Wheeeee!!
A wide net. Geuk-hwan wasn't bluffing when he said he had laid out a wide net. As the signal whistle blew, Underworld Clan members emerged from the bushes and descended onto the main road, blocking the kidnappers' path.
At a glance, it seemed like a reckless act. The martial ability of the three kidnappers was such that even I could not easily subdue them. The Underworld Clan members who had surrounded the black inn had all been knocked away.
These men would likely be no different. Fortunately, the Underworld Clan members were not fools.
Swoooosh!
The darkness rippled with a sound like a downpour of scratches. As I circulated my inner energy to my eyes, the darkness lightened slightly, revealing an astonishing scene. About twenty Underworld Clan members were lined up at regular intervals, casting nets.
The nets were so tough they couldn't be easily cut even with a saber or sword. Even a tiger or a boar with sharp claws and teeth could not easily escape once ensnared in a net.
It was the same for masters who could fly through the sky; if they were covered by a net, they would meet the same fate. Not just one or two, but more than twenty nets were cast at the same time.
Against such a barrage of nets, it was practically impossible for even a master to cut through them all with a sword and break through. The stout man and the two black-robed figures seemed to agree. Instead of facing the nets with their swords, they quickly dodged them and scattered to either side of the main road.
The stout man, with the child on his shoulder, went left. The other two went right. Each time a net flew over his head, the stout man lightly changed direction to avoid it and dashed toward the mountain.
His movements and steps were as light and swift as a fish in water. It was clearly a movement infused with inner energy. The two black-robed figures were also excessively agile and quick.
I had been suspicious ever since they blocked my blade, which was reinforced with inner energy, and now I was certain. Even though they were using inner energy, the three of them could not easily break through the encirclement.
It seemed this was not the first time they had done this, as the Underworld Clan members' hands and feet moved in perfect coordination as they retrieved and cast the nets. A net, flying a beat faster, swallowed one of the black-robed figures. The black-robed figure, entangled in the net, fell helplessly to the ground.
Underworld Clan members who had been waiting behind rushed in with long spears. Surprisingly, the other black-robed figure abandoned his comrade without a moment's hesitation and fled toward the mountain. Long spears were the natural enemy of sabers and swords.
It seemed the Underworld Information Clan had prepared with the express purpose of catching masters. If it was like this here, it didn't make sense for the defenses on the other side to be lax. The ones who had loaded the ransom goods onto the carriage and fled north would not be safe either.
They were probably let go on purpose. To uncover their identities and who was behind them, pretending to let them go and tailing them was basic procedure. Seeing them flee in the opposite direction of the carriage, it was clear they knew they would be pursued.
Kidnapping the child again was a trick to split our forces and buy themselves time to escape. A flash of a sword glinted from within the net. The black-robed figure, who had enhanced the speed and power of his sword with inner energy to cut the net, pulled his body through the torn opening.
He struck at the surging long spears and hastily leaped up. As if they had been waiting, several nets were cast over his head at once. It was, in the truest sense of the words, a wide net that covered the sky and the earth.
As he was airborne, dodging was impossible. The black-robed figure was covered by several nets and fell to the ground. Before he had a chance to tear the nets, several long spears flew at him.
He was about to be turned into a porcupine and die, but the Underworld Clan members did not stab him with their spears. They swung the spear shafts like clubs and beat the black-robed figure.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The savage beating continued, with dull thuds that were clearly audible even from a distance. The black-robed figure, covered in nets like a blanket, struggled for a moment before going limp.
Whee! Whee! Whee!
Wheewheewhee! Wheeeeee!
The Underworld Clan members signaled each other with whistles and moved busily. In that time, the stout man had managed to hide in the forest at the foot of the mountain. Won Seo-gang and I immediately followed him.
The inside of the forest was so dark it was hard to see even an inch ahead. As I drew up two more strands of inner energy, I saw the stout man climbing the dark mountain path without hesitation. As Won Seo-gang and I doggedly pursued him, the stout man leaped onto a rock.
He turned around and lifted the child above his head.
"Take this and get lost!"
The child thrown by the stout man flew toward my chest. I quickly stuck my long blade into the ground and caught the child with both hands.
"Kwahahaha!"
The stout man burst into a mad laugh and disappeared over the rock. Almost at the same time, Won Seo-gang shot forward.
"Brother Won! What are you doing?"
I shouted to stop him, but Won Seo-gang had already disappeared into the forest, chasing after the stout man. I couldn't understand. All we had to do was rescue the child safely and hand him over to the prefectural city.
There was no reason to risk our lives fighting an unidentified demonic sect warrior who was clearly using inner energy. I removed the gag from the child's mouth. I placed my hand on his neck; his pulse was stable.
