Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: A Clause of the Death Pact (3)
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Swoosh! Slash!
Four Thousand Four didn't hesitate to strike first.
He clenched his fist hard, crushing the oil paper packet. Then he flung it into the air.
Black powder scattered everywhere.
"What?!"
"That bastard!"
The Merchant Swordsmen swiftly pulled back their forms.
Soul-Scattering Vanguard Hwang Su and Phantom Slash Sword Chu Hak did the same. They reflexively retreated.
Four Thousand Four had used poison. He had warned that everything within twenty jang would turn into a land of death. And now he had actually scattered the black poison powder—sneakily, incredibly fast.
There was no way to avoid it. In that instant,
Swoosh!
Four Thousand Four's form blurred, then vanished completely.
"Hey! That guy!"
Soul-Scattering Vanguard Hwang Su spotted Four Thousand Four first. He had watched him disappear with wide-open eyes. But his own form was still retreating, his feet planted backward.
Swoooosh!
Four Thousand Four's form toppled backward like a massive dead tree falling straight. Then it disappeared.
"Got him!"
Thud! Thud!
No sooner had the Merchant Swordsmen retreated than they bounced back up like coiled springs. But,
"Urk!"
Phantom Slash Sword Chu Hak, who had been charging forward, suddenly clutched his nose and leaped back again.
The moment he entered the range of the black poison powder, a pungent smell assaulted him. It chilled his nose and made his stomach churn violently.
It was a shame Four Thousand Four had escaped, but the poison scattered in the air seemed real enough.
"Damn it!"
Specter Wave Fist Geun Hak muttered in frustration.
There was no poison.
The black powder he had scattered into the air was just a mix of cinnamon and garlic powder, meant to repel insects.
Anyone who stayed calm would realize the black powder smelled like cinnamon. They'd notice the garlic scent too.
They were too panicked to even notice that much.
Probably because the Merchant Escort had been assassinated with poison.
The trauma of their master's murder made them reflexively dodge anything they thought was poison.
And Vanguard wasn't around.
Of course, Vanguard was hot on their trail from behind. But that wasn't why he had mentioned him.
Bringing up Vanguard made them dismiss any doubts about the poison.
He had bluffed with nonexistent poison, and they had fallen for it.
They were trapped by invisible shackles. As long as they believed the nonexistent poison was real, they couldn't move freely. Seeing the black powder on the leaves made it even harder.
They had to move. If they let this chance slip, no path to survival would open.
But Four Thousand Four couldn't move either.
'Damn it!'
A troublesome situation had arisen.
Vanguard was here. Mentioning him had just been a ploy to intimidate the Merchant Swordsmen... He hadn't been there when he said it. But now he was.
Pat pat pat pat!
Footsteps echoed.
They were rushing down from above... with no precautions. Just charging blindly. Clearly not expecting the Merchant Swordsmen below.
Other movements were detected too.
Papapap! Papapap!
Two people were racing down the left and right mountain paths.
They made no effort to hide, focusing only on getting down fast.
They planned to seal off the bottom no matter what.
'They caught up too quickly!'
What a ridiculous turn of events.
The pursuers were trapped inside, while the escapee had encircled them instead. Vanguard had killed the Merchant Escort, and now the vengeful Merchant Swordsmen were being surrounded.
He could picture the clash: Vanguard, Jaja, Hanbi, and Fox against the Merchant Swordsmen.
How would they fight? How would it end?
Vanguard, Jaja, and Hanbi had trained in the Heavenly Annihilation Division's secret arts. They had their trump cards.
The Merchant Swordsmen were no pushovers either.
The Merchant Escort had taken only four disciples. Those four could handle a hundred disciples from the New Moon Sword Sect.
They had nearly inherited his full legacy.
In that case... the scales would tip toward the Merchant Swordsmen. Unless Fox had a hidden ace up his sleeve too, since his skills were unknown.
'Ridiculous. What a joke.'
Four Thousand Four chuckled softly.
He couldn't just let them clash. Not when there was a way to avoid it.
'What a hilarious situation.'
Four Thousand Four laughed as he stood up.
Tatata tatak!
He charged forward like an enraged wild boar.
There was no way they wouldn't notice. The pounding footsteps gave him away.
"Hahaha! Is the madman at it again?"
Soul-Scattering Vanguard Hwang Su gripped his sword tightly.
Azure Water Sword Yi Song was already giving chase, unwilling to give Four Thousand Four any more openings.
Whiiiiiish!
The pursuing wind whistled like a blade.
"He's done for now!"
"Hahaha! No escaping this time!"
The Merchant Swordsmen eyed the direction Four Thousand Four was fleeing.
With Azure Water Sword right on his tail... to cut off his escape, they had to...
Whiiiiiish!
The Merchant Swordsmen scattered and pursued Four Thousand Four.
"Huh?!"
Fox halted in his tracks.
"What the hell?!"
