Chapter 266

Pyo Wol, who had left the Inn, looked around.

He could see the Nanhai Sam-geom bustling about in the stables behind the Inn. It seemed they were checking the horses they had ridden.

The gazes of the Nanhai Sam-geom and Pyo Wol met. But the Nanhai Sam-geom quickly turned their heads and focused on their work.

Pyo Wol watched them in silence.

Only after firmly imprinting their movements, their body muscles, and the development of their hands in his mind did he move on.

Without a direct confrontation, he couldn’t know the exact level of the Nanhai Sam-geom. However, he could roughly grasp what kind of Martial Arts they had learned.

‘One has mastered the Swift Sword, another the Broadsword that overwhelms with power, and the last has learned the ever-changing Phantom Sword.’

This was the conclusion he drew from synthesizing their body types, the development of their hands, and the shape of the swords at their waists.

If they were merely a passing connection, there would be no reason for Pyo Wol to be so attentive. But it didn’t seem like his connection with them would end so lightly.

Pyo Wol did not trust the goodwill in Dokgo Hwang’s eyes.

Not only were those who showed baseless goodwill extremely rare, but he was also not foolish enough to believe that the goodwill shown by someone of Dokgo Hwang’s stature came from pure benevolence.

The Dokgo Hwang that Pyo Wol saw was a Blood Sword.

He could sense a Blood Scent from him, as dreadful as his own.

It was a scent that ordinary people couldn’t smell, one that only those of the same kind could detect.

Only those who had killed countless people to rise to their position, like Pyo Wol, could possess such a Blood Scent.

Meeting Dokgo Hwang was by no means a coincidence.

Perhaps it was that similar kinds attracted each other.

Such a being was surely not limited to just Dokgo Hwang.

The war between Snow Blade Sword Manor and Jin Clan unfolding in Runan was attracting the ambitious of All Under Heaven like a Compass Iron.

Dokgo Hwang was one of those ambitious men who had been drawn in.

There was no telling how many more ambitious people would join in Runan.

The war between Snow Blade Sword Manor and Jin Clan had surpassed the level of a struggle for regional supremacy.

His mind was a tangled mess.

Pyo Wol shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts. It was pointless to think about it now anyway.

First, he had to return to Runan and assess the situation.

It had already been more than three days since he left Runan to chase the Ghost Dance Unit. He had no way of knowing how the situation in Runan had changed during that time.

Pyo Wol unleashed his Lightness Art and began to sprint.

After running for a full day, he could finally see Runan in the distance.

Pyo Wol retracted his Lightness Art and walked slowly.

No matter how great Pyo Wol’s Internal Energy was, after using his Lightness Art for a full day, it was bound to become impure.

Time was needed to refine the impure True Qi.

Pyo Wol sat on a rock slightly off the road and performed Qi Circulation.

After completing a great circulation, his impure True Qi became pure again. Only then did Pyo Wol stop his Qi Circulation and walk slowly.

Now that he had arrived near Runan, there was no need to use his Lightness Art.

Pyo Wol slowly walked towards Runan. However, he had to stop his steps before long.

It was because he had spotted a woman leaning against a small tree on the side of the road.

At a glance, she seemed ordinary, but the more one looked, the more charming her face became.

She was none other than Hong Ye-seol.

Hong Ye-seol saw Pyo Wol and gave a gentle smile.

“I knew you’d come this way.”

“Were you waiting for me?”

“Is there anyone else for me to wait for in Runan but you?”

Hong Ye-seol smiled and approached Pyo Wol with light steps.

With her hands behind her back, she examined Pyo Wol’s entire body from head to toe.

“Fortunately, it seems you haven’t suffered any major injuries.”

“Is that fortunate?”

“Hoho! For causing such a ruckus at Snow Blade Sword Manor, your condition is quite good.”

Hong Ye-seol laughed as if it was exhilarating.

In fact, she was in quite a cheerful mood right now.

It was because she had seen Black Tiger wear such a flustered expression for the first time.

With the deaths of Ice Kill and the Shadow Demon, Black Tiger’s state of mind was greatly shaken. He tried hard to pretend to be calm, but in Hong Ye-seol’s eyes, his bewildered emotions were visible.

It was a very amusing experience.

So, she was in a very good mood right now.

Pyo Wol asked Hong Ye-seol.

