Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Four Evils Bandits
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Ak Muyoo entered the cave.
Gun Cheokjeon's group had finished their meditation and energy circulation.
"We should move right away."
He said, looking at Gun Cheokjeon.
"Enemies?"
"They're chasing us from three hours' distance."
"After a night's rest, they'll be right on top of us."
"That's right."
Ak Muyoo nodded.
"You heading out now too?"
"I've got some sect business to handle after a long time. I'll catch up soon."
"Need any help from us?"
"No."
"Where do we go?"
"Follow that triangular star you can see there."
"Got it."
Gun Cheokjeon nodded.
"See you later."
"Yeah."
Gun Cheokjeon's group descended from the cave.
Once they had left, Ak Muyoo went back down to the site of the battle. A short while later, he returned carrying several waterskins filled with water.
Ruha had been weeping while looking at Cha Sawoong all that time.
Ak Muyoo sat down across from Ruha and took out his needle case. Then he stripped off Cha Sawoong's clothes. Soon, Cha Sawoong was completely naked. First, he took out thread and needle and stitched up all the wounded areas. Next, he cleaned Cha Sawoong's entire body with the water he'd brought from outside.
He wiped off the moisture thoroughly with a cloth and dressed him.
"Pay your respects."
Ak Muyoo stepped aside.
He went outside and looked up at the night sky. Far in the distance, a cloud of dust was relentlessly approaching.
"Ten years... no, thirty years of hellish suffering, and still a fugitive... Pathetic that I can't give up even on this."
A self-mocking smile curled on Ak Muyoo's lips.
"But I have to live. I'm still not dead."
"The farewells are done."
Ruha spoke then.
"This spot should make a good grave, right?"
"He always said that if he died, pick any sand dune and use it as his tomb."
"Perfect. Do you have any of his weapons?"
"This."
Ruha held out a single sword.
Ak Muyoo took the sword and climbed to the top of the cave. He stomped down hard with all his strength. But the cave didn't budge.
"What are you doing?"
"If I collapse the cave, no need to make a separate grave."
"......"
"The ground's too solid."
Ak Muyoo drew his club.
"I'll do it."
Ruha leaped up and stomped down with all her might.
Boom!
With a dull thud, the cave collapsed immediately. Ak Muyoo planted the sword in front of the cave, leaving only the hilt visible.
"The living will find a way to survive, so don't worry too much."
Ak Muyoo pressed his palms together toward the grave.
"Where will you go?"
He finished the gesture and turned to Ruha.
"Where are you headed?"
"I've got to catch up to them."
"Then let's go together."
"Shall we?"
The two descended the dune and began running. This time, Ak Muyoo unleashed Mad Thousand Blood Steps. Traces had been erased, but they kept coming—no point in hiding anymore.
'She's strong.'
He muttered inwardly, watching Ruha run ahead. With a bow on her back, no footprints trailed behind her. She was a master employing the sect's supreme lightness skill.
'The odds have improved a bit? Chase after them first.'
Ak Muyoo ran.
His running style was the same as before.
Lungs filled to the brim, heart on the verge of bursting, pushing through that state as he ran.
'Just move the legs! The body will follow. Move the legs!'
He bellowed inwardly as he ran.
He alternated between Beast Blood Demon Art and Mad Thousand Blood Steps. After half a hour in that state, his mind grew hazy. It felt like swimming deep underwater.
'Lift the legs! Keep running. I need to gain Latent Power again and again.'
Tssst! Tssst!
Sand began spraying up around Ak Muyoo. He kept running in that state. Once adapted to the current speed, he increased it, and increased it again upon further adaptation. Like sand piled on a drum that scatters and falls with every beat, the sand around Ak Muyoo did the same. What started as a foot-high spray grew to two feet high before falling.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Ak Muyoo kept pounding his legs relentlessly.
Before long, the eastern sky began to brighten.
Ruha, who had been running, turned her head and glanced at Ak Muyoo. Surprise flickered in her eyes.
She had thought Ak Muyoo's condition would be a mess. She could have helped him, but sensing he was deliberately suffering to master something, she pretended not to notice. Yet his state was far better than expected.
"One more hour and we'll reach the oasis."
Ak Muyoo said.
"You've been there before?"
Ruha asked.
"Yes."
"You know the chasers have closed the gap to two hours?"
"Yes."
"At this pace, they'll catch us by tonight, right?"
"We'll find a way."
The two, who had run without rest, arrived at the oasis an hour later. Gun Cheokjeon's group, arriving first, was resting in a secluded spot by the oasis.
"Did you wash up?"
"Washed, and filled all the waterskins."
Gun Cheokjeon answered.
"Wash and let's head out right away."
Ak Muyoo headed straight to the lake. But Ruha followed him. At the lakeside, he set down his gear, stripped off his clothes, and entered the water.
"Eek!"
Ak Muyoo cried out while washing his hair.
Ruha, whom he'd thought would wash elsewhere, had followed him in.
Naked.
In that instant, Ak Muyoo saw all of her. Inheriting pure Western blood, she possessed an extraordinary figure.
