HBWnovel Chapter 346 : Fools Can Not Be Taught (下愚不移) (4)
Chapter 346 : Fools Can Not Be Taught (下愚不移) (4)
Over in Guangyuan County of Sichuan Province.Deep inside the local branch of the Maitreya Luminous Cult.
One of the Maitreya Luminous Cult's warriors came rushing in to report to Il-mok with panic all over his face.
"O’ Incarnation! The nuns of Emei are marching straight for Guangyuan County right now!"
A cold smile crept onto Il-mok's lips.
‘They never fail to meet my expectations.'
He unfolded his legs from his seated meditation posture and then walked out of the hall.
"The nuns of the Emei Sect are almost here."
He laced his internal energy into his voice as he called out, and the people scattered throughout the branch office filed outside.
Among them were Hwangbo Yeon and Hwangbo Se-hui.
‘Fools really can’t be taught, huh.’
Il-mok glanced at Hwangbo Yeon, who had clearly been turning that phrase over in her mind, and asked, "What will you do, Fist Phoenix?"
"As we agreed, I will fight alongside the Maitreya Luminous Cult under the name of the Hwangbo Family. However, I would like my sister to be sent somewhere safe."
Before Hwangbo Se-hui could even finish looking flustered at those words, Il-mok gave a nod.
"That would be for the best."
Hwangbo Se-hui's martial skills weren't particularly impressive, so keeping her out of the fight was the smarter call.
"Branch Leader, escort Miss Hwangbo Se-hui back to Gansu Province with the rest of the branch office members."
The Branch Leader hesitated for just a moment at the order before lowering his head.
"I will follow the Incarnation's will."
He quickly began issuing instructions to those still remaining in the hall, and everyone started moving in a hurry.
In the meantime, Hwangbo Yeon took a moment to exchange a few words with Hwangbo Se-hui.
About a quarter of an hour later, those who had finished their brief preparations departed the branch office and only eleven people remained.
"If we end up fighting right here, innocent civilians are going to get caught in the crossfire. We'd better head out and greet the Emei Sect on the road."
Il-mok spoke calmly and left the branch, with the ten people accompanying him following closely behind.
On the road out of Guangyuan County, Hwangbo Yeon asked with a worried look on her face, "I don't doubt your abilities, but isn't it dangerous to face Emei with only this many people?"
Il-mok gave a light shrug and replied, "Don't worry. If it comes to it, we just pull back."
"???"
Hwangbo Yeon stared at him like he'd said something absurd, and Il-mok responded with a faint smile.
"That is why we left Guangyuan County, and why I evacuated Lady Hwangbo to Gansu Province. This isn't the Maitreya Luminous Cult's main base. When it comes to fighting with hit-and-run tactics, a small elite force is actually more advantageous."
Since this was his battle plan from the very start, Il-mok hadn't bothered calling in many reinforcements.
Out of all the Heavenly Demon Cultists operating in Gansu and Sichuan, he had carefully handpicked only five elite fighters to join them.
'Well, if I had enough personnel, I would have considered clashing head-on.'
But the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was still plagued by a shortage of manpower, so it couldn't be helped.
He couldn't very well pull everyone who was out there tending to the common people and spreading the cult's doctrine in Gansu and Sichuan just to deal with Emei.
Above all, they had to suppress their Demonic Arts to conceal the fact that they were the Demonic Cult. Therefore, summoning half-baked demonic cultivators posed the risk of causing even bigger problems if they made a mistake.
As a result, his reinforcements consisted solely of four hardened squad-leader-level warriors and Ouyang Mun.
"So keep an eye on the rear so we don't get surrounded, and if you run low on internal energy or take a wound, I want you to cut and run immediately without a second thought."
Hearing that, Hwangbo Yeon found it hard to hide her bewilderment.
In all her life, she had never seen a commander actively encourage his troops to tuck their tails and run instead of hyping them up before a bloodbath.
Whether Hwangbo Yeon was flustered or not, Il-mok quietly sent a secret transmission to Jin Hayeon so no one else could hear.
