Chapter 47 - The Banquet

"I have never been one to waste words. You would do well to tell me who you are and what is happening here while I am still asking nicely."

His eyes gleaming coldly, Tang Wu spread his arms and raised them level with his shoulders. Was it that movement that did it? The dozens of Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles that had fallen to the ground after blocking Do Heo-ok's thunder saber qi began rising into the air. Tang Wu was employing his unique divine technique for manipulating objects at a distance: Flying Butterfly Qigong.

HUMMMM.

Each needle trembled strangely, making for a decidedly menacing sight.

"Ha. Ha. This really is a shame, but..."

Do Heo-ok actually wanted to face Tang Wu one-on-one right here and now, but he knew better than anyone that this was no time to fight. If he foolishly engaged him and more Namgung Clan warriors came running, this place would become his grave. That alone would mean the failure of the First Stratagem.

He had to find some way to keep Tang Wu occupied here while he escaped. Holding Tang Wu's attention, he steadily surveyed his surroundings out of the corners of his eyes.

He spotted Sosam standing off to one side of the East Heaven Guest Hall, but that was no sure bet. Though they had formed something resembling a master-disciple relationship, Tang Wu hardly seemed likely to intervene to save someone who had been a mere horse handler until recently.

Then Do Heo-ok spotted someone approaching behind Sosam—someone who would keep Tang Wu firmly occupied.

'There we are.'

Now he definitely had no need to risk fighting Tang Wu.

A wicked smile unlike any he had shown before formed on his face. With no further need to keep up appearances, his true nature was emerging.

"I have never been much of a talker myself, Great Hero."

Dong Bongsu had been watching Do Heo-ok's eyes all along. Naturally, he was well aware that Do Heo-ok was casting sidelong glances his way. At first, looking in this direction had brought no particular change to his expression. Then, all of a sudden, it changed. Dong Bongsu even caught the faintest of smiles spreading across his face afterward.

'What is it?'

With Tang Wu radiating such tremendous qi right in front of him, surely he had no opportunity to attack over here? Just as Dong Bongsu thought that—

"Huh? Why is Grandfather over there?"

A woman's puzzled voice came from behind him.

It was Tang Hwa. Having heard the explosions, she had only now come over from the West Heaven Guest Hall.

Only at her arrival did Dong Bongsu understand why Do Heo-ok had smiled so wickedly in his direction. Do Heo-ok hadn't been glancing at him, but at Tang Hwa approaching behind him.

In that case, that faint smile could only mean one thing.

Murderous intent!

Without wasting a thought on how Do Heo-ok would evade Tang Wu's attack and strike this way, Dong Bongsu spun around, pulled Tang Hwa into his arms, and hurled himself sideways.

"Huh?!"

Tang Hwa let out only a brief cry of surprise at Dong Bongsu's unexpected embrace, never even thinking to resist. Because—

BAAANG!

She was watching Do Heo-ok's Thunder Saber hurtle straight toward the East Heaven Guest Hall, brimming with terrifying qi—straight toward the very spot where she stood!

In the middle of his standoff with Tang Wu, Do Heo-ok had suddenly thrown the Thunder Saber at her, as though he had given up on fighting Tang Wu altogether.

"You mad bastard!"

Tang Wu had not anticipated this. Who in their right mind would think to throw their signature weapon elsewhere while facing him one-on-one?

Yet that was exactly what had happened. And Tang Sam was over there.

Tang Wu hastily sent every Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needle suspended by his Flying Butterfly Qigong hurtling at Do Heo-ok. He had unleashed his signature technique, Soul-Chasing Flying Butterfly.

With a sound like butterfly wings striking one another amplified tens of thousands of times, the needles flew at Do Heo-ok all at once.

Then Tang Wu hurled himself toward the spot where Dong Bongsu and Tang Hwa had stood as fast as he possibly could, but he was already too late. The Thunder Saber had left Do Heo-ok's hand and was already passing over Cloud Bridge, which connected the East Heaven Guest Hall to the mainland.

His one consolation was that Tang Sam had somehow sensed the danger and was leaping toward Soho Lake with Tang Hwa in his arms.

But the Thunder Saber, laden with thunder qi, was the very essence of a thunderbolt. Even if they dodged the saber itself, the explosion would plainly be immense.

CRACKLE! SNAP-CRACK!

So fast and destructive was the Thunder Saber that the sound of it crushing the air as it flew resembled hundreds of beans popping at once.

After launching himself into the air, Dong Bongsu deftly twisted his body sideways. The movement was so natural that no one recognized it as deliberate. Not that anyone there was in a position to pay attention to such a thing anymore.

Just as the two tangled figures began sinking into Soho Lake, the Thunder Saber finally buried itself in the spot where they had stood.

SPLASH.

BOOOOM! RUMBLE-CRASH!

