Chapter 59
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Severed Thread (4)
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Red fireworks shot up from the east, north, and west.
"Tch!"
Jaja bit her lip hard.
She knew what the red fireworks meant. The moment she learned that someone from the Zhuge family had joined the Merchant Escort Agency's Zhang Yuan, she had dreaded this exact scene. The red flames.
The Serpent Chain Formation!
An impregnable wall surrounded them on all sides, impossible to break through by force.
In truth, there was no iron wall. All directions were empty. But there was no way out anywhere. The wooden sentinels forming the Serpent Chain Formation created a heavenly net that not even a mosquito could slip through.
There was a saying in the martial world: the only way to escape a Serpent Chain Formation was to get out before it was set.
The formation was already in place.
"Let's take a break."
Hanbi halted and spoke.
There was no need to run any further. With every path blocked, where could they go? All that remained was to fight with everything they had... and to conserve their strength for that moment.
Despair laced Hanbi's words, the sense that it was all over.
Shing!
Hanbi drew his sword and inspected the blade. He fastened the sword guard tightly in place.
"Rest? Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Catch your breath for a bit, then."
"Where are you off to now?"
Hanbi asked flatly.
Fox wasn't the type to answer just because he was asked. And no matter what Fox did now, Hanbi lacked the energy to care. Let him do whatever he wanted. They had no choice. Both Hanbi and Jaja had to admit that Fox had exceptional talent in this area.
Fox had burned down the Golden Eye Black Response.
He'd pulled off something no one could have imagined, as casually as eating breakfast.
Without a doubt, no scout was better than Fox.
Fox grinned and said,
"We seem pretty surrounded, don't we?"
"We are. It's the Serpent Chain Formation—no gaps to slip through."
"Has anyone ever escaped?"
"Nope."
"Not even one?"
"Not a single soul. Hey, you! Why do you keep talking down to me? I'm older than you..."
"Let it go. He talks down to me too."
Jaja chuckled and chimed in.
Fox ignored them as if it were nothing and continued,
"Rest up deep. We'll be running all night without a wink."
"You saying there's a way out?"
"Dunno. Gotta check."
"What?!"
"Rest. I'll go take a look."
Whoosh!
The moment the words left his mouth, Fox shot off.
"Damn, that guy... Does he even know what the Serpent Chain Formation is? If he did, he wouldn't act like that."
"You think he knows?"
"Knows it and still does that?"
"He knew about the Golden Eye Black Response too. Even burned it down. He probably knows this formation as well. If we're lucky... we might be the first to break out of a Serpent Chain Formation. Hohoho!"
Jaja burst into delighted laughter.
'She's laughing more these days.'
Hanbi frowned slightly as he watched her.
Jaja was laughing. He'd never seen her laugh her whole life, but lately—especially these past few days—she'd started laughing a lot. And her gaze toward Fox had softened.
'No way...!'
A thought suddenly struck Hanbi. Could Jaja actually like Fox? Maybe not full-blown love, but she clearly had feelings for him.
A hollow emptiness tugged at Hanbi's chest.
Was that it? Jaja had feelings for Fox? That unmanly little guy. Short, not sturdy, pretty like a girl.
Hanbi forced his eyes to his sword blade, trying to shake off the thoughts.
Fox returned after about half a shichen.
"Those bastards are hot on our tails. We gotta move now."
"Which way?"
There was no direction to flee. The paths from east to north, north to west were blocked by the formation. The rear was swarming with Zhuge family warriors, who had also deployed their own Serpent Chain Formation.
Death on all sides. Where to go?
Yet a sliver of hope lingered. Fox probably found an escape route—that vague feeling.
Fox said,
"Run through the night tonight, then sleep the whole day tomorrow. These past few days, I've burned through a lifetime's worth of nerves. Feels like I've aged ten years. Heh heh! Ready to run?"
Fox never really asked for agreement. His words sounded like a question, but he moved the instant he finished speaking. It was an order, not a request. Not 'Ready to run?' but 'Run!'
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two silently followed behind Fox.
It hadn't been long since they met Fox. But in that time, he'd shown his skills in full.
Suddenly,
Fox, who had been leading, stopped short.
The two halted as well. They ran when he ran, stopped when he stopped. They matched his movements. No need to ask why. If Fox jumped into hellfire without warning, they'd leap in without hesitation too.
"I'm about to stir things up, so don't freak out. A little surprise is fine, but not too much."
"Huhu! Still got surprises left?"
"Hee hee!"
Fox laughed as he spread his arms wide to both sides.
He looked up at the night sky. As if savoring the air, greedily inhaling the clear night...
Suddenly,
Fwoosh!
Red flames erupted from both of Fox's hands.
Two streaks of fire bloomed like magic... Fox tossed them forward weakly, so very weakly.
And then...
Kaboom! Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom... Boom!
The flames ignited a blaze. The fire spread like a torrent. It clung and raced across the mountain like oil-soaked cotton. Burning the entire forest. Incinerating everything in sight.
"Wha—!"
"Th-this..."
Hanbi and Jaja were too stunned to speak.
