Turn Course North-Northwest
The human mind has a curious way of freezing when overwhelmed. Since the story had taken a sudden, sharp turn into crazy bitch territory, Cheong couldn’t even begin to process the situation. Still, Yang Chaemu’s desperation had already prepared for such contingencies. Of course, he hadn’t expected someone to suddenly claim the child as theirs and attempt a kidnapping. He had simply worried that some soft-hearted fool might try to intervene.
From the shadows beneath the trees behind Yang Chaemu, a figure slipped out like smoke. It was a man dressed in black night clothes. There was only one group that covered their faces and moved without sound.
Assassins.
Hidden forces have appeared. They are professional killers.
“Sir, shall we begin?”
“Go do what you’re paid for.”
“What about the woman?”
“Doesn’t matter. As long as the child remains unharmed.”
“Understood.”
The man in black blew a sharp, shrill whistle and dashed into the forest. Answering whistles echoed from both near and far. Soon after, a small flame flickered to life somewhere in the west.
“Descendants of the Divine Spear! If you find this dishonorable deed distasteful, you may leave this place. However, if there are any among you who would rather roll in the mud and still remain a spear until the end—”
Yang Chaemu gave a silent nod of farewell to Abbot Seungsu. Then he strode forward and declared,
“…Follow me. Let’s go.”
Not a single warrior of the Yang clan answered with words. They simply followed their young patriarch in solemn silence. These were the warriors of the Divine Spear Yang Clan who had stood against the Japanese pirates of the East Sea for an entire century. Every one of them owed the Yang family a debt—whether for themselves, their friends, or their parents. Not a single man among them had escaped the clan’s grace, and they served with pride born from that very grace.
“Master.”
“We shall walk our own path. Even if their goal goes awry, we must prepare a way to aid this honorable clan that has devoted itself to the world in silence.”
With that, even the Taoist priests of Wudang departed.
----
Cheong, on the other hand, felt rather cheerful.
I decided not to overthink it. Just doing whatever the hell I want is so much easier. Though I don’t actually have a dick anymore…
Still, we’ll meet again someday, right?
Jin Jangmyeong, who had been thrashing and sobbing and begging to be let go, had gone limp at some point. It seemed she had finally given up.
What can a little brat like you even do about it?
Then came a sudden, blunt question.
“…Are you really going to fuck me?”
Cheong nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Hey! Watch your mouth! No bad words! Jangmyeong is still a baby. Babies should only use nice words.”
“What are you even saying, you ugly thing.”
“Well, if you say so, I guess I am.”
“You’re ugly.”
“Yes, thank you for your valuable opinion. Anything else to add?”
“Tsk.”
Jin Jangmyeong clicked her tongue, then asked again.
“So, are you really going to fuck me or not?”
“No.”
Cheong proudly revealed her grand plan.
“We are heading to the Wushan Sect!”
“It’s not Wushan Sect, it’s Sinnyeomun… Wait, no… that’s not right either…”
“Wushan Sect, Sinnyeomun, whatever! We’re going there anyway!”
It was a rather heartbreaking thing to hear for the Goddess Sect.
“But why? Why did you have to use bad words and kidnap me?”
“Hey, who said anything about kidnapping? Let’s call it a temporary, one-sided coercive companionship.”
“……? Isn’t that just kidnapping?”
“If I didn’t kidnap you, they wouldn’t know we’re heading to the Wushan Sect. Our dear Jangmyeong isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, is she?”
“What are you even saying.”
“But there’s one big problem.”
“……?”
“I don’t know the way. Where is the Wushan Sect anyway?”
“……?”
“I said I don’t know the way. Do you know?”
“Roughly. Northwest.”
“Perfect! Turn course north-northwest!”
Cheong adjusted their direction roughly and asked again.
“But where exactly is northwest?”
“The direction where the sun sets is west.”
Cheong looked up at the sky. It was completely covered in dark storm clouds, as if rain would pour at any moment.
“What a shame. So close. Kid, if you could just try a little harder—urk.”
Something tough suddenly caught Cheong around the neck. Her neck was caught, but her body kept moving forward. She flew forward in a perfect straight line for over thirty meters before slamming into the ground. Dry leaves exploded into the air like shrapnel.
Cheong immediately checked on Jangmyeong in her arms.
“Hey, you okay?”
“There’s… blood on your neck.”
“Damn, that stings.”
Cheong touched her neck and frowned. Thankfully, it was only a shallow cut on the skin. Still, it hurt like hell.
“What kind of crazy bastard ties a wire in the middle of the forest? This is attempted murder, straight up attempted murder.”
“How unfortunate. That it only remained an attempt.”
An unfamiliar voice cut in.
Cheong leaped back like a startled cat. She drew her sword and aimed it at the enemy, only to be startled again. A pitch-black outfit covering the face. The conclusion was obvious.
“A ninja? What the hell is a ninja doing in a wuxia world!”
