Chapter 252
“This way, this way.”
“Thank you.”
Jin Taedo, guided by Hyo Chigon’s men, managed to reach the cabin where Sun Woojin had gone in.
At first, Jin Taedo approached the cabin with a calm expression and steady steps, but the moment he arrived, his face hardened completely.
“This is the room?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Jin Taedo stared at the closed cabin door with a grim look for a moment, then suddenly kicked it open.
Shhhhhh!
Crackle!
“Ugh?!”
With a single strike, Jin Taedo tore through the cabin door and the adjoining wall.
But through the gap, the cabin was empty.
No sign of Sun Woojin, no sign of Jin So-eun…
They had already escaped.
The men from Ma-gyeong who had led Jin Taedo there looked flustered and stammered excuses.
“T-They were definitely here!”
“Yes! The short-haired woman and the other were quietly inside this room…”
Jin Taedo frowned briefly, then broke into a smile.
“Well, if they were dumb enough to just wait quietly in the cabin while all hell was breaking loose outside, they’d be dead by now.”
It made sense.
And even if they had escaped, where could they have gone?
This was a small ship surrounded by nothing but sea—and his entire fleet was spread out nearby.
It was only a matter of time before they were back in his grasp.
As Jin Taedo smiled to himself, a sudden noise came from outside.
Crackle!
“Ahhh!”
“Help!”
It wasn’t a loud sound.
So faint that anyone less skilled than Jin Taedo wouldn’t have heard it, coming from quite a distance.
“Hm?”
Curious, Jin Taedo climbed up to the deck.
What he saw made his eyes widen.
Four of the naval vessels surrounding the shore had been split in two and were slowly sinking.
The crew aboard were falling into the sea, screaming in panic.
“What?!”
Jin Taedo’s eyes sharpened.
The distance was not close.
Because Hyo Chigon’s ship had charged toward the sea to escape, Jin Taedo was now at the far end of the water.
The sinking ships were dozens of jang away, near the harbor.
At that moment, another ship closest to the harbor split apart with a thunderous roar.
Crackle!
“!”
Jin Taedo’s keen eyes immediately spotted a figure standing on the tilting deck.
A young man in white.
It was Sun Woojin.
“Inparang?!”
Slowly, Sun Woojin turned around, and their eyes met across the void.
Sun Woojin smiled faintly, then, gathering his inner energy, shouted loudly toward Jin Taedo.
He sneered, raising the corner of his mouth.
Jin Taedo could see that expression clearly.
Right after boarding Hyo Chigon’s ship, Sun Woojin had vanished using stealth and disembarked.
It was natural—Sun Woojin had been waiting not for Hyo Chigon, but for Jin Taedo.
Having anticipated Jin Taedo’s arrival, Sun Woojin had observed that Jin Taedo’s fleet had formed a blockade much closer to the harbor than expected.
So instead of waiting, he crossed the sea and destroyed the ships near Jin Taedo’s fleet.
The distance between them now was dozens of jang, over open water.
No matter how skilled Jin Taedo was—one of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stars—it was impossible to chase Sun Woojin here.
Sun Woojin gave his final words and turned toward the land.
Just as he was about to launch himself toward the shore, Jin Taedo shouted.
Regret…
Sun Woojin wasn’t too concerned, but he turned his head to look at Jin Taedo.
Jin Taedo’s face was flushed red with rage, glaring at him as if ready to devour him.
He shouted toward his flagship, the Black Dragon.
“Her?”
Sun Woojin’s expression stiffened.
A bad feeling crept over him.
“No way…”
Moments later, Sun Woojin’s fears were confirmed.
Jin Taedo’s men dragged a bound figure onto the deck of the Black Dragon.
It was Myo Aran.
The daughter of Myo Cheongju, head of the Haenam Myo clan—the very woman who had promised to catch Jin Taedo’s attention—was now captured and brought out onto the deck.
Sun Woojin’s face grew serious.
“Damn… have we been discovered?”
His mind raced.
If she was captured because Jin Taedo realized she was cooperating with him, then those who had secretly returned to Haenam Island were all in danger.
But showing weakness to the enemy was out of the question.
Sun Woojin forced himself calm and shouted back at Jin Taedo.
He turned as if to leave.
Or at least pretended to.
