Chapter 109 - The Hellish Great Journey (8)

Ever since Moyong Jaehwa picked up a bow, our journey began to grow easier.

TWANG.

THWUMP.

When Moyong Jaehwa's Horse-Piercing Arrow rained down on the attackers' heads amidst the flimsy phantom arrows I shot into the air, they would scatter in all directions, terrified out of their wits by the ridiculous power of the arrow.

An arrow that could not be defended against became an object of fear, causing them to hesitate in their tracks.

Our group took our rest amidst their hesitation.

"Hyungnim, you know what you mentioned the other day?"

"What is it?"

"The story about him stopping ten thousand people alone. That's an exaggeration, right?"

Jaehwa seemed to have a hard time believing it even though he was hearing a story about himself.

I let out a soft chuckle.

"It's real. There isn't the slightest bit of exaggeration."

The reason I was able to accompany him, who was like a lone wolf that trusted no one in my past life, was purely because of my memory.

Thanks to that, I was able to capture in my eyes that marvelous sight that no one else had seen.

"He stopped ten thousand enemies all on his own."

It is said that a horn bow's maximum range reaches a hundred jang, but the iron bow he used reached four hundred jang.

Furthermore, his signature technique, the Thunderbolt Arrow, triggered a massive explosion of qi, delivering a huge impact to the entire area.

When I recited the terrain drawn in my head, he would sense the wind, the topography, and the movement of the ground before shooting an arrow at an unseen target.

When a single arrow shot from a distance out of visual range fell on the heads of the unit, the damage spread in all directions as if they had been bombarded.

Even if they were demonic practitioners who had mostly gone mad due to demonic qi, they instinctively had no choice but to duck for cover from the bolt out of the blue falling on their heads.

Faced with his iron bow, a force of ten thousand people could not take a single step.

"Thunderbolt Arrow... How could that person have the exact same thoughts as me?"

"The Gwigung Sect's horn bow looks sturdy, but it will probably have a hard time withstanding your strength. Change to an iron bow later on; I'll introduce you to an elder with great craftsmanship."

"... Hyungnim."

His voice sounded strange, so I turned to look, only to see tears welling up in his eyes.

"W-Why are you like this?"

"Hyungnim, you are truly my benefactor. From now on, even if you tell me that black is white, I will believe and follow you."

I suddenly thought of Jaehwa from my past life and couldn't help but click my tongue.

["I hate people. People have less loyalty than dogs."]

His innocent demeanor, contrasting with his past life, somehow made me feel relieved.

"Ah, but Hyungnim. Why haven't I ever heard stories about such a person?"

"..."

I was about to tell an appropriate lie, but said something else instead.

"He... died alone."

"What? Why?"

["Please be the only one to remember that I existed. Because my life was always a shameful one filled with evasion and escape."]

The words he left behind when he finally met his death at the hands of the Dark Soul-Severing Squad.

"Because he was ashamed of himself for not facing his own circumstances."

As I spoke, hoping that the regrets of the past life's Moyong Jaehwa would reach him, the present life's Moyong Jaehwa fell into deep thought.

* * *

With Jaehwa and I keeping the attackers in check, we safely moved all the way to Namso.

Thanks to this, the group was able to take a brief rest and even get some short sleep.

"Hyungnim, they're coming again."

"I see them. Get ready."

"They really don't ever get tired of coming, do they?"

Even though Jaehwa had to continuously move and keep the enemy in check with me, he showed no signs of fatigue.

TWANG.

THWUMP.

Our arrows rained down on the heads of what looked to be about five hundred people.

"Huh? Hyungnim, they aren't running away?"

Until now, the attackers had always scattered in terror at the undefendable power of the Horse-Piercing Arrow, hiding behind rocks or diving under trees, unable to move.

"Let's try again."

This time, we each loosed three arrows in succession.

Thanks to the phantom arrows, a literal rain of arrows fell upon the attackers' heads, but this time, they didn't even look panicked.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The five hundred people unleashed palm energy toward the sky all at once, and a sound like thunder exploding in a clear sky rang out.