The blaze birthed more blazes, chaining outward. Explosions boomed intermittently.
It was as if the whole mountain and fields were drenched in oil.
Fox had said not to be too shocked, but the shock was overwhelming—their jaws wouldn't close.
"Alright, time to work up a sweat."
Fox took off at the front.
Zhuge Myeong just stared at the flames.
No words came. He simply watched the fire.
The Serpent Chain Formation had collapsed. The flames had burned it away. His pursuit squad was blocked by the blaze and couldn't advance, while the vanguard ahead retreated to evade the fire.
"Urgh!"
After a long moment, a chilling groan escaped Zhuge Myeong's lips.
"Once the flames die down a bit, we'll pursue immediately."
One of his subordinates forced the words out, his mouth reluctant to open.
The inferno raged fiercely, cleanly torching the formation sites to the east, west, south, and north.
But... weren't those guys inside the flames?
The fire hadn't just broken the formation. It was burning them too. The interior was a sea of fire. If they survived that inferno, it'd be a miracle.
They must have burned to death.
But he couldn't voice that thought. Predicting the escapees' fate wasn't a pursuer's job. Pursuers spoke only what they'd seen with their own eyes.
He was certain they'd burned, yet he emphasized the pursuit.
"Huhu!"
Zhuge Myeong let out a bitter laugh.
"What do you think caused this fire?"
"..."
"To ignite a blaze like that, you'd need about five hundred men. And even then, only if they'd piled up mountains of firewood and lit it all at once."
No one could refute Zhuge Myeong.
The flames that torched the Serpent Chain Formation weren't natural. The fugitives—Vanguard's group—had started it deliberately.
How had they managed such a massive fire?
No matter how he pondered, no answer came. They couldn't have pre-stacked firewood. Nor had the manpower to ignite it simultaneously. And it wasn't familiar terrain.
"The Thunderclap Gate has this thing called Lightning Oil Fire. Size of a bean, but one can turn a hundred-zhang radius into a sea of flames in an instant. Also called Fire Thunder."
"Fire Thunder! Then that must be—!"
Zhuge Myeong nodded.
"Fox of Bireung Mountain... Heh heh! Definitely Bito's successor. Used Fire Lily before, now Fire Thunder. Heh heh heh! We lost him today, but gained good intel—no counting losses."
"You mean he slipped out through there...?"
"Heh heh heh! Does it look to you like he's still in there?"
"..."
"Let's go. He's long gone. Heh heh heh! Hahaha!"
Zhuge Myeong burst into wild laughter. Not from joy, but from frustrated rage.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
They unleashed swift footwork through the flames.
The blaze was so intense that its heat seared from afar. But... who knew? That paths existed within the fire. Spots the flames couldn't touch.
Fox navigated the flame-free paths masterfully.
To the others, it looked like fire everywhere—no way through. Yet Fox charged ahead. Straight into the blaze. Without hesitation. And when they followed... Eh? No fire. A clear path untouched by flames opened up.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
They crossed the mountain at tremendous speed.
They spotted wooden sentinels midway. And the nets linking them. In a proper Serpent Chain Formation, touching a net would trigger arrows.
Now, everything was in ruins.
The nets lay severed and scattered. Disconnected from the sentinels. The sentinels held arrows but didn't fire. Even prodding them did nothing.
They trampled nets and sentinels freely as they passed.
They crested the ridge. Stepping on ground free of nets, sentinels, and fire.
Normally, they'd be on guard now. Zhuge warriors might be waiting beyond the mountain. Monitoring the fire from the other side was standard.
Fox barreled ahead without a care.
"How about a quick breather?"
Jaja said softly.
She suggested rest out of caution for Zhuge warriors. Why not check surroundings before charging on?
"Nah, it's fine. They're not here."
Fox said with full confidence.
"You checked here too?"
"No way I had time for that. They can't cross with the formation up. Heh heh! The Zhuge clan doesn't have enough men to encircle everywhere. No chance they're watching this far."
"That's why you're sure there are no Zhuge warriors?"
"Just trust me."
"I do."
"From here on, run faster. Like your life depends on it. Or we abandon Wild Boar."
"Wild Boar?"
"Hee hee hee! Think those guys killed Wild Boar? He's in the same boat as us. Bet he's got tails hanging off him too. Though that dimwit probably hasn't noticed."
"What about Four Thousand Four?"
Hanbi said offhandedly.
For an instant, Fox's eye twitched.
Four Thousand Four surviving was a long shot.
He'd been smack in the enemy center. Hemmed in by Euldogate, New Moon Swordgate, Merchant Envoys, Zhuge family... No room for carelessness. Especially with Zhuge Soso there.
Escaping that would be a miracle.
Everyone had written him off. Assumed he'd completed the mission brilliantly before dying.
No... one person thought he'd lived. Fox believed he survived. Never once considered him dead.
'He made it. He's a ghost of the Nineteen Hells. Yeah, he's alive. Gotta see him soon. I wanna see him.'
Fox thought of Four Thousand Four, his cheeks flushing. Unseen in the pitch darkness.