Chapter 287

Jeungchil flinched.

Gwangju, where the Jin family resided, was truly a city of water, with an extensive network of waterways.

So it made perfect sense that Jin So-eun, who hailed from there, was naturally skilled in water combat.

Only after hearing Yeon Tae-jin’s words did Jeungchil realize how foolish it was for someone like him—who was weak in water tactics—to discuss fighting on water with a native of Jin family territory. It was like trying to teach Confucius how to write.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, he tried to change the subject.

“Hmm, well, it’s not that I’m especially good at water combat… Ah, but shouldn’t we leave immediately before anything happens? They might still try to chase us, even if they’re late.”

But once Yeon Tae-jin had a hold of her prey, she wasn’t about to let go.

“Oh, please! What’s there to worry about with a chase? I’m with Brother Jeung, after all. Right? If the enemy does come after us, won’t it be a chance to see Brother Jeung’s amazing water skills? Ah, I’m so excited! I hope they come quickly!”

With that, she clasped her hands together and stared across the river as if truly waiting for the enemy.

Jeungchil, feeling uneasy, said hurriedly, “N-no, there’s no need to wait. It’s better if we don’t fight at all. I’ll have my chance to show my water skills someday…”

Then, suddenly, Yeon Tae-jin shouted.

“Ah! The enemy’s here!”

Startled, Jeungchil quickly scanned across the river and asked anxiously, “E-enemy?! Where?! Where are they coming from?!”

His face was genuinely panicked.

Since the last time he’d been beaten by Oh Ik-deok of the Haenam faction, Jeungchil had been terrified of water battles.

And now, after all his bluster, real enemies had actually appeared.

It was a nightmare.

In his mind, he could already see himself being humiliated in front of Yeon Tae-jin and Jin So-eun.

He screamed silently inside.

“No! How much will that bare-skinned woman mock me this time? Damn it! Why now, of all times, do they have to show up?!”

As Jeungchil cursed the invisible enemies, Jin So-eun couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

The sight of Jeungchil falling for Yeon Tae-jin’s teasing was just too funny.

Jeungchil, still dazed and not quite catching on, wore a blank expression.

Then Yeon Tae-jin smiled charmingly and said to him, “You know, that place over there looks really dark. Like, it feels like a ghost might pop out.”

“Over there? Not the enemy?”

Jeungchil, momentarily stunned, finally realized that Yeon Tae-jin had been teasing him.

Fuming, he opened his mouth to scold her.

“You, you bare-skinned woman! How dare you—”

But Yeon Tae-jin looked at him innocently and asked, “But Brother Jeung, why are you so worried? You’re a master of water combat, so surely you weren’t scared of the enemy. Or… are you afraid of ghosts?”

Faced with that question, Jeungchil couldn’t say another word.

To argue would mean admitting, first, that he was clueless about water combat.

So, with a furious expression, he just opened and closed his mouth, speechless.

Jin So-eun had to fight hard to hold back her laughter again.

Yeon Tae-jin glanced at her and winked.

Even Jin So-eun, a woman herself, found that expression utterly captivating.

She suddenly recalled the first time she met Yeon Tae-jin.

At first, because of her background in the underworld and her wild attire, she seemed like someone impossible to get close to.

But now, as close as sisters, Jin So-eun knew exactly how amazing Yeon Tae-jin was.

No other woman she knew was as bold or as true to herself.

Of course, she still wasn’t quite used to Yeon Tae-jin’s blatant displays of affection toward Seol Poong.

But she had come to understand that those expressions came from Yeon Tae-jin’s honesty and loyalty to herself above all else.

Jin So-eun admired her deeply.

She even thought that if she could change herself, she’d want to be more like Yeon Tae-jin.

Just then, Seol Poong suddenly spoke.

“Someone’s really coming.”

Jeungchil, who had been sulking, jumped in surprise again.

Seol Poong wouldn’t joke about something like this.

If he said someone was coming, then someone was truly on their way.

“W-who’s coming?! Where?! Where are they?!”

Jin So-eun looked not around but at Seol Poong’s face.

If he said someone was coming, then someone was coming.

And even if they were surrounded by countless top-tier experts, if Seol Poong said he could handle it, then he could.

Seol Poong was that kind of person.

Jin So-eun, who had believed there would never be another like Sunwoo Jin, had to admit after meeting Seol Poong that while no one could replace Sunwoo Jin, there could be someone just as remarkable.

Seol Poong’s incredible martial prowess and astonishing secret origins were like something out of a story.

But his true charm wasn’t those things.

It was his steady demeanor, the gentle smile and care he sometimes showed, and the beast-like force he unleashed when making decisions.

It was easy to see why Yeon Tae-jin had fallen for him.

Jin So-eun thought that if she had met Seol Poong before Sunwoo Jin, she might have fallen for him too.

(Of course, if that had happened, she’d have become a rival to her sister.)

She smiled quietly at the thought.

But seeing how Yeon Tae-jin didn’t seem to mind that Seol Poong had a lover, she figured they could have gotten along just fine.

Her sister would have said confidently to her:

“So-eun, I’m prettier than you, stronger and more capable. So I’m the one who can help Poong more. Right?”

If that had happened, Jin So-eun would have been left speechless and completely deflated.

At that moment, while Jeungchil was turning his head back and forth toward the dark river, Sunwoo Jin looked behind them and said,

“Not that way. This way. There are several of them. I can smell strong blood.”

“Huh?”

Only then did Jeungchil realize that Seol Poong and Sunwoo Jin’s gazes were not toward the river but toward the land behind them.