"..."

It was an incredibly ignorant and brute-force tactic, but it was undeniably an effective method all the same.

Moreover, since Moyong Jaehwa couldn't use the Thunderbolt Arrow yet, there was no way to deal damage to them.

"Wait a moment."

I had to confirm the identity of our opponents.

There weren't many groups where a force of five hundred could unleash palm energy in perfect unison as if pre-coordinated.

Instantly closing the distance with the World-Traversing Lone Footwork to check their martial robes, I couldn't help but let out a low groan.

"The Zhongnan Sect..."

Once again, it was the Nine Sects and One Gang.

* * *

Heading toward Nanyang, we ultimately had no choice but to change our course toward Mugang.

We no longer had the strength to face five hundred people, especially enemies on the level of the Zhongnan Sect. Running away unconditionally was the only option, but simply pushing forward without sleep was impossible as everyone in the group had already reached their limits.

I spoke in a low, heavy voice.

"This time, it's the Shaolin Sect."

Having turned toward Mugang, a force of three hundred from the Shaolin Sect was now chasing after us.

"The real problem lies elsewhere."

At my words, the complexions of those looking at me with exhaustion-filled faces grew even darker.

"The Twelve Peaks and Castles haven't given up yet, and the Mount Hua Sect and Mount Cangshan Sect are also on the move."

"Can we be sure they're tracking us down?"

Namgung Seonhwa parted her dried lips.

She had an expression that looked like she could collapse at any moment.

It was unfortunate, but I had no choice but to shake my head.

"The fastest route from Mount Song to Tianmen, where the Murim Academy is located, is the path that passes through Namso and Dongju into Hubei Province. Mugang is blocked off by the Daebyeol Mountain Range. They came all the way here solely to target us."

"..."

They looked as if they were wishing this wasn't reality.

"What should we do? Young Master Jin..."

Seong Moran was in the exact same state as Namgung Seonhwa. She, who used to always radiate an overflowing energy in all directions, now looked precarious, as if a gust of wind could snap her.

"The best method is to cross the Daebyeol Mountain Range."

"Ah..."

"..."

Sighs leaked out from here and there.

Even the warriors who had endured through sheer grit and followed along this far knew that they wouldn't be able to cross the Daebyeol Mountain Range.

Furthermore, there were three Underworld sects located in the Daebyeol Mountain Range area. If they happened to get into a scuffle with them, it wouldn't just be falling behind due to injury; they would lose their lives.

"... However, since that seems too difficult, we'll head through Nanyang to cross over into Dongju. In exchange, we won't be able to rest."

"... That would be better."

"... That's better, then."

Having made a choice with the feeling of having to pick between burning to death and drowning to death, we began to move once again.

"Over there! The Admission Tokens are over there!"

"Attack!"

"They've all lost their strength. If we just bypass them, we can enter the Murim Academy!"

Just because massive sects like the Shaolin Sect, Mount Hua Sect, and Mount Cangshan Sect had appeared didn't mean the looters had given up.

On the contrary, because they were the ones waiting on the path ahead, they desperately tried to snatch the Admission Tokens by any means before the forces of the Nine Sects and One Gang arrived.

"..."

"Hah, hah."

"Keuk, hah."

Our group fought more fiercely and exhaustingly than ever before.

Those who were already exhausted didn't even have the strength to shout or use spirit cries.

They were only thinking of the shortest, most optimal method to defeat the enemy and escape this place.

* * *

A small, unnamed mountain on the way to Nanyang.

Our group was hiding in a place where darkness had fallen.

Dinner time had long passed, but no one even thought of lighting a fire.

No, no one even pulled out the jerky they usually ate out of habit.

Everyone in the group only had the thought of quietly closing their eyes in this darkness.

When the moon, which had been hidden by the clouds, revealed itself and shone on Seong Moran's parched face, she offered an awkward smile.

"... I never thought I'd practice moving cultivation this hard in my entire life."

"..."

"..."

