Chapter 428 : Old Souls Never Die (3)

Right ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍after the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge finished off the last of the Embroidered Uniform Guards—

Clink.

An ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍Ho-sang, the Head of the An Family, planted his cane against the ground and walked over to him.

"You've ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍worked hard, Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge."

"You've ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍had it no easier, Head of the An Family."

The ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge looked at the bells hanging from that cane that were still faintly trembling even now.

Even though all the intruders had been thoroughly eliminated, An Ho-sang was still maintaining the Formation.

The Formation had originally been set up to trap the intruders, but it served as a precaution against a worst-case scenario.

Specifically, it was to prepare for the possibility that the elderly masters of Peach Blossom Ridge might relapse into their dementia and go berserk in the aftermath of battle.

He kept it up because they couldn't risk the nightmare scenario of a confused elder wandering off and accidentally butchering an innocent civilian village.

"Now that we've dealt with all the intruders, why don't we start packing up and head back home?”

The Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge shook his head in response.

"More of those rats might slip through. I’ll hold the line here until the war officially ends."

"But..."

An Ho-sang’s voice trailed off as his eyes swept over the blood-soaked elders wandering the battlefield.

let his words trail off as his gaze drifted across the battlefield, sweeping over the old men scattered throughout it.

He wasn't worried that they would lose their minds and go on a rampage. 

Rather, the emotion swirling in his eyes was much closer to sorrow and pity than worry.

Because in truth, this Formation wasn't the only fail-safe the An Family had installed to keep the old folks of the Peach Blossom Ridge on a leash.

Every one of them, except for the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge himself, had a shackle carved into their flesh.

It was the harsh price they paid for leaving the mountain; a kill-switch designed to instantly paralyze them if their dementia made them turn hostile.

Hidden inside the wagons the elders had traveled in were several An Family members ready to take action in case that scenario came to reality.

They were clutching specialized talismans hard-wired to those shackles, meaning they could subdue them at any time by causing pain almost equal to torture.

It was a safety measure that looked almost like something used to control slaves.

To inflict such a horrifying measure on people who had bled for the Divine Cult their entire lives, who end up forgetting their own names...

It was undeniably cruel and heartless.

That was exactly why An Ho-sang had suggested going back.

He wanted the shackles removed and the elders left to live out the rest of their days in peace.

As if he could read that sentiment, the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge gave a gentle smile to him.

"Haha. Please, don't let the guilt eat at you. We all chose to wear these chains willingly."

And that much was true.

From the very beginning, neither the An Family nor the Divine Cult had forced the elders to carve the shackles.

It had been their own idea.

It all traced back to when they were preparing for the full-scale invasion of the Central Plains.

When Wi Jin-hak had moved to march out with the full strength of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Il-mok had tried to talk him down from the decision.

He argued that if the Divine Cult wanted a future, they needed to leave a minimum number of personnel behind to keep each institution running.

The discussion had naturally turned to the question of what minimum force should remain to protect the main headquarters and Xinjiang.

That was when Il-mok's mind had turned to the An Family's sorcerers, and to the old masters resting in the Peach Blossom Ridge.

But let it be known that Il-mok never once ordered anyone to brand the veterans like cattle and drag them into a warzone.

What Il-mok had envisioned was expanding the reach of the existing Formations at Peach Blossom Ridge to be wide enough to cover the entirety of the Tianshan Mountain Range, so that the invaders would be sent straight to Peach Blossom Ridge.

It was an absurdly tall order, and An Ho-sang half suspected Il-mok was trying to work him to death.

Either way, it had brought An Ho-sang to the Peach Blossom Ridge to discuss the matter with the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge. And the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge had come back at him with a counterproposal of his own.

—If we do that, we only save the mountains. What about the innocent people living down in Xinjiang? They'll be slaughtered. No, you need to let us out into the field."

Obviously, An Ho-sang refused the proposal.

Unleashing twenty dementia-riddled super-weapons who had reached the Peak Realm at minimum is a nightmare in its own right. That was nothing short of madness.

—If that is your concern, do not worry. Put a shackle on us, just like how the Buddha had shackled the Monkey King in the Golden Headband.

