Chapter 61: Righteous Will Heroes
While the Martial Alliance failed to reach a conclusion regarding the demands of Golden Flower Manor, several sects entangled in this incident suffered severe internal strife.
Most notably, the turmoil within Mount Zhongnan was the most serious, as the Sect Master had unilaterally expelled the Taiyi Pavilion Lord and driven him to his death without even obtaining the approval of the Council of Elders.
As a result, strong voices arose among the younger disciples insisting that the Sect Master must be impeached.
This was an exceedingly rare occurrence among the Nine Sects, where rigid hierarchical order was deeply entrenched.
Even so, the greatest reason such argunts surfaced lay in the outco that a master of Mount Zhongnan had slaughtered innocent workers and rchants of Golden Flower Manor.
The repercussions were imnse.
Clear signs were already erging that rchant houses in Shaanxi, which had long been under Mount Zhongnan’s protection, were turning toward the Mount Hua Sect.
What made this especially grave was the fact that those rchant houses had paid substantial contributions in exchange for Mount Zhongnan’s protection.
If that support were cut off, Mount Zhongnan would inevitably be plunged into severe financial distress.
What had begun as an attempt to leverage fa to secure vast interests and grow into a force surpassing Mount Hua had instead resulted in gnawing away at Mount Zhongnan’s very financial lifeline.
Moreover, the damage suffered by escort agencies operated by secular disciples continued to spread.
In just a few days, rchant houses began declaring one after another that they would no longer conduct business with escort agencies affiliated with Mount Zhongnan.
The resentnt of the secular disciples also surged.
In the end, the Council of Elders demanded the Sect Master’s appearance.
It was not a summons to attend a eting as Sect Master, but an order to appear as a criminal to receive judgnt.
Thus, the council chamber of Mount Zhongnan, where the Sect Master was brought forth as a criminal, sank into icy silence.
It was the first ti since Mount Zhongnan’s founding that young disciples had raised their voices regarding the fate of a senior authority.
Because of this, the atmosphere within Mount Zhongnan over the past several days had been rough and ferocious.
For that reason, the punishnt handed down by the Council of Elders to the Sect Master, who had attended prepared for impeachnt, was “untie what you yourself have tied.”
As the elders spoke only those four words and then sealed their lips, the Sect Master finally shed tears.
Compared to what had occurred, the punishnt was far too light.
Considering the intensity of criticism that had swept through Mount Zhongnan, it was easy to imagine the weight of protests and condemnation from the younger disciples that the elders themselves would now have to bear because of this decision.
Even so, the elders chose to shoulder it and lend their strength to the Sect Master.
They understood that the Sect Master’s unilateral actions had not stemd rely from greed.
That day, the Sect Master departed Mount Zhongnan alone, without even a single attending disciple, and headed toward Golden Flower Manor.
Human perspectives were endlessly diverse, and it was common for the sa matter to be viewed in entirely different ways.
Regarding this incident, the Tang Clan—who shared Mount Zhongnan’s position—presented a completely different solution.
They branded Manbak Flying Sword Tang Yul and the Tang Clan masters who had died at Golden Flower Manor as rebels and expelled them from the clan.
At the sa ti, they stripped Tang Yul of the calligraphy title of Tang Clan’s Eldest that had been bestowed upon him.
The explanation they released claid that this was not a decision by the Tang Clan, but rely the personal deviation of Tang Yul and a few disciples who followed him.
In short, it ant they had acted entirely on their own.
It appeared they had taken inspiration from the Kunlun Sect, one of the main instigators of this incident.
Despite the Tang Clan’s announcent, Yul Han, who remained at Golden Flower Manor, said nothing.
The Tang Clan watched the situation with every nerve on edge, keenly observing even the slightest movent from Yul Han.
anwhile, they dispatched people to various places, requesting support in case further incidents erupted.
As of yet, no one had extended a helping hand to the Tang Clan.
This was because the matter was not a simple clash between Bright Cult masters and Hundred Paths martial artists, but one that involved the deaths of innocent people.
