The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 86

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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 86. An Unexpected Order
Ever since Hong Taek entered Hwan Do, the small forest at the center of Saja Plain, he had not set foot outside it for days.
Yet one could not assume he had been struck down by the Hyeol Gwi Dae, for it was the nature of Hwan Do—a place without natural springs—that forced the Baek Ui Ryeon’s warriors to visit the Maeng Ui Dan’s encampment twice daily to fetch drinking water.
During this time, the Maeng Ui Dan maintained their alert status.
The fatigue wore heavily on the Maeng Ui Dan’s warriors.
Then one day, as a Baek Ui Ryeon warrior arrived as usual to collect water, he delivered a letter to Yeo Jeong, and she promptly forwarded it to the Baek Ui Ryeon.
All of this was happening brazenly before their eyes, yet Tae Geuk Geom Wang remained under the Cheol Hyeol Maeng’s instruction to wait and observe.
After several more days of such maddening silence, masters from the Cheol Hyeol Maeng’s main headquarters suddenly arrived.
And among them was the vice-leader, Peng Mu Yang.
After exchanging a few words with Tae Geuk Geom Wang, he immediately set out for Saja Plain and entered Hwan Do.
Left behind, Tae Geuk Geom Wang muttered to himself in disbelief.
“An armistice…….”
They say spring arrives without a sound.
So too did the armistice suddenly rear its head without warning.
Shortly after Peng Mu Yang returned from Saja Plain and made his way back to the main headquarters, cheers erupted across the Maeng Ui Dan’s encampment.
Word had arrived that a temporary ceasefire had been agreed upon to halt the endless war between Gunmarim and the Cheol Hyeol Maeng.
No longer would they be thrust into meaningless slaughter on the battlefield, and with that knowledge, both the Baek Ui Ryeon warriors and the Maeng Ui Dan warriors received Hong Taek’s return from Saja Plain with triumphant spirits.
Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s expression darkened as he watched.
Noticing this, Gong Chan asked.
“You appear troubled, sir.”
“That would be natural, wouldn’t it.”
“Now that this tedious fighting has ended, what could you possibly worry about?”
“Because the world that awaits us extends far beyond what can be seen on a battlefield.”
“Sir?”
Tae Geuk Geom Wang offered no further words in response to Gong Chan’s bewildered question.
***
Several days after news of the armistice spread, Hong Taek returned to the Baek Ui Ryeon’s branch.
But the Maeng Ui Dan warriors who had been buzzing with excitement at the prospect of soon returning to their own sects and homes were not among those celebrating.
‘Gunmarim and the Cheol Hyeol Maeng, the Cheol Hyeol Maeng and Gunmarim hereby enter into a provisional armistice under the mediation of the Baek Ui Ryeon.’
Such was the wording of the armistice conveyed to the Maeng Ui Dan.
Many more clauses existed in the agreement drawn up by both sides, but the passage with the greatest impact on the Maeng Ui Dan was precisely that one.
Among those words, one in particular.
Provisional.
It meant a peace that could be shattered at any moment.
Naturally, orders were issued to maintain the current situation provisionally along the border between the two sides—Saja Plain, where the fiercest fighting had occurred.
There was no dissolution of the Maeng Ui Dan, no withdrawal to the main headquarters.
Instead, there was one additional strict command transmitted from the Cheol Hyeol Maeng’s main headquarters.
‘None shall be permitted to approach within Saja Plain without the sanction of the Alliance Leader.’
The Maeng Ui Dan’s encampment was weighed down under a heavy pall of disappointment.
The commanders tasked with lifting their spirits attempted consolation with words such as, ‘At least we need not continue this meaningless fighting,’ yet the morale that had collapsed showed little sign of rising.
Amid such an abrupt shift in the political landscape of Kangho, Tae Geuk Geom Wang, no less than Jeok Sa, and the Jeok Sa Jo had been left on the sidelines.
An unexpected benefit was that the newcomers who had clung to Jeok Sa so tenaciously, always seeking any excuse to speak with him, had all departed for their own sects once the state of Kangho transformed so suddenly.
What Jeok Sa Jo regretted was that he could no longer see Chul Ja Gyeong, who had been like a flower each morning.
Thanks to her, Jeok Sa Jo’s quarters had been cleaned of their characteristic stench and sweat by Dong Pil’s persistent efforts, but within mere days, the old musty odors and stale smell of perspiration had returned in full.
Jeok Sa Jo was not alone in this.
