Chapter 255: Encirclement
Chapter 255: Encirclement
Jin So-eun stared blankly at the campfire, lost in thought.
No, to be precise, she wasn't even lost in thought. Her mind had left on some excursion a while ago and hadn't returned since.
It had been since the moment Seonwoo Jin said those words.
'Yeo Eun and I are promised in marriage.'
Promised in marriage.
In other words, a fiancée.
Seonwoo Jin had someone like that.
It was something she had never even imagined.
No, thinking about it carefully, she couldn't understand why she had assumed there wouldn't be one.
He was truly an incredible person.
His martial arts were profound, he was wise, brimming with chivalrous spirit, and according to the widely experienced elder Son Dae-su, he wasn't just somewhat outstanding, but a figure so exceptional there were few like him in the entire history of the martial world, wasn't that what he said?
That wasn't all.
His personality was even too good, and he was handsome on top of it.
It was almost as if he had saved a million people in a past life and heaven had bestowed all their collective fortune onto one person.
No matter how vast the world was, she couldn't imagine there being another person like that anywhere.
And yet she had believed that such a man wouldn't be promised in marriage to any woman. Jin So-eun found herself so pathetic she couldn't stand it.
She suddenly murmured blankly.
"So foolish. Really...."
Well.
It wasn't surprising now.
She had always been a fool, after all.
Besides, come to think of it, what did the fact that he had a fiancée have to do with her?
Hadn't she simply wanted to be of help to him?
She had developed feelings for him on her own and therefore wanted to be his strength; she hadn't harbored any greedy desire to become someone special to him.
That was it.
That was right.
So it had nothing to do with her.
Whether he had a fiancée or a betrothed....
It was none of her business.
It was while Jin So-eun was thinking such thoughts.
Suddenly, a single tear fell from her eye.
It was a tear so abrupt that even she hadn't noticed it coming.
Plop!
Startled, Jin So-eun murmured softly.
"Huh? Why am I...?"
That was when it happened.
The single tear soon became a stream, pouring from her eyes.
Along with the tears, a sob suddenly burst out, and Jin So-eun had to hurriedly clamp her hand over her own mouth.
"Hnk!"
She couldn't understand it.
She was truly fine with it, she thought so.
But for some reason, she just couldn't stop sobbing.
"Uuughk!"
That was when it happened.
Someone tightly grasped her hand.
She looked, and it was Myo A-ran, her face pale.
Lying there weakly, she was looking at Jin So-eun with an expression of knowing understanding and eyes full of sympathy.
At that warm gaze, Jin So-eun could hold on no longer and burst out sobbing.
"Uuuhhuk!"
Clutching Myo A-ran's hand tightly, Jin So-eun continued to shed tears.
It felt as if tears were endlessly gushing from a great wound carved in her heart.
***
Having located the shrine, Jin Tae-do did not rush.
He spread out the twenty elite warriors he had brought with him and had them surround the shrine's vicinity.
Twenty masters with over eighty years of internal energy had completely encircled the shrine, so no matter how formidable Inparang's movement technique was, he would not be able to escape from this place.
After meticulously checking the encirclement net, he murmured with a savage grin.
"I won't let you get away this time."
And when the encirclement was finally complete, Jin Tae-do drew his sword and at last began walking toward the shrine's door.
Ssreureung!
The sound of a woman sobbing from inside the shrine had been reaching Jin Tae-do's ears for a while.
Judging by that, it seemed certain that they were inside.
He didn't know why the sobbing sound was coming, but that wasn't a very important fact.
The most important fact for him was that he had finally cornered them at a dead end.
Jin Tae-do, wearing a ferocious grin, was just about to open the shrine door.
When suddenly, a voice reached his ears.
"Jin Tae-do?!"
In that instant, Jin Tae-do turned his head toward the source of the voice with a furious expression.
He had commanded absolute silence, so which bastard dared make a sound?
And calling him Jin Tae-do, no less.
'What insolent wretch dares to use my name so recklessly...!'
But Jin Tae-do, mid-thought, could only be horrified.
Because his transcendent peak-level eyes, despite the thick darkness, could recognize the face of the person looking down at him from atop a tree.
It was the face of someone Jin Tae-do could never have imagined seeing there.
The bewildered Jin Tae-do let out a voice without realizing it.
"Y-you are?!"
Only then could he also remember whose voice it was that he had just heard.
He shouted in a horrified voice.
"Inparang?! Why are you there?!"
It was Seonwoo Jin.
The man he had believed to be inside the shrine was outside the encirclement, perched in a tree, staring down at Jin Tae-do.
It was a moment when the utterly bewildered Jin Tae-do stood frozen for an instant.
Suddenly clicking his tongue once, Seonwoo Jin abruptly threw his body to flee into the forest.
"Tch!"
Pabak!
Jin Tae-do's eyes widened enormously.
The man he had so desperately wanted to catch, the man he thought he had finally caught, was getting away again.
Having frozen for a very brief moment in shock, Jin Tae-do immediately screamed out spasmodically.
