Chapter 320
Seolpoong fixed the members of the Banhyung Society with a cold gaze and asked sharply,
“I’ll ask again. Are you saying that you don’t care if all three thousand lives gathered here for your grudge vanish completely?”
Only then did the Banhyung members realize the gravity in his expression.
But they couldn’t bring themselves to answer; instead, they fell silent, staring back at him.
Yet their eyes burned with dissatisfaction.
Representing them, Banhyung’s leader Jeong So-sang retorted,
“Isn’t that a bit of a leap, Gongja? Facing them head-on doesn’t necessarily mean everyone will die, does it?”
Seolpoong shook his head firmly.
“No. Everyone will die. There’s over a seventy percent chance we’ll lose. Their average martial prowess far exceeds ours, and you know well that in martial combat, numbers alone don’t guarantee victory.”
His sharp tone cut through the tension as he continued,
“Besides, are you saying it’s acceptable as long as not everyone dies? I believed you gathered here to stop Hyeongsanpa’s atrocities and establish some order. But hearing you now, it sounds like you only care about settling your grudges, no matter the cost. Have I misjudged you?”
The Banhyung members faltered.
They too felt the weight of his words.
But not all of them.
One of them glared fiercely and shouted,
“Gongja, you’ve never lost family to them, have you?! How can you say that without understanding the depth of our hatred? No! Maybe you say that because you don’t understand!”
Seolpoong’s eyes turned icy as he replied,
“Of course, I don’t know the depth of your hatred. But I do know this: if you were content with merely dying alongside them, you wouldn’t be alive now. Do you want that now? If so, I won’t stop you. Go to them.”
He spread his hand toward Hyeongsanpa, inviting them to leave if they wished.
The Banhyung members’ eyes flashed with fury.
Seolpoong’s voice grew even firmer.
“But not those here. Not my subordinates, nor the others gathered behind me. I will not allow such needless sacrifices. I came to win this fight with minimal loss, not to die alongside them.”
With that, Seolpoong fell silent.
The atmosphere among the Banhyung members turned icy.
No one dared to speak up, but their eyes were filled with barely contained resentment.
Then, Banhyung’s leader Jeong So-sang sighed and addressed Seolpoong,
“Hoo… I understand, Seol Gongja. We must have been too caught up in our anger. If you refuse to fight head-on, then what exactly do you intend?”
Some of the more hot-headed Banhyung members gasped in shock.
“Leader! What are you saying? Not fight the enemy right in front of us?!”
Jeong So-sang’s gaze darkened as he said,
“Calm yourselves. Who do you think got us this far? Wasn’t it all thanks to Seol Gongja? Do you intend to forget your grudges but also forget the favors done for you?”
The angry members flinched.
Only now did they remember that it was Seolpoong who had brought them here.
Their fiery resolve cooled somewhat.
Jeong So-sang softened his tone,
“Hold on a little longer. We must win first to properly avenge our grudges. If we cause internal strife and lose this battle, how will we bear that regret?”
One muttered under his breath,
“How could we lose in this situation…?”
Jeong So-sang burst out,
“Hah! Do you think you’re a better fighter than Seol Gongja? So you’ll ignore his firm prediction of defeat? On what grounds do you claim victory when Seol Gongja, a top-tier master, has declared we will lose? Do you want to miss your chance for revenge?”
No one dared reply.
Heads hung low in silence.
Jeong So-sang then bowed respectfully to Seolpoong and apologized on behalf of the Banhyung Society,
“Forgive us, Gongja. We were blinded by our hatred and stubbornness. But that hatred runs deep. Please understand us just this once. If you do, we promise this will never happen again. We know it’s thanks to you that we’ve come this far. We have no further demands. From now on, we will follow your orders without question. Please, ease your anger.”
Seolpoong’s expression softened slightly.
He returned the bow and replied,
“Thank you for understanding, Leader Jeong. I do not disregard your hatred. But I cannot allow needless bloodshed. Please understand that I must choose the path that minimizes sacrifice.”
“Very well. We will follow your will,” Jeong So-sang said, bowing his head in acceptance.
The tension eased for the moment.
Some Banhyung members still looked displeased, but none challenged their leader’s words.
