Episode 320. Unexpected Encounter (1)
The magician Gwak Yeon still remembered the conversation he had with his mother when he was dispatched to Guizhou.
━Gun Jang-ro and Eun-ryeong. You should consider the words of these two as those of this mother and follow them well. Do not rush ahead in a fit of pride, and always be aware of your surroundings. I heard that Dang Ga-ju ascended to Hwagyeong and regained her beauty from the days when she was called the most beautiful in the four heavens. If possible, do not travel alone, but if you do, be careful when you encounter a beautiful woman.
━If she is the most beautiful woman in Sacheon, she must be a beauty comparable to your mother.
It was a story that was almost like a joke, but strangely enough, it stayed in my mind for a long time. Maybe it was because I had taken in many women recently. I had imagined several times what the appearance of the man I was about to meet would be like.
So, when I saw a woman standing among those who were presumed to be Jeongcheon Maengdo, I muttered to myself, ‘Dang Ji-hye.’
It was not that it was not, but the woman who had just entered Kwak Yeon’s eyes was extremely beautiful. In an instant, the four characters “the most beautiful in the world” were engraved on his mind like a seal.
The first thing that stands out is the fact that her long hair is pulled back so that it doesn’t get in the way, revealing her beautiful neck like white jade. Her large eyes, like those of an innocent girl, her high nose, and her lips that look as if they’re soaked in red juice, give her an overall cute feel.
She was wearing simple attire that restricted her ability to fully display her charm as a woman, and her body was covered in dust, either from the haste she had to run or from the brief battle, but her beauty was not diminished at all.
Sichuan’s best beauty, poisonous phoenix, Tanggaju – it was natural that Kwak Yeon would sequentially associate such words. He swears that he has never seen a woman more beautiful than her since he was born. Including his mother Kwak Hwa-yeong, who was called Guizhou’s best beauty when she was young and who had practiced the art of eye correction to avoid the passage of time as much as possible.
So it was not strange that Gwak Yeon guessed that the woman holding the fan like a sword was Dang Ji-hye, the head of the Dang family. If she had ascended to Hwagyeong and become a half-life, as he had heard, she would have regained all of the youth and beauty she had when she was called the most beautiful woman in Sacheon.
Of course, if Gwak Yeon had time to think a little deeper, he would have quickly realized that the woman was not Tang Zhihui. If the peerless Tang family master with the art of mass murder and the art of dark magic and poison had really appeared here, the cavalry circling outside of Aksan County would have likely already been corpses before he arrived.
But before Kwak Yeon could continue his thoughts, an angry voice erupted.
“What are you, you punk? Judging from the way you exude magical energy, you seem to be a lowly member of the Guo family. Why are you speaking the name of the head of the main family so carelessly?”
The one-armed swordsman who had come out was so fierce that it seemed as if he would have even used a sword if his right arm had been intact.
Kwak Yeon tilted his head and asked again.
“… … Then what about you, young lady? Isn’t that the beauty of humanity?”
“I don’t know who you are, but you are rude. And I, too, am not worthy of your beauty.”
“This is rude.”
Kwak Yeon nodded his head in relief at the woman’s sharp words. In any case, he judged that if she wasn’t the head of the family, there wouldn’t be much danger. She was the only person in Sacheon who needed to be careful.
The master of the Jo Hwa-gyeong, Dang Ji-hye – Since her absence was confirmed, there was no reason to rush the attack. Without a peerless master, it would be difficult to overcome the difference in forces. The enemy’s number was only one hundred, so if all the forces stirring around Aksan-hyeon heard the order to gather and gathered, our number would reach a whopping four hundred. It was truly an overwhelming advantage.
Feeling his composure growing, Kwak Yeon opened his mouth.
“I was so surprised by the beauty I saw for the first time in my life that I forgot to introduce myself. This person is the head of the Guo clan of Guizhou.”
“Then, are you Kwak Yeon?”
“You know me? It is an honor. A beautiful woman like you calls me by the name of the prince you have seen. Now, I think it is time to hear the young lady’s fame.”
“Well, I don’t think we’re in a position to make a formal statement. Above all, aren’t you trying to waste time right now? I can see the troops joining us behind me.”
The woman holding the saddle – Jegal Yeong-yeong asked with her eyes narrowed. In fact, while exchanging a few words with Gwak Yeon, there were about ten more cavalrymen in addition to those he had brought.
“Hmm. That’s… … .”
“Short story.”
Zhuge Yingying did not answer immediately and did not wait any longer for Guo Yan to hesitate. Instead, he quickly turned his head and called out to Murong Hui. This was to convey the message that the enemy’s numbers had to be reduced immediately.
Mo Yong-hui, who received her gaze, also opened his mouth and spoke with a voice full of sincerity.
“Resume the attack!”
As soon as his order was given, the sound of the spears being drawn again and the sound of the ground being kicked hard were heard. The horses, surprised by the sudden approach, neighed and raised their front legs, and those who had fully approached took advantage of the gap to cut off the horses’ legs or split their bellies with their bluish sword energy or sword energy. This was because they realized that dealing with those on horseback was quite difficult in the brief battle before the lull due to Gwak Yeon’s appearance. Since most of the spears here were short, it was best to attack the lower body, but the enemies rode horses, secured the upper body to some extent by covering their armor, and fiercely stabbed and swung their long spears. They were personally trained by Taechangma Guncheonak, so his spearmanship skills were extraordinary. That alone would make them difficult to deal with, but the enemies were not ordinary soldiers. All of the people riding horses were demons who could generate considerable magical energy waves, and they were skilled enough to be called masters in the martial arts world. You can tell just by looking at the magical energy wrapped around the blades they were swinging. There was a world of difference between simply building up internal energy to strengthen your body and completely releasing it outside your body to wrap it around the blades to increase your killing power.
