Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 86

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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 86

 

 

His mind became confused.

Why had this bastard appeared before him?

It was natural for his gaze to turn toward Gwak Chu.

But he wasn’t there.

The man who had been right beside him was nowhere to be seen.

“Who? Are you looking for this person?”

“…?”

Where Zhuge Munhyeon pointed with a grin, there stood Gwak Chu, who had been beside him just moments ago.

When did he… Ah!

The attack from before.

While he was being pushed back…

“Don’t tell me, you bastards?”

“Well now. Should I say you’re quick-witted, or slow?”

Zhuge Munhyeon shook his head and spoke respectfully to Gwak Chu.

“You’ve worked hard. Thanks to Uncle Gwak Chu, we made it this far.”

“Don’t mention it… Just call me Gwak Chu, Young Master. I’m rather grateful that you entrusted me with such an important task.”

“Please rest now. We’ll handle things from here.”

“Yes. My heart was pounding so much, I think my lifespan shortened by ten years.”

“That won’t do. I’ll tell the medical hall to prepare a medicinal tonic for you.”

“Oh my! Thank you, Young Master.”

Gwak Chu replied with exaggerated courtesy.

Watching this scene, Mok Jaun was more than furious.

“You damn bastards! Did you deceive me from the very beginning?”

At those words, Gwak Chu spoke with a cold expression, unlike how he had treated Zhuge Munhyeon.

“That’s right.”

“You, you bastard…”

“Well, you didn’t even recognize me.”

“Recognize you?”

“Ten years ago, I was in Anhui. Do you remember? The day when you, with the surname Mok, slaughtered a bandit group near Seoseong Mountain to catch the Namgung Family’s eye.”

“Seoseong Mountain?”

“That’s right, you came to find my Master and told him this. If he helped you well with this task, the Namgung Family would greatly reward him.”

“…Don’t tell me you’re?”

Mok Jaun’s eyes widened as he dredged up memories from the past.

“But what did you do? Saying the number of bandits you’d subjugated was insufficient, you slaughtered us to increase your achievements.”

“…”

“I clearly remember how you laughed, saying you planned to discard us once the job was done anyway.”

“Th, this…”

“Do you know how happy I was when I heard you were coming? Thinking I could finally avenge my Master and fellow disciples… I volunteered on purpose.”

Mok Jaun’s face contorted at those fierce eyes filled with venom.

Only then did Zhuge Munhyeon realize why Gwak Chu had volunteered for the dangerous spy mission despite knowing the risks.

Who would have thought there was such a bitter connection?

He found himself briefly reflecting on the past.

But… it’s not like he only killed one or two people. He couldn’t even remember well.

‘Hmm… Ah, I just need to live well from now on.’

Just as Zhuge Munhyeon was inwardly making a resolution, feeling somewhat guilty, Mok Jaun glared fiercely at Gwak Chu, trembling with the realization that he’d been deceived.

“How dare you harbor revenge against the Namgung Family? Fine, I’ll make you regret pulling this kind of stunt. Without fail…”

“Bastard, if you know you did wrong, you should know how to repent.”

Zhuge Munhyeon stepped in front of Gwak Chu and spoke with a chuckle.

“You should have tried living righteously in this world.”

“…”

“And it seems you don’t grasp the current situation well, but you absolutely cannot lay a hand on Uncle Gwak Chu. Because you’re going to die here.”

Zhuge Munhyeon raised his Silver Cold Staff and aimed it at Mok Jaun.

“Now, you who are Namgung in name only. Shall we bring this to an end?”

“Bastard… Do you think you can manage it alone?”

“Huh? Who said I’m alone?”

“What?”

“You don’t know anything about strategy, do you? Well, that’s why you’re in this situation.”

“Wh, what do you mean?”

“If you realized you were deceived, you should have noticed the internal strife was also fake.”

“…Don’t tell me?”

“That’s right, exactly like this.”

