Chapter 252: Unexpected Encounter
Chapter 252: Unexpected Encounter
"Th-this way."
"Thank you."
Jin Tae-do was guided by Hyo Chi-gon's subordinates to the cabin that Seonwoo Jin had entered.
But the composed expression and leisurely gait Jin Tae-do had worn on his way to the cabin froze solid the moment he arrived before it.
"This room, you said?"
"Y-yes. Th-that's right."
Jin Tae-do stared at the closed cabin door with a rigid expression for a moment, then drew his sword.
Shwaaaak!
Kwajijijik!
"Heok?!"
With a single stroke of Jin Tae-do's sword, the cabin wall, door included, was torn open in a long gash.
But no one was visible inside the cabin through the gap.
Not Seonwoo Jin, and not Jin So-eun either....
They had already fled.
At this, the subordinates of Ma Gyeong who had guided Jin Tae-do to the cabin began stammering excuses with bewildered expressions.
"Th-they were definitely here!"
"That's right! They were both quietly in this room, with the short-haired wench... ."
Jin Tae-do frowned briefly, then smiled once more and spoke.
"Well, if he were stupid enough to wait quietly in a cabin while all that chaos erupted outside, he would already be dead, I suppose."
It was perfectly understandable.
And it didn't seem to matter much even if they had slipped away.
Where could they possibly escape to on such a narrow ship?
The surroundings were nothing but open sea, and moreover, his own fleet was spread out all around.
It would simply take a little more time; they were already as good as caught in the bag.
Jin Tae-do was entertaining such thoughts, a faint smile on his face, when it happened.
Suddenly, a sound echoed from outside.
Kwajijijijik!
"Uwaaaaak!"
"Save me!"
It wasn't a loud sound.
It was a faint noise, one that a master below Jin Tae-do's level wouldn't have been able to hear—a sound coming from quite a distance away.
"Hm?"
Perplexed, Jin Tae-do immediately went up to the deck to see.
And then he was able to witness it.
Among the naval force's ships, four vessels that had been encircling the direction of the shore were split in two, slowly sinking from sight....
The subordinates who had been aboard those ships were falling into the sea, raising a clamor.
"What?!"
Jin Tae-do's eyes flew wide open.
It wasn't close at all.
Hyo Chi-gon's ship had turned out towards the open sea to escape, so Jin Tae-do's current position was at the far seaward end.
Conversely, where the ships were sinking was near the harbor, a distance of dozens of jang away from here.
And in that very moment, one more ship split apart with a thunderous roar.
It was the vessel positioned closest to the harbor.
Kwajijijijijik!
"!"
Thereupon, the sharp eyes of Jin Tae-do, who had reached the Transcendent Peak Realm, were immediately able to discover it.
Standing atop the tilting ship was the figure of a young man in white.
It was none other than Seonwoo Jin.
"Inparang?!"
In that instant, Seonwoo Jin, who had slowly turned to look behind him, and Jin Tae-do's eyes met across the empty air.
Seonwoo Jin smiled faintly, then infused his voice with internal energy and shouted loudly at Jin Tae-do.
- Jin Tae-do! I watched your fighting well! That was a fine Quick Sword! But... it seems your head isn't as fast as your sword!
Having spoken thus, Seonwoo Jin raised the corner of his mouth, sneering at him.
And Jin Tae-do could see that expression with absolute clarity.
As soon as Seonwoo Jin had first boarded Hyo Chi-gon's ship, he had cloaked himself with Stealth Technique and disembarked.
It was only natural, since the one Seonwoo Jin had been waiting for from the start wasn't Hyo Chi-gon, but Jin Tae-do.
And Seonwoo Jin, who had been watching in anticipation of Jin Tae-do's arrival, had seen that Jin Tae-do's ships had formed their encirclement much closer to the harbor than expected. He had instead crossed the sea and destroyed those ships of Jin Tae-do's that were near the shore.
The distance to Jin Tae-do now was several dozen jang.
And on top of that, it was across the sea.
No matter how much of a master he was, ranked among the Thirty-Six Stars Under Heaven, flying all the way over here to pursue Seonwoo Jin was beyond him.
Seonwoo Jin left him one final farewell greeting, then turned his body towards the land.
- It was a pleasure, Jin Tae-do. If you have business with me, do try to chase after me!
And it was just as he was about to launch himself towards the land.
Jin Tae-do shouted.
- Stop! If you leave now, you will regret it!
Regret....
Seonwoo Jin didn't think there would be much cause for that, but he turned his head back to look at Jin Tae-do's face for the moment.
