The Red Dragon Martial Emperor - Chapter 17

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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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Red Dragon Undefeated – Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Using the Peng Clan

Evening was falling, dusk settling over the camp.
Peng Wuwei sat down to eat with wine, exchanging idle talk with his attendants.
One of them spoke in a grave tone.
“The fault from the last operation falls entirely on the Crown Prince and the Dragon Tiger Army. If this continues, the plan will surely suffer delays. We need to find a more certain and swift approach.”
“Just so. After two battles, it’s becoming clear that the way people regard us has only grown worse than before.”
Clack!
Peng Wuwei, his appetite gone, set down his chopsticks with irritation.
“It’s now confirmed that the Crown Prince has been hiding his strength. True, it’s nothing to cause great concern, but still—we must observe him now with completely different eyes. Perhaps we ought to file a report immediately, just to be safe?”
Peng Wuwei drained his cup and shook his head.
“He’s called a prince, so of course he possesses that level of skill. It’s nothing surprising—don’t make a fuss about it.”
“Are you certain? The Crown Prince himself ordered that even trivial matters be reported.”
“Fool! I know what I’m doing!”
“……Yes, sir.”
Just then, a warrior entered through the door.
“General, the Crown Prince has come to see you.”
Stir.
“What?”
“He’s outside now.”
“What scheme is this fellow cooking up now…….”
Peng Wuwei’s face flushed red as he recalled the absurd incident from that morning.
Yet he could hardly ignore Yi Huan now that he had come, so he rose from his seat and headed outside.
Yi Huan and Song Hui stood waiting.
“Welcome, Crown Prince.”
“I hope I’m not interrupting your meal?”
“Not at all. I was just about to set down my chopsticks.”
“Are we to stand out here?”
“Ah…… Please, come inside.”
As Yi Huan entered, Peng Wuwei’s attendants bowed and withdrew outside.
“Prepare tea.”
“Yes, sir.”
Peng Wuwei offered Yi Huan the seat of honor and sat across from him. Yi Huan said nothing until the tea arrived.
Peng Wuwei found the wait unbearably irksome. But he could not let it show, so he had no choice but to endure.
After a moment, the tea was brought in.
Yi Huan finally spoke.
“The Hebei Peng Clan cut quite a figure in the past. Your ancestor Peng Daocheng even rose to the rank of one of the Five Greatest Masters Under Heaven.”
“That is merely a matter of bygone days.”
Though he answered calmly, Peng Wuwei was inwardly astonished.
‘How does he know that…….’
Peng Daocheng was a figure from two centuries past, revered in the Peng Clan almost as a deity. Just as Yi Huan had said, he had earned a place among the Five Greatest Masters Under Heaven and was a supreme master renowned throughout that age.
‘Does this man take such an interest in the history of the martial world? How could he possibly know of it?’
“General.”
“Yes, Crown Prince?”
“In fact, there is something I must ask of you.”
“A request, you say…….”
Yi Huan drew something from inside his robe and placed it on the table.
Tap.
Peng Wuwei’s gaze naturally shifted to the table. What Yi Huan had placed there was a map.
“What is this map?”
“I found it at the military camp. As you know, the command tent I use belonged to the enemy general who directed this place before, and it seems he must have failed to retrieve it during his retreat.”
Yi Huan lied with perfect composure. But Peng Wuwei, unaware of this deception, was already showing keen interest in the map.
Yi Huan poured fuel on the fire of Peng Wuwei’s curiosity.
“If my suspicion is correct, this is quite likely a Treasure Map. Looking at it, it’s hardly a military map, wouldn’t you agree?”
“It does appear so to my eye as well.”
Peng Wuwei stared at Yi Huan, his gaze asking why he was being shown this.
“I heard the general entered the service of your second brother not long ago. If that’s the case, you’re practically family—surely there’s no one more trustworthy than the general himself?”
‘Was Yi Huan on good terms with him?’
Yi Huan continued smoothly.
“What if we looked for it together?”
…….
“If the Treasure Map is genuine and we recover that fortune, you’ll have accomplished a great merit. Of course, in the eyes of your second brother.”
The word merit stirred something in Peng Wuwei. But he was a man prone to suspicion.
‘He’s offering me a chance at merit? Why?’
Yet as Yi Huan spoke further, that doubt melted away like snow.
“Truthfully, I’d prefer to keep it all for myself, but I don’t have the nerve to venture into enemy territory. I simply don’t command the skilled warriors you do.”
Peng Wuwei’s eyes narrowed slightly.
That reason made perfect sense. Better to let another gain something than to gain nothing at all—it was the wiser calculation to secure one’s own portion.
‘If this truly is the Treasure Map, and we recover such wealth……’
Thump-thump.
Peng Wuwei fought to steady his racing heart and asked in an even tone.
“When you say we act together, do you mean you’ll move personally, my lord?”
“I’m nominally the prince—I can hardly involve myself in such matters. But my deputy will accompany you.”
Only then did Peng Wuwei realize that Song Hui was fully armed.
“You mean we leave at once, my lord?”
“Strike while the iron’s hot.”
Yi Huan took a sip of tea and continued.
“Zhao Kingdom has lost its positions and is in disarray. While the enemy scrambles to reorganize their lines, if you move now, success shouldn’t be difficult.”
Hmm……
“If you’re unwilling, I won’t force you. Well, if this won’t work, I’ll simply have to approach General Huang instead.”
“No. I’ll do it.”
Huang Hu was Peng Wuwei’s rival—a threat to his position. He could never yield merit to such a man.
Peng Wuwei asked.
“If we succeed, what does my lord receive?”
He meant to ask what Yi Huan wanted.
Yi Huan said nothing and held up three fingers.
“What do you mean?”
“Since I brought the map, thirty percent of whatever treasure lies there should rightfully be mine, shouldn’t it?”
Peng Wuwei nearly laughed aloud.
‘So it wasn’t just power he’d been hiding.’
Having glimpsed Yi Huan’s greed, Peng Wuwei hardened his gaze and spoke.
“Understood. You honor me with such trust, my lord—how could I refuse? I’ll move at once. Only, if any complications arise, I would be grateful if you lent your hand.”
“Don’t worry about that. I have more than enough influence to smooth over any difficulties.”

