Chapter 27: Chapter 27
The dry wilderness over which the sun hung high looking down. Countless horse hooves and carriage wheels violently trampled and passed over that place, kicking up hazy dust. The driver of the carriage constantly cracked his whip to urge the horses, and behind him, those seeking to protect that carriage and those seeking to snatch it shouted and cursed while riding hard.
Following from the very rear, only Jang Geon was smiling softly while watching that wild chase, when Yang Goeng, slightly ahead, shouted.
“Damn it! Shoot some arrows at least!”
Jang Geon thought Geom Jung-chan might curse. Shooting arrows from horseback was truly no easy task. One had to be professionally trained in both horsemanship and archery from childhood, so why would such professional personnel roam this wilderness?
However, amazingly, Geom Jung-chan was such professional personnel. Releasing the reins atop the violently galloping horse, he pulled out an arrow tucked at his lower back with restrained movements. Above his waist, he moved without shaking, as if standing on solid ground. The bow curved into a round semi-circle.
Nocking the arrow and drawing the string in that manner, he let go with a snap.
Ssseeeek, making a sound that tore through the wind, the flying arrow drove straight into the back of a bodyguard riding ahead. Yang Goeng and the Gong brothers cheered.
“Nice! Well done! Keep shooting!”
“This is it!”
The bodyguard struck in the back by the arrow could not even let out a scream, struggling atop his horse. Everyone riding ahead saw that and turned back to look at Geom Jung-chan in utter shock. Facing those gazes, Geom Jung-chan pulled out another arrow with a completely nonchalant expression.
One bodyguard pulled beside the struck fellow to check his condition and shouted toward the carriage running ahead.
“Fuck! Don’t just stand there doing nothing, do something! At this rate, we’re all gonna die! Uwaaa,!”
Next to that bodyguard’s face, Geom Jung-chan’s arrow ssseeeek, brushed past. The terror-stricken bodyguard shrieked and urged his horse. However, a horse already running at full power could not go any faster.
Though one arrow missed, Geom Jung-chan nocked another arrow without showing a hint of regret. The bodyguards as well as the other bandits were at a loss seeing that bowstring. After the bodyguards, they would be next, but going close to stop him, his accomplices were guarding his side. If they charged, those fellows would block them, and then that guy’s arrow would aim for their lives.
“What the fuck! Who the hell are those bastards!”
“Damn it! Grab the carriage first! If we take the carriage, it’s fine!”
“If we grab the carriage in this situation, what good will it do, you retard!”
Just as the bandits were flustered and Geom Jung-chan’s arrow was about to fly once more, a clattering sound suddenly came from the carriage, the ceiling swung open, and someone revealed his form. He had a massive build and goggle eyes, looking like a brave general.
Seeing that face, Yang Goeng blurted out immediately.
“What the fuck! Seo Sang-jeong!”
Running beside him, Gong Pyeong heard that and asked.
“Who’s that? Who the fuck is that?”
“Seo Wi-ryang’s son!”
Yang Goeng turned back to Geom Jung-chan and shouted again.
“That bastard first! That bastard is the most dangerous! He’s a fellow who learned martial arts in the Yeon Clan!”
Nodding his head, Geom Jung-chan aimed his bowstring in that direction. However, the fellow named Seo Sang-jeong snorted upon seeing that, and pulled out something from beneath the carriage.
“…Short spears?”
The moment Yang Goeng muttered upon seeing that long item similar to the one he held in hand, the spear flew like lightning.
“Kuh-euk!”
The spear flying straight plunged straight toward Geom Jung-chan. He barely managed to twist his body to dodge, but instead, the bow he held in hand was grazed by the spear and snapped in two with a thud. Disregarding the blood pouring from his forearm, Geom Jung-chan merely stared blankly at the broken bow, half of which remained.
“That bastard’s throwing another one!”
Just then, Seo Sang-jeong pulled out another short spear and threw it casually. This spear struck one of the bandits running ahead. Unlike Geom Jung-chan, unable to dodge, he took the spear straight in the chest and fell off his horse.
One of the bandits saw him and shouted.
“Uncle Gu!”
It was a woman’s voice. Hearing that voice, Jang Geon glanced over, and only then noticed that several women were mixed among those bandits over there. The woman who shouted tried to turn her horse back to the fallen fellow, but had to run forward again due to the restraint of others. However, she kept looking back in regret.
