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| CHAPTER 313 |
Doyeop ran through the streets at a fast pace.
"He was hiding there."
He was a skilled tracker and stalker.
Even with faint traces, he had a talent for finding them accurately, which is why Jin-yu-geon had recruited him.
Tracking the traces erased by the boys was not difficult for him.
Though it took some time.
During the process, he also discovered the body of Hwapyeong.
The boys tied Hwapyeong's body to a rock and threw it into the sea. However, it was not tied securely, so Hwapyeong's body floated to the surface.
Although it was difficult to recognize the body due to the swelling in the water, Doyeop recognized it at a glance as Hwapyeong's.
After roughly taking care of Hwapyeong's body, he resumed tracking and eventually found the inn where Pyowol was staying.
Although he was caught by Gyeomyeon in his excitement of finding the target, he immediately fled the inn after injuring him.
His mission was to find the boy he had seen at the port. Now that he knew this, Jin-yu-geon would take care of the rest.
Doyeop spread his wings as fast as he could.
Those who had mastered stalking were often good at flying. Doyeop was no exception.
When he used his full power, not even Jin-yu-geon could keep up with him. So he was somewhat relieved.
He thought no one could follow him. However, his pride shattered soon after.
Kuuung!
He felt a presence processing behind him.
Someone was fiercely following him.
That someone was Tarha.
Tarha was running towards him with his eyes wide open like a lion and a terrifying momentum.
"Shitl!"
Doyeop felt his heart grow cold.
He didn't even know who Tarha was, but he could tell that he was not an ordinary person.
"Stop!"
He ran towards Tarha, tearing apart the lion's roar.
Doyeopfelt his chest trembling with the roar.
"Crazy!"
Even the lion's roar could tell.
Tarha was a skilled person who could process.
He was an opponent that he could not fight against.
Escape was the only answer.
Do-yup unleashed his full power with a kyeonggong technique.
As a result, the distance between him and Tarha gradually widened.
"This guy! Can't he stop?"
Although a voice filled with Tarha's evil could be heard, Doe-yeop couldn't stop.
"That old man must have killed Hwapyung."
He thought he should let Jin-yugun know this fact as soon as possible.
Fortunately, separating from Tarha was not that difficult.
Although Tarha might be much stronger in martial arts, it was hard for him to keep up with Doe-yeop in swordsmanship.
Still, he was relieved.
Doe-yeop purposely did not go straight to the residential area where the safe house was located, but went to an unexpected place. It was also to confuse any pursuers.
As a master of tracking, he was always prepared for being followed by others.
After completely hiding his trail, Doe-yeop returned to the residential area where his colleagues were waiting for him.
"Come in quickly."
As soon as he entered, his colleagues greeted him. However, strangely enough, he couldn't see anyone else.
"What about the others?"
"The captain felt uneasy and went to retrieve the goods first."
"He went ahead without waiting for me."
"I'm waiting for you. He said to bring you to the operation site when you arrive."
"I see."
Only then did Doe-yeop relax his expression.
He had misunderstood that he had been abandoned.
"Let's go quickly."
"Sure!"
The two of them hurried to leave the mansion. But at that moment, their colleague's expression changed.
"He followed us."
"What? That's impossible."
Doe-yeop turned back in disbelief.
A black shadow that was like darkness was on top of the wall, fluttering in the wind. Above it was a distinctly white face.
It was none other than Pyowol.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
Do-yeop and his colleague shouted simultaneously, but Pyo-wol didn't answer and just looked around the mansion.
"So, this is the place."
The mansion they had taken refuge in had particularly thick walls, thicker than the walls of other mansions built by strong owners to defend themselves. That was why Pyo-wol couldn't sense the movements of the people inside with his intuition.
Do-yeop couldn't believe that he had been followed.
"It wasn't just one person. Then was the old man there to distract us?"
He gritted his teeth at the thought of being played by Pyo-wol.
Do-yeop's colleague shouted, "Attack!"
He rushed towards Pyo-wol at a frightening speed.
Do-yeop, who came to his senses late, joined in.
In the blink of an eye, they reached Pyo-wol's proximity.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Their black swords covered the air in a messy way.
Their swordsmanship was simple, but efficient. They aimed for the vital points of their opponents with minimal movement.
It was a frighteningly practical swordsmanship, but their opponent was not good.
Pyo-wol avoided all their attacks with minimal movement.
"He's a master."
As they exchanged glances, their movements changed.
They switched to a joint attack as soon as they recognized their opponent's level, which meant that their organization was impressive.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Their swords attacked Pyo-wol more fiercely.
The combination of the two was executed flawlessly, without any gaps for the opponent to exploit. The precision of their attacks, filling each other's gaps, was like a machine. However, even though they were in sync with each other, they couldn't touch even a single strand of Pyo-wol's clothing.
"Where did this monster come from...?"
"Two people aren't enough. We need more to take down Zha."
They realized they were at a disadvantage.
In that moment, Doyeop made a decision.
Crack!
He threw his body backwards, abandoning his partner.
As soon as he pulled away, he fled alone.
