The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 94

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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 94. Crisis
As the reports had suggested, the Gate Guard Warriors of the Yusong Iron House, one branch of the Haenam School, possessed remarkably low capability.
The duty of a Gate Guard Warrior is to prevent enemies from scaling walls or passing through gates while the sect’s own fighters prepare their defenses.
Naturally, such a post demands exceptional skill—a standard the Haenam School had failed to meet.
Though the disparity was puzzling, he harbored no complaints; the weakness had granted him an easy passage over the wall.
Thus, having cleared the Yusong Iron House wall, Ryu sprinted through the early morning sunlight without hesitation.
Most people believe daylight provides stronger security than darkness.
But this is untrue.
It is merely a misconception born from the fact that all things lie exposed and visible in daylight.
The shadows cast by daylight, paradoxically, harbor depths darker than night itself.
Those standing in brightness cannot perceive the shadowed places, even if resurrected from death.
Yet people of the day deceive themselves into believing they see everywhere.
So they reduce their guard numbers accordingly.
Moreover, the early dawn is the worst hour for alertness—when those just relieved from night watch fight drowsiness, when fresh-woken warriors succumb to hunger and fatigue as they break their fast before dawn.
Ryu ran through that sluggish hour.
Yet time was not entirely his ally.
The warriors’ dulled senses would sharpen as the moments passed, and the shortening shadows as the sun climbed would afford him fewer places to hide.
So he did not slacken his pace.
Even if some warrior caught sight of him.
Spotting a warrior with wide eyes and gaping mouth, Ryu drew his bow without breaking stride and loosed an arrow.
The warrior, about to cry out, closed his mouth instead and hastily raised his Yusong Strike to block the incoming projectile—then let slip a bitter smile.
The arrow was flying in an utterly ridiculous direction.
He was preparing to shout again and alert his companions to the intruder when—
Thud.
Eyes wide with shock, disbelief, and indignation, the warrior watched Ryu blur past him, his hands flailing uselessly as he collapsed.
The arrow that had seemed to fly so wildly had curved in mid-flight, embedding itself deep in the warrior’s throat.
Having dispatched two more warriors with his curved arrows, Ryu reached the Inner Quarters.
The dwelling space of a sect master or patriarch’s family.
If the intention was to abduct a woman—to keep her rather than merely confine her—he would not have been left in a barn. The most likely location was unquestionably the Inner Quarters.
And there, standing sentry before one particular door in the Inner Quarters, was a warrior.
Fortune favored expectation; Ryu’s eyes fixed upon that very entrance as he burst into the Inner Quarters.
He did not spare a glance at any other door.
Shing.
In the moment he sheathed his bow and drew his blade, ghostly energy surged forth, and the mournful Ghost Wailing of a resentful woman echoed through his mind.
The sword’s name was the Oni Tamashi—the Ghost Soul.
As the name suggested, it had been forged by the greatest craftsman of the Eastern Domain, who had melted meteorite iron to create it.
The subordinate of the Blood Shadow Demon Lord who had bestowed the blade upon him had spoken at great length of how the craftsman had even sacrificed his own daughter to forge this sword, spraying spittle with fervent explanation.
For this reason, the blade harbored the vengeful spirit of a woman who had died in sorrow and resentment.
Thus, whoever faced this blade in combat had to contend not only with steel, but with phantoms and ghostly energy that swept in like a tempest.
Even the one wielding the blade had to endure a tremendous hemorrhage of True Qi.
A man without Internal Energy, like Ryu now, would have his vitality drained upon grasping it.
His very lifeline would shorten.
And should his mental focus slip even slightly, the spirit trapped within the blade would consume his will, leaving him a madman.
So he kept his mind sharp and clear, thinking of nothing else.
He surrendered his life as it was being stripped away, offering it freely.
After all, he had no certainty he would survive to see this ordeal through.
As Ryu rushed forward, the blade trailing those ghostly emanations, two warriors guarding the door moved hastily to intercept.
But—
Crash.
Startled by the phantom of a ghost hurtling toward them, the warriors’ Yusong Strikes veered wildly off course.
Through that opening, the Ghost Soul slipped and cut across both their throats.
The wound was not deep enough to sever completely.
Just deep enough to slit the throat—that precise depth and nothing more.
Leaving the two warriors clutching at their necks and staggering, Ryu burst through the door, took in the sight of a woman staring at him in shock with wide eyes, and without a word, hefted her onto his shoulder and crashed through the window on the far side, escaping into the open air.
