Chapter 443

By unleashing the Devil Shadow Illusion Guard to scatter his enemies’ attention, Pyo Wol was able to land safely on the boat.

“You bastard!”

“Kill him!”

The martial artists of the Silver River Escort Agency charged with terrifying force.

Sword Light glinted from the blades in their hands.

Pyo Wol drove into the chest of the man in the lead and struck with Jade Destruction.

Thwack!

With a dull thud, the martial artist was sent flying into the river. He did not resurface.

It was an instant death.

“Guo!”

The Escort Chief, who had witnessed his comrade’s death before his eyes, screamed and charged.

Thwack!

But with a thud, he was thrown backward.

A dagger was embedded in his forehead.

Pyo Wol had thrown the dagger Tang Sochu had made for him.

Seeing two men lose their lives in an instant, the martial artists flinched without realizing it.

Just then, Pyo Wol unleashed the Silken Serpent Strong Energy.

The Silken Serpent Strong Energy pierced through the martial artists all at once.

“Keuheuk!”

“Gack!”

The martial artists screamed and collapsed.

“Oh… my god!”

The faces of the captain and sailors who witnessed the scene turned deathly pale.

The martial artists they had taken aboard their boat possessed no ordinary martial prowess. Yet, before Pyo Wol’s terrifying Martial Arts, which had subdued them as easily as swatting flies, they were rendered speechless.

Pyo Wol scanned the deck. But Ma Wonik and Ma Seowon were nowhere to be seen.

Pyo Wol asked the captain.

“Where did their leader go?”

“Sir, what do you mean? Kuaargh!”

The captain suddenly screamed.

The Soul Restraining Thread was embedded in his shoulder.

The hole it pierced was no bigger than the eye of a needle, but the pain was incomparable to any other wound.

Pyo Wol asked again.

“Where did they go?”

“Th-they got off when we were rounding the mountain earlier.”

At the captain’s answer, Pyo Wol bit his lip slightly.

At that time, Pyo Wol had been racing through the mountains and couldn’t keep an eye on the boat. Ma Wonik and Ma Seowon had used that gap to abandon the boat and escape.

“P-please spare us. We were only paid in silver taels…”

Slice!

The captain could not finish his sentence.

Pyo Wol had slit his throat with the Soul Restraining Thread.

“Huk!”

“Keub!”

The sailors who saw this clamped their hands over their mouths.

Their eyes, as they looked at Pyo Wol, were filled with terror.

One of them was pissing down his trousers.

The captain and the sailors were merely hired by the Silver River Escort Agency; they had no other connection. So, they had honestly thought Pyo Wol would spare them.

If only they knelt and bowed their heads. But Pyo Wol was merciless.

Shhh-iit!

His Soul Restraining Thread danced.

Four of the five sailors lost their lives in an instant.

The lone surviving sailor froze.

To the man, pale with fright, Pyo Wol said,

“Make sure you spread the word. What happens to those who help them…”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The sailor nodded his head frantically.

Pyo Wol’s words were a warning to everyone in Sichuan Province.

It was a declaration that he would never let those who helped his enemies go unpunished, and the sailor trembled, unable to collect himself.

Pyo Wol asked one last time.

“Where did they go after getting off the boat?”

“Th-there.”

The sailor pointed to a spot on the opposite shore.

There was not a single lie in his words.

He had no courage to lie with the corpses of his captain and comrades before him.

He desperately prayed for the inhuman being before him to disappear as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, as if his wish had been granted, Pyo Wol launched himself in the direction he had pointed.

Thud!

Only then did the strength leave the sailor’s legs, and he collapsed on the spot.

“I-I’m alive. I’m alive. Uheheheong!”

＊＊＊

Ma Wonik and Ma Seowon used their Lightness Art with all their might.

It had been Ma Seowon’s idea to get off the boat midway.

No matter how she calculated it, it seemed Pyo Wol would catch up to them where the river narrowed.

Ma Wonik had accepted his daughter’s opinion.

He too thought they would be caught by a narrow margin. So, after ordering his subordinates to block Pyo Wol, he took the opportunity when Pyo Wol was out of sight to get off the boat.