“How did you know I had left Runan?”

“You haven’t been seen for the past few days. I didn’t think someone like you would Escape out of fear of Black Tiger, so I figured you went out on some business. Am I wrong?”

Hong Ye-seol shrugged her shoulders.

Though she appeared ordinary on the outside, she too was an Assassin.

She was unparalleled in gathering information, and above all, she had a thorough understanding of the behavioral patterns of assassins. That’s why when Pyo Wol disappeared, she thought he must have gone outside of Runan.

Hong Ye-seol asked.

“Why did you go outside of Runan?”

“……”

“You can tell me. I’ll never breathe a word to the likes of Black Tiger.”

“……”

“Do you still not trust me? How heartbreaking.”

Hong Ye-seol put on a sorrowful expression.

Her expression was so deadly that ninety-nine out of a hundred men would have fallen for it. But it didn’t work on Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol walked on without a word.

Hong Ye-seol pouted and followed behind him.

“Let’s go together. You’re really so cold.”

Pyo Wol walked on indifferently, whether she chattered or not.

At Pyo Wol’s behavior, Hong Ye-seol’s expression grew more irritated. Being ignored by Pyo Wol so much was now starting to make her feel defiant.

She was an Assassin, but also a beauty.

She was used to receiving the admiring gazes of countless men; there had never been a case where someone ignored her as blatantly as Pyo Wol. That’s why she was even more irritated.

Hong Ye-seol quickened her pace to catch up with Pyo Wol. Walking shoulder to shoulder with him, she stole glances at his face.

‘He’s so damn handsome. No matter how much I look, I don’t get tired of it.’

It was the kind of face that, once you looked, you had to keep looking.

It was when Hong Ye-seol was lost in thought, staring at Pyo Wol’s face.

Suddenly, Pyo Wol stopped walking.

“Why?”

The moment Hong Ye-seol wore a puzzled expression.

Swiiish!

A hair-raising sound of something cutting through the air echoed.

“What the?”

Hong Ye-seol instinctively threw her body backward.

An arrow flew and embedded itself in the spot where she had been standing.

Whiiine!

The arrow’s fletching was trembling fiercely, showing how powerfully it had been shot.

Hong Ye-seol frowned.

More than the relief of having dodged the arrow, the small container tied to the arrowhead bothered her.

Shhh-shhh-shik!

At that moment, more arrows flew in succession.

Like a dog performing tricks, Hong Ye-seol leaped here and there, dodging all the arrows. But every arrow she dodged had a small container attached to it.

‘What is this?’

Thwack! Thwack-thwack-thwack!

At that moment, the containers tied to the arrow shafts exploded in a chain reaction, spewing out a pungent smoke.

“Hup!”

Hong Ye-seol hurriedly covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve and retreated. But by then, she had already inhaled a mouthful of the smoke.

She had only taken a single breath, but her head began to throb, and the world started to spin.

‘Poison smoke?’

As an Assassin herself, she knew a great deal about poison and how to use it. She was just as well-prepared against it.

Hong Ye-seol took out a small wooden box from her bosom.

Inside were the antidote pills she always carried. Taking one would stop the Poison Qi from spreading further.

Once the spread of the Poison Qi was stopped, the Detoxification could be done slowly later.

Hong Ye-seol quickly took the antidote pill.

She had barely swallowed the pill, but her crisis was not over yet.

Swiiish!

Arrows flew in succession.

The arrows were aimed precisely at her vitals.

It was a frighteningly precise display of archery.

Hong Ye-seol gritted her teeth and dodged the arrows.

The arrowheads still had containers attached that spewed poison smoke. If she carelessly swatted them away, she could inhale more of the poison smoke.

No matter how many antidote pills she took, there was a limit to the amount of poison she could handle.

Shwaaak!

At that moment, a sound different from before echoed through the air.

Hong Ye-seol’s eyes widened.

A net made of iron was flying towards her, spread wide.

There was nowhere to escape.

While dodging the arrows, she had been cornered without realizing it.

In the end, Hong Ye-seol drew her sword and swung it at the iron net.

Shwaaak!

Sword Qi formed on the sword infused with Internal Energy.

The Sword Qi she created was intense enough to slice any ordinary piece of iron in two in an instant.

Kagagagang!

