Chapter 30
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Enemies' Ambush
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Yi Ho-chang furrowed his brow in thought.
"They have no intention of letting us slip away like this."
His prediction was spot on.
When the escort team refused to follow their script, the enemies switched tactics and launched a preemptive strike.
Yi Ho-chang said to Lady Wi,
"Escort Leader, stay inside the carriage if at all possible."
Then he shouted to Bok Jung-ho,
"Gang Leader! We need to break through the front quickly! At this rate, we don't know when the rear forces will join up!"
Bok Jung-ho nodded at Yi Ho-chang's cry, and the escorts gripped their swords tightly.
They sensed it too.
The moment had come to draw their blades once more.
"Charge!"
With Bok Jung-ho's command, the mounted escorts left a few behind to guard the cargo and surged forward as one.
Arrows immediately rained down on them.
"Kuh!"
"Urk!"
Thud!
A few were struck and tumbled from their horses, others cried out in pain.
Yet they had to press on.
Bok Jung-ho deflected the arrow storm with his staff and advanced, finally spotting the enemy.
"There they are!"
Having found them, Bok Jung-ho channeled his full power into his drawn staff and swung.
"Hup!"
Boom!!
A barrage of staff qi erupted forward, sweeping through the foes with tremendous wind pressure.
His arms trembled from the strain, but there was no other way right now.
With the path cleared, Bok Jung-ho shouted,
"The way is open! Everyone, through!"
The Dragon Pearl Gang members and the rest poured into the gap Bok Jung-ho had created.
But then, someone from their side yelled,
"Behind! The rear!"
"Behind?"
Bok Jung-ho whipped around at the shout.
His eyes widened like saucers.
As they entered the opened path, the "real" forces hidden at the rear revealed themselves.
"Damn it! They were aiming for this?"
The enemies appearing from behind weren't that numerous.
Just six.
But the swordsmen in armor wielding long blades exuded a completely different aura from those who'd been firing arrows up front.
Sensing their extraordinary killing intent, Yi Ho-chang leaped from the carriage and positioned himself before them.
As Yi Ho-chang blocked the carriage's front, the one who seemed to be their leader drew a sword as long as his body and slung it over his shoulder.
"A kid, huh... You're the guard?"
The man was utterly looking down on Yi Ho-chang.
And rightly so.
The aura radiating from him was on par with Yi Chan-seong's.
"Damn...!"
Yi Ho-chang hadn't anticipated this at all.
Just how valuable was this cargo for them to go this far?
The man with the drawn sword tossed back his long hair and said,
"Step aside. Chopping down a child sours my dreams for the night."
He meant it.
His words dripped with murderous intent.
Yi Ho-chang scanned his surroundings, eyes darting.
But no one who could help was in sight.
Only a handful of nameless escorts.
The escort team's real heavyweights had already charged ahead with Bok Jung-ho.
Bok Jung-ho, sensing the gravity, tried to turn back, but enemies already swarmed his path.
That left only one option.
"I have to protect the Escort Leader."
He hadn't even found Immortal Assembly Valley yet—he didn't want to die here.
But fleeing like a coward was even less acceptable.
That wasn't who Yi Ho-chang was.
As Yi Ho-chang assumed his stance, the man smirked at the sight.
"Good boy. Listening to adults means you're not just any kid."
With that, the man swung his sword without even properly bracing himself.
Clang!
Suddenly, a metallic clash rang out, and Yi Ho-chang was sent flying back.
"W-What...!"
He'd clearly seen the man's swing.
Or so he'd thought—he'd only glimpsed it.
If he hadn't instinctively raised his arm to block with the Flower Points, it wouldn't have been his gauntlet that was sliced, but his neck.
And he hadn't even fully blocked it.
Despite raising the Flower Points, a long gash appeared on Yi Ho-chang's cheek.
The man raised one corner of his mouth in interest.
"Ho... Quite the skill for a runt."
But then he lifted his sword again.
