Chapter 42 - Encirclement

“We do not know how he produced those beams of light, but the fact that the ship is intact proves they were not flashes from Thunderbolt Bombs. That leaves the Divine Sun Art or some similar martial art. In my judgment, only one of the Two Divinities, Three Eccentrics, Five Masters, and Ten Greats could possess such profound internal power. I shudder to think what might have happened had someone like that attacked the King's Hall before dawn. Yet he chose to leave those eight characters rather than attack this hall. Given those facts, I believe we must keep every possibility open and prepare accordingly.”

“You mean he is one of the twenty greatest masters?”

Namgung Jung waited for Namgung In to finish before challenging him again. He did not consider the argument entirely absurd, but he believed it contained a fatal flaw.

“Then why would someone so formidable be unable to step forward and speak openly?”

“Not all twenty belong to the Orthodox Faction. That may be why.”

“Do you honestly think that makes sense? Why would someone outside the Orthodox Faction help us? No, the very act of sneaking into the Namgung Clan and killing our warriors was an act of deception and aggression against us. How can you possibly call that helping us? He is nothing but a murderous fiend who brutally slaughtered our innocent warriors, and a vicious swindler.”

“What I meant was...”

“Enough, both of you.”

Seeing the discussion grow too heated, Namgung Byeok could no longer stand by and intervened.

“You both have a point. As the Changgung Sword Unit Leader says, the intruder is indeed suspicious. But the Muae Sword Unit Leader is also right that we cannot dismiss even a small possibility. Isn't that why the commanders of the Cheonroe Unit and the Cheonpung Unit are out investigating? Be patient a little longer.”

His words seemed to have their intended effect, for everyone fell silent at once.

In truth, everyone assembled was waiting for the two commanders. They had been the first to bring word of the blood-and-bone inscription and the Three Sacred Lights, and they were absent from the meeting because they were already gathering evidence concerning them.

The Cheonpung Unit's warriors were now scattered throughout the estate, searching for the intruder responsible for the blood-and-bone inscription and the Three Sacred Lights. If he was hiding within the estate, even a master would find it difficult to escape their notice. Vast though the Namgung estate was, it offered relatively few hiding places. No matter how accomplished a master's Stealth Art might be, he could not elude the Cheonpung Unit if he remained inside. Everyone assembled believed that.

Meanwhile, the Cheonroe Unit had gone to scout toward Hefei as a precaution. If some force intended to move against the Namgung Clan on the full moon, it would have to show at least some signs of activity by now. The Cheonpung Unit had left the estate early that morning to investigate.

After Namgung Byeok's final words, a heavy stillness settled over the King's Hall.

Whether Namgung Jung or Namgung In was right, one thing was certain: someone had infiltrated the Namgung estate. However they looked at it, the clan could not help feeling uneasy.

How much time passed that way?

The urgent rustling of sleeves broke the King's Hall's long silence. Someone was entering the hall using Qinggong.

It was Namgung Hu.

“Brother!”

So agitated was Namgung Hu that, despite the formal setting, he addressed Namgung Byeok as his brother rather than as the patriarch.

Ordinarily, Namgung Byeok would have rebuked him for his lack of decorum. But he too realized that Namgung Hu had brought grave news, and merely asked somberly,

“What have you learned?”

At his question, everyone's attention fixed on Namgung Hu's lips. As commander of the Cheonroe Unit, he would be bringing news not of the intruder, but of events outside the estate, particularly in the direction of Hefei.

His grief-stricken expression, however, told everyone that the news was bad.

“Not one of the Cheonroe warriors sent out to scout has returned to the estate.”

“Not one has returned...?”

“No. They had explicit orders to return within two hours, yet not a single man has come back.”

Namgung Hu had said they had not returned, but Namgung Byeok knew without asking that he meant they had been unable to return. It was inconceivable that the clan's warriors would fail to come back without reason.

For a warrior sent out to scout, being unable to return was, quite simply, tantamount to death.

“What do you think has happened?”

Namgung Byeok was not asking what had become of the scouts. They were already dead; he was asking why they had died.

Namgung Hu hesitated briefly, then spoke in a grave voice.

“... I believe... the Namgung Clan has been surrounded.”

“Surrounded?!”

At his words, the quiet King's Hall erupted into noise once more.

“Impossible!”

“Absurd! Surrounded? Such a thing could never happen!”

Surrounded. Encircled by someone else's forces.

