The Great Heavenly Sword Emperor - Chapter 34

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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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#034. Shadow Stepping (3)

Gwang An’s strategy, distilled to its essence, was snake hunting.
A snake hiding in tall grass is difficult to see.
To catch a hidden snake, you must shake the grass to force it out.
Gwang An’s plan operated by the same principle.
Cheon Mujul and Bukgung Danya attacked one of Maegol-dae’s bases.
On top of that, a rumor spread that important evidence had been discovered at the Maegol-dae outpost.
This was the first shaking of the grass.
Then, as though they had obtained crucial information based on that evidence, they intensified surveillance on suspected Unhabang hideouts.
Through this, they made Ammogak and Unhabang believe that Cheon Mujul’s group had truly closed in on their real operation, applying psychological pressure.
This was the second shaking of the grass.
Then Ammogak would attempt to spread false information to hide itself further, and Unhabang would launch an operation to conceal the evidence.
This was precisely what Gwang An was waiting for.
The moment the snake, judging it could no longer hide in the grass, would reveal itself to conceal the evidence.
That was the moment he awaited.
Since Cheon Mujul and Bukgung Danya had struck one of Maegol-dae’s bases, it was now time to begin the second operation.

* * *

Bohyeon Temple mobilized all its intelligence networks to conduct close surveillance on four suspected locations.
They made no effort to conceal the surveillance itself.
The informants let their presence be subtly felt, seemingly hidden, while recording every movement, every gesture at all four sites.
Since all four locations saw heavy foot traffic, they rotated personnel to ensure nothing—not even the smallest detail—escaped their notice.

* * *

Late into the night.
Two men held a clandestine meeting in a remote location.
Both men made no attempt to hide their anxiety, their expressions grave and tense.
“Those Maegol-dae idiots—we made sure they left no evidence, so how the hell did they bungle this?!”
Mo Jeongyun, a middle-aged man with narrow, sharp eyes and a severe countenance, burst into exasperation.
“Are you absolutely certain they found evidence? Are you sure?”
Gwak Yunsang, the leader of Unhabang, pressed for confirmation.
Though his round, gentle face might suggest otherwise, he was the sort of man who concealed his true nature completely.
“Didn’t you see the Bohyeon Temple surveillance spread out all over the place? We won’t have many more opportunities to talk like this.”
At Mo Jeongyun’s words, Gwak Yunsang began biting his nails, his expression darkening.
“Listen carefully. We need to stay sharp. Where exactly are the evidence items?”
“They’re scattered around—we had to spread them out for safekeeping.”
“Is this really the time to quibble over that? We need to gather everything and get it out of here, now.”
“But the surveillance is tight. What if we’re discovered?”
At Gwak Yunsang’s objection, Mo Jeongyun furrowed his brow and began calculating furiously, arriving at a solution.
“First, we buy ourselves time. Since surveillance is posted in other locations too, we’ll direct their attention elsewhere—make it look like that’s the real Unhabang base.”
“Will they fall for it?”
“I’ve fooled them before. I know how. They’re not sharp enough yet to perfectly distinguish truth from fabrication. Besides, they want this wrapped up quickly. They won’t have the luxury of being careful.”
Despite Mo Jeongyun’s words, Gwak Yunsang remained visibly uneasy.
“You didn’t report this upstairs, did you?”
“Are you insane? If I had, we’d all be dead.”
“Good. Let’s just get through this crisis. Do we have a place to move the evidence to?”
“We do. If you follow the waterway upstream, there’s a warehouse we set up in secret for emergencies.”
“Somewhere no one else knows about?”
“Right. On our end, only three people know—myself included.”
“Good. No one else can know. Don’t even tell me.”
“Don’t tell you?”
“That’s right. For now, even my knowing is dangerous. We’re dealing with Cheon Mujul. If he gets information, fine—we can manipulate that. But if he decides to just smash everything indiscriminately, like those Hyeolpung-dan thugs, we can’t withstand it. Damn those fools. Why did they have to charge in and get themselves killed?”
As his thoughts spiraled, Mo Jeongyun’s rage flared up again.
In this situation, even if Hyeolpung-dan had been lurking under the guise of a dispatch station, it would have helped them spirit away the evidence.
Whether they’d sought aid from Maegol-dae or not was unclear, but by rashly throwing their support behind Hyeolpung-dan, they’d seen the entire force destroyed—leaving them with far fewer hands than they needed for their usual work.
“Let me clarify one last time. Don’t act in haste. Gather all the evidence and prepare to remove it—that’s all. Once I divert their attention, I’ll send word immediately, and you extract the evidence. Clear?”
Mo Jeongyun spoke with calm deliberation, and Gwak Yunsang clamped his lips shut, nodding.
“Until we’re past this crisis, this will be the last time we meet face to face. From now on, your own judgment matters. Steel yourself.”
“Understood.”
With Gwak Yunsang’s reply, the two men’s meeting was over.

