Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: At the Ranch
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When firing a pellet bow, there was another major drawback: if you didn't shoot it right, you'd hit either your hand gripping the stock or the bow's body itself. Long arrows were nocked against the stock while drawing the string, so they wouldn't miss unless your aim went way off. But pellet bows were different. Even a slight mistake could send the shot veering off course. Even a tiny tremor in your hand while firing would throw it wide.
—Your hand can't tremble even a little until you release the string, and you can't breathe either. You have to move like lightning in that state.
"That guy's house... I should check it out too...."
He muttered softly to himself and released the string.
Twang!
Whoosh!
The pellet vanished into the air the instant the string snapped free.
Thud!
A dull thump echoed from the tree.
He pulled out another Dark Current Arrow and loaded it onto the string. This time, he drew it back a bit faster.
Twang!
Whoosh!
Thud!
With the quicker draw, the Dark Current Arrow flew even faster. It crossed fifty paces in the blink of an eye.
It was as if it had folded space itself.
"Earth-Shrinking Star Arrow!"
Mok Woo, who had been watching Ak Muyoo, murmured under his breath. Earth-Shrinking Star Arrow wasn't an established martial arts term. The clan that first coined it was the Heavenly Bow Eagle Tiger Clan.
They'd simply swapped the "step" from the supreme lightness skill Earth-Shrinking Step for "arrow." Meaning the arrow flew just that fast.
"You know about bows?"
Luha asked, looking at Mok Woo.
"I was obsessed with archery in my youth. I stuck with it for over five years before realizing I had no talent and quitting. That guy seems to have it, though. I hear pellet bows are a hundred times harder than regular ones, and to shoot like that..."
"It's not talent. It's blood and sweat."
Muk Bu-seong said.
Mok Woo turned to look at him.
"I don't like that kid. But I respect him. No, I revere him."
"He must be something special."
Bang! Bang-bang-bang! Bang-bang-bang-bang! Bang-bang!
Thwack! Thwack-thwack-thwack! Thwack-thwack-thwack! Thwack-thwack!
The sounds of the string releasing came in rapid succession.
"Whoa!"
"Crazy bastard!"
Muk Bu-seong and Seo Haran clicked their tongues in amazement.
It wasn't just the Dark Current Arrows that were invisible. Ak Muyoo's hand drawing and loading them had vanished from sight too.
"How's he doing that without any internal energy?"
Seo Haran muttered, her face saying it made no sense.
"Without internal energy?"
Mok Woo asked, stunned.
"That's why I revere him. He doesn't have a shred of internal energy, yet he's stronger than me—one of the Desert Ten Heroes."
After firing all twenty shots, Ak Muyoo headed to the tree.
"Ah, no!"
He checked the tree and called out to Ageukta.
"What."
Ageukta flew toward the tree.
"I'll go ahead and prep dinner."
Luha led the camel loaded with gear back to camp.
By then, Ageukta had arrived at the tree.
"What's up?"
"Pull out the Dark Current Arrows with void-grasping."
"You expect me to pull arrows I can't even see, you punk?"
"Not even this?"
"Well, nothing's impossible..."
"We need all of these to hit the gold mine. Just expose their butts, and I'll handle the rest."
"Got it."
Ageukta placed his palm against where the arrows had embedded and unleashed void-grasping.
"Hey! Didn't these go clean through?"
Ageukta shouted, his face flushing red.
"Through? Yeah, they did."
Ak Muyoo grinned.
"They really penetrated?"
"Yeah! They're down there."
Ak Muyoo pointed to the ground two paces from the tree. Twenty Dark Current Arrows lay scattered there.
"These went through that?"
Ageukta eyed the tree. Its trunk was about a foot and a half thick. That was tougher than steel armor. And he'd punched right through it with arrows.
"You really have no internal energy?"
"Sometimes even I'm shocked by what I can do. Anyway, fix these up, and I can shoot twice as fast."
Ak Muyoo tapped the bundle of Dark Current Arrows.
"So those earlier shots weren't your best?"
"They're a bit uncomfortable like this."
He pointed to the Dark Current Arrow bundle.
"I'll get dizzy."
"Let's go."
Ak Muyoo started walking.
"When did you learn the pellet bow?"
"There was this guy in my unit who was a monster with a bow. We called him Divine Archer."
"Did you really need to learn archery too?"
"Warriors with internal energy get stronger by focusing on one thing. But without it, we need to handle as many weapons as possible."
"Why?"
"Picture you and me fighting. You palm-strike me. Sure, a direct hit kills me, but it glances sometimes. Then I drop my weapon and go tumbling. In a place swarming with enemies, rolling around unarmed? You're done."
