Longevity - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 13: Evil Leaves No Traces
“The Cheonjam Singong!”

Both sides froze. The Ma Bang men gasped at the revelation that the wooden chest contained such a rare treasure, while Yi Jungyong and Jin Ipchu fixed their gaze on the illiterate man who had just read the book’s title.
The Ma Bang fighter reached for the book.
Jin Ipchu slammed the lid down first. As the man yanked his hand back, the wooden chest snapped shut with a sharp bang, just grazing his fingertips.

“What are you doing? I didn’t even get a proper look.”
“We agreed to send someone who couldn’t read.”
“I never learned. I only know a few simple characters.”

Jin Ipchu let out a scoffing laugh.

“A man who rattles off the Eighteen Arhats and the Twenty-Four Deities claims he can’t read?”

The man’s mouth shut tight.
Across the stream, word of “Cheonjam Singong” spread rapidly. While Jong Agyeong’s subordinates craned their necks toward the wooden chest, Yi Jungyong turned back to Na Yangja.

“Master.”
“Open it.”

Jin Ipchu’s eyes widened.

“They’ve been deceived from the start.”
“What we need to prove is that the Former King’s Seal is not there.”

Na Yangja’s voice remained calm. Jin Ipchu and Yi Jungyong reluctantly opened the chest again.

“Do not break your word.”
“Without trust, there can be no standing between men.”

At Yi Jungyong’s warning, the two men nodded perfunctorily. Their eyes scanned only the spines of the purple bamboo strips and ancient books, not looking for any place where the seal might be hidden.
One man pointed at the purple bamboo strips with his finger, while the other lifted the worn books one by one, checking even the characters on the bottom.
Jeon Jingung approached Na Yangja’s side.

“Master, they’re after the secret techniques. This won’t end in words today.”
“With so many of them, a direct confrontation would put us at a disadvantage.”

Na Yangja raised his voice deliberately as he looked toward the Ma Bang side. A few men standing near Jong Agyeong heard those words and exchanged glances.
Then he lowered his voice so only Jeon Jingung could hear.

“When I make my move, scatter as if you’re breaking through. Lay the Five Elements Formation on all sides

so that no one can escape.”

Jeon Jingung nodded slightly and withdrew toward Baturru.
Jang Saeng, standing right beside her, heard both sets of words. Na Yangja’s first statement was meant to reassure the Ma Bang.
The lowered command afterward was the truth. Until Jeon Jingung closed the Five Elements Formation from outside the encirclement, Na Yangja intended to keep all eyes fixed here.

“If you’ve seen enough, we’re closing it.”

Jin Ipchu covered the wooden chest.

“The Former King’s Seal isn’t here.”

The two Ma Bang men crossed the stream and ran to Jong Agyeong. As they passed near Na Yangja, Jang Saeng saw the whisk. It didn’t move.
The moment the two men poured their words into Jong Agyeong’s ear, all the Ma Bang’s attention fixed at once on the wooden chest. Some lifted torches and stepped forward, while those in back craned their necks to see.
Jong Agyeong had only heard Na Yangja’s deliberately raised first statement. Interpreting the act of opening the wooden chest himself as a sign of fear, the corner of his mouth twisted into a crooked smile.
Na Yangja spoke first.

“Jong, we’ve confirmed the Former King’s Seal is not with him. The misunderstanding is cleared. Now each of us should go our own way.”
“The seal wasn’t on him. I have no intention of breaking my word.”

Jong Agyeong smiled crookedly.

“But the Cheonjam Singong belongs to our Ma Bang ancestors. That must be returned.”
“We don’t have the Cheonjam Singong.”
“The seal script written on those purple bamboo strips was clearly the Cheonjam Singong!”

The man examining the wooden chest cried out.

“You misread it.”

Na Yangja’s face showed no change.
Jong Agyeong spat out the red mass he’d been chewing. Blood-tinged spittle streaked across the earth.

“Hand it over while I’m asking nicely.”
“I cannot give what I do not have.”
“Jong, there’s nothing more to say. These are the ones who stole our secret teachings.”

Someone drew a blade and shouted.
The others grasped their sword hilts as if they’d been waiting for this moment. Sheaths rang out from all sides, and the inner circle of attackers across the stream tightened step by step.
Jong Agyeong unsheathed the curved saber

at his waist.

“All of you, attack!”

