Chapter 48
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Curing Poison (3)
“None!”
Jaja said curtly.
Hanbi immediately fell back to the rear, and Jaja took up position right behind Vanguard.
The Fox of Bireung Mountain led them up a rugged, perilously steep slope.
It was so sheer that they had to scramble using both hands and feet.
Standing on two feet brought the mountainside right up to their eyes.
“Huff! Huff!”
The Fox of Bireung Mountain panted roughly as he climbed upward, ever upward.
Fox’s martial prowess was noticeably inferior to the others. His internal energy was lacking too. Yet even this path he was leading them on had Vanguard gasping for breath, heaving great gulps of air.
“We’ve got a long way to go, so pace yourself.”
Vanguard said.
“I’m already doing that just fine.”
Fox shot back playfully.
“Speaking of which... there are some trees up ahead I need to clear. Mind giving me a hand?”
Fox glanced at Hanbi and winked.
“Is that another one of your habits?”
Jaja stepped forward and said.
“What is?”
“Winking like that. You’re no philandering weasel. Keep your eyes to yourself.”
Jaja snapped fiercely.
“Hahaha! So there’s a woman immune to my charms.”
“Woman!”
“Ah! My bad!”
Fox hastily apologized.
Jaja glared daggers at Fox before drawing her sword and hacking away at the underbrush blocking their path.
This was no human trail.
Not even beasts would tread such treacherous ground.
Yet Fox navigated it with casual ease—a man of weak stamina and scant internal energy.
“None!”
Hanbi called out “None.”
It meant all clear.
He’d been vigilantly scanning for any signs of pursuit from behind, and so far, nothing.
Hanbi moved up front, and Jaja took the rear.
“How much more of this chopping do I have to do?”
Hanbi drew his sword and stepped forward as he spoke.
Now it was his turn to clear the brush and open the way, while Jaja watched their backs for pursuers.
But then... Fox halted.
He plopped down onto the slope and stared off at the distant sky, at the clouds drifting there.
“What are you doing?”
Hanbi asked, watching closely in case his stamina had finally given out.
The Fox of Bireung Mountain suddenly looked at Vanguard and said.
“Vanguard, trust me just this once?”
“What are you talking about? I already said I trust you.”
“Not your way—my way. Whether we go the long route or the mountain path, as long as we get there, right?”
Vanguard caught Fox’s drift.
“You want to change course?”
“Haha! At times like this, even you’re slow on the uptake, Vanguard. Think back to before. You’re famous for killing One-Four-Six, so shouldn’t you have ditched me by now?”
“Not everything needs saying!”
Hanbi scowled and said.
“No. He’s right.”
Vanguard waved him off.
“Just like you said, I should’ve ditched you around here. I know this path. It’s the one we took to get here. So we leave you behind and keep going our way.”
Hanbi and Jaja fell silent.
That’s how it used to be. Not that they wanted to abandon a scout, but pursuers closed in so fiercely, they had no choice but to cut one loose.
But now? No one was following.
It was definitely strange.
Especially since the one they’d killed this time was Merchant Wanderer. The biggest mark Vanguard had ever taken.
Merchant Wanderer... a warrior Vanguard couldn’t kill alone.
Even with Hanbi and Jaja, fighting three-on-one, it was doubtful. They might manage it, but at a steep cost.
Yet after slaying someone like that, no pursuit?
“What’s your point?”
“Let’s do it my way.”
“How am I supposed to know what that means if you don’t say?”
Jaja shot back sharply.
“Can’t spell it all out... Vanguard, you decide. My way okay?”
Vanguard answered without a hint of hesitation.
“Fine.”
Fox instantly changed direction.
They stopped climbing the slope and started descending toward the valley.
Retracing their steps so far. They might even run straight into pursuers.
Fox headed for the valley without a care.
“This is nerve-wracking, every single step.”
Hanbi said, tense as could be.
Fox was the opposite. He seemed far more at ease than when climbing that empty slope.
“None!”
Jaja called as she swapped places with Hanbi.
The two kept constant watch around them, ears perked at the slightest oddity in the wind.
“No need to worry about that. You’re wasting energy.”
The Fox of Bireung Mountain said with a laugh.
Vanguard asked.
“You seem awfully sure no one’s chasing us. Where’s that confidence from?”
“Who said no one’s chasing us?”
“...!”
Vanguard stared at Fox, stunned as if ambushed.
“Don’t you know we’re already being tailed? They’ve got our scent locked tight.”
“What!”
Jaja, who’d just swapped with Hanbi, immediately gathered her qi.
She closed her eyes and scanned all directions. She’d been certain moments ago that no one was there, so now her senses sharpened even more. But still nothing. No pursuers.
“Our tail’s been locked on... you sure?”
Instead of answering, Fox pointed at the sky.
Everyone looked up. Just white clouds floating in the sky.
“You’re not saying there’s someone up on the clouds, are you?”
