Chapter 91: Cut-off Section (2)
Chapter 90 – Cut-off Section (2)
There were two absolute rules for the refuges used by public enemies of the Martial World in times of emergency.
Namely, preparing an emergency exit and creating a cut-off section.
A cut-off section was, literally, used for the purpose of blocking pursuers by easily collapsing the refuge, and the pillar that Namgung Cheon had just collapsed was that very cut-off section device.
Even though the ceiling was caving in and the ground was shaking as if an earthquake had struck, Jin So-hong did not wake up.
It seemed they had fed her a fairly strong drug.
Although it was inside a cave where not a single ray of light entered due to the collapsed ceiling, Jin So-hong’s sleeve buttons emitted a faint glow, allowing him to roughly survey the surroundings.
‘It seems they carved night-glowing pearls to make buttons. A wealthy family is indeed different.’
Namgung Cheon first untied the bound ropes and slapped Jin So-hong’s cheek.
Slap!
“…….”
Slap!
“Mmh……!”
Slap!
“It hurts……!”
Only after being slapped on the cheek three times did Jin So-hong finally seem to barely regain consciousness.
However, seeing how her eyes were still wandering out of focus, it was clear that she could not easily shake off the drug’s effects.
Namgung Cheon supported Jin So-hong and sat her up.
“Wake up and circulate your qi. You have to go home. Your father is waiting.”
“Mmh…… I’m sleepy…….”
“Go to sleep if you want to get slapped again.”
“You…… just wait and see…….”
Jin So-hong glanced at Namgung Cheon even in her half-awake state.
Namgung Cheon chuckled and placed both hands on Jin So-hong’s back.
Hummmm.
In an instant, a grand energy began to permeate into Jin So-hong’s back through Namgung Cheon’s palms.
At that moment, Jin So-hong also felt her mind clear up slightly and focused on circulating her qi.
Rustle, rustle……!
Small vibrations still remained in the ceiling, dropping dirt crumbs.
The energy emitted by Jin So-hong and Namgung Cheon’s energy met in the Governing Vessel, passed through the Baihui acupoint, and began to flow into the Conception Vessel.
The internal energy, having completed the Great Heavenly Cycle, flowed through the Twelve Meridians again, purifying the fine meridians.
As the internal energy began to circulate smoothly, turbid qi left with her exhalations, and clean air entered with her inhalations.
However, it was not very clean air.
Since this place was already an underground cave with one of its entrances blocked, it was difficult to expect completely clean air.
Even so, simply expelling the turbid qi from her body was enough to counteract the effects of the drug.
“Hwooooo!”
Letting out a long breath, Jin So-hong finally opened her eyes wide.
A sharp light gleamed in her eyes.
Namgung Cheon, who had been focusing only on circulating his qi for a long time, also opened his eyes and withdrew his hands.
“How do you feel?”
“Thanks to you, my body feels lighter.”
Jin So-hong glanced back at Namgung Cheon.
Was this already the second time she owed him her life?
“Thank you.”
“Let’s go.”
Namgung Cheon sprang up from his seat.
Jin So-hong smiled faintly at his retreating back.
“Okay.”
She did not ask.
Why Namgung Cheon had come to rescue her.
Because she felt she could know without asking.
‘Father must have asked him.’
By now, the Martial Alliance would have been turned upside down because of her kidnapping.
However, her father would have trusted Namgung Cheon more than the Martial Alliance. After all, the way her father looked at Namgung Cheon was already the gaze reserved for a hidden dragon.
In another sense, her father’s choice could be considered wise.
If he had relied on the Martial Alliance, even if she escaped safely, the Myriad Gold Merchant Association would have had no choice but to cooperate unconditionally with the Martial Alliance.
Moreover, it was her father’s nature to always repay a debt once he owed one.
Therefore, they would have had to support the Martial Alliance with astronomical sums of money, no matter what the Alliance did in the future.
However, Namgung Cheon was different. He was merely a cadet.
Of course, in a situation where he had lost his daughter, her father wouldn’t have considered such a fact, but in the end, it resulted in an economic benefit as well.
‘Seeing how I’m making such calculations even in this situation, I really must have inherited a merchant’s blood.’
Jin So-hong heard the general situation while moving along with Namgung Cheon for quite a while.
From the fact that there were eight masked men in total, two of whom had died, to the fact that the Blue Wave Corps and the Gale Squad were surrounding the outside.
