Chapter 197 South Sea-1

Chapter 197: South Sea-1

Guangxi Province was also half dense jungle, no less than Yunnan Province, so we had to keep moving through the jungle for quite some time without even knowing whether we were in Yunnan or Guangxi.

We hadn’t encountered a single person and couldn’t be sure we were even heading in the right direction. Fortunately, we had Heukpyo.

He had sniffed the scent of salt in the air and led us toward the sea.

The sense of smell of an animal that had reached the realm of a spirit being was truly astonishing.

Perhaps my senses had grown sharper lately from practicing the internal cultivation technique.

I stroked his neck while resting and said,

“Thanks, Sakwol. Without you, I might have wandered the path for a long time.”

Sakwol was the name I had given him.

The name ‘Black Moon’ seemed to suit him, and it also held my wish to master the five forms of the Moonlit Sword Dance.

Then he rubbed his head against me, purring like a cat.

A beast as big as a tiger, yet he couldn’t have been cuter these days.

“Alright, try circulating your qi while resting. It’ll give you more strength.”

When I said that, the kid obediently entered the meditation state.

I had recently taught him the internal cultivation technique.

Of course, I had learned it from Elder Moolang in my dreams.

I heard Elder Moolang had originally created this internal energy technique to teach the wolf he raised, and he had modified it to suit Heukpyo before teaching it to him.

Creating an internal cultivation technique for animals was surprising enough, but its level was extraordinary, which was even more astonishing.

It was comparable even to the Seonwoo Clan’s master technique, the Hunwon Muguk Gong.

Perhaps because of this, even though he hadn’t practiced it for long, Sakwol’s movements seemed more agile than before.

Then Jeong-chil spoke up, sounding genuinely curious.

“Well now, I never thought I’d live to see an animal practicing qigong. Jin-i, where on earth did you learn such things?”

I grinned and replied.

“The Immortal taught me in a dream, brother.”

He scowled and snapped back.

“Is it always the Immortal when you ask something? If you don’t want to talk, just say so!”

Hmm, that’s true.

I chuckled and said to him with a sly smile.

“Come to think of it, the Immortal mentioned Brother Jung last night too…”

At that, his eyes widened instantly as he asked.

“Huh?! Is that true?!”

“No. It’s a lie.”

“You little brat! Making fun of my brother?!”

“Hahaha, sorry, Brother.”

Lately, since I started calling Seolpung hyung-nim ‘hyung’ and ‘ah-gu’, Jeungchil seemed jealous and kept pestering me to call him ‘hyung’ too.

He stubbornly insisted that since he was Dang Sojae’s older brother, it was only right that he be our hyung too.

He really was an old man with a lot to be envious of.

So we had no choice but to start calling him “brother,” and then, as if he felt some sense of responsibility, his behavior began to change.

He started calling us by our proper names instead of “beasts” or “parasite brothers,” and occasionally he’d even hunt for us in the mornings.

It seemed like he was starting to feel some sort of responsibility as the eldest brother.

Of course, he only did this when he felt like it, but even so, it was nothing short of an amazing change.

Honestly, it was kind of cute.

If we keep going like this, once we reach the sea, I wonder if he’ll be the one to propose a vow of eternal friendship—or rather, a vow to forget all grievances.

That was when it happened.

Heukpyo Sakwol, who had been closing his eyes and gathering energy, suddenly snapped his eyes open and shot up into the tree.

Then, Brothers Zengchi and Xuefeng looked at me and asked.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“Did Sakwol discover something?”

Lately, I could sense Sakwol’s intentions to some extent even without Elder Mokrang’s interpretation.

So he always asked me about Sakwol’s actions, but now I could sense his wariness toward me.

“Looks like he sensed something. Let’s go up too.”

We all scrambled up the tree in an instant.

Then we could see it immediately.

Beyond the vast expanse of green forest, smoke was rising.

Sakwol must have caught the scent of that smoke.

Jeungchil asked.

“Is it a forest fire?”

But Brother Seolpung shook his head.

“Seeing it flare up in various spots, it doesn’t look like a natural wildfire. Something seems to be happening, I suppose.”

I agreed with my brother’s words.

I told them.

“Let’s go check it out.”

We raced over the forest canopy, heading toward the rising smoke.

Then, a moment later, we could see it again.

A vast, blue horizon stretching wide where the forest ended…

It was the sea we had only heard about.

We had finally arrived at the sea.

“Haah!”

Even while running, I couldn’t help but let out a gasp of wonder.

The endless, beautiful blue curve—it was truly an incredible sight.

But I couldn’t just stand there gazing at it.

