The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 116

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

116
Woo Geom-san Competes for Supremacy
Screeech!
At the sharp hawk cry from outside, Woo Geom-san opened the window. Hongbaek then came swooping through the window like an arrow.
The sun had just set, and the surroundings were dimming into darkness.
Except for a few nocturnal species like owls, most birds do not fly in the dark of night. However, Hongbaek was an exception.
Because he had been fed Yeongbo Vitality Pills since he was a hatchling, his eyesight was vastly superior to that of other hawks. Even so, he rarely flew at night under normal circumstances.
For Hongbaek to seek out Woo Geom-san after sundown meant that something unusual was happening.
Screeech!
Hongbaek let out a low cry and kept staring in the same direction.
Woo Geom-san turned his gaze toward the spot Hongbaek was indicating.
Though nothing was visible to the naked eye, he could sense a bustling movement. They were trying to move stealthily in their own way, but because so many people were moving at once, they could not fully conceal their presence.
“It seems uninvited guests have arrived.”
Woo Geom-san let out a soft sigh and sent Hongbaek flying back up into the sky.
Since he had evaded them well over the past few days, he thought he would be able to rest easily here, but it appeared he had miscalculated.
Yun Jin-myeong was far more persistent and dogged than he had anticipated.
Considering they had already tracked him all the way here.
Woo Geom-san climbed onto the roof of the tallest pavilion nearby and surveyed the surroundings.
He could see numerous people moving throughout Maseong.
They were searching the houses in the area at a very rapid pace.
Moving in perfect order while narrowing the perimeter, they were clearly no ordinary martial artists.
Descending from the roof, Woo Geom-san gathered the others.
“Everyone, please come outside.”
“What is the matter?”
“What is going on, Little Brother?”
Gong Pyeong-hae and Ha Baek-jin emerged first, followed quickly by Yi Se-gyeong and the children.
“It seems the pursuers have entered Maseong.”
“Already?”
Gong Pyeong-hae, who had guided the group to Maseong, could not hide his bewildered expression.
He had never expected their tracks to be discovered this quickly.
Ha Baek-jin said,
“There must be someone among them who excels at tracking. Or perhaps someone intimately familiar with our ways.”
“Could it be the vagrants? If so, did they hire the vagrants from Yingcheng’s Yayue Market?”
“That is highly probable.”
“Damn it! To think I failed to account for the Yayue Market, how foolish of me……”
Gong Pyeong-hae lowered his head in self-reproach. He felt too ashamed to face Woo Geom-san.
Woo Geom-san looked at Gong Pyeong-hae and said,
“Thanks to you, Master Gong, we were able to evade them and reach this place quickly. It is just that their response was faster than we anticipated, so do not blame yourself. Now is not the time to assign blame, but to find a way to respond.”
“I understand! Whew!”
Fortunately, Gong Pyeong-hae quickly regained his composure.
Yi Se-gyeong, who had been quiet until now, broke her silence.
“If they really hired vagrants from the Yayue Market, it is highly likely that the passageway we used has been discovered.”
“Then there is a chance this place has been exposed as well.”
“Dokgui is not a loose-lipped man. Seeing as they have not raided this place yet, it is more likely they do not know about it.”
“That makes sense.”
Ha Baek-jin nodded.
Like a seasoned vagrant, he quickly regained his calm and assessed the situation they currently faced.
Ha Baek-jin asked Woo Geom-san,
“By any chance, did you gauge how many enemies there are?”
“I do not know the exact number, but it seems at least several hundred have been mobilized.”
“Given that the number of vagrants who can be mobilized from the Yayue Market is only one or two hundred, the elites of the Yunyo Bang and the Tianjin Escort Agency must have been deployed as well.”
“They must have reinforced their numbers during the days they spent tracking us.”
“Breaking through the perimeter will not be easy.”
“Yes.”
If it were just his own body, he could manage somehow, but the children were the problem.
He had to get Ha Yeong-ryeong and Ning Yunxiao out while protecting them from the enemies.
Woo Geom-san said,
“First of all, their primary target is me.”