From somewhere nearby, a throwing knife flew out. It was one of the ones Cheong had carefully looted from the rat-faced man’s corpse. The blade buried itself in the black-clad man’s nape.
“Huh?”
Cheong let out a dumbfounded sound.
She had been extremely tense because a ninja had suddenly appeared. After all, when ninjas show up, everyone usually dies. But this…
Wait, ninjas aren’t that big a deal?
----
…Or so she had thought at one point.
It wasn’t that a ninja had appeared.
It was that ninjas had appeared. Plural.
And their methods were far more annoying than she had expected.
They had strung wires all along the path, making rapid movement impossible. She couldn’t use her cutting-edge footwork technique, Night Tactical Step, either, so she had to hold the Wolgwang-geom (No. 6) straight out in front of her. But that left her lower body vulnerable.
“Whoa—”
A wire suddenly caught her ankle, yanking her body forward. Turned into a human cannonball, Cheong spotted the massive old tree she was about to crash into. She pulled Jangmyeong out from under her arm, hugged her tightly, and tried to twist her body at the last second.
And then—
Boom.
The impact against her back knocked the breath out of her. Forcing air back into her frozen lungs, she checked inside her arms.
“Ughhh… Kid, are your eyes, nose, and mouth still attached?”
“Yeah.”
“Arms and legs still there too?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Let’s go. You cowardly bastards. Can’t even fight fair and square.”
Cheong stood up and tucked Jangmyeong under her arm again. Then she set her back down.
“Can’t do it with only one arm.”
She stripped off her outer jacket in one smooth motion.
“Get on my back.”
“…Why are you taking it off?”
“Ah, this is called a baby carrier. A proud invention of the Republic of Korea. Or something like that. Anyway.”
Cheong wrapped Jangmyeong securely against her back and tied the jacket tightly around them both. No more one-armed disadvantage! You’re all dead now, you damn ninja bastards.
Cheong muttered coldly to herself.
…Only for there to be a pitfall this time.
Proper footwork required at least some trust. The fundamental belief that the ground would not betray her. Ever since humanity began walking on two legs, the earth had always supported people firmly.
But the moment she stomped down hard and the ground crumbled beneath her, it was more than enough to shatter that basic human trust.
The only saving grace was that Cheong was currently transporting a piece of cargo that absolutely could not be allowed to die. Otherwise, she would have already become a cold corpse crushed beneath a forest of poisoned spears and venomous needles at the bottom of the pit.
Instead, what greeted her was a wet, sticky splash of bright red mud.
What the hell? Mud? Is this some kind of yellow clay pack service? Or did they make it just to piss me off?
A pit one and a half meters deep was not particularly difficult for a Peak realm martial artist to escape. She could simply leap out.
Annoying me with such petty tricks.
Just as she was about to dash off again, Cheong realized her body had become incredibly heavy.
Fuck, so that’s why it was mud.
Peep peep—!
That damn whistle sounded again. Cheong’s head snapped around. Beneath the pitch-black shadows of the forest, made even darker by the heavy storm clouds, she saw a black-clad man quietly retreating.
It had been like this the whole time. They would trap her with pitfalls, hide, then blow the whistle to reveal her position. Fucking bastards. Where do you think you’re going?
Ding—!
The black-clad man’s head was shredded into a spiral shape. The remaining body crumpled to its knees and collapsed face-first into the dirt.
----
The situation was gradually getting worse.
These black bastards were not ninjas. They were different from all the other sons of bitches she had faced so far. If she had to classify them, they were hunters. Highly skilled, professional hunters.
There wasn’t a single spot on her body that didn’t hurt. When she woke up tomorrow, her entire body would probably be a colorful festival of bruises. The fresh scratches from the sparse spring branches stung fiercely as mud seeped into them.
She had lost the Wolgwang-geom (No. 6). Her hand had slipped on the mud and she dropped it. Before she could retrieve it, a net had come flying at her. She had blown up the attackers with the Yeorae Shinjang, and while they staggered, she tore through the net and fled. It was a famous sword she had paid half a ton of gold for.
Goodbye, my Wolgwang-geom.
Cheong shed silent tears in her heart as she sang a farewell.
There was now a hole in her thigh. She had been caught by the ankle again and sent flying, only to land on a sharp branch that had been sticking out. It hurt like absolute hell. And it kept hurting.
Her left ring and pinky fingers were dangling loosely. She had braced wrong when falling into the pit. Why the hell was there a rock right there?
Sighing deeply as she burst out of the hole, she came face to face with another black-clad man. Just like she had done in Luoyang, she grabbed his throat and tore it open, splattering herself with blood.
Then, a single drop of moisture touched her cheek.
The rain in the forest announced its arrival with sound.
Tap tap tap tap…
The sound of rain striking leaves grew louder and louder. And then—
Shaaaaaaa—!
The sound of oil sizzling filled the entire world.
“It’s even raining now. I’m going to lose my damn mind…”
Cheong let out a long sigh.
Then, one thought suddenly occurred to her.