Smoke was billowing right in front of that sea.

And as we ran a little further, we witnessed it.

An ugly sight spread out along the beautiful coastline.

There was a small village in front of the shore.

And anchored in the sea before it were two large ships, the smoke rising from that village.

Smoke billowed from the burning houses in the village. Looting was taking place in the small seaside village.

As I drew closer, I could hear people’s voices.

“Aaah! Help me!”

“Come here, you bitch!”

“Sir, please, my wife, AAAAH!”

“No!”

“P-please, just spare my life, AAAAAHHH!”

A murderous glint began to flash in our eyes.

***

Sikhyul-eo Chugyein, captain of the Fifteenth Ship of the Haenam-pa Naval Fleet, was originally a notorious pirate who had become a supreme master after defecting to the Haenam-pa.

But his past as a pirate wasn’t particularly noteworthy.

It was because there were so many such people in the Haenam faction.

And truthfully, joining the Haenam faction didn’t change much for them.

Jin Taedo, the current leader of the Haenam faction, demanded absolute obedience to his orders, but beyond that, he guaranteed them the same free lifestyle as before.

They drank, reveled, fought, and plundered just as before.

There were no restrictions whatsoever.

In fact, with the protection of the Haenam faction, they felt they could run wild more safely than before.

For pirates like them, it was an incredibly exhilarating life.

“Captain! They say this girl is only eleven years old! What should we do?!”

“What the hell are you asking?! Haven’t you ever heard that age is just a number?!”

“Heh heh heh heh! Well, I see. Understood!”

“Steal everything that’s worth money! Ah, but try not to kill them! You gotta keep them alive so they’ll come back next time, right?!”

“Kekekekekeke! Understood!”

“Oh dear! Captain, what do we do? I already killed him. I just tapped him and he went ‘Ugh!’ and died?”

“Well, what can you do? He was destined to die anyway. Don’t worry about it too much.”

Recently, the unmanned ships of the Haenam Naval Division had received orders to capture a beggar named Baekrang Geomgae.

It was because he had recently destroyed several ships belonging to the Haenam faction.

That was why Chugye-in had also come to this village to investigate Baekrang Geomgae’s whereabouts.

But tracking down a single beggar across the vast South Sea was impossible.

Naturally, the villagers knew nothing of Baekrang Geomgae’s whereabouts.

Failing to obtain information, Chu Gye-in began destroying and plundering the village, claiming it was retribution for making him come all this way for nothing.

It was an utterly unreasonable act, yet no one questioned it.

The bandits were plundering, and even the villagers being plundered knew that was precisely why they had come.

“Oh, heroes! Take everything you want, but please, just spare my life!”

“I beg you!”

All the villagers could do was beg to be spared their lives.

Then it happened.

Three beams of light shot out from beyond the jungle.

Whoosh!

The light first reached the pirates who were about to drag away the eleven-year-old girl.

“Aaaah! Please save me, sir!”

“Hehehe, just follow quietly…!”

Thud!

The pirate was startled when something suddenly fell between him and the girl, and he stared at it.

What met his eyes was the back of some man’s head.

As if it had suddenly materialized out of thin air, the back of some man’s head appeared right before his eyes.

“Wh-what is this?”

As he stared at the back of the head in shock, Seon Woo-jin smiled at the child and said.

“Hey there, kid? You okay?”

Seon Woo-jin had deliberately dropped down in front of the child instead of killing him immediately, to avoid frightening him.

Then, while smiling gently at the child and speaking to them, he delivered a back kick that struck the pirate squarely in the chest.

Thud!

“Gah!”

The pirate couldn’t even react.

His chest caved in, killing him instantly. At that very moment, Jeong Chil, arriving a split second after Seon Woo-jin, shouted in fury, scattering daggers.

“You little brat! Starting first? That’s cheating!”

Pssshhh!

“Gahhh!”

“Aaargh!”

“Guhhh!”

The sudden turn of events left the Bloodsucking Fish, Chu Gye-in, unable to regain his composure.

The twenty or so subordinates who had landed with him were being slaughtered in an instant.

He shouted.

“Who the hell are you?! How dare you…!”

As always, he tried to threaten them by leveraging the Haenam faction’s authority, but in the end, he didn’t even have the chance.

For the one who pounced on him was none other than Seolpung.

Shu-hak!

“Nampa’s…!”

Crack!

Seolpung’s fist flew like a beam of light and swung down, and Chugyein’s head vanished completely.

It was the absurd death of Chu Gye-in, the Bloodsucker, who had made a name for himself as a lawless pirate in the South Sea since his days as a pirate.

