Chapter 309

It had already been three days since I left Luoyang with the Bermuda Triangle.

I suddenly opened my mouth.

“Mujin.”

“Huff, huff. Yes?”

Hyuk Mujin was sprawled face-down over a rock near a stream, looking as if he was about to breathe his last.

He had made great strides over the past year, but his personal reserves of internal energy and martial arts had quickly revealed their limits.

Gung Gibang is keeping up fairly well too, but he’s not enough.

As befitting the Successor Beggar of the Beggars’ Sect, Gung Gibang possessed one of the best movement techniques among the young prodigies. But he still fell short of Cheongpung and me.

What good was learning the Myriad-Li Chasing Wind Movement Technique, said to be the Beggars’ Sect’s finest movement technique for speed? He had only mastered it to five-tenths.

“Gung Gibang.”

“Huff… Why’d you call me?”

His breathing was ragged.

He was in better shape than Hyuk Mujin, but he was still having a hard time.

And then there was the last one…

“Benefactor, would you like some dumplings?”

“You eat plenty yourself.”

“I ate a lot on the way here. I’m full.”

“Then take a shit and eat.”

“Wow! What a method!”

“…”

As expected of Cheongpung.

The fact that he had enough leisure to stuff himself with dumplings while using his movement technique proved that he really was a monster.

Though I had no right to say that when I was in almost the same condition as Cheongpung even with Jeok Cheongang strapped to the pack frame on my back.

I scratched the side of my head as I looked at the three of them.

Hmm. This is a problem.

From Henan through Shaanxi and all the way to Sichuan.

It was a journey spanning several thousand li, and even on horseback, it would take at least a month.

But we did not have that much time.

We needed drastic measures to shorten the journey.

“Huff… Captain. Why did you call me?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

I turned to Hyuk Mujin.

“The thing I asked you to hold onto last time. Do you still have it?”

“The thing you asked me to hold? What was that?”

“The chain.”

“What are you talking about…? Ah, you mean that thing you used to wear with all those things dangling from it?”

“Yeah.”

It was a chain made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, specially crafted by the Fire Gate Clan.

Just before the Star-Array Grand Banquet began, I had removed the chain along with the iron ball. When Hyuk Mujin heard that it was made of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron, his eyes had lit up, and he had quickly taken it.

“You brought it, right?”

He was exceptionally quick on the uptake.

Sensing that something was wrong, Hyuk Mujin’s eyes darted around as he answered.

“No. I left it somewhere else for safekeeping.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s do this. If I turn you over and it turns up, you turn up dead.”

“Ah, silly me. Now that I think about it, I did bring it.”

Clink.

Only then did Hyuk Mujin begin unwinding the chain he had wrapped around himself beneath his shirt.

Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron was impossibly hard yet light. It seemed he had tied it around his body like armor.

The chain could be used as temporary armor or as a weapon, and the material itself was an incredibly valuable treasure.

Perhaps for that reason, regret dripped from Hyuk Mujin’s eyes as he handed it to me.

“Didn’t you give this to me to use? I was saving it so I could make a weapon later…”

“I told you to hold on to it. Did I say it was yours?”

“Where’s the sense in taking back something you gave me?”

“I only borrowed it. It belongs to the Fire Gate Clan. What do you think Old Master will do if he wakes up later and finds you carrying this?”

“Please take it. Please hide it somewhere I’ll never see again.”

“Good. You’ve made the right choice. Gibang!”

I picked up the chain and called over the bewildered Gung Gibang before getting to work.

The two of them stared blankly at me, wearing expressions that clearly asked what I was doing. Then they spoke at the same time.

“What are you doing?”

“What kind of pointless crap are you pulling?”

Rattle, rattle.

I answered calmly.

“Can’t you see? I’m tying a knot with the chain.”

“No, I mean, why are you wrapping it around my waist…?”

“Hold on. Untie this.”

“There. Done.”

I looked proudly at the result of my labor.

Hyuk Mujin, Gung Gibang, and finally me—we were all tied together with the chain like a string of dried fish.

“Everyone had a good rest, right?”

“What do you mean, a good rest? It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes!”

“Untie us right now!”

I smiled brightly and shook my head.

At the same time, my dantian churned, and ninety years’ worth of internal energy surged toward my legs.

“All right. Let’s run.”

Fwoooosh!

“Waaaaagh! You lunatic!”

“The Captain’s gone mad! He’s trying to kill me!”

Connected to me, Gung Gibang and Hyuk Mujin sprinted wildly like wild boars with their tails on fire.

At the sound, Cheongpung, who had been relieving himself in the nearby brush with his ass bared, hurriedly burst out and followed us.

“Benefactor! I’m coming too!”

“…”

I don’t think that bastard wiped.

No, he must have.

I forced down the thought that had just occurred to me and activated my movement technique.

Time passed as quickly as the scenery rushing by, and we accomplished the astonishing feat of reaching the border between Henan and Shaanxi in just two days.

Disordered ranks and files. Exhausted faces.

Dozens of people trudging forward with difficulty all belonged to an Escort Bureau.

The escorts wearing weapons at their sides were exhausted, as were the caravan porters wearing thick clothes while leading the horses and carts.

It was not simply because of the four-month trade journey.

“Hwaran.”

At the voice that pierced her ear, the girl’s dark eyes, gleaming faintly, turned to the side. A clear voice soon rang out.

“Yes, Uncle Heo?”

“It’s about that…”

The person who quietly approached the front of the procession was a middle-aged man with a graying beard.

After hesitating, he let out a sigh and spoke.

“Chief Escort Seok has passed away.”

“…!”

The delicate figure swaying quietly atop the saddle abruptly went rigid. Only a moment later did her trembling voice emerge.

