Chapter 98
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Moves in the Night
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ga Du-dal, having released Dan Ak-seon’s pressure points, swiftly stepped back.
“In a situation where life and death are decided in an instant, the most important thing is a calm mind.”
Ga Du-dal continued, his expression uncharacteristically serious.
“If you let yourself be swayed by a mere provocation like this, ten lives wouldn't be enough in a true battle to the death.”
Dan Ak-seon, who had been lying on the ground with a dazed expression, slowly got to his feet.
His face was flushed red.
“What? Do you have something to say?”
Dan Ak-seon, who had been glaring silently at Ga Du-dal, nodded.
“Mr. Ga, you’re a real coward.”
“The highest of compliments.”
“And…”
“...?”
“Mr. Cho isn't that kind of person.”
At Dan Ak-seon’s sharp tone, Ga Du-dal smiled bitterly and nodded.
*What should I do?*
A bitter taste filled his mouth.
He had earned the boy’s dislike before he could even win his favor.
Ga Du-dal’s mind raced.
If he won just two more times, he would have completed the ten promised matches.
Then he would have no reason to stay by Dan Ak-seon’s side.
On the other hand, intentionally losing to Dan Ak-seon would be problematic in its own way.
It was obvious that if he were deemed useless, Beom Gye-wi would kick him out immediately.
He couldn't do one thing, nor the other…
It was a true dilemma.
After wracking his brain, Ga Du-dal finally reached a conclusion.
*I have to drag this out as long as possible.*
There was no other way.
Suddenly sensing a gaze on his back, Ga Du-dal turned his head.
“Kekek.”
When their eyes met, Beom Gye-wi chuckled and nodded.
“Well done. Keep it up.”
He was inwardly pleased that Ga Du-dal had thoroughly insulted Cho Ak-ryang on his behalf.
Han Seol-hwa, however, was staring intently at Ga Du-dal.
“Is something the… matter?”
At Ga Du-dal’s cautious question, Han Seol-hwa’s gaze turned cold.
“From now on, no more sparring unless I'm present.”
“Pardon?”
At Ga Du-dal’s question, Han Seol-hwa’s eyes grew even colder.
Belatedly realizing the reason, Ga Du-dal hastily nodded.
“No matter what, I won't speak ill of you, Fairy!”
Only then did the chill in Han Seol-hwa’s eyes subside.
It was then that Beom Gye-wi let out a cryptic laugh.
“Heh heh. You've just opened a door to suffering.”
“A door to suffering?”
Ga Du-dal asked with a puzzled look, but Beom Gye-wi just smiled mysteriously.
He would soon find out, even without an explanation.
Just how long Dan Ak-seon held a grudge when he was sulking.
***
Leaning against a pavilion pillar, Cho Ak-ryang sat leisurely, cleaning his ear with his pinky finger.
“Why is it so itchy?”
Wondering if someone was bad-mouthing him, he glanced around, but there was no one nearby.
Just then, the door to the workshop opposite the pavilion opened.
Yeom Sa-in, who had spent two full days and nights working inside, staggered out with hollow eyes.
“You have it easy.”
Spotting Cho Ak-ryang lazing in the pavilion, Yeom Sa-in threw a casual jab.
“While some of us are working ourselves to death for nights on end.”
Cho Ak-ryang smiled and retorted.
“I have a good friend.”
“...?”
“A friend who told me not to do anything, not to worry, and to just rest comfortably before I leave.”
Hearing his own words from a few days ago thrown back at him, Yeom Sa-in smirked.
Cho Ak-ryang asked.
“Did you finish your work?”
Jang Sam, who had walked out of the workshop, answered for him.
“Just barely, by the skin of our teeth.”
Yeom Sa-in scowled and shouted.
“Don’t take any more orders from today! I’m retiring!”
Jang Sam smiled warmly.
“I’ll bring you a restorative tonic this evening.”
“I don’t need it. How much more do you plan to work me after I drink that?”
Watching the two bicker for a while, Cho Ak-ryang smiled and spoke.
“Go get some rest. You both look exhausted.”
Yeom Sa-in sighed, his face weary.
“I can’t do this anymore. My body can’t keep up.”
As he staggered toward his quarters, Yeom Sa-in turned his head toward Cho Ak-ryang.
“If you disappear without a word like last time, you’ll see what happens. I’ll never see you again.”
Cho Ak-ryang smiled and nodded.
Once the two had completely disappeared from sight, Cho Ak-ryang slowly rose to his feet.
“I suppose it’s time for me to make a move as well.”
In an instant, his gaze had turned cold.
***
That night.
Under the cover of deep darkness, several figures approached the estate.
They were ten men, faces covered with masks and clad entirely in black night-crawling attire.
The man at the front was one-eyed and appeared to be their leader.
The one-eyed man spoke softly to his followers.
“You’ve confirmed the Master Blacksmith’s quarters, right?”
Seeing his subordinates nod silently, the one-eyed man, who had brought all the elites of the Dark Dragon Gang, looked pleased.
“You and you, block the escape route. The two of you and I will secure the Master Blacksmith. The rest of you, stand by. We’ll be very busy tonight, so we must move quickly. After we have the blacksmith, the rest of you will head to the residential area and grab five children. You know what I mean, right?”
Although they had planned it all thoroughly beforehand, the vice-leader confirmed the plan once more.
It was then.
“Are these ten all you've brought?”
The voice that emerged from the darkness startled the warriors of the Dark Dragon Gang.
At that moment, a man walked out of the shadows.
*A master!*
The one-eyed man’s single eye trembled.
This man was on a completely different level… an incomparable master.
The warriors of the Dark Dragon Gang felt their chests tighten.