Chu Gye-in’s headless body stood motionless for a moment before finally collapsing backward.

Thud!

Seon Woo-jin frowned briefly at that dreadful sight.

“Ugh, the kids are watching, and you guys are acting like this…”

Then he immediately leaped toward the other pirates.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

“Mu…!”

“Gah!”

Seon Woo-jin’s figure swept past them like a whirlwind, and a flash of sword light flickered through the gap.

Moments later, the pirates collapsed, blood spurting from their throats a beat too late.

Thud!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Before three warriors possessing supreme martial prowess, twenty mere pirates were scarcely different from insects.

In mere moments, every pirate who had landed could no longer breathe.

Then, a response came from a ship anchored in the sea about ten fathoms from the beach.

Seeing another ship even farther away, it seemed the pirates just killed had come from the front ship in small boats.

The first mate of the Fifteenth Ship, the equally peerless master Zan-shin’e Kanoge, shouted with his inner strength.

– You bastards! Do you think you can survive after killing the warriors of the Haenam faction?!

Haenampa.

Seon Woo-jin and Seol Pung exchanged glances.

So they were indeed members of the Haenam Sect.

Muk-rang sighed.

– I never imagined such a pirate gang would actually belong to the Haenam Sect.

Feeling his regret, Seon Woo-jin sighed and replied.

‘I hear ships not affiliated with the Haenam faction these days can barely roam the Southwest Sea. The Haenam faction now seems entirely different from the one you remember, Elder.’

But Seonwoo-jin’s own heart was complicated as he comforted Mook-rang.

I had avoided coming to the sea for fear of getting entangled with the Haenam faction, yet the moment I arrived, I ended up not just entangled but clashing with them.

A clash with the massive power dominating the Southwestern Sea? It couldn’t be anything but a huge problem.

But Hong Hae-a Jeong-chil, who didn’t give a damn about such worries, unleashed his inner power and roared at the top of his lungs.

– Khehehehehe! Think you can survive this?! You think so?! Khehehehehe! You lot, before this Jung…! Think you can live to see another day before this elder?!

Jeong Chil was about to boldly reveal his own name when he caught a glimpse of Seon Woo-jin’s expression and quickly changed his words to “Elder Jeong.”

Then, with a look that seemed to say, ‘Didn’t I do well?’, he beamed proudly and gazed at Seonwoojin.

Seonwoojin had to summon superhuman patience to resist the urge to cover his forehead.

Seolpung asked.

“Younger brother Jin, what should we do?”

After gathering his thoughts, Seonwoojin answered with a faint smile.

“Well, we’ll have to clean up the mess. It’s water under the bridge now, and even if they’re from the Haenam faction, we can’t just let those scoundrels live, can we?”

At those words, Seolpung smiled faintly and nodded, while Jeongchil chimed in with a bright face.

“Right? Right? How could we possibly let scum like that live…!”

That was when it happened.

A sudden explosion echoed from the ship.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Huh?”

It was a thunderous explosion unlike anything they’d ever heard before.

All three of them looked toward the ship with startled eyes.

Then, from the ship, they could see something black and round like a rock hurtling toward them at tremendous speed.

“What’s that?!”

“A catapult?”

As Seonwoojin and Seolpung frowned at the unfamiliar sight, Jeongchil, who had seen it before due to his extensive experience, shouted.

“A cannonball! It’s a cannon!”

At those words, Seonwoojin and Seolpung were startled.

Weren’t cannons weapons strictly controlled by the state?

For mere pirates to be able to fire such a thing… it seemed the rumors that the Haenam faction had taken over the naval forces were indeed true.

But there was no time to calmly consider that.

Seon Woo-jin threw himself toward the shells flying in every direction and shouted.

“I’ll take the left flank!”

Bang!

Seolpung and Jeungchil immediately leapt forward as well.

“I’ll take the right!”

“Then I’ll take the center!”

Bang! Bang!

Seon Woo-jin, flying like a meteor, saw the shell approaching right before his eyes and clicked his tongue.

A round iron mass that size flying at that speed. If it hit squarely, even most miners would be blown to bits, he thought.

“But!”

Whoosh!

Seon Woo-jin twisted his body, his kick smoothly deflecting the shell’s side.

Then the shell, its trajectory completely altered, began flying toward the deserted shoreline on the side.

Seon Woo-jin chuckled softly and muttered.

“If it doesn’t hit the target directly, it’s useless.”

But at that very moment, a massive explosion echoed.

BOOM!

Startled, he looked up to see the shell Seolpung had been tracking plummeting vertically into the sea.

Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

A white wave surged skyward from the water’s surface.