The reality of having to abandon his cherished Black Heaven Great Bow and flee while carrying the box of scriptures himself was unbelievable.

He had studied Pyo Wol before entering Chengdu.

He had studied and delved into Pyo Wol’s level of Martial Arts, his disposition, and many other things.

As a result, he had judged that he had a sufficient chance of winning.

He was confident that if he planned properly, he could shake him off. But the reality he faced was different.

Pyo Wol possessed abilities beyond what he had imagined.

The sight of Pyo Wol tracking him, undeceived by any disturbance or trap, was enough to break his spirit.

Not only Ma Wonik, but Ma Seowon’s face was also deathly pale.

She kept looking back.

Fortunately, Pyo Wol was not yet in sight.

Thanks to their early decision, they were still maintaining a considerable distance. But the fact that Pyo Wol could appear out of nowhere and grab the back of her neck at any moment made her even more afraid.

She had heard many stories about the Reaper, but she had never known he was such a terrifying being until she clashed with him directly.

Sweat streamed endlessly down her back, and she exhaled breaths tinged with a metallic taste.

“Father, can we shake him off?”

“Just a little further.”

“Pardon?”

“By now, they too will have realized something has gone wrong. We just need to hold out until they arrive. So don’t give up.”

“I understand.”

Ma Seowon nodded, steeling her resolve.

Her father was not a man to speak carelessly.

He possessed a judgment superior to anyone else’s and always maintained a cool-headed rationality.

His judgment had never once been wrong.

So it would be the same this time.

Ma Seowon drew up her Internal Power and put strength into her legs.

Thus, the father and daughter sprinted, using their Lightness Art with all their might.

They ran for nearly three shichen without rest.

The sun was already setting beyond the western mountains, and darkness was descending around them.

A city was visible in the distance.

For a moment, a light of hope appeared in Ma Wonik’s eyes.

Once they entered the city, they could find a secret place to rest, even for a moment.

No matter how skilled Pyo Wol was in the Tracking Art, it would take him quite a long time to find them in a bustling city.

Ma Wonik planned to find a new escape route in the meantime.

If Pyo Wol was a master of tracking, he was a master of escape. His ability to find an escape route in any situation was among the best in his organization.

“Just a little more eff…”

Ma Wonik stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth.

A sense of foreboding had struck his mind.

He hurriedly wrapped his arms around Ma Seowon and rolled on the ground.

Thwack!

At that moment, a dagger embedded itself in the spot where Ma Seowon had been.

“Huk!”

Startled, Ma Seowon let out an involuntary scream.

If Ma Wonik’s reaction had been even a little slower, the dagger would have surely lodged in her back.

“It’s him. He’s caught up.”

“Father!”

“Stay calm.”

Ma Wonik calmed Ma Seowon and looked at the dagger.

At that moment, the dagger stuck in the ground flew back in the direction it came from, as if drawn by Compass Iron.

Pyo Wol had retrieved it with his Soul Restraining Thread.

“Haat!”

With a kiai, Ma Wonik’s hand went to his waist. When his hand emerged again, it held a small handaxe.

Ma Wonik threw the handaxe with all his might in the direction the dagger had been retrieved.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

The handaxe spun at a terrifying speed and disappeared into the darkness.

Clang!

The moment the sound of metal clashing erupted from the darkness, Ma Wonik grabbed Ma Seowon’s hand and ran with all his might.

‘Clashing with him now is a suicidal act.’

The city was not far.

Once inside the city, Pyo Wol would not be able to run rampant as he pleased.

Ma Wonik gritted his teeth.

He was afraid.

Insanely afraid.

It was the first time in his life he had ever been this afraid.

Not when he was on the brink of death on the battlefield, nor when he encountered numerous enemies, had he been this afraid.

Ma Wonik admitted it.

Pyo Wol was a more terrifying being than any martial artist he had ever faced.

If it were just that his Martial Arts were strong, he wouldn’t have been this scared.

It was that tenacity that was terrifying.

Pyo Wol was the only martial artist who possessed the tenacity, patience, and endurance to never give up on a target once chosen, until they were dead.

It was then.

Stab!

Suddenly, a fiery pain shot through his calf, and his body pitched forward.

