Chapter 197
Since about half of Guangxi Province was as dense a jungle as Yunnan, we had to push deeper into the wilderness for quite some time, unable to tell whether we were still in Yunnan or had crossed into Guangxi.
We hadn’t encountered a single soul, and I wasn’t even sure if we were on the right path. Thankfully, we had Heukpyo.
Heukpyo had caught the scent of salt in the air and led us toward the sea.
The keen nose of a spirit-level animal was truly remarkable.
Maybe it was because I’d recently been practicing the internal energy meditation technique, sharpening my senses.
While resting, I stroked his neck and said, “Thank you, Sakwol. Without you, we might have been lost for a long time.”
“Sakwol” was the name I’d given him.
I thought “Black Moon” suited him well, and it also carried my wish to master the Five Forms of the Moonlight Phantom Sword Dance.
He rubbed his head against me and purred like a cat.
For a creature the size of a tiger, he was unbearably adorable these days.
“Alright, while we rest, try circulating your energy. It’ll give you more strength.”
At my words, he obediently began his energy circulation.
I had recently taught him the internal energy meditation technique.
Of course, I’d learned it from Elder Mukrang in a dream.
Elder Mukrang had originally developed this technique to train a wolf he raised, and he had adapted it to suit Heukpyo.
Creating an internal energy technique for animals was impressive enough, but the level of mastery was extraordinary.
It was on par with the Honwon Muguk Gong, the internal energy technique of the Sunwoo family’s head.
No wonder, even though Heukpyo had only just learned it, his movements seemed more agile than before.
Zhengchil, curious, spoke up.
“Well, I never thought I’d see an animal circulating energy in my lifetime. Jini, where on earth did your beast learn that?”
I grinned and replied, “A celestial immortal taught him in a dream, brother.”
He scowled and snapped, “Every time I ask, it’s always some immortal? If you don’t want to say, just say so!”
It was true, though.
I smiled slyly and added, “Come to think of it, the immortal mentioned you last night, brother…”
His eyes widened instantly. “What?! Is that for real?!”
“No, that was a lie.”
“You little! Mocking your brother!”
“Hahaha, sorry, brother.”
Since I’d started calling Seolpung “brother” and treating him like family, Zhengchil had grown envious and begged me to call him “brother” too.
He insisted it was only right, since he was the older brother of Tang Sojeo.
The old man had a lot to be jealous of.
So, we reluctantly started calling him “brother,” and maybe feeling some responsibility, his behavior began to change.
He stopped calling us “beasts” or “prostitute brothers” and started using our proper names.
Sometimes, he even went hunting in the mornings.
It seemed he was beginning to feel the weight of being the eldest brother.
Granted, only when he was in the mood, but still, it was a remarkable change.
Honestly, it was kind of endearing.
I half expected that once we reached the sea, he’d be the first to suggest a brotherhood oath—maybe a “sea brotherhood” instead of the Peach Garden one.
Just then, Heukpyo, who had been circulating energy with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open and leapt swiftly up into a tree.
Zhengchil and Seolpung looked at me and asked, “Huh? What’s going on?”
“Did Sakwol spot something?”
Lately, I could sense Heukpyo’s intentions without Elder Mukrang’s interpretation.
So I always consulted him about Heukpyo’s behavior, and now I could feel his alertness.
“He must have sensed something. Let’s climb up and see.”
We all scrambled up the tree in an instant.
From there, we saw it clearly.
Beyond the vast green canopy, smoke was rising.
Heukpyo had probably caught the scent of that smoke.
Zhengchil asked, “Is it a forest fire?”
Seolpung shook his head.
“Since the smoke is coming from several spots, it doesn’t look like a natural wildfire. Something’s definitely going on.”
I agreed with him.
“Let’s go check it out.”
We ran swiftly over the treetops toward the source of the smoke.
Soon, we saw it again.
At the edge of the forest stretched a vast, blue horizon.
The sea.
We had finally reached the ocean.
“Haah!”
Even while running, I couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.
The endless, beautiful blue curve was truly a breathtaking sight.
But we couldn’t just stand there admiring it.
