Chapter 408 – Against One Person – Heavenly Net (2)

As if struck directly by a cannonball, the large ship carrying numerous people swayed greatly and broken wooden planks scattered in all directions.

"Oh my!"

"What is this?"

On the swaying ship, people rolled around on the deck. For them, it was like being struck by lightning out of the blue.

Bang Jin-bo and the Namgung brothers didn't show such unseemly behavior since they had learned martial arts. They maintained their balance admirably and looked toward where Dam Ho had been standing.

Their eyes instantly widened greatly.

The bow of the ship had disappeared without a trace. Like a cow with its head cut off, the ship with its bow blown away was swaying dangerously.

Where the bow had been, an enormous arrow was embedded. The arrow had struck directly and blown away the bow.

"Brother!"

Relief momentarily appeared on Bang Jin-bo's face. Because Dam Ho was standing tall on the large arrow embedded in the bow.

"Jin-bo!"

"Yes! Brother!"

"As soon as we reach shore, take the children and horses and get away from here."

"Pardon? But…"

"Do as I say."

"Understood."

At Dam Ho's words, Bang Jin-bo nodded without objection.

"Take Black Ghost too."

"But…"

"You'll need it. Get out of Anhui Province and wait for me."

"Understood."

Bang Jin-bo went down to the lower deck where the horses were with the Namgung brothers. Dam Ho's eyes narrowed.

He felt killing intent.

It wasn't the killing intent carelessly emanated by novices. It was frighteningly refined killing intent accompanied by intense concentration.

The distance between the ship Dam Ho was on and the riverbank was over a hundred zhang. To accurately shoot such a large arrow from such a distance – it was truly unimaginable archery skill.

He could feel the killing intent from across the river sweeping over the ship. The widely spread killing intent gathered to one point. Directed precisely at Dam Ho.

Thwoom!

At that moment the air rippled. The archer across the river had shot another arrow.

Dam Ho moved.

The arrow was aimed at him. If he waited to confirm with his eyes before moving, it would be too late. He had to trust his instincts.

Crash!

The moment Dam Ho leaped into the air, the familiar large arrow embedded itself where he had been standing. The deck exploded and wooden fragments scattered everywhere, obscuring vision.

Thunk!

At that moment, a small arrow the length of a child's palm embedded itself in Dam Ho's shoulder. The entire small arrow was buried in Dam Ho's flesh, leaving only the fletching visible.

Dam Ho's pupils wavered.

Not because of pain. Because he hadn't sensed any sign before the arrow struck.

Whine!

A chilling sound of air being cut belatedly echoed.

The arrow had flown faster than sound.

A small arrow the length of a child's palm flying faster than sound – he had never heard of such a strange weapon existing.

Swish!

Another giant arrow came flying. Just by its size alone, it was an arrow with power that surpassed ordinary siege weapons. But Dam Ho knew. This wasn't the real thing.

Crash!

The giant arrow struck the ship once more, causing it to sway greatly. At that moment, Dam Ho moved to the side.

Thunk!

By a hair's breadth, the familiar small arrow embedded where he had been. The arrow embedded deeply in the deck with only its fletching showing trembled.

There was no sound, no sign.

Like an owl targeting prey in darkness, the small arrow came aiming for his throat.

He hadn't noticed by seeing with his eyes or hearing with his ears. He had dodged by a hair's breadth relying purely on instinct.

Dam Ho's eyes narrowed.

It was ultra-long-distance sniping across the river. And naturally, the target was Dam Ho.

The unknown enemy hidden in the bushes across the river was shooting arrows aimed at Dam Ho.

Meanwhile, the captain and crew operating the ship were in chaos as the bow was severely damaged.

"The ship is taking on water."

"Hurry and plug it up."

The crew were running here and there to stop the water, and the passengers were just screaming in shock.

The captain urged the crew.

"Hurry and drive the ship to shore. If we're late, the whole thing might sink."

They had already crossed more than half the river. If they rashly turned the bow now, the ship would sink before reaching the riverbank.

"Just who on earth?"

Fear appeared in the captain's eyes.

In such captain's eyes, the back of Dam Ho standing alone in the middle of the deck came into view.

Swish!

A large arrow was flying toward Dam Ho again.

***

"Not bad."

A cold smile bloomed on Go Seol-cheon's lips.

In his eyes, he could see the large ship swaying precariously far away on the river. More precisely, he caught sight of the black-robed man standing alone tall on the ship.

Though it was too distant to confirm with the naked eye, his eyesight superior to a hawk's was accurately capturing the man in black robes.

"Fist Demon!"

He was precisely Dam Ho.

Dam Ho no longer dodged the giant arrows.

