Light Novel: Volume 21 Episode 13
Manhwa: N/A
“Who… who are you?”
Ko Mu-jin barely managed to lift his head to look at the young man rowing the boat.
The young man had rescued him by taking advantage of Jang Hwa-young’s momentary distraction. He then swiftly escaped with Ko Mu-jin on a pre-arranged boat.
The young man who saved him turned around.
“I am Chae Mu-ok from the Mind Illumination Sect.”
“Chae Mu-ok? Are you someone we know?”
“No. I saw you for the first time today.”
“Then why did you save me? The Rakshasa group is known to be very relentless, they never let go of someone they have marked them.”
“I am not afraid of them.”
Chae Mu-ok replied resolutely.
He had been startled by an explosion just before sleeping and had rushed outside, only to come across the Rakshasa group pursuing Ko Mu-jin.
At first, he had followed the Rakshasa group out of curiosity. But then he saw Ko Mu-jin being cornered.
Despite the dire situation, Ko Mu-jin never showed any cowardice. His refusal to beg for his life even in the face of Jang Hwa-young’s overwhelming violence left a strong impression on Chae Mu-ok.
Therefore, he decided to set the reeds on fire to distract the Rakshasa group and rescue Ko Mu-jin.
Until a moment ago, he had been conflicted about whether to join the Golden Heaven Society or the Silver Lotus Society. But after witnessing the clash between the Rakshasa group of the Golden Heaven Society and Ko Mu-jin of the Silver Lotus Society, he made his decision.
He decided to join the Silver Lotus Society.
That was why he had saved Ko Mu-jin.
Creak! Creak!
With each stroke of his oar, the little boat moved forward at a rapid pace.
At this rate, it seemed they would soon shake off the pursuit of the Rakshasa group. However, they were not to be underestimated.
Somehow, they had managed to acquire several boats and launched them onto Dongting Lake, rapidly chasing the boat carrying Chae Mu-ok.
“Stop! You rat!”
“We won’t let you go once we catch you.”
Angry voices from the Rakshasa group carried on the wind.
Their voices were growing louder.
This meant they were rapidly closing in with increasing speed.
With several people rowing in unison, they were inevitably faster than Chae Mu-ok rowing alone.
The Rakshasa group rowed as if they were one body.
“Just a little faster!”
“Put your strength into it!”
“We will not forgive them.”
Lee Chu-soo, Jang Hwa-young, and Bing Ha-ran each were on different boats, urging the Rakshasa group on.
Encouraged by their commands, the Rakshasa group rowed even faster.
As a result, they were rapidly closing the distance to the boat rowed by Chae Mu-ok.
“Dare to snatch him right before my eyes?”
Lee Chu-soo glared furiously at Chae Mu-ok’s boat.
She couldn’t make out Chae Mu-ok’s face, but his physique seemed strangely familiar.
She was certain she had seen him somewhere before.
Lee Chu-soo put her efforts to recall aside for now.
Her priority right now was to catch up to the boat and retrieve the letter of the Hundred People Assembly from Ko Mu-jin.
They were now only about five zhang away from Chae Mu-ok’s boat.
“Ha!”
Lee Chu-soo swung her white hand, unleashing a powerful burst of energy.
Just before her energy was about to hit, Chae Mu-ok, without looking back, swung his fist.
It was Death Fist.
Boom!
The clash between Lee Chu-soo’s energy and Chae Mu-ok’s fist resulted in a thunderous explosion. Simultaneously, the boat Chae Mu-ok was on rocked violently, as if it would capsize any moment.
Chae Mu-ok quickly concentrated his energy into his legs to stabilize the boat.
In that brief moment, the boat carrying Lee Chu-soo drew even closer.
Swoosh!
Lee Chu-soo drew her sword.
“Show your face, rat! I’ll make you regret in hell that you dared to interfere in the Rakshasa group’s affair.”
She thrust her sword like lightning towards Chae Mu-ok.
A surge of sword energy extended from her blade.
“Cha-hat!”
Countering her, Chae Mu-ok launched a series of fist strikes.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions echoed in the air.
Fortunately, Chae Mu-ok managed to block all of Lee Chu-soo’s attacks, but in the meantime, other boats had caught up and surrounded him.
A gleam of despair appeared on Ko Mu-jin’s face.
“Master, leave me and go, you must survive.”
“I cannot do that.”
“Take this letter and escape.”
Ko Mu-jin tried to hand over the letter to Chae Mu-ok, but Chae Mu-ok stopped his hand.
“If we die, we’ll die together, and if we live, we’ll live together. You keep the letter.”
“Master?”
“I may be young, but this Chae Mu-ok knows what loyalty and justice are. Even if I die, I will not abandon you first.”
Chae Mu-ok answered firmly.
Ko Mu-jin was touched yet filled with regret.
He feared that a valuable life would be lost because of him.
Even at that moment, the boats carrying the Rakshasa group were swiftly forming an encirclement.
“We got him, the rat!”
A cold smile appeared on Lee Chu-soo’s face.
Suddenly, a scream erupted from the boat Jang Hwa-young was on.
“What’s wrong?”
“Water is leaking in!”
“Someone punched a hole in the boat!”
There was a hole in the bottom of the boat, and water was pouring in rapidly.
The Rakshasa group, abandoning their oars, tried to plug the hole with their clothes, but it was futile.
Then, cries came from another boat.
“There’s a hole here too!”
“Quick, block it!”
Another boat had been breached as well.
Lee Chu-soo shouted,
“It’s underwater. There is someone in the water!”
She raised her sword, gazing intently into the water. But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t see through the water.
It was the dead of night, making it impossible to see into the water.