Their opponent merely stood there, casting a cool gaze upon them.
Yet, they couldn't even lift a finger.
“Take me to your leader.”
With those words, Cho Ak-ryang began to walk as calmly as if he were out for a night stroll.
As Cho Ak-ryang walked leisurely through their midst, the men in black exchanged complicated glances.
Then, in an instant.
Several daggers, drawn without a sound, glinted in the darkness.
“Keoheok!”
“Guhk!”
At the same time, stifled groans echoed.
Seeing his subordinates twitching on the ground, foaming at the mouth, a chill ran down the one-eyed man’s spine. It had all happened right before his eyes, yet he couldn't discern how their opponent had taken them down.
Cho Ak-ryang looked at the one-eyed man without a word.
“...!”
In that moment, it felt as if lightning had struck inside the man’s head.
A gaze as sharp as a blade seemed to pierce his eye and stir his very brain.
“Are you hard of hearing?”
“Ah, I’ll guide you!”
A grim voice, like an emissary from the underworld.
Before the overwhelming presence contained within it, any will to resist was useless.
Glancing nervously at Cho Ak-ryang, the one-eyed man began to walk ahead.
The warriors of the Dark Dragon Gang, their shoulders slumped, silently shouldered the corpses of their dead comrades and followed.
A short while later.
Gwak Eon, the leader of the Dark Dragon Gang, was dumbfounded.
The subordinates he had sent to kidnap the old blacksmith and the children had brought back a complete stranger.
“This is our leader.”
Gwak Eon glared at the one-eyed man in disbelief.
Who was this man that his own vice-leader would act so deferentially in his presence?
After shooting daggers at the one-eyed man, Gwak Eon turned his head toward the elderly man before him.
*This is bad.*
That was his immediate thought upon meeting the man’s gaze. But as time passed, his thoughts began to change.
*What is this?*
Suddenly, his entire life, from his beginnings as a salt porter to becoming the leader of the Dark Dragon Gang, flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
He had endured and overcome all sorts of perilous situations.
But he could say with certainty that this very moment was the closest he had ever been to death.
It was then.
“They say seeing is believing.”
As the man suddenly reached out, Gwak Eon hastily twisted his body to dodge. But Cho Ak-ryang’s hand was not something one could evade simply by trying.
*Thwack.*
In an instant, Cho Ak-ryang snatched Gwak Eon’s wrist, gripping his pulse point, and leaped into the air.
Dragged along helplessly, Gwak Eon came to his senses high up in a tree, overlooking the entire village.
“Do you see them?”
“Pardon? See what?”
At Gwak Eon’s dazed expression, Cho Ak-ryang frowned.
“The shrine you all use as a hideout. The men hiding in the direction of its front corner.”
Seeing Gwak Eon still didn't understand, Cho Ak-ryang sighed.
Cho Ak-ryang’s form blurred slightly.
Belatedly realizing he was now standing in an alley next to the shrine, Gwak Eon was too shocked to speak.
He had merely blinked, and a distance of over a hundred feet had simply vanished.
He was still marveling at the incredible movement technique when…
—*This is no time to be standing there in a daze.*
The sudden mental message snapped Gwak Eon back to his senses.
In that moment.
“...!”
Gwak Eon’s eyes widened.
In the gloomy alley where shadows overlapped.
A cold glint of a sword flashed from a corner, and a blade suddenly shot out, aiming for his chest.
Instinctively leaning back to dodge the sword, Gwak Eon swung his arm and wrapped the blade with his sleeve. After knocking the opponent’s sword away, he immediately threw a punch.
*Crack!*
A chilling sound echoed in the night sky.
*Thud.*
The man who had launched the surprise attack on Gwak Eon collapsed to the ground.
Confirming the man clutching his chest and coughing up blood, Gwak Eon frowned.
“The Qingcheng First Hall? What are these bastards doing here?”
Blinking as he pieced the situation together, Gwak Eon soon gritted his teeth until they could have shattered.
“These sons of bitches?”
Cho Ak-ryang nodded.
“You were played by them from the very beginning.”
“...!”
“They deliberately spread rumors, waiting for you to make a move.”
Hearing Cho Ak-ryang's words, Gwak Eon's questions were answered.
He had found it strange that the ambushers were wearing attire that so openly revealed their identity.
“If you had attacked, you would have run into these guys. They would have won the Master Blacksmith’s favor as a reward for protecting the village.”
Cho Ak-ryang smiled quietly at the murderous aura emanating from Gwak Eon.
“You people are lucky.”
“...?”
“I really dislike the Qingcheng Sect.”
“Then, perhaps you could…”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I have no intention of helping scum like you.”
Gwak Eon felt the blood drain from his body.
“Then…”
Gwak Eon spoke cautiously to Cho Ak-ryang.
“You have no intention of stopping us… do you?”
Cho Ak-ryang silently nodded.
At this, Gwak Eon let out a murderous grin.
*Crack.*
Gwak Eon lifted his foot and stomped on the neck of the man groaning on the ground.
After confirming the man was dead, Gwak Eon let out a long whistle into the air.
The sharp sound pierced the night sky.
Was that the signal?
A moment later, groups of men began to pour out from various parts of the village.
And in an instant.
“Kraaah!”
“Gack!”
“H-Help me… Aaargh!”
Deathly screams erupted from all over.
How much time had passed?
Men, completely covered in blood, dragged corpses and lined up before Gwak Eon.
Gazing at the already dead disciples of the Qingcheng First Hall, Gwak Eon suddenly spoke.
“Let’s go, boys.”
Turning to his subordinates, Gwak Eon grinned.
“It’s time to go sell some salt.”