Single-Instant Blade

Chapter 72 : One Step Up (2)

Sugujin was a riverside village. Naturally, there were several waterways that flowed into the river.

In the dead of night, a Hui woman walked in front.

The moonlight was so bright that it was not inconvenient to walk. The surroundings were clearly visible, as if walking with a small lantern.

“He is well.”

The woman said suddenly.

It was not the voice of a village woman. It was a very restrained voice.

“Has he woken up?”

Ah Geol asked.

“No. Not yet.”

“…Tsk! He sleeps too much.”

Ah Geol muttered as if it were a passing remark.

“Thank you for not giving up and saving him until the end.”

“He may be a sect master to you, but he’s a grandpa to me. What’s there to be thankful for when a blood relative saves a blood relative? Forget such greetings… just take good care of Grandpa. So that he doesn’t get sick.”

“I am watching him well.”

“I feel much more at ease now that I’ve handed Grandpa over. Now I can move freely.”

Ah Geol smiled brightly.

“We’re here. This is it.”

The Hui woman guided the two to a waterway.

In the waterway she had guided them to, there were several stepping stones used for washing clothes.

It seemed to be a common laundry place for the village.

“If you go out here, you’ll be discovered immediately. How about going upstream instead?”

“That way will also be blocked.”

“Still, if you go up, it’s safe for about twenty li. There are no houses at all.”

The upstream the woman had mentioned referred to the upstream of the waterway. She was telling them to go against the small stream and go up above Sugujin. The waterway continued for about twenty li, and after that, they had to cross a mountain.

While other paths were very dangerous, this path seemed to be one where they could hide if they moved well.

The Third Lord had spread a net from heaven to earth. All the sects that cooperated with the Sacred Sword Sect had been mobilized.

According to the Red Wolf Squad’s understanding, about one hundred and twenty sects had participated in the search. The number of martial artists mobilized was a whopping thirty thousand. Each sect had people who could move, and if you included them, nearly five hundred thousand people were searching with their eyes wide open.

Getting out was harder than passing through the eye of a needle.

Perhaps the path the Hui woman had mentioned was the only way to escape.

Most martial artists did not search the mountains. They only searched the area where they lived. You just had to be careful of the hunters, herbalists, snake catchers, loggers, etc., who survived using the mountains.

Couldn’t you be careful of that much?

Naturally, a person with a thought would use the mountains to escape.

But there was a trap in this thought.

The mountains belonged to the mountain people. No matter how skilled a martial artist was, they did not know the mountains better than a hunter, herbalist, or snake catcher. If it was not fighting but just surveillance, they were much better.

If you escaped to the mountains, you could not avoid their eyes.

That was why it was a net from heaven to earth. You had no choice but to be caught because the place to escape was completely blocked.

Then should he stay in Sugujin until the net from heaven to earth was lifted?

This was also difficult. The first search had been done by the water bandits. They had also searched in all directions with their eyes wide open because the safety of their group was at stake, but there were still many things they had not seen.

So the Sacred Sword Sect would conduct a second search themselves.

They would search thoroughly for what the mobilized sects had not seen. Although it would take some time because the net was spread so wide. Even now, they were slowly narrowing the net.

It was only a matter of time before their footsteps reached Sugujin.

Ah Geol said, “The boat?”

“Whistle!”

The Hui woman whistled.

Then, two strong men who had been hiding in the reed field quickly came out with a small boat.

“It’s a boat that can barely cross the river. It can’t go far.”

The strong men said as they launched the boat into the water.

* * *

Creak! Creak!

Every time the boat moved, the sound of wood breaking was heard.

“Are you really okay?”

Mongseol looked at him with worried eyes.

Seori Hyeonggae’s blade was fierce. It was said to be fierce because it did not contain a single shred of mercy.

He had been hit mercilessly by such a blade.

An ordinary person would have died instantly seven or eight times out of ten. Even if they were lucky enough to survive, they would have to recuperate for more than half a year.

Ah Geol had only rested for a month.

His wounds had healed a lot. Even in Mongseol’s eyes, he had recovered at a speed that made her think, ‘what kind of person is this?’.

Mongseol had had this experience before.

When she had been hit by the Living Sword Sect disciples in Dongseung, she had stood up in three days with the help of the green line leeches.

But Ah Geol did not have a green line leech. The only medicine he had was the first aid medicine that the Red Wolf Squad had given him. He could not receive serious treatment, and could only treat minor sword wounds.

Ah Geol had stood up after receiving that much treatment.

He had started energy circulation after about fifteen days. So it should be seen that he had treated himself after fifteen days.

“It’s fine. We’ve tested it, haven’t we?”

Ah Geol fixed his gaze on the river.

The bright moon was also floating in the river. A yellow moon was swaying in the deep river water. There were two moons.

“Are you a good swimmer?”

Ah Geol asked suddenly.

“Swimming? I’m not good at it… a little?”

“You can cross a river of this extent, right?”

Mongseol’s eyes flashed. And she swept her gaze around with cold eyes.

There was nothing to be seen.

The river water was splashing. The wind was sweeping over the river water. The surroundings were dark, and the moonlight was quiet.

But she knew that there were people.

Ah Geol had already known. He had read the presence at least two breaths before Mongseol.

The enemy was in the water.

Those who were skilled in water, those who could attack in the water… they were water bandits.

It had only been half a tea time since they had left Sugujin, but they had already been followed.

“I don’t want to swim on a moonlit night…”

Mongseol shrugged her shoulders and made a playful expression.

“Pfft!”

Ah Geol laughed, looking at Mongseol’s expression.

The worry had disappeared from Mongseol’s face. The tension had also melted away like snow. Only peace, calmness, and composure stood out.

