Book 7 Chapter 28

Encountering the Iron Scaffold

"Why don't we lure them here and then attack them?"

Baek pointed to one side of the map.

He had come along for the ride as a friend of Cheung Hyeon's.

He knew he couldn't let his friend go out on a limb alone.

Always stoic and seemingly unmoved by anything that didn't benefit him, this move came as a surprise to those around him. Of course, no one refused to accompany him, which is why he is where he is today.

"Then it would be an ambush."

Cheonghyeon chimed in from the side. Baek Moo-young nodded.

"The wooded terrain here would be an advantage against their iron flying horses."

No terrain was more difficult for horses than a dense forest. The question was, could they be led into the forest? Namgungsang said in a somber tone.

"The question is, will they be fooled? They're not stupid, are they?"

But it was safe to say that the chances of that happening were not one in a million. This was an ironclad squad with an undefeated record. Anyone who went too close could end up with a broken nose.

"We'll need bait!"

Cheonghun said.

"Compared to the enemy, we are too few, so this is the best we can do. They are a group of peak adepts who are capable of Qigong spears and huge charges. Only those who have faced them know their power, and even though I have only heard rumors, that is enough to give me a sense of their might. I don't understand what the higher-ups at the Heavenly Martial Academy were thinking when they entrusted us with such a big task, as far as my common sense is concerned!"

After complaining for a while, Baek Moo-young began to explain his plan at length. But there was one person who threw cold water on his otherwise perfect plan.

"Why do I have to plot this out?"

Everyone looked at Bi Ryuyeon in disbelief. She quickly covered her disfigured face with her hands, her vision bleak.

"Before a battle, no matter how big or small it is, it's natural to have a game plan. It's just common sense."

"Is that so?"

Mo Yonghui, who had been listening carefully from the side, frowned slightly at Bi Ryuyeon's expression of not knowing. The wound that hadn't even healed yet throbbed. It hadn't even healed yet, so everyone had told him not to go, but he had followed Hansako out of responsibility.

Baek Moo-young had no choice but to go to the trouble of explaining, and he instinctively knew that if he didn't, Bi Ryuyeon would try to push him.

"A minority against a majority must have a plan. To throw yourself in front of an enemy without a plan is madness!"

It was a common sense statement that didn't deviate from the book. It didn't work, but…….

"Is this crazy……?"

Rolling the words over and over in his mouth, he was in a bad mood. It was Namgung-san who first noticed this. He could now roughly read Bi Ryuyeon's disposition.

"Stand… You're not going to stand bare-chested in front of that iron scaffolding, are you? That's……."

I swallowed the words back down my throat, not daring to say, "Only a lunatic would do that!

"Why, no?"

She asked. He didn't feel particularly grateful for the kindly stamp of approval on his sense of foreboding.

"Of course not."

"Why?"

"That's……."

I couldn't think of a good answer to the question.

"That?"

Ryuyeon Bi pressed for an answer.

"Because it… defies common sense."

"Common sense?"

Bi Ryuyeon had a look of incomprehension on her face. She had never considered common sense before.

"Because you're never going to win that way, so you find the best way to win, and that's just common sense."

"What's so complicated?"

Bi Ryuyeon grumbled.

"It's called common sense because nothing good ever happens when you go against it!"

The others nodded, agreeing with the courtier. Bi Ryuyeon suddenly felt a surge of irritation.

"What is common sense, anyway, and who was it that first established it?

There was no way to tell. Bi Ryuyeon shook himself out of his seat and stood up. Everyone stared at him with puzzled eyes, some of them pleading with him not to do something so ridiculous. They were the eyes of Hasso-yeon, begging him to be patient just once. Most of the gazes, young in their desperation, belonged to Zhu Jiaodan.

But the glare didn't work on Bi Ryuyeon, who had never backed down from her assertions.

"I'm going to teach you some new trivia today!"

People who noticed something was amiss tried to tear him apart, but he was no longer there. Where had he gone?

As fast as it was, it was horrifyingly fast.

"Where the hell did this guy go?"

Qing Shui was dumbfounded, how could someone of his stature not be able to read his movements……. It was a disgrace.

"Don't try to find out!"

Namgungsang advised.

"It's better not to care, it's better to stop caring, death penalty!"

To that, Yue Yun added a word. As far as Qing Shui could tell, these two were definitely not playing around, but what was that perplexity in their gazes?

"How many more times do I have to be surprised by this guy?

He was frustrated that he was constantly being surprised and taken advantage of.

Where did she go?

The cast members never wanted to tell Namgungsang and Qinghe. They instinctively knew that if they did, they would have to take on one embarrassing task at that moment. Namgungsang and Hyun-woon crossed their fingers and prayed that the work would be done away from their prying eyes.

"Urrrr!"

The sound of common sense collapsing once again rang loudly in their heads, and they resented the fact that they would have to face such a tragedy again.

"Doo-doo-doo-doo!"

A roar that shook the earth, a wave of black horses sweeping across the land!

Ebony banners fluttering in the wind, emblazoned with brave black horses! Ebony lances sharp enough to pierce the sky! Ebony armor intimidating to behold!

The flags fluttered fiercely in the opposite wind. They were not yet carrying the scent of blood, but the reason they were here was to carry blood incense on this dull wind.

"What is this?

Wei Mu, the deputy commander of the Iron Scorpion Squadron, didn't bother to hide the astonishment on his face as he looked at the young man who stood in their path. A young man who looked to be around twenty years old, who had been through the wars and crossed the lines of battle, he was just a young man, nothing more, nothing less.

"Whoa!"

I thought about ignoring the young man who waved at me in greeting, but at the signal of the Iron Beast Captain, Jilpung Mukhun Gutcheonhak, Jilpung came to a screeching halt.

No one in the Black Sea or the White Sea was unaware of the fame of the Iron Scrolls, whose colossal Qi charges were a near-cheating technique that left the entire battlefield in shambles.

But how absurd it must have been that a child stood in their way. After all, a man must live a long time and see many strange things in his life.

"Who are you?"

Instead of the captain, Gu Tianhak, the deputy captain, Wei Tianxiang, asked. This was his role.

"Oh, you mean me?"

The young man pointed a finger at his chest, as if to say, "Don't you know that?

"Hehe, you're a daredevil, so who else is here besides you?"

With a chuckle, Wei Tianxiang said.

"Is that what you want to know?"

The smile on the young man's face deepened.

"What good does it do to know?"

"What's to lose," he says, "you'll have the luxury of bragging in a few decades' time that you've met a celebrity in person who will leave a lasting mark on posterity - isn't that a glory?"

"Hehehe, you are indeed an arrogant fellow who has mastered the art of self-aggrandizement! Do you realize that you are already guilty of death for blocking the path of the Iron Scaffold?"

"Huh? Come to think of it, why did you stop?

A normal boss wouldn't have raised an eyebrow at this. If not crush it, at least run over it.

Yu Tianxiang glanced at Gu Tianhua's face. But his expression was unreadable. Giving up on trying to read the captain's mood, Wei Tianxiang glared at Bi Ryuyeon with an unchanged, fierce expression.

"Let me know your name before I kill you."

Then the young man said, "I'll tell you what," as he spoke, character after character.

"Rain, flow, kite!"

It was a single declaration that marked the beginning of one of the most outrageous legends in the history of the Wu Clan.

<Continued from "Fault Tolerance" Volume 8