Chapter 311

Tae Musang stared blankly at Pyo Wol.

The place he was in was the annex where Pyo Wol was staying.

Tae Musang had been running around all night erasing their tracks.

He had thrown the bodies of the Phantom Ship Fleet’s martial artists into the sea, and collected the bodies of his younger brothers to bury them in a sunny spot. And he had ordered the children under his protection to hide for the time being.

He spent all the money he had to buy plenty of food for the children to eat while they were in hiding and distributed it.

Only after finishing all that work did Tae Musang come to the annex where Pyo Wol was staying.

The annex was surrounded by a high wall, so he didn’t have to worry about prying eyes from the outside.

Completely drained, Tae Musang slept as if he had passed out for half a day.

Although he usually had sensitive nerves and spent sleepless nights, the fatigue had reached its peak right after experiencing such a major incident.

The first thing Tae Musang saw after opening his eyes was the sight of Pyo Wol sitting cross-legged, performing Qi Circulation.

The sight of Pyo Wol, his eyes half-closed as he performed Qi Circulation, seemed mystical to Tae Musang.

‘If only I could become like that…’

Pyo Wol had proposed a deal to him.

The terms of the deal were simple.

He was to follow Pyo Wol’s orders while he was here.

In return, Pyo Wol would help him get his revenge.

There was no reason for Tae Musang to refuse.

That was why Tae Musang was here.

It was then.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

Someone opened the door to the annex and came in.

It was Geom-yeon, the waiter who worked here.

“I slept soundly, so I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m fine too.”

Geom-yeon replied with an awkward expression.

There was no way he was fine.

Geom-yeon had been gravely injured by the Phantom Ship Fleet’s martial artist. There was no way such a wound could heal in just one night.

He was alive only because Pyo Wol had given him first aid; otherwise, he would no longer be of this world.

Even with such a serious injury, Geom-yeon had to work.

If he didn’t work, other people might find it strange. The work at the inn was not so lenient that it could run smoothly even if a waiter was missing. Moreover, Geom-yeon’s inn was a place that received a great many customers.

That was how many people knew how diligent he was. If Geom-yeon, who had never missed a single day of work until now, suddenly didn’t show up, someone would surely find it strange.

Because of that, Geom-yeon endured the pain and worked at the inn, and only now had he found a spare moment to come see Tae Musang.

Tae Musang silently lifted Geom-yeon’s clothes and examined his waist.

It was the spot where he had been severely wounded by the Phantom Ship Fleet’s martial artist.

The cloth wrapped around the wound was already stained red. The wound had burst open because he had strained himself working at the inn.

“You foolish boy!”

“I’m fine.”

“What do you mean, fine? You foolish bastard!”

Tae Musang muttered as he changed the cloth wrapped around Geom-yeon’s wound with a clean one.

Because the wound was so deep, he felt extreme pain even from the simple task of changing the cloth. But Geom-yeon endured the pain without letting out a single scream.

As they were bustling about, Pyo Wol finished his Qi Circulation and stood up.

“Mm!”

Tae Musang and Geom-yeon let out a simultaneous groan.

Their eyes, as they looked at Pyo Wol, were full of admiration.

Tae Musang, in particular, felt not just simple admiration but a sense of awe. And he felt extreme shame for having foolishly picked a fight with Pyo Wol.

If he had known Pyo Wol was this kind of person, he would never have picked a fight with him.

Tae Musang bowed his head to Pyo Wol.

“Thank you for your help.”

“The children?”

“They are all in hiding.”

“Are you sure?”

“They’ve mastered the art of hiding. As long as they’re determined to hide, no one will be able to find our kids.”

Geom-yeon added to Tae Musang’s words.

“I told them not to gather in one place, but to hide separately. There are plenty of places for us to hide in Haimen. Outsiders will never be able to find where our kids are hiding.”

Pyo Wol nodded at their confident words. But he did not believe the two boys.

It wasn’t that he doubted them.

It was just that the children knew too little about martial artists.

The children didn’t know how persistent a martial artist trained in a professional Tracking Art could be, nor how far they could track.

If it were someone who had properly learned a Tracking Art, they would surely find the traces left by the children. The only fortunate thing was that all the children Tae Musang was looking after had scattered to hide.

Pyo Wol said to Tae Musang.

“Let’s go!”

“Huh? To where?”

“To the place where they got off the boat.”

“Why there?”

Tae Musang wore a look of incomprehension.

Pyo Wol didn’t bother to explain.

He wasn’t the kind of person to explain every little thing to a child.

Pyo Wol left the annex and headed straight for the harbor.

Tae Musang followed behind Pyo Wol.

He was afraid there might be another pursuer, but on second thought, it was unlikely they had seen his face clearly in that darkness. So he thought it would be fine to walk around openly.

The two arrived at a secluded part of the harbor where the small fishing boats had come in yesterday.

“This is the place. The bastards got off here.”

Tae Musang pointed to the exact spot where the fishing boats had docked.

The fishing boats that had come in last night had vanished without a trace. They were probably hidden somewhere else.

Pyo Wol looked around.

There were well over a hundred small fishing boats docked here. Including the fishing boats that were currently out for fishing, over several hundred boats would use this place.

Finding the boat that the Phantom Ship Fleet’s martial artists had ridden among them was practically impossible.

In a situation like this, most people would have given up the chase. But Pyo Wol was different.

Pyo Wol asked Tae Musang.

“Where were you hiding?”

“Over there, on that high place.”

Tae Musang pointed his finger to where he had been.