“That is true. Since you are of the Woo Family Manor bloodline, Little Brother. But even so, they will not just kill you and let us live. They will try to eliminate us as well to erase any evidence of their collusion.”
“Even so, they will try to eliminate me first.”
“Could it be that you intend to act as bait, Little Brother?”
Ha Baek-jin suddenly snapped his head up in surprise.
Woo Geom-san nodded and said,
“If we stay together, we will only become easy prey for the enemy. It would be better for me to draw their attention while the rest of you escape.”
“Mmm!”
Ha Baek-jin groaned under his breath.
In his mind, he knew the method Woo Geom-san suggested was best, but it felt as though they were placing too heavy a burden on him.
“Once you all escape safely, I will make my getaway too, so do not worry too much.”
“Whew! It cannot be helped. Let us do that. How should we divide the group?”
“I think it would be best for you, Lady Yi, and Yeong령 to move together, while Yunxiao moves separately with Master Gong.”
“Understood. We will do so.”
Ha Baek-jin replied with a heavy expression.
Woo Geom-san dropped to one knee to meet Ning Yunxiao’s gaze.
“I am sorry I cannot go with you until the very end. Move with Master Gong for just a little while.”
“I am fine, so do not worry.”
Ning Yunxiao replied resolutely.
Even though a great crisis had befallen them, Ning Yunxiao did not show signs of anxiety or waver.
That was how much he trusted Woo Geom-san.
Woo Geom-san stroked his head and said,
“Once you escape safely, go straight to the Woo Family Manor with Master Gong.”
“I will. You must come back safely too, mister.”
“I will.”
Woo Geom-san nodded and stood up.
Ha Baek-jin, Yi Se-gyeong, and Gong Pyeong-hae were all looking at Woo Geom-san with determined expressions.
Woo Geom-san said to them,
“Then, I shall see you all at the Woo Family Manor.”
***
Gam Hu-myeong was the squad leader of the Jacheongi, one of the Ohorgi of the Yunyo Bang.
Right now, Gam Hu-myeong’s anger had reached the top of his head.
This was because thirty martial artists, including Deputy Squad Leader Mok Gyeong-han, who had been dispatched to escort Yun Jin-myeong, had been defeated by a single person.
Fortunately, no one had lost their life, but their injuries were severe enough that they needed to recuperate for at least three to four months.
Thanks to this, the honor of the Jacheongi and Gam Hu-myeong had fallen to the floor.
If they sat idly by like this, it was certain that the other Ohorgi would look down on them.
That was the reason Gam Hu-myeong had led the Jacheongi all the way here, far from the Yunyo Bang.
“Pathetic fool! To be beaten by a single guy and end up in that state?”
Gam Hu-myeong cursed his deputy squad leader, Mok Gyeong-han, as he looked around.
Hundreds of men, including the Jacheongi, escort warriors from the Tianjin Escort Agency, and vagrants, had been mobilized to thoroughly comb the area.
Finding where Woo Geom-san’s group was staying was truly just a matter of time.
Gam Hu-myeong shouted to his subordinates,
“We must find and eliminate them before the Three Fiends of Tianmen do. Only then can we reclaim our tarnished honor.”
“Yes! Squad Leader.”
The martial artists of the Jacheongi replied vigorously.
They shared the exact same sentiment as Gam Hu-myeong.
The Ohorgi were comrades and rivals.
Falling behind the other Ohorgi was absolutely unacceptable. Therefore, they searched the area with all their might.
It was then.
“Squad Leader! We have found their dwelling.”
A Jacheongi martial artist came running in a hurry.
“Where is it?”
“It is the house at the end of this alley. An old man nearby reported seeing four adults and two children entering.”
“It must be them. Let us go at once.”
“Yes!”
The Jacheongi martial artists moved quickly.
The moment he saw the house surrounded by high walls, Gam Hu-myeong’s eyes flashed fiercely.
“Open the door.”
“Yes!”
It was just as a few Jacheongi martial artists cautiously approached the front door of the safehouse.
Bang!
