Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 173

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 173

 

Perhaps just being able to join them was enough to make him happy, as Mujin’s eyes sparkled while asking to be given any task, looking like he would fetch anything thrown to him.

 

On the other hand, Tang Yihwa, who couldn’t use the carefully prepared weapons she had brought, sighed deeply as if the sky had fallen and pouted sullenly.

 

Her quiet muttering wasn’t clearly audible, but… complaints, curses?

 

“Be quiet.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

Only after receiving a scolding did she finally stop her muttering.

 

‘Sigh, they’re like a dog and cat.’

 

If you had to compare them, that is.

 

“What will you do now? The search party will come rushing in soon.”

 

Mujin asked about the next plan.

 

‘Who was it that ruined the plan I carefully made…?’

 

He seems to think of someone as a bag of tricks.

 

The idea that plans just pop out when you poke at them is merely a prejudice about the Zhuge Family. Above all, I’m a member of the Zhuge Family who’s better with fists than brains. As you well know.

 

Zhuge Munhyeon, having barely calmed his anger, composed his mind and thought.

 

The goal was the same anyway.

 

To meet the Seventh Young Master who was caught stealing, there was no answer other than requesting the Blue Heaven Judgment.

 

“We’ll probably need to go somewhere a bit higher.”

 

“What? We’re not moving right away?”

 

“First we need to figure out which direction to go.”

 

They needed to find a high place.

 

So they could look down at everything below the mountain.

 

Zhuge Munhyeon’s group, having escaped the formation, immediately ran toward the mountain peak.

 

Since the search had started from the lower part of the mountain, there was no one pursuing their movements.

 

“This seems to be the highest point.”

 

“It is.”

 

“They’re swarming in incredible numbers.”

 

As Mujin said, the distant mountain foothills were in chaos.

 

Tree branches and thickets were swaying everywhere in all directions, which meant the Beast Palace warriors were approaching.

 

As the encirclement closed in, Tang Yihwa, feeling urgent, took out a map and spread it while surveying the surroundings.

 

This was basic map positioning technique.

 

She was trying to find the exact direction by comparing the map with the surrounding environment.

 

Typically, when going to a new area, it’s rare to know the way. So people either bring a guide or find their way by asking people the so-called “Where is this place?”

 

Naturally, this exposes one’s location and takes a long time.

 

Therefore, warriors from great families or martial sects learn disciplines called geomancy or celestial measurement and terrestrial surveying.

 

Sometimes used for feng shui, but for warriors it’s used as a means to quickly determine their location and decide which path to take.

 

It’s like a survival method for warriors who never know when or where they might become isolated.

 

However.

 

“Can you figure it out?”

 

“Well….”

 

At Mujin’s words, Dang Ihwa broke out in a cold sweat.

 

Naturally so.

 

The map she possessed was made by the warriors of Poison Bang through their own legwork.

 

Maps have always been considered extremely important by the government, so their private production by civilians is strictly forbidden.

 

Therefore, warriors’ maps are made in secret, and as a result, they are often inaccurate.

 

How much could Poison Bang really know about Yunnan, and how much could they have actually explored?

 

Having to create it while avoiding the eyes of Yunnan’s martial sects, expecting perfection would be unreasonable.

 

Moreover, there’s a saying that mountains and rivers change in ten years.

 

In Yunnan, that ten years becomes one year, then one month, then one day – the terrain changes that rapidly.

 

This is because vegetation grows like bamboo shoots after rain due to the hot and humid climate.

 

It’s not easy to determine direction when thickets have grown densely.

 

There’s also the method of checking the sun’s position to determine direction, but since they don’t know the exact time right now, it’s difficult to orient the map in the correct direction.

 

Of course, this didn’t apply to Zhuge Munhyeon.

 

“That way is north.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“North.”

 

Dang Ihwa looked puzzled at Zhuge Munhyeon’s appearance as he suddenly extended one finger straight out, pointing at the massive mountain range lined up like a folding screen in the distance.

 

“How do you know that?”

 

“Because that rocky mountain is on the opposite side of the screen.”

