Chapter 143: Chapter 143

It was a good time to launch a surprise attack.

The night was dark, and even the fog was thick. The visibility was also significantly narrowed, to the point that it was impossible to distinguish a person unless they were right in front of one’s nose.

In such a place, a group of people stood.

Two old men wearing masks.

Gwon Mu-jin, holding small twin blades in his hands, hardening his resolve.

And Dan Woo-hyun, standing blankly and looking ahead silently. At the very back was Namgung So-hye, who had the question of why they had come at this time of night.

“Sigh. It really feels like we are going to a gang fight.”

Namgung So-hye let out a long sigh. Since they were walking in a group on these late-night streets, it felt no different from the local ruffians.

Even more so, they were on their way to kill someone.

How could she not feel that way?

“Weren’t we supposed to come when there were many people and smash everything?”

Sa Do-hak also spoke thus and muttered discontentedly. He thought that if they were going to come at such a late hour anyway, they might not have needed to wear these stuffy masks.

He was anxious to take it off immediately.

“Smash everything? Your words are harsh. I just came to see his face…”

Dan Woo-hyun spoke leisurely and moved forward.

The target was the inn where Ma Dok-jin was staying.

Quite a lot of presences could be felt inside. The strange thing was that if they were Ma Dok-jin’s subordinates, there should have been traces of practicing martial arts, but there were those who did and those who did not.

Dan Woo-hyun sent a questioning look.

“It seems he was waiting.”

Dan Woo-hyun let out a chuckle and showed a faint smile on his lips.

They were on guard.

The gazes felt from the moment they left the manor must have been Ma Dok-jin’s subordinates, and they would have reported the fact that they were moving to Yueyang.

Fling!

At that moment.

The window on the very top floor of the inn opened, revealing the familiar figure of Ma Dok-jin. With a courtesan in his arms and a liquor bottle in one hand, he looked down.

“I thought I would grow tired of waiting.”

“Your spirit is lively.”

“Hehe, it will be troublesome if you think of me as the same person from last time, you bastard…”

Ma Dok-jin squinted his eyes and forced a laugh. The moment he saw Dan Woo-hyun, it was quite difficult to control the rising anger.

He wanted to rush out right now and kill him.

But that would be no fun.

He wanted to corner him a bit more and see that despairing expression.

“Shall we make a bet?”

Ma Dok-jin smirked.

He looked back and forth between Dan Woo-hyun and Gwon Mu-jin with a triumphant expression. He had no doubt that this time things would go as he planned, and today was indeed the day the blade of revenge would cut their throats.

“A bet?”

“Since we are playing with our lives anyway, we might as well make it fun.”

“What are you thinking, Ma Dok-jin!”

Gwon Mu-jin shouted loudly and gnashed his teeth.

He wanted to chase him down and kill him immediately. Just seeing that laugh and expression turned his stomach so much that disgust and irritation surged up.

Ma Dok-jin snorted and tapped the window frame with his finger.

“Right now, my subordinates are spread out in all directions, roaming around the entirety of Yueyang.”

“So?”

“And there are also several people in this inn.”

What was he trying to say?

However, Dan Woo-hyun, Namgung Cheon, and Sa Do-hak seemed to have already understood, glaring at Ma Dok-jin with stiffened expressions. Especially Namgung Cheon’s eyes flashed with a murderous light.

The moment Namgung Cheon was about to take a step.

“Oops, don’t move recklessly. The moment you approach, I will kill everyone inside the inn.”

“You bastard! Do you know what you are trying to do right now?”

“Of course I know. I’m going to kill them all.”

Ma Dok-jin smiled deeply and stood up from his seat. Then he took something out from the room and threw it out the window. It flew with a whoosh and fell in front of Dan Woo-hyun and Gwon Mu-jin.

“A… person…?”

Namgung So-hye looked at it with a shocked gaze.

It was a human head.

It belonged to the waiter of this Yueyang inn, whom Namgung So-hye was also acquainted with. As he rolled on the ground with only his head in a painful expression, Namgung So-hye’s eyes flashed with a murderous light.

“Now, let us begin. If you chase me, the people of Yueyang will die. Without exception! Come to think of it, your daughter is also at the government office, right?”

Dan Woo-hyun narrowed his eyes.

He knew that they had been monitoring since a fortnight ago, but because they didn’t seem to take any action, he had left them alone, which now became a source of trouble.

“Hahaha! Let’s see if you can stop them all with just this number of people! Or will you give up everything and kill me?”

Ma Dok-jin laughed loudly and mocked those in front of him.

Looking at Dan Woo-hyun and Gwon Mu-jin, who did not say a word, made him feel extremely good, and his laughter grew louder and louder.

It was then that Dan Woo-hyun’s hand moved.

Boom!

For a moment, Ma Dok-jin did not realize at all what had happened. The top room of the inn where he stood was half blown away, leaving not a trace behind.

The shattered roof rained down debris, and the subordinates who had been standing covertly by his side fell to the floor as lumps of flesh.

Tremble, tremble.

Ma Dok-jin’s entire body trembled.

‘That man… what did he just do?’

“Run away carrying death. The moment you see me again will be your last.”

“Are you letting him go?”

“I think we could just capture and torture him though?”

Namgung Cheon and Sa Do-hak muttered while staring intently upward.

Hearing those voices clearly, Ma Dok-jin’s eyes widened. In this situation, were they going to capture him while giving up the lives of others?

For that, their leisure was immense.