* * *

Shortly after, Peng Wuwei and the elite of the Peng Clan slipped into the darkness dressed not in military uniforms but in martial garb.
Yi Huan placed a hand on Song Hui’s shoulder. Song Hui had changed into Peng Clan robes.
“Be careful. Don’t forget what I told you.”
“Are you certain this will work?”
“I have my reasons. You just focus on the task.”
“Understood. I’ll be going then.”
Yi Huan watched Peng Wuwei intently.
“Whether this succeeds or fails, it must remain our secret.”
“Of course. I’ll be going now.”
Yi Huan watched them vanish into the darkness, then left Peng Wuwei’s tent.
But he did not head toward his own quarters—instead, he moved in the same direction Peng Wuwei and the others had gone.

* * *

There were others moving through the darkness: a man and a Blue-robed Person.
The Blue-robed Person gazed toward the forest behind Peng Wuwei’s tent and muttered.
“Chu Zongxiang is moving in that direction. But why would they be skulking about like rats at this hour?”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re heading to the prince.”
“Let me go check it out first.”
The Blue-robed Person moved toward Yi Huan’s tent. The man stood with arms crossed and eyes closed, waiting for the Blue-robed Person to return.
‘Did Cha Zhongjing truly identify what the poison was, and administer it to someone else?’
That question had nagged at him all along.
If Cha Zhongjing had revealed everything, it would mean he knew they were hunting him.
Yet throughout these days, Yi Huan had shown no sign of distress, no hint of preparing to counter an ambush. There was only one conclusion: the man was playing a deeper game.
‘Today we settle this. If he’s truly one of their bloodline, no army from Yan Kingdom will be large enough to spare him.’
The man steeled his resolve and waited for the Blue-robed Person to return.
An hour or so passed.
The Blue-robed Person returned.
“The general is gone.”
“What?”
“On the way back, I checked the opposing military camp where the poison-user had briefly stayed. The left general and quite a number of others—none of them were there.”
The man’s gaze naturally drifted toward the forest where the poison-user had vanished.
“Then the general moved out with those men earlier?”
“It appears so.”
The man rose slowly to his feet.
“We pursue them.”
“Yes.”