Smoke was rising right in front of the sea.
As we hurried closer, we witnessed a grim scene unfolding on the beautiful shoreline.
A small village sat by the beach.
Two large ships were anchored offshore, and the smoke was coming from the village.
The houses were burning.
The peaceful coastal village was under attack.
As we approached, we heard the terrified cries of the villagers.
“Ahhh! Please save us!”
“Come on, you bitch!”
“My lord, please save my wife! Aaaah!”
“No!”
“P-please, spare my life! Aaaah!”
A deadly glint sparked in our eyes.
Chu Gyein, captain of the 15th ship in the Hainan faction’s naval squad, was once a notorious pirate before joining the Hainan faction—a top-tier fighter.
But his pirate past was nothing special; the Hainan faction was full of such characters.
And joining the faction hadn’t changed much.
The current leader, Jin Taedo, demanded absolute obedience, but otherwise allowed them to live freely.
They drank, fought, and plundered just as before.
No restrictions.
If anything, being under the Hainan faction’s banner made their exploits safer.
For pirates like them, it was an exhilarating life.
“Captain! The girl is only eleven years old! What should we do?”
“What are you asking? Haven’t you heard that age is just a number?!”
“Heh heh heh, indeed. Understood!”
“Take everything valuable! But don’t kill if you can help it! We need them alive to come back next time!”
“Ha ha ha ha! Got it!”
“Oh no, Captain! She’s already dead! I just poked her and she dropped like a stone!”
“Well, what can you do if it’s her fate? Don’t worry about it.”
Recently, the Hainan faction’s naval squad had been ordered to capture a beggar known as Baekrang Geomgae.
He had destroyed several of their ships lately.
Chu Gyein had come to this village to investigate Baekrang Geomgae’s whereabouts.
But in this vast southern sea, finding one beggar was impossible.
The villagers naturally had no knowledge of Baekrang Geomgae’s trail.
Frustrated, Chu Gyein took out his anger on the village, destroying and looting it.
It was an absurd injustice, but no one questioned it.
Both the marauders and the villagers knew this was just how things were.
“Please, heroes, take everything, but spare our lives!”
“We beg you!”
All the villagers could do was plead for their lives.
Then, from beyond the jungle, three beams of light shot toward the village.
Swoosh!
The first beam struck the pirate who was dragging the eleven-year-old girl away.
“Ahhh! Please save me, mister!”
“Heh heh heh, just come quietly…!”
Crack!
The pirate was startled as something suddenly dropped between him and the girl.
What he saw was the back of a man’s head.
As if it had appeared out of thin air, the back of a man’s head was right before his eyes.
“What… what is this?”
While the pirate stared in shock, Sunwoo Jin smiled gently at the girl.
“Hello, little one. Are you alright?”
To keep the girl calm, Sunwoo Jin didn’t kill the pirate immediately but landed right in front of him.
While smiling at the girl, he delivered a powerful back kick to the pirate’s chest.
Thud!
“Ughhh!”
The pirate couldn’t even react.
His chest caved in, and he died instantly.
Just moments later, Zhengchil arrived, his voice filled with fury as he scattered his secret techniques.
“Hey, you brat! Leaving early is cheating!”
Whoosh!
“Arrgh!”
“Ahhh!”
“Ughhh!”
Caught off guard, Chu Gyein couldn’t regain his composure.
His twenty or so men who had landed with him were being slaughtered in an instant.
He shouted, “Who are you?! How dare you—!”
As always, he tried to intimidate us with the might of the Hainan faction, but he never got the chance.
Seolpung was already upon him.
Swish!
“By the southern faction…!”
Crack!
With a strike as swift as a beam of light, Seolpung’s fist connected, and Chu Gyein’s head vanished instantly.
It was the absurd death of Chu Gye-in, the bloodthirsty fishman who had earned a notorious reputation as a lawless pirate in the South Sea since his early days.
Chu Gye-in’s headless body stood frozen for a moment before slowly collapsing backward.
Thud!
Sun Woo-jin grimaced at the gruesome sight.
“Ugh, and with kids watching too… you guys really have no shame.”
