Chapter 344

Jin Ja-gang felt refreshed by An Ryeong’s words.

A woman searching for human warmth in a martial world filled only with merciless killing intent and madness.

What kind of optimistic thinking was this?

An Ryeong seemed to become more intoxicated as she spoke, opening Bang Muk’s eyes wider while raising her voice.

“Someone of your caliber can afford to take some risks now! Aren’t you curious whether loyalty still remains in times like these?”

“Ahhh, Miss An Ryeong! My eyes are tearing!”

When Bang Muk screamed, An Ryeong was startled and let him go.

“Huh? Sorry. I got excited.”

“Ow, it’s fine. I know Miss An Ryeong isn’t called Burning Phoenix for nothing.”

Woon-jeong also seemed persuaded by An Ryeong’s words and looked at Jin Ja-gang with pleading eyes.

“Poison Dragon… Though it may be presumptuous of me, these two people seemed sincere when helping the villagers. Perhaps… we could try believing them once? If we can solve problems without fighting and without people getting hurt, that would be good too.”

Should he trust Bang Muk?

Jin Ja-gang fell into deep thought.

Looking at Bang Muk’s earnest gaze, Jin Ja-gang felt something had changed.

This wasn’t simply a matter of whether to trust Bang Muk or not.

It was a matter about Jin Ja-gang himself.

Until now, Jin Ja-gang had fought against misunderstandings directed at him. He had to make others understand his innocence and persuade them of the legitimacy of his revenge.

But now he was in the opposite position.

Instead of being in a position to ask someone to believe him, he was in a position where he had to believe someone. He had to decide whether to believe someone’s earnestness, even at potential loss to himself.

Just as he had once been.

“Don’t trust Physician Bell Healers, but try trusting this person… May I understand it that way?”

“Why not? You have nothing to lose anyway.”

“If I had nothing to lose, I’d try it without any reservations. But…”

As Jin Ja-gang opened his mouth to say something, An Ryeong extended her finger to block his lips.

“If you’re going to say things like the world being harsh, or how one small matter could ruin great affairs, just shut up and get lost. I’ve met countless cowards who make excuses because they’re afraid of losing out and getting hurt.”

Woon-jeong and Bang Muk were startled.

‘Oh no! Her finger on Poison Dragon’s lips!’

Jin Ja-gang’s eyes contorted. Woon-jeong and Bang Muk tensed up. An Ryeong was still looking down at Jin Ja-gang as if asking what he would do.

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang bit down hard on An Ryeong’s finger.

“Ouch!”

An Ryeong was startled and pulled her finger away. Blood flowed where his teeth had bitten deeply near the nail root. Jin Ja-gang had bitten strongly without showing any mercy.

An Ryeong looked at Jin Ja-gang with incredulous eyes.

“What kind of crazy person does that?”

Jin Ja-gang retorted as if it were natural.

“Did you block someone else’s mouth without that much resolve?”

“What?”

Woon-jeong was about to laugh but covered his mouth with his hand.

This was indeed Jin Ja-gang.

“There’s no poison.”

Jin Ja-gang spat out saliva mixed with a bit of blood and turned his gaze to Bang Muk.

“Tomorrow evening. I’ll visit Physician Bell Healers’ estate. If I obtain what I need then, I’ll leave immediately.”

Bang Muk was delighted.

“Thank you! I’ll definitely persuade our leader. Thank you for believing in me.”

Bang Muk found it uncomfortable to stay longer and stood up immediately.

“Then I’ll go ahead.”

Bang Muk also cupped his fists to thank An Ryeong.

“Thank you, Miss An Ryeong.”

“It’s fine, so prepare lots of liquor. Since I guaranteed Brother Bang. If it goes well, celebratory drinks! If not, penalty drinks!”

“Haha, of course.”

Bang Muk nodded several times, then organized his things and left.

Jin Ja-gang also stood up without lingering and went to the lodging the farmers had prepared.

“Ow, it hurts.”

An Ryeong sucked on her bleeding finger while glaring at Jin Ja-gang’s retreating figure with fierce eyes.

* * *

“Grand Harmony Courtyard is in that direction. You can arrive this evening. You’ll arrive at just the right time for drinks.”

Grand Harmony Courtyard was the estate where Physician Bell Healers was located, situated quite deep within Zhuma Station.

“Understood.”

When Jin Ja-gang went ahead, An Ryeong was annoyed again.

Having traveled all morning without much conversation, she was both bored and in a bad mood.

An Ryeong complained to Woon-jeong.

“Why is that person like that? Is he originally that quiet?”

“Poison Dragon is naturally a bit shy around strangers.”

“Poison Dragon is shy?”

An Ryeong showed Woon-jeong her bandaged finger.

“Normal shy people don’t just bite strangers they meet for the first time.”

“It’s because he’s shy. He was startled when you stuck out your finger when you’re not even close.”

An Ryeong looked at Woon-jeong with strange eyes.

“When you say things like that, it’s strangely believable.”

“I hear that a lot. Primordial Heavenly Venerate.”

“Still, since we’re traveling together anyway, it would be nice to chat about this and that. There’s no need to stay apart like that.”

“When he gets a bit closer, he tends to share what’s on his mind.”

“I’m curious about many things. This is the first time I’ve actually seen Poison Dragon, and he feels completely different from the rumors, so it’s strange.”

“Most people say that. That he’s different from rumors when seen directly. Miss, you also heard Poison Dragon was a murderer obsessed with killing, right?”

