Ghost Ship (5): The Deputy's Demise
Mo Hyeok Gwang's vile scheme, using Chae Do as a sacrificial lamb, succeeded brilliantly.
'I fell for it.'
Seo Baek's gaze turned as cold as a sheet of ice.
The Central Plains is a place of treachery, where schemes abound and betrayal is the norm.
He had momentarily forgotten his master's emphatic warning.
No, it wasn't forgetfulness.
He had simply never encountered anyone wicked enough to slaughter their own trusted subordinate without hesitation.
From here on, the martial world would throw countless villains far more depraved than Mo Hyeok Gwang at him. Assuming he never repeated this mistake, this incident would be bitter medicine rather than poison.
The revenants surged toward Seo Baek.
The hook ropes and anchor chains linking the two ships swayed violently, preventing the revenants from clambering aboard easily.
Their eyes bloodshot with the stench of blood, the revenants hurled themselves recklessly, only to tumble one by one into the dark waters below.
But with so many charging at once, the ropes soon brimmed with the undead. Using their comrades' bodies as footholds, they lunged straight for Seo Baek.
Seo Baek spun his body, swinging his sword in a wide arc.
Slash.
Each sweep of the blade sent limbs scattering like fallen leaves.
At that moment, a thunderous roar erupted as the Chae Ju Ship lurched high before slamming back down.
Boom.
The ship had entered a treacherous reef field. Massive rock formations, roots protruding like jagged teeth, rocked the vessel with ferocious intensity!
Gurgle...
The chains bucked wildly up and down, sending revenants plummeting into the depths. Seo Baek twisted his legs in a spin, hooking his ankle around the rope to hang on.
But one revenant soaring through the air happened to drop right above him.
It crashed onto Seo Baek, wrapping its arms around him in a vise-like embrace. Its jaw gaped unnaturally wide.
Crack.
'If it bites my neck, I'm done.'
Seo Baek tucked his chin as far as possible. The revenant thrust its head forward, teeth gnashing, desperate to tear into his throat.
Clack clack... crunch.
Fortunately, its teeth sank only into the reinforced leather guard around his neck. The revenant's jaw strength rivaled a hunter's trap, but it fell short of piercing the hide Seo Baek had meticulously cured.
Seo Baek hammered the revenant's gut with rapid punches, like beating a drum.
Thud thud thud thud.
Yet the creature clung fast. A corpse beyond death, it wouldn't release its grip even if its ribs and organs shattered under the blows.
That was why so many Central Plains masters had fallen to these revenants—or more precisely, blood ghosts—who knew no martial arts. No external or internal techniques worked on a body that defied all logic.
Once a revenant bit or grabbed a living person, it never let go unless its jawbone or fingers were severed.
Hence, the key to fighting revenants was slicing with sword or blade from afar, never letting them close in.
But with the ship bucking wildly, one had plummeted from the sky...
The revenant, gnawing futilely at the tough leather, reared its head back—then lunged for Seo Baek's face.
Someone shouted then.
"Head!"
Seo Baek instinctively jerked his head aside. In that instant, an arrowhead burst through the revenant's throat.
Gurk...!
Yu So Un, having boarded the deck, had loosed an arrow straight through its neck.
Beside him, Wang Yi Sam swung his broad dao wildly at the surrounding revenants, guarding Yu So Un fiercely.
The arrowhead pierced the blood thread worm's heart meridian, and the revenant's arms went limp. Seo Baek spun free, flinging it aside, then slashed at the approaching horde.
'Can't waste the opening my comrades created.'
One sweep felled six or seven revenants. Seo Baek launched himself into the air.
And plummeted straight toward Mo Hyeok Gwang.
Whoosh.
Twisting midair, Seo Baek landed lightly on the chain—heading straight for the other ship.
Mo Hyeok Gwang now had no choice but to kill Seo Baek or forfeit his escape.
His eyebrows arched like a drawn bow.
