C 513
"Who... who are you, brother?"
Gomujin managed to lift his head, gazing at the young man who was vigorously rowing the boat.
The youth had managed to rescue him while Jang Hwa-yong was momentarily distracted. He had brought him on the prepared boat and was making their escape.
The youth turned around to face him.
"I am Chae Mu-ok from the Four Suns Sect."
"Chae Mu-ok? Is it someone we know?"
"No. We met for the first time today."
"But why did you save me? The patrol unit from the Golden Heavenly Hall are relentless. Once they have set their sights on someone, they never let them go."
"I am not afraid of them."
Chae Mu-ok responded with firm conviction.
Awoken from sleep by the loud commotion, he had rushed outside, finding the Golden Heavenly Hall's patrol chasing Gomujin.
Initially, he had followed the patrol out of pure curiosity. But then he saw Gomujin cornered.
Even when backed into a corner, Gomujin never once showed cowardice. His image, refusing to beg for his life even in the face of Jang Hwa-yong's overwhelming violence, left a strong impression on Chae Mu-ok.
Therefore, Chase Mu-ok lit the reed field on fire to distract the patrol and saved Gomujin.
Until just moments ago, he was conflicted about whether to join the Golden Heavenly Hall or the Silver Lotus Hall. But after witnessing the clash between the Golden Heavenly Hall's patrol and Gomujin from the Silver Lotus Hall, he made up his mind.
He had decided to join the Silver Lotus Hall.
That’s why he had saved Gomujin.
Squeak! Squeak!
With every stroke of the oar, the small boat quickly moved forward.
If they continued at this pace, they would soon lose the patrol unit. However, they were not going to be defeated so easily.
Somehow, they managed to get a few boats and launched them onto the DongtingLake. They were quickly closing in on the boat Chae Mu-ok was on.
"Halt! You rat-like bastard."
"If you get caught, you will not be spared."
The enraged voices of the trackers carried on the wind.
Their voices were growing louder.
They were getting closer at an alarming speed.
It was inevitable that a group rowing in unison would be faster than Chae Mu-ok rowing alone. The patrol were rowing as if they were a single entity.
"Row faster."
"Keep going!"
"We will never forgive you."
Lee Chu-su, Jang Hwa-yong, and Bing Ha-ran, each on a different boat, were spurring on the patrol.
Their encouragement fuelled the patrol to row faster.
As a result, the distance between them and Chae Mu-ok's boat was rapidly closing in.
"How dare you snatch him from under my nose?”
Lee Chu-su glared at Chae Mu-ok's boat with wide eyes.
She couldn't make out his face from this distance, but something about his physique was familiar.
It was someone she had definitely seen somewhere before.
But Lee Chu-su decided to put that thought aside for now.
Right now, the important thing was to catch up to that boat and reclaim the Hundred Man Association's token from Gomujin.
Now the distance to Chae Mu-ok's boat was just about five Zhang (a traditional Chinese unit of distance).
"Hah!"
Lee Chu-su swung her pure white hand, from which a powerful wave of internal energy burst forth.
Just before her energy strike hit, Chae Mu-ok, without even looking back, swung his fist.
It was a Crushing Fist.
Boom!
The violent clash between Lee Chu-su's internal energy and Chae Mu-ok's fist created a thunderous sound. Concurrently, the boat Chae Mu-ok was on rocked as if it would capsize any second.
Chae Mu-ok hastily concentrated his qi into his legs to steady the boat.
In the meantime, the boat carrying Lee Chu-su had drawn even closer.
Shing!
Lee Chu-su unsheathed her sword.
"Show your face, rat! You'll regret interfering with the patrol unit's operation in hell,"
Lee Chu-su thrusted her sword towards Chae Mu-ok like a flash of lightning.
A sword energy extended straight from her blade.
"Cha-hat!"
Facing this, Chae Mu-ok unleashed a series of fist strikes.
Boom-boom-boom!
Explosions sounded in the void.
Luckily, he managed to block all of Lee Chu-su's attacks, but in the meantime, other boats had caught up to Chae Mu-ok's boat, trapping him.
A look of despair flashed across Gomujin's face.
"Little brother, leave me and go, at least you must survive."
"I can't do that."
"Take this ledger and escape at least."
Gomujin tried to hand over the ledger to Chae Mu-ok, but he stopped his hand.
"We die together, we live together. You, the Chief, keep the ledger."
"Little brother?"
"I, Chae Mu-ok, might be young, but I know what loyalty and justice are. Even if I die, I will never abandon you first."
Chae Mu-ok answered firmly.
Gomujin looked both touched and regretful.
He felt guilty that this young man might lose his life because of him.
Meanwhile, the boats carrying the patrol unit were swiftly closing in, forming a tight encirclement.
"We've got him. This rat!"
A cold smile crept onto Lee Chu-su's face.
Suddenly, a scream rang out from the boat carrying Jang Hwa-yong.
"What is it?"
"Water is seeping in!"
"Someone drilled a hole in the boat."
The members of the patrol unit threw their oars away and tried to plug the hole with their clothes, but it was no use.
Then, cries came from another boat as well.
"There's a hole in this one too."
"Quickly, plug it!"
Another boat had been punctured as well.
Lee Chu-su cried out.
"There's someone in the water."
She raised her sword and glared into the water. However, no matter how much she stared, she couldn't see beneath the water.
The darkness of the night made the water opaque.