Ma Dok-jin stood up with a puzzled expression.

“Is that him?”

Suddenly, a voice was heard.

The door opened naturally, and Yuk Gyeom-sa, who came inside, whistled as he checked the scene in the room. Walking forward with heavy steps, he supported the staggering Ma Dok-jin, then looked down at Dan Woo-hyun.

His expression was quite triumphant.

Even though he saw the destroyed room, he did not show the slightest movement.

But.

“Oh. Isn’t that Yuk Gyeom-sa?”

“It really is. Why is that bastard up there?”

Namgung Cheon and Sa Do-hak spoke at the same time they saw his face. Their voices were full of joy, as if they had met a welcome friend.

“Is he someone you know?”

“Of course. He was taught a lesson by me when he was young.”

“Haha, you too? I almost killed him but stopped.”

“Hahaha.”

“Hahaha.”

The two old men burst into hearty laughter.

At the laughter that did not fit the situation, Yuk Gyeom-sa frowned.

Who were they to say such things?

Since they were wearing masks, their faces could not be seen properly. However, even at a glance, they did not look like anyone remarkable.

Neither energy nor momentum could be felt.

They were bluffing.

“Aren’t you going to run away?”

At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun spoke once again in a warning-filled voice. The atmosphere that had risen in an instant suddenly sank, bringing a chill.

‘He is certainly amazing, but… that’s as far as it goes.’

Yuk Gyeom-sa stepped back, once again underestimating his opponent. Since they said they would make a bet, it was only right to proceed with it.

At the same time, something went up into the sky with a sound.

The signal flare that Yuk Gyeom-sa held exploded.

The start of the bet.

“Let’s go!”

Ma Dok-jin moved as he watched the signal explode.

One of them would surely follow. Also, since they had to block the subordinates spread across Yueyang, they would scatter.

He had made many preparations.

Just for today.

A sneer formed at the corner of his mouth.

“If we had tried to catch him, we could have. Ah… what a pity.”

Feeling Ma Dok-jin’s presence starting to recede from the inn, Sa Do-hak clicked his tongue. It was even more regrettable because it was a distance from which they could kill him at any time if they wanted to.

But it seemed Dan Woo-hyun thought otherwise.

He tapped Gwon Mu-jin on the shoulder.

“Go. You must cut off his head.”

“Order!”

Gwon Mu-jin threw himself forward without a moment’s hesitation.

Although it weighed on his mind that Yuk Gyeom-sa was there, it was not enough to make him refuse Dan Woo-hyun’s order. If the opponent was strong, he would overcome it with an even stronger will.

Was that not how Gwon Mu-jin of the small twin blades had grown up?

“In the end, you let him go so that kid could catch him?”

“Yes.”

Dan Woo-hyun nodded.

In the first place, Gwon Mu-jin was involved in this matter. Also, since there were matters tangled with Ma Dok-jin, he needed to personally surpass Ma Dok-jin in order to take a step further.

“Then let us scatter.”

Sa Do-hak cracked his fists and looked toward the west.

It was the place where the most private houses were gathered nearby. Also, the presence of Ma Dok-jin’s subordinates could be felt strongly there.

“Then I will go that way.”

Namgung Cheon headed in the opposite direction. Although there were not many private houses, rustling sounds had been heard from earlier.

Also, the government office was where Namgung Cheon was going.

He could not leave Dan So-mi alone either.

“Th… then I will go that way…”

Namgung So-hye hesitated while looking in one direction.

The direction she was looking was the direction in which Yuk Gyeom-sa and Ma Dok-jin had disappeared, where there were no private houses but only dens of ruffians and red-light districts.

Lake Dongting was nearby, and because there were quite a lot of people boating and drinking at this hour, it was a place where a major disaster might occur if they were not careful.

But over there…

“Are you afraid of the man named Yuk Gyeom-sa?”

“No way!”

Namgung So-hye shouted.

But at that reaction, Dan Woo-hyun smiled.

She was definitely feeling burdened by Yuk Gyeom-sa and Ma Dok-jin. Even Gwon Mu-jin could not defeat them with his current skill, so it wouldn’t be very pleasant to go to a place where two people who were among the top one hundred masters were.

“There was one in the past… a woman who was as fearful and naive as you.”

“Heh… Huh? I am not like that…”

“Haha.”

Namgung So-hye looked at Dan Woo-hyun with a pouting gaze.

Why compare her to another woman?

Offensively.

“But she was also amazing. Since she made a name for herself in less than ten years.”

Namgung So-hye paused and fell into thought.

A female master who made a name for herself in ten years did not exist in the current Martial World. Since there was not even anyone named the Sword Queen, the story Dan Woo-hyun was telling now was by no means about the current Martial World.

If so…

“Was she amazing? That person?”

“She was not born with talent like you. But she overcame it with effort.”

Namgung So-hye swallowed hard.

Then she looked at Dan Woo-hyun as he turned his back. Perhaps intending to move soon, he lightly kicked off the ground and flew toward the red-light district.

His lightness art was extremely fast.

It would surpass Jang Sam-tae, who was said to be the fastest in the manor.

Because of that, Namgung So-hye did her best to fly.

Although she felt exhausted just by following him, Namgung So-hye endured it and managed to open her mouth.

“Could that be… Nam Ju-ryeon… of the Three Heavens?”

Through the sound of the violent wind, Namgung So-hye’s voice dug into his ears. Startled, Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze naturally turned toward her, and looking at those certain eyes, he chuckled.

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.”

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