Blood Cult's crimson gaze flowed ominously.
But unlike the initial momentum that seemed like they would rush forward at any moment, their gaze now seemed more cautious than before.
The Blood Cult disciples, too, returned to their corpse-like state, suppressing all the momentum they had built up.
"W-where... are we..."
Thanks to that, Hye Bang momentarily regained the composure to ask them for an explanation.
"Don't be resigned."
Baek Cheon replied, eyeing the leader of Blood Cult.
"In times of crisis, helping each other is natural. Moreover, hasn't Shaolin already helped us once?"
Baek Cheon's words prompted murmurs from Jo Gol and Yun Jong behind him.
"If the abbot were here, it would be different, wouldn't it?"
"Would he really? He would've come as a fellow Taoist."
"Do you really think so?"
"He must have been exhausted. He couldn't have arrived until at least half a day later..."
"Well, it's all over now."
Hearing Jo Gol mutter about how the river bandit group's remnants were probably all burnt out like in the old days of Mount Hua, Baek Cheon coughed awkwardly with a embarrassed face.
Those two always try to intervene whenever something happens...
Hye Bang, seemingly at a loss for words, eventually reopened his mouth with a realization.
"So... did the Heavenly Friendship Alliance anticipate that they would target Shaolin?"
"...Disciple?"
Instead of answering, Baek Cheon discreetly glanced behind him. Not at Hye Bang, but a bit further back, precisely around Yun Jong's neck.
"Senior brother, he's about to fall."
"Hmm. More are falling than I thought. Do you have a spare rope?"
Yun Jong, who was hesitating, caught Baek Ah just before he fell and wrapped his arm around his neck again. Baek Ah, who had slumped down as if he were dead, didn't move a muscle, so exhausted that he seemed like a corpse.
Baek Ah never wraps his arms around anyone's neck except Chung Myung's. But seeing him like this now, even when prodded by Jo Gol, who normally disregards him, it seems like he's completely exhausted or even dead...
"...Half of it could be said to be true."
"Yes?"
Although Hye Bang didn't understand English, he asked, but Baek Cheon just chuckled.
When Baek Ah came running with tears streaming down his face in a situation where the remnants of the river bandit group were being driven away from where normal people were, Baek Cheon was as surprised as anyone.
"He told us to go to Shaolin."
A deeper question crossed Hye Bang's face.
"Is that all?"
The situation was serious, but it was also absurd. That was how Hye Bang felt at the moment.
Anyway, trying to make sense of this odd conversation that kept getting interrupted, wasn't it just saying that they were brought to Shaolin by a single note received from that creature?
Without knowing anything about proper sect members.
'Is that even possible?'
Being split in half and thrown away immediately, it was unimaginable even in Shaolin.
"Did the Alliance Lord order this?"
Baek Cheon let out a deep sigh as if the earth was caving in.
"Well, then he won't be angry."
At that answer, Hye Bang naturally thought of one person's face.
'Mount Hua's Chivalrous Knight.'
In the end, he predicted this situation.
'How on earth?'
Nobody under heaven knew. Beggars Union members who swallowed up all the information in the world, even Shaolin, being attacked, didn't foresee it until the last moment.
But how could Mount Hua's Chivalrous Knight have known this? It's not like he had eyes in the sky.
"...That's..."
As Hye Bang was about to add something in confusion, Baek Cheon raised his hand slightly to stop him.
Of course, Baek Cheon fully understood Hye Bang's bewildered feelings. Even the Mount Hua people who had become accustomed to him, not Chung Myung, often found him inexplicable, let alone Hye Bang, who was experiencing him for the first time.
However.
"You may have many questions, but it's not the right time to discuss them."
In response to Baek Cheon's decisive momentum, Hye Bang also regained his composure and fixed his gaze sharply on the intruder, the leader of Blood Cult.
Baek Cheon said.
"Let's... deal with these guys first before we talk."
Hye Bang also nodded his head.
While the two exchanged a brief conversation, Blood Cult's leader kept staring intently at Baek Cheon and his group without much reaction.
Finally, he spoke again.
"It seems... you haven't brought as many as I thought."
From Baek Cheon's understanding, the combined forces of Mount Hua and Nangong weren't that significant. Only a few of them had made it this far. They were just a small fraction.
"Ah."
Hearing that, Baek Cheon chuckled.
"We prioritize efficiency. We only brought as many as necessary."
In truth, they couldn't gather all the scattered individuals to deal with the remnants of the river bandit group, but there was no need to tell the enemy that.
Blood Cult's leader glared silently at Baek Cheon.
Baek Cheon's inner tension began to seep out little by little. As Blood Cult's leader had said, in reality, the number of people Baek Cheon had brought was not that large. Moreover, they were all exhausted from running here in haste after battling for so long.
If they were to confront them now, no matter how they were with Shaolin, it would be difficult to guarantee the outcome.
Even if they won... they would have to prepare for significant losses.
'If only my condition were a little better...'
Baek Cheon naturally suppressed the urge to weaken his resolve. As he tried to gather his thoughts, Blood Cult's leader muttered quietly.
"Shaolin, Mount Hua... and Nangong."
The crimson gleam overflowed.
"If we wipe them out like this... Shaolin might end up with a criminal record worse than Hubei's alone."
The corner of the mouth covered with bandages twitched. Baek Cheon tightened his grip on the sword.
But then, at that moment...
"However, this is different."
