Chapter 172: Cormorant Fishing (1)
Chapter 171 – Cormorant Fishing (1)
Cheol-un looked up at Namgung Cheon with a swollen face.
‘Is he a crazy person…?’
Certainly, looking at those two eyes shining uniquely in the darkness, they seemed to glisten with madness.
“I-I get it, so please release this hand.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Keugh!”
As Namgung Cheon applied force to his hand, Cheol-un let out a groan from the surging pain.
Namgung Cheon dragged Cheol-un to the edge of the cliff.
“As expected, I thought wrong. I should have just left you to die. I saved you because I was weak-hearted… and you act like this? Indeed, they say you shouldn’t take in black-haired beasts.”
As Namgung Cheon looked ready to push him down the cliff at any moment, Cheol-un grabbed Namgung Cheon’s hand and clung to it, shouting.
“W-Wait! Spare me! I was wrong! Spare me!”
“I said no, didn’t I? Farewell. In your next life, please only perform good deeds.”
“W-Waaaaait! I know! I know!”
Only then did Namgung Cheon pause and glare at Cheol-un.
“You know what?”
Gulp…!
Cheol-un swallowed his dry saliva and scanned the other cadets as well.
It was definitely only cadets.
The fellow named Bi Ryang was not seen.
Even when he spread his sensory perception, he could not feel if anyone else was there.
‘If it’s only kids… I can find an opening somehow.’
The feared Bi Ryang was not here, but things had gotten a bit tangled.
He had thought that the moment he entered, whoever was inside would either fall down the cliff and die, or enter the fake entrance and suffer to death.
Yet to think that cadets had survived in a place like this.
Moreover, didn’t Namgung Cheon possess a much higher level of martial arts than he had thought?
However, he was still a young cadet.
He would lack Jianghu experience.
If he coaxed and fooled him with appropriate words, an opportunity would surely come.
Cheol-un, organizing his thoughts, took a deep breath and spoke.
“I know a way to get out of here.”
“That won’t be it. Speak clearly. Do you know the way to get out? Or do you know the way to enter?”
Cheol-un’s eyes trembled slightly.
‘So you know after all. That this is Madan Valley!’
He did not know how it came to be, but for now, it was not an atmosphere where he could get away with lies.
Rather than telling a clumsy lie for nothing, it would be better to speak the truth and hide his inner thoughts.
“I know the way to enter.”
“Where?”
“The king’s chambers.”
“What is in there?”
He’s asking despite knowing everything.
Cheol-un snorted inwardly and replied.
“Weren’t you looking for Madan Valley?”
Only then did Namgung Cheon smirk and say.
“Good, then you are worth keeping alive.”
At Namgung Cheon’s words, Paeng Su-hyeok quickly ran over.
“Wait. We don’t know when this guy will aim for our backs, so how can we just spare him blindly?”
“Still, this guy knows the path. He can avoid the mechanical traps.”
“This bastard could also plunge us into a trap, you know?”
At Paeng Su-hyeok’s words, Yu Hyeon, who was only listening, stepped forward cautiously.
“Then how about the cormorant strategy?”
“What is the cormorant strategy?”
As Paeng Su-hyeok looked back, Yu Hyeon smiled gently and continued speaking.
“I thought of it after hearing what Young Hero Namgung said about cormorants in the past.”
Yu Hyeon returned carrying the chain that had fallen to one side.
“This black chain seems to be made of black iron, so it won’t break under ordinary circumstances. Let’s put this around his neck and make him lead the way. So that if a mechanical trap operates by any chance, he will have no choice but to die first.”
It was certainly an effective method.
If they put a leash on him and even tied his hands, it would be difficult for him to have stray thoughts.
Yu Hyeon’s personality had changed in its own way while going through real battles. Especially after seeing Bi Ryang get injured today because of him, he had decided to completely change his mindset.
Unexpected words continued to flow from such Yu Hyeon’s mouth.
