Chapter 208

As the representative martial force of the Righteous Sword Manor, the White Tiger Sword Unit was composed entirely of sword Experts.

Not only did each individual’s martial prowess surpass that of the average Swordsman in Jianghu, but they were also tightly united around a powerful Expert named Ju Cheon-hak.

There were countless Martial Artists stronger than them, but they held the pride that there were almost no organizations more solidly united than theirs.

Ju Cheon-hak nodded as he looked at the assembled White Tiger Sword Unit.

Just seeing them gathered together made his heart feel reassured.

Although this was the territory of the Wudang Sect, with thirty members of the White Tiger Sword Unit gathered in one place, there was nothing to fear.

Jang Mu-yeon issued an order to the White Tiger Sword Unit.

“The target is a kid named Soma. Guard the road leading down from the Wudang Sect, and when he appears, kill him and seize the Gongpo Sword.”

“Won’t killing someone in the Wudang Sect’s territory cause a major problem?”

A Martial Artist from the White Tiger Sword Unit voiced his doubt.

A Sect with as much power as the Wudang Sect would not stand by and watch Martial Artists from other Sects run rampant in their territory. Furthermore, if a murder were to occur in their own front yard, the problem would become even greater.

“It will be a problem.”

“Then why?”

“We don’t need to worry about that. The Manor will handle the aftermath. As long as we aren’t caught and escape Hubei, the Wudang Sect won’t be able to escalate the matter further.”

Although slightly less powerful than the Wudang Sect, the Righteous Sword Manor was still one of the most powerful Sects in All Under Heaven.

They were a rather burdensome opponent to clash with head-on.

Neither the Righteous Sword Manor nor the Wudang Sect would want a military conflict.

What remained was a political solution.

Of course, the Righteous Sword Manor would have to provide considerable compensation, but that level of loss was not a significant issue.

Not when compared to the artifact called the Gongpo Sword that they would acquire.

Rather, the real problem would be failing to secure the Gongpo Sword after causing such an incident.

‘Although the Wudang Sect is troublesome, we also have a justification.’

His maternal uncle, Hwa Yu-cheon, and his son had been killed by Pyo Wol.

Revenge was his natural right as the nephew.

Using this as a pretext, the Wudang Sect would not be able to escalate the problem significantly.

For the Martial Artists of Jianghu, there was no justification as powerful as revenge.

Although there was no evidence that Pyo Wol had killed Hwa Yu-cheon, that wasn’t a problem. If they insisted it was certain based on the circumstances, the Wudang Sect wouldn’t be able to dig any deeper.

In Jianghu, nothing was as important as justification.

At times, justification was a force so powerful that it could even ignore the balance of power.

Jang Mu-yeon intended to make full use of that justification.

The White Tiger Sword Unit moved immediately.

They hid themselves along the path leading down from Mount Wudang.

It was late at night.

Even for a Martial Artist who had trained in Martial Arts, descending a mountain at this hour was an extremely dangerous act.

No one would likely come down Mount Wudang this night. Still, they had to guard this place.

If, by some chance, Soma and Pyo Wol left Mount Wudang while they were away from their posts, it would be an even bigger problem.

Ju Cheon-hak issued an order to the White Tiger Sword Unit.

“From now on, we will divide into three teams and take turns monitoring the path. Do not take your eyes off it for a single moment.”

“Yes! Understood.”

The White Tiger Sword Unit answered vigorously.

They immediately divided their personnel into three teams.

The first team would hide and watch the path, while the other two teams would rest in the nearby undergrowth.

Jo Yeong-sin, the leader of the first team, hid behind a tree with his Subordinates and monitored the path.

The surroundings were dark, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead, but they couldn’t light a torch. That would be tantamount to announcing their hidden presence.

Instead, they focused their Internal Energy into their eyes to enhance their Eye Power.

Even so, there was a limit to the distance they could see, but it was the only way to watch the path now that they couldn’t use torches.

Jo Yeong-sin was calm and patient.

Because of this, he had a great advantage in tasks like surveillance.

He stared at the dark path without feeling any boredom.

How much time had passed? Suddenly, a strange light flickered in Jo Yeong-sin’s eyes.

Whoong! Whoong!

With a sharp sound of something cutting through the air, something flashed in the forest.