Mongseol was beginning to taste ‘the peak’.

It wasn’t that she was comfortable because the situation was good. Even if it were a situation where she was fighting a close battle with the enemy on a battlefield, she would maintain the same attitude as now. This was the true value of the Blood Sword Sutra.

Ah Geol did not know what kind of martial art was recorded in the Blood Sword Sutra.

Although he had the second volume of the Blood Sword Sutra, he had not looked at the contents. Although it was an ultimate sword art with the martial arts of the Blood Sea Sword Saint written in it, he had not trained in it because it was not his.

The knowledge he had about the Blood Sword Sutra was what Grandpa had told him.

The Blood Sword Sutra was a top-level sword art on par with the Single-Instant Blade or the Illuminating Ten Explanations. It was just a pity that the name of the martial art was unknown because the first volume was missing… but with just the second and third volumes, it could make the world cry.

That momentum was beginning to dwell in Mongseol.

Swoosh!

Mongseol raised the pole. No, the moment she seemed to raise it, she struck down with all her might.

Puk!

It was not the sound of hitting the ground. It was the sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones.

Kuluck! Bogeureureuk!

Water bubbles gushed up violently from the water.

“Already? We could have gone a little further. If we do it here, we’ll have to swim.”

“How can I not do it when I see them?”

Shwiiit! Puk!

She immediately pulled out the pole and stabbed it again.

This time, the sound of tearing flesh was not heard. As she had harmed her colleague, the others had immediately retreated out of range.

If the situation was like this, it didn’t seem that it would be that difficult. But,

Peok!

Suddenly, a big impact burst from the bottom of the boat.

The boat rocked violently. A hole was pierced in the side of the boat. And the river water gushed in like a spring.

“See? You started too early.”

“This…?”

Mongseol looked at the side of the boat as if she couldn’t believe it.

There was definitely no one under the boat. But a hole had been pierced. Who had pierced it, when, and how?

“There’s an arrow that these guys often use. It’s called a water arrow. It’s perfect for use in the water.”

“The boat was pierced by one arrow?”

A martial artist with strong internal energy could do it. But even in that case, you had to use an iron arrow, not an ordinary arrow. You could not tear out a chunk of the bottom of a boat with an ordinary arrow.

“There’s an explosive attached to the water arrow.”

“Ah!”

“You have to swim, right?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about the explosive?”

“You’re not telling me that a Drunken Flower Garden assassin didn’t even know that much, are you?”

“In Shanxi, in the Shanxi way.”

“Yes.”

“From now on, tell me these things with words. I’m old enough to understand without having to experience it directly like this.”

Mongseol frowned deeply.

Shanxi had a lot of mountainous terrain. Was it because of that? The people of Shanxi had strong legs. They used their feet well. In martial arts, they focused on kicking techniques rather than fist techniques.

On the other hand, Guangdong was a plain area. They used their hands better than their legs. Fist techniques and claw techniques were more developed than kicking techniques.

The representative phrase for this was ‘Southern Fist, Northern Kick’. It meant that fist techniques were developed in the south, and kicking techniques were developed in the north.

Depending on the terrain, martial arts also had different characteristics.

If a person from Guangdong wanted to fight in the land of Shanxi, they had to consider kicking techniques. It would be difficult to fight mainly with fist techniques in Shanxi as you would in Guangdong.

In the territory of the water bandits, you had to fight in the way of the water bandits.

You had to know how the water bandits fought, and you even had to set up countermeasures.

Ah Geol had expected that the water bandits would shoot a water arrow with an explosive attached.

‘This person… he must have been busy training in martial arts, but did he also study the water bandits?’

Mongseol looked at Ah Geol with sparkling eyes.

The more she looked, the more reliable he became.

As she thought that he was a reliable man, a desire to rely on him arose without her realizing it.

Mongseol was also an assassin. She knew the fighting style of the water bandits. But there were almost no water bandits who used water arrows. In fact, it was the complete opposite of what Ah Geol had said. Since arrows did not fly at their proper speed in the water, they were almost never used.

The water arrow she had just experienced was very powerful. It could even sink a sailing ship.

To use such a water arrow, you needed a specially made bow. It would not be an ordinary bow, but a crossbow-type bow that was hung on a grate and fired.

These guys were not ordinary water bandits!

* * *

Swoosh! Swoooosh!

Mongseol swam smoothly like a fish.

She was a very good swimmer. In the Drunken Flower Garden, there was an assassination technique that involved infiltrating through the water and attacking. They also trained to stay in the water for a long time, just as when they executed the Turtle Breath Great Art.

Shwoooosh!

Something flew.

It was not detected with the five senses. The Mud Pill One Sword floating in the upper palace trembled.

‘Danger!’

Swoooosh!

Mongseol curled her body into a ball. And she attached a thousand-pound weight to her two feet.

Her body dropped into the water.

Shwoooosh!

A river corpse flowed over her falling body.

The wave created by the river corpse shook her body. If she had moved a little later, she would have been skewered without fail.

Peoeok!

The explosive attached to the river corpse exploded just below the surface of the water.

Mongseol’s body shook once more. As the explosive exploded, it pushed the wave, and the flowing wave also pushed Mongseol.

Mongseol fell to the bottom of the river. And she quickly kicked the bottom with her two feet.

Shwoot! Taak!

She was shot quickly.

But she could not go far. She could not even shoot up to the surface of the water. A whopping four people appeared, blocking her path.

‘A mistake! I was in too much of a hurry and couldn’t control my breath.’

Mongseol glared at the men.

But because she couldn’t breathe, her chest was already swelling up as if it would burst.

(End of Chapter)