Chapter 289

The thunderous sound wasn’t just a few horses—it was an overwhelming number of hooves pounding the earth.

And the noise was definitely getting closer, heading straight toward them.

Chu Jegu’s face hardened as he issued a warning.

“I hear hooves behind us. They say when you talk about a tiger, it appears—looks like it’s them.”

“Huh?”

Yuk Dusaeng, momentarily caught off guard, quickly composed himself and shouted calmly.

“Bandits approaching from the rear! All scouts, prepare yourselves!”

At once, the scouts of the Yukhap Pyo-guk moved with precision.

They formed a solid shield around the rear, centering on the pyo-du leaders, while still keeping a vigilant eye on the front—a display of seasoned expertise.

Chu Jegu watched their skilled maneuvers with satisfaction, then slowly urged his horse toward the rear.

As the most experienced warrior among them, he intended to take the frontline and face the enemy first.

But as he moved back, his expression grew increasingly grave.

‘The sound of hooves…’

At first, hearing the hooves, he’d thought the bandits were close.

But that wasn’t the case.

They were still quite far away.

The proof: no sign of the enemy had yet appeared in sight.

‘Then why can I still hear them?’

He swallowed dryly, almost unconsciously.

Finally, beyond a distant hill, a cloud of dust rose.

Thundering hooves shook the ground.

Small dots appeared atop the hill.

Bandits.

What had started as a few specks quickly spread out in all directions.

Yuk Dusaeng muttered under his breath, almost a groan.

“Their numbers…”

Chu Jegu scanned the enemy with a dazed look.

“Is that… really a bandit gang?”

Their numbers were staggering.

At least a thousand, maybe more.

They looked less like bandits and more like a cavalry regiment.

Thundering hooves!

“Charge!”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

“Kill them! Kill!”

The bandits, clad in all sorts of garb and wielding various weapons, charged forward with wild shouts.

Their speed was incredible, their momentum overwhelming.

Chu Jegu urgently shouted to Yuk Dusaeng.

“Evacuate the families! Quickly!”

But he himself spurred his horse forward.

“Let’s go!”

Clatter, clatter, clatter—thud, thud!

“Heeheeheehee-hin!”

But the horse, after moving forward briefly, refused to obey.

It kept turning its head, trying to flee backward.

Not surprising, since it wasn’t a trained warhorse.

“Damn it!”

Chu Jegu decided to dismount.

He had to stop their momentum at all costs.

Looking ahead again, he saw the enemy had closed in rapidly.

Thundering hooves!

“Yah!”

“Kill the old man first!”

The enemies loomed large, like massive war machines charging forward.

Gritting his teeth, Chu Jegu drew the massive hammer strapped to his back and charged at them.

“I am Chu Jeguk of Yukhap Chuga!”

With a loud battle cry, the first rider finally collided with him.

“Yah!”

“Hah!”

Swish!

Chu Jegu ducked under the bandit’s heavy sword and swung his hammer at the horse’s right leg.

Smash!

“Heeheeheehee-hin!”

The horse’s leg shattered into pieces.

The rider was flung forward by momentum, crashing hard onto the ground.

“Argh!”

Thud!

The rider screamed as he hit the earth headfirst.

The sudden silence that followed suggested he was dead.

But Chu Jegu couldn’t confirm—another bandit was already attacking from the left.

This time, a spear.

“Yah!”

Whoosh!

The spear’s speed, combined with the horse’s gallop, made the attack terrifyingly fast despite the attacker’s low skill.

Chu Jegu leapt lightly to avoid the spear.

Whish!

He spun and swung his hammer, striking the rider’s head.

Crack!

The bandit’s head vanished in an instant as he passed by Chu Jegu’s side.

Chu Jegu kicked off the riderless horse’s back and leapt again.

Thud!

Several throwing spears whizzed past his feet.

Swish! Swish!

Floating in midair, Chu Jegu immediately regretted rising so high.

