Chapter 42
Chapter 42
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Irrefutable Facts Make People Even Angrier
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Entering the dark night, the Ancient Forest truly lived up to its name as a forest. Towering trees stretched high into the sky, their branches drooping low, with night birds seeming ready to take flight between the limbs at any moment.
“Heavenly Flow General is over there.”
Ak Muyoo pointed to a tree fossil so thick it must have been at least a few hundred years old if it were real.
The tree fossil was to the left from the direction he was facing.
“Got it.”
Ara climbed up the tree.
“Madam, you go over there.”
This time, he pointed behind them. In the direction Ak Muyoo indicated was a rock shorter than Luha’s height.
“Yes.”
Luha moved to stand beside the rock.
Ak Muyoo got down on his belly right there.
With his arms spread out to either side in that prone position, he twisted his body left and right. His movements were exactly like a lizard burrowing into the sand. His body slowly sank into the sand.
“……?”
Luha’s eyes widened slightly.
She looked at the ground. There was sand piled up, but only about three inches deep. Below that was rock-hard earth. Yet Ak Muyoo’s body was burrowing in.
—Did you see that?
He sent a transmission to Ara.
—See what?
Ara asked.
—The sand where I’m standing is only three inches thick. But Young Master Ak burrowed into the hard ground just by twisting left and right.
—Does the Heavenly Division Leader know that?
—Doesn’t seem like it.
—Is it the Latent Energy Great Force Skill?
—Who knows…… In any case, that man has clearly changed.
—He took out the assassin leader earlier, too.
—He did.
—But his family name is Ak?
—You don’t know his name either, General?
—Wind Division was called by a nickname, not his name. So I don’t know what it is.
—His name is Ak Muyoo.
Luha told her the name.
Whoosh!
A wind blew from somewhere, whipping up sand that buried Ak Muyoo. Soon, his figure vanished into the sand.
She turned her gaze forward. Far in the distance, a black silhouette was racing toward them at terrifying speed.
—There’s a cliff behind us. My goal is to fall there with that guy.
That was what Ak Muyoo had said when deciding this spot as the battlefield. He hadn’t explained what he planned to do after falling off the cliff.
—Madam, just drive that bastard insane.
—I’ll do my best.
Snap!
At that moment, a black object flew down from the front. It was Jeok Yeom-cheon, who had been pursuing Luha’s group.
“……?”
Jeok Yeom-cheon looked at Luha with a puzzled expression.
In a situation where even fleeing at full speed might not be enough, she was unexpectedly waiting for him.
“Looks like you’re confident.”
“Not confident—just that if not now, there won’t be another chance.”
“What chance are you talking about?”
“You crossed the sand suction ground with the Void Treading Divine Method and even fought General Gun. Even if you circulated your qi in between, your condition can’t be normal. At best, you’ve recovered about eighty percent.”
“So you’re saying I’m exhausted?”
“Bet on it if you want.”
“Even if I am exhausted, don’t you know it changes nothing?”
“No. It’s completely different from when you’re at full strength. Lack of internal energy is simple and might not be a big issue. But the dulled judgment and stiff muscles from it? Those are huge problems. In other words, your instantaneous reactions slow down like a sluggish caterpillar. For a warrior accustomed to speed, that’s fatal. That’s what I’m aiming for.”
It seemed like she was revealing his weakness, but it was actually sophisticated psychological warfare to make the opponent anxious and strip away their mental composure.
Her tactic worked—Jeok Yeom-cheon’s face hardened slightly. In truth, until arriving here, he hadn’t even realized he wasn’t at full strength.
But hearing Luha’s words made him realize it for the first time.
“You seem to have forgotten I’m strong enough to ignore such trifles.”
He forced a calm tone as he spoke.
“You must have already forgotten there are three of us.”
‘……Damn it!’
Jeok Yeom-cheon cursed inwardly.
His condition was definitely off. Otherwise, how could he forget there were three enemies?
He quickly activated his Heavenly Ear Earth Listening Skill.
‘One to the right…… a woman. And…… nothing.’
Jeok Yeom-cheon’s eyes widened.
There were clearly three enemies. Yet one wasn’t registering in his senses. The guy who had spoken casually to Gun Cheokjeon. Luha was stronger, but that one led the group.
He scanned the surroundings again.
This time more slowly. But nothing changed. He couldn’t tell where it was.
‘Doesn’t matter. Even if they ambush me, I’ll just kill them.’
Jeok Yeom-cheon decided to relax.
He looked back at Luha. He thought observing her might reveal the hidden Ak Muyoo.
“I always thought only your husband was the odd one. Not even a real country—just that pathetic little Cheonji Kingdom, no…… not even called a kingdom anymore. Anyway, from that tiny speck of a city, wielding a bit of power and acting like the center of the world. How laughable it was—you wouldn’t know. Like a big ant lording over an ant kingdom. Just like the empire’s noble clans. I let it slide thinking narrow-minded women can be like that sometimes. But now I see you’re no different, Great Hero Jeok. That’s why they say husband and wife match each other.”
A sneer curled at Luha’s lips.
Jeok Yeom-cheon’s face flushed red and pale by turns.
“You shouldn’t have killed my son.”
He ground out the words.
Jeok Yeom-cheon had nothing particular to say. But having someone point out his flaws didn’t feel good.
He gathered his internal energy. His robe billowed taut like a sail full of wind.
