Chapter 126. Five Dragons Fight for a Pearl (22)

Ra Mi, the beauty suffering from narcolepsy, was nowhere to be found.

‘Damn it!’

“Ma-Ra! Find her.”

“Okay.”

As Woo-Moon and the Wind Sword Squadron made themselves busy because of Ra Mi’s disappearance, Lee Chung ordered the diversionary force to move out, saying that they needed to go check out the rear force.

While Ma-Ra searched around, she came across a set of footprints running away and a small, lighter set following behind it. She followed the tracks with Woo-Moon, and they eventually ran into Ra Mi, sleeping by the side of a small lake in a forest a little away from the battlefield.

She seemed to have come all this way while chasing a fleeing gang member, as a corpse of one of the Black Bull Gang members lay at her feet.

‘Huh?’

Looking closely, there was a wound on the left side of Ra Mi’s waist. It wasn’t a minor wound, either, and blood flowed profusely down her leg.

Now that he was looking at her closely, Woo-Moon could see that her complexion was stark white.

He rushed over and tried to keep her from falling over. At that moment, Ra Mi opened her eyes and slashed out.

Shing!

Woo-Moon imbued his hand with aura and grabbed Ra Mi’s blade while wrapping his other hand around her shoulder.

“Ra Mi! Are you okay?”

“...Ah. Captain... I’m... cold...”

When he touched her, Woo-Moon immediately noticed that she was incredibly cold, likely because she had lost a lot of blood.

‘Did she not even notice she was injured or did she fall asleep before she could treat herself?’

“Woo-Moon, ointment.”

After receiving the golden wound ointment from Ma-Ra, Woo-Moon stopped the bleeding by pressing Ra Mi’s acupoints and applying the medication.

In the meantime, Ra Mi fell asleep again and instinctively tried to attack again, forcing Woo-Moon to grab both of her arms and pin her down, striking her acupoints to render her immobile.

He then picked her up on his back, and as he ran with her, he imbued her body with his qi to replenish her vitality.

‘If Ma-Ra hadn’t found her so quickly, she might have died from blood loss.’

Her injury definitely wasn’t fatal. Yet she had still ended up in such a severe condition because she had fallen asleep, leaving her unable to do even the bare minimum to treat her injuries.

For some reason, an indecipherable anger welled up in Woo-Moon’s heart. Eventually, he was unable to bear it.

“Damn it! Just what the hell are Ra Mi’s parents doing? To think they would send her to the Justice Coalition in this state, don’t they care that they’re putting her in danger?!”

However, it looked like Ra Mi was awake when he was shouting. From his back, she responded to his outrage in her characteristic languid voice.

“You want... me to sit... at home... and sleep quietly?”

Not knowing that she had been awake, Woo-Moon was so surprised that he couldn’t answer for a moment.

“What’s... different... between that... and dying? Dying after... only sleeping... for my entire... life... might as well... not live... at all.”

It hadn’t been that long since Woo-Moon had met Ra Mi.

Actually, it hadn’t even been five days since they’d met for the first time at the squadron’s quarters. During that time, they had hardly spent time together at all, let alone sit down together and have a good conversation.

However, when he heard her words, it was as if a hammer hit him hard in the temple, and his tears almost started falling.

He regretted what he said, feeling as though he had spoken too hastily.

“So... I told my father... and came to... the Justice Coalition. Even though... I can only... see, hear, and do... things in the split... seconds that I am awake... I still... like this...”

Ra Mi understood that Woo-Moon had both come to save her and that he felt ashamed right now. She thought secretly,

‘... And because I came to the Justice Coalition, I was able to meet you, too, Captain.’

Woo-Moon affirmed himself.

“I... I will definitely, definitely fix this! This narcolepsy, I’ll definitely...!”

As soon as he said that, an image came to mind.

On the night that the intricacies of the landscape painting that the old Daoist had left behind disappeared, the old Daoist appeared in his dream, showing him visions of boys born with the Solar Physique. The old Daoist spoke to him about the endless years he had spent trying to cure the boys’ illness before eventually being defeated, time and time again.

Woo-Moon hadn’t understood the pain the old Daoist had felt at that time. But now... now, he finally seemed to understand the old Daoist’s feelings.

This

was why he had postponed his transcendence.

“... Thank you.”

Ra Mi was so moved that she shed tears while laying on Woo-Moon’s broad back.

