Chapter 88: One Who Possesses Money (2)
Chapter 87 – One Who Possesses Money (2)
There was only one reason Namgung Cheon joined the Blue Wave Corps.
It was to share information.
Finding Jin So-hong in the vast Mount Mulan was by no means an easy task.
That was why he had made a somewhat unreasonable demand in order to share the information obtained by the Gale Squad, which was composed of tracking experts.
Sure enough, the Gale Squad’s tracking skills were extraordinary.
They deduced the target’s whereabouts by analyzing the direction in which branches were broken, faint footprints or blade marks, and even the traces of animals.
Watching their tracking skills from right beside them, Namgung Cheon inwardly shook his head in amazement.
‘No wonder they clung to me so tenaciously in my past life, no matter how desperately I ran away.’
They were truly persistent bastards.
If there were traces of beasts, they were clues; if there were none, that too was a clue.
Was that not why people said that even a passing breeze was a clue to the Gale Squad?
They were people who could find dozens of clues and discuss them even if they stopped at a specific place for just a brief moment.
“Are you sure they are staying on Mount Mulan?”
“Yes, since the Heavenly Net Corps has surrounded Mount Mulan, there is no doubt about it.”
Murong Sin silently nodded at Cho Rip-pyo’s answer.
Meanwhile, Paeng Su-hyeok, who had overheard their conversation from a short distance away, clicked his tongue.
“To think even the Heavenly Net Corps stepped in. This is a much larger real-combat-like trial than I thought, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. We must be careful not to become a nuisance. Hwa-ya, you must also move cautiously.”
“Yes, Sahyung.”
Yu Hyeon and Ju Yeon-hwa exchanged determined looks.
If the Gale Squad was the Martial Alliance’s representative tracking squad, the Heavenly Net Corps was a specialized group that trapped or monitored enemies. It was rumored that even a single ant would find it difficult to escape the inescapable net they spread.
‘Of course, I have escaped it a few times myself.’
However, Namgung Cheon had also never escaped the inescapable net unscathed in his past life.
“Anyway, to think even the Heavenly Net Corps would step in. The Martial Alliance is quite serious. I thought they wouldn’t care about a single cadet being kidnapped.”
“Because she is not an ordinary cadet.”
At Namgung Cheon’s words, Paeng Su-hyeok raised his eyebrows high.
“Huh? Not ordinary? Is there anyone else in the world who is the very definition of ordinary like Jin So-hong?”
“Even though she disguised her appearance to look ordinary, her identity as the daughter of the Gold King is by no means ordinary.”
“……”
For a moment, Paeng Su-hyeok froze like a stone. Ju Yeon-hwa, who stood next to him, also gaped and did not budge.
As if in unison, the two of them shouted loudly.
“Wh-what?!”
“What?!”
Their voices were so loud that even the members of the Blue Wave Corps, who were observing the situation from quite a distance away, frowned and looked back in their direction.
Only then realizing their mistake, the two of them lowered their voices significantly and demanded of Namgung Cheon.
“The daughter of the Gold King?! Who? Don’t tell me Jin So-hong is the daughter of the Gold King? The wealthiest man in Jiangnan, the Gold King? The Immortal of Myriad Gold, the Gold King?”
“Is that true? That sister is the daughter of the Myriad Gold Merchant Association Leader? Really?”
When Namgung Cheon looked back at her with an absurd expression instead, Ju Yeon-hwa shook her head vigorously and turned to Yu Hyeon.
“Sahyung! Why aren’t you surprised?”
“Hmm? Is that something to be surprised about? I thought everyone already knew.”
“Eeehk! Why?!”
“There is no reason for the Gold King to attend the Joint Conference when he has no connection to it, is there? Moreover, he observed every single duel up until now. It would be different if it were just for one day, but…”
“B-but still!”
“The fact that he went out of his way to watch from the general seating, rather than the VIP seats, must mean there was a cadet he wanted to watch. And shouldn’t you be able to tell who that is just by looking closely at the Gold King’s expression?”
“H-how could that be? What did I even look at? Why did I just think the Gold King came to watch?”
“Haha, is the Gold King someone with nothing to do like you?”
As Ju Yeon-hwa wrapped her hands around her head in a sense of self-deprecation for some reason, Yu Hyeon patted her shoulder.
“Hwa-ya, observing people well is also a very important virtue for a martial artist. To think you are that dull… tsk tsk.”
