Chapter 28
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Brute Force Solution
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Heave-ho!
When a person gets tense, their heart races, their vision narrows, their hearing dulls, and their mind freezes.
This was the exact state of Namgung Yuya and Hae Myo, riding in the back of the carriage.
Their first-ever Grade 3 mission.
The moment they left Henan, the Murim Alliance's territory, they felt everything around them change.
They hadn't realized it when they were inside.
Now they understood the saying about being a flower in a greenhouse.
The anxiety of knowing that from this moment on, there was no one to protect them but themselves.
The two of them were now staring behind them with dumbfounded eyes.
Everyone has their own way of relieving tension.
Some close their eyes and breathe, some eat, some sleep, some sing.
These two were the type to gradually adapt by spending time in quiet contemplation.
But one person here was different.
“Um, brother, are you okay?”
“Would you like to run with me, little brother?”
By run, he meant literally run.
For a moment, Namgung Yuya looked ahead to check if he was riding a donkey instead of a carriage.
Senior Jegal Biyeon was sitting in the driver's seat, steering the carriage. And in front of her, two sturdy horses were running, dripping with sweat.
In other words, they were just moving ridiculously fast.
Namgung Yuya immediately refused.
“No.”
He didn't want to risk falling behind and being left alone in this unfamiliar place.
Disappointed by Namgung Yuya’s response, Ha Yuseong offered the same to Hae Myo, who was sitting opposite him.
“You should come too, junior. There's nothing like a good run to ease the tension.”
Ha Yuseong was currently poisoned, which made him even calmer than usual.
‘To think the poison even has a calming effect.’
The former Poison King truly was a master.
He must have foreseen this and given him the poison.
The very poison that would send any ordinary person to the afterlife with just a single drop.
Hae Myo also gave an immediate reply.
“I'll pass.”
“I don't understand why you'd pass up something this good.”
Ha Yuseong genuinely couldn't understand them.
‘What in the world is this guy?’
‘Is this senior even human?’
The feeling was mutual.
As they ran, the sun began to dip below the mountains.
The carriage came to a halt.
The horses, which had been running almost all day, were panting heavily. And the man, who had been running almost all day, was doing push-ups.
“You must always follow cardio with anaerobic training. For your information, this is a top-secret tip from an incredible master I know, so keep it between us.”
Namgung Yuya and Hae Myo once again had the same thought.
‘That bastard must have tricked our pure-hearted brother with some nonsense!’
‘Who was it! No matter how amazing our senior is, he's so innocent!’
In that moment, the two of them cursed the Great Monk Cheonsu, the former Fist King and former abbot of Shaolin Temple, before getting out of the carriage. They naturally assumed they would be resting here for the night, having run all day.
Because all living things must rest.
Look at those poor horses, panting after running all day. They must have been so exhausted that their sweat had taken on a reddish hue, like blood.
The evening sun was just beginning to set.
*Thud!*
Jegal Biyeon dismounted from the driver's seat. The three men naturally stopped what they were doing and focused all their attention on their leader, Jegal Biyeon.
Jegal Biyeon spoke.
“It seems we'll have to change our plans.”
Plans? What plans?
Were we supposed to have one? We didn’t hear anything about that.
“The original plan was to ride for seven days and nights to complete the mission quickly. That's why I borrowed Ferghana horses.”
Jegal Biyeon paused for a moment and pointed ahead.
The road was blocked by a jumble of rocks and trees, as if a landslide had occurred.
“It looks like we'll have to turn back. We'll camp here for the night and set out tomorrow.”
Namgung Yuya and Hae Myo were currently astounded by one fact.
This wasn't to belittle a Grade 3 warrior. But a mere Grade 3 warrior had managed to borrow two Ferghana horses, said to be the finest of all steeds!
It was known that even the Imperial Palace had only five Ferghana horses in total. There were probably fewer than ten in the entire Central Plains.
Soon, the two accepted it. They remembered who Jegal Biyeon's father was.
The Strategist Jegal Noein, who could be called the second-in-command of the Murim Alliance.
It would be easy for a father to borrow a couple of Ferghana horses for his daughter who was traveling far from home.
Even if it was a bit unfair, who would dare to stop the Strategist? No one, except perhaps the Alliance Leader himself.
Namgung Yuya and Hae Myo replied.
“Yes, ma'am!”
Just then, Ha Yuseong voiced a slightly different opinion.
“Can't we just clear it and go?”
You're on a road, and something is blocking your way?
Well, then you just clear it and move on.
A very basic thought anyone could have. And, well, he wasn't wrong.
But looking at the sheer volume of debris, it seemed like a job that would take at least ten men a full day to clear.
Moreover, among the wreckage were massive boulders and the roots of trees that looked decades old.
It was an impossible task for the people present.
Fortunately, their leader, Jegal Biyeon, was an eminently sensible person.
“That?”
At Jegal Biyeon's reaction, Namgung Yuya and Hae Myo let out an involuntary sigh of relief. Having spent time with Ha Yuseong and experienced so many irrational things, they had imagined Jegal Biyeon replying, ‘I see. We’ll just clear it then.’
Ha Yuseong answered.
“Yes.”
He was unwavering.
***
Landslides are usually natural phenomena, but this one was quite unnatural.
“The Murim Alliance carriage has been confirmed. As the intel suggested, it consists of one Grade 3 warrior and three apprentices.”
The culprit behind the landslide.