From above, he could see countless eyes locked onto him.

But regret was useless now.

He had to make the best choice he could.

Before the bandits could throw more spears and daggers, Chu Jegu spun his body and scattered his hands.

“Hah!”

Choo-shaak!

Five blazing energy orbs shot from his hands.

They targeted the closest enemies.

The glowing spheres flew at incredible speed, bombarding the bandits.

Boom!

“Arrgh!”

“Ugh!”

Each orb exploded, obliterating not only their targets but also two or three bandits nearby.

Chu Jegu landed safely on the ground.

Thanks to the gap created by the explosions, he caught his breath briefly and scanned the charging bandits filling the void.

“Ha ha ha ha!”

“Not bad for an old man!”

Even in such a short time, Chu Jegu’s display of skill was astonishing.

But it was only a dozen or so enemies.

Just a few drops taken from the incoming tide.

Chu Jegu already felt his body stiffening.

He’d burned through his internal energy with such intense exertion in so little time.

‘Already…’

A pessimistic thought crossed his mind.

But he clenched his teeth and shook it off.

With a loud battle cry, he swung his hammer wildly at the oncoming riders.

“Yahhh!”

Crack!

“Arrgh!”

“Hah!”

“Gah!”

His ferocity was incredible.

Like a raging torrent crashing against rocks and splitting in two, the bandits fell on either side of him.

After a while, Chu Jegu finally succeeded in splitting the more than thousand-strong bandit force completely.

It was unbelievable.

From far behind, the Yukhap Pyo-guk scouts watched anxiously, then erupted in cheers at the astonishing sight.

“Wooooah!”

“As expected of Elder Chu!”

“Elder Chu, you’re amazing!”

The bandits, split in two, curved back in a semicircle and began retreating.

Seeing this, the scouts cheered again.

“The enemy’s retreating!”

“We won! Elder Chu has driven them off!”

“Wooooah!”

The scouts couldn’t hide their joy at Chu Jegu’s incredible feat of turning back over a thousand bandits alone.

But the bandits who had curved back in two groups soon regrouped about thirty ranks behind.

And then charged at Chu Jegu once more.

Thundering hooves!

“Yah!”

“Ha ha ha ha! Old man! Did you have a nice dream?!”

“Try again! Ha ha ha!”

They hadn’t retreated.

The scouts, unfamiliar with cavalry tactics, had mistaken the bandits’ maneuver to gain momentum by pulling back.

Thundering hooves!

Chu Jegu gritted his teeth as he faced the tidal wave of riders rushing at him again.

Glancing at the ground, he saw the fallen enemies.

Though he’d thought he’d defeated many, only about thirty bandits lay dead.

More than a thousand still remained.

His vision blurred.

His internal energy was already more than half gone, and his stamina was worse.

His exhausted body ached all over.

Just one pass of the enemy had left him battered and bruised.

He wasn’t sure if he could survive another wave.

But Chu Jegu clenched his teeth.

If he couldn’t get through this, he’d die.

Not just him, but the Yukhap Pyo-guk scouts behind him, and the children fleeing in the wagons.

He vowed to hold on to the very end.

He roared at the charging riders.

“Arrgh! Come on!”

At that moment, two riders who had closed to three ranks suddenly split wide apart.

“?!”

Chu Jegu tensed at their unexpected move.

‘Are they trying to pass me and go behind?’

But he quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

Between the two groups of riders stretched a steel net.

They were driving the net toward him from both sides, like fishermen herding fish.

“How dare you!”

Chu Jegu swung his hammer at the net right in front of him.

“Hah!”

Bwaaaang!

The net rippled.

“Ugh!”

“Ugh!”

The bandits holding the net on both sides were thrown backward from their horses by the force of Chu Jegu’s strike.

Even with the horses’ speed and the strength of first-rate warriors, they couldn’t withstand the blow of the supreme master Chu Jegu.

