Chapter 32. A Desperate Measure (窮餘之策)
Jaha shook his head.
“Do you think I have some miraculous trick up my sleeve?”
At Jaha’s words, Goeui shook his head as well.
“No. You definitely have some kind of plan. Don’t you think so too, Deunghwahong?”
At Goeui’s question, Deunghwahong nodded.
“That’s right, Grandfather. There must be something. There has to be. And I trust Young Hero Byeok. He’s also the benefactor who saved me from the attack of that useless son of Hwancheonma over there. From what I heard, it was an incredibly terrifying attack, wasn’t it? Yet he blocked all of it and brought me here safely. If I don’t trust someone like that, then who should I trust? It’s not like I can trust these sheltered young masters who know nothing about the real world.”
Goeui watched Deunghwahong with a smile.
He had asked whether Jaha had a plan to overcome this crisis, but Deunghwahong had ended her answer by simply saying that she trusted him.
That was how much she trusted Jaha.
Shinbi flared up at Deunghwahong’s words, but with Hwancheonma beside him, he couldn’t act carelessly.
Meanwhile, Dangjong, Namgungcheol, and Paengwoomyeong gave bitter smiles.
They couldn’t act like petty men just because of something a woman had said.
No matter how reckless they were, they still had at least that much dignity.
“Miss Deung, if we go back inside the formation, how long can we hold out?”
Deunghwahong replied,
“With Hwancheonma here, even if we do well, about one gak.”
Jaha spoke.
“If I add another formation on top of it, we should be able to hold out for two gak.”
Dangjong sneered.
“So what? Let’s say we manage to endure for two gak. What are you going to do after that?”
Dangjong didn’t want to hide cowardly inside a formation just to buy that much time.
He spoke forcefully.
“If we die fighting a powerful enemy, then so be it. How can a true man act this cowardly?!”
Jaha replied calmly.
“Then you fight. I’ll hide inside the formation.”
Goeui asked,
“If we endure for two gak, do we have a chance of winning?”
“We do.”
“Oh?”
Surprisingly, Hwancheonma was the one who responded.
“I’m genuinely curious. I’ll stand here without attacking for two gak. But if nothing happens after those two gak have passed, will you obediently come with me?”
Deunghwahong looked at Jaha.
Then she turned toward Hwancheonma.
“Fine. I accept that proposal. But no matter what happens, you must remain right there for two gak.”
“Wahahahaha! I am one of the Seven Heavenly Demons of the Demonic Cult. Once I give my word, I keep it to the very end.”
At that, Shinbi hurriedly spoke from beside him.
“Father, that bastard is unbelievably cunning. You must not follow his words. There’s no telling what kind of trick he’s planning.”
Shinbi had already suffered at Jaha’s hands, which was why he warned him.
But all he received in return was a scolding.
“It’s because you act so stupidly that even people like them look down on you!”
Shinbi frowned and stepped back.
The Right Protector, the middle-aged man in black, also supported Shinbi’s warning.
“My Lord, the Young Lord is correct. That man is extremely deceitful.”
Hwancheonma suddenly shouted in anger.
“Do you think I, Shinjeok, need to care about someone like him? Even if every single person over there attacked me together, they wouldn’t be able to touch so much as the hem of my robe. So the two of you should shut your mouths and just watch!”
Jaha already knew Hwancheonma’s personality very well.
That was why he had provoked him like this.
Even Jaha hadn’t expected it to work this well.
Hwancheonma was one of the strongest martial artists alive, and his pride was high enough to pierce the heavens.
He believed himself to be the strongest, and he looked at everyone else as if they were insects.
His words insulted everyone present, but since they were coming from Hwancheonma, no one could completely deny them.
Even Goeui, who was famous for his pride, couldn’t argue.
He already knew that his strength had weakened with age and that he was no longer the same man who had once fought Jagang.
Jaha watched this and smiled slightly.
