The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 11

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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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Episode 11. Lives Heavy and Light
At the Chammeong Pavilion, as Gong Chan examined documents, one of the senior secretaries approached him.
“A message scroll has arrived from the Red Sparkle Group.”
“What does it say?”
“Here…….”
The senior secretary extended a small scroll and continued.
“How should I send a reply, sir?”
Gong Chan examined the scroll and answered in an even tone.
“They’ll move on their own. Instead, send a Dispatch Order to the Red Assassin Group.”
“What message shall I convey?”
“No Retreat.”
The senior secretary could not hide his shock, knowing what those words meant in a situation like this.
“Isn’t that far too dangerous?”
“When have their missions ever been safe?”
At Gong Chan’s counter-question, the senior secretary found himself at a loss for words.
Gong Chan was right—the Red Assassin Group’s assignments had never been without danger.
Still, he could not help but speak once more.
“According to intelligence, the Blood Ghost Group has deployed over a hundred secret agents for this operation, including multiple Silver Secret Agents and several Gold Secret Agents.”
“Then this might be an excellent opportunity to capture the Gold Secret Agent who commands all those agents.”
“But the Red Assassin Group’s abilities, however exceptional, make this far too dangerous this time. Wouldn’t it be better to recall them now, sir?”
“If we do that, every eye the Blood Ghost Group has left behind will turn toward the Red Sparkle Group. And if our movements are spotted by them, what do you think will happen?”
“That is…….”
Gong Chan continued as the senior secretary could not answer properly.
“Remember now—what matters more than the Red Assassin Group is that we are moving together with the Red Sparkle Group.”
Seeing the senior secretary’s despondent expression as he realized he had no further arguments to persuade Gong Chan, the latter called to him in a quiet voice.
“Cheong Yung.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I hear you and the scholar of the Red Assassin Group studied together?”
“Sir…….”
Gong Chan continued, seeing the discomfort in Cheong Yung’s expression.
“This is not the time to be swayed by personal sentiment. If you, the senior secretary, waver so, what will your subordinate secretaries do?”
“I… beg your pardon, sir.”
Gong Chan let his steady voice fall as he watched Cheong Yung bow his head.
“That is the nature of duty. But now the greater good must come first. Learn to make that distinction well.”
“I shall bear it in mind, sir.”
“Then go at once and send the Dispatch Order to the Red Assassin Group.”
“Yes.”
As Cheong Yung bowed and withdrew, the face of Yi Song—wearing a gentle smile—rose unbidden in his mind.
‘Forgive me, friend. Pardon my meager abilities…….’
Gong Chan’s gaze followed Cheong Yung’s unusually hunched shoulders as they receded, then he rose from his seat and left the Chammeong Pavilion.
Having departed the pavilion, Gong Chan made his way to the Uiju Residence, the dwelling and office of the leader, Yi Hwan.
The moment he entered, Yi Hwan asked urgently.
“How did it go?”
“The Red Sparkle Group has succeeded in making contact with the name horse, according to the message that arrived.”
“I was worried, but that’s fortunate.”
“It is thanks to the Red Assassin Group drawing their attention.”
“Which is why we even let word of the Red Assassin Group’s deployment reach them.”
“True. But now the question is whether the Red Sparkle Group can return safely.”
“Then it will depend on how long the Red Assassin Group can keep the secret agents occupied.”
Gong Chan nodded at Yi Hwan’s words.
“Yes. That is the crucial part. Based on the Red Assassin Group’s past victories, our estimates suggest they can hold out at Saja Fortress for roughly two to four days from now.”
“Considering the distance between where the Red Sparkle Group has gone and our garrison, that won’t be enough time for them to escape completely.”
“No. So I am thinking of sending two more squads from the Red Extinction Group.”
“If we deploy too much force compared to usual, won’t the Blood Ghost Group notice something?”
“That is why I plan to send them tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes. They will be deployed to rescue the Red Assassin Group, which will be in crisis.”
Yi Hwan tilted his head at Gong Chan’s answer.
“The Red Assassin Group, not the Red Sparkle Group?”
“Yes.”
“I understand what you’re thinking, but have we ever actually deployed additional fighters to rescue the Red Assassin Group before?”
“No, we haven’t.”
“Then wouldn’t the Blood Ghost Group find it suspicious if we did?”
“That’s why I need your help, Chief.”
Gong Chan’s answer brought a flicker of confusion across Yi Hwan’s face.
“What kind of help?”
“Discipline me, sir.”
“What are you talking about?”
Gong Chan spoke to Yi Hwan, whose expression grew even more bewildered.
“Punishment for driving the people Vice Chief requested into a death trap.”
Only then did Yi Hwan understand what he meant, and he asked:
“Is this it? The contingency you didn’t tell me about?”
“Honestly, I didn’t think it would come to pass. The Gold Secret Agents would be deployed, I knew, but I never expected them to arrive in such numbers.”
“That was unexpected for me too. They say even Gold Secret Agents were sent in?”
“Yes. It’s confirmed.”
Yi Hwan nodded silently at Gong Chan’s reply, then spoke.
“Then the rescue force must be…….”
“Dispatched by your special order, once you learn of Hwang Bo Jang Sung, Peng Gyeong, and Cheol Ja Ryong’s deployment—albeit belatedly.”
“Will the Blood Ghost Group believe it?”