“It will also be good to kill him immediately if we think he is doing something foolish. Because his neck will tear off just by infusing internal energy into the chain and pulling it hard. The prey is caught by the cormorant, and the one who takes it becomes the fisherman.”
“…….”
“…….”
The face of Cheol-un, who was listening to the story, turned pale white.
Paeng Su-hyeok, Baek Mu-geuk, and Namgung Cheon also frowned and looked back at Yu Hyeon.
Yu Hyeon tilted his head.
“Why are you all like that?”
“You… the way you think is completely… malicious?”
As Namgung Cheon replied with a distorted face, Yu Hyeon waved his hands in embarrassment.
“Yes? Ah, no. Since this is real combat, coolly rather than emotionally…”
“Woah, I see you in a new light! To pretend to be gentle on the outside and have such harsh thoughts on the inside!”
“Th-That’s…! But since this is real combat… Young Hero Paeng, please say something.”
However, Paeng Su-hyeok had already backed away to some distance and said with a wary look.
“Woah, scary. I also never dreamed such words would come from Daoist Yu Hyeon’s mouth. To tear off the neck…”
No, why are these people suddenly pretending to be gentle! Am I the only trash?
Of course, no one thought Yu Hyeon’s proposal was inappropriate.
Rather, they regarded it as a really good strategy.
It was just that such cruel words flowed from the mouth of Yu Hyeon, who was always gentle and did not even deploy a killing sword properly, so they could not adjust to it.
Namgung Cheon took the chain in one hand and wrapped it around Cheol-un’s neck while saying.
“I got goosebumps all over my body when Daoist Yu Hyeon told us to tear off his neck to kill him.”
Is that something to say while calmly wrapping a chain around my neck!
Cheol-un boiled inside, holding back the curses welling up from within.
Namgung Cheon, who wrapped the chain around his neck so it wouldn’t loosen, only then let go of the interlocked hand, stepped back, and pulled.
“Keugh!”
As the line was pulled taut, Cheol-un clutched his neck and suffered.
“Uh-oh? Put your hands down. You know what happens if those hands go up, right? You heard what Daoist Yu Hyeon said earlier, right? Blood will gush from the torn, tattered part of the neck, and the head and body will act separately.”
“Keugh!”
Controlling his resentful mind, Cheol-un lowered his hands.
He also did not expect the cadets to use such malicious methods. He thought they would be loose due to lacking Jianghu experience.
They say kids these days are scary…
Namgung Cheon held the chain and said.
“Now, cormorant. Lead the way.”
* * *
Splat!
As a heavy sword fell, a Black Mountain Stronghold martial artist rushing toward Yun Gyeong was split diagonally.
Splat!
The man whose upper and lower body were divided diagonally was now nothing more than a lump of meat.
“Ugh…!”
“That monster-like bastard…!”
The Black Mountain Stronghold martial artists hesitated and distanced themselves from Yun Gyeong.
When they encountered a cadet in the smoke, they had cheered inwardly.
Rather than facing a master due to bad luck, it would be easier to cook such a cadet to their heart’s content.
However, the cadet’s level was too high.
‘Is that bastard really a cadet?’
‘How can a mere cadet’s hand be so cruel!’
Yun Gyeong looked at the Black Mountain Stronghold martial artists with cold eyes.
He slowly retreated toward the cliff wall.
The enemy numbers were overwhelmingly high.
At least, he must not leave enemies behind his back.
Yun Gyeong, fully backing against the cliff wall, muttered with a cold smile.
“Seniors, what are you doing? Come on in.”
“Kid, you seem to see nothing since you killed a few people.”
“Correct. I can’t see anything at all because of the smoke bombs. So come on in.”
“Eeek…!”
“Come on in, come on in.”
Yun Gyeong held his sword in one hand and gestured with his other hand, provoking them.
The Black Mountain Stronghold martial artists looked at each other and rushed in simultaneously at once.
“Die!”
“Argiant bastard!”
Dash!
Whoosh!
An axe cuts through the smoke, and a long spear tears the air. Following that, a nine-section whip and a great saber fly in without hesitation.