"That's as far as it goes, though."
His admiration ended there.
The man swung once more.
His casual stroke turned serpentine, lunging at Yi Ho-chang.
Yi Ho-chang focused his inner power.
This time, he saw the sword clearly.
But.
Clang!!
"Gah!"
Another metallic ring, and Yi Ho-chang flew back again.
No surprises.
He'd seen the sword, but that was it.
His arm felt like it would shatter.
Without the Flower Points, it would've been severed long ago.
Proof was in how the man's blade grazed past Yi Ho-chang and sliced off a corner of the carriage.
Yi Ho-chang tried to rise, but the overwhelming gap made his limbs tremble uncontrollably.
His mind had overcome fear, but his body instinctively quaked at the power disparity.
Seeing Yi Ho-chang's shaking limbs, the man chuckled and rested his sword on his shoulder.
He nodded to his subordinates.
The five swordsmen charged at the other escorts on command.
"No!"
Yi Ho-chang moved at the same instant.
Though his limbs shook, his resolve held firm.
That drove him forward.
But as Yi Ho-chang lunged at one of the swordsmen, the leader kicked him a beat faster.
"Urk...!"
It felt like his body was breaking.
Just a kick—why did it hurt this much?
The man who kicked him approached with a guttural laugh.
"Such a shame. Good eyes, good spirit—you had real promise... But this is the end. Don't hate me too much. Fate's something you twist yourself."
With that, he raised his sword.
Pure killing intent.
Yi Ho-chang knew it was truly over.
His body wouldn't move anymore.
The blade fell.
Yi Ho-chang bit his lip and glared at the man to the end.
That instant.
Thud!
Something slipped through the sword's arc.
An arm.
It was an arm.
It deflected the blade and fully shielded Yi Ho-chang.
A mountain?
No.
The deep shadow belonged to a man—massive build, bald head striking.
He half-turned to Yi Ho-chang.
"Young hero, you alright?"
"P-Pardon? Ah, yes... Thanks to you..."
Hearing Yi Ho-chang's reply, he faced the man again, clasped his hands in greeting with one hand, and said,
"Buddha, for just this one day, grant me leave from the precept against killing so I may slay these wretched scum of the martial world..."
Buddha?
What did I just hear?
Then, the man clasped his hands again.
"Oh, right. Amitabha."
...Amitabha?
That Amitabha?
Does that mean he's a monk?
Just then.
Bok Jung-ho and Mo Gun-hyeong, having finally broken through, cried out in shock.
"Yu Kyung?"
"You're Yu Kyung?!"
At their shouts, the man called Yu Kyung waved cheerfully.
"Oh, Bok Jung-ho, Mo Gun-hyeong! What brings you here?"
Surprisingly, the three knew each other.
But before joy at the reunion could settle, the swordsman properly swung at Yu Kyung.
Yi Ho-chang urgently shouted,
"Watch out...!"
But.
Clang!
Yi Ho-chang's eyes widened impossibly.
The swordsman's blade clearly struck Yu Kyung's body.
Yet it rang like metal on metal.
No armor.
He'd slashed bare flesh.
In that moment, the swordsman narrowed his brow and retreated.
"Impervious to blades... Annoying."
Impervious to blades.
A type of external art that no edged weapon could harm.
In other words, the swordsman's strike had done nothing to Yu Kyung.
At the swordsman's mutter, Yu Kyung wrapped the steel prayer beads on his wrist around his hand.
"Tsk tsk, foolish mortal of this degenerate age. Knowing I'm impervious to blades and still standing before me? You must crave rebirth in paradise."
"Ha, as if."
Yu Kyung's fist shot forward with a fierce whoosh.
The swordsman struck back in kind.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A furious exchange of swordplay and fisticuffs.
Yi Ho-chang watched, mouth agape unwittingly.
The slender sword that seemed ready to snap batted away the heavy fists with ease, while the massive fists hammered at the blade with speed rivaling the sword itself.
