Chapter 171 : The Speed Difference Between the Eastern Goshawk and the Message Hawk
Chapter 171: The Speed Difference Between the Eastern Goshawk and the Message Hawk
At the time the Bright Cult’s mission unit departed from the Main Fortress, a group of Unorthodox martial artists fled the south.
On the front lapels of the jade-colored martial robes they wore were two characters written: Bright Light.
From that alone, one could tell they were people of the Bright Light Sect.
The General Manager, repeatedly glancing back with an anxious expression while following the Sect Master who was hastening his steps, asked,
“Will they really accept us?”
“If we return it, they won’t be able to turn us away.”
At the Sect Master’s answer—his hand fiddling with something tucked inside his robes—the General Manager nodded.
“That’s true. After all, it’s the true copy of the Vast Firmament Grand Flame Divine Technique, one of the two great divine arts of the Namgung Clan……”
“Let’s go. This is not the time to worry. We must hurry, saving even the moments we would spend looking back.”
“Yes, Sect Master.”
Forcing away his unease, the General Manager answered and urged the procession along, making sure no one was falling behind.
Watching the long line of the fleeing procession trailing behind the General Manager, the Sect Master’s expression darkened.
He had said they would not be turned away, but even he had no certainty.
The Namgung Clan possessed a copy as well.
Even so, they could not fall to their knees beneath the feet of the mad Monk Four Calamity Emperor out of fear of that fact.
By circumstance they had settled in the south and were branded as an Unorthodox sect, yet the Bright Light Sect had never once believed themselves to be truly Unorthodox.
Which meant they had no intention of staining their blades with the blood of the innocent simply to survive.
Rather than live in such filth, they had chosen to die while escaping.
The Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold soon realized the Bright Light Sect’s decision.
It was because not merely a handful of martial artists had fled—they had escaped with every member of the sect.
Such a large-scale movement of people could hardly avoid drawing attention.
Martial artists immediately rushed out from the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold.
The Four Calamity Emperor—who had always personally dealt with those who refused to obey his command of submission—this time, for reasons unknown, dispatched the stronghold’s martial artists while he himself shut himself inside his residence.
The strange part was what happened next.
Escort guards captured terrified commoners and forcibly threw them into that very residence where the Four Calamity Emperor had shut himself in.
Then they locked the doors from the outside and stood guard in front of it.
As if they were preventing someone inside from coming out.
Those tasked with pursuing the Bright Light Sect under the Four Calamity Emperor’s command were the Two Monstrous Spirit Controllers.
The Two Monstrous Spirit Controllers—two senior-and-junior brothers who had cultivated the heretical art known as Spirit Control Sorcery—both radiated the power of Peak Masters.
The reason they were placed in command of this pursuit was that Spirit Control Sorcery allowed them to command spirits—meaning the souls of the dead.
In other words, they could send ghosts to track the fleeing group.
Perhaps for that reason, the pursuit force of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold under the command of the Two Monstrous Spirit Controllers followed the Bright Light Sect with precise accuracy.
The problem arose when the pursuit, which began in Guangdong, entered Jiangxi.
Unlike Guangdong, Guangxi, and Guizhou—known as lands of the Unorthodox factions—neighboring Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian were considered neutral territories.
The southern parts of these four provinces were heavily influenced by the Unorthodox factions, but their northern regions were influenced by the Orthodox factions.
Especially in northern Jiangxi, the influence of the Namgung Clan—who controlled the neighboring province of Anhui—was strong.
In fact, branch sects and branch strongholds of the Namgung Clan could easily be found there.
In other words, martial artists of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold would face restrictions on their movements in northern Jiangxi.
Which meant they had to capture the Bright Light Sect’s fleeing procession before it entered northern Jiangxi.
That was why the pursuit force of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold began accelerating.
The intelligence network of the Namgung Clan was so systematic and fast that even the Beggars’ Sect had coveted it.
Thanks to that network, the information about the Bright Light Sect’s fleeing procession entering southern Jiangxi reached the Namgung Clan’s main family—thousands of li away—in less than half a day.
