The Cliffside Path of the Thousand-Foot Abyss (3)
Seo Baek turned to Yu So Un and asked,
"Does the cliffside path merge with the road to Shu Dao Pass once it ends?"
"Yes. After leaving the path, it takes about an hour's walk before the road to Shu Dao Pass appears. From there, it's a single trail all the way."
Yu So Un replied, and Seo Baek nodded before saying,
"In that case, I'll go on ahead."
"On ahead?"
Wang Yi Sam asked, baffled.
"I'll go first and catch that fellow."
Wang Yi Sam, not understanding, glanced at Yu So Un, who merely shrugged.
"You two follow at your leisure."
At those words, Wang Yi Sam chuckled inwardly.
'This kid's confident not just in his swordsmanship and external arts, but in his lightness skill too.'
Seo Baek had declared he would race ahead using lightness skill.
Wang Yi Sam no longer doubted Seo Baek's abilities.
But as a senior martial artist of the murim, he couldn't back down without trying.
'Fine. Even if it kills me, I'll keep up!'
Wang Yi Sam resolved with fierce determination.
Martial arts and swordsmanship were matters of talent and skill. No matter how hard a low-rank fighter struggled, they couldn't beat a master.
Lightness skill was different, though.
Dodging strikes or running across water fell under movement techniques, where masters were untouchable.
But chasing an enemy like this? It was more about endurance than raw speed.
In a pursuit, the key was who could run longer without tiring.
Wang Yi Sam was confident in his stamina.
He was the man once called Mad Dog for never backing down in a contest of wills, clinging on relentlessly.
'Even if I collapse from exhaustion, I'll tail you!'
"Then I'm off."
Seo Baek exhaled deeply, circulating his inner energy.
Tat tat tat.
Seo Baek wasn't joking about going first. He traversed the treacherous cliffside path—where one misstep meant plummeting into the abyss—at blinding speed.
"Let's go after him. Can't let the junior show us up, right?"
"Agreed."
Wang Yi Sam and Yu So Un chased after Seo Baek along the path.
The time it took to drink a cup of tea passed.
Wang Yi Sam collapsed onto the ground, heart pounding like it might burst, legs trembling like jelly.
In a forest so silent the fall of a needle could be heard.
Four carriages stood parked.
A shadowy figure emerged from somewhere and approached the carriages.
In an instant, a dagger flew, embedding in the figure's throat.
Whish. Thunk.
Though deeply lodged, the figure didn't flinch or cry out.
Soon, the Sapa assassin who threw it stepped from the opposite shadows.
"Using a corpse as a shield, eh."
It was true.
The figure was already dead before the dagger struck. Another shadow had propped it up as a shield from behind.
The shadow tossed the corpse aside carelessly and advanced.
"Hidden weapons, I see. Good thing I prepared a shield."
The one using the corpse was Seo Baek.
"Who's that? You kill him?"
Seo Baek shrugged at the Sapa's question and countered,
"Found him collapsed in the woods. Wasn't it you?"
"Not me. Doesn't matter who did it, though."
"True. One more corpse soon enough."
"You got here this fast...?"
"Didn't expect pursuit?"
"Figured one of you two young ones might come. Where's the rest?"
"I came first. Couldn't let you slip away."
The Sapa curled his lip in a sneer.
"Alone? Ballsy kid."
"Gotta be fearless when you're young."
"Hahaha! Blunt as a hammer. Know why us old folks are cautious?"
"Why?"
"Fearless ones don't live long enough to get old."
The Sapa pointed at Seo Baek.
"Breathing ragged, soaked in sweat. That's a greenhorn's weakness. You chased hard, but messed up your breath. You're done for."
Seo Baek slowly shook his head.
"No, the sweat's an advantage."
"What?"
"Warmed up my body before unleashing techniques. Proper exercise loosens the muscles."
Now Seo Baek pointed back.
"You, though? Ambushed in this damp forest too long. Muscles all cramped. Sudden moves, and you won't perform."
"...Hahaha! Sharp tongue on you!"
The Sapa laughed heartily, then countered.
"What about that ragged breathing?"
"......"
"Rushed here with lightness skill, scattered your qi. Sit in meditation. I'll lop your head off, hahaha!"
"Ragged breath is a problem, sure."
Seo Baek drew a long, deep breath, then exhaled.
Huuuup. Foooooo.
The Sapa's eyes widened in shock.
Moments ago, Seo Baek had been gasping. Yet with one inhale and exhale, his breathing steadied?
Unbelievable, even seeing it up close.
"What inner method is that...? Which sect?"
"I don't usually reveal my origins, but you're dying soon, so I'll tell you."
"......"
"I'm from Shika Manor. What you saw was their signature art, the Shika Heart Method."
"Shika... Heart Method? No, impossible."
The Sapa shook his head in denial.
"Your inner method... wait! I've seen a Guryun Temple monk from the Western Frontier use something similar."
