Chapter 39 Pursuit

Chapter 39: Pursuit

Third Young Master kidnapped?

And that happened while I was returning after finishing my escort duty.

Dan-un jumped up and shouted.

“What happened?!”

“Guh! I rushed here the moment I received the Third Prince’s urgent message, so I don’t know the details.”

“Where was it?”

“It was the forest you reach after traveling two more hours from the entrance of Shaanxi.”

Clang.

Dan-un grabbed his sword and tried to step outside. I urgently grabbed his arm.

“We need to contact the nearby branches and get reinforcements.”

A rational decision.

The attackers who struck the direct lineage of the world’s Wuhuang Fortress couldn’t possibly be just any random bunch.

It’s uncertain whether Dan-un and I alone can rescue Yi Jeok-ha.

Unless we each had a K-2 rifle with an infinite magazine, that is.

“I’ll go first. Contact the branch.”

Dan-un unleashed his lightness skill and dashed out.

‘Damn it…’

Leaving like that—what am I supposed to do?

Technically, it was a mission we both accepted.

If he goes alone and something goes wrong, I’ll get blamed for everything and get fired for sure.

Getting fired here means losing my job—no, my head.

I turned to the Three Masters’ bodyguards and said.

“Go to the nearest Nine Dragons City branch and relay this message: Qinglong Sword and I are pursuing the Three Lords. Request reinforcements immediately.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than he chased after Danun.

‘But did he even think this through?’

He’ll figure it out. Whatever.

Two hours passed as we raced at full speed.

Danun and I arrived at the forest in question.

“This is it.”

We found traces of the Three Princes.

No, it made no sense not to find them in the first place.

“······.”

Because all twenty-plus of Yi Jeok-ha’s guards were dead.

Thanks to that, the forest, which should have been filled with the scent of grass, reeked of blood instead.

The one fortunate thing was that Yi Jeok-ha’s body was nowhere to be found.

Meaning, the enemies weren’t after Yi Jeok-ha’s life, but his body.

After briefly scanning the ground, Dan-un dipped his finger into a pool of blood and tasted it.

“Guh. Spit.”

He coughed, spat, and continued.

“Poison. And a potent one at that.”

Then he tilted his head toward one direction.

“Over there.”

“How do you know that?”

“Didn’t you learn tracking at the Ascension Pavilion? It’s right there in the footprints.”

At his words, I scanned the floor once more.

But I only confirmed once again that I could find nothing.

‘No, we learned the same thing. Why is he so much better at this?’

But I couldn’t show weakness.

“Indeed, seeing it again, I think I understand.”

“Right. Lead the way. I’ll cover the rear.”

“Ahem, I think Dan-hyung should lead instead of me.”

“Why is that?”

He’s asking a lot of questions today.

“The new technique I’ve been practicing requires distance. I was planning to show it in my duel with Dan-hyung, but since things have turned out this way, I can’t hold back.”

For the record, no such technique exists.

“Understood. I’ll lead. Follow me.”

“Yes.”

The pursuit began again.

Watching Dan-un’s back ahead, he thought.

‘The demon horse from the previous generation might appear.’

I heightened my tension, fingering the pouch containing the ground pepper.

* * *

Three hours later.

“Let’s rest a moment before continuing.”

“Huff, huff, is that… really okay?”

“Even if we search, in this state, we won’t be able to fight properly. And.”

Danun’s eyes gleamed as he continued.

“We’re almost catching up.”

“…I see.”

The rest was sweet.

Though we only paused for a moment, it was enough to steady the breath that had risen to my throat.

No sooner had we caught our breath than we sprinted again.

“Who the hell are you?!”

Before long, we encountered a group.

Their appearance screamed thugs, with “thug” practically written on their foreheads.

What else was there to say?

We had to crush them immediately.

Danun, radiating killing intent, lunged toward them.

Swish!

The battle began as a sword swung like lightning severed one man’s neck.

I couldn’t just stand by either.

Thud.

I deployed the Jeonwangbo, diving right in front of the closest bastard.

Startled, he thrust his sword at me.

I parried the sword and slammed my fist into his chest.

Thud!

But he raised his elbow to block my punch.

“Huh?”

“Die!”

In the brief pause, the guy beside him swung a thin straight sword at me.

Surprised by the unexpectedly powerful enemies’ futility, I cast the Zhen Wang Bo and broke free.

Then, Dan Yun flew beside me.

“They’re top-tier.”

I’d braced myself for this to some extent. Steeling my resolve, I answered.

“So, I’m telling you, just call for backup… ”

The standoff continued.

In that silence, I was the first to move.

I had to seize the initiative to break through them.

Thwack.

A strike that shook the ground.

This wasn’t the Lite version of the Zhen Wang Bo I’d used before, but the full version, packed with my inner strength.

“…”

The moment I vanished, their eyes widened in shock.

I charged toward the flank of the one furthest away.

Crack!

I successfully drove the techniques of the Park Ryong-sip-sam-tu into his side.

“Gah!”

The piercing scream drew the enemies’ attention to me, and simultaneously, over a dozen weapons rained down toward me.

“Hmph!”

An expected situation.

Pwoong!

I immediately unleashed the Exploding Mirror toward the front.

The spreading energy successfully blocked a significant number of attacks.

Thud. Thud.

Though I still had to take some hits with my body.

“Kuh.”

Flying blades grazed my thigh and left side.

Without the explosion’s shockwave, they would have pierced my heart and dantian.

Still, it was fine.

Because on our side was Dan Yun, the ace of aces from the Nine Dragons Fortress, the Azure Dragon Sword.

From afar, he could be seen soaring through the air.

