The Legend of Red Cloud - 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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Episode 44. Ha Un
Originally, the Heukya Unit was operated by the Maengui Group as a kind of Rapid Assault Force.
Their primary duties were nighttime raids against the Blood Ghost Group, or daytime ambushes.
Consequently, the unit’s membership consisted of disciples from Hwangha Sumi and Soju Cheolbang, masters who wielded practical martial arts.
In total, two squads of two hundred men, and because of the special nature of their missions, all wore Black Martial Robes that evoked Night Garb.
Of course, the members of the Heukya Unit insisted their garments were Black Martial Robes, not the Night Garb typically worn by assassins.
Yet the Heukya Unit underwent a sweeping personnel reorganization.
About half the unit transferred to the Maengui Group proper, and those vacancies were filled by new warriors cultivated and assigned by the Cheolhyeol Alliance.
That series of changes lent weight to Jwa Ryang’s theory of hidden schemes, but the Jeoksa Group, rather than dwelling on it, had thrown themselves into a group training session held for the first time in ages.
To be honest, Hwangbo Jangseong, Peng Gyeong, and Cheol Jayong had never truly understood the phrase “Fateful Meeting.”
Even now, as group training entered its fourth day, that remained unchanged.
They would demonstrate the Martial Arts techniques they already possessed, and Ryu would correct several aspects of each.
To be frank, it was hard to even understand what counted as correction.
It amounted to nothing more than shifting the blade’s angle slightly, adjusting the arc a touch, adjusting foot position by minute differences.
Such variations occurred constantly in actual combat when accounting for the flux of circumstance, so they were merely routine changes.
It was difficult to comprehend why Ryu treated such adjustments as “corrections,” or why the existing Jeoksa members revered his words like sacred law.
Whether it was his nature or because he came from a military background, Gwak Giryang would follow instructions without complaint whenever they were given, and Yun, receiving his support, followed that guidance without hesitation.
Of course, Hwangbo Jangseong, Peng Gyeong, and Cheol Jayong followed as well.
They simply did not trust its efficacy.
The Jeoksa Group’s group training, conducted in that manner, ended ten days later with the arrival of Military Orders from Chamgyeongak.
“Juksan is outside the Maengui Group’s theater of war, isn’t it?”
That was true.
Just as Jang Minsu said, Juksan was located deep in the rear, in the secure territory of the Cheolhyeol Alliance, unrelated to Sajabyeong where the battles between the Maengui Group and the Blood Ghost Group took place.
Yet the Military Orders delivered by the director of Chamgyeongak clearly instructed them to deploy to Juksan and await further orders.
Upon confirming this, Yi Song spoke.
“Juksan has been governed for generations by the Mudang, who sends a Direct Disciple to rule directly. If there were a problem there, the Mudang would have taken action, not the Maengui Group.”
Indeed, Mudang Mountain, where the Mudang resided, was scarcely two hundred li distant from Juksan.
Had the Mudang faced unavoidable circumstances forcing the Maengui Group to move, it would have made sense for the Cheongjeong Unit—composed of the Mudang’s disciples—to mobilize, not the Heukya Unit.
And yet the Military Orders had been issued to the Heukya Unit.
Jwa Ryang’s suspicion surfaced immediately.
“See? I told you these bastards are scheming something again.”
Yi Song could not respond to Jwa Ryang’s grumbling.
He too felt something unsettling.
The Jeoksa Group’s unease was once again resolved by a single word from Ryu.
“Prepare.”
“But commander—”
At Jang Minsu’s apprehensive call, Ryu’s gaze turned toward him.
“It’s better than striking the Blood Ghost Group’s main force. In any case, it’s a rear area with plenty of space to retreat if need be.”
“Retreat… sir?”
If necessary, Ryu would not hesitate to fall back even with enemies before him.
It was typical behavior for the Jeoksa Group, but never before had they planned a retreat before heading into battle.
Yet it was Ryu himself who now mentioned it.
Noticing Jang Minsu’s dismay, Ryu nodded.
“We’ll likely see the Mudang when we arrive.”
Ryu turned his gaze away from the startled Jang Minsu and began gathering equipment as before.
The Jeoksa members, who had hesitated for a moment, became busy gathering their gear in Ryu’s wake.
This time, even the new recruits including Hwangbo Jangseong were no different.
They had already experienced the harsh importance of proper equipment.
Thus equipped, the Jeoksa members departed from the Maengui Group’s encampment.
