Longevity - Chapter 35

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

Episode 35: Relentless Pursuit
Gaebang disciples blocking the road ahead raised their swords and clubs high.
The distance between them had shrunk to barely a hundred paces. Yi Jung-yong and Jin Ip-chu, the moment they mounted, drew their blades and cut the tether lines binding the horses to the carriage.

“Third brother, take the lead!”
“Understood!”

The two riders snapped their reins and burst forward. Jeon Jin-gung held her position behind the carriage’s right flank, her eyes shifting between the forests on either side and what lay behind them.
Beneath the moonlight stretched a wide crossroads. Forty or more armed Gaebang disciples blocked the way, layered deep all the way down the Southern Road.

“Cover your faces.”

Yi Jung-yong wrapped cloth around his nose and mouth. Jin Ip-chu and Jeon Jin-gung followed suit, and Jang Saeng pulled up the cloth he’d worn around his neck, keeping one hand on the reins.
Only Baturuu did nothing. He had no cloth to spare, and a frame as massive as his was rare even in the north. Covering his face would change nothing—anyone who saw him would know.
Jang Saeng set aside the sword at his hip and grabbed the crossbow he’d left inside the carriage. He still couldn’t wield a blade properly, and the enemies ahead were already closing to arrow range.
Click.
As the bowstring snapped taut and the arrow nocked, the Gaebang disciples recognized them. The front ranks drew their swords; men in the back rows raised clubs in both hands.

“Youngest, catch!”

Baturuu hurled the reins down from the driver’s seat.
Jang Saeng wedged the crossbow between his knees and caught the reins with both hands. The pull of four horses yanked at his palms, stretching his arms taut.

“Should I drive, big brother?”
“Do it. Those pulling the carriage are war horses. War horses charge at people without hesitation.”

Baturuu gripped his iron staff and pointed toward the Southern Road.

“If fear makes you slow down, we die. Don’t swerve, don’t hesitate—just drive straight through.”

Jang Saeng looked at the people blocking the way. His first instinct was to turn the horses around, but Baturuu had already planted one foot on the driver’s box railing.

“I’ll go straight!”
“Good.”

Baturuu leaped from the carriage. The instant his feet touched ground, he dropped low, then straightened with the iron staff across his shoulders, taking massive strides.
Thump, thump!
With each step, earth sprayed behind him. In moments he’d overtaken the carriage, and before ten paces more, he’d drawn level with the mounted Yi Jung-yong and Jin Ip-chu.

“Stop them! Don’t let them through!”

Someone among the Gaebang disciples shouted. But what was bearing down on them was not merely two sword-wielding riders and a giant wielding an iron staff.
Behind them, a carriage drawn by four war horses thundered forward without slackening speed. The men in the front rank dug in their heels, but as the hoofbeats grew deafening, they shoved each other’s shoulders and staggered sideways out of the way.

“Don’t scatter! Block the road!”
“Madness! Get out of the way!”

Screams drowned out the orders. Baturuu swept his iron staff in a wide arc, clearing the right flank, while Yi Jung-yong and Jin Ip-chu wheeled outward, carving a corridor wide enough for the carriage to slip through.

“Youngest, now!”

Jang Saeng yanked hard on the reins.

“Go!”

The war horses muscled through the press of bodies. A club slammed the carriage’s flank and bounced off; another man, trying to dodge the wheels, tumbled into the roadside ditch.
Jang Saeng never wavered. As a war horse’s shoulder grazed a retreating man, the man lost his grip on his sword and rolled to the side.
One wheel crushed an abandoned club, jolting high, but Jang Saeng held firm on both reins. The carriage shot across the crossroads and surged onto the Southern Road.
Behind them, the crash of weapons on weapons erupted in rapid succession. Jang Saeng exhaled, then glanced back—and saw only Jeon Jin-gung trailing behind the carriage.

“Master! Where are the others?”

At the Crossroads, Baturuu, Yi Jung-yong, and Jin Ip-chu were tearing through the Gaebang disciples. They hadn’t managed to slip away—the three of them were chasing down anyone who fled, pouring out all the rage they’d accumulated.
Jang Saeng’s hands instinctively pulled back on the reins. As the horses slowed, Jeon Jin-gung drew her carriage alongside.

