Chapter 60
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Severed Thread (5)
There are times when peace itself feels unnatural. When chaos should be erupting from all sides, but it's dead silent like the grave—that's definitely off. Something's gone wrong.
The sense that things have gone awry makes a person uneasy.
Wild Boar was uneasy.
If he were in any other Six Squad, he'd be dead by now.
Do you know who Vanguard killed? The Merchant Guest. Disciples from the Euldowen Sect and New Moon Sword Sect are spread thick across the area. Among them, Zhuge Clan warriors occasionally catch the eye.
Enemies surround him on all sides.
Yet no one has even shoved a wooden sword in his face, when he should have been cut down ages ago.
It's obviously strange. This isn't normal.
Vanguard said to head to Luoyang if he survived, but he can't go to Luoyang. Not until he shakes this weird feeling, not until he figures out why he's still breathing easy.
He found a tavern and drank.
He guzzled it down to see what might happen, until he was too wasted to move a limb.
Still, no one bothered him.
He took a bath. He set his twin blades far away. To signal he was defenseless, he stripped buck naked and lay down right in the middle of the stream.
If he had enemies, they would've attacked right then.
But no one came. Even in perfect vulnerability, not a finger was laid on him.
'Damn it!'
He chuckled bitterly.
His situation boiled down to two possibilities: perfectly safe, or perfectly doomed.
He bet on doomed.
Vanguard was infamous for wiping out One-Four-Six. Whenever Vanguard took on a job, One-Four-Six got taken down.
This time, Four was gone too.
Four Thousand Four's whereabouts were unknown... but killing the Merchant Guest? Four Thousand Four couldn't have escaped that manor, surrounded layer upon layer by countless warriors.
Not even a Heavenly God could survive that.
Rumor had it the Sacheon Tang Clan's poison masters were at the manor too. Turned it into a land of death, they said.
Four Thousand Four was dead.
One-Scout was probably dead by now too. For Vanguard, Hanbi, and Jaja to escape, they needed bait to lure the attackers. That bait was One-Scout and the Fox of Bireung Mountain.
If One was dead, Six had to go too.
Yes. There... where Vanguard had left, pursuers should have shown up.
No pursuers meant... no way they weren't there. They were just staying hidden.
In a word: tailing him.
Tracking him to find the others.
You bastards! Who do you think you're fooling?
Wild Boar indulged in every pleasure the world had to offer.
Drinking, sleeping with women, gambling... all the joys he'd been denied while guarding the Nineteen Hells. He reveled as if the whole world existed for him alone.
"Doesn't look like anyone's tailing you?"
"Ah! Disappointing."
"What?"
"That just didn't sound like something from Hanbi's mouth. Ah, testing me? Heh heh!"
"You... I give up. I see six. How many do you see?"
Hanbi smirked as he spoke.
Wild Boar had spotted them easily. Follow Fox, and you'd run right into him. No clue how Fox had tracked Wild Boar, but tailing him led straight to the target.
He'd even seen the shadows chasing Wild Boar.
Counting them one by one, both Hanbi and Jaja had tallied six.
Fox said,
"Six plus two."
"Two more?"
"The old fortune teller in that alley over there, and the beggar sleeping in that trash heap."
Hanbi and Jaja checked the spots Fox mentioned.
There were people there, just as he said. But they didn't seem to be watching Wild Boar. Just a fortune teller and a beggar. None of them were focused on him.
But if they were watching him... the situation was grave. It'd mean the Hawon Clan and Beggar Clan were fully involved.
"You sure those guys..."
"Believe it or not, doesn't matter. Won't affect what we're doing."
"Won't affect it?"
"Ugh! Do I have to spell it out? I don't know what the Heavenly Annihilation Division's up to, but killing the Merchant Guest is like turning the whole martial world against you. So their involvement isn't surprising."
"Hm."
"Let's go pull Wild Boar out. That guy's living it up like he owns the place. While we're busting our asses, booze and women for him."
"You already have a plan, don't you?"
"Heh heh! Busted again."
Hanbi and Jaja were speechless.
Fox always seemed to have a plan ready. Escape, rescuing Wild Boar... even with strangers guarding him, he'd already figured out how to extract him. When did he even think of that?
Fox said,
"Looks like we'll have to get lethal this time."
"If we have to kill, we kill. Who?"
"Those two I just mentioned. Better to take them out. No loose ends that way."
Hanbi and Jaja exchanged glances.
If Fox was right, that meant killing Hawon Clan and Beggar Clan members. Making enemies of them. They'd have to endure their pursuit from here on.
Was this the right call?
Fox read their minds and stated firmly,
"Their surveillance is too tight. No matter how we grab Wild Boar, we can't shake those two. We could snag him, but not their eyes. Better to cut it off here."
Fox knew their identities too.
