Chapter 168: Chapter 168

“Argh!”

Jang Sam-tae’s dagger sliced a man’s neck. The moment he confirmed the blood gushing out, someone thrust a sword toward Jang Sam-tae’s head.

Startled, Jang Sam-tae kicked off the ground and twisted his body in an instant.

Spinning several times in the air, Jang Sam-tae caught his breath as he felt the blade brush past by a hair’s breadth. However, he knew better than anyone that now was not the time to be relieved.

“You bastard!”

His eyes rolling back at the death of his comrade, the man closed the distance. Although it was a surprise attack, it seemed his pride was wounded that his comrade had died to someone showing such clumsy movements.

Clang!

He blocked it.

Although it was a small dagger, Jang Sam-tae was someone who had watched Sa Do-hak’s sword for a long time.

Blocking a sword slower than that was not even funny.

However, he was not at a level where he could overcome the difference between a dagger and a sword.

Throb, throb!

He felt a pain in his wrist as if it were about to fly off.

Because of that, an opening was created, and the man did not miss it and struck in.

Startled, Jang Sam-tae tried to retreat quickly, but the sword was already swung.

Slash!

“Argh!”

However, the blade did not touch Jang Sam-tae’s body in the end. The blade of Ma Jang-gang, who appeared from behind, quickly split the man’s body.

With no time to do anything about the surprise attack, the man’s body, split in half, fell over while spraying blood.

“Huff… huff… I… I almost died.”

“Khehe, that’s why, why did you step forward so recklessly?”

“Damn it! If I hadn’t, we all would have died!”

“We wouldn’t die yet!”

Although Ma Jang-gang looked so precarious as if he would stop breathing at any moment, he spoke well.

However, it was a situation where it would not be strange if he collapsed soon if he did not tend to his wounds right away.

Sighing, Jang Sam-tae stood up from his spot.

Approaching the corpse, he rummaged through it as if looking for something.

“What are you doing?”

“I wanted to see if there was anything useful…”

Rummaging through the two corpses, Jang Sam-tae pocketed a few items and money. He obtained dozens of silver coins, two strange cylinders, and a few pills.

The cylinders were definitely signal flares, and the pills seemed to be for treating internal injuries, so he had to take them.

“For now, the place we are going is the east… you go first.”

“Huh? What?”

“I said go first!”

“What are you planning to do?”

“We have to throw those guys off our scent first, don’t we?”

Jang Sam-tae toyed with the cylinder.

A signal flare fired when they found out where they were or when danger arose; with just this, it seemed it would be quite easy to throw them off.

With a smirk, Jang Sam-tae moved toward the west.

“Go first! Don’t die on the way! I’ll catch up soon!”

“Hey, you rascal!”

Ma Jang-gang shouted angrily, but he could not break the stubbornness of Jang Sam-tae, who had already made up his mind.

He was so fast that he disappeared from view in an instant, and even his figure could no longer be seen.

“Damn it… what is he trying to do?”

Ma Jang-gang let out a long sigh.

‘A guy weaker than me! If he dies, who’s going to take responsibility?’

There was no way to express his uncomfortable feelings.

But chasing after him in this physical condition did not seem like it would help.

Rather, thinking that he might hold him back, irritation surged up in vain.

“Damn it!”

Spitting out a curse, he moved toward the place where the waterway was.

‘Come quickly! If you don’t come, I’m really going to go alone!’

* * *

Jang Sam-tae moved quickly toward the west.

His goal was to get as far away from Ma Jang-gang as possible. Of course, he did not forget to run while remembering the exact way back.

Because if he threw off the Demonic Cult’s pursuit but ended up getting lost himself, it would all be for nothing.

After running for about fifteen minutes like that, Jang Sam-tae stopped dead. The surroundings were quite rough terrain, and there was also a steep cliff.

It was a place where searching was also quite difficult.

Stopping there, Jang Sam-tae smirked.

“Huff, huff… this much should be enough, right?”

“What is enough?”

Startled by the suddenly heard voice, he turned his gaze.

A man was standing there blankly.

A man who looked so gentle that it would be hard to think of him as a martial artist if he were not holding a sword with his neat appearance.