As An Ho-sang revisited the memory of the day he'd carved those shackles into the elders' bodies, the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge turned and walked toward a particular spot on the battlefield.

There lay an old man collapsing in his own blood.

It didn't matter that every single elder from the Peach Blossom Ridge was a master who had reached the Peak Realm; the Embroidered Uniform Guards were likewise experts of the same quality.

It was inevitable that some of the old folks would die or suffer severe wounds.

"Ridge Lord..."

As the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge approached, the fallen elder called out to him in a low voice.

Even though the old man had already stepped one foot into the underworld, his eyes were strangely clear and lucid.

Maybe it was what people called the terminal lucidity.

"Is the Divine Cult... in danger?"

Even in the verge of death, what the old man had been thinking was the Divine Cult.

If they, who were supposed to be in Peach Blossom Ridge, were fighting here, didn’t that mean the Divine Cult was in enough danger that even they had to step forward?

The Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge shook his head.

"It’s the other way around. Our Divine Cult is fighting this war to reclaim the Central Plains. Those bastards were the hunting dogs sent by the Imperial Court to drive our warriors back into Xinjiang."

"Hahaha... HAHAHA!"

Hearing the truth, the old man burst out laughing with what little life remained in him.

"Cough."

After a fit of bloody cough, the old man wiped his mouth and asked the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge.

"Well then... it sounds like this old fool actually managed to do something meaningful for the Cult today."

"That you did."

Hearing the Lord of Peach Blossom Ridge’s answer, the old man lifted the corners of his mouth and said, "I'm happy. Really happy. And yet... It's such a damn shame. To think I have to close my eyes for good before I get to see our banners flying over the Central Plains."

"...You'll be able to watch from heaven. Alongside those who went before you."

"Hahaha... Take your time getting there, Ridge Lord. Make sure you stay alive to see it happen with your own two eyes. And when your time finally comes... find me up there, and tell me what it looked like."

With those words, the old man closed his eyes.

The breath left his body, but the smile never left his face.

"..."

The Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge stood over him for a long time before walking back into the blood-soaked village.

He walked to find the others who were dying just the same or had already died in the fighting and gave each of them the same farewell.

While the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge was sending his old comrades off to their final journey, the sorcerers climbed down from the carriages and began to tend to the ones who had survived without fatal wounds.

Once the aftermath was more or less settled, the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge turned to An Ho-sang.

"You can let the Formation down now."

An Ho-sang nodded and dispelled it.

Then the Ridge Lord spoke again. "Forgetting is a truly frightening thing. Forgetting who you are is terrifying enough on its own, but what's even more terrifying is being forgotten by others."

He was looking at the bodies of the elders as the An Family's sorcerers began collecting them.

"The late Heavenly Demons who ascended before us were kind enough to send those of us who had served the Divine Cult for a lifetime to a beautiful place called Peach Blossom Ridge. We were grateful for it. But all of us were afraid."

"Of being forgotten?"

The Ridge Lord nodded at An Ho-sang’s answer.

"Yes. We were afraid of being forgotten by the Divine Cult. More than anything, we were afraid of ceasing to exist without having done anything at all. Of a life where we faded away after accomplishing nothing and forgetting even ourselves along the way."

Every single one of these people had poured everything in their life into Demonic Arts and the Divine Cult’s creed.

Telling warriors like that to go sit in a peaceful garden and enjoy a quiet retirement is no different from caging them in a prison.

"That's why, on behalf of everyone here, I am genuinely grateful to Young Master Il-mok.  I'm thankful he gave us the chance to serve the Divine Cult one last time. I'm thankful we were given the chance to leave our names upon a page in the grand history of reclaiming the Central Plains."

A life where no one in the world even knew you existed wasn’t a live at all.

Even if one had to burn their body to ash and die, as long as someone could remember their name for a lifetime, that was more than enough.

After living shoulder-to-shoulder with these folks who were being erased by time, the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge had come to believe that.

"I swear by the An Family’s name, I will make sure their names will be remembered. Once the war is over, I will petition the Cult Leader to gather their names together and hold a memorial rite in their honor."

