The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 25

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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 25. Impure Motives
Jwa Ryang and Dong Pil’s purpose in infiltrating was decidedly dishonorable.
They were there to help a prisoner from Guunmarim escape.
Truthfully, Jwa Ryang wasn’t entirely sure why they were the ones undertaking this task.
It wasn’t something Ryu had ordered them to do, nor was it strictly necessary.
Yet when Dong Pil said, “Why don’t we share some of the burden the captain’s carrying?” Jwa Ryang had nodded without a moment’s hesitation—and there was no one to blame but himself for it.
Dong Pil, moving alongside Jwa Ryang, found it curious that his companion had agreed without the slightest objection to his proposal.
Not that he couldn’t understand it.
Ryu was a special person—not just to him, but to Jwa Ryang, to Jang Min Su who stood watch over Bong Jin, and even to Yi Song and Hui Jun, who weren’t here at this moment.
One might say such feelings arose because Ryu had saved their lives a dozen times over, but the truth ran deeper than mere explanation could capture.
Camaraderie, brotherhood in arms, gratitude toward a benefactor.
It was something different from all of that—a sense of belonging hard to put into words.
Among the members of the Jeok Sa Jo, there existed a unity others found difficult to fathom.
It was the foundation that allowed them to commit such reckless acts without hesitation.
Filled with such varied thoughts, Dong Pil and Jwa Ryang crept through the Maeng Ui Dan Garrison, still wrapped in cold silence.
—Those bastards need a lesson in patrol duty. How do they expect to protect anything when they’re loitering about like that? If I trusted them to keep watch, I’d wake up already riding a cart to the underworld.
Jwa Ryang’s Spiritual Communication reached Dong Pil, who glanced at the Maeng Ui Dan fighters standing idle in the distance.
—Those are from the Nok An Dae, sir. What do you expect from pampered nobles?
—Still, the fact that they can’t catch an infiltrator walking in plain sight… I’m almost embarrassed we’re making it through undetected.
Dong Pil let out a quiet laugh at Jwa Ryang’s Spiritual Communication.
Not that they were actually sauntering in openly, as Jwa Ryang’s words suggested.
They were flat on their bellies, crawling inch by agonizing inch, covering perhaps ten paces in the time it took to draw a breath.
Thanks to nearly an hour of belly-crawling through the grounds, Jwa Ryang and Dong Pil managed to slip safely into the garrison’s interior.
—Where would they be holding the prisoner?
Dong Pil stared blankly at Jwa Ryang, who’d posed the question.
—That’s something you’d know, sir.
—What? Then what exactly do you know?
—The schedule when the female fighters of each unit use the bathhouse? And which positions would give the best view for… observation purposes?
—Drop dead, you miserable bastard! The only way you’ll ever be cured of that sickness is if you get caught and executed right here.
—Won’t happen. I’ve got a feeling that even after I’m dead, I’ll spend eternity spying on celestial maidens bathing.
—Blast it!
Jwa Ryang’s eyes suddenly gleamed as he raised his fist to strike, then lowered it.
—Why the sudden look?
Dong Pil crouched lower and asked, sensing the shift.
—I think I’ve found our way in.
—How do you—
Dong Pil’s Spiritual Communication scattered as his gaze followed Jwa Ryang’s.
Bae Seok, known more by his nickname “the Iron Watchdog” of the Gyul Chal Jo, was walking past with a massive bundle of keys hanging from his belt.
—I’ve never heard that he manages the storage.
—Neither have I.
—Then what are those keys for?
All prisoners held within the Maeng Ui Dan fall under the jurisdiction of the Yi Gi Dae.
But that applies only to those who committed crimes within the Maeng Ui Dan itself—outsiders like the one they sought weren’t the Yi Gi Dae’s responsibility.
Besides, the Yi Gi Dae wasn’t a place to house prisoners; it was where they were worked ruthlessly to enforce discipline.
So the only place equipped to actually confine someone would be…
The Gyul Chal Jo, which handled all matters of discipline for the Maeng Ui Dan under the Cham Myeong Gak.
When he thought about it now, that was the only place in the garrison capable of holding a prisoner.
—The Gyul Chal Jo’s lockup!
At Dong Pil’s exclamation through Spiritual Communication, Jwa Ryang flashed a grin.
***
—You didn’t hit him too hard, did you?
Jwa Ryang moved past Dong Pil, who watched with concern as Bae Seok crumpled to the ground, his head ringing from the blow like a watermelon being split.
—He’s not dead!
Swallowing the thought that a dead body would only cause more problems, Dong Pil followed Jwa Ryang forward.