“Hah! Why not? There is someone on those clouds. You blind? I see ’em clear as day.”
“What!”
“Look closer. There really is someone on the clouds.”
Fox wasn’t joking around. It sounded utterly absurd, yet rang utterly true.
The three looked up again.
Clouds, clouds, clouds... nothing but clouds. Then, in one fleeting moment—
“Ah!”
Vanguard let out a short exclamation.
Jaja followed with her own gasp. Hanbi snorted a laugh.
They all saw it.
“How long has that been tailing us?”
“Probably... from the start?”
“What! You knew and still brought us this way?!”
“You said take a path no one uses, right? No one we’d run into? What other choice was there?”
“Hah!”
Vanguard was speechless, letting out a hollow laugh.
Fox was right. Those were his own orders. But following them to the letter meant they couldn’t evade the eyes in the sky—the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk. No, they’d make perfect bait.
A few people moving through an empty mountain? Impossible to miss.
He hadn’t expected the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk. If that was out... no escape.
Fox asked.
“What is that thing?”
Vanguard was dumbfounded again. Jaja and Hanbi stared at Fox like he was some kind of freak.
“You don’t... know what that is?”
Fox nodded as if to say, no clue.
“You avoided it on instinct, without even knowing?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’?”
“Why dodge it blindly?”
“You get a feeling about these things. That thing looks bad news at first glance, and with it sticking around, it’s creepy as hell. So you avoid it, duh.”
“Be straight with me. When did you spot it?”
Jaja asked.
“Heh! Busted again. Back there.”
“Back there?”
“You kept saying ‘None,’ ‘None.’ You two might toss it out casually, no big deal, but every time I hear it, my spine tingles.”
Jaja and Hanbi exchanged looks, eyes full of “Why?”
“I’m the one slated to get ditched. Vanguard said he only kills One-Four-Six, and now that Four-Six is gone, I’m all that’s left. So it’s my turn now. When do I get dropped? When do I need to hang back? That’s all I’ve got in my head, and you two keep saying ‘None.’ Means it’s not time yet. So I wait till it is, guiding the way the whole time.”
“Hm! So that’s how it felt. Didn’t realize. Sorry.”
Vanguard said.
“Ah! No need for apologies. Heh! I don’t get all sulky over that. You’re forgiven.”
Fox playfully patted Vanguard’s shoulder.
Vanguard wore that incredulous look once more.
Fox teased Vanguard without restraint.
Guys like this were one of two things: either brainless or fearless.
As the three’s eyes gleamed with intrigue, Fox spoke.
“So earlier, I figured I had to check myself. Had to be someone tailing us. You two handled the surroundings, so I just looked up... and heh! Caught this guy red-handed. Thing’s got such a weird look—impossible to miss.”
Fox pointed at the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk.
“It’s called the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk.”
Vanguard said bluntly.
“It’s a divine beast of the Zhuge Clan. A falcon trained for pursuit, and records say it’s never failed once.”
“Ah! Really?”
Fox peered at the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk in astonishment.
“If that’s out, Zhuge Myeong’s close behind. And the Two Hundred Pursuers are on the move too.”
“Two Hundred Pursuers?”
“A pursuit squad of two hundred. They’re so relentless, once they latch on, they never let go—hence the name, the sticky ones. Handpicked and trained by Zhuge Myeong himself.”
“Hah! Big leagues compared to the chumps I’ve faced. Guess I really am smack in the middle of the martial world now. Heh! This is getting fun.”
“Fun?”
“It’s exciting, isn’t it?”
Fox winked again.
“Hah!”
Vanguard was incredulous yet again.
The Zhuge Clan had sent a pursuit squad. Led by Zhuge Myeong, deploying the Two Hundred Pursuers and the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk. Direct support from the main house.
In cases like this, martial artists wrote themselves off. No escape.
The Central Plains were vast, but nowhere to hide. Even the world’s deepest gorges would be found out. Underground? No. Skyward? No. The Two Hundred Pursuers would stick no matter what.
Spotting the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk, Vanguard abandoned the mountain path.
The tail was on them. No shaking it, whatever Fox did.
Mountains were dangerous now.
So where to? Where to go for a clean death?
Vanguard pondered that. He hadn’t named a destination yet. Just kept mulling. But this Fox... was he truly clueless, or utterly without fear?
Fox said.
“Vanguard, why the long face? You look like you’ve given up on life. Heh! That thing? That.”
Fox jabbed a finger at the Golden-Eyed Black Hawk.
“It’s just a bird at best. Two Hundred Pursuers? Sticking to what? They’re just people. No intel, they lose you. And never failed once? Vanguard, you believe records? Hahaha! By that logic, I’ve never been caught either. So why was I in the Nineteen Hells? Heh! Vanguard, let’s not fall for lies. Alright, shall we get going?”
Fox stretched grandly.
Vanguard, Jaja, Hanbi—all speechless.
No one like this before... no scout like this. Never.