Canyon Pursuit (1)
The Iron Palm Gang provided supplies to Seo Baek's group.
Fist rice balls, dried meat strips, Wall Grain Pills, and other provisions to last several days.
Three leather waterskins filled with cold well water.
And finally, a detailed map marking the terrain and waterways within hundreds of li of the area.
They even handed over every last one of the fist rice balls they'd prepared.
"You all look pretty hungry. Take these and eat up."
Cheon Ri Hyeong seemed to sense that Seo Baek's group had been wandering lost and starving. But he tactfully avoided mentioning it outright, sparing their pride.
Once they had a bundle of fist rice balls, Wang Yi Sam's mouth split into a huge grin.
"Looks like we'll be eating our fill through lunch and dinner today."
"We're just trying to lighten the load before the rice goes bad."
"They gave us everything they could spare themselves, and you say it like that? You're too cold-hearted, junior."
"Sure, sure."
It felt a bit off, but Seo Baek couldn't argue with Wang Yi Sam. The Iron Palm Gang's generosity was certainly impressive.
"Any booze by chance? Why don't you ask for us, junior?"
"Sure, and have the pursuit squad chase 'em down drunk."
"Tch, figured as much."
Wang Yi Sam licked his lips with a wistful look.
Seo Baek's group expressed their thanks and packed up the supplies.
In the meantime, the gang members had folded their tents into bundles for their backs and finished their preparations to move out.
Once they were ready to depart, Cheon Ri Hyeong divided the twelve men—including himself—into three teams of four. It was exactly as Seo Baek had predicted.
"The Iron Palm Gang will split into three teams and pursue the traitors from three directions."
"And what about us?"
"You'll act as an independent unit and chase them freely."
"Understood."
Having Seo Baek's group operate as an independent unit.
That, too, was just as Seo Baek had foreseen.
"Ja-chung, give them that."
"Yes, sir."
A gang member named Ja-chung stepped forward and handed a leather bundle to Seo Baek's group.
When Seo Baek unrolled it, out came a bundle of firecrackers—the kind used for festivals.
But these weren't for celebrations.
Firecrackers divided into three colors.
These were signal flares for use in wartime, to communicate with allies!
"Fire one when you spot the enemy."
"Got it."
"Blue for sighting them, yellow when you're in pursuit, and red once you've caught them."
"Understood."
With that, Cheon Ri Hyeong turned to his men and issued the order.
"We're off to capture the Iron Palm Gang's traitors."
"Yes, sir!"
Just twelve men in total.
Yet as they all clasped their fists in salute to Cheon Ri Hyeong in unison, the sight carried the dignified air befitting an upright murim faction.
The three Iron Palm Gang pursuit teams scattered in three directions.
Into a forest so dense it was dim even in broad daylight.
Soon enough, they vanished from Seo Baek's view.
"You've got a real knack for this, junior."
Once the Iron Palm Gang was out of sight, Wang Yi Sam piped up.
"First the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang, now the Iron Palm Gang. Aren't we in a rush to Shaolin Temple? Do we really have to help out every group we run into?"
"It's on the way anyway. Won't slow us down."
"True, but still..."
"We got food and a map out of it, didn't we? If we hadn't met them, we'd be starving and lost even longer."
"Sigh, being too nice is gonna be the death of you, junior."
"You called me cold-hearted a minute ago."
Seo Baek smiled at Wang Yi Sam's grumbling.
But Seo Baek hadn't accepted the Iron Palm Gang's proposal just to help out.
In the murim world, connections are more precious than silver.
You don't need to bow for connections. But make them whenever you can.
I'll follow Master's orders.
"So, where are we headed?"
"Let's check the map first."
Seo Baek spread the map on a tree stump.
"To get from Iron Palm Mountain to the Ami Faction, we need to head west through Shu Dao Pass."
"The direction we were already going."
"Yes. But to reach Shaolin Temple, it's better to skirt the rough terrain and loop east."
"Got it."
"Two of the three Iron Palm Gang teams will search toward the Ami Faction and Shaolin Temple, respectively."
"So where does that leave us? West or east?"
Wang Yi Sam cut in impatiently, and Seo Baek replied.
"Cheon Ri Hyeong told us to handle the independent unit."
"Independent unit? Heard the term before, but what's it mean?"
"In military strategy, an independent unit moves separately from the main force with freedom of action."
"Tch, fine. I'm illiterate when it comes to strategy books."
Wang Yi Sam turned away in a huff.
Seo Baek ignored him and studied the map intently.
"We got lost right around here."
Seo Baek pointed to a gorge depicted at the top of the map.
There, like the strokes of the character 川, three vertical gorges ran in parallel.
"If any of the fugitives are smart, they'll take the hard route to escape."
"You mean through this gorge?"
"Yes."
Seo Baek nodded at Yu So Un's question.
"What if they get lost like us?"
"We lost our way trying to avoid the gorge and took a needless detour. But follow it north, and there's no risk of getting lost."
Seo Baek traced his index finger straight up along the 川-shaped gorges as he answered.
"And once through the gorge, loop east..."
This time, his finger drew a small arc.
"...and you'll hit Yongzhong."
Yongzhong. The Jegal clan's main estate.
"Seo Baek's right. Skip the gorge and go north along it, and Yongzhong's right there."
"Tch! Why didn't you figure that out before we wasted time wandering?"
Yu So Un and Wang Yi Sam exchanged glances and chimed in.
"Passing through the gorge is tough, but it has advantages. Easier to shake pursuers."
"A race against time, then."
