Chapter 315
Cornered and pressed, the Hyeongsan Sect’s leader, Wi Jeong-guk, had very few options left to choose from.
But that didn’t mean he was entertaining any thoughts of surrender.
On the contrary, the word “surrender” didn’t even exist in his mind.
And that was only natural for Wi Jeong-guk.
Despite the unfavorable circumstances, they were still the Hyeongsan Sect—one of the strongest among the Nine Great Sects.
There was no way they could be defeated by a mere successor of the Four Emperors and a ragtag group of minor sects from Honam Province.
At least, Wi Jeong-guk firmly believed that.
With a voice trembling with fury, he ordered his deputy, Ja Gwang-jin.
“Immediately, gather every martial artist to the training grounds. The ultra-elite, the elite, first-class, second-class—everyone! Just because we’ve lost a few top masters doesn’t mean we’ve weakened! We’ll show them the true power of the Hyeongsan Sect!”
Ja Gwang-jin squeezed his eyes shut.
He knew Wi Jeong-guk wouldn’t surrender, but to fight to the death in this situation?
If things went wrong, the damage to the Hyeongsan Sect could be catastrophic.
It was a response he could never agree with.
Cautiously, Ja Gwang-jin spoke up.
“Wouldn’t it be better for the leaders to face off instead? If negotiations go well, we could limit this to a battle between a few elites…”
Of course, the best outcome in his mind was for Wi Jeong-guk to take full responsibility and face the opponent one-on-one—or surrender.
If he won, that would be ideal. If he lost, at least the leader would bear the burden and step down, avoiding the worst-case scenario.
In fact, Ja Gwang-jin thought Wi Jeong-guk surrendering might not be so bad.
The Hyeongsan Sect had already lost more than half its strength.
No one could even guess how long it would take to recover.
So, in his view, minimizing further damage was the only sensible choice.
But Wi Jeong-guk’s thoughts were different.
With dangerously gleaming eyes, he retorted.
“Why should I do that?”
Ja Gwang-jin stammered, caught off guard.
“W-well? For the survival of the Hyeongsan Sect…”
Suddenly, Wi Jeong-guk grabbed Ja Gwang-jin by the collar and yanked him close.
With a fierce expression, he whispered.
“That’s not it, is it? You think you can use me as a scapegoat to escape this mess, don’t you? Admit it.”
“Y-yes?”
Ja Gwang-jin couldn’t deny it outright.
Though their perspectives differed, it wasn’t entirely untrue.
Wi Jeong-guk sneered and whispered again.
“No, that won’t do. Everything in the Hyeongsan Sect belongs to me. I made you all part of the Nine Great Sects. I made you rulers of Honam Province. So if I fall, you all must fall with me. Don’t entertain foolish thoughts. We must only think of victory. If I disappear, then neither the Hyeongsan Sect nor you will remain.”
Ja Gwang-jin swallowed hard, staring into Wi Jeong-guk’s eyes filled with a dangerous, almost mad light.
He finally understood—it was madness.
Wi Jeong-guk shoved Ja Gwang-jin away and barked.
“What are you waiting for?! Gather all the disciples immediately!”
Ja Gwang-jin squeezed his eyes shut again.
He knew the order was reckless, but there was no choice.
He—and the entire Hyeongsan leadership—could never disobey Wi Jeong-guk.
So, bowing his head, he replied.
“Yes, Sect Leader. Understood.”
As Ja Gwang-jin left the office to gather the disciples, Wi Jeong-guk watched his retreating figure before rising and heading back to his quarters.
He had no intention of surrendering, and he was certain they could still win.
But if he were to die, he needed to gather the precious things he would take with him to the afterlife.
He couldn’t leave a single one of his possessions behind in a world without him.
Hurrying back, he began shouting loudly from nearby.
“Woo-hee! Where are you?! Woo-hee!”
The precious possession he sought was none other than his woman, Seon Mu Woo-hee, also known as Woo Nan-seol.
When he told Ja Gwang-jin that if he died, the Hyeongsan Sect would not survive, the first person who came to mind was Woo Nan-seol.
He could never leave such a beautiful woman behind in a world without him.
If she were left alone and fell into another man’s arms…
He couldn’t even bear to imagine it.
It was something he absolutely could not allow.
That was why he intended to take Woo Nan-seol with him.
If he truly fell, he planned to kill her first.
“Woo-hee! Where are you, Woo-hee!”
At that moment, Woo Nan-seol was in her room, packing her belongings.
Her dirty mission of being Wi Jeong-guk’s woman and gathering intelligence was finally nearing its end.
Though the outcome of her duel with Seol Poong was still uncertain, she believed the Hyeongsan Sect’s downfall was all but inevitable.
Their crimes had been exposed to the world, and they would no longer hold their place among the Nine Great Sects.
And as a disgraced sect hated by all, fighting them would no longer be as difficult as before.
That was her judgment.
So, as soon as Wi Jeong-guk left to face Seol Poong, she planned to leave the Hyeongsan Sect behind.
“I’ve endured long enough. It’s time to escape this filthy mission.”
As she thought this, she suddenly recalled her deceased sworn sister.
“Ryeong-mae…”
Woo Nan-seol had joined the Resistance Society because her sworn sister and her family had been brutally destroyed by the Hyeongsan Sect.
Her sworn sister had lived in Uiryeongjang, a shrine in Honam Province.
Though they were closer than blood sisters, Woo Nan-seol never revealed their bond to the world, respecting her sister’s position in the righteous sect.
Then one day, tragedy struck.
The Hyeongsan Sect attacked Uiryeongjang to reclaim the shrine.
When Woo Nan-seol arrived, she found the shrine burned to ashes and her sworn sister’s body brutally mutilated nearby.