Completely ignoring her flustered state, Il-mok secretly fired off a sound transmission to Jin Hayeon.
This instruction was born out of his trust in Jin Hayeon.
To be precise, it was the belief that she could make cool-headed judgments without being swayed by emotions.
It was trust, plain and simple. More precisely, it was the belief that she, out of everyone, could make a cold judgment without letting her emotions get the better of her.
Even though Jin Hayeon had already broken past the Extremity and regained some of her human emotions, she agreed without a second's hesitation
And just like Il-mok trusted that Jin Hayeon could make a rational choice in the heat of the battle, Jin Hayeon also believed in Il-mok's capacity in combat.
She knew that Il-mok would claw his way back alive no matter what impossible situation he jumped into, and she planted that in her mind like a mantra.
The moment they stepped out of Guangyuan County, they spotted a massive swarm of women in matching uniforms charging toward them on the horizon.
They pressed forward with that peculiar order, "fight with retreat in mind," hanging in the air, and it wasn't long before the sight of women in matching attire came flooding into view in the distance.
Quickly doing a visual headcount, Il-mok's eyes narrowed in thought.
‘There's definitely more than a hundred, but it doesn't quite hit a hundred and fifty.'
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's intelligence put Emei's total disciple count at well over two hundred. Granted, the wars against the Tang Family and the Blood Cult had taken a significant toll on their numbers, but the cult's estimate was still at least two hundred at a minimum.
And that number didn't even include the secular disciples' affiliated sects or the sects that ran errands within Emei's domain.
So the fact that only just over a hundred had shown up was a little puzzling to Il-mok.
The answer came once the two sides had closed the distance enough.
‘They left the younger disciples behind.’
Judging by their appearances and the energy they were putting off, it seemed like all of the younger third-generation disciples had been left out. Some of the second-generation disciples who weren't up to standard looked to have been excluded as well.
On top of that, going by their attire, the secular disciples hadn't been brought along at all.
While Il-mok was taking stock of Emei's forces, an old nun stepped forward and shouted, "Are you the bastard leading this heretical horde known as the Maitreya Luminous Cult?!"
She was looking directly at Il-mok as she spoke.
"That's rich. And what right do you have to call us heretical?"
Hearing Il-mok's question, the old nun glared at him with bloodshot eyes and spat back. "Not only do you have the audacity to parade around calling yourself Maitreya in front of true Buddhists, but you're also scamming the common folk! What could be more heretical than that?!"
"Have you never looked in a mirror before? Just those bloodshot eyes of yours are enough to make me look more like a follower of the Buddha than you."
The moment Il-mok finished speaking, the nuns behind the old woman erupted in outrage.
"You insolent bastard!!"
"How dare you insult the head of the great Emei!!"
While the entire mob of nuns shrieked and screamed their heads off, Il-mok casually dug into his ear with his pinky finger and sighed. "So. What is it you want?"
His insufferably laid-back attitude made Abbess Jinqing's already bloodshot eyes go even redder.
At that point, they were almost a match for Hyeokryeon Seon-ah's crimson irises.
Actually, it was even creepier; while only Seon-ah's pupils were red, Abbess Jinqing's entire eye was dyed a bloody scarlet.
"You must think you're untouchable just because you're hiding behind the Hwangbo Family's skirts! Did you really think you'd walk away scot-free after murdering one of Emei's own?!"
"Ha... I can't believe what I'm hearing."
Il-mok tried to defend himself against the absurd murder charge, but the malice-filled Sect Leader wasn't interested in a debate.
"Silence!! Today, I will appease my Junior Sister's spirit with your head!! Disciples of Emei, lift the Killing Precepts!! Take Fist Phoenix alive, and leave none of that Maitreya Luminous Cult rabble breathing!!"
The moment Abbess Jinqing's cry rang out, the Emei nuns charged forward all at once.
Watching the army charge at him, Il-mok let out a tired sigh and gave his final orders.
"Keep a tight formation so you don't get surrounded out there. I'm leaving command to Miss Jin."