Everyone saw the deep sigh of relief on Jeungchil’s face.

It was clear he had been truly burdened by the thought of a water battle.

But Jeungchil was still Jeungchil.

As if he’d never worried, he shouted boldly again.

“I was going to show off my water skills this time, but too bad! Looks like I’ll have to show off my land combat skills instead! So, who are these fools? Who’s crazy enough to attack us?”

Seol Poong and Sunwoo Jin exchanged glances.

Their expressions were much heavier than before.

Sunwoo Jin spoke first.

“I don’t think they’re enemies.”

Seol Poong nodded and added, “Let’s go see. We need to assess the situation.”

The others exchanged puzzled looks but followed them.

They still had no idea what was going on.

But after moving a little, they soon understood what Sunwoo Jin had meant.

Jeungchil frowned deeply.

“What’s with this smell of blood? Is there a war or something?”

The stench of blood was overwhelming.

The foul scent, carried perfectly by the wind, was heading straight toward them.

Moments later, when they landed on the ground, they were speechless at the horrific sight before them.

“Ugh…”

“Someone, please… us…”

“Please, please help us…”

What they saw were people covered in blood, crawling painfully toward the Yangtze River.

Their injuries were so severe it was a wonder any of them were still alive.

Despite their wounds, they crawled forward in utter desperation.

Sunwoo Jin gritted his teeth.

At first, when he sensed the presence of the wounded, he thought it might be a trap.

They could be pretending to be injured to lower their guard and launch an ambush.

But seeing them now, there was no way.

There were seven of them, and none were unscathed.

One had lost an arm, another had deep cuts on his back, bleeding profusely.

Far from a trap, they looked like they were bleeding out and could die any moment.

In fact, it was almost miraculous they were still moving.

The group hurried to them.

“Hey! What happened?!”

“Are you okay?! You’re losing too much blood!”

“Hey! Stay conscious! If you pass out now, you’ll die!”

At first, the injured flinched in surprise, but then tears welled up as they pleaded.

“Please, help us. Behind us… the children…”

“Please, I beg you, save the children…”

The group understood why these severely wounded people had crawled all this way.

They had been desperately trying to reach the river port to find help for their families.

Sunwoo Jin gritted his teeth and immediately began emergency treatment on the worst cases.

With proper care, some of them might survive.

While treating the least injured, he asked, “What happened? Who did this to you?”

A man with one arm missing answered, terror etched on his face.

“Bandits… bandits attacked us…”

The group frowned and asked again.

“Bandits?”

It was a word unfamiliar to them.

Most of the group—Seol Poong and Sunwoo Jin from Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, which are mostly mountainous and covered in dense forests, and Jin So-eun and Yeon Tae-jin from Guangxi, a region crisscrossed with waterways—had never encountered bandits or pirates before, let alone a marauding gang like this.

In the southern provinces, horses were rare and expensive to begin with.

What was even stranger was that these martial artists, who clearly belonged to the martial world, had been reduced to such a state by mere bandits.

Out of the seven, five were top-tier masters, and two even seemed to be on the cusp of the pinnacle.

To think that a band of thieves could bring down warriors of this caliber was beyond imagination.

But for now, the group decided to set aside their questions and focus on rescuing the survivors.

If they delayed, most of these people would surely die.

This was the moment when Sunwoo Jin’s medical skills became crucial.

Looking at Seol Poong and Jeung Chil, Sunwoo Jin spoke urgently.

“Please head in the direction they came from and check it out! There might be children there!”

“Understood!”

“I’ll leave it to you, brother!”

As Seol Poong and Jeung Chil darted off like rays of light, Sunwoo Jin turned to Jin So-eun and Yeon Tae-jin.

“Could you two prepare some strong liquor and clean cloths? The liquor should be in Jeung Chil’s pack.”

“Got it!”

“Yes, understood!”

While helping with the bleeding and treatment, Jin So-eun found herself stealing glances at Sunwoo Jin’s profile, who was wholly absorbed in saving lives.

She was already deeply fond of him, but even if she hadn’t been, seeing him like this would have made her fall all over again.

Though these were strangers, his sincere gaze as he did his utmost to save them, his incredible martial prowess combined with his skilled acupuncture—it was all incredibly impressive.

Not to mention his handsome features.

“Phew…”

Jin So-eun let out a small, involuntary sigh.

Her chest ached.

Not long ago, after hearing Yeon Tae-jin say that it didn’t matter if Seol Poong already had a lover, she found herself respecting her even more.

Because she knew she could never be like her.

“Sunwoo Gongja already has a fiancée.”

By now, she should have accepted that calmly, but whenever the thought crossed her mind, her heart still felt like it was being torn apart, and tears welled up in her eyes.

She no longer stood there dazed like a fool, but still, she struggled to regain her composure.

Becoming like Yeon Tae-jin seemed far too difficult for Jin So-eun.

Yet, perhaps with time acting as a balm, she found herself thinking differently these days.

Though she might never be the one to receive his love, wasn’t it enough just to be grateful for the joy of sharing this journey with him?

That was the thought she clung to.

So Jin So-eun made a conscious effort to hold onto gratitude.

For all she had gained by meeting him.

For this very moment she could spend with him.

And simply for his existence itself…

As she continued to watch Sunwoo Jin’s profile, Jin So-eun silently made a wish to herself.

“May I not shrink back in shameful inferiority. May I not make wrong choices out of ugly jealousy. And may I always keep this grateful heart…”

That was the only hope Jin So-eun could offer herself in this moment.