Return of the Sword Emperor - Chapter 44

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16: Three Men Make a Tiger (1)

Northwest of Cheonmun Mountain, where Chamhoeoek stood.
A group of well over a hundred warriors moved with rapid purpose.
The martial artists of the Yang Clan, who had floundered under the Sahon-dae’s deceptions despite knowing that Madoryeon was targeting Chamhoeoek, now rushed toward their destination at last.

“We’re running out of time. Hurry!”

Yang Hoe, the clan master leading the Yang Clan from the front, raised his voice.

“Elder brother, we’re already moving at maximum speed. I fear we may be pushing too hard.”

Yang Gyou spoke quietly, observing the clear signs of strain on the clansmen’s faces, but Yang Hoe only grew more irritated.

“What are you saying? The Madoryeon dogs are attacking Chamhoeoek right now. And they dare to…….”

Yang Hoe’s words caught in his throat, his lips trembling.
Though Chamhoeoek was important, what truly infuriated him was that they had fallen into Madoryeon’s trap. If Chamhoeoek fell, the Yang Clan’s face would be dragged through the mud—it was as certain as fire.

“The summons have been issued?”

At Yang Hoe’s question, Yang Gyou glanced around briefly before nodding.

“Yes, we sent messengers to all at once, so they should be departing for Chamhoeoek now.”
“As it should be.”

As Yang Hoe nodded as if it were obvious, the eyes of those who had joined the Yang Clan slightly earlier than the others turned cold.
Though no one denied that the Yang Clan was the Ruler of Janggagye, his manner of commanding them as if they were mere subordinates was deeply insulting.
Yang Gyou, sensing their displeasure, wore an awkward expression, but such feelings meant nothing to Yang Hoe.
In this moment, all that mattered to him was restoring the tarnished reputation of the Yang Clan.

“All of you, hurry. We must not let those Madoryeon dogs escape alive.”

Yang Hoe raised his voice once more and quickened the pace.

* * *

The Milgeom-dan, having succeeded in rescuing the Mudang Sect disciples they had been pursuing alongside Dang Ga, immediately moved toward Chamhoeoek.
Even if Dokgo Jin and the Milgeom-dan’s full strength was different from before, taking Chamhoeoek—now occupied by enemy forces—with so few numbers was clearly reckless.
Yet they needed to properly assess the situation, so they bore the risk.
Instead, in preparation for potential clashes with enemies, Dang Ga and the Mudang Sect disciples who were severely wounded and exhausted, along with the Bokma-dan, were left behind, as was Ha Jogyeong, who had sustained a leg injury in the previous confrontation.
The Milgeom-dan succeeded in approaching Chamhoeoek discreetly and confirmed that there were no Madoryeon warriors present anywhere.
Chamhoeoek was a complete catastrophe.
Corpses lay scattered everywhere.
The bodies of escaped prisoners, guards from the Inner Prison Bureau who had rushed out to stop them, and jailers from the Outer Prison Bureau were tangled together in chaos.
What shocked them most was that around those corpses, half-dazed prisoners sat blankly or wandered aimlessly.

“Damn it!”

Yong Chulseung examined the corpses of guards he recognized from Chamhoeoek and ground his teeth.

“The skill with which the jailers were cut down is no ordinary matter.”

Namgung Ho, examining the wounds on the jailers’ bodies, spoke with a grim, hardened expression.

“Likely the work of Madoryeon’s dogs.”

Yu Seollan, who had found traces of Madoryeon in the corpses just as Namgung Ho had, spoke with killing intent in her voice.

“But what on earth are those things?”

Yong Chulseung stared at the disoriented prisoners in bewilderment.

“Their behavior—it’s like they’re addicted to opium.”

Yu Geomha watched a prisoner wandering aimlessly with a vacant expression, his own face darkening with incredulity.

“It does look that way, but…”

Jong Gak furrowed his brow and tilted his head.
The moment he’d confirmed that prisoners had escaped from Amhyangdae and that the Madoryeon was involved, he’d guessed roughly what carnage had unfolded in Chamhoeoek. Yet he’d never imagined a scene quite like this. Nearly two hundred prisoners were swaying about as though drunk on some intoxicant.

“What do we do?”

Yu Seollan asked.
After a brief pause, Jong Gak pointed toward the prisoners.

“They’re docile enough now, but we can’t say when they might turn violent. Restrain them first.”
“Understood.”