Everyone only showed awkward smiles, unable to make a sound of laughter.

SCREECH—

The cry of a hawk echoed through the moonlight.

With a doubtful thought, I stood up from my spot and whistled softly.

Sure enough, the hawk that flew down, flapping its large wings, was the Iron Hawk of Haomun.

"Why at this hour..."

Haomun sent us information once every morning.

The fact that they deliberately sent the messenger hawk again in the dark of night meant something.

I quickly checked the Iron Hawk's foot.

Wrapped around the Iron Hawk's foot was a larger amount of parchment than what had been sent in the morning.

"..."

Everyone, knowing that I received information from Haomun regarding our movements, stared at my face.

I had no idea how I should convey the news I had just read.

"What does it say?"

"... It says the Qingcheng Sect and the Kongtong Sect have passed through Wuhan and are marching north."

"..."

"..."

The final destination for the Qingcheng Sect and Kongtong Sect, who took the exam in Jiangnan, should have been Wuhan, where the Murim Academy was located.

After a moment of silence, Namgung Seonhwa spoke in a dispirited tone.

"Why are they marching north?"

No one voiced the predictions that came to mind as to why they were passing Wuhan to head north.

"No, that's not it... Doesn't something seem strange? There should already be plenty of Admission Tokens in Jiangnan as well. From the perspective of Qingcheng and Kongtong, their chances decrease the further they travel. I'm wondering what reason they could possibly have to go out of their way to do that."

"You're right. Entering the Academy is what's important. It's strange to think they'd chase after us simply because we have a lot of Admission Tokens. After all, the number of tokens for the Third Gate is fixed."

"Furthermore, the Shaolin Sect is the same. Why are they chasing us? They've already secured enough Admission Tokens."

It wasn't just the Shaolin Sect. From their standpoints, the Mount Hua Sect, Mount Cangshan Sect, and Zhongnan Sect had also secured the same level of Admission Tokens as in previous years.

"I believe I can answer that question."

SHING-SHING-SHING!

Reacting like lightning to the voice echoing from the darkness, we drew our swords.

A figure slid through the dark forest.

"G-Ghost?"

Geumpyo jumped out of his skin in surprise.

Geumpyo wasn't the only one who flinched; all the warriors from each clan tightly gripped their swords at the sight of that figure moving side to side like a ghost.

"I apologize for startling you. But because you were hiding so stealthily, it was quite difficult to find you."

Watching the figure slowly step out from the darkness, I spoke.

"Senior Ilmyeong, what brings you all the way here?"

He was none other than Ilmyeong, the Little Buddha of the Dragon-Phoenix Summit.

In contrast to the warriors who were sweeping their hands over their startled chests in relief, I didn't take my eyes off him.

"I have come to explain to you what is currently happening."

"That sounds like someone's deliberate intention."

Ilmyeong offered his signature warm smile, to the point of embarrassing those who had been so frightened just moments ago thinking he was a ghost.

"People say that the standard Murim exam during my term had unprecedentedly fierce competition... But I don't think so."

"..."

"Perhaps this standard exam that you Benefactors and Bodhisattvas are taking will become the most cruel and chaotic exam in history."

Ilmyeong gave a polite nod.

"And in the end, all of you will be eliminated."

"This is the first I'm hearing that the Shaolin Sect's Little Buddha possesses foresight."

I ground my teeth, but Ilmyeong simply gave a hollow laugh.

"Benefactor, you are still like a fiercely burning fire."

"Please understand my rudeness. The current situation is what it is."

Ilmyeong nodded as if he completely understood.

"We have come to change the future where all of you are eliminated."

"You keep saying 'we', but am I the only one who can't see the rest?"

"Haha. To be honest, because we spread out to find you, I ended up coming this way alone."

"Who exactly is this 'we'?"

"To be precise, it wouldn't be 'we'. Because it is a plan that 'he' proposed and executed."

"He?"

"Hyeoncheong... Ah, it would be better to call him 'Yong So-ah'. He wishes to see you."

"..."