Chapter 199

Just as Sun Woo-jin was pondering how Seung Chil should confront them, suddenly, Seung Chil burst out angrily.

“How dare you?! How dare you?! Who does a brat like you think you are, speaking to this elder that way?! You filthy pirate—you need to be beaten like a dog to learn some respect!”

Sun Woo-jin was taken aback.

Before he could even decide how to handle the situation, Seung Chil had already provoked their enemies.

“No, wait! Brother!”

Panicked, Sun Woo-jin tried to stop Seung Chil immediately.

But it was too late.

Hearing those words, Il Dosal-gyeong Oh Ik-deok shouted back just as fiercely.

“What did you say?! Filthy pirate?! You scrawny old donkey, you look so withered you don’t even want to keep your bones! You want to die that fast, old man?!”

Seung Chil’s fury only intensified at being called a “scrawny old donkey.”

“What?! Scrawny old donkey?! You want me dead that badly?! How dare you speak to this elder like that?! Fine! I do want to die! Come on, try and kill me, you filthy pirate!”

“What?! You think I can’t, you donkey-like old man?!”

Before anyone could react, the two lunged at each other.

Bang!

Sun Woo-jin and Seol Poong both shouted in surprise.

“Brother Seung Chil!”

But it was already too late.

The two were already flying toward each other over the sea.

Only then did Sun Woo-jin recall the rumors about this Oh Ik-deok.

‘If I remember correctly, Oh Ik-deok was said to have the looks of Guan Yu and the temperament of Zhang Fei.’

Though he appeared serious and composed, his personality was fiery—much like Seung Chil’s.

With two hotheads like that facing off, neither was going to back down.

They were about ten jang apart. Seung Chil leapt forward, easily clearing half the distance, stepping on the crashing waves as he soared upward again.

Swish!

Oh Ik-deok, wielding his great sword, was flying toward him from about four jang away.

Finally, they collided midair above the sea.

“You bastard!”

“You old man!”

Seung Chil’s crimson aura clashed head-on with Oh Ik-deok’s deep blue energy, like fire meeting ocean.

Ka-BOOM!

The impact sent both flying backward.

Their power seemed evenly matched.

But then the problem arose.

Seung Chil was falling backward toward the water.

While he could have stepped on the waves to regain footing if moving forward, falling back like this meant he’d plunge straight into the sea.

“Brother!”

Quick as a flash, Sun Woo-jin threw a piece of driftwood.

Like a homing missile, it flew straight beneath Seung Chil’s feet just as he was about to hit the water.

Seung Chil stepped on it and propelled himself upward once more.

Tap!

“Thanks, youngest!”

But as Seung Chil rose, he was stunned.

Oh Ik-deok, his opponent, had already fallen into the water.

Splash!

Seung Chil muttered in disbelief.

“Huh? What the—? A pirate falling into the water…?”

Then, like a dolphin, Oh Ik-deok burst back up from the sea.

“Ha ha ha ha! Old man!”

Laughing wildly, Oh Ik-deok used the momentum to swing his great sword again.

“Ugh!”

Whoosh!

Startled, Seung Chil hurriedly threw a punch toward the sword strike.

“You bastard!”

Ka-BOOM!

They clashed again, sending Seung Chil flying upward and Oh Ik-deok plunging back into the water.

They were truly evenly matched in every way.

But seeing this, Sun Woo-jin and Seol Poong’s expressions darkened.

Oh Ik-deok’s underwater combat skills were incredible—he moved freely like a fish beneath the waves.

Even if Seung Chil was stronger on land, underwater he was at a severe disadvantage.

Especially now, when their skills seemed evenly matched…

Seol Poong thought this through and quickly gathered more driftwood nearby.

They had to give Seung Chil something to stand on again.

“Brother!”

Whoosh!

Seol Poong threw another piece of wood toward Seung Chil.

Falling toward the sea, Seung Chil smiled and called out.

“Thanks, Seol!”

But just as he was about to step on the wood, a splash erupted beneath him.

Oh Ik-deok surged up again, water spraying everywhere.

Swish!

“Ha ha ha ha! Missing the ground, old man?!”

Seung Chil’s face froze.

“Ugh?!”

In the next instant, Oh Ik-deok’s great sword sliced through the driftwood.

Shing!

Ka-BOOM!

Seung Chil had no choice but to meet the strike with his fist, and was sent flying backward again.

His expression turned grave.

He finally realized how dire the situation was.

With an opponent who could move freely both in and out of the water, and himself forced to avoid falling in, the outcome was obvious.

The battle continued like this.

Oh Ik-deok kept knocking Seung Chil away, like a trained dog playing with a ball.

“Ha ha ha! Old man! Afraid of the water? I’ll lift you up again! How’s that?! Ha ha ha!”

“You bastard!”

The situation was clear.

Oh Ik-deok was toying with Seung Chil.

The fight was essentially over.

Seol Poong, unable to stand it any longer, prepared to jump in.

“I have to help Brother Seung Chil.”

But Sun Woo-jin stopped him.

“No, brother. While Seung Chil buys time, you need to get back to the ship.”

“Oh!”

