CHAPTER 372: I WILL SAVE THEM (3)

The leader of the rogues was a man of considerable experience.

Like many rogues affiliated with the Demon Cult, he was not originally born in the Xinjiang region.

Naturally, he wasn’t a devout follower either.

The foundation of the Demon Cult was originally modeled after the White Lotus Sect, and it wasn’t as barbaric as the people of the Central Plains believed.

However, rogues did not join the Demon Cult out of deep admiration for the teachings of the White Lotus Sect.

They did so when they were chased out after committing crimes in the Central Plains.

Or when they hoped to scavenge even crumbs of martial arts from the powerful Demon Cult.

The leader belonged to both of those categories.

Fortunately, he had been carrying out the Demon Cult’s orders fairly well as a rogue.

If he completed this mission, he would officially be allowed to join a subordinate sect under High Spirit Palace.

Perhaps it was because of that greed.

When Yi-gang took down two of his subordinates with some kind of technique, it led him to make the wrong decision.

“Kill him!”

The rogue drew his sword like lightning and struck downward.

It was quite threatening, but truthfully, in terms of martial level, the leader barely scraped into the second-tier.

With eyes that couldn’t even recognize the Qi-Control Sword technique, he likely didn’t even understand how Yi-gang subdued him.

He just felt a ripping pain in the hand holding the sword, the blade went flying, and bright stars flashed before his eyes.

The ground suddenly came up close.

Only after his face was slammed into the dirt did he realize the opponent had struck down his sword barehanded and then landed a blow to his chin.

“Keugh!”

He was an opponent he could never have beaten from the start.

He had told his subordinates to attack, so why was there no backup?

With his head driven into the ground, his vision was flipped upside down.

His subordinates, uncharacteristically obedient for rogues, had followed orders well.

At the command to kill, they immediately drew their swords, but that was as far as they got.

People never seen before burst out from the bushes and subdued the rogues.

Not a single one of them got to swing their blade properly before they were all taken down.

Only then did the leader realize they had run into a pack of tigers.

“Proper sword maintenance is a fundamental for a martial artist…”

Yi-gang frowned as he looked at the blood on his palm.

He wiped it on the clothes of the stunned rogues.

“Looks like I got quite a bit of blood on my blade.”

He hadn’t yet wiped off the blood and grease from the sword he swung earlier in the village.

Yi-gang prodded the rogue leader’s blood soiled cheek.

Kunlun Mountains.

The ruins of the annihilated Kunlun Sect.

There, a boy and a girl stood, visibly tense.

Opposite them sat Yi-gang.

“So, that’s what happened.”

The boy trembled before Yi-gang.

Even though Yi-gang hadn’t threatened him at all in the past day.

Still, one could hardly blame the boy for being afraid.

Now sixteen, he was so skinny and emaciated that he looked three years younger.

“Th-they… they killed our father…”

When he spoke of the rogues killing their father, anger and fear swelled together, and tears streamed down his face.

His little sister squeezed his hand tightly.

That eased his trembling slightly.

“All right. That’s enough.”

“Sorry for keeping you here.”

Yi-gang hadn’t immediately released the children who were kidnapped by the Demon Cult.

He had no intention of taking them with him, of course, but there were still some things he needed to ask.

Based on what the children told him, he thoroughly interrogated the Demon Cult rogues.

Those who lied or tried to downplay their misdeeds were thoroughly punished.

“I’ll send you back to your village.”

Yi-gang stood up, intending to personally escort the frightened children.

But they quickly shook their heads.

“It’s okay. We can go back on our own.”

The distance from the Kunlun Sect to their village wasn’t exactly close.

It would take at least a full day on foot.

“You don’t know the way, do you?”

“We do. We used to gather herbs and hunt.”

Since they lived in the mountains, it likely wasn’t a lie that they knew the paths.

Yi-gang hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

He didn’t have much time to spare either.

“Go ahead.”

The moment Yi-gang lightly waved his hand and turned away.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you!”

When he turned his head, the boy and girl were bowing deeply to him.

Yi-gang was slightly taken aback as he hadn’t expected them to go that far.

“Thank you for saving us…”

But the boy and girl expressed their gratitude sincerely.

Because Yi-gang had saved them, and also avenged them.

The siblings repeatedly bowed their heads as they left.

They even looked back several times.

Someone approached the silently standing Yi-gang.

“Wow~ That was touching.”

When he was young, his family had been slaughtered by bandits.

Perhaps that was why. His emotions had come into play during the interrogation of the Demon Cultists.

Yi-gang smelled blood on Dam Hyun.

