Chapter 409

Chapter 409

“Freeze, everyone! Drop your gear and yield immediately!!”

Il-mok gave a thunderous shout, his brows knitting together as he stepped past the miserable captives who had been forced into this conflict, ensuring his men left them unharmed.

‘Where on earth did their commander slip away to? He is nowhere to be found.’

He had penetrated deep into the heart of the opposition’s formation, yet the enemy’s high command was entirely absent.

“Is it possible they have already taken flight?”

“…That appears to be the case, Young Master.”

Il-mok gave a slow shake of his head.

“In the end, the outcome aligned perfectly with what the patriarch of Dugu Ryong’s lineage desired.”

Hearing Il-mok’s remark, the female attendants accompanying him could not help but chuckle.

…

Roughly one daekyeong prior.

“This… this is absolute madness.”

The Qinghai Provincial Commander stood frozen, a look of sheer bewilderment on his face that was entirely inappropriate for a grand commander.

His shock stemmed entirely from the devastating combat techniques unleashed by the warrior known as Il-mok.

Even as the devoted zealots charged forward with fierce cries right after, he remained trapped in a state of utter paralysis.

“P-please, show mercy!!”

“What do you think you are doing!!”

Though he eventually regained his senses, it altered nothing. He could only shout frantically at his subordinates to execute any plan—anything at all—to turn the tide.

While the vanguard collapsed in a matter of moments.

A particular officer brought forward a baffling observation.

“P-Provincial Commander, sir! Something makes no sense!”

“Speak plainly!”

“These forces were supposed to be pinned down by the Western Army Inspectorate; how on earth did they manage to circle around and ambush us here?”

It was an epiphany that arrived far too late to matter.

“Are you implying that the Western Army Inspectorate has met its demise!?”

“That is a distinct possibility, sir.”

At this point, every ounce of color drained from the Qinghai Provincial Commander’s face.

“They completely dismantled a vanguard of eighty thousand—how are we expected to withstand them!”

Recognizing that total defeat was inevitable, the Qinghai Provincial Commander reached a rapid conclusion.

“Any soldier who yields will face execution for high treason, and their entire lineage will be put to the sword!! Stand your ground to the last breath—disseminate the command!!”

The Qinghai Provincial Commander sent this directive out to his various officers across the field through his messengers.

The moment the instruction began to circulate among the ranks, the Qinghai Provincial Commander turned on his heel and sprinted away without looking back.

He intended to use the bodies of his own troops as a defensive barrier to secure his personal safety.

His subordinates, well aware of the cowardly nature of the man they served, immediately trailed behind him the instant the command was delivered.

“Press forward into the fray at once!”

“Move out!”

Even during their retreat, they maintained the facade of barking out orders to advance.

With the troops’ fighting spirit already completely broken, an open display of desertion would ensure the frontline wouldn’t hold long enough to protect them.

That defined the absolute boundary of their strategic deception.

Sprinting backward through the chaos like migrating fish, they successfully broke past the perimeter of the battlefield.

“Krahaha! Leave none of them standing!!”

Blocking their path was Dugu Ryong, leading his force of three thousand nomad cavalry.

This specific regiment of nomad cavalry had departed as an independent flank unit the moment the Gansu Army initiated its forward movement, taking up positions here a significant time ago.

They had maintained a perimeter on the outside, waiting patiently for the engagement to peak.

They had not foreseen that the leadership of Qinghai would retreat along this exact path.

Their presence here was merely a tactical maneuver intended to flank or strike the rear, mirroring the strategy utilized against the Western Army Inspectorate to gain an upper hand.

Strangely enough, that operational placement inadvertently transformed into a masterstroke.

All courtesy of the Qinghai Provincial Commander’s utter lack of capability and profound dread.

“S-Sir!?”

As the horsemen bore down upon them, the retreating officers turned their gazes in sheer terror toward the Provincial Commander.

He spun his head around in absolute desperation.

An onslaught of riders barred his path forward.

Their own retreating forces lay behind them, but they had already created a noticeable gap between themselves and the main camp since embarking on their flight.

“Curse it all!”

Adopting a reckless, desperate mindset, the Provincial Commander veered around and sprinted back toward the relative safety of his own lines.

His subordinates scrambled to match his retreat.

Swaeeeeek!!

A barrage of projectiles from the nomad cavalry brought their momentum to a grinding halt.

Pababak.

“Gah….”

Several individuals collapsed into the dirt after blindly running straight into a volley from the rear.

