The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 37

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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 37. Truth and Facade
At Ui-gi-dae, the daily routines of Jeoksa-jo members never varied.
They pushed themselves beyond their limits at the instructors’ relentless urging—running, rolling, sprinting endlessly.
After each day’s training ended, they watched Jwa Ryang hurry through his bath and leave with an expression shadowed by concern.
In this fashion, ten days had slipped away.
As on many mornings before, Yi Song opened the conversation over breakfast gathered in the dining hall.
“It seems we won’t be able to move on this matter before their Ui-gi-ryeong ends.”
Unlike other days, Yi Song spoke while watching Hui Jun seated alone across the room with Yi Myeong, and Ryu posed a question.
“The confirmation is taking longer than expected, it seems.”
“My friend at Cham-myeong-gak has been looking into it earnestly, but it’s not proving simple.”
If they’d pinned their own wrongdoing on others, they would certainly hide the truth by any means.
Ryu spoke as though indifferent to Yi Song’s explanation.
“Besides, even if we wanted to resolve it, that’s impossible from here.”
That much was true.
During the Ui-gi-ryeong, the actions of Jeoksa-jo members were constrained. They wouldn’t even be permitted to leave the Ui-gi-dae compound itself.
Yi Song nodded at Ryu’s words.
“Then we’ll set this friend’s matter aside for now until we return.”
“The situation demands it.”
Yi Song’s head dipped in agreement once more at Ryu’s assent.
Fact-finding required time, and resolution required time—yet Yi Myeong’s Ui-gi-ryeong had barely two days remaining.
Once that period ended, Yi Myeong and his companions would return to their original posts.
There was no point in debating among themselves in the absence of the person directly involved.
Now they had no choice but to wait until their own Ui-gi-ryeong concluded, just as Ryu had said.
Knowing this, Yi Song turned his gaze from Yi Myeong and looked toward Jwa Ryang.
Jwa Ryang’s romance was progressing smoothly.
Dong Pil’s interference, which had sought to keep things from deepening, had ceased at some point, and now the relationship appeared considerably deeper.
Honestly, Yi Song found this troubling.
He could see the end of that romance as clearly as Dong Pil could—and it wasn’t promising.
Still, Yi Song said nothing.
He trusted that Jwa Ryang possessed the character to bear whatever the outcome might be and take responsibility for it.
With such worries set aside, Yi Song too devoted himself to his meal.
There was someone who could not agree with Yi Song’s way of thinking.
That was Yong Hyeon, whose gaze shifted between the Jeoksa-jo members and So Yeo Woon, who sat eating before his eyes.
He was thoroughly dissatisfied with the current situation.
Especially displeasing was So Yeo Woon’s action that had reduced his plan—one that had leveraged Dong Pil—to nothing.
Of course, she had offered an explanation for that action.
By appearing to refuse Yong Hyeon’s scheme, she could deepen Jwa Ryang’s trust in her.
Yeo Jeong seemed to believe it, but Yong Hyeon did not.
In fact, over the past ten days, the intelligence So Yeo Woon had provided amounted to nothing more than the fact that they belonged to Jeoksa-jo of Jeok-myeol-dae, and that they were serving their Ui-gi-ryeong because they had lost a master-level martial artist named Gun Ma Rim during an operation.
But those were things Yong Hyeon had already learned through other Ui-gi-dae security squad members he’d befriended.
So Yeo Woon had been wasting effort this entire time.
Because of this, the intelligence Yong Hyeon’s group held in hand so far consisted of meager scraps.
Any information that could be extracted from ordinary Ui-gi-dae members—no different from outsiders—was already known to Baek-ui-ryeon.
Proper intelligence could only be obtained from those serving the Ui-gi-ryeong, but given the current circumstances…….
Baek-ui-ryeon had granted Yeo Jeong’s party two months.
Within that span, Yeo Jeong, Yong Hyeon, and So Yeo Woon were to thoroughly investigate both the substance and shadow of Maeng-ui-dan.