Revenants at his back, a martial master ahead.
A single-log bridge with no retreat either way.
The Waterway Gang thrived on martial skill, but at its core, it was about ferrying people and goods for profit.
Mo Hyeok Gwang, who'd spent his life on these rivers, was sharp at sniffing out gains and turning his wits on a dime.
"Impressive as expected. I had a good read on your skill level."
Mo Hyeok Gwang flashed a sly grin, extending a hand to Seo Baek.
"That chest is packed with our gang's sacred relic and silver ingots. Split between us, it's enough to live like kings forever. What do you say? Ditch those fools and join me!"
Seo Baek refused flatly.
"I decline."
"What? Why?"
"I have no intention of living idly after losing my honor."
"Honor? What good is something as worthless as..."
Mo Hyeok Gwang stared at Seo Baek in utter disbelief. Rejecting half a chest of silver ingots? It defied his entire worldview.
"Fine, then no need to ally. Just let me sail off with the ship, and I'll share the silver..."
"No."
"You don't want the silver? That's insane!"
"No, I mean your proposal disgusts me."
Shing. Seo Baek leveled his sword at Mo Hyeok Gwang.
"Words from someone who deserves death fall on deaf ears."
"...!"
"One more thing. You're dying here. No lifetime of leisure for you—no need for silver, either."
At that moment, the Chae Do hurled hand axes at Seo Baek to aid their deputy leader.
Seo Baek didn't even turn, merely flicking his sword to deflect them all.
Clang clang clang clang.
A dozen axes plunged into the dark river.
"I'd heard the Waterway Gang's axe work rivaled the orthodox sects. Just empty rumors, it seems."
"..."
As Mo Hyeok Gwang faltered speechless, a Chae Do crept from Seo Baek's blind spot, spear poised for his back.
But as he reared to throw, a sharp whistle cut the air—an arrow sliced through, piercing between his eyes.
Thunk. Gah...
The man crumpled without a scream, spear and all, into the water.
Yu So Un had fired it.
Even amid battling the revenants with Wang Yi Sam, he hadn't neglected guarding Seo Baek from afar.
Of course, Seo Baek had sensed the threat behind him.
He'd deliberately left it for Yu So Un—trustworthy allies crushed enemy morale utterly.
Seo Baek's judgment proved spot-on.
"Is this the best your schemes can muster?"
"..."
Mo Hyeok Gwang was utterly speechless.
But he didn't give up, frantically signaling his men with twitching fingers.
'All spears at once. Now!'
Yet no spears flew, no matter how long he waited.
A marksman of deadly precision guarded Seo Baek, even on the pitching deck.
Realizing this, no Chae Do stepped up for Mo Hyeok Gwang again.
Instead, they slunk behind railings one by one, scrambling to pry loose the deck-splintered anchor.
Abandoning their doomed deputy—soon to be leader—they'd switched to saving their own skins.
Seo Baek saw it clearly.
"See that? The men you bribed with promises of silver."
"Those bastards..."
Mo Hyeok Gwang's face twisted like crumpled paper.
"Damn you all! Die!"
He yanked two hand axes from his belt and charged Seo Baek.
Surprisingly agile, Mo Hyeok Gwang glided across the chain like skating on frozen lake. A lifetime at sea made ropes and chains child's play for Waterway Gang men.
And those hand axes were no joke.
Short-barreled but devastating against bones and sinew, rivaling any sword or blade.
Seo Baek tilted his greatsword in a spinning parry, blocking the first axe.
Clang.
Sparks flew over the dark waters as steel met steel.
Mo Hyeok Gwang twisted backward, hurling the axe in his other hand.
Another perk of the hand axe: throwable like a hidden weapon!
For the gang, where spears were formal arms, axes were like hands and feet—for chopping ropes, splitting wood.
Mo Hyeok Gwang's hidden ace: wielding axes like limbs.