“Don’t stop. Keep going.”
“But master, they don’t have mounts. We have to wait!”
“Look at the Western Forest.”

Jeon Jin-gung pointed with her sword toward the woods behind them. All Jang Saeng could see were trees and darkness, but she spoke with absolute certainty.

“The Gaebang dogs tied their mounts there. Master can take one and ride.”
“But can they truly catch up?”
“They will. If you stop, those three won’t have opened a path that matters.”

Jang Saeng bit his lip and loosened the reins again. The four war horses surged forward, and Jeon Jin-gung fell back behind the carriage to guard their rear.
The sounds of the Crossroads grew distant. Jang Saeng glanced back several times, but beyond the winding road he saw only Jeon Jin-gung’s horse and dust.
It wasn’t until the carriage had run some ten leagues that the sound of hoofbeats multiplied behind them.

“Master!”
“It’s us.”

With Jeon Jin-gung’s answer, three riders emerged from the dust cloud. Yi Jung-yong and Jin Ip-chu rode captured mounts, while Baturuu led two horses—one of which he sat upon, the other bearing an Iron Staff strapped diagonally across its back.
The Iron Staff was secured to the saddle of the second horse, angled across its back.
As Baturuu drew alongside the carriage, he swiftly untied the Iron Staff from the saddle. He released the horse he’d ridden and vaulted onto the driver’s seat.

“Master, did you set all the horses in the forest loose?”

Jang Saeng asked as he handed back the reins.

“No. Left them tied.”
“What if they chase us again?”

Baturuu wiped his face with his sleeve.

“Those mounts galloped here at full speed. Their legs have given out—they won’t be able to keep up with us.”

Jin Ip-chu nodded from the left side of the carriage.

“He’s right. Those men gathered in haste after receiving a messenger pigeon, so they never had time to rest their animals. Stealing them would only be a burden.”

Only then did Jang Saeng notice Baturuu’s hands and cheeks. Where he’d wiped them, dark blood—not sweat—had smeared across his skin.
His clothes were soaked with blood, as was the Iron Staff. Yi Jung-yong and Jin Ip-chu, too, were stained with blood and earth from their cloths to their boots.

“Surely you didn’t… kill them all?”

Jang Saeng’s voice trembled.

“Not all of them.”

Baturuu shook the reins while looking ahead.

“Some escaped.”

As he spoke, a distant shout echoed from behind. Whether those who survived would regroup or send a messenger pigeon remained unknown.
The three men hadn’t stayed long at the Crossroads, but that brief time had spawned another pursuit.
Jang Saeng could neither find relief nor bring himself to ask more. Yi Jung-yong drew his horse up on the carriage’s right side.

“I was so focused on whoever might chase from behind that I lost sight of what lies ahead. No matter how fast a horse runs, it can’t outpace a messenger pigeon.”

He continued speaking as he surveyed the Southern Road.

“The further we go, the faster the blockades will come.”
“Still, even if they receive word immediately, they’ll need time to gather people and seal off the road.”

Jin Ip-chu adjusted the reins with blood-stained hands.

“If we keep up our pace, we can avoid a well-prepared ambush. The real problem is behind us. The Jianghu Sects have plenty of good horses, and once they’ve caught our trail, they’ll stick to it eventually.”

Yi Jung-yong didn’t argue. The three of them spread out around the sides and rear of the cart, and the group resumed their flight southward.
Jang Saeng kept the Crossbow across his lap without loosening the bowstring. He couldn’t let go of his weapon—not knowing whether the road ahead would be blocked or pursuers would come from behind.
After traveling another hundred li, a small Relay Station appeared. There was no time to stop and feed the horses. Jin Ip-chu and Jeon Jin-gung leaped from their mounts to search for the kitchen, while Yi Jung-yong merely took sacks of dried flatbread and Dried Provisions and loaded them onto the cart.
* * *
By the time dawn broke, they had already ridden more than six hundred li through the night. The War Horses held up, but after traveling another hundred li, white foam began to fleck their mouths.

“We need to change them now.”

Baturuu slowed the cart’s pace.
Jang Saeng spotted a shimmer of water in a depression ahead, catching the sunlight.

“There’s a river up there. We can water them there, can’t we?”
“Cold water now and they’ll die.”

