Light Novel: Volume 22 Episode 19
Manhwa: N/A
Pyo-wol looked toward the door through which Lee Geumhan had exited.
The voices of Lee Geumhan and Namgung Seol arguing briefly reached him before fading away, along with the presence of the warriors surrounding the guest house.
“Good.”
Pyo-wol muttered in a low voice as he stood up from his seat.
Namgung Seol and the Snowflake Sword Squad weren’t too frightening.
The problem was Lee Geumhan.
He was powerful enough on his own, so if Namgung Seol and the Snowflake Sword Squad joined forces with him, even Pyo-wol couldn’t be sure of victory against them.
He was relieved that such a situation hadn’t occurred.
It was best to avoid trouble.
Even without Lee Geumhan, Pyo-wol already had plenty of other things to worry about. Among them, the one that bothered him the most was the culprits behind the massacre of the horse-ferry boat.
Something about the remnants on the horse-ferry boat seemed eerily familiar, which all the more bothered him.
For the past few days, Pyo-wol had been trying to find the people who had attacked the horse-ferry boat through Hong Yushin, but even with the mobilization of the Hao clan, they failed to find the culprits.
All factions owning large ships became subjects of investigation.
Based on the information the Hao clan had, Hong Yushin investigated the factions that owned ships. But none of them had moved their ships around the time the horse-ferry boat was attacked.
This suggested that a third party, not among the known powers, had maneuvered the ship.
‘An organization strong enough to wipe out all the martial artists, including the Wudang Sect’s disciples.’
The Wudang Sect had chosen to close its doors temporarily, so if they had covertly dispatched martial artists to assess the situation in Jianghu, they must possess formidable martial power. And yet, those warriors were brutally slaughtered.
Judging from the wounds left on their bodies, it was clear that at least four martial artists had joined together to attack each disciple.
Their combined attack was meticulously executed.
The vital points of the Wudang Sect disciples were shredded beyond recognition.
Such injuries could not have been made without the coordinated movement and effort that didn’t interfere with each other’s movements.
A variety of weapons was used.
At first glance, it might seem like a single weapon was used, but in reality, a wide range of weapons were employed.
‘From swords to axes and even harpoons…’
These were tools commonly used by sailors.
A deep furrow formed between Pyo-wol’s brows.
‘Could it be the Phantom Fleet?’
Among the sailors he knew, the most brutal and frightening group was the Phantom Fleet.
The Phantom Fleet was an organization under the control of the Kowloon Assassin Guild, and they had enough reasons to harbor a grudge against Pyo-wol.
‘Could they be targeting me?’
He needed to verify if his suspicion was correct.
Pyo-wol quietly got up and went outside.
The martial artists of the Snowflake Sword Squad who had surrounded the outside of the guest house had already disappeared and were nowhere to be seen.
Pyo-wol used his qinggong to leave Poyang Lake.
His destination was the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the site where the horse-ferry boat had met its tragic end.
It was unlikely that there would be any trace left in the flowing waters of the Yangtze, a river known for its vastness, but Pyo-wol was still heading to the site of the tragedy because all investigations start from the scene.
It didn’t matter if no trace remained.
Just looking at the site of the disaster would surely yield something.
Pyo-wol exerted his ginggong to its full extent.
Whoosh!
Each time Pyo-wol touched the ground, he propelled forward at a terrifying speed.
The qinggong or lightness skill he had mastered was quite unique.
It wasn’t just about speed, he barely left any traces on the ground. Floating like dandelion seeds yet as swift as a hawk, it was as if a ghost was dashing through.
After half a day of running, Pyo-wol arrived at the location where the horse-ferry boat had met its disaster.
Standing by the riverbank, Pyo-wol looked towards the center of the Yangtze River.
From where he stood to the site of the disaster was over three hundred zhang.
No matter how remarkable Pyo-wol’s qinggong was, he couldn’t jump over three hundred zhang in a single bound, and even if he could, he couldn’t stand in the middle of the river without a foothold.
As Pyo-wol walked along the river, he spotted a small boat.