Thereupon, Jin Tae-do was glaring at Seonwoo Jin, his face flushed crimson with fury, looking ready to devour him.
He shouted towards his flagship, the Black Dragon Fleet Vessel, which sat in the distance.
- Bring out that bitch!
'That bitch?'
Hearing those words, Seonwoo Jin's face stiffened.
It was because an ominous feeling struck him.
'Don't tell me....'
And a moment later, Seonwoo Jin was able to realize that his ominous feeling had been correct.
Because the person Jin Tae-do's subordinates dragged out onto the deck of the Black Dragon Fleet Vessel was none other than Myo A-ran.
The daughter of the Haenam Myo Family Head, Myo Cheong-ju—Myo A-ran, the one who had said she would draw Jin Tae-do's attention, was now being dragged out onto the deck of the Black Dragon Fleet Vessel in restraints.
Seonwoo Jin's expression turned grave.
'Damn... was she found out after all?'
His head grew complicated.
If the reason for her being restrained was because that bastard had realized she had cooperated with him, it meant the people who had secretly returned to Hainan Island might also all be in danger.
But he couldn't afford to show weakness to the enemy for the moment.
Feigning cold indifference, Seonwoo Jin shouted back towards Jin Tae-do.
- So it's the daughter of my enemy! Was the woman you said I would regret leaving over her?! How absurd!
Having spoken thus, Seonwoo Jin made to turn his body away again.
No—he pretended to do so.
Then Jin Tae-do's voice came ringing through once more.
- Not the daughter of your enemy, but your betrothed! Is that not why, even though you killed everyone else, you spared that bitch alone?! You say it doesn't matter?! Then fine! If you move so much as a single step from that ship, I will cut that bitch's head off! She's the daughter of your enemy, so what do you care?! Isn't that right?!
Listening to his words, Seonwoo Jin was able to feel a slight sense of relief.
It seemed he hadn't been completely figured out, given the circumstances of her restraint.
He had simply deduced that the reason Seonwoo Jin hadn't killed her was because of lingering attachment, and then thought she might prove useful.
Of course, despite that, the fact that he had still gone so far as to restrain and drag out someone who supposedly cooperated with him marked him as a remarkable bastard in his own right.
'Alright, that part's a relief, but now what do I do?'
Seonwoo Jin examined Myo A-ran's expression in the distance.
She was looking at Seonwoo Jin with a resolute expression, as if she had already steeled herself for death.
And the moment their eyes met, she abruptly opened her mouth and said something, shaping the words with her lips.
Seonwoo Jin found it easy enough to interpret that mouth shape as 'Just go.'
'This is troublesome.'
Seonwoo Jin deliberated.
He couldn't do as she asked.
If he were the real Inparang, perhaps he could have just left, thinking of her as the daughter of his enemy. But for Seonwoo Jin, it was all the harder to abandon her.
Because leaving behind someone who had committed no crime and cooperated for his sake—an act like that did not align with his principles.
And it seemed Jin Tae-do had interpreted Seonwoo Jin's hesitation positively.
He burst into raucous laughter and shouted.
- Uhahahaha! You say she's the daughter of your enemy, so why can't you leave?! Is it that you simply cannot let such a beautiful betrothed die?!
Seonwoo Jin did not answer.
His eyes registered the fact that the warships of Jin Tae-do's naval force, except for the Black Dragon Fleet Vessel carrying Myo A-ran, had begun approaching very, very slowly.
It seemed they intended to close the distance at a pace that wouldn't grate on his nerves.
And amidst all that, Jin Tae-do continued to speak to him.
- Do you know that? The fact that your betrothed is currently being called the Number One Beauty of Hainan! And she well deserves it! With such a beautiful appearance, and possessing wisdom and martial arts besides, how could it be otherwise?! In truth, even I have sometimes envied you! If it weren't for the eyes around me, I would likely have taken her for myself already!
Jin Tae-do did not stop talking.
It was clearly an attempt to divert Seonwoo Jin's attention.
Seonwoo Jin, on the other hand, still couldn't make a move.
But that wasn't because he hadn't been able to make up his mind. Quite the opposite—he had already resolved his feelings about Myo A-ran without much difficulty.
'I can't just leave her to die like that.'
Not abandoning people—that was the principle that ran throughout Seonwoo Jin's second life.
So it was only natural that he couldn't cold-heartedly abandon her.
But the method was still the problem.
