Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Chapter 9: Seized by the Scruff (4)
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Pok! Pok! Pok! Pok!
Intense sounds reverberated through the air.
With each sound came a faint vibration. Something was churning up the earth.
This sound! He knew it!
He had fallen victim to this search before. He had been certain he was perfectly hidden. Then suddenly, this sound had rung out. And before long, a hole had been punched through his gut.
There was no countering their methodical, step-by-step encirclement.
But bolting out meant instant death.
'How...'
He needed a plan, and fast. Otherwise, he'd be skewered on a spear. If he didn't want that, he'd have to crawl out from under the corridor and surrender. There were no other options.
'Hmph! Calm down first. It's not urgent yet. One!'
He slipped into the "One" state.
The silence of the Nineteen Hells washed over him. Pitch-black darkness closed in. Nothing was visible. Nothing could be heard. In that instant, the world's quietest space enveloped him.
Pok! Pok! Pok!
The sounds of spears stabbing the ground continued unabated. But they no longer rattled him.
Four Thousand Four sank calmly into the depths of his thoughts.
Sss!
Cheongsu Sangdo abruptly halted.
"What's wrong?"
Ilseom Mado Chuak asked, sensing something ominous.
"Here. We lost him here."
Cheongsu Sangdo and Bungwang Pado had pursued Four Thousand Four. The distance between them had been roughly fifteen paces... but the two had closed the gap in a single breath. They had thought they could snatch the assassin by the scruff at any moment.
The target had rounded the corner of the annex hall.
The pair had given immediate chase, whipping around the corner right on his heels.
And they had lost him clean. Absurdly, he had vanished without a trace. They had focused their qi on their senses to scan for any sign, but detected not the slightest presence.
Sangin Sado stared once more at the spot where the assassin had disappeared.
"That's where the New Moon Sword Sect disciples died... He must have been hiding nearby then."
Bungwang Pado Geunhak said.
Their gazes naturally drifted upward to the roof.
The back of the annex opened onto a narrow courtyard. Servants might pass through now and then... but it was usually deserted.
There were no places to hide.
Which left only one spot: the roof.
Why hadn't they checked the roof back then? A single leap would have done it—what was so hard about that?
So many small blunders.
In any case, the assassin had hidden here, then reemerged. He had rounded the corner, slain the New Moon Sword Sect disciples, and vanished again.
The assassin was nearby.
"From now on, halve the grid."
Hwangs u spat the words like chewed gristle.
The search radius shrank from one zhang to half a zhang.
They probed with spears to confirm, had the New Moon Sword Sect disciples hold their positions, then moved to the next grid.
They stabbed the ground and walls one by one. Holes riddled the annex. But they paid it no mind and kept stabbing.
They climbed onto the roof several times.
Once per grid, at least. And they scoured under every tile.
Not even an ant could slip through.
They had slipped up once, but there would be no second time. If their martial arts were too weak to catch him, that was unavoidable—but they wouldn't lose him to carelessness.
"Shift!"
Hwangs u barked as he handed the cleared grid to the New Moon Sword Sect disciples.
They had even searched the spot where one of their disciples had fallen.
Sangin Sado was on high alert. The New Moon Sword Sect men guarding the cleared areas swallowed dryly.
There was no sign the assassin had crossed to the outer walls.
Which meant he was still inside—and if so, nearby.
"Next!"
Hwangs u bellowed.
Sangin Sado's eyes turned to the corridor.
If children were playing hide-and-seek, it'd be a perfect spot.
To adult eyes, of course, it was wide open—but to kids, it would seem a gloomy lair.
He didn't think the assassin was hiding there.
The space under the corridor was shadowed, but a slight crouch revealed even the deepest corners.
No matter how desperate, it wasn't a hiding spot.
A visual scan showed no one hiding. Still, to avoid a second mistake, they checked meticulously.
Pok!
The first spear thrust in.
Pok!
Ilseom Mado stabbed as well—just a single span away from where Nanghon Chamdo had struck.
They stabbed at one-span intervals like this. But then—
Clang!
A strange sound rang out from under the corridor, from the dirt.
Unmistakably metallic! The exact ring of weapons clashing!
Clang! Clang!
Cheongsu Sangdo and Bungwang Pado dropped their spears and drew their swords.
Nanghon Chamdo and Ilseom Mado didn't draw, but gripped their spears tightly.
Sss! Pok! Spear!
Ilseom Mado stabbed again, about an inch from his previous mark.
Another metallic ring!
In a flash, Nanghon Chamdo slashed with lightning speed. To avoid repeating the blunder of losing Vanguard, he poured his life's qi into the blade. Full power.
Shing! Chaaang!
Metal rang from the struck earth. A cloud of dust rose, and a hiltless sword popped out with a clunk.
"A sword?"