Zhuge Munhyeon grinned at him with widened eyes and raised his hand.

Immediately after, the warriors who had been hiding on the nearby mountainside suddenly revealed themselves.

“See? This is strategy. I’ve been feeling it a lot lately too. Ah, strategy is this amazing. There’s a kind of thrill whenever enemies move as expected, isn’t there?”

“…”

“A large army is chasing from behind, the front is blocked… It’s over, Mok Jaun.”

Rage boiled up.

He wanted nothing more than to cut off the head of Zhuge Munhyeon, who was smiling at him right now.

But how could he not know the situation wasn’t favorable?

The moment he fought Zhuge Munhyeon, his escape would be delayed.

If the internal strife was a stratagem, then the alliance of the three factions would be chasing from behind, so he had to flee now.

“Just you wait, you bastard!”

Mok Jaun immediately turned south.

He had no choice but to abandon the path to Henan…

“Think I’ll let you escape?”

Zhuge Munhyeon shouted roughly as if whipping a running horse and chased after them.

Of course, Zhuge Junggi had told him to just put on a show.

I heard later that this tactic was deployed by our distant ancestor and hero of the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Muhu.

The so-called Huarong Road ambush battle.

When Cao Cao, defeated at Red Cliffs, fled through the muddy Huarong Road, Zhuge Muhu predicted the retreat route and positioned his generals. Guan Gong was assigned the final position, but he upheld righteousness, so Cao Cao succeeded in escaping by a hair’s breadth.

But what can you do?

Our Zhuge family has no Guan Yu, only the Heavenly Demon.

And we’re herding them toward all the retreat routes we’ve planned.

Therefore, you’re a rat caught in a net.

“Catch them! Don’t kill them!”

Zhuge Munhyeon’s attack began.

The Blue Sky Sword Corps, with the tide of battle turned against them, could only focus desperately on fleeing and inevitably became scattered, their formation soon falling apart.

Only the weak and wounded remained.

Since he hadn’t planned to chase them earnestly anyway, Zhuge Munhyeon was counting heads as he ran when he spotted a figure and had no choice but to stop.

“They really are terrible bastards. I never thought they’d abandon you and leave…”

Where he looked with a bitter smile.

There stood So Rokpa.

With his injured body, pointing his sword at him as if trying to protect his subordinate warriors.

“Hah, damn sword. I can barely walk properly.”

“I can still swing it.”

So Rokpa glared at Zhuge Munhyeon while breathing heavily.

“Do you want to? Those bastards abandoned you and left.”

“When the situation becomes difficult, it’s natural for the wounded to be abandoned. I don’t resent them.”

“What a frustrating man.”

“…”

“So, what remains if you keep your loyalty to the end? Do you think the Namgung Family will even hold a memorial service for you? That’s meaningless. When you die, it’s over.”

I know because I’ve died before.

I’ve never heard of them holding a memorial service after I, a master representing the Demonic Sect, died.

Instead, they said internal strife broke out as people tried to take my position.

Meanwhile, those Wudang bastards made me out to be the greatest villain under heaven and cursed me for generations.

“Put away your sword. Even when you were uninjured, you were no match…”

“I am…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”

“What?”

“Why would I kill you? That would be pointless.”

Bounty money, bounty money.

Why would I carelessly kill my precious assets?

“You’re really going to spare us?”

“Of course. Why do you think the orthodox sects are called orthodox? Not killing the weak is the righteousness of our Zhuge Family. We don’t kill those who surrender.”

Unless we sell them…

“Then what about those you kidnapped?”

“They’re all alive.”

“Ah…”

Only then did So Rokpa show a relieved expression.

He must have been worried.

Unlike that bastard who ran away to save himself.

“Everyone, lower your swords.”

“But, Captain.”

“Lower them. He’s not someone who would lie.”

Knowing that they couldn’t avoid death even if they fought, So Rokpa persuaded his subordinate warriors.

