”
Jo Geol was startled and tried to stop Yu Iseol. How long has it been since she’d shown this much emotion?
“We’re powerless. We’ve done all we can. There’s no other way.”
“…”
“Excuses and words like that… let’s put them aside. We’ve had more than enough of those already.”
Im Sobyeong clenched his fist tightly. Yu Iseol’s words lacked nuance, yet at the same time, they were undeniably right.
This is not the time to list all the reasons it can’t be done. Somehow, they had to overturn this disadvantageous situation. If they relied on logic and reason, all that remained was admitting defeat.
Just one reason would suffice. One reason to stake everything they had.
‘Damn it, even now…!’
Just as Im Sobyeong was about to blurt out something.
“Don’t make such a fuss.”
Chung Myung, who was at the front, spat out coldly. His voice was beyond indifferent, it was downright ruthless. Questioning eyes fell upon Chung Myung’s back.
But the one who offered an answer to quell their doubts wasn’t Chung Myung, but Maeng So.
“We’re already prepared.”
“What?”
Im Sobyeong turned sharply towards Maeng So, eyes wide in astonishment. Maeng So’s face remained completely calm.
“I mean, preparations to track him are already set.”
“But just a moment ago…!”
“I only said Baek Jeon couldn’t do it. It’s true we can’t follow him by scent.”
Maeng So’s eyes gleamed brightly.
“But the only way to track someone isn’t by smell, is it? Aren’t eyes more reliable than noses?”
Hope briefly lit Im Sobyeong’s face, only to be replaced by disappointment.
“We’re already doing everything we can – searching for traces, following tracks. But no matter how hard we try, there’s a limit to what the human eye can do in such a vast area, isn’t there?”
“That’s true if we’re talking about humans.”
“…Pardon?”
For a moment, Im Sobyeong seemed at a loss, then something dawned on him. His pupils shook.
“Ah!”
“They should be arriving soon.”
Maeng So lifted his gaze to the sky. The moment his words ended, a piercing cry cut through the air.
Piiieeeek!
Everyone startled, swiftly looked upward. Against the rainy sky, heavy with dark clouds, several shadows swiftly crossed overhead.
“Hawks! Yes, that’s it!”
Jo Geol shouted out in pure delight.
You can’t track them with human eyes. But if it’s a bird flying through the sky? If a hawk, capable of seeing several times farther than a person, chases him from above?
And if not just one, but dozens of such birds take flight, couldn’t they track them down and pin them in place?
Im Sobyeong, unable to contain his excitement, shouted.
“Damn it, when did you prepare all this?!”
“From the moment we confirmed Jang Ilso’s presence.”
While Maeng So remained calm, Im Sobyeong felt as though his insides were about to burst.
“For heaven’s sake, then you should’ve told me earlier! You insufferable bastards!”
It was obvious that Chung Myung and Maeng So had been communicating from the start. That must be why the two of them were so composed. They could at least have let Im Sobyeong – their strategist – know.
Maeng So slowly shook his head.
“We weren’t certain. There was no guarantee the divine birds [신조(神鳥)] scattered around the battlefield would fly here at just the right moment. We only confirmed it now.”
“Then… no, that’s not it. If we’d used birds from the beginning, we could’ve found the real-”
“Even if they’re wondrous creatures – divine birds – they’re still just birds in the end. They can’t distinguish the genuine from the fake.”
“Hm. That’s certainly true.”
Im Sobyeong nodded unconsciously. But right now, that wasn’t the main issue.
‘The vastness of the battlefield no longer matters.’
From the perspective of birds, not humans, this battlefield wasn’t expansive at all. With the keen eyesight of the divine birds controlled by the Beast Palace, spotting a group moving swiftly across this wide battlefield would be simple enough.
‘This is definitely going to work!’
Jang Ilso couldn’t have anticipated this variable. Or even if he had, there’d be no way to counter it. How could anyone avoid the watchful eyes of birds soaring overhead?
“They’re coming!”
The birds circling in the sky swooped down all at once towards Maeng So, settling on his massive figure.
It wasn’t just hawks. Ravens, small jade-colored sparrows, even large cranes… birds of every variety gazed at Maeng So’s face as though waiting for his command.
“There! That one’s here too!”
“That one?”
“Ten Thousand Li Golden Dove [만리금구(萬里金鳩)]! You can see the damn thing right over there.”
“…Wasn’t it called Golden Sparrow [청령금작(聽領金雀)]?”
Well, does that even matter right now?
Im Sobyeong looked at Maeng So and the birds surrounding him with eyes full of fervor.
‘Who would have thought the Beast Palace would be such a great help in this way?’
If Cheonumaeng had been composed solely of Just Sects’ martial artists, this sort of maneuver would never have been possible.
But Cheonumaeng now had all sorts of people gathered from every corner of the world. No matter how brilliant Jang Ilso might be, he couldn’t possibly account for every variable they introduced.
“Good.”
Maeng So raised his hand. The hawk perched on the back of it soared powerfully into the air.
“Find him!”
As soon as the order was given, dozens of divine birds simultaneously shot into the rainy sky. The golden bird [금조(金鳥)] that had been perched on Chung Myung’s head surged forth, becoming a streak of golden light piercing through the clouds.
________
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Return of the Mount Hua 
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