Hawon Clan and Beggar Clan... turning both against you at once—the two factions with the most legit intel networks in the current martial world. He said there was no other way to extract Wild Boar.
What would Vanguard decide?
Vanguard would abandon Wild Boar. That was the smarter path for the Heavenly Annihilation Division.
No. Would he abandon the Division for Wild Boar?
"I'll take the beggar."
Jaja drew her dagger as she spoke.
"Hope you're right. Hope Wild Boar’s worth it."
"You already know he is. Better than me, even. Why say it now? Hey! When you strike, make it clean. Got it?"
Kill them without anyone knowing who did it.
"One more time before we move. No way to grab Wild Boar without killing them?"
Hanbi asked.
Fox shook his head side to side. Firmly.
"Then no choice. Fortune teller, handle it."
Hanbi's eyes went cold.
"I'm saying it again: make it clean, no trace of who. This is crucial, so you have to. If it looks like it'll expose the Heavenly Annihilation Division or Vanguard, just bail. Don't kill. Better that way. Clean kill or no kill at all from the start. Got it?"
Fox pressed for confirmation.
He closed his eyes and thought it over.
Hanbi and Jaja had left to kill. Moving to take out the beggar and fortune teller.
The arrow had left the bow. It was soaring through the air, beyond the archer's hand. But one last thought: was there really no way to save Wild Boar without killing them?
Conclusion... no.
'Can't save Wild Boar without killing them.'
Fox shook his head.
The Beggar Clan's and Hawon Clan's intel nets blanketed the world. Their eyes were a spiderweb. Dodge one, and the second, third chase you down relentlessly.
Cut their connection early.
That meant kill.
But Beggar Clan and Hawon Clan weren't fools. They'd quickly peg Vanguard's crew as the killers. If Wild Boar's watcher died and he vanished right after, Vanguard would be suspect number one.
That's why he said kill without leaving a trace.
For now, be careful. Hide the killer's identity. That leaves room for denial later. Or not denial, but negotiation.
Negotiation!
Fox was thinking far ahead, to events long in the future.
If things went south and they got pinned on Vanguard's group, there needed to be bargaining room. Of course, neither Fox nor Vanguard could handle that. It'd be politics between the Beggar Clan leader and Heavenly Annihilation Division head. Fox was laying the groundwork.
Jaja and Hanbi didn't grasp Fox's intent. They didn't understand—or care about—the politics above. They just followed orders.
They didn't know what would happen if Hawon Clan or Beggar Clan became Heavenly Annihilation Division enemies.
If they used this as leverage to pressure the Division, they might abandon Vanguard.
Forget never: Beggar Clan and Hawon Clan eyes everywhere. Cross them, and they watch your every move.
Even the Heavenly Annihilation Division would feel that pressure.
Killing their disciples meant weighing all that.
But no choice now. Had to kill them to extract Wild Boar. Blind every watching eye. Plug every listening ear.
'No choice.'
Fox opened his eyes and stood.
Sst! Pfft!
A man died before his eyes, spraying blood as he fell.
Wild Boar went wide-eyed.
'That guy!'
The last person he expected, someone he thought dead by now—Fox was killing him.
Papap! Sst! Puk!
Fox moved like a flying squirrel. The agility technique from his Three Evils training shone fully. Ghostly steps, flashing blade, and an unknown foe crumpled in blood.
Wild Boar snapped to.
Fox was moving. Killing right in front of him.
He instantly drew his twin blades and charged the tail he suspected.
Shii! Peok!
Tailer or not, he was sure now.
The blades sliced the throat clean. Arterial spray erupted.
Fox moved again, toward another Wild Boar had pegged. He struck without hesitation. No words, no reasons—just the blade.
Wild Boar got the message loud and clear. No, with Fox swinging, all tailers had to die. Or it'd be one massive loose end.
'How's that bastard here!'
Wild Boar lunged at another.
Luckily, the tailers hadn't expected him to move. No fight prep at all. They were the hunters, but getting ambushed instead.
Peok! Kraa!
A scream rang from an unexpected spot.
Wild Boar spotted Hanbi. Then the fortune teller at the street corner, bleeding out as he fell.
'Why the fortune teller?'
Was he a watcher too? A tailer? Never suspected that.
Shii! Peopeopeopeok!
Wild Boar's head spun. Thoughts and questions bloomed at once. But no time to nitpick now. Time to kill tailers, period.
His axe cleaved the air.
"Hurry!"
Fox dashed off again.
Hanbi and Jaja followed silently. No questions, no words—just pure footwork.
Wild Boar had nothing to say either. Fox ran, so he ran. No idea what was happening, just running. Glad to see them again. Curious how they showed up. Why they killed the tailers. Head a mess. But for now, drop all thought and run. Fox led the charge.