“Hwang Bo Jang Sung is the eldest grandson of the House Hwang Bo patriarch. Though he’s a bastard, the fact that Peng Gyeong is the second son of the Hebei Peng Family head doesn’t change. And Cheol Ja Ryong is the youngest son of the Suzhou Cheol Bang patriarch—rumored to be treasured despite countless scandals. They won’t be able to disbelieve it.”
“But that means exposing their identities before the world. Won’t that only increase the danger?”
Of course it will. This would be a golden opportunity to strike down the descendants of those called the pillars of the Iron Blood Alliance.
“The danger will create opportunity.”
As Gong Chan said, the greater the danger to the Red Assassin Group, the higher the chance of success for the Red Sparkle Group’s operation.
Still…….
Gong Chan spoke to Yi Hwan, who hesitated.
“Under the guise of rescue force, most of the two Red Extinction Group squads being deployed will not return alive. This operation requires that sacrifice. So Chief, you must decide.”
At Gong Chan’s urging, Yi Hwan was torn.
“It’s not that life has no difference between heavy and light. But reality…….”
“I understand. I know my thinking is too idealistic. But unless I force myself to believe otherwise, I cannot even look those people in the face—those I’ll knowingly send to their deaths. I simply cannot.”
Yi Hwan could say nothing more as he saw Gong Chan’s expression, so unlike his usual inscrutability—now visibly tormented.
“Very well. Do it that way. Should I issue the order to rescue the Red Assassin Group tomorrow, then?”
“Yes. Please issue the command around the Hour of the Goat.”
“The Hour of the Goat? Won’t that be too late?”
“If it’s too early, the Red Sparkle Group won’t have enough time to escape Saja Fortress.”
“But what if something happens to the Red Assassin Group in the meantime?”
Though he said it simply as the Red Assassin Group, Gong Chan well understood that Yi Hwan was concerned about the newcomers like Hwang Bo Jang Sung.
The psychological pressure Yi Hwan bore regarding their safety was immense.
And Gong Chan was not unaware of the constraints of his position.
Finally, after a moment’s thought, Gong Chan spoke.
“If we move up the timeline, we must increase the number deployed. The Blood Ghost Group’s fighters will be concentrated to capture the Red Assassin Group, so we’ll need to hold their attention in Saja Fortress longer with greater force.”
But that was not all.
To not merely distract them, but to actually rescue the Red Assassin Group—or at least the newcomers among them—far more blood would need to spill.
And yet…….
“Do it.”
“Far more blood will flow than you can imagine. Is there truly no room to reconsider?”
Yi Hwan shook his head at Gong Chan’s heavy tone.
“I know there is no distinction between lives that can or cannot be driven to death. But I cannot ignore the difference in consequences that follows. Moreover, my position is not free from such considerations.”
Gong Chan knew better than anyone that this was not a man who would speak such words merely to preserve his station.
So he ventured to guess at his true concern.
“You’re thinking of… retaliation.”
“When their direct line is slain, they cannot remain idle—that too is their position. And once they cry out for vengeance, Saja Plain will be drenched in blood and death.”
It would be.
The blood spilled by those who must die in this affair would be nothing compared to what would flow then—an ocean of it.
For the House Hwang Bo, the Peng Family, and the Suzhou Cheol Bang possessed power more than sufficient to make it so.
The problem was that their own forces, the Alliance Righteousness Group, would be pulled deepest into that blood-soaked quagmire.
And it would be the Alliance Righteousness Group’s fighters who would shed the most blood.
“I see. I apologize. I should have considered that.”
“The politics entwined in this matter are far too sordid for you to concern yourself with. And it is precisely for such matters that I exist, is it not? So set other things aside, and do everything in your power to ensure that those who must survive, and the swift horses, return here safely.”
“Understood, Chief.”
Yi Hwan watched Gong Chan turn back, burdened with an order disguised as a favor, his gaze heavy with anguish and desolation.
“So many are dying. Far too many…….”
Yi Hwan’s low murmur was saturated with self-recrimination.
***
The Red Assassin Group’s frantic rush through the mountains came to an abrupt halt.
It was Dong Pil, who had been cutting a path at the vanguard, who had stopped.
“What is it?”
Dong Pil pointed upward to the sky in answer to Yi Song’s anxious question.
Following that gesture, Yi Song lifted his gaze and caught sight of a bird with a crimson tail wheeling through the air.
Upon spotting the bird, Yi Song drew a small flute from his chest and raised it to his lips.
Though he blew with force enough to puff out his cheeks, the flute produced no sound at all.
Yet somehow, the red-tailed bird plummeted sharply toward the Red Assassin Group—toward Yi Song, who had played it—as though diving from a great height.
The bird alighted upon Yi Song’s arm.
Yi Song then withdrew a Message Scroll from the Message Capsule fastened around the bird’s leg.
The moment he did so, the red-tailed bird shot skyward again, as if its business were concluded, and vanished into the clouds.
Yet no one in the Red Assassin Group so much as glanced at the bird—every eye was fixed upon the Message Scroll held in Yi Song’s hand.
Under the weight of their stares, Yi Song unrolled the scroll, and his eyes twisted in anguish.
“What’s wrong?”
In response to Jwa Ryang’s question, Yi Song handed the scroll over to him.
“I don’t know the Secret Language, so I can’t read it…….”
Before Jwa Ryang could finish widening his eyes, Yi Song relayed the scroll’s contents to the assembled group.

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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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