It was clear the shell had been struck head-on and driven deep into the depths.

It was indeed a response worthy of Seolpung.

Meanwhile, Jeongchil probably wanted to catch the shell with his hands and stop it.

But no matter how supremely skilled he was, it was impossible.

Zheng Qi, clutching the shell with both hands, was flying through the air along with it.

“Gah! Why won’t this stop!”

Sunwoo Jin shouted in shock.

“Brother Jeong!”

At that rate, he would crash into the village along with the shell.

BOOM!

But luckily, that didn’t happen.

Whether it was because Jeong Chil caught it or the shell’s speed had slowed, it landed in front of the village. Jeong Chil let go and landed beside it.

“Oh my, what a mess.”

Jeongchil rubbed his shoulder, massaging it.

He must have strained himself trying to forcefully halt the shell.

As Seon Woo-jin sighed in relief, landing on the shore, Seol Pung also landed nearby and shouted.

“Jin! Look over there! They’re preparing to fire again!”

At Seolpung’s words, Seonwoojin also turned his gaze toward the ship. Inside the tube that had fired the shell earlier, the enemy was loading something else.

They were likely reloading shells in that manner.

Five cannons were aimed at them from the ship’s side. If they fired again, it seemed even more shells than before would rain down.

We couldn’t just let it fire like that.

Of course, it couldn’t harm us directly, but it could injure the villagers.

Seon Woo-jin shouted toward Jeong Chil.

“Brother Jeung, please rest for a moment!”

Then he yelled at Seolpung.

“Brother!”

Seolpung nodded.

And now, with their minds in perfect sync, words were no longer needed. The two leaped toward the ship simultaneously.

Thud!

The distance to the boat was ten zhang. Even for two masters of lightness techniques, it was not a distance they could cover in a single leap.

But it didn’t have to reach all at once.

‘Now!’

The two flew the distance of five paces in one leap, their feet bouncing off the white-crested waves.

Splash!

Then, like water striders skipping across the surface, the two bounced off the water and shot toward the ship.

The pirates on the ship saw this and cried out in horror.

“Th-there!”

“Quick, quick, arrows!”

But it was already too late.

As Seon Woo-jin bounced once more over the waves and rose high above the deck, raising his sword, Seolpung charged straight toward the ship’s hull and rammed into it.

CRASH!

Something stronger and faster than a cannonball pierced the ship. The shock sent all the pirates on deck tumbling helplessly.

“Gah!”

“Ugh! What the hell?!”

“The ship’s been breached! The ship!”

And in that instant, Seon Woo-jin, who had soared high into the air, plummeted down and swung his sword.

Mukrang Sword Technique, First Strike.

Gyeocheon.

Swoosh!

For the pirates, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Sunwoo Jin’s sword strike split the ship cleanly in three, tearing it apart.

The crew, who hadn’t even seen it clearly as they rolled across the deck, staggering as if the ship would capsize from Seolpung’s blow, now tumbled straight into the sea from the vessel that had suddenly split into two pieces.

“Aaaah! What the hell?!”

“The Dragon King is furious! Save us!”

“We’re drowning!”

Seonwoojin and Seolpung sat lightly atop the sinking ship, watching the other vessel.

“They’re escaping.”

“I see. Shall we try again?”

The ship that had originally been anchored further back than this one immediately fled toward the open sea the moment it saw this ship break apart and sink.

The distance was roughly fifteen fathoms. Moreover, it was steadily growing farther away.

Seonwoojin pondered.

If he pushed himself a bit, reaching that ship might be possible.

But somehow, he didn’t feel like it.

Seon Woo-jin suddenly gazed into the sea below. It was crystal clear and transparent, yet its depth was unfathomable.

He swallowed hard involuntarily.

‘What if I tried to cross the sea to that ship and failed? Would I just fall in there?’

The very thought was terrifying.

The mere fact that it was an unknown space, something I’d never experienced, seemed dangerous enough.

Moreover, the ship I had just reached had the coastline right behind it, and the seabed was visible beneath the water, offering at least some psychological reassurance.

But wasn’t that ship already far out at sea?

If an attack failed, the situation behind them would become very precarious.

Suddenly, he asked Seolpung.

“Do you do any handicrafts, sir?”

Seolpung replied with a troubled expression.

“I’ve lived in the mountains since I was a child… I’ve swum in small valleys, but I’m not confident in a sea like this.”

Seon Woo-jin was equally unsure of his swimming skills.

He said with a troubled look.

“Then I suppose there’s no choice.”

It seemed they had no choice but to let that boat go.

They might not know who they were, but the fact they hadn’t destroyed the evidence left a lingering unease.