Chapter 24

He ran. There was nothing he could do but run.

Even though his father and the Head of the Shuozhou branch were dying, the only thing the young 14 year old boy could do was run away.

“Oppa.1 I’m cold.”

It was the words of his younger sister, who he was holding in his arms.

The young boy, Soo Chun, blew on his younger sister’s hands.

“We’re almost there, so hold on a little bit longer. Okay?”

“When are we going home? Soo Yul misses mom…”

“She came to see us yesterday.”

“You liar. Oppa saw her?”

“Of course I saw her.”

In his dreams. Soo Chun swallowed the words that were about to come out. The mother who came out in his dreams looked the same as she did three days ago. He spoke as he patted his younger sister’s head, who had fallen asleep from being tired.

‘You must live. You must survive for sure.’

He could still hear that voice and the view of her walking away.

‘I wonder how our mom is doing. I wonder… no, no. It can’t be.’

As he suppressed the ominous feeling, it was then.

Rustle.

“Who is it!”

He immediately hugged his younger sister closer to him and grabbed the dagger hidden in his clothes.

“I will count to three. One, two…”

“It’s me.”

Amidst the voice hidden in the darkness, a face appeared.

“Uncle?”2

“Shh. Lower your voice.”

His uncle with the tired face was a middle-aged man. He was the Shouzhou branch head’s and also the close friend of Soo Chun’s father, and was currently protecting the two children.

“I was worried when you didn’t show up after half an hour.”

“I needed to be careful. We have someone following us.”

“Already?”

“Yes. We need to hurry.”

Soo Chun didn’t hesitate and immediately stood up. Soo Chun carried Soo Yul and pushed ahead through the grass thickets.

“Where are we going?”

“Hengshui. Even though they’re brutal, they shouldn’t be able to follow us that far.”

But will it really happen like that. Soo Chun felt dubious.

Already the Shouzhou branch had fallen. The buildings were all burned down and everyone had died. Even though they didn’t know who they were, it was certain.

‘Extermination.’

As he thought of those words, he breathed out. Soo Chun started to walk again.

It was at that moment after walking for a long time, and the snow was beginning to pile up.

“Quiet.”

They stopped walking and kneeled down. Soo Chun followed after his uncle and bent down. The sound of the wind. The sound of the branches hitting up against each other… Those were the only sounds.

But Soo Chun felt something instinctively.

“Are there people?”

His uncle responded with a stiff face.

“There’s at least ten. They will catch up soon.”

It was a bleak situation. But weirdly, all Soo Chun felt was calmness.

“It’s my mistake. We should have hurried before the snow fell… the heavens are cruel.”

“You have done everything you could.”

Soo Chun brought out the dagger he had hidden. It was the dagger he inherited from his father. It was the only thing he left behind.

“Even though it’s an insignificant amount, I have a Mugong trained body. I will also die like a Murim-in.”

“… It’s still to early to give up.”

Those were the only words his uncle could say. They started to move after gathering up their remaining strength.

As they spent all their strength running away, they began to feel their limitations. Their steps became slower, and they began to breathe heavily.

“They’re here!”

“We’ve almost caught up!”

Soo Chun could hear them now as well. Their pursuers voices, as well as the sound of their footsteps were getting closer.

Their uncle handed Soo Yul over to Soo Chun.

“Don’t look back.”

“Uncle!”

“Don’t worry. Your uncle isn’t an easygoing guy.”

“But still…”

“Hurry!”

Soo Chun continued up the mountain. Even though he was tired, he couldn’t stop.

As he continued up the snow-covered mountain, he could hear the sounds of weapons clashing behind him and the sounds of someone screaming.

‘Uncle.’

Soo Chun gritted his teeth. He wanted to grab his dagger and run down the mountain. But…

‘Let’s hold back. I need to calm down.’

For the past five days, he made hundreds, no thousands of commitments. That he would survive and protect his younger sister, and get revenge.

On top of the hill, Soo Chun looked at his torch with a passionate gaze.

‘I need to survive.’

And as he came to the top of the hill, Soo Chun stopped walking as if he had been hit by lightning.

“Ah, ahhh…”

On top of the hill was a wide open space, and ten men wearing dark blue robes were staring at Soo Chun.

He saw one word in front of him, which was the word ‘Jin’ embroidered on their chests.

—

It was when we just started training, when I felt something weird.

The wind blew strongly and I could hear a sound. As I used Qi, I could hear the sounds more clearly.

‘A person’s voice?’

By a rough estimate, it sounded like it was over ten people. It was enough that I wondered how I only discovered it now.

‘If it’s that many people in this weather…’

Good, I decided.

“Pack your things.”

“Yes?”

The team members who were just about to get ready to start training, looked at me confused.

“Hurry and pack your things. And one person go inside and get Hyuk Mujin…”

“Captain. There’s a kid right there though?”

Damn it. It was real. A small kid, carrying an even smaller kid, was staring at us.

“Who is that.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s this hut’s owner?”

I wished that were true. But I didn’t think the men following after him were part of his big, happy family.

“It looks like he’s crying?”

