Ghost Ship: The Anchor Throw
The ambush preparations were complete.
But Wang Yi Sam, still doubting Yu So Un's archery skills, shot Seo Baek a glance.
—Two revenants, and you think you can take them both at once?
Seo Baek pressed a finger to his lips instead of answering.
—Shut up and watch.
He then raised the index fingers of both hands, spreading them wide apart to the sides before bringing them back together in the center, repeating the motion. It mimicked the two revenants patrolling back and forth down the corridor.
Yu So Un nodded to show he understood.
He peeked out briefly to check their positions. The two revenants were moving toward each other, converging on the middle of the corridor.
Yu So Un pulled back into cover and calculated their walking speed in his head.
One, two, three, four…
The instant the two met in the corridor's midpoint and began to turn, Yu So Un leaned out and released the bowstring.
Ping. Thunk.
The arrow flew silently, embedding itself in the back of the revenant turning toward the opposite corridor.
Draw imaginary lines from both earlobes, and they intersected at the throat's center in a cross—precisely where the blood thread worm's heart meridian resided.
The arrowhead pierced straight through, shredding it.
Gurk… thump.
The revenant collapsed like a felled log without even a proper scream.
The rocking ship's bottom, the flickering light.
Under such harsh conditions, Yu So Un had demonstrated a one-shot kill.
But the real marvel came next.
As its fellow revenant fell, the other one approaching them sensed something and whipped its head around.
Yu So Un held his shooting stance, twisting only his right arm to draw a fresh arrow from his quiver. He nocked it, then loosed the second shot.
All in the blink of an eye.
Ping. Thunk.
The arrow struck the back of the turning revenant's neck. It crumpled to the floor without a sound, just like the first.
Gurk… thump.
Yu So Un turned to the group and sliced twice across his throat with the edge of his hand. Two revenants eliminated.
Having witnessed it firsthand, Wang Yi Sam stuck out his tongue in awe.
'This guy's the real deal!'
Yu So Un's draw and release were lightning-fast. By the time the enemy heard anything, it'd already be skewered.
Unless it was a renowned peak expert from a prestigious sect, dodging those arrows wouldn't be easy!
Yu So Un had displayed peak archery prowess.
Yet Seo Baek merely nodded once at him, face impassive—as if it were only to be expected.
Even Wang Yi Sam, a seasoned murim veteran, was taken aback by Seo Baek's nonchalance.
With the revenants dispatched, the group caught their breath briefly before holding it again. They stepped over the bodies and resumed moving.
Right then, Seo Baek felt a suspicious vibration through his soles.
Groooan.
'What the…?'
If the ship had struck a reef, the impact would have been far greater, with the hull shuddering violently.
But this vibration was different. The ship felt like it was snagged on something, tilting unsteadily.
'This is…'
Seo Baek turned to the others.
"No time left. We're breaking through the revenant horde and getting out—starting now."
"What? Junior, what's this all of a sudden?"
"Didn't you feel that vibration?"
"I did. Feels like the ship's caught on something. Floor's tilting a bit too."
Wang Yi Sam tilted his head, but Yu So Un voiced exactly what Seo Baek suspected.
"They're pulling on the hook rope latched to the ship from the grain barge. Trying to drag us right up alongside."
"…!"
Only then did the group grasp his meaning.
"Mo Hyeok Gwang's gang is planning to escape along the rope. We don't have time."
No sooner had Seo Baek spoken than he spun and bolted down the corridor. The others followed hot on his heels.
They rounded a corner, and two sentry revenants appeared.
Seo Baek swung his sword without a care for stealth now. Crunch. In the narrow hold corridor, the massive blade gouged the walls as it severed both their necks.
No time to check if he'd properly destroyed the blood thread worms' heart meridians.
Having beheaded two with one stroke, Seo Baek charged up the stairs.
On deck, over a hundred revenants—rotting and damaged—chanted rowing songs from their living days as they mimicked their old labors at the damaged oarlocks.
Yang Gok, the former grain barge leader, pointed here and there, barking orders at them. Whether they understood was doubtful.
Seo Baek emerged on deck, but the surrounding revenants didn't notice the living presence. They held their breath and kept blank expressions.
Seo Baek turned toward the hooked deck side.
Creeeak, creeeak.
The grapple's claws were deeply embedded in the railing, swaying side to side. The rope was taut.
'Just as I thought.'
Mo Hyeok Gwang's crew had tensioned the rope to pull the ships close for an easy crossing.
Whoosh. Tatatata.
Seo Baek leaped into the air, bounding across the heads of the revenants lined on deck like stepping stones. Their heads snapped back with each step, but oblivious, they just stared around blankly.
As expected. Deputy leader Mo Hyeok Gwang and his underlings were crossing the rope, hauling large crates.
Mo Hyeok Gwang glanced back and spotted Seo Baek.
"We're made. Cut the rope."
"Yes, sir!"
Two underlings wrapped their legs around the rope for balance and began hacking at it with their sabers. Luckily for Seo Baek, the thickly twisted grapple rope didn't sever in one blow.
