Chapter 93: The Tiger's Jaws (1)
Chapter 92 – The Tiger’s Jaws (1)
Jin So-hong, who had drained every last drop of water from the canteen Namgung Cheon handed her, let out a sigh.
“Is there really an exit?”
“It will.”
“But why is it so far?”
“They built a path that pierces through a mountain to ensure it can only be used to exit. A place where entry is impossible. There is no way such a path would be smooth. You wouldn’t know, but digging a tunnel is no easy task.”
“You sound like someone who has actually dug tunnels before.”
He had dug them. A lot.
Because whenever he had free time, digging tunnels to build shelters and establishing safehouses here and there was a sort of hobby of his.
A man who dug the earth like a hobby just to survive—that was Namgung Cheon’s past life.
Jin So-hong asked, as if suddenly remembering something.
“But even if you’re that thorough, are there times when it gets discovered?”
“Of course.”
Namgung Cheon nodded.
In truth, if you made about ten shelters, five of them would become useless.
Sometimes they would collapse on their own due to heavy rain, and other times they would be discovered by snake catchers and become useless.
Of course, it was a different story if it had a sturdy and well-equipped structure like this one.
Most shelters were bound to be much cruder than this.
Jin So-hong shrugged, as if she had many questions, and asked.
“What if you get discovered while staying in a shelter? What if, like now, you can’t use the escape route and the Blue Wave Corps is targeting you?”
“Most fugitives have a ruthless side. So rather than dying alone, they would try to take everyone down with them.”
“How?”
“Didn’t you see anything in the room where you were trapped?”
“Well… it was too dark… There was a bit of a musty smell, but I thought that was just because it was underground… and I think there was something like a wooden box on one side…”
“Then what do you think was in that wooden box?”
“What was in it? Do you know?”
“Just as you said, when things don’t go as planned and you want to die together with everyone, what would you need to have?”
Jin So-hong thought for a moment and then widened her eyes.
“Could it be…?”
“Now that you’ve realized it, this is no time to be standing around, is it?”
“Right! Let’s go quickly!”
Jin So-hong sprang to her feet and started moving.
Watching her go, Namgung Cheon quietly looked back.
‘By now, he must be racking his brain. Blue Wave Corps Leader, you should have known that I wouldn’t just take it lying down.’
Namgung Cheon, wearing a faint sneer, turned around again and followed behind Jin So-hong.
* * *
The subordinate who opened the lid of the wooden box turned to the one-eyed man with a solemn expression.
“There are four Thunderbolt Bombs.”
“Prepare them.”
“As you command!”
The subordinates began to move the Thunderbolt Bombs carefully.
The one-eyed man muttered with eyes that had turned ice-cold.
“Now it is time to create hell. Bring the Vice Leader. I must tell him that Namgung Cheon and Jin So-hong are dead.”
* * *
The sun rose.
Murong Sin stood tall upon a rock, looking as if he had turned to stone.
Paeng Su-hyeok paced back and forth beneath it, unable to hide his anxiety.
Unable to bear it any longer, Paeng Su-hyeok looked up at Murong Sin and shouted.
“No, how long are you just going to wait! I told you I will go in!”
But Murong Sin did not answer.
It was as though he had become a stone statue with his ears blocked and mouth shut.
However, his trembling gaze showed that he was lost in a labyrinth of complex thoughts.
It had already been well over a double-hour since the Vice Leader went in.
He should have returned long ago.
He should have brought news that Namgung Cheon was dead and Jin So-hong was captured.
And yet, he did not return.
There was no news from the one who had left.
The saying that no news is good news did not apply to the Jianghu.
For in the Jianghu, no news was almost always synonymous with death.
In the end, the impatient Paeng Su-hyeok leaped up onto the rock.
“Damn it! I’m going! Don’t stop me!”
Thud!
Murong Sin swung his fist without even looking back, striking Paeng Su-hyeok’s forehead and sending him crashing down below the rock.
“Ugh! Damn it, what are we supposed to do? Seriously! The Vice Leader hasn’t returned, and we don’t even know if Namgung Cheon is dead or alive!”
“Quiet.”
Finally, Murong Sin opened his heavy mouth.
Looking down from atop the rock, his gaze held the freezing wind of a northern winter. Overwhelmed by that intimidation, Paeng Su-hyeok unconsciously shut his mouth tight, only glaring with his eyes.
It was then.
“Leader!”
At the shout, everyone’s gaze turned at once.
“An… an arm!”
The Fourth Squad Leader, who led the archers, pointed to the edge of the water pool.
Once again, everyone’s eyes directed toward something floating down the water’s surface.
Floating in the middle of the spreading crimson blood was someone’s forearm.
Murong Sin quickly flew down and retrieved it.
The First Squad Leader quickly approached and asked.
“Isn’t that the Vice Leader?”
Instead of answering, Murong Sin clenched his teeth with a stiff expression.
Just looking at the severed arm, he could not know for sure if it belonged to the Vice Leader.
However, the enemies would not have cut off their own comrade’s arm to throw it out.
Furthermore, words were even carved into the severed arm.
-A problem has occurred, so we shall renegotiate. The Leader must come in person.
“You must not go in, Leader!”
The Fourth Squad Leader, who had approached at some point, read the message and spoke.
The First and Second Squad Leaders agreed.
“It’s too dangerous!”
“We must not move until we know what those bastards are plotting!”
Faced with his subordinates’ protests, Murong Sin stared at the waterfall with a sunken gaze and asked,
“Then is there any other way?”
“It is certain that something happened to the Vice Leader. This arm is undoubtedly the Vice Leader’s as well. It would be better to collapse the cave with explosives to bury them…”
“What kind of bullshit is that!”
