Chapter 170 :

<The Blood Sea Spreading Across Sichuan (6)>

The Shenghu Hall and Jin Sowoon's group eventually reached Chengdu.

The Shenghu Hall and the members of the Twelve Peaks Fortress immediately began resting so they could regroup.

But not everyone got to rest.

Nam Hwaseong, who wasn't included in that "everyone," shouted in outrage.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Nam Hwaseong's face was deeply furrowed.

He'd thought he'd get to rest a little once they reached Chengdu.

But when Jin Sowoon said they were leaving right away, Nam Hwaseong's anger boiled over.

"The Shenghu Hall and everyone else get to rest for at least half a day before setting out. Why are we the only ones who have to go ahead?"

Jin Sowoon answered as if it were nothing.

"We need to catch up with the people in front. Where do you think we have time to waste?"

Nam Hwaseong's lips twitched, but Jin Sowoon only shrugged.

"Are you scared? If you don't want to go, turn back."

That damn bastard was always saying, "Turn back, turn back."

He knew perfectly well that Nam Hwaseong couldn't just go back alone while the rest of the Twelve Peaks Fortress stayed here.

"...If we keep going like this, we might collapse."

At Nam Hwaseong's serious tone, Jin Sowoon lifted his chin.

"Is that all Samwon Sect's Nam Hwaseong is capable of?"

"...Grit."

"Are you coming or not?"

Nam Hwaseong wanted to give up and return to the academy right then and there.

But he couldn't.

The night before, after he learned he'd be traveling with Jin Sowoon, Cheol Sunjik had secretly sent him a message through telepathy.

—Remember every move he makes. This incident will put a shackle on him.

Nam Hwaseong didn't know what Cheol Sunjik was plotting, but it would surely benefit the Twelve Peaks Fortress.

So he had no choice but to go along.

"Lead the way!"

Jin Sowoon gave a faint smile and turned his horse around.

Nam Hwaseong ground his teeth as he watched him.

'You must be exhausted by now, too.'

He'd hold out to the end and make sure Jin Sowoon ate his words.

He might not have the most internal energy, but when it came to stamina, no one could beat him.

Cheol Sunjik had told him to watch Jin Sowoon, but first and foremost, it was important to crush the man's pride.

They'd left Chengdu and entered the main road to Badong, yet Jin Sowoon had been riding for hours without showing the slightest sign of fatigue.

His backside was so sore it felt like the skin was about to chafe off.

Nam Hwaseong finally couldn't take it any longer and spoke up again.

"...Hey, shouldn't we take a break?"

"Are you tired already?"

Did he have to put it like that...?

Jin Sowoon's words grated on Nam Hwaseong's nerves, and his brow furrowed.

"If we keep going like this, we'll be exhausted soon!"

"I'm not tired."

"Then at least slow down a little. There's a Green Forest stronghold around here!"

The road from Chengdu to Badong connected to the main route leading west.

Since merchants from the Central Plains and the Western Regions often traveled this road, it was only natural for Green Forest strongholds to be found along it instead of ordinary mountain bandit camps.

But there wasn't a trace of worry on Jin Sowoon's face.

"Don't worry. There's a way to avoid them."

"...Are you in your right mind? You're saying we'll just pass three Green Forest strongholds blocking the main road?"

Nam Hwaseong couldn't believe his ears.

The people most sensitive about tolls were the Green Forest strongholds.

They cared more about money they hadn't received than money they had.

"Nam Hwaseong, what did I tell you before we set out?"

There it was again: that damn absolute obedience...

It wasn't wartime.

Why should he have to obey absolutely just because he'd joined them?

"I don't care if you complain. I never cared in the first place. But if you won't follow orders, turn back now."

"..."

"Cheol Sunjik told you to watch me, didn't he?"

Nam Hwaseong flinched at the unexpected remark.

"Watch me closely and report exactly what you see. I don't care. But if you keep getting in my way, I'll break both your legs so you can't follow us anymore."

Though they were riding at full speed, Jin Sowoon's voice remained perfectly calm.

The sound sent a chill down Nam Hwaseong's spine.

'W-what was that?'

Jin Sowoon hadn't even released his killing intent.

And yet Nam Hwaseong felt as though someone had held a blade to his throat.

He found himself lowering his head without meaning to.

Jin Sowoon's firm voice came from above him.

"What will you do? Follow me or go back?"

Turning around in anger or following with his tail between his legs would both wound his pride.

Damn bastard.

Since meeting this man, Nam Hwaseong felt like he was grinding his teeth all the time.

But faced with the pressure Jin Sowoon gave off, he had no other choice.

"I'll follow you."

