Chapter 53
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: They've Come
Ha Mu-baek headed for Daebyeol Mountain.
He hadn't taught the disciples mountain guerrilla tactics during the last Summer Combat Festival for no reason.
It was based on his own experience.
It was an extremely effective way to deal with an overwhelming majority of enemies.
Provided one was strong enough, that is.
No matter how strong Ha Mu-baek was, facing three hundred foes from a single position would be grueling in terms of stamina and inner energy.
'Not impossible, but I need to eliminate as many variables as possible.'
The place to engage the Pang Clan warriors was obvious.
Along the route Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul had relayed, Daebyeol Mountain's deep woods were perfect.
Even better, he could arrive before the Pang Clan did.
That gave him time to make preparations.
Ha Mu-ba-baek scouted every corner of Daebyeol Mountain. Once all was ready, he lingered in the village near the mountain's entrance, where the Pang Clan warriors would soon appear, killing time appropriately.
Refining his body into peak combat condition.
How many days passed like that in the inn?
Ha Mu-baek's senses picked up the movements of countless people.
"They've come."
Ha Mu-baek stepped out of his room. He settled the bill with the inn's errand boy and headed straight for Daebyeol Mountain.
The surroundings were already growing dim, so the Pang Clan martial artists would likely stay in that village tonight.
"Family Head. There's a village. It seems to be the last one before entering Daebyeol Mountain, so how about resting here for the night?"
Pang Mu-ryang, gazing up at the sky at his retainer's words.
It was already growing dark.
It was time to rest for the day.
'Daebyeol Mountain...'
But Iron Cane Dog's voice echoed in Pang Mu-ryang's mind.
'Beware the mountains?'
There hadn't been any real mountains along their route so far.
But Daebyeol Mountain ahead was deep and vast.
The very kind of mountain Iron Cane Dog had warned him about.
A small spark ignited in Pang Mu-ryang's chest.
'Who the hell does he think I am?'
Iron Cane Dog's words implied they'd suffer a major setback—or even annihilation—if they met Ha Mu-baek in the mountains.
Rebellion flared at the thought.
Who the hell did he think he was?
"We press into Daebyeol Mountain."
Pang Mu-ryang declared firmly. Bewilderment flickered across the faces of the warriors around him.
The forced march to this point had been brutal. With the sun setting, mountain travel now?
Since passing Kaifeng, their advance had accelerated, and fatigue was setting in one by one.
"Family Head. Everyone's exhausted already. We should at least rest one night."
Even at his subordinate's plea, Pang Mu-ryang shook his head.
"No time for that. To find where that bastard Ha Mu-baek vanished to, we must reach Wuchang as soon as possible."
Faced with Pang Mu-ryang's stubborn expression, the subordinate gave up persuading him.
He merely informed the warriors of the decision and soothed them.
Thus, as darkness fully blanketed the land, Pang Mu-ryang and three hundred Pang Clan warriors entered Daebyeol Mountain.
'Riding horses through such treacherous mountains at night...'
Ha Mu-baek rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the sight of the Pang Clan warriors proceeding in two long lines along the dark mountain path.
Entering a mountain path at night like this.
Not for ambush or stratagem. Just the road to Wuchang.
Any commander worth his salt would avoid night marches on rough terrain.
Yet Family Head Pang Mu-ryang rode indifferently at the front.
'Is he an idiot?'
Incomprehensible behavior.
Something had seemed off ever since he heard the man was raging for revenge.
For the head of a Five Great Families clan like the Pang, his judgment seemed too muddled.
Now, it was beyond muddled.
How had he even become family head?
'Suits me fine.'
Ha Mu-baek chuckled softly.
Today was the new moon.
A pitch-black night without a sliver of moonlight.
Delivering themselves right into these mountains.
He waited for them to venture deep enough that turning back would be impossible.
The night deepened, and the moment arrived.
Ha Mu-baek slowly nocked an arrow to his bowstring.
The bowstring pulled taut.
Ping.
With a low whoosh, the arrow flew.
"Argh!"
A scream erupted from the middle of the procession.
"What? What is it?"
"An ar... arrow... Urk..."
A warrior clutched his abdomen and collapsed to his knees.
The squad leader hurriedly checked his subordinate.
An arrow from who-knows-where had pierced straight through his dantian.
"Your inner energy... Can you move?"
he asked urgently.
But the subordinate shook his head darkly.
One arrow had cleanly shattered one dantian.
"Who the hell..."
The long, two-line procession meant it took time for word to reach Pang Mu-ryang at the front.
The march had already halted.
"What?"
His face twisted sharply.
So dark he had to infuse his eyes with inner energy just to make out surroundings.
An arrow precisely targeting the dantian in this blackness?
Masterwork.
Who the hell was targeting them?
"F-Family Head..."
Pang Do-jam, leader of the Gale Force, spoke cautiously.
"What?"
"Could it be... him?"
"What?"
Pang Do-jam.
A veteran of the previous war, one of the few who knew Ha Mu-baek—their target—was the hero of the Yungzhong Bloodbath.
Among the leaders of the Gale Force, Storm Force, and Typhoon Force—each with a hundred men—he alone knew on this expedition.
No, among the three hundred warriors gathered here, only he knew, aside from Pang Mu-ryang.