“In the end… it came to that.”

“The poison spread all the way to his marrow. There was nothing more we could do. I’m sorry.”

“It isn’t something you need to apologize for, Uncle. The death of Brother Seok—no, Chief Escort Seok—was my fault.”

Ju Hwaran bit down hard on her lip beneath her veil.

It’s true. Everything happened because I lacked virtue.

The death of Chief Escort Seok, who had grown up alongside her like a blood brother, and the deaths of the thirty-two people who had passed away before him had all been caused by her misguided judgment.

Father. What should I do?

Ju Hwaran raised her head and looked at the sky.

The sky was the color of ink. Above the countless stars, a man’s face appeared in her mind.

Her father, Ju Hogun, had fallen into qi deviation while cultivating two years earlier and was still hovering between life and death.

‘To have a beautiful and exceptionally talented daughter like you… This father could ask for nothing more. Ha-ha!’

That was something Ju Hogun had always said.

Another father might have adopted a son to continue the family line. But he loved his beautiful and extraordinarily talented only daughter, and always took pride in her.

‘You are the only one who will carry on my legacy. The past fifty years of the Yongbong Escort Bureau are nothing compared to what you will accomplish in the future.’

There was no one in Shaanxi who did not know how much Ju Hogun doted on his daughter.

But as Ju Hwaran grew older, people came to understand that he was not merely a foolishly doting father.

She possessed an exceptionally sharp mind—sharp enough to understand the Escort Bureau’s ledgers before she had even turned twenty—and looks so remarkable that she was known as one of the Three Flowers of Jiangbei.

On top of that, she was a master of martial arts skilled enough to be counted among the Ten Dragons and Phoenixes, the greatest young prodigies of the orthodox Murim.

That was who Ju Hwaran was.

But…

Where did everything start going wrong?

Ju Hwaran swallowed the sigh rising from deep within her chest.

Everything around her was collapsing, only two years after she had begun leading the Yongbong Escort Bureau in place of her incapacitated father.

“Hwaran, are you all right?”

The only thing she still had left was her people.

The fifty years her grandfather and father had built through kindness and virtue were the one support keeping her upright.

Ju Hwaran forced a smile at Heo Jun, the Chief Escort, who spoke to her with concern.

“Please don’t worry about me, Uncle Heo.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

Heo Jun nodded with a dark expression.

Ju Hwaran was only twenty-one years old.

She already possessed so much, but she was still far too young for her heart to have grown equally strong.

And now that she was suffering such intense guilt, the only thing he could do was watch over her.

Ju Hwaran knew that better than anyone. She cleared her throat and spoke.

“It’s getting dark, so we’ll camp here for the night. Please make the preparations.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“And… prepare for the funeral too.”

The thirty-third victim of this escort journey.

It was time to send off Chief Escort Seok, who had been with Ju Hwaran since her childhood.

If they could obtain salt, it would slow the corpse’s decay. But by the time the escort journey was complete, the poison remaining in his body would undoubtedly turn his flesh and bones into a handful of bloody water.

“I understand. Rest for a while.”

“Everyone is working hard. How could I rest? Don’t worry and go.”

Heo Jun gave a small nod and signaled with his hand. Soon, the people’s footsteps came to a halt.

There was still a chill in the air, but the broad stretch of land was perfect for camping. Ju Hwaran planned to replenish her strength here and cross the mountain early the next morning.

We’re almost there.

Ju Hwaran’s gaze fixed on the mountain shrouded in darkness.

The stones on that mountain were black, which was why it was called Black Stone Mountain. Once they crossed it, this escort journey would enter its final stretch.

They had suffered countless losses, but if the escort journey succeeded, the Yongbong Escort Bureau would have a chance to catch its breath.

It’s seven days and nights to Mount Zhongnan. That isn’t generous, but if we cross Black Stone Mountain safely, we’ll have enough time.

The problem was…

What attitude would the master of Black Stone Mountain take?

Black Stone Stronghold was one of the many mountain strongholds belonging to the Green Forest Alliance. It was powerful enough to be called one of the Eighteen Strongholds, and its leader was a Peak master famous for wielding a single battle axe with uncanny skill.

If the exhausted Yongbong Escort Bureau clashed with Black Stone Stronghold, they might have to endure even greater losses than the ones they had already suffered.

Please, let nothing happen.

Ju Hwaran was just turning around with that thought in mind when—

Rustle.

A faint noise pierced her ears.

The sound of someone stepping on dry leaves did not belong to a wild animal.

A red alarm bell instantly rang in Ju Hwaran’s mind.

An enemy!

Shing!

Ju Hwaran drew the flexible sword at her waist and shouted like a bolt of lightning.

“Who’s there?”

Her sharp cry echoed through the darkness.

Heo Jun, the Chief Escort, noticed the situation almost simultaneously. He led the escorts and surrounded her.

“Protect the Young Bureau Head!”

“Yes, sir!”

Clang, clang, clang!

Sharp weapons flashed in the faint moonlight.

That was when the brush more than fifty jang away began to sway.

“So this is who it is. The brave escorts of the Yongbong Escort Bureau.”

The sight of the towering, eight-cheok-tall giant with a huge axe strapped to his back drew a low groan from Heo Jun.

“Heavenly Axe…”

“Oh, Brother Heo. I’ve heard you’ve been running yourself ragged wiping the ass of some little girl lately.”

“How dare this bastard!”

A graceful figure suddenly stepped forward beside the stiffly standing Heo Jun.

“Perfect timing. We were just about to give you the toll.”

“Well…”

Heavenly Axe grinned and gave his axe a shake.

“Let’s see the goods first. Then we’ll talk.”

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Behind his axe, hundreds of Green Forest bandits emerged.