Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: The Murky Depths
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“Stop!”
At the bold shout from the distant ship, Neung Un-bi grinned and waved.
If they hadn’t shown up, he would’ve had to wander around for ages. What a relief they appeared right on time.
“Branch Manager.”
“Yes, Third Young Master!”
“Furl the sails.”
“Sir?”
“They’re telling us to stop. So we should stop. They’re coming to us on their own.”
“Ah, yes…”
Though puzzled by Neung Un-bi's command, Jeong Hyo-sang relayed the order to the sailors.
Soon, the ship came to a halt.
Its movement ceased, the ship merely bobbed on the waves, neither advancing nor retreating.
At that, the river pirates' vessel picked up speed, drawing ever closer.
“Well, well, who do we have here? Isn’t it the Sea Dragon Escort Agency of the Three Gates Association?”
A pirate at the railing called out, feigning familiarity upon seeing the escort agency's flag on Neung Un-bi's ship.
“I asked the Jinyang Merchants, who we once had ties with, why they were flying the Peng Clan's flag, and they told me you lot were a branch of the Demonic Cult. Goodness... I had no idea... But it seems your trade routes aren't completely severed, seeing as you're out here making a delivery. And with plenty of guards, too.”
As the pirate rambled on to himself, the ships drew closer, and the pirates could be seen preparing their grappling hooks.
“Third Young Master. The man at the railing is the leader of the Seoha Fortress, a man named Woong-pyo.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Nodding at the words of Jeong Hyo-sang, who was already familiar with the river pirates, Neung Un-bi glanced back and spoke.
What does it matter if he's the leader of Seoha Fortress or Woong-pyo?
“Men, they're from the Seoha Fortress.”
“...”
“Wang Cheon, you're up first… Soften them up enough to have a conversation. But don't kill them.”
At the command given with a wide smile, Wang Cheon grimaced and looked toward the Seoha Fortress's ship.
The order had been given, and the die was cast.
Seeing how confident his lord was... well, he would probably handle the aftermath. It's not like their main leader showed up.
“*Hoo!*”
As Wang Cheon powerfully kicked off the railing and launched himself through the air, the Sea Dragon Escort Agency's ship rocked once.
“Huh? Wha-?”
The pirates, who were about to throw their grappling hooks to connect the ships, couldn't hide their astonishment at the sight of Wang Cheon soaring through the air in a parabola, easily clearing a distance of over a hundred feet.
He jumped that far?
The pirates, who had thought Wang Cheon was just another escort from the Sea Dragon Escort Agency, were so surprised they froze in place.
*CRASH!*
Wang Cheon landed in the middle of their ship.
“*Hooo…*”
Exhaling a long breath, Wang Cheon spoke grimly to the dumbfounded pirates.
“I don't want to do this either, you know? But let's get this over with quickly.”
“...”
What?
The moment they wondered, Wang Cheon's form blurred.
*CRACK!*
“*Kuaargh!*”
The nearest pirate clutched his nose and screamed.
“What the hell?”
The pirates were utterly bewildered by the sudden attack.
*KWANG!*
But after Wang Cheon's fists shot out in all directions in an instant, felling three or four more pirates, their expressions had no choice but to change.
At this point, it would be strange not to grasp the situation. It seemed that after revealing they were the Demonic Cult, they had decided to go all out.
“This crazy bastard! Men! Get him!”
At Woong-pyo's shout, the pirates drew their swords in unison and charged at Wang Cheon.
Surrounded by a large number of enemies, Wang Cheon's movements seemed to falter for a moment, but was he not called the strongest among those who guarded the Cult Leader's disciple for nothing?
“Bring it on!”
Even as they all attacked with weapons drawn, Wang Cheon tore through the pirates like a tiger.
However, because of the restriction not to kill, he refrained from using lethal force, which only meant it took a little more time.
“Tsk, tsk, those idiots… They don't know the basics of tactics.”
Seeing the pirates focusing all their attention on the rampaging Wang Cheon, Neung Un-bi shook his head.
“Ju Seung.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Their attention is completely on Wang Cheon. Take them out from the flanks.”
“Yes, sir!”
The second command was given, and following Ju Seung, the Waning Moon Unit leaped into action.
The pirates and now the Waning Moon Unit.
Despite the added numbers, a melee soon erupted on the deck of the pirates' spacious ship.
But there was no way mere pirates could be a match for the warriors of the Waning Moon Unit.
Seeing his men begin to crumble in an instant, Woong-pyo pulled out his mace and shouted at Jeong Hyo-sang.
“Y-You bastards! You, leader of the Sea Dragon Escort Agency! Have you truly gone mad!”
“...”
But Jeong Hyo-sang didn't answer.
What could he do? It was an order from his superior.
And... in truth, he hadn't been pleased with the situation either.
That he, a member of the Demonic Cult, had to bow and scrape to a bunch of pirates and pay them passage fees.
“You bastard! Stop this at once!”
“You idiot. Stop your yapping and look beside you.”
Jeong Hyo-sang said in a voice full of annoyance at the man's incessant shouting.
“What? Beside me?”
At Jeong Hyo-sang's words, Woong-pyo whipped his head around.
One boy, one girl. No, two brats who still look wet behind the ears.
…But when did they get over here?
That's how people are. They react immediately to things within the realm of possibility, but when the unexpected happens, they can only stare blankly.
Just like Woong-pyo now.
“Should I do it?”
“Not you. You'd go straight for the throat.”
“Tch.”
At Neung Un-bi's words, Hyang-i pouted and turned her head away.
Watching this exchange, Woong-pyo's eyes twisted into a vicious scowl.
What are these pint-sized brats yammering about?
Are they deciding who gets to take me on?
And what? Go for the throat?