Of course, it was impossible to discern what was happening underneath. But it was clear that something was there.
"Damn it!"
"Water is seeping in."
Cries, nearly screams, rang out from yet another boat.
TL/N-LOL
Another hole had been drilled.
"Eek!"
Lee Chu-su swung her sword aimlessly into the water. Boom!
A powerful surge of sword energy caused a pillar of water to shoot up. But it was unclear if anyone hiding underwater had been hit.
The members of the patrol unit on the punctured boats moved to boats that were still intact.
In the meantime, the boat carrying Chae Mu-ok and Gomujin managed to break through the encirclement and escape.
Gomujin muttered.
"Heaven has intervened."
"Not heaven."
"What?"
Gomujin looked puzzled at Chae Mu-ok's answer.
"Do you know who helped us?"
"I have a guess who it might be, but I can't say for sure."
"Is that so?"
"Yes!"
Chae Mu-ok looked back as he rowed.
He saw Sang-eum in the distance.
Chae Moo-ok bid farewell to the people in Xiangyin.
"When we meet again, I'll express my thanks then."
The young man who had chosen his path rowed without hesitation.
***
"Goodness! I've indeed aged. I'm not what I used to be."[a]
Sal-no tapped his waist and moved on.
He was completely soaked.
Although he looked like a drowned rat, a smile was plastered on his lips.
Suddenly, he turned around.
The Dongting Lake lay enveloped in darkness.
It was pitch dark because of the late hour, but his eyes took in quite a lot.
Just then.
"Do you have a hobby of swimming in the middle of the night?"
A soft voice could be heard.
Sal-no, without surprise, looked in the direction of the voice.
Pyo Wol was there.
"So, does grand master Pyo have a hobby of taking walks in the middle of the night?"
"I couldn't sleep......"
"I couldn't sleep either, so I decided to take a swim after a long time."
"Do you swim in your clothes these days?"
TL/N-LOL
"Isn't it troublesome to take them off and put them on again?"
Sal-no applied his internal energy as he was.
Shhh!
A moment later, a fierce heat radiated from him and his clothes were dry in an instant.
Pyo Wol chuckled.
"It seems more bothersome to use your internal energy to dry your clothes."
"I find it convenient."
"I see!"
"How about the others?"
"They're asleep."
"They'll be disappointed to know that Mu-ok is gone."
"Maybe......"
"They weren't going to make it to the end anyway. It's probably better for them if they split up now.
"Probably."
"I'll explain it well."
"Do as you see fit."
"Hehe!"
Sal-no laughed.
When Pyo Wol looked at him, Sal-no opened his eyes widened
"You seem to be more affectionate than I thought."
"Nonsense."
"My mouth has a mind of its own. As I age, my jaw muscles weaken and it tends to blabber.
Hehe!"
Sal-no made a gesture of slapping his lips with his hand.
He then followed Pyo Wol, who was walking ahead at a brisk pace.
"Let's go together."
***
Thud!
Small boats arrived at the dock one after another.
Each boat, small enough to be full with ten people, carried more than twenty women. There were several such boats.
"Shit! We're all soaked."
"Ah! It's so uncomfortable."
The women grumbling as they disembarked were the patrol unit.
A good number of them were thoroughly soaked.
The women had been in boats that had leaked. With the help of their comrades, they had managed to climb onto intact boats, but they were still soaked to the skin. Even their underwear was wet, making them extremely uncomfortable.
"Who the hell punched a hole in the boat?"
"If I catch them, I'll tear them apart with a grappling hook."
The Ice-Flame twins were furious.
Bing Ha-ran's anger, in particular, pierced the sky.
It was because she had already suffered a significant blow from Gomujin.
The fact that she hadn't been able to capture the target after such a wound was a huge blow to her pride.
Jang Hwa-yong approached Lee Chu-su who was belatedly disembarking from the boat.
"Senior Sister Chusu!"
"Any casualties?"
"A few are severely injured, but their lives are not in danger."
"Send them to the physician for treatment."
"Yes!"
"Aaargh!"
Suddenly, Lee Chu-su screamed and launched a surge of internal energy at the boat she had been on.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the small boat shattered into pieces.
It seemed her anger was not appeased by the destruction of a single boat. Lee Chu-su gritted her teeth.
Jang Hwa-yong and the patrol unit silently watched her.
Lee Chu-su was usually calm, but when things didn't go her way, she would have fits like this.
No comforting words would help Lee Chu-su now.
All they could do was wait until her rage exploded, and she calmed herself down.
"Who the hell messed up our perfectly set plan?"
Lee Chu-su's anger was directed at the one who had rescued Gomujin.
Had it not been for him, she would have killed Gomujin by now and confirmed the identity of the lead gambler.
Securing the lead gambler would have certainly strengthened her position in the Golden Heavenly Hall. But such a golden opportunity was blown away because of some unknown brat.
"That's right, it was a brat. A young one……"
Lee Chu-su slowly racked her memory.
Though it was too dark to see the face clearly, she caught a glimpse of the facial outline.
It was a face she had seen somewhere before.
The problem was she couldn't remember where.
It felt like her brain was being tickled with a brush.
It felt like it was on the tip of her tongue. But she couldn't quite put it into words.
"I'm sure I saw him recently……recently? At the inn? Yes, I think I saw him at the inn."
Lee Chu-su's eyes widened.
It wasn't certain yet. But it was worth checking out.
"I'm heading to the inn."
[a]I'm not ... what i used to be