Watching them leave in silence, Yi Hwan was asked a question by Gong Chan.
“They’re departing without even a report.”
“These fellows didn’t bother coming to report their return from the Uiju Station either. Why would they report their operation now?”
Yi Hwan’s voice carried a note of complaint, uncharacteristic of him, resentment lingering from their failure to visit him upon their return. Gong Chan smiled faintly.
“It seems you were disappointed, sir.”
“I don’t know about the others, but I thought that one would come—the Jeoksa leader.”
“Did you have something to say to him, sir?”
“Just… I suppose I simply wanted him to offer some excuse.”
It seemed Yi Hwan’s mind still weighed with the debt of gratitude he had owed to the previous leader.
And yet, seeing him push the Jeoksa Group into danger once again, Gong Chan found himself thinking that Yi Hwan was truly an inscrutable man.
As these thoughts occupied Gong Chan’s mind, Yi Hwan’s voice reached him again.
“Is it strange that I’m like this?”
“Pardon?”
Yi Hwan smiled as he answered the bewildered Gong Chan.
“Your eyes speak for you, Captain. They say it’s hard to understand.”
“Ah… I apologize.”
Yi Hwan replied to Gong Chan’s gracious apology.
“There’s no need to apologize. If I’m being honest, it’s simply a matter of separating public from private. Personally, I regret it—but within the Maengui Group, no one is better suited for that assignment than the Jeoksa Group.”
“I see. However, because of this, a flaw has emerged in the operation the Chamgyeongak was preparing.”
“Is that so? Then why didn’t you mention it to me beforehand?”
“I hadn’t anticipated that the Leader would send the Jeoksa Group on that particular mission…”
Yi Hwan spoke to Gong Chan, whose words trailed off.
“After you said something the other day that made me think you considered yourself above me, I gave it considerable thought. If I were to face the Jeoksa Group on the battlefield with blade against blade, could I win?”
Gong Chan said nothing to Yi Hwan’s words.
From his expression, it was clear he had already reached his conclusion. And judging by his silence, it seemed the victor would not be Yi Hwan.
“I reached the same conclusion as you did, Captain. I have no confidence.”
“So you thought that might be a blind spot of yours?”
“Appearances aside, I am a Peak Expert of the Highest Realm. If one surpasses me, there is no answer beyond that, is there?”
“…”
Gong Chan nodded silently at Yi Hwan’s words.
For him too, the answer naturally flowed toward that conclusion.
Perhaps because of this, on that point Gong Chan asked no further questions and turned to something else.
“Setting aside the Jeoksa Group’s level, are you truly certain about this?”
“As I said, it’s a matter of public duty. Personally, I regret what this means for the Jeoksa Group, but…”
“It’s not about the Jeoksa Group’s feelings—it’s about them.”
“Them?”
Yi Hwan looked confused, and Gong Chan answered.
“Hwangbo Jangseong and the others. As far as I know, they’re still attached to the Hwangsan Unit.”
“Ah!”
Gong Chan spoke to Yi Hwan, who clearly hadn’t considered this.
“I’ll make it my business to drop a word with Manager Dam on my way back. I’ll tell him to issue them transfer orders to the Jeoksa Group.”
Yi Hwan nodded with a wry smile at those words, and Gong Chan executed a light fist salute.
As Gong Chan departed from the Uiju Station, Yi Hwan’s gaze turned cold and distant.
The Gong Chan he knew was not a man who exposed his inner thoughts to others.
Yet just now, he had revealed his true intentions regarding the Jeoksa Group.
If not a slip, it was deliberate.
“Hmm, so the Captain is probing me…”
This hadn’t happened before.
The rhythm between Captain Gong Chan and Leader Yi Hwan had always been quite good.
But for some time now, cracks had been forming in that harmony.
It had started with the operation the Chamgyeongak was now preparing—one undertaken on direct orders from the Leader.
Though the Maengui Group was the executing body, Yi Hwan, its leader, knew nothing about the operation.
Gong Chan’s Chamgyeongak had invoked the Leader’s decision and refused to report on the matter.
In that process, half of the Heukya Unit’s personnel had been replaced, and the Jeoksa Group itself had been repositioned to the Heukya Unit.
This series of decisions—made over the Leader’s head on direct order from the highest authority—suggested that the operation the Chamgyeongak was preparing posed an extremely high level of danger.
Yet it wasn’t concern for that operation that had driven him to decide on this journey to Juksan.
