noveltune Chapter 238:
Chapter 238:
Alliance
No matter how skilled Ou-yang Pae was, it was not easy to fend off the sudden attack while focusing all his energy on blocking Geum Yang-hwi’s Infernal King’s Scorching Palm.
“Young Master!!!”
“No!!”
The members of the Red Tiger Group, who were engrossed in the duel between Ou-yang Pae and Geum Yang-hwi, quickly threw themselves to intervene, but the Taiyang Palace disciples executing the ambush were a step faster.
Ou-yang Pae, unable to avoid the internal damage, tried to block the surprise attack by forcefully twisting his sword. However, a shadow appeared in front of him just in time.
Boom!!
A loud explosion echoed immediately afterward.
“!?”
The eyes of the Taiyang Palace disciples who had launched the attack were filled with shock as their assault was blocked effortlessly.
Their bewilderment was understandable, for the opponent had taken on the attack, imbued with the heat of the scorching sun, with his bare body.
And while the Taiyang Palace disciples were taken aback, the Red Tiger Group arrived, albeit a step late.
“Kill them!”
“How dare you target the Young Master!”
As the members of the Red Tiger Group, who had been infuriated by the ambush, swung their weapons and launched their attack.
Clang!
Three figures who appeared out of nowhere blocked the Red Tiger Group’s attack.
“How dare you show such cowardly tricks in our presence!!”
It wasn’t the Red Tiger Group’s shout that rang out but rather a roar filled with the thick killing intent of a predator.
The sound came from the spot where the Beast Palace Master stood, expressing his rage with fierce energy waves emanating from his entire body.
With his hair fluttering chaotically due to the violent energy waves, he resembled a lion.
“Taiyang Palace! You will pay for deceiving our palace!”
His cry carried the aura of someone who could ‘lift mountains and cover the world with his might.’
As if responding to the Beast Palace Master’s fury, the warriors and beasts of the Beast Palace prepared to charge.
“Stop!!”
The man who had initially blocked the ambush from Taiyang Palace, Mu-jin, shouted out.
Mu-jin’s cry, imbued with an energy as intense as the Beast Palace Master’s, momentarily subdued the heated atmosphere.
However, that alone was not enough to resolve the situation.
Mu-jin urgently glanced at Ou-yang Pae, who nodded and addressed the members of the Red Tiger Group.
“Withdraw your weapons.”
“But, Young Master.”
“Hurry!!”
Taiyang Palace had intruded upon a legitimate duel, and even more disgracefully, with a cowardly ambush.
But Ou-yang Pae, the victim of the ambush, was a composed man who understood why Mu-jin was trying to calm both the Beast Palace and the Red Tiger Group.
At Ou-yang Pae’s stern command, the Red Tiger Group members had no choice but to lower their weapons.
After calming the Red Tiger Group members first, Ou-yang Pae spoke to the Beast Palace Master in the language of the Southern Barbarians.
“Beast Palace Master, please calm down.”
“The attack was aimed at you, but this is not merely your problem! They have employed underhanded tactics against our guest, which is tantamount to disrespecting us!”
Ou-yang Pae shook his head at the Beast Palace Master’s response and pointed towards Taiyang Palace.
“Look at their reactions. They too are puzzled by this situation. This was not orchestrated by Taiyang Palace!”
“Hmph! It could be an act!”
“Would they go this far for an act?”
Ou-yang Pae pointed to Geum Yang-hwi, who had been dueling with him earlier.
Geum Yang-hwi, his face pale, was catching his breath with his eyes closed.
“Urgh.”
Geum Yang-hwi coughed up blood tinged with red before opening his eyes and speaking.
“Thank you. If not for your intervention, countless blood would have been shed in the Southern Barbarians.”
“We just acted because the situation seemed suspicious.”
Mu-jin replied, glancing at his companions.
‘They’ve all done their part well.’
As Ou-yang Pae and Geum Yang-hwi began their duel, Mu-jin had sent a message to his companions.
He warned them that since the Five Poison Sect and the Shinchun also knew about the meeting between the Beast Palace and Taiyang Palace, anything could happen, so they should be on guard.
When Mu-jin blocked the ambush of the Taiyang Palace disciples, his three companions also blocked the Red Tiger Group’s attack.
Had there been even one casualty or serious injury in that first skirmish, the situation would not have been resolved so peacefully.
The Five Poison Sect’s plan was simple but effective.
Now that they had thwarted the Five Poison Sect’s plan, the situation had changed.
Mu-jin looked back and forth between the Taiyang Palace Master and the Beast Palace Master.
‘I was curious about how that stubborn palace master maintained the Beast Palace.’
He realized that the Beast Palace Master led with strength, not intellect.
With the skill to overcome problems with force, the balance of power among the three major forces in the Southern Barbarians was maintained.
The aura the Beast Palace Master emitted when angry was no less than that of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint he had faced before.
The Taiyang Palace Master, who was about to clash with the Beast Palace Master, was no different.
“Now that it’s revealed that the Five Poison Sect schemed this, shouldn’t we punish them?”
Mu-jin, who had joined forces with two masters who could have been called kings in the Central Plains, spoke.
“Hmph! I will use this opportunity to eradicate those treacherous poisoners from the Southern Barbarians!”
The Beast Palace Master snorted, replying.
The Taiyang Palace Master, veins bulging on his forehead, also replied.
“They must pay for trying to manipulate Taiyang Palace.”
“Hahaha! The Southern Barbarian has finally said something sensible today!”
“Shut up, savage. Every time you open your mouth, I want to crush your face before dealing with the Five Poison Sect.”
“Come on if you have the guts. Our Beast Palace neither hides nor runs!”
Seeing that leaving them alone might lead to a fight anytime, Mu-jin quickly intervened.
“Ahem. Calm down. We should focus on dealing with the Five Poison Sect first.”
“What’s there to think about? Let’s just attack the Five Poison Sect right now.”
“As expected of a savage who lives without thinking.”
“What did you say!”
“Now! Since it seems we’ll end up fighting each other if we proceed like this, how about this plan?”
Mu-jin drew a rough map of the Southern Barbarians on the ground with his finger.
It was shaped like an inverted triangle, with the north being wide horizontally and the south being long vertically.
Mu-jin marked the map with boundary lines and labeled each faction’s name.
The northwest was marked with the Beast Palace, the northeast adjacent to the Central Plains’ Yunnan Province was marked with the Five Poison Sect, and the pointed south was labeled Taiyang Palace.
“We know that the main force of the Five Poison Sect is absent. So, the Beast Palace should return to the north, regroup with the remaining warriors, and attack the Five Poison Sect from west to east.”
He drew rough movements on the map as if planning a wartime operation.
“Taiyang Palace should summon the remaining disciples nearby and attack the Five Poison Sect from south to north. We’ll converge here, at the Five Poison Sect’s main base, and finish them off. How does that sound?”
After Mu-jin’s explanation, the Taiyang Palace Master and the Beast Palace Master, who were glaring at each other, snorted and nodded.
“Rather than joining forces with that barbaric savage, this seems better.”
“Hmph. Says the one who’s talking nonsense.”
“.......”
Judging by the atmosphere, the alliance might not last long.
‘Oh well. I only need to deal with the Shinchun anyway.’
Mu-jin, feeling like he might get stressed out if he continued to mediate the fights between the two middle-aged men, concluded.