“Ryeong-mae! Ryeong-mae! Nooo!”
Cradling her sister’s corpse, she wept bitterly and swore revenge, immediately joining the Resistance Society.
By her own will, she caught Wi Jeong-guk’s attention and became his woman.
As a member of the unorthodox sect, she considered chastity a small price to pay for revenge.
Or at least, she tried to convince herself of that.
If it meant revenge, such things were trivial.
Of course, that wasn’t true.
Living as the hated man’s plaything was a living hell.
But she had gritted her teeth and endured.
And now, the day she would witness his downfall was finally within reach.
“Woo-hee! Where are you?! Woo-hee!”
Hearing Wi Jeong-guk’s rough voice outside, Woo Nan-seol sighed softly.
Apparently, she had been mistaken in thinking her mission was over.
A maid standing nearby, tense, said.
“I’ll go tell him you’re not feeling well.”
The maid, Jeong Mi-hee, had come with Woo Nan-seol into Hyeongsan and was also a member of the Resistance Society.
But Woo Nan-seol shook her head.
“No. Even if I were truly ill, he wouldn’t leave me alone. His obsession means he’ll keep me by his side until the very end.”
She then pulled a letter from her bosom and handed it to Jeong Mi-hee, quietly instructing.
“If I go with him, you must escape secretly with this. It contains the location where new Liuhe Sword Masters are being trained. If you stay here alone waiting for the Four Great Heroes, you might be in danger. And it’ll be a while before they arrive. Please be careful and make sure this reaches our comrades.”
Jeong Mi-hee’s eyes welled with tears at Woo Nan-seol’s thoughtfulness.
“Miss Woo…”
Woo Nan-seol smiled faintly and squeezed her hand.
“If we meet again, let’s meet as sisters.”
Holding Jeong Mi-hee’s hand firmly, she then walked out of the room gracefully, as if nothing had happened.
With her usual expressionless face, she asked Wi Jeong-guk.
“I’m here. Why are you calling me like that?”
Wi Jeong-guk’s face lit up with a bright, yet mad smile upon seeing her.
“There you are, Woo-hee! Come with me. Forever!”
Woo Nan-seol stared at him for a moment, then replied.
“Alright. Let’s go together.”
With an expressionless face, she answered, silently praying that the word “forever” wouldn’t become a curse.
As Wi Jeong-guk gathered every disciple who could fight and finally descended Hyeongsan, there were people watching their movements from the opposite side.
Sun Woo-jin and his group.
While Seol Poong led a large force slowly toward Hyeongsan, Sun Woo-jin had arrived earlier, waiting for the right moment.
And that moment had finally come.
Looking at his companions, he said.
“Alright, it’s time to ransack an empty house.”
Beside him, Jeung Chil chuckled, rubbing his palms together.
“Heh heh heh, to pull a burglary on the mighty Hyeongsan Sect—this is getting really interesting.”
In contrast, Mo Dong-ju, the supreme swordsman of the recently surrendered Hyeongsan Sect, replied with a complicated expression.
“To think I’d end up turning our main headquarters into an empty house. I’ve always been known as a troublemaker, but I never dreamed I’d cause a mess like this.”
His face looked utterly defeated as he spoke.
At that, the middle-aged man beside him shot him a glare and retorted, “I never imagined I’d be working alongside a damn mutt from Hyeongsan either.”
This man was Sa U-rim of Dongjeong Sugui, originally a top expert operating around Dongjeong Lake and a high-ranking member of the Ban Hyung Association.
He was also known for his exceptional infiltration skills, moving in and out of Hyeongsan’s inner circle to gather intelligence from Seon Mu Woo-hee and Woo Nan-seol.
In other words, he was the key to navigating the secret channels into Hyeongsan.
That made his role absolutely critical for the current mission.
Seon Woo-jin’s reason for infiltrating Hyeongsan this time was because, despite having weakened their forces through various schemes, he still didn’t see a high chance of victory.
They had individually eliminated the supreme masters from the northern region and the nine elite masters sent from the main headquarters, and had contacted the Fukon Yongga and Haenam factions to tie down the southern region’s top fighters—but even then, it wasn’t enough.
“Brother, a flood of martial artists are gathering, but the number of elite fighters above the peak level is far too few. If we face them head-on like this, regardless of who wins, most of our men will be wiped out.”
That was how Seon Woo-jin foresaw the battle ending.
So, to prevent such a disaster, he needed a few more powerful strategies.
A groundbreaking plan that could both weaken the enemy’s strength and bolster their own…
That was the very reason he was infiltrating Hyeongsan.
As part of this plan, he intended to rescue the spies Woo Nan-seol and Jung Mi-hee, whom Ban Hyung Association had planted inside.
The goal was twofold: to safely extract these women who had endured so much, and to gather information from them about the secret location where new Yukhap Swordmasters were being trained.
In Seon Woo-jin’s mind, the existence of these Yukhap Swordmasters in training could become a powerful trump card—if used correctly, they could turn the tide of the battle with ease.
Hyeongsan’s other atrocities had been committed against other sects.
So while those acts could tarnish Hyeongsan’s reputation among outsiders, they wouldn’t shake the loyalty of its own disciples—that was Seon Woo-jin’s assessment.
But this was different.
“The Silhon Incident was an atrocity committed against their own disciples. If we can secure these Yukhap Swordmasters currently in training and show them to the Hyeongsan disciples, it will definitely shake their resolve.”
That was the angle Seon Woo-jin was aiming for.
Therefore, before the full-scale war with Hyeongsan began, he absolutely had to obtain that information and secure the Yukhap Swordmasters.
And to do that, the role of Sa U-rim from Dongjeong Sugui—who could guide them there—was indispensable.