The Gyul Chal Jo, fundamentally, wasn’t an institution for confinement and punishment.
It was a kind of investigative agency—catching fighters who broke discipline or investigating crimes within the Maeng Ui Dan.
Those caught were all handed over to the Yi Gi Dae, which handled the execution of sentences.
Of course, not everyone caught could be held elsewhere, so the Gyul Chal Jo did maintain a lockup…
—This isn’t a lockup—it’s a pig pen!
The stench of feces the prisoners had left unflushed hung thick in the air, and insects crawled everywhere.
Perhaps that was why there wasn’t a guard in sight—which made moving about easier, though the silence itself felt unsettling.
“Anyone held here deserves whatever treatment they get.”
Jwa Ryang was right.
Those confined to the Gyul Chal Jo’s cells at Yi Gi Dae were considered serious offenders beyond what Yi Gi Training could remedy—traitors, those who bungled operations through recklessness, murderers of their own comrades.
Except for the last category.
“You do realize we’d end up in here too if we got caught?”
At Dong Pil’s jab, Jwa Ryang merely pouted, offering no defense.
It was a truth that applied to everything: what was eternal love when you did it became infidelity when others did.
The thought made Dong Pil chuckle quietly—and his footsteps stopped.
Jwa Ryang, who’d been walking ahead, had suddenly halted.
“What’s—”
Dong Pil’s Spiritual Communication scattered mid-transmission.
Jwa Ryang had gestured toward the Prison Cell stretched before them before Dong Pil could even finish.
Matted hair, clothes torn in places, small wounds scattered across the skin, a body caked with grime.
“A beggar?”
At Dong Pil’s words, Jwa Ryang’s face twisted.
“Hell, you fool! It’s him. The one the Captain brought back a month ago instead of killing, for whatever reason.”
Then it came back to him.
The day when the resistance had been fiercer than usual, when they’d barely managed to subdue a group of fighters.
That day, Ryu had done two things he normally wouldn’t have.
One was treating a man who’d been dying while desperately calling for his mother, then leaving him on the Battlefield anyway; the other was deliberately bringing back this wreck of a man now locked before them.
The first could be explained by the irresistible pull of the word “mother,” but the second remained a mystery even now.
“The Captain must have some connection to this man.”
“Connection? Never mind that—are you certain the Captain will actually do this?”
“It’s obvious. Once we release Mo Yong Ji Eun, this man’s safety is forfeit. Bong Jin knows his identity.”
“But that doesn’t mean the Captain will save him, does it?”
“You think he’d let his hard-won sister spend her life resenting him? Besides, if this man stays alive, who knows what Mo Yong Ji Eun might try to do to save him instead.”
Jwa Ryang nodded slightly at Dong Pil’s reasoning, then asked: “You’re certain? About her being his sister?”
“Didn’t you agree to that too?”
“Ah, yes, I did. Now that you mention it, they really do look alike. I’m almost embarrassed I didn’t see it from the start.”
“So that’s settled. There’s no other way to explain the Captain’s reaction otherwise.”
Jwa Ryang nodded once more, his eyes narrowing.
“Even so, I don’t like it. That bastard we’re releasing won’t stay off the Battlefield forever, and next time he’s out there, our people will bleed because of his blade.”
Jwa Ryang’s grumbling betrayed his unease—as though releasing this man was the same as driving their own brothers toward death.
Dong Pil wasn’t comfortable with it either.
This wasn’t something he was doing willingly.
Nor was it for the man locked in this cell.
But if it wasn’t them doing this, it would fall to Ryu, the one they meant to help.
They had no intention of standing idle while he arrived late and took on the danger alone.
So they didn’t regret what they were doing now, despite their reservations.
As Dong Pil sat with that thought, Jwa Ryang’s Spiritual Communication reached him.
“Strange—I didn’t notice before, but looking now, they do resemble each other.”
“They really do. Very much like the Captain’s mother’s portrait.”
“Yes, and like Mo Yong Ji Eun as well. A handsome brother and sister.”
“There’s nothing handsome about that face. He looks like a scrawny courtesan.”
Jwa Ryang had been smirking at Dong Pil’s complaint when his expression went rigid.
It was Dong Pil’s next thought that did it.
“But Mo Yong Ji Eun aside—how can this man resemble the Captain’s mother?”
Ryu’s Mother had lost only one child, as far as he’d heard.
Apart from her, no one had ever mentioned the Captain having any other siblings.
But this wasn’t the time to pursue such questions.