 

Zhuge Munhyeon kindly extended his finger in the exact opposite direction as well.

 

A rock that jutted out abruptly on the mountain, boasting its majesty despite being far away.

 

Since he had already been here before, it was naturally a fact he could know, but Dang Ihwa couldn’t help feeling flustered.

 

Just who is this person….

 

But there was no time to ponder such questions.

 

Dang Ihwa quickly oriented the map’s north toward the direction of the screen mountain and tried to locate the Beast Palace.

 

“Though it’s not visible because it’s surrounded by mountains, the Beast Palace is probably around there.”

 

“….”

 

Zhuge Munhyeon was a bit faster.

 

Again, since he already knew this fact….

 

Dang Ihwa just stared blankly and blinked her eyes.

 

Stop being so amazed.

 

At this rate, all your eyelashes will fall out.

 

“Let’s go. If the search party arrives, escape will become difficult.”

 

Mujin, who trusted Zhuge Munhyeon’s words completely, urged them to hurry along.

 

“No, we wait.”

 

“What? But the search has already begun, hasn’t it?”

 

“Exactly.”

 

“…What?”

 

“That’s exactly why we should wait, until they come rushing all the way here.”

 

Mujin’s expression became the same as Tang Yihwa’s.

 

Once they had determined the direction, they should have immediately started fleeing…

 

“Ah! You’re trying to gather the enemies in one place?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“Then shall we reassemble it?”

 

Tang Yihwa, who had shaken off her dejected expression, said with sparkling eyes.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“…”

 

He crushed her opinion with a single word.

 

This girl still hasn’t come to her senses.

 

For someone who’s supposedly a craftsman to be thinking about killing at every opportunity… I’d believe she was from the Demonic Path in her past life.

 

“Young Master Munhyeon, I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. If you’re not planning to annihilate them, why are you gathering the enemies where we are? Wouldn’t that be more dangerous instead?”

 

Mujin tilted his head in confusion, while Tang Yihwa nodded as if in agreement.

 

These people who don’t even know the first thing about fleeing.

 

Though it wasn’t exactly fleeing, Zhuge Munhyeon had countless experiences breaking through encirclements, so he knew better than anyone how to act according to the situation.

 

“Look carefully at how the search is being conducted.”

 

He pointed to the Beast Palace warriors coming up from below the mountain.

 

“It’s a single layer.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“It means there’s no rear guard.”

 

“…”

 

“If we flee now, the encirclement itself would be weak, but the scattered enemies would notice the direction we’re escaping and block the crossroads.”

 

“Is, is that so?”

 

“But if we start running away after they’ve all gathered at the summit, all the enemies on the mountain will be chasing us from behind. That means we don’t have to worry about enemies getting ahead of us.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Mujin, who had been nodding at the calm explanation, asked again as if something still puzzled him.

 

“But if they fire signal flares or something, the forces searching below the mountain will come rushing over, won’t they?”

 

“They would, but it’ll take time.”

 

“Do you have any other contingency plans? Like escaping this place and luring the enemies somewhere else…”

 

At Mujin’s words, Zhuge Munhyeon chuckled.

 

There’s no such thing.

 

That’s why you should have listened obediently when I offered to be the decoy.

 

“…We’ll have to run. With all our might.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“This isn’t a situation where schemes will work.”

 

“…”

 

“We run faster than the enemy’s pursuit speed and their encirclement construction speed. Then we break free and reach the Beast Palace. That’s all.”

 

“But what if we’re blocked?”

 

“We’ll have to do our best to break through.”

 

“…”

 

Zhuge Munhyeon was simple and decisive.

 

Run, and if blocked, break through and pass.

 

That’s all.

 

“That’s the answer?”

 

“That’s it.”

 

“Ah….”

 

Mujin nodded his head like a habitual action.

 

…Calling that a plan.

 

Never before had he been so disappointed in him.

 

It seemed like the perfect time to use the saying about being struck on the foot by the axe you trust.

 

“We should rather prepare….”

 

“Have you been corrupted too?”

 

“But just in case… even poison….”