It is broad daylight.
Retracing his path would be tantamount to begging for death.
He vaulted over two small walls and, with a sweep of the Oni Tamashi at three warriors in his path, severed their necks before finally clearing the final barrier that separated the Yusong Iron House from the outside world.
He hurled the woman into a nearby Mixed Forest where he had noted an ideal concealment, then snatched up only scraps of her outer robe and ran on.
To any observer, it appeared as though Ryu continued to sprint forward, the woman still slung across his shoulder.
At that sight, fireworks erupted high above, and in moments, dozens of Gate Guard Warriors came pouring over the Yusong Iron House walls in pursuit.
Their faces were twisted and hideous as demons, each gripping a Yusong Strike.
The way they charged forward was no mere street rabble—they moved with deadly purpose.
With each step they covered three or four zhang, closing ground rapidly.
The considerable distance between Ryu and his pursuers shrank in an instant.
When the gap had nearly vanished, Ryu’s form seemed to be pulled into the adjacent forest, disappearing as if drawn by some invisible force.
“Chase him!”
At the furious shout, those in pursuit spread out like a fan’s ribs, their bodies dispersing into every corner of the forest.
After the commotion faded, a woman whose clothes had been torn in the struggle rose from the Mixed Forest with a bewildered expression.
Two Masked Women appeared silently beside her, as if materializing from nothing.
“Should we not pursue and kill him?”
Her words were fierce, yet her voice sang with such clarity and purity that one could only wonder what face lay behind that mask—it was that beautiful.
To the question from one of the two Masked Women, the woman whose clothes had been torn shook her head.
“No. Withdraw.”
“As you wish.”
Tsk.
At the sharp, disapproving click of her tongue, the two Masked Women bowed hastily and vanished without a trace, as silently as they had appeared.
The woman who had watched the forest where Ryu had disappeared, paying no mind to her vanished servants, herself faded from sight.
***
The warriors of the Yusong Iron House who had rushed into the forest were in disarray.
Even as they hid their bodies behind trees the moment arrows flew, warriors fell clutching arrows embedded in their chests and throats.
Arrows that curved through the air as they flew—such a thing had never been heard of before.
Those with some skill reflexively raised their Yusong Strikes to block, only to have the curved arrows pass around the weapons as if alive, sending them tumbling across the ground in panic.
As they rolled, they found themselves face to face with Ryu, who had come upon them with his blade raised.
But the problem was that they first encountered a maiden ghost bearing down on them—pale skin wrapped in a white kimono, her face blazing blue and her mouth gaping crimson.
Startled by the ghost’s phantom form, the skilled warriors of the Yusong Iron House panicked and scattered their Yusong Strikes into empty air, through which Ryu drove his blade.
Slice.
The target was always the neck.
A killing blow.
A wound there left little hope of survival.
Without Internal Energy, relying only on the strength of muscle, if his slash at the opponent’s shoulder or chest was blocked……there was only death to follow.
He had no fear of death, but not yet. Not now.
He needed to raise chaos here, to buy time for the woman to escape—the one he must rescue, the woman who was certainly the daughter of the Mun Chang So House and his betrothed in name only.
‘Betrothed.’
For a moment, the unfamiliar word seized his consciousness.
Keeeeeee!
The Ghost Wailing shattered through his skull with a deafening cry.
Push forward much further and he would lose his will entirely, descending into madness.
Crunch.
Without hesitation, he bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, drawing blood.
A sharp pain radiated from his tongue down the back of his neck and crashed through his mind.
His scattered focus snapped into place.
The spilled blood filled his mouth and overflowed down his chin.
Gulp.
He swallowed the blood pooled in his mouth along with his saliva, stopping it from spilling further.
The scent of blood was thicker than expected.
A trained warrior could smell it from dozens of zhang away.
So he could not spit it out.
Enemies would converge on that scent.
Knowing this better than anyone, Ryu quickly extended his tongue and licked away the few drops that had escaped the corner of his mouth.
Then he fled at once.
In the spot where Ryu had been, two warriors of the Yusong Iron House lay sprawled, their throats severed.
***
Bang!
At the sudden burst of fireworks overhead, Myo Seol and Bun Ta Ju, whose gaze had turned skyward, watched red fireworks light the heavens.
