Chapter 603

**Chapter 603. The Lazy One Solves (3)**

“Tsk.”

Wei Yanho wiped the blood running down his forehead with his sleeve. But that gesture didn’t improve his situation. The blood soaked into the fabric and continued to trickle down his face.

“Ugh.”

Wei Yanho frowned.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get used to the blood.

Despite having heard his master’s words countless times: *”A warrior who lives by the sword must treat blood as if it were water.”*

Wei Yanho turned his head to observe what was in front of him.

*”Is there no point in continuing anymore?”*

He had chased enough. And he had also achieved enough results. Thanks to Baek Hoemyung’s stupidity, everything had been quite easy.

Even so, he felt empty.

Despite the absurdly good results, the difference in strength was still vast.

He felt someone approaching rapidly from behind.

Wei Yanho turned his head slightly.

“You were here?”

Jangil and Wei Jeonghan landed on the ground. Seeing Wei Yanho’s condition, Wei Jeonghan clicked his tongue.

“Wipe your face, boy.”

“Even if I do, it doesn’t come off.”

“Tsk.”

Wei Jeonghan approached Wei Yanho and wiped his face with his sleeve. His expression darkened when he saw the blood on the cloth.

*”Is history repeating itself?”*

Wei Jeonghan had also been in a similar state at Wei Yanho’s age.

Eyes full of murderous intent after battle after battle.

Soaked in blood, fighting again and again. An era in which he was human, but at the same time he was not.

And now that horrible period was repeating itself with Wei Yanho.

Although they had fought with their lives to avoid this situation, it was difficult to avoid the despair that came with the fact that history was repeating itself.

“Agh!”

It seems he squeezed too hard. Wei Yanho’s eyes widened.

“If you have complaints, say them with words!”

“……”

No, it wasn’t like that.

This boy could never end up like him. Their natures were different.

Jangil shook his head.

“Demon. And you didn’t even kill anyone in all this.”

He had seen countless fallen bodies while following Wei Yanho. But none of them had died.

*”I don’t know if it’s mercy or cruelty.”*

Cutting tendons and muscles.

With a precision that would prevent them from ever wielding a sword again.

Not taking their lives, only their lives as martial artists. A much more difficult and tedious job than simply beheading them with one blow.

*”It would be better to die.”*

And yet, it was difficult to judge Wei Yanho’s mercy, because he knew how miserable the life of a swordsman who could no longer hold his weapon would be. If you thought about the emptiness they would feel when reduced to less than ordinary civilians, it was twice as cruel as killing them.

“Did you really need to leave them all alive? Since when do you do that?”

The Wei Yanho that Jangil knew had no consideration with the sword.

When he decided to wield his weapon, he never left survivors. It was always like that, unless there were unavoidable circumstances or someone intervened to stop him.

It didn’t seem like Wei Yanho had suddenly developed compassion.

“One or two are fine.”

Wei Yanho frowned.

“If you kill so many, some will become vengeful ghosts.”

“……”

“I can deal with humans, but ghosts scare me. Swords do nothing to them.”

Jangil smiled with satisfaction.

*”I was a fool.”*

It had been a mistake to try to understand Wei Yanho. How did he intend to understand this guy?

“Do you plan to continue chasing them?”

“No.”

Wei Yanho shook his head at Wei Jeonghan’s question.

“It would be too much.”

“I think the same.”

They could continue the chase if they wanted to. But continuing to advance would involve taking risks. It was already time for the main force pursuing them to reunite with the vanguard that had fled.

If they followed them, they would end up facing a large number of enemies at once.

And that was not what Wei Yanho wanted.

Besides, they had come to rescue, not to defeat the enemy. If they had already achieved their main objective, they should be satisfied with that.

“Let’s go back.”

“No, there are still things to do.”

“Greed brings misfortune.”

Maybe it wasn’t just that.

Wei Jeonghan, at least, didn’t want to see Wei Yanho frantically trying to defeat or kill someone. Maybe it was a luxury, now that the war had begun.

It wasn’t exactly a father’s love.

Even if he wasn’t his son, Wei Jeonghan wanted Wei Yanho to remain Wei Yanho. If even he immersed himself in the madness of war, who in the world could remain sane?

“They have already suffered enough casualties. They will need time to reorganize. We can say that we have bought enough time.”

“They need to reorganize?”

“In war there is something called structure.”

It’s not just about a hundred men being reduced to seventy. To fight efficiently, command chains and structures are needed. If you have a hundred men, you divide them into ten groups of ten and assign a commander to each.

Only then can you send the forces where you need them simply by giving orders to the commanders.

But when the structure breaks after a battle, problems arise. What if one group retains its ten members, but another only has one? Then they are no longer the same group.

If there are only ten groups, you could memorize the number of members, but when there are thousands or tens of thousands, it is impossible. Obviously, you have to reorganize.