 

“You shut up too. How can a Taoist speak so easily about killing people? You heartless bastard.”

 

“….”

 

At the scolding, Mujin’s lips protruded several inches.

 

While looking for compassion, they themselves were about to die.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll open the path.”

 

“…?”

 

“Just watch my back and follow. No need to fight. You just need to run through the hole I make. You understand what I mean, right?”

 

Though he spoke with a confident expression, Mujin and Tang Yihwa couldn’t easily respond.

 

A plan should look like a plan for them to agree.

 

“They’re coming, get down. Hide your presence.”

 

When Zhuge Munhyeon crouched low, Mujin and Tang Yihwa also pressed their bodies to the ground.

 

There was no choice.

 

Right now they had no option but to follow Zhuge Munhyeon’s words.

 

As always, they could only hope he would perform a miracle. Though today he seemed particularly unreliable….

 

When their breathing quieted, commotion arose on the mountain peak along with multiple footsteps.

 

“Group Leader, could it be that they’ve already left Byeoksan?”

 

“Hmm….”

 

At his subordinate’s words, Meng Xun frowned.

 

That was possible.

 

Not only the warriors of the Greedy Wolf Unit who had come with him from the palace, but also three branch offices near Byeoksan had been mobilized to search the mountain.

 

To avoid missing even small traces, they had arranged in a single line even if it weakened the encirclement, climbing up the mountain.

 

But they found no traces.

 

As his subordinate said, the possibility that they had fled from Byeoksan had increased.

 

“First we’ll search the remaining peak area, then check again while descending. Even if they left Byeoksan, the Heroic Wolf Unit has been deployed and we’ve asked other forces for help, so the possibility of them escaping Yunnan is slim. We do our best at what we must do.”

 

“Yes! Group Leader.”

 

Meng Xun was an inflexible person.

 

He wouldn’t tolerate doing things half-heartedly, even things that could be easily overlooked.

 

Even if they found nothing, the search must be conducted by the book. This was the belief he had maintained as the Group Leader of the Greedy Wolf unit of the Beast Palace.

 

It was when the searching warriors had gathered densely on the mountaintop under his sharp gaze.

 

Just as one warrior reached out his hand to rummage through the thicket.

 

Crack!

 

Something burst out violently.

 

“Huh?”

 

The moment the startled warrior widened his eyes in confusion.

 

Thwack!

 

A solidly thrown fist struck the warrior’s face hard.

 

Whoosh~!

 

One full spin while standing.

 

Simultaneously.

 

“Run!”

 

A shouted cry.

 

In the sudden situation, the gazes of the warriors who had been finishing their search focused on the object that had burst out.

 

“That bastard!?”

 

Maeng Hun immediately recognized that it was that Zhuge whatever-his-name fellow.

 

But as soon as he knocked down the warrior, he began running at tremendous speed, with two human shadows closely chasing behind him.

 

The warriors who had let their guard down momentarily near the end of the search couldn’t respond immediately, and a hole was instantly punched through the encirclement that had gathered in one place.

 

Zhuge Munhyeon and his party, passing through that gap, descended the mountain at full power.

 

“Mu, Munhyeon! The rock! The…”

 

Crash!

 

Mujin shouted urgently, but the rock that had blocked their path was no longer there.

 

The massive rock was shattered to pieces by a single strike thrown while running.

 

“Tree! The…”

 

Crack!

 

The large tree fell, leaving only its stump.

 

His fleeing speed didn’t decrease in the slightest.

 

Only then could Mujin understand Zhuge Munhyeon’s words about “running with full power” or “breaking through with everything.”

 

He was creating a path where none existed as he fled.

 

Whether it left traces or not.

 

In a straight line from the mountain to below, very directly, by the shortest route.

 

“Damn it! What are you all doing! Fire the signal flare and chase after them quickly!”

 

Maeng Hun, who had been dumbfounded, suddenly came to his senses and gave orders.

 

The problem was that all the search teams were gathered on the mountaintop.

 

Out of nowhere, a running competition to see “who is faster” had begun.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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