Jin Taedo’s voice rang out again.
Hearing this, Sun Woojin felt a slight relief.
It seemed Jin Taedo hadn’t captured her because he fully understood the situation.
He only spared her because of some lingering attachment.
And he thought she might be useful.
Still, capturing someone who claimed to be cooperating with him was a bold move.
“Well, that’s a relief… but what now?”
Sun Woojin glanced at Myo Aran from afar.
She looked resolute, as if prepared to die, staring back at him.
When their eyes met, she silently mouthed something.
Sun Woojin could easily read her lips: “Just go.”
“Damn.”
Sun Woojin hesitated.
He couldn’t just do as she said.
If she were truly Inparang, maybe he could have left her behind as an enemy’s daughter.
But Myo Aran was innocent and had helped him.
Abandoning her went against his principles.
Jin Taedo seemed to interpret Sun Woojin’s hesitation as a positive sign.
He burst into laughter.
Sun Woojin said nothing.
He noticed that, except for the Black Dragon carrying Myo Aran, Jin Taedo’s fleet was slowly closing in.
They were narrowing the distance at a pace that wouldn’t provoke him.
Meanwhile, Jin Taedo kept talking.
Jin Taedo’s words were clearly meant to distract him.
But Sun Woojin still couldn’t move.
Not because he hadn’t made up his mind.
In fact, he had already decided.
“I can’t just let her die like this.”
Not abandoning people was a core belief in Sun Woojin’s second life.
So leaving her behind coldly was impossible.
But how to save her was the problem.
“The distance is too great. No guarantee I can reach her across the sea. Even if I do, Jin Taedo’s closer to her than I am. And all those ships are filled with his men. He won’t just let me take her quietly.”
He was trapped.
Running away would be easy.
But having decided to save her, the situation was dire.
Then, Sun Woojin’s eyes twitched slightly.
Moments later, he shouted toward the slowly approaching Jin Taedo.
The question silenced Jin Taedo instantly.
His face hardened.
He glared at Sun Woojin for a moment, then replied.
Officially, it was true.
Jin Taedo was not yet married and had no sons, even among his illegitimate children.
Though he had sown his seed recklessly, all his offspring were daughters.
Sun Woojin smirked bitterly and shouted again.
Jin Taedo’s face twisted in shock.
He had never expected Sun Woojin to say that.
“How does he know that?”
Sun Woojin continued, a mocking grin on his face…
“Curious how I found out the truth? When we raided Baekgyobang, Yoonsak’s woman told me herself! She begged me not to kill her son, saying he wasn’t Yoonsak’s child but the son of Jin Taedo, the head of the Haenam faction!”
‘Damn it!’
Hearing that, Jin Taedo could piece together the situation.
She must have thought those attacking Yoonsak were enemies, so to save her life, she used his name as a shield.
But…
Seon Woojin kept going.
“Isn’t it incredible? You strike at your enemy’s men to get revenge, and out comes the enemy’s own child! Honestly, I was genuinely impressed! Sending your mistress, who’s carrying your child, to your most trusted subordinate! Jin Taedo, you’re truly something else!”
Gnash!
Jin Taedo ground his teeth.
To hear that spoken so openly in front of his men—it made him want to tear Woojin apart, bone by bone.
Yet, he said nothing.
Or rather, he chose not to respond.
Because while Woojin was babbling on, their ship was steadily closing the distance between them.
If he could keep Woojin distracted like this, closing in bit by bit, soon he might just devour him whole.
Then, with a cold smile, Woojin asked him.
“Now, tell me, Jin Taedo—what did I do to her and that child? Your enemy’s own son?”
Jin Taedo clenched his jaw until it ached.
Though he never married, he’d lived a reckless life, spreading his seed far and wide.
If a son was born, he planned to take him in and raise him.
But strangely, all the children born from his indiscretions were daughters.
Except for one—the first and only son was born to the woman he had sent to Yoonsak.
So losing that child was a true heartbreak for Jin Taedo.
That’s why he never stopped caring about the boy.
But now, the child had fallen into the hands of that Inparang scoundrel.
Jin Taedo guessed that Woojin had probably killed the boy.
If it were him, he never would have let the child live.
But what came out of Woojin’s mouth was different.
