North Sea Martial Arts Warrior - Chapter 90

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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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90. Sleep First

Swish.
Their footsteps halted.
Aelak’s party had at last reached the outer forest of the Je Gal Family Estate.
Without so much as crunching a single dry leaf, the six of them slipped soundlessly between the trees.
Even when night-damp branches brushed their shoulders, not a snap escaped into the darkness.
The Je Gal Family Estate lay beyond the ridge.
From a distance, the weight of the formation’s aura pressed against their skin.
The party sensed that heaviness and came to a stop.
They had left the Cheok siblings behind in the village, so now it was only five North Sea warriors and Serian.
“Is this the Je Gal Family Estate?”
Garkan asked quietly, peering beyond the ridge.
“Yes.”
Aelak replied.
His gray eyes swept briefly across the Je Gal Estate—or rather, across the Formation Technique they had laid out there.
“The traces Arko found earlier must have come from here. Regardless of whether anyone from here actually came to the North Sea, one thing’s certain: someone has been dogging our steps.”
Serian spoke.
Her words needed no elaboration. That single statement was reason enough to visit the Je Gal Family Estate.
Beyond the ridge, rooftops lay low in the darkness. Above them, the aura of the Big Dipper spiraled once around the perimeter walls.
Even from this distance, one could see it was a formation designed to confine people within.
Indeed, which of them might be connected to the North Sea? Would they tell us if we asked politely? No. We would have to break them.
Even if we crushed them all, we might never learn who killed Karani. They are that large a clan—there will be multiple elders within those walls, and more than one or two masters of unusual footwork techniques.
The trace had brought Aelak this far, but no further.
“We’ve caught the great water, but we cannot distinguish the fish within,” Taikan said, pulling the Je Gal Estate into focus through his Thousand-Li Eye.
Taikan examined the Je Gal Family Estate for a long time.
He scrutinized every inch of the outer walls, but could only guess at what lay beyond them.
There was something else that troubled him—a sensation that had not left since they reached the ridge. Eyes somewhere in the darkness, watching them still.
Yet he did not turn his gaze toward it. They were too far away in any case, and sometimes feigning ignorance drew out more than direct attention ever could.
“Arko. Taikan.”
Aelak called out the two by name.
“Watch for several days. Don’t touch anything.”
“If you say don’t touch, then we shall only watch.”
Arko adjusted the Medicine Pouch at his waist.
“Right. They know we’re here. Both outside and in, formations are everywhere. They won’t be able to maintain such things constantly, so let’s wait it out. It costs us nothing.”
Taikan loosened the bow slung across his back.
Arko and Taikan soon vanished into the darkness.
The remaining four buried themselves behind the ridge as well.

Garkan, prone in the grass, found the gaze at his back irksome and occasionally shrugged his shoulders.
Taikan returned first with a report of those coming and going from the estate.
“Three elders move between inside and out. They appear to be inspecting the formations.”
“Three people managing two formations?”
“Four, rather. Two maintain the structure of the formations, one manages the rotation. They show no signs of tiring first and withdrawing the formations. They seem prepared to hold for a month, two months—however long it takes.”
It was a report stripped of all unnecessary words.
Arko then emerged from the darkness, brushing aside the night.
Dry grass clung thickly to the hem of his robes as he stepped out of the forest.
“The estate master left several months ago. He apparently abandoned the estate for Murim Alliance business, but the timing is peculiar—it coincides with something.”
Arko twitched his nose.
“The timing coincides?”
“To be precise: a disturbance occurred at Bing Gong, and the dates stretch a little before and after.”
“Be precise.”
“He departed half a month before the disturbance at Bing Gong, and returned a month later.”
Arko shrugged his shoulders.

“That should be more than enough time to visit the North Sea.”
“It’s sufficient. Neither too much nor too little.”
The day he’d departed and the day he’d returned aligned precisely with when a woman from the north had arrived, her entire body torn to shreds. The circumstances pointed to someone called the Head of House.
“The net’s tightening. The Head of the Je Gal Family, then?”
Garkan drummed his shin as he spoke.
“If it’s the Head of the Je Gal Family… this fight won’t end easily. We might have to wipe them all out to finish it. If they’re determined to hold the line.”
Serian said quietly.
“We need to take one more step forward, but that single step is treacherous. Hah!”
Garkan twisted the corner of his mouth.
After days of investigation, he’d narrowed it down to a single person, yet reaching him still lay far ahead. The circumstances were telling, but the mere fact of his absence wasn’t enough to declare him Karani’s killer.
Aelak spoke.
“Keep searching. The surest path is through his martial art. Gather everything the Head has shattered—trees, bricks, straw bundles. Whatever he’s used in practice. Traces are enough. No one can counterfeit those.”
Arko adjusted his Medicine Pouch and turned his body back toward the darkness.