“Tend to the wounded, restructure the groups, determine responsibilities. It seems trivial, but it’s actually a headache. That’s why wars can last for years.”

“Ah, really?”

Wei Yanho chuckled.

“Perfect. Hey, beggar!”

“Huh?”

“Go to the Baekgeom Fortress people… and tell them…”

“What?”

“Tell them that we will not capture them, that they should go home. Those who do not want to go, take them back to Baekgeom Fortress.”

“……”

Jangil looked at Wei Yanho with a perplexed expression.

*”Well, it’s reasonable.”*

Prisoners are only valuable if they can be exchanged. There is no point in retaining those who have no exchange value.

It is unlikely that Baekgeom Fortress will give up anything to rescue them.

*”There is no reason for them to surrender for those who are no longer useful in combat.”*

If the Supreme Sovereign was there, he would try to use this to negotiate a ceasefire, but Baekgeom Fortress would not accept.

So it’s better to return them and increase their burden.

“Understood for them, but what is that you have to do?”

“They are not the only ones, are they?”

Wei Yanho shrugged.

“We have to rescue those we can.”

“……”

Wei Jeonghan sighed softly.

It was expected.

Now Wei Yanho was fulfilling the agreement. Exactly as Wei Jeonghan had always expected of him.

So why did he feel this bitter aftertaste?

It was like seeing a son who never paid attention to reprimands or read a word, and suddenly you find him studying diligently, bleeding from the nose.

But worry outweighed joy.

“Will you be okay?”

“He’s been saying strange things for a while. I’m not hurt or anything.”

“…Yeah, sure.”

Wei Jeonghan knew that his concern was excessive. But knowing it with the mind and feeling it in the heart are different things.

“Don’t worry. This is not a big deal. Still…”

Wei Yanho looked at the horizon.

“The war hasn’t started yet.”

—

“Report!”

The Master of Divine Abilities, who had been drumming his fingers nervously, abruptly raised his head. The messenger who burst into the room had a lively face.

“Go ahead!”

“Yes! Wei Yanho and his group, who set out to rescue Hefei, encountered the fugitives! They managed to contain Baekgeom Fortress and secure the retreat of the rest of the troops!”

“These… guys!”

The Master of Divine Abilities trembled.

They had succeeded.

They had really succeeded.

He had thought that Wei Yanho and the others might have a chance, but deep down he was worried that he had sent them to a useless death. That worry vanished in this instant.

“And what else?”

“Yes! Wei Yanho’s group defeated the pursuers of the vanguard of Baekgeom Fortress and faced Baek Hoemyung and others. They defeated them! As a result, Baekgeom Fortress is now in retreat.”

“These madmen!”

The Master of Divine Abilities let out swear words.

But they were swear words of pure overflowing joy.

“What a mess they have made! Yes! That’s how it’s done!”

He couldn’t stop laughing.

For the first time since he heard about the death of the Supreme Sovereign, color returned to the face of the Master of Divine Abilities.

“Wei Yanho’s group is now pursuing the retreating Baekgeom Fortress.”

“…They are pursuing them?”

The expression of the Master of Divine Abilities tensed again.

*”Isn’t it too much?”*

The forces of Baekgeom Fortress number in the thousands. And only six people are pursuing them?

From common sense, it was impossible.

*”No, wait.”*

Did any of this make sense?

The fact that Wei Yanho had made them retreat was already absurd.

Of course, one could understand how it happened.

If there are thousands of rabbits, not even a tiger could defeat them all. If each rabbit bit him once as it dies, the tiger would bleed to death.

But that doesn’t happen.

Because rabbits flee when they see the tiger, whether there are a thousand or ten thousand. The concept of force against force only exists in the mind. In reality, no one wants to trade their life for scratching the enemy.

So all that remains is to flee.

Wei Yanho is not a fool. In fact, he is extremely astute. If he decided to pursue them, it is because the situation allows it.

“And the casualties? Did they say if there are any injured?”

“Casualties: zero. Not even minor injuries.”

“Oh!”

“Wei Yanho’s group reported that, once the pursuit is over, they will go to rescue Hefei.”

“Yes, sure. If they can, they should.”

The Master of Divine Abilities sighed deeply.

“A hero… I never thought I would call him that.”

He himself had spread rumors to make Wei Yanho a hero. It was something necessary. When the world suffers, people look for something to lean on.

But now that things had come to this point, he wondered if it had been necessary. Wei Yanho was walking the path of the hero without anyone guiding or helping him.

And he was doing it by breaking all the records in history.

“Silly boy.”

The Master of Divine Abilities smiled with satisfaction.

“But it’s not time for this. We have to help him. First, the situation…”

“Report!”

Another messenger ran in.

“Shaolin and Wudang have arrived at the main gate! Other sects will arrive soon.”

“I-I’ll go right now!”

The Master of Divine Abilities jumped up and ran outside.

On his face shone a hope that had not been seen in a long time.