The long, rod-shaped luminous object emitted a burst of light for a moment, then disappeared, only to reappear again and again.

“What is that?”

Jo Yeong-sin focused more Internal Power into his eyes. The luminous object became clearer.

“A sword?”

The luminous object he had thought was a long rod was, in fact, a sword. The light emanating from the sword was Sword Qi.

Someone was walking while brandishing a sword coated in Sword Qi.

In an instant, Jo Yeong-sin’s expression hardened.

Maintaining Sword Qi for a long time was by no means an easy task, even for an Expert. In the White Tiger Sword Unit, only the Captain, Ju Cheon-hak, was capable of it; the other Martial Artists could not maintain it like that.

Jo Yeong-sin wondered what kind of Expert was wasting their Internal Power so needlessly.

A moment later, the owner of the Sword Qi revealed themself.

An expression of bewilderment appeared on Jo Yeong-sin’s face.

‘A kid?’

He had been imagining a middle-aged Martial Artist with a solemn face, but the owner of the Sword Qi was, unexpectedly, a young boy.

He couldn’t help but be bewildered, seeing a boy who looked to be six or seven at most, brandishing a sword coated in Sword Qi as if it were a toy.

Jo Yeong-sin’s Subordinates wore similar expressions.

They had never seen someone so young wield Sword Qi so freely.

The boy, who seemed to be in high spirits, was humming a strange song.

“In the dark forest, thirty wildcats are hiding. The captain wildcat is sinister, and the wildcats under him are gloomy. The first one, I’ll slit its throat and kill it; the second one, I’ll crush it to death; the third one…”

The moment he heard the boy’s song, Jo Yeong-sin felt the hair on his entire body stand on end.

As goosebumps spread all over his body, he instinctively realized that the boy humming the song was their target.

The boy’s eyes, as he brandished the sword coated in Sword Qi, swept through the forest. His gaze was looking precisely where Jo Yeong-sin and his Subordinates were hiding.

At that moment, the boy stopped singing and spoke.

“Hi! Big bro wildcats. I’m Soma. You guys are waiting for me, right?”

The boy, Soma, grinned, baring his teeth.

Instantly, Jo Yeong-sin shouted.

“It’s the target. Kill him and seize the Gongpo Sword.”

The sword in Soma’s hand was the Gongpo Sword.

The reason Soma could maintain his Sword Qi for so long was also because of the Gongpo Sword. Strangely, when he injected his Internal Power into the Gongpo Sword, it allowed him to maintain his Sword Qi smoothly without any unnecessary leakage.

Perhaps that very characteristic was what made the Gongpo Sword even more famous.

Jo Yeong-sin and his Subordinates rushed out in unison and attacked Soma.

Soma said with a bright smile.

“Wow! Big bro was right. He said you’d be waiting if I came this way.”

Soma had to endure a lot while he was at the Wudang Sect.

The pent-up frustration had reached the top of his head.

“Heehee!”

Soma laughed and threw the Seven Deadly Wheels he wore around his neck.

Ju Cheon-hak raised his head and looked forward.

Kakakang!

The faint sound of clashing metal carried on the wind.

Ju Cheon-hak was a seasoned Martial Artist.

He instantly knew what the faint sound of metal meant.

“Team One is fighting. Everyone, get up.”

He issued an order to the resting members of the White Tiger Sword Unit.

The White Tiger Sword Unit quickly rose and gathered before him.

Jang Mu-yeon also approached Ju Cheon-hak.

“Are they here?”

“It seems so.”

“They came down faster than expected. Did they follow us right away?”

“That’s possible.”

“Foolish.”

Jang Mu-yeon smiled.

He had thought it might be possible, but he hadn’t really expected Pyo Wol and Soma to track them and descend the mountain.

They must have acted that way out of confidence in their own Martial Arts, but for Jang Mu-yeon and the White Tiger Sword Unit, it was a golden opportunity.

No matter how strong the two of them were, the thirty members of the White Tiger Sword Unit would be more than capable of subduing them.

Just as they were about to rush to where Soma and Team One were clashing.

“Huh!”

Suddenly, someone let out a cry of alarm.

Ju Cheon-hak frowned and asked.

“What is it?”

