Kuaiji Mountain In Crisis (3)

Nam Yeong felt troubled that the Necromancer Cult followers no longer came deeper into the forest. At this rate, the remaining fortress warriors would have nothing to do.

He went to find Baek Sang-cheon.

“Take your men and leave the mountain as you are. It looks like they’re planning to just seize the fortress and sit on it.”

“You’re telling us to escape by ourselves?”

“This fight is going to turn into a long war. We may even have to abandon Kuaiji Mountain altogether. To keep the families hiding in U-hyeol safe, we might have to find them a new nest somewhere else. Yandang Mountain would do nicely. Go there and look for a place where we can build a new fortress.”

“That’s not hard to do, but… are you really going to fight alone?”

If Nam Yeong died, they would lose their center. Then their campaign to suppress the Wokou would naturally lose momentum, and the Wokou would rampage again. All the meaning of what they had done so far would vanish like foam.

“Do I look like someone who would die that easily?”

Baek Sang-cheon’s concern was natural, but worrying too much would only be an insult to Nam Yeong.

Baek Sang-cheon lowered his head.

“Understood. Please, you must come back safely.”

“Don’t worry. Just watch yourself. We have no idea what dangers are waiting lower down the mountain.”

After sending Baek Sang-cheon and the warriors away, Nam Yeong was finally alone when Hwang Dong-ryeong’s Second Division Lord and his men began entering the forest as well.

Nam Yeong began to move in secret. If he was going to fight many men alone, he needed to prepare that much more thoroughly.

For the first time in a while, Nam Yeong was truly busy in motion.

The many trees of the mountain were obstacles to movement, but when it came to dealing with enemies, they became excellent weapons. He bent springy branches to make all kinds of traps, and built various snares using precarious piles of pebbles along the slopes.

A single blade of grass was weak, but four or five twisted together could serve as a decent rope substitute. Hastily, he used such crude cords to lash trees together here and there, creating places that looked like hiding spots.

Nam Yeong made six such traps alone. If he had had more time, he could have turned the entire forest into a sea of traps, but with the enemy already inside the woods, it was fortunate he had even managed this much.

If even one or two died in those traps, he could ask for nothing more—but his enemies were peak experts. The instant they stepped into the woods, he felt their crackling killing intent and knew for certain: each man’s skill was not much different from his own.

That meant his traps could do no more than slow their steps; he could not hope for anything beyond that.

Nam Yeong sat in a hide and waited. If he was lucky, one man would come his way; if he was unlucky, three or more might. If only one came, that one would surely die.

As he waited for the enemy, a single dagger gleamed in his hand.

At last, one man stepped into the area where he had set a trap. Nam Yeong focused on the dagger in his hand. The moment the man was snared and even the smallest opening appeared, the dagger would fly of its own accord to sever his windpipe.

‘Damn…’

But fortune failed him. He sensed another presence approaching.

‘Two of them? It might still be possible…’

With two, he could not be sure of killing them all. The moment one died, the outcome would be decided by how the other reacted.

Skit.

The man in front spotted something, chuckled, drew his saber, and flicked it at the object.

Shweeeek.

In that instant, the bent branch snapped free and scraped across the spot the blade had struck.

“He actually calls this a trap…?”

As he laughed and mocked the clumsy contraption, the scraped spot on the great old tree was disturbed, and with a loud buzzing something burst out.

Buzzzzz.

“B-b… bees?”

Exactly. The bees that had built their nest inside the tree, believing the jolt to be an intruder, swarmed out.

The bees chose the nearest person as their enemy. For a moment, he panicked. He had assumed the only “enemy” that might appear was the man called Nam Yeong; he had no idea how to deal with bees.

He simply flailed his sword, hacking at the swarm. He released sword-qi and cleaved through them, cutting several bees clean in half.

But such actions only provoked them further.

“Uwaaa!”

In a heartbeat, the bees stung his head. Pain shot through his entire body.

And that was not the end. The bees crawled inside his clothes and stung him relentlessly. Even an expert who could wield sword-qi at will had no answer against the attack of stingers.

