Chapter 73: Chapter 73

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Je Sang-cheon discovered the group appearing from the left and urgently shouted.

“Master! What are those guys!”

“They must be warriors of the Black Market! Taking advantage of the transaction they hosted turning into a mess, that’s probably their excuse to intervene!”

“Then what do we do? Fight?”

Je Un-seong shook his head.

“The important one right now is that thief galloping ahead, Young Master! If we secure him first, we can claim legitimate ownership of the Treasure Map!”

At that shout, Je Sang-cheon looked back and forth at various places, then raised his right hand high and extended it straight forward. The pursuit force began to pick up speed. It was a decent decision. Right now, whether the horses grew exhausted or not, they had to push forward rapidly to secure the Treasure Map.

The Je Clan warriors all possessed good horses and skilled horsemanship fundamentally. So thanks to galloping forward at high speed, they were able to run parallel with the Black Market group that had cut in midway. The Black Market also seemed to have the same thought, galloping in a swarm toward the Treasure Map.

Just then, the Great Peace Band appearing from the right caught Je Un-seong’s eyes. He gave a chuckle unconsciously. Compared to the Black Market and the Je Clan exceeding a hundred, they appeared to number around thirty. Had each of them been at the level of a Martial Alliance patrol squad or the Imperial Army, those thirty would have been a terrifying number, but as he had already found out while interrogating Gal Woong, they were merely a ragtag group gathered under a plausible cause.

However, his face soon stiffened completely and even distorted.

“Ugh!”

“Khuck!”

The Je Clan warriors didn’t even let out large screams. Some held their bodies straight even with long arrow shafts stuck in them. Surprisingly, black arrows began flying from the Black Market group attached to the right of the Je Clan.

Even amidst their fluster, the Je Clan warriors swung their weapons to deflect the arrows, but the ones shooting arrows were not just one. At least dozens, nearly half of the Black Market, pulled out black bows and arrows and were shooting at the Je Clan pursuit force from atop their horses.

“Wh-What are these guys! To pick a fight first!”

Flustered, Je Sang-cheon raised his hand high. He was about to send a signal to counterattack.

“Young Master! Wait!”

“What! What is it this time!”

Je Un-seong drew the sword from behind his back with a flash, cut down a flying arrow, and shouted.

“Pull our troops back first!”

“You said to push forward just a moment ago!”

“That was before those bastards attacked us!”

Je Sang-cheon’s face distorted.

“What are you telling me to do! Those bastards attacked first! Naturally we must counterattack!”

“Calm down, Young Master! The Black Market are merely thugs who have weight only in the back alleys of Sinsacheon! They don’t have the guts to attack us like this!”

“But they DID attack!”

Je Un-seong swung his sword with a flash once more to slice an arrow apart. And he looked at those shooting arrows. Though they were dressed in the same attire as the other half of the Black Market warriors, their eyes were calm, and the posture of their lower body and waist gripping the horses, as well as their two arms drawing the bows, was extremely stable.

At that moment, an arrow aimed right for the center of Je Un-seong’s forehead flew in with a flash. It was an arrow like a ray of light. Je Un-seong barely managed to swing his sword to deflect it, but could not prevent one side of his forehead from being cut.

And along with that, a flash of light burst in his mind.

Well-refined warriors could exist anywhere. However, a powerful martial force organization composed of units in the dozens could not be cultivated by just anyone. The end of such cultivation was the Imperial Army, and those eagerly copying them were ancient clans. Ultimately, those raiding the warriors of an ancient clan must be warriors of a similar level to those warriors.

They could only be warriors of another ancient clan disguised as Black Market warriors.

Je Sang-cheon needed achievements to stabilize his shaky position as heir. Lacking experience, he stepped into the matter of the ancient Li Clan’s Treasure Map without a second thought. Of course, like a greenhorn, the transaction failed. However, the patriarch and elders who wanted to give the clan’s heir one more chance attached a hundred troops to him, granting him the power to push through to the end.

A hundred warriors were separated a few days’ distance from the main house.

The Je Clan was an ancient clan rooted in Sinsacheon that exerted great influence on the Martial Alliance. Its original root was naturally the Central Plains, but unable to overcome friction with other ancient clans, they were pushed out here. However, that name value didn’t go anywhere, so the Martial Alliance headquartered in Sinsacheon could not ignore the snorts or clears of the throat from the Je Clan. The Martial Alliance Leader probably didn’t find that very pleasing.

In fact, the reason Je Sang-cheon ruined the transaction was more due to the sudden raid by the Great Peace Band.

Je Un-seong felt the saliva in his mouth drying up of its own accord. This was a trap to draw out the Je Clan’s forces and annihilate them. Furthermore, not just one, but a trap formed by consensus among an ancient clan, the Sinsacheon Black Market, and unbelievable as it was, the Martial Alliance.

Was the Treasure Map fake as well? That probably wasn’t the case. Probably while opinions were exchanged under the table, the Treasure Map appeared, and the board was set in a single stroke. Then what was the beginning of those under-the-table opinions?