Pyo Wol estimated the distance from where Tae Musang had been hiding to where the fishing boat had come in.

‘At least fifty Zhang. And on a pitch-black night.’

From where Tae Musang was hiding, this place was clearly visible, but from here, where Tae Musang was, was almost invisible. Yet, the fact that they had noticed Tae Musang’s presence meant that the white-haired man’s martial arts and senses were beyond imagination.

Countless footprints were left chaotically on the ground.

After the Phantom Ship Fleet’s martial artists had stepped here, numerous people had passed through this place.

To single out and find only the footprints of the Phantom Ship Fleet’s martial artists among them was an impossible task, even for Pyo Wol.

He had to change his method.

“You said there were a total of twenty people who got off the boat, right?”

“That’s right. It looked like about that many.”

No matter how dark the night, if that many people moved at once, they were bound to catch people’s eyes.

They were so thorough that they were willing to chase him to the end and take his life for the simple reason that he had witnessed them getting off the boat.

It meant that the fact they had entered Haimen was a secret that must never be known.

‘The Phantom Ship Fleet…’

It was a name he had never heard before.

Pyo Wol was no longer the Jianghu novice he once was.

He had information on most sects in his head. But he had never once heard the name Phantom Ship Fleet.

Something smelled suspicious.

Pyo Wol’s intervention in this matter was not simply due to curiosity or a flimsy connection with Tae Musang.

It was because the Phantom Ship Fleet reminded him of Lee Yul.

Lee Yul had naturally blended into a sect called Snow Blade Sword Manor and dominated everything. His previous activities were completely unknown.

It was as if he had suddenly fallen from the sky.

Pyo Wol caught the scent of Lee Yul from the Phantom Ship Fleet. They too had appeared out of nowhere, just like Lee Yul.

That was the only thing they had in common.

There was no other evidence, but Pyo Wol had a feeling they might be connected.

That was the reason Pyo Wol had stepped in.

Pyo Wol’s eyes scanned the surroundings sharply.

He was looking for a route that twenty people could take without being noticed by others.

‘There!’

Pyo Wol finally found a likely route.

It was an alleyway with a continuous high wall. Because of the wall, people inside the houses couldn’t notice the presence of people passing by outside.

Pyo Wol naturally entered the alleyway.

Tae Musang followed behind Pyo Wol, not knowing why.

The alleyway soon ended, and a new scene appeared. This time, there was no wall to block people’s view. Windows were open here and there, and people were sticking their faces out to get some air.

If a group of twenty people had passed through here, they would have surely been spotted by someone.

Pyo Wol climbed onto the roof of a nearby mansion.

The only way to move around here without being seen was on the rooftops.

Even among the roofs, he avoided shabby thatched huts or those built with poor materials. A wrong step could cause them to collapse.

As he narrowed down the options like that, only one route remained.

It was the residential district in the west of Haimen.

Pyo Wol asked Tae Musang.

“Who mainly lives over there?”

“Uh, it’s a neighborhood where a lot of people who work at the harbor live. People who are a little higher up than the laborers.”

“You mean middle managers.”

“That’s right. Those bastards! You have no idea how much they look down on laborers and orphans like us. That’s why we usually don’t even go near that area.”

“Is that so?”

“They’re really detestable bastards.”

Sparks seemed to fly from Tae Musang’s eyes as he glared at the residential area. Judging by his reaction, it seemed he had been greatly humiliated or beaten up there before.

‘From there, one can move anywhere in Haimen without being easily noticed.’

The people living in the residential area probably didn’t know it, but in Pyo Wol’s eyes, that place looked like a strategic hub with access in all directions.

If he were to cause any trouble here in Haimen, he would definitely use that place as a base.

While he was at it, Pyo Wol made his way to the residential area.

Despite it being broad daylight, the residential area was quiet.

Tae Musang explained why.

“It’s because most of them are out working at the harbor.”

A man couldn’t support a life here by working alone. That’s why the men who worked at the harbor also made their wives do odd jobs. Easy jobs that were less strenuous but paid well.

Because of that, there was almost no one at home at this time of day.

Pyo Wol thought it was for the better.

Pyo Wol walked with his Qi Sense spread wide. He thought he would surely be able to detect even the slightest sign of movement.

But even after combing through the entire residential area, he couldn’t feel any particular presence.

‘They’re either completely inactive and resting, or they’re in an underground location where their presence can’t be detected.’

Pyo Wol looked around the residential area once more.

The residential area was quite large. It seemed it would take a lot of effort to search it properly.

It was then. Unfamiliar people appeared at the other end of the alley.

They looked like people who lived in the residential area.

It would do no good to be seen by them.

“Let’s go back for today!”

“Huh? Okay.”

Tae Musang also instantly realized why Pyo Wol had said that.

If a rumor spread that a stranger was loitering around, the martial artists of the Phantom Ship Fleet would hide even deeper.

Tae Musang followed Pyo Wol into a nearby alley.

Creeak!

Right after they disappeared, someone opened the door of a mansion and came out.

A white-haired man.

It was none other than Jin Yugeon.

Jin Yugeon looked around with a puzzled expression.

People who seemed to be local residents were passing in front of the mansion he was in.

Jin Yugeon didn’t even glance at them and muttered to himself.

“I’m sure I felt someone’s presence?”

The sharp, needle-pricking pain in his temples was definitely not a hallucination.

Jin Yugeon climbed onto the roof of the mansion and looked around. But besides the local residents, there was no one to be seen.

“Was I mistaken?”