Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Chapter 25. Three Kings' Hall (2)
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Jin Cheon-roe was the ace up the sleeve that the Face Pursuit Unit Jeong had prepared for their escape. Out of the ten, Jin Ga-yong had handed eight over to Flying Tiger, asking him to take care of the cleanup.
Detonating half of them—no less than four at once—put on quite the show.
Of course, being down below, he couldn't watch the explosion with his own eyes. But the deafening roar battering his eardrums, the ground quaking beneath him, the cascade of rocks and dust blotting out the sky, and the debris from the blast were more than enough to feel it in his bones.
Whish. Whish.
Flying Tiger, who had hunkered down tight under a massive boulder, chucked two more Jin Cheon-roe the moment the aftershocks passed.
He figured he might as well go all out while the fireworks were already going.
Truth be told, hurling them blindly like this would halve their lethality. But the intimidation factor? That would be spot on. In a situation where more blasts could come at any moment, who'd dare linger nearby?
Boom! Boom!
And with that, Flying Tiger flashed hand signals to the Face Pursuit Unit Jeong members below and charged out.
Midway up the stairs, the self-proclaimed elder who had been messing with him was crouched in a daze, arms wrapped around his head. Then his eyes met Flying Tiger's as he burst forth.
He flinched.
Flying Tiger whipped his left hand, launching the rope dart coiled around his wrist.
The bandit elder instinctively raised his arm to block, so the dart that nearly speared his face instead embedded in his forearm.
Thud.
Flying Tiger yanked the line hard, dragging the elder along with it.
He slammed the incoming elder with the shield on his right arm, shoving him over the outer edge of the stairs.
"Gaaah~!"
The tumbling bandit bounced and rolled down the steps, repeating the fall over and over with sickening thuds. His screams, which had been shrill and endless, cut off abruptly at some point.
Neck snapped, maybe?
What a letdown.
Flying Tiger cleared the enemy in front of him in one go and raced up the stairs to the front courtyard of the Three Kings' Hall.
What he saw with his own eyes was every bit the chaos he'd hoped for.
The ground was gouged and scorched black in patches everywhere. Acrid gunpowder smoke still lingered, refusing to clear.
And furthermore,
'Six limbs severed or blown clean off.'
'Three still twitching, clinging to life.'
'Eight more crawling on all fours in a stupor or limping away, trailing blood.'
'No count on the unscathed who fled, so total casualties: seventeen.'
A resounding success!
But Flying Tiger didn't stop there.
Without pause, he bashed one writhing bandit at close range with his shield and tossed it aside.
Then he picked up a relatively intact bow, nocked the arrows he'd grabbed a handful of from below, and fired them one by one. The lower stairs had been littered with arrows shot by the bandits, so he'd collected some.
Twang- twang- twang...
Starting from the nearest, Flying Tiger picked off every visible moving target, dropping four with the seven arrows he'd brought.
He discarded the bow, drew his sword, and hunted down the survivors, cutting their last breaths short.
Every move flowed seamlessly.
Slash. Slash. Stab. Stab.
"Th-that guy's...!"
At that moment, the bandits—stunned by the disaster rivaling a natural calamity—had fled en masse inward. They watched, dumbfounded, as Flying Tiger rampaged into the courtyard.
As if the whole lot had been hit with mass hypnosis.
Then someone sighed in pity, snapping them out of it.
Wait, just one guy causing all this?
Among them was the Greedy Worm, Pung Bae-dog.
As the leader of the Yellow Worm Unit's personal guard, he'd been commanding the archers until moments ago. He'd been the first to bolt when the Jin Cheon-roe went off—and now the first to regain his wits.
Pung Bae-dog bellowed in fury.
"Have you ever seen such a goddamn bastard? Lads, charge!"
Pung Bae-dog raised his sword and led the way. Nine bandits roared in rage and followed.
They planned to mince Flying Tiger like ground meat before his comrades could climb the stairs, then reseal the entrance.
Who was the Greedy Worm Pung Bae-dog?
The man with the moniker "mad slaughterer" might not be widely known in the Central Plains, but in the Gansu region and Inner Mongolia, his prowess and cruelty had made him synonymous with terror—a true master.
And when such a Pung Bae-dog unleashed his savagery, it showed.
Each step covered a full zhang in a blur, closing the distance to Flying Tiger in an instant.
But Flying Tiger was faster.
He spun around, left hand scraping up from near the ground. A lit Jin Cheon-roe flew from his grasp, rolling vigorously toward the charging Pung Bae-dog.
Roll roll~
Already burned once, Pung Bae-dog leaped aside nimbly, tumbling across the dirt to evade.
But when their leader—who'd egged them on and dashed ahead—veered off, the followers spotted the rolling bomb late and panicked.
Boom.
This time, though, the blast was underwhelming. Like a dud half-exploded. A shame—it was a faulty one.
They'd missed a golden chance for a wipeout, but still, one died on the spot and four were gravely wounded.
The survivors scattered in terror. Pung Bae-dog, red-faced from his roll, sprang up and hurled himself at Flying Tiger, screaming.
"Die!"
Pung Bae-dog's sword arced wide, slashing down at Flying Tiger.
