Chapter 18

Chapter 18

* * *

He possessed an outstanding talent for sensing strange atmospheres. Furthermore, his lightness art was fast enough to be counted among the top in the Central Plains, and he was quick-witted and experienced enough to never suffer a loss.

Such a person was none other than Jang Sam-tae.

'Damn it…'

Under Dan Woo-hyun's orders, Jang Sam-tae, who was hiding near the government office, held his breath as he watched a group of people carrying something on their backs come out.

Then, he cautiously followed behind.

From as far away as possible, so that his presence would not be detected.

'Why the hell am I doing this!'

Jang Sam-tae wailed inwardly.

His opponents were experts. Moreover, they were several times superior to him.

If he were caught by any chance, he would open the gates of the underworld without even being able to gather his bones. Because it wouldn't just be Hong Won-chang they were looking for.

If it hadn't been for Dan Woo-hyun's orders, he might have left this place immediately.

-The magistrate is someone we need.

-Pardon?

-He is someone we need.

-And?

Jang Sam-tae massaged his head and put on a crying face. The place where he was hit still throbbed.

To hit someone on the head just because they asked a question back. He felt as if his already poor head had become even worse.

'By the way, are those guys the Wind-Drifting Squadron I've only heard about?'

Because the distance was too far, it was practically impossible to confirm. However, seeing that they entered the government office and came out safely, and that each of their presences was formidable, he wondered if they might be the famous Wind-Drifting Squadron of the Black Dao Society.

Thinking that he was pursuing such people made goosebumps break out all over his body.

But even so, he could not disobey Dan Woo-hyun's orders and go back.

'Where are you going?'

Jang Sam-tae cautiously followed them.

He never rushed and moved as silently as possible. Still, since he had a knack for stealing, it was no exaggeration to say he was confident in this one thing.

But what was that on their backs? It looked like a person, but it didn't budge at all.

'Did they seal his acupoints?'

While following them with such thoughts, the bastards finally stopped in a nearby sparsely populated hill.

Jang Sam-tae quickly checked his surroundings and took a position where he could see them well.

'The, the magistrate?'

The scene that finally came into view made Jang Sam-tae doubt his eyes. To think they would actually kidnap the magistrate directly. The magistrate, who was resisting in some way, and a man who was sneering at him came into view.

'Damn it…'

He was using a strange drug.

Just by looking at it, one could feel at a glance that it was nothing good.

Gulping down his saliva, Jang Sam-tae composed his breathing. And seeing the magistrate's condition gradually worsen, he realized the time had come to make a decision.

'Damn it! If that guy dies in a place like this, things will get more tangled up.'

Hong Won-chang was the magistrate.

If it were an ordinary magistrate, it wouldn't matter whether he died or lived. In fact, there was no need to risk one's life to save him. However, if it was the magistrate of Yueyang, Hunan, the story changed.

He was someone helpful to Dan Woo-hyun in many ways. The issue of the manor was one thing, but if a conflict arose between Dan Woo-hyun and the martial artists, he could resolve it.

Other than that, in whatever way, it would be helpful to So-mi and would never be a person to cause harm. In that sense, saving that man was not a wrong choice.

'Besides, if this guy dies and I run away alone… I'll probably be beaten to death. Damn it…'

Jang Sam-tae ran with tears in his eyes.

For now, he had to save him first. Because saving Hong Won-chang would be a hundred times better than being beaten to death.

He thought that Dan Woo-hyun must have predicted this situation and sent him.

'Yeah, damn it! You only die once, not twice!'

Swish-!

Jang Sam-tae, who bolted forward with lightness art in an instant, narrowed the distance. Then, Bang Chu-gok shouted in surprise.

"What is it!"

It was fast.

It was so fast that it was difficult to even follow with one's eyes. His hands could not react in time, and only the sound of the wind blowing announced that someone had approached.

The moment Bang Chu-gok hastily turned his head.

Thud-!

"Argh!"

A groan came from the mouth of one of the subordinates who was holding Hong Won-chang. He failed to block a strike that came in as a surprise attack with fast lightness art.

This kind of sudden surprise attack could be said to be the only attack Jang Sam-tae could perform.

"You bastard!"

Bang Chu-gok shouted in surprise and thrust his sword forward.

A chillingly sharp blade grazed Jang Sam-tae's shoulder. It wouldn't have been strange if he had been cut, but thanks to moving faster than that, it ended as a graze.