This had been made possible by the Namgung Clan’s unique message system, constructed using Eastern Goshawks imported in large numbers from the Eastern Lands—hawks whose speed no hawk in the Central Plains could match.
“What should we do?”
At the Deputy Clan Head’s question, the Clan Head turned his gaze toward him.
“Must we necessarily do anything at all?”
The Clan Head did not bother hiding his reluctance to get involved.
The Deputy Clan Head replied,
“They possess the true copy of the Vast Firmament Grand Flame Divine Technique. If things go wrong, it may fall into the hands of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold.”
Truthfully, the Clan Head had no interest in what happened to the Bright Light Sect.
He regarded them as nothing more than the remnants of those who had fled during the turmoil within the direct lineage.
But—
“Why has the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold suddenly started causing such chaos? Who should we send?”
“I will go personally and lead the Imperial King Invincible Sword Unit.”
At the Deputy Clan Head’s answer, the Clan Head’s brow furrowed.
The Imperial King Invincible Sword Unit was the strongest military force of the Namgung Clan.
There was also the Vast Firmament Infinite Unit, said to rival it, but when one spoke of the Namgung Clan, the first name that came to mind was unquestionably the Imperial King Invincible Sword Unit.
Such was the excellence of its members.
Seeing the Clan Head hesitate, the Deputy Clan Head—the Sword Duke—said,
“Among those pursuing them, the Two Monstrous Spirit Controllers should not be difficult for the Bright Light Sect Master and me to block together. But the Blood Ghost Unit concerns me.”
The Blood Ghost Unit was a new organization said to have gathered every Master Level expert within the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold.
No one knew why the newly risen Four Calamity Emperor had created it, but as it was newly formed, its abilities had never been proven in real combat.
The Clan Head snorted.
“They are likely nothing more than men with grand-sounding titles. Using the Imperial King Invincible Sword Unit against such people would be excessive.”
“But…”
“That’s enough! I have no intention of unsheathing Namgung’s greatest sword to save traitors who fled during the rebellion.”
“Then…?”
“Take the Azure Wind Sword Unit.”
At the Clan Head’s answer, the Sword Duke’s eyes darkened.
The Clan Head had many virtues, but he was excessively obsessed with bloodline purity.
It was the same with internal affairs of the clan and external matters alike.
If something was not of pure lineage, he looked down on it.
To such a man, both the Bright Light Sect and the Blood Ghost Unit were equally impure.
Still, the Azure Wind Unit was far too inadequate.
Yet even knowing that the Clan Head detested anyone opposing his decisions, the Sword Duke could not help but ask again.
“Clan Head, could you grant me the Grand Flame Sword Unit instead?”
Although no formal ranking existed, the greatest martial force of the Namgung Clan was undoubtedly the Imperial King Invincible Sword Unit.
Next came the Vast Firmament Infinite Unit.
After that the others were similar, but the Grand Flame Sword Unit was at least somewhat stronger.
Including its commander, it had three or four Master Level experts among its ranks.
At the request, the Clan Head frowned openly in displeasure, and the Sword Duke quickly added,
“I fear I might make a mistake and have my heel bitten by the Blood Ghost Unit.”
Hearing that it was not dissatisfaction with his decision but rather fear of his own possible error, the Clan Head’s expression relaxed slightly.
“If that is the case… then so be it.”
“I beg you.”
The Sword Duke bowed his head.
“Very well. I permit the deployment of the Grand Flame Sword Unit.”
After bowing once more at the Clan Head’s decision, the Sword Duke departed immediately.
Given the situation in the south, there was no time to hesitate once a decision had been made.
Soon after, the Grand Flame Sword Unit—one hundred swordsmen strong—left the Namgung Clan alongside the Sword Duke.
As mentioned before, the Namgung Clan’s message system was designed around speed.
To maintain high transmission speed, it was essential to maintain Eastern Goshawks, whose flight speed was unmatched.
