Wherever that is. (1)

“S-Sect Leader!”

Heo San-ja’s face turned pale as he looked down from Wudang’s Pavilions built like a castle wall on top of the steep Heaven’s Pillar Peak [천주봉(天柱峰)].

“Th-that’s…!”

The hand hidden within the wide sleeve of his long robe trembled with a slight convulsion.

Heaven’s Pillar Peak is the site of the renowned Wudang Sect and the highest peak of Mount Wudang. Naturally, looking down from here, one could take in the full view of Wudang mountain range.

The familiar scene of gray cliffs tinged with yellow, green pines, and white mist swirling around them was now flooded with an utterly unfamiliar color.

Beneath the evergreen trees covering Mount Wudang, a red hue, never seen before, flickered and rose. From that area, black smoke began to billow like dark clouds.

Heo San-ja was as if in a daze, like someone dreaming an impossible dream. Mount Wudang, which seemed to be forever green, was turning red, as if white cloth were being soaked in blood.

“F-Fire, it’s arson…!”

The faces of the elders, who were watching alongside him, also turned pale. It was unimaginable. Who would dare set fire to Mount Wudang?

“What, what is happening? The ambush, what about the ambush now?”

“Is that even a question? What use is an ambush in this situation? Everything, down to the last blade of grass, will burn, leaving a charred barren mountain. Where can one hide for an ambush? We must withdraw immediately!”

“B-but if we do that…!”

The words that followed remained unspoken.

Both the speaker and the listener understood. If the pine forest that had protected Wudang and the dense woods that concealed the deep valleys and natural caves were gone, this place would become just an ordinary mountain of moderate height.

For those trained in martial arts, such an ordinary mountain slope was no different from flat ground.

Even the elders could not hide their expressions of panic.

“Sect Leader! Please, say something! What should we do? We must stop it, mustn’t we?”

“But how can we stop it?”

“We must do something! Carry water, dig the ground to prevent the fire from spreading, anything…!”

Amidst the various frantic shouts, Heo San-ja’s eyes remained fixed on the growing flames. They seemed to be approaching to ravage Wudang, like the tongue of a demon.

After a long silence, Heo San-ja finally spoke as if in pain.

“How… how could it be this fast…?”

“Sect Leader?”

“How…”

Heo San-ja’s lips trembled.

While they hadn’t anticipated an arson, at closer inspection, it wasn’t a completely unexpected tactic.

Even though this was a war between martial artists, incomparable to ordinary wars, a war was still a war. Setting fire was a strategy that could be employed at any time during a war.

Nevertheless, the reason Heo San-ja was so profoundly shocked was that the speed and extent of the spreading flames far surpassed his understanding.

It had only been a short time since they realized it was an arson, yet it seemed as if the entire world was being consumed by flames.

A mountain is typically a small point at the peak extending for hundreds of li, isn’t it? But now, fire was rising without leaving a single point untouched at the boundaries of Wudang, which are connected to the land.

To put it simply, it was as if a massive rope of fire was tightly wrapping around Mount Wudang.

How far and wide is that fire burning as it approaches this place? It was a sight that was hard to believe even when seeing it with one’s own eyes.

“What on earth…”

His heart felt as though it was being squeezed.

Just like the bright red flames seemed to be squeezing Wudang.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Set it on fire, you damned bastards! Don’t wait for the fire to spread! Just burn everything down!”

A man holding a massive broadsword shouted until his voice was hoarse. Those holding burning clubs rushed around, thrusting the flaming clubs into any dry wood that hadn’t yet caught fire.

“Slather everything with oil! Gather dry leaves to use as kindling, and if there’s nothing else to burn, use your clothes! Burn it all!”

Whish!

At that moment, a dry wind blew across the mountain, fanning the flames into a roaring blaze. The unbearable heat forced those rushing forward to instinctively retreat in fear.

The man with the broadsword, not missing a beat, grabbed one of them by the scruff of the neck with his brute strength.

Simultaneously, a rough and savage voice erupted from him.

“What are you doing? Why are you backing off? Don’t you see there’s still an unburnt spot ahead?”

“I-I see it! But the wind is making the flames-“

“The flames what? Are you afraid of getting burned? Huh?”

Crack!

At that moment, the broadsword pierced about a half chi into the man’s back.

“Choose. Would you rather burn to death or have a hole blown through your back?”

“Eek!”

“What? Want me to choose for you?”

At those words, everyone charged forward, terrified. The searing heat choked their breath, and the swirling flames threatened to engulf them, but they feared the gleaming sword behind them even more.

The man with the broadsword shouted again in a thunderous voice.

“Anyone who retreats will die by my sword! Set the fire quickly! Burn everything in sight until nothing is left! Hurry!”

Across the vast, long mountain range extending from Mount Wudang, the same scene was unfolding everywhere.

“Aaagh! The fire! The fire…!”

Some, driven by courage, recklessness, or succumbing to fear, stepped forward to set the fires but were caught in the swirling flames and engulfed by the blaze.

Though it was a horrifying spectacle of people burning alive, there was no one who moved to help. Everyone knew that any misstep could lead to them being caught in the flames as well.

