Light Novel: Volume 18 Episode 14
Manhwa: N/A
A fairly large horse-ferry boat rocked.
The rain that poured continuously all night had caused the river to swell.
The river, which had turned into muddy water, turned into a violent current.
No one in their right mind would have dared to launch a boat on such a river.
The captain of the horse-ferry boat was no different.
Under normal circumstances, he would never have set sail. The gold he would earn from the trip was tempting, but his life would be more precious.
But he had no choice.
It was because he had received an excessively large amount of money from the other party.
Having received a large sum of money in advance, he had no choice but to launch and keep the boat afloat in the raging current.
“Hey, secure the sail properly!”
“Steersman, there’s a rock twenty paces to the right. Turn left.”
“Hey, you idiots! Focus properly! Do you all want the boat to capsize and die?”
The captain barked out his orders, mixing in curses in between.
The sailors diligently followed his orders, seemingly accustomed to this scene.
Whooosh!
The horse-ferry boat leapt into the air from the turbulent flow and then plunged back into the water. Luckily, the boat didn’t flip over, but the strong jolt caused both the people and horses aboard to tumble about.
A woman, who was scrambling to her feet, yelled,
“Captain, can’t you steer properly?!”
“M, My apologies.”
“Seriously!”
The woman, fuming with anger, was Ma Seo-won.
Her body was drenched from the rain that had fallen overnight.
At that moment, Ma Won-ik patted her on the shoulder and said,
“Calm down.”
“Father!”
“Have you forgotten that in times like these, you must be calm?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yes! That look in your eyes. Try to keep it up.”
“Yes!”
Seeing that his daughter’s eyes had calmed, Ma Won-ik looked around the deck.
His subordinates were holding onto the railings, standing on the deck.
All of them were skilled martial artists, but their faces showed evident distress. They hadn’t anticipated the boat would rock so crazily like this.
The lower deck, where the horses were tied, was in a worse state than here.
The horses brought by the Silver River Escort Agency were all of high pedigree. Ma Won-ik wasn’t pleased with the idea of these fine horses getting hurt in such a situation. But he had no choice.
“By now, the Reaper would have found out about the incident and started the pursuit.”
“Do you really think he’s already on our trail? He’s human too. Would he move through the pouring rain that just stopped?”
“Don’t put him on the same level as a normal person, he is beyond common sense. Always expect the worst and prepare for it.”
“That’s why we split our group into two to confuse him.”
They sent half of the fifty members out of the south gate.
Once they got a certain distance from Chengdu, they would split into two groups again and each would head in different directions.
All of this was to confuse any possible pursuit by Pyo-wol.
It would be better if Pyo-wol went towards the south gate, but if he pursued them after they exited through the east gate, they would be in trouble.
Ma Seo-won thought her father was worrying too much.
The river leaves no traces.
Even if they arrived at the pier where they had boarded the horse-ferry boat, there would be no traces, making the pursuit difficult.
‘No matter how much he’s called the Reaper, he’s still a human being. He must have limitations. My father thinks too much.’
However, she didn’t voice her inner thoughts.
Even in a close parent-child relationboat, there are things to be said and not to be said.
Now wasn’t the time to share her thoughts but to get as far away from Chengdu as possible.
Ma Won-ik gave an order to his subordinate.
“Check the scriptures again. Look carefully for any tears in the the waterproof cover.’
“Yes!”
The subordinate responded and rushed into the cabin.
It was the original scripture they had acquired with difficulty.
When the negotiations with Wu Jang-rak fell through, he immediately led his men to raid the Snow Cloud Villa.
Luckily, it rained, aiding their endeavor.
People tend to become sentimental when it rains, and their guard usually drops.
Ma Won-ik was well aware of this human tendency.
Just as he predicted, the defense at the Snow Cloud Villa was slackened.
Killing Wu Jang-rak and Yu Gi-cheon wasn’t too hard. Wu Jang-rak was a bit tricky, but in the end, he was no match for him.
The problem arose at the very last moment.
Just before collapsing from his severe injury, Yu Gi-cheon set the Snow Cloud Villa on fire.
He hoped someone might see the flames and come to their aid.
But it was too late to contain the fire.
In the end, Ma Won-ik could only leave the Snow Cloud Villa with the scripture.
“The scriptures are safe.”
The subordinate who had gone to check on the scriptures reported back.
Ma Won-ik nodded and looked ahead.
The swollen river wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The water flowed faster, so the boat’s speed down the river was also faster than usual.
Thanks to this, they could reach their destination sooner than he had anticipated.
Thud!
The boat anchored at a pier far from Jintang.
The captain, looking exhausted, spoke.
“We, We have arrived.”
“Good job.”
“We kept our end of the deal. Now, please pay us.”
“Of course.”
Ma Won-ik nodded and looked at his men.
His trusted subordinate, Jwa Se-gyeong, approached.
In his hand was a sizable pouch.
“Take it.”
Jwa Se-gyeong tossed the pouch to the captain.
The weight of the pouch in his hand made the captain break into a wide grin.
It felt like all his hard work had been perfectly compensated by the contents of the pouch.
The captain held the bag in his hand and shouted,
“What are you waiting for? Hurry and bring out their horses!”
“Yes!”
The sailors responded and began to unload the horses.
As if to prove that they had made it through the rough waters of the river, some of the horses had broken legs and could not get up.
“Tsk!”
Ma Won-ik clicked his tongue upon seeing the horses.
Horses with broken legs couldn’t be treated and used. Not only was it expensive, but even if they received treatment and recovered, there was no guarantee that they would be able to run like they used to.
It was better to put them down, relieving the horse of its pain and not wasting any more time.