He struck head-on at the arrow that flew right up to his face.

Crash!

The arrowhead the size of a child's head collided with Dam Ho's fist in mid-air. Sparks flew from the steel arrowhead filled with internal energy, then it exploded. From the aftermath, Dam Ho's body was pushed back, but he still looked unharmed.

"Hahaha! That crazy bastard!"

Go Seol-cheon momentarily forgot about shooting small arrows and burst into laughter.

The giant arrow shot at Dam Ho wasn't fired by human strength. It was shot by the large mechanical crossbow in front of him.

It was an object that couldn't even be fired without bowstrings made by twisting whale sinew, dragon hide, heavenly silkworm thread, and numerous gears and springs.

Originally developed as a siege weapon, it wasn't a weapon for individuals to use. Only someone with Go Seol-cheon's level of internal energy, archery skills, and superhuman strength could barely pull the bowstring – it was an object among objects.

Dam Ho had neutralized with one punch an arrow with enough destructive power to penetrate thick castle walls. That absurd sight rather made Go Seol-cheon laugh.

"What an amazing fellow. No wonder two of the Thirteen Branch leaders died at his hands. Hehehe!"

Go Seol-cheon's epithet was Blood Bow Death God, master of Blood Light Stream, one of the Demon Cult's Thirteen Branches.

Blood Light Stream was unusually a sect that specialized in archery. Originally, martial artists of the martial world greatly looked down on archery. They thought ambushes from long distances rather than fighting directly body-to-body went against the martial spirit.

Therefore, martial artists who practiced archery in the martial world were looked down upon and became objects of wariness. But the Demon Cult was different. Rather, they recognized the strategic value of bows and concentrated on fostering them.

The representative sect was precisely Blood Light Stream.

Blood Light Stream collected not only Central Plains archery and bows, but all archery and bows existing in the world.

The mechanical crossbow he fired was brought from the Western Regions, and the Goryeo (Korean) bow that shot small arrows was brought with difficulty from far-off Haedong.

He particularly liked the Korean bow and small arrows brought from Haedong. Though small in size, their power was far superior to any great bow.

If one was a master of martial arts, they could dodge by listening to arrow trajectories and air-cutting sounds alone. But small arrows made this impossible.

They were too small to confirm with the naked eye, and their speed was faster than sound, so the air-cutting sound only echoed after impact. That's why he favored using small arrows. Most masters were dealt with at the small arrow stage. But Dam Ho was different.

After allowing the first strike, he never got hit by a small arrow again and dodged them all. The small arrows had become useless.

"Not bad."

Go Seol-cheon strapped the small Korean bow to his back and took out a different bow. It was a great bow as tall as an adult.

The great bow named Heaven Kill Bow was a divine weapon passed down through generations to masters of Blood Light Stream.

The fact that Go Seol-cheon had taken out the Heaven Kill Bow was itself proof he had decided to fight seriously.

He had come here because of Nam Hyeon-so's request for support. Until encountering Dam Ho, he hadn't looked favorably on being mobilized for the heavenly net.

No matter how great Dam Ho was, he thought he could hunt him with one arrow shot from long distance. But now he clearly realized what a miscalculation that was.

Tremble!

His body shook.

Because his gaze met Dam Ho's.

There was still over seventy zhang of river water between him and Dam Ho. Not only ordinary people but even masters who had learned martial arts couldn't easily leap that distance and confirm the opponent's face. Yet Dam Ho was precisely staring at the bushes where Go Seol-cheon was hiding.

The killing intent in Dam Ho's pitch-black pupils was transmitted to him through the air.

Dam Ho brought his hand to the shoulder where the small arrow was embedded. But the small arrow was deeply embedded with only the fletching showing and couldn't be grasped. It was impossible to extract it like this.

Go Seol-cheon mocked Dam Ho.

"Hehe! It's useless. Small arrows can't be pulled out so easily."

That's when it happened.

Suddenly Dam Ho pressed the fletching of the small arrow hard with his right index finger. Then the small arrow burrowed even deeper. Rather than pulling it out when he should, he was pushing it deeper in.

Slice!

The sharp small arrow's head cut through flesh and burrowed even deeper. Though he must feel terrible pain, Dam Ho didn't even blink. His gaze remained fixed on Go Seol-cheon.

"Wh-what?"

Pop!

At that moment the small arrow broke through Dam Ho's shoulder blade and revealed itself. It had penetrated his shoulder. Dam Ho stopped pushing the small arrow and brought his hand behind his shoulder.

He grasped the small arrow's head. Dam Ho pulled the small arrow as is.

Scrape!