'The distance is too great. There's no guarantee I can run across the surface of the sea and reach there, and even if I do arrive, the distance between Jin Tae-do and her is far shorter than it is for me. On top of that, everyone aboard those ships spread across the water is that bastard's subordinate. No way they'll just let me calmly take her and leave.'
It was a veritable dilemma, caught between a rock and a hard place.
If he simply fled from here, it would be an absurdly simple affair. But given that he had resolved to save her, the situation could only be called the worst possible.
It was at that moment.
Seonwoo Jin's eyes, which had been locked in such deep deliberation, gave a small, subtle flinch.
And a moment later, he shouted toward Jin Tae-do, who was still slowly approaching.
"Jin Tae-do! Are you not curious about the fate of your son?!"
Those words instantly shut the mouth of Jin Tae-do, who had been incessantly talking.
This time, Jin Tae-do's face visibly stiffened.
He glared at Seonwoo Jin for a moment, then answered.
"I have no son! What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Officially, that statement was true.
Jin Tae-do was not yet officially married, and he had no sons among his illegitimate children.
He had sown his seed profligately here and there, but even the children born from that were all daughters.
Then Seonwoo Jin smiled a bitter smile and shouted again.
"Ah, is that so?! Then are you saying the child of the Blood Sea Demon Yun Sak of the White Shark Sect is not your son?!"
Jin Tae-do's face completely distorted at those words.
It was because the bastard had actually spoken the words he had never imagined hearing.
'How does that bastard know that fact?'
Seonwoo Jin then continued speaking with a mocking expression.
"Are you curious how I came to know this?! When we struck the White Shark Sect, Yun Sak's woman told me directly! She begged not to be killed, claiming her son was not the child of the Blood Sea Demon Yun Sak, but the child of the Haenam Sect Leader Jin Tae-do!"
'Damn!'
Listening to this, Jin Tae-do thought he could roughly deduce the situation.
It seemed she, whose life was threatened, had thought they were people who held a grudge against Yun Sak.
So, to beg for her life, she had sold out his name.
However...
Seonwoo Jin continued speaking.
"Isn't it astonishing?! To strike down an enemy's subordinate to exact revenge, and end up reaping the enemy's child as well! Honestly, I was truly amazed! To send a woman pregnant with your child even to your most trusted subordinate! Jin Tae-do! You are a truly remarkable bastard!"
Crunch!
Jin Tae-do ground his teeth.
To blabber about that fact right in front of his own subordinates. If he could, he felt like chewing up that bastard to the bone.
Yet despite that, Jin Tae-do could not make any retort.
No, he did not.
It was because even while the bastard was saying that, his ships kept advancing, and the distance between them was gradually closing.
If he could close the distance more while he was drunk on his own words like that, it seemed chewing the bastard up would soon become possible.
It was then.
Seonwoo Jin asked him with a bitter smile.
"Now I will ask, Jin Tae-do! What do you think I did with her and the child?! The child who is the offspring of my enemy, that is!"
Jin Tae-do ground his teeth once again until they were about to break.
Crack!
Jin Tae-do had not married, but he had led a profligate life, sowing his seed here and there.
With the thought that if a son was born among them, he would take the child and raise him, that is.
But strangely, the children born from his seed were all daughters.
Yet, the first and last son he gained among them had been born from the very woman he had sent to Yun Sak.
Thus, in a situation where he could not reclaim him, Jin Tae-do had been truly regretful as well.
And for that reason, he had not been able to let go of his interest in the child, but of all things, that child had ended up in the hands of that Inparang.
Jin Tae-do could guess that the bastard had probably killed the child.
Because if it had been him, he would have never let him live.
But what came out of Seonwoo Jin's mouth was somewhat different from his thoughts.
"If it were you, you would have killed them right away! But I have no intention of becoming a beast like you! A piece of human trash who kills even newborn babies!"
Jin Tae-do's eyes widened greatly at those words.
What?!
Those words seemed to mean that he hadn't killed the child.
He couldn't know the truth, but if those words were true, it meant that Jin Tae-do's only son might still be alive.
It was when Jin Tae-do was waiting for Seonwoo Jin's next words with his eyes wide open.
Seonwoo Jin, who had been gauging the distance of the ships approaching him, grinned and said to him.
"Well then, let's talk about what happened to that child next time we get a chance!"
After saying that, Seonwoo Jin turned around without any lingering regret.
Then, Jin Tae-do cried out in surprise.
"Stop! If you go like that, your fiancee...!"
It was then.
"Kuaaak!"
"Uwaaak!"
Screams were heard.