“These damn brats!”
With an enraged roar, he swung his mace.
*WHOOSH!*
Glancing at the swinging mace, Neung Un-bi reached out a hand as if it were a game.
*CLANG!*
“...?”
Not a crunch, but a clang?
It's not supposed to make that sound.
In that moment, Woong-pyo wondered if his eyes were deceiving him.
His mace, which could shatter boulders and even crumple thick steel plates… had been caught lightly.
In the hand of a brat who didn't even look twenty.
“It's got some heft to it. Guess you didn't become the leader just by being the best swimmer, huh?”
“...”
Heft.
Could it be described with such a simple word?
Seeing Neung Un-bi's smirk, his eyes glittering with demonic energy, Woong-pyo felt a shiver run straight down his spine.
This boy was no brat, and the ones fighting his men were no mere escorts.
The instant he sensed something was wrong, Woong-pyo pulled on his mace and simultaneously kicked out.
*THWACK!*
The foot flew straight toward his groin.
No matter how great one's martial skill, there were some parts of the body that could never be trained.
It was only a matter of time before the boy collapsed...
“Oh? Quite the dirty fighter, are we?”
“...”
When Neung Un-bi caught his foot as if he had been expecting it all along, Woong-pyo's face turned white as a sheet.
A river pirate must be quick to assess a situation, and once the assessment is made, they must act immediately to survive.
His trump card having failed, Woong-pyo realized he had no other options, dropped his mace, and retreated.
Looking around, he saw that few of his men were still standing.
This wasn't a coincidence. They had clearly come here with a purpose.
He had to escape.
Thinking he had to inform the main leader that the Demonic Cult was attacking, Woong-pyo immediately threw himself toward the water.
*SPLASH!*
“You think I can't chase you just because you fled into the water?”
Neung Un-bi grinned and immediately dove into the river after Woong-pyo.
Woong-pyo, who had been trying to escape, felt Neung Un-bi dive in after him and suddenly turned in the water.
Huh? He's following me? Into the water?
He almost burst out laughing while holding his breath.
This was the Yellow River. Unlike the Yangtze, wasn't it entirely murky water?
He wouldn't be able to open his eyes, so there was no way the boy could see him.
In other words! From now on, the boy was blind and deaf.
The transmission of qi is difficult underwater, so sensing one's surroundings through energy perception is also limited.
But he was different.
Was he a river pirate for nothing?
For them, underwater combat was practically a required skill, and they could sense their opponents not with their eyes or ears, but with their skin. They could detect nearby movements through the flow of water against their flesh.
In short, if they were in the water, no matter how skilled the boy was, he couldn't defeat him. The boy had willingly walked into a death trap.
Idiot! Die!
Riding the current, Woong-pyo approached Neung Un-bi and drew a dagger from his waist.
His movements were slow in the water, but he believed it was more than enough to kill him.
*SHIICK!*
But just as the dagger was about to touch his body, Neung Un-bi twisted away.
Huh?
Woong-pyo, who had been certain of his victory, was startled and swam backward in retreat.
What happened?
He shouldn't have been able to sense it.
Surely the boy hadn't trained in underwater combat like them...
Putting distance between himself and Neung Un-bi, Woong-pyo swam around him, observing his reaction.
There was no movement. It was clear he couldn't detect him.
So how did he dodge? Was it a coincidence?
But he didn't know.
Neung Un-bi was now awakening to another world.
Following sight and hearing, the third sense: touch.
He'd managed sight and hearing, but he hadn't been able to figure out how to train the others. He never imagined there would be a method like this.
When he first dove into the water after Woong-pyo, his plan had been to immediately unleash his energy and blast everything around him.
But if he did that and the pathetically weak pirate died, any chance of negotiation would be gone.
While he was briefly pondering this, he felt something approaching, and soon, he could also feel the faint current it displaced.
The moment he instinctively moved his body to avoid it, Neung Un-bi realized he had dodged Woong-pyo's attack.
With his sight and energy perception limited, another sense had awakened.
Right, Hyang-i had said the time it took to transcend his senses would get shorter and shorter...
So this is what she meant.
As he grew accustomed to feeling the flow of the water, an indescribable ecstasy washed over him.
It was the joy of enlightenment.
However, this would have been impossible if his senses hadn't been extremely heightened from the brief experience of selflessness he'd had before encountering the pirates.
It was just that Neung Un-bi didn't realize he had experienced a state of no-self.
In a way, it was a stroke of heavenly luck.
But Neung Un-bi knew this was no time to revel in his new enlightenment.
Now that he knew the method, he could train later.
Right now, he had to catch this pirate.
He would surely attack again. Seeing as he hadn't fled and had attacked him instead, he must have gained confidence from being in the water.
Neung Un-bi focused all his senses on the flow of the water and waited for the next attack.
And then, he felt a pressure against his skin.
Something was approaching from behind. He could feel it much more finely than before.
The feeling of a sharp blade cutting through the water, followed by something heavy.
It was him.
This time, he couldn't just dodge.
*SHIICK!*
The moment the dagger thrust in, Neung Un-bi twisted his body again.
And he powerfully gripped the something from which he felt a faint presence.
Judging by the sensation in his hand, it was clearly the pirate's wrist.
In that case, first...
*CRUNCH!*
*Gurgle!*
The moment he caught it, he broke it. Bubbles rose before his eyes, and the surrounding water churned violently.
Woong-pyo was writhing in agony.
After struggling for a moment, the pirate suddenly began to swim deeper into the water.
Having failed in his attack, he was now trying to make Neung Un-bi run out of breath.
So now… is he trying to start a breath-holding contest?
With me, who has mastered Sea Breath, a breathing technique created for assassins and derived from female divers.