Chapter 48. Whole and Entirely
The series of events that had occurred in the morning was a clear incident proving that Namgung Byeok and the Namgung Family—no, the entire Murim—had been thoroughly toyed with by Do Heo-ok.
If not for the ominous sign left by the unidentified intruder last night, the wedding would have proceeded as planned, and the Namgung Family might have fallen completely into Do Heo-ok's hands.
Of course, the situation was still far from good.
Driving out Do Heo-ok, the root culprit, from the Namgung Family grounds and killing all four of the vicious attackers he had brought in did not reassure Namgung Byeok in the slightest.
That was because Do Heo-ok was still alive, and the encirclement surrounding the Namgung Family had not been lifted.
And that wasn't all.
'Isn't a guest who is not truly a guest still hiding somewhere within the family?'
Even if that person had provided information beneficial to the Namgung Family, their true intentions were still shrouded in mystery.
Internal strife and external threats.
How else could the current situation of the Namgung Family be described?
Namgung Byeok keenly realized that since the Namgung Family had hung the signboard proclaiming itself the House of the Imperial King by Chaohu, it was now facing its greatest crisis.
Watching the sun slowly sink, he reflected on the morning's events and Do Heo-ok, then lowered his head and questioned Namgung Bang while looking toward the Namgung Hall.
"How large is the enemy force said to be?"
He had already received the report, but he was confirming it once more.
Perhaps he had misheard.
But the answer that returned from Namgung Bang was, as expected, utterly bleak.
"They say that at least one thousand have been confirmed by the Heavenly Thunder Unit and the Vast Firmament Sword Squad."
At least one thousand.
That was by no means a small number.
Even that number alone was comparable to the total number of Namgung Family martial artists excluding the congratulatory guests.
According to reports so far, the martial arts level of the enemy's ordinary warriors was in no way inferior to that of the Namgung Family.
There was no major qualitative difference, and the numbers were similar as well.
The phrase "at least one thousand" was a conservative estimate, meaning there could be even more.
'What if additional forces join the enemy?'
It was a thought he did not want to entertain, yet the possibility was all too real.
"At least one thousand..."
The word "at least," which Namgung Byeok murmured to himself, weighed heavily on his shoulders.
Quietly closing his eyes, he asked Namgung Bang once more.
"Has the number of peak experts on their side still not been identified?"
In truth, in battles between Murim factions, the number of experts was far more decisive than sheer headcount.
If the Namgung Family had more peak experts, they could potentially turn the battle in their favor.
That was the aspect Namgung Byeok was trying to confirm.
But once again, Namgung Bang's reply was pessimistic.
"...I am sorry, family head. With the family's ordinary martial artists, it has been impossible to ascertain that. If we recklessly deploy the unit leaders, it could lead to further losses, so for now we are only conducting standard reconnaissance."
Even when fighting with full knowledge of the enemy, victory was uncertain—yet here, there was far more unknown than known.
In contrast, it was obvious that the enemy knew the Namgung Family all too well.
Naturally, their preparations were also meticulous beyond question.
Under such circumstances, the Namgung Family could only be dragged along by the enemy's lead.
They could neither go out to fight nor remain seated and endure—this was a situation of no advance and no retreat.
"Hoo... it's fine. What is there for you to apologize for? It would have made little difference whether we investigated or not. Their number of peak experts surely rivals ours. If the opponent is them, it's something we can know without seeing it ourselves, so don't trouble yourself over it."
The opponent was the Heavenly Demon Castle.
Once they had begun their attack, it was self-evident that they had come with forces no less formidable than those of the Namgung Family.
'Why on earth did the Heavenly Demon Castle suddenly appear in Anhui Province and attack the Namgung Family?'
Namgung Byeok was intensely curious, yet he had no way to find the answer.
The situation the Namgung Family—and Namgung Byeok himself—were in felt like being beaten while bound hand and foot, blindfolded.
They knew nothing about the enemy, yet the damage kept piling up rapidly.
In the very first clash that morning, the Namgung Family had already suffered a severe blow.
Due to Do Heo-ok and the enemies hiding in his quarters, one squad leader and nearly a dozen elders had been rendered combat-ineffective.
Moreover, more than half of the members of the Imperial King Sword Squad—the Namgung Family's elite force—had been killed or gravely injured.
In addition, reconnaissance efforts yielded little gain while countless family martial artists were killed, and even now, they continued to fall.
It could not yet be called fatal damage, but if things continued this way, they would inevitably fail to hold out and collapse.
Above all,
More than the family's losses themselves, the greater problem was that many of the congratulatory guests who had come to celebrate the wedding of Do Heo-ok and Namgung Hye had died, and all the rest were trembling with fear.
"The congratulatory guests... huff... what are they doing now?"
"They are clamoring to be allowed to leave the Guest Hall."
While dealing with the morning's events, the Namgung Family had temporarily kept all guests inside the Guest Hall.
