Chapter 156: The Person They Must Find
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Seup Yeo felt the ultra-fine wire called black rope slightly digging into the skin of his neck and cried out in alarm.
“Wh-why are you doing this!”
Following that, Seok Mo-pil beside him also added his voice.
“This is too much. Please stop there.”
But Na Rae-hyang didn’t even spare him a glance and moved her pale pink lips close to Seup Yeo’s ear.
“Indeed, why am I doing this? Hmm?”
“Grr…”
Seup Yeo was torn about whether or not to reach for his scabbard.
If he moved wrong, his neck might really get severed.
‘Damn it, what do I do?’
Na Rae-hyang’s black rope was a weapon as sharp as a blade, and her martial prowess was transcendent enough to rank among the Five Elegants of Jiangxi.
His brief deliberation ended.
Endure it.
Right.
For now, enduring was the best course.
The possibility of meeting a horrible death in the time it took to draw his sword was very high.
Even if someone else helped… He couldn’t be sure he’d come out unscathed.
In truth, there was no powerhouse in this gathering who could challenge the dignity of the alias Black Rope Wondrous Lady.
The surest way to save his life was to somehow appease Na Rae-hyang’s mood through conversation.
The spine-chilling voice came to his ears again.
“How stupid. Why, are you so scared your head stopped working?”
Naked killing intent swirled in Na Rae-hyang’s eyes.
Her youthful appearance somehow made it feel even more terrifying.
Seup Yeo gulped down his dry saliva and asked carefully.
“Is there… Some reason you brought up the Bamboo Forest Divine Maiden?”
“Now your head’s working?”
At Na Rae-hyang’s quiet retort, Seup Yeo became even more puzzled.
‘Tsk, what is this? If she’s tormenting me for calling the Bamboo Forest Divine Maiden a greenhorn girl, that’s even more incomprehensible…’
Bamboo Forest Divine Maiden Jeung Ji-rim, age thirty this year, was a wandering master who had appeared like a comet in the Jiangxi region about five years ago and built a high reputation.
Because her normally elusive movements were strange, she was classified as one of the Four Great Strange Women of Jiangxi Province, and Black Rope Wondrous Lady Na Rae-hyang was also included in that category regardless of martial prowess.
The reason Jeung Ji-rim’s alias was Bamboo Forest Divine Maiden was because the place where she first made her great exploits was the bamboo forest near Poyang Lake, a famous scenic spot in the Jiangxi region.
Seup Yeo had heard many rumors and information about the Four Great Strange Women.
But.
He had never once heard that Jeung Ji-rim and Na Rae-hyang were close friends.
That’s why he couldn’t readily understand.
This situation itself.
What reason would Na Rae-hyang have to get worked up just because he called Jeung Ji-rim a greenhorn girl?
At that moment, Na Rae-hyang’s pale pink lips opened.
“To be more precise… That Bamboo Forest Divine Maiden thing has been lumped in the same category as me at some point. Grouped together under that worthless title of Four Great Strange Women that blabbering fools gave us. Get it now?”
Seup Yeo finally grasped the hidden meaning.
‘So speaking dismissively of Bamboo Forest Divine Maiden is the same as looking down on herself as a fellow Great Strange Woman? Crazy, such unreasonable…!’
It was absurd.
Anyway, he’d made an unnecessary fuss and scratched the wrong place.
He had provoked Tang Mu-gae just wanting a little taste, curious about the martial skill of the man who supposedly fought to a draw with Netherworld Sword Fork Jeo Gyeom, the master of Dark Hall who was a regional powerhouse – but Na Rae-hyang’s mood had unexpectedly soured.
The cold voice seeped into his ear again.
“The likes of you couldn’t cut me even if you came in a mob. You’ve heard I once chopped up and killed the Spinning Sword Warrior, haven’t you?”
The Spinning Sword Warrior was a former first-rate master of the Hunan unorthodox faction who, four years ago, had a conflict with Na Rae-hyang and fought a life-or-death battle, only to have his limbs sliced off and depart this world.