That would be the Yeon Clan. The Yeon Clan and the Je Clan were old arch-rivals, and just recently the Yeon Clan had planted a spy to dig into the Je Clan’s secrets. Then the mounted archers galloping and drawing bows over there right now would be those famous under the name of Yeon Clan Cavalry.

He looked at Je Sang-cheon. For a moment, his head throbbed as he wondered how to explain this. And as long as the ones shooting arrows were Yeon Clan warriors, stepping back wasn’t the only solution either. His mind became tangled in too many thoughts.

And as he hesitated, Je Sang-cheon could not make any decision either. Nothing he had learned and practiced in the clan came to mind. With his head going blank, Je Sang-cheon ultimately shouted recklessly.

“Charge! Do not give them distance to shoot arrows! Attack!”

In addition to martial training, Je Clan warriors were constantly trained in loyalty. That too was an imitation of the Imperial Army’s methods—a loyalty where if it was an order from a superior, even if it drove them to death, they would ultimately execute it.

So the Je Clan warriors, who had only been silently struck by arrows or deflecting them until now, rushed at the Black Market group as if a suppressed dam had burst open.

However, those shooting arrows did not give up distance so easily. They retreated by as much as the Je Clan warriors approached, turning their bodies backward to draw their bows.

Thus, the Je Clan chasing Yang Goeng turned direction to rush at the Black Market group, and the Black Market group retreated as much as they pushed in, appearing as though both factions were excluded from the Treasure Map pursuit.

However, the Black Market did not retreat so easily. Their bodies split into two—those shooting arrows and those not. Those shooting arrows pulled the Je Clan troops by their tail and were pushed far to the left of the wilderness. However, the remaining warriors subtly split from them moved toward Yang Goeng and the Great Peace Band chasing him. Because their numbers were so large, even when divided in half, they appeared to be sixty or seventy people.

* * *

Yang Goeng galloped his horse hard while repeatedly glancing back. Thanks to that, he was able to confirm the clash between the Black Market and the Je Clan in its entirety.

“Serves you right, you shitty clan bastards! You shameless back-alley merchant bastards die too!”

Laughing to himself, he soon looked to the right and grimaced again. Over there, the Great Peace Band wearing yellow turbans was galloping over with drawn weapons.

Baek Sa-gyeong at the lead shouted.

“You! Thief! Where is the man named Jang Geon!”

“I don’t know, you yellow dog bastard!”

Shouting back roughly, Yang Goeng focused only on looking forward and running again. For now, he had to maintain the lead and look for an opportunity. Either way, he possessed the Treasure Map, and was also at the very front. The one closest to Li Shimin’s legacy was him.

Just then, chills suddenly rose on the nape of Yang Goeng’s neck. He froze stiff at that hair-raising sensation, barely managing to turn his head to look behind.

Far off, Jang Geon and his horse Jojo were seen galloping relentlessly. Even though he had run off with the Treasure Map, Jang Geon’s outwardly visible expression remained his usual calm self. Of course, that was even scarier to Yang Goeng. If he had just vented his anger delightfully, he could match him, but he couldn’t match Jang Geon like that. Furthermore, Jojo, carrying him while running, had tossed aside his usual slickness somewhere, snorting roughly with wide eyes, galloping at a tremendous speed that shook the ground with thud-thud-thud sounds as if he were a dragon with horse hooves.

“Ha, fuck… If the two of them played around delightfully, shouldn’t they sleep in until morning? Why are they following already?”

Even with goosebumps rising on the nape of his neck, Yang Goeng forced himself to mutter so, then looked forward again and urged his horse that was already running hard.

“Y-Yellow dog?”

Meanwhile, Baek Sa-gyeong and the Great Peace Band pursuing him felt a sour feeling at Yang Goeng’s curse. Perhaps it was a name they would have to bear if they were to continue operating wearing yellow turbans in the future. Calming his mood, Baek Sa-gyeong narrowed his eyes and tried to close in behind Yang Goeng further.

However, just then, turning his head to the side, he saw a swarm of Black Market warriors rushing over. They were charging with crude, sinister weapons like swords, sabers, spears, or flails that looked unrefined at a glance.

Gritting his teeth upon seeing them, Baek Sa-gyeong realized this time that the sound of the ground shaking was heard from behind. So turning around, a warrior riding a horse galloping like a wild beast was rapidly closing in with cold eyes flashing. Baek Sa-gyeong had only caught a brief glimpse of his back in Sinsacheon, but he could tell who he was.

“Jang Geon!”

The other Great Peace Band members also all confirmed him. Having lost many comrades over the past few days and not having slept a wink all night, their bloodshot eyes all glared at Jang Geon.

However, Jang Geon was completely unshaken by that strangely madness-tinged glare. To him, who experienced true moments of life and death, that clumsy killing intent posed no threat at all. Jang Geon instead looked at the Black Market swarm drawing closer beside him. Though merely sinister, they were rather more threatening than the Great Peace Band.

And their action was not a correct action. The Great Peace Band members should not have snapped their heads back to look behind like that, but should have guarded against the Black Market swarm closing in right now.

The price of foolishness was death. A flail that suddenly drew near crushed a Great Peace Band member’s head. Only after the member with a crushed skull tumbled down beneath his horse did the other members snap to their senses.