Baturuu stopped the cart and removed the Horse Harness from the exhausted War Horses. Steam rose from their bodies as they lolled their tongues and breathed heavily.

“Horses this overheated need to walk first to cool down. Go pick four of the spare mounts from the back.”

Jang Saeng and Jeon Jin-gung examined the horses that had been brought along unloaded.
After checking for flared nostrils and trembling legs, Baturuu selected four and hitched them to the cart, while Yi Jung-yong and Jin Ip-chu switched to relatively calmer mounts.
The group walked slowly toward the river. Even the exhausted War Horses followed behind the cart without needing to be led.
Once they reached the riverbank, Baturuu waited until the horses’ breathing steadied and their trembling legs grew still before leading them to the water.
Jang Saeng and Jeon Jin-gung scooped grain from the Dried Provisions sacks. Yi Jung-yong and Jin Ip-chu took turns keeping watch on the northern road even as the horses drank.
No one was ignorant of the fact that pursuers were behind them. Yet they couldn’t spare even the time it took for a stick of incense to burn. If they killed the horses here, there would be no way to complete the remaining journey.
While the horses swallowed water and feed, Baturuu removed the reins and Horse Harness from seven of the most exhausted War Horses.

“Are we just leaving them here?”
“Yes.”
“What if someone else catches them?”
“Without reins, they won’t be easy to catch. Better that than having them used to chase us again.”

Baturuu patted one horse’s crest once. The freed War Horses slowly scattered into the grassland by the river.
The moment the incense burned out, the group set off again. As they headed south, the Official Road climbed higher into the mountains, and the cart bounced sharply in every rut of the worn path.
When they reached the mountainside, Jeon Jin-gung at the rear suddenly raised her hand.

“Don’t stop—look behind us.”

Jang Saeng gripped the cart rail and turned. From this height, three small dots were moving rapidly along the northern Official Road below.
The dots disappeared around the winding path, and each time they reappeared, they were noticeably closer.
The three horses maintained their stride even on the long uphill grade, and their riders’ torsos barely swayed. Baturuu narrowed one eye.

“Those aren’t Central Plains horses. Central Plains horses can’t run like that.”

Jeon Jin-gung measured the distance between her thumb and forefinger.

“About fifty li remaining.”
“Only three of them, though.”

Baturuu let out a bitter laugh.
Yi Jung-yong’s expression only hardened further.

“They knew there were five of us and still sent only three. If all three weren’t masters, they wouldn’t have followed us so directly.”

Baturuu’s smile faded as he picked up the whip.

“You’re right. Let’s move faster.”

The horses surged ahead again. Jang Saeng leaned against the cart wall, keeping his eyes fixed on the mountain path behind them.

“When will they catch up with us?”
“If the road stays like this, we have less than a Double Hour.”

Yi Jung-yong shouted to Baturuu.

“Is there rough terrain ahead where we could block the path?”
“What kind of terrain?”
“A deep gorge or narrow ravine, perhaps.”

Jin Ip-chu glanced back once, then interjected.

“At that speed, they’re likely masters of Lightness Skill. A simple gorge won’t stop them. It would need to be a major river with only one crossing.”
“There is a river.”

Baturuu pointed southward.

“There’s a wide river ahead, and it has one bridge.”
“How wide?”
“I’d say tens of zhang across.”
“That should work. How much farther?”
“I can’t remember exactly. But it’s not far.”

Jin Ip-chu clenched his teeth.

“We need to cross before they catch us. Push the horses harder, please.”

The Official Road wound through the mountains. In the low valleys, the party and their pursuers lost sight of each other, but each time they climbed to the higher sections along the ridge, the gap between them narrowed visibly.
After half a Double Hour passed, the three pursuers had closed to within ten li. With only a gorge between them, you could now distinguish the hems of their robes—two men and one woman, all appearing to be in their early forties.

“Is the river still ahead?”
“Just over that mountain ridge. I can hear the water.”

Jin Ip-chu turned to look at Yi Jung-yong.

“Do you still have the Phosphorus Stone?”

“I do.”
“Get it ready. The moment we cross the bridge, we’ll set it ablaze.”

Yi Jung-yong reached into his robes, but Baturuu shook his head urgently.

“No. We can’t burn that bridge.”

Jin Ip-chu’s eyes widened.

“Why not?”
“Because it’s made of stone.”

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