Book 12: Chapter 9: Stalemate Superiority

Chapter 284 night.

And the valley.

The cool valley wind was blowing low down from the valley.

It was a wind carrying the ashes of death.

“All things in the world are impermanent, and the prosperous must inevitably decline. Life and death are two sides of the same coin, so…” looking down the valley through the glass panes of her black poison-avoiding mask, the Fourth Young Master's military advisor, Tang Ye-rin was chanting in a low voice.

“This is the law of birth and death. The cycle is the law of creation and destruction.”

Under her eyes now, countless lives were withering away without even being able to scream.

Although there was air, they could not breathe gasping and struggling as they drowned.

“When birth and death are extinguished, that silent extinction is bliss. Once birth and death end, that is the state of Nirvana.”

That was her own way of showing condolences.

“May you be reborn in Paradise.”

As soon as she tucked the Buddhist rosary beads into her bosom, the reporting began.

“Efficacy verification procedure in progress.”

Those who had headed upward, to the rooftops, to somehow avoid the poison died while twisting their entire bodies on the rooftops.

Those who went down, to the underground, died in the dark underground where not even moonlight entered, due to the low-lying poison.

“Reports from each observation agent.”

“Tallying.”

The agents carried out the procedures extremely mechanically behind their poison-avoiding masks.

“Achieved the goal of neutralizing the enemy's main force in the middle reaches of the valley.”

“Pursuit and elimination operation against the enemy martial artists in progress.”

Turning around, Tang Ye-rin ordered with a hand signal.

“Stop administering poison.”

“Stop administering poison.”

Repeating the command, the agents on the Fourth Young Master's side manipulated the devices attached to the chests in perfect order.

The chests, which had been making a continuous whooshing sound of escaping air, fell silent.

“Operation complete. Poison administration stopped.”

As soon as that report was heard, Tang Ye-rin took off her poison-avoiding mask.

“Phew—.”

Taking off the stuffy mask, she took a long breath and wiped the sweat pouring down her face.

“Tactician Tang. Is it alright to take off the poison-avoiding mask already?”

Standing beside her, the Old Strategist tried to follow her in taking off his mask.

Because it was dreadfully hot inside the poison-avoiding masks and suits, where air could not circulate properly.

“You must not take it off now.”

The agent who stopped the Old Strategist's action shook his head firmly.

“The air is still full of toxic gas.”

Although the agent's words, muffled through the mask, could not be clearly understood the simple action of gesturing a cut across his neck was immediately understood by the Old Strategist, who did not know the Tang Family's hand signals.

“…I-I see.”

As the Old Strategist took his hand off the mask and nodded, the agent withdrew.

“……” underneath his mask, within the limited field of vision, the Old Strategist looked around.

The valley, where all combat actions had ceased, was filled with silence, and even looked peaceful at first glance.

“…I heard rumors that the Tang Family's experimental weapon was used during the Northern War, but was its power really to this extent?”

The Old Strategist clicked his tongue in amazement.

“It is the final version, improved and supplemented through field testing on the battlefield at the time.”

Watching Tang Ye-rin tidy her hair, the Old Strategist swallowed hard.

“…Since the Eldest Young Master traded directly with the Young Patriarch of the Tang Family to receive it, I wondered what kind of great weapon it was, and indeed.”

“Class A Special Number Sixteen Weapon.”

Tang Ye-rin spoke in a quiet, composed tone.

“Commonly called Faceless and Lifeless, it is a classified weapon that the Tang Family strictly forbids from being leaked outside. That is why it is also the first time I have personally used it in real combat.”

She smiled lightly with her eyes.

Perhaps reacting to the poison in the air, her eyes gleamed with a green hue.

“The Tang Family obtained data from urban combat use, and the Eldest Young Master turned the middle reaches into a dead zone.”

She added briefly.

“Should I call it a transaction where both sides benefit?”

“…I see.”

Her image praying for rebirth in Paradise contrasted so sharply with her talking about the benefits of mass slaughter which made it extremely discordant, but the Old Strategist did not bother to mention it.

Having served on battlefields all his life, he was accustomed to seeing people who were broken in one way or another.

“How long does the toxicity last?”