It was impossible to distinguish spies from true guests.
However, from the guests' perspective, it was a bolt from the blue.
They had come to watch or celebrate a wedding only to find their lives in danger, and the very Namgung Family that was supposed to protect them had confined them in the Guest Hall without any clear solution...
The Namgung Family mobilized the Heavenly Wind Squad and the Boundless Sword Squad throughout the afternoon to hunt down the one who had left the blood-bone mark the day before, but they found nothing.
Naturally so.
There was no physical evidence, not even a suspect.
Judging by the cultivation power used to emit the Three Sacred Lights, the only possible intruder was Tang Wu.
Tang Wu as the culprit?
Impossible.
It couldn't be.
It mustn't be.
He was Namgung Byeok's sworn uncle, and thus no different from a member of the Namgung Family.
Moreover, although not seriously injured, his granddaughter Tang Hua had also been hurt that morning.
"What is uncle doing now?"
As his thoughts turned to Tang Wu, Namgung Byeok wondered what he was currently doing.
"He is at the Medicine Hall."
Namgung Byeok nodded.
Since Tang Hua had been injured, Tang Wu would naturally be staying with her at the Medicine Hall for treatment.
With a hollow expression, he lifted his head again to gaze at the sky.
The busy day was passing, and the sun was slowly setting.
Yet the sky was clear, without a single cloud.
While such dark clouds hung over the Namgung Family, the sky alone remained so clear—so unjustly so.
Unable to determine what to do immediately, Namgung Byeok closed his eyes and sank into thought.
Namgung Bang, who had been waiting quietly for his command, cautiously opened his mouth.
"Family head. If it is not presumptuous, may I offer a word?"
Namgung Byeok opened his eyes and nodded toward Namgung Bang.
Traditionally, the leader of the Imperial Heavenly Sword Squad was the right-hand man of the Namgung Family head, and Namgung Bang, the current leader, was no exception.
Namgung Byeok usually heeded his advice whenever possible—let alone in a situation like this.
"In my view, there are three main ways to deal with the current situation: resistance, escape, and messenger."
Namgung Byeok quietly looked at Namgung Bang, and Namgung Bang continued.
"Resistance means fighting the enemy here with all our strength, prepared to die. Escape means that all members leave the family at once, break through in one direction, and force a frontal breakthrough."
Namgung Byeok shook his head from side to side as if neither was worth considering.
"Move on to the third. You know as well as I do that the first two are not viable."
If a decisive stand had even a fifty–fifty chance, he would not have agonized over it.
And escape?
That was absolutely unacceptable.
The moment the Namgung Family abandoned its home and fled, it could no longer be the House of the Imperial King.
As the family head, Namgung Byeok would rather die gloriously here than make such a choice.
Namgung Bang's true point was, in fact, the third option.
He continued immediately.
"Messenger means sending someone to inform the Martial Alliance of the current situation and await reinforcements. Considering the distance from here to Zhengzhou, using movement technique, it would take less than a week. If one truly pushes themselves, they could go round-trip and return here with reinforcements in ten days."
Once again, Namgung Byeok shook his head.
In truth, Namgung Bang's suggestions were all methods he himself had already considered.
In a low, heavy voice, Namgung Byeok said,
"I understand your method well, but who in the Namgung Family could break through their encirclement and reach Zhengzhou?"
Namgung Bang replied immediately, as if he had been waiting for that question.
"Does the messenger necessarily have to be from the Namgung Family?"
The moment he heard that, Namgung Byeok knew exactly whom Namgung Bang had in mind.
Someone not of the Namgung Family, yet trustworthy, possessing extremely high movement technique and martial arts.
There was exactly one such person within the family grounds at present.
"Are you saying we should send uncle to Zhengzhou?"
"Yes, family head. We have no other choice. If it is not him, I see no way to break the current deadlock."
"But even if it is him, can he really break through the encirclement of so many enemies alone?"
Do Heo-ok alone had been able to match Tang Wu.
Could Tang Wu truly break through an enemy force layered countless times over and reach Zhengzhou by himself?
That was what Namgung Byeok meant.
But Namgung Bang had already thought about that as well.
"If he goes alone, unless he is one of the Two Divines or the Three Monsters, breaking through that encirclement would be impossible. But he does not have to go alone, does he?"
"What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting that we mobilize all family members to temporarily punch a hole in the enemy lines? If that goes wrong, we could be counterattacked and have the family entrance breached."
Namgung Bang slightly shook his head.
"No. The method I propose is not to create a gap in the enemy formation."
"Hm!? Then what do you mean?"
"Right now, there are several hundred people in the family who are desperate to flee."
"And?"
"Among them is the intruder who left the blood-bone mark. If we cannot filter him out, then I believe sending them all out together—whole and entirely—is one possible method."
If they could not be filtered out, then send them out whole and entirely.
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