It was a fisherman’s boat. The boat appeared old, looking like it would sink at any moment.
Still, Pyo-wol bought the dilapidated boat for five silver coins. It was an amount that could have bought several new boats with even some change to spare.
Creak! Creak!
Pyo-wol rowed towards the site where the horse-ferry boat met its end.
As expected, there was nothing left in the river.
Pyo-wol stopped the boat there and looked around.
The geography of the area was clear at a glance.
The Phantom Fleet primarily operated at sea.
As such, their ships had to be large and sturdy.
Ships navigating rivers had fundamentally different structures from those designed for the ocean.
To sail steadily through high waves, ocean-bound ships tend to have deep and pointed hulls.
Riverboats, on the other hand, often had a flat bottom to traverse the shallower waters.
Pyo-wol focused his attention on areas deep enough for pointed-bottom ships to navigate.
It was impossible to measure the depth of the river without entering the water directly. However, he could infer from the current and terrain.
Standing on the small boat, Pyo-wol searched for spots suitable for pointed-bottom ships.
‘They’re unlikely to be far upstream. The further they go upstream, the more boats there are, so they would surely be spotted. They can’t go far downstream either, because the ship that attacked the horse-ferry boat came from downstream.’
Sailors’ eyesight was extraordinarily keen.
They would have definitely found it odd that a ship that was used to sailing the ocean was traveling up and down the river.
There had to be an easier way to approach the horse-ferry boat without attracting their attention.
‘They must have gone towards a tributary, not the main course of the Yangtze River.’
The Yangtze River wasn’t comprised of a single stream. It was interwoven with numerous tributaries and smaller rivers like a spiderweb.
Creak! Creak!
Pyo-wol began rowing towards downstream.
He had to find a tributary of the Yangtze River, one that was deep and wide enough for sharp-bottomed ships to navigate and pass through.
Not long after he started rowing, a small tributary appeared. However, the depth of the water seemed too shallow for sharp-bottomed ships to pass through.
Pyo-wol boldly passed it by.
As he continued downstream for about half an hour, two more tributaries appeared. But like the first tributary, the depth of the water seemed too shallow, making it difficult for a large ship to get in and out.
It was when Pyo-wol had rowed past the third tributary for about an hour that his eyes sharpened.
Another terrain where the tributary and the main river converged appeared. However, this tributary was different from the others.
At first glance, the water was murky and dark, appearing very deep, and the width was ample for large ships to navigate without trouble.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Pyo-wol steered the boat into the tributary.
The current in the tributary was turbulent. It was so strong that Pyo-wol found difficulty in going upstream using the small boat he was in.
Pyo-wol decided to abandon the boat.
After placing the boat in a nearby reed bed, he used his qinggong to dash along the tributary. After running for a while, Pyo-wol stopped.
It was because the tributary had split into two.
Left and right. Both were wide and deep enough for a large boat to navigate without any trouble.
Pyo-wol had to make a decision. And he chose the left.
There wasn’t a particular reason.
It was simply the direction his intuition pointed him towards.
Pyo-wol once again ran and traveled up the tributary for a long time.
By then, the sun had already set and it was getting dark.
That’s when a jar-like terrain appeared.
On one side of the tributary, surrounded by canyons, there was space enough to dock a boat.
It was a naturally formed dock-like terrain.
Pyo-wol did not hesitate and leaped towards that place.
The dock-like terrain bore clear signs that many people had lingered there.
Though their identities were unknown, it was clear that quite a few people had stayed here for some time.
That’s when a strange sight caught his eye.
The surface of a large rock at the bottom of the canyon was marked with vertical and horizontal cuts.
It was a writing.
Pyo-wol approached the rock to get a closer look at the writing.
As he neared the rock, the writing became distinctly visible.
[An irreconcilable foe, one whom we can’t stand to co-exist under the same heaven. Pyo-wol’s grave.]1,2
The letters, carved into the rock using a sword or blade, clearly referred to Pyo-wol.
‘My grave?’
Thud!
Just then, he felt an odd sensation near his ankle.
A strong sense of danger overwhelmed Pyo-wol instantly.