I checked his face, body, arms, and legs. Fortunately, he wasn't injured anywhere.
"Huuuuu."
It's done.
It was a waste of the inner energy I had expended, but since I saved his grandson, the prefectural city wouldn't just end it with 10 silver taels.
Ugh.
The child struggled to open his eyes. Seeing a strange face, his eyes widened. Perhaps because he had been through so much, he didn't scream or struggle.
He only trembled, as if having a seizure.
"I am here to save you. Are you alright?"
The child, who nodded his head without a word, I held in my arms, stood up, and sheathed my long blade. The forest path where the demonic sect warrior and Won Seo-gang had disappeared was quiet. I was hesitating whether to wait for Won Seo-gang or just leave, when I sensed a presence behind me.
Startled, I turned to see someone standing on the mountain path. It was a monk.
"I've found the child. Let's go back."
The monk neither turned nor moved aside. He stared at me intently with eyes that faintly glowed with a clear light. For the first time since we met at the Deep Fragrance Pavilion tonight, the monk opened his mouth.
"What is your school?"
"Don't you think it's rude to ask such a thing when we haven't even exchanged names?"
I had spoken formally at the Black Night Gang, but now we were strangers. It didn't seem like he would go easy on me just because I used honorifics and took a subservient tone.
"My name is Gwang-hyo."
The monk suddenly stated his name. It was probably his Dharma name. My name should be fine.
That monk could easily find it out if he wanted to. He might even know it already.
"I am Jeong Dae-cheon."
"What is your school?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Master Jeok's Hidden Force was of a nature that could not be dealt with even by the inner energy of a famous righteous sect. But after you came into contact with him, the Hidden Force calmed down, even if just a little. That is an impossible thing."
I knew it. This damn monk didn't fail to recognize me at the Black Night Gang. He was waiting for the right opportunity.
He must have been watching all along, and after confirming that I used inner energy, he became certain.
"Are you suspecting that I am from the same school as the culprit who used the Hidden Force?"
"That is impossible."
Gwang-hyo denied it firmly.
"Which school's master is the culprit?"
"First, reveal your school."
Does this damn monk know about the Blue Mountain Sect?
Probably not.
But I can't reveal it so easily. I have to be as careful as possible, as I don't know what kind of grudges might be involved.
"It was a single line of succession, so there's not much of a school to speak of."
The Blue Mountain Sect had basically fallen, so I wasn't lying.
"What is your master's name?"
"He told me not to reveal it. Not that you would know it even if I told you."
In the darkness, Gwang-hyo's aura became eerie. Thinking, 'surely not,' I glared at him, but he finally drew his Buddhist saber.
"If you do not wish to speak, then I have no choice but to find out for myself."
"Wait! I am holding the prefectural city's grandson in my arms!"
"Do not worry. The child will not be harmed."
Gwang-hyo lowered the tip of his saber to the ground and strode toward me. Though he wore a monk's robe, there was no trace of mercy anywhere on him. Drawing his blade, thinking he could solve things with force because he was stronger, made him a martial artist through and through.
I took a few steps back and placed the child down in a patch of bushes. If I ran, I would be cut from behind. I couldn't fight while holding the child.
As I drew my long blade, Gwang-hyo held his Buddhist saber horizontally and slashed. It was a simple cut, but it was a strike from an absolute master who had deflected dozens of hidden weapons and subdued Tang Do-hun in a single breath.
It could all end in one move, so I gripped the long blade with both hands and, with my inner energy already circulating, struck upward from below. It was a secret art of the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique that led into a series of slashes.
Clang!!
In just a single exchange, I realized he was an opponent I could never defeat. The Buddhist saber he wielded with one hand did not yield to my saber strike, which was swung with both hands and infused with inner energy and my body weight.
The Buddhist saber slid down the blade of my long blade and came aiming for my face. I twisted my body, stepped to the left using footwork to deflect the saber strike, and relentlessly pressed him with my long blade. Gwang-hyo calmly deflected all of my fierce saber strikes.
Even though he could finish me off at any moment if he wished, Gwang-hyo continued to draw out my forms to figure out my school. Gwang-hyo wasn't the only one examining my saber technique. I too was keenly realizing how high a realm Gwang-hyo's saber technique was in.
The convention of saber techniques is to strike with force and thrust sharply, but the movement of the Buddhist saber was completely different. The slashes were light, as if drawing a line, yet they carried the weight of Mount Tai. The thrusts were clear, like dotting a point, and overwhelming like a wave.
