Everyone was puzzled as I turned to signal a retreat.
I sent the senior warriors a message that there was an ambush ahead, and when I let them know what happened, they started to quickly turn back.
Then, passing them, a few people came.
It was Baek Ryeon-ha and leader Jang Mun-wong.
“Young master.”
She was about to say something in a whisper but I spoke to her before
[There is an ambush ahead.]
Of course, I sent the same message to Jang Mun-wong, and he tilted his head.
-He doesn’t seem to get it.
Although he was an excellent performer at the level of commander, unless he was as skilled as Hae Ack-chun his perception wouldn’t be good enough. Of course, he couldn’t feel it.
[An ambush? How can the enemies… ah!]
Baek Ryeon-ha frowned as she noticed something. It was the body of the deceased leader Yang Kang-il.
Jang Mun-wong, who discovered it thanks to her reaction, asked me what had happened.
[This is a spy.]
I sent the same message to the two. And the reaction was different.
[A spy? How did you know?]
[… leader Yang was a spy?]
Jang Mun-wong asked as if he had expected something like this, but Baek Ryeon-ha seemed shocked. And I told her what had happened.
[He sprayed that powder onto my sheath.]
I showed it to her, and she sniffed it up close.
[The scent is slightly different.]
She also noticed this difference right away.
I was trained as a spy, so I realized the difference was fine, but how was she doing it?
She seemed to be more sensitive to such things.
[It was put onto the young master?]
She asked in a puzzled voice.
I didn’t even expect someone to dare and do such a thing.
“This is frustrating. Even if the enemies are right in front of us, ready to ambush, I cannot even hear the whispers of anything if we are this far away.
Jang Mun-wong spoke in a low voice, probably because it was frustrating that the three of them had to speak through voice transmission.
His words made sense.
I was just trying to be a little more careful.
“Did you see it?”
“You must have thought that Leader Yang was a spy because he put the powder on you.”
“I had no doubt about it.”
Now that I had shown it to them, I didn’t have to convince them anymore. I threw down the sheath from the cliff right away too.
-Ah…
When the sheath which had been around him for a long time was thrown out, Iron Sword felt sad.
If I carry it, my location would be exposed.
In any case, if the powder’s scent is used to track us, they will have to enter the rapid currents of the cliff.
Meanwhile, Baek Ryeon-ha and Jang Mun-wong looked at each other. Why were they doing this?
“We don’t have time to be like this. We need to retreat quickly.”
Hearing only the sounds of swords to predict an ambush was something no one would understand. When confronting enemies on a narrow cliff path, it was better to help Hae Ack-chun than fight with a new group.
Baek Ryeon-ha said,
[Young master. Leader Yang isn’t a spy, ahh… he is an informant.]
[Uh?]
What did this mean? Not a spy but an informant?
[It is hard to say, but he is my unnie’s…]
‘Unnie?’
-…
‘…!!’
I looked to the back before I could even ask her.
[What is it?]
The sound was getting louder and louder.
-They are coming, Wonhwi.
Iron Sword warned me. I had thought that the ambushers would wait, but it looked like they were rushing at us, at a fast pace too.
“They are coming.”
“Ah!”
As the enemies got closer, I wondered if Jang Mun-wong sensed them now–
“Everyone, retreat! Now!”
Rumble!
The procession, which was moving quietly, now accelerated, and people started to run with the twins in the lead.
If we got caught on such a narrow road, it would be very dangerous.
“Young Lady, get into the middle!”
At the words of Jang Mun-wong, she nodded; she was the main person in this procession.
The moment she gets caught, everything would have been in vain.
“The upper-rank warriors, step back. Let Young Master and I handle the rear.”
“I understand!”
The best here was Jang Mun-wong and me. The situation had turned quickly.
Now the twins were leading ahead, and I had to protect the rear.
[Cho Sung-won!]
[Lord?]
I called Cho Sung-won, who was the best of the trainees ranked recently, and I urged him to protect the center of the procession.