However, a bizarre feeling was felt from his gaze as he looked at Jang Sam-tae with his sword drawn.

“Ugh…!”

“The wind shook, so I followed it… and as expected.”

At the man’s words, Jang Sam-tae broke into a cold sweat.

To think he could pursue a person just by the shaking of the wind?

‘How great is that man’s tracking skill?’

Jang Sam-tae gave an awkward smile and subtly drew the dagger at his waist.

“Give up. Someone like you is no match for me.”

“Bullshit! You’re not even our master… I’m not scared at all, you know?”

“You say interesting things.”

Mun Ju-hak, the leader of the Silver Shadow Unit, smiled with interest.

Who on earth was this master that he dared to say such words?

The greenhorn in front of him seemed to have forgotten where this place was.

“Master… I don’t know what kind of guy he is, but I’d like to see his face once. To see who the guy is who dared to send a person to the Demonic Cult without fear…”

“What do you mean see his face… a guy like you would die the moment you cross the wall, you miserable bastard!”

“Hahaha! I’ll take that to mean your loyalty to your lord is that high.”

“Why, are you jealous because you Demonic Cult bastards don’t have that? You son of a bitch!”

At those words, Mun Ju-hak flinched and his face contorted.

When his expression, which had been like a gigolo’s, changed, he was no different from a malevolent ghost. For a moment, even the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

Swallowing hard, Jang Sam-tae took a low stance.

The opponent was definitely a master.

Now he could know the level to some extent just by momentum.

His skill would be better, not worse, than the guys he had met so far.

“You are a guy who needs to relearn how to use your mouth.”

“Hmph! Stop joking and attack, you bastard.”

A sigh escaped from Mun Ju-hak’s mouth.

To think he was chasing such a frivolous guy. There was a limit to patience. He had intended to capture him quietly and take him away, but he could not bear the irritation that surged up.

He would not kill him, but he felt he would feel a bit better only after cutting off a place or two and hearing that guy’s scream.

Whoosh!

Mun Ju-hak’s sword moved.

As the lightly swung sword cut through the air and aimed at Jang Sam-tae, the startled Jang Sam-tae quickly dodged to the side.

Sword Qi.

The bushes around Jang Sam-tae were cut down in heaps.

The distance from Mun Ju-hak was about fifty feet.

Shooting sword qi across that distance meant that Mun Ju-hak’s ability was even more outstanding than expected.

‘Damn it! Really nothing goes right!’

Jang Sam-tae ground his teeth.

Of all things, to meet such a master in this place. Seeing that he was skilled in tracking, even if he ran away, he would likely be caught soon.

The only saving grace was.

‘Is it just that he is alone?’

Jang Sam-tae caught his breath several times.

The opponent was alone.

Moreover, he was very confident in his own skill. If so, he thought that by digging into that opening, he might somehow be able to escape.

Holding the dagger in his hand, Jang Sam-tae ran.

With a few leaps, he closed the distance quickly.

That speed was so fast that even Mun Ju-hak could not hide his surprise.

“You seem quite confident in your legs.”

Seeing Jang Sam-tae who had approached right in front of him before he knew it, Mun Ju-hak wore a sneer.

The dagger he swung was clearly visible. An attack clearly aiming for the waist.

Its trajectory was not to the point of being disparaged as too honest, but just looking at the shaking tip of the dagger, he could tell this guy’s skill was not that good.

At best, he was just a guy who knew how to do a bit of lightness art.

Therefore, the sneer on his lips deepened, and Mun Ju-hak tried to lightly stretch out his sword to block the dagger.

Crack!

“Urgh!”

However, an attack completely different from his expectation came in.

Mun Ju-hak staggered as he was hit in the head by a knee that approached in an instant.

Contrary to the expectation that he would unfold an attack using the dagger, what flew in was Jang Sam-tae’s kicking technique.

As much as he was confident in lightness art, his leg strength was great.

In fact, holding the dagger was just a simple threat, and what he had learned from Sa Do-hak and Dan Woo-hyun was how to move his legs better.

‘But it won’t work a second time.’

He knew because he had heard it from Dan Woo-hyun.

