Chapter 83

The Zhang Family Spear Art was most powerful when used on horseback.

The power of the spear art increased when combined with the horse’s heavy weight and charging force.

In other words, this also meant that the power of the Zhang Family Spear Art was halved when not on horseback.

This wasn’t a problem unique to Jang Muryang.

It was a weakness all cavalrymen shared.

While fighting the cavalrymen of the Black Cloud Corps, Pyo Wol had identified their weakness. That was why he didn’t give them any distance, instead digging in between the cavalrymen to incite a chaotic brawl.

It was a method no ordinary assassin would ever be able to use.

Most assassins settled a fight with a single strike; they didn’t induce a chaotic melee and engage in a dogfight like this.

Not only did they lack the ability, but it was also a fight far removed from the true nature of an assassin.

It was a method only Pyo Wol could use in Jianghu.

Jang Muryang was also an experienced and seasoned martial artist, but as he was swept up in the stage Pyo Wol had set, his reason began to waver.

Kwaaa!

Jang Muryang’s spear created a change in the air, firing off sharp Sword Qi. But Pyo Wol slipped out of the spear qi’s full range as smoothly as a snake.

The Serpentine Steps, modeled after the movements of a snake, could slip through an opening as small as the eye of a needle.

Jang Muryang’s attacks were powerful, but crude.

Most martial arts honed on the battlefield were like that.

Powerful, but lacking in refinement.

This was also the difference between the martial arts of prestigious orthodox sects and those of wanderers.

Unlike the martial arts of prestigious sects, which had been refined over long years to compensate for weaknesses, the martial arts of wanderers were bound to have many openings.

To Pyo Wol’s eyes, such openings were clearly visible.

It was also thanks to the fact that Pyo Wol’s martial arts had improved by leaps and bounds.

The years spent with the snakes had caused most of the potential Pyo Wol possessed to blossom greatly.

Even while dealing with Jang Muryang, Pyo Wol did not miss the movements of the cavalrymen.

The cavalrymen tried to help Jang Muryang in any way they could, but Pyo Wol gave them no opening.

Shwaaak!

The two Ghostly Rain daggers moved horizontally and vertically.

One was used to keep the cavalrymen in check, and the other to attack Jang Muryang.

Pyo Wol was effortlessly performing a feat that could only be displayed by someone who had learned a martial art like the Wudang Sect’s Dual Intent Mind Art.

“You bastard! Do you intend to just keep dodging like a loach? And you call yourself a man?”

Jang Muryang mocked Pyo Wol for evading without facing him head-on.

It was a ploy to provoke Pyo Wol’s anger and make him clash directly. But that was a thought one could only have without knowing Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol was a man who could turn tail and flee at any moment if it meant survival.

Losing his temper and reason over a mere provocation like this was something that would never happen to Pyo Wol.

It didn’t matter how much he was cursed at.

He wouldn’t be fazed even if he were mocked all day.

None of that mattered at all.

What was truly important was to endure and persevere to finally obtain the desired result.

Pyo Wol focused even more of his internal power into the Ghostly Rain.

At that, the formless Soul Restraining Thread began to glow, revealing its shape.

The revealed Soul Restraining Thread was beautiful.

Imbued with a strong light, the Soul Restraining Thread was so vivid it could be seen even from a great distance.

The sight of the two Soul Restraining Threads moving horizontally and vertically was closer to art.

Sssiit!

“Keuk!”

“Ack!”

The Soul Restraining Thread, true to its name, reaped the souls of the cavalrymen and left a deep gash on Jang Muryang’s spear.

Despite this, Jang Muryang got the feeling that Pyo Wol was not using his full strength. It was as if he was conserving his power, trying to buy time.

If he were truly going to face the cavalrymen and himself with all his might, there would have been no reason to reveal the Soul Restraining Thread.

Its power might have increased, but with its form revealed, it gave them ample opportunity to defend against it.

The problem was that Pyo Wol would know that fact as well.

He wouldn’t have infused his qi into the Soul Restraining Thread without reason, revealing his weapon for all the world to see.

“What are you plotting?”

Pyo Wol did not answer.

Instead, he infused even more internal power into the Soul Restraining Thread, making it shine brighter.

It was then.

A group of people burst out of Chengdu.

“Do you think you can escape from me? Guhwa Satae!”

“Hmph! Who said anything about escaping? You old fool!”

The ones exchanging venomous words and fighting fiercely were none other than Mujeong Jin-in and Guhwa Satae.

Behind them, the martial artists of the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect followed, fighting amongst themselves.

The street was utterly devastated by the fight between Mujeong Jin-in and Guhwa Satae.

The battle between the two experts of a different dimension was enough to temporarily quell the chaos in Chengdu.

As befitting the experts representing Sichuan Province, both of them possessed formidable martial arts.

