Chapter 63: Uwoo!

Bongpyeong was three thousand li away, but I covered the distance in a straight line without getting lost once.

It wasn’t my first time on these roads.

Bongpyeong, just two to three hundred li east of Seyeon—where I had practically wiped out the Inudang the previous day—was a large city of two hundred thousand. While preparing for that operation, with Jin Sowol’s help I had researched not only the route to Seyeon in detail, but the surrounding geography as well.

True to its name, “Field Where Phoenixes Roam,” Bongpyeong was splendid and prosperous.

Even long past midnight, the streets were bright as day, lit by lanterns hanging everywhere. There were many people out and about. Very inconvenient conditions for someone like me, who needed stealth and surprise.

Even so, by sticking to blind spots I reached the Samjeolmun compound in the center of Bongpyeong without anyone noticing me. There were patrols moving about that were clearly martial guards, but turning them into blind, useless guards was nothing to me.

After raising my senses and confirming there was no one beyond the wall, I vaulted over the two-zhang barrier in a single bound. Then I hid myself in a shrub right up against the wall.

Security within Samjeolmun was actually rather lax, so from there I took a moment to steady my breathing and do one last review of my plan.

The key was to create a one-on-one situation with Samjeolmun’s number one and one of the Seven Evils: Pasan Fist Ghost Gwak Gyeongeon.

If I could eliminate him early, everything might proceed surprisingly smoothly.

It was known that Pasan Fist Ghost’s martial prowess was at the very peak of the transcendent realm—on par with Gwaeseon or Gwanggaek. If that was true, and I went all out, I should be able to finish him within twenty exchanges.

But given what happened with Iron Horse, I couldn’t confidently guarantee a ten-out-of-ten victory.

If Pasan Fist Ghost turned out to be stronger than the rivers and lakes gave him credit for, I was ready to withdraw without hesitation.

If the other high-level Samjeolmun experts joined in while I was tied up with him, my situation would become dangerous fast.

As one of the Seven Demonic Sects of the unorthodox world, Samjeolmun had six or seven transcendent-level experts under its banner.

If only two of them joined up with Pasan Fist Ghost, even I wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Gae Cheonsu, who had put me in a tight spot at the Inudang base the previous day, alone had been a serious threat.

If I was fighting Pasan Fist Ghost and took one of Gae Cheonsu’s explosive qi strikes, a critical injury was guaranteed.

Jin Sowol had said that only if I, Gwaeseon, and Gwanggaek all went out together could we field a force equal to Samjeolmun.

She was almost certainly correct.

But in real combat, unexpected variables often appeared, or brilliant tactics could offset a numerical or objective disadvantage and produce surprising results.

In that area, I had a significant edge.

The enemy had no clue I was invading.

And unlike when I’d hit Iron Horse’s main base, I wasn’t planning anything reckless this time. I intended to use strictly realistic methods. If I removed the leader first and then picked off the remnants one by one, the idea of destroying Samjeolmun alone wasn’t just a pipe dream.

A healthy amount of tension tightened my muscles just the right amount.

I was in top condition.

My internal injuries were fully healed, and my bones had grown even tougher.

If I went by how I felt, I might even be able to fight on equal footing with Han U-gyeong.

Careful not to let that turn into overconfidence, I took a deep breath. Then I slipped out of the shrub and moved toward my target.

I knew the layout of Samjeolmun’s sixty-thousand-pyeong compound like the back of my hand.

Thanks to Jin Sowol.

My first and most important prey would be inside Gyuncheon Hall, right in the middle of Samjeolmun. Jin Sowol had said his bedroom would be on the very top floor.

If I was discovered prematurely, things would get problematic, so I approached Gyuncheon Hall with extreme caution.

Once the fighting started, I’d need to finish things in a flash, but there was no need to rush before that point.

Thankfully, unlike the ever-bright streets of Bongpyeong, the Samjeolmun grounds were lit only by the minimum number of lamps, and aside from guards posted in each sector, there was no one outside.

If it had been busier, it would have taken me at least three times longer.

Even so, moving at a snail’s pace, I finally reached the back of the five-story hall bearing the plaque “Gyuncheon.”

After briefly checking my surroundings, I used extreme lightness skill to erase the four to five-zhang gap and hug the hall’s outer wall. Then I climbed the column reaching all the way to the roof like a lizard.

Once at the top, I hung upside down from the eaves and probed the inside through a window.

I sensed four presences.

Three were as light as feathers, the last was as heavy as a boulder.

From their breathing, I knew that Pasan Fist Ghost was asleep with what seemed to be his favorite concubines.

The women bothered me, but I decided to break in anyway.

I could still hold my breath for more than one quarter of an hour, but if I waited too long, Pasan Fist Ghost might pick up on my heartbeat.

Having made my decision, I smashed the window and went in.

There would be noise and Samjeolmun experts would converge on this place, but it didn’t matter.

What mattered was killing or neutralizing Pasan Fist Ghost in the opening moments, so every instant had to be used.

On the far side of a gaudily decorated space plastered with gold and jewels sat an enormous bed easily large enough for ten people.

An unclothed man and three women were tangled together on the mattress.

The women didn’t wake despite the noise I’d made, but the fat man in the middle sprang to his feet the moment I entered.

The instant I saw him, I realized something was wrong.

The seventy-something old man whose whole body rippled with fat was Red Sun Palm Seo Gyeong.

A master rated as upper-transcendent, he was also Samjeolmun’s number two.

An urgent sense of wrongness washed over me.

What was Red Sun Palm doing tumbling with women in Pasan Fist Ghost’s quarters?

Had their hierarchy been reversed recently?

