Chapter 31: Life-Death Eccentric Doctor-1
Chapter 31: Life-Death Eccentric Doctor-1
Slowly, very slowly.
I breathed so slowly it almost seemed as if I had stopped.
I was hidden among the dense leaves of a tree. Four Black Lotus Sect warriors were approaching beneath the tree.
Their martial prowess was second-rate at best, with maybe one or two at the lower first-rate.
Even in a frontal fight, I felt I could definitely win.
But I decided to wait.
I had to take them out silently if possible.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Now they were passing right beneath me.
And the moment the warrior at the very end had passed, I dropped down silently, inverted.
Shaak!
Twisting my body in the air, my sword grazed the carotid artery of the rearmost warrior.
"Kek!"
Pshhh!
As a violent jet of blood erupted from his throat, my sword was already cutting toward the two in front.
"What...!"
"Ugh...!"
Shiiick!
Both of their eyes turned toward me, but it was useless.
Their throats had already been cut.
Just then, the warrior at the very front suddenly turned, saw me, and his eyes flew wide as he tried to open his mouth in shock.
"Enem...!"
But in that instant, my sword 'Mukrang' drove deep into his heart.
Puuooook!
"Keuheooook!"
Watching his eyes lose their light as he collapsed, I smoothly withdrew the Mukrang sword.
Thrusting into a human body and withdrawing the blade felt as smooth as stabbing through tofu.
I admired the sharpness of my new beloved sword once more and moved on.
I hadn't yet found Saengsagwoe-ui's trail, and until I did, I intended to whittle down the Black Lotus Sect's numbers as much as possible.
A few hours earlier, after leaving Gwanje-myo, we had split into two groups again.
Bae Jong-hwan stayed to protect Saengsagwoe-ui's children, while the squad leader, Bi Sa-yeong, and I went to rescue Saengsagwoe-ui himself.
'Jong-gwan, this operation has to be stealthy — so the squad leader, me, and Sa-yeong will handle it. You stay at the inn and guard Saengsagwoe-ui's children. Just in case anyone tries to kidnap them again.'
The squad leader nodded and added his own words.
'Right, and I think since your internal energy has suddenly increased, you'd better start by circulating it. I'll teach you one Moon Blade Technique, so practice that.'
After taking the spirit medicine, Bae Jong-gwan had accumulated roughly over forty years of internal energy.
At last, he had met the conditions to step into the realm of first-rate.
Excluding him, the three of us raced like the wind and quickly arrived at the border of Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, where the Black Lotus Sect was pursuing Saengsagwoe-ui Ma Jong-hwan.
Saengsagwoe-ui had fled from Xingren in Guizhou Province, where the Black Lotus Sect was based, toward the southeast in the direction of Guangxi Province.
Since the terrain here consisted of jungles and hills no less dense than Yunnan Province, the Black Lotus Sect martial artists were having a hellish time with the search.
So the Heuksang-bangju, Go Ju-yong, had spread his forces over a wide area, surrounding the places Ma Jong-hwan might be in and slowly tightening the net.
We decided to split into three paths and follow behind the Black Lotus Sect from three directions, searching for Saengsagwoe-ui's whereabouts.
'Each of us will search for Saengsagwoe-ui and thin out the Black Lotus Sect's forces wherever circumstances allow, punching some holes in their encirclement.'
'Understood. Then be careful. Especially you, Sa-yeong — don't overdo it.'
'Heung, I'm a first-rate martial artist now too, so you don't have to worry so much, Squad Leader.'
This was the reason I was now moving stealthily and ambushing Black Lotus Sect members.
The squad leader was probably devastating one side by now as well.
I was a bit uneasy about Bi Sa-yeong, but he too had already reached the first-rate level, and I had stuffed him full of a full sixty years of internal energy, so I was certain that no one could catch him, at least in flight.
Even if that someone were a peak-level master.
Moving stealthily again, I soon spotted more Black Lotus Sect members a short distance away.
This time there were about ten or so. It seemed like quite a few.
Lowering my body into the grass, I began to approach slowly, like a tiger stalking its prey.
The ultimate essence of the Bi Sect's Cheonpung Step was to become one with the air itself. Even if I hadn't reached that ultimate essence, there wasn't a single rustle in my movements.
I roughly gauged the enemies' levels.
Overall, they were second-rate, at best lower first-rate, but one man who seemed to be in charge looked to be about mid-first-rate.
After assessing their level, I hesitated for a moment.
Winning a fight through ambush wasn't the problem.
If I attacked recklessly and they sent a signal to other Black Lotus Sect members nearby, I'd be in trouble.