Then, at some point, a fork in the path unexpectedly appeared in the tunnel. It was obvious to anyone that both paths of the fork bore clear signs of being man-made.
“Which way do we go?”
When Jin So-hong asked, Namgung Cheon curled the corners of his mouth.
“In cases like this, one side is used as an emergency exit. As you can see, this is a refuge that was built quite a long time ago. In other words, it means it’s not a place hastily made while fleeing.”
“Yes. I get that.”
“It’s a place created by someone to hide in when in a hurry, just like those who have to run from the Martial Alliance set up safe houses here and there. It’s also commonly called a toad house.”
“I see.”
But how do you know these things so well?
While Jin So-hong thought to herself, Namgung Cheon continued speaking.
“The reason it’s called a toad house is because it can be collapsed at any time. And among the public enemies of the Martial World, it’s an unwritten rule to prepare at least two access routes in a toad house. If you make a mistake, you might get cornered with no way out and end up destroying yourself.”
“So that means one side is the emergency exit. Then what about the other side? Is it a trap?”
Namgung Cheon shook his head.
“There’s no reason to make a trap in a toad house. If they had the energy for that, they would think about running one step further. From a fugitive’s perspective, even if they kill a few guys, a few more will just be reinforced to follow them anyway.”
“Then what is it?”
“An escape route.”
Namgung Cheon’s eyes gleamed.
Whoever built this place, it was clear he had a very meticulous personality.
Jin So-hong opened her eyes wide and asked.
“You mean there are two exits? Then?”
“Yes. But one is a true escape route, and the other should be seen as an emergency entry path.”
“If it’s an entry path…… that means someone can enter from the outside as well.”
“Right.”
“While the other one is only for going out.”
“Exactly. You’re quick to understand. Based on long experience, the left is the entry path, and the right is the escape route.”
Don’t you think you’re a bit too young to speak of long experience?
However, Jin So-hong could soon understand the meaning behind Namgung Cheon’s words.
Because compared to the left passage, the right one had absolutely no traces of people passing through.
Jin So-hong turned her gaze to the left.
“Then we should go to the left.”
“No. We are going to the right.”
“Huh? Why? Shouldn’t we go to the entry path so the Gale Squad or the Blue Wave Corps can greet or help us?”
“That might be so. But I don’t want to make porridge only to feed it to a dog.”
“Make what…… and feed it to whom?”
“Anyway, there is such a thing.”
After speaking, Namgung Cheon moved his steps to the right.
As Jin So-hong followed him in a daze, Namgung Cheon soon cut down the wooden pillar installed at the corner of the fork with the Emerald Silk Sword.
Slash!
Rumble!
Sure enough, the ceiling caved in and the passage was completely buried.
Seeing that, Jin So-hong could not help but grow tense. No matter how much she trusted Namgung Cheon, seeing the ceiling collapse and the path block right before her eyes made a faint fear rise within her.
“There really is an escape route, right?”
“Nine times out of ten.”
“Then that means there is a one or two out of ten chance it isn’t there?”
“Like a merchant, risk your fate on the side with the higher probability. After all, you can’t reverse the collapsed ceiling now.”
Namgung Cheon casually spoke and walked off with heavy steps.
Jin So-hong only blinked her eyes as she stared at Namgung Cheon’s back.
‘No, why is this kid acting like someone who has spent decades doing nothing but running away?’
* * *
Murong Sin’s eyebrows twitched. The Vice Leader’s expression also faltered, and the members of the Blue Wave Corps, whose senses were sharp, also furrowed their brows and looked back inside the waterfall.
Among the cadets, Yu Hyeon was the only one to show a reaction.
“Just now…….”
As Yu Hyeon looked back toward the waterfall, Paeng Su-hyeok, who had been waiting anxiously, quickly approached.
“Why? What is it? Is it Namgung Cheon? Where? I don’t see him?”
“Some sound……”
“What sound? I can’t hear anything but the sound of the waterfall.”
Certainly, because they were near the waterfall, most sounds were buried under the sound of the falling water and could not be heard.
However, Yu Hyeon had definitely heard it.
He looked up at Murong Sin, who was standing on a boulder, and asked.
“Commander, didn’t you hear an explosion just now? It seems like something went wrong.”
Instead of answering, Murong Sin merely stared intently inside the waterfall with furrowed brows.
He, too, had definitely heard it.