Clang!

Others pivoted on the spot, brandishing their blades to narrowly parry the oncoming missiles.

The core issue was that stopping to defend against the arrows stripped away their ability to run.

“If any soul among you can best me in combat, I shall grant you your life”

The already disorganized Qinghai Army dissolved entirely the moment they realized their command structure had completely vanished.

Actual fatalities remained minimal. The vast majority of the broken Qinghai forces chose to yield right from the beginning, ensuring that the casualty count was kept exceedingly low.

“Krahaha! No spirited challengers remain to face my blade!!”

The decapitated head of the opposing general swinging from Dugu Ryong’s mount as he tore through the field only served to make the remaining regiments surrender all the quicker.

“An absolute triumph, Young Master Il-mok! Out of roughly sixty thousand participants on both sides, the combined total of fatalities and critical injuries barely surpasses three thousand—while our own casualties are beneath a hundred!”

The officer who had assumed control in place of the Provincial Commander brought forward the final statistics, prompting Il-mok to emit another dry chuckle.

“We have found ourselves in a position where we must express gratitude to the opposing leader for his utter incompetence.”

It was impossible to discern whether Il-mok intended this statement as irony or genuine fact, but the maidservants surrounding him and the reporting officer all erupted into amusement.

A triumphant atmosphere dominated every other corner as well.

Combatants situated near the primary pavilion voiced songs of conquest or engaged in spiritual devotion.

Even though the bulk of them were standard infantry and auxiliary levies, they bore an uncanny resemblance to zealous devotees of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Il-mok observed the spectacle for a brief moment before issuing further directives.

“Permit those individuals who were conscripted by the Qinghai Army without proper defensive gear or weaponry to return to their respective settlements. Along their journey, distribute the provisions we transported.”

As soon as Il-mok’s decrees made their way down through the ranking officers, the loyal zealots systematically cleared the remnants of the clash.

The men who had been dragged to the front lines without shields or blades left the encampment under the protection of Gansu regulars tasked with ensuring their safe return.

Fascinatingly, supply wagons trailed alongside the columns making their way back to their origins.

And several suns later.

“Oh, Honorable Magistrate!”

As the conscripted men returned to their doorsteps, emotional scenes of kin reunited occurred throughout the region of Qinghai.

Furthermore.

“Wh-what exactly is this text?”

Coarse fabric, parchment, and sheets of thin tree bark containing written words began to circulate across Qinghai.

The documents meticulously outlined the corruption of the royal court and the castrates, contrasting it with the noble mission of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult regarding Qinghai.

Prompted by the declarations of the Gansu regulars as they traveled through Qinghai, the chain-letter movement that had its genesis in Lanzhou began to find duplication here as well.

In the meantime, precisely as the distribution of letters and conscription efforts gained momentum within Qinghai.

Having successfully integrated the remnants of the Qinghai Army, Il-mok altered his course back toward Lanzhou, where a duo of correspondence awaited his arrival.

The first originated from the Provincial Commander traveling toward Sichuan.

The second came directly from Wi Jin-hak stationed within Shaanxi Province.

Il-mok’s features shifted into a profoundly serious cast upon absorbing the contents of Wi Jin-hak’s message.

“Instruct all regiments to mobilize for Shaanxi immediately!”

…

Slightly over a ten-day period prior.

The sun following the successful blockade of Zhongnan and Mount Hua by the primary forces of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, visitors arrived from the frontline of Hubei.

“We extend our deepest appreciation for your presence here.”

Wi Jin-hak welcomed the newcomers with pressed knuckles, a gesture returned in kind by the Zhuge Clan Leader, the Tai Chi Sword Immortal, and the Iron King.

“Our journey encountered delays—we offer our regrets.”

“We could never have anticipated you would contain both strongholds within a single sunrise.”

“The overall capability of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult far surpasses our calculations.”

Following brief pleasantries, the representatives of the Zhuge Clan adjusted their positions slightly to present the young lady traveling in their company.

She was the offspring of the Zhuge Clan who had previously journeyed to Gansu alongside Huang Bo Yeon and Huang Bo Se-hee.

“This is my second female offspring, Eun-young.”

“Zhuge Eun-young of the Zhuge Clan offers respects to the Grand Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”

“I am Wi Jin-hak, representing the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”

Though showing signs of physical restoration after casting aside his previous mortal boundaries, Wi Jin-hak possessed the maturity of a middle-aged man, and Zhuge Eun-young appeared to be his generational peer—approaching the maturity of Huang Bo Se-hee—as they traded formal salutations. Huang Bo Ak, standing adjacent to the group, cleared his throat with a slight cough.

