Chapter 62
Chapter 62: Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven
With his saber drawn, the Gyojin Gang leader leaped into the sky.
Right behind him surged his pack of thugs, hefty blades held ready for blood.
Though Ak’an County sprawled along the lake shore with endless winding alleys, the Gyojin Gang leader ignored every bend, driving forward in a piercing straight trajectory as he vaulted perimeter walls and bounded across tiled roofs.
Streets were meant for common strides, but these ruthless men had eyes set solely on their destination.
“Quicken your stride!”
Observing the marketplace merchants and shoppers scatter in sheer terror, the Gyojin Gang leader bellowed his command, and his subordinates roared back as one.
“Understood!”
Ordinary folk fleeing on foot could never outrun martial artists applying lightfoot arts in a relentless beeline. Even so, the Gyojin Gang leader refused to leave a single thread to chance.
We will exterminate every last one of them. That little whelp in particular—I will rip him limb from limb with my bare hands.
Before long, the perimeter of the Baek Estate emerged in the distance.
The mere thought that a lineage considered nothing more than third-rate dregs until recently now occupied the grandest estate in all of Ak’an County made bile rise in his throat.
By dawn, that ancestral compound with its centuries of history would be reduced to smoldering ash.
The Gyojin Gang leader held up a palm, and at his silent gesture, every raider masked their presence and silenced their breathing.
“Advance in total stealth until we are ten zhang out. Then, unleash everything at once.”
Whispering his final directive, the Gyojin Gang leader crept forward at a measured pace.
The only true wildcard is the Master of the Baek Estate, who has crossed into the apex realm. Yet in sheer headcount, we outnumber them nearly two to one.
Even against a cultivator of the apex realm, overwhelming numerical superiority provided more than enough leverage to guarantee victory. Furthermore, Baek Muryang had to be nursing significant internal trauma from the life-and-death clash earlier that day.
He had weighed every variable dispassionately and analyzed the odds from every angle.
The conclusion remained absolute.
Tonight marks the extinction of the Baek house.
Yet the Gyojin Gang leader had completely missed one vital, glaring anomaly.
While he congratulated himself on his cold, meticulous calculation, he failed to question why the Baek Estate, which should have been alive with the clamor of a victory feast, lay steeped in total, unnerving quiet.
“Strike! Leave none alive! Three of the Four Squadron Leaders, surround the Master of the Baek Estate alongside me! Squadron Leader Dong, take charge of the rest and butcher them!”
Bellowing with all the force in his lungs, the Gyojin Gang leader vaulted clean over the high gateway of the Baek Estate.
The instant his boots struck the stone courtyard, the scene waiting before him froze his blood.
“Well now. You arrived right on the dot, didn’t you?”
Grasping their weapons in unwavering stances, the retainers of the Baek Estate who had been lying in wait smirked in unison.
Roughly two shichen earlier.
“Steward Han. Before we sit down for any celebration, there is a matter that demands our immediate preparation.”
Hearing Yanghwi’s solemn remark, Steward Han blinked with a baffled expression.
“Preparation? For what, Young Lord Hwi?”
“An ambush by the Gyojin Gang.”
Noticing the color drain from Steward Han’s face, Yanghwi pressed on.
“They are the very scavengers who devoured the Suho Alliance through an unprovoked surprise assault. Do you truly believe scoundrels like that will swallow defeat in a sanctioned death match and quietly slink away?”
“…….”
“…….”
Steward Han could utter no rebuttal, nor could any of the gathered retainers. In their hearts, the logic was undeniable.
“I wondered if they might hesitate to trample whatever shred of dignity they had left, but the harsh reality is that they are vile enough to do exactly that.”
“Taking precautions certainly cannot harm us.”
“Postponing the feast is our only inconvenience, and guarding against disaster must always come before celebration.”
Once an understanding was reached with Steward Han, Yanghwi relayed his assessment to Baek Muryang, who had just stepped out after checking on his wife.
“Your reasoning is sound. Better to be overly cautious than caught unprepared; let us proceed accordingly.”
Without delay, the Baek Estate retainers abandoned their festive preparations and threw themselves into readying defensive measures.
Gu Ak displayed the greatest fervor among them, having pumped himself up for the earlier death match only to stand by without swinging his axe even once.
“Warriors of the Reformation Pavilion, open your ears! The hour has arrived to repay the immense grace the Baek family bestowed upon us when they granted us shelter! If a single one of you wavers or harbors cowardly thoughts, I will execute you where you stand! Move!”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
Observing Gu Ak rally the Reformation Pavilion disciples, Yanghwi let out an appreciative whistle in his mind.
They are actually beginning to carry themselves like proper martial artists, aren’t they?
A full six months had passed since Gu Ak earnestly committed himself to turning these underworld ruffians onto an honorable path. Though they had not shed every trace of their outlaw demeanor, they now looked remarkably disciplined.
To be fair, Brother Gu did beat them within an inch of their lives just a month ago.
At the time, their confidential ties to the Tang Clan had been leaked by a mole hidden within the ranks of the Reformation Pavilion, which was the sole catalyst for the Gyojin Gang’s sudden challenge to a death match. Consumed by shame and fury over his failure to control his subordinates, Gu Ak had battered his crew ruthlessly, and ever since, their obedience and conduct had undergone a stark transformation.
