Chapter 168: Do You Know Who I Am (2)
Chapter 167 – Do You Know Who I Am (2)
Piiing!
A thin sound brushed past as if cutting the eardrum.
Spurt!
“Keugh!”
The companion standing right next to him clutched his neck and fell, stumbling.
“Eek! Where is it!”
The Black Mountain Stronghold martial artist, gripped by fear, tightly held his saber and constantly looked around.
This was already the third person.
Whenever the thin sound piercing the air rang out, a person fell without fail.
It was the meteor hammer he had only heard of.
In reality, while living in the Jianghu, it was not easy to meet an enemy who used a meteor hammer.
That was because it was that difficult to use.
However, the current enemy was using the meteor hammer quite freely.
“Damn it! Stop hiding and come out!”
Shouting loudly, the Black Mountain Stronghold martial artist slowly approached the fallen companion.
The companion, whose neck was cut long, pointed in one direction with a trembling finger.
‘Damn it, I’m sorry.’
Gnashing his teeth, the Black Mountain Stronghold martial artist slowly bent his waist and grabbed the fallen companion’s sword with his other hand.
“Haa, haa…!”
Restraining his ragged breathing bit by bit, he took a deep breath.
And he quickly threw the sword toward the direction his companion had pointed earlier.
Swish!
The sword disappeared beyond the smoke, trailing a long sound of piercing air.
The Black Mountain Stronghold martial artist opened his eyes wide.
He did not know how accurate the direction pointed by his dying companion would be.
If he was unlucky, another companion might be hit by the sword and get injured or die.
Yet he had to do something right now.
Because he did not know where the meteor hammer would fly from in the blink of an eye.
Clang!
He saw the blade he had just thrown get deflected as sparks briefly flew.
‘A woman?’
Surely, the shadow reflected beyond the smoke at the moment the sparks burst was a woman, not a man.
“Caught you, bitch!”
Dash!
The Black Mountain Stronghold martial artist ran straight toward the direction where the sparks had burst.
Leap!
Instantly kicking off the ground and soaring into the air, he fell toward the woman while striking down his saber vertically.
Whoosh!
Piiing!
In an instant, a chilling sound brushed past his ears.
However, the sound brushing past meant the enemy’s attack had missed.
He should have struck down his saber with a triumphant smile… but?
“Huh…?”
Swish!
Suddenly, were his hands not pulled upward sharply as if tied to something?
‘W-What…!’
Swish!
Whoosh!
This time, his hands tied to something were pulled straight toward the ground.
Thud!
The man, falling straight onto the ground, collapsed miserably with his face crushed.
“Geugh…!”
When the groaning man barely raised his head, he saw a flying dagger flying fiercely toward him.
“Uwaaaaah!”
Although he raised his saber with a scream-like shout, the flying dagger that arrived earlier slit his throat.
Spurt!
“……!”
Spurt!
As blood erupted like a fountain from the slit throat, the man collapsed.
Thud!
In front of the dead man whose eyes were wide open, the woman walked over with light steps.
“Phew. That was slightly dangerous.”
The person who let out a sigh of relief and retrieved the flying dagger was none other than Jin So-hong.
Looking around, she muttered with a slightly worried expression.
“Everyone is okay, right?”
There were too many enemies.
Most of the people suddenly popping out of the smoke were enemies.
She should have met cadets or allies at least once, but they were all enemies.
That was how numerous the enemies were.
Still, looking at the clashing of weapons and shouts resounding from all directions, it did not seem they were being unilaterally pushed back.
In hindsight, this was all thanks to Namgung Cheon.
Since he had set up this last stand and even set off smoke bombs the moment they were surrounded by the enemy.
Even the Escort Leader and the Biwol Gate Leader, who were quite experienced in the Jianghu, had been at a loss in panic over the enemies’ alliance. Meanwhile, only Namgung Cheon had quickly come up with a countermeasure.
‘I do have an eye for people.’
He was definitely a hidden dragon.
Now Jin So-hong found Namgung Cheon more reliable than most masters.
And for good reason, since wasn’t it Namgung Cheon who saved her during the kidnapping incident last time?
In addition, the words he threw out casually sometimes even gave unexpected realizations.
‘If Namgung Cheon really becomes the number one dragon under heaven… and I become the association leader and we get married… Oh my, what am I thinking…’
Jin So-hong, who was spreading the wings of her imagination alone, blushed for no reason and shook her head.
Had she fallen too deep into sweet delusions?
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a chilly sensation rose from the back of her head along with the sound of tearing air.
“Gasp!”
Startled, she quickly turned around and instinctively swung her meteor hammer.
Piiing!
However, was the distance too close?
Stab!
The flying dagger thrown at the enemy embedded itself in his flank, but failed to inflict a fatal wound.
Instead, the bastard thrust his spear toward Jin So-hong with the flying dagger still stuck in his flank.
“Gasp!”
Jin So-hong gasped and tried to quickly retreat, but was the bastard not grabbing the Silver Silkworm Silk and pulling it hard, as if prepared for mutual destruction?
“Ah!”
The long spear rushed toward the chest of Jin So-hong, who was pulled forward reflexively.
Swish!
‘I’m going to die…!’
Stab!
Jin So-hong’s entire body shuddered at the chilling sound of flesh tearing. A split second later, she saw the tip of the spear stopped precariously in front of her chest.
“Ah…”
A sigh mixed with relief and terror escaped her.
Looking up slowly, she saw a sword blade protruding from the chest of the man who had thrust the spear.
Splat!
As the blade moved horizontally to cut the opponent’s body, the enemy fell down while spurting blood.
