Because the surroundings were dark, the mud that surged up from the mire felt even higher. Even so, the Taeguk Sword Sovereign acted with care. It was because the Alliance Leader had left after repeatedly urging them to beware of the mire. He had said there were those below who worked sorcery, and if they stepped inside, they could be dragged into a pavilion in an instant.Shaaah—Perhaps anxious because the party held their ground on the narrow patch and did not cross, the mud heaved like that, trying to seize them.KWA-AANG.They all held position as the Alliance Leader had said. It was a very narrow bit of earth for sturdy warriors to stand and brace on, but it did not pose a great problem. They carefully sliced apart the pillars of earth that the Blood Cultists hurled like a net—so they wouldn’t splatter the person beside them.All but one person, that is.Pak. Pa-ak. Pak.Small blades punched five holes into a tall pillar of mud. The mud, losing strength, stopped moving and toppled forward.“Ah, for heaven’s sake…”With the Sword Sovereign’s lament, a rain of dirt poured from the sky.ShaaAAAAh—With nowhere to dodge, everyone was drenched head to toe in black mud.Even the well-mannered Wu So wiped his eyes and reproached,“…There’s a reason they call you Heukcheon Amgui.”“Do Daoists get so carefree at heart that their movements are slow? How do you fail to dodge that?”When Heukcheon Amgui chirped with a spotless face, the two Daoists cast him a chilly glance. They did not point out that even the Sagye Hall Administrator—third son of the Zhuge family and no Daoist—was spattered with mud.Wu So gave up and lowered his sword.Leaving the situation to the hidden-weapon fiend who was darting here and there, he looked to the Administrator.“Administrator, do you still sense nothing from the West Gate? Nothing coming out makes me uneasy.”The Administrator must have felt the same; with a mud-streaked face, he nodded.“Yes. It’s strange. By the Alliance Leader’s reckoning, they should have all crossed over by now…”The Administrator, who had been twirling the sand pouch at his waist, suddenly shut his mouth. He stepped forward and gave the steel thread a wide sweep. A pillar of mud that had been rushing in on a fierce wind bent hard and toppled back.KWAANG.The space where nothing could be seen now sketched a clear outline, wetted with mud. Seeing it, the Sword Sovereign knit his brows and asked,“Did the entrance open?”No sooner had he asked than something burst out between the black outlines like a swarm of bees.“It seems to be the blood fiends of the West Gate the Alliance Leader mentioned.”The answer was unnecessary. The darts and shuriken flying in already told their identity.A barrage of killing-filled attacks poured in. At that, a Tang Clan warrior, famed for controlling poison and hidden weapons, twisted with relish.“Rushing in without a sound. No manners.”Uttering a line that showed no self-awareness, Heukcheon Amgui moved his hands.KWA-AAANG.One of the marks loosed from his hand veered in a great arc and blocked the falling needles. Then, circling back, it pierced the back of the Blood Cultist who had thrust a short blade at Heukcheon Amgui.Puuuuk.When one cultist fell, five more showed themselves behind him.They were adept at body arts and lightness skill. Their movements were exceedingly fast.Before anyone knew it, more than half had already bounded from rock to rock that jutted up in the mire and closed to arm’s length.While those who arrived first scrambled to tangle Heukcheon Amgui’s gaze, the others set foot on land.Kaang. Kang.Even so, there was no sense of crisis.“Keugh!”The Sword Sovereign cut down those who dropped beside him. Seeing red sword-qi flash at his side, it looked as though those who rushed Wu So fared no differently.“Is this all?”The Tang Clan Head had leisure to glance around. In a voice of puzzlement, he asked,“It doesn’t seem that dangerous. Why did the Alliance Leader say the West Gate was perilous?”There was no way the Sagye Hall Administrator would know that answer. Yet since he too agreed with the Clan Head’s doubt, he murmured his own thought as if replying,“I wonder if a variable arose at the West Gate.”“A variable?”“The Alliance Leader worried the keeper might have returned to the West Gate. Perhaps he wasn’t there after all.”The Sagye Hall Administrator added quietly,“The Alliance Leader cannot know everything of the Blood Cult.”The Clan Head closed his mouth. Suddenly the mire grew still.The Administrator must also have sensed something odd, for he turned his gaze—only not to the mire, but behind them.“…Do you happen to hear that sound?”“What sound?”“It sounds like arrows brushing past, or a strong wind. It was what we heard at the boundary of the formation the Alliance Leader exited through, but I hear the same sound from that side as well.”The Clan Head strained his ears, but all he caught was the noise of fighting around them; he did not hear that sound.Yet the direction the Administrator turned bothered him. He was staring at the luminous pearl.Beyond the boundary were Zhuge family warriors and Tang Hak.As deep wrinkles sprang to the Clan Head’s brow, Heukcheon Amgui’s shout rang out.