Pyo Wol had pierced his calf with the Soul Restraining Thread and reeled him in.

“Father!”

Ma Seowon stopped in surprise.

At that moment, Pyo Wol walked out of the darkness.

Judging by his face alone, he didn’t look like someone who had been sprinting at full speed for days on end. That made him even more chilling.

“You demonic…”

Shwaak!

Ma Seowon launched her body into the air and swung her twin palms.

Fwo-fwo-fwo-fwoom!

Palm energy of tremendous power was unleashed.

It was a palm strike with enough power to crumple a three-inch-thick iron plate in a single blow, but unfortunately, it did not work on Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol used his Wrist Guard-clad hands to deflect all of her palm energy, then drove into her chest.

The moment Ma Seowon’s eyes widened, Pyo Wol’s fist struck her abdomen.

Pow!

“Kyaaaak!”

An explosion and a scream rang out at the same time.

“Seowon!”

Ma Wonik’s eyes turned bloodshot as he swung his fist at Pyo Wol with all his might. Fist energy gathered on his fist.

At that moment, an invisible snare tightened around his wrist.

It was Pyo Wol’s Soul Restraining Thread.

Slice!

“Kuaack!”

Ma Wonik’s right hand was severed at the wrist.

Having lost his hand in an instant, Ma Wonik had no time to agonize over the pain. Pyo Wol was approaching.

“Huuu!”

He clutched his severed wrist and looked up at Pyo Wol.

Drool was dripping from his mouth, but he didn’t even have the presence of mind to wipe it away.

He could feel Pyo Wol’s gaze.

He would have been less afraid if it contained emotions like anger or contempt, but the eyes looking down on him and his daughter showed no emotion at all.

Like the eyes of a butcher slaughtering a cow or a pig, those eyes, devoid of human emotion, terrified Ma Wonik and his daughter.

Pyo Wol opened his mouth for the first time.

“Is New Moon Manor the main body of the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? You lowly assassin bastard…”

Seeing Ma Wonik roar, Pyo Wol waved his hand.

Stab!

“Aack!”

Ma Seowon screamed.

The Soul Restraining Thread was embedded in her shoulder.

Pyo Wol said,

“You should be careful with your next answer. The life of your one and only daughter might be at stake.”

“Eek!”

At Pyo Wol’s threat, Ma Wonik gritted his teeth.

His eyes were completely bloodshot.

He knew better than anyone that Pyo Wol never made empty threats.

If he lashed out one more time, his daughter would surely lose her life. But he couldn’t tell the truth either.

Pyo Wol asked again.

“Is New Moon Manor the main body of the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild?”

“I-I don’t know what gibberish you’re talking about.”

His choice was to protect the secret.

He was too scared to even look at his daughter’s face. He was afraid of what expression she might be making. But for him, it was a choice he had to make.

“Is that so?”

Pyo Wol waved his hand.

He had unleashed the same Soul Restraining Thread.

Ma Wonik squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t have the courage to watch his daughter’s death with his own two eyes.

He thought he would hear Ma Seowon’s scream.

Kaaang!

But the sound that came was not Ma Seowon’s scream, but the clang of metal.

Shwi-shwi-shwik!

Sharp sounds of something cutting through the air followed.

Only then did Ma Wonik’s eyes fly open to see what had happened.

A Hidden Weapon was stuck in the spot where Pyo Wol had been standing. Pyo Wol had dodged the Hidden Weapon and leaped back.

Ma Wonik carefully looked at his daughter.

In front of Ma Seowon stood a man and a woman wearing bamboo hats pulled down low.

It seemed the man had blocked the Soul Restraining Thread that had been aimed at Ma Seowon’s life with a dagger.

“Ah!”

Only then did Ma Wonik let out a sigh of relief.

The strength left his legs, and he collapsed on the spot.

Pyo Wol didn’t even glance at Ma Wonik.

His gaze was fixed on the newly appeared man and woman.

Although the bamboo hats hid their faces, Pyo Wol recognized them instantly.

A familiar scent emanated from their bodies.

The damp, gloomy scent of the shadows, just like his own.

Pyo Wol remembered this scent clearly.

“It’s been a while.”