* * *

Unlike the frenetic atmosphere at Ammogak and Unhabang, Bohyeon Temple was composed and unhurried.
Except for one man: Bukgung Danya.
“Still no word? Not from Jandung-hoe either?”
“No. Ammogak is racking their brains desperately, so something will move soon enough. Jandung-hoe will be waiting for that moment.”
At Gwang An’s words, Bukgung Danya’s impatience showed plainly as he glanced toward Cheon Mujul, then looked away.
There was no point staring at Cheon Mujul; his face never changed.
Then it came.
“Abbot, a dispatch has arrived.”
“It has?”
At Gwang An’s words, Bukgung Danya shot to his feet.
Gwang An entered, holding the dispatch he’d received from outside the main hall.
After glancing at the contents, Gwang An smiled faintly and spoke.
“Just as we expected. Suspicious activity has been spotted near Eunpung Jeonjang.”
“Then we should head to Eunpung Jeonjang at once—”
“No. That’s not it.”
Cheon Mujul cut him off.
“No? What do you mean?”
Cheon Mujul continued at Bukgung Danya’s question.
“That’s bait—a stratagem from Ammogak to divert our attention. If we take the bait, we’ll miss the real move.”
At Cheon Mujul’s words, Bukgung Danya turned to Gwang An with a bewildered expression.
“The young lord is right. They need time—either to destroy evidence internally or to spirit it away somewhere. Since we have them under watch, they can’t move now. This is a transparent ploy, meant to draw our eyes elsewhere.”
“But couldn’t Eunpung Jeonjang actually be Unhabang?”
“It’s possible. That’s why Jandung-hoe is in play.”
At Gwang An’s reply, Bukgung Danya exhaled sharply.
“We’ve learned that information coming through our own network can be muddied by Ammogak whenever they please. So we must wait for intelligence from Jandung-hoe.”
Bukgung Danya gritted his teeth.
He’d thought the news he’d been waiting for had arrived, only to learn he had to wait for something else—his heart felt fit to burst with frustration.
“I’ll go train. Call me when word comes.”
Bukgung Danya took up his sword and stepped outside.
Unless he wielded the blade, his heart would tear itself apart.
After watching Bukgung Danya leave, Gwang An smiled faintly at Cheon Mujul.
“Full of vigor. He’s two years older than you, yet he seems far younger.”
Cheon Mujul simply took a quiet sip of tea.
“It’s a matter of experience.”
“Experience? If we’re speaking of experience, Bukgung surely has more—”
“Not that sort. The experience of patient endurance and restraint, of laying it as a foundation to steady a wavering heart. He lacks that.”
“Yet I believe Bukgung has undergone such trials abundantly.”
Cheon Mujul slowly shook his head.
“He merely suppressed them. And because he half—no, completely abandoned hope, he’s as he is now. The moment to release all his pent-up resentment is at hand, yet every time he’s about to, he finds himself holding back. He can’t bear it.”
At Cheon Mujul’s words, Gwang An nodded with an ambiguous expression.
“Talking with you makes one forget who the true practitioner is. I’m reminded how far I still have to go.”
Cheon Mujul offered no reply.
“News must come before Bukgung’s heart explodes.”
Gwang An murmured softly to himself.

