Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Disasters Strike Without Warning (2)
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Thud!
Namgung Chang slammed his fist down on the table.
The items on the table bounced off from the impact and scattered across the floor.
“What did you say? A clash? Didn’t I tell you just to track their location?”
“Well... Young Master Namgung Su insisted on capturing them himself...”
“Su...”
Namgung Chang’s shoulders twitched with residual spasms.
Even though most of the Green Forest was a ragtag band of thieves, their numbers exceeded tens of thousands.
The man who held the life and death of those tens of thousands in his hands was none other than Paewangdo Hwang Kyungmun. Hwang Hye-ryeong was his only daughter.
If they clashed head-on with the Green Forest by mistake, the Murim Alliance could crumble before it even established its foundations.
“Where is Su right now?”
“He’s in pursuit of Hwang Hye-ryeong.”
“Ugh!”
Namgung Chang ground his teeth.
At this rate, a collision with the Green Forest was inevitable.
‘I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have sent Su.’
Namgung Su had been dejected ever since his right arm was broken by Damho. To boost his morale, he had assigned him this mission, but he never dreamed it would lead to such an accident.
“Send someone to tell Su to withdraw immediately.”
“Well...”
“What is it?”
A foreboding feeling made Namgung Chang’s eyes flicker.
“Young Master Namgung Su has also requested assistance from warriors of the other clans.”
“He dragged in warriors from the other clans too?”
“It seems the opponent’s skills far exceeded expectations...”
Muk Il-gwang’s prowess, protecting Hwang Hye-ryeong, had vastly surpassed Namgung Su’s predictions. He had broken through the Namgung Clan’s encirclement and escaped on his own.
If Namgung Su’s right arm had been intact, or if it was before his fight with Damho, he would have handled the matter with the Namgung Clan’s forces alone somehow.
But after his humiliating defeat and injury at Damho’s hands, cracks had formed in his once-unshakable resolve.
Terrified by Muk Il-gwang’s formidable skills, Namgung Su had sought help from warriors of the Five Great Clans with whom he was friendly.
Some warriors, already excited by the establishment of the Murim Alliance, had joined in, and the situation was spiraling out of control.
“I was too complacent.”
Namgung Chang rose abruptly.
He had to contain the situation before it grew worse.
Urgency etched across his face.
“Huff huff!”
Hwang Hye-ryeong gasped for breath.
She looked deeply troubled as she glanced at Muk Il-gwang, who steadfastly guarded her side.
Muk Il-gwang’s body was covered in minor wounds. Though none were fatal, they must have been quite painful, yet his expression remained unchanged.
“Are you alright, miss?”
He was the one worrying about Hwang Hye-ryeong.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
“But can we escape Eoyang? They’ve already blanketed the area with their forces.”
“We’ll do our best. One thing’s for sure—they won’t touch or kill you before me.”
“Il-gwang!”
“To escape Eoyang, we need an ally’s help.”
“An ally?”
“Right now, Eoyang is filled with warriors from countless sects. If they set up a dragnet, we won’t get out. We need to find an ally for aid before that.”
“Then let’s go to So-cheong.”
“You mean Miss Eun So-cheong of the Silver Pavilion?”
“Yes! So-cheong will help us.”
“Understood.”
Muk Il-gwang nodded.
He knew better than anyone how close Hwang Hye-ryeong and Eun So-cheong were.
For now, getting Eun So-cheong’s help seemed the only viable option.
At that moment, rough voices echoed from outside the alley.
“Block this side and set up a perimeter.”
“That bastard must not escape Eoyang.”
Their faces paled.
As feared, a dragnet was already spreading across all of Eoyang.
“Let’s hurry.”
“Okay!”
Hwang Hye-ryeong followed Muk Il-gwang.
Suddenly, she looked up at the sky.
In that instant, the person who came to mind wasn’t her father, Hwang Kyungmun, or her close friend Eun So-cheong.
It was a man with a completely unfamiliar face.
***
When heading to Wuhuan, Damho had crossed the mountains on horseback, but for the return to Eoyang, he took a boat. Wuhuan and Eoyang were connected by the Yangtze River.
The boat he rode wasn’t an ordinary transport vessel. It was a small ship prepared by the Hao Clan.
It wasn’t as large as a transport vessel, but it was faster. The captain steering it was also affiliated with the Hao Clan, an experienced boatman who had navigated the Yangtze hundreds of times.
The captain had received only one order from Jang So-chul.
Deliver Damho to Eoyang in the shortest possible time, by any means necessary.
The captain glanced at Damho.
‘Who the hell is that guy?’
The Jang So-chul he knew was a man of great pride.
Jang So-chul never cowed before any warrior. He had even spoken his mind freely before elders of the Nine Great Sects.
Yet after meeting Damho, Jang So-chul had come back pale-faced. The captain couldn’t forget his appearance and voice as he demanded Damho be brought to Eoyang at all costs.
