Chapter 149: Let Me Think About It Carefully. (2)
Chapter 148 – Let Me Think About It Carefully. (2)
Jo Wi’s expression stiffened rock hard.
For a very brief moment, he thought he was hearing things.
That was because this cave was completely hidden by a formation.
Yet, a voice he had never heard before?
As Jo Wi slowly turned his stiffened body, did a kid who looked about twenty not stand there?
‘A cadet…?’
He did receive a report.
That apprentice cadets were included in this Righteous Sword Squad escort.
Even so, to think the fellow who pursued them all the way here was a cadet.
However, looking at his appearance and the martial robe he wore, he clearly looked like a cadet, not a formal Righteous Sword Squad member.
He spread his sensory qi, but no presence of any other person was felt.
“Are you alone?”
“Yeah. I’m unmarried. No, am I married? That’s a bit ambiguous.”
“You crazy bastard. I asked if you came here alone.”
“As you can see. But why are you speaking informally and cursing from the very first meeting, you bastard?”
“A cheeky fellow. How did you know there was a formation?”
“I told you. It’s too crude, you see. This level of formation is only for buying a brief moment of time. Even then, quick-witted bastards would notice it immediately. Honestly, it only works because it’s the Righteous Sword Squad; if it were the Gale Squad or the Heavenly Net Corps, your head would have been shattered long ago, kid.”
Kid…?
No, did this green kid just look at him and call him a punk? Is he really a crazy guy?
Namgung Cheon kept clicking his tongue while looking around the inside of the cave.
“Tsk tsk. Anyway, it’s nothing but sloppy. In my days, even when making a safehouse, we put all our heart and effort into it. Kids these days do everything sloppily. They have no grit, no grit.”
At this point, Jo Wi was convinced.
This is a crazy guy.
Don’t crazy people often startle the people around them?
Perhaps breaking the formation was also a coincidence.
It would be correct to eliminate him early before that crazy guy did another unexpected thing.
Well, even if he were an unexpectedly formidable expert, the response method would be the same.
Swish!
In an unexpected situation, it is unconditionally a preemptive attack.
Jo Wi threw his body forward at the same time he kicked the ground.
Step, step, step!
Running quickly, he suddenly performed his lightfoot technique along the wall of the cave.
Truly a gale-like speed!
To handle him in a single strike before the opponent could prepare…!
In that instant, Jo Wi felt goosebumps rising along his spine.
Inside the dark cave, was only Namgung Cheon’s gaze shining particularly blue?
Furthermore, Namgung Cheon’s gaze met his eyes precisely. The moment he realized something was wrong, the flow of his consciousness became extremely slow. No, it became fast. Because his own movements felt slow.
Eyes resembling a fierce tiger.
It was not a gaze that could be seen from a mere young cadet.
It was the gaze of someone who had wandered the Jianghu and gone through all kinds of trials.
How to survive long in the Jianghu?
There was nothing else.
Just avoid those who have that kind of gaze. And just choose opponents they can defeat to fight and build up reputation.
At first, one risks their life for reputation, but later, that reputation protects one’s life.
However, Jo Wi instinctively felt that he could no longer build up his reputation.
‘Damn it…!’
The moment Namgung Cheon’s lips twisted!
Slash!
A ray of light cut his neck, and in the next moment, he collapsed to the floor, spraying blood.
A single strike.
Whoosh!
As Namgung Cheon shook off the blood on his sword, the Thieving Ghost flinched and watched him.
‘What is this guy?’
An appearance that looked barely twenty. An innocent expression and tone. A fearsome sword art. An old-cunning nature that even breaks formations.
Indeed, was he not performing by himself things that were hard to reconcile?
In the Jianghu, anything that is not understood or not well known like this is unconditionally an object of caution.
The Thieving Ghost hid his thoughts and opened his mouth with difficulty.
“Th-Thank you. Thanks to you, I survived.”
“You will want to die soon.”
“Wh-What…”
The Thieving Ghost looked at Namgung Cheon in bewilderment. A cruel bastard died, and a strange bastard appeared. Now that strange bastard is drawing a somewhat spine-chilling smile toward him.
“I thought about it carefully as I came all the way here.”
