Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 383

383. Golden Cicada Slough

Hangzhou, in the main hall of the Hero Alliance.

Yeom Jung-bu, the Iron-Blooded Tyrant, sat in the brightly lit hall.

*Rustle.*

The door creaked open, and a subordinate cautiously entered.

“Alliance Leader.”

The subordinate approached, bowing his head.

“The preparations are complete.”

*Swish.*

Yeom Jung-bu, who had been sitting on the ornate chair, raised his head.

“What about Muhan?”

“Everything is proceeding as planned. They should be attacking the Azure Dragon Alliance’s temporary headquarters by now.”

Despite the Hero Alliance’s core forces launching an attack, Yeom Jung-bu remained at their main headquarters in Hangzhou.

The signal flare he’d promised to personally launch over Muhan was also a lie.

From the start, dividing the forces into five, calling it the Five-Route Advance, and ordering them to move secretly to avoid the *gwan’s* [government officials’] surveillance, ensured no one knew his true location.

The subordinate continued cautiously.

“However, the Azure Dragon Alliance seems well-prepared, making the operation’s success uncertain.”

With rumors swirling throughout the Jianghu [martial world], the Azure Dragon Alliance was undoubtedly aware of the impending attack.

Not only had nearby Shaolin, Wudang, Huashan, and the Murong Clan sent reinforcements, but even Emei and the Namgung Clan had dispatched elites to the Muhan headquarters.

The *gwan’s* movements were also suspicious.

However, this information was being kept from the demonic factions.

“It doesn’t matter. Success or failure was meaningless from the beginning.”

The Hero Alliance’s attack on Muhan was merely a distraction, an empty gesture from the start.

A glittering facade to attract attention, but in reality, just an abandoned cicada shell—a *golden cicada slough*.

“What about the Iron Blood Squad?”

The Hero Alliance’s Iron Blood Squad was Yeom Jung-bu’s personal guard.

The subordinate lowered his head.

“They have completed all procedures and await your command, Alliance Leader.”

“Good. I understand.”

*Rustle.*

Yeom Jung-bu rose from the chair and stared silently at the subordinate.

“You’ve worked hard as well.”

The subordinate was surprised. Yeom Jung-bu had never said such a thing before.

But then, he understood. He had flawlessly prepared this crucial task.

“You flatter me,” the subordinate said, bowing even deeper. “My abilities are meager; I can only apologize.”

Yeom Jung-bu smiled faintly.

“Is that so? Well, you weren’t particularly outstanding compared to your predecessors.”

The subordinate was puzzled.

*Rustle.*

Yeom Jung-bu reached out to the subordinate.

Instantly, the subordinate felt an immense force pressing down on him.

“Ugh!”

The subordinate’s knees buckled, and he leaned forward.

But the pressure didn’t stop.

“A-Alliance Leader… W-Why…?”

The subordinate’s face turned red as he looked up at Yeom Jung-bu, whose expression remained unchanged.

“If someone sits in a position for too long, they’re bound to get ideas.”

Yeom Jung-bu said, looking down at the subordinate with indifferent eyes. “Besides, you know too much, don’t you?”

“Kugh.”

The force intensified, and the subordinate collapsed completely.

But it didn’t end there.

*Swish.*

Yeom Jung-bu lightly moved his hand downwards.

With that single gesture, the subordinate’s chest shattered.

*Crack.*

“Cough!”

Blood splattered across the main hall floor, and the subordinate lay still, his eyes wide open, as if resenting his sudden death.

“There’s no need to feel wronged,” Yeom Jung-bu said. “Everyone has their own sins that make them deserving of death.”

After confirming the subordinate’s death, Yeom Jung-bu turned and calmly walked away.

*Step, step.*

Leaving behind the spreading pool of blood, he exited the main hall, the dead subordinate already forgotten as his robes fluttered in the night breeze.

He hadn’t even bothered to remember the subordinate’s name.

“Alliance Leader.”

*Rustle.*

The Iron Blood Squad Leader, a man of sturdy build, knelt on one knee before Yeom Jung-bu.

In front of the brightly lit main hall, over a hundred members of the Iron Blood Squad waited, each holding a torch.

They, who were supposed to strike the Azure Dragon Alliance’s temporary headquarters with Yeom Jung-bu, were still at the Hangzhou headquarters.

Yeom Jung-bu surveyed the Iron Blood Squad and said quietly, “Let’s go.”

The Iron Blood Squad Leader bowed his head to receive the command, then stood and shouted, “Departure! Begin your assigned tasks!”

“Yes!”

A resounding voice erupted from the assembled warriors. They bowed and immediately scattered in all directions, leaving only about thirty people behind.

*Step.*

Yeom Jung-bu moved without a word. The Iron Blood Squad Leader and the remaining members followed.

Soon, they reached the front gate of the Hero Alliance.

*Neigh.*

The sound of horses echoed through the torchlight. The front gate was filled with baggage carts—over fifty, densely packed and loaded with goods.

The cart drivers’ faces were flushed from the heat of the torches, but they held the reins with tense expressions, barely breathing.

Yeom Jung-bu smiled bitterly.

*Yes. I’ll gladly give away the Hero Alliance.*

After all, it was a castle built on sand, lacking justification, loyalty, and proper organization.