Furthermore, unlike before, rchant houses of the Central Plains were now taking even if minor retaliatory actions.
In such circumstances, no one could act rashly.
While the Tang Clan was mired in this predicant, the Kongtong Sect was gripped by terror.
In their attempt to sohow restore the tarnished honor of their sect, they had only succeeded in deepening their ill fate with Yul Han.
So who still rembered the hellish carnage from fifteen years ago were seized by the fear that the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult might descend upon them even now.
Perhaps because of that, the Kongtong Sect was fixated not on resolving the incident, but on finding a way to guarantee their own safety.
For that purpose, the Peng Clan—into which the Kongtong Sect had poured the greatest effort—made their refusal unmistakably clear.
Though it was an act of discarding a past promise to stand together like a worn shoe, the Kongtong Sect could not even voice a protest.
It was because of the final line in the letter conveying the refusal.
Once again, realizing that they would have to survive alone, the Kongtong Sect sought every possible thod.
Amid that search, one proposed asure drew everyone’s attention.
“Will that really work?”
In response to the Kongtong Sect Master’s question, the elder who had raised the proposal answered.
“It is one of the reasons the Bright Cult’s na has been fluttering even here in Gansu lately. They will not be able to abandon it lightly.”
“It will draw criticism.”
“If it allows us to survive, I believe it is sothing we must endure.”
At that mont, when no one quite understood what was being discussed, the Kongtong Sect Master spoke words that hinted at the core of the matter.
“If we only hold the escort unit and the children, will they really be unable to lay a hand on us?”
“Judging by the Bright Cult thus far, they may not care about the escort unit’s safety, but the children will be different.”
“You are referring to your claim that the Bright Cult is using public sentint to expand its power.”
“It is not only my claim. Such situations are actually unfolding across Gansu in the Bright Cult’s na. Do you truly think otherwise?”
At the elder’s question, neither the Sect Master nor the others could respond.
That was because events lending credibility to his argunt were indeed occurring throughout Gansu under the Bright Cult’s banner.
When no one voiced opposition, the elder spoke again.
“The more children we have in our grasp, the greater the chances will be.”
“Then does that an we must target multiple escort units at the sa ti?”
At the worried question of the Kongtong Sect Master, the elder replied.
“If our movents are read, it will only make things more dangerous.”
“Then what are you suggesting? You just said the more children, the better.”
“Which is precisely why we must hurry. We need to seize them before more children return ho. Fortunately, an escort unit currently circulating Gansu is operating near our territory, so we must strike quickly.”
In speaking of taking innocent children hostage for their own survival, the word “fortunately” was used.
Even so, not a single person pointed that out. Rather than criticism, many grew fervent, believing a way to survive had finally appeared.
The Kongtong Sect perfectly embodied the words of an ancient sage who said that the reason a once-renowned group collapses is not because of the mistakes of a few, but because everyone fails to recognize wrongdoing as wrongdoing.
That very day, a Death Squad composed of all remaining usable mbers departed from the Kongtong Sect.
The Kongtong Sect did not even hesitate to use the na “Death Squad” for an operation whose purpose was the abduction of children.
It was an event that unfolded at deep midnight, when even the moon seed ashad and hid itself behind clouds.
Among the Bright Cult escort units tasked with returning children to their parents, the one responsible for Gansu and Shanxi was led by Gilju, the Seventh Unit Commander of the Red Blade Unit, along with ten squad leaders under his command.
The number of children entrusted to them exceeded fifty by a wide margin.
Because of their proximity to Xinjiang, child abductions had been more concentrated in this region than elsewhere.
Given the sheer number of children to be returned, the mission would inevitably take a long ti, but unlike their Unit Commander in Henan, Gilju chose not to divide the escort unit.
Rather than risking danger to finish quickly, Gilju opted for safety, even if it ant taking longer.
It was simply a difference in perspective, and from that alone, it was impossible to judge whose decision was correct.
Over the days they moved together as a group, more than ten children were returned to their parents’ arms.
The bond between the remaining children and the escorting martial artists had grown so close that it was unrecognizable from the beginning.