Hearing An Ho-sang's words, a faint smile graced the Ridge Lord's lips.

"Just hearing you say that puts my heart at ease."

After the entire battlefield had been cleaned up, they climbed back into the carriages and set off again, leaving the hundred slaughtered Embroidered Uniform Guards rotting in the dirt behind them.

Sitting quietly in the rattling carriage next to the Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge, An Ho-sang stared out at the barren landscape of Xinjiang in silence before finally speaking up.

"If being forgotten frightens you, Ridge Lord, then why not come back out into the world yourself?"

The Lord of the Peach Blossom Ridge shook his head without a moment's hesitation.

"Someone has to stay and look after them, don't they?"

In a sense, his decision to leave the Peach Blossom Ridge alongside the others had always been about looking after them.

He knew this would likely be their final excursion in this life.

One last trip to grant the dying wishes of old people who were forgetting and being forgotten.

***

Several days earlier.

After splitting his sixty-thousand-strong army in half, Il-mok had marched south with thirty thousand troops, only to suddenly cross paths with the battered remnants of his vanguard. 

The masters leading that group, Ouyang Pae, Yeom Ga-hwi, and Hwangbo Ak, had fortunately come through unscathed. But out of the seven thousand or so soldiers they'd taken with them, more than half were either dead or had become missing in action.

And it was all because of the Divine Monk.

Actually, the fact that half of them had survived an encounter with a unit that had the Divine Monk in it was nearly miraculous in itself.

They only survived because they strictly followed the rules Zhuge Mun had established.

The standing order was to avoid an all-out engagement until they had confirmed exactly who the martial masters present in the enemy unit were and if the Divine Monk had been included.

With that in mind, they’d been fighting conservatively when the Divine Monk finally couldn't hold himself back and came charging out at them.

The second they saw his face, the vanguard called for an immediate retreat.

After gathering the survivors, Il-mok moved south again.

But this time, he moved to settle the score.

After tracking the enemy's trail for days, Il-mok and his thirty thousand troops finally cornered them and launched a massive attack.

Unfortunately, the Divine Monk was not there.

Sometime during those few days, the monstrous monk had packed up and moved to a completely different front.

Taking advantage of the intel that the Divine Monk was busy in the south, the main forces led by Jegal Mun and Wi Jin-hak ambushed several other enemy detachments and racked up victories of their own.

But the celebration didn't last.

The vanished Divine Monk suddenly re-emerged from the shadows and devastated the unit led by the Beggar King.

The flow of these localized skirmishes devolved into an exhausting game of cat and mouse.

On the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult alliance's side, they could not easily attempt a full-scale assault because they never knew if the Divine Monk was hiding among the enemy forces.

On the flip side, the imperial army could not recklessly expose the Divine Monk's position either, because the moment they did, the Divine Cult would just bypass him and annihilate the fronts where he wasn't stationed.

"That damned Divine Monk. If we could just nail down his exact coordinates, we could surround him with a pincer attack and end him once and for all."

Il-mok let out a frustrated breath.

With the standoff dragging on, casualties were mounting on their side. Not that the enemy's losses weren't piling up too. Both sides kept sending out their common soldiers and lower-ranked warriors in small-scale skirmishes to probe each other's strength, and the toll added up constantly.

While Il-mok was buried in those complicated thoughts, a voice reached him from outside the hall.

"Left Guardian, the Battle King is here to see you."

Il-mok tilted his head at the out-of-nowhere announcement.

The title "Battle King" was quite famous.

He was one of the Twelve Heavenly Pillars of the Central Plains.

Now that Cheok Pae-myong, Peng Muyeol, and the Plum Blossom Sword immortal were dead, calling them the 'Twelve' Pillars was a bit of a stretch, but the Battle King was still a monster that stood shoulder to shoulder with them.

Even weirder, in a world dominated by the Orthodox Faction, the Battle King was famous for being true neutral.

He openly positioned himself between the Orthodox and the Unorthodox, and the only one within the Twelve Heavenly Pillars who operated entirely alone with no faction whatsoever behind him.

The question that popped in his mind was this.

Why the hell does that lone wolf show up here of all places and times?