Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Resolver (1)
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While Sima Geon and Cheol Woo were sweeping away Neung Wi and his subordinates, a group of people was stealthily climbing the mountain.
There were exactly twelve of them. They wore indigo martial robes adorned with white dragon-embroidered headbands. They were warriors from the Nangong Clan, moving in secret at the request of the Yeonhwa Escort Agency to strike the Golden Fox Bandit Lair.
"Once we cross that hill, the Golden Fox Bandit Lair will come into view."
Escort Leader Ho Yu Gon pointed to the hill thick with thorny vines.
The Yeonhwa Escort Agency had wanted to send along their own escort leader and escorts for support, but the Nangong Clan, aiming for a swift subjugation, requested someone who could guide them to the lair as quickly as possible instead. Thus, Ho Yu Gon, the swiftest-footed among the escort leaders, had been dispatched.
"Ugh, more thorny vines?"
Nangong Min, who had been pioneering the path alongside Ho Yu Gon at the front, let out a sigh.
"My apologies. To avoid the bandits' eyes and take the fastest route, the path has ended up being quite rugged."
Nangong Min quickly waved his hand at Ho Yu Gon's apology.
"Haha! I was joking. So what if the path to catch some bandits is a bit rough? This is nothing."
Ho Yu Gon bowed his head with a sheepish expression at Nangong Min's hasty words.
The elderly man who fixed Nangong Min with a stern gaze, Silver Heaven Ancient Sword Nangong Kyung, spoke gently to Ho Yu Gon.
"Forgive him. He's still young."
"Not at all."
Ho Yu Gon shook his head as if it were absurd.
As Ho Yu Gon stood there flustered with embarrassment, Nangong Kyung withdrew his gaze and addressed the group while scanning the surroundings.
"Keep this in mind. Our initial goal was to subjugate the Golden Fox Bandit Lair, but that's no longer the case. As you've all heard, the families of the Juhae Escort Agency are being held captive there. Given the bandits' behavior, there may be other prisoners as well. While subjugation is important, our top priority must be the safety of those captives. We must not act rashly and put them in danger."
"Yes, sir."
The Nangong Clan warriors replied in unison.
Nangong Kyung nodded lightly in satisfaction and turned his gaze to Ho Yu Gon and Nangong Min.
The two, who had been standing dazed, snapped to attention and began hacking away at the thorny vines with their arm-thick blades.
How much time passed like that?
"Hold."
Nangong Kyung halted Ho Yu Gon and Nangong Min, who were deeply engrossed in the task.
With a grave expression, he scanned something intently before suddenly drawing his sword. He then took over, slicing through the thorny thicket in their stead.
Each flash of his sword created a path wide enough for three or four men to walk shoulder-to-shoulder.
The path was still rugged since only the vines had been cleared, but it was incomparable to what Ho Yu Gon and Nangong Min had carved out. Of course, there was a difference: Nangong Kyung swung his sword without restraint, while the two had moved quietly to minimize noise.
"What is it, Uncle?"
Nangong Hwang, the eldest grandson of the Nangong Clan and the foremost among the Seven Dragons of Jiangnam, approached and asked.
"A battle broke out ahead."
"A battle?"
Nangong Hwang asked in surprise.
"Yes. It seems to have already ended."
"Did someone else move out besides us? I heard the Juhae Escort Agency requested aid from various places."
"Who knows. But..."
Nangong Kyung trailed off, recalling the unpleasant aura he had sensed at the end.
"We need to hurry."
Showing a hint of unease, Nangong Kyung began clearing the path even faster than before.
Watching Nangong Kyung advance relentlessly, not only Nangong Hwang but even the other clan members who had somewhat lightly regarded the subjugation of the Golden Fox Bandit Lair could no longer hide their tension.
Moments later, the Nangong Clan warriors passed through the thorny vines and gasped in horror at the gruesome corpses strewn about.