The axe hurtled for Seo Baek's forehead, poised to cleave it in two.
Clang.
Mo Hyeok Gwang grinned triumphantly.
"You're dead!"
But his smile vanished.
That sound—clang—echoing in his ears.
Splitting a skull should yield a wet crunch, not this...
Wasn't that the ring of sword on axe?
Befuddled, something spun toward him through the air.
"Gah!"
Mo Hyeok Gwang twisted aside just in time.
His own thrown axe, ricocheting back. A direct hit would've pulped his face.
"Where the hell is that bastard...?"
"Right here."
The voice came from the dark night sky.
As Mo Hyeok Gwang looked up, Seo Baek dropped from on high, sword flashing.
Whoooosh.
A gale swept Mo Hyeok Gwang's body. Two slanted sword-lights embedded across his torso.
Slash slash.
Slash.
At first, Mo Hyeok Gwang only felt a sting in his chest, standing dazed, unsure what had happened.
Then he opened his mouth to speak.
"What the hell did you...?"
"Don't know? I punished a man who deserved death."
"Me? You think you killed me...?"
"No."
Seo Baek lowered his sword, pointedly looking away as if Mo Hyeok Gwang no longer mattered.
"Why kill what's already dead?"
"...!"
In that instant, Mo Hyeok Gwang's chest split into four flaps, a geyser of blood erupting.
Spurt...
He sprayed blood for a long moment before freezing upright like a log.
Seo Baek spoke in a voice cold as ice.
"Even in death, you won't lie peacefully."
He casually flicked his sword against the corpse.
Mo Hyeok Gwang's body, barely balanced, toppled into the water.
Splash.
Lifeless, he sank without a single stroke, straight to the bottom.
Just then, the Chae Ju Ship lurched upward again, shuddering violently.
Rumble...
The reefs loomed visibly huge beneath the dark surface now. Worse, the ship's course plowed straight through them.
"Reefs ahead! Evade!"
Dozens of Chae Do on board panicked, shouting in chaos.
But they could only stamp their feet helplessly.
Seo Baek's flung anchor had splintered the deck, and with speed building, it dug deeper by the second.
Finally, their ship struck the reefs.
Crash!
Dragged by the Chae Ju Ship, it couldn't bounce up—instead scraping along, bottom splitting like a gutted fish. Torrents of water gushed in.
Whoosh...
"The ship's sinking!"
Black waters devoured it steadily.
Chaos reigned: some hacking at the anchor chain, others leaping overboard, a few frozen in stupor...
Seo Baek turned from the Chae Do. His concern was solely his comrades.
Yu So Un and Wang Yi Sam were locked in desperate struggle, swarmed by revenants.
Thankfully, the Chae Ju Ship's broad deck allowed evasion. In tight quarters, they'd have been torn apart already.
Seo Baek slashed madly, carving through the horde.
"This way!"
Wang Yi Sam heard and hacked a path like a madman with his broad dao, shattering the encirclement.
A lowly weapon scorned by orthodox masters—perfect for wild swings against revenants.
As Seo Baek and Wang Yi Sam cleaved from both sides, a path opened.
"Hurry!"
Yu So Un, Wang Yi Sam, and Yang So So bolted through the gap.
Seo Baek glanced back, assessing. Wreckage from the sinking ship drifted past the broken gangway.
'No telling how many more revenants the Chae Ju Ship holds. Yang So So's vessel is done. So...'
One option: a life-or-death gamble.
As the group reached the Chae Ju Ship's railing, Seo Baek dashed along the chain, shouting.
"Rope!"
Without waiting, he sprinted ahead.
Tat tat tat.
Yu So Un acted swiftly and precisely.
A thrown rope sailed beside the chain-running Seo Baek. Without breaking stride, he snatched it mid-leap.
No more chain ahead—the ship dragged it under.
Whoosh.
Seo Baek ran until his feet slapped water, then launched skyward with all his might.