"Catch him! Do not let him get away!"
And then he immediately launched his own body.
Pabak!
At that, Jin Tae-do's subordinates also hurriedly broke their encirclement and began flocking after Seonwoo Jin.
The encirclement net that had perfectly surrounded the shrine crumbled in an instant.
It was an action that could have allowed whoever was inside the shrine to be missed, but the agitated Jin Tae-do did not think that far.
Because the single thought that he could not let the bastard escape again filled his mind.
Moreover, the bastard appeared to be carrying someone on his back.
At first, he thought it might be Myo A-ran, but upon closer look, it didn't seem to be a woman.
But who it was did not matter.
If the bastard was carrying even a wounded person on his back, then now was the perfect chance to catch him.
This time, it truly seemed he could catch him.
"Stop right there!"
But a moment later, Jin Tae-do could only realize that his thinking had been wrong.
Because Seonwoo Jin's trail, which kept getting further and further away, was ultimately lost into the darkness.
Even while carrying someone, his movement technique had been impossible to follow.
Jin Tae-do finally let out a roar of fury.
"Inparang, youuuu baaaastard!"
Even after that, Jin Tae-do poured the rage he hadn't yet fully vented onto his subordinates who had failed to keep up.
[You idiots! Can you not get here immediately?! Bring Baek Ah at once!]
The cloud cat Baek-ah was needed right now.
Because as long as he had Baek-ah, he could pursue the bastard again.
But a moment later, the subordinate who appeared carrying the fluffy white cat spoke to Jin Tae-do with a terrified expression.
"S-sect leader, Baek-ah refuses to go that way. It keeps trying to go back to that shrine from earlier."
"...What did you say?"
Hearing that, Jin Tae-do, who was about to erupt in rage again, suddenly had a thought flash into his mind.
'Wait, come to think of it, the place Baek-ah led us to was that shrine from before. And what Baek-ah is tracking is not the bastard, but Myo A-ran....'
Having thought that far, Jin Tae-do urgently shouted.
"That shrine from before! Myo A-ran is at that shrine!"
And then he himself began flying toward that shrine first, like a bolt of lightning.
Of course, what he ultimately wanted to catch was not Myo A-ran, but Inparang.
However, in a situation where he had lost Inparang, he had to secure even her.
Just as he had done at Shantou Port, he could use her as a hostage, and above all, wasn't she a woman who knew his secret?
He absolutely could not let her go.
But Jin Tae-do, having returned to the temple, could not help but realize once again.
That this time too, he had been too late.
The inside of the temple had already been completely emptied.
Jin Tae-do, who had returned to the temple alone first at a speed far surpassing his subordinates, saw the empty temple with the campfire still burning and had to clench his fist so tightly it bled.
***
"Jin Tae-do?!"
At the small voice that came from outside, Jin So-eun was so startled her breath nearly stopped.
Even the sobbing she had been utterly unable to suppress came to an abrupt halt.
And Jin So-eun, unfolding the senses of her mind's eye which had terrifyingly developed all this time, was able to realize at once.
That the temple had already been completely surrounded....
She was appalled.
'H-how is this, when on earth?'
But she also knew all too well the answer to the question she had asked herself.
All of this was because of herself.
She had stupidly let her mind wander and sobbed, and in doing so had missed the signs of the surrounding perimeter.
A sudden fear seized her.
If they were to be captured by those people....
It was Seonwoo Jin who had been unable to abandon even Myo A-ran, let alone his actual betrothed.
If she were captured, it was all too clear what he would do, even without seeing it.
'What do I do? What in the world should I do?'
She could not possibly be captured and become a source of harm to Seonwoo Jin.
Because rather than causing his death due to her own stupidity, it was better for her to die herself.
But Jin So-eun, who had been thinking thus, suddenly looked at Myo A-ran.
Even if it was alright for her to die, what then was to be done about Myo A-ran?
Dying herself was her own choice, but could the life and death of that girl be decided at her own whim?
It was while Jin So-eun was lost in confusion from such ceaselessly arising thoughts.
Suddenly a voice came from outside once more.
"Capture them! Do not let them slip away!"
And she could feel it.
That those who had surrounded the temple were receding like an ebbing tide.
They must have been following Seonwoo Jin, it seemed.
Jin So-eun was able to grasp the truth at once.
'Seonu Gongja lured them away!'
It was an action just like Seonwoo Jin.
Though she was worried he might fall into danger, escaping from this place herself took priority.
So as not to be captured here and become a burden to him, as well.
Jin So-eun spoke quickly to Myo A-ran.
"Myo Sojeo! We must escape right now! I will carry you on my back, so please bear with the discomfort!"
Myo A-ran, who seemed to have guessed the general situation from her words, nodded with a resolute expression.
Carrying her and moving when her physical condition was poor would certainly not be good for her body, but there was no helping it now.
Jin So-eun lifted Myo A-ran onto her back and hastily fled the temple.
Just as she had felt with her mind's eye, those who had surrounded the perimeter had vanished without a single one remaining.
