Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Chapter 15. Mutual Slaughter (1)
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Swish swish.
Flying Tiger shook his body left and right in an instant. Then, planting his foot on the masked man he had just struck in the nape of the neck, he soared into the air.
From the opponent's perspective, it created an optical illusion, as if Flying Tiger had dashed to the left or right of the dead masked man.
It was a momentary feint.
But in that brief instant afterward—when the fellow masked man lunged in response and spotted Flying Tiger mid-air—a sharp piece of metal was already burrowing into his forehead.
Flying Tiger had hurled his rope dart as he leaped.
Thud.
The second victim.
And as Flying Tiger landed, he kicked off the ground with all his might using his planting foot, charging straight ahead.
Tat tat tat.
At that moment, two of the remaining three masked men were closing in from both sides. Flying Tiger chose the left. He intended to overwhelm them before they could fully encircle him.
The masked man on the left, seeing Flying Tiger barreling toward him, slowed his steps and flung the iron balls gripped in his left hand forward.
Clatter~
Flying Tiger didn't slow his charge despite the barrage of hidden weapons raining down on him.
Instead, he thrust his sword forward and whipped his wrist around.
The blade hummed as it traced small circles from the tip.
Those circles deflected every single iron ball.
Ting ting ting~ clang.
Flying Tiger's sword sparked as it advanced, halting only after piercing the left masked man's heart.
Thunk.
Too late, the sword in the left masked man's hand swung feebly through the air. That was the price for failing to slow Flying Tiger's momentum.
The third victim.
The next instant.
The masked man charging from the right leaped at Flying Tiger and brought his blade down with ferocious power. Flying Tiger twisted his body and parried horizontally.
Clang~
Flying Tiger staggered back several steps. In doing so, he dissipated the impact and retreated from the range where their blades clashed.
A brief stalemate ensued.
Flying Tiger shook out his wrists and glanced sharply at the two remaining masked men. Even after deflecting much of the force from that last strike, his wrists still tingled.
'This one's a half-cut above the ones who died first, and the last one in the back... he's an expert!'
Flying Tiger recalled the trackers and cleaners he had encountered before. They gave off a similar vibe.
During his fight with the tracker, he had faced a dire crisis once and struggled overall. An expert capable of projecting sword qi was a burdensome foe even for him. That was why he had put in so much footwork to set up a proper finishing blow.
So, what about now?
A surge of competitive spirit made Flying Tiger's chest thrill. But he suppressed it for the moment and spoke.
"Hey, let me ask one thing."
"Ho, using this lull for a chat? I was hesitant to speak first since we're strangers, but you're opening the door. That's something to welcome."
The one Flying Tiger pegged as the expert—the masked man who had observed the situation until now, and the super cleaner of the Face Pursuit Squad known as Tiger Shadow—grinned as he slowly approached Flying Tiger.
"Hello? I'm Tiger Shadow. You're the rogue warrior Flying Tiger, right? Good. I had some questions too, so how about we trade one each? Fair and square."
Tiger Shadow chattered on agreeably, and Flying Tiger's eyes narrowed.
It seemed frivolous at first glance.
But his hands told a different story. One hand toyed rhythmically with the hilts of the two swords at his waist, while the empty hand remained perfectly steady.
In other words, there was a disconnect between his words and actions.
As Flying Tiger shot him a wary look, Tiger Shadow seemed to notice and slowed his pace dramatically, though his mouth never stopped. By then, they were ten paces apart—a distance signaling no immediate intent to attack.
"Go ahead, ask your question first. I'll answer with utmost sincerity, whatever it is."
"You—"
It was the moment Flying Tiger parted his lips.
Tiger Shadow's form blurred, erasing the ten paces in an instant as he suddenly appeared right in front of Flying Tiger.
A body movement technique that shifted position in a flash. Its speed was so great it looked like teleportation—this was the Shift Form Swap Position!
Tiger Shadow, materializing there, drew his sword and cleanly slashed at Flying Tiger's throat. He had never intended to talk from the start; it was all a ruse.
Swish.
Flying Tiger dodged in a hurry, but a chill ran across his Adam's apple. His heart chilled to the core as he retreated, slapping his left hand to his neck.
Fortunately, no wound.
But the fighting spirit that had surged moments ago plummeted, and a curse slipped out instinctively.
'This crazy bastard! I almost got done in even knowing it was coming.'
But fortunately, Tiger Shadow—who had ambushed so suddenly—also startled and leaped back, forgoing any follow-up attack.
Why?
Normally, Tiger Shadow would have pressed with a combo the instant Flying Tiger dodged. It was the obvious sequence. He had even gripped his second sword in a reverse left-hand draw and was pulling it free when—bam!—a sticky fluid splattered across his face out of nowhere!
Hidden weapon?
Startled, Tiger Shadow abandoned the attack and retreated. As he frantically wiped his face, he realized the disgusting fluid was none other than spit.
Flying Tiger hadn't opened his mouth to answer—he had spat and bolted. The timing was perfect, catching Tiger Shadow right as he Shift Form Swap Positioned in, turning it into a filthy mishap.
Trembling with rage.
"You dog bastard! I'll kill you!"
Tiger Shadow's eyes spun as curses flew, but that dog bastard had already turned tail and was scampering off like a rabbit.
