Chapter 19
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Chapter 5. Face Pursuit Unit Jeong (5)
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It was the moment when the One Heart Society warriors were charging in like mad dogs.
Instead of retreating as ordered, Jin Ga-yong hurled himself toward the oncoming mob.
His squad members blinked in surprise with a collective "Huh?" but Flying Tiger spat out, "Tch, damn it," and immediately chased after the squad leader.
A Jeok-gang tried to join them a beat late, but Flying Tiger's voice transmission rang in his ear.
-No Use, hold the retreat steady and don't do anything stupid. I'll be right back.
A Jeok-gang froze, and by then, Jin Ga-yong and Flying Tiger had already plunged into the enemy ranks.
But what was Jin Ga-yong thinking?
Flying Tiger had guessed it, which was why he'd followed—and that's why he saw it all with his own eyes.
Tick.
Jin Ga-yong flicked the thumb of his left hand on the sword guard, popping out about an inch of blade.
Then his right hand snatched the hilt like a hawk, drawing the four-foot sword in a fluid motion.
The movement was graceful.
And in the next instant, astonishingly, both Jin Ga-yong's hand and sword vanished into thin air.
Flying Tiger could only trace its path by the aftermath.
Like the whoosh of the blade's wind, the spray of blood, or the postures of the men crumpling to the ground.
That's how Flying Tiger pieced together the trajectory of Jin Ga-yong's sword—and shuddered.
'Horizontal sweep takes out three first, then four diagonal slashes for three more, finished with a thrust at the tip for one last. ...This guy's insane!'
The One Heart Society martial artists charging in collapsed in heaps.
Seven in total.
But the number hardly mattered—no one stood within three zhang of Jin Ga-yong now.
It was a terrifying display of speed, and since it came without warning, it felt utterly unreal.
The enemy lines fell into chaos.
The warriors around the fallen men halted in confusion as their view suddenly cleared. Those behind, unaware of what had happened, kept pushing forward, tangling paths and crashing into each other.
"Pardon the intrusion."
Flying Tiger tossed out the line as he darted ahead of Jin Ga-yong.
Right after unleashing a big technique, Jin Ga-yong's internal energy flow was temporarily unstable.
Flying Tiger had guessed the squad leader's intent the moment he bolted out.
If they just turned tail and ran, the One Heart Society bastards would get even more cocky. So, he figured, land one big blow to weigh down their feet.
That was why Flying Tiger had followed.
Once the squad leader dropped his big move and cracked the enemy lines, he'd slip in some nasty little cuts to widen the wounds.
Of course, he hadn't expected Jin Ga-yong to rip them open quite so brutally.
Call it gleaning the leftovers?
Double the effect with a seamless follow-up—that was the plan.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh...
Flying Tiger leaped in, slashing wildly in all directions.
Eight strikes per step.
It was the Sixty-Four Gale Sword he'd drilled all evening.
As mentioned before, there was nothing special about the technique itself.
It was just fast.
Insanely fast!
With quick steps delivering eight slashes each time, the winds from the blade tips overlapped, sounding like a thousand iron locusts buzzing frantically.
In the blink of an eye—four blinks at most—Flying Tiger took eight steps.
And unleashed sixty-four slashes indiscriminately.
No need for precision; the goal wasn't kills but amplifying the chaos.
The effect was dramatic.
Jin Ga-yong's single strike had claimed seven lives, and now ten more tumbled screaming.
Nearly a third of their force.
"Argh!"
"Fall back! Move, you bastards!"
"Don't step on me, you fucks!"
Men rolling and screaming, others tripping over them, some cursing as they retreated only to be shoved back.
Total pandemonium.
Mission accomplished, Flying Tiger pulled back and said,
"Squad leader, that's enough—let's bounce... Huh?"
But Jin Ga-yong had no intention of stopping. He brushed past Flying Tiger with a "Good work" and launched himself forward.
Then he bounded across the One Heart Society warriors' heads like stepping stones.
Thud. Thud. Thud... Crack!
The heads he stepped on snapped back one by one, but on the fourth, the force crushed it with a sickening pop.
Using that momentum, Jin Ga-yong soared into the air like a bird taking flight.
Sword thrust ahead, he dove at the society leader and deputy leader on the second-floor railing!
Crash—thud thud clatter.
Deputy Leader Yeo Gyeong-gu tumbled away, and Leader Yeo Gyeong-cheol hastily retreated inside. Jin Ga-yong followed, whirling his sword.
In a flash, the three vanished into the building, followed by the fierce clash of steel.
Clang—clang. Clang. Clang.
The One Heart Society warriors froze in the disorienting chaos, but then the decisive blow landed from behind the manor.
"Sweep them all away!"
"Woooaaah!"
It was the Face Pursuit Assault Squad.
By plan, they should have burst through the back gate as the Advance Unit smashed the front—but these sneaky bastards had hidden until now before finally showing up.
Sloppy tactics aside, their timing was perfect.
As the Assault Squad charged in, hacking and slashing wildly, the One Heart Society rank-and-file felt their already shaky hearts drop.