“You’d have killed him on the spot, no doubt. But I’m not some beast like you—someone who kills innocent babies.”
Jin Taedo’s eyes widened.
What?!
That meant… the child wasn’t dead?
He couldn’t be sure, but if Woojin’s words were true, then Jin Taedo’s only son might still be alive.
As Jin Taedo stared, waiting for Woojin’s next words, Woojin glanced at the approaching ships, grinned, and said,
“Well then, I’ll tell you what happened to that child… next time.”
With that, Woojin turned away without a second thought.
Jin Taedo shouted in surprise.
“Stop! If you keep going, your fiancée—!”
Suddenly—
“Aaaargh!”
“Uuugh!”
Screams echoed from behind Jin Taedo, from the Black Dragon warship where Myoaran was held.
“What? What’s going on?!”
Jin Taedo whipped his head around and saw his men being slaughtered on the Black Dragon ship.
“W-who is that?!”
He was horrified.
The one massacring his men was someone he knew well—or at least, whose reputation he’d heard.
A ragged figure dressed in tattered clothes, wild hair, a beard-covered face, and wielding a pure white sword that seemed out of place with his rough appearance.
Haap!
With a swing of his sword, a chilling white aura spread, freezing Jin Taedo’s men who were about to attack together.
A brutal ice technique—one that reminded Jin Taedo of the legendary Northern Sea Ice Palace.
He spat out the name in disbelief.
“Baekrang… Geomgae? How did he—?”
It was Baekrang Geomgae.
The man who had suddenly appeared one day, wielding a pure white sword adorned with a wolf’s head, and destroyed several naval warships with an unheard-of ice technique.
How he ended up here, or what his connection to Inparang was, didn’t matter now.
What mattered was what he was about to do.
Jin Taedo roared.
“Attack! If you can’t kill him, then kill her!”
At his command, a naval soldier beside Myoaran turned toward her, gritting his teeth and thrusting his sword.
Shuak!
“Ahhh!”
Sensing death, Myoaran squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.
Puhak!
“Gah!”
But the soldier’s attempt to kill Myoaran only partially succeeded.
Baekrang Geomgae’s sword spirit struck the soldier’s head, severing it, and the sword plunged not into Myoaran’s chest but her abdomen.
Pook!
“Ugh!”
As she staggered, clutching the sword wound, Baekrang Geomgae finally reached her, scooped her up, and without hesitation, leapt into the sea.
Haap!
Shuak!
As he plunged into the water and drew his sword, the sea instantly froze.
Baekrang Geomgae, having saved Myoaran, began running across the frozen surface, escaping to the side.
Jin Taedo ground his teeth in fury.
“You fools!”
At that moment, Woojin’s voice echoed in his ear again.
“Well then, take care, Jin Taedo!”
Startled, Jin Taedo turned to see Woojin standing atop Sandu Harbor, wearing a cold smile.
Beside him was a short-haired woman, and together they turned and dashed toward the shore.
Unable to contain his rage, Jin Taedo bellowed.
“You bastard!”
The Inparang he wanted to kill so badly, and Myoaran, brought to capture him, were both slipping away in opposite directions.
After regrouping with Jin So-eun, who had been waiting at the harbor, Seon Woojin dashed like the wind, leaving Sandu Harbor behind.
They had to disappear before Jin Taedo’s ships arrived.
Running alongside him, Jin So-eun asked,
“Master Seon Woojin! Who was that man earlier?”
Woojin answered as they ran.
“That was Baekrang Geomgae! A vigilante who recently appeared, putting a stop to the Haenam faction’s atrocities.”
“Baekrang Geomgae?! Were you originally supposed to meet him?”
“No, not at all! He suddenly contacted me through telepathy earlier. I think he came to Sandu after hearing rumors about us. Word has spread that we might be meeting the Ma-gyeong here.”
“Oh!”
As he answered, Woojin recalled the telepathic message he’d heard earlier, just as he was pondering how to save Myoaran.
“Are you Seon Woojin?”
The voice had shocked him—he never expected to hear it here.
‘That voice… could it really be Baekrang Geomgae? If so, how…?’
Lost in thought, Woojin told Jin So-eun,
“We’re supposed to meet him at Bonghwang Mountain, a bit outside this area. Let’s hurry.”
“Got it!”