“That’s why they say from ancient times, give other people’s kids an extra rice cake, but beat your own. If you’d raised Jeok Ri-ha properly, he wouldn’t have died screaming. Even if you failed at that, if you’d just taught him to know when to charge and when not to…… Maybe he couldn’t tell shit from piss or front from back because he takes after his father.”
“You bitch—I’ll kill you!”
Jeok Yeom-cheon was truly enraged.
If Luha’s words had been even slightly off, he might not have been this angry. But they were too accurate, leaving him speechless. That made him even madder. In truth, he had wanted to raise his son strictly.
But one word to the boy, and his wife became a shield. So he knew he was spoiling him but let it slide. No…… he firmly believed the kid would grow out of it, mature more than now.
Yet that child returned as a corpse.
It all felt like his own fault, driving him mad with rage he couldn’t vent on himself.
“We shouldn’t have met in the first place. If it weren’t for you, my son wouldn’t be dead.”
Boom!
Jeok Yeom-cheon kicked off the ground.
His form shot up at an angle.
That was the moment. The sand directly beneath Jeok Yeom-cheon erupted like an explosion. It was Ak Muyoo, hidden like a lizard.
“Huh?!”
Jeok Yeom-cheon’s eyes widened.
Not a distant foe. Just one zhang away. Failing to detect an enemy that close was impossible.
Shing!
The Demon Hook, thick with murderous intent, targeted Jeok Yeom-cheon’s foot. Ak Muyoo swung his right hand first, then his left arm a split-second later.
“No chance!”
Jeok Yeom-cheon was a true master, seasoned and sharp.
Ambushed, he dodged the attack while thrusting both fists at Ak Muyoo. Left to block the Demon Hook, right aimed at Ak Muyoo’s heart.
‘Ugh!’
As he thrust his right fist, Jeok Yeom-cheon groaned inwardly. A stabbing pain surged from the wound he’d taken fighting Gun Cheokjeon. Pain radiating from the sliced bone. The sudden sharp agony numbed his arm, making it twitch.
His left fist’s fist force was fine, but the power in his right fist halved. The fist gang weakened to mere fist qi.
Thud!
That was when Luha loosed her bowstring. But no arrow was visible. The one she’d just fired was a Dark Current Arrow, one of the treasures of the Cheonjung High Citadel Clan recovered from the Solar Divine Hall along with the Great Heaven Demon Bow. She hadn’t used it despite exhausting her normal arrows because it was her final resort, and she only had three.
Clang!
Jeok Yeom-cheon’s left fist gang first smacked away the Demon Hook from Ak Muyoo’s right hand.
Thump!
Then his right fist qi struck Ak Muyoo’s chest.
“Gah!”
Ak Muyoo flew back but kept swinging his left arm. The Demon Hook reached near Jeok Yeom-cheon’s ankle. Luha’s Dark Current Arrow was also closing in.
“Heh!”
Spotting the Demon Hook and Dark Current Arrow, Jeok Yeom-cheon panicked. He pulled his right foot back and leaned his torso left.
Swoosh!
Thump!
“Urk!”
A scream escaped Jeok Yeom-cheon’s lips.
He hadn’t fully dodged the Demon Hook—his ankle tore open. The Dark Current Arrow burrowed into his right chest. Impossible if he were at full strength. Even so, it was the best response in his situation. Anyone else would have lost a foot and their heart.
Thud!
Jeok Yeom-cheon crashed to the ground.
“Hah!”
“Ta-ha!”
Ara from the tree and Luha leaped down together.
“I’ve been waiting!”
Jeok Yeom-cheon thrust both fists rapidly.
This time, full power. Aware of his right arm’s issue, he ignored the stabbing pain.
Clang! Clang!
His fist gang snapped the two women’s weapons and shot forward.
Thump! Thump!
It slammed into their chests.
“Aaah!”
“Argh!”
Ara and Luha screamed as they soared backward.
Shing!
Seizing the moment, Ak Muyoo’s Demon Hook whistled from both sides toward Jeok Yeom-cheon’s neck. Jeok Yeom-cheon wrapped his hands in qi force. His hands turned blade-like.
“Chaha!”
With a shout, he swung both arms. They sliced the air, striking the Demon Hooks and their chains.
Clang! Clang!
The chains snapped instantly.
The Demon Hooks flew back. Jeok Yeom-cheon immediately thrust both arms at Ak Muyoo’s chest.
Thump!
“Gaaah!”
Ak Muyoo screamed and flew backward. Ahead of him flew Luha, freshly struck. Behind her was the cliff. Luha vanished over the edge first, followed by Ak Muyoo’s form plummeting down.
“You won’t escape!”
Jeok Yeom-cheon kicked off the ground after them. His form soon dropped below the cliff.
He closed in on Ak Muyoo with Thousand Jin Drop.
“I’ll kill you.”
As the distance shrank, he raised his qi-wrapped left arm. To sever the neck.
Seeing his hand heading for Ak Muyoo’s neck, he thought it was over and shifted his gaze to Luha, who had fallen first. Remembering her invisible arrows.
He also closed in further, using Ak Muyoo as a shield.
“I’ve been waiting for this.”
Ak Muyoo’s voice rang in his ear.
‘You’re already done, bastard!’
Jeok Yeom-cheon ignored Ak Muyoo’s words.
No need to heed a man about to lose his head. Thus, he missed Ak Muyoo’s right hand gripping something at his waist.