To the Old Strategist's question, Tang Ye-rin turned her head back instead of answering.

There, an agent who had opened a reagent and exposed it to the air was shaking a glass container.

“Verification complete.”

Confirming that the color of the reagent reacted with the air did not change, the agent nodded.

“The toxicity in this vicinity has now lost its efficacy.”

At those words, every single agent took off their poison-avoiding masks.

“Thank you.”

Taking off the mask and suit with the help of the agent, the Old Strategist said.

“The duration is rather short compared to the effect.”

“That is the level of perfection this poison possesses as a weapon.”

Tang Ye-rin answered as if it were obvious.

“If even the duration were long, it wouldn't be a weapon to win, but would only lead to an ending where everyone dies.”

“…But surely, the Tang Family must have weapons for that kind of ending too, right?”

“…….”

Tang Ye-rin substituted her answer with a meaningful smile.

“…Terrifying.”

Sensing a chill from that smile, the Old Strategist shook his head.

He directed his gaze down the valley.

Unlike the middle reaches which were even peaceful, the lower reaches were still lit by the torches held by the enemies.

They were swarming there as well.

Yet among them, no one.

Dared to even think of entering the middle reaches.

“With this, it is a stalemate.”

Standing beside him, Tang Ye-rin added.

“But it is a stalemate with our side having the upper hand.”

* * *

The Third Dock.

“…….”

The elders on the Second Young Master's side were in great shock and deep silence.

“…What if Grand Madame Ouyang tightens the leash on the Six Men Association a bit more?”

“It is impossible.”

To the words of the elder who had spoken with difficulty, his fellow elder immediately shook his head.

“The current situation is different from before.”

Another elder chimed in.

“It is different from the previous situation where, although it was difficult, a great reward could follow if we eventually broke through.”

“Telling them to re-enter the middle reaches now is like telling them to jump into fire carrying dry firewood.”

Even if the leaders of the Six Men Association were to give orders.

There was no way anyone in the underworld was loyal or foolish enough to follow such a suicidal command.

“Damn it…!”

One elder slammed his tobacco pipe onto the table.

“Why on earth does even the Main Family's intelligence department not know a single thing properly about that poison?!”

“…The name of the poison is Faceless and Lifeless.”

A high-ranking official from the Luoyang Sword Family's intelligence department spoke while blowing out tobacco smoke.

“In the past, there were three field experiments during the Northern War. Later, a form assumed to be completed was observed and reported during the military civil war in the State of Yue.”

“So, how long does that toxicity last? The range? The antidote?”

Toward the elder who questioned demandingly, the high-ranking official of the intelligence department replied bluntly.

“As I said at first, I do not know.”

Receiving a close sound transmission from his subordinate, he added slightly.

“They say its efficacy is lower against those possessing internal energy.”

“Damn it!”

Some elders spat out curses, and some threw sarcastic remarks at the high-ranking official of the intelligence department.

“While failing to properly grasp the weapons of a potential hostile force, where on earth was all that intelligence budget spent until now?”

“The expenditure details of the intelligence department's budget aren't even audited, are they? No one knows whose throat it went down.”

The high-ranking official of the intelligence department maintained an expressionless face even when sharp words flew at the back of his head.

“In the first place, it is a classified weapon that even the branch Tang Family does not know the existence of. Only the direct descendants of the Tang Family would have the authority to access that information.”

At his words, the elders expressed embarrassment.

“Only the direct descendants can access the information?”

“Indeed.”

“…If accessing the information is only possible for the direct descendants,” one of the elders asked, wiping his cold sweat.

“Exactly what level of the Sichuan Tang Family had to intervene for that classified weapon to be usable in the middle of Luoyang?”

“…….”

No one could easily answer that question.

“…Did the Eldest Young Master drag in the highest echelons of the Sichuan Tang Family?”

An elder well-versed in external politics narrowed his eyes.

“Probably, it was an auxiliary transaction made in connection with the Yangtze River waterway expansion and maintenance project.”

“The Sichuan Tang Family?!”

The elder holding the tobacco pipe vented his rage at those words.

“How could he drag those filthy people into this Luoyang?! That damn Eldest Young Master who knows no honor…!”

Yet, had they themselves not dragged in Evil Tyrant Heaven?

