Local War (1)

 

Starting with the traces left on the mountain, we followed the traces of the landowner on the second day.

'Do I have to go back like this?'

Mujin was in such trouble.

Unlike the first blatant traces on the mountain, the more I chased them, the thinner the traces became.

Searching for faded traces and deducing their movements had been delayed, and now the trail was almost gone.

Feeling that it would be too much for him to chase them down if he waited for time like this, Mujin made a decision.

"I'm going to give up the chase... I think it's better to go back to Meng..."

The eyes of those who had been searching for traces around him were drawn to Mujin.

Everyone looked sad, but no one protested.

All of them now felt that it was not easy to find any trace of them.

Mu Jin exclaimed, after looking at the faces of those who had been working all night for two days.

"Anyway, the raid is over, so I'll stop at the nearby prefecture for a day rest before heading back to Meng..."

"Understood!"

I failed my mission, but I did the best I could.

The assassination of the landowner had failed, but there were no injuries or deaths, so the atmosphere was not too bad.

With all of them dressed in greenery and open roads, they made their way to the nearby county.

Luckily, there was a fairly large prefecture, so accommodating close to two hundred people was not a problem.

But no matter how big the prefecture was, two hundred could not stay in one place, so they divided into groups and went into the inn.

And Mu Jin went to the big inn with Mu Qing, Mu Gong, Zhuge Jinhui, and a few other Mu Xue.

Among the two hundred warriors, there were Shaolin disciples who had a trio of martial artists, but Mu Jin dared to stay with them separately.

"If you can't eat as much as you want on a day like this, what kind of dog is that?"

If you shared a guest room with Shaolin masters and assistants, you couldn't eat meat or drink alcohol, so it couldn't be more inconvenient.

Immediately after entering the inn · Zhuge Jinxi asked Mu Jin.

"What are you going to do about Monk Mujin?"

It was a question of what would come first, the bath or the meal.

"Let's get a room first and then rest. We're going to eat first."

Zhuge Jinxi nodded at Mu Jin's suggestion, and moved inward with the Zhuge Se family's warriors under the guidance of Jum Soi.

During the transformation into the open road, it was Zhuge Jinhui who was still in trouble with Mu Jin, so she was the one who was most in need of the bath.

And right after all the people of Zhuge Sega went to the main house. Mujin ordered food from another Jumsoi·

"Seven dishes that I'm most confident in here. And give me three bottles of bamboo leaf."

"Yay~!!"

Unlike the squirrel-like face, Jumsoy also reacts vigorously to exciting spells.

To be exact, it was because of the hermits who offered it with a magnificent spell.

There was no one to watch, so I waited for the drink and food with a face full of excitement at the thought of enjoying the sake and meat to my heart's content.

Mu Gong and Mu Qing were also not blatantly immaculate, but a faint smile on their lips did not leave.

Anyway, he wasn't wearing the Shaolin monk's robe for the sake of the secret act, but Mu Jin, who knew the truth, couldn't help but laugh.

'You're done...'

And after a while·

In front of the three of them, a table full of various foods filled with meat and seafood was placed, and bottles of wine and goblet were placed next to them.

Mugung tried his best to pretend to be gentle, but as befits his large size, he began to shove three spoonfuls of meat into one mouthful, and Mugung secretly took the meat and drank it as if he were a slaughterer.

And Mujin·

Rumble·

I was fighting for food.

The guests next to me are leaving.

"Here's one more of the same thing! As for the sake, I would like three bottles of beef red wine this time!"

Whether the new guests were seated or not, Mujin ordered new food and devoured the leftovers.

Mujin was fascinated by the delicacies of the mountains and seas that he hadn't enjoyed in the past, but a story that he couldn't ignore popped up next to him.

"Did you hear that?"

"Huh· The news . . . The loudest thing to talk about these days is the political affairs story..."

"Awing· Looks like you've already heard it..."

