North Sea Martial Arts Warrior - Chapter 41

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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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41. When Prey Becomes Hunter

They waited at the point where the mountain path ended.
Thirty men.
Swords and axes glinted in the sunlight between the brush—the same ones who had slaughtered merchants at the pass earlier. Before, Airak’s party had kept their distance and passed safely. This time, they blocked the path entirely.
Airak did not slow his stride.
“Sir.”
Garkan spoke low.
“We’re being followed.”
“I know.”
His gaze swept across the bandits.
Their clothes were rags, but the weapons in their hands were well-made. No mere rabble. Among them moved figures trained in martial arts.
The Bandit Leader stepped into the center of the path. Yellow teeth showed between split lips.
“A barbarian woman dressed in silk.”
His eyes fixed on Serian, raking over her with naked greed.
“We could fetch a decent price for those clothes. For her too.”
Crude laughter rippled through the gathered men.
Serian’s hand moved to her waist. The grip of Eun Seol met her palm.
“Hold.”
Airak spoke curtly.
“Let me handle this.”
Serian’s teeth clenched.
“No.”
He shook his head and called another name.
“Harku.”
“Yes.”
A bald man stepped forward. Scar tattoos twisted across his face, and a savage grin spread wide.
“Sir, are you giving me leave?”
“As you wish.”
Airak nodded, and two words fell from Harku’s lips.
“Tor Arkan.”
A hunt.
Harku’s laugh erupted as both hands swept to his waist. From within that wild laughter, the Ssang A Do slid free from its sheath.
Two blades drank the sunlight.
Whish!
As his wrists twisted, the steel spun like a top, and a sharp cutting sound screamed through the air.
“I’ll kill you all.”
Harku charged forward.

