If It’s To Survive, Then… (2)

As soon as Neung Je-gang entered the forest, he hid himself. Once he melted into the shadows of the mountains and trees, there were not many ways to find him.

“Where is he? Find him.”

At Jang Gon’s command, the First Division members scattered in all directions. Only one man did not move—Blood-Whip Robe Wi Tam.

“Division Lord! Spreading out is not a good idea.”

“Then what?”

“If we scatter, we can be taken down one by one. In situations like this, staying together is more advantageous in a fight. It’s better to maintain formation and search while keeping a fixed distance between each of us.”

Wi Tam had once been so confident in forests and darkness that he had called himself invincible there. There was no harm in taking his advice.

Neung Je-gang had to admit that there was an expert on the other side. Even when he deliberately left traces, the enemy did not rush in carelessly.

They also kept a constant spacing from one another. If he didn’t definitely kill one man in a single exchange, he could immediately expect the coordinated assault of two or three more—exactly the kind of spacing that made that possible.

He decided to switch to a frontal battle. This kind of stalemate where neither side could touch the other was, in the end, unfavorable to him as the lone fighter.

Swish.

Neung Je-gang drew the Heartless Sword.

The spot was conveniently open—a clearing in the middle of the forest, one of the places where the youngsters of the mountain stronghold had once trained their martial arts.

He poured his inner strength into the Heartless Sword. The blade itself gave off a calm aura, but the icy killing intent pouring from Neung Je-gang’s body filled the clearing like frost.

Led by Wi Tam, Jang Gon and the First Division members soon found the open space where Neung Je-gang was waiting. The moment they stepped into the clearing, they instinctively flinched at the killing intent radiating from him.

“Secret Shadow! I’ve heard how impressive you’re supposed to be, but you dare to face us head-on? All of us?”

Jang Gon’s gaze flashed.

Neung Je-gang’s attitude was an outright insult to him and his men. How lightly must he be taking them to challenge this many in a frontal fight?

“Then were you planning to fight me with words? You only find out who wins by actually fighting. Come on, then!”

Flash.

Wi Tam moved first, drawing and snapping his soft sword forward. The flexible blade, bending and whipping as he pleased, was a weapon he’d chosen specifically because it gave him an advantage in cluttered terrain like a forest.

Sasasasa—

Jang Gon and his subordinates fanned out and surrounded Neung Je-gang in a circle.

“Be careful. The Third Division Lord and all his men died to that brat’s sword. He’s not someone you can underestimate.”

Jang Gon warned his men.

There was nothing more foolish than looking down on an opponent and getting killed for it. To survive in this brutal martial world, you had to always assume the enemy you faced was a top expert and give it everything you had.

But among young experts, there were always those whose overconfidence made them belittle their foes and pay the price. That was the Jianghu for you. Jang Gon at least did not want his subordinates to make that mistake.

“Attack!”

Jang Gon infused his long pipe with qi and shouted.

When it came to joint-formation techniques, he and his men had drilled them until they were sick of them.

Shwishwishwishwish.

His subordinates flew through the air. Crossing and weaving past one another, they formed a Heaven-and-Earth Net that left no path for Neung Je-gang to escape.

But from the start, Neung Je-gang had chosen this spot precisely to decide things once and for all. Since he had no intention of running, casting a Heaven-and-Earth Net around him was nothing but a waste of their energy.

Papapap.

At a certain point, the men flying through the air suddenly dropped vertically, striking down toward Neung Je-gang.

Neung Je-gang watched them descend and quietly slid one foot forward—a mere half-step. It was the perfect distance to evade their attacks most efficiently.

He had learned the essence of offense and defense with his body, fighting outnumbered so many times.

The Heartless Sword cut through the air and sliced the first of Jang Gon’s men bearing down on him.

Clang.

“Grakh!”

With a single exchange, the Heartless Sword shattered the man’s weapon and cleaved his waist. It was absurdly easy—one clash, one death.

“That’s sword qi!”

Jang Gon’s voice trembled.

The enemy was a true master. Just as the rumors said, he was no mere assassin.

The sword qi flowing from the Heartless Sword allowed no mercy.

Tap.

Neung Je-gang sprang toward one side of the collapsing encirclement, right where Wi Tam stood—he who had stepped forward first.

Wi Tam channeled qi into his soft sword. Even after seeing Neung Je-gang unleash sword qi, he did not retreat; he too had recently reached the realm of generating hardened qi. It was a state he’d attained after grinding his teeth and training relentlessly since his encounter with Nam Yeong.

When Jang Gon and his men saw Wi Tam’s soft sword emit faint hardened qi, they surged toward Neung Je-gang.

If Wi Tam could block even a single strike, they would have enough time to tear Neung Je-gang apart.

Swaaak.

But Neung Je-gang’s rush at Wi Tam was only a feint. From the beginning, he had been aiming for the men behind him who were trying to strike his back.

The Heartless Sword whipped around, sending cutting winds roaring out in all directions.

Clangclangclangclangclang.

“Aaagh!”