Seolpoong glanced discreetly at their movements and sent a private message to Jeong So-sang:
Jeong So-sang replied:
At that moment, both of their earpieces buzzed with a message from someone else—Sunwoo Jin, who had recommended a strategist during Seolpoong’s absence.
The three exchanged secret smiles, careful not to let anyone notice.
No one else knew this entire situation had been planned in advance.
A few days earlier, before heading to Hyeongsanpa, Sunwoo Jin had gathered Seolpoong and Jeong So-sang and said,
“If we confront Hyeongsanpa head-on, there’s a seventy percent chance we’ll lose. And most of the warriors here will die.”
When they asked why, he explained,
“Even after weakening much of Hyeongsanpa’s forces, their average martial strength remains higher than ours. They have overwhelmingly more peak-level warriors. So regardless of the final outcome, most of our fighters will perish.”
Seolpoong and Jeong So-sang had groaned softly.
Sunwoo Jin’s analysis was almost certainly accurate.
He continued,
“Moreover, the final battle isn’t looking optimistic. Regardless of Weseongjuk’s morality, Hyeongsanpa’s command structure is unified under him. We, on the other hand, are a loose collection of individuals with no real chain of command. When chaos hits, that difference will be decisive.”
Jeong So-sang tried to object,
“But we’re following Seolpoong Gongja’s orders, aren’t we? So we…”
Sunwoo Jin cut him off firmly,
“Do you think Hyeongsanpa will listen if you tell them to stand down? Or that you yourself can obey such an order?”
Jeong So-sang was speechless.
That was an order he could never accept.
“What… what do you mean?! Why would we…!”
Sunwoo Jin interrupted,
“This is our reality. We’re not obeying orders; we’re just going along with them. In this state, there’s no way to establish a proper command structure against Hyeongsanpa. Defeat is inevitable.”
Only then did Jeong So-sang fully grasp the situation.
If even he, one of the more rational and insightful members, felt this way, then others would never follow Seolpoong’s commands.
After a moment of silence, Jeong So-sang asked with a heavy expression,
“Sunwoo Gongja, you must have a reason for telling me this. What should I do?”
Sunwoo Jin finally smiled faintly and said,
“Leader Jeong, you must help your brother. When the Banhyung members are at their most agitated…”
That was the truth behind everything that had happened.
Seolpoong nodded slightly at the now calmer Banhyung members.
Most of the three thousand warriors here bore grudges against Hyeongsanpa, so emotionally, he understood their sympathies.
If they had risen up to avenge themselves with blood, control would have been impossible.
But now that their impulsive actions had been preemptively restrained, he could set aside those worries for the time being.
Stepping forward alone, Seolpoong gathered his inner energy and shouted,
“Hyeongsanpa warriors, listen! Your leader, Wi Jeongguk, has kidnapped, raped, and murdered countless martial artists and their families. Not only that, he has even turned your fellow Hyeongsanpa disciples into widows and orphans. Is such a man truly the righteous leader of your sect—or a demon lord of a blood cult?!”
Seolpoong wasn’t addressing Wi Jeongguk directly.
His target was the ordinary Hyeongsanpa warriors, aiming to shake their hearts.
“Are you not ashamed that such a man leads you? It’s not too late! Stop shedding useless blood and step back! His crimes are his alone, not those of Hyeongsanpa. There’s no need for you to sacrifice yourselves for him! Our target is Wi Jeongguk alone. If you hand him over, there will be no need for us to fight and spill blood!”
What Seolpoong was doing was a classic divide-and-conquer tactic—separating Wi Jeongguk’s crimes from the Hyeongsanpa disciples to sow discord.
As he finished speaking, another message buzzed in his earpiece…
It was a voice as clear and pure as a woman’s crystal bead.
“Well done. You said you lacked confidence, but you perform even better in actual combat, don’t you?”
The person who had been summoned by Seol Woo-jin to act as his strategist in his absence was Myo Ah-ran of the Haenam Myo family.
Known as the mastermind of the Haenam faction and famed as one of the sharpest minds in the Haenam Myo clan, she stood beside Seol Poong, offering counsel as his advisor.
At her words, Seol Poong glanced at her briefly, then asked quietly through their secret communication.
