Chapter 165: No, Why Don't You Show Up! (4)
Chapter 164 – No, Why Don’t You Show Up!(4)
“Waaaaah!”
A shout filled with sincerity was bound to have a different resonance.
When the cadet, who was considered the weakest and only an object to be protected in the escort group, made a life-or-death resolve, a deep resonance naturally arose in the hearts of the martial artists who saw this.
And that resonance led to a sky-piercing morale, bursting out into a thunderous roar.
The shout shook the sky and echoed loudly through the canyon, making the members of the Three Peaks Sect and the Black Mountain Stronghold, who had rushed to pursue them, flinch involuntarily.
Watching Namgung Cheon, who had boosted the morale in an instant, Yeon Chu-ryang thought to himself.
‘Now that I see, he has plenty of the temperament of a hidden dragon. I completely misjudged him!’
He felt ashamed all over again.
Just as Namgung Cheon said, he had not even thought of confronting and fighting them.
He had forgotten that this was the way of the Jianghu, and the law of survival in the Martial World where the strong preyed on the weak.
Although they might evade the situation and flee once or twice, could good luck work every single time?
He must have become soaked in long peace and insisted on only the easy path, so he had naturally thought of ways to avoid it rather than ways to fight.
‘I was truly foolish.’
Looking back, he finally understood why they had failed the escort mission twice so far.
How shameful was it that he had asked them to trust him only with words after all that?
However, Namgung Cheon was different.
He did not avoid a disadvantageous battle; he made it advantageous, and fought with all his might.
It even looked like the venom of someone who was completely jaded by the ruthlessness of the Jianghu.
Yet it did not look foolish at all; rather, a sort of awe arose.
To say that one fights when it is not the worst situation.
He let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
Flash!
Yeon Chu-ryang, filled with a competitive spirit, raised his sword high.
“Let’s fight! Let’s teach those despicable bastards the justice of the Jianghu!”
“Waaah! Let’s fight! Let’s win!”
“Justice will prevail!”
The morale of the martial artists participating in the escort group began to rise sharply.
As they suddenly raised their competitive spirit and shouted like madmen, the Three Peaks Sect and the Black Mountain Stronghold, who had been running forward menacingly, hesitated for no reason.
Do Ji-baek twitched his brow and muttered.
“Did those guys… suddenly go mad as a group?”
“It seems their reason has been paralyzed because they are cornered.”
Black Mountain Stronghold Leader Gang Sang-do, who had approached his side at some point, twisted his lips.
Do Ji-baek snorted.
“Hmph! They seem to think a cornered rat squeaking can really bite a cat. What are you doing? Charge!”
“Uwaaaah!”
The Three Peaks Sect martial artists began to run in the lead, and then the Black Mountain Stronghold martial artists also dashed out at Gang Sang-do’s hand signal.
A melee broke out in an instant in the dead-end canyon.
“Block them!”
“Kill them!”
“Justice will prevail!”
“You shall pay the price for your bravado!”
Killing intent clashed with killing intent, and resentment and curses aimed at each other flew around.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Keugh!”
“Aaargh!”
Screams rose and blood splattered at the end of the sword fight, as the scent of blood spread thickly.
“Ugh, these persistent bastards!”
Namgung Cheon spat out curses and mercilessly slit the throat of a Black Mountain Stronghold martial artist rushing at him.
Slash!
“Keugh!”
The Black Mountain Stronghold martial artist, who had been blown away in a single blow, clutched his neck and trembled before quickly going limp.
Watching that scene from afar, Yeon Chu-ryang trembled.
‘He is a hidden dragon. That boy is the real deal!’
He wondered if that boy even needed practical field training.
There was not a shred of hesitation in his sword.
Yet he was not a murderer who committed mindless slaughter either.
As could be seen from his actions and words just now, he carried a clear meaning in his sword.
A sword that did not contain meaning was a dead sword.
Something worse than a knife slitting a chicken’s neck was precisely such a dead sword.
However, that Namgung Cheon was different.
His own standards were clear.