“Ghk!”

With screams, the weapons of Jang Gon’s charging subordinates shattered in midair, followed by red scraps of flesh raining down like a storm.

Neung Je-gang’s sword movements were merciless. There was no such thing as leniency. The Heartless Sword simply obliterated everything it touched.

“Fall back!”

Jang Gon shouted in panic.

But his cry had the opposite effect.

Flash.

“Khak!”

“Ku-urk!”

As they hastily turned to retreat, a throwing knife buried itself in each man’s back.

The power of the Forbidden Bell Daggers, which Secret Shadow had learned from Nam Yeong, never missed the moment an enemy exposed his back.

“T-that technique…”

Wi Tam’s eyes changed.

How could he ever forget it? That terror of a throwing knife that had flashed and embedded itself in his shoulder in an instant!

The strength left Jang Gon’s hand around his long pipe. For a heartbeat he simply stared, stunned.

In a single exchange, in the blink of an eye, half his men had fallen dead.

Jang Gon’s hand trembled as it gripped the pipe.

Wi Tam’s gaze also wavered. He imagined what would have happened if the others hadn’t attacked and he had taken the full brunt of that assault alone.

It was horrifying. In place of the chunks of flesh that were now scattered across the clearing, it would have been his own body, completely dismembered and strewn about.

So that’s why they sent both First and Second Divisions just to deal with one man.

Wi Tam shuddered at Neung Je-gang’s martial prowess and looked to Jang Gon.

A decision had to be made. If not now, then there would be no chance to withdraw. The enemy was not someone they could handle alone.

〔Wi Tam. Join up with the Second Division Lord.〕

Jang Gon’s voice came to him through sound-transmission.

〔What are you planning to do?〕

〔It was a mistake for us to try to deal with Secret Shadow alone. Join the Second Division Lord and draw up a more thorough plan together. Rather than facing him directly, it would be better to target the people around him. It seems the Second Division Lord was right—we should go after Nam Yeong first.〕

〔Division Lord! Then you…?〕

〔I’ll hold him here. Take the remaining brothers and move to where the Second Division Lord is.〕

“I can’t let you do that!”

Shocked by Jang Gon’s intent to stay behind, Wi Tam forgot himself and spoke aloud instead of using sound-transmission.

〔You fool! Remember the mission. Don’t forget—failure means death anyway.〕

〔Then let me stay. I’ll cover the rear.〕

〔If the Second Division Lord and I stay together, we’ll just end up at each other’s throats again. Our pride is too damned strong. That’s why it’s right for me to remain.〕

〔Division Lord!〕

Leaving Wi Tam’s anguished cry behind, Jang Gon stepped toward Neung Je-gang.

Whip.

He threw his beloved long pipe roughly aside.

And from somewhere—who knew where—a sword appeared in his hand that Neung Je-gang had never seen before.

Neung Je-gang glanced at the discarded pipe. He instantly understood where the blade had come from. The reason he had made his smoking pipe so long and thick was to hide this weapon inside.

And the shape of that weapon… was very familiar to Neung Je-gang’s eye.

“So the pipe wasn’t the weapon—it was the scabbard. And here I thought you were just a smoker. Turns out you were a Japanese bastard.”

It was the very same style of sword used by the Japanese pirates that Nam Yeong had spent a lifetime killing.

“So the Necromancer Cult has even brought in Japanese now?”

“I’ll avenge the brothers who suffered at your master’s hands—and the ones who died here today.”

While Jang Gon was steeling his resolve against Neung Je-gang—

Flash.

A line of sword-light shot toward the top of his head with a raging, tidal force. Jang Gon hastily twisted his body and raised the Japanese sword upright.

The sword-light from the Heartless Sword writhed and chased his movement like a living thing.

“Division Lord!”

Seeing Jang Gon and Neung Je-gang fall into a pure duel, Wi Tam let out a scream. But he still had to obey the last order Jang Gon had given.

Wi Tam led the remaining brothers up the mountain. Somewhere up there, Second Division Lord Yeon Heung would be.

No one knew how his battle with Nam Yeong had gone, but Yeon Heung was not someone so weak that he’d simply be crushed. Wi Tam had to believe he was still alive.

Once his men left, Jang Gon gave a faint smile.

“Do you really think your men will survive? Not a single one of the people who came into this mountain will escape death.”

“Kukukuk… If we all die, so be it. Either way, if we can’t kill you, we’re not getting out of here alive. But up there are the friends who went to capture your master. When they join forces, how long do you think that Nam Yeong of yours will last? Kukuku!”

“You really don’t know my master at all, do you?”

Neung Je-gang was not worried in the slightest. If Nam Yeong decided to hide for real, even he wasn’t confident he could find him. Nor was Nam Yeong the type to fight recklessly.

He was the kind of man with the flexibility to retreat when things were against him—a man willing to abandon the entire mountain stronghold if he had to. The more the enemies piled up, the deeper Nam Yeong would bury himself, and the less likely he would be to show himself.

Rustle.