He was the guy who knew the reliable martial arts of the Beggars Union and was probably the best of the first-rate warriors here.
“Hurry!”
At the cry of Jang Mun-wong, the procession speeded up. However, at this speed, it would be impossible to resist the pursuit of the enemies.
At least we had to get out of this valley for now.
-Too late.
Short Sword said in a low voice. I knew it too.
-…
The swords’ sounds were getting close, and I could see black masked men approaching us from behind. They seemed to number around forty or so.
‘Masks?’
That was strange. Why wear masks?
Normally visitors would wear a mask so that others would not know they were coming into the Blood Sect. Yet, these people were out here to kill us… so why wear masks?
“Kuak.”
A groan escaped from the mouth of Jang Mun-wong, who looked at them.
The number of people was smaller than before, but each of them seemed to be skilled. In particular, the two people at the forefront looked intimidating.
One person had a strangely massive ax, and looked horrendous. The other seemed to be a fist user and was tall.
Smaller than Hae Ack-chun, but they were much bigger than normal people.
‘What should I do?’
I think I will need to stay back with the upper-rank warriors and stop them. Based on our speed now, if we continued to run, we would get overrun.
‘What!’
“Commander!”
Jang Mun-wong looked back at me,
“This! The upper-ranked warriors, stop and protect the rear!”
The masked men seemed like they would throw their spears. And it seemed like they could inflict enough damage to take us down.
The giant person also grabbed a spear and was ready to throw it.
Papak!
The men were ready to throw the spear, but it seemed unreasonable for me even to try and block all of them.
Maybe just two or three could be blocked by me.
Pat!
I held my sword in both hands and looked at the flying spear. The moment it reached me, I swung my sword to cut it down
Chang!
A spear was cut down. Then two more spears were cut, and one barely bounced back.
Chachachang!
The sound of the others blocking spears could be heard. The spears came infused with internal energy, so not all of them could be blocked.
“Kuak!”
“Ugh!”
The two warriors with us were killed. One was hit in the stomach and the other on the thigh, but both of them would lose their mobility.
But that wasn’t the problem right now. The spear from the giant fist user was different.
Swish!
I could tell it was different from the sound it made slicing through the air. Even if I used all of my strength, I wasn’t confident in stopping it.
“Everyone move!”
Jang Mun-wong stepped forward as he was the only one who could stop this.
Swish!
Jang Mun-wong blocked the front of the spear which came, and as soon as the spear came, he grabbed it, but just as he was doing this–
Puak!
“Kuak!”
The spear suddenly pushed through and pierced the right side of his chest. And it made the guy bounce back.
Papapak!
“Euk!”
“Ack!”
The warriors behind tried to hold him, but they also fell backward because of the massive force.
It was such a terrifying technique that it was unbelievable. With a single throw, he had made sure that the first-rate warriors fell down.
Thanks to that, the retreating people stopped.
“Haa… haaa…”
Pak!
Jang Mun-wong pulled out the spear, which was lodged in his shoulder, and he then touched his blood points there.
-Such a monster!
I didn’t need to be told that; I already knew it. This was the worst possible situation.
If just one spear from that guy could do this, then what would happen if more people came over with such strength?
Meanwhile, they had reached where we were. And I looked at the side of the cliff.
‘Should I risk my life?’
The only way to survive in this situation was on this cliff.
It was so far away that the odds of surviving were too low, but there was a glimmer of hope. Or maybe I should fight for my life?
Could we break through even when they had the number advantage and still let Baek Ryeon-ha escape? Even when we used the others to fight and try and delay them?
-Why don’t you just run away? Why do you have to care about them?
Ah….
At Short Sword’s words, I realized something. It was as if I had become one with the Blood Sect.
If there was any difference, I should be giving my life priority. It was then that a masked man shouted with an ax in hand.
“Do you have a girl named Baek Ryeon-ha in here?”
‘Baek Ryeon-ha?’