Without hesitation, he lunged toward the other pirates.
Whoosh!
“Mu…!”
“Gah!”
Sun Woo-jin’s new technique swept past them like a gale, and in that instant, the flash of a sword gleamed.
Moments later, pirates began collapsing one after another, blood spurting from their necks.
Fwoosh!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
To three warriors of unparalleled skill, twenty pirates were no more than insects.
In just a few breaths, every pirate who had landed on shore was left breathless, defeated.
From a ship anchored about ten jang away from the beach, a response came.
Another vessel lay even farther off, suggesting the pirates they had just killed had come in small boats from the nearer ship.
Gan No-je, the first mate of the fifteenth ship and also a master of supreme skill, shouted with inner energy.
“You scum! Do you really think you can kill warriors of the Haenam faction and live to tell the tale?!”
Haenam faction.
Sun Woo-jin and Seol Poong exchanged glances.
So, they were indeed from Haenam.
Muk Rang sighed.
“I never thought those pirate scum were truly affiliated with Haenam.”
Feeling his regret, Sun Woo-jin sighed in reply.
“I’ve heard it’s nearly impossible for ships not belonging to Haenam to roam the Southwest Sea these days. The Haenam faction now is nothing like the place you remember, sir.”
Still, Sun Woo-jin’s attempt to comfort Muk Rang was tinged with unease.
He had avoided coming to the sea precisely to steer clear of entanglements with Haenam, yet upon arrival, they had collided head-on with them.
A clash with the dominant power ruling the Southwest Sea was no small matter.
But Hong Hae-ah, Jung Chil, who never wasted a moment on such worries, burst out laughing with inner energy.
“Kuhahaha! Think you can survive?! I think so! Kuhahaha! Do you think you can live in front of this elder?!”
Jung Chil had almost proudly announced his name but caught Sun Woo-jin’s glance and quickly switched to “Elder Jung.”
He then smiled smugly at Sun Woo-jin, as if to say, “See? I did well, right?”
Sun Woo-jin had to summon superhuman patience to resist the urge to facepalm.
Seol Poong asked, “Jin, what do you think we should do?”
After gathering his thoughts, Sun Woo-jin smiled faintly.
“Well, we’ll have to clean this up. The water’s already spilled, and no matter how much they’re Haenam, we can’t just let scum like that live, can we?”
Seol Poong nodded with a smile, and Jung Chil grinned brightly in agreement.
“Right? How could we let those guys live…!”
Then, suddenly, a thunderous explosion echoed from the ship.
Boom!
“Huh?”
It was a thunderous blast unlike anything they’d heard before.
All three stared in shock toward the ship.
From it, a black, round, rock-like object hurtled through the air at incredible speed.
“What’s that?!”
“A catapult?”
Sun Woo-jin and Seol Poong frowned at the unfamiliar sight, but Jung Chil, more experienced, shouted.
“Cannonball! It’s a cannon!”
Sun Woo-jin and Seol Poong were stunned.
Cannons were weapons strictly controlled by the government.
For mere pirates to fire one meant the rumors about Haenam’s navy takeover were true.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Sun Woo-jin leapt toward the incoming cannonball, shouting.
“I’ll take the left side!”
Splash!
Seol Poong and Jung Chil immediately followed.
“I’ll cover the right!”
“Then I’ll take the middle!”
Splash! Splash!
Sun Woo-jin, flying like a meteor, clicked his tongue at the cannonball speeding toward him.
A round iron mass that size, moving at that speed—if it hit head-on, even a powerful mine would be shattered.
“But!”
Whoosh!
Sun Woo-jin’s spinning roundhouse kick gently nudged the side of the cannonball.
Its trajectory shifted completely, and the cannonball veered toward an empty stretch of shoreline.
Sun Woo-jin chuckled softly.
“No use if it doesn’t hit straight on.”
But at that moment, a massive explosion roared.
Boom!
Startled, they watched as the cannonball Seol Poong was guarding plummeted vertically into the sea.
Splash!
White waves shot high into the air.
It was clear Seol Poong had struck it head-on, smashing it downward.
