The Supreme Who Rules the Boundless Sky - Chapter 33

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Spear Heaven Martial Emperor Episode 33

In the seemingly endless grassland region, about two hundred people were taking a rest.

They were members of the Red Wolf Gang that ruled over this area.

Among them, Ma Song, the leader who commanded the Red Wolf Gang, muttered as he looked at the letter that had been urgently delivered to him.

“Flame Dragon Namgung Hyeok.”

The letter didn’t contain much special content.

It simply stated that Flame Dragon Namgung Hyeok of the Namgung Family was targeting them and heading north.

And if possible, they wanted him to kill the bastard.

Ma Song looked at it and chuckled.

It was so desperate that it was hard to believe it came from the mighty Evil Path Alliance.

Well, he had heard that the Evil Path Alliance suffered considerable humiliation from this Namgung Hyeok fellow.

“What will you do?”

The adjutant beside Ma Song asked.

He was asking whether they would flee to avoid Namgung Hyeok, or kill him as the order document instructed.

Ma Song crumpled the order document and spoke coldly.

“What do you mean what to do. Orders came from above, so we have to follow them when told.”

Though they were a bandit gang, they were receiving support from the Evil Path Alliance.

If they ignored this, they would face reprimands later.

Besides, he had confidence.

He heard the enemy was coming leading a military force called the Pungwoon Unit, but unless they were a cavalry unit, they couldn’t catch them.

The situation clearly favored them in terms of speed.

“If it really doesn’t work out, we can just probe them briefly and hit and run. That way we’ll face less criticism too.”

“As expected of our gang leader.”

“Enough with the flattery, you bastard. More importantly, where did you say we’re going next?”

“Hyoeul Village. More precisely, a place called White Robe Sect located there.”

“We just need to raid that place?”

“Yes. Those bastards are a subordinate force of the Shandong Ak Family. We can do it the same way we’ve been doing it.”

“Good. Very good. I hope those bastards have plenty of wealth.”

Ma Song smiled wickedly as he stood up from his seat.

“You bastards! Stop being lazy and get up! It’s time to march out!”

He shouted at the Red Wolf Gang members who were taking a rest.

At that, the Red Wolf Gang members all mounted their horses in unison.

“Come on, let’s finish this quickly and return. We’ve left our main base empty for too long.”

Ma Song said this and spurred his horse at the front. The two hundred or so bandits followed behind him.

Fierce dust clouds rose wherever they passed.

* * *

Namgung Hyeok moved toward Hyoeul County as quickly as possible.

True to the saying that it would only take about a day on foot, the distance to Hyoeul Village was close.

Moving at full speed without rest, only half a day had passed.

He ordered his companions to rest at an appropriate position and surveyed the terrain of Hyoeul Village. Honestly, it couldn’t be called good terrain for facing a bandit gang.

‘There are no hills, just flat ground. I suppose it’s fortunate that there’s at least a fence.’

But even this wasn’t very high, so it looked like skilled riders could jump over it.

Or they could break it down from outside and enter.

It meant it was insufficient to stop red-eyed bandits. In the end, those inside would have to solve it somehow.

“Master Ak. You said there’s also a murim sect in Hyoeul Village?”

“Yes. It’s a small-scale sect called White Robe Sect. It’s a place that maintains close relations with our Shandong Ak Family.”

In simple terms, it meant it was a sect under the Ak Family’s influence.

After pondering briefly, Namgung Hyeok asked.

“What’s their military strength like?”

“There are about fifty people who can fight. However, I can’t say their level is high…”

Ak Hyo said hesitantly.

From his reaction, it seemed they really wouldn’t be much help.

Namgung Hyeok nodded. He hadn’t expected much from a murim sect in such a small village anyway.

Instead, he gathered the officers and held a meeting.

“What do you all think would be the best way to defeat the Red Wolf Gang?”

“Elder Brother. How about asking Sister So Yeon to snipe their leader as soon as he appears?”

Ak Yeonhu answered excitedly and quickly.

But Namgung Hyeok shook his head.

“It’s a good idea, but if we do that, we’ll miss all the rest except for the leader. The moment the leader dies, they’ll immediately turn around and flee.”

“Well, for an ordinary bandit gang, that would be sufficient…”

“We came here to subjugate the Red Wolf Gang after all. We should make it more certain.”

“Haha. Captain. Then how about waiting until those bastards come inside?”

Namgung Hyeok nodded as he answered.

“You mean an ambush? Not bad.”

“Facing a bandit gang on the plains is completely different from facing a bandit gang inside a village. If it’s inside the village with narrow connected paths, their mobility will be limited too.”

Namgung Hyeok nodded at Ho Young’s opinion.

“Let’s do that. However, we need to evacuate all the common people living here to a safe place first. Yeonhu. Work with White Robe Sect, the local sect, to persuade the villagers and set up a defensive formation inside the village. I’ll leave the formation and command to you.”

“Yes. Just leave it to me.”

“Master Ak, please also allocate some troops to help with the defense. No matter how capable Yeonhu is, White Robe Sect alone might not be enough.”

“I will do so.”

“Each squad leader will follow me from now on to survey the geography inside the village. I’ll designate ambush locations, so hide there and attack the enemies when you see the signal.”