"G-ghhh!"

"Agh!"

Thunder qi erupted, utterly devastating everything within a five-jang radius of the saber. Caught in the blast, the East Heaven Guest Hall collapsed completely.

And so Danri Ganghae, the last remaining blood descendant of the Danri Family, met a violent death. His end was every bit as hollow as those of his father, Danri Cheon-u, and his younger sister, Danri Hui. Still, he had at least known he was dying when death came. Perhaps that made his the slightly less futile death of the three.

"A-aaagh!"

"Run!"

"Aieeee!"

Yet no one there mourned his death. They were all too busy fleeing for their own lives.

Do Heo-ok's unexpected attack had killed or injured a considerable number of the wedding guests watching from the East Heaven Guest Hall.

Among the injured was Tang Hwa, who had leaped into Soho Lake with Dong Bongsu. As they entered the water, a fragment of thunder qi had struck her back, leaving a large wound. Judging by the blackened flesh, she seemed to have taken quite a serious hit.

"Aah..."

Her face contorted in pain as she breathed burning groans against Dong Bongsu's chest. Had he not pulled her into his arms and jumped into the water, she would already have joined Danri Ganghae and the other dead guests. But Dong Bongsu had not embraced her and jumped into Soho Lake for some absurd reason like saving Tang Hwa.

A human shield.

In gaming terms, someone to tank the damage.

Dong Bongsu had merely used Tang Hwa as a tool to take the fragments of thunder qi in his place. Whether those fragments killed her or not, he had nothing to lose. The moment he jumped into the water with her in his arms, his actions could be justified as an attempt to save her.

No one could fault what he had done. Not even Tang Wu. Without him, Tang Hwa would already be dead. Of course, that only held as long as no one knew he had deliberately twisted his body to turn her toward the fragments of thunder qi.

But regardless of his original purpose, he had reaped several benefits from this incident. Three of them, no less.

His own life, Tang Hwa's debt to him for saving hers, and even Tang Wu's trust.

Even in that moment of mortal peril, Dong Bongsu had secured three gains with a single move.

"Hwa!"

Tang Wu's cry reached Dong Bongsu from nearby. He had arrived at the East Heaven Guest Hall. Dong Bongsu hurriedly swam toward the island on which it stood.

As soon as he reached land, he handed the wounded Tang Hwa to Tang Wu and looked up toward Do Heo-ok. He had seen Tang Wu launch the Dragon-Phoenix Golden Needles and fly toward them, but he had been too busy leaping away to see anything afterward.

'Just as I thought.'

Do Heo-ok had already blocked every needle Tang Wu had launched and was making a leisurely exit. He was heading north.

Namgung Clan warriors, including newly arrived members of the Muae Sword Unit and Cheonpung Unit, barred his way, but none could stop him. All the warriors who had arrived here were low-ranking ones. Apparently, the experts had all been deployed to the King's Hall. Even so, Do Heo-ok was extraordinarily powerful.

'He had it all calculated.'

The moment the Thunder Saber came flying toward the East Heaven Guest Hall, Dong Bongsu had already anticipated that Do Heo-ok could fend off Tang Wu's attack perfectly well without it. No—he had even thought that Do Heo-ok's true self, fighting without the Thunder Saber and Thunder Blade Art, might be far stronger.

Do Heo-ok had yet to shed his outer shell. He was still "Do Heo-ok."

"Ha ha ha!"

Giving full voice to that familiar, hearty laugh, Do Heo-ok slaughtered the Namgung Clan warriors who stood in his way.

THUD-THUD-THUD! WHAM!

Against the bizarre palm technique unfolding from his hands, the Namgung Clan warriors were helplessly flung aside.

Before long, he had vanished from the scene entirely.

"Ha ha ha! I shall return to pay you a proper visit soon, Great Hero Tang."

Do Heo-ok was no longer there, but his laughter still drifted faintly back to them.

By the time it faded completely, the screams and sounds of combat from the King's Hall had also almost ceased. The disturbance there had probably been all but suppressed as well.

Looking over, Dong Bongsu saw that Tang Hwa's wound was less serious than he had thought. Tang Wu already seemed to have largely stabilized her condition.

The words Do Heo-ok had left behind kept echoing in Dong Bongsu's ears.

["I shall return to pay you a proper visit soon."]

Soon.

Meaning, in the near future.

Dong Bongsu knew perfectly well that the near future could mean right now.

His warning, meant to thwart the stratagem, had worked, but it had not achieved complete success.

Now...

What was he to do?

Dong Bongsu posed that question to himself, but this time even his cool, calculating mind offered no answer. Just as Do Heo-ok knew nothing about him, he knew nothing about Do Heo-ok or the forces behind him.

And now Do Heo-ok was no longer even here. That meant Dong Bongsu had run out of cards to play.

He would have to improvise.