“Do you really think this will have much effect? Their momentum doesn’t seem to have shifted at all.”
She replied calmly.
“We won’t see immediate results, but even if we can just shake their resolve and sow hesitation, that’s a significant achievement. Besides, our true target isn’t the ordinary warriors.”
“The true target?”
Just then, Wi Jeong-guk, having heard Seol Poong’s words, responded loudly, his voice charged with inner energy.
“You brat! Coming all this way just to sow discord? So you know you can’t win in a straight fight! Why? Are you scared now that you see us up close? Then why not just kneel down already! Who knows? Maybe the warriors of the Hyungsan faction will show mercy and spare you! Hahaha!”
She immediately sent a reply through their secret channel.
“So, here it is—the true target I mentioned. He says nothing about the evil deeds Seol Gong-ja spoke of, dismissing it all as fear-driven slander. He’s clever, but we can’t let this slide. We must relentlessly press him on his misdeeds. Especially the issue of the broken marriages—make sure that’s brought up.”
Seol Poong gave a slight nod and, gathering his inner energy, sent his voice back to Wi Jeong-guk.
“Wi Jeong-guk! You, too, remain silent about your own evil deeds! It’s because you yourself admit to them all, isn’t it? If you have any shred of humanity left, come forward and kneel before those whose families you’ve destroyed! And apologize to the Hyungsan disciples you turned into broken marriages with your own hands!”
As Seol Poong’s words reached him, Wi Jeong-guk felt irritation rising.
This opponent had come to fight but stood at a distance, only exchanging voices.
What annoyed him even more was that this tactic was actually working.
He could sense the change in the morale of the Hyungsan warriors.
Their spirits, which had soared as if piercing the sky moments ago, had noticeably dropped.
This meant that the words spoken had successfully shaken the hearts of the new generation of Hyungsan disciples.
Biting his lip, Wi Jeong-guk thought, If only I had charged as soon as he arrived, victory would have been certain!
Waiting for them to fight on the open plain had been a mistake.
He briefly considered ordering his warriors to charge right then.
He didn’t think they would lose.
But after a moment’s thought, he concluded that he couldn’t.
If he did, it would look like he was silenced because he couldn’t refute the opponent’s words.
In the end, Wi Jeong-guk decided he had to seize the upper hand in this verbal battle first.
And honestly, that didn’t seem too difficult.
No matter how much the other claimed his evil deeds, he could simply deny them.
Scoffing, Wi Jeong-guk retorted to Seol Poong.
“Hmph! You’ve been slandering the head of our sect with nonsense from the start! What proof do you have to accuse me of such things?”
At the mention of “false accusations,” the members of the Banhyung Assembly erupted in anger.
“You shameless bastard! You call it a false accusation that you violated my daughter and wife?!”
“You burned my family alive, and you dare say such things!”
“You say my children’s grievances are lies?!”
Seol Poong watched their outburst for a moment, then shouted again.
“See that? These people are all witnesses! The very ones who lost their families to you are here, yet you still pretend innocence?”
But Wi Jeong-guk was not so easily shaken.
With a bitter smile, he shot back.
“That’s just their claim, isn’t it? Just because they say they lost their families to me, do you think that makes it true? Then if I claim you are the enemy of my parents, does that make you my enemy?”
His brazen words left the Banhyung members speechless, mouths agape.
Seizing the moment, Wi Jeong-guk shouted again.
“See? You can’t produce any evidence! You accuse me of killing innocent people? Of turning our own disciples into broken marriages? Such ridiculous lies to slander me and tarnish the honor of the Hyungsan faction! We will never forgive you!”
As he spoke, Wi Jeong-guk carefully observed the mood among the Hyungsan warriors.
He could feel their morale beginning to rise again.
They were growing angry at the accusation that their honor had been defiled without proof.
His eyes gleamed.
The time had finally come.
The moment to order the attack.
He bellowed with a commanding voice.
“Disciples of the Hyungsan faction! Those who have sullied our honor shall not be forgiven…!”
At that moment, someone cut in with an even louder voice.
“The traitor is right here, Wi Jeong-guk!”
The sharp shout drew everyone’s attention in that direction.