Not once since its founding had the Namgung Clan been surrounded by another power. And if it had been, the forces responsible were plainly hostile.

In a sense, such vehement reactions from the elders and unit leaders were only natural.

There was fundamentally no power in Anhui Province capable of opposing the Namgung Clan. The only possible exception was the Eighteen Waterway Strongholds of the Yangtze River, with whom they had an agreement. Besides, theirs was a waterborne force, incapable of invading overland. Yet Namgung Hu was saying they had been surrounded on the landward side—toward Hefei.

Who could possibly have done it? No, did that even make sense? Unbelievable.

Every elder's expression said as much.

Some vehemently voiced those thoughts.

“What force in Anhui Province could possibly surround the Namgung Clan? Does any organization here even possess that much strength?”

“This is even more preposterous than the claim that Do Heo-ok is after the patriarch's seat.”

“It makes no sense. None at all.”

Utter nonsense.

Their words differed, but every elder was saying that the situation defied reason. Not one accepted that they had been surrounded.

Amid the uproar, Namgung In abruptly tossed out a single name, almost playfully. His timing was so impeccable that everyone stopped speaking.

“The Heavenly Demon Castle.”

Those casually spoken words brought not only silence, but shock and consternation to the hall.

In fact, Namgung In had already had the Heavenly Demon Castle in mind when he argued for Do Heo-ok's detention. It had been no more than a possibility then, but now it had become a certainty to him.

What if Do Heo-ok was a spy planted by the Heavenly Demon Castle?

The fear that this worst-case scenario might prove true was precisely why he had argued so forcefully for taking Do Heo-ok into custody.

“The Heavenly Demon Castle does not exist only in Xinjiang. These peaceful times may have made you forget, but those who walk the Demonic Path can be found everywhere under heaven. Anhui Province is no exception.”

His calm words reminded the elders of the power they had overlooked: the Heavenly Demon Castle, supreme among the forces of the Demonic Path.

“The Heavenly Demon Castle...”

“Could that be possible?”

“If that is true, aren't we in terrible danger?”

The elders raised their voices again, each offering an opinion.

Just then, Namgung Jung, who had been quietly listening to Namgung In, tilted his head slightly and spoke.

“But there is something I do not understand, even if we assume, as you say, that the force surrounding us belongs to the Heavenly Demon Castle.”

“What is it?”

“Attacking the Namgung Clan at this juncture would gain the Heavenly Demon Castle nothing. We are very far from Xinjiang, whereas Henan Province, where the Murim Alliance headquarters stands, is right next to Anhui. In other words, even if they destroyed our clan, they could not hold this territory. Worse, the demonic troops responsible would themselves be surrounded by the Murim Alliance. They might belatedly scatter and attempt to escape, but by then the Alliance would have cast an inescapable net across Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Hubei. Even if they broke through that net alive, Xinjiang would still be ten thousand li away. I cannot see how they could possibly return to the Heavenly Demon Castle alive. Indeed, this could lead to the Alliance wiping out every one of their hidden branches... Viewed that way, wouldn't the Heavenly Demon Castle stand to lose far too much? I simply cannot understand it. Yet there is no other force capable of this, so I cannot say it isn't them...”

“I suspect the Heavenly Demon Castle in Xinjiang intends to use this attack on the Namgung Clan as the starting point for a full-scale return to the Central Plains.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rumor has it that substantial hard-line forces within the Heavenly Demon Castle favor an invasion of the Central Plains. They are bloodthirsty demonic practitioners who reportedly resist even the authority of the castle's lords. I believe the current lord intends to take this opportunity to deploy those unruly hard-liners here, striking at the Namgung Clan—the major martial faction farthest from Xinjiang—while simultaneously weakening their strength. Furthermore, an attack here would inevitably draw the Murim Alliance's attention. I suspect the Heavenly Demon Castle's main force would exploit that opening to cross Qinghai and expand into Gansu. This would allow its lord to reap no fewer than three benefits in a single stroke. He could weaken the hard-liners and vent the discontent that has accumulated within the castle during the long peace, eliminate our Namgung Clan, one of the Orthodox Faction's core powers, and finally establish a foothold for another invasion of the Central Plains.”

“... That may be so.”

Namgung Jung still did not look entirely convinced. Nevertheless, given what they knew so far, Namgung In's explanation came closest to making sense, leaving him little choice but to agree.

“Enough.”