Light Novel: Volume 15 Episode 14
Manhwa: N/A
Bang!
Deung Chol-ung slammed his huge fist down on the table, causing it to split in two.
“M-My lord!”
Oh Shin-pyeong looked at Deung Chol-ung with an anxious expression.
“Say that again. What exactly happened?”
“They… they were all defeated.”
“Damn it! Is that really true?”
“Yes! Word is already out on the streets. They say not a single one survived… They all have died.”
“Such a damn–!”
Deung Chol-ung trembled with rage.
He had prepared to move immediately upon hearing news of the death of the leaders of the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group.
He had all his remaining subordinates ready with their weapons, but the only news he received was that the blood-cloaked men who were supposed to deliver the signal had been annihilated.
Oh Shin-pyeong asked cautiously.
“What should we do? Everyone is ready.”
“What can we do? Should we jump into a fire pit with a bundle of firewood? Tell everyone to lay down their weapons and stay quiet.”
“Understood.”
“Don’t move recklessly. Keep a close watch.”
“Yes!”
Oh Shin-pyeong responded weakly.
He, too, was disappointed.
Deung Chol-ung asked.
“What’s the cause? How did the Imperial Yuan Merchant Group manage to ward off their surprise attack?”
“They were lucky.”
“Lucky?”
“It seems that a man named Reaper had a connection with them.”
“Reaper? Pyo-wol?”
“Yes!”
“Damn it! I’m going crazy. Why would a whale jump into a fight between shrimps? Isn’t this unfair?”
Deung Chol-ung exploded with fury.
He had a greater ambition than anyone else, and he also took a keen interest in the power dynamics of the Jianghu. Therefore, he had been closely monitoring every new martial arts master emerging in the Jianghu.
Among all the martial artists he had identified, Pyo-wol was by far the best.
No one among the newly emerged martial artists in the Jianghu could match him. Even the existing powerhouses in Jianghu seemed to lose their shine compared to him.
The entity Deung Chol-ung found most inexplicably frustrating was Pyo-wol.
“Isn’t he too young?”
“Yes! He is also said to be very handsome. Any woman who saw his face even once wouldn’t forget it–”
“Damn! The world is so unfair. He has everything! Why would a guy like that appear here? Well, it’s fine that he showed up. But he should leave once he’s done sightseeing. Why does he interfere with others’ business?”
“It seems we must use a different method. We have to lay our net somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“That is what we need to find out now. If we continue like this, we will meet our end. We must find a way while there is still a chance.”
Upon hearing Oh Shin-pyeong’s words, Deung Chol-ung bit his lip until it bled.
He still couldn’t understand how he and the Blood Ant Gang had ended up in this predicament.
“Those bastards! Those dog-like warriors!”
Deung Chol-ung raged for a while, then grabbed a woman who was sitting blankly on one side and entered a room.
A moment later, coarse and ragged breathing sounds came from inside the room.
Oh Shin-pyeong knew what those sounds meant.
“Damn it!”
He felt contempt for Deung Chol-ung, who still lusted after women even in such a situation, but he couldn’t abandon him.
After all, Oh Shin-pyeong was Deung Chol-ung’s close aide, and he had a responsibility to support the Blood Ant Gang even if it is crumbling.
“There must be a way. A way to recover…”
* * *
In the early morning, Ju Seolpung came to see Pyo-wol.
He got straight to the point.
“They arrived here by boat. They boarded at a place called Yingtan. It is a day’s journey by water.”
“Which direction?”
“Over there.”
Ju Seolpung pointed at a massive mountain in the distance.
‘Mount Longhu!’
His suspicion had now turned into certainty.
Pyo-wol stood up.
“Are you planning to go right away?”
“Yes.”
“I will accompany you.”
“I prefer to move alone.”
“But….”
“Everyone has their own strengths. This is what I do best. Anyone accompanying me would just be a hindrance.”
“I understand.”
Ju Seolpung responded with a resigned expression.
He still didn’t know the true identity of the blood-cloaked men. Yet, it seemed Pyo-wol already knew. He wasn’t sure how Pyo-wol had already found out, but it was clear that Pyo-wol had been tracking them for a long time.
The Pyo-wol he knew was persistent and relentless.
Once he marked a target, he was a hunter who would never give up and track it to the end.
He almost felt sorry for the people who had become Pyo-wol’s targets.
He did not want to be an enemy of someone like Pyo-wol.
Pyo-wol was too much of a terrifying person to make an enemy of.
Unlike typical martial artists, he had no shame in using stealthy tactics.
Some would call his actions cowardly, but Ju Seolpung thought otherwise.
In the end, in the world of Jianghu, the one who survives gets everything. Even if one used underhanded means, the one who survives would be the only one who could truly be called a winner.
In that sense, Pyo-wol had all the necessary conditions to become a winner.
Ju Seolpung asked cautiously.
“Do you need anything?”
“Prepare a boat for me to go to Yingtan.”
“I have already arranged it.”
Ju Seolpung smiled.
He knew that Pyo-wol would make his move immediately, so he made his preparations in advance.
Pyo-wol immediately walked out of the inn.
Outside the inn, a small boat floated on the lake.
“It may be small in size, but its hull resembles a fish and is extremely fast. This boat will take you all the way to Yingtan.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do… I wish you a safe return.”
Pyo-wol nodded slightly, then jumped off the ground.
He flew nearly a dozen meters before landing on a boat floating on the lake.
The boat didn’t shake at all as he landed.
The captain and crew’s jaws dropped at the sight.