In an instant, Yun Gyeong seemed to turn his body, then kicked the cliff wall and collided with them using the recoil.
“Haaat!”
As a shout erupted, the Wuji Sword unfolded from Yun Gyeong’s hand.
Whoosh!
As sword qi was emitted horizontally, the four incoming enemies screamed and were blown away simultaneously.
It was the third stance of the Wuji Sword, the Moon-Shattering Sword Wave.
“Gyaaaaah!”
“Aaargh!”
The man who rushed first holding the axe had his upper and lower body completely divided and died instantly, while the remaining three lay sprawled on the floor with their bellies and chests torn more than half.
They were in a state where recovery was impossible.
However, there was no time to look back at the fallen.
“Die!”
Dash!
Tearing through the smoke, a figure soared like lightning.
He was the Three Peaks Squad Leader of the Three Peaks Sect, who had only been watching the battle of the Black Mountain Stronghold martial artists until now.
Since he had felt humiliation when his face was stepped on by Namgung Cheon anyway, he was about to recover his pride by cutting down Yun Gyeong.
Indeed, his movements were agile as expected of a leader leading a squad.
However, Yun Gyeong did not rush. Instead of leaping back, he raised his sword and took a defensive stance.
Simultaneously circulating the Taiyi Divine Art, which was an excellent internal energy method for defense, he displayed the Taiyi Sword Art.
Swish, clang!
“Keugh!”
Using the gap as the Three Peaks Squad Leader, whose sword path was blocked, recoiled back, Yun Gyeong kicked the wall again and dashed out.
“Take this!”
Whoosh!
Deflecting sword qi, the Wuji Supreme Severance stance Yun Gyeong swung fell as if to split the enemy’s forehead.
“Heh!”
Clang!
The Three Peaks Squad Leader, who barely raised his sword to block, retreated stumblingly, feeling his entire body ring numbly.
However, Yun Gyeong’s attack did not end with that.
‘It’s not enough. It’s still not enough!’
At this moment, Yun Gyeong was thinking of Paeng Su-hyeok.
Paeng Su-hyeok had definitely grown during the academy’s recess.
He himself had not been idle either, but Paeng Su-hyeok’s growth was at a level that surpassed him.
If a sparring tournament were held now, and he faced Paeng Su-hyeok?
He could not guarantee victory.
Rather, he felt a sense of crisis that he might lose.
‘I must become stronger! More!’
Jongnam’s heavy sword can never lose to the Paeng Clan’s domineering saber!
Instantly rising slightly, Yun Gyeong deployed the Falling Water Breaking Rock stance.
Whoosh! Crash! Bang!
“Keugh!”
The Three Peaks Squad Leader swallowed his groans and trembled all over.
It was like deflecting a lightning bolt falling from the sky.
At first he thought it was light, but his bones felt like they were breaking all over his body from the successive shockwaves.
It was truly like water droplets drilling through a rock.
Clang!
‘St-Stop…!’
Crack!
Finally, Yun Gyeong’s sword broke the Three Peaks Squad Leader’s sword and stabbed straight down.
In his final moment, the Three Peaks Squad Leader sensed death as he watched the blade falling toward his forehead.
Stab!
Following the chilling sound of flesh tearing, the movements of the Three Peaks Squad Leader, who had a sword embedded in his head, stopped dead.
Phew…!
Letting out a long breath, Yun Gyeong glanced around the surroundings.
Within the smoke, a fierce battle was still going on.
Yun Gyeong, who shook the blood off his sword, spoke to the dead Three Peaks Squad Leader whose head was split open as if advising him.
“As I said, your sword was too light. By nature, a sword must be heavy.”
By the way…
Where did Paeng Su-hyeok go?
Come to think of it, Namgung Cheon also seemed to be missing.
‘Surely they haven’t died already?’
As he was lost in thought with his brow deeply furrowed, he caught sight of Bi Ryang displaying his divine prowess over there.
Yun Gyeong let out a shallow sigh.
‘Seriously, the Jianghu is full of monsters.’