Heaven-Defying Hero - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#105

After riding for two hours from Taiyuan, vast corn fields appeared.

It was such a large farm that fifty workers had to reside there permanently to tend to it, and the place they managed was Sanyeongjangwon.

As the largest farming operation in the surrounding area, when you approached closely, the corn fields looked like massive fortress walls.

Ja-gang-cheon, riding Byeokseong, arrived at Sanyeongjangwon and passed between the corn fields that had grown to shoulder height.

‘Is there really such a place?’

Since corn is usually harvested in summer, at this time the abandoned corn stalks had lost their strength and color.

So they drooped down as if rotting, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Moreover, the sour smell emitted by the lifeless corn was unpleasant.

“Let’s go slowly.”

When Ja-gang-cheon tapped the reins, Byeokseong understood and slowed down. On Byeokseong walking slowly, Ja-gang-cheon closed his eyes as if taking a stroll.

“What brings you here?”

Standing before the magnificent gate that looked like the entrance to a famous scenic spot, a man in his fifties greeted Ja-gang-cheon.

“I’ve come to see the Lord. I want to buy corn in large quantities.”

“Ah. Is that so? You can discuss that with me, the subordinate.”

“Couldn’t I speak directly with the Lord? The quantity I want to buy is quite large.”

“Just how much do you want…?”

Ja-gang-cheon took out one of the promissory notes from his chest, the last one in the stack, and showed it.

It was a ten thousand nyang promissory note.

‘As expected, I should always accept whatever Cheon-gu prepares for me.’

When he displayed his wealth, the subordinate came down three steps and grabbed Byeokseong’s reins.

Snort!

“Easy, easy. I’ll take you to a comfortable place.”

The subordinate who calmed Byeokseong looked up at Ja-gang-cheon and said.

“Please come inside. I’ll call the Lord for you.”

Surprisingly, things went smoothly, so Ja-gang-cheon dismounted from Byeokseong.

“Please leave your horse here. He dislikes stables.”

Ja-gang-cheon stroked Byeokseong’s neck and said.

“Wait here. Understood?”

Snort!

After patting his neck, Ja-gang-cheon followed the subordinate into the manor.

After waiting in the reception room with a cup of tea for about an hour, the door finally opened.

Ja-gang-cheon focused inwardly and waited for the person to enter.

-Cheonsal-seong Dan Baeksim. Lord of Sanyeongjangwon, seventy-five years old this year.

The Lord of this place was the last survivor of Salmak.

Creak.

The door opened and finally the Lord of this place entered.

‘Huh?’

But something was strange.

A middle-aged man of about forty entered. He looked even younger than the subordinate.

“How do you do? I’m Dan Seokjin, Lord of Sanyeongjangwon. You want to buy corn in large quantities?”

“Yes.”

“How much do you want?”

Dan Seokjin naturally sat across from Ja-gang-cheon. The table wasn’t large, so if he stretched out his hand, he could touch his face.

For an assassin, he was too careless.

“I heard that the Lord here was quite old, are you really the Lord?”

“Yes? I’ve been the Lord for over ten years.”

The list that Makju had was information from twenty years ago. Naturally, it could have changed.

“Perhaps you came looking for my father?”

“Is your father’s name by any chance Dan Baeksim?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Where might he be?”

“He has already passed away.”

This was unexpected. Ja-gang-cheon felt completely deflated.

“But how does such a young person have a connection with my father?”

When the dead father was mentioned, the Lord looked at him with suspicious eyes.

“I heard about him from my father too.”

“Ah! Is that so?”

“I really wanted to do business with him, what a pity.”

Ja-gang-cheon stood up from his seat.

“I’ll consult with my father and come back.”

“Yes. Please come back anytime.”

Ja-gang-cheon came outside, even receiving the Lord’s farewell.

Byeokseong was still standing in the same spot, but when Ja-gang-cheon approached, he made an unpleasant sound.

Snort!

“I just got here. Calm down a bit.”

Ja-gang-cheon mounted Byeokseong and turned the horse’s head. But throughout their exit from the corn fields, Byeokseong kept making unpleasant sounds.

“What’s wrong?”

Byeokseong occasionally turned his gaze toward the corn fields.

“Wait.”

Ja-gang-cheon also felt something strange and stopped the horse.