As Yu Seollan drew her blade with a chilling gleam in her eyes, Jong Gak recoiled and grabbed her arm.

“Lock them back in their cells. Have you forgotten? They may be prisoners, but they’re valuable labor.”

Yu Seollan quietly sheathed her sword. Jong Gak surveyed the area and issued his orders.

“Subdue them all, then secure them in the cells. Be careful—they could seize up without warning.”

The moment Jong Gak’s command fell, everyone sprang into action.
But Dokgo Jin had something else he needed to verify.
While the others were occupied subduing the prisoners, he caught Namgung Ho’s eye with a subtle gesture and slipped away quietly.

“Why are we going this way?”

Namgung Ho instinctively lowered his voice.

“I need to check something.”

Dokgo Jin grasped the chain—the only means of entering the Forbidden Zone—as he spoke.

“Hold it steady.”

Then he dropped straight down into the darkness of the Forbidden Zone.
Whirrrr!
The chain unspooled rapidly.

“Wait—hold on! Where do I stop?!”

Namgung Ho, flustered and unsure what to do, spotted the knot in the chain and desperately grabbed the pulley mechanism to halt its descent.
Clink!
Feeling the chain jerk, Dokgo Jin released it and dropped the remaining distance to the ground. Then, relying on a single shaft of light illuminating the center of the Forbidden Zone, he enhanced his night vision.

‘As I thought.’

The prisoners in the Forbidden Zone had vanished.
The only figure visible was Ban An, sprawled on the ground in a pitiful state.
Dokgo Jin sent his qi through the area to check if anyone was hiding to evade him, but aside from Ban An, he sensed no presence at all.
His gaze and Ban An’s met across the empty air.
After a brief silence, Ban An slowly lowered his head.
Watching Ban An tremble with fear, Dokgo Jin decided there was no need to take the life of this wretch, abandoned even by Madoryeon.
Rather than grant him a peaceful death, it would be fitting punishment for his crimes to leave him locked away in the Forbidden Zone, suffering until the moment he died.
After confirming the situation at the Forbidden Zone, Dokgo Jin quickly seized the chain and gave a signal.
Namgung Ho, whose attention had been fixed on the Forbidden Zone, caught the signal transmitted through the chain and began winding it back in reverse.
Even with the use of a pulley, the weight of the chain itself was considerable, normally requiring two or three people to wind it together, but Namgung Ho wound it without much strain.
Before the chain was fully wound, Dokgo Jin leaped up out of the Forbidden Zone.

“What happened to the prisoners in the Forbidden Zone?”

Namgung Ho peered cautiously toward the Forbidden Zone and asked.

“Gone. Every last one of them, except for that depraved bastard.”

Dokgo Jin shook his head with a bitter smile.

“The depraved one—you mean Ban An?”

Namgung Ho asked, his expression twisted with disgust.

“That’s right.”
“Well, that’s fortunate at least. But seeing how they freed the other prisoners too—it doesn’t seem like rescuing Deng Bi was their only objective.”
“They probably killed two birds with one stone. Salvaged what was left of their pride.”
“That’s troubling. These weren’t just any prisoners—everyone held in the Forbidden Zone had a fearsome reputation.”
“Exactly. It’s a serious problem.”

Dokgo Jin, who remembered all too clearly what those who had escaped the Forbidden Zone before his capture had done, let out a weary sigh.
The only consolation was that Ban An, who had committed the most heinous acts of all, had failed to escape.
That was when it happened.
A blade suddenly whistled through the air with a sharp, piercing sound.

“Watch out.”

Dokgo Jin issued a warning, but Namgung Ho had already sensed the ambush and moved to counter it.
Namgung Ho’s sword flashed like a ray of light, deflecting the incoming blade in a single stroke.

“Tch!”

A sound of surprise escaped Namgung Ho’s lips as he repelled the attack.
He had anticipated something from the speed of the blade, but the force behind it was far from ordinary.

“You bastards!”

A group of people rushed forward with a furious shout, encircling the two men.
Around twenty in number, they were martial artists of the Yang Clan who had come rushing when they learned that Chamhoeoek was under attack by Madoryeon.
Though they outnumbered their opponents by more than tenfold, Dokgo Jin and Namgung Ho showed little fear. Moreover, Dokgo Jin immediately recognized that these were not Madoryeon people.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding here—”

Before Dokgo Jin could finish speaking, an order rang out.

“Kill them!”

