Chapter 313

Doyeop ran through the streets at high speed.

‘So that’s where they were hiding.’

He was a Martial Artist who had mastered pursuit and the Tracking Art.

He had a knack for accurately finding even the faintest of traces, which was why Jin Yugeon valued him highly.

Tracking the traces the boys had erased was not a very difficult task for him.

Although it did take a little time.

In the process, he also discovered Hwapyeong’s body.

The boys had tied Hwapyeong’s body to a stone and thrown it into the sea. But because it wasn’t tied securely, Hwapyeong’s body had floated to the surface.

Although it was so bloated from the water that it was hard to recognize the form, Doyeop recognized at a glance that the body was Hwapyeong’s.

After roughly recovering Hwapyeong’s body, he resumed the chase and eventually managed to find the Inn where Pyo Wol was staying.

Although, in his excitement at finding his target, he made a mistake and was discovered by Geom-yeon.

The moment he injured Geom-yeon, he left the Inn.

His mission was to find the boy he had seen at the port. Now, if he reported this fact, Jin Yugeon would take care of the rest.

Doyeop executed his Lightness Art at the fastest speed possible.

Those who primarily trained in the Tracking Art were usually skilled in Light Body Art. Doyeop was no exception.

When he used his Lightness Art with all his might, not even Jin Yugeon could keep up. That was why he was somewhat relieved.

He thought, who would dare to follow him? But not even half a quarter-hour had passed before his pride was shattered to pieces.

Kuuuu!

He felt a formidable presence from behind him.

Someone was chasing him fiercely.

The one chasing him was none other than Tarha.

With her eyes wide like a lion’s, Tarha was running with a terrifying momentum.

‘Damn it!’

Doyeop felt a chill run down his spine.

He didn’t even know Tarha’s identity, but he could tell for certain that she was no ordinary Martial Artist.

“Stop!”

Tarha came running, letting out a lion’s roar.

At her roar, Doyeop felt his chest tremble.

‘Crazy!’

He could tell just from the lion’s roar.

That Tarha was an Expert of a formidable level.

A Martial Artist he would not dare to face.

Escape was the only answer.

Doyeop executed his Lightness Art with all his might.

As a result, the distance between him and Tarha grew wider and wider.

“You bastard! Will you not stop?”

Tarha’s furious voice could be heard, but it could not stop Doyeop.

‘That old woman must be the one who killed Hwapyeong.’

He thought he had to report this fact to Jin Yugeon as soon as possible.

Fortunately, shaking off Tarha was not that difficult.

Tarha’s Martial Arts might be far stronger, but when it came to Lightness Art, she had a hard time keeping up with him.

Still, it was too early to be relieved.

Doyeop deliberately did not go straight to the residential area where the hideout was, but took a roundabout way to an unrelated place. This, too, was an action to disrupt any pursuit.

As he himself was a master of the Tracking Art, he was preparing against being tracked by others.

Thus, after completely concealing his tracks, Doyeop returned to the residential area where his comrades were.

“Welcome back.”

As soon as he entered, a comrade greeted him. But strangely, the others were nowhere to be seen.

“Where are the others?”

“The Captain had a bad feeling and went to retrieve the item first.”

“He went first? Without waiting for me.”

“I was waiting, wasn’t I? He told me to bring you to the operation site when you arrived.”

“I see.”

Only then did Doyeop’s expression relax.

He had misunderstood that he had been abandoned.

“Let’s go quickly.”

“Mm!”

The two men hurried to leave the mansion. But at that moment, the comrade’s expression changed.

“You brought a tail.”

“What? That can’t be.”

Doyeop looked back with an expression of disbelief.

In that instant, he saw a black figure looking down at them from atop the wall.

A jet-black robe, dark as the night, fluttered in the wind. Above it, a stark white face stood out conspicuously.

It was none other than Pyo Wol.

“Who are you?”

“Who goes there?”

Doyeop and his comrade shouted at the same time. But Pyo Wol gave no answer and looked around the mansion.

‘So this was the place.’

The mansion they were using as a hideout had unusually thick walls.

The owner, intending to build it sturdily, had made the walls twice as thick as those of other mansions. Because of that, even Pyo Wol’s Qi Sense had been unable to detect the movements of the Martial Artists inside.

Doyeop simply could not believe that he had been tailed.

“So it wasn’t just one person. Then was that old woman just a diversion?”

He ground his teeth.

He couldn’t contain his anger at the thought of being played by Pyo Wol.

Doyeop’s comrade shouted.

“Get him!”

He rushed towards Pyo Wol at a terrifying speed.

Doyeop, belatedly coming to his senses, joined in.

In the blink of an eye, they reached Pyo Wol’s immediate vicinity.

Shwish, shwish, shwish!

Sword shadows chaotically covered the empty air.

Their sword path was simple. But it was just as efficient.

It was to aim for the opponent’s vitals with minimal movement.

It was a frighteningly practical Sword Art. The only problem was their opponent.

Pyo Wol dodged all their attacks with minimal movement.

“An Expert.”

As they exchanged glances, their movements changed.

They had switched to a joint attack.

The fact that they switched to a joint attack as soon as they grasped their opponent’s level meant that their teamwork was formidable.

Shwish, shwish, shwish!

Their swords attacked Pyo Wol even more venomously.

The two’s joint attack was executed with watertight precision.

The way they attacked while covering each other’s openings was as precise as a Mechanism. But even though the two of them were in sync, they couldn’t even graze the hem of Pyo Wol’s clothes.

‘Where did such a monster come from…’

‘Two is not enough. We need more to take this one down.’

They realized they were outmatched.

At that moment, Doyeop made a decision.

Pat!