Mujeong Jin-in, as the representative expert of the Qingcheng Sect, had incredible Sword Art, and Guhwa Satae, despite her eccentric nature, had mastered the martial arts of the Emei Sect.

Because of this, they couldn’t settle the match at once, and the fight dragged on. This caused even more damage to Chengdu.

This was bound to be a burden for both of them.

To rule Sichuan Province, they had to seize control of Chengdu, but if they destroyed the city’s streets like this, the people’s hearts would inevitably turn away from them.

The two tacitly agreed to move the battlefield.

That was why they had left Chengdu.

The disciples of the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect naturally followed behind them, and the rest of the martial artists also moved the battlefield as if possessed by something.

“What’s that?”

“That is?”

The first thing that caught their eyes was the thread of qi glinting in the darkness, the Soul Restraining Thread.

The way the Soul Restraining Thread moved horizontally and vertically was like the light of a lighthouse guiding ships in a dark sea.

The faster the Soul Restraining Thread moved, the farther its strange resonance spread through the darkness.

Hwoooong! Hung!

The sound of the Soul Restraining Thread cutting through the air was a bizarre hum that drew people’s attention.

Perhaps the Soul Restraining Thread contained a magical power that drew people in.

“That person is?”

The first person to recognize Pyo Wol, who was wielding the Soul Restraining Thread, was Yong Seol Lan.

At her reaction, the First Disciple beside her asked.

“Do you know him?”

“It’s him. Pyo Wol!”

“That assassin?”

“Yes!”

At Yong Seol Lan’s answer, the First Disciple shouted loudly.

“It’s Pyo Wol. That assassin bastard is over there.”

Her shout reached not only the disciples of the Emei Sect but also Mujeong Jin-in’s ears.

‘Assassin?’

Mujeong Jin-in’s gaze inadvertently turned towards Pyo Wol.

In that instant, an intense light shot from his eyes.

He had recognized Pyo Wol’s face, hidden in the darkness beyond the Soul Restraining Thread.

The moment he confirmed Pyo Wol’s face, the anger he had buried deep in his heart surged up.

“You bastard!”

It was a face he had not forgotten for a single moment over the past seven years.

The very assassin he had personally thrown into the snake pit was fighting the cavalrymen of the Black Cloud Corps, perfectly fine.

The moment he saw Pyo Wol, Mujeong Jin-in’s reason vanished.

“So you really were alive.”

His lion’s roar echoed thunderously through the night sky.

“Keuheuk! My ears…”

“Ugh!”

Martial artists with weak internal energy staggered, covering their ears with both hands. Mujeong Jin-in’s lion’s roar had burst their eardrums.

That was how formidable Mujeong Jin-in’s internal energy was.

The culprit behind this whole situation was Guhwa Satae, but the one who had directly killed Gun-sang was Pyo Wol.

The anger directed at Guhwa Satae was transferred entirely to Pyo Wol.

Chwaaang!

Mujeong Jin-in swung his sword at Guhwa Satae with all his might.

“Keuk!”

Guhwa Satae retreated from the intense shock that vibrated through her entire body.

A deep gash had appeared on her Bludgeon Palm. If she had been careless, the Bludgeon Palm might have been severed completely.

The wound on the Bludgeon Palm created an identical scar on Guhwa Satae’s pride.

Guhwa Satae’s eyes grew even more vicious.

Mujeong Jin-in ignored Guhwa Satae and was lunging towards Pyo Wol. Only then did Guhwa Satae also spot Pyo Wol, the culprit behind this whole situation.

“Capture that bastard!”

At her command, all the disciples of the Emei Sect rushed towards Pyo Wol.

In that moment, Pyo Wol’s lips curved into an arc.

In front, Jang Muryang and the Black Cloud Corps. Behind, the experts of the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect, and the countless martial artists following them.

It was a situation with no way forward or back.

And yet, Pyo Wol smiled.

“Finally, everyone has gathered.”

The main players of the incident from seven years ago were gathered in one place again.

For this moment, Pyo Wol had not left the vicinity of Chengdu and had continued the tedious fight against the Black Cloud Corps.

Only then did Jang Muryang realize that this entire situation was what Pyo Wol had intended.

“You deliberately gathered all of us in one place? You crazy bastard!”

He became afraid of Pyo Wol.

The audacity and decisiveness to unhesitatingly commit an act that everyone thought was insane inspired fear.

Pyo Wol was a type of human he had never experienced before.

He couldn’t even begin to fathom how much vicious scheming and cruelty was hidden inside that small head.

As Mujeong Jin-in, Guhwa Satae, and the others rushed in, Pyo Wol fled without a single look back. Jang Muryang and the cavalrymen of the Black Cloud Corps tried to block him, but they couldn’t stop Pyo Wol, who was escaping by unleashing Black Lightning.

