Chapter 81: 80

TL: FoodieMonster007; ED: TheGreatT20

DRIP.

A droplet of blood landed on Snow Flower.

As everyone watched with bated breaths, the bright crimson droplet slid frictionlessly down the jet black blade without leaving any traces, like raindrops falling on a lotus leaf.¹

Suddenly, the droplet paused at the edge of the blade, as if it was hesitating about whether to fall off or not. The spectators unconsciously clenched their fists in apprehension.

PLOP!

““Ahh…””

At long last, when the droplet of blood finally fell onto the ground, the watching warriors let go of their held breaths in unison. Their minds, which had been enraptured by the surreal scene they had just witnessed, were finally dragged back into reality.

“Keuk!”

The scowl on Nam-Goong Wi’s face deepened. He knelt on the ground on one knee, using what was left of his sky piercer halberd, which had been sliced cleanly in half, to support himself from falling over. Under his ribs, there was a huge, deep gash, and blood was pouring out of the wound like there was no tomorrow.

However, right now, the pain from the wound hardly mattered to him.

When!? How!? What!?

Nam-Goong Wi’s eyes trembled in disbelief. He was indeed surprised that his ultimate technique had been blocked, but what really drove him crazy was the fact that he had no idea when and how he got injured.

There was neither sound nor trace of the attack. There wasn’t even a single hint of movement.

It was as if he had been slashed by an invisible sword.

That’s the flawless sword technique of a master assassin… No, assassins are people who launch sneak attacks on their enemies while concealed. Jin Mu-Won attacked me head-on!

The sheer absurdity of it blew his mind.

Across from Nam-Goong Wi, Jin Mu-Won slowly calmed his breathing, his face burning red from the exertion.

“Dividing the Heavenly Seas” was the sword form that best made use of the unique characteristics of Shadow Chi. It was formless and traceless; the blade of an assassin hidden in their opponent’s shadow, holding their breath and waiting to strike.

By the time the enemy noticed them, it was too late to react. And the result of the attack… Nam-Goong’s Wi’s current state was a good example of that.

Well, Jin Mu-Won was a little disappointed though. This was his first time using the technique in battle, and he hadn’t executed it perfectly. If he had, Nam-Goong Wi would have already breathed his last.

He asked, “You should be able to answer me now, right? Does the disappearance of the White Dragon merchant caravan have anything to do with the group you belong to?”

Nam-Goong Wi glared at Jin Mu-Won. His face was expressionless, as if nothing in the world could shake him, but that was just another mask of his.

He was a sword.

A sword honed for the sole purpose of killing.

Without thinking, he replied, “Yes.”

“I knew it.”

“You won’t be getting more than one answer out of me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Jin Mu-Won strode toward Nam-Goong Wi and raised his sword. He wasn’t about to let things end like this. He wanted to bring Nam-Goong Wi to his knees, and force the man to spit out everything he knew.

As if he could read Jin Mu-Won’s thoughts, Nam-Goong Wi stiffened.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, the sound of an object whistling through the air rang in Jin Mu-Won’s ears. He promptly gave up swinging his blade down and leapt backward, narrowly avoiding the arrow that accurately pierced the ground where he had just been standing.

A pungent green smoke then quickly started to rise out of the small leather bag attached to the arrow, having opened upon impact when it struck the ground.

Realizing that he felt strangely uncomfortable after breathing in the smoke, Yong Mu-Sung covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve and shouted, “It’s poison! Everyone step back!”

The Iron Brigade mercenaries and White Dragon escorts immediately scrambled to get away from the smoke, but Yong Mu-Sung’s warning still came too late for the ones who were in close proximity to it.

“UAHHHHHH!”

As the toxic fog swallowed the warriors, they scratched their own throats, screaming in pain until the moment they lost consciousness.

When Jin Mu-Won held his breath and tried to charge into the smoke, even more arrows flew at him and got in his way.

WHISH!