He gave the reminder one last time before the fighting started before instantly vanishing from his spot.
He shot forward alone with a burst of lightness skill straight into the charging ranks of Emei's nuns.
Spooked by the masked man closing the distance at terrifying speed, the Emei’s Elder leading the vanguard frantically swung her sword.
Acting as cover fire, a first-generation disciple directly behind her thrust a spear at his chest.
This was exactly how the Emei Sect fought.
Unlike the Shaolin Temple or the Potala Palace of Tibet, they were a Buddhist sect that primarily practiced martial arts with bladed weapons.
The area around Mount Emei had been infamous for its massive tiger population since ancient times. To protect helpless commoners and traveling pilgrims from becoming tiger food, the Emei nuns had eagerly taken up bladed weapons.
Maybe it was because they got so used to breaking their vows of Non-Killing to hunt down those predators that the Emei Sect ended up with a distinctly secular and aggressive vibe compared to other Buddhist orders.
Even though Buddhism is supposed to be about finding enlightenment through repentance, the Emei nuns conveniently decided it was perfectly fine to slaughter anything incapable of repenting.
Wild tigers obviously fit that description, but so did people they labeled as 'wicked.'
Because of this violent history, it wasn't uncommon to see Emei techniques featuring aggressive words like 'Tiger' (虎) or 'Exterminate' (滅) in their names.
And now, those nuns came swinging their weapons, unleashing the martial arts they had spent decades honing to kill tigers. But the opponent they faced today was not something that could be dealt with using skills meant for hunting tigers.
Il-mok's Ascension Sword met the Emei Elder's blade, and the sound of metal rang out twice in quick succession. The first was the two weapons colliding; the second was the Elder's sword, knocked off course before being caught in the path of the first-generation disciple's spear thrust.
Then a grim cutting sound tore through the air.
The Ascension Sword split the Emei’s Elder at the front of the formation clean in two.
A disciple off to his side swung a sword at him, but Il-mok neither blocked it nor struck back at the woman who swung it.
Moving like a man who had places to be, he uses Etheral Step to weave through the formation like a ghost.
The head of the first-generation disciple who had thrust her spear from behind the elder was lopped clean off.
Even as he moved, the disciples on either side of him were slashing and striking at him with weapons or bare hands, but Il-mok deflected or evaded their attacks with minimal movement and launched himself forward again with another burst of lightness skill.
His path was aimed solely forward, and it almost looked like he was deliberately trying to get himself surrounded by the enemy, yet—
Not a single person managed to hold him off for even one exchange.
With each step he took, another grim cutting sound split the air across the battlefield, and a path carved in blood stretched out behind him.
It was glaringly obvious that his bloody warpath was aimed squarely at Abbess Jinqing.
The sight of the masked man cutting straight past them toward Abbess Jinqing sent the nuns scrambling to surround him, and in their haste to reverse their direction, they crashed and tangled into each other in an embarrassing mess.
Watching her frontline crumble, Abbess Jinqing gritted her teeth and roared an order.
"Deploy the Demon-Exterminating Tiger-Subduing Formation (滅魔伏虎陣) and pin down that evil monster!"
The moment her order fell, the forty-eight nuns who made up the Demon-Exterminating Tiger-Subduing Formation moved swiftly into position.
"The rest of you, cut down that heretical rabble!!"
Following her second command, the remaining nuns turned back around and charged like a tidal wave toward Jin Hayeon's group.
Meanwhile, after carving his way through more than a dozen bodies, Il-mok managed to close the distance to the Sect Leader to roughly thirty meters.
Right before he could reach her, the forty-eight elite nuns locked into a circular Formation and trapped him inside.
"Let's see if you can keep flailing around like that in the face of the great Emei's Demon-Exterminating Tiger-Subduing Formation, you wicked demon!"
A smirk settled onto Il-mok's lips at Abbess Jinqing's triumphant cry.
"The Demon-Exterminating Tiger-Subduing Formation, huh? Compared to the Potala Palace's Seventy-Two Vajra Lama Formation, it's a bit of a joke."