Chapter 92 - Time to Hunt (6)

"How are the dreams of a guy with a good memory?"

The evening of the Guiwei day in the Wushen month. Jwa Daegi asked this as we were taking a breather after barely shaking off the demonic practitioners.

"What?"

He was a guy who claimed to have learned the spear arts of Nanjing Yukga Manor, a family famous as a prestigious military clan, and called himself the Six-Form Wolf.

The truth was that he had been a slave at Yukga Manor, but got caught secretly peeping at the young master's martial arts, and ran away after nearly being beaten to death.

His mouth was so foul that we called him 'Goddamn Jwa Daegi' when we referred to him.

"Think about it. If your memory is good, wouldn't you remember all your dreams? Meeting beautiful women in your dreams, and remembering doing this and that..."

Soon, another guy chimed in.

"Hey, then can you control it in your dreams? Seeing Aeng-aeng and then seeing Yeon-du?"

Once the daytime hours of crossing between life and death passed, the despair of tomorrow would crash down through the surging exhaustion.

"Fuck! Does that mean this bastard is the only one having good experiences every night?"

To overcome the fear of the death that would be waiting right before our eyes tomorrow, we used to talk about such trivial nonsense every night.

Actually, for something the goddamn bastard thought up, it was quite accurate.

My dreams are precise and vivid.

In my younger days, just as he said, there were enjoyable times, and there were moments when I looked forward to the night.

However, after leaving the Minor Orthodox Unit, I avoided sleep for the rest of my life.

"Huff... huff... huff... huff..."

"Fuck, fuck."

"Damn it, save me!"

Beside me, the members of the Minor Orthodox Unit are running.

I know that the ones I am seeing are existences within my dream.

For I had already left the Minor Orthodox Unit and hidden myself away in the deep mountains and secluded valleys.

Because of that, I am not easily shaken by this vivid sight, by this scene that clearly looks painful.

"Why are you running like this?"

"Fuck! Those Demonic Cult bastards are chasing us!"

Since it is merely a dream based on my memories, I speak to them with relief.

"This is just a dream. Stop now."

"...!"

"...!!"

The ones who were desperately running away glare at me as if they want to kill me.

"""It's only a dream to you!"""

* * *

"Gasp... gasp. Gasp."

I catch my breath.

A dream I hadn't had for a while since my regression surfaced in my mind.

"A-Are you alright?"

Startled, I turned my head to see Kang Seopyo looking at me with a worried expression.

And only after seeing him did I realize that I had woken up from the dream.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"... Ah. A nightmare..."

Was it a nightmare...

Did I see it because I missed them...

I closed my mouth at the answer even I couldn't figure out.

"..."

He didn't ask any further either. He set down food that seemed to be my portion and spoke.

"... Fortunately, we are having a smooth voyage. You may rest a little longer."

"Are there any more pursuers?"

"They have to sleep too, I suppose."

Looking out the window, the surroundings had already grown dark.

It seemed the fatigue accumulated over several days, combined with using the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm after a long time, had caused me to sleep like the dead.

"That is a relief."

"... Thank you."

"?"

I raised my head at Kang Seopyo's sudden words.

"I am the one who should be thankful instead. Thanks to you, the Geum-eun-dong Brothers have made it here safely."

After joining them, the Geum-eun-dong Brothers found even more psychological stability. The warriors of the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect looked after the Geum-eun-dong Brothers not like disciples of another sect, but as if they were their own younger brothers.

All of that was thanks to the care provided by Captain Kang Seopyo and Captain Cho Mubin.

"Aren't you going through an even more difficult process unnecessarily because of us?"

Kang Seopyo shook his head.

"Rather, we are the ones who should be thanking you..."

A faint smile lingered on Kang Seopyo's lips. It was an expression I couldn't have imagined when we first met at the Demonic Spirit Plateau.

"After you joined us, Young Master, not a single one of us has fallen behind."

"..."

Feeling somewhat awkward, I scratched the back of my head. In my past life, I had never been in a position to receive words of gratitude from anyone.

Those bastards in the Minor Orthodox Unit were more likely to hurl curses than they were to ever say thank you.

"Once again, thank you."

"Ah, yes."

