Chapter 90: Cut-off Section (1)
Chapter 89 – Cut-off Section (1)
*Swoosh, thud!*
An arrow that came flying through the darkness lodged itself into a rock by the water.
Just by looking at that, one could guess how profound the internal energy of the shooter was.
A Gale Squad member quickly ran over and checked the letter tied to the arrow shaft.
He quickly ran back and knelt on one knee in front of Murong Sin.
“They say they will agree to the negotiation!”
“Good.”
At Murong Sin’s reply, Namgung Cheon lightly hopped up onto the rock.
“Then, I will be on my way.”
“Wait.”
Cho Rip-pyo called out with a tense expression.
“……?”
“Be careful. Although we gave them advance notice, they are people whose actions cannot be predicted. If anything goes wrong, think about running away. No one will blame you for running away.”
Namgung Cheon stared at Cho Rip-pyo.
In his eyes was sincere worry.
Seeing how much he worried, he was at least someone who had not been tainted by the Alliance Leader.
He was also likely not their insider.
‘But I feel like someone other than you might blame me.’
With a faint smile, Namgung Cheon stole a glance at Murong Sin.
Murong Sin only stood silently with an unreadable expression. Whether he was the one colluding with the enemy or not, it was at least clear that he was not favorable toward Namgung Cheon.
Namgung Cheon concealed his inner thoughts and gave a half-hearted reply.
“I understand. I will escape if anything goes wrong.”
“Yes, good thinking.”
“Then, I am off.”
“Be careful.”
Leaving Cho Rip-pyo’s warning behind, Namgung Cheon lightly leaped forward.
*Tap, tap, tap!*
Executing Water Gliding, he crossed the pool of water and vanished behind the waterfall in an instant.
Seeing that, Cho Rip-pyo shook his head with a dazed expression.
“He is certainly incredible when it comes to movement techniques alone. It would be nice if he joined the Gale Squad.”
At the words murmured like a monologue, Paeng Su-hyeok, who was standing behind him, snorted.
“Do you think he is only outstanding at movement techniques? Honestly, he’s too good to rot in the Gale Squad.”
“What, you punk? Why would he rot in the Gale Squad? Do you know how many people are anxious to join our squad! You brat, watch your tongue!”
As Cho Rip-pyo growled in a furious rage, Paeng Su-hyeok snorted coldly and turned away.
“Why, you…!”
The Vice Leader quickly held back the raging Cho Rip-pyo.
“Calm down, Captain. Well, just as that guy said, Namgung Cheon might be too big a figure for our squad to accommodate.”
“Why are you being like this too?”
“Honestly, don’t you feel it too, Captain? That he is no ordinary fellow.”
“Mmm.”
Cho Rip-pyo followed the Vice Leader’s gaze and looked toward the inside of the waterfall.
Indeed, Namgung Cheon was no ordinary person.
‘How on earth did a guy like him get the nickname of the Dragon Heaven Academy’s official pushover?’
It made no sense, but that was why it was more intriguing.
Was it not a rule that heroes of the Jianghu rejected ordinary stories?
‘Still… don’t overdo it this time. Even an ordinary story is fine. I cannot bear to watch a green cadet die in front of me.’
As Cho Rip-pyo clenched his fists tightly, a Gale Squad member ran over and reported just in time.
“Captain, we have found what appears to be an emergency exit.”
At those words, Murong Sin and the cadets approached.
Ju Yeon-hwa stepped forward abruptly and asked.
“An emergency exit?”
“Just as Namgung Cheon said, this place is not a hastily built shelter. In short, it is a refuge built quite a long time ago. That means there is bound to be another exit to use in an emergency.”
“Ah…!”
Ju Yeon-hwa, as well as Yu Hyeon and Paeng Su-hyeok, could not help but be inwardly impressed.
They thought that they were indeed worthy of the name Gale Squad.
They thoroughly understood the habit of fugitives never to trap themselves in a dead end.