The children freely played pranks on martial artists with fierce appearances, and even when a martial artist scolded them with bulging eyes, a faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.
Was it not said that children knew best what they themselves liked?
Perhaps that was why they only sulked while being scolded, before soon resuming their mischievous pranks on the martial artists.
It was upon this lively group—laughing, shouting, and moving noisily—that an unfortunate black hand reached out.
And it did so with sudden violence.
“Ghk!”
The ambush began with a sudden scream and spread throughout the entire formation.
Because the martial artists had dispersed throughout the ranks to calm the children, and because most of them were carrying or holding one or two children, their response was delayed.
Moreover, in order to protect the children positioned along the attackers’ assault paths, the Bright Cult martial artists serving as escorts were forced to sacrifice a great deal.
So even threw their own bodies in front of the attackers’ blades when there was no way to block them otherwise.
It was clearly excessive to view such actions as re efforts to pass a test.
“Abandon the children and respond!”
Despite Gilju’s shout, not a single martial artist abandoned a child.
Even Gilju himself, who had barked the order, thrust his own arm forward without hesitation to shield a child placed before an attacker’s blade.
Blood sprayed as one of Gilju’s arms, severed at the elbow, flew through the air.
The child who witnessed it from re steps away burst into heartrending sobs, but Gilju smiled at the sound.
It was because he had confird that, satisfied with taking his arm, the attacker’s blade withdrew from the child.
Seizing that chance, Gilju’s red blade sliced through the bastard’s throat.
But that was all. Overwheld by attackers who sward like hornets, Gilju collapsed.
As he fell, he watched the children slip into the attackers’ hands.
The sight of a child crying bitterly as he watched Gilju fall resembled Gilju’s own image from the distant past.
With lips that barely moved, Gilju spoke to that child.
“Don’t die. No matter what, survive. You’re far too young to die already.”
His cracked voice did not even properly reach his own ears.
Soon, the child’s figure and sobbing faded away, and Gilju’s world was dyed in darkness.
“Suppression complete.”
At the report from a disciple who had subdued the Bright Cult martial artist that had resisted to the end even after losing an arm, the elder commanding this Death Squad nodded.
“Select the children and withdraw.”
“What about the Bright Cult martial artists who are still alive?”
“Those beyond saving, cut their throats. Those who might survive, press their acupoints and bring them along. Having even one more is better, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Elder.”
As Kongtong Sect martial artists moved to gather the children upon receiving the disciple’s report, they began sorting through the fallen Bright Cult martial artists.
Here and there, Kongtong Sect martial artists could be seen swinging their blades to sever the final breath of Bright Cult martial artists who were too gravely wounded.
A short while later, not a single child remained at the site the Kongtong Sect martial artists had left behind.
The sa was true of Gilju, who had lost one arm.
Thus left behind, seven corpses of Bright Cult martial artists lay where crows soon descended.
But shortly thereafter—
“Shoo! Shoo!”
A voice chasing away birds rang out as a raggedly dressed farr erged.
He was the father who had just received his child back from the Bright Cult escort unit.
Cripplingly poor, he had been unable to let those who returned his child leave empty-handed, and after begging his neighbors, he had chased after them carrying a few potatoes.
What the farr barely caught up to and saw was a brutal battle. Unable to intervene, he had hidden and watched everything, only revealing himself after the Kongtong Sect martial artists had departed.
He could not hide his blank, devastated expression as he looked at the Bright Cult martial artists’ corpses strewn about, their breaths extinguished.
“May you be struck dead by lightning, you bastards!”
Shaking with rage as he stared in the direction the Kongtong Sect martial artists had vanished, the farr gathered others who had been hiding nearby like himself and buried the dead Bright Cult martial artists.
After erecting a single grave marker, the farr ran off in great haste.
It was because he had heard that Bright Cult Instructors—the sa Bright Cult as the wrongfully slain martial artists—were proselytizing in a nearby village.
On the crookedly carved gravestone left behind him, with misshapen and incorrect characters, a few words were written.
User Comments
0 comments from readers