Soon after, Jang Sam-tae put Hong Won-chang on his back and began to run away quickly.

"Chase him!"

At that shout, Jang Sam-tae reflectively lowered his head. At the same time, a sharp sound was heard, and something grazed past his head. It was the blade of a man in black who appeared out of nowhere.

Jang Sam-tae threw himself straight into the trees.

Being confident in lightness art was good at times like this. No matter how great an expert was, they couldn't break through such dense trees at once.

However.

Swoosh-!

"Eek?!"

The sound of flying hidden weapons embedding themselves into the trees was violent.

If he had been even slightly later in lowering his head again, he would not have been safe.

But it was still too early to feel relieved. Glancing back, he saw the group pursuing him at a tremendous speed.

'Damn it, what do I do?'

There was only one person who could resolve this situation.

The moment his face came to mind, all sorts of curses were about to come out, but he held them back. Instead, he gathered even that spirit and threw his body forward.

At that moment.

Whoosh-!

Suddenly, a man in black revealed himself right in front of his eyes. Appearing in an instant, he reached out his hand and swung a dagger simultaneously with his appearance.

It was fast.

It was already too late to avoid it.

Yet his body moved naturally. The Taiji Swordplay he had learned hitherto unfolded, and his right hand moved mysteriously.

He shouldn't have been careless just because it was a single hand. Because the strange energy gathered in that palm possessed a force contrary to the internal energy of the man in black.

Thud-!

"Keugh!"

A groan burst from the mouth of the man in black who was struck in the chest by the surprise attack. Since he did not expect such an impact to come, his body had no choice but to loosen up, and thanks to that, the impact hit even harder.

"Pant, pant…!"

Jang Sam-tae quickly brushed past the fallen man.

Even so, his roundly opened eyes remained fixed on the fallen man without wavering. Engraving that gradually receding scene into his eyes, he gulped down.

'D-Did I really do that?'

It was a sensation he had never felt before in his life. To think his opponent fell in just a single blow?

It was a different situation from when he used lightness art to launch a surprise attack earlier. He had confronted him from the front.

'What on earth happened?'

Jang Sam-tae shook his head but ran without stopping.

There was no time to ponder over anything. Still, many people were chasing after Jang Sam-tae. Among them, Bang Chu-gok was pursuing so fast that he could be seen clearly.

If he kept going like this, it felt like he would be caught up before long.

'I just need to hold out a little longer. It's that monster of a man, none other. If this much of a commotion has occurred, he will notice quickly!'

Gulping down his saliva, he thought so.

Dan Woo-hyun would definitely come.

Just like last time.

Although he was a guy who loved money to a fault and was unknowingly rude, he wasn't a guy so rotten that he would ignore this kind of situation.

He would never betray his expectations.

'Damn it! To think I have to trust that guy of all people…!'

Life is really something else.

* * *

At that time.

Dan Woo-hyun was quietly standing outside the manor.

Holding a sword in one hand, he looked at the moonlight and gently closed his eyes. Like someone who was feeling something, or like someone who was enjoying this atmosphere, he looked happy in some way.

The feel of the sword in his hand was good.

Dan Woo-hyun's companion, who had been with him for a very long time. Perhaps because of that, whenever he held this sword, his mind would calm down peacefully in any situation.

Shring-!

Dan Woo-hyun drew the sword.

A blade so sharp that a thousand years of time seemed meaningless was revealed. From the moment he lived the life of a martial artist until now, this sword, which had never faded even once, was indeed the finest sword under heaven itself.

"You have drunk a lot of blood, yet you are different from me."

As much as Dan Woo-hyun saw blood, this sword also drank blood. However, although the two were similar, they were distinctly different.

Unlike Dan Woo-hyun, who still craved blood even if only a little, this sword seemed to calmly leave everything to Dan Woo-hyun.

Perhaps this was possible because it was the Heavenly Shattering Sword, called the greatest among the finest swords under heaven.

Dan Woo-hyun smirked and slowly moved his hand.

It was an elegant movement, as if he were dancing. The pouring moonlight made the blade shine even brighter, and Dan Woo-hyun's moving figure was so perfect that once one looked, they could not take their eyes off him.

And at a certain moment.

Swoosh-!

Dan Woo-hyun swung the sword in a grand horizontal arc.

A harsh wind swept around him, and a bizarre phenomenon occurred as if the surroundings shook violently for a moment.

However, nothing had actually happened.

Only Dan Woo-hyun was walking away with steady steps.