Suddenly, the martial arts I had practiced at home came to mind in no particular order. The latter eighteen forms of the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique and the Immortal's Leisurely Ten Thousand Swords. Supreme secret arts that embodied the martial principles of the Blue Mountain Art within the framework of saber and sword techniques.
Both were closer to ambiguous movements that gave form to principles rather than to actual forms. In Gwang-hyo's saber technique, I could faintly sense the movements of those two secret arts. Could it be that Gwang-hyo has a connection to the Blue Mountain Sect?
No. Gwang-hyo's saber technique was completely different from the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique or the Immortal's Leisurely Ten Thousand Swords. The forms, the principles, the application—everything was different. And yet, there was a strangely similar aspect.
In the midst of my confusion, I suddenly remembered something I had heard before. Is this what they call it, when all paths eventually lead to one? They say that even if schools are different, once you reach a high realm, you eventually arrive at the same place...
The difference was that I had learned it through the latter eighteen forms and the Immortal's Leisurely Ten Thousand Swords and only knew it in my head, while Gwang-hyo had reached that realm. Perhaps because he couldn't figure out my school even after a dozen exchanges, Gwang-hyo's hands began to move with a bit more ferocity.
My hands and feet grew busy, and I began to be pushed back helplessly. Just then, something flew over my head from behind me.
Clang!!!
Gwang-hyo deflected it with his Buddhist saber and retreated a good distance. The trees lining the mountain path swayed, and Won Seo-gang dropped down between me and Gwang-hyo. Won Seo-gang pointed his sword at Gwang-hyo.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Step aside. This does not concern you."
Even against Gwang-hyo's murderous aura, Won Seo-gang did not back down in the slightest.
"Every time we've gone on a mission together, you've always acted on your own. Do you know why I let it slide every time? Because at least you didn't stab your own side in the back. If you keep acting like this, it'll be hard for us to remain under the same roof."
"I have no intention of killing him. I have something to confirm, so move."
Neither of them backed down an inch, glaring at each other. The sharp fighting spirit between them blazed so intensely it was suffocating. Lights flickered in the bushes behind Gwang-hyo.
Before it could end in disaster, I shouted with all my might.
"Over here! It's all over, so come on up!"
Underworld Clan members carrying nets, sabers and swords, and long spears came rushing up the mountain path. I quickly sheathed my long blade and held the trembling, frightened child in my arms. The child instinctively wrapped his arms tightly around my neck.
At that point, Gwang-hyo could do nothing more and sheathed his Buddhist saber, turning away.
"Great Hero Jeong, is that the child?"
"Yes. The child is safe."
The senior Underworld Clan member sighed in relief and went out onto the mountain path, blowing a long whistle.
Wheeeeee! Wheewheewhee! Wheewhee!
Whee!
I didn't need to ask to know what kind of signal he was sending. We all descended the mountain together and returned to the black inn. Around the main road, something was being carried, its hands and feet bound and skewered on a spear shaft.
Thinking they had caught a wild boar, I looked closer and saw it was the captured black-robed figure. I guess from the perspective of an Underworld Clan member, a martial arts master and a wild beast are both dangerous things that don't listen to reason.
I don't know if he's alive, but it would be better for him to be dead. Harsh torture would be waiting for him. To think that a master who knew how to use inner energy could be hunted down like that.
It was astounding. Looking back calmly, that black-robed figure's ability to handle inner energy was inferior to mine. He was fast and agile, but it wasn't enough to escape the Underworld Information Clan's clever netting.
He had either not practiced his inner cultivation method for long, or his inner energy was insufficient. If the legendary realms of sword qi or sword aura actually existed, he would have sliced through those nets like tofu. Do Gwang-il had said it.
Such things don't exist. No matter how high your inner energy becomes, it only enhances your physical abilities. It only strengthens the speed and power with which you run, jump, and swing a sword.
If you are caught in a net, you lose your speed. The physical strength amplified by inner energy is formidable, but the nets were tough enough that even a tiger or a bear would have trouble escaping. That black-robed figure had succeeded in tearing the net with his sword and escaping.
If his inner energy had been as deep as the ones who got away, he wouldn't have been caught so futilely. What would it have been like for Do Gwang-il? He probably would have escaped in an instant with Body-Flickering even if dozens of nets came down on his head, and fled with ease.
No matter how vast the Central Plains are and how many martial artists teem within it, how many internal arts masters who have reached that level could there be? Watching this, it didn't feel like someone else's problem. If I were surrounded by the wide net of nets and long spears, how would I break through?
As I walked, replaying the fight between the Underworld Clan members and the black-robed figures in my head, I soon reached the front of the black inn, which was lit by torches. The prefectural city and Geuk-hwan, who had been waiting, hurriedly came down the slope.