Enraged, Tiger Shadow gave chase.
And the lone masked man left behind blew three sharp blasts on his horn. A signal to the beaters. Then he followed after Tiger Shadow.
'The prey's fleeing. Coordinate to block paths and tighten the encirclement.'
The Face Pursuit Squad's hunt resumed.
But the prey had changed from Aruk to Flying Tiger, and the method shifted from 'finding a hiding rat' to 'catching a rampaging wild boar that had been struck by lightning.' Unlike Aruk, Flying Tiger bolted openly and madly.
Yet his path was unpredictable—not heading to any specific spot, just running wherever his feet took him. At least, that's how it looked to his pursuers.
And the result was...
"Hey~ Hold up! Stop for a sec. I have something urgent to say."
Tiger Shadow shouted laboriously. His breathing was ragged, his steps noticeably slowed. Far ahead, Flying Tiger fled tirelessly.
The pursuit had already dragged on for over half a shichen.
In that time, Flying Tiger had taken out three more beaters blocking his path while tearing through Chang'an City, and now he was sprinting through the quiet outskirts beyond the walls.
In other words, the Face Pursuit Squad's encirclement had been toyed with and pierced by Flying Tiger.
The chase had failed!
How?
In truth, the net had a massive hole from the start.
Before clashing with Tiger Shadow and the masked men, Flying Tiger had advanced by picking off the beaters stationed at every choke point along the way.
He had scouted multiple escape routes as a bonus.
So while to them he looked like a blindly charging lightning-struck boar, in reality, he had planned meticulously—making his pursuers the ones scrambling in chaos.
Part of why the escape was so smooth was that, despite Flying Tiger rampaging through the city, the Face Pursuit Squad hadn't committed any reinforcements.
Thus, Flying Tiger vaguely grasped the outline of this enigmatic group called the Face Pursuit Squad.
'Either their size and skill are more pathetic than expected, or constraints prevent them from acting freely. Probably the latter? Hm, that means the Face Pursuit Squad hasn't seized the Martial Qin Alliance yet—or at least not the mainstream. They're wary, so they can't act recklessly.'
Flying Tiger halted at Tiger Shadow's plea and turned.
This time, Tiger Shadow stopped thirty paces away. A sign he truly had no intent to close in and attack.
With that distance between them, they resumed their interrupted conversation.
"You have something desperate to say to me?"
"Yeah. No more chasing. How about we have a serious talk? Didn't you say earlier you had a question for me?"
Flying Tiger replied indifferently.
"Not really. I thought so back then. But while running, I realized talking to thugs like you would yield nothing. So what can I do?"
"What are you gonna do?"
"Just report it to the Martial Qin Alliance."
"What? Report what to who?"
"Hmph, who do you think I'm the fool? Send letters to Lion Hall Leader, who's away at the frontlines, and the other major clan heads. Face Pursuit Squad, was it? Tell them there are freaks in ghost masks stirring trouble in your alliance. Say they rampaged the moment the elders left."
"...!"
Tiger Shadow's shocked expression was a sight to behold.
Flying Tiger had tossed it out without much hope, and he bit.
Well now, what's this?
'What if the serial killer Ghost Face isn't just some lone maniac, but a creation of this Face Pursuit Squad organization for a specific purpose?'
Flying Tiger's probing remark had hit the mark. But it wasn't baseless either.
Originally, he had met the Face Pursuit Squad member Ban Chung while investigating Ghost Face with Jin Ga-yong. And Ban Chung had been intensely curious about the investigation's progress.
So while he wasn't sure they were the Ghost Face crew, they were undoubtedly hypersensitive about anything Ghost Face-related.
Plus, from what Flying Tiger sensed then, they didn't seem desperate to catch Ghost Face themselves.
And one more suspicious clue.
Before, Flying Tiger had infiltrated a manor where the Six Jia Gate was staying to take out the third of the Fufeng Four Heroes, only to clash with the Ghost Face group.
When Gong Won-yeong heard that story, she suggested the Ghost Faces might be high-ranking insiders within the Martial Qin Alliance, and that it reeked of a shady conspiracy.
But from what he'd seen, didn't this secret Face Pursuit Squad fit the bill perfectly?
Coincidence?
Even if the Face Pursuit Squad wasn't the Ghost Faces themselves, weren't there sayings like 'birds of a feather flock together' or 'misery loves company'? Maybe they were in cahoots.
Tiger Shadow exploded in anger.
"What nonsense is this? Spit out where you heard that crap right now!"
"Want to know? Then show some sincerity first."
"...?"
Tiger Shadow blinked in confusion at what 'sincerity' Flying Tiger meant. But he soon understood.
Flying Tiger turned and bolted. Follow if you're curious, it said.
The thought of running again made bile rise in Tiger Shadow's throat. But what could he do now? Fuming, he chased after Flying Tiger once more.
......
This time, they ran for about one shichen. Now they were quite a distance from Chang'an City.
The spot where Flying Tiger finally stopped was a desolate field, wide open with clear sightlines far and wide. Tiger Shadow was approaching from afar, and no other pursuers were in sight.
In other words, the perfect spot for a deep 'conversation(?)' just between the two of them. Flying Tiger planned to go all out here.