Even Ma-Ra, with her usual expressionless face, had faint traces of sadness and sympathy flickering deep in her eyes, though nobody could see them given the depths of the dark she was hidden in.

As soon as they returned to the main force, Woo-Moon left Ra Mi in the physicians' care and headed to the meeting hall before retiring to his living quarters and lying down.

Just as he had expected... the rear force had been annihilated by another separate force of the Black Bull Gang that had blocked their path in advance.

Somehow, the Black Bull Gang was aware that Lee Chung was going to divide his troops in half and set a trap, and they did not merge their four armies as the Justice Coalition had expected. While the force that Woo-Moon had fought indeed consisted of two armies merged into a single force, the remaining two hadn’t combined. Rather, one of the two pretended as if their numbers were larger than they really were, running away and causing trouble, while the remaining hidden force went underground to avoid being caught by the Justice Coalition scouts, and only emerging to trap and eliminate the rear force.

Although they had taken down the rear force, they had suffered heavy losses. As soon as the Black Bull Gang’s ambush force learned that Lee Chung’s diversionary force had won against all odds, they fled and joined forces with the final remaining hidden force that was causing a ruckus on the other side.

The Justice Coalition had lost completely in both strategy and information. However, that didn’t mean that there hadn’t been any harvest.

Through this defeat, they were able to discover a spy—one of the soldiers who had been present when Ho Mu-Bok gave Lee Chung the order to divide their army into two forces. Now, the spy was being subjected to certain enhanced interrogation techniques.

Thankfully, Ra Mi’s injury wasn’t serious, and it seemed as though she would be fine after a few days of rest. Meanwhile, Woo-Moon and the other squadron members got along much better after returning. However, they didn’t spend much time conversing; even though they had grown close, each of the squadron members had their own distinct personality and lived in their own worlds.

Eun-Ah walked around Woo-Moon’s quarters, looking somewhat depressed. Sometimes she extended her claws and scratched at the ground in irritation.

She was upset at being frequently left behind as the war with the Black Bull Gang grew. But Woo-Moon had no choice, as there were many experts in the war, and it was just too dangerous for him to take Eun-Ah with him.

***

The Black Bull Gang’s Lust Emperor frowned at his subordinate’s report.

“So, our plans have failed several times because of that kid named Woo-Moon. Even our precious spy was killed, too.”

“Yes. Considering the various rumors and his achievements in battle, he appears to be a Transcendent class expert who can’t be evaluated as one of the younger generation.”

“Hmm... You said that he was the grandson of that absolute bastard Palm Martial Emperor, right? How annoying.”

“Yes. He’s rapidly emerging as a new hero of the Justice Coalition, and as a result, the coalition's morale has increased.”

“How unfortunate.”

It was obvious that the appearance of a young hero would be a great boon to the Justice Coalition, and conversely, a pain in the ass for them.

Among those listening to the conversation between the Lust Emperor and his soldiers was the Lust Emperor’s twenty-seventh son. He had turned twenty this year and harbored great hostility toward Woo-Moon.

Traditionally, the average level of the young talents in the Black Bull Gang was higher than that of the Justice Coalition. This was mainly due to the difference between the martial arts of the Righteous Faction, which showed great power at the later stages, and the martial arts of the Black Hand, which focused on immediate results. Naturally, he could not bear the idea that someone of the same age from the Righteous Faction was so strong.

‘Hmpf! How dare a Justice Coalition weakling disturb our father’s contemplation. I’ll have to go and demolish him.’

He rushed out of the Black Bull Gang’s stronghold and headed to the fierce battlefield near Nanjing.

***

As rumors spread, detailing Woo-Moon and the Wind Sword Squadron’s triumphant victory over four of the Ten Demon Generals, Woo-Moon’s popularity shot up in an instant, and he gradually began to be called a hero within the Justice Coalition.

The Wind Sword Squadron had been tasked with dealing with the hidden forces that the Black Bull Gang had sent behind their defensive lines. However, after learning of Woo-Moon’s growing popularity, Ho Mu-Bok found that to be a waste of potential. He thus consulted with the Fist Emperor, then ordered the squadron to be sent to the front lines rather than sitting around chasing small fry.

“So, you’re the famous Song Woo-Moon, huh.”

The Fist Emperor scanned Woo-Moon and the other members of the Wind Sword Squadron assembled before him.