Sparks flew in all directions as the sword and the iron net clashed. However, the iron net did not split in two as Hong Ye-seol had hoped.

Only then did Hong Ye-seol realize that the iron net was an artifact made of a very special metal. But by then it was too late; her body was already entangled in the iron net.

‘Damn it!’

Hong Ye-seol struggled, trying to escape the iron net. But the more she struggled, the tighter the iron net constricted. The iron net was made with a very special structure; one had to gently work their way out, for trying to tear it with force would only make it tighten with even greater strength.

It was then.

Pababat!

A group of Martial Artists burst out from the forest.

In their hands were long Spears.

Without hesitation, they thrust their Spears at Hong Ye-seol.

Their actions resembled those of hunters more than Martial Artists.

A method of cornering a beast, immobilizing it, and then ending its life in one go.

It was not a method used by typical Martial Artists.

“Keuk!”

A groan escaped Hong Ye-seol’s lips involuntarily.

She had assassinated countless people without a trace, but never before had she been so one-sidedly cornered.

She didn’t know the identity of her attackers, but it was clear they knew how to deal with an Assassin like her.

‘I was too careless.’

Hong Ye-seol blamed her own complacency, but it was a regret that came too late.

The Spears had already reached striking distance.

It was the moment Hong Ye-seol gritted her teeth and braced for the pain.

Shwaaak!

“Keuk!”

“Keok!”

With a sharp sound of something cutting through the air, the Martial Artists holding the Spears screamed. Embedded in their bodies were Flying Daggers the size of a child’s palm.

It was the Ghostly Rain that Pyo Wol had thrown.

Only then was Hong Ye-seol able to regain her composure.

She calmly untangled herself from the iron net.

“Hoo!”

Hong Ye-seol let out a sigh of relief and looked around.

She could see a troop of soldiers attacking Pyo Wol.

Cavalrymen on well-trained warhorses were attacking Pyo Wol with fierce momentum.

Iron nets were scattered around Pyo Wol.

It was clear he had been ambushed in the same way as Hong Ye-seol. Yet, he had broken free on his own.

It was a scene that clearly showed the difference between Hong Ye-seol and Pyo Wol. But Hong Ye-seol did not feel ashamed.

She already knew that Pyo Wol’s capabilities surpassed her own.

Hong Ye-seol looked at the person leading the attack from the front.

Surprisingly, the leader was a woman.

The woman in black armor attacking Pyo Wol from the front was someone Hong Ye-seol knew well.

‘Heo Ranju!’

She was none other than Heo Ranju, the Vice Unit Leader of the Black Cloud Corps.

Beside Heo Ranju was her soulmate, Daoshi Go.

“Switch to the Tiger Trap Formation.”

At Heo Ranju’s shout, the cavalrymen retreated in unison.

The space they vacated was filled by Martial Artists with Spears. And from a distance, archers continuously fired arrows at Pyo Wol.

The poison smoke, archers, spearmen, and cavalrymen all moved as one to attack Pyo Wol.

They showed an organic movement as if they were a single living creature.

At the center of it all was Heo Ranju.

She continuously gave orders, leading the attack.

In Chengdu, the Black Cloud Corps had been miserably defeated by Pyo Wol.

They had lost many comrades because they couldn’t properly respond to his hit-and-run attacks.

After that, the Black Cloud Corps had gritted their teeth and created the Tiger Trap Formation.

Like a group of hunters hunting a tiger, it was the ultimate military formation created to deal with an Expert like Pyo Wol.

A hint of madness even flickered in the eyes of Heo Ranju as she led the attack.

‘So you were hiding all this time to spend it with that bitch?’

For the past few days, she had relentlessly tracked Pyo Wol. But in the end, she couldn’t find a trace of him in Runan.

So she had been half-giving up, but unexpectedly, Pyo Wol had appeared on the outskirts of Runan. And with Hong Ye-seol, no less.

It was a situation ripe for Heo Ranju’s misunderstanding.

Hong Ye-seol was just as furious.

Her only crime was being with Pyo Wol.

She had had minor squabbles with Heo Ranju, but she had not caused even a speck of harm to the Black Cloud Corps. Yet, she had been ambushed and almost lost her life.

Her anger pierced the heavens.

“How dare you touch me?”

Hong Ye-seol launched herself towards Heo Ranju.