But that was only the beginning.

Another layer of net was closing in on him.

Without a moment’s rest, Chu Jegu swung his hammer again.

“Arrgh!”

Smash! Ripple!

One layer, then another.

When Chu Jegu struck the fourth net—

Ripple!

“!”

Chu Jegu felt a chill run down his spine as he realized the texture of the hammer had changed from before.

It was because the bandits hadn’t missed their net this time.

The net that had withstood Chu Jegu’s strike was now closing in, enveloping his entire body.

‘Their skill is on another level!’

He understood that among the bandits were some with exceptional martial prowess.

But that wasn’t what mattered now.

If this continued, he would be dragged in like a fish caught in a net.

“Haaah!”

Desperate, Chu Jegu channeled his energy into his hands and struck down on the iron net.

Shhhhk!

The net tore apart, sliding to both sides, narrowly averting the crisis.

But in that instant, his eyes caught sight of an iron club.

Whoooosh!

Right behind the net, a heavy iron cudgel swung toward him.

“Ugh!”

Even to his superhuman eyes, the speed was deadly.

Chu Jegu twisted his body to the side, trying to dodge.

But it was already too late to avoid it completely.

Thwack!

“Grrrgh!”

The iron club grazed his shoulder.

Even a mere graze carried the force of a cavalry charge, enough to shatter rock.

Pain exploded through his shoulder, and his vision went white.

“Hahk!”

Because of that, he couldn’t see what came next.

The arc of a greatsword flying toward him.

Fwahk!

As a red-masked rider on horseback swept past him, his left arm was severed and fell away.

But there was no time to feel the pain.

The curved blade that followed cleanly sliced through his neck.

Fwahhhk!

Chu Jegu’s head flew high into the air.

Below, the bandits’ weapons rained down, cutting through his headless body again and again.

Shhhhk!

It didn’t take long for his mutilated body to lose all semblance of its former self.

The flesh of Chu Jegu, a master of the highest order, was shredded into dozens, even hundreds, of pieces.

The bandits who had succeeded in killing him burst into wild laughter and spurred their horses onward.

They shouted toward the Hyukhap Pyo-guk’s archers watching from behind.

“Yeehah!”

“Kihahahaha!”

“Next, it’s your turn!”

Thud thud thud thud!

Yuk Gusaeng, the lord of Hyukhap Pyo-guk, sensed this was the end.

If even Chu Jegu, a supreme master, had fallen, there was no way they could win.

Gritting his teeth, he shouted to the archers.

“Prepare for impact! And those who survive the first clash, scatter and flee! At least one of you must live!”

For Yuk Gusaeng, the best he could hope for was that someone survived.

Even if no one made it, buying time by scattering could increase the chances that the children who had escaped might survive.

As Yuk Gusaeng thought this, a bandit suddenly charged right up to him, raising a greatsword high above his head.

It was the red-masked man who had severed Chu Jegu’s arm earlier.

From horseback, the sunlight shattered white above the man’s head.

And with the shattered light, the greatsword came down.

The speed was like a flash of light—too fast for Yuk Gusaeng to react.

Fwahhhk!

“No!”

“My lord!”

The defensive formation the archers had set up was torn apart in a single cavalry charge.

Starting with Yuk Gusaeng’s head being severed in one blow, every time the bandits swept past, another archer’s life was lost.

A few who barely survived tried to scatter and flee, but against mounted bandits, escape was impossible.

The bandits slaughtered all the archers and relentlessly pursued the children’s wagon, smashing it to pieces.

The scene was nothing short of horrific.

Having wiped out the Hyukhap Pyo-guk archers, the bandits spurred their horses and vanished like the wind.

Though their goal had been to kill them from the start, they didn’t even bother to loot the spoils.

Racing across the plains between Yangju and the Yangtze River, they began searching for their next prey.

True to their name—the Bloodstorm Sect—wherever they passed, only a storm of blood and death remained.