He threw himself backward, abandoning his comrade.

As soon as he broke away, he fled alone.

Despite being betrayed by Doyeop, his comrade showed no sign of resentment.

Because that was their rule.

When facing an overwhelming enemy, one person must survive to relay information to their comrades.

Doyeop, with his superior Lightness Art, was tasked with informing their comrades, while the remaining comrade was tasked with buying as much time as possible by holding back the enemy.

“Haaat!”

The comrade let out a kiai and attacked Pyo Wol.

He couldn’t do anything to Pyo Wol even when they attacked together, so there was no way he could do it alone.

Puk!

Something pierced through his forehead.

It was a fine Silver Thread, difficult to distinguish with the naked eye—the Soul Restraining Thread.

The Martial Artist, pierced by the Soul Restraining Thread, died instantly and collapsed.

Pyo Wol left his body behind and launched himself forward.

Doyeop thought he had left almost no trace of himself, but in Pyo Wol’s eyes, his tracks were clearly visible.

It was then.

“Let’s go together.”

Tarha, who had arrived late, joined him.

She had caught up while Pyo Wol was fighting Doyeop’s comrade.

The two ran side by side through the night streets.

‘Heh!’

Tarha looked at Pyo Wol in admiration.

She was currently using her Lightness Art with all her might. Even so, all she could do was barely keep from falling behind Pyo Wol.

She could tell just from his breathing that Pyo Wol was not using his full strength. He was clearly adjusting his speed for her sake.

‘I never thought I’d become a burden holding someone back.’

This was her first time experiencing such a thing, so she couldn’t help but be bewildered. But she couldn’t just blame herself forever.

Right now, catching up to Doyeop was the top priority.

Doyeop had already disappeared into the darkness and was out of sight.

Even with Tarha’s Eye Power, she couldn’t tell where he had disappeared. Yet Pyo Wol’s movements were unhindered.

It seemed Pyo Wol was seeing something she could not.

‘What in the world?’

It was then.

Kwaang!

In the direction they were running, far in the distance, an explosion suddenly erupted, and flames shot up.

The explosion was so tremendous that the area was momentarily lit up as bright as day.

‘So that’s the place.’

Pyo Wol realized that Doyeop’s escape destination was the place where the flames were soaring.

Tarha, running beside him, said.

“Isn’t that the Sea Dragon Clan?”

＊＊＊

Kwaaaa!

The flames that soared high into the sky engulfed the Sea Dragon Clan with ferocious momentum.

“What is this?”

Sea Dragon Clan Boss Jang Hamun wore a bewildered expression as he looked around the grounds, which had turned into a fiery hell in an instant.

The pavilion, which had been perfectly fine just a moment ago, was engulfed in massive flames. Gold was stored separately inside that pavilion.

Naturally, security was tighter there than anywhere else, and no flammable objects were kept there. So for it to be engulfed in such large flames was nothing short of dumbfounding.

“Put out the fire, quickly. Hurry!”

He shouted until his throat was raw.

Only then did the workers and Martial Artists come to their senses, grabbing buckets to draw water.

“Move faster.”

“We have to put it out before it spreads further!”

They tried to extinguish the fire with water drawn from the well, but it was useless. As time passed, the flames only grew stronger. At this rate, the entire Sea Dragon Clan was in danger of being engulfed in flames.

“Who the hell are these bastards?”

Jang Hamun did not think the fire was an accident. It was clear that someone had intentionally set it.

“But for what reason?”

There were countless people who held a grudge against the Sea Dragon Clan.

It was impossible to accumulate this much wealth without harming others. But among those who held a grudge against him, no one who would act so boldly came to mind easily.

“If not them, then…”

His thoughts suddenly turned to the warehouse in the rear garden.

For the past few days, the only things in the Sea Dragon Clan that would attract others’ attention were the Treasure Map and the man that Lee Seong-hak had brought.

He urgently called for Wu Gunchang.

“Steward!”

“Yes! Boss.”

Wu Gunchang, who had been directing his Subordinates to suppress the fire, rushed over.

“Gather the troops right now and follow me.”

“Pardon?”

“We have to go to the rear garden immediately. I don’t know who it is, but the one who committed arson is clearly after the item in the warehouse.”

“I understand.”

Only then did Wu Gunchang grasp the situation, and his expression hardened.

He quickly gathered the elites and followed behind Jang Hamun.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Jang Hamun and his Subordinates arrived in front of the warehouse in the rear garden.

“Ugh!”

“How can this be!”

Jang Hamun and Wu Gunchang let out groans at the same time.

The Martial Artists guarding the front of the warehouse had collapsed, bleeding. Judging by the lack of rise and fall in their chests, they were clearly dead.

At that moment, nearly twenty Martial Artists ran out of the warehouse door.

At their head was a white-haired man.

In his hand was the Treasure Map that the strange man had been holding, and the Subordinates behind him were supporting the strange man, who had lost consciousness after taking the Monghon Pill.

It was the moment Jang Hamun’s suspicions were confirmed to be true.

“Who are you bastards? How dare you invade the Sea Dragon Clan.”

At Jang Hamun’s roar, the white-haired man, Jin Yugeon, slightly wrinkled his nose and muttered.

“I was just trying to come and go quietly…”

The whole reason he had set the fire was to come and go quietly without being noticed by anyone. But now that he had been discovered by Jang Hamun and his Subordinates, it was all meaningless.

Jin Yugeon spun the Treasure Map in his hand and gave an order to his Subordinates.

“Break through as quickly as possible and return to the fleet.”

“As you command!”

The Subordinates replied and shot forward.

Jang Hamun’s eyes blazed as he gave an order.

“Stop them! Don’t let a single one of them escape.”