Throughout their travels together, the most amazing thing was his communication with Byeokseong.

“Byeokseong has a bad temper, but he doesn’t throw tantrums for no reason.”

Snort!

As if understanding his words, Byeokseong snorted once more.

‘What could be the reason?’

Just as with people, Ja-gang-cheon didn’t simply ignore Byeokseong’s opinion.

So he stopped walking and concentrated his mind. But his eyes and senses caught nothing.

Someone of Ja-gang-cheon’s level would naturally have senses superior to most animals.

‘Then there’s exactly one thing left.’

There was one sense that even with superior internal energy, he couldn’t match animals in.

‘Smell.’

Ja-gang-cheon stared into Byeokseong’s eyes.

“Which direction?”

Byeokseong turned toward the nearby corn field. It was right next to where they stood.

‘If there’s someone over there?’

If it was to a degree that Ja-gang-cheon couldn’t notice, it meant they were deliberately hiding.

In a farming manor, there’s someone hiding well enough to fool a martial arts master?

To check, Ja-gang-cheon sent out a finger wind.

Thud.

At first, there was no reaction.

“Byeokseong. Where?”

This time, he sent the finger wind the moment Byeokseong’s eyes stopped moving.

“Ugh.”

A sound was heard.

The sound of suppressing a groan.

“Byeokseong. Go ahead.”

Smack!

Ja-gang-cheon patted Byeokseong’s back and dismounted. Then he immediately rushed into the corn field where he had heard the groaning sounds.

When he pushed aside the corn stalks blocking his way, he saw someone hiding there.

It was a boy in his late teens.

His bare upper body was covered with whip marks, and his eyes were filled with venom.

The moment Ja-gang-cheon reached out his hand to the boy,

Swish swish swish!

Sharp spears came at him from all directions.

There wasn’t just one person.

‘At least twenty people.’

As he began to move, Ja-gang-cheon’s senses finally detected them.

All the figures that appeared were around the same age as Ja-gang-cheon.

Late teens to early twenties.

They all attacked Ja-gang-cheon with similar movements. Their bodies were particularly agile, using footwork that was all too familiar to Ja-gang-cheon.

“So you were being raised as assassins.”

These were movements he had become familiar with while fighting the Osalsaeng.

‘Just how many of them are there?’

He couldn’t gauge their numbers. With the enemy’s strength unclear, Ja-gang-cheon also abandoned his composure.

Shing!

He drew the blade he carried diagonally across his back.

Thud.

Ja-gang-cheon stepped in a zigzag pattern on the rotting corn stalks and took his distance.

Then, like starving demons, five pairs of eyes simultaneously turned toward him.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Before they could move, Ja-gang-cheon first hurled a powerful energy wave with Mukryeomdo.

Corn exploded in all directions, creating a massive ruin in the area.

One of them was caught in the energy wave and turned into a bloody mess, but the rest had already escaped and hidden among the corn again.

Rustle rustle rustle.

Every time the wind blew, he could hear the corn swaying. Each time, the presence he felt around him increased.

Suddenly, Ja-gang-cheon realized there was no need for him to fight at such a disadvantage.

Whoosh!

When he leaped up and escaped the corn field in one bound, the opponents no longer pursued him.

“Let’s see how long you’ll stay there.”

Ja-gang-cheon changed direction.

“If Jangju is in danger, they’ll come out.”

He ran toward the manor.

He could see the subordinate who had been watching the situation turn around in surprise. Ja-gang-cheon quickly approached, trying to grab the subordinate’s nape.

That’s when it happened.

‘Huh?’

Slash!

Blood spurted from Ja-gang-cheon’s outstretched hand. His palm had been cut deeply. If he had been even slightly slower, his fingers would have been severed.

What had penetrated his protective energy was a blue-tinted dagger.

‘This guy was Cheonsal-seong.’

Jangju was a fake, and the subordinate who had first greeted Ja-gang-cheon was Cheonsal-seong.

‘Damn!’

Since he had resistance to poison, he hadn’t been too worried, but the wound area opened wide and a burning pain shot up.

‘It’s not poison.’

A heat flame dagger.

It was a divine weapon said to be possessed by the leader of Salmak.

It hadn’t been found on the leader’s corpse, but Cheonsal-seong had it.