Nangong Hwang rushed over to inspect the bodies, then turned with a hardened expression.
"Their sleeve markings indicate greenwood bandits."
"From the Golden Fox Bandit Lair?"
Nangong Kyung asked.
"I'm not sure."
"We don't know the situation, but we must hurry..."
Nangong Kyung suddenly fell silent. Noticing his gaze fixed on a relatively small-statured old man lying at an angle, Nangong Hwang cautiously asked.
"Do you know him?"
"Gu San... Cho Ja."
Nangong Hwang tilted his head at Nangong Kyung's mutter. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite recall.
"Pung Yo Sang, an elder of the greenwood bandits. Narrow-minded and cruel in temperament, but his skills are considerable. I'm truly curious who reduced him to this state."
"Looks like the work of a peak realm expert,"
Nangong Hwang continued, examining the wounds on Pung Yo Sang's body.
"And it seems done in a single strike."
"To fell an expert like Pung Yo Sang in one blow. All the more intriguing."
Nangong Kyung turned toward the Golden Fox Bandit Lair and shot forward without another word.
"Uncle!"
Despite Nangong Hwang's startled cry, Nangong Kyung paid it no heed.
"Follow him, quickly!"
With Nangong Kyung vanishing in the blink of an eye, Nangong Hwang urgently gestured to the others. Even as he did, Nangong Kyung's figure rapidly receded.
"Hm."
A short groan escaped Nangong Kyung's lips as he passed through the collapsed main gate.
Crossing what appeared to divide the outer and inner compounds, he spotted over a dozen corpses.
Scattered in all directions, the bodies had either shattered skulls or crushed chests.
"These were done by that same person."
Recalling the wounds on Pung Yo Sang's body, Nangong Kyung unwittingly took three deep breaths—a habit when excited or tense.
Mid-breath, he paused.
"Hah!"
A hollow laugh slipped from Nangong Kyung's mouth.
He realized he was giving considerable thought to this unknown assailant. It was then.
"Kwaaaagh!"
An abrupt scream shook the Golden Fox Bandit Lair, and Nangong Kyung's body reacted instinctively.
With each leap, he covered seven or eight jang.
Racing like the wind, Nangong Kyung spotted three figures at the edge of the grove: a massive man, another exuding an icy aura, and a middle-aged man writhing in agony at their feet.
The scream came from the middle-aged man, who rolled about madly, shrieking as if plunged into boiling oil.
Sensing intuitively that the man was the Bandit Chief of the Golden Fox Bandit Lair, Nangong Kyung urgently shouted.
"Stop!"
The original goal had been to subjugate the lair, but now rescuing the kidnapped took precedence. To do that, they first needed to locate the captives.
Having seen no survivors on the way here, the chief might be the only bandit still alive.
Sima Geon and Cheol Woo, who had been brutally crushing No Geuk under old grudges compounded by recent ones, turned their heads simultaneously.
"What's this old geezer?"
Cheol Woo scowled, turning toward Nangong Kyung and striding forward.
To Cheol Woo, Nangong Kyung was already no different from the Golden Fox Bandit Lair's thugs.
Cheol Woo swung his fist at Nangong Kyung without hesitation.
A blade-like gale followed the punch's trajectory, engulfing him.
Caught off-guard by the sudden attack, Nangong Kyung exhaled sharply and drew his sword in a diagonal slash.
A single strand of sword qi erupted from his blade to meet the oncoming storm.
It was not a full-force counter.
Nangong Kyung figured blocking the attack at an appropriate level would suffice.
Though anger rose at the unprovoked assault amid unclear foes and allies, he didn't yet consider the attacker an enemy.
He assumed it was merely a misunderstanding.
And he had confidence.
Even if the opponent was the powerhouse who felled Pung Yo Sang, he could handle it.
That confidence shattered in an instant.
The sword qi split the gale—or so it seemed.
It dissipated harmlessly at the gale's edge, while the storm surged even fiercer toward Nangong Kyung.