“Ahem. Zhuge Clan Leader. Is this presentation not occurring a bit prematurely?”

In response to Huang Bo Ak’s hesitation regarding the transparent marital proposition, Zhuge Mun concealed his lower features behind a paper fan and transmitted his thoughts privately to Huang Bo Ak.

-If it displeases you that we took the initiative, you should simply state it openly.

Finding himself devoid of an effective counter to Zhuge Mun’s observation, Huang Bo Ak chose to remain quiet.

He was still locked in deep contemplation.

Was forging an alliance with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult via a marital bond truly the optimal path for his lineage’s future?

If that were the case, would it be more prudent to align with Cult Leader Wi Jin-hak or the youthful Young Master Il-mok?

Suddenly, a distinct voice pulled Huang Bo Ak from his internal deliberations.

“Huang Bo lineage head. If I may speak candidly, I am no innocent youth blind to the realities of our era.”

The words belonged entirely to Zhuge Eun-young.

“My sire did not compel my presence here through coercion. This represents my independent choice. Furthermore, I do not arrive merely seeking safety by wedding the Cult Leader. Above all else, it hinges entirely on the preference of the Cult Leader himself.”

Finishing her statement, Zhuge Eun-young redirected her focus away from Huang Bo Ak to look directly at Wi Jin-hak.

“Cult Leader. I recognize that I may seem undeserving of confidence, and I am currently unversed in the tenets of your organization. However, I maintain that relationships between individuals develop value as they discover one another’s character. Does that not hold true for a man and a woman as well?”

In an era dominated by alliances of state and lineage, betrothed pairs frequently discovered each other’s traits only after the nuptials were complete.

“Therefore, from this sunrise forward, I pledge to familiarize myself with you and the philosophy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, dedicating my efforts to becoming a companion worthy of your rank. Should you have no desire to take me as your spouse, I request that you voice it now—I implore you.”

Observing her resolute posture, even Huang Bo Ak could discern the truth.

She had not been coerced by Zhuge Mun—she had wholeheartedly embraced the prospect of a union with the Cult Leader.

‘…Understood. If the path remains unclear to me, I ought to simply inquire with the individual directly affected, Se-hee.’

As Huang Bo Ak mulled this over, Wi Jin-hak let out a robust laugh before speaking.

“Hahaha. Your direct nature is quite refreshing. Very well. The female counterpart to the leadership of the magnificent Heavenly Demon Divine Cult must possess unwavering dignity.”

He gave his consent to the alliance with Zhuge Eun-young.

Consequent to this, their initial encounter transitioned directly into the marriage proceedings, occurring with incredible speed.

Zhuge Mun, Zhuge Eun-young, and their immediate attendants rapidly organized the essential elements of the ritual. The gathered combatants of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Beggars’ Sect, the Huang Bo Clan, Wudang, and the remaining parties in attendance assumed the roles of wedding guests.

The abruptly arranged nuptials provided zero opportunity for formal notifications or elaborate traditional protocols.

Nevertheless, despite the basic nature of the gathering, the assembled martial artists of the organization shouted with immense fervor for their commander.

“May ten thousand demons celebrate!!!”

Surrounded by their ceaseless cheers, Wi Jin-hak faced Zhuge Eun-young with a self-assured grin.

“Current events compel us to settle for this unpretentious gathering, but once triumph in this campaign is secured, we shall stage a magnificent, proper celebration.”

Zhuge Eun-young offered a gentle expression.

A strategic union designed to ensure her family’s continued existence. She had only set eyes on her betrothed on this very sunrise, yet his bold declaration of coming success resonated with her as remarkably attractive.

…

Though the initial encounter and the wedding transpired in the blink of an eye, they did not share a matrimonial bed that evening.

Immediately following the conclusion of the event, while the celebrations were at their height, several individuals from the lower rungs of the martial world arrived in a frenzy, utilizing swift traversal methods.

The Chief of the Beggars’ Sect, having received the intelligence from these runners, made his way toward Wi Jin-hak with an extremely solemn countenance.

“Regiments from the various martial lineages are convening within Henan, consolidating around the Hebei Peng Clan and Shaolin. Furthermore, our information networks indicate that the Central Army Inspectorate is issuing mandatory mobilization orders to every regional territory.”