“I can’t see Cheol-jin.”

The Martial Artist who had cried out couldn’t hide his panicked expression.

Ju Cheon-hak hurriedly looked at the White Tiger Sword Unit.

Excluding himself, there should have been nineteen men. But one was missing.

“What?”

Ju Cheon-hak felt a chill run down his spine.

It was he who had trained the White Tiger Sword Unit into a single organization.

He had thoroughly aimed for a single, cohesive unit.

Naturally, discipline and unity were his top priorities.

Leaving the main force without reporting was unimaginable. There had never been a single instance of such unauthorized desertion until now.

The fact that something that had never happened before was happening now clearly meant that some external force was at play.

Ju Cheon-hak shouted loudly.

“Everyone, be on guard.”

“Yes!”

Chwaaang!

The White Tiger Sword Unit drew their swords in unison and guarded their surroundings.

Despite the sudden turn of events, they showed no signs of wavering. That was how harshly Ju Cheon-hak had trained them.

Jang Mu-yeon’s eyes also glinted sharply like a blade.

‘It’s him.’

To find out the truth about his uncle’s death, he had interrogated the survivors of the Heavenly Eunuch Clan who had entered the Forest of the Dead. He had also personally entered the Forest of the Dead and investigated it thoroughly.

As a result, he could roughly guess how Pyo Wol had dismantled the Heavenly Eunuch Clan’s forces and killed his uncle.

‘He knows how to maximize fear. First, he incites terror by abducting and killing a comrade without a trace. Once the fear spreads, his hunt begins.’

But Jang Mu-yeon was not overly worried.

Before climbing Mount Wudang, he and Ju Cheon-hak had informed their Subordinates of Pyo Wol’s methods and had them prepare sufficiently.

Although they had been caught by a surprise attack and one man had gone missing, if they stayed sharp and guarded their surroundings from now on, they could turn the tables and hunt Pyo Wol.

He and the White Tiger Sword Unit were more than capable of doing so.

Kakakang!

The sound of clashing metal continued to come from nearby.

It was the sound of Team One and Soma fighting. But no one present diverted their attention to that direction.

They were all aware that the moment their guard was lowered, Pyo Wol’s ambush would begin.

Even the chirping of insects stopped, and only silence filled the forest.

Thud!

Just as everyone’s tension reached its peak, a dark figure suddenly dropped into their midst.

“Chaaat!”

“It’s him.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the Martial Artists of the White Tiger Sword Unit attacked the figure that had dropped right into their center.

Shigagagak!*

Twenty Sword Lights simultaneously split the darkness, butchering the figure that had fallen into their midst.

Flesh was torn, bones were severed, and blood splattered in all directions.

Bright red blood was sprayed copiously over the dark undergrowth.

“We got him.”

“Hehe!”

A light of elation appeared on the faces of the White Tiger Sword Unit members.

For a moment, the tension eased, and laughter escaped them.

They had caught the Assassin more easily than expected.

It was then.

“That’s not him.”

Ju Cheon-hak’s voice, close to a scream, burst out.

Being the closest, he had recognized the identity of the dead figure.

The person brutally butchered by the White Tiger Sword Unit was none other than Geum Cheol-jin, who had gone missing just a moment ago.

Geum Cheol-jin’s eyes were wide open, as if his breath had not yet been cut off. But he did not let out a groan. His Paralysis Blood Point and his vocal point had been sealed simultaneously.

Geum Cheol-jin writhed once in agony, then died.

“……”

Seeing this, the entire White Tiger Sword Unit fell into shock.

It was as if they had taken the life of their comrade, Geum Cheol-jin, with their own hands.

Ju Cheon-hak let out a roar of fury.

“You vile bastard! To use a living person as bait.”

It was then.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, with a stifled groan, someone was yanked up into the air.

It was a Martial Artist on the outer edge of the White Tiger Sword Unit.

He had been staring blankly at Geum Cheol-jin’s body when some kind of noose descended, snatched his neck, and pulled him up into the air.

“Jae-gyeong!”

“Quick, save him!”

The Martial Artists nearby moved to save him.

Too late, Jang Mu-yeon and Ju Cheon-hak shouted.

“No!”

“Don’t move.”

But their shouts were too late.

The formation had collapsed.