“Che, Sahyung, you are too much. It’s not like I was the only one who didn’t know. Isn’t that right, Young Hero Paeng?”
“I already knew, Lady Ju.”
Paeng Su-hyeok spoke with an exceptionally serious expression, gathering all the solemnity he could muster.
“I only… displayed that kind of… reaction because I was afraid you would be too embarrassed if you realized that you were the only one who didn’t know, Lady Ju.”
“Ah, yes. Yes.”
“I’m serious!”
“Let’s say it’s so.”
Just as Ju Yeon-hwa was glossing it over while feeling a deep sense of betrayal, a member of the Gale Squad approached at a rapid pace from afar.
He soon arrived swiftly before Cho Rip-pyo and Murong Sin and fell to one knee.
“We have narrowed down the location!”
“Where is it?”
“It is about twelve li to the northeast.”
“Lead the way.”
“As you command!”
Soon, the Gale Squad members and the Blue Wave Corps members began to move in unison.
Ju Yeon-hwa, who was moving along with them, called out to Paeng Su-hyeok, who seemed dazed for some reason.
“Young Hero Paeng? What are you doing? Aren’t you going to move?”
“Ah? Ah, I’m coming.”
Snapping out of it late, Paeng Su-hyeok chased after the group.
He muttered, still with a half-dazed face.
“My goodness, to think Jin So-hong was the daughter of the Gold King… This is a much bigger incident than I thought, isn’t it?”
By the way, if he saw Jin So-hong again, would he be able to treat her as ordinarily as before?
‘No, but why did the daughter of the Gold King enter the Dragon Heaven Academy? She could have gone to a much better place.’
Paeng Su-hyeok’s doubts only continued to grow.
* * *
“The traces cut off from here.”
At the Gale Squad member’s report, Cho Rip-pyo narrowed his eyes and curled the corners of his mouth.
For any ordinary tracking squad, failing to find traces of a runaway would mean they had hit a wall.
However, it was different for the Gale Squad.
The traces no longer continued.
That meant the enemy was staying within a radius of a hundred zhang from the last trace.
Underlying this was their confidence that there were no traces the Gale Squad could not find.
“Where is the suspicious area?”
“If you go a little further to the northwest, there is a waterfall.”
“Let’s go.”
Sure enough, at the place where the Gale Squad and the Blue Wave Corps moved, a stream of water was pouring down refreshingly from a cliff, and the terrain was quite difficult to approach, as it was surrounded by cliffs near the pool.
“It is over there.”
Standing on a large rock, Murong Sin, the Leader of the Blue Wave Corps, said while looking directly at the waterfall.
Although it was not clearly visible due to the dark night and the pouring stream of water, a dark cave was faintly visible inside the waterfall.
As soon as Murong Sin’s words fell, the Blue Wave Corps members positioned themselves to surround the waterfall in unison and tightened their guard.
Among them, the Fourth Squad of the Blue Wave Corps loaded arrows into their crossbows, sharpening their aura as if they would shoot at any moment.
The Blue Wave Corps was composed of four squads in total, and the Fourth Squad was the one made up of archers.
As quite a bit of time passed, Paeng Su-hyeok, who had been merely watching, stepped forward out of frustration.
“How long are we going to just watch like this? Since we found the place where those rat-like bastards are hiding, we should raid it immediately!”
“You know nothing. The opponent holds a hostage. The hostage’s safety is the top priority rather than capturing them.”
At Murong Sin’s cold response, Paeng Su-hyeok huffed and replied.
“That may be so, but we can’t just sit around and wait forever, can we?”
“Hmm…”
Murong Sin groaned and cast a glance at Namgung Cheon, who stood in a corner.
Namgung Cheon was carefully examining the surrounding features of the terrain.
Murong Sin curled the corners of his mouth slightly and walked over to Namgung Cheon.
“How about it? Would you like to go in?”
Namgung Cheon turned his head and looked at Murong Sin.
At that, Paeng Su-hyeok flared up and stepped forward.
“No, I was the one who brought it up, so why does the opportunity go to that guy? I will go in! To see what those bastards are up to! No, while I’m at it, I’ll capture them all and bring them back!”
“I am speaking to Cadet Namgung Cheon, who recorded an overwhelming first place in the preliminary rounds.”
As Murong Sin sent a somewhat chilling gaze, Paeng Su-hyeok could no longer argue back and clicked his tongue.
