The Enemy’s Enemy is an Ally
When Cheong Nae-wang heard the na Ou-yang Pae, his reaction was not favorable.
“How dare that traitor utter my na with his filthy mouth!”
As Cheong Nae-wang swung his sword in agitation, lightning bolts burst forth from it in all directions.
As expected, those who mastered demonic arts all had equally violent tempers.
Mu-jin had no intention of appeasing his opponent’s anger managent issues.
– You have no right to talk, you cowardly dog, who hates the Left and Right Envoys but still follows their orders.
Mu-jin simultaneously launched a ntal attack through telepathy.
Boom!
He shattered the lightning attack aid at him and closed in on Cheong Nae-wang.
“Ugh…”
Cheong Nae-wang let out a faint groan as he blocked Mu-jin’s strike.
Though he successfully defended himself, Cheong Nae-wang was pushed back nearly a full ter by Mu-jin’s brute strength, suffering minor internal injuries.
Swoosh!
Mu-jin continued his relentless assault without a mont’s pause.
– Now I see, you turned a blind eye to the Heavenly Demon’s ssage because you beca the Left and Right Envoys’ dog!
“!!!”
A crack appeared on Cheong Nae-wang’s face as he blocked Mu-jin’s continued onslaught.
“Grr!”
Imdiately after forcibly summoning his inner strength to push Mu-jin away, the bloodshot-eyed Cheong Nae-wang asked.
– How do you know about that?
– Didn’t I tell you? I t Ou-yang Pae in the Southern Barbarian lands.
– …Are you saying Pae knew about this?
– You’re underestimating his intelligence. Without protection, he wouldn’t have survived until his entry into the Demonic Sect.
This was a fact revealed later when Cheong Nae-wang Byuk Gi-wan joined Ou-yang Pae’s rebellion in the novel’s first part.
Byuk Gi-wan was a man who was appointed to Cheong Nae-wang’s position just before the Heavenly Demon, who had now beco no different from a vegetable, went into seclusion for closed-door training.
During this process, he received a secret ssage that he did not reveal to others.
“Take care of Pae.”
The ssage was to protect Ou-yang Pae, his illegitimate son.
Of course, the Demonic Sect followed the law of the strong. The ssage did not an that Ou-yang Pae should be unconditionally supported.
It ant to ensure that the young Ou-yang Pae, who was only about ten years old, did not die in vain at the hands of his brothers until the Heavenly Demon completed his seclusion.
However, after that last ssage, the Heavenly Demon never appeared before the Demonic Sect mbers again.
Therefore, Byuk Gi-wan secretly protected Ou-yang Pae until his entry into the Demonic Sect.
Of course, Ou-yang Pae did not know any of this. Precisely, he had an intuition that soone was protecting him, but he did not know who it was.
‘Originally, this fact was revealed and led to an alliance with Cheong Nae-wang, but now is not the ti to dwell on that.’
If Cheong Nae-wang died here, and hundreds of the Demonic Sect’s elite and orthodox sect mbers fell, even Mu-jin would struggle to handle the aftermath.
However, for so reason, Cheong Nae-wang showed no signs of joy upon hearing this news.
“Did he choose to betray us knowing all this?”
It wasn’t because his efforts were unrecognized. Rather, he was disappointed because he had seen Pae’s talent during the process of protecting him.
This was also why Cheong Nae-wang turned a blind eye to the dangerous missions that Ou-yang Pae and the Red Tiger Group were frequently assigned to.
He believed that with Ou-yang Pae’s talent, he would overco such trials. And through those trials, he would grow even faster.
Mu-jin, realizing the misunderstanding Cheong Nae-wang had thanks to his shout, frowned and charged at him again.
Boom!
eting Cheong Nae-wang’s sword head-on without dodging, Mu-jin once again sent a telepathic ssage.
– Ou-yang Pae did not choose to betray. He decided to grow stronger to oust the Left and Right Envoys. Forr Red Fla King Geum Yang-hwi also agreed with him. Unlike you, the coward.
“Hmph. It’s just an excuse! If he truly intended to oust the Left and Right Envoys, he should have stayed and grown stronger within the sect! Running away from missions out of fear and claiming to grow stronger? That’s the true coward’s excuse!”
Boom!
Cheong Nae-wang’s face reddened as he shouted and swung his sword, which Mu-jin blocked again, veins bulging on his forehead.
Crunch.
“?!”
As Mu-jin focused all his strength using the Golden Turtle Technique, a noise resembling a sword’s cry erged from Cheong Nae-wang’s sword held in his hand.
Startled, Cheong Nae-wang tried to free his sword from Mu-jin’s grip, but it didn’t budge an inch.
In the midst of this, Mu-jin’s hand was already grasping Cheong Nae-wang’s neck.
“Listen well. He did not choose to betray out of fear of missions. He did it to prevent those who truly follow the sect’s teachings from dying in vain. He chose to betray to save the Red Tiger Group and Geum Yang-hwi. Unlike a coward like you, who blindly follows orders from superiors.”
Mu-jin, gripping Cheong Nae-wang’s collar, whispered lowly in his ear instead of using telepathy.
“The reason I’m sparing you now is that Ou-yang Pae wants you. If you truly believe in the teachings of the Heavenly Demon Sect, withdraw your n and return to the Southern Barbarians to join him. If you intend to follow the Left and Right Envoys’ orders, I will kill you right here and now.”
As Mu-jin slightly loosened his grip, Cheong Nae-wang took a step back and sent a telepathic ssage.
– How can I trust the words of a hypocrite from the orthodox sect?