The members of the Wind Sword Squadron were unusually nervous as they stood before the Fist Emperor. Mu Bi, who specialized in fist techniques, was the most nervous of them all, so excited that his face turned red.

“Captain of the Wind Sword Squadron, Song Woo-Moon, greets the Fist Emperor.”

“

Kekeke

. Look how polite the Palm Emperor’s grandson is. Completely unlike that piece of... ah, sorry. I shouldn’t say such words in front of his grandson.”

It was... a strange situation.

It would be odd for Woo-Moon to respond with “it’s fine,” but at the same time, it would be equally as strange for him to get angry. It wasn’t as if Woo-Moon was insulted, as he knew that his grandfather and the Fist Emperor were close friends.

Thus, he just shrugged and smiled in response.

“I’ve already heard about your success in the battles against the hidden forces of the Black Bull Gang. The fact that you could deal with four of the Ten Demon Generals and not only get out of that alive but actually end them, is really impressive. I’ll be honest with you: at your age, I really don’t think I could’ve done the same,

kekeke

.”

“The squadron members’ aid was essential to our victory. Moreover, I had the help of my companion Lee Ma-Ra, who always stayed by my side.”[1]

The Fist Emperor’s gaze turned to Ma-Ra.

“Ah, I heard about you from the Sword Emperor. I wondered what the little girl who inherited the assassination arts of the Death God would be like, but I could never have imagined that she would be so beautiful. Hahaha.”

Truthfully, the other Justice Coalition members didn’t have a good impression of Ma-Ra.

The members of the Baek Family and other young talents thought she was nothing more than a branch family member or something like that. They could never see her in a bad light; all they knew about her was that she was beautiful and she disappeared a lot. However, the mid-level and expert figures of the Justice Coalition saw beyond her exterior and recognized her as the assassin she was. And just as the Hegemon Emperor had pointed out... they did not like that.

As a result, Woo-Moon had beaten up no small number of people who dared spout nonsense about her.

But, as expected, the Fist and Sword Emperors were different. They couldn’t care less what Ma-Ra’s job was or what her background was; what they cared about was her allegiance, her actions, and her potential.

As Ma-Ra just stood there with her usual blank expression, the Fist Emperor continued to speak.

“I called you here for a reason. You’ve all done a great job and must be rewarded appropriately. As of today, the Wind Sword Squadron has been promoted one rank and is now the Wind Sword Battalion. Moreover, you will all be granted appropriate rewards in the future.”

After finishing what he had to say, the Fist Emperor asked Woo-Moon for his captain identity plaque. Taking it in his hand, the Fist Emperor imbued his finger with aura and directly changed the character on the plaque.

“This is bestowed in the name of the Fist Emperor, Commander of the First Army of the Justice Coalition.”[2]

Originally, doing something like this was difficult.

The Wind Sword Squadron was a unit belonging to one of the Justice Coalition’s battalions, the Five Swords of Heavenly Justice. However, the Fist Emperor simply pushed ahead with their promotion, saying that it would be ridiculous to leave the people who slayed four of the Ten Demon Generals just by themselves as mere squadron members.

Of course, since he was the Fist Emperor, even if he wanted to promote a chicken, no one could really object, much less now that there was solid reason to do so.

With this, the Wind Sword Squadron officially separated from the Five Swords of Heavenly Justice, becoming a battalion on paper.

To the Fist Emperor’s surprise, Woo-Moon and his subordinates were reacting very differently from he had expected.

‘These little brats couldn’t care less, huh.’

However, that made him like them even more. As a true-blue martial artist, he naturally liked how none of them cared about fame or profit in spite of their young age.

He burst into laughter as he carefully examined the face of each member of the Wind Sword Battalion and stored them in his memory.

“Hahaha, good, good!” he laughed as he patted Woo-Moon on the back.

Thwack! Thwack!!

‘Agh!!! It hurts!!! It hurts, you barbaric old man!’

1. Yes, Ma-Ra just randomly acquired a family name. Yes, it's a generic Korean family name. ☜

2. In the previous chapters, it was stated that Seong Woo-Seok was the commander and Ho Mu-Bok his adjutant, and the Fist Emperor became commander of the third army. It appears that the Fist Emperor is the commander of the first army, while Ho Mu-Bok commands the third. ☜