Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Iron Blood Gang 4
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In the midst of the chilling silence, Baek Moo-jin approached Jin So-hye and quietly asked,
“Are you alright?”
Jin So-hye nodded quietly.
She couldn't blame Baek Moo-jin for her current state; it wasn't normal to begin with. Her internal energy had been depleted far too much during her bout with him. On top of that, the gruesome sight of the Holy Fire Palace disciples and the shock of her Left Attendant's death had driven her to fight on without regard for her own condition.
And then she had to face off against Iron Blood Gang's Deputy Leader Yoo Ja-eon ... Jin So-hye herself wasn't confident about how that fight would end. Yet, thanks to Baek Moo-jin's intervention, Yoo Ja-eon's head had fallen to the ground all too easily, like a joke.
Jin So-hye found herself looking at Baek Moo-jin anew.
'What an unusual man.'
At that moment, one of the division leaders spoke up unexpectedly.
“Since our gang's deputy leader has fallen, I'll take up the mantle of vengeance. I am Ga Yu-yak, leader of the Escort Troop Division.”
He was the very man who had locked eyes with Baek Moo-jin earlier. The one who had urged Yoo Ja-eon to step forward for a one-on-one duel.
Ga Yu-yak was the leader of the Escort Troop Division, which specialized in disruption and reconnaissance missions. At the moment Yoo Ja-eon died, it fell to him to lead the Iron Blood Gang.
But this man, Ga Yu-yak, was remarkably quick-witted and was thinking of his subordinates' survival. He had stepped forward deliberately to prolong the confrontational atmosphere of the duel.
'If this keeps up, we're all dead.'
In his judgment, even if the rest of them banded together, the odds of them all dying to Baek Moo-jin were overwhelmingly high. That was why he had deliberately sacrificed Yoo Ja-eon. All eyes in the room turned to Ga Yu-yak.
Ga Yu-yak deliberately approached close to Baek Moo-jin before turning back to his Iron Blood Gang subordinates and fellow division leaders.
“The deputy leader's vengeance will be mine and Division Leader Jang In-cheon's to claim.”
It was a statement whose meaning wasn't immediately clear. The Iron Blood Gang members' eyes wavered.
Ga Yu-yak looked at Division Leader Jang In-cheon and said,
“Division Leader Jang, come forward. Let's do this together.”
As Jang In-cheon nodded and stepped out, Ga Yu-yak turned to Baek Moo-jin and Jin So-hye.
“We too used numbers to slaughter the Holy Fire Palace disciples here. But at its core, this is a matter of the martial world. If we trace the cycle of grudges back, it starts with the disciples of Mount Slaughter Sect who were massacred by Holy Fire Palace. Isn't that right? But ... let's settle this among ourselves here and now. I challenge you, Baek warrior and Little Palace Lord, alongside Division Leader Jang In-cheon. A fair two-on-two duel to bring today's events to a close.”
Baek Moo-jin had already noticed that Ga Yu-yak understood his intentions but hadn't intervened until now.
'He's got a good head on his shoulders.'
But Ga Yu-yak's words and actions didn't end there.
His body was equipped with quite a few flying knives and hidden weapons strapped to specially crafted leather bands. With a light flick of both sleeves, two flying knives dropped neatly into his palms.
Ga Yu-yak issued an order to Han Ui-dong, the division leader he had deliberately excluded from this duel.
“Division Leader Han, take your men and join the enemy division leader.”
“What?”
“That's an order. Go tell the enemy division leader ... that we're sorry we couldn't share a drink. Hurry!”
With that, Ga Yu-yak launched a preemptive strike.
Flying knives dropped from both his hands.
Shuu! Shuu!
Jin So-hye and Baek Moo-jin deflected them simultaneously with a sharp tadang!.
Ga Yu-yak bellowed at Division Leader Han while charging at Baek Moo-jin with blinding speed.
“Division Leader Han! Go now!”
“Go, Division Leader Han!”
Division Leader Jang In-cheon shouted at Han Ui-dong as well, whipping up a gust with his massive iron club before leaping at Jin So-hye.
2.
In an instant, Ga Yu-yak and Baek Moo-jin clashed. But Ga Yu-yak was sent flying by Baek Moo-jin's single sword strike, unable to charge again as he resorted to lightness skill and hurling more flying knives.
Jang In-cheon and Jin So-hye had also engaged. Surprisingly, Jang In-cheon, who wielded powerful external arts, was holding his own fiercely against her. It was proof of just how exhausted Jin So-hye was.
Meanwhile, the bearish, stolid-looking Division Leader Han Ui-dong hesitated over whether to stay and join or leave.
'Brothers Ga and Jang look like they're going to die ...'
But Han Ui-dong knew full well that his own wits and quick thinking fell far short of Ga Yu-yak's ... That was why he treated Ga Yu-yak, despite being a fellow division leader, like a senior or superior.
Han Ui-dong wasn't much for words.
'Just follow Division Leader Ga's orders.'
The words he barely managed to spit out toward Ga Yu-yak were ...