“Wh-What do you mean?”
“Unorthodox martial artists of the Jianghu going out of their way to help the Thieving Ghost escape…”
“…”
“Doesn’t that sound like a hilarious joke?”
“What do you mean…”
“In my memory, you were merely a petty thief who was doing slightly well. A thief bastard who knows a bit of blade art. Well, a position like a branch master in the Hao Gate would suit you moderately?”
“What do you want to say?”
“There is absolutely no way unorthodox martial artists would cling to you to this extent. But looking at the guys we met now, they aren’t a single organization. In other words, unorthodox martial artists of the entire Jianghu are indeed anxious to get you out. Isn’t that strange?”
“Keugh…”
“So I thought. Why do these guys target you to this extent? Why do they want to smuggle you out to this extent when you’re a fellow who is a bit disappointing to be seen as a legendary thief?”
“Th-That, asking them would…”
“Anyway, there must be a reason. And I’m going to ask that reason.”
“So, you have to ask the ones who want to smuggle me out…”
“As you can see, they are dead. Now you have to answer.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Namgung Cheon nodded while drawing that characteristic spine-chilling smile.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. A person might not know. Everyone starts like that. But in the end, they come to know.”
“Wh-What…”
“You will come to know soon too. Leave it to me.”
“Uh, uh…? D-Don’t come!”
“Come on, relax. Let’s recall it well.”
Namgung Cheon walked closer with a refreshing smile.
A moment later, screams surged through the cave.
“Keugh, aaaaaarggh!”
* * *
“Damn it…”
The Second Twin Blade stared blankly at his broken blade.
Now, after exchanging the final blow with Paeng Su-hyeok, his blade was precisely broken in two.
As he slowly turned around, Paeng Su-hyeok, who had passed him, was already looking back.
Surely his blade was intact.
‘H-How… to a mere green kid…?’
Splash!
In the next moment, blood sprayed as a diagonal trail of fresh blood was drawn on his chest, and the Second Twin Blade collapsed with a thud.
After undergoing a spasm, he eventually could not move again.
“Pant, pant…”
Paeng Su-hyeok breathed heavily and barely corrected his posture.
‘I won!’
Clenching his fist, he looked at the fallen Second Twin Blade.
The Second Twin Blade and himself utilized almost identical blade arts. Both had learned real-combat type martial arts and executed domineering blade strikes loaded with weight.
Even so, the victor was Paeng Su-hyeok, who was younger. Namgung Cheon’s advice played a major role here.
‘Being fast does not mean being light at all.’
That is, Paeng Su-hyeok, who had grasped the subtle principle that the faster one is, the heavier one becomes, had trained the Hebei Paeng Clan’s blade art in a completely different way during the academy’s recess.
As a result, his blade art became heavier and faster.
‘Namgung Cheon… where are you?’
Raising his head, Paeng Su-hyeok looked in the direction Namgung Cheon would have run and moved his steps.
“Are you alright?”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I saved my life.”
Yu Hyeon, who was injured in his flank, showed a bitter smile.
If Paeng Su-hyeok and Yun Jong-seung had not appeared at the right time, he probably would not have gotten off with just this level of injury.
‘I still have a long way to go.’
Yu Hyeon sighed inwardly.
Surely, a spar and real combat are different. Just as Paeng Su-hyeok said, if he was going to pretend to be noble by himself, he shouldn’t step into the Jianghu, but just cultivate the Tao in the mountains.
He had to change his mind.
‘Come to think of it…’
Yu Hyeon narrowed his eyes and looked at Paeng Su-hyeok.
He was faintly shaking his hands.
Although Paeng Su-hyeok utilized a real-combat type blade art, the shock of the first killing in his life must not be small.
Even so, he was trying hard to act calm.
The same was true for Yun Jong-seung.
Yun Jong-seung was shaking openly. He was stroking his forearm with both hands and kept muttering the same words.
“I… I killed a person… I really… a person…”
Yu Hyeon, who watched that scene for a long time, shook off his seat, stood up, and cupped his fists toward the two with a loud voice.
“You two young heroes saved my life! Thank you deeply!”