Surprisingly, the one they were aiming for was Baek Ryeon-ha. The procession all went stiff at this loud question.
The man with the mask continued,
“If you don’t have her here, I will kill you all. And if you do have her, then give her to me, and I will let you all live.”
At those words, the eyes of the upper-rank warriors changed.
Is there anyone who would stand out for someone who was supposed to be the next leader? But wasn’t one now?
“Oh. I guess my prediction was right. She is here.”
The masked man was convinced that Baek Ryeon-ha was here.
Looking at his attitude, it looked like his target was her, but I wasn’t sure if he would stop after getting his target.
“If the girl is here, give her to me!”
The giant man who was next to the axed man yelled.
Judging by the way he voiced it, he seemed to be a skilled man. Even the upper-rank warriors seemed to be pressured by it.
However, no one here could walk away.
Clench!
Everyone clenched their hands.
‘…’
Looking at them, it seemed that they were ready to risk their lives to protect her, even if it meant dying here.
It was meaningless to run away from such people, but man, they looked so loyal.
Because of this, the Murim Alliance must be trying to put in their spies. I looked at Jang Mun-wong holding his wound.
He, too, was ready to fight.
‘…’
I decided to talk to him.
[Commander.]
He looked at me with puzzled eyes.
[… if I run out of time, Commander take the Young Lady and run.]
[Young master!]
He looked wide-eyed at me.
-Yah! What are you saying?
Short Sword yelled at me.
‘Enough. I will jump down the cliff.’
This was a dire situation. If only to complete the task that Hae Ack-chun entrusted to me, I would risk my life for this.
Isn’t the chance of survival greater for jumping off the cliff than fighting them?
-Phew
One of the masked men said,
“Sir. We don’t have time. If that doesn’t work, we were told to kill them all, so let’s just kill them and get what…”
Sh!
I stepped ahead right then.
All eyes of both enemy and allies were focused on me.
The friendly side was shocked, and the masked people were wary.
Tak!
I looked at them and said,
“The seniors here don’t belong to the Murim Alliance, so why are you trying to hurt us?”
As I spoke, I heard a mumble from behind. Naturally, everyone must have thought that these people were on the side of the Alliance.
But I had other thoughts. And the masked man with ax said,
“Huh. What nonsense is that? We are the people of the Murim Alliance.”
The man denied my words.
“Then why do you say that we can get saved if we give up ‘Baek Ryeon-ha’?”
It didn’t make sense. The Purpose of the Alliance is to take down the Blood Sect.
Their goal was to annihilate everyone within it, not just the possible leaders.
“You must be the nonsense spewing kind!”
The combat side man yelled at him. Fortunately, I had experience with Hae Ack-chun so I was used to this.
“The people of the Murim Alliance are scattered all over the mountain, and it seems like you don’t care.”
As the masked man was reminded of the situation,
I spoke,
“Then what do you mean? You must be fine with wasting time here like the other people of the alliance, right?”
“…”
The masked man frowned at my question.
I guess he didn’t expect such a thing. Seeing their eyes become wary, they seemed to be clear of the danger they were in.
Provoking them wouldn’t be good, but I had no choice but to draw their attention.
“One of the people on our side used the Thousand Miles Chasing Fragrance on us. But it seemed like the scent was different from the one which was used by the spy who sprinkled it in the mountain.”
Hearing this, the masked man’s eyes lit up. They must have been surprised that I could distinguish between the two scents.
As a spy for 8 years, this wasn’t a difficult task.
“That alone doesn’t convince us that we aren’t from the alliance, you idiot.”
The masked man with the ax laughed at me,
“At first, I thought that the other man must also be a spy. But if you think about it like this, that doesn’t seem to be true. Especially when he led us right into this valley.”
If I hadn’t met them here, I wouldn’t have ever had this thought, but then leader Yang was in our team and directed us right into them.
“Is that person the one senior sent as a spy?”
“Huh!”
The masked man didn’t deny my words. He must have thought that there was no need to hide it.