Perhaps nearly dying had sowhat alleviated his anger managent issues.
– Doesn’t it seem contrived that we’re fighting here in the first place? Soone among the higher-ups of the orthodox and Demonic Sects has joined hands and pushed us into this deadly situation.
The mont he saw Cheong Nae-wang, Mu-jin realized how this ga was set up.
Brainwashing him or killing Namgung Jin-cheon were secondary issues.
It was rely an attempt to seize a greater benefit since the situation had already escalated.
“If you die here and a war breaks out between the righteous faction and the Demonic Cult, the power of Wu-sa and Left Envoy will beco even more formidable. Is that truly what you desire?”
The sa applied to the Murim Alliance. With the massacre of the late-stage disciples, a war with the Demonic Cult was inevitable, and once the war began, the power of the righteous faction would naturally concentrate on the Murim Alliance.
Seeing Cheong Nae-wang showing signs of hesitation under his pressure, Mu-jin provided crucial information to ensure his confirmation.
“I’ve already killed Heukpung-wang, so even if you order a retreat, there’s no one left to stop them.”
This was why Mu-jin had urgently dealt with Heukpung-wang, despite the hardship.
Unlike Cheong Nae-wang, Heukpung-wang had been a loyal henchman of Wu-sa to the end. Perhaps, just as he had received orders to kill Namgung Jin-cheon, Heukpung-wang might have been ordered to strike Cheong Nae-wang from behind in this battle.
Once Cheong Nae-wang learned that Heukpung-wang was dead, he quickly made up his mind. While the fact that he no longer had to be wary of Heukpung-wang was significant, the even more compelling reason was Mu-jin standing right in front of him.
‘He killed Heukpung-wang so easily and now wants to spare ? It might really be because of Ouyang Pae.’
Having organized his thoughts, Cheong Nae-wang shouted with inner power.
“As Cheong Nae-wang, I command you! Retreat imdiately!!”
At his order to retreat, the faces of the Demonic Cult mbers briefly filled with confusion. Retreating was uncommon for the Demonic Cult, but being the type to follow the orders of their superiors without question, they soon overca their confusion and began to withdraw.
“They’re running away!! Kill them!!”
“Kill them all!!!”
So excited righteous faction mbers shouted to chase after the retreating Demonic Cult mbers, but Mu-jin stepped in to stop them.
“The damage is severe!! Rather than chasing them now, we need to tend to the injured and save as many as we can!!”
Mu-jin’s goal was to minimize the casualties in this battle. This was why he had dealt with Heukpung-wang and Cheong Nae-wang in such a straightforward manner.
His clothes were in tatters, and his body was covered in scratches from the fight with Heukpung-wang. Blood was seeping from the palm of his left hand, which had forcibly held onto Cheong Nae-wang’s sword.
Ignoring the pain radiating from his left hand, Mu-jin clenched his fist and shouted again.
“We need to take care of the injured first!!”
Mu-gung, Jegal Jin-hee, Cheongsu Dojang, and Mu-yul, although not fully understanding the situation, supported Mu-jin’s actions.
“Take care of the injured!”
“Save as many as possible!!”
However, so, like Heo-do Zhenren of Kunlun, who held a deep grudge against the Demonic Cult, and Il-hwi Dojang, who disliked Shaolin, did not stay silent.
“Silence! How can we let the Demonic Cult escape right in front of us!!”
“Is that truly Shaolin’s will?”
As the heated debate continued with the group divided into two opinions, Jegal Muhwan, the overall commander, stepped forward from the rear and spoke.
“This ti, it’s best to follow the Shaolin Dragon’s advice. Tend to the injured and head to the nearby Kunlun for recovery.”
With Jegal Muhwan, the final decision-maker, making the call, the survivors of the Four Divine Units began to focus on tending to the injured instead of pursuing the Demonic Cult mbers.
“In such a short ti, so many have died.”
Looking at the horrific battlefield, Mu-jin clicked his tongue with a bitter expression. It hadn’t even been thirty minutes since the battle began, but the number of bodies lying around easily exceeded a hundred. There were hardly any who hadn’t been injured, and the number of seriously wounded on both sides surpassed two hundred.
If he had failed to persuade Cheong Nae-wang, most of those present would have likely perished.
* * *
They quickly headed to Mount Kunlun with the injured. Since it was difficult to climb the mountain with the injured, they decided to rest in a village near Mount Kunlun.
After a short but intense battle and carrying the injured, Mu-jin and his companions gathered for a eting in their lodging.
“What are your plans now, Mu-jin Sifu?” Jegal Jin-hee asked.
“I’m considering capturing Dok-go Pae and Jegal Muhwan for interrogation,” Mu-jin replied.
Since his role as a double agent had already been exposed, it was aningless to continue. “We need to look for an opportunity to act on our way back to the alliance. Doing it openly might lead to misunderstandings.”
“But Jegal Muhwan stopped the pursuit at the end. Isn’t that strange?” Mu-gung asked with a puzzled expression.
Jegal Jin-hee responded, “It’s likely a deception. It’s already suspicious enough that they led us into a trap. He might have accepted our suggestion to remove our suspicions.”
“I agree with Jegal Jin-hee. So, I think it’s better to interrogate them first.”
As they were discussing where and how to capture Jegal Muhwan and Dok-go Pae, they suddenly felt soone approaching the entrance.
“Shh.”
Mu-jin quickly motioned for silence. Amidst the chilly silence, soone at the entrance revealed their identity from outside.
“This is Jegal Muhwan. I know you’re having a eting here. I have sothing important to discuss, so please let in.”
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