Chapter 596

Chapter 596 - Side Story 30

Left Commander said.

"Those bastards! Why are they acting on their own when the Martial Alliance isn't even moving! Was the Martial Alliance secretly moving behind our backs?"

"No. We were thinking wrong."

Right Commander stood up from his chair.

Right Commander spat out his words as if chewing.

"The Martial Alliance is no longer the pinnacle of power. The Martial Alliance has never once led Jianghu since Poison Dragon's era. We didn't even need to consider the Martial Alliance from the start."

"That doesn't make sense. Then what's the Martial Alliance for... No, that's not what's important right now! If the Old Strongmen can't join up in Guangdong right now, what about Poison Dragon, Poison Dragon's brats? Are we just going to let them go like this?"

"We can't do that."

Right Commander tapped the floor with his toes.

"Ghost Commander."

Whoosh. From the shadows in the corner of the room, a human figure raised its body.

"I've been waiting."

"Kill them. Poison Dragon's children. You can do it, right?"

Ghost Commander unleashed killing intent. The charcoal in the brazier burning in the room instantly turned black and died down, darkening the space.

Ghost Commander bared his teeth and smiled from the shadows.

"I promise. I will definitely make them die in agony. You will see the Asura Extinction Flower bloom in Jianghu once more."

***

As the Green Forest launched a full counterattack, the fighting became fierce and casualties continued to occur on the orthodox sect side as well.

However, the orthodox sect warriors did not retreat.

Whether it was a desperate fight, hard labor, or the life of the tediously poor. As long as there was a guarantee that it would end someday, as long as there was conviction that today's hardship would become tomorrow's foundation, they could endure somehow.

Today's fight was the same.

In the midst of dying, some became victors and those who gained fame emerged.

Cheers rang out amid mourning, and a sense of achievement surged amid the cheers.

Someday, me too.

Someday, me too...

***

The Tang siblings were still advancing triumphantly in Huguang.

Even now they were about to attack a fairly large stronghold.

Tang Gyeong quietly asked.

"Sister, how long do we have to fight?"

"I don't know. Why do you keep asking?"

"Subjugation battles are happening throughout all of Jianghu. They say the Nine Great Sects will probably move soon too. So when do we go home?"

Jin Heon glanced at Tang Gyeong and asked.

"Are you getting scared now?"

"It's burdensome. Our names are known throughout all of Jianghu. Even now, letters keep coming from everywhere asking us to come."

Tang Gyeong shook his head from side to side.

"How did Dad endure this burden? Dad's reputation was even high on the bad side, not the good."

Tang Yu-jeong also made a troubled expression.

"Hey, don't even say it. I'm ruined too. Now finding a good man other than through matchmaking is over for life. What is this?"

Jin Heon said.

"When you're surrounded by men everywhere, what's the problem?"

"What good is that? Just look. Is that the loving gaze of one looking at a lovely young miss?"

Jin Heon turned around. Male warriors were looking at Tang Yu-jeong with eyes full of trust. They were the eyes of subordinates waiting for orders from a trusted captain.

It wasn't for nothing that Tang Yu-jeong was being called the Steel Lady Hero among them. The Merciless Twin Axes constantly calling her lady hero surely played a part in that.

"Where am I steel enough to be called that!"

Tang Yu-jeong felt wronged.

Jin Heon chuckled, then flinched. Among those male warriors, he saw female warriors looking at Jin Heon with sparkling eyes. The feeling was very different from how they looked at Tang Yu-jeong. Jin Heon quickly turned his head.

"I see."

"Ugh, whatever."

Tang Yu-jeong grumbled and stood up. Dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward Tang Yu-jeong.

Tang Yu-jeong raised her hand and shouted.

"Attaaack!"

The orthodox sect warriors rushed out.

A frantic fight broke out. Swords clashed, blood splattered, battle cries and screams mixed and burst out. Jin Heon fought fiercely in the middle of the battlefield, and Tang Gyeong went off on his own to catch escapees.

Tang Yu-jeong had nothing to do. Even without deliberately holding back, since she was already like a captain, those around her discouraged her from stepping up.

But today the fight was messy. The bandits who usually crumbled like bamboo shoots resisted quite fiercely.

"Is it because it's a big stronghold?"

Then.

With tremendous fighting spirit, bang! The earth burst, the wooden fence of the stronghold broke, and orthodox sect warriors retreated en masse.

A middle-aged master who looked extraordinary at a glance walked out from the stronghold smirking with an unpleasant expression.

"How dare these inadequate fools."

He had black eagle feathers stuck in his headband.

Warriors shouted.

"It's an Old Strongman!"

The Old Strongmen were the supreme experts of the Green Forest symbolizing nine provinces. They thought they would have to meet one eventually, but they encountered one at this place.

"Newborn pups who don't know to fear tigers dare rush in. Today is your memorial day."

Several overly bold warriors rushed in and all got knocked away by the Old Strongman's fists. At most they lasted one exchange, three exchanges.

The Old Strongman glared at Tang Yu-jeong, or precisely at the Merciless Twin Axes beside Tang Yu-jeong.

"Traitor bastard. You must have guided these bastards here?"

The Merciless Twin Axes picked his ear with his finger.

"You try being captured as a prisoner like me. Wouldn't you do the same?"

Meanwhile, warriors continued rushing at the Old Strongman. While shaking off warriors, the Old Strongman couldn't say much and just cursed.

"Bastard."

"No, that bastard is swearing at people left and right. Miss, please teach that bastard a lesson."

The Merciless Twin Axes pointed at the Old Strongman and said to Tang Yu-jeong.

Tang Yu-jeong got angry.

"No, who's a miss! I'm already sensitive enough and you keep spreading weird rumors. I won't! No way."