—Never anger him, under any circumstances...
He couldn’t fathom what about Damho had frightened Jang So-chul so.
The captain shook his head slightly and focused on navigating the boat.
Damho stood at the bow, gazing at the mighty waves of the Yangtze.
‘Jo Yun-san.’
He had finally obtained the answer he sought.
Yet he felt no excitement. Instead, his heart and mind were colder and calmer than ever.
‘Hiding in the Black Water Stronghold, huh?’
A bandit had joined the Green Forest.
In a way, it was a natural progression.
Taking the first step was the hardest; once immersed in that world, one could never return to ordinary life. Just like Damho himself.
“Hyung!”
Bang Jin-bo approached.
“The horses are fine in the stern. Don’t worry.”
“......”
“Hyung?”
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say he was terrified.
Damho’s expression and demeanor were the same as always. But something was different.
Bang Jin-bo, who had spent a long time with Damho, could sense that subtle change.
‘Sc... scary!’
He had thought himself somewhat inured to Damho by now. But Damho’s current presence shattered that illusion entirely, filling him with dread.
His breath caught in his throat, and every hair on his body stood on end. He couldn’t bring himself to get any closer.
“Whew!”
Bang Jin-bo let out a quiet sigh and retreated.
Only after backing away to the middle of the boat could he breathe properly. If Bang Jin-bo felt this way, the other crew members were even worse off.
Even on this small boat, there were nearly a dozen crewmen. But none dared approach Damho.
The boat sped southward.
Several times faster than when they had left Eoyang. Yet Damho remained dissatisfied.
He watched the sun rise and set from the deck. Except when Bang Jin-bo occasionally brought food, he didn’t move a single step.
Three days passed like that.
Finally, Damho’s boat entered Dongting Lake.
Though he had been away for just half a month, the surroundings felt strangely unfamiliar.
“Ah!”
Bang Jin-bo exclaimed at the sight of the Dongting Lake shore near Eoyang.
There stood a grand complex of buildings that hadn’t been there before. It was the Murim Alliance headquarters.
‘Insane!’
Bang Jin-bo muttered at the unbelievable construction speed.
They must have built one structure per day. The amount of manpower and resources invested was unimaginable.
There were still minor finishing touches needed, but it already looked impressive enough to hold its own anywhere.
Thud!
At last, the boat docked.
Damho and Bang Jin-bo led their horses off the vessel.
“Whew!”
“The nightmare’s over.”
The exhausted captain and crew collapsed along the railing.
Fatigue was plain on their faces. They had covered five days’ journey in three.
They hadn’t slept properly, ate standing up, and Damho’s suffocating presence had silently pressured them. Without orders, they had driven the boat like madmen.
The captain stared at the departing figures of Damho and Bang Jin-bo with unfocused eyes.
Black attire, black horse.
Only then did the captain recall his identity.
“Kwonma... he was the Kwonma.”
A sigh of relief escaped him.
The Kwonma’s infamous atrocities were gruesomely horrific.
Killing indiscriminately if crossed, sucking blood, even eating human flesh—the rumors were unbelievable.
To think such a monstrous demon had been on the boat he captained sent chills down his spine.
‘A storm of blood is coming.’
The captain had fretted the entire way bringing Damho here. The aura emanating from him was far from ordinary.
It was like staring at a volcano on the verge of eruption—an precarious tension only the experienced could know.
“Who knows. It’s none of my business anymore.”
The captain lay on the deck, gasping roughly.
Meanwhile, Damho headed straight for the Heavenly Abode Tower after leaving the boat.
“Great hero!”
Upon arrival, Un-jeong greeted him.
“The branch leader is waiting inside.”
Damho didn’t wait for her guidance and strode in. The moment Un-jeong saw his face, her complexion drained.
“Gasp!”
Damho’s face was as expressionless as when they first met. But now, something was off.
That inexplicable eeriness stabbed at Un-jeong’s heart like a knife.
‘Wh-what kind of eyes...’
Un-jeong stared blankly at Damho’s receding back. Beside her, Bang Jin-bo let out a quiet sigh.
Damho passed through the corridors and entered Gi Ye-hwa’s quarters directly.
“Come in.”
Gi Ye-hwa greeted him cautiously.
Damho didn’t sit and asked immediately.
“Where are they?”
“They’re in Eoyang. We’ve already secured their location, so no need to worry.”
Gi Ye-hwa spoke calmly.
Damho’s eyes darkened deeply.
“They want something.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Save just one person. Then I’ll tell you their whereabouts.”
“......”
“It’s the whereabouts of the Black Water Stronghold bandits currently in Eoyang. This isn’t breaching our prior agreement.”
She quickly added.
Fearing Damho might resort to force like last time.
“Who?”
“Hwang Hye-ryeong... the only daughter of Hwang Kyungmun, chief of the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds. If she dies here, all of Eoyang will become a battlefield.”