They were already inside their own garrison’s grounds, attempting to sneak out a captured enemy.
Jwa Ryang shook his head vigorously, casting aside the thoughts.
“Never mind, never mind. It’s not the time to worry about that now. Let’s just get him out. We can think about the rest later.”
With that, Jwa Ryang unlocked the cell door with the Key he’d taken from Bae Seok, then looked at Dong Pil, who was nodding mutely.
Dong Pil regarded him with puzzlement.
“What?”
“Carry him out on your back.”
“Me? I’m supposed to—”
“I’m holding the cell door open, aren’t I?”
At Jwa Ryang’s words, Dong Pil felt his resolve crumble.
The condition of the man he was supposed to bring out made him deeply uneasy about even touching him.
The filth he’d left behind and the insects crawling over the man’s body—the thought of laying hands on him was something he genuinely wanted to avoid.
When Jwa Ryang’s eyes bored into him as he hesitated once more, Dong Pil finally forced himself into the Prison Cell and approached the man’s side.
-You’re not dead, I know that much. Can you at least open your eyes?
At Dong Pil’s Spiritual Communication, the man’s eyes opened with great effort.
Dong Pil flashed him a grimace and pointed with his hand toward the door that Jwa Ryang was holding open.
-There. The door’s open. You know what you need to do, don’t you?
“Who… are you people?”
-Quiet! Doesn’t it look obvious that you’ve been sneaking around? You need to keep silent right now.
“I wasn’t sneaking in, I’ll have you know.”
-Hmm… remarkably persuasive, I’ll admit, but—
As Dong Pil scratched his cheek while sending Spiritual Communication to the man, Jwa Ryang’s sharp mental voice cut through like a blade.
-What are you dragging your feet for? Get him out of here, now!
Even without Jwa Ryang’s urging, Dong Pil knew that lingering in a situation like this was never wise.
-We can sort out the rest later. Let’s just go.
“I already asked who you were.”
-Quiet! Do you actually want someone to come?
“That’s not it, but I can’t use Spiritual Communication.”
-I know your Inner Power is a wreck. I’m not asking you to use Spiritual Communication—I just want you to follow me quietly.
“And what makes you think I would do that?”
Dong Pil looked down at the man still lying there, still stubbornly answering back with each word, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
-This isn’t even a clean place. At least try to sit up for a moment.
At Dong Pil’s urging, the man reluctantly sat up, and his movements were visibly unnatural.
-What’s wrong?
“They severed the muscles around my waist. Sitting up itself isn’t easy.”
At the man’s words, Dong Pil’s eyes narrowed, and so did Jwa Ryang’s, who was holding the door open from outside the cell.
The torture had gone too far, even for a prisoner.
Moreover, when they’d brought the man in, he’d already suffered severe Internal Injuries—his Inner Power ruined and his Dantian shattered beyond repair.
To keep such a person confined and sever the muscles of his waist as well was excessive by any measure.
Still, neither of them had any intention of condemning it. That wasn’t what mattered now.
-Just bring him out.
At Jwa Ryang’s Spiritual Communication, Dong Pil sent another message to the man.
-Then I’ll help you. Let’s just get outside and—
“I asked who you were. How many times do I have to ask?”
-Really, you don’t think it’s the right moment to worry about who we are?
“I know who you are.”
-What? How?
“Because you were there that day. The day I became… like this.”
The day they’d captured the man—that much was true.
They were Jeok Sa Jo, and they’d been executing the operation that day as well.
-So what does that have to do with anything?
“The ones who took me are now trying to set me free. If you were me, would you trust that?”
-So you’re going to throw away what might be your only chance because of suspicions like that?
“I don’t even know if this is a chance or not. At least I have no intention of being used by you people… Hngh!”
The man collapsed mid-sentence.
Jwa Ryang had slipped inside and struck a pressure point with Sudo, knocking him unconscious.
Dong Pil stared at him in shock, and Jwa Ryang’s face twisted into an angry scowl.
-What? Were you planning to hold a philosophical debate until the Gyul Chal Jo operatives come running?
-Well, no, but—
-Then shut your mouth and carry him!
Since he’d been caught being slow, Dong Pil had no choice but to hoist the man onto his back.
The filth and insects clinging to the man immediately rubbed off onto Dong Pil, but Jwa Ryang’s expression was too ominous for him to complain.
Because of that, Dong Pil could only pout and remain silent as he carried the man out of the Prison Cell.
Once outside the cell, Dong Pil followed Jwa Ryang’s lead as they completely escaped the prison compound and ran toward the forest where Jang Min Su was waiting.

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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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