◈ Episode 60. The Pursuit
A manor at the foot of a mountain where darkness has descended.
Hot and cold air alternately sway in the room covered in a hazy mist.
Danryehwa, who was standing guard, looked at Jinmurip with curious eyes.
‘Just standing in front of it makes me feel the extreme heat and cold, how can my body endure it?’
Her head rose to the ceiling as she thought.
‘You came.’
Seo Jin-hwan, Jinmu-rip’s signalman who had not been seen since leaving for the mission, has arrived.
[It’s been a while.]
[yes.]
Judging from the fact that there was no answer after the short, heavy voice, it seems that he is still wary of himself.
‘It’s the same as before.’
The closer the person you are to someone, the more wary you become. It seems like they are somewhat similar.
After a while, the smoky fog seemed to be sucked into Jinmu-rip’s entire body and disappeared, and the room flashed with light and disappeared.
Danryehwa said with a smile.
“This is the first time I’ve seen such a grandiose method.”
“It’s not a grand method, but my body is a bit grand.”
As Jin Mu-rip stood up with a smile on his face, he raised his head and Seo Jin-hwan fell to the ground.
“A hundred blood-clad unmanned troops are waiting a day’s distance beyond the mountains.”
“What’s the level?”
“Based on the aura they emanate, they are stronger than the leaders of the Jeon Gwangmu Dance.”
“That guy is one hundred.”
“yes.”
Danryeonhwa felt a strange sense of discomfort in the conversation between the two people.
Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore and asked.
“Isn’t it a crisis?”
“that’s right.”
“Why are you so calm?”
“What difference does it make if you tremble? You have to come up with a solution first.”
While the Jinmu-rips were talking inside, the Gwangmu-dae members who had finished preparing to leave were gathered in groups of three or four in the yard and waiting for Jinmu-rip.
Kwak Do-jin sat next to Jo Young-seong.
“Did you see a ghost?”
Jo Young-seong, who usually didn’t care about what others thought, was unusually quiet.
“You don’t know.”
“what?”
“That we saw a monster.”
“Are you saying that the madman was that scary?”
Jo Young-seong shook his head.
“Except that monster.”
“What are you talking about? Speak so I can understand.”
At that moment, Lee Hwan, who was sitting across from me, opened his mouth.
“The real monster was the master who beat the madman.”
The trembling in my voice just won’t subside.
Everyone who witnessed the fight felt the same way.
Jo Young-seong said, sweeping his chest.
“Maybe we’ve come to follow a great man.”
Kwak Do-jin chuckled at the unusually nervous voice.
“Yes. It’s not common for a lord to tell his subordinates to run away if there’s danger.”
Jin Mu-rip, who put the safety of his subordinates before the success of the mission, was clearly a different person from the great lord he had followed before.
At that moment, the door opened and Jinmu-rip and Danryeo-hwa came out.
The unmanned soldiers who had been to the mountain village together stood up and lined up in front of him, surprising their colleagues.
“Ready to depart.”
“What about Mr. Kang?”
The last door on the left opened and Dangwoo came out.
“Here it is.”
On his back, Kang Yu-wol, who had not yet regained consciousness, was tied tightly with a rope.
Dang So-so said.
“The poison has almost all been driven out, but your body is very tired from fighting the poison. You will wake up soon, so don’t worry.”
“Will you be able to use martial arts when you wake up?”
She shook her head.
“You need to rest for the time being.”
That means you can’t participate in battle.
‘One day away.’
Jinmu-rip, who had been pondering for a moment, stared at the wall with cold eyes.
“If you don’t come out, I’ll kill you.”
The subordinates, with hardened expressions, followed Jinmu Rip’s gaze.
“Hahaha. It was a good thing I followed the Blood Spirits.”
A soft laugh was heard from beyond the wall, and then a figure wearing a red mask climbed onto the wall.
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Jinmu-rip asked.
“Are you a blood cult member?”
“Yes, but you don’t have to be so nervous. We’re not here to fight.”
A bitter smile appeared on Jinmu-rip’s lips.
“How cheeky. Why are you deciding that?”
The moment he finished speaking, Jinmu-rip’s new form flew out like lightning and ran towards the wall in an instant.
“I plan on fighting?”
Jinmu-rip’s mad smile expanded as if being sucked into his wide-open red-faced eyes.
“sleep…….”
As the embarrassed Red Mask’s legs slightly bent to jump, the wall he was standing on collapsed in an instant.
The single-edged sword moved secretly after receiving the transmission and broke the wall.
“omg!”
At that moment, Jinmu Rip’s Cloud Sword flashed and cleanly cut off the neck of the falling man.