“Everyone, enter the formation. And Miss Deung, please strengthen it.”
Deunghwahong answered,
“All right. But instead of calling me ‘Miss,’ call me Hongmae. If you do that, I’ll help.”
Jaha stared quietly at her.
“There’s nothing for you to gain by becoming close to me. As you already know, I’m from some insignificant martial hall in the countryside.”
“I’m the same. I’m not from some prestigious family either. I’m just the descendant of a family nobody even recognizes.”
When she spoke so boldly, Jaha shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what kind of person you are, Miss Deung. I can’t stop you from calling me ‘Orabeoni,’ but I won’t call you Hongmae. Please understand that I cannot treat someone I barely know as if she were my own martial sister.”
After being betrayed by the Seven Heavenly Demons, whom he had followed like uncles, Jaha had found it difficult to trust people easily.
Even though Deunghwahong was acting so familiar with him, he couldn’t help suspecting that she had some hidden motive.
To be honest, it made sense for people like Dangjong, Namgungcheol, or Paengwoomyeong, descendants of famous martial families, to associate with each other.
But for someone like her to deliberately try to become close to a man from an unknown martial hall in the countryside felt suspicious.
“Hohoho. As expected, you don’t fall for things easily. You’re surprisingly difficult, Orabeoni.”
Deunghwahong laughed as she entered the formation.
Songrim and the warriors of the Inspection Squad followed her.
It seemed they had no intention of leaving Deunghwahong’s side, no matter what happened.
Jaha looked toward Goeui.
“Senior, please shout with your internal energy.”
Goeui’s eyes widened at Jaha’s strange request.
“Shout what?”
“It’s simple. Just shout that Deunghwahong is here.”
The moment he heard that, Goeui burst into loud laughter without realizing it.
“Kuhahahaha! Now I understand! You bastard, you’re trying to call back those Seohyeopbang people who went up the mountain earlier!”
Only now did Goeui understand Jaha’s intention.
At this moment, the enemy of their enemy could become an ally.
There was only one Deunghwahong, but there were two factions trying to claim her.
That meant the members of Seohyeopbang could temporarily become their allies.
Jaha intended to make the two groups check and fight each other.
“That’s not a bad trick.”
Goeui agreed with Jaha and began shouting.
“DEUNGHWAHONG IS HERE!”
He repeatedly shouted while channeling his internal energy.
His voice thundered across the entire mountain.
Namgungcheol and Dangjong watched him and gave disbelieving chuckles.
“That fellow truly doesn’t have even a speck of pride.”
At Dangjong’s words, Namgungcheol agreed.
“It’s embarrassing just standing beside him. Everyone trusted him so much that I thought he had some impressive strategy. But all he does is use such a petty trick to call back the Seohyeopbang group that went up the mountain.”
Jaha heard them and replied,
“If you dislike this, then go fight Hwancheonma yourselves. I won’t stop you. And when Hwancheonma attacks later, make sure you block him. If you think this is shameful, then naturally you should fight him yourselves.”
Dangjong and Namgungcheol fell silent.
Somehow, the more they spoke, the more they cornered themselves.
Jegalyuyeon watched them and became impressed with Jaha.
What incredible nerve! Young Master Dang and Young Master Namgung must be completely flustered. It’s probably their first time meeting someone who treats them like this. And from a countryside martial hall nobody at that.
Ever since Jaha had joined them, Jegalyuyeon had kept finding herself watching him.
But Paengwoomyeong didn’t like that.
Seeing the woman who was supposed to become engaged to him paying attention to another man made him feel bitter and even wounded his pride.
No man would enjoy watching his woman show interest in someone else.
Jaha deliberately provoked the already irritated Paengwoomyeong.
“Miss Jegal, please help Miss Deung strengthen the formation.”
Jegalyuyeon smiled gently.
“I will.”
Paengwoomyeong clenched his teeth, desperately suppressing the jealousy boiling inside him.