"You become a target."
"Exactly. That's when you grab whatever weapon's lying around and fight."
"You can't say, 'Only swords or blades for me' in a pinch."
"So pick up any weapon and fight?"
"Right. If a bow's rolling by, grab it and shoot."
"I see. But..."
"But what?"
"If there's no weapon around, you die?"
"Humanity's oldest primitive weapon is still there."
"What's the oldest?"
"This."
Ak Muyoo picked up a fist-sized stone.
"A rock?"
"Like this."
He turned, hurling the stone at the tree.
Swish!
Thud!
The stone, which flew over ten paces, embedded in the trunk.
"From ten paces away, that's what it does..."
"Up close, it'd smash a skull."
"More than ten Blood Wolves died to rocks."
"You don't need to say that to my face."
"You're not their leader anymore."
"True enough."
Ageukta shrugged.
The two headed back to the group.
"What's for lunch today?"
Ak Muyoo asked Mok Woo.
"Pig offal soup."
"Offal soup?"
"Yes."
"How do you make it?"
"Wash the pig offal thoroughly in salt, boil it, then add bean paste, chili powder, and seasonings. Boil again until thick. Finish with chopped green onions."
"Sounds delicious. Let's eat."
The group entered the herders' quarters.
It was spartan: sleeping quarters and a dining hall. The hall was fairly spacious.
They sat at a table, and out came offal soup, rice, dumplings, and roast pork.
"Rice?"
Ak Muyoo smacked his lips.
"Have you had it before?"
Mok Woo asked.
"Ten years ago."
"You've been in the desert that whole time?"
"Yeah."
"Doing what?"
"Soldier."
"..."
"Don't ask more. Introduce yourselves first."
He said to the four sitting beside Mok Woo.
"I'm Yeom Jeong."
Yeom Jeong was the most refined of the five. He had a goatee neater than his hair.
"I'm Gong Heo."
Said the man with a shaved head like a monk.
"A monk?"
"Former."
"She's a nun too."
He pointed at Seo Haran.
"Amitabha! We know."
"I'm Gwangja."
Gwangja had a bushy head of hair, but his eyes burned with fanatic intensity.
"Looks like divine light in his eyes."
"He's from a cult. Taoist fraud."
Gong Heo explained.
"I'm Jeok Son."
Jeok Son had the fiercest—make that most savage—face of the bunch.
"Mok Woo, Yeom Jeong, Gong Heo, Gwangja, Jeok Son..."
Ak Muyoo studied the five quietly.
"And them...?"
Mok Woo glanced at Ageukta's group.
"Right, my bad. This old man's Ageukta, the nun's Fire Dragon Seo Haran, and the brute's Sea Dragon Muk Bu-seong."
"Ah, are you perhaps from Great Desert Wolf Heaven...?"
The upright Yeom Jeong trailed off, eyeing Ageukta.
"Ancient history."
"I see."
Yeom Jeong nodded.
One-armed from some blade wound. His appearance told the story.
"You two must be from Yellow River Ten Dragons. Pleased to meet you."
Mok Woo clasped his hands in greeting to Muk Bu-seong and Seo Haran.
"Likewise. Chacha Kingdom's got some real dragons in Dragon Lake Blood Pool, huh."
Seo Haran smiled.
No joke. The blacksmith Cheol Mok from the forge and these five were at least as strong as her, if not stronger. A kingdom with six like that wasn't to be laughed at.
"Eat before it cools. It'll lose flavor."
Mok Woo said.
"Let's do it."
Ak Muyoo ladled some broth first.
"Whoa—!"
Exclamation burst from his mouth. Insanely spicy and delicious. That summed up offal soup.
"Good?"
"It's a crime to eat this without sharing."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Mok Woo smiled faintly.
"What do you think?"
Ak Muyoo turned to Luha.
"Delicious."
Luha looked convinced too.
"Seo Haran, you?"
He looked her way this time.
"I'm learning this recipe."
Seo Haran declared, downing the broth straight from the bowl with steely resolve.
"That's the ranch."
Cha Ji Woong pointed to the grassland in the distance. Everywhere else was thick forest, but the area he indicated was a vast plain, easily tens of thousands of pyeong, all meadow.
"How many at the ranch?"
"Ten herders guarding it."
"Martial artists...?"
"You think herders train in martial arts?"
"Right."
"We have to spare the women."
"I'll try."
That was the answer, but he had zero intention of letting Luha live. They'd come here for her; letting her go made no sense.
Geo Bu Chi nodded to his deputy Bu Cha. Orders to deploy the troops.
Bu Cha went to the rear and issued commands. Soon, five hundred Feng Sha Ze assassins split to the left and right flanks.