“No, how do you know that?”
Hae Ack-chun asked despite being a bit shocked.
“I interrogated him. He seemed a bit hesitant to die, I guess. I questioned him using Voice Transmission as I didn’t want the others around finding out.”
To be precise, it was the sword I heard it from, and the sword was still cursing me. It resented me, but that didn’t matter.
The lives on our side were important too.
“I said we have hundred people with us, and if he wanted his colleagues to be saved, he should talk.”
-You can be called the master of lies at this point.
Then do I say that I heard from a sword?
“You did a wise thing, Young Master.”
Gu Sang-woong, the leader of the valley, praised me. Since I had caught the spy, he seemed to like me.
“Kuak, at least your head is working fine, so what did you find?”
I revealed what the sword had told me about.
The dead swordsman came from the Haeyeon sect, and he didn’t know much. But I had found out that seven sects were moved at the request of some other place, and there were a few more people waiting to ambush us, just like before.
“This is one thing, but the other problem will be the sect leader of the Haeyeon sect who is searching for us with hundreds of masters.”
“This…”
Everyone’s expression went dark at my words. They could escape from this ambush, but the path ahead was a dead end.
And we couldn’t head back either.
“Huh! Then we will just have to break through them.”
Hae Ack-chun spoke.
Although there were low-rank and middle-rank warriors amongst the people we were moving with, they were all ones who had learned martial arts, and it would still be possible to break through.
It was unclear how many sacrifices would be needed from our side, as the enemies would probably not back down.
“Elder. That is dangerous. The whereabouts of the lady will be exposed.”
Gu Sang-woong, who seemed to have the same thought as I, objected to this plan.
“Then what do you want to do? Head back like this?”
“Elder. How about this?”
At that time, a leader called Yang Kangil opened his mouth. Gu Sang-woong asked, hoping for an idea,
“Leader Yang. Do you have any good ideas?”
“How about going down the cliff valley road next to this?”
At that Hae Ack-chun seemed puzzled,
“There is another mountain road here?”
“No.”
Suddenly, Gu Sang-woong opposed it with a stiff face.
“Why not?”
“It is a place of steep cliffs and valleys on either side. It is dangerous because the path is one way; there are no side extensions.”
A place where one could only move forward or head back. If he was right, then it wasn’t the right for a retreat.
In particular, when there is a large number of people being led that path wasn’t the right option.
“Then why not jump down to the valley?”
“The cliffs are too high for that. Even if martial arts is used, it is still extremely dangerous. What is more is that there are fast-moving torrents in places, and if one gets pushed away by it, one’s safety cannot be guaranteed.”
“Ahem.”
Even if they were all martial artists, they were still humans. Even warriors fall weak in front of mother nature.
When Gu Sang-woong objected to this, Hae Ack-chun didn’t ask anything more.
No one knew the path of Six Blood Valley better than him. However, leader Yang Kangil seemed to have other opinions,
“Because it is such a dangerous road, doesn’t that mean we can get ahead of our enemies?”
“What?”
“Even the enemies might think we will not…”
“Leader Yang! Do you want to gamble on the safety of the young lady and all the others that are at stake!”
Rather, everyone heard the shout of Gu Sang-woong. He thought that the method was too dangerous for the people here.
Wasn’t there a saying in the martial arts world about avoiding roads that only have one path to take? But now, we were too far down the path to just outright reject this proposal.
In the end, he had to choose between making a breakthrough from the enemy encirclement or going down this valley, even if both were risky.
“Hmm.”
It was a moment when he seemed troubled I heard the sound of something moving in my ear.
Phat!
At the same time, Hae Ack-chun’s body moved too fast.
Kik!
Everyone, including me, looked over. Hae Ack-chun was twisting the neck of a man holding a horn.
There was one who hadn’t died yet. The situation turned urgent as someone made the mistake of leaving an enemy alive.
Although Hae Ack-chun did kill him, the guy had blown the horn for a short time.
“Damn it!”
As long as the horn got rung, there was no way out. Enemies would come running down our path of retreat.
“Elder?”
“Let’s head down that valley. Shit.”
Hae Ack-chun spoke a bit nervously at this unexpected turn of events and then looked at the place the procession stopped.
“Phew.”
Gu Sang-woong, the leader, took a deep breath and followed. And the rest of the leaders followed him.
We, who joined the procession, turned around to the commander and went down the road.
Shortly after we went down this place, a really deep cliff valley appeared. Looking at this, I knew why this path was described as dangerous.
-Wow, it is so dark here.
It was literally full of cliffs. There was a small wind moving down below, but even from here, I could feel that the wind was strong.
It was no exaggeration to say anyone would die if they fell from here.
But there was a problem.
-…
The sound of people moving. I could hear it.
It was the sound of swords. It was a number that was nothing like before.
-There are many enemies.
-What do we do? Wonhwi?
I looked at Hae Ack-chun; there was no way he couldn’t miss this. Hae Ack-chun’s expression turned serious.
He looked worried for a moment and spoke to Baek Ryeon-ha and us,
“Lady. I think we should divide from here.”
“What do you mean, Uncle Hae?”
“The number of enemies chasing us is uncountable. I guess we will have to divide our power in half to stop them.”
Seeing how he said this, there must be a strong person intermixed with the enemies. Probably the sect leader of the Haeyeon sect.
And she nodded without a word knowing that being stubborn would get all of them killed.
“You must live!”
“Don’t worry. I will deal with them and follow you.”
“Teacher!”
Song Jwa-baek called to him with a worried voice. And to this, Hae Ack-chun said,
“No matter what happens, protect her. And don’t forget where the meeting point is.”
The meeting point.