It seemed the claim about being designated as the next leader wasn’t empty words.

The fire energy burned the wound, making it impossible to grip his sword any longer.

The moment he had no choice but to move Mukryeomdo to his left hand,

He felt a presence approaching from behind.

The reserve assassins, following the subordinate’s orders, had launched their attack.

At a glance, there were more than twenty of them.

They all threw hidden weapons simultaneously, and Ja-gang-cheon had no choice but to leap far away to escape that spot.

In the meantime, the subordinate had hidden inside the manor.

‘Phew.’

He needed treatment. But if he retreated here, there probably wouldn’t be another chance.

‘I’m already an enemy. I have to finish this here.’

Ja-gang-cheon, having made up his mind, strapped Mukryeomdo back on his back and clenched his fist.

Fortunately, he could still clench his fist.

“You have an interesting item.”

Ja-gang-cheon licked his lips with his tongue as he looked at the reserve assassins hiding throughout the manor.

The three massive guest quarters looked like a castle where demons lived.

He had to break through the evil spirits hiding everywhere to meet Cheonsal-seong.

Ja-gang-cheon felt uncomfortable, as if he was being led by them.

So he took out medicine. He applied plenty of Deungmyeong-geumchango to the wound on his hand. Next, he took out the fire starter from his chest.

Shaanxi Province was quite a dry region, and it had been a long time since it last rained.

Bang!

Ja-gang-cheon struck the wall of a nearby warehouse to secure wooden planks to start a fire.

Then, as if making camp, he stacked the planks and lit them on fire.

“You’re not the only ones who can wait.”

Whoosh!

The cloth laid underneath caught fire and the planks placed on top began to burn. Ja-gang-cheon threw these sufficiently ignited planks into the corn field.

Ja-gang-cheon very carefully set the fires.

What started as a gentle flame quickly spread throughout the entire area, feeding on the dense corn.

And when he returned to the manor, Ja-gang-cheon thought something had gone wrong.

The manor, floating like an island amidst the flames on all sides, was literally trapped in heat.

Even Ja-gang-cheon found that heat burdensome.

‘This isn’t a level anyone can endure?’

Even Ja-gang-cheon, who was confident in his internal energy, was sweating all over his body.

He was suffocating and pus was dripping from his open wound.

‘This isn’t a problem internal energy can solve.’

The problem was that the corn field was so vast.

‘I need to get out now.’

It was when even Ja-gang-cheon found the situation burdensome.

Neigh!

A horse came running to the manor entrance where fire fragments were scattering.

“Byeokseong!”

Byeokseong, worried about his master, had come through the flames.

Seeing the horse, Ja-gang-cheon realized what he needed to do.

“Let’s go. Those guys will come out eventually.”

Ja-gang-cheon mounted Byeokseong and escaped that place.

***

“Phew.”

Even though they had gotten quite far from the flames, his body was hot as if it had been cooked.

Byeokseong, with most of his fur singed, shook his body in displeasure.

“I could have come out alone.”

Snort!

“I know. Thank you.”

Ja-gang-cheon smiled lightly and turned his gaze toward the manor isolated among the distant flames.

“Those bastards are already too late.”

So Ja-gang-cheon waited until all the flames had died down. At least next to the corn fields was just bare earth, so the fire wouldn’t spread much larger.

Two hours passed, and when only embers remained at a tolerable level, Ja-gang-cheon went back to the manor.

In the end, the flames from the corn fields had spread to the guest quarters and brought down all the buildings.

“In the end, they couldn’t escape and died.”

Ja-gang-cheon examined the manor one by one, checking the corpses.

“Cheonsal-seong’s body isn’t here.”

There were some corpses that were completely burned beyond recognition, but Ja-gang-cheon was certain none of them was Cheonsal-seong.

“The Flame Dagger isn’t here.”

Because the Flame Dagger was nowhere to be found.

Ja-gang-cheon didn’t know where he might be, but there was no way he would have abandoned his weapon and fled.

Ja-gang-cheon searched through all the debris but ultimately couldn’t find the Flame Dagger.

“He’s somewhere around here.”

He couldn’t have broken through those flames, so he was definitely here somewhere.

‘A place safe from the flames.’

A place came to mind.

‘The basement.’

He began examining the floor.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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