Even though his partner had betrayed him, he didn't show any signs of resentment. It was their rule - if they encountered an unbeatable enemy, at least one of them had to survive and pass on the information to their colleagues. Doyeop was the one with exceptional combat skills, responsible for informing his colleagues, while the remaining members were tasked with holding off the enemy as long as possible.
"Haat!"
His partner shouted and attacked Pyo-wol.
But even with their combined attack, they couldn't defeat Pyo-wol alone.
Puk!
Something pierced his forehead.
It was the tiny, almost imperceptible silver needle, Su Honsa.
The lifeless body fell to the ground, defeated.
Pyo-wol ignored the corpse and flew away.
Doyeop thought he had left almost no traces of himself, but his tracks were clearly visible to Pyo-wol.
It was then that Tarha caught up to them.
He had followed them while they were fighting.
The two of them ran side by side through the night.
"Wow!"
Tarha was amazed as he watched Pyo-wol.
He was giving it his all with his combat skills, but he was barely keeping up with Pyo-wol's pace.
He could tell just from Pyo-wol's breathing that he wasn't even using all his power. It was clear that he was controlling his speed because of him.
"I never thought I'd become a hindrance to someone else."
It was his first time experiencing something like this, so he couldn't help but feel embarrassed. But he couldn't keep blaming himself forever.
Right now, his top priority was to keep up with Doyeop.
Doyeop had already disappeared into the darkness and was nowhere to be seen.
With the power of Tarha, they couldn't tell where he had disappeared to. However, Pyo-wol moved without hesitation.
It seemed as though Pyo-wol could see something that others couldn't.
"What in the world?"
It was at that moment.
Bang!
From far away in the direction they were running towards, flames suddenly shot up with a loud explosion.
The explosion was so tremendous that the entire area became as bright as daylight in an instant.
"That's where it is."
Pyo-wol realized that Do-yeop's escape route was where the flames were rising.
Tarha, who was running beside them, said,
"Isn't that the Haryongbang?"
Quaaa!
The soaring flames rose high into the sky, fiercely engulfing the Haeryongbang with great force.
"What is this?"
Jang Hamun, the owner of Haeryongbang, looked around at the devastated scene with a dismayed expression as the building turned into a fiery hell in no time.
Just a little while ago, the building was intact, but now it was completely engulfed in flames. The building was used to store gold and was more heavily guarded than any other place. No flammable objects were allowed inside, but it was still engulfed in flames, leaving him feeling dumbfounded.
"Put out the fire, quickly!"
He shouted until his throat went hoarse.
The workers and peasants who had just regained their senses rushed to get buckets of water and started pouring them on the flames.
"Hurry up, we need to put it out before it spreads any further!"
They tried to extinguish the fire with water from the well, but it was no use. As time went on, the fire became more and more intense. If they didn't do something soon, the entire Haeryongbang would be consumed by the flames.
"Who could have done this?"
Jang Hamun didn't think the fire was an accident. Someone must have started the fire intentionally.
"What could be the reason for this?"
There were countless people who harbored resentment towards the Haeryongbang .
It was impossible not to harm others while accumulating such wealth. However, among those who held grudges against them, there were few who were bold enough to act like this.
"If it's not them...."
Suddenly, his thoughts turned to the sponsorship warehouse.
For the past few days, the only things that drew attention in the Haeryong room were the reports brought in by Seonghak and the men.
He urgently called for Wugunchang.
"Commander!"
"Yes, Lord Bangju."
Wugunchang, who was commanding the subordinates to put out the fire, rushed over.
"Gather the troops right now and come with me."
"What for?"
"I have to go to the sponsorship right away. I don't know who it is, but whoever set the fire is clearly targeting the warehouse's goods."
"Understood."
Only then did Wugunchang realize the situation and his expression hardened.
He quickly gathered the elites and followed behind Janghamun.
Janghamun and his subordinates arrived in front of the sponsorship warehouse without passing through any corner.
"Uh!"
"This can't be!"
Janghamun and Woogunchang both let out a groan.
The guards protecting the warehouse were lying in pools of blood, indicating that they had been killed. Their lack of movement suggested that they were certainly dead.
At that moment, about twenty unarmed men rushed out of the warehouse's door.
At the forefront was a white-haired man.
He held the news that Gu In had been carrying, and his subordinates behind him supported the unconscious Gu In, who had taken an overdose of Monghon Dan.
It was the moment Janghamun's suspicions were confirmed.
"Who are you guys? How dare you invade Haeryongbang."
Jin Yu-geon, the white-haired man, murmured with a slight sneer at Janghamun's anger.
"We just wanted to quietly pass through..."
They had set the fire in order to pass through quietly without attracting anyone's attention. However, since Janghamun and his men had caught them, it was meaningless.
Jin Yu-geon spun the news in his hand and ordered his subordinates.
"Break through as quickly as possible and return to the convoy."
"Yes, sir!"
His subordinates answered and rushed forward.
Janghamun, with his eyes wide open, gave an order.
"Block them! Don't let anyone get away."
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