The path of the mind must be determined before the path of the sword could be decided.
‘Yet that boy’s mind path is already decided.’
A true hidden dragon!
A genius capable of dominating an era!
Even the way he fought was wondrous.
He leisurely evaded the incoming enemy blades, rushed in smoothly, and struck hard.
Slash!
The enemy whose throat was deeply cut died instantly in a single blow, unable to even utter a death rattle.
He was practically executing one kill per strike.
It was clean, efficient, and thoroughly for practical combat, like a military sword.
‘Is that the sword art of the Namgung Clan? It is a bit different from what I heard.’
That was only natural.
Currently, Namgung Cheon was using the Namgung Clan’s sword art, but in reality, only its appearance was so; the method of circulating qi was a flow that had been optimized and modified through countless real battles.
Therefore, the sword art was slightly modified to suit real combat, displaying a swordsmanship that was neither lacking nor excessive.
Having eliminated the enemies surrounding him in an instant, Namgung Cheon suddenly snapped his head around and ran over here.
“Huh…? Why…?”
Because he ran over so suddenly, Yeon Chu-ryang muttered in confusion, but Namgung Cheon, who heard that as well, shouted out loud.
“What do you mean why! I’m fighting with my life on the line, and you’re just watching like it’s a fire across the river?”
“N-No. Just for a moment, without realizing…”
“Get it together! This is a war right now!”
“Y-Yes. But why are you speaking informally…”
“What? Are we supposed to die while worrying about manners even in a desperate moment where our lives are at stake?”
Huh, listening to him, it did seem to make sense… but why did it feel worse the more he listened?
Of course, once such a melee unfolded, Namgung Cheon had spoken informally without realizing it, like a habit from his past life.
As Yeon Chu-ryang stammered, Namgung Cheon glanced around the surroundings and asked.
“Smoke bombs!”
“W-What?”
“Where are the smoke bombs?”
“Well…”
When Yeon Chu-ryang glanced at Yi Sa-heum, Yi Sa-heum blocked an enemy rushing at him and shouted.
“We do have smoke bombs, but why?”
“We have them? No, you people! We are so outnumbered, so why on earth are you leaving the smoke bombs unused! Your basic tactics are nonexistent! Are you saving the smoke bombs to use when you grill meat?”
No, could you even grill meat with those? Ah, that was not the problem.
Yi Sa-heum, who suddenly snapped back to his senses, clashed swords continuously with the enemy persistently clinging to him and shouted.
“They are in the black box of the second carriage over there!”
“Tsk! You should have said so earlier!”
Clicking his tongue, Namgung Cheon flew like the wind and mercilessly kicked the chin of the martial artist attacking Yi Sa-heum.
Thud!
The martial artist, blown away by the kick, rolled all the way to a carriage wheel and crumpled haphazardly.
‘Sigh, a divine dragon is indeed a divine dragon.’
As Yi Sa-heum looked back with a blank expression, Yeon Chu-ryang shrugged his shoulders and smirked.
It was because he felt embarrassed for treating Namgung Cheon like a nuisance for no reason.
Meanwhile, Namgung Cheon, who ran straight to the carriage, sliced off the lid of the black box with a thin layer of sword qi.
Crash!
Inside, it was filled with round smoke bombs.
They seemed to have prepared it for a worst-case scenario, mindful of the frequent attacks by the Black Mountain Stronghold.
‘No, then they should have thought of using it! Why leave it to rot like this?’
Namgung Cheon smiled broadly with both hands full of smoke bombs.
A strategy to stop human wave tactics?
Of course, that was also correct.
However, the reason Namgung Cheon had urgently looked for smoke bombs just now was actually different.
That was…
‘Hehe. Madan Valley is… right in front of me… hehehe.’
Barely holding back the laughter trying to escape from his lips, Namgung Cheon began to throw the smoke bombs, scattering them in all directions.
Boom! Bang! Bang!
Along with continuous explosive sounds, a thick, grayish-white mist began to rise.
Since they were literally just for blocking vision, they only made a loud noise and did not actually possess explosive force.