Moreover, even this fragile structure wasn’t entirely his.

*If I have these….*

Yeom Jung-bu looked at the fifty baggage carts with greedy eyes.

Silver and gold, jewels and valuables, divine weapons and secret manuals offered by former demonic figures, and even elixirs collected through merchant guilds—everything the Hero Alliance possessed was gathered here.

*I can definitely rise again.*

This was just the foundation.

The world was vast. If he went to the outskirts, beyond the *gwan’s* reach, and built up his strength, a resurgence wasn’t just a dream.

No, he could even live like a king while waiting.

It was far better than being pushed around in the Jianghu, unable to do as he pleased.

It was a shame to lose influence over the Chang Jiang [Yangtze River], but since he’d lose it anyway once the naval training began, there was no lingering attachment.

*Swish.*

Yeom Jung-bu gestured to the Iron Blood Squad Leader, who immediately understood.

“Depart!” he shouted.

The cart drivers began to move the baggage carts in order, as if they had been waiting.

*Clatter, clatter.*

The noise of the carts filled the front gate. Yeom Jung-bu watched with gleaming eyes.

He trusted no one, especially not with moving all the Hero Alliance’s possessions.

However, such a large-scale procession would inevitably attract attention, so a distraction was needed.

A *Golden Cicada Slough*: just as a cicada sheds its skin and flies away, an empty shell to focus the world’s attention. The attack on Muhan was necessary.

Therefore, its success or failure was irrelevant. It would be even better if both sides perished.

“A golden cicada… Hmph.”

Yeom Jung-bu thought it was a fitting metaphor, as those baggage carts were indeed full of shining gold and silver treasures.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Alliance Leader.”

Yeom Jung-bu and the Iron Blood Squad Leader mounted their horses.

*Clatter, clatter.*

Yeom Jung-bu leisurely rode out of the Hero Alliance’s front gate, followed by the Iron Blood Squad, escorting the baggage carts.

Then, it happened.

*Whoosh.*

The cart drivers turned in surprise. Flames were rising from inside the Hero Alliance.

Yet, no one shouted or seemed surprised. The Iron Blood Squad didn’t even glance back, and the cart drivers only looked at the flames with frightened expressions.

*Clatter. Clatter.*

Leaving behind the burning Hero Alliance, the fifty baggage carts left the front gate in silence, like a large, luminous beast wriggling forward.

***

The procession smoothly escaped Hangzhou, joined later by seventy more members of the Iron Blood Squad, swelling to over fifty baggage carts and a hundred martial artists.

*Clatter, clatter.*

The cart drivers silently drove, constantly looking back at the burning Hero Alliance, clearly visible in the distance.

Perhaps Hangzhou was already in chaos.

The Hero Alliance, fine during the day, was now ablaze, with no one attempting to extinguish the flames.

“Oh.”

Someone groaned quietly, quickly drowned out by the sound of hooves, but the cart drivers understood the reason.

*Whoosh.*

A tower of the burning Hero Alliance was collapsing.

That sight, visible even from afar, was a bad omen. The murderous gazes of the Iron Blood Squad and the knowledge that these goods belonged to Yeom Jung-bu fueled their anxiety.

Moreover, they didn’t even know where they were heading.

Then, it happened.

*Clatter.*

The baggage carts in front slowly stopped, forcing those behind to do the same.

“Whoa, whoa.”

The cart drivers stopped their horses, their eyes anxious. An obstacle had appeared.

“What is it!” the Iron Blood Squad Leader shouted from the middle of the procession.

But no messenger or report came from the front.

Yeom Jung-bu frowned and gestured to the Iron Blood Squad Leader, who bowed and galloped forward.

“Haa!”

*Clatter, clatter.*

Watching him go, Yeom Jung-bu clicked his tongue. “Tsk. Even such a simple task…”

He suddenly flinched. The cart drivers had fallen silent.

Not only that.

*Thud, thud.*

One of them fell to the side, fast asleep, dropping the reins.

*This is!*

Yeom Jung-bu’s eyes widened. It wasn’t just the cart drivers. The Iron Blood Squad members were also falling from their horses.

*Thud.*

A torch dropped by a member rolled on the road. It was a bizarre and eerie sight, as if Yeom Jung-bu was the only one left in the world.

He knew what this meant.

“You bastard! Poison…!” Yeom Jung-bu roared. “Why are you hindering me!”

His voice seemed to deafen the ears, but no one woke up.

The Iron Blood Squad Leader hadn’t returned either.

*Rustle.*

At the sound from above, Yeom Jung-bu looked up. Someone was slowly descending through the dark night sky.

*Thud.*

He landed lightly, like a feather: Dok Sun [Poisonous Hand].

And he wasn’t alone.

*Rustle.*

Unhyun, who had been held in Dok Sun’s arms, stepped onto the ground.

“In the end,” Unhyun said, looking straight at Yeom Jung-bu, “it has come to this.”

*Gritting.*

Yeom Jung-bu gritted his teeth. He had assumed the Azure Dragon Sword Master and leader of the Azure Dragon Alliance would be in Muhan, but Unhyun stood before him, blocking his path.

Yeom Jung-bu’s eyes blazed with anger, but Unhyun’s gaze was merely cold, like the ice of the North Sea.