They scattered like locusts in all directions.
The limit of a black path sect, perhaps?
The six Assault Squad members pushed forward and immediately clashed with the four One Heart Society division heads they'd targeted from the start.
The Assault Squad leader quickly joined the fray on the second floor with Jin Ga-yong.
Meanwhile, the Advance Unit, pulling back on orders, reached the front gate entrance and intercepted the fleeing mob, dealing with them "appropriately."
"Appropriately" meaning: let them go if they didn't swing at you, cut them down if they stupidly charged.
A silent "get lost nicely."
Once they'd weathered the human wave, the Advance Unit members dashed back to the inner courtyard.
Running, Ye Dok-du vented his frustration.
"Those punk-ass kids! They dump all the grunt work on us and cherry-pick the juicy targets for themselves?"
Today's goal was the seven leaders, each with a separate bounty on their heads.
If things ended like this, they'd be stuck scrapping with worthless grunts while missing out on the cash.
Meanwhile, those punks went straight for the big scores...
Unacceptable.
Fortunately—or not—the four division heads weren't pushovers, still locked in a desperate fight with the Assault Squad members.
Ye Dok-du shouted gleefully.
"Heh heh, let's play together."
No sooner said than Ye Dok-du led Hwa Yeong and A Jeok-gang into the melee.
Flying Tiger and Choi Ong, meanwhile, hung back, finding spots around the edge to watch the fight.
"I'm old, so my stamina's shot, but you're young—why not jump in?"
"What nonsense. I'm just here to watch the show and grab some rice cakes."
Flying Tiger and Choi Ong chuckled. They understood each other perfectly; the others' intentions were obvious.
A short while later, the fight ended.
The Face Pursuit Squad's Advance and Assault Units' first official joint mission wasn't flawless, but it was a resounding success anyone could be pleased with.
One Heart Society Leader Yeo Gyeong-cheol, Deputy Leader Yeo Gyeong-gu, and three division heads were dead.
One of the four division heads who showed escaped—that was the only blemish.
But half of their hundred-plus members lay dead or gravely wounded, the rest scattered in panic.
Even more encouraging: of the thirteen operatives, only one (from Assault) was seriously hurt; the rest had minor injuries.
A overwhelming victory, even accounting for the ambush.
Thus, the name "Face Pursuit Squad" was etched into the minds of Shaanxi's black path sects!
Meanwhile, the Assault Squad's sneaky move got brushed under the rug.
The Assault leader claimed he'd judged the situation on the fly, and the results spoke for themselves. No one in Advance had taken major hits because of it.
Crucially, Advance got a fair cut of the leadership bounties, so no real complaints.
These were seasoned bounty hunters who'd seen it all; this kind of crap wasn't new. They just tucked the dirty feeling away, waiting for a day to repay it with interest.
Anyway, the bounty split went like this:
Assault: Deputy leader and two division heads.
Advance: Leader and one division head.
Unexpectedly, Leader Yeo Gyeong-cheol's price went to Choi Ong.
Yeo Gyeong-cheol took a fatal wound and tumbled from the second floor; Choi Ong, lurking nearby, pounced for the finishing blow.
The Assault leader—who'd fought Yeo Gyeong-cheol to the brink of death multiple times—looked red-faced, like he'd been fed shit instead of rice. But he couldn't complain, eyeing Jin Ga-yong, who'd saved him in most of those near-death moments.
And Flying Tiger got his share too.
Like Choi Ong, he'd chased down a division head flung outside by a blow and finished it off faster than anyone.
All in all, the two hyena-like guys who'd slunk around the edges scooped up the easy bounties.
Half a shichen later—deep into the night past midnight—the Face Pursuit Advance Unit gathered again at a dingy tavern.
Having synced up for the first time, they wanted to drink easy with their comrades. Choi Ong and Flying Tiger, flush with extra cash, agreed to split the tab.
Jin Ga-yong joined too. They'd asked out of courtesy, but he'd eagerly tagged along without a second thought.
"You're splitting half the bounties equally among the other squad mates by headcount?"
"Heh heh heh, Advance agreed that no matter who claims a bounty from now on, we share the joy. We're squad mates now, after all."
"The vice leader's idea?"
Choi Ong shrugged with a grin at Jin Ga-yong's question.
"I picked a damn good vice leader. Well done."
"So, squad leader, what'd you think of our squad today?"
"All of you exceeded expectations. I'll strive to be a squad leader worthy of you all."
Flying Tiger made a face like he'd heard something ridiculous.
Worthy?
Who of whom?
Jin Ga-yong caught the look, so Flying Tiger cleared his throat awkwardly and changed the subject.
"You did the heavy lifting for the biggest prize, but it went to randos like me—how's that sit?"
"Regrettable, but that's how it goes. The deputy leader clearly landed the final blow, and even if not, he showed up just in time or I'd have been done in by the Ye brothers. Gotta give credit."
Flying Tiger managed his expression this time, but inwardly smirked coldly.
'Well, well? That's not humility—that's hiding your skill. Hmm, so you've got a story too, huh?'