The first bandit swung his axe. The heavy iron fell toward Harku’s head. He didn’t evade—instead he drove inward, and as the axe split empty air, the Ssang A Do swept across the man’s ribs.
Shred!
The flesh tore open. Before his intestines could spill, Harku’s body had already pivoted to the next target.
Second.
A sword-wielding bandit thrust. Harku twisted, letting the blade slide past, and his left dao traced across the attacker’s neck. The head lolled back, half-severed.
Third. Fourth.
With each rotation of the Ssang A Do, blood sprayed in an arc. Bouncing, slashing, piercing—all wove together in a single motion. Fluid as a dance, fierce as a storm.
From the fall of the fifth bandit to the fall of the first: five breaths only.
“M-Monster!”
The bandits froze. Laughter died. Fear spread in its place.
“Don’t just stand there gawking!”
The Bandit Leader roared.
“Swarm him! Close the circle!”
The bandits tightened their encirclement. Swords, axes, and spears descended from all sides. Harku spun, blocking three attacks simultaneously.
Then one moved.
Different from the rest. His stance was low, his movements clean—no wasted motion. He drew his sword and aimed for Harku’s flank.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal made Harku’s eyebrow twitch.
“Hmm?”
The bandit’s blade was fast. It deflected Harku’s Ssang A Do and flowed seamlessly into a counter—the rhythm was smooth, not clumsy. A thrust. A slanting cut. His footwork never wavered.
“Now this is fun.”
Harku let out a laugh.
“This bandit’s got some skill.”
“Shut your mouth.”
The man spat the words coldly, his blade aiming for Harku’s waist. When Harku stepped back, the blade tip merely grazed his sleeve.
“Ow, that’s the real thing.”
Harku’s eyes changed. The madness in them deepened.
The Ssang A Do spun faster now. Two blades traced different arcs, rushing from left and right in a relentless assault—block one side and the other carved through. A chain of unbroken attacks.
The man retreated a step, using his sword to defend his left. But his right side lay open.
The blade was about to gouge into his shoulder.
Whoosh!
The Bing Chel Sae shot across the ground toward him.
The chain writhed like a serpent, coiling around the man’s ankle. As it pulled taut, his body lost its balance and lurched forward.
The moment his knee touched the earth—
Harku’s blade swept across his neck.
The man fell, his throat half-severed. Blood sprayed like a fountain.
Garkan retrieved the Bing Chel Sae with a snort of laughter.
“Slow.”
“How cowardly, jumping in like that.”
Harku grumbled, but his lips were curled upward.
“That one was fun.”
“Don’t try to hoard all the entertainment.”
Garkan shrugged.
Airak walked forward.
He looked down at the dead man’s sword. It was plain iron, but the blade was oiled evenly and the grip wrapping was new. For a bandit’s weapon, it was maintained far too well.
When he turned the corpse’s hand over, calluses caught his eye.
Calluses that only came from wielding a blade countless times. They covered his entire palm.
“A bandit with decent swordwork,” he murmured quietly.
He withdrew his gaze.
“Where did he learn?”
There was no one left to answer.
Beneath the leather wrapping of the dead man’s grip, a single strand of thread poked out. It had been rewrapped recently. Airak pressed the thread lightly with his fingertip, then let it go.
“Run!”
At the Bandit Leader’s cry, the surviving bandits scattered. Twenty or so fled in all directions, and the leader himself turned to bolt into the forest.
Thwip!
An arrow cut through the air.
It struck the Bandit Leader’s shoulder, burying itself deep—feathers and all.
“Argh!”
He screamed and pitched forward, rolling across the ground with fingers clamped over his shoulder as blood seeped between them.
Taikan lowered his bow and nocked the next arrow, his eyes sharp as a hawk’s, fixed on the Bandit Leader.
“Run again, and the next one finds your throat.”
It was a quiet warning.
The Bandit Leader rolled onto his back, trembling.
“Mercy… spare me….”
Airak stepped in front of him.
His shadow fell across the man. Gray eyes looked down at the trembling figure—eyes without emotion, the kind that gazed at insects or pebbles in the road.
“I have questions for you.”
“Whatever you want—I’ll tell you everything!”
The Bandit Leader’s voice wavered.
“Who gave you information about us?”
The Bandit Leader’s eyes widened.
“What… what are you talking about?”
“How did you know we’d come this way?”
“That was….”
The Bandit Leader stammered. His eyes darted back and forth—the look of a man hunting for a lie.
“We were just… just waiting here….”
Airak drew the Buk Myeong Do.
As the blade’s dark light was revealed, a chill spread through the air. The surrounding atmosphere grew cold. White breath began to seep from the Bandit Leader’s mouth.
The sword’s point touched his neck.
“Lie to me, and you die.”
“Aah!”
The Bandit Leader lost control of his bladder. His trousers darkened with wet stains, and the stench filled the air.
“F-four days ago!”
His voice cracked.
“Someone told me! That a foreigner from the Northern Sea would pass this way! That capturing them would bring a fortune!”
His eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
“I don’t know! I really don’t know!”
The Bandit Leader’s voice trembled.
“Their face was hidden! They wore a black hood! They gave me the information and vanished! They never even gave their name!”
“You don’t know where they came from?”
“No! They just… appeared suddenly and disappeared just as suddenly! Like a ghost!”
“How much money did you receive?”
“T-two hundred taels! They said I’d get another thousand if I captured them!”
Serian’s eyes narrowed.
“A thousand taels is no small sum.”
“Indeed.”
Airak nodded.
“Someone wealthy enough to hire bandits, who also knows our route.”
“Could it be Bing Gong?”
“I cannot say.”
He looked down at the Bandit Leader.
“Is there anything else you know?”
“No! I swear there’s nothing! That’s all of it!”
The Bandit Leader shook his head desperately.
“Please… spare me…. I beg you….”
A moment of silence fell.
The Buk Myeong Do moved.
A single stroke.
The Bandit Leader’s head fell to the ground. Blood fountained from the severed edge. His body collapsed forward.
“Useless.”
As he sheathed the blade, blood sprayed from the Buk Myeong Do. The sound of the sword sliding into its scabbard rang out coldly.
“Chief.”
Garkan approached.
“What of those who fled?”
“Deal with them. There must be no survivors.”
“Understood.”
Garkan nodded and gestured to Taikan and Harku. The three disappeared into the forest.
Soon, screams echoed intermittently.
From a distance came the sound of arrows, chains, and blades cutting through bone, all mingling together. Birds scattered in alarm. The sounds continued for some time before gradually fading away.
Serian stood beside Airak.
“Whoever leaked that information… who could it be?”
Instead of answering, he gazed toward the northern sky. Sunlight broke through the gray clouds.
A thin line of white breath rose from Airak’s mouth. Yet this was not the Northern Sea. The cold Qi within his body continued to escape outward.
Serian did not miss it.
“Four days ago would have been before we even crossed the Okmunn Gate.”
Her low voice continued.
“It means someone has been pursuing us since the Northern Sea.”
Serian bit her lip.
“Just who in the world….”
“I cannot say.”
Airak’s gaze turned ice-cold.
“But I will find out.”
Garkan returned from the forest and reported.
“It is done. Twenty-three. No survivors.”
“Well done.”
Arko spoke quietly.
“That skilled swordsman… he was no ordinary bandit.”
“I know.”
Airak nodded.
“There were calluses on his hands. The kind that only come from gripping a blade for years.”
“Could he have been planted there?”
“Possibly.”
As they moved forward, Harku burst out laughing behind them, wiping blood from the Ssang A Do.
“Ah, that was refreshing. It’s been so long since I smelled real blood like that.”
“Be quiet.”
Garkan said it flatly, but his own expression showed he was in good spirits.
Taikan spoke quietly.
“Master, we should be careful. Our route is being leaked.”
“I know.”
Airak took the lead, walking forward.
The Buk Myeong Do sang softly within its sheath—the cry of a blade hungry for blood.
Serian watched the figure ahead of her.
Invisible burdens were stacked upon those broad shoulders. The path toward the one who killed Karani. And now, there were those pursuing them along that same road.
As they left the mountain path, flat land opened before them. A small village appeared in the distance. Smoke rose from it.
Airak stopped.
“Taikan.”
“Yes.”
Taikan narrowed his eyes. He pulled the village closer with Cheon Ri An.
“It is a village. And….”
His brows twitched.
“A bandit lair. On the ridge behind the village.”
“How many?”
“About fifty. It appears to be the headquarters of the ones we just killed.”
He fell silent in thought.
“Turn back. We have no business there.”
Serian asked.
“There might be people being held captive. Those merchants from before….”
“It’s not our concern.”
The answer came firm and cold.
“A waste of time.”
Serian bit her lip but said nothing more.
The group skirted the village and took the mountain path around it.
Someone was following us. And that someone knew our route.
Airak’s eyes turned cold.
Harku wiped blood from the Ssang A Do on his sleeve, chuckling quietly. Taikan plucked his bowstring lightly with his fingertip. The bow sang softly.
The wolf they thought was prey had bared its fangs. Now things would change. It was time to discover who the true hunter was.
The Buk Myeong Do cried out once more.

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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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