Blood was visibly smeared on the hands he was wiping with a towel.

“How did it go?”

“Disappointing. I thought all Demon Cultists were skilled, but they’re just a bunch of thugs.”

“Doesn’t sound like you learned much.”

“They barely knew anything. It looks like this was organized by something called High Spirit Palace, one of the divisions within the Demon Cult. They’re gathering young kids for some unknown purpose.”

Dam Hyun knew many ways to inflict pain on a person.

Unless someone had received professional training in interrogation, they wouldn’t be able to keep their mouth shut in front of him.

“That leader guy originally killed a client who commissioned him and then ran off. He did pick up a bit of some shabby demonic arts.”

“Demonic arts, huh…”

“It was trash-tier stuff though.”

Still, it wasn’t like they got nothing out of it.

There was no structure to their operation.

They said they were first going to bring the kidnapped civilians to a local base, and from there personally escort them to the main Demon Cult base in Xinjiang.

There, a high-ranking member of the cult would pay the price.

“Good thing the Demon Cult is more sloppy than expected.”

When Yi-gang first heard Go Yo-ja’s plan, he thought it was impossible.

But as the groundwork was laid, it began to feel increasingly feasible.

Yi-gang’s group had the capability.

They had the means to extract information and could even fully disguise themselves as Demon Cultists.

“But there’s a problem.”

Dam Hyun sniffed his hand, as if the scent of blood still lingered, and muttered.

“What kind of problem?”

“It’ll be easier to show you. Dong-tak!”

Dam Hyun shouted Gal Dong-tak’s name aloud.

From afar came a response asking why he was being called.

After a bit of yelling, telling him to just come over already, Gal Dong-tak came running, panting heavily.

Yi-gang suddenly burst into a coughing fit, as if something went down the wrong pipe.

“…What is that?”

“Can’t you see? What do you think it is? I had him try out the improved Disguise Technique.”

Gal Dong-tak’s face looked as if someone were pressing it flat with a palm—completely squashed.

He had just come back from disposing of the corpses of the rogues who had become ghosts of the past.

“I just buried them, hehe.”

But Yi-gang asked about Gal Dong-tak’s face first, rather than that.

“What happened to your face?”

“Uh, well…”

Gal Dong-tak scratched the back of his head.

It was a typical gesture when someone felt embarrassed.

Dam Hyun chuckled and cut in.

“He just couldn’t get the Mimicry Disguise Technique right.”

“…Hehe.”

An important part of the Mimicry Disguise Technique was definitely the potion taken orally.

But that alone wasn’t everything.

Dam Hyun had to assist from the side using acupuncture techniques, and more importantly, the user had to know how to perform the spell themselves.

Though Gal Dong-tak had been given a crash course, he simply couldn’t keep up.

“It’s strange. I swear I explained it slowly and clearly. It shouldn’t be that hard to follow.”

Dam Hyun spoke as if frustrated.

Gal Dong-tak remained bashful.

“Well, maybe it’s for the better.”

“We needed a hostage to take with us anyway.”

“Right?”

There was no reason Yi-gang or Go Yo-ja couldn’t use the disguise technique.

After transforming into three of them, including the rogue leader. Gal Dong-tak would pose as the kidnapped victim.

Then, they would head to the base.

Dam Hyun gave Gal Dong-tak a few pats on the back.

“You’ll have to be tied up when we go. Just be ready for that.”

Gal Dong-tak’s face darkened.

But there was nothing he could do.

At that moment, Go Yo-ja appeared.

“Priests.”

In Go Yo-ja’s hand was a pigeon.

“A carrier pigeon came from the Murim Alliance.”

A look of regret appeared on his face.

Naturally, the annihilated Kunlun Sect used to have carrier pigeons that connected them with the Central Plains.

All those birds were already dead.

This particular carrier pigeon had flown in when the Murim Alliance received news of Kunlun’s destruction.

On its ankle was a tube containing a message scroll.

“Let’s open it.”

Yi-gang stepped forward.

Taking the tube, Yi-gang opened it himself.

Out came a tightly rolled piece of paper.

As Yi-gang read the message, his pupils subtly widened.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s from Father… from the Alliance Leader.”

The handwriting was unmistakably that of the Iron Blood and Merciless Baek Ryu-san. Yi-gang recognized it instantly.

The content wasn’t long.

If remnants of the Demon Cult were still hiding in Kunlun, they had to avoid leaking information.

The message was simply written with the possibility that a survivor might receive it in mind.

“If there are any survivors, send a reply.”

That was all.

