Chapter 117. Five Dragons Fight for a Pearl (13)

“Do you plan on fighting the Black Bull Gang on your own? No matter how strong you may be within the younger generation, the Black Bull Gang still has the Lust Emperor, an Absolute Master.

“Moreover, putting him aside, there are forces under him that can fight on even standing with Absolute Masters. Although their number of Absolute Masters is lacking when compared to the Justice Coalition and the Hegemon Clan, the Black Bull Gang has a much greater number of Transcendent Experts, and they can make up for that difference in the event of a head-on clash.

“Without the aid of the Justice Coalition, you cannot defeat them with just the strength of the Iron Sword Baek Family alone. We will definitely stop them before they reach the Baek Family, and we will be dispatching you to the front lines before that. So don’t be so rushed and fulfill your duties as the Wind Sword Squadron Captain. Okay?”

Woo-Moon understood that he had forgotten himself for a moment because of the shock and worry. He regained his composure as he listened to Palan Shin-Tong. What the commander said made sense.

“Understood. I’ll do as you say. However, if there’s even the slightest chance that the Black Bull Gang will reach the Baek Family before I am dispatched, please be sure to inform me. No matter what.”

Woo-Moon spoke ominously, almost threateningly. However rather than taking issue with his attitude or getting suppressed by his aura, Palan Shin-Tong just calmly nodded.

“I understand. I promise, on my honor.”

“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave now. Oh, that’s right, is there a messenger bird that’s been trained to go to the Baek Family, by any chance?”

“Of course. Go to the aviary and tell them I sent you.”

After leaving the conference tent, Woo-Moon entered the nearby messenger bird aviary. Using Palan Shin-Tong’s name, he took the homing pigeon meant for the Baek Family and wrote a letter for Ye-Ye.

Don’t send more than forty percent of the family’s forces to the battlefield in Nanjing. In particular, the Invincible Forged Squadron must be reserved for the family’s defense. We have to be wary of the possibility of the enemy using a separate unit to target the Baek Family.

***

After sending off the homing pigeon, Woo-Moon left the aviary and walked to the Three Great Sword Families’ quarters with Ma-Ra.

It seemed as though they had already heard the news, as Woo-Moon walked in to see his nieces, nephews, and the talents of the Namgoong Family looking restless and worried.

“Uncle!”

“Did you hear? About where the Black Bull Gang is going?!”

Woo-Moon just smiled, responding nonchalantly like there was nothing to worry about.

“Yeah. I just heard.”

“Uncle, aren’t you worried?” the other Baek family members asked as they looked closely at his nonchalance.

He playfully flexed in response, making his biceps bulge.

“It’s fine. Don’t you trust this uncle of yours? They’ll be blocked before they reach the Baek Estate. You see, I’ve just become the Wind Sword Squadron Captain. Soon, I’ll be dispatched to Nanjing with the other Five Swords of Heavenly Justice.”

Hearing that he had become the Wind Sword Squadron Captain, not only were the talents of the Baek Family surprised, but even the figures of the Namgoong and Baekri Families were also shocked. However, soon, their expressions soured.

There were just too many bad rumors related to the Wind Sword Squadron.

“What? Why are all of your expressions like that? Don’t you trust me? Fine, even if you don’t trust me, don’t you trust my grandfather? He’ll come back to protect the Baek Family if things become dangerous, so don’t worry. Okay?”

Woo-Moon didn’t really have any idea why the others’ expressions had become strange. But either way, the talents of the Baek Family seemed to fall much more at ease when he mentioned the Palm Martial Emperor.

All of the stress wrinkles from being worried for so long disappeared as the anxiety weighing on them seemed to disappear significantly.

Moreover, Namgoong Sung was doing the same thing off to the side, calmly comforting his juniors.

“Did they tell you what to do yet?”

“No, not yet. For now, they told us to wait at our respective quarters.”

Although the ending ceremony for the Righteous Warrior Squadron was originally scheduled to be held the next day, it had been canceled due to the current circumstances, and the squadron had already been disbanded without an official event.

“Okay. Then, all of you continue to stay here. I think I’m supposed to be moving to the Wind Sword Squadron quarters.”

“Understood, Uncle.”