Far away, in the village.
Cheok Mu-yeong is the Surveillance Commander of the Murim Alliance. He earned that position not through his father’s influence, but by seizing it himself.
He had a keen eye.
The diligent movements of Arko… his pace growing swifter with each passing night.
Aelak’s promised revenge was taking shape. The net was steadily closing. The Head of the Je Gal Family had been cornered.
‘I can’t let the Head die.’
Cheok Mu-yeong laughed softly at the thought.
Was the Je Gal Family worried about their Head?
Right now, the Je Gal Family Estate was fully prepared. They’d constructed two formations, one inside and one outside. Likely another lay hidden within.
To enter was to die.
Moreover, Je Gal Chan’s martial art was formidable enough that he could stand against his own father in combat.
The Head already knew Aelak had come, was prepared to fight, and was himself a supreme master.
Who was worried for whom?
‘The fact that he doesn’t attack immediately but continues to observe… means he won’t draw his blade on circumstantial evidence alone. Is this too part of Aelak’s way?’
He understood Aelak’s dilemma.
As seen at Okmun Gwan and in the Mazeon affair, he cuts down the obstructive without mercy. That he now watches instead of strikes speaks to his thoughts of Karani’s revenge.
The one he seeks to kill is the one who killed Karani.
He waits until that person is identified. Holding back his rage.
‘If he attacks now, doubt will linger—doubt as to whether Karani’s revenge is truly served. He means to erase even that doubt. Once Aelak’s heart is certain… he will strike without mercy. Of that I’m sure.’
Cheok Mu-yeong lurked in the shadows, watching their movements.
They already knew he was hiding. Yet they left him be. Their judgment: he posed no threat.
If he tried to block them, though… he would be cut down without hesitation. This too was certain.
‘If the Head shows no opening, perhaps the fight might not break out at all.’
Cheok Mu-yeong kept his eyes on Aelak.
Beneath the shade of the leaves, his gaze sank deeper than shadow itself.

The outer grounds of the Estate were sealed by the Big Dipper Seven-Star Formation in flawless encirclement.
Taikan traced every inch beyond the earthen mound.
Seven nodes along the wall’s perimeter formed a massive ring, with the entrance to the interior lurking at its center.
“A frontal breach won’t work. The problem is we can’t verify the Head’s true martial art without dismantling this formation first.”
Arko said.
“You can’t either?”
Garkan looked at Arko with interest.
“Because this formation doesn’t stay still waiting for us. It’s not a dead formation.”
For a moment, heavy silence descended.
The enemy lay beyond the wall, yet seven sinister emanations of killing intent blocked the path in layers upon layers. Bound before the colossal barrier of formation technique.
The night they’d arrived, the Estate’s surveillance network had suddenly exploded in strength. Martial artists had poured out from within, and the formation’s aura had transformed completely into a different fortress overnight.
“The escort has grown as well.”
Taikan recited the numbers flatly.
“Sixty-some inside. The formation’s depth is markedly different. Completely transformed. Nothing like yesterday.”
“Can a formation really grow that much stronger just by adding more people?”
Garkan’s brows knit sharply.
“They know we’re watching. Right under their nose.”
Taikan said with a smile.
Their thoughts were the same. Summoning warriors overnight meant they had already clearly perceived the presence of intruders.
Serian’s eyes narrowed to slits.
This was no accident. The enemy had pinpointed exactly who would come and when, then sealed off the approach.
“They’re confident. Confident enough to face us head-on. This… this can’t be dismissed lightly… They’ve already conducted a thorough investigation of our forces. Whatever measures they’ve taken are the result of that—we can’t afford to underestimate them.”
The words fell low and heavy, broking no argument.
Serian analyzed the situation with a cold, cutting gaze.
The hunters’ greatest weapon—informational superiority—had slipped into the enemy’s hands. Worse, they found themselves crippled by the absence of intelligence.
“What do we do?”
“We report to the clan leader. There’s nothing more we can do. It depends on his judgment… One last thing… Arko, there’s truly nothing else?”
“I can’t break through it, I’m telling you.”
“Taikan.”
“I’ve seen everything there is to see.”
“Then we really are out of options. Our martial arts can’t penetrate that formation.”
Garkan spoke quietly.

Aelak fell silent.
If the purpose was to annihilate the Je Gal Family, he would not hesitate—his blade was already drawn.
First, he needed to confirm who had killed Karani.
Such matters demanded care. Spilled water cannot be gathered again. Once the blade is drawn, the current runs in only one direction.
His ashen eyes overlaid the family compound, the formation technique, and the shadowed shape of the unseen enemy across a mental map, each element sliding swiftly into place.
Now that the enemy had caught on, the formation would thicken with each passing hour, and their numbers would multiply.
‘To witness the clan leader’s true martial skill, I’ll have to plunge into the heart of that formation. Waiting is a waste of time.’
“Tonight, we dig into the formation’s underbelly.”
Aelak’s voice dropped to a chill.
Four pairs of eyes swung toward him at once.
“We’re not here to shatter it. I want to see where fractures appear, how they’re mended. We need to learn the formation’s skeleton.”
“Observe the liver and slip out?”
Garkan seized the Bing Chul Swae and grinned wickedly.
“Tonight, we learn the structure. The enemy’s head comes after. You cannot strike at the heart without knowing its bones.”
Taikan unrolled the formation diagram across the grass.
A single terse command set six gears spinning in perfect synchronization.
“Reading the formation’s weak points won’t be easy either. They’ve set their trap carefully—vicious snares are waiting, I’d wager.”
Garkan tossed the remark lightly, the Bing Chul Swae slung across his shoulder, his tone carrying the easy curiosity of a warrior untouched by dread.
“No one walks into traps like that.”
Harkoo spoke as he inspected the Twin Halberd Swords.
“If you do fall into one, I’m leaving you behind.”
Garkan laughed like a beast and nodded.
“If you’re planning to abandon me, don’t bother going in together in the first place.”
Harkoo flicked dust from the blade as he countered.
There was no need for further words. Aelak’s gaze had already pierced through to the formation’s most vulnerable core.

In the thick darkness, the Je Gal Family’s malevolent killing intent rose like heat shimmer. The vicious aura of the formation was palpable even from a distance.
A meticulously prepared Hunting Ground.
The formation was an iron wall. Time, too, had ceased to favor the pursuers.
The predators who had been stalking their prey were now walking of their own volition into the gaping jaws the enemy had laid open.

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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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