All the Maeng Ui Dan’s warriors found themselves in a similar state.
Like a bowstring drawn taut that suddenly goes slack, every spirit had sagged.
Striking was the fact that despite this downturn, Yeo Jeong and Yong Hyeon, along with So Yeo Woon and the other Baek Ui Ryeon warriors, remained behind at the Maeng Ui Dan.
Days later, Tae Geuk Geom Wang left a brief farewell and returned to Mudang.
Rumors circulated that it was a gesture to lower tensions between the two sides.
Around the time word came that Ja Jeon Geom Wang, who had been acting as the Hyeol Gwi Dae’s leader, had also departed for Huashan, Saja Plain was entering into the depths of winter.
***
Dong Pil, who had returned to his quarters with snow piled thick upon his shoulders, asked Hee Joon, who was feeding charcoal into the brazier.
“Hey! Where’s Jang Min Su?”
“He hasn’t arrived yet, has he?”
At Hee Joon’s answer, Dong Pil tilted his head in puzzlement.
“That’s strange. He said he’d get here first and went on ahead of me.”
At Dong Pil’s words, Yi Song asked.
“Where were you coming back from?”
“Ah! We’d gone to check out that new gambling house that opened up recently.”
Less than a month and a half after the armistice took effect, more than four gambling houses had already sprouted up near the Maeng Ui Dan garrison.
There had been informal betting games before, with a few men gathering at nearby inns to wager on dice, but the gambling establishments that had opened recently operated on an entirely different scale.
“Tsk! I don’t know why they’re letting this slide…….”
At Yi Song’s displeasure with the Maeng Ui Dan command’s inaction, Dong Pil shrugged and quietly retreated to his seat.
He knew that if he said anything, he’d only invite Yi Song’s complaints.
Jang Min Su, who’d never cared for gambling, had fallen prey to Dong Pil’s persuasion and begun frequenting the gambling houses—and Yi Song’s nerves had grown correspondingly taut.
The Maeng Ui Dan warriors’ spirits had grown unnaturally frayed since combat had vanished from their lives.
Jang Min Su had been unnerved by that tension until he’d succumbed to Dong Pil’s claim that gambling was the perfect remedy.
Even the Maeng Ui Dan command, aware of gambling’s dangers, had chosen to turn a blind eye.
Yi Song was not the sort to miss such things, yet everything still grated on him.
Perhaps that’s why his gaze sought out the one person who could set it all right in a single stroke.
There, as always, lay Ryu asleep on the cot inside the barracks.
Yi Song envied how Ryu could maintain such composure even when everyone else’s nerves were wound tight as bowstrings.
Then the sound of the door opening caught Yi Song’s ear.
He turned to see Jang Min Su stepping inside.
But something was clutched in his hand.
Jang Min Su, his expression bewildered, spoke to Yi Song as he watched.
“It’s a mission.”
The words had barely left his mouth when Ryu, who’d been sleeping in the corner, bolted upright.
Now Yi Song understood—Ryu was no different from the rest of them.
Yi Song laughed wryly and asked.
“What kind of mission?”
“That’s… a bit difficult to understand.”
“What is it?”
Yi Song rose with curiosity, and Jang Min Su approached to hand him the order.
Yi Song took it and began reading the order, then his expression hardened abruptly.
At that ominous look, Dong Pil grumbled.
“Why do you look so worried?”
Yi Song, watching the other team members approach with expressions as troubled as Dong Pil’s, spoke.
“It’s reconnaissance. On the city of Sichuan.”
A chill swept through the Jeok Sa Jo barracks.
Sichuan was the heart of Gunmarim’s territory.
And the city—that was Sichuan’s vital center.
There, the Dang Ga, which oversaw one pillar of Gunmarim’s power, was entrenched.
It was why even Ryu, who’d shown interest at the mention of a mission, had let his eyes grow cold.
Yi Song went to gather information, but he returned knowing only that the order had come from Main Alliance Headquarters as a classified directive.
As it became clear the mission couldn’t be refused, all eyes turned toward Ryu.
Ryu stood under their gaze and spoke.
“If it’s an order we can’t refuse, we follow it.”
At Ryu’s words, Dong Pil grumbled.
“Damn! We should have had a Pardon Certificate for something like this.”
He was referring to the right of refusal—a one-time privilege earned as reward for the Jeok Sa Jo’s merits.
But that privilege had been forfeited when the Jeok Sa Jo joined the Ui Gi Dae.
The Jeok Sa Jo had agreed to that settlement at the time.