Jang Geon could feel from that appearance that they were not simple bandits.
Meanwhile, the expressions of the bodyguards brightened up completely. Seo Sang-jeong had opened the carriage roof, stepped out, and instantly turned the atmosphere around. Without knowing how many short spears were inside, even three or four would be enough to chase away these bandit bastards.
Seeing the brightened expressions of the bodyguards and the flustered state of the bandits, Seo Sang-jeong snorted once more, pulled out a short spear from below, and threw it casually again. Another bandit tumbled down beneath his horse. The bandits’ morale plummeted visibly.
“F-Fuck! Shouldn’t we run? Our bow broke, how are we gonna stop that fellow? Let’s just pull out!”
Watching the bandit tumbling in the spear strike, Gong Pyeong blurted out to Yang Goeng’s crew in a frightened voice. Yang Goeng distorted his face visibly above his cowl and glared at Gong Pyeong.
“You useless coward pig bastard! If you flee, know that you’ll die by my hand first! Get it together, everyone! The carriage speed is dropping! The horses are tiring out! We’ve almost caught up!”
Unlike the bandits, they had been running for a long while before, so it was not strange for the carriage horses to tire out first. However, the problem was that they were in a situation where they might die from a spear strike before the carriage stopped.
Just as Gong Pyeong was about to bring up that topic with a flushed face. Seo Sang-jeong, who had been smiling in satisfaction after felling a couple of bandits, pulled out another spear, and suddenly pointed a finger toward Geom Jung-chan as if issuing a death sentence. It was as if saying since he hadn’t killed him earlier, he would finish him off for sure this time.
Receiving that finger and gaze, Geom Jung-chan’s expression stiffened completely, and discarding the remains of the bow he had been holding all this time, drew the sword from his waist. However, due to the wound on his forearm from failing to completely dodge the spear earlier, his sword-holding hand was trembling violently. It seemed his tendons had been damaged.
Seo Sang-jeong smirked as if his appearance were laughable, and raised the spear above his shoulder. The sharp spearhead raised high by the massive man sparkled receiving the sunlight.
The moment that sparkle turned into a elongated ray of light, Jang Geon kicked off Jojo’s saddle and leaped into the air.
Only three people properly saw the action that unfolded in the next moment. Seo Sang-jeong who threw the spear, Yang Goeng who received special training, and Geom Jung-chan.
Leaping off the saddle, Jang Geon lightly kicked upward at the tip of Seo Sang-jeong’s incoming spear with the tip of his toe. Thereupon, the internal energy at the tip of his toe flipped the direction of the force contained in the spearhead half a circle. Jang Geon, twisting his body in mid-air to stand upside down, kicked the spear, now pointed back toward Seo Sang-jeong, once more with the tip of his toe.
The short spear that had been flying toward Geom Jung-chan returned straight back toward Seo Sang-jeong.
“Ugh!”
Seo Sang-jeong hurriedly twisted his body to dodge the spear. The spear plunged straight into the carriage roof with a heavy kwak, sound. Seo Sang-jeong looked at that spear with disbelieving eyes, then turned his gaze back to Jang Geon, who was already sitting on his saddle looking at him as if he had done a mundane task.
None of the bandits or bodyguards galloping in full chase properly saw that move. However, those nearby could at least tell that Jang Geon had leaped up lightly and that a spear had flown back and forth with a ssseeeek sound.
Only Seo Sang-jeong, who properly recognized the level of that martial art, stared at Jang Geon, unable to speak. Meanwhile, Jang Geon lightly kicked Jojo’s flanks.
Thereupon, Jojo let out a long neigh as if he had been waiting for that, and began a fierce sprint. That speed was terrifying enough to quickly overtake the bandits galloping in the lead. The bandits merely stared stupidly at Jang Geon and Jojo sweeping past their side.
However, that speed was an appearance that naturally aroused terror in the eyes of the bodyguards running ahead.
“W-What the fuck! What is that fellow? Why is he so fast!”
“He’s coming! Draw swords!”
Excluding the one struck by an arrow lying limp, the remaining three bodyguards drew their swords and blades. Inhaling sharp gasps at the form of Jang Geon already closing in, they frantically swung their weapons.