Vanguard frowned too.
It was like chasing a rabbit through the brush only for a tiger to burst out unexpectedly.
"Merchant Swordsmen!"
Vanguard spotted them first.
"Ah! What fools!"
Fox let out a sigh of pity.
He had figured out Four Thousand Four's intent. Connecting the direction he emerged from to where the Merchant Swordsmen started chasing made it obvious.
Fox knew Four Thousand Four's abilities better than anyone.
If he decided to hide, no one could find him. If he chose to move stealthily, no one could detect him.
Four Thousand Four had already been hidden.
He didn't know how Four Thousand Four had encountered the Merchant Swordsmen, but he had slipped away, hidden himself, then deliberately revealed himself—knowing he'd be pursued.
'Is that really him?'
Four Thousand Four didn't seem like a cold-blooded killer who murdered without remorse.
Right now, he was exposing his hiding spot to save them. He was running out in the open when he could have stayed concealed.
No emotionless murderer would do that.
"What do we do?"
"What do you mean? Even if it kills me, I'll do it with my own hands—no borrowing from others!"
"Do you know who those guys are?"
Fox had never met the Merchant Swordsmen. He didn't know them. But he could tell their martial arts were extraordinary just from how they moved.
Vanguard spoke up.
"Yeah. They're the Merchant Swordsmen. Looks like they've come for revenge on their dead master's killer."
'Oh no. This is bad.'
Fox grimaced.
He had never met them, but he knew all about them.
Without help, Four Thousand Four wouldn't escape.
"Let's go!"
Vanguard pulled a firecracker from his bosom and shot it into the air.
Shoooo! Boom!
A red firework exploded in the sky right after they moved.
It was the signal for Jaja and Hanbi.
Swoosh! Shhh! Tatata tak!
All sorts of noises erupted like popping beans.
The front was blocked. Left and right were sealed. The rear too. No way out.
"Hoo!"
Four Thousand Four stopped.
He wouldn't have normally, but things were different now. That blow from them had rattled his mind. He had lost too much blood.
"Why stop? No more running?"
"Hahaha! Try your poison again. You got plenty, right?"
Phantom Slash Sword Chu Hak and Specter Wave Fist Geun Hak appeared from left and right.
Despair washed over him. But hope lingered. And that thread of hope had to snap before Vanguard arrived.
Four Thousand Four pulled out another small pellet from his bosom.
"Hahaha! More poison? Give it up."
"Treating us like idiots has its limits. You're taking the piss now."
The two drew their swords.
In that moment, Four Thousand Four tossed the pellet into the air without a second thought. And then,
Shoooooo! Boom! Roarrrrr!
A streak of fire shot into the sky.
It wasn't a fire shot. He had definitely thrown a pellet. Yet it soared like a fireball.
The fireball exploded in midair.
"What... the?"
Geun Hak scowled up at the sky.
It wasn't just an explosion. Like a firework, it burst outward, turning into flaming embers that rained down.
"Fire Lin! It's Fire Lin!"
Chu Hak shouted in shock.
Fire Lin were blazing clumps. Once they stuck to you, they burned until all your flesh was gone. And this lunatic—this madman—had dropped them right over their heads.
"Dodge!"
"Everyone, evade!"
Chu Hak and Geun Hak bellowed, launching their forms away.
"Ah!"
Fox was speechless.
"That's not how you're supposed to use it..."
What Four Thousand Four had launched was Fire Lin—the very same that Fox had used to burn the Golden-Eyed Black Spirit.
Fire Lin were unquenchable fire clumps.
He had given them for dire emergencies, when life hung by a thread. Not for suicide like this.
Yet Four Thousand Four had detonated them overhead.
The Merchant Swordsmen retreated frantically.
So why wasn't Four Thousand Four dodging? Flames poured down, turning the area into a sea of fire, yet he stood in the center, unmoving. As if he had never intended to evade.
"Dodge!"
Vanguard roared.
"Dodge, you idiot!"
Jaja, who had rushed up near Four Thousand Four, yelled too.
Four Thousand Four didn't dodge. He must have heard them, but he stood laughing amid the descending inferno.
Roarrrrr!
The first Fire Lin clumps hit the ground, igniting the forest.
It started as faint sparks. But soon the whole forest, the entire mountain, became a blazing inferno.
Four Thousand Four's figure was hidden by the flames.
"Let's fall back!"
"But Four Thousand Four..."
"You still don't get that guy?"
"Huh?"
"He'll survive. I guarantee it."
Vanguard grabbed Fox's hand and pulled him along.
Guarantee? Hah! How could he guarantee that? How does anyone survive that firestorm? Even for Four Thousand Four.
Vanguard couldn't truly guarantee it. He had just blurted it out because Fox wasn't thinking of retreating. And deep down, he wanted to believe Four Thousand Four would make it.
Roooaaar!
The flames grew fiercer by the second.