Woo-Moon asked Baek Jeong-Woo and Baek Yo to take care of the others before packing his extremely bare-bones luggage and headed to the Wind Sword Squadron’s quarters with Ma-Ra and Eun-Ah.

While walking, Woo-Moon turned to Ma-Ra.

“Ma-Ra.”

“What?”

He shook his hips, making the two swords hanging on his left side dangle.

“Look, look at this one, the sword with the black blade. This is the one the head smith gave me and it has a cool name, Inkblade. But the one I forged myself hasn’t been named yet. I thought I didn’t have to give it a name at first, but for some reason, this little brat seems... almost sad without one. It wants me to name it, what do you think about giving it a name for me?”

"Okay."

After thinking for a moment, Ma-Ra recalled the swordsmanship that Woo-Moon had displayed with this sword when fighting San Woo-Gyeol.

She eventually drew a small awl from her sleeve and imbued it with qi, creating a powerful aura. Taking the sword Woo-Moon had forged, she carefully engraved the same word on both the guard and the blade of the sword.

Lightflash.

That was the name Ma-Ra had come up with.

Although it seemed a little rigid and stiff, her calligraphy was still beautiful. It resonated well with Woo-Moon, and the sword seemed to like it too.

“Good, Lightflash. It fits well.”

A very faint smile appeared on Ma-Ra's face.

She had finally learned how to express this level of emotion. Of course, her facial expressions only changed when dealing with Eun-Ah and Woo-Moon.

Ma-Ra immediately disappeared after that, continuing to follow Woo-Moon while concealing herself. Woo-Moon laughed, wondering if she chose to hide again because she was embarrassed.

The quarters of the Five Swords of Heavenly Justice were all in one place. The Justice Coalition was divided into four sections, and their quarters were located near the edge of the north quadrant.

Among all Five Swords of Heavenly Justice, the Wind Sword Squadron was the farthest from the center; it was located on the outskirts of the outskirts of their section of the estate. Moreover, it was much less... attractive compared to the other magnificent pavilions.

No, that was a complete understatement. In the beginning, it had probably been similar in quality to the other pavilions. It was just that, for some reason, the Wind Sword Squadron’s pavilion was extremely damaged compared to the others, with many of its walls charred black or stained with who knew what.

The first thing that Woo-Moon felt when he arrived in front of the Wind Sword Squadron’s quarters was a sense of discomfort, stemming from two reasons.

Firstly, there was a terrifying ear-splitting singing reminiscent of a pig being slaughtered. Secondly, there was a terrible stench that stung his nose—so severe that it made him dizzy.

Kya, kya, coughhhhh, kyak!!!!

It also seemed to upset Eun-Ah, who continued to mewl while looking absolutely miserable. Finally, she reached her breaking point, rolling around on the ground while struggling to cover her nose and ears with her short front paws.

After laughing for a moment at how cute she was, Woo-Moon rubbed his temples with his fingertips.

“But... just what the hell is with this place? Not even a pigsty would be this horrid.”

At that moment, there was a sudden crashing sound as something seemed to break inside of the pavilion.

“Oi! Shut up! Damn it, stop your squealing! Fuck, I just want one day of rest, one!”

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Woo-Moon paused. That voice was familiar. Wracking his brain, he finally remembered who it was—the Mount Tai Sect disciple Mu Bi, whom he had once seen together with Xiahou Jinxian.

As if to serve as a response, the

singing

that had paused for a moment started up again.

“How dare you curse after hearing my beautiful singing performance? What a shame, it’s really like playing the lute for a cow.”

Sadly, the melodious lute was actually a screech so bad that it nearly made Woo-Moon sick. Moreover, the singer was also changing the lyrics however he pleased...

“What did you say, you bastard? Cow? It looks like you really want to die!”

The sound of something breaking echoed again.

Shaking his head, Woo-Moon opened the door to the Wind Sword Squadron quarters and entered. As he did so, he instantly made an important realization.

‘Is this what the Wind Sword Squadron is supposed to be? Somehow... I feel that Xiahou Jinxian, Mu Bi, and Peng Tianhao might actually be the most ordinary people in the squadron...’

Woo-Moon walked into a large dining area located on the first floor. There, he could see a plethora of different people.