The problem was that trained Eastern Goshawks were extremely expensive and not plentiful.
In fact, when the Namgung Clan was establishing their unique message system, they bought up every Eastern Goshawk exported from the Eastern Lands.
As a result, for ten years no one else in the Central Plains could obtain even a single Eastern Goshawk.
Under such pressure of numbers and price, it was impossible to stock them in large quantities everywhere they were needed.
According to the Namgung Clan’s judgment, more important locations received a larger number of Eastern Goshawks, while places of lesser importance were given only a limited allocation.
Naturally, both Eastern Goshawks and message hawks relied on homing instincts.
Which meant they could fly in one direction—but could not return the same way.
Thus, the hawks that arrived were sent back by manpower.
This took more time than one might think.
After all, an escort unit of five or six martial artists would not set out merely to return a single Eastern Goshawk.
Therefore, transportation began only when a certain number of Eastern Goshawks had accumulated.
The real problem occurred when a large volume of reports needed to be sent to the main family from one region, exhausting all available Eastern Goshawks.
That exact situation occurred at the Namgung Clan’s Dragon-Tiger Branch Stronghold, built against Mount Longhu in northern Jiangxi Province.
The pursuit force of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold had caught up to the Bright Light Sect, which was fleeing desperately.
To the Clan Head, the Bright Light Sect had no value because of his obsession with blood purity.
But to the ordinary martial artists of the Namgung Clan, the Bright Light Sect was a painful finger that one day had to be brought back into the fold.
Especially for the martial artists stationed at the Dragon-Tiger Branch Stronghold—men pushed out of the main family into what was considered an unimportant post—there was even a sense of shared misery.
They could not simply watch.
In the end, the Branch Stronghold Master used reserve message hawks to send word to the main family and selected about twenty martial artists from the branch to ride out.
They did not believe twenty men could meaningfully help in a battle against the Four Calamity Emperors’ pursuit force.
They simply intended to guide the Bright Light Sect through escape routes using their knowledge of Jiangxi’s terrain.
Their decision fulfilled its role at a perfect moment.
Just before the Four Calamity Emperors’ pursuit force could seize the tail of the fleeing procession, they succeeded in diverting the Bright Light Sect into a deserted mountain path.
The problem was that the Sword Duke and the Grand Flame Sword Unit knew nothing of this.
If an Eastern Goshawk had been available, the news from the Dragon-Tiger Branch Stronghold would have reached the main family in time, and whether by courier or another hawk, the information would have reached the Sword Duke.
But the message hawk sent in place of the Eastern Goshawk had not even arrived at the Namgung Clan’s main family yet.
Unaware of everything, the Sword Duke led the Grand Flame Sword Unit at high speed toward the predicted location based on earlier information.
There they collided head-on with the pursuit force of the Four Calamity Emperors’ Stronghold, who were furious after losing the Bright Light Sect.
This situation proved disastrous for the Sword Duke and the Grand Flame Sword Unit.
Their formation had been built on the assumption that they would join forces with the Bright Light Sect’s martial artists.
They had never intended to clash alone with the Two Monstrous Spirit Controllers or the Blood Ghost Unit.
Not long after the battle began, the Sword Duke was already in danger.
He had been caught in a joint attack from the Two Monstrous Spirit Controllers, masters equal to himself.
Several Master Level experts from the Grand Flame Sword Unit rushed to aid him—only to have their heads severed.
It was a perfect trap.
Otherwise, the Master Level experts of the Blood Ghost Unit—who had been standing by and observing the fight without participating—would not have chosen that exact moment to strike.
Once the commander and the Master Level experts were slain, the Grand Flame Sword Unit became nothing more than prey.
Unable to bear watching his men die one after another across the battlefield, the Sword Duke ordered a retreat.
But even that proved impossible.
The Two Monstrous Spirit Controllers and the Blood Ghost Unit had no intention of letting them escape.
The corpses of the Namgung Clan’s martial artists stretched long—very long—along the northern road of Jiangxi.