Chapter 71
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Blood Scent in the Fog
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“Hum, that's strange.”
“What is it?”
“There's been this weird blood smell since earlier. And it's only getting thicker...”
“...”
At the sudden remark, Yu Hyun tilted his head in confusion and sniffed the air.
What, are you a dog or something? Keep talking about smells.
No matter how much he sniffed, all he got was the scent of damp earth.
But the one who spoke up wasn't just anyone—it was the master Gu Ja-jin. He couldn't brush it off lightly.
Still, with the fog blocking everything...
“Hum, guess I need to clear some of this fog.”
“...Pardon?”
Yu Hyun, Nangong Seong, and even Gye Du-shin all stared at Gu Ja-jin at his utterly nonchalant words.
No way.
This? With just his hand? You're talking nonsense.
Yu Hyun shook his head with a smirk, but Gu Ja-jin suddenly raised one hand from behind his back and swung it wide.
Whooosh!
With a single casual swat, like shooing a fly, a menacing gust of wind roared out, shoving the fog ahead and briefly clearing their view... only for it to cloud over again.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
How could a man possibly overcome nature?
Just as his eager anticipation deflated and a scoff rose in his throat—
“Hoo? Wind won't cut it, huh? Then how about this...”
Looking a bit miffed that his trick had failed against the fog, Gu Ja-jin stepped slightly ahead of the group and pressed down firmly on the ground.
Crack, craaaack!
...Huh?
An astonishing sight unfolded.
The air around him within a certain radius began to freeze solid, as if by magic.
And this chill...
“Hoo... It works, but the fog's too damn thick.”
“...”
Gu Ja-jin let out a long, frosty breath and grumbled in dissatisfaction.
“Guess I need to put a little more power into it?”
“...”
As everyone gaped in disbelief, Gu Ja-jin twisted the foot he'd planted on the ground, bent his knees, and shifted more weight onto it.
Ruuuumble.
A pale chill rose from beneath his foot like smoke.
Craaaackle!
The frozen area expanded rapidly, encasing a space some ten-odd paces wide in ice.
“Chung San!”
Paht!
At the simultaneous shout, Chung San dashed forward and swung his sword.
Whoooosh!
His blade skimmed low over the ground, flipping the soil as if it were afloat.
And...
“See, I knew it'd be like this.”
Gu Ja-jin grinned and shrugged.
Glimpsing from the exposed earth were unmistakable traces of blood, faint though they were.
The moment he realized it, a nauseating stench assaulted his nose.
“Hah, they covered it up before the blood even dried. Bits of flesh scattered around too—they did quite the brutal job.”
“...”
Crack, crackle.
With a sigh in his voice, Gu Ja-jin shook his head a couple times and withdrew his energy. The frozen fog plummeted like icicles, shattering on the ground.
“Hyun... Huh? Why are you all staring like that?”
“...”
Gu Ja-jin cocked his head at the three, their jaws dropped in shock.
R-right. This old guy's one of those 'King' titled elders too, isn't he?
Living with him day to day, he kept forgetting.
With his small stature, hunched back, and that village-elder look you could see on any roadside, it was easy to forget he was the Water Dragon King.
Muttering to himself not to judge by appearances three times over, Yu Hyun asked,
“What was that just now?”
“Hm?”
“Freezing the fog.”
“...Ah, ha!”
Gu Ja-jin, who had been gazing at him with unusually sparkling eyes, clapped his hands and laughed.
He'd explained martial arts countless times on the way to Hyeong Mountain, but the kid had always been bored. Finally showing some interest.
“This?”
“...”
Crackle.
“Something like this?”
“...”
Crack, craaaackle!
Gu Ja-jin, looking oddly excited, waved his hands this way and that. Each time, the fog froze and shattered to the ground.
“Pretty amazing, right?”
“W-well... a little? Just a tiny bit?”
Yu Hyun reluctantly pinched his thumb and forefinger together in front of his eyes, and Gu Ja-jin declared proudly,
“This is water arts.”
“Huh? Water arts? Not ice arts?”
“What? Hah, I thought you were just some punk...”
“...”
This old man's looking down on me... which he can afford to.
The skill gap's that big, after all.
“Ice arts, fire arts—it's all just distinctions made by folks who like to categorize. It's merely a matter of how you transform your energy. Even Chang-seon that sword nut can do this much. He just sticks to swordplay because he loves the Sword King title.”
“I-is that so?”
“Of course. Though there are slight differences. You're naturally better at what you're used to. So in close-quarters brawls or sword fights, that sword nut has a slight—very slight—edge. But in water? I dominate utterly.”
“...”
A slight bit versus utterly.
His pride screamed he refused to lose.
Whatever, not the point.
What drove him mad with curiosity was the martial art Gu Ja-jin had just used.
He'd played along childishly earlier out of contrariness, but damn, it was fascinating.
Freezing fog? Even those Righteous Six Saints so-called masters had never shown him anything like that...
Shit, what if this old man's actually stronger than those damn masters?
“But that looked straight-up like ice arts.”
“Water arts.”
“...”
“Fog's just water vapor, isn't it?”
“Ah...”
“It's nothing more than manipulating matter with shallow energy control. Think of it as an application of heating or cooling water with qi.”
“...”
He makes it sound so simple.
“How about it? Want to learn? I'll teach you.”
“...”
Uh...
He desperately wanted to, but asking first felt like losing somehow.
Watching Yu Hyun hesitate, Gu Ja-jin flashed the most pleased smile Yu Hyun had ever seen from him.