It was a place that Hae Ack-chun had informed me of in advance in case something happened. A base which was made by Jang Mun-wong.
He had asked us all to gather there if we ever got scattered.
“… I understand.”
When Song Jaw-baek answered, Hae Ack-chun sent a message to me.
[You are the smartest one of them, so I think you can help out Leader Jang.]
Because of a few good things I did, he trusted me too much. Who would have thought that I would really build a proper relationship with this crazy old man?
“I wish you good luck.”
I took the initiative and said a prayer for his safe return.
“Huh! Worry about your own luck.”
Hae Ack-chun smiled and then headed to the place where the enemies were coming from with half the troops.
As half of them vanished, the power on this side had decreased. Now, on our side was just Leader Jang, Baek Ryeon-ha, and me.
There were other leaders like Yang Kangil and the twins, but without Hae Ack-chun our power had decreased significantly.
“Let’s do it like this.”
Yang Kangil took the lead.
Unlike the existing paths, this one had only a narrow path, with only one exit. This meant that Leader Jang Mun-wong would be escorting Baek Ryeon-ha. I, along with Leader Yang, would be the ones in the lead, with the twins watching the rear.
The procession moved with the safety of Baek Ryeon-ha as the priority.
“We need to hurry.”
Yang Kangil took the lead, and we entered the path.
Fortunately, we couldn’t feel the enemy following us, which meant Hae Ack-chun was blocking the path pretty well.
But he had to hurry up and get out–
But just for a moment,
-…
Again, my ear heard it.
The front side of the gorge we were heading to.
The sound wasn’t huge like the ones trying to chase us, but it was still the sound of swords.
Shh!
I raised my hand and stopped the profession. Yang Kangil, who was in the lead, looked puzzled.
[Leader Yang.]
I sent him a voice transmission that confused him even more.
[What is it, Young Master?]
[There are enemies in the front.]
[Enemies? I don’t feel any presence.]
Of course, he didn’t.
As he was still a first-rate warrior, he couldn’t. Because I had the ability to listen to the sound of the sword, I could almost hear the sound of it, similar in strength to Hae Ack-chun
[I am sure. We need to call the leaders.]
The protection of Baek Ryeon-ha was the priority to all, and if there were enemies ahead, it was more stable for the strong ones to lead into it. But, Yang Kangil shook his head.
[Leader Hojong protects the young lady. I don’t know if the young master is right, but even if he is, we will have to break through them.]
[…]
Hmm, I didn’t expect to get turned down like this.
Of course, even if Baek Ryeon-ha was the priority, if we encounter enemies on this narrow path, it would be better to break through them head on.
[Then let’s be careful.]
[We need to be careful. I know what Young Master means.]
Yang Kangil nodded, saying there was nothing more that could be done.
[I don’t have a weapon, so the Young Lord will have to draw his sword to signal the procession.]
Yang Kangil used his fists, so he had no weapon. I turned back and pulled out the South Heavenly Iron Sword and raised it so everyone in the back could see it.
And when the sword was raised, the others who realized the meaning, drew their weapons.
Srng!
It was better to be prepared in advance.
-Wonhwi.
Iron Sword called for me.
‘What is it?’
As I held him, he informed me what he had seen.
‘What?’
I frowned, and Yang Kangil said to me.
[Hurry, Young Master. Any further delay will be dangerous.]
[I understand.]
To my response, Yang Kangil nodded his head.
At this time, I tried to kill down the presence of my internal energy presence and moved as forward as I could, but I must have been too close.
Yang Kangil tried to turn his head. At that moment, I stabbed him in the back at the speed of lightning.
Puak!
“Kuak!”
I hurriedly pointed the sword at his neck and said,
[If you don’t want to die, stay silent. What is your identity?]
“What the hell…’
[Speak only if you are sure.]
I thrust the sword further towards his neck.
Puak!
One more inch, and this bastard would die in my hands. Looking shocked, Yang Kangil stared up at me.
It was the same with the upper-rank warriors behind.
[Young master, why are you being like this?]
As a warrior asked, I said.
[Is there something like a white powder on the back of the sheath?]
At the words, the warriors frowned a little and then said in surprise.
[Yes!]
Just as Iron Sword had said,
As I drew Iron Sword, he told me that Yang Kangil had tampered with my sheath from behind. That he had fiddled something onto it.
And I touched the sheath and smelt it.
Again, it was the Thousand Miles Chasing Fragrance.
-Is he with that one?
‘I don’t know.’
‘What do we do?’
Not all the scents were the same.
The scent that Yang Kangil put on my sheath was different from what Ko Eunjae did.
Of course, it was possible for the same group of people to use different types.
I push the tip of my sword to his throat.
[Why did you put that powder onto me?]
Kangil looked shocked. He didn’t even have the time to think about what had just happened as he was caught too fast.
And I felt annoyed,
[Spill it!]
Yang Kang-il said nothing, not being able to think of anything.
[For the commander and Fourth Elder to follow…]
Clench!
[Huk!]
[Don’t spew shit to me. Will you have to do it secretly if that was your purpose?]
He was speaking nonsense right to my face. Come to think of it; this guy was the one who insisted we take this valley path.
Ha! Now I knew.
[… the one who didn’t die before. That was your doing, right?]
‘…!!!’
Yang Kangil’s eyes looked shocked at it, and he tried to scream.
“Here….”
Puak!
“Kuak!”
I put the sword through the neck, and having it pierced; the bastard fell to the ground.
It couldn’t be figured out what his intentions were, but if he was going to scream out our location, I couldn’t let him live.
‘… this isn’t going to be easy.’
Our escape was beyond these mountain ranges.
I looked at the back of the procession. A trap in front.
Unintentionally, it turned into a situation where I had to lead them all out.