It was a statement that severely hurt his pride, but it was true that Namgung Cheon had recorded an overwhelming first place in the preliminary rounds.
Murong Sin gestured with his chin and said.
“How about it? Since you wanted to be a hero so badly, I will give you an opportunity. Will you go in?”
“Why me?”
“Well, isn’t your lightfoot art the most outstanding among the cadets? According to Captain Cho, your lightfoot art alone is faster than most of the Gale Squad members. It would also be easy for you to run away if need be.”
However, the answer that came out of Namgung Cheon’s mouth was unexpected.
“No.”
“Hmm? Why?”
Murong Sin, who had naturally expected him to step forward, knitted his brows.
Namgung Cheon shrugged his shoulders.
“Naturally, because I don’t want to die.”
“You don’t want to die? Are you afraid you will die if you go in there?”
“Haha. You must not have known, but this guy is originally like this. So, please leave the infiltration mission to me. Aren’t you trying to send just one person anyway because it would be easy to get caught if we rush in as a crowd? My lightfoot art has also improved in its own way…”
Although Paeng Su-hyeok talked eagerly, Murong Sin did not even glance at him and asked.
“What is your reason for thinking so?”
“Because it’s obviously a trap.”
As Namgung Cheon spoke nonchalantly, Paeng Su-hyeok flinched.
“A trap…? A trap?”
“Why do you think it is a trap?”
When Murong Sin asked again, Namgung Cheon let out a soft sigh.
‘I have lived a fugitive’s life for decades; would I fall for such a simple trick?’
Although the entrance appeared to be hidden by the waterfall, that was only because it was currently dark, whereas it was a relatively visible location during the day.
In such cases, those caves were mostly traps rather than real refuges.
In short, rushing in as a crowd to catch the enemy would make one a perfect target to be stabbed in the back.
‘Instead, the cave made into the real refuge is elsewhere.’
It was a characteristic of those who lived in the shadows to always prepare a contingency plan.
Namgung Cheon had been feeling a subtle sense of incongruity ever since he arrived here.
A sight that was somehow unnatural.
An aberration in nature that was hard to perceive at a glance, yet strange.
One could call it a sixth sense, but it was closer to an observational skill naturally acquired through countless experiences.
“Over there.”
The place Namgung Cheon suddenly pointed to with his finger was a tree tilted to the left of where the waterfall flowed.
“The branch extending toward the waterfall is broken, isn’t it? Isn’t that strange?”
An extremely subtle difference.
It was not broken much. Only a few really thin twigs were broken, to the extent that it was difficult to notice even with decent eyesight.
Cho Rip-pyo shook his head.
“Excellent observation. However, it’s not that the main force didn’t check that. The breaking of that twig was already…”
“It was broken a long time ago. Do you mean to say that you have already figured that much out?”
“Mmm. So what is it that you want to say?”
“It is simple. A formation utilizing Qimen Dunjia has been set up here since quite a long time ago.”
“A formation?”
“Of course, the Gale Squad would have also recognized the formation if they had enough time. However, they are tracking specialists, not specialists in breaking formations.”
“Keep going.”
As Cho Rip-pyo quickly spoke up, Namgung Cheon continued.
“Cut away all the twigs over there, and there…”
This time, the direction Namgung Cheon pointed to was on top of the cliff on the exact opposite side. A rock was lying there, roughly the size of a sack of rice.
“You must remove that rock. Whether you drop it into the water or roll it aside, you must remove it anyway.”
“And?”
“You must also clear away the fallen dead tree visible over there. And…”
Namgung Cheon gave a few more instructions besides those.
Formations based on Qimen Dunjia were sometimes extremely simple, often close to optical illusions using geographical features.
Now was precisely such a case.
Having given all the instructions, Namgung Cheon turned to Murong Sin and Cho Rip-pyo and said.
“Once you deal with these things, another cave will become visible. There is a high probability that it is the real refuge. If you still want me to go in then, I will do as you wish.”
“……”
Murong Sin and Cho Rip-pyo could not erase their surprised expressions. Of course, the same went for Yu Hyeon, Ju Yeon-hwa, and Paeng Su-hyeok. All of them gaped and stared at Namgung Cheon.
Particularly, Paeng Su-hyeok wriggled his eyebrows relentlessly, casually thinking of something that would shock Namgung Cheon if he were to hear it.
‘This bastard… how does he know all this? Don’t tell me he was a guy who did nothing but run away to avoid people in his past life?’