Samjeolmun, founded a hundred and twenty years ago by the alliance of the leading masters of palm, fist, and fist techniques in the unorthodox world, was famous for vicious factional strife over the position of sect leader, who wielded immense power.

According to Jin Sowol, the average tenure of a Samjeolmun sect leader was no more than seven or eight years.

Paradoxically, that blood-soaked internal competition had been the driving engine that rapidly elevated Samjeolmun into a representative giant of the unorthodox world.

So it wouldn’t have been strange if Pasan Fist Ghost had lost the leader’s throne to Red Sun Palm. Their strength was close enough that, if Seo Gyeong’s skills had risen recently or if Pasan Fist Ghost had entered decline, the balance could easily have tipped.

But I found it hard to accept that explanation under these exact circumstances.

Of all times, it just happened to be now, when I had come to invade?

Too much of a coincidence.

Which meant there had to be another reason.

For example, that this place had been prepared as a trap specifically for me.

It all passed in a blink.

I didn’t leave it to my head—my instincts guided my body.

The instant I saw the blubbery old man, I leaped back out through the broken window I had just entered.

Red Sun Palm let out a roar and blasted palm strikes at me without a word, but I didn’t respond in kind.

I didn’t want the women attached to him to get hurt, and I judged it better to retreat as quickly as possible.

It was the right call, but it didn’t help much with my safety.

Enemies were already gathering around the hall. There weren’t many of them, but each one radiated a presence that was anything but ordinary.

Instead of dropping to the ground, I shot up into the air.

Immediately, two figures soared up and blocked my path.

One held a massive crescent saber, the other was bare-handed.

Their appearances weren’t especially distinctive, but I recognized who they were at a glance.

The man holding the saber was surely Thunderblade Lord Cheon Ilmun, head of Thunderclap Saber Sect and, by universal agreement, the number one saber of the unorthodox world.

The white-haired, white-browed old man in a scholar’s robe like Gwanggaek, dressed like a learned gentleman, had to be Sasa Gate Lord Kang Jun.

Holder of the title Lord of Life-and-Death, he and Purple Lightning Sword Lord of Ilwol Sword Sect were said to be the strongest of the Seven Evils.

He was half a step above the Six Wonders of the martial world—meaning he wasn’t far above me either.

Name and fame were no lie.

Lord of Life-and-Death’s martial prowess was exactly as advertised.

The storm that exploded from his palm completely cut off my retreat.

If he had been alone, I would have chosen to clash head-on, but I also had to deal with Thunderblade Lord’s saber qi, so I had no choice but to evade.

The destructive power behind that saber was no less than Lord of Life-and-Death’s.

Using extreme shifting, I slipped past the combined attack of the two unorthodox giants, but Lord of Life-and-Death’s swirling qi caught me and pushed me off in an unwanted direction.

Because of that, I was suddenly exposed to the combined attacks from the enemies behind and to either side of me.

Three streams of force wrapped around me.

All three were dangerous, but the hidden weapon launched from behind was especially vicious.

Without looking, I knew who had sent that streak of purple sword light shaving past my neck.

It had to be Purple Lightning Sword Lord Ha Jong, who had held the top sword seat of Ilwol Sword Sect for thirty years straight.

If it hadn’t been him, the one referred to as the chief among the Seven Evils, there was no way anyone else could have launched a strike from seven or eight zhang away that nearly killed me instantly.

My guts went cold.

If not for the sudden, instinctive twist I’d made, my head would have been separated from my body and fallen to the ground.

The other two who had taken up the flanks were clearly also among the Seven Evils.

Judging from the attacks they’d just launched, one was my original target, Samjeolmun’s sect leader Pasan Fist Ghost, and the other was Soul-Stealing Spear Lord of Hyoseong Spear Sect.

Worthy of his reputation as the number one fist of the unorthodox world, the power behind Pasan Fist Ghost’s fist wind rivaled Iron Horse. Had I been any closer than ten li to him, I might have lost my balance for an instant even if I avoided a direct hit. And that would have been the end.

Soul-Stealing Spear Lord’s spear was lethally sharp.

Even while simultaneously using Shift, Fold, and Turn, I still took a hit from the qi blast fired from his spear tip on my left side.

It was fortunate it was only my flank.

If I’d been a bit slower to react, it would have pierced my abdomen.

That very first exchange laid bare the imbalance in the situation.

In truth, talking about “balance” at all was absurd.

Even if this were one against two, I’d be at an absolute disadvantage.

As things stood, it was one against five.

One-on-one, I would have been confident against Purple Lightning Sword Lord or Lord of Life-and-Death.

But with my current strength, I couldn’t even handle the combined attacks of the “weaker” pair among the five—Soul-Stealing Spear Lord and Pasan Fist Ghost.

I knew then that my fortunes today were extremely ill.

There was no way I could escape this crisis by normal means.

Even with extraordinary measures, it would be the same.

The encirclement formed by only five people might as well have been an inescapable net of heaven and earth.

There was simply no path out.

It was impossible that the Seven Evils would set such a massive trap just to catch me alone.

They must have mobilized five of the Seven with Gwaeseon, Gwanggaek, and perhaps even Sword Emperor in mind.

But how had they known I wouldn’t go to Sangyapyeong and would come here instead?

The question almost drove me mad, but I forced down the flood of doubts rising in my gut.

This wasn’t the time for idle Q&A.

Right now, every shred of mind and body had to be focused on escape—on survival.

Even then, my odds of success couldn’t be called even half of one-tenth.

In other words, practically zero.

To smash the despair swelling inside, I let out a lion’s roar, pouring courage into myself.

“Uwooooo!”

The thunderous bellow that burst from my throat marked the true beginning of the bitter desperate struggle I would not soon forget.

[End of Chapter]