At the command to kill without even confirming their identities, Dokgo Jin’s brow twitched.
The moment the order was given, attacks came pouring in from all directions.
It was a fairly sharp coordinated assault, but their individual skill levels were comparable to the jailers of the Outer Prison Bureau who had guarded Chamhoeoek.

[They’re not Madoryeon people. Hold back—don’t kill them.]

Sending sound transmission to Namgung Ho in case he made a mistake, Dokgo Jin moved slowly forward.
Though it was a light movement, the Yang Clan warriors attacking Dokgo Jin felt his form vanish before their eyes.
As they scrambled in panic to locate him, a blade came flying at them from nowhere.
They twisted their bodies in shock and tried to draw their swords to block, but the blade moved as though possessed of its own will, cutting off their escape before they could shift positions, and sent every sword they were holding tumbling through the air.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Five blades shot skyward with a crisp metallic ring.
The Yang Clan warriors, left defenseless, doubled over grasping their shins after a light kick from Dokgo Jin.
While Namgung Ho, hampered by Dokgo Jin’s earlier warning and unable to use his full strength, struggled slightly against the combined assault of his enemies, Dokgo Jin began subduing the rest.
Soft, exquisite movements employing the Silver Shadow Method.
Even the Cheon Lang-dan, the elite vanguard of the Madoryeon, could not keep pace with him—for the Yang Clan warriors to match his skill was impossible from the start.

“Gasp!”
“Agh!”
“Argh!”

Each time Dokgo Jin moved, screams erupted without fail, and as though by agreement, they crumpled to the ground clutching their shins.

“You fools! What are you doing!”

Yang Hwa, the young man watching from the rear, spat out a curse.
His subordinates could not fathom how they were falling helplessly to their opponent’s effortless movements and casually wielded kicks.
Recognizing that Yang Hwa’s voice was the same as that of the man who had ordered their deaths, Dokgo Jin moved at once.
Yang Hwa swung his blade as though he had been waiting for this moment.
The supreme technique of the Dokmun Sword Art Twelve Startling Heaven Swords—which had made the Yang Clan the Ruler of Janggagye—now aimed at Dokgo Jin.
Dokgo Jin regarded the attack with an expressionless gaze.

“Tsk!”

Dokgo Jin clicked his tongue.
Yang Hwa’s attack was full of openings and appeared clumsy in every way.
Without dodging, Dokgo Jin drove his blade straight at the visible weakness.
Yang Hwa sneered, thinking Dokgo Jin was banking on luck since he wouldn’t dare evade.
It did not take long for him to realize that he was the one gambling on chance.

“Ugh!”

Yang Hwa staggered with a strangled cry.
His face drained of color, he stumbled backward, his gaze fixed on the wound in his shoulder.
Though it brought considerable pain and blood seeped slowly from the cut, he instinctively sensed it was not a serious injury.

“How dare you mock me!”

Yang Hwa’s face twisted with fury, seeing in Dokgo Jin’s measured strike not restraint but mockery.
Yet Yang Hwa, one of the Yang Clan’s heirs, was not entirely a fool.
Recognizing that Dokgo Jin’s skill surpassed his own, Yang Hwa shouted toward the warriors standing uncertainly nearby.

“Attack now!”

Despite having lost all will to fight in the face of Dokgo Jin’s monstrous prowess, the Yang Clan warriors had no choice but to take their stance at Yang Hwa’s cry.
Yet none moved readily.

“Kill him! I said kill him!”

As Yang Hwa cursed again, the warriors began advancing slowly.

‘Where did such a monster come from…….’

Dokgo Jin exhaled softly and rolled lightly across the ground.
Boom!
With a heavy tremor, the force Dokgo Jin unleashed enveloped the surroundings.
Faced with that overwhelming pressure, not only the warriors advancing toward Dokgo Jin but Yang Hwa himself froze in place.

“Where do you come from?”

Dokgo Jin asked.

“We’ve come from the Yang Clan, sir.”

As if he’d expected as much, Dokgo Jin nodded and cupped his fist in a light salute before speaking.

“I’m from the Jungmu-maeng’s Milgeom-dan. It seems there’s been some misunderstanding, and I’d prefer we settled this here.”

His manner was infinitely polite, yet something in the settled coldness of his gaze kept anyone from raising an objection. Even Yang Hwa found himself averting his eyes when their gazes met, turning his head away with an almost involuntary movement.

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