A truly Seol Poong-like response.
Meanwhile, Jung Chil seemed to have tried to catch the cannonball with his hands to stop it.
But no matter how skilled, that was impossible.
Grabbing the cannonball with both hands, Jung Chil was carried along with it.
“Ahhh! Why won’t it stop?!”
Sun Woo-jin shouted in alarm.
“Brother Jung!”
If this continued, Jung Chil would crash into the village along with the cannonball.
Boom!
Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
Perhaps because Jung Chil held on, the cannonball’s speed slowed, and it landed just in front of the village.
Jung Chil released his grip and landed beside it.
“Ow, my shoulders…”
He rubbed his aching muscles, strained from forcibly stopping the cannonball.
Sun Woo-jin sighed in relief as he landed on the shore, and Seol Poong touched down beside him, shouting.
“Jin! Look! They’re loading another one!”
Following Seol Poong’s gaze, Sun Woo-jin saw the pirates loading something into the cannon’s barrel again.
They were reloading cannonballs.
There were five cannons aimed at them from the ship’s side.
If they fired again, even more cannonballs would come flying their way.
They couldn’t just let that happen.
Sure, the cannonballs might not harm them directly, but the villagers could be caught in the crossfire.
Sun Woo-jin called to Jung Chil.
“Brother Jung, take a break for now!”
Then he shouted to Seol Poong.
“Brother!”
Seol Poong nodded.
Now perfectly in sync, the two dashed toward the ship.
Crack!
The distance to the ship was about ten jang—not a distance even two masters of new techniques could cover in a single leap.
But they didn’t need to reach it all at once.
“Now!”
Leaping five jang at a time, they pushed off the crashing white waves.
Splash!
Like skipping stones, they bounced across the water, hurtling toward the ship.
The pirates aboard gasped in shock.
“Th-That!”
“Q-Quick, shoot arrows!”
But it was already too late.
Sun Woo-jin bounced once more on the waves, soaring high above the deck with his sword raised.
At the same moment, Seol Poong charged straight at the ship’s hull.
Boom!
A force stronger and faster than any cannonball pierced the ship.
The pirates on deck were thrown sprawling.
“Ahhh!”
“Wha—what is this?!”
“The ship’s been breached! The ship!”
At that moment, Sun Woo-jin, suspended in midair, descended and slashed his sword down.
Muk Rang Sword Technique, First Strike.
Whoosh!
For the pirates, it was nothing short of a disaster.
Sun Woo-jin’s strike split a third of the ship in two, cleaving it apart.
The ship wobbled as if about to capsize.
The crew, tumbling on deck, barely saw what was happening before the vessel suddenly split into two pieces and began to sink.
“Ahhh! What is this?!”
“The Dragon King is angry! Spare us!”
“We’re going to drown!”
Sun Woo-jin and Seol Poong lightly perched on the sinking ship, watching the other vessel.
“They’re fleeing.”
“Indeed. Shall we give chase?”
The other ship, anchored farther back, immediately turned toward the open sea upon seeing their ship split and sinking.
About fifteen jang away, and growing more distant by the moment.
Sun Woo-jin hesitated.
With some effort, they might reach that ship.
But something about it didn’t feel right.
He gazed into the crystal-clear, unfathomably deep sea.
He swallowed hard.
“What if we try to cross the sea to reach that ship and fail? Would we just fall into the water?”
The thought was terrifying.
The unknown depths alone made it dangerous.
Besides, the ship they’d just arrived on was close to shore, with the seabed visible beneath the water, offering some psychological comfort.
But that ship was already far out at sea.
If they failed to attack, the situation behind them would become precarious.
Suddenly, he asked Seol Poong.
“Brother, can you swim?”
Seol Poong looked troubled.
“I’ve lived in the mountains since I was young… I’ve swum in small streams, but I’m not confident in the open sea like this.”
Sun Woo-jin wasn’t confident in swimming either.
He spoke with a troubled expression.
“Well, I guess there’s no other choice.”
It seemed they had no option but to let that ship go.
They might not know who they were, but the fact that they hadn’t destroyed the evidence left a lingering unease.