So it was that Jang Min Su gave Dong Pil a sharp jab for his grumbling.
The matter was connected to Ryu, who was their leader.
Dong Pil, belatedly realizing this, startled and let out a panicked voice.
“Ah! S-sorry, leader. I didn’t mean…….”
To Dong Pil, floundering in embarrassment, Ryu spoke.
“It’s fine. Regret is regret. So don’t apologize.”
At Ryu’s words, the other team members fixed Dong Pil with sharp looks, and he withered.
From among them, Ryu turned to look at Hee Joon.
“Where’s Jwa?”
“Ah! He went out last night and still hasn’t…….”
As Hee Joon spoke, something embarrassed crossed his face—it was obvious that at times like these, Jwa Ryang would be with So Yeo Woon.
To Hee Joon, Ryu said.
“Find him and bring him back quickly.”
“Yes.”
Once Hee Joon answered and rushed out to find Jwa Ryang, the Jeok Sa Jo members busied themselves with preparations.
For some reason, Hwangbo Jang Seong and the Five Person Group were nowhere to be seen among them.
They had been dispatched yesterday to escort a contingent of civilian officials heading to the Main Alliance Headquarters, and that task had kept them away.
They’d grumbled about being saddled with such tedious work when they departed, but it now seemed this had been a precautionary measure prepared for today’s business.
True, there had been something odd when the orders specifically mentioned the Five Person Group, but he’d deliberately chosen not to dwell on it.
These days, the times were sharp enough that if one assigned meaning to every small detail, there would be no sanity left to speak of, for anyone.
Of course, he understood the reason now, but no one in Jeok Sa Jo had brought it up.
Rather, they were simply relieved that at least these members had been spared from the dangerous undertaking.
The bonds of loyalty that had accumulated between the original Jeok Sa Jo and the Five Person Group had grown to that extent.
Once Jwa Ryang returned in disheveled haste alongside Hee Joon, and they made their preparations, Jeok Sa Jo departed from the Maeng Ui Dan encampment as quietly as any other day.
In their quarters after Jeok Sa Jo had left, nothing remained but the Secret Mission Order turned to ash in the brazier and charcoal forcibly cooled by water poured over it.
After Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s departure, Gong Chan—the chief strategist who had effectively led the Maeng Ui Dan during the vacancy of the Alliance Leader position—gazed silently out the window as Jeok Sa Jo departed.
“May you return safely.”
It was sincere.
He had received orders with no explanation whatsoever, even though he bore responsibility for the Maeng Ui Dan’s military strategy, so he could not fathom what reasoning lay behind them.
What did it say about the order that even opening the document had been forbidden?
It meant that Gong Chan himself did not know the detailed commands inscribed within.
And so all he could do was watch with concern as Jeok Sa Jo infiltrated into enemy territory.
***
Sichuan had long been a hub of trade with the western territories.
Perhaps for that reason, there existed an old saying that one should never boast about one’s money or food in Sichuan.
It was a way of saying that wealth accumulated there in great measure.
Given such circumstances, numerous merchant houses managing trade with the western regions gathered in this place.
It meant that the interests at stake across Sichuan were no trivial matter.
Naturally, there were many who coveted them.
After bloody wars spanning decades, the ones who seized Sichuan’s interests in an iron grip were the Dang Ga.
The ferocity and ruthlessness they had displayed during the struggle for these rights became a matter of enduring legend.
Indeed, there arose a proverb: make an enemy of the ghostly maiden of the fifth and sixth lunar months if you must, but never cross swords with the Dang Ga of Sichuan.
Such was the measure of the viciousness of the Dang Ga’s methods.
Eyes watched the Dang Ga from a distance—a clan so laden with gossip and stories.
It was Jeok Sa Jo, who had departed from the Maeng Ui Dan encampment not long ago.
They were huddled together in a small roadside inn where the Dang Ga, blazing brightly with light against the darkness below, came into full view.
“You really mean to go through with this?”
At Dong Pil’s anxious question, the gazes of the rest of Jeok Sa Jo, who shared his misgivings, turned toward Ryu.
“Now that we’ve come this far, we see it through to the end, no matter what.”
At Ryu’s words, unease flickered in the eyes of the Jeok Sa Jo members.
They showed anxiety they had not displayed even during the brutal battle with the Hyeol Gwi Dae—pressed beneath such crushing weight.
Among the Jeok Sa Jo members caught in this tension, Jwa Ryang muttered.

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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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