The elders whose faces were not that thick merely exchanged looks.

“…Come to think of it, what about the fleet's bombardment?”

As if gaining a clue from the previous conversation, one elder asked.

“As the enemies used poison, we were also stranded, but didn't the enemy's catapults located in the middle reaches also stop?”

“Indeed…!”

“Without catapults, couldn't we approach near the docks and directly strike the upper reaches?”

“We definitely heard so…!”

Seeing the faces of the elders brighten at those words, the officer of the Fresh Blood Fleet chuckled and spoke.

“Bombardment is merely support at best. Supposing we bombard right now, who is going to break down the enemy's final defense and occupy the upper reaches?”

“…….”

Toward the speechless elders, the officer of the Fresh Blood Fleet drove the nail in.

“Cannons, bullets, and gunpowder. None are infinite. There will be no resumption of naval gunfire until the matter is certain.”

“…Damn it!”

With a crash, the elder who had been holding the tobacco pipe overturned the table.

But no one took the trouble to blame him.

“…The current situation is not a simple stalemate, but a stalemate in which the enemies have the upper hand.”

The one who spoke at last was Elder Hahou, who had kept silent until then.

At his words, the elders who had maintained some composure nodded.

“Elder Hahou is right.”

“Time is not on our side, but on theirs.”

If time passed helplessly like this, that was why the current situation, though in a stalemate, meant superiority for Yeon So-hyeon's side.

“…there is also a limit to those who are obstructing the decision-making of the Supreme Executive Council.”

“In that case, the Supreme Executive Council will eventually intervene.”

“…Send a message to Grand Madame Ouyang like this.”

Elder Hahou clasped his hands and closed his eyes.

“Countermeasures: None.”

* * *

“…….”

The hand of Grand Madame Ouyang holding Elder Hahou's note trembled violently.

“…….”

“…….”

The leaders of the Six Men Association merely stood in the corner, avoiding her eyes lest their gazes meet hers.

Rather shouting as usual and throwing her dirty temper would have been better.

Grand Madame Ouyang's current appearance was no different from a powder keg on the verge of exploding.

“…If it's you, you must have a way?”

At her sudden words, the leaders of the Six Men Association exchanged looks with each other.

However, in the first place, her question was not directed at them.

“Of course.”

'It' replied, as if it had been there from the very beginning.

“If it's me. If it's us, we have plenty of ways.”

Goosebumps broke out on the bodies of everyone in that place.

“But will it be alright?”

The face of it, which suddenly popped out from the shadow, was already horribly decayed.

Maggots fell off in drops every time it moved.

“Ugh—!”

“Ugh…!”

The leaders of the Six Men Association backed away, covering their noses at the stench that felt like it directly pierced their brains.

However, no one was particularly surprised.

Since 'it' which revealed itself now was also a member of the Six Men Association.

“Surely the original promise was that if the Dark Venerable appeared, I would block him?”

“…It doesn't matter.”

Watching it overlaying the voices of two people, Grand Madame Ouyang did not hide her disgust.

“Once you and those cursed folks of yours start unleashing those terrible deeds as usual, that guy will show up on his own anyway.”

She uttered its name.

“Geum-jil.”

The puppet corpse controlled by the one called Geum-jil shrugged its shoulders.

“Cursed folks, you say.”

The corpse seemed to try to make a smiling expression.

But instead, the patched-up skin of its face distorted, looking only hideous.

“Our doctrine is more sacred than any false religion on earth, and our members are purer than any believers.”

Creaking, the corpse extended its hand toward Grand Madame Ouyang.

“Why don't you also, Grand Madame, participate in our catechism meeting at least once at this opportunity?”

The enraged Grand Madame Ouyang stamped her foot, loaded with internal energy.

“Cut the nonsense and get lost, Geum-jil! You had better make sure to keep your promise!”

The marble floor cracked wide open, and under the impact, Geum-jil's puppet corpse fell flat.

“Oh dear, oh dear.”

The corpse giggled and laughed while fallen.

“Do not worry, Grand Madame.”

As if something were departing.

The movement of the corpse lying on the floor began to cease, and the voice also grew distant.

“Because we value contracts more than anyone else.”