However, Jang Geon and Jojo swept right past the three without any hindrance. Simultaneously, a brief metallic clashing rang out only three times. Behind him charging forward, the three bodyguards lost strength and tumbled down beneath their horses.
Following behind, the bandits and Yang Goeng’s crew stared at that sight with absurd eyes. Gong Rang, holding his mouth open blankly, asked Yang Goeng in a daze.
“Where did you recruit such an expert?”
“…I don’t know either, fuck… Where did a fellow like that pop out from…”
Yang Goeng’s answer was a murmur, so it did not reach Gong Rang’s ears. Only Geom Jung-chan, looking at Jang Geon with a peculiar gaze, heard that murmur.
Unlike their flustered state, Seo Sang-jeong on the carriage quickly regained his senses. And hastily picking up a short spear again, he aimed at Jang Geon. However, the next moment, his face could not help but distort.
Jang Geon had sheathed the sword he drew while dealing with the bodyguards, and without even holding the reins, was looking at him with both hands spread open. As if telling him to throw if he dared.
“This bastard! Where do you get off with that!”
At that provocation, Seo Sang-jeong roared with goggle eyes wide open. He then stepped up atop the carriage. Unlike earlier when he had only poked out his upper body, it meant he would put the full force of his body into the spear throw.
The carriage was still running like mad, raising powdery dust, and Jang Geon’s Jojo was also breathing heavily while pursuing behind it. At that speed, the surrounding rocks and ground stretched out into long blurs as they swept past.
Sweat beaded on the tip of Seo Sang-jeong’s nose as he raised the spear above his shoulder. It was a day heading toward the end of autumn, yet the wilderness sun still heated the people above it. Due to the carriage running like mad, the sweat droplets that formed were blown away by the wind the moment they appeared.
Seo Sang-jeong’s eyes glaring down at Jang Geon sparkled intensely. Without knowing what martial arts he had mastered, if qi-light shone from his eyes, he was an expert who had mastered them to a considerable level.
Jang Geon’s eyes facing those intense eyes were merely calmly sunken. However, when the defenseless posture of not holding reins with both hands spread open combined with that composure, Seo Sang-jeong felt a peculiar sensation as if sinking deep into a lake of unknown depth. Perhaps it felt even more so because, due to the cowl, the only things visible externally were two eyes.
Two gazes glared at each other atop the running carriage and horse. Even while everything around swept past them rapidly, the two were extremely focused on each other’s movements. Following behind, the bandits and Yang Goeng’s party unwittingly felt tension from that sight and held their breath.
“Haaat,!”
Simultaneously with Seo Sang-jeong’s uncharacteristic shout ringing out, his spear plunged toward Jang Geon like a thunderbolt falling from the sky, leaving only a flashing afterimage in the empty air. It looked as if it would pierce right through Jang Geon as it was.
However, the moment Seo Sang-jeong’s thunderbolt met Jang Geon’s hand, which had moved before anyone realized, it spun around his upper body like a snake before coming to a halt. Seo Sang-jeong’s eyes widened.
“…W-What?”
Jang Geon spun that short spear around back and forth without a single wound. A satisfied smile surfaced at the corners of his lips.
It was a scene accomplished by the combination of the increased internal energy from consuming the spiritual pill, the application of the Absorbing Technique inspired by the valley tribe’s peculiar arts, and the decisiveness and flexibility he originally possessed.
He raised his head, gave a subtle smile to Seo Sang-jeong staring dazed at him, and tossed the spear he was spinning. The flying spear plunged straight into the wheel of the running carriage.
With a clattering sound ringing out, the wheel tangled with the spear shaft shattered into pieces with a crash. The carriage, with one side caved in, scraped along the ground, then caught on something, lets out a thud, and floated into the empty air with a tung sound.
Simultaneously, Seo Sang-jeong standing on its roof floated up, flew far away, and the seated driver, galloping horses, and airborne carriage tangled together into a mess, tumbling down with the sound of a house collapsing.
“Whoa, whoa.”
Jang Geon and Jojo following behind slightly overshot the tumbling carriage due to momentum, then slowly reduced speed and turned their horse around.
Thanks to that, the sight seen in the eyes of the bandits and Yang Goeng following behind was the ruined carriage and Jang Geon standing nonchalantly before it, looking back at them.