Whirled into the vortex in a flash, Nangong Kyung was pushed back several steps, swinging his sword repeatedly before finally escaping its grasp.
"Dodged that? Not bad, old timer."
Cheol Woo looked surprised at having his attack nullified, but soon calmly assessed Nangong Kyung and nodded.
"I see. No ordinary old man."
Confirming the aura emanating from Nangong Kyung surpassed Pung Yo Sang's by far, he flashed a bright smile.
For Cheol Woo, who had roamed blood-soaked battlefields daily for the Heavenly Demon Cult's unification, peaceful days were the happy life he longed for—yet sometimes brought boredom. Especially after Sima Geon's recent jab about his skills declining.
The prospect of a proper fight after so long set his blood boiling and heart pounding.
As Cheol Woo's aura surged to an incomparable ferocity, Nangong Kyung had no choice but to rethink his approach.
It had been just a few exchanges, neither at full power, yet he had been overwhelmed.
The issue was that the opponent hadn't gone all out either.
He couldn't gauge the outcome of a full clash.
A nagging thought crept in: he might lose. Words that would horrify those who knew him, but that's how Nangong Kyung felt.
Discarding his underestimation, he turned serious.
Soaring Heaven One Qi Art enveloped his dantian, flooding his body with immense inner force.
Sima Geon's eyes gleamed at the starting form of the Azure Cloud Twelve Swords— the Nangong Clan's signature swordsmanship, one of the Three Great Sword Arts of the orthodox martial world alongside Wudang and Huashan.
Fierce and sharp, yet filled with pure energy rather than killing intent. Fundamentally different from the demonic sword arts they had faced.
"Be careful. This is no pushover."
Sima Geon warned quietly. Cheol Woo whipped his head around.
"Careful? You're joking, right?"
Sima Geon chuckled at Cheol Woo's incredulous look.
He had momentarily forgotten what a monster stood before him, intoxicated by the opponent's aura.
"Sorry. My mistake."
Cleanly admitting his error, Sima Geon shifted his gaze to No Geuk, who was on the verge of death from unbearable pain.
Nangong Kyung was dumbfounded by their utter indifference. But the overwhelming presence of Cheol Woo, slapping his fists together as he approached, was too potent to shake his composure.
As Cheol Woo's massive frame charged, Nangong Kyung's comparatively frail sword began to whirl smoothly.
A punch that could pulverize diamond collided mid-air with the bluish sword gang from his blade, erupting in a thunderous blast.
That was the beginning.
Realizing Cheol Woo's protective gang qi and fists were far stronger than anticipated, Nangong Kyung focused on exploiting gaps rather than direct clashes, while Cheol Woo swung relentlessly, unperturbed.
The myriad variations and traps hidden in those seemingly simple punches even startled the battle-hardened veteran Nangong Kyung.
It was only natural. Though Nangong Kyung's martial experience spanned decades, Cheol Woo had accumulated real combat experience daily, as if walking the edge of a blade—enough to disregard mere years.
Whooosh!
A heavy gust sliced through the air as a mighty gang qi flew toward Nangong Kyung, who was retreating.
It was the first form of Heaven Shattering Three Strikes, compressed from the Overlord Sixteen Fists' chain assault: Heaven Collapse Fall.
Judging it unavoidable, Nangong Kyung gritted his teeth until they bled and moved his sword.
A clearer, more brilliant sword light than ever clashed head-on with Cheol Woo's fist gang.
Amid the whirlwind of violent clashes around them, a sharp cry erupted.
Nangong Hwang, who had arrived at the battlefield, watched with blood draining from his face and let out a groan of dismay.
Unlike Cheol Woo, who arrogantly cracked his neck side to side, Nangong Kyung spewed crimson blood, was sent flying pathetically, and tumbled several times after falling on his rear.
His face, as he slowly rose leaning on his sword, was etched with utter disbelief.