Blood Cult's leader turned around abruptly, leaving no trace of hesitation.
"We're retreating."
With a metallic sound mixed in, those sharp words dropped, and all the Blood Cult disciples at Shaolin immediately turned around.
"...What?"
It was Baek Cheon who was left dumbfounded by the inexplicable sight.
"What... is happening..."
"Are you going to stop us?"
Blood Cult's leader turned his gaze to Baek Cheon and asked.
"..."
Baek Cheon's answer was naturally 'no'. It wasn't wise to fight them now. As time passed, more members of the Four Tyrants Alliance would join, making the enemies much more advantageous.
"...Clean."
Blood Cult's leader sneered with a bitter smile.
"It's basic to renegotiate when the conditions change. We'll just leave as we came. Oh Myeong is familiar with this."
As Blood Cult's leader was about to turn away...
Baek Cheon called out to him in a cold voice.
"However."
"...Hm?"
"If you're going to retreat, it's better to do so gracefully. If you lay a hand on normal people, we'll chase you to the ends of hell and cut your throats."
Blood Cult's leader stared at Baek Cheon with emotionless eyes. A deep silence settled between them.
"Remember that."
With a decisive statement, Blood Cult's leader turned away.
"Baek Cheon, was it? See you next time, young sword master of Mount Hua. If you're still alive by then."
Blood Cult's leader left through Shaolin's north gate, followed by all the Blood Cult disciples, who followed like living corpses.
Baek Cheon's forehead was covered in cold sweat, belatedly.
'Blood Cult...'
Although young, Baek Cheon's experience was by no means lacking.
But those people called Blood Cult, especially their leader, felt different from the evil sects he had faced before.
'It's different from Demon Cult too... I don't know what to call this feeling.'
If Demon Cult made people sick of their blind fanaticism, these people felt cold and eerie in a different way.
"Are we just letting them go, elder brother?"
"Yes."
Baek Cheon nodded heavily and added one more word.
"For now."
"Is this where it ends?"
Jo Gol gave a slightly perplexed expression and glanced at Baek Cheon, but it was Yun Jong who interjected.
"We are protectors, Gol. If we can avoid fighting, we should."
"Of course, but..."
Jo Gol gazed at the departing Blood Cult with an uneasy expression.
"...I don't want to encounter them under different circumstances. It would be even worse then."
Yun Jong also chimed in this time. He empathized with that sentiment.
Even a brief encounter like this brought about an indescribable discomfort. It wasn't just because of their appearance, but also the aura they exuded.
"Heretical sects..."
Yun Jong's heart sank heavily.
*step* *step*
As Blood Cult's leader slowly descended Mount Song, he turned his head to look back at Shaolin.
"...Abbott. The alliance lord of the Four Tyrants Alliance won't let this slide easily."
"That's true..."
Jang Ilso. He was an unpredictable man, but it wasn't hard to guess what he desired. To him, it would be ideal if Blood Cult and Shaolin inflicted mutual harm here.
"But that's it. For now, he can't be openly hostile to us."
"Do you believe him?"
Blood Cult's leader's gaze became even colder.
"A person from the Central Plains who lacks faith doesn't suit the word 'belief'."
With those words, he resumed his descent.
Even though their plans had somewhat failed from Jang Ilso's perspective... anyway, neither they nor the Four Tyrants Alliance had been harmed much.
Because, from the start... they were...
❀ ❀ ❀
"You're saying no?"
With a bewildered question, Chung Myung bit his lip.
"W-what do you mean, Chung Myung? You're saying they're not targeting Shaolin?"
Chung Myung's gaze turned towards the desolate battlefield.
Yu Yiseol's words were accurate. The damage inflicted by the enemies was more significant than expected.
A decoy? A defeat?
Even though it was possible to surmise Jang Ilso's strategy from the scattered corpses, that alone didn't explain everything.
Even if it was Jang Ilso, would the warriors of Myriad Man House and Black Ghost Fort offer their necks so readily to complete a strategy?
That is to say...
"In the first place, not all of Myriad Man House's forces gathered here."
"W-what?"
It wasn't difficult to understand.
They had been waging a long game from Jianghu, where the Beggars Union's eyes couldn't reach. Yes, for much longer than necessary.
It's natural for a large force withdrawal to be noticeable. However, gradually siphoning off soldiers isn't that difficult.
Especially considering the mobility of soldiers.
"Why would they risk that danger in the first place?"
"That's not it... Sect leader... Ceremonial sect leader."
"Hmm?"
"The important thing is not why they withdrew their forces, but where the ones withdrawn were sent."
Tang Gunak clenched his fist tightly as if he immediately understood the meaning behind Chung Myung's words.
'In any case, the forces withdrawn wouldn't exceed a certain limit.'
Then they would've focused on elite units. What could those small groups of elites possibly do?
Let's think.
If Jang Ilso had predicted everything happening here from start to finish? If he had remaining forces after executing his plan, where would he have sent them?
"Mount... Hua..."
Bang!
Chung Myung slammed the ground.
"Ch-Chung Myung! Chung Myung!"
Despite Hyeon Jong's desperate calls, he began to sprint northward.
'No!'
Chung Myung's lips were pressed together until they bled.
From the distance that had already become faint, Tang Gunak's voice calling out to head towards Huaying could be heard.
'Please!'
Chung Myung's body became a ray of light as he tore through the world.
The land he left behind, towards Mount Hua.