“Then I'll go. Be careful, Division Leader Ga.”
Nothing more than that.
Perhaps newly irked by his own lack of eloquence, Han Ui-dong turned to his watching subordinates and bellowed through gritted teeth.
“Let's go! We're retreating! Run! It's Division Leader Ga's command!”
At that moment, Ga Yu-yak reached into his bosom, pulled out his hand, and dark beads appeared between his fingers.
With a flick of his wrist, two flew toward Jin So-hye while the rest arced perfectly toward Baek Moo-jin.
Then came the peopeobeobeong! as the black smoke bombs detonated.
A hissing shuuuuuuk ... filled the air as black mist began spreading across the area. Amid it all, Ga Yu-yak sliced his own collar with a fresh flying knife, revealing dozens of steel needles strapped to his abdomen, which he hurled indiscriminately at Baek Moo-jin and Jin So-hye.
Shushushushushuu!
At the same time, Jang In-cheon split his massive iron club into two, spun his body, and hurled one with a roaring buwaaaang!.
The desperate counterattack of the two division leaders, who had stepped up to save their men, had begun.
But the black mist obscured their vision just as much. Ga Yu-yak glared into the fog, breathing raggedly.
Strange sounds echoed repeatedly from within the black mist.
Puuk, pukpukpuk!
The sound of steel needles embedding somewhere one after another ...
Followed by a jjeojeok! as one iron club shattered and crashed to the ground with a kukung!.
Baek Moo-jin had heard the wind from the incoming club and already pulled Jin So-hye behind him, unleashing a torrent of cold energy like erecting an ice wall.
The steel needles and iron club were rendered useless.
Ga Yu-yak intended to hold the two of them down until death, so he held his breath and moved silently, watching the black mist he had unleashed.
As he crept quietly, Ga Yu-yak crouched and drew a flying knife from his calf.
Then, from the mist emerged a swirling mass of white light, and with a peueoeok!, Jang In-cheon's head snapped back violently.
Ga Yu-yak cried out.
“Division Leader Jang!”
As Jang In-cheon's massive body toppled forward, Baek Moo-jin emerged parting the mist and said,
“Division Leader Ga Yu-yak ... You've got some fine skill at saving your men.”
Behind him followed Jin So-hye, her face etched with exhaustion.
Jin So-hye was thoroughly drained.
What if she had come to the Jin Family Merchant Group alone?
Given her personality, she might have ended up facing all these foes by herself and lying cold on the floor like her Left Attendant.
Even in the attack just now, Baek Moo-jin had deployed a sword barrier for defense, leaving her unscathed.
With things at this point, Jin So-hye couldn't help but fall silent.
The black mist had already begun to thin.
Ga Yu-yak knew he couldn't successfully ambush Baek Moo-jin with mere fog, leaving him few options.
Yet he had no intention of retreating.
His hands already gripped his last two flying knives.
For some reason, a smile crept across Ga Yu-yak's lips. Absurdly, in this moment, his incompetent superior, Deputy Leader Yoo Ja-eon, came to mind.
'You bastard, if I go to the afterlife, I'll kill you again.'
Ga Yu-yak hurled the flying knives in rapid succession, kicked off the ground, and charged at Baek Moo-jin.
Baek Moo-jin's eyes gleamed.
'Hah ... what a shame.'
Regardless of anything else, Ga Yu-yak had the righteous intent to save his subordinates. Even black path figures like him occasionally possessed such virtues. For some reason, the moment Baek Moo-jin saw the resolute expression on the charging Ga Yu-yak's face, a chill ran down his spine.
Baek Moo-jin suddenly felt like bursting into loud laughter.
Tadang!
Baek Moo-jin deflected the flying knives and precisely aimed his sword at Ga Yu-yak's throat as he closed in.
Ga Yu-yak had stopped his foot just at the sword's tip; a slight extension of Baek Moo-jin's hand would have pierced his neck. Ga Yu-yak looked at Baek Moo-jin and closed his eyes.
He seemed to feel he had done his utmost.
True to his wish, the Iron Blood Gang survivors had all escaped.
Baek Moo-jin, who had been staring expressionlessly at Ga Yu-yak, suddenly sheathed his sword.
'Not someone I want to cut down with my blade.'
As Ga Yu-yak's eyes snapped open ...
'What are you doing?'
His gaze conveyed that silent question when Baek Moo-jin unleashed a thunderous palm strike.
Peueoeok!
Ga Yu-yak spewed blood and flew back an incredible distance. Baek Moo-jin watched him soar impassively.
That was when ...
From behind Baek Moo-jin came Jin So-hye's feeble voice.
“Patriarch Baek ...”
“Mm.”
As Baek Moo-jin turned, the pale-faced Jin So-hye suddenly collapsed in place. Baek Moo-jin swiftly extended his hand, wrapping around her waist to support her upright.
Jin So-hye had fainted as the tension released.
Baek Moo-jin held her awkwardly for a moment, looking perplexed. And so, one man stood silently in that same pose for a long time, unsure what to do.
“............”
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