The Third Sword of the Black Kill Sect, said to be the third blade of the Sect Leader, was reporting respectfully to someone.
That someone replied.
“Our future rides on this. You understand that, don't you?”
The Third Sword answered his new master, the young master of the Black Kill Sect.
“We've stationed the entire Black Kill Unit on the other side of the detour, and we've spread an odorless poison along the path.”
Although they weren't the absolute elite of the Black Kill Sect, they were one of its representative martial forces. It was excessive preparation for capturing a mere Grade 3 warrior and some apprentices.
The Black Kill Sect.
Just as the Orthodox Faction had the Murim Alliance, the Unorthodox Faction had the Heretic Union.
And just as the Orthodox Faction was composed of the Nine Sects and Five Great Families, the Unorthodox Faction was a coalition of twelve unorthodox sects.
The Black Kill Sect was one of these twelve, the Twelve Heretic Sects.
The current leader of the Black Kill Sect was on his deathbed due to a chronic illness. It was then that a man approached the Black Kill Sect and leaked a piece of information.
—The Tang Family banquet will be held soon. And this year, it coincides with the seventieth birthday of the former family head. As you know, the current head of the Tang Family is a devoted son. He will present a top-grade elixir at this banquet.
What they were after was that very top-grade elixir.
“Is the information reliable?”
“Yes. It came from a solid source.”
The young master of the Black Kill Sect took a short breath.
By rights, the Unorthodox Faction could not encroach upon the territory of the Orthodox Faction.
This was due to the treaty established between the two factions.
If they were to be discovered here, they might be held accountable not by the Orthodox Faction, but by the Heretic Union itself.
It might have been different before, but with the Sect Leader on his sickbed, even the slightest pressure could destabilize the entire Black Kill Sect.
That was why the young master of the Black Kill Sect had come to the Orthodox Faction's territory with a minimal force.
“Fortunately, the information seems to be true. Good! As planned, once they take the detour, we execute the assassination.”
“Yes, sir!”
The eyes of Heuk Mugwang, the young master of the Black Kill Sect, gleamed with an ominous light.
However, he did not know.
The world does not always go as intended.
“Huh?”
As he gathered his momentum and let his killing intent rise, Heuk Mugwang couldn't help but voice his confusion at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
Shit! What the hell is that!
***
Normally, when a road is blocked by a landslide, the common solution is to either go around or wait for more people to arrive and clear the path together.
But that common sense was being utterly defied right now.
Ha Yuseong grabbed a massive boulder.
“Heave-ho!”
With a single grunt, a boulder so large it would take three grown men to encircle was lifted. And then it was moved to the side of the road.
Was that a man, a bear, or a bear made manifest as a man?
This time, Ha Yuseong grabbed a colossal tree root that looked like it would require at least ten men.
“He won't be able to lift that.”
“I agree.”
Two normal people offered their normal opinions.
“Heave-ho!”
With a single grunt, their opinions were instantly dismissed.
The giant tree root was moved aside.
After that, smaller rocks and trees were cleared away, until a path wide enough for two people to pass through was created.
The two normal people thought.
“He must be stopping for today and will finish tomorrow.”
“I agree.”
At this point, another normal person voiced a new question.
“I wonder about that.”
At the sound of the jade-like voice, the two young men couldn't help but focus their attention.
Ha Yuseong returned to the carriage.
“There's a path now.”
He said it with a bright smile.
So what?
For once, the three normal people had the same thought. Because it was the normal way to think.
After speaking to the three, Ha Yuseong ducked under the two horses and placed a shoulder under each.
“Neigh?”
“Neeigh?”
Ferghana horses were often described as spiritual creatures, possessing remarkable stamina and intelligence.
Though unconfirmed, the Murim Encyclopedia stated that a Ferghana horse’s intelligence was comparable to that of a five-year-old child.
And the two Ferghana horses here were perfectly normal Ferghana horses.
So, it was only natural for them to express their confusion.
Because, to a Ferghana horse, humans were beings they were meant to carry on their backs. It was their duty, their life's purpose, and their source of pride.
“Heave-ho!”
With another grunt, the two Ferghana horses felt their long-held worldview shatter into pieces.
“Alright, kids. Stay still.”
Feeling the power emanating from the body that lifted them, the Ferghana horses didn't even think about moving.
“Good boys.”
“Neigh!”
“Neeigh!”
The sensation of being carried for the first time in their lives wasn't bad. No! It was actually quite good.
Ha Yuseong looked back.
His gaze seemed to say to the three of them:
What are you all doing?
The two perfectly normal people were so stunned by this unprecedented situation that their thoughts slowed, and they couldn't read the look in Ha Yuseong's eyes.
Fortunately, the more experienced Jegal Biyeon understood.
“I'll lift the back. You two get the front.”
Only then did Namgung Yuya and Hae Myo realize what was happening, and they moved to the front of the carriage.
“Junior. Is this really happening?”
“Senior. I don't even know anymore.”
“Let's just lift it.”
“Yes.”
The two of them lifted the carriage.
Jegal Biyeon lifted the back of the carriage by herself.
Seeing the carriage suspended in the air, Ha Yuseong beamed and started moving.
And so, the four of them smoothly overcame the natural disaster known as a landslide through sheer manpower.
***
“Is this for real?”
For Heuk Mugwang, who had been watching in secret from the side, bewilderment was a natural reaction.