"We've got time. Assuming their leader isn't pragmatic."
Wang Yi Sam didn't catch on and asked.
"Pragmatic? What's that supposed to mean?"
"If the leader's pragmatic, he'll abandon anyone who triggered a trap. Slows the group down if they're injured."
"...!"
Abandon the severely wounded who'd stepped into a trap.
That would certainly speed up their escape.
Wang Yi Sam swallowed hard at Seo Baek's cold analysis.
"You wouldn't just leave me if I got hurt, right?"
"Too valuable as a silver repayment. No way."
"..."
"Kidding."
"That's one creepy joke."
This time, Yu So Un asked in a serious tone.
"What do you think their leader's like? Pragmatic, or one who knows the murim code?"
"Doesn't matter. Assume he'll choose the pragmatic path and pursue accordingly. Prepare for the worst, and there'll be no regrets."
"A question answered by wisdom itself."
Yu So Un curled his lips into a sly smile.
"Let's move."
The group set off with Seo Baek in the lead.
But he suddenly stopped, turned, and gazed in the direction the Iron Palm Gang had vanished.
One question lingered in Seo Baek's mind.
Why split the pursuit into three teams?
Splitting pursuers to chase fugitives made sense.
But the situation had changed.
Now that they'd reached the 川-shaped gorges, it was obvious the fugitives were heading for Yongzhong.
The best move was to keep the team together and comb the gorges.
Even with a map, the gorges were hard to navigate.
Twelve men weren't enough to call it sufficient.
Yet they were splitting those scant numbers into three?
Did Cheon Ri Hyeong not realize that?
Cheon Ri Hyeong, with his ever-mild expression.
But Seo Baek had sensed the true nature hidden behind those eyes.
No way he didn't. He's like a bird of prey concealing its sharp talons.
The Iron Palm Gang, reeling from the revenant horde attack that cost them their gang leader, in the midst of reorganization.
Seo Baek suspected they were hiding something. But for now, it was hard to deduce what.
If a connection forged with an upright faction turns rotten, cut it without mercy.
Yes, Master.
Recalling his master's words, Seo Baek turned and followed Yu So Un and Wang Yi Sam.
But after the time it took to eat a meal...
Four Iron Palm Gang members emerged from the woods.
One of the three pursuit teams.
They'd been hiding at a distance and appeared once Seo Baek's group moved.
The man who seemed to be the team leader scanned the direction and spoke.
"Looks like they're heading toward the Jegal clan. Just as the gang leader said."
One gang member cut in.
"Let's catch up to them now!"
"Forgot the orders already? Gang leader said keep a meal's distance."
"Those runts are their leaders? What's the worst that could happen?"
"No. Strict obedience to orders is Iron Palm Gang rule."
"Tch, you'd think you'd already been promoted to deputy leader."
The team leader was a man named Mo Sam Guk.
He was locked in a covert rivalry with Ja-chung for the position of Cheon Ri Hyeong's right-hand man.
"Stand out this time, and I'll surpass that Ja-chung punk and become deputy. Won't scraps fall your way too?"
"Heh heh, music to my ears!"
The four gang members started moving through the woods after the direction Seo Baek's group had taken.
A full day had passed since the pursuit began.
Seo Baek's group had been the first to lose their way in the gorge.
But now they had a map detailing the gorge's layout. Thanks to it, they escaped what had taken three days of wandering in just one.
Keep heading north until the gorge ended, then turn right, and the road to Yongzhong would appear.
The group, who had camped in the gorge the night before, ate breakfast before resuming the chase.
The fist rice balls were gone by yesterday, so they had to make do with Wall Grain Pills.
"These damn Wall Grain Pills! So tough they won't even chew."
"Better than starving."
"Tch, the rice balls were tasty."
"Should've rationed them, then."
Wang Yi Sam grumbled but chewed away diligently.
"Stealing sacred relics and manuals to run off? Why's the murim world full of this relic nonsense? Wasn't the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang the same?"
Yu So Un replied.
"They say you could wander the Central Plains your whole life and never see it all."
"So?"
"If someone shows up at the Murim Alliance claiming to be the Iron Palm Gang leader? How do you tell if they're real?"
"Well, they'd show proof they're the leader..."
"That's the sacred relic, isn't it?"
"Urgh..."
"And they stole the manual too."
Wang Yi Sam fell silent, conceding Yu So Un's point.
Some sects transmitted martial arts orally from the sect leader without manuals.
But if the leader died unexpectedly, the secret arts would be lost forever.
Thus, most murim sects recorded their secret techniques in manuals.
Gangs like the Iron Palm Gang, unlike bloodline-based sects or clans, prioritized skill above all. Manuals were crucial.
In short, the fugitives had stolen the gang's greatest treasures!
"Still, all this manual and relic talk gets old."
"Blame the revenant outbreak for it all."
As Wang Yi Sam and Yu So Un shared wry smiles...
Seo Baek stopped chewing his Wall Grain Pill and stared piercingly into the distance.
"Something wrong, junior?"
"Something's moving."
Seo Baek pointed to a mountainside far off.
"Eh, you can see that far?"
Wang Yi Sam clicked his tongue, but Yu So Un spoke up.
"Something's stirring, alright."
As an archer, Yu So Un had better eyesight and focus than Wang Yi Sam.
Seo Baek took a deep breath and circulated his Shika Heart Method.
Shadows climbing the distant mountainside came into view.
Three human figures!
Seo Baek spat out his half-chewed Wall Grain Pill onto the ground.
"We've found the fugitives."