Only then would Yeo Jeong reveal herself as an emissary of Baek-ui-ryeon and execute her true mission.
Yeo Jeong had one task that absolutely had to succeed.
It was to detect in advance and eliminate any factors that might pose a threat to the Baek-ui-ryeon martial artists being dispatched to Sa-ja-pyeong, thereby securing the most favorable agreement.
This was to ensure that Baek-ui-ryeon’s warriors didn’t stumble into danger in Sa-ja-pyeong and end up as expendable shields, cut down by arrows.
Should such a thing occur, the responsibility would fall squarely on Cheon-myeong-gak-ju, who had championed cooperation with Maeng-ui-dan, and the consequences would inevitably reach not only Yeo Jeong but Yong Hyeon as well.
To prevent such an outcome, above all else they needed to obtain intelligence from within Maeng-ui-dan swiftly and accurately.
It meant they could not afford to waste time like this.
Yet for some reason, Yeo Jeong simply waited for So Yeo Woon.
No matter that the emissary’s task belonged to Yeo Jeong, and his role was merely to protect her.
If things continued this way and he returned empty-handed, Yong Hyeon’s standing within Hang-ju-je-ga would undoubtedly be shaken.
Hang-ju-je-ga always prioritized results over process.
They would never accept his protestations that his mission wasn’t that of an emissary but merely the security chief for one.
So Yong Hyeon could not simply remain as he was.
He had struggled so hard to overcome the limitations of collateral descent to reach his current position…….
It was why Yong Hyeon’s eyes had grown cold with resolve.
***
The Ui-gi-dae garrison felt sparse and quiet as the day’s duties commenced.
Of course, the training grounds where those receiving the Ui-gi-ryeong commands spent their day roared with shouts and curses, but the garrison where off-duty guards and instructors rested was tranquil to the point of desolation.
The night watch would be sleeping, after all, and the off-duty instructors sprawled about, as exhausted in body and spirit as those under the Ui-gi-ryeong.
This meant the only time one could glimpse the guards and off-duty instructors was during meals.
What’s more, those receiving the Ui-gi-ryeong sometimes skipped lunch at the instructors’ discretion, making such days even quieter.
Of course, the off-duty guards and instructors never missed their own meals—the food at Ui-gi-dae was quite good.
One way or another, except during mealtimes, the garrison personnel seldom wandered about the grounds.
There were exceptions, though.
Gwi Geom and Sang Gu—who insisted on calling himself by his alias—never neglected their training.
Among these two, Sang Gu noticed Yong Hyeon moving about with unusual hurry.
“He’s heading toward the Maeng-ui-dan garrison…….”
Gwi Geom, catching Sang Gu’s murmur and watching Yong Hyeon’s receding figure, smiled faintly.
“He held out long enough.”
Sang Gu, not quite understanding what was meant, asked a question.
“Pardon?”
But his query went unanswered.
Gwi Geom had already turned back to his training, immersed once more.
Sang Gu, pouting slightly, threw himself back into his own practice.
There was no question that taking it easy would earn him a sharp rebuke from his teacher.
After running for some distance, Yong Hyeon’s body lowered.
If one could not gather information indirectly, then one gathered it directly.
That was Yong Hyeon’s thinking.
For that purpose, he was now infiltrating the location where the main force of Maeng-ui-dan was stationed.
Of course, Yeo Jeong knew nothing of this.
Had she known, her nature would never permit it.
The sun was now at its height.
It was not an ideal hour for infiltration.
And yet…….
People did not understand something.
The truth was that daylight made infiltration easier than darkness.
People deceived themselves into thinking they saw everything in the day.
But night brings fear of the darkness.
That fear, paradoxically, made night guards more vigilant.
Daytime security, by contrast, was lax.
People believed that if they saw everything, they could prepare for anything.
It was true everywhere, and for everyone.
And Maeng-ui-dan proved no exception.
Slipping through the shadows cast by trees and buildings, Yong Hyeon stepped boldly out into the sunlight within the garrison grounds.
Once past the initial infiltration, there was no need to skulk about.