"That... There were rumors he favored the bow even in Yungzhong."
Pang Do-jam said carefully.
"You mean that bastard was waiting here and ambushed us?"
Pang Do-jam lowered his gaze and nodded cautiously.
"Tch. Once we deal with him, I must purge the traitors in the clan."
The names Pang Geo-ryang and Pang Do-won surfaced in Pang Mu-ryang's mind.
This situation, where he even suspected his own son of betrayal, grated on him.
'What can that punk do?'
Ping.
Then, another faint twang of the bowstring.
"Argh!"
Another scream, right on cue.
Pang Mu-ryang bit his lip at the cry.
"Check the situation."
At his order, one warrior dashed to the rear.
He soon returned with a report.
"Dantian pierced."
Pang Mu-ryang's face contorted wildly. Already the second.
Two lost in mere moments. Their lives and limbs intact, but dantians gone—they were useless now.
Worse, dead weight.
"That son of a bitch. Everyone, disperse! Hide among the trees and advance slowly!"
Pang Mu-ryang bellowed. He dismounted too.
At the command, the warriors left the path, weaving painfully through the trees.
Ping.
Ping.
The bowstrings sang as expected.
"Argh!"
"Aaaak!"
And screams followed.
Yet they had no choice but to press on.
Arrows from unknown origins were terror incarnate, driving them frantically forward to escape.
Ping.
The final arrow sliced through the night air.
"Urk!"
Another scream echoed predictably.
"Hoo."
Ha Mu-baek exhaled softly. He had sixty arrows from the smithy.
Sixty dantians pierced.
Two hundred forty left, plus the family head.
"Will it work?"
Ha Mu-baek experimentally drew the empty bow. The entire string and frame took on a subtle inky sheen.
His qi manifestation.
The qi-clad bow strained to breaking, energy gathering around the grip.
Soon, an arrow of pure inky qi formed.
Transforming Void into Arrow Qi.
Not coating an arrow with qi, but forming one purely from qi on the bare bow.
Ha Mu-baek casually displayed pinnacle martial arts.
The moment the black qi arrow perfected.
Crack.
The bow crumbled to dust.
"As expected, no good."
Too weak a bow for qi overlay.
He'd grabbed it hastily from the smithy leaving Wuchang, after all.
"Need to get a decent bow. Never know when this might happen again."
Ha Mu-baek stared into the pitch darkness ahead.
Though the mountain depths hid even one's nose in blackness, to him it was broad daylight.
Pang Clan warriors fleeing, abandoning screaming comrades.
Realizing his arrows only pierced dantians—sparing lives—they scrambled farther to minimize casualties.
The wounded could move at dawn on their own.
Though no longer martial artists.
Ha Mu-baek drew a dagger from his bosom, two finger-widths long. Handleless, solid metal. Grabbed with the bow and arrows at the smithy.
Thirty of them.
Once expended, the real hunt began.
Ha Mu-baek's form flickered into motion.
Ghostly movement, silent and traceless.
Infinite Formless Step Technique.
His sect's footwork and lightness skill.
So profoundly subtle and untraceable, it could pass for an assassin's art.
Thus, Ha Mu-baek ghosted through, scattering daggers.
"Argh!"
"Ack!"
"Gurk!"
Unlike before, screams erupted simultaneously from multiple spots.
The Pang warriors' movements grew more frantic.
Now they just ran blindly.
Praying no attack struck them.
Dominated by fear, mere desperate flight.
Ha Mu-baek, expressionless, hurled all his daggers, then proceeded to dispatch one by one personally.
No need to draw his sword.
A single fist sufficed.
One tap to the dantian shattered it.
"Gurk... M-monster..."
A black shadow flashed by, then dull impact and agony exploded in the dantian.
Blackout followed.
It happened everywhere.
No matter how they ran, a ghost appeared, tapped the dantian, and vanished.
Truly like being haunted.
"Damn it, you monster bastard! Show yourself to me!"
Some halted amid comrades' screams, drawing blades and swinging wildly.
Terror-driven reflex; no technique, just brute hacks.
Ha Mu-baek wouldn't fall for that.
Shattered the dantian simply, moved to the next.
Pang Mu-ryang couldn't believe the sounds assaulting his ears.
Only Pang warriors' screams and wails.
No enemy voice or footsteps.
To the oblivious, it would seem the Pang warriors were collapsing on their own, screaming into empty air.
"You bastard! Try that on me, Pang Do-chung! I'll show you the Typhoon Force Leader's blade!"
Even one of the three force leaders roared.
"Gah."
Unlike his bold cry, he left only a death rattle and fell.
Pang Mu-ryang scowled.
The presences around him had sharply dwindled.
'Not even twenty... no, fifteen.'
Then what of the rest...
He didn't want to think.
By then, the eastern sky reddened, gradually chasing away the interminable blackness.
From that point, screams ceased.
Only the hurried footfalls of fleeing Pang warriors.
How much farther did they run?
Under the fully brightened sky, a flat basin appeared.
Only upon reaching it could the Pang warriors confirm each other.
"How..."
Pang Mu-ryang muttered hollowly.
Thirteen intact arrivals. Fourteen including himself.
And atop a large frontal boulder sat a lone man, impassive.
"Ha. Mu. Baek..."
Pang Mu-ryang spat the name like chewed gristle.