Chapter 204
Chapter 204
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: Definitely Sapa Bastards
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“What’ve you got?”
“Nothin’. Clean as a whistle, not a damn thing.”
“Half a day’s gone by. Should’ve been wrapped up by now.”
“All that’s left are bloodstains. Shit, must’ve been a brutal fight. Blood stench still lingers like this.”
At Geon Cheon-hwi’s words, Tak Hyuk-dong furrowed his brow and scanned the ground.
Since the incident happened right in the middle of the main road, most of the scene had already been cleared.
Only faint bloodstains remained, unwashed.
But it wasn’t easy to infer anything from just that.
Even the Thunder Dragon Squad, seasoned in fieldwork, showed frustration.
Naturally, no one else found anything special either.
Not even Namgung-hyuk, who was just quietly looking around.
Others couldn’t be expected to do better.
‘Martial prowess doesn’t mean tracking skills.’
Geon Cheon-hwi shook his head. Tracking required specialized experience and knowledge.
Namgung-hyuk, who’d never needed to track anyone, wouldn’t have learned it. Even if he had, he lacked the time to gain real field experience.
Exhibiting tracking skills after the scene was mostly cleaned up was no easy task.
“Still, the Beggar’s Sect hooks are something else. Look at ’em scurrying around like that.”
“You think they’ll find something?”
“Info handlers gotta have their tricks.”
“Hmph! Beggar’s Sect is Beggar’s Sect, alright.”
People watched the little beggars darting here and there, inspecting everything, their hopes rising.
It was natural to assume the Beggar’s Sect, masters of information, excelled at tracking too.
Look at that.
Brushing sand, scraping trees, caressing walls—such deft hands!
After scampering about for a good while, the little beggar approached with a grin.
Eyes gleaming, people asked.
“Did you find something?”
“What’d you spot?”
“How’s it look?”
The little beggar grinned again.
“Couldn’t find a thing.”
“......Then why all the fuss......”
“Felt like I had to do something. Y’know, Beggar’s Sect pride or whatever......”
Awkward.
People gaped at the little beggar scratching the back of his head.
What kind of beggar bullshit is this...... Oh, right, he is a beggar.
Dodging the frowning glares, the little beggar cleared his throat.
He turned to Namgung-hyuk, who stood silently.
“Young hero, this scene’s a bust. I checked everywhere, nothing useful.”
People nodded in agreement.
Pang Jung-hyuk chimed in from the side.
“Exactly, Namgung-hyuk young hero. It’s the main road—traces are mostly gone. Foot traffic everywhere, just bloodstains......”
“Let’s just check the next lead quick. I’ll round up some sharp lads......”
“Southeast.”
At Namgung-hyuk’s abrupt words, everyone looked baffled.
Suddenly? No traces at all?
The little beggar narrowed his eyes.
“Young lord, picking directions at random won’t work. No real traces......”
“Can’t even read a scene, you Beggar’s Sect sub-branch chief?”
“Pardon?”
“Where’s the ‘no traces’?”
“Looks like just bloodstains no matter how I look......”
Namgung-hyuk spoke in an exasperated, irritated tone.
“Aren’t bloodstains traces? And you blind to the splintered wood scattered everywhere?”
“Saw ’em.”
“Ah, what the hell...... Sigh, fine. No point talking to the deaf.”
“My ears work fine!”
“Want me to fix that?”
“......”
The little beggar shut his mouth with the most wronged look imaginable.
Traces where......?
Namgung-hyuk sighed.
“Sigh, fine. I’ll find it! Me! Stupid me for trusting beggar eyes.”
“S-Stupid sucker is a bit......”
“Aigoo, what would Wind Beggar think seeing a pup like you?”
“Pardon? Who?”
“Never mind.”
“Felt like you just insulted me bad.”
“I said never mind.”
Ignoring him, Namgung-hyuk set off southeast at a run.
Namgung-ryong followed without a word, the Thunder Dragon Squad behind.
Pang Jung-hyuk and the others had no choice but to trail.
“What the hell? How does he know? Does he really?”
The little beggar grumbled as he chased Namgung-hyuk.
He’d trained in tracking himself. Lacked field time, but thought his knowledge solid.
Yet that scene really had nothing.
Just bloodstains and broken debris.
Main road—foot traffic had erased most traces.
So how did Namgung-hyuk, who barely moved, spot them?
‘Bluff. He’s guessing.’
The little beggar shook his head.
“Tracking’s delicate work. Not easy, not easy. Skim once and find it? Then tracking would be...... Huh, there it is?”
Chasing Namgung-hyuk for a while, the little beggar’s face went slack.
Off the road, a shattered cart lay there.
Around it, escort agency banners, looted by thugs.
“C-Crazy, how?!”
Locking eyes with Namgung-hyuk, the little beggar’s jaw dropped.
“N-No! H-How’d you nail this? How......”
“Should’ve looked properly.”
“......Pardon? You see this and it just pops out?!”
“Bloodstains tell you everything.”
It wasn’t a ‘see it and know’ thing!
People stared at Namgung-hyuk in shock.
Pinpointing direction from bloodstains alone?
Beyond their common sense.
They didn’t know his past life as a poison master, survivor of demonic bloodbaths—a high expert.
Inferring from a tiny bloodstain? Child’s play compared to chasing demon paths.
Namgung-hyuk shouted.
“What’re you doing! Find it quick!”
“Y-Yes!”
“Move! Find ’em fast and smash!”
......Weren’t we looking for goods?
When did smashing become priority?