"Please sleep a little longer. If anything happens, I will inform you immediately."

"Still..."

"Aren't you the one leading us right now, Young Master? If you become exhausted, our casualties will naturally increase."

Since Kang Seopyo went that far, I nodded my head.

I had woken up from a nightmare, but for some reason, I felt like I wouldn't have another nightmare even if I went back to sleep.

* * *

"Is he alright?"

At the voice that rang out as soon as he closed the door, the corners of Kang Seopyo's mouth slightly curled up.

"If you are so worried, I told you to bring it to him yourself."

"... Ah, t-that's, still, into a room where a man is alone..."

Although Namgung Seonhwa had a feminine personality, she wasn't one to strictly avoid men to this extent.

It wasn't exactly a recent development for the women of Jianghu to not keep strict boundaries between men and women. For Namgung Seonhwa, who had grown up naturally observing such things, to feel this embarrassed...

'Ah, to be young...'

The raised corners of Kang Seopyo's mouth showed no signs of coming down. To think that the little lady had grown up so much to actually have a man she had given her heart to.

"Come to think of it, I am a bit worried."

"Yes?! A-About what?"

It was a startled expression she hadn't shown even when told to take the standard exam with a mere twenty people.

"It seems he had a nightmare. I wonder if he'll have a restless sleep..."

"Wh... at?"

"I'm saying he is fine."

"..."

Only then did Namgung Seonhwa realize that Kang Seopyo was teasing her, and she twiddled her fingers.

"I apologize, but I think I'll be a bit tired tomorrow morning, so please take care of bringing the young master's meals to him."

"... You think you'll be tired?"

"Yes... Besides, if I barge into a man's room and see him changing clothes, I'll be in a foul mood all day..."

"..."

Namgung Seonhwa's face eventually flushed red like a ripe persimmon.

Does she really like him that much?

"S-Stop it!"

At Namgung Seonhwa's reaction after finally catching on to the fact that she was being teased, Kang Seopyo burst out laughing.

Embarrassed by Kang Seopyo's laughter, Namgung Seonhwa quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, what are the Cangqiong Squad warriors doing with the Geum-eun-dong Brothers?"

The warriors, who had sprawled out to rest for a while after boarding the ship, began to gather on the deck one by one.

At the same time, they drew their swords to show off their moves, demonstrating techniques and chatting.

The main speakers of the conversation were mostly the Geum-eun-dong Brothers, while the listeners were the warriors of the Cangqiong Squad and the Iron Sword Sect.

"They say they are learning a sword array from the disciples of the Taiyi Sect."

"A sword... array?"

Namgung Seonhwa tilted her head in confusion.

Did the Taiyi Sect have a famous sword array?

No, was there even a reason for the warriors of the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect to learn another sword array in the first place?

"I heard the sword array learned by the Taiyi Sect disciples is similar to the White Tiger Sword Array."

She herself knew of the White Tiger Sword Array.

The White Tiger Sword Array, which was linked to the White Tiger Sword Technique, the official martial art of the Murim Alliance.

The name sounded plausible, but wasn't it nothing more than a sword array crudely mixing the Three Talents Array and the Eight Trigrams Array so that the Murim Alliance members could easily learn and apply it?

"Why go out of their way for the White Tiger Array...?"

"It's not exactly the same. From what I've heard, Young Master Jin taught it to them. He apparently modified it himself and had them practice it."

Namgung Seonhwa's reaction when Jin Sowoon was mentioned was briefly amusing. Kang Seopyo looked at the warriors gathered on the deck and spoke.

"Its main characteristic is being easy and simple, yet highly versatile."

Namgung Seonhwa couldn't understand it even more.

Regardless, being easy and simple meant that its destructive power was correspondingly lower.

What was the reason for explicitly carving out their rest time to learn it?

"Well... they call it the White Tiger Sword Array's Escort Array."

"... What is?"

"The sword array the Geum-eun-dong Brothers use to protect their meals."

"..."

Namgung Seonhwa's gaze drifted toward the deck.

In the center, surrounded by warriors, the Geum-eun-dong Brothers were executing the White Tiger Sword Array.

No wonder it looked familiar; it was the sword array they had deployed every time they were ambushed during a meal.