In any group not composed of a handful of people, it was remarkably difficult for each member to know the faces of all the others.
Moreover, in a place like Maeng-ui-dan where someone died every day and someone new arrived just as regularly, it was altogether impossible.
And there was more: the very existence of Jeok-myeol-dae, where free dress was permitted, meant that Yong Hyeon’s different uniform drew no special attention.
He had counted on this, which was why he had changed out of his Ui-gi-dae uniform and dressed in ordinary martial robes before coming.
And so…….
Moving as brazenly as Yong Hyeon did now, no one would suspect he was an outsider.
Walking slowly through the Maeng-ui-dan garrison, Yong Hyeon turned his thoughts inward.
Where flowed the most information.
Most people would think of the Cham-myeong-gak, where military affairs were handled.
They would be right.
All of Maeng-ui-dan’s operations were planned, decided, and executed there.
But for that very reason, it was one of the most heavily guarded places.
Even in broad daylight, when people’s vigilance was lowest, approach itself was impossible.
So Yong Hyeon had ruled that location out from the start.
Instead, he chose a place where just as much information gathered but security was relatively lax.
The Haeng-sa-gak.
One might wonder what important intelligence lurked in the administrative building of Maeng-ui-dan, but Yong Hyeon, having once handled similar work briefly at Hang-ju-je-ga, knew all too well how much information flowed through that place.
Maeng-ui-dan’s operations descended from the Cham-myeong-gak—called the head—directly to the Yuk-dae, the limbs.
They bypassed the Haeng-sa-gak entirely.
Naturally, the Haeng-sa-gak held no record of the operation itself.
But…
Operations are executed by people.
Substantial information accumulated in the Haeng-sa-gak—distributed weapons, medicines, provisions, and the like.
The results were equally transparent.
Death and injury statistics were documented, along with the quantities of medicines consumed and the number of coffins required.
Moreover, those who worked in such a place kept meticulous, orderly records.
Everything organized by date, clear at a glance for anyone to read.
Thus, by studying only the allocation of supplies, one could deduce how long a particular armed force had engaged in an operation, and how severe the casualties had been.
Since most entries recorded the location of deaths to inform the bereaved, it was possible to pinpoint the combat zone itself, barring exceptional cases.
The ability to distinguish dangerous areas—precisely what Yong Hyeon and his companions needed most—became clear.
Gathering his thoughts as he moved carefully, Yong Hyeon located the Haeng-sa-gak without difficulty.
Before departing the Baek-ui-ryeon, he had received a detailed briefing on the layout of the Maeng-ui-dan garrison.
Of course, even without that knowledge, he would have found it easily enough.
Directional markers had been helpfully posted at intervals along the way.
Presumably a convenience for newly recruited members of the Maeng-ui-dan, though by fortunate accident it benefited the hidden Yong Hyeon instead.
Having found the Haeng-sa-gak, Yong Hyeon slipped quietly into the building’s shadow and vanished.
Yong Hyeon had reached the Cho-jeol-jeong level.
His ability would have earned him a place on the Yeong-ha-baek-wi, yet his name did not appear there.
His clan, the Hang-ju-je-ga, had chosen not to reveal his existence or capabilities to the outside world.
After all, a branch-line member who had ascended to a level surpassing even the direct line held little appeal for the leadership of the Hang-ju-je-ga.
This was why so few recognized Yong Hyeon, despite his mastery at the Cho-jeol-jeong level.
What had always frustrated him now proved useful in this operation.
No one in the Maeng-ui-dan knew of his prowess.
With Yong Hyeon’s mastery at the Cho-jeol-jeong level, the guards posted at the Haeng-sa-gak were too weak to detect his infiltration.
As for the administrators there—they were beneath consideration.
Moving only through blind spots and shadows to avoid detection, Yong Hyeon navigated with almost no obstruction.
As a result, the volume of information he gathered exceeded his own expectations.
Having committed it all to memory, Yong Hyeon slipped quietly from the Haeng-sa-gak.

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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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