Finally the small arrow completely revealed itself. Though flesh came out attached to the arrowhead and blood shot up like a fountain, Dam Ho didn't let out a single groan.

The small arrow crumpled in Dam Ho's hand. The small arrow that had lost its original form rolled on the deck.

Thump!

Go Seol-cheon's heart pounded greatly.

This was the first time he faced such an opponent.

His blood was boiling.

The competitive spirit and fighting will buried deep in his chest were baring their teeth. Dam Ho's actions and gaze had stimulated him.

"Yes! It should be at least this level. Only then is it worth my coming here."

Go Seol-cheon put strength into the hand gripping the Heaven Kill Bow.

He was delighted to finally meet an opponent worthy of using the Heaven Kill Bow.

He raised his hand. Then Blood Light Stream martial artists revealed themselves from throughout the bushes.

While Blade Stream, another of the Thirteen Branches, continued through single succession, the Blood Light Stream he led always maintained a hundred members.

All hundred were excellent archers like Go Seol-cheon.

"Begin hunting the Fist Demon. Drive him to the promised place."

"Yes sir!"

The archers simultaneously nocked arrows to their bowstrings.

Two hundred eyes and a hundred arrows aimed at the ship Dam Ho was riding.

The bows curved like full moons, then simultaneously spat out arrows.

Swish!

Over a hundred arrows flew toward the ship at once.

Without even checking the results, the archers instantly nocked arrows to their bowstrings. It was truly incredible rapid fire.

They rapidly fired five arrows in succession.

"Argh!"

"S-save me!"

The ship instantly became a scene of carnage. Passengers who couldn't take shelter in cabins in time were struck by arrows and fell, and sharp arrows were densely embedded like a porcupine on the deck. But none of the numerous arrows struck Dam Ho.

At his feet lay dozens of arrows scattered. The arrowhead tips were bluntly deformed as if beaten with hammers.

Dozens more arrows flew toward Dam Ho. But Dam Ho didn't dodge. He stared at the arrows flying straight at him.

Dozens of arrows struck his body in an instant.

Ting ting ting!

But the arrows bounced off or lost power and fell to the floor the moment they hit his body.

Hum!

Dam Ho's body was resonating.

The shield of ultra-vibration energy had unfolded. Unless they were small arrows, penetrating his shield was impossible.

The ship he rode was more than half submerged in water. But it was steadily approaching shore, albeit at slow speed.

Thud!

Finally the ship reached shore. And Dam Ho disembarked from the ship.

He felt a net of killing intent.

Heavenly net – Dam Ho stepped into it.

A strategy meeting that included the Tang family leadership along with Bian Bu and Taoist Master Bok-cheon.

Everyone fell silent at Jin Ja-gang’s words spoken there.

A meticulously detailed method that was hard to imagine.

But it was a method with such high success probability that it could be called “certain.”

Jin Ja-gang’s speculation was quite reasonable.

Taoist Master Bok-cheon raised a question.

“Martial sects usually trade with one trading company for long periods. Because of trust. They’re especially careful with food products, so how could trading companies supply salt containing poison?”

Tang Gwi-ok’s accounting expert explained.

“In Sichuan, the cheapest official salt available in the market last year was thirty coins per geun. But after floods, it can surge up to ten times to three hundred coins. Currently, there’s no salt on the market, making it difficult to buy even at five hundred coins.”

This meant it couldn’t be bought despite being over ten times the original price. There wouldn’t be no salt inventory, so merchants were deliberately not releasing salt and waiting for prices to rise.

“Compared to that, smuggled private salt can be obtained for less than half price. Last year it was usually traded between ten to fifty coins.”

Trading more than one mal of private salt results in caning, and more than one seom results in death penalty. But because the price was less than half, ordinary people had no choice but to use private salt despite considerable risk.

Tang Qing had likewise stockpiled large quantities of salt at the lowest possible prices through smuggling.

Bian Bu muttered.

“If King of Hell sold salt accumulated through smuggling to other trading companies at cheap prices, they’d have no reason not to buy. From King of Hell’s perspective, it wasn’t to profit from selling salt, and from the trading companies’ perspective, they could make several times the profit.”

Taoist Master Bok-cheon said with a worried expression.

“Then finding the disappeared salt would be the priority. Before it spreads to other trading companies.”

Bian Bu shook his head as if it was strange.

“But this is truly a job that would make ghosts weep. What’s been revealed so far is tens of thousands of geun, but where did all that salt go?”

A Tang family member answered.

“No, that’s not right. It’s not tens of thousands of geun. What’s been revealed is only a fraction. Looking at current analysis trends, it’s expected to reach up to hundreds of thousands of geun at most.”