"Hey dude... How can a merchant go about peddling without hearing such news?"

While food and alcohol were still shoved into his mouth, his hearing naturally focused on the conversation between the two.

The Political Affairs League has been making a lot of noise lately.

Something had happened while they were on their mission?

As he was moving from place to place following the landlord's trail, he couldn't communicate with Meng properly, so he couldn't help but be even more curious.

They were so kind that the two of them coolly scratched Mujin's curiosity.

Totally unexpected and completely unwanted.

"Isn't that surprising in many ways?"

"It's amazing. The old file room and the five great families' newly built alliance lasted only a year before it collapsed..."

"What is a year? You didn't last even three months, did you? Besides, rumor has it that there was only one person who attacked the Political Alliance."

Before he could finish speaking, the inn left, and a raging cough broke out.

"Cool! Gagging..."

Mugung, who had been pretending to be gentle and shoving meat into his mouth, was just as he was being heard.

On the other hand, Mu Kyung was still in the same position as he had been secretly shoving chopsticks into the meat.

When the sound of Mu Gong's loud coughing drew the attention of the people in the inn, Mu Jin sighed lightly and stood up.

Mujin approached the two merchants in the seat next to him and calmly spoke.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was compelled to do so because of the proximity of the distance. Could you give me a little more information about the Political League? I'll give you my case..."

Mu Jin held out the hermit and said so, and the two merchants teased their mouths incessantly, wondering what kind of windfall this was.

Recently, rumors have begun to spread rapidly throughout the Central Plains.

The story is that all the buildings of the Political League were smashed, and more than a third of the people who were in the League at the time were exterminated, and all the survivors, including Meng Zhu, fled somewhere.

And then, as I mentioned earlier, the shocking news that a man single-handedly destroyed a group called the Political Affairs League.

The two merchants, who suddenly made money, talked excitedly, but at some point they had to fall silent.

The man who held out the hermit to them, or the man who coughed loudly a moment ago. And the quiet man who was with the two of them.

All three of them stood silent, their expressions devastated and silent.

Noticing that the three of them were Mulins, the two merchants looked at the three of them, wondering if something had happened.

The trio of warriors could not afford to be considerate of the merchants.

* * *

After receiving the shocking news, the three of them were unable to do this or that for a while.

After a brief mission, there was nowhere to go back.

Of course, the trio of martial arts could return to Shaolin, but there was no place left for them to return "together" because of the mixed sects.

"Let's first check if the rumors are true..."

Mujin first mentioned the possibility that the rumors told by the merchants were false.

But·

"Kwonje!! It is said that the Meng has collapsed!"

As if they had received the shocking news, those who were resting in other guest rooms rushed to Mujin.

Seeing all the disparity, it seemed very likely that the rumors were true.

Even if the rumors were false, it seemed that something had happened to Meng.

"I can't figure out the exact situation right now, so please take a break for the day."

It's hard to make a decision. Anyway, everyone was physically and mentally exhausted from the chase for several days, so Mujin ordered a break first.

And the next morning·

Unfortunately or fortunately, a certain visitor came to visit Mujin.

He was a middle-aged man dressed as a beggar.

No, he wasn't a beggar, he was just a middle-aged beggar.

"It's called the Drunken Dog, the owner of the Five-Fold Party of Opening..."

It was a divine move for Mu Jin to stay here and rest with two hundred companions.

Because of the large number of people, they quickly tried to contact them in the open when they heard about it.

He gave a brief explanation of the situation in the Political Affairs League.

As rumored, the news that the political alliance has collapsed. And the news that Xuanchen and Zhuge Muhuan had escaped and started to overhaul the mang.

"We are reorganizing the Meng in the outer county of Shaanxi Province, where the ruins of the former Wulin League remain."

“··· If you do, how much damage will it cause? Are you sure you've been exterminated by a third as it is rumored?"

Mu Jin's question was hard to answer, and he nodded with a heavy face.