At the sudden shout, the Fourth Squad Leader, who was offering his opinion, frowned and turned around.
“What?”
“Namgung Cheon might still be alive in there! And that arm might not even be the Vice Leader’s! What about Jin So-hong?”
“Even so, it is dangerous for the Leader to enter! One cannot stick their head into the tiger’s mouth!”
“Then what about Namgung Cheon, who already stuck his head in? Did he stick his head in because he’s a fool?”
“You…!”
As Paeng Su-hyeok spoke sarcastically, the Fourth Squad Leader roared in anger.
However, Murong Sin quickly raised his hand to stop him, leaving him to only gnash his teeth.
“I will go.”
“Leader!”
“We absolutely cannot bury them without rescuing Jin So-hong.”
“But…!”
“We must find out what is happening first. Is there any other way?”
“…….”
When the Fourth Squad Leader could not reply any further, the First Squad Leader quickly stepped forward.
“Then the First Squad will escort you!”
“No. Too many.”
“But…!”
“If this is a trap as you say, fifty people will be in danger.”
“Then only half of us will go!”
As the First Squad Leader spoke with a firm expression, Murong Sin thought for a moment, then raised his head and replied,
“Ten people. No more than that.”
“……Understood.”
Reading the unyielding stubbornness in Murong Sin’s expression, the First Squad Leader stepped back obediently.
Once the members to enter the cave were selected, Murong Sin stood atop the rock.
“Fourth Squad Leader.”
“Yes, Leader!”
“Keep a close eye, and if the enemies appear, annihilate them. And if anything unusual occurs, fire a signal flare to authorize the entry of the Gale Squad.”
“As you command!”
“First Squad Leader.”
“Yes, Leader!”
“The stage of negotiation has passed. Once we enter, you may kill any enemy you see. First, our goal is to rescue cadet Jin So-hong. Once we secure her, withdraw without looking back.”
“As you command!”
“Then let’s go.”
Whoosh!
In an instant, Murong Sin leaped like the wind, and the ten warriors followed behind him like birds.
Watching them with tension, Paeng Su-hyeok glanced back at Yu Hyeon.
“Young Taoist, what do you think is the worst-case scenario?”
“…….”
As Yu Hyeon kept silent with a serious expression, Ju Yeon-hwa chimed in.
“Senior Brother, I’m curious too.”
“Well… it must never happen, but it would be the case where Young Master Namgung and Young Lady Jin are already dead. In that case, they might use explosives to die together.”
“……!”
Startled, Paeng Su-hyeok and Ju Yeon-hwa looked at each other.
This was because they had not thought of explosives.
Paeng Su-hyeok quickly asked,
“If those bastards use explosives… Leader Murong and the members of the First Squad…”
“It would literally be like sticking their heads into the tiger’s mouth.”
“So that’s why only ten people…”
“They are the Blue Wave Corps. They must have undergone countless training sessions and actual battles. They are likely prepared for the kind of situation I’ve thought of to some extent.”
Still, that doesn’t mean there won’t be casualties…
Swallowing the last words that came to mind, Yu Hyeon stared blankly at the members of the Blue Wave Corps disappearing inside the cave.
Murong Sin moved inside the natural cave with his subordinates, suppressing their presence as much as possible.
Finally, a relatively wide cavern appeared, and a faint groan was heard from a corner.
As Murong Sin made a hand signal, the First Squad Leader quickly moved forward holding a torch.
Indeed, a heavily battered warrior lay collapsed in a corner of the cavern, and upon closer inspection, it was the Vice Leader.
“Vice Leader!”
The First Squad Leader turned the Vice Leader’s body to sit him up. The Vice Leader was barely holding onto life.
Murong Sin furrowed his brow and asked,
“Namgung Cheon and Jin So-hong?”
“Both… of them… are dead… You must escape… from here… quickly…”
Murong Sin’s eyes trembled.
Both of them were dead? How?
However, now was not the time to question it.
The Vice Leader was warning him to escape this place.
As Murong Sin whipped around, to his surprise, a black-clothed warrior flew in like a bird from the direction of the entrance.
‘Why from the entrance…!’
Before Murong Sin even had time to be surprised, the black-clothed warrior let out a scream-like shout.
“Die! Blue Wave Corps Leader!”
“It’s explosives! Block him!”
Just as the First Squad Leader shouted, the black-clothed warrior had a Thunderbolt Bomb strapped to his chest.
In an instant, the Blue Wave Corps members lunged at the black-clothed warrior, regardless of the danger.
Slash!
“Aaagh!”
A Blue Wave Corps member collapsed, flipping over, at the blade swung by the black-clothed warrior.
However, those belonging to the First Squad of the Blue Wave Corps were the elite of the elites who had undergone high-level training.
As they rushed him all at once, the black-clothed warrior could no longer withstand it and ended up sprawled on the ground.
“Leader! Escape!”
The First Squad Leader shouted.
The Thunderbolt Bomb held to the chest of the black-clothed warrior would easily be enough to collapse a cave.
Leaving his subordinates behind in a death trap and pulling back was humiliating, but it was an unavoidable situation.
If they hesitated, it would truly end up as a dog’s death.
Murong Sin clicked his tongue and quickly ran out of the cave.
The First Squad Leader quickly covered the black-clothed warrior with his body and shouted,
“You guys get out of here too!”
“S-Squad Leader…!”
“Hurry!”
At the First Squad Leader’s command, the members each pulled back and began to run.
The wild laughter of the black-clothed warrior rang out loudly inside the cave.
“Bwahahaha! You sons of bitches! You are all dead!”
At the end of the scream-like shout, the explosives detonated.
Boooooom!!!