“Aaah, ugh!”

As he thrashed in agony, his comrade some distance away rushed over in alarm, only to see him collapsing under the savage assault of the swarm.

“Run!”

It was shameful, but fleeing was the best option. It was a moment when peak experts of the martial world had to run for their lives from bees.

They turned to escape the swarm.

Shwiit.

Right then, a sharp sound came from somewhere.

“Kh-khuk!”

The man who had been suffering under the bees’ attack saw a dagger, stained red, buried in his comrade’s neck and spraying blood. His mind snapped clear in an instant. This was no time to be panicking over bee stings.

“Uh—!”

But his body did not move well. Stung by too many bees, his movements had grown sluggish.

Shwiit.

With another tearing sound of air, a second dagger struck, lodging in his neck just as it had in his dead comrade’s. He toppled over.

The bees continued to assail the corpses for a long time, then finally returned to their home inside the old tree, no doubt satisfied that they had repelled the intruders.

“That was lucky.”

Nam Yeong smiled in quiet satisfaction. He had set the trap knowing there was a beehive there, counting on the instant of confusion when the bees attacked.

He had not expected the plan to work out this perfectly, however. In any case, he had killed two enemies with a single trap—truly killing two birds with one stone.

After checking the surroundings for a moment, Nam Yeong rose and walked over to the dead men. He knew it was disrespectful, but he could not just leave when he valued his daggers.

He pulled the daggers from the corpses’ necks, wiped them clean on their lapels, and slipped them back into his breast.

“Time to change locations.”

Staying in one place too long was more dangerous. If he was encircled, even Nam Yeong might not be able to break free.

He moved to another area where he had prepared traps. With two dead, the enemy would surely raise their guard. Instead of one or two wandering in by sheer luck, he might now run into three or four at once.

Once, he had mimicked the late Secret Shadow so well that even he had confidence in his stealth.

Nam Yeong buried himself deep in the forest. Soon, nothing at all could be seen.

Bang.

It was absurd, but the corpses were not discovered until a full day later. As soon as Yeon Heung arrived and saw the bodies, he smashed his gauntleted fist into the old tree beside him.

Whether fortune or misfortune, that tree also happened to be home to bees.

Buzzzzz.

Again the swarm emerged to face an intruder.

But this time, the bees were the unlucky ones. Yeon Heung was no half-baked expert, but a true master who could wield hardened qi.

Thud-thud-thud.

The bees attacked and were instantly swept up in the qi and annihilated.

Only then did Yeon Heung understand why one subordinate’s body had been so strangely swollen.

“Don’t tell me he really died to bees? Serves you right, idiot!”

He kicked the corpse of the man who had died from bee stings.

The subordinates who had scattered through the forest and returned without even glimpsing Nam Yeong’s shadow turned their heads. However he had died, he had been a comrade, and seeing his body treated that way did not sit well with them. That corpse could easily have been theirs.

“He didn’t just run away. He killed our men. Remember this: if we don’t catch him, we die. We’re not here to play games.”

Yeon Heung’s subordinates bowed their heads.

In truth, they had taken things lightly because their opponent was only one man. They had already thought it excessive that all of Hwang Dong-ryeong had been mobilized just to catch Secret Shadow.

They believed they were destined for greater deeds. None of them imagined they would be deployed just to catch one brat.

So they had combed the forest for Nam Yeong half-heartedly. They had occasionally found something that looked like a trap, but dismissed it with a “surely not” and moved on.

And yet two of their comrades had died. Somewhere out there, that enemy was still hunting them.

“We wasted a whole day, so he’ll have prepared even more meticulous traps. As you saw, even a simple beehive can be a trap. Don’t panic. The instant you panic, a dagger will fly to kill you. Remember that. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Search in pairs. If you find him, shout. If anyone rushes in alone just to claim credit, even if you manage to catch Nam Yeong, I won’t forgive you.”

“Understood.”