The force behind each arrow was so strong that it sent shivers down his spine, leaving Jin Mu-Won with no choice but to dodge the arrows as he rushed forward instead of just blocking them and knocking them aside.

THUD!

Two arrows pierced the ground where he had just been standing and dug in so deep that only the fletching was left above ground, still quivering from the impact.

“Damn it!”

As he walked out of the toxic fog, Jin Mu-Won frowned. Nam-Goong Wi and the remaining red-armored warriors were gone. They only had a very short time frame to work with, but clearly that was enough time for these well-trained warriors to escape.

““Hoo…””

Having escaped from the crisis, the surviving White Dragon escorts heaved sighs of relief. Although the Iron Brigade mercenaries did not completely lower their guards like the escorts, in truth, they felt the same way.

Yong Mu-Sung walked toward Jin Mu-Won, saying, “Hey…”

However, before he could finish his line, Jin Mu-Won dashed off in the direction where Nam-Goong Wi and the red-armored warriors had vanished.

“U-Uh…”Yong Mu-Sung could only stare blankly, mouth gaping open, as Jin Mu-Won chased after their assailants.

Tang Mi-Ryeo shook her head resignedly and pointed out, “I don’t think he’s willing to let them off that easily.”

“Yeah…”

As Tang Mi-Ryeo also looked in Jin Mu-Won’s direction, an intensity that wasn’t there before burned in her eyes.

Every time Jin Mu-Won took a step forward, the landscape around him would change drastically as if he had teleported. He maneuvered through the forest like flowing water, blending into the wind, as he searched for Nam-Goong Wi’s trail. Just like his swordsmanship, his movement was soundless and traceless.

He was using the Flowing Stream Steps (溪流步)² that he had taught to Seo Mu-Sang a long time ago, but over the years, he had modified and improved the martial art to better suit himself.

Although there weren’t many clues, based on the direction where grass that was stepped on was bent, and several faint footprints, Jin Mu-Won tracked down Nam-Goong Wi and was closing in on him at a frightening speed.

I have to catch him and make him spill out Uncle Hwang’s whereabouts!

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Jin Mu-Won grit his teeth. He didn’t know which faction Nam-Goong Wi belonged to, but it wasn’t hard to deduce that it was a large and powerful organization. Against a group like that, the longer he took to find his target, the more disadvantaged his position would be.

Furthermore, he desperately wanted to discover Nam-Goong Wi’s true identity and the name of the group he belonged to. He had a feeling that these people had ambushed the merchants on purpose to direct the eyes of the Tyrant Fist Sect as well as the gangho on Yunnan Province, and if that was indeed true, then they must be confident out of making enemies of the entire murim.

Perhaps, it’s them…

The name of a certain organization immediately sprung to mind, sending his heart beating wildly.

Suddenly, his senses alerted him to an unknown danger. He instinctively jerked his head downward as if someone had hit him with a hammer.

WHISTLE!

A long, sharp object whooshed past where his head had just been a moment ago.

Was that an arrow?

Jin Mu-Won turned to look at the tree behind him to find an arrow buried deep into it, still quivering from the sudden impact.

That arrow had flown faster than the speed of sound. If not for his All-Encompassing Cognizance, he would have been caught unawares and died in an instant.

Damn it, they left an archer behind to stall for time while Nam-Goong Wi and the red-armored warriors escape.

A drop of cold sweat rolled down Jin Mu-Won’s back as he spread out his senses to find the archer.

As expected, it wasn’t long before yet another arrow came flying at him…No, there were three arrows this time! Not only were the arrows fast, they had also been fired at extremely rapid intervals!

THWACK! SMACK! BAM!

Jin Mu-Won knocked all of the arrows away using Snow Flower, but his hand was now numb from the recoil. Whoever this sniper was, they were at least as skilled as the “Twilight Iron Bowman” Dam Jin-Hong, the Iron Brigade’s master archer.

SWOOSH! RUSTLE!