It was not an explosion, but the sound of something collapsing.
‘Surely the cave couldn’t have collapsed. Did the Gale Squad enter?’
But he soon shook his head.
Unless the Gale Squad had gone mad, they would not act on their own.
“We need to look into it.”
As Murong Sin muttered quietly, Paeng Su-hyeok quickly stepped forward.
“Then please send me this time! I will go check the situation!”
“No. The Vice Commander will go this time.”
“Understood!”
At that, Paeng Su-hyeok spoke up in a huff.
“Why not me? You sent Namgung Cheon!”
“Are you the same as Namgung Cheon?”
“That is……!”
At the words that deeply wounded his pride, Paeng Su-hyeok heavily furrowed his brow.
However, from Murong Sin’s perspective, he only needed to get rid of Namgung Cheon, who was a thorn in the Alliance Leader’s side.
There was no need to let Paeng Su-hyeok in as well and make things more complicated.
In any case, the fact that Namgung Cheon had not returned yet was not a bad sign.
It must mean he had been dealt with for sure.
“Vice Commander, go check the situation and see if Jin So-hong is safe. If possible, rescue her.”
“Understood!”
The best scenario was for them to eliminate Namgung Cheon and escape the refuge, leaving only Jin So-hong behind.
Of course, since the Gale Squad was stationed at the emergency exit, escaping would not be easy, but there were plenty of excuses to pull them back.
‘Rather than resorting to silencing them, that would make the calculations cleaner for both sides.’
Murong Sin’s gaze as he looked at the waterfall grew cold.
* * *
“Dammit!”
As one of the masked men punched the wall, dirt crumbs fell from the ceiling with a thud.
The one-eyed man twitched his single eye and glared at the blocked wall.
He could not comprehend this situation that had occurred in an instant, but he had to think of a countermeasure first.
The hostage they were supposed to hold had vanished, and the target they were supposed to kill had escaped alive.
One of his subordinates spoke in a rough voice.
“That brat knew from the beginning that there was an exit inside as well! It seems we’ve been betrayed!”
“He was said to be a cadet, but could he actually be a member of the Blue Wave Corps?”
That was not the case.
The one-eyed man knew Namgung Cheon.
He was a rising star who had appeared like a comet in this Joint Conference and began to draw attention.
Already in Wuhan, there were those who praised Namgung Cheon, calling him a divine dragon.
But no matter how much of a divine dragon he was……
‘To act so quickly and calmly in such an urgent situation?’
A martial artist’s natural talent was important, but experience was just as crucial.
Yet Namgung Cheon acted like someone who had rolled around the bottom of the Jianghu for decades.
He had instantly recognized him as the leader and had even seen through the cut-off section and the emergency exit. He had known how to negotiate for the hostage, and had also known how they would react.
He was not a martial artist who merely put on airs with a prestigious clan backing him, but seemed like a true master of real combat who had experienced all kinds of hardships.
Could this really be a coincidence?
No way!
Unless he had received special training from the Martial Alliance.
‘These bastards…… how dare they betray us?’
He should have sensed something off from the unscheduled deployment of the cadet.
He should have found it strange that they suddenly asked him to kill a cadet.
One of the subordinates approached the one-eyed man and spoke.
“It is clearly a scheme to silence us. Since they have retrieved Jin So-hong, they have no reason to keep us alive anymore.”
The one-eyed man’s eye flashed.
“Silence us? Whom do they dare try to silence? Those bastards……”
Just then, another subordinate ran over and handed him a letter.
“It was sent by the Blue Wave Corps.”
The letter, which the one-eyed man snatched away, stated that the Vice Commander was coming inside to negotiate.
The one-eyed man’s single eyebrow twitched fiercely.
“What kind of trick is this?”
“Could it be that they also didn’t anticipate this situation?”
“That the cadet acted on his own?”
“Is that…… too much of a stretch?”
The one-eyed man shook his head.
“Either way, the result is the same. Once they realize we lost Jin So-hong, they will attempt to silence us.”
“……!”
“So, we are still holding Jin So-hong captive. Do you understand what I mean?”
“I understand.”
“And once the Vice Commander of the Blue Wave Corps comes in…… we’ll have to prove that we won’t die quietly.”
As the one-eyed man’s single eye spewed a certain malice, the other subordinates also nodded with expressions of determination.
The one-eyed man let out a chilling voice.
“The longer the journey, the more companions you have, the better.”