If the Chamgyeongak’s operation carried high risk, waiting for the Jeoksa Group in Juksan was no less perilous.
Still, he had sent the Jeoksa Group because of a single hope—’perhaps the Jeoksa Group will…’
It was a hope born from watching them return alive even from operations deemed impossible to survive.
Against that hope, he had wagered both the Master’s safety and the Jeoksa Group’s safety together.
“I pray we meet again, unharmed…”
Yi Hwan’s murmur, like a prayer, lingered alone in the Uiju Station.
***
Juksan is a small town.
With a population barely exceeding several hundred households, there’s no need to explain how rural and unremarkable it is.
The reason the Mudang dispatches a direct disciple here to personally oversee it is that Juksan lies in the region of one of the Four Precious Gems of Jungyeong—the Nok Song Stone.
The major sites where Nok Song Stone is found are limited to the Mudang Mountain, where the Mudang sits, and the Juksan region.
To protect the value of the Nok Song Stone, which represents the largest portion of the Mudang’s economic interests, Juksan was a territory the Mudang could never abandon.
Naturally, the number of direct disciples posted here was considerable.
The administrator responsible for commanding some thirty disciples holds the rank of elder.
It was a simple example of how seriously the Mudang regarded Juksan.
And so members of the Jeoksa Group, led by Ryu, entered Juksan.
“Smaller than I expected.”
Jang Minsu added to Dong Pil’s observation.
“The Mudang collects several hundred thousand taels in annual revenue from a region this modest.”
“Because of that stone you mentioned—what was it called?”
“Yes. The Nok Song Stone. Extraordinarily expensive, you see.”
“I simply cannot fathom how people would spend such fortunes on a rock you cannot even eat.”
Jwa Ryang shot back at Dong Pil’s grumbling.
“And I find you even harder to understand, tossing away such wealth on women’s skirts.”
“Now hold on—that’s not what I meant about women’s—”
“Quiet. Someone from the Mudang is approaching.”
At Yi Song’s warning, Dong Pil’s mouth snapped shut.
He had no desire to wax poetic about feminine beauty in front of a Mudang disciple bound to lifelong celibacy.
The Mudang disciple who had drawn near performed a formal bow.
“I am Ha Un of the Mudang.”
Jang Minsu stepped forward to return the bow, facing the Taoist whose name translated roughly as “river mist.”
“Jang Minsu, leader of the Jeoksa Group.”
“You’ve come to the right place. It is rare for martial artists bold enough to enter Juksan fully armed without permission, so I recognized you immediately.”
Indeed, finding warriors with the audacity to enter the Mudang’s direct jurisdiction armed and unannounced was no simple matter.
Jang Minsu nodded silently as Ha Un gestured deeper into the village.
“This way, please. I shall guide you.”
Ha Un spoke to Jang Minsu, whose expression had grown troubled.
“We received orders to await further instructions, so—”
Ha Un produced a letter, understanding the implication that they could not move freely.
“This is a Military Orders document from the Maengui Group.”
As Jang Minsu unfolded it, his expression hardened.
Yi Song, who glimpsed the letter beside him, grew equally grave.
When everyone turned to look curiously, Yi Song spoke.
“It says to follow the Mudang’s orders.”
In other words, the Power Over Life and Death had passed from the Jeoksa Group to the Mudang.
The danger they faced had increased since their departure.
They had come blind, and now they found themselves subject to the Mudang—an external force, not even the Maengui Group itself.
This was why every eye of the Jeoksa Group members fixed upon Ryu.
But Ryu’s gaze remained fixed on the Taoist who had introduced himself as Ha Un.
Ha Un, observing Ryu steadily, broke into a faint smile.
“You must be the one called Jeoksa.”
The Jeoksa Group members’ expressions hardened.
They realized at once that their opponent possessed intelligence detailed enough to distinguish them.
The Jeoksa Group members, by contrast, knew nothing.
The unease that brought gnawed deeper still.
Ryu stepped forward past the others.
“Go ahead. If there’s a time to flee, it doesn’t seem to be now.”
Despite the presence of an outsider—a Mudang disciple—Ryu spoke of escape without hesitation.
The Jeoksa Group members wore anxious expressions, but Ha Un merely smiled faintly.
“Indeed. The time has not yet come. Shall we proceed?”
Ha Un left those cryptic words—whether about fleeing or something else entirely remained unclear—and moved ahead. Ryu followed.
The Jeoksa Group members, exchanging glances with one another, had no choice but to follow suit.

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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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