Yi-gang looked at the letter briefly and then tucked it into his robe.

His father must have a lot on his mind.

The burden of being the Murim Alliance Leader, a terminally ill eldest son who departed for the Western Regions, and a second son kidnapped by the Demon Cult.

“…May I borrow some paper and a fine brush?”

“Of course.”

Go Yo-ja silently brought over the writing tools.

It was time to contact the Murim Alliance anyway.

To inform them that he would rescue those kidnapped by the Demon Cult and retrieve the scattered fragments of the souls.

Yi-gang wrote a reply using a level-one encrypted code used by the Murim Alliance.

Then he released the carrier pigeon again.

So that this well-trained pigeon could safely return home.

Yi-gang kept his eyes on the bird until it disappeared safely into the distance.

“…Let’s prepare to leave.”

It was time to depart now.

Murim Alliance Shaanxi Branch.

There stood Baek Ryu-san and the major leaders of the orthodox sects.

Those who normally preened and acted refined were now clad in robes representing their sects, swords at their waists.

Being that this was wartime, it was only natural.

In the makeshift conference hall, voices were raised in heated debate.

“We must attack immediately! If they break through Lintao Prefecture and enter Shaanxi, it’s over! The civilian casualties will be catastrophic!”

Someone shouted, spitting with emotion.

An opposing voice immediately followed.

“Forget about the civilians. Are we the military? It would be better to let them into Shaanxi and then seek the imperial army’s cooperation.”

“Aren’t you ashamed to call yourself orthodox? Our prodigies have been captured!”

The one who erupted in fury was the leader of the Beggar’s Union.

His rage extended even to the Murim Alliance Leader.

“Alliance Leader! Are you going to just sit there?!”

Baek Ryu-san remained silent.

Then the Clan Head of the Peng Clan, who stood next to the head of the Beggar’s Union, stepped forward.

“We must advance! We have to reclaim Kunlun before their main force arrives. The Demon Surge Thousand Resolves Division itself isn’t that formidable. There are rumors of a top-level master among them, but we should be able to arrive first.”

The Peng Clan Head was also desperate. Peng Mu-a, the cherished daughter of the Peng Clan, had also been taken by the Demon Cult.

But Baek Ryu-san did not give his approval.

“…We will wait for the main forces of the Unorthodox Union to arrive.”

“Alliance Leader!”

“That is the outcome of the resolution. I will not reverse it.”

His voice was as cold as ice.

The Peng Clan Head pounded his chest in frustration, but no longer objected.

“Then, this meeting is adjourned.”

Baek Ryu-san was the first to leave the conference hall.

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in his steps.

The head of the Beggar Union slumped into his seat, his face drained.

“Damn… cold-blooded, that one.”

The term cold-blooded could be used as an insult, but not this time.

Instead, it was laced with sympathy and awe.

“Even his own son was taken.”

“Grk…”

The Peng Clan Head knew it too. That’s why he voiced no more complaints.

Even Baek Ha-jun, the Young Clan Head of the Baek Clan, was missing.

It had already been reported that he had been subdued by one of the Demon Cult’s top masters.

Even so, Baek Ryu-san had not allowed a shred of personal bias in the advance of the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance.

There was no nickname more fitting than Iron Blood and Merciless.

However.

Back in his private quarters, Baek Ryu-san.

He staggered, unable to steady himself.

“Huff, huff…”

His complexion had turned pale.

He had merely concealed it due to his sense of responsibility, but his mental and emotional strength had been greatly shaken.

“How could the heavens be so heartless…”

He murmured quietly so that no one would hear.

His wife had passed away first, leaving him only two sons.

His firstborn, born with a terminal condition, had gone to Potala Palace to confront the invading Mad Wind Temple, and had not been heard from since.

His second son had been kidnapped by the Demon Cult at the Kunlun Sect.

The tragedies of the world surged at him as though they would devour him whole.

Baek Ryu-san was the father of the two brothers.

But, as he was also the Murim Alliance Leader, he could not show it outwardly.

‘Yi-gang…! Ha-jun…!’

How wonderful it would be if he could reach them.

Suppressing his breaking heart, Baek Ryu-san composed his expression.

With a slightly trembling hand, he picked up the brush.

If there were any survivors from Kunlun, they might know Ha-jun’s whereabouts.

He wrote a letter.

‘If there are any survivors, send a reply.’

Baek Ryu-san handed the letter to the person in charge of the carrier pigeons.

Now, all he could do was hope for a miracle.

That was the best Baek Ryu-san could do, as both a father and the Murim Alliance Leader.