“Who’s lighting fireworks before the feast even begins!”
While Bun Ta Ju reacted irritably, Myo Seol’s eyes narrowed.
The direction of the fireworks was toward where the Yusong Iron House lay.
Sure enough, something burst from the Gamro Tower and bolted toward the direction of the fireworks like a streak of light.
The speed was such that nothing could be discerned except that it was moving—a human form, nothing more.
An instant later, Wi Hae Sam Chu rushed out with an urgent expression and likewise bolted toward the direction of the fireworks.
It became clear then.
The figure who had burst forth like an arrow of light was Yusong Chu Hun.
There was only one reason for fireworks to rise from the Yusong Iron House and for Yusong Chu Hun to dash away like an arrow of light.
The Yusong Iron House was under attack.
The first person who came to Myo Seol’s mind was the man said to be Hae Dong Gwi’s son.
“His target wasn’t Yusong Chu Hun!”
Bun Ta Ju, unable to fully grasp Myo Seol’s cry, looked at her with confusion and asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“It seems Hae Dong Gwi’s son wasn’t targeting Yusong Chu Hun at all—he was after the Yusong Iron House itself. If rescue had been the priority, we should have searched the house first. We overlooked that!”
Though she said “we,” Myo Seol knew it was her own mistake.
Her desire to destroy Yusong Chu Hun had been so consuming that she’d grown careless about discerning what Hae Dong Gwi truly wanted.
Myo Seol bit her lip and hurried down from the roof, racing toward the Yusong Iron House.
It was late, perhaps, but she needed to see how the situation was unfolding.
Watching Myo Seol run, Bun Ta Ju’s face betrayed his conflict.
He wanted to go with her and see for himself, but he had no desire whatsoever to approach the Yusong Iron House where Yusong Chu Hun had gone.
In the end, Bun Ta Ju simply lay sprawled on the roof.
***
At the crown of a tree, a woman balanced on a branch so slender it could scarcely bear human weight, her eyes alive with fascination.
From where she stood, Ryu was taking a perilous gamble.
He had no Internal Energy, and though his movements were nimble, there was something unnatural about them.
How to describe it? Like a pregnant predator stalking its prey?
Swift and precise and audacious, yet lacking in raw power.
That the vaunted masters of the Yusong Iron House were falling haplessly to such imperfect attacks…
‘The blade.’
Yes. It was the blade.
A blade scattering ghostly Qi in every direction.
A blade that unleashed such tremendous ghostly power that even she, standing dozens of paces away, could feel it.
Yet the victory was not achieved by the blade alone.
Instant judgment and improvisation, coupled with those strange arrows that curved through the air, and finally—when opportunity struck—Ryu’s ruthless, reckless attacks that showed no regard for his own life.
That was what made it thrilling.
Most captivating was that peculiar manner of his—approaching like a wary cat, but striking like a savage wolf when he finally committed.
Over a dozen of the Yusong Iron House’s masters had already fallen, their throats torn open, dead.
Entranced by such an extraordinary display, the woman found herself unknowingly rooting for Ryu to break through the encirclement safely.
But the moment she sensed an overwhelming presence rushing toward the forest at terrifying speed, she realized that hope would come to nothing.
‘Yusong Chu Hun!’
The master of the Yusong Iron House, his arrival belatedly announced, was racing toward them.
No matter how extraordinary the blade he wielded, no matter how nimble his footwork, a man with not a shred of Internal Energy could never survive against a master of Yusong Chu Hun’s caliber.
The man who had given her such exotic thrills was only ever capable of this much.
Knowing this, as the woman hesitated whether to intervene and extract him, Yusong Chu Hun burst through the forest before her eyes.
‘Too late.’
It was. Her deliberation had been uncharacteristically prolonged.
Because of it, the chance to spiritRyu away from the man who had captured her interest was lost.
Even as she regretted this, a bolt of lightning erupted from Yusong Chu Hun’s palm as he emerged from the forest—the Yusong Strike.
Clang.
Ryu hastily raised his blade to block, and the impact sent him reeling backward.
‘Should I grab him and flee now?’
As hesitation rose in the woman’s heart again, Yusong Chu Hun had already descended on the reeling Ryu like a thunderbolt.
‘This time it’s truly over.’
From that distance, with the destructive power that Yusong Chu Hun’s Yusong Strike carried, there was no way Ryu—with the abilities she had observed—could evade it.
And yet.

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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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