"Hoo!"
After letting out a short sigh of relief, Jin So-eun decided to move at once.
But thinking that, she tried to take a step and had no choice but to stop again.
Because she did not know where to go.
'Come to think of it, where should I go? Besides, wherever I go, if I leave here for another place, I won't be able to meet Seonu Gongja anymore, will I? Then....'
For Jin So-eun, who had moved only by Seonwoo Jin's guidance until now, the task of thinking for herself and deciding on a destination could not help but be far too frightening.
So it was while she hesitated, unable to do anything for a moment.
Shiiiik!
Suddenly several people flew down before her eyes. They were all martial artists carrying swords.
Startled, Jin So-eun looked at them.
"!"
***
Jin Tae-do suppressed his fury before the empty temple and waited for his subordinates to catch up.
Because to track Myo A-ran, the cloud cat Baek Ah was needed, and to make Baek Ah move, his lacking subordinate was needed.
It would be good if he could handle Baek Ah himself, but the spirit beast Baek Ah listened to no one's commands except that subordinate's.
So there was no helping it.
But while Jin Tae-do was waiting for his subordinates, the first to arrive before the temple were not his men.
Hwiik! Tadak!
Jin Tae-do examined with sharp eyes the six swordsmen who landed before the temple in movements as fluid as a single body.
Six old Daoists; though their faces were unknown to him, just by seeing their white martial robes and blue headbands he could discern that they were men of the Hengshan Sect.
Moreover, the one who had informed the Hengshan Sect of the intelligence that Inparang had come this way was Jin Tae-do himself.
Jin Tae-do immediately hid his sharp eyes behind the good-natured laugh he always showed before people, clasped his fist in greeting, and spoke.
"You must be men from the Hengshan Sect! You have endured much hardship coming all this way!"
At that, the old Daoist standing at the very front of the six clasped his fist with solemn courtesy and greeted him.
"It is Sect Leader Jin of Hainan. I am Jaseong of Hengshan, and I pay my respects."
'Ja Seong-jin-in, is it....'
Frankly he was a Daoist whose face, and of course whose name, he had never heard before.
But Jin Tae-do was able to notice at once that his martial prowess seemed far from ordinary.
Naturally, he could also see that the martial prowess of the other Daoists standing behind him with expressionless faces to an unnatural degree was likewise undoubtedly of the transcendent peak level.
'Six transcendent peak swordsmen.... Furthermore, judging by the atmosphere, there might be something here beyond merely six transcendent peak level masters. That Wi Jeong-guk fellow must have made quite a decision.'
In any case, if they had sent strong forces, there could be no harm to himself.
Jin Tae-do smiled brightly and welcomed them.
"So it was Ja Seong-jin-in. I am honored to meet and see such masters."
At that, Ja Seong-jin-in gave an awkward smile.
In truth, he had just sped ahead of the Pasan Squad, intending to swiftly finish off Inparang and return.
It was because he wished to avoid being seen by others' eyes, given the peculiar nature of the Six Harmony Swordsmen called the Soul-lost Seal.
But far from finishing off the bastard, he had ended up encountering even Jin Tae-do like this.
He was displeased by the look in Jin Tae-do's eyes, sharply observing the Six Harmony Swordsmen standing behind him.
But now that he had already encountered him, there was no helping it.
After all, he could hardly kill Jin Tae-do, who maintained good relations with Wi Jeong-guk, the sect leader of Hengshan, and silence him permanently.
'There's no helping it. Now that things have come to this, I have no choice but to use that man to achieve the objective as quickly as possible.'
Ja Seong-jin-in reached that conclusion in his heart.
And he spoke toward Jin Tae-do.
"Shamefully, though we encountered the wretch called Inparang, far from capturing him, we ultimately lost his trail altogether. Even though he carried a wounded person on his back and moved, we could not follow him at all. It was truly a remarkable movement technique."
At his words, Jin Tae-do unconsciously furrowed his brow slightly.
Because those words did not feel like someone else's affair.
Had he not just personally experienced how remarkable that bastard's movement technique was a moment ago?
Jin Tae-do asked him.
"By any chance, Jin-in, do you possess any method of tracking the bastard?"
At that, Ja Seong-jin-in let out a sigh and shook his head.
"Shamefully, I do not. Frankly, I had been at a loss as to what to do."
At his answer, Jin Tae-do gave a slight smile.
Because if they had no method of pursuit, he could rather use them.
As if he had been waiting, he proposed.
"Then come with us. I shall guide you."
At that, Ja Seong-jin-in's expression brightened markedly, and he hastily asked Jin Tae-do.
"Then, Sect Leader Jin, does that mean you possess a method to track the bastard?"
Jin Tae-do did not immediately answer his question, but looked behind himself and slowly opened his mouth.
"There they come. So long as we have that spirit beast, the cloud cat, the bastard will never be able to shake us off completely."
Into Ja Seong-jin-in's eyes entered the sight of Jin Tae-do's subordinate, panting as he ran while clutching a fluffy white cat in his arms.