“Raise your weapons!”

The Great Peace Band members raised their respective weapons and clashed with the Black Market swarm. Mounted combat broke out while running toward Yang Goeng who was galloping far ahead. And the Black Market swarm approached Jang Geon with a no-questions-asked attitude and thrust their weapons.

At those blades aiming straight for his neck, Jang Geon responded in kind.

Clang-the sound of ringing steel echoed, and two Black Market warriors tumbled beneath their horses. The masterless horses slowly reduced speed and fell behind.

When two of their comrades fell in an instant, all the other Black Market warriors turned their attention to Jang Geon. Among them, a guy with an exceptionally large physique raised his hand high, pointed at him, and shouted.

“Get that guy first!”

At that shout, Black Market warriors near Jang Geon abruptly brought their horses close and attacked him. And most of them failed to block a single clash from Jang Geon, tumbling down beneath their horses in a heap.

Having knocked down three Black Market warriors like that, Jang Geon lightly tugged Jojo’s reins. At that, Jojo roared roughly as if a wild beast were howling, then began surging forward. Among horses already running at top speed, Jojo galloped as if demonstrating he was an entirely different creature from them.

Simultaneously, Jang Geon’s blade traced a flash of light in the midair. Before the Black Market warriors could even approach Jang Geon, their necks were severed by the blade flying in as if sliding. Even while dying, the Black Market warriors somehow swung their weapons, but not a single one reached him. Clumsy attacks didn’t even get near his vicinity to begin with, and the rest were all counterattacked.

The path Jang Geon and Jojo ran split apart like cracking bamboo, and only masterless horses ran recklessly following others, not knowing what to do.

Having split the Black Market swarm straight through like that, Jang Geon sprinted straight toward the giant who had pointed at him and shouted earlier. Seeing Jang Geon, the giant raised his large saber high and tried to strike down at Jang Geon running from behind, but Jang Geon and Jojo brushing past him was faster than that saber being swung.

His raised arm and neck were severed together and scattered across the wilderness. The body that lost its head and arm tumbled and fell backward a beat late.

Seeing that scene while fighting a Black Market warrior, Ju Seon shouted to Baek Sa-gyeong in terror.

“That guy is a monster! We must run!”

Baek Sa-gyeong also wore a slightly fed-up expression. However, he simultaneously struck down a Black Market warrior with a flashing thrust, flicked his sword, and said.

“Ju Seon! You lead the other Great Peace Band members and pursue the Treasure Map!”

“What about you, Commander!”

“Hurry!”

Hesitating for a moment, she showcased a thrust similar to Baek Sa-gyeong’s to a Black Market warrior she had been casually dealing with until now, piercing a hole in the center of his neck, and shouted.

“Great Peace Band! Do not engage these guys, push forward faster!”

The Great Peace Band members didn’t even need to push their opponents away. The Black Market warriors had separated from the Great Peace Band members they were fighting until now and were all moving to target Jang Geon. Though all fed up like Baek Sa-gyeong or Ju Seon, their faces harbored stubbornness to somehow give Jang Geon a taste of their blade.

Thus, the Great Peace Band shook off interference and galloped out first to pursue Yang Goeng. Behind them, Baek Sa-gyeong remained, watching Jang Geon’s martial prowess.

When Jojo, overwhelmingly superior compared to other horses around, and Jang Geon’s outstanding sword skill combined, the resulting outcome was terrifying. The two showed a speed that other Black Market martial artists could never follow, with movements almost like flying low above the ground. The end was a scene where nearly half the group died by Jang Geon alone. Only after dying like that did the Black Market group turn their horses’ heads in terror—toward the ancient clans fighting far off.

When they fled, Jang Geon and Jojo paused in that spot for a moment. Jang Geon, with his blade lowered, had deeply sunken eyes, and Jojo, exhaling rough breaths, was sweating from his entire body, giving off light steam.

Standing silently like that to catch their breath for a moment, Jang Geon’s eyes turned toward Baek Sa-gyeong, who was looking at him. He must have seen the fight just now, but though there was astonishment and a slightly fed-up look in Baek Sa-gyeong’s eyes, there was no fear.

Seeing him approach to a distance where voice could be heard and stop, Jang Geon spoke.

“I said I would kill you all if I saw you next time.”

“…Gal Woong is dead.”

Baek Sa-gyeong dismounted from his horse and stood on the ground. Seeing that, Jang Geon gave a chuckle, left Jojo whose breath was still rough, and stepped onto the ground himself.

“Then you must not have heard my warning. Do I need to give it again?”

“No. I will offer your head to Master to soothe his grief and Gal Woong’s spirit.”

Jang Geon and Baek Sa-gyeong faced each other across a distance of three zhang. And even as they were about to exchange a single clash, the warriors of the Yeon Clan disguised as the Je Clan and Black Market engaged in fierce battle, Yang Goeng made a desperate escape, and Ju Seon and the Great Peace Band pursued behind him. And Li Yeon, currently not visible, also pursued Yang Goeng.

In the vast wilderness, respective schemes and wills were clashing.