Just then, there was movement in the direction Jang Gon’s men had gone.

Both Neung Je-gang and Jang Gon turned their eyes that way.

Wi Tam, who should have been long gone, stepped back into view with a faint smile.

“You…?”

“There’s no way we could just send you alone, Division Lord. After all, the Second Division Lord and I don’t get along that well either. I pointed the brothers in the right direction and came back, so don’t worry.”

But it was not only Wi Tam who had returned. One by one, the men who had left with him began to reappear behind him.

“You lot…?”

“How could we let only you go ahead, Division Lord? With brothers already dead, we can’t just run away for our own sakes.”

The ones who came back had deep bonds with Jang Gon. For all his faults, he had treated his subordinates like brothers, and that effort now showed its power.

Fwip-fwip-fwip.

Neung Je-gang did not let their touching reunion continue.

In a way, Neung Je-gang was the villain here, and Jang Gon and his men were the righteous ones—at least, that’s how the scene might have looked. But the truth was, they had been the ones to start this, and Neung Je-gang was merely a victim who happened to be a little too strong.

The moment Wi Tam reflexively turned his head toward the presence he felt behind him, a blast of cutting wind and two throwing knives flew from Neung Je-gang’s hand.

“Look out!”

Papap.

Jang Gon hurled himself forward and swung his Japanese sword into the path of the slicing wind and knives heading toward Wi Tam.

Clang.

Ziiing.

“Ugh!”

One knife was deflected, the One-Finger-Through-All technique dissipating with a lingering hum after being stopped by Jang Gon’s qi-infused blade.

The famed stabbing art that could pierce anything could not overcome hardened qi.

But the other knife—the one Jang Gon couldn’t deal with—buried itself in Wi Tam’s shoulder. Of all places, the same shoulder where he’d once been hit by Nam Yeong’s throwing knife.

“Die!”

Seeing Wi Tam wounded, the others charged Neung Je-gang in a fury.

Jang Gon forced his trembling hand to grip the sword and joined the assault. He knew all too well that if he didn’t move, his men would be slaughtered by Neung Je-gang’s blade.

But Neung Je-gang never let go of prey once he’d marked it.

Clang-clang.

Flash.

As the Heartless Sword parried their attacks, another throwing knife flew from the fingertips of his left hand.

Thock.

Hit by the same technique in the same spot he’d once been struck by Nam Yeong, Wi Tam—already cowed by that old wound—never got to display the skills he’d honed since then. He toppled backward with a throwing knife embedded in his forehead.

“You bastard!”

Jang Gon rushed in, blood streaming down his face.

Whirl.

Chiiing.

Neung Je-gang met his Japanese sword with the Heartless Sword. Both men could wield hardened qi, but Neung Je-gang’s body contained the overwhelming power that had burst forth when he pierced the Gateway of Life and Death, and that power flowed directly into the sword qi of the Heartless Sword.

Boom-boom-boom.

The clashes of hardened qi thundered.

Jang Gon’s Japanese sword technique was something Neung Je-gang had already experienced countless times against the Japanese pirates. He was not the kind of man to forget how to deal with a technique he had seen before.

Step by step, Jang Gon was driven back. In both raw internal power and the refinement of technique, he could not match Neung Je-gang’s Chukyung Great-Heaven Sword Art.

Jang Gon bit his lower lip. Blood trickled down.

He thought of a final strike. If things went on like this, he really would just die. If he was going to die anyway, he at least wanted to leave Neung Je-gang with one grievous wound—that way, his subordinates might be able to finish him and survive.

“Chikushō!”

Cursing Neung Je-gang in Japanese, Jang Gon unleashed his ultimate blow.

His Japanese sword flared with blinding light. But within that brightness, a cold blue flash streaked. That blue light bored into Jang Gon’s heart without mercy.

His face twisted like that of some Japanese demon. His heart was burning.

The blue light vanished. Jang Gon saw what had pierced his heart.

It was a throwing knife identical to the ones that had killed Wi Tam and the other two.

Srrrk.

Jang Gon wanted to say something—anything. But no one could speak with a hole through their heart.

“Division Lord!”

His men saw him collapse. Until that moment, they hadn’t been able to insert themselves into the duel.

Swish-swish.

Casting aside fear of death, they charged Neung Je-gang.

Neung Je-gang plunged into their midst, his movements a blur.

Cha-chang-chang.

Clang-clang.

After a few harsh clashes, chunks of flesh flew everywhere. In the end, their fates matched their weapons. When their blades reached the end of their lifespan, so did their lives.

Silence and stillness settled over the clearing. Neung Je-gang shook the Heartless Sword violently. Though it had been sheathed in qi and carried no blood or flesh, he felt like he had to do it. Otherwise, it felt as if the resentful spirits of the dead might seep into the blade.

He then collected the throwing knives from the bodies. They were treasures engraved with the Seven Spirits of Emptiness formula; he could not just leave them lying there.

“Now… time to go find Master.”

Despite the intense battle, there was no sign of fatigue on Neung Je-gang’s face.