Jong Agyeong kicked off from the stream.
Splash!
The curved saber cleaved through the spray of water and flew at Na Yangja’s throat. Na Yangja’s whisk traced a white arc.
Clang!
The horsehair wound around the blade and deflected it aside. The men behind Jong Agyeong split into two groups and rushed at the others.

“Move the chest!”

Yi Jungyong and Jin Ipchu shoved the wooden chest toward Baturru. Yi Jungyong’s long sword caught the blade coming from the left.
Clang!
From the right, Jin Ipchu’s metal shovel swung low.
Thud!
One man crumpled, clutching his knees.
Jeon Jingung swept her long spear in a wide arc.
Whoosh—
As the spear tip traced a semicircle, those blocking the way dodged back sharply. Through the gap, Jeon Jingung stepped forward.
Jang Saeng snatched up a stone at his feet and hurled it.
Thud!
The stone struck a man’s temple. As he staggered, Jin Ipchu’s shovel shaft drove into his chest.
The bundle Jin Ipchu was carrying fell to the ground. Jang Saeng rushed over and caught it before the Ma Bang’s feet could trample it.
Jeon Jingung’s hand seized Jang Saeng by the back of the neck.

“Eh?”

His body lifted into the air. Jang Saeng flew toward Yi Jungyong, who caught him upright with one hand while pushing an enemy back with his sword.

“Don’t move from here.”

Jeon Jingung spun her long spear and met two men charging at her head-on.
Clang! Clang!
The moment two blades flew back, she threw her body through the opening.

“Seize them!”

The two gave chase.
Na Yangja deflected Jong Agyeong’s curved saber and kicked a stone with the ball of his foot.
Whish—
The stone struck the man ahead in the shin.

“Ugh!”

The man toppled. Jeon Jingung vanished into the forest without a backward glance. The sound of her long spear’s tip brushing branches faded quickly.
Jang Saeng crouched low again. As he seized the stone in his palm and straightened, the Ma Bang men surged in from either side.

“Kill him!”

Blades flashed beneath the torchlight.
Jang Saeng flung his arm.
Crack!
The stone struck the foremost man’s bridge of nose. In the instant he clutched his face, Yi Jungyong’s sword flashed like lightning.
Clang!
A blade fell to the earth.
Jin Ipchu swung a metal shovel low from the right.
Thwack!
The shovel’s handle slammed into the man’s ribs. He doubled over and stumbled backward into his companion, and both went down together.
Jang Saeng hurled stones in rapid succession. Though they didn’t drop a man outright, they were enough to blind an eye or dull a blade. When someone took a stone on the back of the hand and lost his grip, Yi Jungyong’s sword point would dart through the opening, and Jin Ipchu’s shovel would seal off retreat.
By the stream, the curved saber and whisk clashed repeatedly.
Ching-clang!
Jong Agyeong’s blade fell from above. Na Yangja nudged it aside with the whisk’s handle and stepped back half a pace.
A man seized the moment to thrust at his side.
Slice—
The blade’s tip merely sheared the hem of his robe. As Na Yangja’s wrist rotated, white horsehair lashed across the man’s face.
Snap!

“Argh!”

The man recoiled, shielding his eyes.
Jong Agyeong pressed forward again. The curved saber descended toward Na Yangja’s left shoulder.
Na Yangja raised the whisk’s handle.
Clang!
The blade skidded sideways. The white horsehair aimed for Jong Agyeong’s throat, but two blades came in from behind at once. Na Yangja abandoned his offensive and swept the whisk in a wide arc.
Whoosh-crack!
Two men took the blow to their faces and staggered.
Those with the swiftest blades began clustering around Jong Agyeong. Steel converged on Na Yangja from all sides, yet his feet never strayed more than two paces from the streambank. Even in moments when he could have pressed forward, he took only a single step before retreating again.
Jang Saeng threw his last stone.
Crack!
It caught a man’s knuckles. As the blade wavered, Jin Ipchu’s shovel thrust upward from below.
Bang!
The man’s chin snapped back and he fell.
Jang Saeng swept the ground. No more stones lay within reach.
Behind him, metal scraped against dirt.
Scrape-scrape.
Baturru tried to push himself up, leaning on his copper mace. His rigid arms trembled violently, and the mace’s end only carved deep grooves in the earth.