Come to think of it, we must still root out and settle the matter of that traitor. But securing our perimeter against this raid takes precedence.
After escorting all non-combatants to the deepest, most fortified sanctuary at the estate’s core, the remaining fighters took up their arms. When about one shichen slipped by, Yanghwi conferred once more with Baek Muryang, who had just finished applying medical treatment to Jeong Inhwa.
“Hmm. Your logic holds firm. So long as it safeguards our people, postponing our banquet for a short span is no burden whatsoever.”
With the patriarch’s explicit sanction secured, Yanghwi focused his mind and sent a qi transmission toward Yeo Hyeok.
— Elder. Could you slip past the compound, keep a sharp lookout, and alert us the moment those Gyojin thugs draw near?
— Right away, young master.
Yeo Hyeok’s silhouette dissolved effortlessly into the darkness.
It was not long before his voice resonated directly in their ears.
— The young master’s foresight was flawless. The Gyojin thugs are descending upon us in droves. They will reach the gates in half a gak.
Baek Muryang’s eyes flashed with sharp radiance as he received the identical message.
“The Gyojin Gang draws near. Everyone, hold your ground, raise your guards, and maintain absolute silence.”
The retainers slid into their designated stations with disciplined focus. Although the Baek Estate lacked an elaborate ancestral battle array, they formed a sturdy battle line designed specifically to maximize mutual defense and interlocking strikes.
— Young master. The vanguard is at our doorstep. They breach at any second.
The instant Yeo Hyeok’s mental transmission faded—
“Strike! Leave none alive! Three of the Four Squadron Leaders, surround the Master of the Baek Estate alongside me! Squadron Leader Dong, take charge of the rest and butcher them!”
Accompanied by a bloodthirsty roar, a figure cleared the top of the outer gate and slammed onto the flagstones of the courtyard. It was a burly, middle-aged martial artist gripping a massive saber—unmistakably the Gyojin Gang leader. Catching the man’s pupils dilate in stunned disbelief, Yanghwi could not help but chime in.
“Well now. You arrived right on the dot, didn’t you?”
Watching the Gyojin thugs tumble over the parapet in an unbroken wave, Baek Muryang unsheathed his blade toward the night sky.
“Stones!”
They had predicted this very assault from the onset. Fully aware of their disadvantage in headcount, they had engineered countermeasures well in advance, and the heavy piles of jagged rocks lining the perimeter were merely the first line of reception.
“Take this!”
“Let’s see who cracks more skulls!”
“Smash their heads in!”
A furious barrage of projectiles darkened the sky, showering down like a storm of ten thousand lethal blossoms. Though barely lethal against hardened martial practitioners, it was more than sufficient to break their momentum, shatter their rhythm, and inflict a stinging mess of contusions and gashes.
“Damn it all! Do not falter, press forward! Our numbers dwarf theirs!”
Even as the wave of Gyojin thugs charged forward with bared steel, the retainers of the Baek Estate did not advance a single step. Instead, they dug their boots in and reinforced their defensive formation. In truth, advancing was impossible for them as well, and with excellent reason.
“Aaargh!”
“M-My foot!”
“Curse it, pits! It’s a trap!”
Concealed pits crisscrossed the courtyard terrain, packed to the brim with sharp, jagged shards of scrap metal.
That alone broke thirty percent of their charging force.
With the flesh of their feet pierced through and their lightfoot footwork ruined, the crippled Gyojin thugs were reduced to stationary targets, pelted mercilessly by a second volley of stone projectiles.
“Gaaah!”
“Aaaargh!”
Scarcely half of the original Gyojin raiding party managed to reach the fortified line of the Baek retainers. Their overwhelming advantage in numbers had dissolved into nothingness.
“Father. The battlefield is ours to control. If we decapitate their commanders first, total victory will follow without difficulty.”
“You speak the absolute truth.”
Baek Muryang’s sword shivered softly, igniting with a radiant aura of pure white light.
“Gyojin Gang leader.”
“Baek Muryang!”
“It appears your vile nature remains utterly incurable.”
“Shut your wretched mouth!”
As Baek Muryang stepped into the open, three squadron leaders quickly maneuvered to form a tight square formation flanking the Gyojin Gang leader.
To conclude this battle swiftly, I must break their formation immediately.
“Brother Gu! Charge with me!”
“Right on your heels!”
Springing forward side by side with Gu Ak, Yanghwi drove the tip of his sword directly toward one of the three squadron leaders.
Hundred and Eight Heaven-Splitting Swords, First Form.
Arrow Feathers Pierce Rock.
Whooosh!
Accompanied by the shrill resonance of the Bee Wing Sound, the lethal thrust sped straight toward the squadron leader’s groin, driving the man into a frantic, scrambling retreat. From the opposite flank, Gu Ak cleaved his battleaxe downward against another squadron leader at that exact heartbeat, violently shattering their four-man square array.
“Father! Please execute them while we pin these two down!”
“Understood!”
Yanghwi shifted his gaze to lock onto the flustered squadron leader before him.
“Why not turn tail and run while your legs still work? If you linger here, you will die.”
Confronted by an eight-year-old child whose cultivation was ostensibly lower than his own yet who possessed the audacity to mock him, the squadron leader’s visage burned scarlet with fury.
“Die, brat! Even if I perish tonight, I will rip that arrogant mouth off your face first!”
My goodness, listen to him begging to be put out of his misery.
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