“Administrator! How much time is left?”Heukcheon Amgui, perhaps out of hidden weapons, asked with a frown. The others also looked to the Administrator. He touched the sand in the pouch at his waist and opened his mouth. There was still sand left in the upper tier.“More than two ke remain.”“Ugh, time’s crawling.”Heukcheon Amgui screwed up his face.“The Alliance Leader says this is the safest method, so I’m following it—but it’s not to my taste at all.”“Grand Elder.”When Heukcheon Amgui muttered childishly, the Clan Head called him softly.But the Administrator did not join that exchange.The black surface was calm.Balancing a foot on the clinging mire, the Administrator raised his sensory awareness.“Administrator!”Catching his peculiar behavior, Wu So exclaimed—yet the Sagye Hall Administrator only went deeper into the mire.The surface was quiet, but within the mud the currents of qi were more riotous than ever. Like a swarm of insects, something was moving swiftly.'Forty-nine.'There were forty-nine Blood Cultists hidden beneath the mud.They were moving away. [N O V E L I G H T] It was not a retreat. They were heading for the open entrance below.The moment the Blood Cult men poured out at random again—Shaaah—Pillars of mud rose from the mire and crashed down over the blood fiends. Most slipped past the pillars, but those caught were sucked down into the mire.As the Alliance Leader had said, there were holes in the bottom of the mire. The presences of those who had lain hidden and those dragged away vanished at once.Zhuge Inhwi’s eyes narrowed.'Why are they attacking their own side?'Thinking it strange, Zhuge Inhwi fixed on the approaching presences—and grimaced. Though they were drawing close to him, they neither slowed nor took up a stance to attack. If anything, they quickened as if to race straight past.Grasping the situation, Zhuge Inhwi shouted to the warriors arrayed behind him,“Block the boundary so they cannot pass!”While he shouted, the Blood Cult men rushed past Zhuge Inhwi. Moreover, another heap of cultists spilled from the entrance. Zhuge Inhwi whipped his steel thread in haste.Shaaah—With the wind, the muddy ground split open, and it crashed down over the cultists heading for the earth. But they must have long trained in breath and step together; running like one body, they split apart in the same instant.Scattering into many streams, they landed like arrows raining from the sky.The area was so narrow the swordsmen could not even swing their blades wide, let alone cast out sword-gang.Unable to retrieve the hidden weapons sunk in the mire, Heukcheon Amgui had to check them with shuriken.They braced back-to-back and barred the gate, but if a gap opened, the mayfly-like men could vault through in a heartbeat.The Sagye Hall Administrator plunged into the mud, mimicked the Blood Cult men, and raised pillars of earth with wind, blocking those who had just crossed the entrance from setting foot on land.But while half the cultists fought to enter the formation the Alliance Leader had passed through, the other half headed for the formation where the luminous pearl had been set.KWAANG.Wu So swerved in urgency and cut them off.“Damn it!”Unable to let loose by his usual temper, Wu So’s fearsome face twisted. He shouted to the Clan Head at his side,“Clan Head! It looks like the ones left behind have tampered with the formation.”“I have eyes. I can see where they’re trying to go.”A trace of impatience showed on the Clan Head’s face.The Alliance Leader had warned them never to touch the formation, since the rear could be blocked.He had said the blood fiends at the East Gate could change course and swarm not to the front of the West Gate, but to their rear.The Clan Head was not worried their retreat would be cut off. Behind them was the Little Clan Head.And the ones with the Little Clan Head right now were baggage. Since it was a situation where the Little Clan Head had to protect them, the Clan Head’s heart was uneasy.The Tang Hak he knew was not a boy who would run according to the situation, but a warrior who would do whatever it took to keep the retreat from being blocked and wait.'If only he were the sort to flee, I wouldn’t worry.'Just then, the Taeguk Sword Sovereign frowned and shouted,“It’s possible someone tampered with the formation behind us, so Brother and Clan Head, you should go check. There’s no guarantee those who set out from the East Gate will come here, is there? The retreat could be cut off, so go first and break open the back!”“You do say the right thing sometimes. Follow as soon as the time is up—we’re going ahead!”“I’m counting on you, Sword Sovereign.”Unlike talkative Tang Min, the Clan Head, scarcely finishing his bow, turned his body at once. Understanding the Clan Head’s heart, the Sword Sovereign did not scold Heukcheon Amgui; he nodded, allowing him to depart swiftly.Tang Min and the Clan Head hastened across to the rear of the formation.

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