“Nh… nnngh…”

As enemies drew near the wooden chest, Baturru drove his body forward again.
Thud.
His knees hit the ground. Yet he did not release the mace.
Jang Saeng seized the copper mace from him.
Even braced with both hands, its end drooped. It was not a weight he could swing. Jang Saeng planted the mace’s end against the earth and planted it before a man boring in at Jin Ipchu’s side.
A blade’s point struck the mace.
Clang!
His palm stung. The man struck down at Jang Saeng’s copper mace with the flat of his blade, driving him back two paces. His heels gouged furrows in the earth.
Yi Jungyong’s long sword swept in from the side.
Whisk!
The man arched his spine and retreated hastily.

“Don’t overextend yourself!”

Then the sound of a bowstring snapped from the forest to the left.
Twang—
Before Jang Saeng could even turn his head.
Thunk.
A featherless, stubby arrow lodged in his left shoulder.

“Urgh!”

Strength drained from his fingers.
Boom!
The copper mace struck the ground. Jang Saeng staggered backward beneath a tree, clutching his shoulder.

“Little brother!”

Jin Ipchu spun around.
Slash—
A curved saber raked diagonally across his chest. Blood bloomed across his robes.

“Third brother!”

Yi Jungyong’s long sword traced a wide arc.
Clang! Ring!
The two attackers planted their feet and slid backward under the force of the blow.

“Three brother, little brother—are you both all right?”

The courtesy names used in place of birth names tumbled out in desperate haste.
Jin Ipchu did not answer. He thrust upward with the metal shovel from below.
Crack!
The attacker’s jaw snapped up, his body flipping backward. Blood poured from Jin Ipchu’s chest, but his feet did not yield.

“I am unharmed.”

Jang Saeng’s voice trembled.

“Is it only pain? No burning, no itching?”

Yi Jungyong asked, but Jang Saeng could not answer.
Click.
The man who had fired the arrow nocked a fresh shaft into his crossbow.

The bowstring drew taut, the point angling toward Yi Jungyong’s flank.

“Second brother, be careful!”

Whoosh—
At Jang Saeng’s cry, a curved saber flashed between the torches.
Thud!
The blade buried itself in the crossbowman’s forehead. He fell backward without ever squeezing the trigger.
Thump.
Jang Saeng’s eyes found Na Yangja at once. Jong Agyeong and his men had him surrounded. Only a whisk remained in Na Yangja’s hand.
Jong Agyeong’s neck lay bare more than once. Yet Na Yangja merely let the blade slip past, never driving it deep—when one attacker fell, he pushed aside the next to open a gap, and when the circle tightened, he retreated two steps to widen it again.
Jang Saeng watched the forest where Jeon Jingung had vanished.
Na Yangja was waiting.
He could no longer lift the copper mace. Jang Saeng kept his shoulder pinned and counted the enemies.
Nine near the torches. Seven by the stream. Six around Na Yangja. Five surrounding Yi Jungyong and Jin Ipchu.
Twenty-seven.
Five of them lay on the ground already. Two beside Na Yangja, three in front of the wooden chest. Even those holding torches had revealed themselves.
A cold drop of water fell on Jang Saeng’s cheek.
One drop traced down the bridge of his nose and touched his lip. It carried the stench of blood.
Jang Saeng looked up.
A gray-black monkey hung from a branch above his head, urinating in an arc. It bared its teeth and chattered.

“Damn beast…….”

No more stones. As Jang Saeng swept his gaze around, he spotted a crossbow beside the fallen crossbowman, a fresh bolt already nocked in the string.
Jang Saeng pressed his left arm to his body and crept low. The moment one of the Ma Bang men turned his back, he rounded the tree and sprinted for the crossbow.
Click.
He embraced it with his right hand and rolled back beneath the tree. His arrow-pierced shoulder hit the ground.

“Hah!”

His vision went white. Jang Saeng swallowed a cry and rose to his knees.
The monkey leaped along the branch, screeching louder.
Chatter! Chatter-chatter!
It didn’t flee when it saw him raise the crossbow. Instead, it dropped to a lower branch and thrashed its body.
He steadied the crossbow with both hands. His shoulder felt like it would tear open, but he kept the sight trained on the creature’s movements.
It hurled itself toward the next branch.
He pulled the trigger.
Twang—
The bolt punched through the monkey’s skull.
Its body dropped through the branches.
Thud, crash!
It struck the earth once, bounced, and lay still.

“Blackfur!”

A furious roar erupted from the Ma Bang side. Several men wheeled toward Jang Saeng.
In that instant, Jeon Jingung’s voice cut through from beyond the forest.

“Master! I have deployed the Five Elements Formation!”

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