If it snapped, the ships would separate in seconds.
And that would be the end!
Seo Baek scanned around and spotted an anchor on deck. He launched toward it, but several revenants lunged with arms flailing.
Kieeeek!
He slashed wildly, carving them up without seeking the blood thread worms.
As the mangled revenants rolled on the deck, a gap opened. Seo Baek sheathed his sword and gripped the anchor with both hands.
It was enormous, fitting for the grand grain barge.
Poisoned by san-gong toxin, he couldn't channel his Shika Heart Method.
Using only external strength—pure muscle—he hefted it up.
Legs trembling, eyes bloodshot, Seo Baek swung the anchor in a full circle and hurled it over the railing.
Whoooosh. Crash!
It sailed over Mo Hyeok Gwang's gang, smashing straight through the grain barge's deck.
Mo Hyeok Gwang spat curses amid the shocking sight.
"That mad bastard… Throw the anchor overboard!"
"Yes, sir!"
The barge crew rushed it en masse.
But the massive anchor—meant to hold the barge against the current—was impossibly heavy.
They couldn't even budge it from the deck, grunting in vain.
"What are you doing? Pull it free, now!"
"The barge's speed makes it impossible! And the anchor's too heavy…"
"A kid tosses it like trash, and you call it heavy? Useless fools!"
"…"
The underlings were speechless.
How had a boy not even twenty thrown what six or seven men together couldn't lift?
The anchor was heavy, but the barge's momentum was the real issue.
As the massive vessel caught the current, the grapple rope and anchor chain went iron-taut, making it even harder to dislodge.
The ghost ship was being dragged into the rapids behind.
"At this rate, we'll capsize and run aground!"
"Cut the chain!"
"How?!"
"What good are those axes? Hack the chain!"
They swung axes at the anchor's chain. Clang clang clang. The thick steel links were unscathed; the axes chipped instead.
"Damn it!"
Mo Hyeok Gwang quickly schemed.
Can't pull the anchor or cut the chain? Then smash the railing where it attached on the barge side.
He stood on the rope and turned toward the barge.
At that moment, a figure dropped from above, landing on the rope in front of him.
Seo Baek.
Mo Hyeok Gwang grinned at him.
"So you're the leader. Not bad skills for a kid under twenty."
"'Skills'—that's what scum like you call your tricks."
"What?"
"Stealing the waterway gang's sacred relic, getting caught, killing the leader, fleeing, then propping up his daughter as deputy to fool everyone? The world calls that sleight of hand."
"How do you…"
"When the revenant-infested grain barge started drifting the Yangtze, you waited for a chance to retrieve it. Then fresh bait—murim folk like us—showed up, so you sprung your plan."
"You little…"
As Seo Baek laid bare the truth, Mo Hyeok Gwang's face crumpled like waste paper.
Suddenly, he burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Fine, the leader's daughter and you lot were all bait. So what? What're you gonna do about it?"
"You don't need to do a thing."
Shing. Seo Baek gripped his sword on his back.
"I'll handle cutting your head off."
"Heh heh, think you can take me without your inner energy? San-gong poison's got you neutered."
"Take you? That's for equals. I'm young, and all I've got is external strength—but remnants of a petty waterway gang like you? You're nothing."
"…"
Mo Hyeok Gwang's brow furrowed. No bluff in Seo Baek's voice—just pure confidence.
Before joining the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang, he'd guarded a famed merchant house's blades and witnessed countless experts.
True peak masters from prestigious sects defied age.
A young boy might wield vast inner power; an old man near the grave, monumental physique and external arts.
They could slaughter dozens with a finger. Facing them head-on was suicide.
Seo Baek radiated that exact aura—unique to such masters.
No, an unprecedented pressure he'd never felt…
But Mo Hyeok Gwang smirked.
No one beats a riverman on his ship.
He altered tactics mentally and shouted.
"Drop the crates—kill him first!"
"Yes, sir!"
One underling handed his crate to a comrade, stood on the rope, and charged Seo Baek saber raised.
"Die!"
In an instant, Seo Baek thrust his sword straight along the underling's approach line.
On the swaying rope, retreat was impossible.
Hurtling onto the blade himself, the man paled in horror.
But before his neck met the sword, crimson blood sprayed from his mouth.
Pfugh…!
A sharp saber tip protruded from his chest. Mo Hyeok Gwang had snuck behind and thrust through his torso.
"Hahaha, take this!"
Mo Hyeok Gwang yanked the saber free and kicked the corpse at Seo Baek.
Seo Baek batted it aside with his sword flat, sending it flying off.
The dead underling splashed into the water, harmless.
The problem followed.
Blood from the corpse's mouth and chest had drenched Seo Baek head to toe.
The deck's revenants—lost in repeating their old routines. And the dozen who'd spotted Seo Baek's group and charged.
They all caught the blood scent at once.
Kiiiiieeeek!
Dozens of revenants surged toward Seo Baek in unison.