Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Chapter 4: Hebei Peng Clan (3)
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Shrill! Shrieeeek!
The piercing sound of horns sliced through the night sky. Warriors from the Taihang Guild and Daedongjang converged from all directions, filling the rooftops and walls around them.
Meanwhile, unlike those who had scattered to cast a wide search net, there were others charging along the walls with unwavering movements.
None other than the White Sword Squad.
The Taihang Guild and Daedongjang warriors spotted them and shouted in unison.
“Who the hell are you!!”
The White Sword Squad swordsmen wielding white blades showed no intention of clashing with them. Ignoring the shouts from the Taihang Guild and Daedongjang warriors, they pinpointed the exact direction Cheonwi had vanished.
One of the Taihang Guild warriors issued a pursuit order.
“They might be accomplices! Chase them!”
The Taihang Guild swordsmen leaped after the White Sword Squad first. The Daedongjang side made no different choice. Seven warriors gripping massive cleavers joined the Taihang Guild warriors in pursuing the White Sword Squad.
Swoosh! Crash!
Cheonwi flung open a side door in the alley with such force it seemed it would shatter.
Staring into the pitch-black darkness beyond, Hyang recalled the first time she had set foot in this city’s back alleys. Clinging desperately, she had scanned the shadows with her eyes until she realized one thing. Widening her eyes, she asked.
“Huh? This direction? Are we circling back?”
A faint smile touched Cheonwi’s lips.
This girl was sharp, no doubt. Even in this chaotic moment, she had gauged the direction through the utter darkness. It meant she possessed more than ordinary talent.
“Right. Toward ZhenCheng Tower.”
Hyang glanced back. Jeon No followed silently. His face remained as impassive as ever from the start. He showed no surprise at Cheonwi’s words.
“Jeon No, the pursuers?”
“The White Sword Squad is closest. Some Daedongjang and Taihang Guild warriors are following.”
“That’s all?”
“There are many whose identities are unknown. Still, the area within ten zhang is clear.”
“Good. Up we go. Fire the golden arrow again.”
“Yes.”
Kicking off a pile of rotting wood in the alley corner, they shot up into the moonlight. Cheonwi landed atop the wall. Immediately, shouts and horn blasts echoed from all directions.
“Over there!”
Shrieeeek! Shrill!
They plunged back into danger.
Cheonwi kicked off an eave and ascended to a rooftop, scanning the surroundings. Pursuers were rushing toward him from every visible direction.
With the girl in his arms, he turned his back to the emerging moonlight.
ZhenCheng Tower loomed ahead. A full circle around, and back here.
A golden arrow shot up above his head. Behind Jeon No’s launched arrow, the brilliant moonlight was swallowed by clouds.
Cheonwi began to move.
Swoosh!
Cheonwi was even faster than before. As darkness fell over the sky, the gleam in his eyes intensified.
“There’s too many……!”
Tension filled Hyang’s eyes, which had sparkled with cleverness.
Ahead of Cheonwi, to his sides, and behind him.
The number leaping onto rooftops and walls was truly beyond counting.
“We can’t shake this many. I’ll draw my sword.”
“Jeon No.”
“Yes.”
“Hold on a bit longer. Not yet.”
The Taihang Guild and Daedongjang were merely a portion of the pursuers. The horde numbered dozens—no, over a hundred. The sheer volume had even left the Taihang Guild and Daedongjang warriors flustered. It was chaos, impossible to tell friend from foe.
Thud! Boom! Whoooosh!
Crossing one rooftop, they were blocked by rough-looking thugs in plain clothes. The foes hurled daggers at once.
Cheonwi, with Hyang tucked to his side, displayed agility beyond compare. He tilted his shoulder and twisted his waist. Six daggers sliced through empty air. At the same time, he slipped between the three thugs like flowing water.
Jeon No vaulted over the strung-out thugs in a single leap. Remarkable footwork. The foes spun desperately, aiming for Cheonwi and Jeon No’s backs. They even threw the daggers in their hands to snag their ankles, but it was futile. The blades merely embedded one after another into innocent roof tiles.
“Blue Spears ahead! It’s the Blue Spear Society!”
Jeon No warned.
His tone differed slightly from before. True experts were among them.