Nanghon Chamdo snatched the flying blade.
Ilseom Mado rapidly stabbed a three-chi radius around the spot where it had emerged.
Pokpokpokpokpok...!
The ground was turned into a beehive. The spear tip gouged the earth dozens of times. But no other signs appeared.
"What kind of sword is this?"
"Beats me."
Nanghon Chamdo Hwangs u examined the excavated sword closely.
Smaller than a longsword, longer than a dagger. No hilt, and the edge was dull.
"Looks like a practice blade."
"Who'd be practicing swordplay in our estate...?"
It happened sometimes. Servants or maids sneaking peeks at martial techniques.
Seemed like secret practice with an inconspicuous blade.
Using a sword instead of a saber, without even a proper hilt—probably hadn't been at it long.
"We'll deal with this later."
Nanghon Chamdo gripped his spear again.
Pokpokpok! Spear!
Another metallic burst.
Nanghon Chamdo predictably drew his sword and shredded the spot.
Shrieeeek! Papapap! Jjang!
Metal rang from the earth again, and some inexplicable object popped out.
"Huh? What's this?"
Hwangs u caught the flying item.
Handcuffs, for binding limbs. Crude and rough, with a flimsy clasp—barely functional. Probably some pervert's sex toy.
Pokpokpokpokpok!
Meanwhile, Ilseom Mado had laid waste to a three-chi radius around the emergence point. Anything living there wouldn't have survived.
"Hah! This!"
Hwangs u's face twisted in disgust.
A sword turning up in a saber house was bad enough—now handcuffs?
Hwangs u tossed the handcuffs back under the corridor.
Pokpokpok! Thuk!
This time, Cheongsu Sangdo felt a different sensation.
Not the sharp ring of metal. Something slightly yielding.
Pokpok! Thukthuk!
Bungwang Pado stabbed beside it, at one-span intervals.
Bungwang Pado felt the same. Something soft being pierced.
They knew the sensation well. They'd jabbed wooden dummies countless times in training.
The spear had hit wood.
Pok! Pok! Pok! Pok!
Sangin Sado thrust his spear, probing every inch under the corridor.
"Next!"
Hwangs u yielded the grid to the New Moon Sword Sect disciples.
Cold sweat trickled down.
The impossible had happened.
They stabbed at one-span intervals. Four spears at once covered four spans—about three chi.
Nothing in his possession matched three chi in length.
His wooden bow and sword were each about one-and-a-half chi. But he couldn't use the sword. Wielding metal would draw instant focused fire. Warriors were hypersensitive to it.
He had tossed the sword and handcuffs.
He observed when they hit metal, then moved with confidence on the others—shifting his body by the tiniest margins.
One spear grazed past his head. Another stabbed above his collarbone. The remaining two pierced his wooden bow.
They hesitated for a moment.
Anyone would, in that instant. Dig deeper, or pull back?
The two prior misses weighed on their decision.
Familiar with the feel of wood, they withdrew. Under a corridor, all sorts of junk could be buried...
While they hesitated, he lowered his bow beneath him.
Thukthukthuk!
The spears stabbed into the bow.
This was the best plan he could devise. It wouldn't withstand a full grid search at one-span intervals all around. But it was the only action he could take.
He envisioned death.
He had done all he could—anyone could see he had given his all... Dying in the Nineteen Hells or here was the same... No injustice. No regrets.
Yet they hadn't done a full grid search.
When the first sword popped out, the second spear had gouged more thoroughly than any grid—churning three chi of earth so no worm could survive.
And they had done it twice.
The corridor wasn't wide or deep. A full grid search to the back would take just three spear thrusts.
But they had stabbed once each and retreated.
In their minds, they had searched even more thoroughly than a grid. Twice over three chi—six chi total. Just shy of half the corridor's length.
They had churned up nearly half of it.
He had cleared the first hurdle. But he hadn't escaped danger entirely. The second peril—the fundamental one—was still unfolding.
Humans must eat. Must drink. Must excrete what they consume.
These acts of eating, drinking, and voiding were the most basic of human needs, essential for survival.
From now on... he could neither eat nor drink nor excrete. Even if his body stiffened, he couldn't move.
Eventually, suffocation would come.
Nothing weighed on his chest, yet his breath grew ragged. It caught in his throat. His whole body felt on the verge of bursting. Better to just die.
A heart demon. The heart demon was invading.
When a person couldn't perform the basic acts anyone must do... it struck like a blockage during peak martial cultivation, fierce and unrelenting.
He had endured it many times before.
And such ordeals didn't grow easier with familiarity. They were always fresh, always agonizing.
He had to prepare for it.
Hunger would surge. Thirst would claw at him. His gut would cramp from the unvoided waste. But the greatest threat was the heart demon born of immobility.
'One!'
He plunged into the Nineteen Hells.