Bian Bu and Taoist Master Bok-cheon clicked their tongues.

“Enormous.”

It was truly a large-scale plan, prepared for several years by investing tens of thousands of taels annually.

The Tang family members’ faces turned pale.

If salt was released causing massive casualties in the martial world and it was revealed that the Tang family was the culprit, the Tang family might end up in a worse situation than if they had proceeded with the great undertaking.

Jin Ja-gang said.

“They said salt was taken from all warehouses just before the rainy season came. When the rainy season started, all land and sea routes were blocked, so they couldn’t have moved hundreds of thousands of geun of salt far without being noticed.”

“What you mean is…”

“There’s a high possibility it’s hidden in a place not as far as we think.”

Bian Bu asked.

“Did you investigate the Yingbo merchants?”

“Local trading companies that borrowed the Yingbo merchants’ name initially transported the salt. And they said they loaded it onto ships midway.”

“With severe rainy season quickly blocking sea routes… at most within ten days’ distance by ship.”

Even if the distance was specified, finding it within ten days by ship wouldn’t be easy either.

Tang Gwi-ok decided to ask Emei Sect to participate in the search, and Qingcheng Sect also agreed to help. From now on, it was a race against time.

Would they find the hidden salt before it was released, or would it be released before they found it?

Bian Bu said.

“I’ll contact Shandong and ask the Wise Wolf to investigate the Yingbo merchants in Zhejiang. How much they know, whether they simply participated in illegal trading or knew poison was included.”

Tang Gwi-ok added.

“We must be especially careful. Salt merchants have close relationships with government offices and are civilians. If the government gets involved, we’ll face a difficult situation to handle.”

Unorthodox sect people didn’t fear government or anything, but the Tang family, being a prestigious orthodox family, couldn’t help but be wary of government offices.

Bian Bu cupped his hands and answered.

“I’ll make sure to convey the family head’s concerns as well.”

As they were wrapping up the meeting and dividing tasks among themselves, a commotion suddenly arose outside.

A Tang family warrior reported loudly from outside.

“Urgent matter!”

One elder went out.

“Don’t you know an important meeting is in progress? What’s the matter!”

“Ice Phoenix has come to our family!”

“Ice Phoenix?”

Everyone had doubts about this unexpected event. But Jin Ja-gang had previously heard from Qingcheng Sect that they had already seen Ice Phoenix in Guizhou.

Tang Gwi-ok commanded.

“Bring her here.”

Soon a young Qingcheng Sect Taoist brought Son Bi, covered in blood, under escort of Tang family warriors.

“Miss Son?”

Son Bi looked at Jin Ja-gang with a tired face.

The young Qingcheng Sect Taoist looked at Taoist Master Bok-cheon and said.

“Someone was chasing her in Guizhou so we rescued her. Since we can’t communicate with her, we don’t know what happened either. We recommended she get treatment first, but she insisted on going to the Tang family, only writing those characters…”

Son Bi looked at Jin Ja-gang then staggered toward him as if entranced.

“Ah… ah, ahh…”

Since she couldn’t speak, Jin Ja-gang had no way to understand.

Yeong-gwi, dressed as a servant, blocked her path. Son Bi looked at Yeong-gwi briefly then knelt down with a thud while looking at Jin Ja-gang.

Son Bi raised her scabbed finger and hastily wrote characters in the dirt.

Teacher.

“Teacher? Do you mean Sword Empress?”

Son Bi nodded vigorously. Son Bi’s teacher was Sword Empress Lim I-eon. Had something happened to Im Yi-eon!

Son Bi added one word before the character for teacher.

Save…

Combined with the previous character, it became “Save Teacher.”

“You want me to save Sword Empress?”

Son Bi nodded again. Tears began forming in her eyes as she looked at Jin Ja-gang.

Tang Gwi-ok said.

“It seems something has happened to Sword Empress.”

Taoist Master Bok-cheon was puzzled.

“I’ve personally witnessed Sword Empress’s abilities. Her skills are extraordinary, so how could misfortune…”

Son Bi was in poor condition, not having properly treated her injuries. She almost collapsed, requiring Jin Ja-gang to support her.

“Ahhh…”

Son Bi tearfully wrote on Jin Ja-gang’s palm. Jin Ja-gang read what Son Bi wrote.

“Master told me to tell you…”

Jin Ja-gang opened his eyes wide upon feeling the next characters Son Bi wrote.

Those watching urged Jin Ja-gang impatiently.

“What is she trying to say?”

“Tell us too.”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t speak for a while, then asked Son Bi.

“Is this true?”

Son Bi nodded.