At Ma Won-ik’s gesture, his men drew their swords and killed all the injured horses.
Neigh!
The pitiful cries of the horses echoed below the deck.
‘Cruel bastards!’
The captain and the sailors looked on with eyes full of fear as they watched the men from the Silver River Escort Agency slaughtered the horses.
It was then.
Jwa Se-gyeong exchanged secretive glances with the other martial artists.
The martial artists from the Silver River Escort Agency, who were near the sailors, drew their swords like lightning.
Swish!
“Argh!”
That was the signal.
All the martial artists from the Silver River Escort Agency charged at the sailors.
“Ugh!”
“Please spare us!”
The sailors screamed and tried to flee. However, the martial artists relentlessly hunted them down and killed them.
“Why… Why are you doing this? We kept our promise…!”
The captain cried out, clutching the pouch.
Jwa Se-gyeong approached him and said,
“We kept our promise, too.”
“What?”
“We paid you, didn’t we? That should be enough for your journey to the underworld.”
“So this was your plan all along, you cunning bastards!”
“Heh.”
Despite the captain’s accusations, Jwa Se-gyeong’s expression remained unchanged. He even quickened his steps with a smirk on his face.
“Thief!”
The captain threw the pouch at Jwa Se-gyeong and tried to run away. But before he could even take a step, he felt an intense pain in his back and screamed.
“Argh!”
Jwa Se-gyeong’s sword had deeply pierced his back.
The captain fell to the ground, taking his last breath.
Ma Won-ik approached Jwa Se-gyeong.
“Did you finish him off properly?”
“Yes!”
Thud!
With that reply, Jwa Se-gyeong stabbed the back of the captain’s head with his sword.
Ma Won-ik nodded in approval.
He picked up the pouch that had fallen to the ground and handed it to Jwa Se-gyeong.
“Use it for traveling expenses until we regroup.”
“Yes!”
“Take care of yourself until we meet again.”
“Be careful, my lord.”
Jwa Se-gyeong gave Ma Won-ik a formal bow.
Ma Won-ik nodded and turned to his subordinates.
“Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
Half of the martial artists and Ma Seo-won followed Ma Won-ik.
They left the pier with the original Buddhist scriptures.
Jwa Se-gyeong watched them leave, then turned to the remaining subordinates.
“We’ll move in the opposite direction. Let’s go!”
They could have traveled together, but by moving separately, they hoped to disrupt any potential pursuit by Pyo-wol.
As Jwa Se-gyeong mounted his horse, he murmured to himself,
“I hope he follows me.”
Pyo-wol was undoubtedly a fearsome being. But at the same time, he was also a desirable prey.
If Jwa Se-gyeong could hunt him down, it would elevate his status even further.
Then, Jwa Se-gyeong suddenly chuckled,
“I wonder if he can even reach here.”
If they had traveled by land, they would surely have left traces. But since they moved along the river, there were no traces left behind.
Even for Pyo-wol, pursuing them this far would be impossible.
Jwa Se-gyeong laughed and set off.
* * *
Pyo-wol sprinted along the river.
Kwa-kwa-kwa!
The river was flowing with a momentum that seemed to swallow the whole world.
From the outside, it appeared to be just muddy water, but within it were boulders the size of houses, massive logs, and all sorts of debris washed down from upstream.
The swollen river reached up to where Pyo-wol was running, submerging him up to his ankles.
If he slipped, he’d be crushed by the rocks before he could drown. Yet, Pyo-wol sprinted at full speed, seemingly unfazed by the danger.
By the time the sun rose over the middle of the river, Pyo-wol spotted a large boat stranded on the opposite side of the river.
The moment he saw the boat, he knew.
It was the boat he had been pursuing.
The problem was getting across the river.
The distance from where he was now to where the boat was stranded was over three hundred meters. Nevertheless, Pyo-wol didn’t hesitate and launched himself across the river.
Pat!
With a force that defied gravity, he soared through the air like a bird. However, after about ten steps, he began to descend.
Just as he was about to fall into the river, Pyo-wol precisely landed on a floating log and propelled himself into the air again.
Soaring high in the air, Pyo-wol scanned the river’s surface, scouting his next landing spot.
This time, he landed on a debris floating above the water.
As soon as he landed, the debris submerged in the water. But by that time, Pyo-wol was already in the air, leaping towards the next floating object.
Tat-tat-tak!
Without any pause or hesitation, Pyo-wol continuously propelled himself forward.
After stepping on the last unidentified floating object, he leaped into the air and performed a movement called Bow-body Projectile Shadow.1
Drawing a long parabola in mid-air, he eventually landed on the ground on the opposite side. It was right where the stranded boat was.
Pyo-wol looked inside the boat.
He saw the bodies of the sailors and the carcasses of the horses.
‘They’ve disposed of the evidence.’
He understood why they have killed off the sailors, but he wondered why they killed the horses. It wasn’t until he took a closer look at the horse’s carcass that he realized all of its legs were broken.
‘They killed the horses because with their broken legs they’re useless for transportation.’
Pyo-wol climbed out of the boat and examined the tracks on the ground.
Horse hoofprints and human footprints were mixed together.
He realized that the group had split into two directions here.
Which direction Ma Won-ik and the scripture went, even Pyo-wol couldn’t be sure.
On one side, all were on horseback. On the other side, footprints mingled with hoofprints.
It seemed the group without horses had mixed with the other.
Pyo-wol decided to choose the more probable path.
He chose the direction where everyone was on horseback.
Common sense told him that those with better mobility would transport important items, hence, he decided to track the side where everyone was riding horses.
Pyo-wol wasn’t entirely sure if his choice was correct. However, he knew it was better to continue the pursuit rather than waste time in doubt.
LUNACAVE
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