Although the three cadets had not yet officially joined the Alliance, seeing this kind of professionalism from the Martial Alliance organization made their hearts swell with pride.
Cho Rip-pyo asked his subordinate.
“Is it a place we can confirm with a signal flare?”
“Yes, Captain.”
Cho Rip-pyo then turned to Murong Sin and said.
“Our squad will take charge of the emergency exit. We will enter once we confirm the signal flare.”
“Do so.”
As Murong Sin nodded, Cho Rip-pyo led his subordinates and leaped away.
Watching his departing back, Murong Sin climbed back onto the rock and stared blankly at the waterfall.
‘Now, shall I wait a little longer?’
Harboring some other expectation, the corners of Murong Sin’s mouth twitched up slightly.
* * *
Namgung Cheon, who dashed like the wind through the waterfall, squeezed his body into the hidden cave entrance.
*Whoosh!*
As he circulated his internal energy to dry his wet robe, warmth spread through his entire body, making his clothes dry and soft.
Going a bit further along the passage, he found black-masked figures gathered in a fairly wide cavern.
“He really came.”
The bald-headed masked man spat out, looking slightly dumbfounded.
At the same time, two other masked men slipped out and blocked the entrance.
Namgung Cheon scanned the masked men one by one with a calm gaze.
‘That one-eyed fellow is the boss.’
Namgung Cheon identified the leader at once.
This, too, was an intuition born from the experience of his past life. If the one-eyed man was not the boss, he was at least bound to be the most experienced or the one with the most profound martial arts.
The deduction method was simple.
When he entered, all the masked men seemed shaken.
Because their reactions were of surprise that a young cadet had actually appeared.
Some looked relieved, some found it laughable, and some reacted with bewilderment.
But the only person who had remained unshaken from beginning to end was the one-eyed man.
‘Well, it might just be less noticeable because he only has one eye.’
Moreover, the aura he held back was quite extraordinary.
‘That bald head must be the second-in-command.’
Feigning ignorance, Namgung Cheon ignored the one-eyed man, looked at the bald-headed man, and asked innocently.
“Mister, you are bald, yet you wore a mask.”
“What?”
“Ah, I just thought you would need to wear a wig as well to completely hide your identity.”
“No, what is this punk…”
As the bald masked man wore an absurd expression, the other masked men snickered.
However, the bald man soon regained his calm composure and curled the corners of his mouth.
“You are certainly no ordinary kid. So, why did the high and mighty lords outside send a small fry like you in here?”
“They told me to find out what you misters want.”
“What we want?”
“Yes, whether it is money, martial arts manuals, rare weapons… wouldn’t it be something like that?”
When Namgung Cheon spoke with an intentionally more innocent expression, the masked men let out chuckles.
Among them, some even looked at Namgung Cheon with pity.
The bald man groaned and murmured.
“What we want, you say…”
Scratching his chin with his finger, he gestured to an exceptionally large masked man.
“You tell that kid what we want.”
“Yes, brother.”
The giant bowed his head and strode toward Namgung Cheon.
“Kid, what we want is…”
The giant wrapped his large hand around Namgung Cheon’s shoulder.
“Stop!”
The one-eyed man shouted at that moment, but Namgung Cheon had already detected a stream of energy rising from the giant’s dantian.
A dark brown energy.
It was of the wood attribute.
The energy began to surge along the giant’s Hand-Yangming Large Intestine Meridian.
In that split second, Namgung Cheon channeled the metal attribute energy while swiftly striking the opponent’s Quchi acupoint with his thumb.
*Crack!*
“Argh!”
As if his arm had broken, the giant’s arm below the elbow lost all strength and dangled limply.
Since it happened in the blink of an eye, the masked men widened their eyes and flinched.
In the meantime, Namgung Cheon grabbed the giant’s shoulder, twisted it as he slipped behind his back, and mercilessly slit his throat with the Emerald Silk Sword.
*Slash!*
*Spurt!*
Blood sprayed out like a fountain.