As someone from the same region, Seup Yeo couldn’t possibly not know – it was a fight still talked about among many people.
“Of… Of course… I know.”
“At the time, the Spinning Sword Warrior was a guy reputed to be second only to the Five Supreme Martial Experts of Hunan Province… I wonder what level your sword arts are. Surely you must be quite confident to spout provoking words like that?”
“Th-that’s…”
“How about it, want to prove it here as the representative of this region? That your martial skill is so exquisite you can look down on the Bamboo Forest Divine Maiden or that Thousand-Man Foe Axe over there? Teach me that Hunan is absolutely not beneath Jiangxi.”
Na Rae-hyang was serious.
The gaze flowing with dense killing intent testified to that.
Cold sweat beaded on Seup Yeo’s forehead as he again gulped down his dry saliva and rolled his eyes.
‘Damn! If this crazy woman makes a determined move, I’ll…’
It felt as if a dark shadow of death had approached.
The formless presence pressing from behind was suffocating.
Meanwhile.
Thousand-Man Foe Axe Tang Mu-gae leisurely crossed his arms as if watching a fire across the river and mocked inwardly.
‘Keheh… That guy, his face is quite a sight. At this rate he’ll plop down on the floor and piss himself.’
In an instant, Drunken Shadow Sword Seok Mo-pil sent a Secret Sound Transmission.
<Look at that killing intent. At this rate, trouble will break out. Shouldn’t we try to stop this?>
The target was Dancing Saber Mandarin Duck Gyeon Mi.
‘Phew… What do I do?’
Gyeon Mi furrowed her brow, unable to readily step forward.
It couldn’t be helped.
Because she was worried that hastily trying to intervene might instead bring trouble upon herself.
The martial skill of Seup Yeo, called One Sword Without Mercy for his brutal techniques, was actually not below hers.
Being wanderers of the same Hunan region, they had sparred before and she knew his skill all too well.
But… Na Rae-hyang had instantly taken his back and overwhelmingly displayed the gap in their levels.
It was a level Gyeon Mi herself absolutely couldn’t imitate.
She newly realized.
The outstanding strength of the Five Elegants, the supreme level of this Jiangxi region like the Five Supreme Martial Experts of Hunan Province.
‘Honestly, I expected some psychological warfare, but… I didn’t know things would flow like this.’
Gyeon Mi muttered inwardly as she glanced at Tang Mu-gae standing nearby with his arms crossed.
‘The only martial artist here who could possibly handle the Black Rope Wondrous Lady is that Thousand-Man Foe Axe, but he’s just standing by watching. There’s no other good method. We’ll just have to try stopping this somehow ourselves…’
She then sent an eye signal to Seok Mo-pil beside her, meaning to watch a bit more before acting.
Suddenly.
SWISH.
Na Rae-hyang’s chilling gaze rested on Gyeon Mi’s face.
“If you carelessly interfere, you’ll die too.”
Gyeon Mi and Seok Mo-pil, whose thoughts had been seen through, flinched.
‘…!’
At that moment, Tang Mu-gae raised the corners of his mouth and laughed.
“Pfft. Hey, Sir One Sword Without Mercy. Shall I wipe your sweat? You were running your mouth so well earlier, why are you suddenly acting like you’ve swallowed honey? The Black Rope Wondrous Lady asked you. Whether you’re willing to prove your strength as this region’s representative. Oh, were you too scared to hear?”
Hearing those words, Seup Yeo’s face flushed red with shame and rage.
In that moment.
Na Rae-hyang turned her head and spoke with a chin gesture.
“You’d better shut up too.”
Those words were directed at Tang Mu-gae.
“What…?”
“You think I stepped forward to make you feel good?”
“…!”
Tang Mu-gae was at a loss for words.
But Na Rae-hyang’s attitude paid him no heed.
“Stay out of it. Unless you want your jaw chopped off and to die.”
Tang Mu-gae, whose anger flared up, involuntarily grabbed the handle of his iron axe tight.
It was speech that would justifiably make anyone angry.
