Chapter 59: Reducing Stoves to Lure the Enemy (2)
Namgung Yul.
Age twenty.
Her moniker was Sword Flower.
The direct lineage of the Namgung Clan, a pillar of the Righteous Fifteen Provinces.
A talent among talents who had never once missed the top spot even at the Ascending Heaven Academy, the highest educational institution of the Martial Alliance.
Despite all the brilliant honors surrounding her, she was always humble.
She did not take noble treatment for granted, always trained herself harshly, and had a personality that was strict with both herself and others.
……However.
Even in the heart of such a Namgung Yul, a tiny arrogance existed.
Herself, who strove humbly without being conscious of all the aforementioned honors.
The arrogance she unconsciously harbored, intoxicated by such a self.
‘Wouldn’t someone of my caliber have no problem traveling the Jianghu?’
Such a thought had settled somewhere deep in her heart, to the extent that even she herself did not know.
But. It was not so.
When she actually came out to the Jianghu, everything went differently from her expectations.
Things that could not be overcome by effort and training.
Things that she could never get used to no matter how many times she experienced them repeatedly.
Those were things so trivial and petty that she had never even thought of them.
Cold wind and rain, dust, endemic diseases, diarrhea, sweat, clothes to change into, flying insects, hunger, unhygienic food and bedding, unfriendliness of merchants, swindlers, sudden urges to defecate or urinate, dirty outhouses……
The world of the Jianghu was not composed only of martial arts, chivalry, and clashing spears and swords.
Rather, those were merely a tiny fraction.
……And what made her feel these most desperately was definitely this pursuit.
It was in the journey of chasing the figure called Three Calls of the Yellow Springs.
“Pant…… pant…… pant……”
Namgung Yul wiped the sweat pouring down like rain as she climbed the mountain peak.
A forest where it seemed no human had ever set foot since ancient times.
Rocks entangled with grass, vines, and branches towered high as if telling her not to climb.
Climbing up this nameless mountainside, Namgung Yul thought.
Of herself when she was in the Namgung Clan and the Ascending Heaven Academy.
Of her past self, who had thought of the time spent there as ‘training.’
Days of waking up from clean bedding when the time came, washing with clean warm water, changing into clean clothes, eating clean food, cultivating martial arts and academics for a set time, then eating clean food again, washing with clean warm water, changing into clean clothes, and sleeping in clean bedding.
Such days were merely a blessing.
It was a life in a comfortable cradle, to the extent that she dared not even apply the word ‘training.’
Whether she was known as the precious daughter of the Namgung Clan or the genius of the Ascending Heaven Academy, all such things were of no use in these mountains.
She had stepped out of the cradle, and now she had to procure everything directly in the wild.
A life where if she did not keep walking even when the soles of her feet burst and bled, she would have to face the wind and rain that night.
A meal where a few flying insects floating in the soup bowl was of no consequence.
Handling her business in the bushes, which made her long even for an outhouse that smelled nauseating.
In the process, clean bedding became a pit lined with fallen leaves and twigs, clean bathwater became a stream she could meet once every few days, and clean clothes became something she was grateful for if she could wash and wear them once a week.
If the warriors of the Purple Moon Special Task Force had not covertly attended to her without her noticing, Namgung Yul would not have even made it here, let alone captured the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs.
Deeply ashamed of that point, Namgung Yul gritted her teeth and climbed the mountain.
To confidently shout, ‘I have pursued you with my own power, and now I seek to avenge my grudge!’ if she met the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs, she crawled up the rocks, not even knowing that the soles of her feet were bursting and bleeding.
By this point, with only stubbornness, spite, and spitefulness left, she was continuing to pursue the Three Calls of the Yellow Springs solely with mental power.
Right at that moment.
A sound that brought Namgung Yul back to her senses was heard.
[Grrrr!]
A sound that vibrated and rang throughout the entire mountain peak.
It was a roar let out by a tiger deep in the mountains.
“……!”
At the roar of the wild beast heard from somewhere, Namgung Yul suddenly snapped to attention.
Avoiding the tiger’s sound echoing in several layers between the rocky valleys, Namgung Yul turned her steps to the side.
At that moment, something caught her eye.
A tree branch broken by itself among the barren branches.
It was a marker left by the Martial Alliance warrior who had set off with her from the campsite.
It pointed toward the southeast.
It meant that he had already searched this place and was now expanding his search range to the southeast.
‘Ah, I have entered someone else’s search area.’
Namgung Yul sighed softly.
And she attempted to climb toward the opposite side of where the tiger’s roar had been heard.
Right at that moment.
“Where are you going?”
A low voice was heard from behind.
The moment she heard that voice, Namgung Yul felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
How could she forget this voice?
It was a voice she had heard repeatedly several, dozens of times even in her dreams.
“……!”
Namgung Yul quickly turned her body, trying to draw the sword at her waist.
Right then.
“Ah!?”
She ended up slipping due to the searing pain felt in the soles of her feet.
It was because her feet had blistered and burst from walking too long.
Simultaneously, her sword fell to the ground and slid down into a crevice between the rocks.
“Heok!?”
Namgung Yul quickly reached out her hand, but the sword had already entered the gap between the stones.
Moreover, because she reached out in too much of a hurry, the back of her hand struck a protruding spot beneath the rock, even bruising blue.
“Uuuuu……”
Namgung Yul barely suppressed her urge to burst into tears.