‘What?’
‘He’s not a bird…’
They had carried many warriors, but this was the first time they saw someone with Pyo-wol’s level of qinggong.
The captain spoke cautiously,
“Then I will take you to your destination as quickly as possible.”
“Mm!”
Hearing Pyo-wol’s response, the captain gave his crew their orders.
The boat, carried by a strong wind, started to leave Poyang Lake and began to ascend the river at a terrifying speed.
With dozens of rivers, both large and small, flowing into Poyang Lake, it was essential to have a captain with a good grasp of the region’s geography. In that sense, the captain of the boat that Pyo-wol boarded was the best there was.
He had been sailing here for a long time, so he was well versed in the complex network of rivers and canals.
He chose the optimal route and drove the boat without wasting a second.
Pyo-wol, standing at the bow and taking the strong wind directly on his body, suddenly spoke up,
“Come out now.”
Neither the captain nor the sailors could respond to Pyo-wol’s words which came out of the blue so they all blinked their eyes.
The answer came from an unexpected place.
“You knew after all.”
Two men and a woman came out of the cabin.
It was Namgung Wol, Yong Hasang, and Yeom Hee-soo.
Namgung Wol apologized.
“I’m sorry for secretly getting on the boat. But we couldn’t just sit back knowing that those people are lurking in Jianghu.”
“You’re meddling too much.”
“What can I do when it’s my nature?”
Namgung Wol smiled.
Pyo-wol said nothing more to Namgung Wol.
Because he knew that Namgung Wol was sincere.
On the other hand, Yong Hasang and Yeom Hee-soo had faces full of ambition.
It was clear that they had sneaked onto the ship, hoping to make a name for themselves on this occasion.
Yong Hasang and Yeom Hee-soo also explained themselves,
“If such a person exists in Jianghu, we can’t just leave him be. Wouldn’t you, Master Pyo-wol, feel reassured if we were with you?”
“We definitely won’t be a burden, so you don’t have to worry.”
Pyo-wol looked at them for a moment and then said,
“You’d better look after your own lives.”
“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
Yong Hasang laughed and responded.
His pride seemed to be hurt. But Pyo-wol no longer paid any attention to him.
Namgung Wol grinned as he saw Yong Hasang and Yeom Hee-soo reluctantly step back. He thought they still had a long way to go.
Perhaps those two would never acknowledge Pyo-wol until the day they died. Because they were people who thought their pride was everything.
It was his job to mediate between them.
“Phew! This must be my karma.”
Namgung Wol shook his head.
The boat sailed smoothly through the water with the wind at its back.
When their destination, Yingtan, came into view, Namgung Wol came up beside Pyo-wol.
“What do you want me to do?”
Pyo-wol looked surprised at his unexpected words. Then Namgung Wol chuckled and said,
“Didn’t you kindly take us along because we would be useful?”
There was no one in this ship who knew more about Pyo-wol than he did.
Pyo-wol preferred to travel alone rather than in a group, so the fact that he hadn’t thrown them off the ship meant they were worth using.
Namgung Wol asked once again,
“What do you want me to do?”
“Just do what you usually do. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Do as usual? Understood.”
“It’s going to be dangerous.”
“I’m prepared for it.”
“Hong Yushin, the chief inspector of the Hao clan, is also missing, so don’t take this lightly.”
Namgung Wol nodded at Pyo-wol’s words.
For Pyo-wol to speak like this meant that this mission is really dangerous.
Namgung Wol steeled his resolve and checked his physical condition.
Seeing this, Yong Hasang and Yeom Hee-soo looked puzzled. They cautiously asked Namgung Wol,
“What’s wrong?”
“What did he say?”
“You’d better be prepared.”
At Namgung Wol’s words, the two furrowed their brows simultaneously.
“Prepare? Do you know what’s coming?”
“Don’t you think you’re being too sensitive?”
“Don’t take my words lightly. It’s going to be really hard from now on.”
Namgung Wol said with a serious expression once again.
Yong Hasang looked at him with a frown. He felt that Namgung Wol’s attitude was peculiar.
It was true that Pyo-wol was an extraordinary martial artist, but he didn’t like the way Namgung Wol took Pyo-wol’s words so seriously. But there was no point in saying anything more, so he just stared.
Even at that moment, the ship was getting closer and closer to Yingtan.
The captain shouted,
“We will arrive at our destination after this corner!”
Only then did Namgung Wol rise from his seat, and Yong Hasang and Yeom Hee-soo looked forward. Then, they realized that someone who should have been by their side was missing.
“Where is he?”
“Master Pyo is missing.”
Pyo-wol had disappeared as if he had evaporated.
Yong Hasang and Yeom Hee-soo looked around in surprise, but there was no sign of Pyo-wol anywhere.
“What the–?”
Yong Hasang asked in disbelief.
Pyo-wol was clearly within his line of sight, yet he hadn’t noticed his disappearance at all.
He had known that there was a gap between him and Pyo-wol, but he hadn’t expected it to be this big.
‘Damn it!’
Yong Hasang gritted his teeth in humiliation.
On the other hand, Namgung Wol looked completely unfazed.
Unlike Yong Hasang, he didn’t feel any sense of competition with Pyo-wol, and now was not the time to worry about such trivial matters.
He recalled Pyo-wol’s words.
‘He said to do as usual, right?’
The blood-cloaked men had certainly boarded the boat here, and to find out where they had gone, they had to ask people about their whereabouts.
Making as much noise as possible was probably what Pyo-wol wanted.
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