As I pondered, my eyes suddenly caught sight of the leather pouch tied to my waist.
A slight smile formed on my lips.
In the end, I made up my mind.
I decided to take a bit of a gamble.
Going alone would be too much, but I have my pretty little friends, don't I?
After roughly gauging the distance to the enemy, I aimed the tied opening of the leather pouch toward the sky.
Then, as I slightly loosened the opening, two snakes shot out from the pouch like arrows.
Piping!
They were the Three-Colored Death Adders I had been raising diligently since that day we went to the Poison Forest.
I watched as the Three-Colored Death Adders soared high into the sky and then fell in a parabolic arc.
My aim seemed to have been good.
My cute little bastards were falling right onto the heads of the Black Lotus Sect members searching the forest.
***
Jeong Mo-su, a squad leader of the Black Lotus Sect's outer hall, was irritated to the ends of his hair.
Everything was truly irritating.
Saengsagwoe-ui, whose shadow hadn't been seen for days. The Faction Leader, who had them wandering through the jungle to catch that Saengsagwoe-ui. The stifling, muggy heat. The mosquitoes buzzing and swarming at them without a moment's rest.
There wasn't a single thing that didn't irritate him.
So Jeong Mo-su was venting that irritation by snapping at his subordinates.
"Can't you move a little quicker, you bastards?! We have to catch the bastard to go home, don't we?! Huh?!"
In truth, he was no quicker himself, and he guessed that his venting, while giving him no other outlet, was making things harder for his men.
But he had no consideration to spare for that.
It was then.
Right next to his subordinates, whose faces were darkening with exhaustion, something dropped from the sky with a thud.
One of his men glanced at it absentmindedly, then shrieked in startled terror.
"Aaaaggh! A snake!"
"Waaaaaah! Wha-what the hell?!"
In an instant, his men scrambled backward, centering away from the snakes.
The two snakes that had fallen to the ground coiled themselves and flicked their tongues, staring at them.
Jeong Mo-su had actually been startled too.
But out of habit, he snapped in irritation first.
"Hey, you bastards! All this fuss over two measly snakes?! Why don't you catch them already?!"
"......."
His men frowned resentfully at Jeong Mo-su's words and were just starting to approach the snakes again.
Suddenly, the snakes shot out like arrows.
Sheeik!
Pook!
"Aaaaaggh! Wha-what the hell?!"
"Did they bite you?!"
By the time they came to their senses, the snakes had already sunk their venomous fangs into two of the men.
The startled subordinates all shuffled backward again.
But those who had been bitten by the snakes could not.
They collapsed limply with faces already blackened, beginning to foam at the mouth.
"D-Did you just see that?! The snake shot in like an arrow!"
"Wh-What?! Th-That happened the moment they were bitten?!"
The terrified henchmen could not bring themselves to approach the snakes again.
And Jeong Mo-su was the same.
Though he himself could not approach and looked upon the snakes with a terrified expression, he still shouted at his men.
"Hey, you crippled bastards! Go catch those snakes, quick! Do you want them dead?!"
"B-But, Squad Leader!"
When even his direct order produced no one willing to step forward, Jeong Mo-su stared at his men with a face full of fury.
"These sons of bitches...?!"
And then, he could see.
A handsome young man who had somehow approached like a ghost and was unleashing his sword from behind the subordinates.
Shwaaack!
His blade spread out like a phantasm.
"Urghk?!"
"Gck?!"
"Grruuugh?!"
As his sword scattered in all directions like the ribs of a fan in a single instant, henchmen were collapsing and spraying blood.
"Wh-What?!"
Startled, Jeong Mo-su hurriedly tried to draw his blade.
But the young man's sword, having swept across the necks of the subordinates, came swinging down first.
Pussukk!
The moment the man's face, magnified at terrifying speed, filled Jeong Mo-su's vision, a stinging sensation touched his neck and suddenly the blue sky filled his eyes.
It was the last sight Jeong Mo-su ever saw.
***
Having simply sent the apparent leader's head flying, I chuckled wryly as I looked at the Mukrang sword.
The sensation of slicing off a man's head was as smooth as cutting grass.
Examining the Mukrang sword's blade again, not a single trace of blood remained.
'This is a fine blade indeed.'
Muttering so, I turned my head to survey my surroundings.
I had thrown concealed weapons at the three who were slightly further away, and I needed to confirm they were definitely dead.
Satisfyingly, they were all instant kills.
Two killed by the Three-Colored Death Adders, six by the sword, three by concealed weapons.
Disposing of this many people without giving them time even to scream was a fairly decent result.
At this level, I thought it might even be a little better compared to the final days of my past life.