Because anyway, we were rats who fell into the trap, so the man shouted,
“Now that you know there are spies within you, do you know that we can find her if we want to?”
He was trying to make our side suspicious of each other.
“That’s something to be thankful for.”
“What?”
“Thanks to you, we know that we no longer have a spy on our side. All because of your consideration.”
“…?”
“If there were others, you would have found her right away. They would have told you.”
At my words, the masked man’s eyes shone.
The more he talked, the more he must have realized he was falling into a mess. So he spoke with a voice that showed his killing intent.
“You seem to be a master at using your mouth. I will kill you first.”
As soon as the ax man said that, one of the masked men threw their spear at me. It wasn’t difficult to avoid at this distance, but I shouted.
“Did Baek Hye-hyang or someone order you?”
‘…!!’
The movement of the man throwing spar went still at my question. Of course, it did.
I was already convinced that it was Baek Hye-hyang who ordered them. Otherwise, it was strange for the spy to be a leader of the Six Blood Valley, but what confirmed it was the fact that this location we were brought to didn’t have a single member of the Murim Alliance here.
All because the target was one person.
“From Young Lady Baek Hye-hyang?”
Noises rose behind.
Perhaps because they didn’t imagine that one from the Blood Sect would actually do such a thing.
“Kill him!”
The man shouted. I hurriedly stopped trying to talk and raised my innate qi.
Shh! Pak!
I caught the spear that was thrown at me, and the masked man’s eyes widened.
It was natural to be surprised to find a young boy they had met for the first time able to catch a spear of a first-rate warrior.
“I will give this back to you.”
Pak!
I threw the spear back to the masked man, and I cried.
“Everyone run!”
Baek Ryeon-ha would have fled also, so saving the others’ lives was a good deal. At that moment, the masked man lightly held the spear I threw. And as if he wanted to kill me, he threw the spear back with his amazing strength.
‘Shit!’
I wasn’t here without knowing anything, and I knew I would be able to save my life.
It was that moment.
Pak! Rumble!
The end of the spear point stopped right in front of my nose, and the blade vibrated.
Why did the spear stop?
“Young master. Thank you.”
‘Huh?’
The voice from behind was Baek Ryeon-ha. I told her to run, so why!
“This kid is pretty good.”
‘And what was this voice?’
I looked to the side with trembling eyes. A masked man was holding the spear right next to me.
I would have lost my life if this masked man didn’t stop it.
Pak!
He took off his mask as if it felt irritating, and to my surprise, he was the Second Elder, Seo Kalma.
“Uh…. Elder, how?”
He should have been on the northeast side of the mountain, so why was he here?
But that wasn’t the end.
“Thanks to the young master, we have been able to confirm there are no other ambushes happening.”
Another person came and stood next to me.
There was a man on, but I could tell who it was from the voice. It was Han Baekha.
‘Ha!’
I was a bit too shocked.
Didn’t this mean that they had lied and hidden up to this point? The atmosphere changed in an instant when the second elder and Han Baekha appeared.
The morale of the side that was ready to risk their lives had changed.
“Damn it!”
“We were tricked!”
With two skilled people of the sect coming here, the masked people grasped the situation.
No matter how strong they were, they could not go against an elder and a Blood Star of the sect.
The masked man with no weapons shouted,
“Retreat!”
He decided that they were at a disadvantage and tried to retreat. But then–
Papat!
A form. Walking upright from the top of the cliff, it was sliding down at a great speed and blocked the path of retreat for these masked men.
Thud!
A huge man who made these masked men look like kids.
It was Hae Ack-chun.
In one hand of Hae Ack-chun was a middle-aged man with his tongue hanging down.
I could even hear the blood dripping from it.
The masked man who was in the lead to run mumbled,
“…Ghastly Monster.”
“Do you think you can survive now?”
Check!
Hae Ack-chun ripped his shirt off, ready to fight. His body was dyed in a deep copper color.
“Huh! If you want to pass from me, you will have to give your lives.”