But.
‘Damn!’
He only cursed inwardly – his combative temperament didn’t come out.
Because he had no confidence he could handle the aftermath if he talked back.
Having barely collected himself, he soon quietly released the hand that had gripped the iron axe handle.
‘Shit, how embarrassing… By the way, why isn’t the person who set up this meeting coming! Tch, if someone dies here, it’s all his fault!’
Na Rae-hyang narrowed her eyes and said.
“Now, hurry up and speak. I’m giving you a chance to show off your skills in front of me. Show me with that sword that the precedent of the Spinning Sword Warrior doesn’t apply to you.”
Seup Yeo spoke in a servile voice, his expression degraded.
“Th-the words I said earlier… Were clearly a slip of the tongue. I sincerely apologize. I had no intention… Of disrespecting you.”
It was an unavoidable choice to preserve his life.
But Na Rae-hyang wasn’t satisfied with just such a servile attitude.
“Apology is a given. Now, hurry up and rack that brain of yours. Think about what else you should say to me.”
“What should I say…”
“You’re stupid. You should beg.”
“…!”
“Want me to make you kneel too? I can just break them.”
Seup Yeo bit his lip hard, then squeezed his eyes shut and spoke again.
“S-spare me. I was wrong. Please…”
Having shown the depths of servility, he was so mortified he clenched both fists tight.
Na Rae-hyang finally chuckled as if satisfied and stored the black rope inside her sleeve.
“Hehehe, good. At least you know your life is precious.”
Seok Mo-pil and Gyeon Mi, who had been watching silently, each shook their heads slightly with overwhelmed expressions.
Soon, as Seup Yeo shuffled over to lean his back against one wall and sat down, Tang Mu-gae inwardly clicked his tongue.
‘Black Rope Wondrous Lady… She’s a woman not to be carelessly provoked. No, before that, appeasing her temperament itself is difficult. Anyway, that fierce petticoat power can’t be properly withstood by anyone except a fellow Elegant of equal rank. Poor bastard, why did he go and provoke her…’
An atmosphere that had grown heavy as if crushed by a ten-thousand-geun boulder.
But then.
CREEEEAK…
The faded door opened with a sound and a man in black robes wearing a bamboo hat pressed low entered.
“Everyone gathered?”
The person who had organized today’s secret meeting had finally appeared.
As the group’s gazes focused in that direction, Tang Mu-gae let out a rough bellow.
“Hey! You’re late! Did your two legs rot on the way here? Huh!”
At that, the man in black robes paused his steps and slightly lifted the edge of his bamboo hat, revealing his face.
“My apologies.”
His appearance, seemingly in his fifties, was ordinary.
However.
The formless presence lingering around his black-robed form was absolutely not ordinary.
It was as if the body were filled to the brim with unfathomable darkness, so to speak.
After briefly scanning the faces of Tang Mu-gae, Na Rae-hyang and the others, the black-robed man rummaged in his clothes and produced five large-denomination promissory notes, then continued speaking.
“Take these. It’s an amount large enough to change your lives in one stroke. So… Once you all accept these, you must follow whatever orders are given.”
Tang Mu-gae moved quickly, took in the amount written on the notes with his eyes, and drew a bright smile across his face.
“Gwahaha, gwahahaha! Wow, with this much, I could slack off for a lifetime!”
Na Rae-hyang and the rest also received one note each in turn and confirmed the amounts.
At that moment, the black-robed man, hands clasped behind his back, opened his mouth again.
“The name of the old man you must find is… Gam Tae. A man who lived in Wuj Village and then suddenly vanished.”
* * *
RUSTLE, RUSTLE RUSTLE, RUSTLE…
In the dense underbrush beyond the abandoned house, a figure moved quietly and stopped beside a large old tree.
‘Oh my, what is this? That place should definitely be an empty house, but there are signs of people…’
The figure gazing intently at the abandoned house beyond the brush was none other than Cui Lan, the disciple that Head-Severing Yama Seop Pyo had taken in during his later years.