Even when the other warriors grew sick of the ambushes and gave up on cooking, the Geum-eun-dong Brothers had stubbornly cooked their rice and eaten it.

"Everyone wanted to learn it no matter what... and since they readily offered to teach it..."

"..."

This time, Kang Seopyo's face flushed red. He understood the warriors' feelings, but conveying that directly to his lady was somewhat embarrassing.

"They said they were tired of living off of jerky... The clan's martial arts are powerful but lack versatility, don't they... The White Tiger Sword Array can be executed with just three people..."

"... Could I learn it too?"

"Pardon?"

"No, I need to learn it too. I want to cook porridge and eat it with Moran."

"Ah... let us go."

* * *

Before reaching Sahong Port, we stopped the ship in the middle of the river and crossed the current.

It was a precaution against those who might have already arrived at Sahong Port and were waiting.

"It's surprisingly quiet."

This was what Seong Moran said while circulating her internal energy to dry her wet martial robes.

Just as she said, our surroundings were so unnervingly quiet that it made our journey up until now seem pointless.

"Let's keep moving for now."

The exam for the Third Gate is held in four locations across Jianghu.

The Southern Peak of Henan.

Dongcheon in Shaanxi.

Chengdu in Sichuan.

Mount Akbuk in Hunan.

The examination sites, located at a distance of about two provinces away from Wuhan where the Murim Alliance is situated, are established in the east, west, south, and north respectively to accommodate the convenience of those taking the exam from all across Jianghu.

Thanks to this, the travel routes of the examinees became fixed to a certain degree, and as a result, it is exceedingly common for candidates to wait along the path to eliminate weaker competitors.

This was also the reason why we had been targeted not only by Mount Cangshan and the Hwayang Escort Agency, but by various other competitors as well.

After running through the night, we reached our original destination, Sahong Port, just as dawn was breaking.

In the distance at Sahong Port, examinees were waiting for ships.

Namgung Seonhwa spoke in a low voice.

"There are... fewer people than I thought. Should we consider this a good thing?"

"If it were me, I would be waiting on the path leading to Punghyeon instead of at Sahong Port."

"I would do the same."

We passed right by Sahong Port and headed in the direction of Sukcheon.

There was still no one tailing us.

SCREECH-

While I was tearing into some jerky for breakfast, the messenger hawk let out a cry and approached me.

-Hyeonjeong of the Wudang Sect, two others, and his warriors.

-Yeon U-mun of the Mount Hua Sect, three others, and his warriors.

*Currently waiting on the path leading to Punghyeon.

The newsletter delivered by Haomun listed the names of the disciples from the Wudang Sect and the Mount Hua Sect who were currently hunting us.

What was strange was that these disciples of the Wudang Sect and Mount Hua Sect were existences I actually remembered.

'Who are they again?'

They were not individuals who had entered the Murim Academy in this current batch. Nevertheless, the fact that they remained as existences in my memory was strange.

While I was briefly rummaging through the library in my mind, Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa approached.

"What are you thinking about?"

"These names look familiar to me."

I showed the message to the two of them.

Receiving the message, Seong Moran nodded as if she understood.

"If it's Hyeonjeong, he's famous for being Yong So-ah's junior martial brother."

"Famous for being Yong So-ah's junior martial brother?"

"Yes. He's the junior martial brother that Yong So-ah always kept by his side when he was on Mount Wudang. Since Hyeonjeong's own talent is quite extraordinary, he is a highly anticipated prospect whose future the Wudang Sect looks forward to."

"What about Yeon U-mun?"

"He is the eldest son of the Yeon Noble Clan. I heard he entered the Mount Hua Sect as a lay disciple, but it seems he is currently taking the Murim Academy exam."

The Yeon Noble Clan is a family famous for its fist techniques.

A formidable clan whose exclusive fist techniques and kicking techniques rank within the top ten in the world.

But if the eldest son, who should be carrying on the family line, had gone out of his way to enter the Mount Hua Sect to learn the sword, his talent for the sword had to be considered no less than Hyeonjeong's.

"Is that really it?"

However, feeling that something was still unresolved, I asked again, but Seong Moran simply shook her head.

"They are too formidable to say 'is that really it.' They are opponents we cannot look down on."

"Hmm..."