“Right. So I was thinking of him as half-crazy. I never expected him to have such a calm and cool personality.”

“Just looking at his appearance, he looks like he’d kill people without batting an eye. But when you know the truth…”

“When you know the truth?”

“You realize he indeed kills people without batting an eye.”

Gasp.

An Ryeong was confused.

“The rumors don’t seem different?”

“Exactly. Only the feeling is different, but actually it’s not much different from the rumors.”

Jin Ja-gang, who had been walking ahead, stopped. Then he turned around and said.

“One of the reasons strange rumors about me spread is definitely because of Taoist Woon-jeong.”

“Come on, that can’t be. I only speak facts. For example, Poison Dragon is a cold-hearted killer to martial artists but to civilians he tries to…”

Woon-jeong was about to say that he had taken care of merchants on the ship, but suddenly remembered the woman Jin Ja-gang had killed at Yellow Crane Tower last time.

Woon-jeong swallowed his words.

“Please forget what I was going to say.”

An Ryeong’s face contorted.

“It’s scarier when you don’t finish!”

An Ryeong gave up talking to Woon-jeong and watched Jin Ja-gang.

Limp, limp.

Though Jin Ja-gang walked with a slight limp, his pace was quite fast.

But he wasn’t just walking thoughtlessly – he was constantly exploring his surroundings. Occasionally he’d step off the path to examine something, and when there were hills or corners, he’d look into the distance and smell the wind. When there were mud puddles or wet soil, he’d briefly kneel and examine them.

“What are you doing?”

“…”

“What are you doing?”

“…”

When Jin Ja-gang continued not answering, An Ryeong pondered briefly, chose her words, and asked.

“Excuse me, what are you doing?”

“I’m looking at traces left on the road.”

An Ryeong was shocked.

“What!”

An Ryeong asked again politely.

“What kind of traces?”

“Footprints that seem to have used light movement techniques, but it’s a type I haven’t seen before.”

It was a much more friendly answer than before.

An Ryeong couldn’t recover from her shock.

An Ryeong asked Woon-jeong incredulously.

“Don’t tell me… don’t tell me the reason he ignored me and wouldn’t answer was…”

Woon-jeong nodded.

“He’s shy.”

“That’s not it! He answers well when I ask now!”

“He always answers well when asked.”

An Ryeong looked at Woon-jeong suspiciously.

“It seems like he only answers when you use polite speech?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. He tends to dislike rude people. Last time he fought with Shaolin monks just by asking questions. Neither side answered at all.”

“Wow…”

An Ryeong stared at Jin Ja-gang with her mouth open.

“I really have nothing to say.”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t care what An Ryeong said and continued walking while examining the ground. Then he stood in one spot looking at the ground.

An Ryeong frowned and walked to Jin Ja-gang’s side.

“I’m dying of curiosity. Let’s find out together. What kind of tracks are they?”

Woon-jeong also came to see the tracks Jin Ja-gang had found.

As Jin Ja-gang had said, they were footprints. Just one right footprint was clearly imprinted.

But the footprint was very distinct. The heel had dug into the ground about half a span deep, and the front of the foot made an even deeper mark.

Jin Ja-gang said.

“According to what I heard from Taoist Woon-jeong before, light movement techniques use only the front of the foot to run lightly. But this footprint shows the complete outline.”

Jin Ja-gang pointed behind.

“Left and right footprints appear at regular intervals. I’ve been checking since earlier, and each step is more than two zhang wide.”

An Ryeong thought briefly then answered.

“While making the body light is key to light movement techniques, when pushing off for speed, you need to step down somewhat strongly. So footprints and traces inevitably remain, and tracking techniques use those traces.”

“I see. But these footprints are too obvious.”

“Sometimes people use such light movement techniques when speed is more important than conserving internal energy for long distances, or when stealth isn’t particularly necessary. Especially some sects deliberately leave such traces showily. As if showing off.”

Jin Ja-gang examined from the ground to the sides and asked.

“Which sects?”

“Hmm… If I had to give an example, Shaolin Temple that we talked about earlier? Shaolin Temple is especially famous for not hiding their tracks. So people sometimes avoid areas when they see Shaolin tracks.”

Woon-jeong added.

“That’s right. I remember now. It’s called Great Power Divine Nail. They say when you use that light movement technique, footprints get stamped like driving nails.”

Jin Ja-gang picked up a grass sprout from the footprint. It was a seedling that had been trampled and crushed.

After rubbing the sprout to check its sap, Jin Ja-gang said.

“There are three footprints total. Two more to the left and right, and they passed at least this long ago.”

“Huh? If it’s three, then…”

“The golden orchid robe and two in gray robes we met on our way. Three Shaolin monks.”

An Ryeong tilted her head.

“If it’s golden orchid robes, that’s a Shaolin Vajra Monk. If they wore gray robes with white sashes and carried Great Precept Swords that look cut in half, they’d be Arhat monks assisting the Vajra Monk.”

Woon-jeong was also puzzled.

“This isn’t the way back to Shaolin Temple, so why did they go this way?”

Jin Ja-gang looked ahead and asked.

“What did we tell them when we met them before coming here?”

“Well, we delivered Master Beom-mong’s last words. The alliance leader dies and poison sects are…”

Woon-jeong’s face turned white as he spoke.

“Ahhhhh! Don’t tell me?”

An Ryeong was startled and interrupted.

“No, what do you mean the Alliance Leader dies? What are you talking about?”

Jin Ja-gang gritted his teeth and said.

“It seems we need to hurry.”