* * *

Yi Huan moved through the darkness with utmost stealth.
With the Stealth Technique at his command, trailing without leaving a trace was child’s play.
‘The Hebei Peng Clan remains as dull-witted as ever.’
A quiet laugh threatened to escape him.
The Treasure Map mattered little. To an enemy, something precious would naturally be guarded with iron discipline—yet Peng Wuwei, blinded by visions of merit, had swallowed his few words and abandoned caution entirely.
Of course, Yi Huan’s true aim lay elsewhere.
‘I’ll use the Peng Clan’s strength to gauge these men’s true capabilities.’
Pitter-patter!
The rain began to fall.
For Yi Huan, who could afford no discovery, the rainfall was a gift beyond measure.
‘Not bad at all.’

* * *

Whoooosh!
The deep mountains could turn temperamental without warning. Today was one such day.
What had seemed a brief shower now swelled into a downpour. Fierce winds added their fury, and for Yi Huan, the conditions were ideal beyond measure.
Rumble-crack!
Crackle-hiss!
Lightning split the dark sky with brilliant flashes.
Yi Huan maintained a distance of thirty paces, following Peng Wuwei from the flank.
Yet his true attention was fixed behind him. He was certain the man and the Blue-robed Person were pursuing him through this storm.
How much longer they trudged, he could not say.
A faint stirring touched his senses from behind. Yi Huan climbed higher.
Moments later, through the murk, the silhouettes of the man and the Blue-robed Person emerged into view.
‘They trust the downpour and wind so utterly that they make no effort to mask their presence. Of course—they think I’m marching alongside them.’
Everything unfolded exactly as Yi Huan had foreseen.

* * *

[They’re heading toward Zhao Kingdom!]
[First, we must locate the general.]
The Blue-robed Person channeled Internal Cultivation Power to enhance their vision, peering keenly through the darkness at the moving forms.
[The dense forest chokes out what moonlight remains, and they’re all dressed alike—identification is nearly impossible. I could close the distance for a clearer look, but the risk of exposure would be unacceptable.]
The man shared the same thought, yet here they had come too far to turn back now.
[We follow until we have confirmation.]
[Understood.]
The two maintained their distance and continued the pursuit. The storm aided them, yet they could not afford to draw too near.
The Hebei Peng Clan was no force to dismiss—least of all Peng Wuwei, who had once been counted among the Peng Clan’s most formidable masters.
Should combat come, he was confident of victory; but there was no reason to act until Yi Huan’s presence was confirmed.
Boom!
Crack!
The lightning grew fiercer by the moment. The downpour intensified, and the wind gusted with renewed ferocity.
Soon the dense forest gave way to an open wasteland. Though called a wasteland, the undergrowth had grown tall enough to reach a man’s head, making it scarcely different from forest at all.
The man and the Blue-robed Person kept their heads low beneath the vegetation, pursuing from behind. Fortunately, none of those ahead turned to look back.
[Once we cross that wasteland, we’ll be in Zhao Kingdom territory. What on earth are they trying to do in the middle of the night?]
[Fool! Why do you keep your mind on irrelevant things!]
[……My apologies.]
Then something came hurtling through the darkness. A rather thick branch.
The branch fell just ahead of the man and the Blue-robed Person.
Thud!
“What—!”
As the Blue-robed Person let out a cry of alarm, Peng Wuwei and the Peng Clan warriors who had been moving ahead turned as one to look back. At that very moment, lightning webbed across the sky directly above them.
Crack!
In an instant the darkness blazed away, and the trail the man and the Blue-robed Person had left behind appeared like a serpent’s track, thick and unmistakable.
The Peng Clan warriors halted in unison and wheeled around.
“Who dares!”

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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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