Alliance
Despite the significant number of enemies killed, the Beast Palace Master scread in anger.
“Damn those poison bastards!!!”
It was perhaps a natural reaction.
Despite taking swift action, around twenty Beast Palace warriors died from poison without even putting up a proper fight.
About a hundred warriors were still working on expelling the poison using Qi Conducting Techniques, with experts placing their palms on their backs to aid in detoxification.
There were also over a hundred lightly poisoned individuals.
However, the biggest damage was to the animals, the comrades and family of the Beast Palace warriors.
Cases like Ling-ling, who could control internal energy, were extrely rare among spiritual beasts.
Conversely, most animals, except for those like Mangkr who were resistant to poison, were vulnerable to it.
Without the ability to expel the poison with internal energy, they had almost no other way but to rely on natural healing.
More than a hundred animals had already died, and over a hundred more were in critical condition.
“Aaaargh!!!”
As if fighting against the world, the Beast Palace Master continued to scream into the air. Approaching him were Ou-yang Pae and Mu-jin.
“I understand your feelings, but now is not the ti to be solely consud by anger.”
Ou-yang Pae spoke in a calm tone to the Beast Palace Master.
“…What did you say?”
The Beast Palace Master, still fuming, glared at Ou-yang Pae with bloodshot eyes.
His eyes exuded the murderous intent characteristic of a predator.
However, Ou-yang Pae remained composed.
“You are the Master of the Beast Palace, aren’t you? Instead of mourning the losses of your warriors and animals, you should be thinking about how to deal with the Five Poison Sect who caused this.”
It wasn’t that Ou-yang Pae was devoid of emotion; he was also internally seething.
Although his Red Tiger Group didn’t suffer as severe losses as the Beast Palace, several mbers were poisoned.
The difference was that the Red Tiger Group had taken proper initial actions rather than recklessly charging like the Beast Palace warriors.
Thanks to this, although many were poisoned, none had died.
However, the Beast Palace Master had no ti or intention to understand Ou-yang Pae’s situation; he was on the verge of losing his sanity.
“As expected of the cowards from the north, spewing nonsense just because they have mouths.”
As the Beast Palace Master and Ou-yang Pae began their confrontation, Mu-jin intervened.
“What did he say?”
After Ou-yang Pae translated his words for the Beast Palace Master, Mu-jin sighed.
“I’ll speak from now on, and you just translate, alright?”
Mu-jin, having taken over the conversation, spoke to the Beast Palace Master.
“This guy’s words were a bit harsh, but please understand, Beast Palace Master. What he ant was, we should discuss how to take revenge on the Five Poison Sect for their cowardly actions.”
Although Ou-yang Pae frowned at Mu-jin’s comnt that he spoke harshly, he sighed and translated as Mu-jin glared at him.
“Yes. Revenge is necessary. The next ti I encounter them, I will tear them apart.”
As the Beast Palace Master vowed, Mu-jin pointed sowhere.
“For that, how about we extract so information from those guys?”
There, so mbers of the Five Poison Sect, who had been pulled out of the poisonous area in a hurry, were subdued.
“You may vent your anger on them a bit, but don’t kill them as we need information.”
At Mu-jin’s words, the Beast Palace Master, who seed ready to charge at them, took a deep breath and replied in a slightly calr tone.
“I’ll leave the interrogation to you.”
No, he wasn’t really calr. He was rely storing his anger for the future instead of wasting it on empty air.
A predator with poison was present there.
* * *
In the end, the interrogation was conducted by Mu-jin and Ou-yang Pae.
The loyal Red Tiger mbers volunteered to handle the nial tasks.
“You guys can’t even speak Southern Barbarian, can you?”
His logical rebuttal left them montarily speechless.
“Well, we can handle basic conversations, Young Master!”
“How do you expect to conduct an interrogation with basic conversation skills?”
“…….”
Seeing them at a loss for words and fidgeting like puppies in need of the bathroom, Ou-yang Pae sighed and spoke.
“So of you might still be suffering from poisoning, so focus on treatnt first. We must be in top condition for any upcoming battles.”
“……We’ll do our best to recover quickly.”
In the end, the Red Tiger mbers left with guilty expressions.
Despite everything, Mu-jin and Ou-yang Pae were able to extract so useful information from the interrogation.
Among the various details about the strength of the Five Poison Sect, the most concerning was information about ‘that man.’
“Hwang Gon, is it?”
They finally learned the na of the man suspected to be the main force behind the Five Poison Sect.
Hwang Gon initially approached the Five Poison Sect under the na Gangso Sangdan, gradually expanding the transactions, and a few years ago, he began diating deals with the Jeomchang Sect.
“Moreover, he’s been hiding his skills all this ti.”
It was known that Hwang Gon had martial arts skills, but even the Five Poison Sect mbers didn’t know he was a master who had reached the state of Ganggi.
Having extracted various pieces of useful information, Mu-jin and Ou-yang Pae approached the Beast Palace Master, who was silently fuming.
“What’s the situation?”
“We’ve identified the approximate strength of the enemies. And the identity of the master who fought you last.”
At Ou-yang Pae’s response, the Beast Palace Master’s lips curled into a sinister smile.
“Right. There was that guy too.”
Although he had been preoccupied with the poison, he now rembered the wounds on Mangkr’s skin caused by that man.
“First, the total number of enemies we encountered was four hundred. Two hundred from the Five Poison Sect, one hundred fifty from the wandering warriors, and fifty warriors led by the man nad Hwang Gon who fought you.”