The archer moved around at high speed while firing arrows continuously to avoid being detected, but Jin Mu-Won’s All-Encompassing Cognizance was no simple technique that could be easily misled. Although he could not pinpoint the archer’s location extremely accurately, he could still sense their general direction.

SWISH!

Jin Mu-Won abruptly spun around and sprinted in a straight line toward a part of the forest with unusually thick vegetation.

“Wha!” The archer unconsciously exclaimed out loud. He hadn’t expected Jin Mu-Won to find him so quickly.

TWANG! TWANG!

The archer was left with no choice but to attempt to slow Jin Mu-Won down by shooting arrows non-stop.

Although swatting away the powerful arrows made his hands numb, Jin Mu-Won faced them head-on. He didn’t have any time to waste.

THWACK! SMACK!

A dark painting appeared in the air, created by the afterimage of his black sword coupled with the arrows falling to the ground like rain.

Suddenly, Jin Mu-Won’s senses alerted him to someone’s movement. It seemed that the archer intended to change his position and find a new hiding spot after firing another arrow at him. He quickly spun around using his left foot as a pivot and leapt toward the archer’s new position.

“Ugh!”

Jin Mu-Won swung down Snow Flower, cutting down everything in his path and revealing the enemy. It was a short man in his mid to late forties with a disproportionately broad chest and thick arms, carrying a purple bow.

“Keuk!” the middle-aged man exclaimed, aghast. He was used to killing his targets at a long distance, and the number of people who had died this way at his hands easily exceeded a thousand. Among all those targets, none had ever found him and exposed his position like this.

Where on earth did this monster come from…

Jin Mu-Won had pinpointed his location in a heartbeat and charged toward him without any hesitation. Although he couldn’t tell if the young man was confident or just being reckless, there was one thing he understood for sure: This man was insanely dangerous!

SLASH!

A black blade covered in cursed energy came flying at him.

“Fuck!”

The archer quickly raised his purple bow to block Jin Mu-Won’s attack as his instincts screamed at him that it was impossible for him to dodge.

CLANG!

The instant the two weapons clashed, the archer was sent flying backward, his purple bow nearly broken in half.

“Kuheok!” Blood poured out of the archer’s mouth as he coughed. His intestines had been badly damaged by the impact. However, he had a hunch that Jin Mu-Won would not let up just yet.

I won’t be able to block the next attack. In that case…

A vicious light flashed in the archer’s eyes.

SPURT!

Jin Mu-Won stabbed the archer in the shoulder, sending blood flying everywhere. He had no intention of killing the archer, only subduing them and interrogating them.

However, to his surprise, the archer ignored the injury, spread his arms wide, and hugged Jin Mu-Won.

“Shall we die together? Hahaha!” the archer whispered in Jin Mu-Won’s ear.

A shiver ran down Jin Mu-Won’s spine at the middle-aged man’s chilly voice. His instincts warned him of impending danger. He frowned and tried to wrestle himself free of the archer’s iron grip, but those thick arms bound him tightly like metal chains.

PSHHHHH…

Suddenly, green smoke rose out from the archer’s body.

This is…

Jin Mu-Won held his breath, gathered his chi, and released it at the archer, causing the man’s arms to loosen momentarily. He then immediately took the opportunity to slip out from the man’s grip and leap away from him.

As the green smoke quickly swallowed the archer whole, the man’s body started to melt like candle wax. With his last breath, he spoke in a voice like an ominous curse, “Since you have gotten in the way of our work, know that you will surely die a painful death. Kuhahaha!”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Huhuhu! This is just the beginning… Soon, the whole world will be…” The archer’s voice trailed off. He was dead.

Jin Mu-Won stared vehemently at the melted lump of flesh, which continued to bubble until it turned to liquid and seeped into the ground. Soon enough, even the green smoke vanished along with the corpse.

He sighed, “Haa… In the end, I wasn’t able to find out anything.”

Footnotes:

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