Trees, not entirely dried, were enveloped in the fierce flames, spewing out acrid smoke.

The surroundings turned a murky gray, filled with suffocating smoke and flames hot enough to melt flesh.

Amidst this hellish scene, the most horrific sight was the madness of humans intent on burning their enemies alive.

“More! Set more fires! Burn those Taoist bastards to death!”

❀ ❀ ❀

Despair creeps closer with each passing moment.

The way the flames spread was bizarre. They weren’t crashing in like a tidal wave or pouring down like a landslide.

Instead, where they thought the fire hadn’t yet reached, sudden spots of red would appear, soon engulfed by fierce, scarlet flames that consumed everything around them and merged with other fires.

“Sahyeong! It’s behind us! There’s fire behind us!”

“What? Behind?”

Jin Wi’s eyes filled with horror as he turned.

Just moments ago, the inferno was clearly advancing from far in front of them. The fiery menace had certainly not reached their feet.

But somehow, fire had begun to flare up behind them. The flames hadn’t yet spread to this side, after all.

“What should we do? Do we retreat?”

“The a-ambush…”

“Sahyeong! If we stay here, we’ll all die! We must retreat!”

At the urging of his junior, Jin Mun, Jin Wi’s face turned pale. An incomprehensible situation was unfolding before him.

He didn’t realize that those burning to death in the wildfire weren’t just standing dazed as the flames reached them.

Suddenly, fire would flicker behind them, and as they ran, impenetrable flames would rise ahead. In their panic and confusion, they would quickly be surrounded by flames rising all around.

But how could one know or live through such experiences, even if one lived in the mountains all their life?

In fact, it was precisely because they had lived in the mountains all their lives that they didn’t know. Once a mountain is ravaged by fire, it becomes uninhabitable. This means that those who have lived rooted in one mountain all their lives have never experienced such a terrible wildfire.

“S-Sahyeong!”

“We’re retreating! For now… for now, we’ll retreat and then… await further orders!”

Jin Wi had no other choice.

They were there to ambush the enemies targeting Wudang. But what threatened them now wasn’t the enemies of Sapaeryon.

Even though they had spent their lives training with swords and following the Tao, they had no way of knowing how to fight a fire.

Therefore, Jin Wi’s decision was not a bad one.

However, the most unfortunate truth was that the enemies they originally had to face were still targeting them.

“Let’s go! We must get out of here…”

As Jin Wi rose from the bushes where he had been hiding, dozens of enemies burst through the flames right in front of him. Their terrifying cries drowned out the sound of the forest crackling as it burned.

The attackers, emerging from the flames, immediately charged at Jin Wi’s group as they got to their feet.

“Fight back!”

Drawing his Pine Crest Sword, Jin Wi gritted his teeth. As he pointed his sword, Jin Mun shouted urgently.

“Sahyeong! But the flames are closing in…!”

“If we retreat, we’ll die! Fight! We must fight now!”

“The flames are coming! Damn it! If we waste time here, we’ll all burn to death!”

Their ambush group consisted of only three, but even so, they were all Wudang swordsmen. They were not to be easily defeated by twenty or so warriors of Evil Sects. 

However, the flames closing in around them and the choking smoke were beginning to disturb their composure and paralyze their reason.

“Run! Immediately!”

“I’m telling you, we must fight! Don’t turn your backs! It’s dangerous…”

“Aaaaargh!”

Amidst their confusion, an enemy’s blade rushed toward Jin Mun’s back. Jin Wi instinctively thrust his sword to block it.

At that moment, several other blades pierced Jin Wi’s abdomen.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

Jin Wi slowly turned his gaze to the ones who had impaled him. Enemies, emerging from the flames, were emitting white smoke from their bodies and looked at him triumphantly.

“Aaaargh!”

Jin Wi swung his sword in one swift motion, beheading the three Sapaeryeon’s warriors who had stabbed him in the stomach. Jin Mun shouted urgently.

“Sahyeong!”

“Gah!”

As the blades were pulled out, a dry cough erupted from Jin Wi’s mouth. Fortunately, no blood came out, indicating that his internal organs were unharmed. The internal energy he hastily summoned had managed to push the blades away.

But that was all. The fact that he was wounded remained the same.

‘Retreat… We must retreat…’

Just as Jin Wi tried to steady his staggering body, it happened.

“Aaaargh!”

“Kill them all!”

The pine trees engulfed in red flames swayed violently, and dozens more Sapaeryeon’s warriors burst forth with fierce shouts, from all directions, without any distinction of the front, back, or sides.

Jin Wi’s eyes momentarily lost focus, shaking with uncertainty.

“Sahyeong!”

“Stand your ground! We must clear a path!”

“There are too many enemies! We must retreat first!”

“Stop whining and raise your sword! If we can’t break through, we die! We must open a path somehow!”

Jin Wi’s bloodshot eyes were filled with resolve and a fierce determination to kill his enemies. 

This was not the Yangtze River. This was Mount Wudang.

Here, the word ‘despair’ did not suit them. It must not.

“Stand your ground!”

Jin Wi shouted with all his might.

But his spirited cry was soon drowned out by the roar of the fire, burned away, leaving no trace behind.