Though their total numbered around a dozen, three stood out immediately.
These three exuded a completely different aura. On par with Seo Suyang from the bamboo grove. The one in the center seemed to possess far denser inner energy than Seo Suyang.
“The Thirteen Spears.”
“Shall we go around?”
“No.”
Cheonwi neither slowed nor changed course.
The Blue Spear Society’s blue spears gleamed faintly under the starlight. They were nearly upon them. The facial features of those presumed to be Thirteen Spears were clear, even the mole on a nose bridge.
“You know, right? It’d be trouble if they catch me!”
Cheonwi shouted.
His speed remained unrelenting.
The man at the Blue Spear Society’s center responded. A neatly bearded man.
“They say your cunning rivals a thousand-year-old fox!”
Hang Jaryo. He was the one rated second among the Thirteen Spears.
Hang Jaryo raised his blue spear. Its shaft appeared an inch thicker than the others. He did not aim the tip at Cheonwi.
He bellowed an order.
“Blue Spears, change target! Thrust your spears first at the hunters chasing the fox!”
The Blue Spear Society spearmen leveled their blue spears.
Cheonwi brushed past the Blue Spear Society warriors. The blue spears did not impede him. From behind, Hang Jaryo’s voice rang out.
“Junior Brothers and Fifth Brother, pursue the fox! Don’t let him escape!”
Two presumed Thirteen Spears leveled their spear tips and kicked off the rooftop. Naturally, following Cheonwi.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
The clash of weapons roared deafeningly.
Bandit-like burly men leaped onto the walls, swinging wolf-fang clubs. Sparks flew from the opposing blue spears. Hang Jaryo joined the fray. Thugs wielding black iron maces shattered roof tiles under his single spear thrust and plummeted.
“Why are they helping us?”
Hyang stuck out her tongue. Even her sharp mind couldn’t easily grasp this situation.
Cheonwi answered matter-of-factly.
“Simple arithmetic.”
The Blue Spear Society’s aid was hardly surprising.
They had no choice.
The Blue Spear Society’s goal was indeed Cheonwi. More precisely, the blue spear manual and supplementary forms he knew. But achieving that required capturing him alive first.
If all Thirteen Spears were gathered here, perhaps. But only three were present. Even with their seven supporting spearmen, it was insufficient. Capturing Cheonwi here meant fighting the followers afterward. Three Thirteen Spears was formidable, but not enough to relax. A skirmish would incur losses. In the worst case, losing one Thirteen Spear would mean not just power loss, but a dent in reputation.
The Blue Spear Society faced a true dilemma. A nasty one. They had let him go without capturing him first, but letting others snatch him was equally problematic. No matter who took Cheonwi, the Blue Spear Society couldn’t rest easy. The manual could leak.
So they let him go and pursued again. Hang Jaryo stepping in to block pursuers stemmed from the same logic. Not for Cheonwi’s sake. For their own.
“Too early to relax.”
The calculations weren’t over.
Cheonwi hadn’t overlooked the number of Blue Spear Society warriors trailing them.
Even as Thirteen Spears members, only two.
Cheonwi could easily guess why. His gleaming eyes swept the surroundings. Somewhere nearby. That was why the Blue Spear Society dared send only two.
And from there, a path to survival would open.
The many possibilities he had anticipated from the start had narrowed to a few.
In Cheonwi’s mind.
The calculations concluded.
Meanwhile, the Daedongjang and Taihang Guild warriors couldn’t hide their bewilderment at the scene unfolding before them.
“Why the Blue Spear Society!!”
Unknown figures clashed fiercely with Blue Spear Society spearmen.
In their midst, one rampaged like a wolf among sheep.
They knew who. Hang Jaryo, top among the Thirteen Spears. Seeing him, the Daedongjang and Taihang Guild warriors shared the same thought.
“So the Blue Spear Society was behind this!!”
A reasonable misunderstanding. Having just hurled an iron mace thug off the roof, Hang Jaryo smirked at a Daedongjang warrior’s shout and yelled back.
“Think what you want! I’ve been itching to test the Daedongjang’s Tongcheon Blade Method firsthand!”
That was Hang Jaryo.
The reputation of being the most belligerent among the Thirteen Spears was spot on.