Jin Ja-gang looked around at those who had participated in the meeting and conveyed exactly what Sword Empress Lim I-eon had sent through Son Bi.

“North… Heaven!”

It was the Northern Heaven Unorthodox Sect Alliance, once part of the Nine Provinces Six Heavens that divided the martial world, though now it had become powerless. Jin Ja-gang had already fought them before.

Everyone stirred.

“Northern Heaven?”

“Why did Northern Heaven suddenly appear in Guizhou?”

But the Tang family didn’t have the luxury to worry about that. If Divine Physician An Yul-jin, who had connections with Southern Sea Sword Sect, were there, it might be different, but the Tang family had no particular relationship with Southern Sea Sword Sect either.

“We have our own urgent matters. Though the circumstances are unfortunate, we don’t have the capacity to help Sword Empress and Ice Phoenix.”

“We need to deploy every available master to our search efforts.”

Though they would help under normal circumstances, the situation was too urgent for anyone to suggest helping.

It was a difficult matter.

For the Tang family, it was also a matter where the family’s fate was at stake, and broadly speaking, they had to prevent harm to the martial world.

Hearing the negative response, the young Qingcheng Sect Taoist who had rescued Son Bi was rather restless. The Taoist looked at Taoist Master Bok-cheon, but Taoist Master Bok-cheon also knew the circumstances well, making it difficult to speak rashly.

Jin Ja-gang also agonized.

They had only met once, and he knew she had some good feelings toward him. But he couldn’t figure out what to do.

Suddenly.

Son Bi grabbed the arm of the agonizing Jin Ja-gang and looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her gaze at Jin Ja-gang was infinitely pitiful. Jin Ja-gang felt his heart stir without realizing it.

“Just… give me some time.”

Jin Ja-gang had to say that, not even knowing why he needed to make excuses to Son Bi.

* * *

So-so decided to take charge of nursing Son Bi. Perhaps because So-so also couldn’t speak, she volunteered to do it herself.

After supporting Son Bi to her room, So-so gestured for Jin Ja-gang and Woon-jeong to leave the room. She needed to wash Son Bi’s body and apply medicine.

While leaving the room, Woon-jeong asked Jin Ja-gang.

“Excuse me, Poison Dragon friend. I know this isn’t the time to ask such things. But I’m so curious I can’t help asking.”

“Please speak.”

Woon-jeong lowered his voice slightly.

“By any chance, did Ice Phoenix Miss also try to kill Poison Dragon friend?”

“What do you suddenly mean by that?”

“You know that person with one missing leg last time. The one called Red Flower Immortal.”

“Yes.”

“She told me. That Poison Dragon friend was very popular. Even in Henan where Shaolin Temple is, Ice Phoenix Miss fell for him and Sword Empress got angry…”

Jin Ja-gang asked Woon-jeong.

“But what does that have to do with trying to kill?”

“Come on, why are you pretending when you know? Last time too, Miss Tang tried to kill Poison Dragon friend but then you two connected hearts.”

Clang!

A servant bringing water in a basin from outside suddenly dropped the basin. Then she stared at Jin Ja-gang with an absurd expression.

It was Yeong-gwi disguised as a servant.

Moreover, even though Woon-jeong’s voice was low, Son Bi in the room couldn’t have failed to hear that story. Son Bi’s face had turned completely red and she was flustered.

Son Bi and Yeong-gwi’s eyes met.

There was no need to say anything. Their awkward and flustered gazes fully revealed their emotions.

“Huh?”

Woon-jeong tilted his head, looking back and forth between Yeong-gwi and Son Bi, not knowing what was happening.

So-so ran out of the room and kicked Woon-jeong’s bottom. Woon-jeong rolled on the floor.

“Ow ow!”

* * *

“…”

“…”

Tang Ha-ran didn’t rush him.

Though Jin Ja-gang had come to find her and sat silently for a long time, she waited for him. She was stroking her belly that had swollen like a mountain.

But in the end, Tang Ha-ran was the first to speak.

“I thought… someday this day would come.”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t say anything.

“Watching myself being attracted to you, I thought it was really strange. To you, I was the daughter of an enemy family and I also wanted to kill you, so why was I attracted to you?”

Tang Ha-ran paused briefly then continued.

“But after I realized why I came to like you, I was convinced. Ah… that’s why. That’s why I liked this person.”

Tang Ha-ran took Jin Ja-gang’s fingertips and made him look at her.

“You still don’t know, do you? Why I… was attracted to you.”

Jin Ja-gang gazed quietly into Tang Ha-ran’s eyes. Somehow Tang Ha-ran looked sad.

Tang Ha-ran slowly opened her mouth.

“It’s lack.”