So, first, the Su-Mang-Dan members attacked the horses. It was difficult to defeat the enemies wearing armor all at once, so the intention was to first neutralize the horses they were riding.
however.
Pupupupupu━!!
Guo Jia’s cavalrymen calmly thrust their spears back with their upper bodies tilted back as if they had expected that the horses would be startled and that the Suimengdan members would take advantage of the gap to attack them. An attack that targeted the weak point of a weak point━Not many had the ability to react and evade. In this way, more than a dozen Suimengdan soldiers were impaled to death with astonished expressions.
“You idiots. Your shallow tricks… … .”
One of the Guo Jia cavalrymen, who was laughing triumphantly as he retrieved his spear, was unable to finish his sentence. It was only natural. His head had already been cut off.
‘… … It’s not easy. There are more people like this.’
The leader of the Su-Meng-Dan, Mo Yong-Hwi, swung several of the swift swords of the Martial Arts of the Cham-Pung-Bun-Yun Sword Technique (斬風分雲劍法) while thinking. Another head is cut off. Although they were protected by armor, they were easily cut like a piece of paper in front of the sword energy created by the internal energy accumulated through the Qian-Gun-Baek-Jeol-Sim-Beop (乾坤百絶心法).
After swinging his sword and letting his remaining strength flow naturally, Murong Hui turned his gaze to one side. There, Tang Ji-zhong was swinging his sword with a fierce aura, and he was also taking the lives of the cavalrymen without difficulty. Although Tang Ji-zhong had personally taught him how to use the sword by his leader and executioner, he had not learned proper swordsmanship. For him to show such prowess in such a state was certainly proof of his talent. His opponent’s skill was not so weak that he could be defeated by the unexpectedness of the left-handed sword.
‘… … Young Lady Zhuge is also safe.’
Rolling his eyes once more, Murong Hui finally felt relieved. Zhuge Yingying was also blocking the pouring spear strikes with her fan energy wrapped around her. In fact, he had expected her to be safe. As a member of the Zhuge family, she was a very sharp woman, so even if the enemy attacked her by taking advantage of her weak points, she would have predicted that as a variable. It was fundamentally different from Murong Hui himself or Tang Jizhong who evaded with only a momentary reaction.
However, Mo Yong-hui had no choice but to check on her safety. He thought that was the only way he could put his mind at ease.
Squeak━
Murong Hui, who succeeded in cutting off one of the heads with another lightning-like swing of his sword, once again took in the sight of Zhuge Yingying. She was not simply blocking the attack, but was also skillfully changing the direction to make the cavalry attack each other. Did she deeply study the subtleties of change, transformation, and flow and completely embody them?
On the other hand, the fact that the enemies attacked each other did not immediately lead to life-threatening injuries. However, Zhuge Liang’s target seemed to be completely different.
Whoosh━
Whoosh━
The cavalrymen who had been attacking each other were slightly flustered as they swung their spears at Jegal Yeong-yeong, and in that moment, she lowered her body and flipped her saddle back and forth. Then, surprisingly, the horses lost their balance and began to fall. No, they didn’t just fall, they flipped over so hard that their bellies were exposed. It was so bad that even if you were trained in the most famous horsemanship, you couldn’t avoid falling off your horse.
Poopoop━
It wasn’t that hard for the members of the Suimengdan around Jegal Yeongyeong to kill enemies who had fallen from their horses or were in the process of falling from their horses. Those in this position were the elites selected from among the 500 members of the Suimengdan. In the first place, those who remained in the territory as Suimengdan had somewhat lagged behind in terms of martial arts achievements within the Jeongcheon Alliance, but dozens of them, including Tang Gye-jung and Jegal Yeongyeong, who trained day and night, had achieved remarkable results.
‘I didn’t know I would encounter the Guo Jia army like this… … .’
In fact, the purpose of the 100 Suimengdan who started to move south from Maengji was to defeat the Sapa forces who seemed to be heading north to exploit the civilians during the crisis in Sacheon. They were defeated after the fall of Heuksalyeon and were driven back to Yunnan in disarray.
━It would be better to turn around a little and go down. If the Guizhou Guo family troops moving north are slightly shifted to the west, there is a chance that they will encounter those moving south.
Following Zhuge Liang’s advice, Murong Hui led a hundred men of the Suimengdan and gradually moved westward and southward.
By the time we reached the vicinity of Amisan Mountain.
They discovered several lines of ominous smoke rising from the direction of Aksan-hyeon in the distance. It was evidence of arson. They could guess that something unusual was going on.
━Did the Sapa guys come all the way here?
━I guess I’ll have to go there to find out, Brother Dang.
━It’s probably the Guo Jia army. With their speed and mobility as they gallop on fine horses, they could have arrived here by now.
It was just as Zhuge Liang had expected.
As I approached, hiding my presence, I saw nearly a hundred cavalrymen circling around Aksanhyeon. Then, when civilians jumped out from inside, they rode their horses as if they had been waiting, and stabbed them to death. It was a cruel act that did not discriminate between children, the elderly, and women. It was a scene that naturally brought to mind the phrase, “Heaven and man’s mutual anger.”
━… … As the leader of the Su-Mang-Dan, I must give you an order that I regret.
Murong Hui didn’t think long. It was obvious that the longer he delayed, the more civilians would die.
━Prepare for battle.
……. (continue)