At Nam Hwaseong's heavy reply, Jin Sowoon smiled and nodded.

"Good. I hear Samwon Sect's Deer-Horn Wind-Cloud Steps are impressive."

It was true that the Samwon Sect's Deer-Horn Wind-Cloud Steps were considered one of the best movement techniques in the murim world.

But why bring that up now?

Nam Hwaseong was seized by a vague sense of unease.

"We're leaving the horses behind from here."

"...You're planning to cut across the mountains?"

His unease immediately became reality.

"That's right."

Nam Hwaseong was horrified.

"Didn't you just say we'd avoid the Green Forest strongholds?"

The Green Forest bandits were more alert to people approaching through the mountains than to people on the main road.

Most people coming along the road were probably customers, while those coming through the mountains were more likely to be enemies.

"We'll avoid them."

Jin Sowoon looked at Nam Hwaseong and smiled.

"It might be a little rough, though."

A little?

Nam Hwaseong felt his knees weaken.

Screee!

A sharp whistle rang through the mountains.

One of the Green Forest strongholds on the ridge began stirring.

It looked like they'd already received the signal and were preparing to set out.

"They've spotted us."

Jin Sowoon sounded calm.

Nam Hwaseong cursed to himself.

'How could they not?'

In broad daylight, two martial artists without stealth clothes were climbing the mountain while bandits watched from guard towers built all over the slopes.

Even an ordinary herbalist would have spotted them.

"Let's pick up the pace."

"...What?"

Hadn't they already been running at full speed?

Jin Sowoon set off ahead, without waiting for Nam Hwaseong to answer.

But he was heading in a strange direction.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going?"

Nam Hwaseong shouted at Jin Sowoon, forgetting that they were supposed to avoid the Green Forest's attention.

Jin Sowoon was running straight toward the mountain's guard tower.

"That crazy bastard..."

Jin Sowoon charged up the steep mountain path as if it were a downhill slope, then thrust his fist straight at the tower.

A dozen or so fist afterimages remained around him as his strike slammed into the tower's supports.

Crack!

"Gaaagh!"

"Intruders!"

"We're under attack!"

The tower collapsed, and a cloud of dust rose around them.

"Y-you're insane!"

Bandits who had been keeping watch all around the mountain saw the dust and began converging on the tower.

By the time Nam Hwaseong reached it, Jin Sowoon was already running toward him.

"We're going down this way."

"We've drawn their attention, so now we have to break through the encirclement."

"What is that supposed to—"

"Didn't you learn the 'Flash East, Strike West' strategy?"

You could just stick the word "strategy" onto "appear in the east, vanish in the west," and call it a plan?

But Nam Hwaseong couldn't argue with Jin Sowoon's nonsense.

The Green Forest bandits had seen the tower fall and were charging at them with their eyes blazing.

Nam Hwaseong desperately used the Deer-Horn Wind-Cloud Steps to keep up with him.

"Damn it! I knew we were in trouble as soon as you gave that ridiculous plan a name!"

"What are you complaining about?"

"Why are we carrying out a plan that's obviously going to fail?"

Countless bandits were charging up at them, wielding great sabers and great axes.

"What are you talking about? If we break through, it isn't a failure."

You crazy bastard! Weren't we supposed to avoid them?

Jin Sowoon drew his sword and charged straight at several bandits.

The bandits weren't slow to react.

"Kill them!"

"You bastards! How dare you come here?"

"Surround them!"

The bandits rushed forward, blocking them in every direction.

Jin Sowoon cut them down at a speed at least twice as fast as theirs.

"Guh!"

"Ghk!"

"He's fast..."

In the blink of an eye, Jin Sowoon was running again.

Only afterward did the bandits fall where he'd passed, an unbelievable sight.

'What the hell?'

Just Jin Sowoon's victory over Ilgak had caused an uproar throughout the Martial Academy.

But the movements he'd just shown were on another level.

It was hard to believe he'd progressed so much in only two months that he seemed like a different person.

"Nam Hwaseong, snap out of it!"

At Jin Sowoon's shout, Nam Hwaseong looked ahead.

Four bandits were bringing their great sabers down at him at once.

Nam Hwaseong swung his fists, clad in metal gauntlets.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Waves of force burst in every direction, sending the bandits flying like stones.

Jin Sowoon's dissatisfied voice rang out.

"Idiot. Making that much noise ruins the 'Flash East, Strike West' strategy."

"This whole thing was doomed from the moment you started it..."

Jin Sowoon didn't even listen to him.

He set off again, saying:

"Let's go. You ruined the plan, so you'd better keep up..."

His cold gaze landed on Nam Hwaseong.

"Run properly."

You crazy bastard! This wasn't my fault!

Jin Sowoon threw something toward the bandits running down from the guard tower, then started moving again.

'A flower bud?'

The bronze-colored flower bud fell among the bandits and began to bloom with a clicking sound.

It spun rapidly in place as the metal flower opened.

Nam Hwaseong had been staring at it in fascination.

Then his expression suddenly hardened.

"Gaaaagh!"

"Guh!"

"Gyaaaagh!"

Dozens of bandits who had been running down the ridge clutched at their faces and throats and collapsed to the ground all at once.

"Nam Hwaseong, are you coming or not?"

It had to be connected to the flower bud Jin Sowoon had thrown.

But Nam Hwaseong had no idea what it was.

—The metal flower bloomed, and dozens of Green Forest bandits fell over at once.

How would Cheol Sunjik react if Nam Hwaseong reported that?

Would he even believe it?

"I wouldn't believe it myself."

For some reason, Nam Hwaseong thought he wouldn't be able to report it.

"Nam Hwaseong!"

"I'm coming, damn it! Your voice is going to give us away!"

Nam Hwaseong started running at full speed again and finally caught up to Jin Sowoon.

"If we're going to do this, can't we just take the main road?"

They'd climbed all the way to the top of the mountain and back down.

It was twice as exhausting.

"Don't worry. This time, we'll definitely avoid them."

"..."

"Why are you looking at me like that? Don't you trust me?"

Of course not.

Nam Hwaseong couldn't understand why Jin Sowoon was so confident.

But without realizing it, he kept following close behind him.

'...Wasn't I supposed to join the White Path Association?'

Moyong Jaehwa stopped with a tray of food in his hands and tilted his head.

He was a direct descendant of one of the Five Great Families.

He was also the heir who would one day lead the Moyong Family, even if he didn't yet have the qualifications.

He had an odd personality, but he was also the only grandson of Wind Earl Breaking Sword, one of the greatest experts in the murim world.

To put it bluntly, if he hadn't chosen to follow Brother Jin Sowoon, he could have joined the White Path Association long ago and easily landed a leadership position.

'Hmm... But what is this?'

He couldn't understand why he was attending an event organized by the Righteous Path Association instead of the White Path Association, doing menial work.

Scratch, scratch.

"Hey! What are you doing? The Elder says he's hungry!"

At the call, Moyong Jaehwa replied, "Yes, yes!" and hurried over with the food.

He'd pushed down his growing doubts and delivered it with a smile.

But the Diancang disciple who received the food frowned deeply.

"What is this? The food's gone cold!"

"We're in a forest at high altitude. It cools quickly."

Moyong Jaehwa tried to soothe him, but the Diancang disciple threw the food down and shouted angrily.

"You can't even do the job you were told to do! You think I'm going to serve this kind of food to the Elder?"

Moyong Jaehwa stared blankly at the food scattered on the ground.

The Diancang disciple threatened him.

Something was wrong.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Why am I doing these errands anyway?"

Moyong Jaehwa tilted his head and asked.

"What?"

"I'm the heir of the Moyong Family, a direct descendant, and the grandson of Sword Breaker. Why am I doing this?"

"...You said you'd do it!"

"I did?"

"Yeah! You said you'd do it instead of Eun Seollan!"

Only then did Moyong Jaehwa come to his senses.

He smacked himself on the head several times.

"Ah! Ah! Oh, right! I remember. Yeah, that's what happened."

After finishing their search, just as he'd been about to go to sleep, he'd seen Eun Seollan waiting on the others.

He'd lost his temper and snatched the tray from her.

"Bring it back again! If you mess it up this time..."

"Hey."

The atmosphere changed in an instant.

The Diancang disciple frowned, unsure he'd heard correctly.

"Did you just say 'hey' to me?"

"You think you're someone important?"

"...What?"

"I asked if you're someone important. Are you set to inherit the Diancang Sect?"

"..."

"I don't want to, but I could inherit the family. Are you going to spend your whole life at the academy and retire from the martial world? Can you stand proudly in front of the Moyong Family?"

"..."

"You can't, can you? So stop acting up."

"..."

The Diancang disciple pursed his lips, then went to the cooking area himself.

Moyong Jaehwa followed him with a cold gaze.

'Sleep... I need sleep...'

He couldn't remember how many days it had been since he'd slept properly.

Even when he slept, it felt as if he were awake.

Even when he was awake, it felt as if he were asleep.

'Damn it. If I'd known this was going to happen, I should've gone to Yueyang...'

At least then he wouldn't have had to come all this way and suffer like this.

"I'm sorry, Young Master Moyong. I could've done it myself."

When he returned to his place, Eun Seollan looked guilty.

The Diancang disciples were at fault.

Why did Eun Seollan feel guilty?

"It's all right. Those guys should be the ones bringing food to the elders of my sect. By the way, Lady Eun, aren't you cold?"

As they'd entered the highlands, everyone else had been unable to stand the cold.

They'd piled two or three blankets and coats on themselves.

"I'm fine. My hometown is cold, and the martial art I practice is strong in yin energy."

"Oh, right. You said you came from the Northern Sea."

Even memories he thought he knew were starting to slip away.

"Are you all right?"

"Pardon? What do you mean?"

Eun Seollan looked worriedly at Moyong Jaehwa, whose eyes were bloodshot.

"You look exhausted..."

"Me? I don't think so."

He said that, but Moyong Jaehwa looked awful.

He'd been on night patrol for days, barely eating and hardly sleeping.

"Do you really need to work so hard, Young Master Jaehwa? The others are only pretending to patrol."

"...Still, you never know..."

As he spoke, Moyong Jaehwa began to nod off.

But then he suddenly opened his eyes and sat up straight.

"...Young Master Jaehwa."

"...Haha."

Embarrassed, Moyong Jaehwa scratched the back of his head and spoke carefully.

"Could I sleep for a little while?"

"Yes, of course."

Eun Seollan quickly covered him with the blanket she'd received and added more firewood.

"Thank... you..."

Moyong Jaehwa fell asleep as soon as the words left his mouth.

"...You really were tired."

Eun Seollan watched him sympathetically.

Though the Righteous Path Association had dragged her here against her will, there was nothing special about the event itself.

The vanguard was made up mainly of disciples from Diancang and Shaolin.

They seemed more concerned with how well the affiliated sects treated them than with anything else.

They claimed they'd come to investigate the incident during the Murim Examination, but they hadn't even gone near the area where it happened.

'What is this mess?'

All Eun Seollan could think about was going home soon and completing the Peerless Divine Art.

She'd found a new path for the Peerless Divine Art after gaining insight inside the Soul-Destroying Formation.

But she was still a long way from unleashing the power described in legend.

'I should ask Brother Jin for advice.'

Thinking that, she stared blankly at the campfire.

"Is it... cold?"

The temperature in the mountains was falling quickly.

Perhaps because of that, even the academy students who had been chattering as if they were on a trip had quieted down.

They were all asleep by the fire, wrapped tightly in their blankets.

In the freezing cold, something moved through the silence.

Sssrrk.

A red centipede crawled past the campfire.

Eun Seollan saw the disgusting centipede but stared at it blankly, then grew puzzled.

'Don't centipedes live in damp, hot places?'

The snow hadn't even melted in this area, and there wasn't a single leaf on the hard ground.

The centipede that had crawled out of the frozen earth slowly began moving toward the academy students.

Sssrrk, sssrrk, sssrrk, sssrrk.

Another one appeared.

Then another.

Dozens of red centipedes emerged from somewhere and began approaching the people.

Eun Seollan was startled and tried to get up to catch one, but her body wouldn't move.

'Huh?'

She lowered her head.

By then, centipedes were covering her entire body.

Ah—agh—agh—

She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

Instead, the red centipedes began crawling into her mouth, nose, and ears.

Just as her body trembled at the horrible sensation—

—...Seollan, ...I... can...

A hurried but warm voice came from somewhere.

She wanted to answer, but couldn't.

She felt like she was about to burst into tears.

"Lady Seollan!"

Eun Seollan woke from the dream and came to her senses.

Moyong Jaehwa, who had woken up at some point, was looking at her with concern.

Remembering the red centipedes that had covered her body, Eun Seollan jumped up and frantically brushed herself off.

"Ah!"

"Are you all right?"

"Hah... hah... hah...!"

There had been countless red centipedes, enough to cover her from head to toe.

'Th-they're gone?'

The centipedes had vanished without a trace.

Zing!

A sharp sound stabbed at the inside of her head, as if a needle were piercing it.

Eun Seollan quickly covered her ears, but the unpleasant sound didn't care.

It continued stabbing at the inside of her head.

"Recite the Demon-Subduing Mantra! Lady Seollan!"

At Moyong Jaehwa's shout, Eun Seollan immediately began murmuring the mantra.

Strangely, the pain stabbing inside her head began to fade.

But then a strange sound began ringing in her ears again.

Jingle. Jingle.

"Th-this is...?"

"It seems... like an enemy."

"An enemy?"

Jingle. Jingle.

An eerie bell tolled all around them.