Naturally, she couldn’t discern what was happening beneath the surface. However, it was clear that something was definitely in the water.
“Damn it!”
“Water is seeping in!”
Cries akin to screams came from another boat.
Yet another hole had been made.
“Cha-hat!”
Lee Chu-soo swung her sword blindly towards the water.
Boom!
Her powerful sword energy caused a column of water to rise. However, it was impossible to tell whether the person hiding in the water had been hit.
The Rakshasa group on the damaged boat transferred to one that was intact.
Meanwhile, the boat carrying Chae Mu-ok and Ko Mu-jin broke through the encirclement and escaped.
Ko Mu-jin muttered,
“The heavens have helped us.”
“It’s not the heavens.”
“What?”
Ko Mu-jin looked puzzled by Chae Mu-ok’s response.
“Do you know who helped us?”
“I have a guess, but I cannot say.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes!”
Chae Mu-ok rowed and looked back.
Xiangyin was visible in the distance.
He bid farewell to the people in Xiangyin.
“If we meet again, I will thank you then.”
The young man, having decided on his path, rowed with determination.
* * *
“Ah, I’ve really aged. I’m not like the old days.”
The Elder Assassin tapped his back as he walked.
His entire body was drenched in water.
He looked like a drowned rat, but there was a smile on his lips.
Suddenly, he looked back.
He saw Dongting Lake engulfed in darkness.
It was pitch-black like a moonless night, but his eyes saw quite a lot.
It was then.
“Do you have a hobby of swimming in the middle of the night?”
A low voice asked him.
The Elder Assassin was not surprised and looked in the direction of the voice.
There stood Pyo-wol.
“And do you, Great Master Pyo, have a hobby of taking walks in the middle of the night?”
“I couldn’t sleep—”
“I couldn’t sleep either, so I took a swim after a long time.”
“Do people swim with their clothes on these days?”
“Isn’t it more troublesome to take them off and put them back on?”
The Elder Assassin then circulated his internal energy.
Ssssh!
In an instant, a burst of heat radiated from him, drying his clothes in no time.
Pyo-wol chuckled lightly.
“It seems more troublesome to use internal energy to dry clothes.”
“I find it easier this way.”
“I see!”
“How about the others?”
“They’re asleep.”
“They might get upset once they realize Mu-ok is gone.”
“Perhaps…”
“We could never stay together till the end anyway, so it’s probably better for us to part ways here.”
“I guess so.”
“I’ll explain it to them properly.”
“Just do as you see fit.”
“Heh!”
The Elder Assassin laughed.
As Pyo-wol looked at him, the Elder Assassin squinted his eyes and said,
“You seem to be more sentimental than I thought.”
“Nonsense.”
“This old mouth of mine. As I age, my jaw muscles loosen and they start to babble on their own. Heh!”
The Elder Assassin made a gesture of slapping his own lips with his hand.
He followed behind Pyo-wol, who was walking ahead with quick steps.
“Let’s go together.”
* * *
Thud!
Small boats arrived at the dock one after another.
The tiny boats, which would be full with just ten people, were crowded with over twenty women each. Several such boats had arrived.
“Damn it! I’m all wet.”
“Ugh! This feels so uncomfortable.”
The women grumbling as they disembarked from the boats were members of the Rakshasa group.
Many of them were completely drenched.
After all, they had been on a boat with numerous holes in it. Thanks to the help of their comrades, they managed to transfer and get onto the intact boats, but their clothes were still soaked, making them feel extremely uncomfortable.
“Who the hell punched those holes in those boats?”
“Once I catch them, I’ll tear them apart!”
The Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms burst into anger.
Especially Bing Ha-ran, whose fury seemed to pierce the sky.
This was because she had already sustained a significant injury from Ko Mu-jin.
The fact that she hadn’t been able to capture the target even after suffering such a wound was a huge blow to her pride.
Jang Hwa-young approached Lee Chu-soo, who was disembarking from the boat a bit later.
“Sister!”
“Any casualties?”
“A few are seriously wounded, but their lives are not in danger.”
“Send them to the physician for treatment.”
“Yes!”
“Aaaah!”
Suddenly, Lee Chu-soo let out a scream and unleashed her energy on the boat she had arrived in.
Boom!
With an explosion, the small boat shattered into pieces.
Even after destroying one boat, Lee Chu-soo still seemed furious, seething with anger.
Jang Hwa-young and the Rakshasa group silently watched her.
Lee Chu-soo might seem usually calmer and more composed than anyone else, but when things didn’t go as planned, she was known to have outbursts like this.
No amount of comforting words would be of any use to Lee Chu-soo now.
All they could do was wait for her to let her anger explode and wait for it to subside on its own.
“Who the hell scattered ashes on my cooked rice?”1
Lee Chu-soo’s anger was directed towards the person who had rescued Ko Mu-jin.
If it hadn’t been for them, she would have killed Ko Mu-jin by now and secured the letter.
If she had secured the letter, her position within the Golden Heaven Society would have been undoubtedly solidified. Yet such a golden opportunity had been blown away because of a brat whom she didn’t even know.
“Yes, a youngster. Someone young…”
Lee Chu-soo slowly sifted through her memory.
It was too dark to see the face clearly, but she had caught a glimpse of the facial outline.
It was definitely a face she had seen somewhere before.
The problem was that she couldn’t remember where she had seen him.
It felt like someone was tickling her brain with a brush.
The memory seemed close to surfacing, yet it remained just out of reach.
“I’m sure I saw him recently… where did I see him? Wait, recently? Then at the guest house? Yes, I think I saw him at the guest house.”
Lee Chu-soo’s eyes widened.
It wasn’t certain yet, but it was worth checking.
“We’re going back to the guest house.”
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