Under Namgung-hyuk’s sharp glare, people frantically searched the scene.
“Beggar!”
“Yes!”
“Other intel?”
“Nearby’s a Beggar’s Sect comms relay.”
“Comms relay?”
“Yes! Even in Hwanggu Ridge, Hefei’s under sect leader’s watch......”
“Ah, Namgung Clan?”
“......O-Order fell, so just watched from afar.”
“You saw it?”
“......”
“Let’s head there first.”
“......What about here?”
“Nothing more. Move.”
Namgung-hyuk headed to the relay spot with the little beggar.
The little beggar went somewhere, entered a pine thicket.
Dug under a slim pine, pulled out a paper.
“Twenty li! Group spotted moving within twenty li!”
“Twenty li?!”
“Yes!”
“Which way!”
“There!”
Namgung-hyuk’s head snapped toward the little beggar’s pointing finger.
Shweeeeeeee!
“......!”
In an instant, whipping up a gale, Namgung-hyuk bolted over the hills like flight. Dust clouds billowed behind like a curtain, blocking views.
Speed as if flames jetted from his toes—terrifying.
The little beggar and all gaped.
Too fast to track with eyes.
Geon Cheon-hwi snapped to.
“Run, run!”
Leading, the Thunder Dragon Squad dashed into the rising dust.
Namgung-ryong had already passed ahead; lagging were the little beggar, Pang siblings, So Hye-yeon.
“What lightness skill is that?!”
In a blink, Namgung-hyuk was down the ridge.
“F-Faster now!”
“Huff huff, that monster!”
“T-Together, together!”
Geon Cheon-hwi, Tak Hyuk-dong, Jang Ung ran gasping, horrified.
Post-Spirit Pill, they’d gained confidence in lightness skills—but shattered now.
Geum Cheom-sang, carried by Tak Hyuk-dong, muttered.
“I-I can walk now......”
“Urk! Stay put!”
“I-I’m fine......”
“We ain’t! Without you, who serves that mad young lord, shit—er, properly?!”
“Ah......”
Sounded like cursing just now?
No, better stay quiet.
Geum Cheom-sang had enough sense.
Panting, they reached the spot the little beggar mentioned.
A small valley with a creek ankle-deep.
In the serene-looking valley, sudden water spray erupted.
Splashhhh! Splashhhh!
Namgung-hyuk zipped left-right, whipping everywhere. Each storm-like move showered spray like rain.
“Where are ya, where!”
The little beggar’s pupils dilated.
“......What the hell’s he doing?”
Others’ faces mirrored the confusion.
The spray finally stopped.
Splashhh-!
With the last fierce wave, Namgung-hyuk stood firm.
The little beggar stammered.
“Y-Young hero? W-Why......”
“Gone.”
“Pardon?”
“Gone, I said.”
“T-The group moved, so of course not here.”
“No traces!”
“Pardon?”
The little beggar’s eyes widened.
No traces?
Groups leave tracks naturally. Soft ground, flowing water—easy to leave marks.
And Namgung-hyuk inferred paths from bloodstains!
“J-Just look carefully......”
“Looked good. Nothing.”
“Calm down a bit......”
“You think I’m worked up?”
Very, extremely, totally, super!
The little beggar thought that, averting eyes.
Namgung-hyuk’s gleaming eyes warned: one more word, and laundry time(?) in the valley.
Namgung-hyuk narrowed his brow.
‘Trail’s cut.’
Eyes strained, nothing.
Battle traces like bloodstains? Could guess. But hiding tracks this well needed advanced tracking.
Regrettably, he lacked that level.
‘Fast and stealthy—no footprints.’
Could be non-fiends, but fiend odds higher.
Hiding this well takes intent.
And they were high experts anyway.
New info, but key: lost the trail.
“Shit.”
Shoulders trembled thinking of Gold Immortal Pill materials at risk.
People eyed Namgung-hyuk warily.
Pang Jung-hyuk ventured carefully.
“Namgung bro. Shouldn’t we head back now?”
“Hmm......”
“If even you can’t find it, wasting time here. Return to Namgung Clan, regroup, wait—that’s best.”
“Mmm! Sounds right......”
“Hold on.”
The little beggar cut in.
“How ’bout Beggar’s Sect? Got a sub-branch nearby. We’d track fiends quick......”
“Unknown size—can we alone? No guarantee you’ll find ’em.”
“Hey, Beggar’s Sect! Leagues beyond Five Great Clans intel!”
“Didn’t Namgung-hyuk young hero drag us here on your ‘intel’? Seemed worthless.”
“What?! Hah! Know how much that simple note costs? Hate dealing with folks who don’t get info value......”
“I’ll buy that intel. How much?”
“Thousand gold......”
As Pang Jung-hyuk and little beggar growled, Namgung-hyuk spoke.
“Quiet down a sec.”
His voice so coolly calm it drew all eyes.
Face settled like never excited—people startled slightly.
At Namgung-hyuk’s ominous look, Namgung-ryong asked.
“Something to say......?”
“I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?”
Why drag it out?
This guy who’d charge a hundred times already?
Unsettling.
‘Been thinking’ even more so.
Namgung-hyuk said solemnly, quietly, very softly.
“Seems like sapa bastards.”
“......?”
“The ones who touched my stuff—sapa bastards, I’m saying.”
What bastards?
Sapa?
What nonsense?!
To the bug-eyed crowd, Namgung-hyuk declared firmly.
“I know sapa bastards well. This is their work, for sure!”
Flames blazed in Namgung-hyuk’s eyes.