Without a second thought, Pyo-wol leaped backward.
It was then.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Tremendous explosions erupted around the rock engraved with the writing.
Explosive charges were buried around the rock, and the severed thread around Pyo-wol’s ankle had triggered the detonation device.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosion cascaded, engulfing even the naturally formed dock.
Pyo-wol gritted his teeth and propelled himself forward.
The flames approached at breakneck speed. If he moved even a step late for a moment, he would be swallowed up by the flames.
But the flames weren’t the only problem.
Boom! Boom!
The massive canyon couldn’t withstand the shock of the explosion and started to crumble.
The sight of boulders, as large as houses, filling the sky and plummeting was truly terrifying.
Even Pyo-wol wasn’t an exception.
The sight was so shocking that it reawakened an emotion he thought he had long since lost— fear.
“Heup!”
Pyo-wol inhaled sharply, accelerating even faster.
Like a shooting star, his figure shot in a long parabolic arc as he tried to escape the canyon.
Crash!
Immediately afterward, the huge boulders slammed into the canyon below.
Boulder after boulder crashed into the canyon, creating a deafening noise and sending shattered debris flying in all directions. Amidst them, dark red flames and smoke seeped out, and grey dust rose into the sky, clouding the air.
The time it took for such a great and vast canyon to completely collapse was only a matter of seconds.
“Huff! Huff!”
Pyo-wol gasped for air as he barely managed to escape from the canyon.
The situation was so tense that even the normally composed Pyo-wol had a pale complexion.
Catching his breath, Pyo-wol looked back at the canyon.
It was utterly destroyed, far from its original state when he first entered.
Flames were still rising from the cracks in between the rocks, and the sky was filled with scattered grayish-white dust.
If there was indeed hell then this might be what it would look like.
Pyo-wol muttered,
“Did they know I would come?”
If that was indeed the case, then it was clear that the other party knew him very well.
Such a trap could not have been set without understanding his persistent nature, tracking skills, psychological state, and behavior patterns.
“Ha!”
For the first time in a long time, his fighting spirit surged up.
He had faced many enemies in his life, but this was a first of its kind.
His opponent was clearly targeting him.
It was then.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a sharp piercing sound rang out.
Something was flying toward Pyo-wol at a terrifying speed.
It was too late to dodge.
Pyo-wol unfurled his Snake Qi Thread and swung.
Sssst!
With a fine sound of cutting through the air, the object flying towards him was cleanly sliced in mid-air.
Clang!
The object that had crashed to the ground at Pyo-wol’s feet with a loud clattering was a harpoon that had been split in two.
Pyo-wol looked in the direction from which the harpoon had come.
The harpoon had come from the other side of the collapsed canyon, where there was another tributary.
Even from afar, he could see a pointed object, and he didn’t find it hard to deduce that it was the mast of a ship.
At the top of the mast stood a man.
The man had a huge build and long, flowing hair, and he wore a long robe made from the skin of some unidentified beast.
An awe-inspiring aura emanated from his entire being.
The moment Pyo-wol saw the man, he recognized who he was.
“The captain of the Phantom Fleet.”
He had seen him a long time ago.
Even back then, the captain of the Phantom Fleet had also thrown a harpoon from a great distance to keep him at bay.
The captain of the Phantom Fleet was Go Il-won, the son of the Kowloon Assassin Guild’s leader, whom Pyo-wol had killed.
He was also the half-sibling of So Yeowol, the woman whom Pyo-wol was chasing.
It made sense why the leader of the Phantom Fleet would target Pyo-wol.
After all, Pyo-wol was the enemy who had killed Go Il-won’s father and grandmother.
Go Il-won gazed indifferently at Pyo-wol from atop the mast.
Pyo-wol glared back at him.
Despite the distance between them, both could feel the intensity of each other’s gaze.
At that moment, Go Il-won made a gesture of slitting his throat with his thumb.
After signaling a death warning in such a manner, Go Il-won’s figure gradually faded away as the ship carrying him sailed away.
Pyo-wol stared at the scene wordlessly.
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