Whoosh-
Flying Tiger dodged diagonally, thinking he'd opened enough distance—yet the sword wind still stung his face.
In an instant, Pung Bae-dog's blade spun and thrust at him.
Flying Tiger reflexively swung his sword to parry.
Clang-
A glint flashed in Pung Bae-dog's eyes, but his sword pressed on without hesitation, slashing and slicing relentlessly.
Flying Tiger blocked and countered with swift strokes, retreating step by step.
Pung Bae-dog, sensing momentum, advanced with wilder, faster swings.
Clang- clang- clang- clang-
His swordplay rolled like a cartwheel—classic style of building power by pressuring the foe.
'Block it? Or bail?'
Flying Tiger's competitive spirit flared amid the fierce wind, but he reined it in and leaped back.
Pung Bae-dog's eyes gleamed as he lunged—then he froze, spotting Flying Tiger's left hand dipping into his bosom.
This bastard, pulling what now?
The motion affected not just Pung Bae-dog but the bandits creeping back to encircle Flying Tiger cautiously. Once burned, twice shy—they backed off fast.
But Flying Tiger's left hand emerged empty.
Pung Bae-dog trembled, tensed to roll either way, seething.
Trolled again.
Yet he held back from exploding. Flying Tiger grinned cheekily, retreating slowly. Pung Bae-dog glared daggers, then slowly backpedaled too.
Why?
Because Jin Ga-yong and the Face Pursuit Unit Jeong members were emerging one by one.
Flying Tiger had secured the bridgehead!
"Why'd you use the Jin Cheon-roe? How do we retreat now?"
"Play it by ear."
"But..."
"No buts. There's a saying for times like this: Hoard it, and it'll go to waste."
"..."
Jin Ga-yong stared at him like he'd seen every weirdo under the sun, but Flying Tiger shrugged it off and addressed the group.
"As you see, the plan's changed a bit. They were bunched up, so I seized the moment. The results speak for themselves—look at all these dead enemies."
"But you burned our lifeline in the process. Planning to go down together?"
Dan Geum sniped, and Flying Tiger shot back.
"What nonsense. Detonate at the optimal moment and bolt through the gap—that's what a lifeline's for, right?"
"And?"
"And thanks to this, we've bought time. Gaps everywhere now."
"But the targets are still inside."
"Yeah. So let's finish them quick and bounce before the gaps close. Think about it: Wipe out the ones inside, and who in the fortress can stop us?"
"Before the ones who fled outside circle back?"
"Exactly. That's why I judged now was the perfect moment. Got a problem? Suck it up. This is the deputy leader calling the shot."
Flying Tiger laid it out short and firm, drawing a line.
No time for bickering. Battles were about momentum, after all. He wouldn't squander the edge they'd gained.
Thus, the Face Pursuit Unit Jeong accepted his bold play—understanding or not. Flying Tiger leading by example helped too.
Wang Baek-gun, who had watched silently, met Flying Tiger's gaze and nodded quietly. Grateful for the decisive choice.
By now, the bandits had all retreated inside the Three Kings' Hall without a soul left behind, doors sealed tight.
Prepping for a last stand?
The Face Pursuit Unit Jeong reached the closed doors. Jin Ga-yong bellowed loud enough to carry inside.
"Guests have arrived, yet no one opens the door? Deputy leader, what's our move?"
"One on the roof, two each through the second- and third-floor windows. Toss five first and see how they react. Might cure them of leaving guests standing outside, playing dumb."
"And if they don't get the hint?"
"Hmph, dump everything we've got then. No need to fixate on the door after that. Any breach works. Sound good?"
"Wise counsel."
The back-and-forth between Jin Ga-yong and Flying Tiger was pure bravado.
Meanwhile, Ye Dok-du hugged the wall by the door, shield forward, backed by Na Mok and A Jeok-gang. Ready to smash through on Jin Ga-yong's signal.
If bluffing failed, brute force was the only way.
They waited like that.
One... two... three...
On three, a response came.
The tight-sealed doors creaked open, and a beastly growl rumbled out—heavy and savage.
The voice of the Yellow Worm Unit's third boss, "Mad Bear" Do Ryung.
"Let the guests in!"
The Three Kings' Hall was a grand palace enshrining three kings.
From outside, it looked like a three-story building, but inside it was open and towering, with the high ceiling visible. Two massive pillars flanked the entrance, supporting it.
And it ran deeper than expected. They'd carved and smoothed a natural cave in the cliff, then built the structure around it.
In that vast space, at the farthest end, stood the three kings' statues in full armor, side by side. Each towered over three zhang, intricately carved to look vividly majestic.
No clue who they were, but their attire suggested Xiongnu gods or past kings.
Before the statues lay an altar, where fifteen bandits—including the White Horse Deng crew—stood in formation.
At the center: the Shaanxi Province's top dog, a black path martial world contender, and Yellow Worm Unit leader—"Mad Wind" White Horse Deng.
At last, the Face Pursuit Unit Jeong had pierced the enemy lines, delivering Wang Baek-gun safely to his target.
Just one step remained to complete their mission.
Setting the stage for Wang Baek-gun's one-on-one duel with the gale-force White Horse Deng.