Thud!
The one standing tall beyond the fallen enemy was none other than Bi Ryang.
Surely, even though he had worn an ice-cold expression at the moment the enemy collapsed, he smiled brightly upon seeing Jin So-hong, as if he had never done so.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah… yes…”
“You shouldn’t think about other things during battle.”
Bi Ryang spoke gently, as if advising her.
She wondered if this person was indeed the one who had pierced the enemy’s heart and torn half of his upper body just moments ago.
“No injuries?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
“What about the other cadets?”
“I don’t know. They are scattered, so who is fighting where…”
“Yes. Don’t worry too much. They are all capable fellows anyway.”
“Yes. But at this rate, won’t the battle become difficult? There seem to be too many enemies.”
“Hmm. It’s fine. Because we have a secret weapon.”
“A secret weapon?”
Jin So-hong flinched and looked back at Bi Ryang.
‘As expected, did the instructor know?’
Well.
Isn’t Namgung Cheon the winner of the Joint Conference?
She wasn’t the only one who recognized that talent.
Huh? But wait! The person who passed by over there just now looked like Namgung Cheon?
While Jin So-hong quickly flew off, Bi Ryang shrugged his shoulders and said.
“Yes. It seems it is time to tell you. But don’t tell anyone. Actually, I am from the Martial Alliance’s Biseon Land… Huh? So-hong? Where are you going?”
Watching the back of Jin So-hong disappearing into the smoke, Bi Ryang asked pitifully.
But no answer returned.
Instead, Jin So-hong constantly looked around to find Namgung Cheon, who had passed by nearby just now.
Then, she bumped into someone standing behind her.
Startled, she spun around, and was there not an old man dressed entirely in black standing upright?
‘Gasp!’
In an instant, Jin So-hong could not even breathe.
The thick evil qi radiating from the opponent’s entire body!
He was definitely an expert of the unorthodox path.
‘Who is he…?’
Was such a master mixed among the enemies?
It was a moment where her entire body stiffened, feeling like a mouse in front of a viper.
The Black Daoist glanced at Jin So-hong with sharp eyes and sneered.
“Child, since you did not block my path, I will let it go.”
“Ah…”
Whoosh!
The next moment, the Black Daoist vanished from before Jin So-hong’s eyes like a lie. It happened so cleanly that it felt like she had dreamed for a brief moment.
‘I don’t know what it is… but something is happening here right now!’
Otherwise, there was no way such a master as the one just now would appear.
‘What’s going on? Is it related to you, Namgung Cheon?’
Jin So-hong’s gaze, having lost direction, wandered disorientedly through the smoke.
* * *
“It is here, Lord!”
Looking at the place she had followed Cha Mu-jin to, there was indeed a molehole-like opening barely large enough for one person to enter, where the cliff wall met the ground.
Son U-gon and the other members of the Azure Eagle Squad were also gathered.
Son U-gon observed the entrance and said.
“It seems we will slide down because of the slope.”
“Good job. Now let’s enter.”
“Lord, we will enter first! Since we do not know what kind of traps might be there.”
“Forget it. I told you, right? I don’t trust anyone.”
“We told you that you can trust us. So… Huh? Lord!”
Before Son U-gon could speak further, Namgung Cheon threw his body and vanished into the hole.
Startled, Son U-gon quickly threw his body into the narrow entrance and shouted.
“We follow as well!”
“Understood!”
The Azure Eagle Squad members replied in unison and threw themselves into the narrow hole one by one.
It was a gap barely wide enough for one person, but as expected of those with tight organizational skills, they entered rapidly in sequence.
Meanwhile, Namgung Cheon, who had entered first, was sliding endlessly down the dark, molehole-like path.
Slide!
‘Damn it, what kind of entrance is made like this?’
This was truly unexpected.
No matter how much Madan Valley was built by the Demonic Cult for emergencies during difficult times, shouldn’t the Heavenly Demon have some dignity?
Yet the Heavenly Demon was sliding down a molehole while getting covered in dirt like this?
A Heavenly Demon sliding down a tunnel.
It was absolutely unimaginable.
‘In front of greed, there is no damn dignity.’
Yet on second thought, if it was the Heavenly Demon, he probably didn’t need to enter directly.
He would use his subordinates.
Relying on what?
No doubt he would plant gu poison in them or something.
Since the time sliding down grew long, Namgung Cheon was thinking of all sorts of things.
After sliding like that for a long time, at some point the ground beneath his feet vanished and he felt himself floating.
“Huh…?”
This was not floating…
“I’m falling!”
Namgung Cheon flailed his arms and legs, but in a situation where the fall had already begun, it was of no use.
Whoosh, crash!
Namgung Cheon, who tumbled straight onto the hard ground, let out a groan.
“Ouch…! Damn it, what kind of entrance is built like this! At least Madan Valley should have dignity! Dignity! Where on earth did the Heavenly Demon sell his dignity…!”
“Uwaaaaah! Loooooord!”
A sorrowful voice echoing from above his head.
When Namgung Cheon raised his head, a dark shadow was falling.
“Yikes!”
Crash!
As Namgung Cheon quickly dodged to the side, Son U-gon crashed directly onto the ground, letting out a groan.
“Ugh… you are too much…”
“Did you want me to be crushed to death under you? How wicked.”
“Th-That’s not it, but…”
Before Son U-gon’s words could continue, sounds of thudding down began to resound successively from here and there.
“Keugh!”
“Aaargh!”
It was the members of the Azure Eagle Squad.
Before they knew it, the surroundings were filled with the groans of the Azure Eagle Squad members.