Seol Poong immediately understood.

It was better to secure footing on the ship than to risk the water trying to help Seung Chil.

“I’ll watch over Seung Chil. You take the ship.”

“Got it!”

Without hesitation, Seol Poong launched himself.

Bang!

Like a fierce tiger, he flew over the sea, covering five jang in an instant.

One more leap on the waves and he could reach the ship.

Then, from another ship nearby, a large man watching with folded arms shouted.

“Fire!”

From five ships on the right, arrows rained down toward Seol Poong.

Pipipipipipip!

Sun Woo-jin and Seol Poong were horrified.

They had been aiming at them all along, prepared for their arrival.

“Ugh!”

Seol Poong gritted his teeth, staring at the storm of arrows.

Five ships, over 150 archers, firing in a dense, relentless volley.

And these weren’t ordinary curved arrows.

They flew straight and fast, like homing missiles.

Shiiiiiik!

Seol Poong hesitated.

Deflecting them wouldn’t be too hard.

But the problem was what came next.

If he wasted energy defending, he’d likely fall into the sea himself.

‘No choice!’

He had to leap upward, away from the waves, to avoid the arrow storm.

Swish!

As he soared up, a rain of arrows pierced the air just beneath him.

Shreeeeek!

Shing!

At that moment, the large man who had ordered the volley smiled coldly and began drawing his massive bow.

It was a magnificent red bow carved with a phoenix’s head.

Fwooop.

The bowstring pulled back smoothly, radiating immense power.

But it wasn’t just the man and bow that were impressive.

The arrow was no ordinary shaft.

It looked more like a giant metal spear, glowing with blue energy.

A thin silver thread was attached to its tail.

The man released the string lightly.

Thwong!

The spear shot forward at terrifying speed—faster than sound, almost like a ray of light.

Shreeeeek!

Seol Poong’s eyes widened in shock as the massive arrow hurtled toward him.

Floating in midair, he couldn’t dodge.

“Yikes!”

He spun his body sharply and caught the shaft just as it was about to pierce his right chest.

Thud!

The arrow’s tremendous momentum sent Seol Poong flying backward at lightning speed.

“Gah!”

In an instant, he was back near the shore, releasing the arrow and landing safely.

As if deliberately guiding him, the arrow hung briefly in the air, then flew back toward the ship, pulled by the silver thread.

Seol Poong retreated to the shore.

The man who had fired the arrow shouted toward Oh Ik-deok, who was still knocking Seung Chil through the air.

“Enough playing around, Ik-deok! Come back now!”

Oh Ik-deok looked startled.

“Yes?! But, brother, this old man…!”

He seemed to have much to say, but the man with the great bow said nothing.

He just stared silently at Oh Ik-deok.

Deflated, Oh Ik-deok finally answered.

“Understood, brother.”

Then, he swung his sword again toward Jeungchil, who was falling back toward him.

Thud!

The force of the blow sent Jeungchil flying back toward the shoreline.

O Ik-deok had deliberately sent him that way.

“Hey, you bastard! What the hell are you trying to do?!”

Jeungchil’s shout barely registered as Sun Woo-jin sharpened his senses and studied the towering man wielding the massive bow.

The man’s face was as solemn and steady as a statue.

Just looking at him, you could feel the unyielding will and strength, as solid as rock.

Seeing his appearance, Sun Woo-jin felt he could guess the man’s identity.

‘Only someone who could force the top-tier master O Ik-deok of the Haenam faction to back down—and wield such a huge bow—could be…’

At that moment, the man called out to Sun Woo-jin.

“I am Yoo Hae-eung of the Haenam faction! Are you by any chance Baekrang Geomgae?”

Hearing the name, Sun Woo-jin realized his guess was correct.

This was indeed Yoo Hae-eung.

The head of the Haenam Yoo family, one of the Haenam Twelve, and a supreme master of the Haenam faction, known as the Dragon King’s Bow.

True to the rumors, he was a master of incredible skill and wielded a bow of tremendous power.

Just then, a girl who had been hiding behind a rock suddenly burst out cheering.

“Yoo Hae-eung-nim?! Ahhh! It’s Yoo Hae-eung-nim! We’re saved!”

Sun Woo-jin looked over at her with a puzzled expression.

She smiled brightly and quickly explained.

“Yoo Hae-eung-nim is the fairest and most honorable among the Haenam faction! He never pillages; instead, he helps those who have been robbed. He’s a good man!”

“Oh!”

Only now did Sun Woo-jin understand why Yoo Hae-eung had quietly sent Seolpung and Jeungchil away.

He preferred dialogue over fighting.

Then Yoo Hae-eung called out again.

“I ask once more! Are you Baekrang Geomgae?”

Sun Woo-jin frowned and muttered under his breath.

“Baekrang Geomgae?”

He’d never heard that name before—not in this life, nor the last.

Yet Yoo Hae-eung was looking right at him, or more precisely, at his sword, asking if he was Baekrang Geomgae.

Even though Sun Woo-jin’s sword, Mukrang, was carefully wrapped in cloth around the scabbard, guard, and hilt to keep it hidden.