Sincere warmth was fully carried in his voice. Seeing Yu Hyeon’s gaze full of trust, Paeng Su-hyeok and Yun Jong-seung strangely felt their minds calming down.
The two were recalling the same thought now.
‘Yes, if it weren’t for me, one of us would have lost their life. That is real combat.’
At that moment, they felt a group of people running quickly toward this place.
Yun Jong-seung quickly leaped up a tree, checked the far distance, and came down.
“It’s the Righteous Sword Squad.”
Before his voice could fall, a gust of wind blew, and the Righteous Sword Squad members arrived one after another.
Among them were Gye Du-sik and Bi Ryang.
“Yu Hyeon! Are you hurt?”
Gye Du-sik ran over in surprise.
Bi Ryang also approached the cadets with a serious expression.
Yu Hyeon waved his hand.
“I am fine. It is a light injury. Thanks to these two here, I saved my life.”
“You guys…?”
Gye Du-sik looked back and forth between Paeng Su-hyeok and Yun Jong-seung with a surprised expression. And he scanned the Black Blood Squad members, the Second and Third Killers, and the Second Twin Blade scattered on the ground in turn.
‘Is this… the skill of a mere cadet?’
Isn’t this at a level that shouldn’t remain as an apprentice cadet?
It was to the extent that it would not be strange even if they were put into real combat right away.
He had doubted their level upon hearing the news that Dragon Heaven Academy produced the winner in the last Joint Conference. But wasn’t it actually the opposite?
Bi Ryang approached the surprised Gye Du-sik and whispered.
“Didn’t I tell you? They are quite decent fellows.”
“Keugh. Where is Namgung Cheon?”
“He went ahead first to pursue the escapee.”
“Alone? Where did he go?”
“I will guide you.”
Yu Hyeon turned his body right away and began running in the lead.
Gye Du-sik turned to the Righteous Sword Squad members and shouted.
“The Vice Captain remains to bind the injured and transport them, and only any two teams follow me!”
“Understood!”
Gye Du-sik, who led only a small elite like that, chased the cadets along with Bi Ryang.
How long did they run?
Just then, a steep rock wall appeared to one side, and when they reached there, a fishy smell of blood wafted strongly.
At the place where Gye Du-sik and Bi Ryang stopped while leading the members, two corpses were indeed rolling around.
Bi Ryang narrowed his eyes and said.
“It’s the First Killer, the eldest brother of the Three Killers of Guizhou. That over there is First Twin Blade.”
Gye Du-sik nodded.
“I have heard of their notoriety. But why are they collapsed in a place like this…”
“It must be that guy’s doing, obviously.”
“By that guy, do you mean Namgung Cheon?”
“Yes, who else could it be?”
When Paeng Su-hyeok replied as if it were nothing, Gye Du-sik asked with an expression hard to understand.
“Is Namgung Cheon such an amazing fellow?”
“He is slightly lacking compared to me, but he is by no means an easy fellow.”
Paeng Su-hyeok said while crossing his arms and spreading his shoulders wide.
Ignoring Paeng Su-hyeok’s reaction, Gye Du-sik muttered with a serious expression.
“Then where did Namgung Cheon, who made them like this, go now…”
“It must be there.”
Bi Ryang pointed with his chin toward one side of the rock wall.
It was a rock wall where nothing was visible.
Not to mention Gye Du-sik, even the cadets turned to Bi Ryang with bewildered expressions.
“Instructor, that’s just a wall over there?”
“It is a wall, but it is not just a wall.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is a formation. Although it is a simple illusion made using the shadows of the rock wall.”
“Ah…!”
The cadets let out exclamations of admiration.
Gye Du-sik also could not hide his inner surprise.
‘Since it was said that he was also in the Gale Squad, was his reputation indeed not just hollow?’
It was at that moment.
Did Namgung Cheon not reveal himself as if emerging from the place that clearly looked like a rock wall?
While carrying the limp prisoner on his shoulder and grumbling constantly.
“Agh, damn. He is so dirty heavy. Should I have drained a bit more blood?”
What do you mean drain blood, you punk!
“Uh…? Everyone is gathered here?”
Namgung Cheon, who happened to confirm the group, smiled innocently.
“I brought back what was lost.”