"Western Frontier, huh. Shika Manor's at the edge of the Central Plains' west, so easy mistake. Well then."
Smooth.
Seo Baek drew the sword from his back.
"Ready to die?"
"I'll grant you the inner method. But..."
Smooth.
The Sapa gripped a pair of strangely curved sickles.
"There's a saying in the murim: You learn whose is longer only by comparing."
Seo Baek snorted.
"Funny?"
"It was funny. That's for equals comparing peanuts."
"......"
No bluff in his tone.
"Shall we begin? You strike first."
"Won't hold back... Haaah!"
Suddenly, the Sapa flung his arms wide. As the sickles dropped, he whipped his sleeves at Seo Baek like lashes.
Thin daggers shot from the cuffs.
Pew pew pew pew.
The daggers targeted vital points across Seo Baek's body.
In the blink of an eye, he'd be a porcupine.
But Seo Baek sneered.
'Knew it.'
The sickles were a feint.
But tricks weren't his alone.
Yielding the first strike? Another feint!
'Shika Sword Technique knows no yielding.'
Seo Baek had seen through the sickles as fake signature weapons. He turned the Sapa's ploy against him, drawing out the real arts.
As the eight daggers tore through the air.
Seo Baek's eyes snapped wide.
Flash.
His eyes pierced the darkness like daylight.
To Seo Baek, the eight daggers crawled slowly through the air.
'Blind spot.'
Though they covered all directions, his eyes caught the gaps they missed.
He launched into that opening.
Thud.
Instantly, Seo Baek appeared before the Sapa's nose.
"Wha—"
As shock twisted the Sapa's face.
Seo Baek swung his sword.
Exhausted Wang Yi Sam barely stood and shuffled along the path.
After the time for a cup of tea, he spotted Yu So Un resting leisurely in the shade.
"Why're you here? Where's Seo Baek?"
"No idea. Too fast to keep up."
"......"
Wang Yi Sam hung his head in defeat.
Today's lesson: Quitting early saves the body.
Soon, they rose and continued.
"His lightness skill's insane."
"That's not his only surprise."
"With that speed, his inner energy must be profound."
"Inner energy?"
Wang Yi Sam tilted his head at Yu So Un's words.
"Seo Baek's external arts are the real deal, not inner."
"No, his inner energy's deep too. Only met one other with such balance."
"Who?"
"Notorious villain... but yeah."
Yu So Un trailed off unusually. Wang Yi Sam figured personal history and dropped it.
They walked the forest path long after leaving the cliffs.
Soon, they found Seo Baek.
"There he is."
Four carriages lined the path, donkeys grazing idly by the roadside.
Seo Baek sat perched on one.
"You made it."
"You little punk... you okay?"
"Yes. All four carriages in good shape."
"Not that—you okay? The Sapa?"
"Over there."
Wang Yi Sam and Yu So Un looked where Seo Baek nodded. The Sapa lay dead on the forest side.
Seo Baek, who usually lopped heads clean off.
Oddly, the neck was intact.
Instead, the chest was caved in. Ribs bent inward like fishbones, piercing heart and organs.
"Didn't sever the head?"
"No. Used the hilt."
Smashed to death.
"Why not the usual decapitation...?"
"No need for blood splattering the woods, reviving revenants. Killed clean."
"......"
Wang Yi Sam swallowed hard.
Killing a Sapa barehanded, without signature sword arts. Hard to gauge Seo Baek's level.
"What's that other body?"
Yu So Un pointed.
"Didn't kill him."
"Sapa's work?"
"He denied it too."
"Huh? Then who?"
The three huddled by the corpse, inspecting.
"Dagger in the throat."
"Sapa's throw. Used it as my shield."
"Ah, got it."
Listening to Seo Baek and Yu So Un dissect the cause of death, Wang Yi Sam felt small.
He'd thought himself seasoned swords-for-hire. True murim pros were another level.
"Corpses without assassin marks usually die two ways."
"Hidden weapons or poison arts?"
"Right."
Wang Yi Sam chimed in eagerly.
"Hidden weapons and poison? This is Sichuan Tang Clan territory!"
All three nodded.
"Tang Clan kills everywhere, bodies littering the place."
"No wonder revenants spawn in these woods."
"Exactly."
"Let's move."
Yu So Un pointed ahead.
"Two or three days down this road, Shu Dao Pass."
"Music to my ears."
They set off again.
En route, Seo Baek glanced back, pondering.
The corpse from the woods, used as the Sapa's shield.
Who was he?
'Who the hell?'
Hidden weapon or poison likely. Tang Clan probable.
But dead less than a day.
Tang Clan's priority: Explosives transport to Shu Dao Pass.
Urgent martial artist hit here? Far from their estates?
'Something's off.'
Seo Baek sensed it, but couldn't pinpoint the secret.
Wang Yi Sam called as he lagged.
"Junior, what's up?"
"Coming."
Seo Baek shook off the thoughts and hurried after them.