Whether the Beast Palace Master muttered to himself or not, Ou-yang Pae continued to list the information he had gathered.
“From the preliminary inspection during the rescue operation, most of the wandering warriors seed dead, and about fifty mbers of the Five Poison Sect also appeared dead. Considering the Five Poison Sect originally had slightly over five hundred mbers, there should be a little under five hundred left now.”
“What about the n led by Hwang Gon?”
“There’s no clear way to distinguish them from the wandering warriors, but based on the information gathered from the interrogation, they seed to have suffered minimal casualties as they were positioned at the rear. Assuming a hundred warriors joined the Five Poison Sect for this war, they should still have around a hundred remaining.”
“In total, that’s about six hundred. Similar to our Beast Palace’s numbers.”
To the Beast Palace Master’s words, Ou-yang Pae shook his head.
“They will likely hire more wandering warriors from Central Plains. Although many of them were killed by us, it will take ti for the news to spread in Central Plains. And those wandering warriors will go wherever they are paid well, even if it ans a certain death.”
“Hmph. No matter how many of those despicable northerners there are, it doesn’t matter.”
To the Beast Palace Master’s arrogant response, Ou-yang Pae nodded in agreent for once.
“There aren’t many masters among the wandering warriors, so they won’t be much of a concern. At best, they can only serve as shields to deplete our energy and internal strength.”
“If that’s the case, we can handle it with just the Beast Palace and your group, without the need for Taiyang Palace.”
The Beast Palace alone had around six hundred warriors, and with the Red Tiger Group and Mu-jin’s team joining, it seed like a winning battle.
Moreover, Taiyang Palace was set to advance from the south, making it seem like a guaranteed victory.
But Ou-yang Pae shook his head and spoke.
“There are two major issues. One, the fact that Hwang Gon is the one connecting Central Plains and the Five Poison Sect.”
“And why is that a problem?”
“The sect he connected with happens to be the Jeomchang Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects. With the Five Poison Sect on the verge of destruction, they will likely request reinforcents from the Jeomchang Sect.”
Unlike the wandering warriors, who were mostly second or third-rate, the intervention of disciples from the Nine Great Sects could beco a significant variable.
“Hmph! Be it the Nine Great Sects or whatever, I am not afraid of those northern cowards! Besides, we can just kill all the Five Poison Sect scum before they arrive!”
Snorting, the Beast Palace Master exclaid. Ou-yang Pae responded calmly.
“That’s exactly it. The second issue is the poison of the Five Poison Sect. Unless they are complete idiots, they will try to delay until reinforcents arrive. And there is nothing better than poison to stall for ti.”
If the Five Poison Sect spread poison along the path of the Taiyang Palace and the Beast Palace’s advance, it would inevitably slow down their progress.
“Additionally, during the interrogation, I learned that the Five Poison Sect’s base is equipped with an even more severe poison formation than what we encountered.”
“I don’t know what a poison formation is, but there’s a deadly poison mist in the swamp where their base is located.”
“That poison mist is the formation. Even the mbers of the Five Poison Sect cannot survive exposure to it; it’s an extre poison. They can only navigate it by following the formation pattern.”
“Hmph. So, did
you learn how to enter during the interrogation?”
“We did, but those guys aren’t fools; they’ll likely alter the formation.”
At Ou-yang Pae’s logical rebuttal, the Beast Palace Master scratched his head.
Fools, he hadn’t anticipated they would alter the formation.
Finally, Mu-jin, who had been calmly listening to their conversation, spoke.
“So, in conclusion, the issues are the reinforcents from the Jeomchang Sect and the poison, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Then it’s simple.”
“Simple? What do you an? Are you planning to charge through again? You might manage it, but that would leave you and the Beast Palace Master trapped in the enemy’s stronghold.”
Although Mu-jin felt sowhat annoyed that Ou-yang Pae was equating him with the Beast Palace Master, he decided to let it go.
After all, he had considered charging through alone, so he felt a bit guilty for getting angry.
“Hmm. No, I have a simpler thod.”
“What is it?”
To Ou-yang Pae’s question, Mu-jin pointed sowhere to the north and answered.
“We can call for reinforcents ourselves.”
Since the enemies were using poison, they would call for reinforcents knowledgeable in poison.
* * *
Mu-jin selected a ssenger to send to Central Plains to request reinforcents, accompanied by Su-linya to guide the way.
However, it would take so ti for the reinforcents to arrive from Central Plains and then return here.
Waiting idly would only give the enemies too much freedom.
Thus, after completing ergency treatnt and reorganization, the Beast Palace began their advance towards the Five Poison Sect the next day.
However, it was not the usual reckless charge characteristic of the Beast Palace.
Beast Palace warriors, who had so resistance to poison or accompanied animals sensitive to scents or poison, acted as scouts.
When the scouts detected poison, experts like Mu-jin, Ou-yang Pae, and the Beast Palace Master stepped in to expel it.
Following them, the relaxed Red Tiger mbers and Beast Palace warriors secured the area and established supply lines, advancing slowly and thodically.
Leading all these operations was none other than Ou-yang Pae.
“It’s certainly convenient to have soone who can use their brain.”
Mu-jin, who only had to expel poison occasionally, moved leisurely in the rear.
Occasionally, he encountered so Five Poison Sect mbers who had prepared ambushes within the poison mist.
Crash!
“Urgh…….”
But they were no match for Mu-jin.
“Phew. It’s certainly easier to use my body than my brain.”
Not having to strategize or command, Mu-jin leisurely trained his muscles in the rear, only stepping in to expel poison when necessary.
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