With an explosive sound, the door of the safehouse suddenly blasted outward.
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
The martial artists who had approached the door screamed as they were struck by wooden splinters.
“What is this?”
“Damn it!”
Fortunately, the martial artists who were not hit by the splinters drew their swords and stared past the doorway.
From inside the doorway, a man wearing Dark Navy Light Armor walked out.
The man, whose long flowing black hair harmonized with his handsome face, was none other than Woo Geom-san.
At Woo Geom-san’s appearance, Gam Hu-myeong scowled and glared.
“So you are the bastard. The one who wounded my deputy squad leader and my men.”
“You must be from the Yunyo Bang.”
“I am Gam Hu-myeong, Squad Leader of the Jacheongi. If you surrender quietly, I will spare your life. But if you resist, I will tear your limbs apart and throw them as food for beasts.”
“It seems the answer has already been decided.”
Woo Geom-san gripped the hilt of his Refined Steel Sword.
In that instant, Gam Hu-myeong bared his teeth and grinned.
“Of course it has to be that way. It would be no fun if you surrendered easily.”
He would have killed him even if he surrendered anyway.
He had absolutely no intention of letting him live.
While favors could go unreturned, it was the absolute rule of him and the Jacheongi to repay grudges tenfold, a hundredfold.
“Kill him!”
“Understood!”
The moment his command fell, the Jacheongi martial artists moved.
They did not rush at all.
Moving deliberately, they closed the perimeter.
The sight of nearly three hundred martial artists moving without a sound was an incredibly terrifying spectacle.
Because it meant they were a highly disciplined group.
If Woo Geom-san had not learned the martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect from Baek Ho-yang, his breath might have hitched just from watching them close in.
The pressure and presence exerted by the Jacheongi martial artists were that overwhelming.
The Jacheongi martial artists were employing the Jacheon Storm Sword Formation.
Woo Geom-san had already faced the Jacheon Storm Sword Formation before. However, back then, it was an abbreviated sword formation performed by barely thirty men.
A formal sword formation deployed by two hundred and seventy people was on an entirely different level of power and pressure.
Even though it had not fully unleashed its strikes, an immense pressure was crushing down on Woo Geom-san.
He could have avoided it, but Woo Geom-san did not do so.
Because right now was the time he needed to pin their attention on himself as much as possible.
The longer he kept them tied down, the safer Ha Yeong-ryeong, Ning Yunxiao, and the others would be.
“Whew!”
With a soft sigh, Woo Geom-san held his Refined Steel Sword at the ready.
Before gripping the sword, numerous stray thoughts would clutter his mind, but once the sword was in his hand, those thoughts vanished in an instant.
That was what a swordsman was.
The moment one takes up the sword, nothing remains in this world except myself and the opponent I must face.
No matter what the outcome might be, a swordsman was an existence that did his absolute best to cut down his opponent.
Swish!
Woo Geom-san’s figure vanished from everyone’s sight.
Deploying Smooth Flow, he approached the martial artists at the forefront.
Sshhhk!
The moment his sword sliced through the air, the martial artist at the front widened his eyes.
Because he had never expected Woo Geom-san to strike first.
Slash!
Woo Geom-san’s sword cut straight through the martial artist’s chest.
“Arghhh!”
The martial artist let out a wretched scream and collapsed.
At Woo Geom-san’s preemptive strike, the Jacheongi martial artists fell into agitation. It was extremely rare for a martial artist of Woo Geom-san’s caliber to strike first under such circumstances.
Without missing that opening, Woo Geom-san lunged into the midst of the Jacheongi martial artists.
Slash! Slash!
His sword cleaved the air and sliced through flesh.
“Ah!”
“Gah!”
The Jacheongi martial artists collapsed with screams.
Gam Hu-myeong shouted,
“Unleash the Jacheon Storm Sword Formation!”
The Jacheon Storm Sword Formation deployed by two hundred and seventy people swept toward Woo Geom-san.
Rumbleeee!
The Great Battle of Maseong, which would later remain a legend in the Jianghu, was opening its curtains in this manner.

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