To show a succession of such pathetic appearances at the moment she had looked forward to so much.
When she raised her head, the enemy’s figure was seen before her eyes.
Three Calls of the Yellow Springs.
It was the exact same face as back then, when he popped out from the wolf’s belly, strangled her neck, and stole her lips.
Gesture—
The enemy moved his palm toward her.
“Be captured quietly.”
She could not do that.
Namgung Yul gritted her teeth.
And she leaped down from the rock.
…Tap!
The enemy was the one who killed Namgung Paeng-saeng.
There was no chance of winning by clashing one-on-one.
Namgung Yul raised the whistle hung around her neck and blew it with all her might.
It was a signal to send reinforcements to her location.
However.
Psssssh—
The whistle merely made a sound of wind.
Because a piece of caltrop thrown by the enemy had lodged in the whistle, puncturing a hole.
‘This is bad!’
Namgung Yul discarded the whistle and ran.
Since it had come to this, she had to return to the initial campsite.
If she went there, there would be at least one or two members of the Purple Moon Special Task Force who had returned from their search.
……However.
Namgung Yul’s expectation was shattered once again.
What she saw when she arrived at the campsite was three members of the Purple Moon Special Task Force slumped by the campfire.
“Escape is meaningless.”
Beyond the campfire where smoke was rising, the enemy’s figure wavered like a ghost.
Soon, the enemy’s hand flew in toward her.
Namgung Yul desperately pulled her body back.
She was one of the top geniuses of the Ascending Heaven Academy, but the enemy’s touch was so fast that merely avoiding it was all she could manage.
Rrrrip—
The ribbon of her front collar was ripped away.
Namgung Yul covered her chest, blushing.
“You sensual devil! To humiliate me in this manner!”
At that, the enemy tilted his head.
The thought of ‘?’ was read so plainly from his expression that even Namgung Yul felt awkward.
Soon, the enemy spoke.
“You shouldn’t worry about your breasts being revealed……”
Simultaneously, the staff was swung.
“You should worry about your intestines spilling out.”
The pitch-black staff.
A long and vicious club.
It rushed toward Namgung Yul’s chest in the blink of an eye.
…Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Namgung Yul rolled on the ground, having no room to care about humiliation or anything else.
The Lazy Donkey Roll.
The move of a lazy donkey rolling in a mud pit.
She rolled on the ground to avoid the staff and checked if the skin of her belly was intact.
A long red mark had appeared on her white belly.
Even though she had not even been hit by the staff.
Only then did Namgung Yul think.
It was the same back at the altar of the Blood Covenant, and it was the same now.
The enemy did not think of her as a woman.
Merely a target, nothing more and nothing less.
At the same time, Namgung Yul realized.
Why she had wanted to capture the man before her eyes so badly.
It was not simply because she had suffered humiliation and disgrace.
For the first time in her life, she had met someone who looked at her while excluding background, gender, appearance, and so on.
The desire to face him again, subdue him, and be recognized by him.
That was the driving force moving Namgung Yul right now.
…Dash!
Namgung Yul ran desperately.
And she kicked the heap of ashes by the campfire with her foot.
Poof—
Still hot ashes splattered forcefully toward the enemy’s face.
While the enemy avoided that, she would quickly pick up the sword of the unconscious warrior and counterattack.
That was Namgung Yul’s plan.
‘Did I shake him off?’
Holding the sword fallen on the ground, she thought.
However. The enemy replied as if reading her mind.
“No.”
Namgung Yul’s plan went awry once again.
Thud!
The enemy’s hand came straight through the hot ash.
And without the slightest hesitation or reluctance, he snatched Namgung Yul’s neck.
Like a tiny chick snatched by a bird of prey’s talons, she had her throat surrendered to the enemy’s hand once again.
“……! ……! ……!”
Namgung Yul struggled.
However, it was a struggle that was merely tantrums, and the enemy did not even permit that.
Slam!
The enemy fiercely threw down Namgung Yul’s slender body and pinned her to the ground.
“Kee-eeeeeeuk……”
A groan escaped on its own from Namgung Yul’s mouth.
At the same time, she cried.
Because she was so indignant and aggrieved, she could not control her tears.
What would the people of the Ascending Heaven Academy, who knew Namgung Yul’s usual icy expression, think if they saw her face now?
But for the enemy, that was not something he was even slightly curious about.
Squeeeeze……
Namgung Yul felt the grip strangling her neck, and barely managed to speak.
“……Kill me.”
Did she travel such a long way through this hardship just to end up like this?
To die so vainly in a remote mountainous area that no one knows.
Although she was suddenly terrified, she did not want to lose the spirit of the Namgung Clan.
Hence, she decided to face death proudly and loftily until the end.
Even though her hands and feet were trembling.
But.
“No. I am not killing you.”
The enemy was merely strangling Namgung Yul’s neck, not delivering a decisive blow.
“Because your body is still useful.”
The moment she heard those words, Namgung Yul’s eyes widened once again.
She had once heard from her father.
It was about several lecherous bandits she had to be especially careful of when traveling the Jianghu.
“Y-You sensual devil! What are you trying to do……!”
She was greatly flustered and resisted, but she was helpless against the enemy’s hand movements tapping her acupoints.
Thud—
Eventually, her vision blurred once again.
The bare face of the enemy, which she could not see properly at the altar of the Blood Covenant because it was covered in blood.
“You…… villain…… just you wait……”
Engraving it clearly in her memory.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost