Chapter 91 :

Chapter 91. Time to Hunt (5)

“I confirmed it. It really is a ship rented out in its entirety by the Changgung Merchant Guild.”

At the words of the man in his mid-thirties, a young man who looked barely over twenty nodded.

“Then please station the warriors throughout this area. They said they were only a day away, so they should be arriving soon.”

The man nodded at the young man’s instructions, then led the warriors to occupy one of the docks near Zhenjiang.

“Whew.”

“Are you feeling frustrated, Senior Brother Gipung?”

Lee Gipung nodded at Jang Unje, who had taken the entrance examination with him.

“Of course. Our eyes and ears have been completely blocked.”

“Exactly. Why did our main sect have to fall on hard times at a moment like this?”

Lee Gipung was not as naive as Jang Unje.

Did it make any sense for the donations flowing into their main sect to suddenly dry up while businesses they operated throughout the country simultaneously began experiencing difficulties?

And this was the renowned Diancang Sect.

“From what I heard about Mount Hua, it seems we are not the only ones. They are also receiving far less support than their seniors did.”

“Hmph! They must have backed the wrong faction too.”

Mount Hua and Diancang.

Who under heaven would dare to tighten a noose around the necks of those two sects?

This was merely the price they were paying for losing a power struggle within their own sects.

It was already humiliating enough to take the entrance examination alongside warriors from lay martial halls instead of the seniors from their main sect, but now they were not even receiving proper financial support.

It felt as though their sect had abandoned them.

On top of that, they had never expected their fellow allies among the Nine Great Sects to become so heartless when money was involved.

“Those damned beggars.”

The messenger pigeons they had once regularly received from the Beggar Gang had stopped coming long ago.

Because of that, they had failed to properly complete both the first and second checkpoints.

At this rate, they might not even be admitted into the Martial Academy.

The thought that he might fail to enter the Martial Academy made his head spin for a moment.

If that happened, an enormous gap would open between him and the junior brothers remaining at the main sect.

“At least Daoist Myeonghyeon is helping us. We should be thankful for that.”

“You are right!”

Fortunately, Daoist Myeonghyeon of the Martial Alliance had personally sent them information, allowing them to barely overcome the crisis.

“Daoist Myeonghyeon has always been especially fond of you, Senior Brother. He must be terribly worried about you.”

Lee Gipung nodded at Jang Unje’s words.

It had happened so long ago that his memories were already hazy, but he recalled the words of praise Daoist Myeonghyeon had given him before being appointed as an elder of the Martial Alliance.

“But, Senior Brother…”

Lee Gipung tilted his head when Jang Unje hesitated.

“I know it may be improper to say this, but can we really trust the information Daoist Myeonghyeon gave us?”

“…”

After hesitating briefly, Lee Gipung shook his head.

“Do you think Daoist Myeonghyeon is someone who would speak nonsense?”

“That is true, but isn’t the report still rather difficult to believe?”

“…”

According to Daoist Myeonghyeon, a disciple of the Taeul Sect was taking the examination with only three junior brothers.

Yet they had secured nine checkpoint plaques during the first checkpoint and another six during the second checkpoint.

For that reason, Daoist Myeonghyeon had instructed them to cooperate with Mount Hua and Wudang to attack them.

The report contained information that was nearly impossible to believe.

However, since the source was Daoist Myeonghyeon, they could not simply dismiss it either.

He had even connected them with Song Baek of the Huayang Escort Agency, the wealthiest of the lay disciples, to fill in the missing portions of the information.

In the end, they had no choice but to believe and follow it.

Of course, Lee Gipung had ignored the part about cooperating with Mount Hua and Wudang.

What would the people of the murim world think of Diancang if it joined forces with Mount Hua and Wudang merely to capture a few disciples of the Taeul Sect?

There was also the matter of dividing the spoils they would obtain after capturing the Taeul Sect disciples.

Lee Gipung was currently moving with two junior brothers.

If Mount Hua and Wudang joined them and the spoils had to be divided, his junior brothers would most likely be excluded.

“Did you prepare the ship?”

“Yes, it is ready, but… do we truly need to go this far?”

According to Song Baek, the people pursuing the Taeul Sect had repeatedly launched surprise attacks over the past ten days, preventing them from sleeping or eating properly.

They should already have been utterly exhausted.

Against the Taeul Sect, this amount of preparation was more than sufficient.

“Did you not hear what Junior Brother Song Baek said? Warriors from the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect are traveling with them. In the worst-case scenario, they might try to put only the examination candidates aboard the ship.”

“Then they would fail after the third checkpoint… No, they might even be eliminated before reaching it.”

“That is why we must prepare for every possibility. We cannot do all the work only to hand the reward over to someone else.”

Lee Gipung had completely ignored the message from the Mount Hua Sect, which was heading toward Henan Province, asking why they were going to Jiangsu Province.

If Mount Hua waited in Henan Province, then the instant they forced the Taeul Sect disciples onto the ship, their prey would simply be delivered straight into the mouths of Mount Hua and Wudang.

“We cannot allow that.”

Diancang was not the only group in Zhenjiang.

Others who appeared to be taking the entrance examination were scattered throughout the area.

However, none of them seemed capable of challenging Diancang.

“They should be arriving soon…”

As Jang Unje looked up at the sun, a sharp whistle rang out, followed by a loud explosion.

“…What was that?”

It was clearly a signal flare.

“What was that signal for?”

Lee Gipung looked in every direction, but none of the people nearby appeared to react to the flare.

“Senior Brother! The ship! The ship is leaving!”

“What?”

The Changgung Merchant Guild’s ship raised its anchor and unfurled its sails as the sailors began rowing.

“We were clearly blocking every path so that no one could pass…”

At that moment, they saw two drenched women clinging to the side of the moving ship and climbing aboard.

Judging by the respectful way the people on deck treated them, the women were clearly no ordinary figures.

“Damn it! They left their warriors behind and moved on their own!”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is no time to stand around! Divide the warriors into two groups! Stop their ship and get ours moving as well!”

“Yes!”

It was a foolish decision.

They had abandoned their warriors.

They might be able to escape this place immediately, but how did they intend to endure the long journey after the third checkpoint?

“That only matters if they manage to escape this place.”

However, the Changgung Merchant Guild’s ship soon began doing something strange.

Led by the two women, the sailors began throwing wooden planks and buckets into the river.

“Are they trying to reduce the ship’s weight?”

Lee Gipung’s thoughts went no further.

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!

A group of horsemen was charging toward them at a mad pace, kicking up a cloud of pale dust.

“S-Senior Brother!”

Jang Unje, who had been preparing to board their ship, called out to Lee Gipung in alarm.

“What in the world…”

“I-It is the Namgung Family!”

“What? Did they not abandon their warriors?”

What had made these people so troublesome for the Martial Alliance was that no one could determine how to stop them.

The swords and sabers used by most martial artists could not easily pierce the armor covering their horses.

Meanwhile, the long spears wielded by the demonic practitioners on horseback plunged deeply into the martial artists’ chests.

More important than anything else was the horses’ terrifying breakthrough power.

The overwhelming impact created by their massive bodies was something humans could never reproduce.

The martial artists, completely bewildered by the unexpected strategy of a mounted charge, had no way to oppose it.

“It is a strategy ten years ahead of its time.”

The warriors following behind me were riding according to my instructions, but every one of them wore a doubtful expression.

“Young Master! Are we really going to keep riding like this?”

“Keep going! Do not even think about stopping! Ride as though you intend to charge straight across the river!”

“…”

At times like this, it was better to tell them about the sweetness of the result rather than explain the logic behind the process.

“If you do that, you will be able to accompany the young ladies all the way to the Martial Academy.”

When the Demonic Cult began its conquest of the murim world, there was one organization that caused it more trouble than any other.

The Iron Horse Crosswind Unit.

They fought in a style unfamiliar not only to the people of the murim world but even to the imperial army.

The closest comparison would be the mounted combat practiced by the tribes of the distant northern regions.

The warriors of the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect roared loudly.

“S-Senior Brother, they are not slowing down!”

“What?”

Did they truly intend to cross the river on horseback?

Shing, shing, shing, shing!

Led by a young man of their age dressed in a black martial uniform, more than a hundred mounted warriors drew their swords simultaneously.

“Everyone, charge!”

“Waaaaah!”

The warriors from the lay martial halls had already lost their formation.

Unable to gather together or scatter properly, they panicked before the momentum of the cavalry and began fleeing in every direction.

“D-Do not scatter! S-Stop them!”

Lee Gipung instinctively shouted that they had to stop the mounted warriors, but no one listened to him.

In the end, Lee Gipung kicked off the ground himself.

One move.

He only needed one move to disrupt their formation.

The Shooting Sun Sword Art, which Daoist Myeonghyeon had praised long ago, burst forth.

His sword aimed directly at the vital point of the man at the front, the one dressed in a black martial uniform and carrying a deep-black sword.

“Your accomplishment is inferior even to Jong Byeokgi’s.”

“What?”

The name of such a renowned senior emerged from the man’s mouth without warning.

For an instant, Lee Gipung’s sword form wavered.

The warrior in black precisely thrust his sword into the opening created by that hesitation.

Thud!

“Guh!”

“Senior Brother!”

Lee Gipung’s body was sent flying backward even faster than he had launched himself forward.

Shing, shing, shing, shing!

The mounted warriors swept aside the people lingering around them with single sword strikes, then charged directly toward the river.

The question of what they intended to do was soon answered.

With the young man in black at the front, every rider leaped from their horse.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

They stepped on the wooden planks and buckets scattered around the ship and began boarding.

Everyone in Zhenjiang who had been waiting to target the Namgung Family, the Iron Sword Sect, and the Taeul Sect could only stare blankly at the sight.

They had thought it was an absurd operation.

“You are saying we should abandon the horses?”

“Yes.”

“Would it not be better to go around Hongze Lake instead?”

When Namgung Seonhwa heard that Diancang and many other groups were waiting for them in Zhenjiang, her first thought had been to take a detour.

However, Jin Sowoon shook his head.

“If we do that, we will not complete the third checkpoint in time.”

“…Even so, what is the point of abandoning the horses?”

“That is why we will use a diversion.”

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran would reach Zhenjiang first and approach the ship through the water.

The moment the two of them arrived, the ship would depart, disrupting Diancang’s formation.

The main group would then board the ship after it had already left the dock.

It sounded plausible when explained.

However, there was a vast difference between an operation sounding plausible and actually carrying it out.

And yet…

“It actually worked.”

Watching the plausible operation unfold before her eyes made Namgung Seonhwa feel as though all the common sense she had known was crumbling away.

“…It certainly did.”

Seong Moran also stared blankly at Jin Sowoon as he sprang through the air, stepping on the wooden planks floating upon the river.

The moment Jin Sowoon landed on the ship, he immediately picked up the prepared planks and began throwing them.

Each plank landed perfectly beneath the feet of a warrior who had missed the previous one and was about to fall into the river.

“I still cannot believe it, even after seeing it with my own eyes.”

The warriors of the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect were the elite of the elite.

In terms of accomplishment, they had already surpassed the first-rate level and stood at the threshold of becoming peak experts.

With only a little assistance from Jin Sowoon, most of them successfully reached the ship.

“Young Master Jin! Your junior brothers!”

The problem was the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers of the Taeul Sect.

For some reason, Jin Sowoon had positioned the three brothers at the very back.

Geumpyo and Eunho desperately performed their movement techniques as they stepped across the planks, but every time they landed, their feet sank into the water up to their ankles.

Dongryong had already fallen into the river and was swimming.

“I will go get them!”

Namgung Seonhwa immediately stepped forward.

“There is no need.”

As he spoke, Jin Sowoon threw ropes toward Geumpyo and Eunho while extending his left hand toward Dongryong.

A small silver object resembling a bird’s claw shot from his hand and seized Dongryong.

“Ugh!”

Jin Sowoon pulled all three of them in at once.

Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong boarded the ship completely drenched.

“I told you to practice your movement techniques ahead of time.”

“Senior Brother! No matter how you look at it, expecting someone with only fifteen years of internal energy to perform the Grass-Treading Flight is practically robbery!”

“Tsk.”

Although Jin Sowoon frowned, smiles appeared on the faces of the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers.

They were not the only ones.

The warriors of the Namgung Family and the Iron Sword Sect also let out foolish laughs, unable to believe that every one of them had boarded the ship without suffering a single injury.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

At that moment, arrows poured toward the Changgung Merchant Guild’s ship.

“They have launched their ships too.”

Diancang, Song Baek, and the people who had prevented them from sleeping throughout the journey all launched ships from the harbor and began pursuing them.

Some had even boarded small rowboats and were rowing furiously.

Every ship that had been anchored throughout the harbor entered the river as though competing against the others.

“At this rate, they will catch us.”

Namgung Seonhwa wondered whether taking the detour really would have been the correct choice.

Then…

“…Huh?”

The surrounding air began to vibrate tensely.

Pop! Pop! Bang!

Jin Sowoon’s martial uniform swelled as though it were about to burst.

A tremendous wave of energy unlike anything Namgung Seonhwa had ever felt spread outward from him.

“Y-Young Master Jin…”

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

It felt as though the sky itself were collapsing.

A destructive force powerful enough to shatter Mount Tai and cover the earth churned within Jin Sowoon’s hand.

Just as the overwhelming wave of energy began suffocating everyone around him, an enormous torrent of palm force erupted from his hand.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

The small rowboats used the mighty storm as propulsion, their light bodies shooting rapidly forward.

Meanwhile, the large ships that had not yet escaped the harbor were struck directly by the storm and shattered into pieces.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Among the ships clustered around the harbor like ants, boats and people were suddenly hurled in every direction as though a waterspout had erupted beneath them.

Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!

Only the scene of a horrific accident remained after the mighty storm passed.

“Young Master Jin…”

“They should not be able to pursue us now, correct?”

“That is true, but… if you possessed this much power, why did you not use it earlier?”

Namgung Seonhwa somehow felt as though all the hardship they had endured until now had become meaningless.

“That is the weakness of this martial art. I collapse after using it.”

“What?”

“Please catch me…”

“…”

With those words, Jin Sowoon slowly toppled over like someone whose acupoints had been sealed.

Namgung Seonhwa instinctively caught him in her arms.

“S-Someone, please help…”

It was the first time in her life she had ever held a man, and she had no idea what she was supposed to do.