That was when it happened.
“Amusing!”
A voice that shook the surroundings crashed in like a wave.
“For mere Thirteen Spears. Isn’t that excessive bravado!!”
A familiar voice.
Jeon No, who had been following Cheonwi, whipped his head around. For the first time, an expression appeared on the old man’s hitherto impassive face.
“Young Master!”
“I know! I heard it too!”
“This old body can’t block it!”
Jeon No’s face visibly hardened.
Something monstrous was approaching.
Hang Jaryo’s smile deepened. Absorbing the massive aura without flinching, he even retorted boldly.
“A real man lives with ambitions this grand!”
“Hahaha! That old fox Pyeong Yobo has some luck with subordinates! Tell him I’m jealous of his connections, won’t you?”
“How dare I say such a thing! Deliver it yourself when you meet the Gang Leader!”
Boom!
Gang Leader, he said.
Roof tiles caved in deeply on one side.
A massive figure rose from within. Despite prolonged battle, he still exuded immense power.
Indeed. This was near ZhenCheng Tower. A place he would be.
His presence was overwhelming.
Daedongjang Leader, Dongpungneung.
“I said deliver it in person!”
“Yes. That’s right!”
Hang Jaryo had spoken of wanting to test Tongcheon Blade Method, yet showed no sign of charging at Dongpungneung. He merely drove startled thugs off the roof.
“Your words have bite.”
“Just as you think.”
“Ha! Living long brings days like this!”
Dongpungneung did not aim his cleaver at Hang Jaryo.
Instead, he turned left, eyes fixed on Cheonwi’s receding back.
“Truly an incomprehensible bastard.”
Dongpungneung kicked off the rooftop.
Crunch! A corner of the roof collapsed.
His body stretched straight toward Cheonwi. Speed unfitting for a frame over a hundred jin. The aura surging from his advance whipped up like a typhoon. Even the White Sword Squad and other pursuers recoiled momentarily, slowing.
“He’s coming!”
Il Mountain Five Rivers’ Tongcheon, Daedongjang Leader Dongpungneung, called to Cheonwi.
“You fled well, but why circle back!”
His voice boomed like thunder. Dongpungneung’s words poured over Cheonwi’s head like an iron net. Cheonwi halted abruptly.
From atop a low wall, Cheonwi replied.
“Anyone else I could shake, but not the Gang Leader.”
“So?”
“I needed someone to block you.”
“Block me? Who dares?”
“Come out now. Society Leader.”
Cheonwi gestured with one hand, as if welcoming a guest politely.
Moments later, from the starlit shadows, an old warrior emerged.
Step. Step.
Clear footsteps echoed below the wall.
His weathered robe carried the charm of age. The character etched on his sash belt read “Han” (寒). On his back hung a wall jade-adorned cold iron spear.
“What a peculiar fellow.”
An aged voice. Yet it held strength surpassing any youth.
“How did you sense my presence?”
“I didn’t.”
“Hahaha.”
He laughed hollowly.
Cheonwi smiled back. He hadn’t sensed it, but the calculations checked out. It had to be this level.
The old warrior turned to Dongpungneung.
He grinned again.
“Long time no see.”
“Stay holed up in your castle, old man.”
Dongpungneung gnashed his teeth. Fury flashed in his eyes.
“You don’t even flinch seeing my face up close, blind bat.”
“One of your underlings tipped me off.”
“Oh? Who? Jaryo?”
“Don’t know the name. Some Thirteen Spears trash.”
“Must’ve been Jaryo. The boldest among the new arrivals. So, what’d he say?”
“If you have words, say them to the old man yourself.”
“Hahaha. I’ll give him a proper lesson.”
“No need. The underling’s innocent. The teacher who raised him is the problem.”
“Quit calling me old man, old man.”
“What then? Shall I formally address you as Blue Spear Society Leader?”
“Tsk tsk. What’s got our Daedongjang Leader so riled up?”
Twisted camaraderie flowed between them.
Possible only as fellow Il Mountain Five Rivers.
Blue Spear Society Leader.
Indeed. The old warrior was Pyeong Yobo. One of the Il Mountain Five Rivers, Blue Spear Society Leader, Cold South Spear Pyeong Yobo.