Crunch!
The ownerless head floats up, blood gushing from the severed surface.
Danryehwa, who had retreated to avoid the blood, frowned and asked.
“But you don’t even ask why I came?”
“Once we’ve decided what to do, we don’t need to listen to what they have to say.”
In this situation, what the enemy says cannot be of any benefit to our forces.
Rather than swaying the minds of your subordinates with useless words, it is better not to listen to them.
“Let’s go.”
The Gwangmu-dae, who was trembling at the sudden events, followed Jinmu-rip and unfolded his new method.
Kwak Do-jin and the rest of the team, who had not gone to Sannae Village and remained here, stared at Jin Mu-rip with trembling eyes.
‘Who said Okryong? Gwangryong. That’s right, Gwangryong.’
It was a truly unpredictable week.
* * *
A day later, a group of warriors wearing red masks appeared in the garden where Gwangmudae had left.
“Jeonyeop… … is dead.”
Before their eyes lay the cold corpse of their comrade, his head and torso severed.
The only figure among them wearing a black mask crouched before his dead comrade and muttered.
“Are you saying that the safety of the villagers doesn’t matter to you?”
The secret message Jeon Yeop left along his route contained the failure of the Blood Spirit Corps, the death of the Blood Night Man, information about the enemy, and plans to use the villagers as bait to tie them up.
The small man standing behind spoke cautiously.
“The bloody madman who escaped has already wiped out an entire village. If he causes any more damage to civilians, the military may intervene when he enters Sacheon in the future.”
“I know. It was probably just a measure to keep them tied up. They have no intention of touching the village.”
Heukmyeontal took out Hwagolsan from his bosom and poured it on his comrade’s body.
As his comrade’s body quickly melted away with a hissing sound, Heuk-myeon-tal gave the next order.
“We can’t just hand over the bloody madman’s body to the Four Heavenly Alliance. We’re going after him.”
“yes.”
A moment later, a dark, masked figure appeared in the place where they had disappeared.
‘Hostage. If you had done something like that, you wouldn’t have even left a body behind.’
Seo Jin-hwan knows very well that what Jin Mu-rip hates the most is hostage situations.
And he wasn’t the type of person that would do something like that.
Seo Jin-hwan took out a small brush case from his pocket, wrote something on a piece of paper, and then whistled.
Then, the black swan that had been circling in the sky quickly descended and landed on Seo Jin-hwan’s wrist.
He tied the paper tightly to the black swan’s ankle.
“Tell your lord.”
Squeak.
The black swan, as if it understood, let out a cry and flew up into the sky, fluttering its wings.
* * *
The Gwangmu Corps, having left the village, was quickly moving south toward the castle.
A remote mountain area with no people.
Jinmu-rip, who was running in the lead, sensed the cries of a black swan spreading across the sky and stopped.
“Let’s take a break here.”
Jinmu-rip, who had ordered a rest, broke away from the group and jumped up onto a large tree a hundred meters away.
Then, the black swan, which recognized Jinmu Rip, quickly descended and slowly landed on his shoulder.
“It’s been a while.”
As if responding to Jinmu-rip’s greeting, the black swan rubbed its beak on his cheek.
Jinmu-rip took out a piece of jerky from his bosom and fed it to Heukjo, then untied the paper hanging from his ankle.
‘You’re coming, after all.’
The paper said that they had appeared at the estate and that they had given chase.
Jinmu-rip, who had sent the black swan away and looked around, ran straight to the top of the highest peak.
Behind you can see the Daeseol Mountain Range with the Sannae Village in the distance, and in front you can see dozens of small mountain peaks.
‘There was definitely a river on the way here.’
It wasn’t difficult to recall the path I had taken.
If you go over the small mountains in front of you, you will definitely see a large river.
If you see ice on a mountain stream, the river water must not be frozen.
Jinmu-rip, who had drawn the surrounding terrain in his head, returned to his comrades.
At that moment, Kang Yu-wol, who had regained consciousness, was sitting in his seat waiting for Jin Mu-rip.
Jinmu-rip asked.
“How are you feeling?”
Kang Yu-wol smiled bitterly after hearing the story from Dang So-so.
“Thanks to you, I’ve gotten a lot better. I’m sorry I came to help you but I feel like I’m just a burden.”
It wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t anticipated the ambush, but he felt a little sorry for leaving everything up to Jinmu-rip.
Danryehwa sat down next to him and smiled.
“Don’t say that. Just having you here with me is a great help.”
Jinmu-rip asked Kang Yu-wol, who smiled awkwardly.
“Are you able to move?”
“Is there a pursuit?”