A musician was fighting Mu Bi, holding a

gayageum

[ref]A

gayageum

is a Korean 12-string zither.[ref] and using it as a weapon. Over to the side was a young man with a wild mane of hair and a strange smile on his face, stirring a large pot over a fire. And to Woo-Moon’s complete perplexity, in the midst of it all was a beautiful woman who appeared to be sleeping comfortably while standing, her head falling forward.

There was also a bald young man scratching his entire body with a painful expression on his face, to the point where Woo-Moon wondered what was itching so much. Woo-Moon then turned to see a young man wearing a white coat, so clean that it sparkled, who diligently cleaned a chair he seemed to be intending to sit on with many, many specialized tools.

Suddenly, the young man cleaning the chair stood up and spat harshly at the young man with the wild hair who was continuously stirring the strange liquid in the pot.

“Young Master Tang, a piece of ash roughly the size of a hundredth of a fingernail from the fire you’re using to heat your pot drifted over here and stuck to the hem of my sleeve. I am greatly irritated by that insult. Please apologize.”

As he spoke, he kept shaking and dusting the end of his sleeve, trying to remove a stain that even Woo-Moon, with his incredible vision, couldn’t see.

“Kekeke.”

However, the young man stirring the pot didn’t respond, either because he didn’t hear what the young man in white had to say or because he had elected to ignore him. He just giggled and continued to stir his pot.

“Please apologize.”

“Kekeke.”

“Please apologize.”

“Kekeke”

“I have now warned you three times. I shall interpret your silence as you not having anything to say even if you die.”

With those words, the young man in white suddenly drew the long scissors from his waist and swung them at the young man with the wild hair.

“Huh?”

It was only then that Young Master Tang, the wild-haired young man, came out of his own world and moved to avoid the scissors.

Thwip!

Hidden weapons hidden up Young Master Tang’s sleeve split into five directions and flew toward the young man in white.

As Young Master Tang dodged the attack and counterattacked, the young man in white hooked his finger on one of the loops of the scissors in his hand and swung it in a circle.

Clang, clang, clang!

The scissors acted as a small shield, knocking aside all of the hidden weapons.

“Hmmpf.”

Woo-Moon easily dodged the projectile that shot toward him.

Until now, not a single person in the Wind Sword Squadron seemed to even be aware of Woo-Moon’s presence, let alone care enough to come and greet him.

“Agh!!!!”

As the fight between the white-robed young man and Young Master Tang grew increasingly fierce, a hidden weapon suddenly lodged itself in the buttock of the bald young man who was scratching his entire body.

“You, you damned bastards!!!”

Enraged, the bald young man jumped in, turning the one-on-one battle into a three-way melee.

Clang, clang, clang! Thwack! Pow!

The dining area, which was already a mess, became even more of a mess. However, as they fought, Woo-Moon noticed something surprising.

Even during their fight, not a single one of the three came near the beautiful woman sleeping with her back against a pillar in the middle. It almost felt as if... the space around her was inviolable for some reason.

His confusion quickly resolved as Young Master Tang was attacked by both the young man in white and the bald young man at the same time. He was pushed back further and further by the relentless assault of the bald young man, eventually getting close to the sleeping beauty.

Instantly, her beautiful eyes shot open, and her sword shot forward like lightning!

“AGh!! I’m sorry, it was a mistake!” Young Master Tang shouted urgently as the beauty’s sword stopped a fraction of a second before it pierced his throat.

“Mmm... screw off...” the beauty said in a sleepy voice.

Young Master Tang took the opportunity to hurriedly escape the danger zone before getting back to fighting the other two again.

He seemed angry, burning with even more venom.

The beauty quickly fell asleep again.

“Hmm. This is a bit embarrassing... I guess we should introduce ourselves at least, right?” Woo-Moon said to Ma-Ra, who was still concealed nearby.

He didn’t know if she nodded or replied in any way, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t expecting an answer anyway.

Woo-Moon breathed in deeply.

“Stop right NOW!”

His roar shook the entire Wind Sword Squadron quarters. Though he was not using any specific technique, it was not much quieter than an Azure Dragon’s Cry or a Lion’s Roar.