At last, I had surpassed my past self.
Well, since I hadn't even reached the peak level back then, I wasn't sure what meaning it held, but at the very least, in this life, I thought I might be able to step into the realm of the peak.
'As long as I don't die out of nowhere, that is.'
After sheathing Mukrang, I approached those dying from the Three-Colored Death Adders' bites, casually grabbed the snakes by the neck, and put them back into the sack.
Thanks to these little ones' habit of not retracting their fangs until their target's breath has completely stopped, retrieving them was incredibly simple.
"Good work, my pretties."
A satisfied smile spread across my face involuntarily.
I marveled at how, even as snakes, they could be this beautiful.
Weren't they far prettier than the human Jeomchang Geombi Ju Tae-gyeong?
Of course, it was a given since Ju Tae-gyeong was helpful in no way at all, while my pretties had defeated the Tamhyeolmugun Ji Gwang-ok himself.
Though, admittedly, they did lunge to bite me at first, I decided not to dwell on that.
What importance did the past hold?
They were pretty now, and that was all that mattered.
With such thoughts, I began to move covertly again.
If possible, I wished to find Saengsagwoe-ui before the Black Sang Pavilion leader did.
I continued advancing in this manner, and it was when roughly two more hours had passed that I sensed something amiss.
Ppii-iiik!
The urgent sound of a whistle rang out from the direction I was headed.
It seemed they had finally discovered Saengsagwoe-ui.
Pabat!
Abandoning stealth, I began to sprint at full speed.
The sensation of the surrounding scenery rapidly flashing past me made me keenly aware once more that I had grown.
After about an hour of running like this,
a mass of people gathered ahead came into view.
The Black Sang Pavilion thugs had cornered a single person against the wall of a towering cliff and were laying siege.
I slowed my steps and quickly concealed myself.
Roughly thirty to forty men, and moreover, the one leading them did not seem ordinary.
A man in black martial robes, appearing to be around forty, was laughing, sounding pleased at heart.
"Guhahahaha! Caught at last, Saengsagwoe-ui! To think you'd make us suffer this much when you were going to be caught anyway! I'd like to kill you on the spot, but by the elder brother's command, I'll make a special exception and just break your legs for you!"
Elder brother....
The Black Sang Pavilion had four peak-level masters called the Four Heavenly Kings, including Go Ju-yong. They were all sworn brothers.
That was a genuinely surprising matter.
Peak-level masters gathered four at a time in a backwater sect like this.
It was only because being on the frontlines had dulled my sense of such masters, but the existence of a peak-level master was originally akin to an absolute being in such a rural region.
The capital city of Guizhou Castle, where the Seonwoo clan was located, had over ten peak-level masters including my father and the heads of other sects precisely because it was the provincial capital. In other regions, it was perfectly normal for a single peak-level master to carve out a territory for themselves and rule like a king.
'Of course, I've heard that places like the Nine Great Sects or the Murim Alliance have dozens of peak-level masters, and they say the rumored Heavenly Demon Divine Cult has hundreds gathered there, but those are exceptions. It is precisely because they reach that level that they are acclaimed as the Nine Great Sects or the foremost in the martial world.'
In any case, a peak-level master was an extremely rare and valuable existence in the martial world.
That was why Lady Hae Cheong-yeon had been astonished upon seeing the Flying Dragon Thirteen Squads, which had five peak-level masters in their twenties, exclaiming that even the Murim Alliance was not like this.
It also made it understandable why the Blood Cult's martial arts, which allowed one to reach the peak more easily and rapidly than anyone else, were so enticing to martial artists.
'But of all things, did it have to be such a peak-level master who found Saengsagwoe-ui before me, in a place with no squad leader and only me around?'
Worse still, he had brought over forty warriors at his back.
There was no choice but to fall into deep deliberation.
'What should I do?'
Even at this very moment, the bastards were surrounding Saengsagwoe-ui and pressing him toward the dead-end cliff.
Left as things were, he looked about to be captured, yet no matter how much I thought, no sharp plan came to mind.
That was when it happened.
From behind, from the direction I had come, I sensed the presence of someone running this way.
Judging by the footwork that was far from light, he was a warrior roughly of the second-rate level. He most likely was a Black Sang Pavilion warrior.
About three of them were rushing in this direction desperately.
Warriors running urgently from the way I had come... I could roughly guess what the situation was.
'Damn it, the bodies of those I ambushed and killed have been discovered!'
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
Of all moments, my existence was about to be exposed now.
I was thinking I might have to turn back and regroup with Squad Leader Seol Pung.
At that moment, a sudden thought occurred to me.
Hmm, if I handled this well?