“Yes. The number is one hundred. We should be half a day’s journey away by now.”
In fact, there was about a day to spare, but it was obvious that the other side was faster than this side, which brought the injured.
Jinmu Rip said this assuming a distance of half a day between himself and his opponent, just in case.
With Gwangmudae’s expression frozen hard, Kwak Do-jin swallowed and asked.
“Is that true?”
“A person was sent from the opening a little while ago to inform us. It is reliable information.”
“In the open… … .”
There was no one who did not know that the beggars of openness were staying at the branch of Madorim.
Kang Yu-wol got up on his knees.
“The old man can fight at any time.”
Dang So-so said worriedly.
“You shouldn’t overdo it. You need to rest for now.”
“I have lived through all kinds of hardships in the martial arts world of Dosan Geomrim. It makes no sense for me to be unable to move at this level.”
Kang Yu-wol asked, stroking his scabbard.
“Okay, what should I do?”
“I will explain now.”
Jinmu-rip, who had called together the leaders, drew a map of the area he had just checked on the floor.
“There’s going to be a chase.”
Jo Young-seong asked.
“Do you run away or do you fight?”
“They’re not chasing us.”
Jinmu-rip smiled brightly as he met the gazes focused on him one by one.
“We will pursue.”
* * *
About a hundred bloodthirsty men wearing red masks ran up the steep mountain without hesitation.
The man wearing a black mask, Ha Jong-oh, the Red Blood Prince, followed dozens of footprints and smiled bitterly.
“They said they were young, but they’re still kids.”
From the moment they left the manor until they arrived here, the footprints clearly marked in the snow served as a sure landmark for them.
‘As long as you watch out for that guy who caught the bloody madman and Kang Yu-wol, there’s nothing to be afraid of.’
As the Red Army increased its speed and crossed the mountain in an instant, a stream covered in ice appeared in front of them.
“Daeju. Here the footprints split into two.”
Ha Jong-oh narrowed his eyes and examined the footprints.
“I sense pursuit.”
The remaining footprints were so faint that they could not be seen unless you looked closely, unlike before.
“I and half of the men will go to the right, and the commander will lead the rest to the left.”
Ha Jong-oh spoke to his deputy commander, Yo-gwang, as if giving him a favor.
“According to the information left by Jeon Yeop, we have the advantage in both numbers and weapons. We will kill them all and retrieve the Bloody Night Man.”
“All right.”
Ha Jong-oh, who had been running for an hour while leading half of the group, was able to discover footprints that had split into two groups again.
‘You’re trying hard. Do you think you’ll be able to escape like this?’
Ha Jong-oh divided the unit into two again.
“If you meet Kang Yu-wol, don’t fight him head-on. Retreat.”
“yes.”
As we walked another mile, the footsteps forked into two.
Somehow it felt different than before.
‘Something seems strange.’
The opponent’s numbers are clearly inferior to ours.
It makes no sense to use bait and switch.
‘It seems you still don’t know the power of this side.’
Ha Jong-oh, who had gathered his thoughts, led a dozen or so subordinates and moved toward the right path.
This time the path continued on for quite a while, without forking, until darkness came.
‘We have to catch it before it gets dark.’
It was obvious that the chase would become more difficult at night. Ha Jong-oh, who was becoming impatient, increased his speed.
After running for a while, they detected the scent of water mixed with the wind.
“no way?”
If they escaped along the river, it wouldn’t be easy to find their traces.
“Hurry up.”
Ha Jong-oh, who was running at full speed, ignoring the occasional footsteps, saw a light in the distance.
Ha Jong-oh, who ran in one go, could see an old man and two men sitting in front of a campfire warming themselves by the fire.
“Are you here now?”
“Kang Yu-wol.”
As he had guessed, the old man was Kang Yu-yul, and the man and woman sitting in front of him were Dang So-so and Dang Woo.
After that, something tied tightly to the Cheonjamsa Temple can be seen.
‘Blood madman.’
There is a target there that must be reclaimed.
Ha Jong-oh, who was walking with his hand on the sword, stopped.
Behind Kang Yu-wol, drenched drones were coming up from the riverbank.
“Ugh. I’m freezing to death.”
Youngseong Jo sat in front of the campfire with his arms wrapped around his body and a frown on his face.
After splitting the water and dispersing the enemy, the lighthouse that had lured them jumped into the water and floated down to the light here.
Just then, a soft laugh was heard from the trees overhead.
“Heh heh heh.”
Ha Jong-oh, who quickly stepped back and raised his head, could see Jin Mu-rip’s bright smile.
“Do you like where you are going to die?”