Next, just as I was about to search through the Simhyeon Pavilion materials in my library, the Geum-eun-dong Brothers caught my eye.

"What are you guys doing?"

While walking, the three brothers were playfully reaching out and grabbing at each other's sleeves.

"Ah... Well. We learned some joint-locking techniques from the Namgung Clan warriors."

"Joint-locking techniques?"

"Yes. They said any warrior should at least know basic joint-locking techniques."

The joint-locking techniques the three brothers were performing were the Thirteen Joint-Locking Techniques that I was also well acquainted with.

While not as ubiquitous as the Three Talents Sword Technique, they were joint-locking techniques that anyone with a certain amount of experience in martial arts went through at least once.

The three Geum-eun-dong Brothers were filling in the martial arts absent from the Taiyi Sect and the true inheritance of the Taiyi Sword Emperor on their own.

"... Are we not supposed to learn them after all?"

Geumpyo subtly gauged my reaction.

Normally, sects forbade learning the martial arts of other sects or those found in the streets.

I shook my head.

"It does not matter. No, rather, practice them diligently."

"Really? But the warriors said that if we practice them too hard, it might negatively affect our original martial arts..."

"It's not like you guys will practice them that hard, right?"

"... Senior Brother..."

"I am joking. Do you know what the greatest of the Taiyi Sword Emperor's martial arts is?"

"... Hmm, it's the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art."

Geumpyo answered as if it were obvious, and Eunho and Dongryong nodded in agreement.

"That is merely the strongest martial art. It is not the greatest martial art."

"Then what is?"

"The Taiyi True Scripture."

If one had to pick the most remarkable discipline among the Taiyi Sword Emperor's martial arts, it was undoubtedly the Taiyi True Scripture.

"The essence of the Taiyi True Scripture is the enlightenment regarding the truth of all creation."

"... Pardon?"

"And all the other martial arts are nothing more than the Taiyi Sword Emperor's interpretations through the Taiyi True Scripture."

The Geum-eun-dong Brothers still had uncomprehending expressions.

"It means that as long as the Taiyi True Scripture exists, the martial arts of the Taiyi Sect will carry on even if all the other martial arts are gone."

"We don't understand."

"The Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art, the Lesser Heaven Sword Technique, the Great Heaven Sword Technique, and the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist—they are all nothing more than forms and techniques."

"But without forms and techniques, isn't it no longer a martial art?"

"Tsk. Do the absolute experts of Jianghu suppress their opponents using grand forms and techniques?"

"..."

"Forms and techniques are merely ladders meant to make the process of enlightenment easier to grasp. In the end, once you ascend past them, you simply won't need forms and techniques anymore."

Only then did the three brothers put on expressions of gradual understanding.

"Above all else, focus your efforts on cultivating the Taiyi True Scripture. And diligently practice various martial arts. As you do so, a day may come when you can create your own forms and techniques yourselves."

"We could?"

Eunho, who had always been the most interested in the depth of martial arts, asked back with a beaming face, and I nodded.

"Yes. That is precisely the reason why the Taiyi True Scripture is such a remarkable martial art."

With my words, the three brothers began to spur on their moving cultivation even more.

"You brats! If your running speed slows down because of that, how are you going to take the exam?!"

Only then did the three brothers bring their pace back up.

* * *

"Nothing is happening here either."

When we passed through Seoju, we had been deeply on edge.

We rested to ease our tension since the Seoju branch of the Cangqiong Merchant Group was there, but by doing so, we could no longer hide ourselves from the eyes of our pursuers.

However, even as we left Seoju and were nearing Punghyeon, no examinees could be seen.

"This is the first time peace has felt this unnerving."

We even intentionally left traces behind, and cooked our meals by lighting a fire in a clearing at night.

Even so, there was no pursuit.

We manually searched through spots where they might have hidden along the path to Punghyeon, but not a single human presence could be seen.

"What is going on?"

If Mount Hua and Wudang alone were plotting something, they could show a unified movement.

However, they were not our only competitors.

Just as countless examinees aimed for our openings when the Hwayang Escort Agency chased us, there should have been other competitors showing up amidst Wudang and Mount Hua gunning for us.

SCREECH-

I raised my head at the cry of the hawk.