His footwork touched the ground without a sound.

The secret footwork of the Blue Dragon Sect. It was the movement of the Dark Fragrance Steal.

And then.

Boom!

The divine skill of the Blue Star Sect, the Blue Cloud Crimson River Sword, was unleashed.

Blue clouds and crimson rivers.

Though the name suggests a sword technique capturing the scenic beauty of Qingcheng Mountain, the reality is quite different.

The blue clouds signify billowing sword energy, and the red river signifies the blood spilled by enemies.

Sure enough.

BOOM!

With a massive explosion, half the enemies scattered into red flesh fragments, recreating the red river.

The grotesque sight reaffirmed my belief that facing Danun was a direct path to the underworld.

“······Gasp! Gasp!”

Having poured out all his strength, Danun gasped for breath.

Thud.

I moved again.

“To the Elder, this fact······!”

Crack.

To deal with the remaining enemies.

Four left.

Just took one out, so three remain.

The remaining ones faintly emitted sword qi and dao qi, glaring at me with murderous eyes.

They seemed to calculate that if they killed just me, they could easily handle a weakened Danun.

But would that go as planned?

“Hmph!”

I unleashed the Zhen Wang Bo toward the one on the far left.

As if anticipating it, he swung his sword at me, while the other two thrust their blades forward.

‘Caught.’

I didn’t dodge.

I simply charged forward.

I parried the target’s downward strike and closed in on him.

“Woooh!”

He gasped and thrust his palm strike forward, but I could easily absorb an attack that was fast but lacked power.

Thud!

Ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder, he pushed forward relentlessly.

To keep the swords of the enemies closing in behind him from reaching him.

“Guh!”

Seizing the moment the pushed-back enemy stumbled, he unleashed the Three Yang Strike toward its throat.

Crunch.

He seized the enemy’s windpipe and crushed it.

The enemy collapsed, spitting blood.

Another enemy had approached unnoticed and thrust his sword at my back.

But I unleashed the Extreme Death Mirror I had been preparing first.

“······!”

The enemies gasped and swung their swords down, but this was the Extreme Death Mirror—a technique even the peerless master of the Soul-Severing Sword Technique couldn’t block.

Its power wasn’t something mere first-rate masters could withstand.

Swoosh!

After cleanly slicing both men in half, I collapsed, drained of energy. Danun approached, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

“I’m already looking forward to the Nine Dragons Contest.”

This guy is definitely insane.

* * *

I handed Danun the Yoxiangdan I’d brought from home.

“This is the Qingzhang Clan’s secret Yoxiangdan. I’ll guard you, so take it and practice your qigong.”

“Thanks.”

This was a medicine developed by the Qingzhang Clan’s Wutian Branch. They’d been carrying it around to find clinical trial subjects, and unexpectedly, Danun had been selected.

After a moment, Danun’s eyes widened in surprise.

“The effect is incredible.”

“No unusual side effects? Like dizziness or nausea?”

“None whatsoever. But why ask?”

“Nothing much. I heard it might not suit everyone’s constitution.”

“Nothing’s wrong, so don’t worry.”

After confirming it was safe, he took the Yoxiangdan.

Moving his body and circulating his qi, his internal energy rose nearly halfway.

‘No need for a mana potion.’

Having replenished his energy somewhat, we began running like mad again.

Danun, in particular, seemed to run without even breathing.

Thanks to that, whenever the gap between us widened, I used the Zhenwang Step to close the distance.

We did this for one hour.

By the time my entire body was drenched in sweat.

[Found it.]

Danun’s telepathic voice reached me.

I immediately looked up to see a small, elderly man in the distance, running while carrying someone on his shoulder.

[Should we ambush him right away?]

[I’ll go in first. You attack him with that new technique you’re learning.]

I don’t have any new techniques…

I just quietly nodded.

Nod.

It wasn’t a sign of agreement.

My neck just hurt, so I stretched it.

Because I’m someone who doesn’t know how to lie.

Just as I was about to slow down.

The kidnapper stopped, probably sensing our presence.

“If I’d known there were only two of you, I should’ve just killed you and moved on.”

“Two of you came chasing after just one of me.”

“You bastard.”

Thud.

With a curse, the kidnapper flung Lee Jeok-ha to the ground.

His face was black, as if poisoned.

“Do you know who I am?”

“How would I know your name, sir? If you want people to recognize you, wear a name tag or something.”

“Heh heh heh, after being locked up for twenty years, you little puppies come charging in like you don’t know fear.”

“Twenty years? Then you’re the legendary bandit leader from the previous generation?”

“Spot on. Back when I was active, no one dared meet my gaze.”

At his mention of Art, I turned to look at Danun.

I wanted to hear his explanation about that old man.

But.

Oh dear.

Danun shook his head too, saying he had no idea either.

No choice but to ask the man himself.

“Who the hell are you to threaten the Three Princes of Muwangseong?”

“Makjugwang. That’s my name.”

The moment the name came out, I turned back to Danun.

Shaking my head.

‘He doesn’t know anything.’

Even though he’s a local.

Looking back at the old man, his face was flushed bright red.

“I said I don’t know. At your age, you still don’t know how to introduce yourself? Recite your name, alias, address, and specialties in order.”

“How dare you insult this master! I’ll turn you into a handful of poisonous dust!”

Green qi flowed from the old man’s body, causing the surrounding plants to rot and crumble in real time.

“Wow.”

It was like witnessing the peak masters of the Green Dragon Sect.

At times like this, I felt fortunate to belong to the Nine Dragons Fortress.

At least I knew how to handle a poison master.

As Danun leapt out, his defensive aura pushed to its limit, signaling the opening act of the tag match.