Against true masters, the same move rarely worked.

Unless he kept aiming for weaknesses in different ways, it was the same as offering his neck.

If so, there was nothing to hesitate.

He had to rush in right away.

Because he must not show the opponent an opening even for a moment.

Jang Sam-tae threw his body even faster.

Stretching his feet several times in the air, he aimed for Mun Ju-hak’s head. However, Mun Ju-hak was also a master with countless experiences.

Dodging and blocking the flying kicks, he retreated. Having realized that the opponent’s kicking power was considerable, there was no way he would stand still and take it.

Mun Ju-hak’s movements became considerably agile.

However, instead of digging in, Jang Sam-tae stamped one foot hard on the ground.

Thud!

“Argh!”

Spinning kick.

Using that rebound in reverse to unfold the kicking technique even faster, Mun Ju-hak could not keep up with it.

This was precisely the advantage Jang Sam-tae had, and the only weapon that could make him a true martial artist.

Rip!

“Ugh!”

However, Mun Ju-hak was also not easy.

Even while staggering, he read Jang Sam-tae’s position by the shaking of the wind.

At the same time, the swung sword left a long wound on Jang Sam-tae’s body.

Even while confirming the blood splattering, Mun Ju-hak ground his teeth. Even though the blade should have gone deeper, the guy avoided a fatal wound by momentarily pulling his body back.

It was his first time seeing a guy use lightness art so freely to that extent. That was precisely the factor that filled the gap between Mun Ju-hak and Jang Sam-tae.

Only then did Mun Ju-hak realize he was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

‘I give up on capturing him alive!’

At least, he intended to cut off those two legs.

Otherwise, it seemed this side would become even more difficult. His gaze containing anger directed at Jang Sam-tae, and the sword harbored a fierce momentum.

Killing intent spread rollingly like waves.

“I underestimated you. But from now on, you must be prepared.”

“Pui.”

Jang Sam-tae spat and composed his mind.

If it were in the past, the moment he faced someone exuding such momentum, he would have knelt down and begged for his life.

But the reason he did not do so now was because he carried the names of Dan Woo-hyun, Sa Do-hak, and Namgung Cheon on his back.

Also, shouldn’t he become a person who was not shameful to Dan So-mi? He had sworn to protect that child. Until this life ended.

If so, he had to become stronger.

He would not stop here.

He would surely surpass that man.

Making such a determination, he put strength into both legs. While receiving the opponent’s ominous momentum with his whole body, he radiated a will that would never be broken.

Staring at the approaching blade, Jang Sam-tae also ran. It was a movement that exerted his full strength, quite different from before.

At that moment, an afterimage appeared in Mun Ju-hak’s eyes.

“What…!?”

His eyes widened at the sight of Jang Sam-tae, who seemed to be split into two people.

The probability of which one was real was fifty-fifty.

Even so, if he stopped his sword here, his Qi and blood would flow backward and he would die.

Grinding his teeth, Mun Ju-hak thrust his sword fiercely.

Slash!

The swung sword cut something, and blood soared high into the sky.

However, the sword, which he thought had cut the opponent, was stuck in Jang Sam-tae’s shoulder and did not come out.

Before he knew it, Jang Sam-tae was holding the blade with one hand.

Jang Sam-tae’s left hand became tattered like a rag.

Although he grabbed the sword, he could not completely overcome its power.

“Huff… huff…”

However, with this, the distance was closed.

Roughly exhaling his breath, Jang Sam-tae looked at Mun Ju-hak with bloodshot eyes. He lightly brought his remaining hand to his chest.

Crunch!

“Cough!”

Mun Ju-hak’s entire body twisted like a whirlpool.

Not to mention the flesh, even the bones and internal organs changed into a bizarre appearance as if squeezed in an instant.

“Th… Heavenly Demon, cough… Qi Reversal… by no means… gack!”

“Ehehe! I won, you son of a… bitch!”

Heavenly Demon Qi Reversal.

It was the moment another legend began.

Enjoyed the chapter?

If you like our work, consider supporting us on Ko-fi. This site solely runs on donations. Every donation helps us keep translating!

Support on Ko-fi