"Anyway, these kids can't catch Wind Blade Heaven Fist, who's an Old Strongman."

Jin Heon stepped up and faced Wind Blade Heaven Fist directly. Jin Heon's skills weren't ordinary either, but he was slightly pushed back by Wind Blade Heaven Fist. Eventually he took one punch and rolled several times. Though he stood up right away, his eye area turned purple as if he had internal injuries.

"Why is he acting like that again? He needs to know his place. Trying to beat Wind Blade Heaven Fist without getting hit even once, does that work?"

The Merciless Twin Axes grumbled, but Tang Yu-jeong smiled faintly. It seemed Jin Heon was trying hard to keep the words he said.

"Please listen to me. I said it won't work. Look, all the kids are getting knocked down. In the end, miss will have no choice but to step up..."

The Merciless Twin Axes stopped talking. He stopped picking his ear and looked at his hand. Goosebumps had risen.

"Huh? What's this?"

The Merciless Twin Axes only lowered his eyes to look at the ground.

Whoooosh.

From the Merciless Twin Axes' shadow, a human-shaped shadow slowly rose. Eyes and mouth formed in the shadow as if drawn with a brush. It was advanced concealment technique. Though he raised his body halfway, he still seemed attached to the shadow.

A chilling killing intent shot out from Ghost Commander. Ghost Commander raised his eyes and giggled, speaking in a sticky tone.

"Poison Dragon's daughter."

The Merciless Twin Axes shouted incredibly loudly.

"That's not me!"

Ghost Commander was startled and frowned.

"Who asked you..."

Suddenly Ghost Commander stopped speaking and looked up. Tang Yu-jeong stood before Ghost Commander with both hands raised. Ghost Commander explosively drew up internal energy and spun a dart in his fingers. Whirrrr! The dart was shaped like a long wooden chopstick, with the tip made of iron that could destroy protective energy, and once stuck in the belly, blades would pop out like a hedgehog and lodge firmly inside. And if you pulled the dart, the belly would tear and all the internal organs would flow out so no one under heaven could survive.

And.

Bang!

Ghost Commander's upper body got buried in the ground.

"Huh?"

Ghost Commander panicked and tried to escape, wiggling bit by bit, but crackling sounds came from his joints. They were badly misaligned.

"You dog-like...!"

Ghost Commander forcibly moved his arm to extend the dart. Tang Yu-jeong showed no mercy and struck once more with her clasped fist.

Kwang! Kwang!

Each time she hit, the body sank deeper into the ground.

Ghost Commander could no longer move. He was struck so powerfully that his limbs twisted and his torso was completely buried.

Clatter, the bent dart with blades protruding rolled on the ground.

Nearby warriors were tense at first but thought it must be nothing much and turned their heads back toward the battlefield. It was a sight they had seen many times.

"Ugh..."

The Merciless Twin Axes looked at Ghost Commander painfully buried in his shadow, grimaced in distress, and slightly moved his body to shift the shadow.

Tang Yu-jeong shook and dusted off her hands and asked.

"Is this mister an Old Strongman too?"

"If he's an Old Strongman, he should be wearing a headband with feathers stuck in it."

"But why did he suddenly attack?"

The Merciless Twin Axes lifted Ghost Commander's twisted hand with his fingers as if touching something dirty. He removed the gauntlet and unwrapped the cloth wound around the hand. Then he looked at it, turning the back and palm.

Then he gulped.

"Commander... I thought it was just a rumor."

"What is it?"

"Our Green Forest's supreme leader wears the Sparrow Dragon Scarf with a fire dragon's scale. But according to another rumor."

The Merciless Twin Axes showed a hole in the back of the hand. It was barely visible. At a glance it could also look like a mole.

"Do you see this small hole here?"

"Yes. There is a hole."

"They say supreme masters with holes in their hands like this are with the Sparrow Dragon Scarf. The Sparrow Dragon Scarf is also one of them, whether it's five commanders or ten commanders, anyway, they all supposedly have holes in their hands like this."

One of those supreme masters called commanders was buried at their feet.

The Merciless Twin Axes looked down at Ghost Commander again. Judging by the killing intent and tremendous presence when he appeared, he was definitely a commander above the Old Strongmen level, but he's just crumpled and stuck like an ordinary Green Forest bandit without even trying anything...

The Merciless Twin Axes blinked and looked at Tang Yu-jeong.

"But if that commander is at this level, well, just how much of a master are you, miss?"

Even asked, Tang Yu-jeong had no answer. Whether she knew the Merciless Twin Axes' sense of dissonance or was pretending not to know, Tang Yu-jeong was lost in other thoughts.

"I feel like I've heard it somewhere..."

Wind Blade Heaven Fist continued to be attacked. Though he was holding out with powerful martial force, all the other Green Forest bandits had already been caught or surrendered, and he was left alone.

The orthodox sect warriors' attacks continued relentlessly. Not only youths but also older ones joined in. With Jin Heon and then Tang Gyeong who returned late joining in, Wind Blade Heaven Fist finally knelt.

"To these idiots..."

Wind Blade Heaven Fist collapsed cursing to the end.

An Old Strongman, one of the nine provinces' Green Forest masters!

With Wind Blade Heaven Fist's defeat, the Green Forest's power would greatly diminish in Huguang. At least in Huguang, they wouldn't encounter an Old Strongman again.

The orthodox sect warriors' shouts echoed piercingly through the stronghold.

"Wahhhhh!"

We did it!

We can do it!

"Wahhhhh!"

Suddenly Tang Yu-jeong clapped her hands.

"Ah!"

When she heard about the hole in the palm from the Merciless Twin Axes, she felt like she had heard it somewhere, and now she realized.

Jin Ja-gang's story related to the palm.

Tang Yu-jeong's eyes widened.

"Descendants of the Hungry Ghost King!"