Eventually, they dropped their swords one by one.

They trusted So Rokpa, not Zhuge Munhyeon.

Having surrendered, they no longer resisted and entrusted themselves to the hands of the Zhuge Family warriors.

‘Hmm.’

Looking at him, I suddenly had this thought.

A descendant of Cheonpung.

Though he chose the wrong path, if raised properly, he could easily serve as a capable force.

Especially considering the Zhuge Family’s circumstances of having to ally with unorthodox sects due to insufficient military power.

“Hey, do you have any thoughts of abandoning the Namgung Family?”

“What did you say?”

“The situation is what it is. You’ve already been abandoned… What good treatment do you expect when you return?”

“Shut up. Don’t humiliate me just because I was defeated.”

“Hey, don’t get so heated. You know too. What the current world looks like.”

“…”

“You didn’t receive any great favor from them, and you’re not a Namgung by blood, so think about it coldly. You don’t seem like someone who should lose his life in fights like this.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Well, suit yourself. I don’t want to keep offering to someone who’s unwilling anyway.”

I’m just offering an opportunity; the choice to seize it is his own.

“Elder Brother Munho.”

“Yes!”

“Let’s split the personnel in half. Hand over the prisoners and move directly to the next location.”

“Alright.”

After Zhuge Munho left with the prisoners, Zhuge Munhyeon slowly moved to the next point with Gwan Hwiping.

Now that the herding has begun anyway.

Mok Jaun and the Blue Sky Sword Corps have no choice but to come in the direction we want, avoiding the walls blocking their path.

And at the end of that path, the Hyeonho Unit, the main force of the Zhuge Family, will be waiting.

“War becomes this easy when strategy works.”

This is why the Namgung Family is desperate to get their hands on the Zhuge Family.

But now all under heaven will know.

That through this battle, the Zhuge Family has become the master of Hubei.

And that no one can easily get their hands on the Zhuge Family anymore, and if they try to take it by force, they must be prepared for mutual destruction.

“Well, does this mean I can worry less about the family now?”

My heart feels warm.

Having one less worry, I can now seriously contemplate Ascension to Immortality.

‘Those half-baked Immortals…’

I will definitely find those bastards.

So they taught me a Destruction Method instead of an Ascension Method, intending to kill me?

I’ll make them pay the price.

 

* * *

 

“Huff, huff…”

His breath was coming up to his chin.

“Damn it…”

Curses naturally leaked out.

Not only were they continuously being pursued from behind, but enemies were blocking every path they tried to take.

Fleeing, and fleeing again.

From constantly running away, their bodies were exhausted to the limit and their fighting spirit was completely broken.

They no longer had the strength to fight.

Most of all, their numbers had decreased far too much.

Though he didn’t have time to count how many remained, at a glance it was less than half of the original three hundred.

Should they have fought?

Should they have resolved to fight to the death instead?

All sorts of thoughts flashed through Mok Jaun’s mind.

A crushing defeat.

How could he bear this humiliation?

But even so, he had to return alive.

He might have to step down from his position as Regional Lord immediately and take responsibility, but if he endured with gritted teeth and bore the humiliation, an opportunity would come again someday.

Only by staying alive could he seize that opportunity.

That’s when it happened.

“M-My Lord! It’s the river! It’s the Yangtze River!”

At the end of their long flight, hope finally beckoned.

The Yangtze River.

The ship they came on from the Namgung Family was waiting there.

“Just a little more strength. If we can just reach that place…”

Encouraging his subordinates as he stepped forward, Mok Jaun couldn’t take another step.

A long, long defense line spread before his eyes.

Warriors all wearing martial robes similar to scholar’s robes, lined up proudly and nobly.

Throughout the formation, banners fluttered high in the wind, bearing the two characters ‘Hyeonho (: To protect the profound truth)’.

It was the Zhuge Family.

The escape was over.

In a place where the last hope had turned to despair.

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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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