* * *

More days passed with Bukgung Danya alone in his impatience.
And then, at last, word came from Jandung-hoe.
Gwang An summoned both Bukgung Danya and Cheon Mujul.
Bukgung Danya arrived at the hall first, and Cheon Mujul appeared shortly after.
“A message from Jandung-hoe,” Gwang An said.
At Gwang An’s words, Bukgung Danya swallowed hard, waiting for him to continue.
“Eunpung Jeonjang was never Unhabang after all. The real Unhabang is Seonghwa Jeonbangs.”
Cheon Mujul nodded at Gwang An’s revelation.
“You’re certain of this?”
“Yes. Jandung-hoe has been watching Ammogak, not them. Ammogak made themselves look like Eunpung Jeonjang, and we pretended to fall for their deception, turning our attention that way. In that moment, Ammogak was caught making secret contact with Seonghwa Jeonbangs.”
“Good. Then we move now,” Bukgung Danya said.
At his words, Gwang An turned his gaze to Cheon Mujul.
“We need to be certain about this. What we need is evidence that they’re connected to Dongbangsega. In other words, destroying them isn’t the priority—securing evidence is.”
“But shouldn’t we strike them immediately? They could destroy the evidence, couldn’t they?”
“They won’t be able to. That evidence of their connection to Dongbangsega is their lifeline.”
“Their lifeline?”
“Yes. Evidence of Hyeolpung-dan’s connection to Dongbangsega is the only leverage Hyeolpung-dan holds over Dongbangsega. Hyeolpung-dan has been handling Dongbangsega’s secret misdeeds all along.”
“Then…”
“They’ll likely try to smuggle it out. Over the course of our conflicts, Master Cheon and Master Bukgung have engaged them three times. Each time, they were thoroughly defeated.”
Bukgung Danya nodded at Gwang An’s words.
“They lack the strength to overpower both of them in direct combat. So the highest probability now is that they’ll move to extract the evidence elsewhere, either by infiltration or when we launch an assault.”
“So we seize the evidence during that window?”
“Exactly. There’s no need for unnecessary bloodshed.”
Bukgung Danya nodded, seeming to accept this reasoning.
“And what makes this possible is Master Cheon.”
At these words, Bukgung Danya looked toward Cheon Mujul.
“From what we’ve gathered, thanks to Master Cheon, Hyeolpung-dan is nearly annihilated. For them, the best option would be to have Hyeolpung-dan create a distraction and extract the evidence covertly—but that’s now impossible.”
“Which means we have ideal conditions for seizing the evidence.”
“Precisely.”
At Gwang An’s answer, Bukgung Danya exhaled slowly, as if collecting himself.
“When do you think it will happen?”
“Tonight at the earliest, tomorrow night at the latest.”
“So very soon indeed.”
“Just a little longer, if you please,” Gwang An said.
Gwang An smiled and patted Bukgung Danya’s shoulder reassuringly.
Then Cheon Mujul spoke.
“What about Eunpung Jeonjang? Are they still being monitored?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me divide the roles,” Cheon Mujul said.
At his words, Gwang An and Bukgung Danya exchanged glances as if unsure what he meant.
“I’ll head toward Eunpung Jeonjang first to draw their attention. Then they’ll be confident that we’ve fallen for their misdirection.”
“That would be likely.”
“While they’re distracted, you seize the evidence from Unhabang.”
“But if Master Cheon moves alone, won’t that make them more suspicious?” Bukgung Danya objected.
He pressed his point further.
“Every time, you and Master Cheon have moved together, whether toward the same destination or different ones. But if you stay put and Master Cheon moves alone, the eyes watching us will only sharpen their focus.”
Usually Bukgung Danya thought poorly, but this time his reasoning was sound.
“I agree with Master Bukgung’s point. What do you think, Master Cheon?” Gwang An added his voice to the objection.
Gwang An had cast his vote with Bukgung Danya.
“You’re right,” Cheon Mujul conceded readily.
He accepted their reasoning without resistance.
A faint smile played across Bukgung Danya’s lips.
“But we still need to plant certainty in their minds,” Gwang An said.
“Then do it this way,” he continued.
Gwang An unfolded a map before the two men.
“The road to Eunpung Jeonjang goes this way.”
Gwang An drew a line on the map, using Bohyeon Temple as a center point.
“The road to Seonghwa Jeonbangs goes that way.”
He drew another line in a different direction.
The two lines pointed in completely opposite directions.
“You two head toward Eunpung Jeonjang first. Then, we’ll create a distraction for Ammogak around here. In that moment, change direction and head toward Seonghwa Jeonbangs. It will be a longer route, but with your speed, you’ll arrive in time.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s possible because of now. Ammogak has concentrated all their intelligence efforts on Eunpung Jeonjang and Seonghwa Jeonbangs. Their surveillance of us and you will necessarily weaken by comparison.”
Cheon Mujul nodded at Gwang An’s words and spoke.
“We’ll finish it. Tonight.”

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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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