I had been waiting, as there had been no news by noon regarding the message that normally arrived every morning.

The messenger hawk, slowing down as it landed on my shoulder, extended its right foot, and I opened the message while feeding it a piece of jerky.

-Hyeonjeong of the Wudang Sect, two others, and their warriors.

-Yeon U-mun of the Mount Hua Sect, three others, and their warriors.

*Currently untraceable.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran, who were reading the message with me, couldn't continue speaking either. The very thing we had been most worried about had happened.

"It should be a group of at least five hundred people."

"Can they really vanish without a trace all at once like this?"

It was the same for us, but trying to hide oneself while moving with a large number of personnel was by no means an easy task.

Considering that those who carried out assassinations or banditry did not operate with numbers exceeding ten at a time, it was a completely natural principle.

Yet they had vanished perfectly from the eyes of Haomun, an organization whose intelligence-gathering capabilities rivaled even the Beggars' Sect.

"We should assume they are definitely hiding somewhere, right?"

"Captain Cho, Captain Kang, please heighten your guard."

"..."

Just as Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran were looking around and tightening their tension...

I finally found the names of those two men in the deepest part of the library in my mind.

"!"

I looked toward the position of the sun.

The sun hanging over the western mountains was steadily sinking.

I hurriedly turned back to the two of them.

"From this moment on, we will run at full speed."

"Pardon?"

"When we don't know when the ambush might come?"

I also spoke to the Geum-eun-dong Brothers.

"Stop your moving cultivation right now and run at full speed."

"...?"

"..."

"... Yes."

At my urgent voice, the warriors of the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect sharply raised their guards.

"Perhaps an opponent even more terrifying than Wudang and Mount Hua might be waiting for us."

"What?"

"What does that..."

We might already be too late.

There hadn't been a single trace of human presence while coming from Seoju to Punghyeon.

"Young Master Jin, please explain!"

"Move for now."

"..."

When I urgently began moving without any explanation, the warriors of the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect also began to move, with the Geum-eun-dong Brothers leading the way.

We had to enter a village as quickly as possible. Because if my prediction was right, the darkness and the night belonged to them.

THUMP-

THUMP-

My heart began to pound violently.

It was not due to my intent, nor my emotions.

I had already experienced one life, and in this life, I had even mastered the Taiyi True Scripture, allowing me to maintain a state of clear and tranquil waters better than anyone else.

"... Young Master Jin, please explain. You are making me unnecessarily nervous."

Therefore, this violent pounding of my heart was triggered by the outside.

"..."

Even if I had figured out the opponents, what could I say?

No, would they even believe me in the first place? When they first emerged into the world, nobody in the Murim Alliance had believed it either.

"It's the enemy."

"Enemy?"

"Yes."

The deepest part of the library in my mind.

A place even among where the Simhyeon Pavilion's materials were gathered that I had never searched through because I had no interest in it.

The names of those two men were written right there.

[Unsolved Case Report]

-Hyeonjeong of the Wudang Sect

-Yeon U-mun of the Mount Hua Sect

*Annihilated alongside their junior disciples.

*Presumed to be an ambush by those who have undergone specialized training.

*Characteristic: Discoloration turning portions of the excavated corpses' bones black was observed.

The pieces of information were too far apart from each other.

Moreover, I couldn't have even imagined that they would be operating here and now.

"It is an organization specialized in assassinations and ambushes."

Something caught in the qi perception I had expanded in all directions.

"Get down!"

No sooner had my words finished than the warriors ducked their heads in fright. However, black flying daggers lodged into the abdomens of the warriors who reacted a bit too late, making them spurt blood.

"What in the..."

It was a presence that even I, having mastered the Taiyi True Scripture, had felt only faintly.

It was a situation that couldn't help but be even more shocking for them.

"I didn't feel anything."

Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran looked at the forest with eyes full of disbelief.

Soon after, the shadows of the forest stretched out long, and close to twenty dark figures appeared one by one.

"..."

At the bizarre sight they were seeing for the first time, everyone simply opened their mouths, unable to say a word.

"What are... those guys...?"

The Dark Soul-Severing Squad.

They were the beings called the most terrifying blade of the Heavenly Demon Cult.