“I can tell from your face, you punk. Hold on. Let's check out the situation here first.”
“Y-yeah, sure...”
As Yu Hyun mumbled, Gye Du-shin and Nangong Seong scurried up behind him.
“Um, Uncle?”
“Yeah?”
“We too...”
“...”
Yeah, buzz off.
At the two pairs of eyes brimming with obvious eagerness, Yu Hyun smiled sweetly and spoke.
“Seong.”
“Yes!”
“Stick to laughing and crying.”
“...Yes, sir.”
“Shi-bul.”
“...I'll walk hard.”
“Good.”
As Yu Hyun swatted away the two clueless youths' spoons with a murderous smile, Gu Ja-jin led Chung San toward the thickest bloodstains.
“Hoo, alright, let's take a look.”
Wuuuung!
Gu Ja-jin focused his energy again, and the air trembled in resonance.
“Hah!”
With a short shout, his energy surged outward with tremendous force, shoving the entire fog aside.
“Freeze!”
As if narrating for an audience, Gu Ja-jin dramatically thrust out one hand.
Craaaackle!
It looked just like dumping over a massive ice basin—truly awe-inspiring.
Water Dragon King...
This old man's no human; he's a monster.
Gotta be careful. Poke the bear, and I'll vanish without a trace.
“Hmm, they hid the bodies with branches and covered them with dirt to mask the blood smell. Tsk tsk, no wonder it was so strong.”
Gu Ja-jin, inspecting off the path, found the concealed corpses and grimaced.
That wasn't all.
Even as he examined the bodies, a glint of killing intent flickered in Yu Hyun's eyes.
Those damn bastards...
Sure, in their line of work, killing each other was routine. But how could they be this savage?
Did these guys even know what mercy was?
“Huh? Un-Uncle! Look at this!”
Gye Du-shin, with his Beggars' Sect instincts for scene-reading, rushed to Yu Hyun, face twisted in horror at whatever he'd found.
“What?”
“This...”
“Hm?”
Gye Du-shin held out a torn scrap of cloth.
It was filthy with dirt and soaked in blood, but the writing on it was clear enough.
“Loyalty... to Righteousness? Justice Alliance?”
“It's the Sanhae Escort Agency.”
“...”
Yu Hyun froze as he took the cloth.
Sanhae Escort Agency... the ones who'd left the Justice Alliance with their group.
Under Grand Marshal Zhuge Su-beom's orders, escorting tribute to Hainan Island...
So why were they here?
“Bandits?”
“No. No talk of bandits around Hyeong Mountain, and the wounds don't match bandit handiwork. The angles, depths, targeted spots—they all hit vital points for instant kills. Definitely trained assassins.”
“Assassins?”
“Yes.”
“Can't pin the exact number, but to take this many in one go? Roughly thirty to forty. Maybe fifty at most.”
“...”
“Looks like they were guarding the choke point.”
“Why?”
“Thick fog hiding sightlines, single path out of these woods. Perfect ambush spot, right?”
“...”
“And the tribute's scattered here and there. Wagons hidden in the trees too.”
Yu Hyun's eyes narrowed at Gye Du-shin's fluent analysis.
Leaving the tribute behind? No way bandits.
Death was the only goal.
Hiding the cleanup this far off the road meant Sanhae wasn't the target.
Clearly to keep whoever came after from noticing.
Which meant...
“These fuckers were gunning straight for the Justice Alliance.”
“Gunning?”
“Yeah.”
“...”
Yu Hyun's face hardened like stone at Gye Du-shin's conclusion turning suspicion to certainty.
Those sons of bitches...
“Du-shin.”
“Y-yes?”
Yu Hyun's voice dropped so low it hurt to hear, making Gye Du-shin swallow dryly without thinking.
Whoa, what kind of glare...
[Du-shin.]
“...”
[Stay far away from Uncle if you can. I've been around him—I know that smile? Nah, he's pissed. Beyond furious.]
“...”
[One wrong move, and you're done. Dead serious.]
Backing away carefully at Nangong Seong's kind warning via transmission, Gye Du-shin widened the gap.
“Du-shin!”
“Y-yes sir!”
As if reading his mind, the immediate call made Gye Du-shin jolt upright.
“Guys with this level of skill wouldn't bother with an escort agency for no reason, right?”
“W-well...”
“They're after us. Yeah?”
“Pr-probably?”
“Right. So they failed this time. If they try again, where do you think they'll wait?”
“Th-that... th-that...”
It was an obvious answer he'd spit out in his sleep normally, but nerves locked his tongue.
“Our rendezvous in Hyangyang?”
“Y-yes sir!”
“Good. Real good.”
“...”
Yu Hyun's smile deepened, and the killing intent in his eyes boiled hot enough to melt boulders.
“Elder.”
“Hm?”
Gu Ja-jin frowned slightly at the 'Elder' instead of 'Master'.
“You'll need to hang back from us a bit.”
“...Why?”
Perplexed by the unexpected words, Gu Ja-jin asked.
“If the ones waiting for us are pro assassins, their senses will be sharp. Spot you, and they'll bolt first.”
“True enough. But they're not few in number—you lot will be in real danger.”
“Dangerous, yeah. But I need to see their faces. Gotta ask what kind of bastards slaughter innocents like this.”
He'd vowed it long ago.
The world he would save... no room for beasts in it.
Yu Hyun—no, Hwiam County's thug Jin Wi-gang—glared with eyes blazing murder.