In the end, Jang Muryang and the cavalrymen were left like a dog that had been chasing a chicken, having lost Pyo Wol.

“Damn it! After him!”

Jang Muryang urged on the cavalrymen.

They had to capture or eliminate Pyo Wol before their client, the Emei Sect, did.

Even knowing that pursuing Pyo Wol like this would be dangerous, Jang Muryang had no choice but to order the cavalrymen to give chase.

In an instant, a pursuit after Pyo Wol began.

The Black Cloud Corps, the Qingcheng Sect, and the Emei Sect ran at the forefront, and behind them, countless heroes of the martial world followed without knowing why.

And so, a chase of cat and mouse unfolded in the middle of the night.

It was a reenactment of the Celestial Net that had caused a stir throughout Sichuan Province seven years ago.

The difference was that back then, they had closed in on Pyo Wol with a spiderweb-like encirclement from all sides, but now, they were simply following him from behind.

It was as if Pyo Wol was running with them trailing at his heels.

A few quick-witted people noticed that Pyo Wol had intended this entire situation, but they were already swept up in the group’s madness and could do nothing.

“You bastard, how far do you plan to run?”

Mujeong Jin-in’s furious roar thundered through the night sky.

He repeatedly fired formidable Sword Qi at Pyo Wol, but Pyo Wol dodged all his attacks by a hair’s breadth, as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

This made Mujeong Jin-in even angrier as he chased Pyo Wol.

Mujeong Jin-in’s eyes were now bloodshot, and he was emitting a killing intent so chilling it was terrifying just to look at.

Even Guhwa Satae, who was following right behind him, shuddered. But he himself was completely unaware of this fact.

In his eyes, there was only Pyo Wol’s back.

Like a pack of wolves tracking their prey, Mujeong Jin-in and the martial artists pursued Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol seemed as if he could be caught at any moment if they just reached out, yet he was never caught.

Because of this, their chase continued for nearly half a shichen.

‘Is he deliberately luring us?’

The first person to notice that something was wrong was Yong Seol Lan.

“W-wait! We have to stop. If we keep following him like this, we’ll be playing right into his hands.”

“Be quiet. You keep your mouth shut.”

Yong Seol Lan’s voice was drowned out by Guhwa Satae’s roar.

Guhwa Satae’s pride was wounded to the core from being pushed back by Mujeong Jin-in.

She wanted to kill Pyo Wol as quickly as possible and have a true showdown with Mujeong Jin-in.

It had been a long time since Guhwa Satae had been this furious.

“Huuu!”

Yong Seol Lan sighed at the sight of Guhwa Satae.

She sensed that it was too late to stop Guhwa Satae.

‘Pyo Wol!’

Yong Seol Lan looked at Pyo Wol’s back as he ran at the head of the group.

His back, running into the darkness, felt particularly ominous. And her uneasy premonition became reality.

“Keoheok!”

“Keuk!”

Suddenly, screams began to erupt from among the martial artists.

When Yong Seol Lan looked in surprise, she saw some of the martial artists who had been running blindly collapsing with screams.

“H-hidden weapons.”

“There are hidden traps.”

The martial artists next to the fallen ones shouted urgently.

Only then did the martial artists, who had been mindlessly chasing Pyo Wol, stop in surprise.

Mujeong Jin-in and Guhwa Satae, who had been chasing Pyo Wol at the front, also felt that the situation was taking an unusual turn and stopped their Lightness Art.

They looked around, having forgotten that they had been fighting fiercely just half a shichen ago.

Although it was a dark night, their eyes caught sight of collapsed walls and scattered foundation stones.

Only then did they realize that this place was the ruins of some sect.

“Don’t tell me, the Tang Clan’s ruins?”

“Did he lure us to the ruins of the Tang Clan?”

Not only Mujeong Jin-in and Guhwa Satae, but the faces of the many people who had followed Pyo Wol turned pale.

Although it had already fallen and only ruins remained, the name Tang Clan held a deep resonance that made people’s hearts uneasy.

Before the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect, they had reigned over Sichuan with terror. They had vanished into the remnants of history, but the lingering scent of the fear they left behind still frightened people.

Mujeong Jin-in let out a lion’s roar.

“You bastard! How dare you lure us to such an unlucky place. Why don’t you show yourself at once?”

At that moment, Pyo Wol appeared in the middle of the Tang Clan’s ruins.

As if he had been there from the beginning, without a sound or a presence.

Even in the darkness, his exceptionally white face and eyes holding a crimson light stood out.

For most of the heroes, this was the first time they had seen Pyo Wol.

The moment they saw Pyo Wol, they felt an eerie chill.

Pyo Wol looked at the heroes and opened his mouth.

“This is my Celestial Net.”