“Yes!”

“Be especially careful about safety. Originally, long spears would be best for facing cavalry, but we only have swords and shields right now. Rather than fighting with the idea of annihilating those bastards, fight with the mindset of minimizing our casualties.”

“Yes!”

“It would be good to set traps throughout the village with ropes or stakes, but… we probably don’t have time for that. However, I’ll place spare wooden palisades throughout the village to restrict their movement routes. If they’re cautious bastards, they’ll notice something’s strange when they get that far.”

“Then we should block their retreat when they reach about the middle of the village.”

“Right. So I’ll designate ambush positions around there too. Ho Young will take the end part of the movement route, and I’ll take the middle part. So Yeon will wait near the village entrance and intercept and strike down enemies who try to flee.”

“Yes.”

“Haha. Just leave it to me!”

So Yeon and Ho Young answered vigorously.

Ak Hyo, who was watching this scene blankly, was quite impressed.

It was because Namgung Hyeok’s way of assessing the situation and giving orders was very natural.

It seemed like he had countless experiences like this.

“Gwangpung Unit Leader. Our elder brother is always like that.”

Seeing this, Ak Yeonhu giggled and said.

“Even when he was on the northern battlefields, he always devised optimal strategies. I can’t count how many times I was amazed seeing that…”

“It was thanks to everyone putting their heads together and thinking, not just me being special.”

“How modest of you. Anyway, I’ll go evacuate the villagers as I mentioned earlier.”

Ak Yeonhu smiled brightly and headed inside, leading part of the Gwangpung Unit.

Namgung Hyeok also moved busily, leading the Wind Cloud Unit Members.

He began positioning troops in the houses of the villagers that Ak Yeonhu had taken away.

He also obtained spare wooden palisades and began blocking various paths. He blocked the roads to prevent enemies from possibly moving to other locations.

“Master, please position your troops centered on the central crossroads. If fierce fighting breaks out, it will probably be here.”

“Ah, understood. Let’s do that.”

Ak Hyo also hurriedly began giving instructions to the Gwangpung Unit members.

Supervising all of this, Namgung Hyeok stood in front of the open village entrance and looked beyond it.

Thud thud thud thud thud….

When he concentrated his energy sensing, he could hear the very faint sound of horses galloping toward them. It was still too far away to be confirmed by sight, but this was enough.

Namgung Hyeok’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.

“They’re coming. Everyone to your positions.”

Now it was time for the hunt.

* * *

Ma Song rode without rest and arrived at Hyoeul Village.

“The village is in sight!”

Several subordinates who had been maintaining the lead shouted loudly.

Greed and fighting spirit flowed from their eyes.

“What about the wooden palisade?”

“It’s open! Haha, what fools. Don’t they know that leaving the door open invites thieves?”

“Good. We’ll enter directly. Baek Cheol! You take the lead!”

“Yes!”

The Red Wolf Gang began entering as if they were used to this.

They were already experts who had plundered such rural villages several times. Therefore, their actions were without hesitation.

“Let’s go!”

And so they entered Hyoeul Village.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

They entered through the open wooden palisade without stopping their galloping horses.

But something strange could be felt.

“What is this?”

Ma Song frowned.

“Why isn’t there a single villager in sight?”

Normally, the villagers who discovered the bandit group would scream and run away, but the village was as quiet as a tomb.

“Perhaps they spotted us from afar and fled?”

“Is that so?”

Sometimes that did happen.

There were those who would quickly flee at just the shadow of a bandit group.

Of course, even doing such a thing, most would be caught as they couldn’t escape their mobility….

In any case, it could be considered a decent response for a rural village.

Ma Song thought this was one of those cases and grinned wickedly.

“They couldn’t have gone far anyway! Most of them probably haven’t even properly left the village yet. We’ll catch up to them in one go!”

“Yes!”

The Red Wolf Gang members, excited by Ma Song’s command, eagerly spurred their horses.

But they couldn’t help but feel something increasingly strange.

Some paths were blocked while others were wide open as if inviting them in, creating an unsettling feeling.

It felt as if they were being guided to move in this direction.

Moreover, they still hadn’t seen a single person.

Normally, by this point they would have been able to spot fleeing villagers, so it was strange.

‘Could it be….’

An ominous thought crossed Ma Song’s mind.

“Everyone stop! Don’t go forward, stop!”

Therefore, he gave the command at a narrow passage.

The other bandits hastily came to a halt.

“What’s the matter?”

“Something’s strange. It’s as if we’ve fallen into a trap….”

“You catch on quickly.”

And that was the moment.

Slash!

“…!”

At that moment, fountains of blood erupted as the heads of several bandits on horseback flew through the air.

Ma Song and those around him looked on in shock.

A young man who had appeared at some point was weaving through the bandit group with a flame-wreathed sword.

Neeeigh!

“Aaaaah!”

The screams of horses and humans rang out simultaneously.

In an instant, more than five bandits fell with screams, bleeding.

And as if that was the signal.

“Follow the Third Young Master!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Troops who had been hiding everywhere burst out and began sweeping through the bandit group.

Ma Song’s jaw dropped.

What in the world was happening?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————