At Yeon Heung’s words, his men answered and then split into pairs, heading back into the forest.

But days passed, and Nam Yeong was never found. No one could tell whether he had escaped completely, or was lying in wait somewhere inside a truly lethal trap.

Gam Chaek practically dismantled every building in the mountain fortress.

He was certain there was a secret passage somewhere within the compound. Here and there, they had found items belonging to women and children. That could only mean that many women and children had once lived in the fortress.

“We’ve received a message from the First Division Lord.”

Just then, someone sent by Jang Gon arrived.

Jang Gon had not come up to the fortress. He remained in the camp, waiting for reports from the Necromancer Cult followers spread around Kuaiji Mountain.

“Who is it?”

When Gam Chaek stepped outside, he saw Wi Tam had come up.

“What is it?”

Though there was no official hierarchy between them, Gam Chaek was several years older. Perhaps for that reason, speaking informally did not feel awkward.

“I’m here to tell you that we of the First Division caught the ones your Second Division let slip. They were the ones trying to get off the mountain.”

“What?”

Gam Chaek was startled.

“You mean you caught Nam Yeong as well?”

If so, Jang Gon would take all the credit for this entire operation.

“They say Nam Yeong stayed on the mountain. What, you still haven’t caught him? You were so confident… Well, he’s not exactly an easy man, heh heh!”

Wi Tam’s laughter grated on Gam Chaek’s nerves.

“Don’t worry—we’ll get him. We’re not cowards like some people, hahahaha!”

Without realizing it, Gam Chaek mocked both Jang Gon and Wi Tam.

Wi Tam was just as haunted by fear of Nam Yeong. A tiny dagger that lodged itself in your body before you even knew where it had come from was terror made manifest—pain only those who had experienced it could understand.

“We’ll see.”

Wi Tam bit his lip, turned, and left.

“Damn it! I should have asked the captives about the secret passage…”

As soon as Wi Tam left, Gam Chaek regretted it.

But however fast it came, regret was always late. He had already riled Wi Tam and mocked Jang Gon on top of that, so there was no way he could pry information out of the prisoners now.

“If we smash everything, we’ll find it sooner or later.”

In the end, Gam Chaek had no choice but to keep prying up every stone that made up the buildings, just as he had from the start.

“But what on earth is happening with the Division Lord? Is he even catching Nam Yeong? Why is there no word? The fortunes keep coming up ill… damn it!”

Gam Chaek stared toward the forest where Yeon Heung and his men had vanished, unaware that two of them had already died inside.

“He said that about me?”

Wi Tam scurried back to Jang Gon and tattled about what Gam Chaek had said.

“Yes.”

“That arrogant bastard!”

Jang Gon was furious, but Gam Chaek was not his subordinate.

“How did the interrogation of the captives go?”

“It seems the important ones all died when we caught them. The ones that survived don’t seem to know anything. There was nothing to get out of them.”

“I see. Then go kill them all. Keeping them alive will only be a nuisance. Ah, I’ve just had a good idea.”

“What is it…?”

“Hang the corpses on poles and set them up along every path leading to Kuaiji Mountain. So Secret Shadow can see them if he happens to come after hearing the news. They lived together; he should recognize their faces. And put up a sign. Something like: ‘If you want to save Nam Yeong, come to the fortress gate.’”

“Ah! Understood.”

Wi Tam shuddered. Jang Gon might be his superior, but there were times he truly wondered what was going on inside that head.

But there was one thing neither of them knew. The Secret Shadow they were so eagerly waiting for, Neung Je-gang, had already slipped into the lower slopes of Kuaiji Mountain.

After running that long road without resting for even a moment, Neung Je-gang was now concealed in one spot, using breathing cultivation to restore the energy he had spent.

From the overuse of his true qi, his body looked ready to collapse at the slightest tap.

He had left Cheong Yeon and Majil behind and come ahead alone; once he opened his eyes, a reeking storm of blood would sweep through Kuaiji Mountain. Gam Chaek’s ominous divinations were gradually becoming reality.