The masked men, who had let their guard down because the opponent was a cadet, were dazed by this unrealistic sight, but soon could not contain their rising anger and roared.
“Kill that bastard!”
Namgung Cheon immediately kicked the giant away, the rushing masked men quickly caught the corpse.
Taking advantage of that gap, he lunged forward like a flash of lightning toward the bald-headed man.
“You slippery bastard!”
The bald man swung his sword passionately, but Namgung Cheon ducked low and dodged it.
*Clang!*
As the sword that cut through the empty air lodged into the passage wall, Namgung Cheon struck the bald man’s solar plexus with his elbow.
*Thud!*
“Ack!”
*Swish!*
Slipping behind the bald man in an instant, Namgung Cheon brought the Emerald Silk Sword to his throat.
“Everyone, freeze.”
The masked men rushing toward Namgung Cheon faltered, their eyes blazing.
“You rat-like bastard…!”
The bald man growled, but the cold blade only pressed tighter against his neck.
“Shh. I do the talking.”
“……!”
“Where is my friend?”
At Namgung Cheon’s question, the one-eyed man narrowed his eye.
“Impressive. Astounding. It is a level of skill hard to believe from a cadet. But doing this will not do you any good. Even if you find your friend, will you be able to escape this place?”
“That is my problem to handle.”
“If it is that girl, she is inside over there.”
The one-eyed man gestured with his chin toward the passage behind Namgung Cheon.
With his sword pointed at the bald man, Namgung Cheon slowly backed away.
“Then, let’s go. To find my friend.”
“Let’s do that.”
The one-eyed man slowly began to move his steps.
‘They said they were sending a brat… but they threw in a monster.’
He blamed the letter, but it was his own clear mistake.
It was because he had let his guard down in the first place, seeing how young the cadet was.
Moreover…
‘He knows I am the leader.’
It was surprising.
He probably had barely any experience in the Jianghu, yet he quickly broke through the crisis, took a hostage, and asked while looking straight at him.
It was proof that he had acted innocent while knowing everything from the beginning.
‘I hope it ends here…’
Just his actions so far were surprising enough, but if he acted even more cleverly from here…
Things might get a little complicated.
Suppressing his anxiety, he walked step by step, and finally reached the door where Jin So-hong was locked up.
“That is it.”
When the one-eyed man gestured toward the iron door with his chin, Namgung Cheon chuckled dismissively and gestured back.
“Then go and bring her out.”
He was certainly a clever child. No, he was devious.
He must thoroughly understand that they were in no position to harm the girl.
As the one-eyed man nodded, a subordinate entered the iron door with a very displeased look and dragged Jin So-hong out.
Judging by how limp her body was, she seemed to be unconscious.
Namgung Cheon gestured with his chin.
“This way.”
As the one-eyed man nodded again, the subordinate sent Jin So-hong over as if tossing her.
Since she was unconscious, Jin So-hong collapsed right in front of Namgung Cheon.
With this, Namgung Cheon realized.
“So, Commander Murong was the insider after all?”
For an instant, the one-eyed man’s single eye trembled violently. Though he had been calm throughout, he could not seem to hide his embarrassment this time. That reaction turned Namgung Cheon’s suspicion into certainty.
The one-eyed man asked in a cold voice.
“What are you talking about?”
“Handing So-hong over so easily must mean you intend to somehow find an opening to kill me. Otherwise, there is no way you would have given her up so submissively.”
“……!”
“But what to do? I happen to know the structure of this shelter inside out. And that there is a cut-off section here.”
“You…!”
In that instant, Namgung Cheon slit the bald man’s throat with the Emerald Silk Sword and kicked him away.
“Gack!”
*Spurt!*
As the bald man fell forward, spraying blood like a fountain, the masked men, including the one-eyed man, lost their minds and lunged forward.
“Die!”
However, Namgung Cheon smirked and severed the wooden pillars supporting the side wall with his sword qi.
*Rumble! Crash!*
At that moment, as if by magic, the ceiling collapsed, and massive boulders completely blocked the passage.