He had always been praised as a broad-minded man.
He didn’t want people calling him petty just because he became jealous over something like this.
Meanwhile, Jegalyuyeon was thinking something completely different.
He would suit my older sister well.
That was the real reason Jegalyuyeon had been paying so much attention to Jaha.
Hwancheonma had never imagined that Jaha would actually shout Deunghwahong’s location across the mountain at the top of his lungs.
For a moment, he was so dumbfounded that he nearly sent a palm strike flying at Jaha.
But he barely stopped himself.
If he attacked now, the reputation he had built over all these years would disappear in an instant.
Because of that, the murderous aura around him only grew stronger.
“Fine. I’ll endure for two gak. After that, all of you will become food for the wolves on this mountain.”
Jaha smiled mockingly.
“As expected of one of the Seven Heavenly Demons of the Demonic Cult. You really do keep your promises.”
Even when Jaha mocked him, Hwancheonma merely twitched his nose and endured it.
Jaha walked around leisurely, almost as if he were taking a stroll, digging into the ground and drawing strange patterns.
Every time Jaha drew something on the ground, Shinbi and the Right Protector flinched.
Perhaps because they had suffered so badly from the Sureijin before, their bodies reacted automatically.
Fear that had been carved into their bodies did not disappear easily.
“Father! That bastard uses strange formations! You need to stop him!”
At Shinbi’s words, Shinjeok glared at his son.
“Do you think I would be frightened by something like that? No matter what kind of formation it is, my cultivation can destroy it with a single palm strike.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Father. That bastard is simply too cunning. Just look at what he did earlier. Didn’t he shout across the mountain to call the experts from Seohyeopbang?”
“Those insignificant people are no problem either. Even if Maga came instead of them, I wouldn’t care.”
Shinbi sighed inwardly.
He knew better than anyone just how endless his father’s confidence was.
Even so, he felt frustrated that his father was still trying to protect his pride in a situation like this.
But he couldn’t ignore his father’s command and attack Jaha either.
If he did, his father’s anger toward Jaha might turn toward him instead.
Meanwhile, Jaha continued walking around, drawing patterns all over the ground.
He was even humming.
In truth, because Shinbi and the Right Protector were so wary of Jaha, Hwancheonma had also started observing him while pretending not to care.
If Jaha really created a formation, Hwancheonma intended to identify exactly what it was.
However, what Jaha was drawing didn’t seem to be a formation.
It looked more like he was writing something.
Hwancheonma muttered inwardly.
If he were truly setting up a formation, he wouldn’t be able to fool my eyes and ears. I know every formation under heaven. What he’s doing is nothing more than meaningless nonsense meant to make me cautious.
That was what Hwancheonma believed.
And just as he had openly declared, even if Jaha did create a formation, Hwancheonma was confident he could destroy it with a single palm strike using his overwhelming cultivation.
To Hwancheonma, Jaha’s actions looked like nothing more than a final desperate struggle.
Watching the patterns Jaha was drawing, Jegalyuyeon spoke to Deunghwahong.
“Lady Deung, do you know what Young Hero Byeok is drawing?”
Deunghwahong smiled at Jegalyuyeon, who was speaking to her in such a friendly manner.
“I have no idea. I’m fairly confident in my own knowledge of formations, but I can’t understand what Young Hero Byeok is drawing at all. Do you know, Lady Jegal?”
Jegalyuyeon shook her head.
“I’ve studied mechanisms and formations since I was young, but even I cannot understand Young Hero Byeok’s formation.”
“If even Miss Jegal doesn’t recognize it, then I’m really curious. Is that truly a formation?”
The others became curious as they listened to the two women talking.
Jegalyuyeon and Deunghwahong were both talented women who would stand out wherever they went.
If even they couldn’t recognize the formation—
and even Hwancheonma didn’t know what it was—
then everyone naturally wanted to know exactly what Jaha was creating.