Like his words, the kid was crying. He was sobbing and running. But the problem was the direction he was running towards.

“Uuuh, he’s coming this way… Captain, where are you going?”

The young kid was coming my way. But I was already turning my back.

“Get the horses ready. We need to slowly leave.”

“In this weather? The horses won’t be able to move.”

“Really? Then let’s just throw them away.”

“What?”

“That’s what a mission is. Even in the snow or the rain, we need to do our jobs. Close your mouths and pack your things.”

“Still…”

“Pack your things! Wake Hyuk Mujin!”

Just a few moments ago, they were just looking at me but now their gazes changed as if they were looking at a mental patient.

“Why are you suddenly acting this way?”

What do you mean why. It’s because I wasn’t getting a good feeling.

I knew what they were thinking, even though they didn’t say anything. As the kid was coming closer, a strong smell of bullshit was coming our way.

I could feel what was coming our way. There was only one way.

“Then I will go ahead and leave first…”

At that minute, uninvited guests appeared with a shout. At least twenty men were following after him.

‘Ah, fuck.’

Ring.

Save the survivor from the brutal Mount Heng Sword Sect!

Rank: Sudden Quest

Restrictions: Jin Taekyung

Mission: Save the Survivor (Incomplete)

Rewards: Quest Chain

???

Failure: ???

“…”

“…”

We saw the men. And they saw us. A silence that felt like death descended upon the open space.

‘I knew this would happen. I knew it would happen like this.’

But it was too late for regrets. What could I do about my unlucky fate.

I sighed deeply and then shouted.

“Attack formation. Spread out!”

Step step step. Even though it was an unexpected situation, the team moved like they were trained. In seconds, they stepped into the formation, and the men in front of us realized who we were and shouted.

“They’re youngsters from the Jin Sect!”

“There’s not that many of them. Take them out!”

Youngsters. Not that many of them.

The fact pierced my heart like a pair of tweezers.

I didn’t even get to train them for very long, and not only that but their levels were low and they didn’t have much experience. They were just new recruits…

‘If it doesn’t work out, I’ll at least run away by myself.’

As I felt hopelessness, I used [Qi Sense]. The waves of blue that only I could see appeared before my eyes.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“… Huh?”

At that moment, my pale-faced team shouted at me.

“What should we do?”

“They’re coming, they’re coming!”

“Caaaptaain!”

30 meters, 20 meters… I opened my mouth as I saw them coming towards us at a fast speed.

“Don’t worry. They’re only experience points… I mean, they’re nothing more than a mess. Only!”

“Only?”

“Block them using all of your strength. You need to block them.”

“What? What does that mean.”

What do you mean, what does that mean. It means don’t get hit hard.

“Defense formation. Spread out!”

Right. The experience is all mine.

—

“Captain!”

“We can’t do it. Caaaptain!”

“The Captain went to commit suicide!”

That wasn’t it, you crazy bastards. I turned away from my team’s shouts, and ran towards the enemy.

The Qi rushed out from my dantian.

“Crazy bastard.”

The leading enemy smiled at me with his yellow teeth.

I met his gaze and smiled.

“You pretty fool.”

“What?”

Crunch.

It was at the moment when I grabbed his neck and passed by him. I heard the sound I was waiting for.

Ring.

“Wh—what is this!”

“This fuckers dares to…”

The face of the enemy was really magnificent. They had knife marks on the face3 and their basic hygiene was terrible.

But…

“Wow, this is great.”

It felt like I was in a flower field. Twenty flowers that were experience points. With a face of happiness, I sucked all of the honey out of the flowers.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

I dug my way into them without hesitation. In the midst of snow, they fell and the enemy faltered.

‘If it’s like that, I’m thankful.’

I used the Jin Sect Footwork and the Jin Sect Spear Technique to progress.

Using the Footwork techniques to move forward. I centered myself and swiped my spear.

“Kuuhak!”

“Uuuaak!”

Using my sharp spear, I used the heavy weight to defeat them with the Technique. As the situation went on, the enemy started to back away.

It was at the time when I was using the Jin Sect Spear Technique.

‘First form.’

I started using both the Footwork and Spear Technique simultaneously. As I thrusted my spear, someone would scream in pain and blood would come gushing out.

“Kuk.”

“Kuuuaak.”

Second form, third form. Fourth form.

Without even realizing it, I followed the flow of my body. The ripples became waves, and the enemy was swept away. I felt my whole body chill.

More, more, more…

“This baaastard!”

Thud. Thud thud.

The throat, chest, the abdomen. I thrusted and cut them down. The confirmation of death came through the system alarm.

Time went by like that. There was only one person standing with both feet on the ground.

“The Lead—Leader will find you for su…”

I didn’t wait for him.

The wave was a flow. And the final wave burst out from my spear. The Jin Sect Spear Technique’s final movement, Piercing Heaven (天貫軼).

Puwaak!

The last person, with tiny, narrow eyes, looked at his broken sword and fell down. His chest burst out as if hit by a bomb.

Ring.

As I heard the nonstop alarm, I rubbed my belly.

“Uugh.”

Wow, I’m full.