Pshhhhhhh!
As the dense mist suddenly spread throughout the canyon, the people fighting in the tangle could only see the vague figures of others, except for the enemy right in front of them.
Namgung Cheon cheered inwardly.
‘It worked! It worked!’
Now their eyes were covered, and the stage was set.
“Captain!”
As Namgung Cheon called out softly, Azure Eagle Squad Captain Son U-gon appeared suddenly by his side like a ghost.
“Did you call?”
Certainly, the stealth technique of the Azure Eagle Squad was outstanding. Even though they had been together until now, Namgung Cheon could hardly feel him unless he consciously paid attention.
Namgung Cheon nodded and walked over to where the cliff wall was. Then, he suddenly stabbed the gap where the cliff wall met the ground with his Emerald Silk Sword.
Although he even unleashed sword qi and thrust it, the sword did not penetrate any further, blocked by the hard ground and wall.
“……?”
“You saw, right? Poke between the ground and the wall like this, wherever you can find a spot.”
“Yes? Why so suddenly… Ah!”
Realizing something, Son U-gon asked with a glance.
‘This is that place!’
‘If you understand, execute it.’
Son U-gon nodded and replied.
“Understood!”
Simultaneously with his reply, Son U-gon vanished into air once again.
With this, all members of the Azure Eagle Squad would begin to poke the gaps between the cliff wall and the ground indiscriminately.
In any case, in a place filled with killing intent and noise, and with the smoke from the smoke bombs creating a thick fog, no one would notice the movements of the Azure Eagle Squad.
‘Ah, even I think I was too smart this time.’
Namgung Cheon admired himself anew as he plunged the Emerald Silk Sword into the chest of an enemy rushing at him with rolled-back eyes.
Stab!
“Keugh! Cough…”
“You shouldn’t interrupt when a person is in self-admiration.”
Namgung Cheon indifferently pulled out his sword and repeatedly stabbed the gap between the cliff wall and the ground again.
‘It is somewhere here! I’m almost there! Spirit pill, spirit pill…! Hehehe!’
* * *
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Stab!
“Keugh!”
Splat!
Thud!
Yeon Chu-ryang, who was frantically swinging his sword, heaved his shoulders and gasped for breath.
“Haa, haa…!”
Seriously, it was driving him crazy where all these enemies kept coming from.
If Namgung Cheon had not detonated the smoke bombs, it would have been a very difficult fight.
Even so, the Black Mountain Stronghold martial artists poured out endlessly, as if the canyon were conceiving them.
Now, as he moved, his feet stumbled on corpses and injured men quite often.
Fortunately, the majority of them were martial artists from the Black Mountain Stronghold or the Three Peaks Sect.
However, among them were also escorts and members of the Biwol Gate.
Fortunately, the porters who did not know martial arts were relatively safe. Since they were huddled around the carriages loaded with the cargo and only threw smoke bombs occasionally, there was little risk of injury unless the enemy penetrated deeply.
Additionally, since the escorts protecting the cargo were extremely tense and on guard, they were relatively safe.
‘For now, there is hope!’
He felt grateful to Namgung Cheon once again. Had he not instantly turned an absolutely disadvantageous situation into an even match?
Furthermore, the cadets who had come with Namgung Cheon were also quite capable.
Just a moment ago, he had been able to escape a crisis because a cadet named Yun Gyeong cut the neck of an enemy aiming for his back.
‘I looked down on them, thinking their Jianghu experience was shallow. I was trapped by prejudice and failed to see them properly. I still have a long way to go.’
As Yeon Chu-ryang, reflecting on himself, raised his head, he happened to see another cadet swinging his saber over there.
‘That guy is to the point of being chilling.’
Where his gaze landed, Baek Mu-geuk was just splitting a man’s head in half.
Crack!
The head of the enemy, who collapsed just like that, burst like a watermelon.
Baek Mu-geuk looked around blankly with a focusless gaze and muttered.
‘Namgung Cheon. Where is Namgung Cheon?’