From behind Jin Tae-do, from the direction of the Black Dragon Flagship that was holding Myo A-ran.
"Wha, what?!"
Startled, Jin Tae-do turned his head and looked over there.
And then he could see.
The sight of his subordinates aboard the Black Dragon Flagship being slaughtered by someone.
"Tha, that bastard is?!"
Jin Tae-do was horrified.
Because the one slaughtering his subordinates was someone he knew well.
No, precisely, it was the appearance of someone he had been well-informed about.
Tattered clothes no different from a beggar's, unkempt hair and a face covered in whiskers, and a pure white sword that did not match such an appearance at all.
"Haaap!"
When he swung his sword, a white chill air burst forth, and Jin Tae-do's subordinates, who had surrounded him and were about to launch a combined attack, froze in an instant.
It was a vicious Ice Art.
An extent that brought to mind the legendary North Sea Ice Palace...
Jin Tae-do muttered his name as if spitting it out.
"White Wolf... Sword? How is he...?"
It was the White Wolf Sword.
Who one day suddenly appeared with a pure white sword decorated with a wolf's head and destroyed several naval force warships with an unheard-of Ice Art.
But how he appeared here, or what his relationship was with Inparang, was not what mattered right now.
What mattered most right now was what he was trying to do.
Jin Tae-do burst out shouting.
"Strike! If you can't kill him, then strike that bitch at least!"
At Jin Tae-do's command, the naval force soldier right next to Myo A-ran suddenly turned his head and looked at her.
And gritting his teeth, he thrust his sword at her.
Shuaak!
"Aaak!"
Myo A-ran, sensing her death, squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.
Pu-hak!
"Kuaaak!"
In conclusion, the naval force soldier's attempt to kill Myo A-ran was only half successful.
Because the White Wolf Sword's Energy Ring blew his head off, and the sword pierced Myo A-ran's stomach, not her chest.
Thud!
"Augh!"
It was when Myo A-ran was swaying and about to collapse from the sword that had pierced her stomach.
The White Wolf Sword, who had finally succeeded in approaching her, caught her in his arms.
And without hesitation, he leaped into the sea.
"Haaap!"
Shuaak!
As he jumped into the sea and unfurled his sword, the sight of the seawater instantly freezing filled their eyes.
And the White Wolf Sword, having saved Myo A-ran, ran across the frozen sea and began to flee to the side.
Jin Tae-do spat out through gritted teeth.
"You stupid bastards!"
At that moment, Seonwoo Jin's voice reached his ears again.
"Then farewell, Jin Tae-do!"
Startled, he turned his head to find Seonwoo Jin, who had already gone up to the Shantou port, giving him a bitter smile.
And he could see him turn around with the short-haired wench beside him and run off toward the land.
Unable to contain his fury, Jin Tae-do let out a furious roar.
"Youuuu bastaaard!"
Inparang, whom he wanted to kill like crazy, and Myo A-ran, whom he had brought to capture Inparang, were moving away from him in different directions.
***
After joining up with Jin So-eun, who was waiting at the port, Seonwoo Jin ran like the wind and began to leave the Shantou Port.
He had to vanish before Jin Tae-do's ships reached the port.
Just then, Jin So-eun, who was running beside him, asked Seonwoo Jin.
"Seonu Gongja! Who was that person just now?!"
Seonwoo Jin answered her question as he ran.
"He seems to be the one called the White Wolf Sword! A hyeopgaek who recently appeared out of nowhere and is stopping the atrocities of the Haenam Sect!"
"The White Wolf Sword?! Was he the one you originally had an appointment to meet?!"
"That's not it! He suddenly spoke to me through Telepathic Sound Transmission earlier! I think he came to Shantou after hearing rumors about us! After all, the rumor that we might contact Ma Gyeong in Shantou is pretty much widespread!"
"Ah!"
While answering Jin So-eun, Seonwoo Jin recalled the Telepathic Sound Transmission he had suddenly heard earlier.
A moment ago, when he was agonizing over how to save Myo A-ran, a strand of Telepathic Sound Transmission had reached his ears.
[Are you perhaps Seonwoo Jin?]
Seonwoo Jin had been utterly shocked by that telepathy.
Because both the content of the telepathy and the voice were something he had never imagined hearing here.
'That voice... was the White Wolf Sword really him? If it's him, how on earth...'
Seonwoo Jin, having thought to himself, said to Jin So-eun.
"I arranged to meet him at Phoenix Mountain in Joju, a little away from here! Let's hurry and go!"
"Yes! I understand!"