"It is said that God Himself moved..."

“····”

It was only then that Mujin was able to grasp the situation.

'Damn· Was it a mistake to think that I couldn't move because I was looking at the imperial family?"

But now wasn't the time to have these regrets.

"I'll get ready and head to Shaanxi right away!"

After resting for a day, Mu Jin and his companions led their light bodies to Shaanxi Province.

However, my heart was heavy compared to my light body.

* * *

After traveling for several days, they were able to reach the outer county of Shaanxi Province.

There, work was underway to rebuild the collapsed Wulin League.

However, the atmosphere was quite different from the time when the Political Affairs League was created. They were in a situation where they were no different from the remnants.

And strangely, the gloomy atmosphere brightened up a little with the appearance of Mujin.

"It's a title!"

"The Emperor is back!"

There, the people who were in charge of the construction and surveillance with unhappy faces checked Mujin and greeted them.

No, it wasn't just Mujin.

"Anti-demon invincibility!"

"The Great Gorge of the Kumgang Iljiang and the Ice Flower Zhuge Soga Lord have also come!"

They were shouting the nicknames of the group that had returned with Mujin.

In the midst of his puzzlement, Mu Jin split up with his companions and headed for a new place of blindness.

And when he heard that Mu Jin had returned, Xuan Chen and Zhuge Muhuan were waiting for him.

"Lord Meng!"

"Mujin-ah· I'm glad you're safe."

When I met him for the first time in more than a decade, he looked ten years old.

On behalf of Hyun Chen, who seemed to have suffered a lot of heartache, Zhuge Muhuan and Mu Jin exchanged what they had experienced with each other.

"I'm sorry. In the end, we failed to catch the landlord."

"It's just that they reacted quickly. You'd rather give up on the chase soon. If you hadn't been able to get in touch with us because you were chasing the landlord, it would have been in danger."

Mu Jin understood what Zhuge Muhuan was trying to say.

As Chen Zhu had begun his activities openly, if Mu Jin had pursued the landlord for a long time, in the worst case, he might have been attacked by Chen Zhu just like Meng had done.

"What are you going to do now?"

Mujin, who managed to grasp the situation, asked. The collapse of Meng had already happened, and now it was time to discuss the next one.

"Maybe they're going to start a full-fledged uprising now..."

"If it's an insurrection, do you mean a rebellion?"

"I don't think it's a rebellion, but I'm sure they'll be aiming for the Wulin Clan..."

“???”

Mu Jin gave him a look of incomprehension, and Zhuge Muhuan explained.

"As you can see from Meng's news this time, it can be said that the martial arts of God have reached the heavens. No one can deny that he is the best man in the world. However, his goal is to become the emperor of the empire. The position of 'emperor' is a position that cannot be obtained by excelling alone."

"Is it because of the Imperial Army?"

"Because he needs someone to carry out his commands. Even if the martial arts of God are outstanding, how can he rule this vast Middle Plains alone?"

"Oh..."

"Perhaps the reason why they planted the three crops here and there in the Gate Sect or disguised themselves as the Zhong Sect was not just to hide their power. It must have been to create a force that would exert the influence of God throughout the Middle Kingdom even after the war against the Imperial Family."

“··· It means that the Divine Heaven's servants and minions who have been scolding all over the Middle Plains will start to act blatantly."

Zhuge Muhuan nodded·

"Now that God has been so blatant, they won't be able to waste any more time. But it's impossible to take on all the huge midfields with just a few minions or a squirrel. Just like the Black Thieves, the insurrectionary warriors of the Divine Heaven will try to devour the nearby Mun Sect in each region."

After listening to all the explanations, a picture naturally appeared in Mujin's mind.

There will be a battle between the Divine Heaven, who want to devour the nearby clans and use them as minions, and those who want to stop them.

"Is there going to be a local war across the Midlands?"

It was a bloody war for the entire Great Middle Plains.