"......"
Ak Muyoo looked at Ruha with an incomprehensible expression.
"Didn't you know people don't distinguish by gender at the oasis?"
"Well, that's..."
Of course, he'd heard that. At the oasis, they ignored status, even gender. But unless married, people rarely bathed together.
"Shouldn't we hurry and wash up to go?"
"Got it."
Ak Muyoo quickly washed his body.
"I'll wash your clothes for you."
"No need to bother."
"I owe you a debt; I have to repay it."
Ruha acted completely at ease in front of Ak Muyoo.
"Man..."
Before long, Ak Muyoo's awkwardness faded too. The two washed facing each other.
"You left the bowstring off on purpose?"
Ruha asked while washing his clothes. As a bow expert, she knew bows better than anyone. In her view, Ak Muyoo's bow was no inferior to the Great Heaven Demon Bow she'd found with her husband this time. Yet the string had always been unstrung.
"Not on purpose—I can't string it."
"You can't?"
"Even with all my strength, it only bends three inches."
"I see."
"Yes. But you and your husband..."
"We came looking for the bow offered to Great Radiant Martial twelve hundred years ago."
"Then that one over there is..."
Ak Muyoo glanced at the lakeside. There lay a bow comparable to the Heaven God Solar Bow.
"It's our clan's treasure, the Great Heaven Demon Bow."
"The manual your husband gave me has the same name."
"It records archery techniques for the Great Heaven Demon Bow."
"You can give me that?"
"I've mastered it all; I don't need the manual."
"But how did the fight start?"
"Right now, the desert is overrun by bandits called the Four Evils Bandits. They're after treasures leaking from the Sun God Temple, and the ones who attacked us were one faction of the Four Evils Bandits."
"I see."
"All clean? Let's go."
"I'll go first..."
"I've already seen it all; no need to be shy."
Ruha chuckled and exited first.
'This woman's dead set on driving a man mad. Poor Cha Sawoong, leaving a woman like her behind...'
He pitied Cha Sawoong.
"Not coming out?"
Ruha turned and asked Ak Muyoo.
"Coming, coming."
No choice. Ak Muyoo hurried out. Ruha scanned his body like an appraiser of antiques. Her gaze lingered longest on the scars covering his body.
"You've got a lot of scars."
"Traces that saved my life."
"Not that the scars saved you—scars from luring the enemy's weapons."
"For someone like me, that's how you survive on the battlefield."
"That requires incredible eyesight..."
"Mine's pretty good."
Ak Muyoo looked at Ruha.
"Seen enough?"
Ruha walked right up to him and asked.
"Huh?"
"Seemed to linger on the chest and below..."
"Ugh!"
"Here."
Ruha held out his clothes right in front of him. Close enough to feel each other's breath. Ak Muyoo took them.
The clothes were dried crisp with the Samadhi True Fire technique used for igniting fires or burning things.
"You could toss them; you could catch them fine..."
"My eyes aren't as good as yours."
"Uh..."
"The scars are a shame, but your body's top-notch. So, which do you prefer?"
"Huh?"
"Front or back—pick one."
"......"
"Better if I dress facing you. Feels like your group's watching."
Ruha stared straight at Ak Muyoo as she dressed.
Ak Muyoo glanced behind her. Gun Cheokjeon's group was emerging from their hiding spot.
Ak Muyoo quickly dressed too.
He stowed odds and ends and rations in his bosom first, strapped on his belt pouch, then hung the Demon Hook and Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink Sword.
"Hah!"
"Taha!"
"Chaha!"
Booming shouts rang out then.
"Hm?"
Ak Muyoo's eyes widened.
By his calculations, the pursuing enemies shouldn't arrive for another two hours.
"I'll check."
Whoosh!
Ruha leaped onto a tree.
"It's the Four Evils Bandits."
"How many?"
"About fifty, two hundred paces away."
Gun Cheokjeon's group approached then.
"Enemies."
"Are these the ones chasing us?"
Gun Cheokjeon asked.
"No."
"One mountain after another."
"We might even get camels. No—at least camel meat."
"That's if we survive."
"We survive first. General, take one and head that way."
Ak Muyoo pointed to the right dune.
"Got it."
Gun Cheokjeon dashed off to the right with So Daehwa.
"You three, go that way."
He said to Ak Gun-eok's group.
"Got it."
The three ran left. Ruha, who had climbed the tree, came down then.
"Let's hide too."
Ak Muyoo entered the woods with Ruha.
A moment later, over fifty riders on camels entered the oasis.
"Someone's been here."
They immediately spotted signs of human presence.
"Search!"
The leader-looking one shouted.
Four Evils Bandits members scattered in all directions. Some climbed nearby dunes to scan the surroundings. Three headed toward where Ak Muyoo and Ruha hid.
"Can't run, right?"
Ak Muyoo asked.
"They'll chase right away."
"Probably."
Ak Muyoo drew the Demon Hook in his left hand and the Secret Heaven Ruyi Ink Sword in his right.