Then.
"Senior Brother Yu!"
"Brother!"
Shaolin monk voices called from afar as over fifty robed figures rushed in.
The swordsman leaped back greatly.
"Tch, time to withdraw."
"Hah! Scared and running?"
"Hardly. I pass on getting tangled with you bald donkeys."
"W-What? B-Bald donkeys?!"
With that, the swordsmen vanished into the woods after their leader.
But Yu Kyung, enraged by the parting words, hurled his prayer beads at them, bellowing,
"Where do you think you're going, you bastards! Get back here! Who're you calling bald donkeys?!"
"S-Senior Brother! Calm down!"
"Let go! I'm catching those scum before I enter nirvana! Let go, I said!"
"Aigoo, Brother!"
"Please!"
"Let go!!"
The monks clung to the furious Yu Kyung, desperately holding him back.
Yi Ho-chang watched the scene in utter bewilderment.
"What in the world..."
Then, remembering Lady Wi belatedly, he hurriedly opened the carriage door.
"Escort Leader, are you alright?"
"Y-Yes, I'm fine... Just a bit startled."
She said she was fine, but her body trembled faintly.
It was only natural.
This fight had been far more perilous than the last.
Forcing composure, she asked,
"But what's the situation outside?"
"Ah, well..."
As Yi Ho-chang began explaining Yu Kyung,
"I drove them off."
A familiar voice.
Yu Kyung.
He'd been chasing the foes moments ago, but now stood behind Yi Ho-chang, making his presence known.
With his signature grin, he said,
"Might I be addressing the Escort Leader for this transport?"
"Ah, yes. That's me. And you are...?"
At Lady Wi's question, Yu Kyung bowed with clasped hands.
"I've come on orders from Abbot Hyeon-yong the Venerable. Call me Yu Kyung."
The remnants were swiftly dealt with, and the situation stabilized.
Bok Jung-ho and Mo Gun-hyeong approached, beaming.
"Yu Kyung!"
"Bok Jung-ho, Mo Gun-hyeong! Doing well?"
"Haha, never thought I'd run into you here. Thanks, though—you got us over a huge hurdle."
"Heh, this? We were always like this back in the day."
"That annoying speech pattern hasn't changed."
As Yu Kyung guffawed, Bok Jung-ho asked,
"No letter from us—how'd you know to come? Escorts can run late depending on circumstances."
"Thought the same, but the night before last, Abbot Hyeon-yong told me to greet you. Buddha's will, he said."
"Buddha has true foresight."
"Haha, all thanks to Buddha's grace. Speaking of, who's that kid?"
The kid.
Yi Ho-chang.
Yu Kyung continued,
"We could protect the Escort Leader thanks to him. Without the kid, it'd all be over before I arrived."
"Oh, right. This squad leader was key again. Introduce yourself—he's Yi Ho-chang, squad leader of our Dragon Pearl Gang."
"Yi Ho-chang."
Yi Ho-chang bowed at Bok Jung-ho's introduction.
Yu Kyung laughed heartily.
"Yu Kyung here. Impressive spirit. Thanks to you, we all made it."
"Thank you for saying so. Were you three acquaintances?"
"More than that—the long bond from fighting together since the Righteous-Demonic Great War."
"Heh, bond? More like a grudge."
Come to think of it, wasn't Beom Jung-cheon in the same volunteer army as Yu Kyung?
Treatment seems different, though.
Curious, but no need to pry.
These things reveal themselves in time.
Under the monks' escort, the transport proceeded without incident, soon reaching Lesser Room Peak on Mount Song, home to Shaolin Temple.
With so much cargo, it wasn't until sunset that unloading finished.
Yu Kyung, who entered first to announce their arrival, said to Lady Wi,
"Escort Leader Wi, the Abbot awaits inside."
Lady Wi exhaled shakily in tension.
"Understood. Please lead the way."
Guided by Yu Kyung, the escort team finally set foot in Shaolin Temple.