Chapter 239
Chapter 239. Salvation Bound by Fate
When the leader swung his greatsword, a flash of light burst forth. The sword energy that flew out in a wide arc brought down a massive tree.
Kwoooooom!
The horses neighed loudly and came to a halt, and some, unable to overcome their own speed, slammed their bodies into the tree trunks.
The Tang Clan members who were thrown from their horses either got up at once and fled or confronted the charging outsiders. The Grand Madam leapt down from her horse and hurriedly set Yu-hwa and Ye-hwa down on the ground.
At that moment, a blade touched the Grand Madam's neck.
Without wavering, the Grand Madam spoke to the leader of the outsiders.
"Take everything. I will give you all the items we brought......."
"Do you take me for a fool? The moment we leave here, you'll report that we took them and have us hunted down."
Claang! Clang!
The outsider lightly knocked aside the flying dagger aimed at him and continued.
"Tsk tsk, it's truly unfortunate for you, madam, that I know the Murim Alliance scoundrels so well."
Behind the whistling dagger, the sounds of battle followed.
The once-quiet forest turned into chaos in an instant.
The mercenaries who had turned into enemies blocked the path and coveted the pouches hanging from the horses.
"Aaah!"
The Demonkin leaping along the branches dropped down and began seizing the fleeing women and children.
Slash!.
The martial artists of the Red Tiger Unit did their best to stop them, but they were outnumbered. Furthermore, the Demonkin continued to swarm in.
"Run away!"
From afar, the Leader of the Red Tiger Unit's voice rang out.
The Grand Madam ran into the forest with the twins while the leader was distracted by the pouches. Mercenaries tried to block her path, but the Red Tiger Unit was faster.
Under the rain of hidden weapons, the mercenaries retreated.
As they were separated from the group, a sharp, arrow-like sound rang down from the sky.
Sshik.
It was the sound of the Demonkin giving chase.
"Aaagh!"
A scream came from behind, as if someone had been pounced on.
The Grand Madam did not waver and ran with Ye-hwa and Yu-hwa.
Slash!
Then, sword energy flew toward the Grand Madam's back. Sensing it, she twisted aside, but it still grazed her shoulder.
Ye-hwa cried out in shock.
"M, mother!"
At Ye-hwa's voice, the Demonkin reacted.
"Over there! That one is the Grand Madam!"
Again, that bone-vibrating voice was heard.
Ye-hwa and Yu-hwa looked up at the sky with terrified faces.
Sssssshhh.
Along with violently shaking branches, the sound of a downpour echoed.
The twins felt as though the Demonkin might fall at any moment.
That fear soon became reality.
Bang! Kwaang!
The Demonkin who landed on the ground immediately swung their blades. They had no intention of leaving the direct line alive. Their goal was not to take hostages, but to kill on the spot.
Kwaang!
The Grand Madam stopped and drew her sword from her waist, blocking the Demonkin's strikes.
Before coming to the Tang Clan, she had learned the sword. From childhood, she had traveled on merchant routes with her father, and martial arts were essential to respond to bandit attacks. Having been taught by an outstanding escort guard, the Grand Madam's skill did not fall short even when compared to high-priced escorts.
However, perhaps because it had been so long since she had wielded a sword, she struggled even against a single Demonkin.
Kwaang!
Even so, the Grand Madam displayed superhuman strength and blocked the blade flying toward the twins.
"Haa… run to the northeast. Whether it's a slope or anywhere else, don't hesitate, if it's the direction that leads down to the village, just keep running."
At the Grand Madam's words, Ye-hwa grabbed Yu-hwa's hand and started running.
"N, no! Mother is—!"
Yu-hwa tried to shake off Ye-hwa's hand, but Ye-hwa pulled her twin sister's hand even harder.
"If we stay here, it's more dangerous! They have to chase us so they won't swarm Mother and scatter!"
Yu-hwa stopped resisting and ran in the same direction as Ye-hwa.
It was a speed hard to believe for children.
Using qinggong was still impossible, but because they had trained consistently, they could run faster than most adults.
Sssssshhh.
Once again, the chilling sound of rain came from the sky.
It meant the branches were moving violently.
Ye-hwa stared up at the sky between the leaves. Northeast. She did not take her mother's words at face value.
There was no way her mother would tell their pursuers their direction.
Telling them to go to the village must have been meant to confuse them.
Ye-hwa spotted clouds through the parted branches. The direction the clouds were moving looked the same as when traveling on horseback.
Her mother had once taught her how to find direction when lost in the mountains.
'I just need to keep going this way.'
Certain of the direction, Ye-hwa sprinted forward.
However, those chasing them were not ordinary martial artists.
Yu-hwa, who had fallen a step behind, suddenly yanked Ye-hwa toward her.
Crash!
A blade that fell from the sky split a boulder. It was the direction Ye-hwa had been heading.
"Ugh..."
Yu-hwa swallowed her words and sobbed. Ye-hwa thought she knew what that swallowed sound was. It was likely the question of what to do now.
It would not have been strange for them to lose their lives to the Demonkin's blades at any moment.
Tears welled up in Ye-hwa's eyes. She had never once thought about dying, and she had not known her end would be this futile.
Then, a huge tree came into Ye-hwa's sight.
More precisely, she saw a hole beneath its thick roots. It looked like a burrow dug by an animal to hide and rest.
Ye-hwa hurriedly reached into her sleeve.
"Eat!"
She shoved a pill torn in half into Yu-hwa's mouth.
Yu-hwa did not hesitate and swallowed it at once.
"There!"
Without explaining her thoughts, Ye-hwa blurted out the words. Fortunately, her twin sister understood and ran toward the giant tree.
The moment Yu-hwa slipped under the tree, Ye-hwa, with her back to it, opened her pouch and scattered something around.
Shraak.
"Aaaargh!"
The Demonkin who had been thrusting a blade from right behind screamed and staggered back. His face melted and turned red.
"W-what is this......."
Ye-hwa muttered without realizing it. Even the Demonkin's sword had melted in the sand.
And that was not all.
Sssssss.
The sand that fell to the ground burned the piled leaves, bubbling and foaming.
"D-Don't come any closer!"
Ye-hwa shook out her pouch at the approaching Demonkin. Fine powder scattered in all directions.
"Keugh!"
When one who inhaled the sandstorm toppled backward, the Demonkin who had been charging stopped in their tracks.
Ye-hwa alternated her gaze between the pouch in her hand and the Demonkin.
'Brother Tang Hae-han, you lunatic! What in the world did you give me?'
Does the Nine Turns Pavilion just carry things like this around?
Ye-hwa's face turned pale.
But there was no time to panic now. She had to pull herself together.
Ye-hwa took out another cloth pouch from her sleeve.
"Don't come any closer!"
Ye-hwa rolled her eyes, shaking the pouch like someone brandishing a torch to scare off a wild beast.
'One, two, three, four.......'
She tried to count the Demonkin in sight, but there were too many. She was so scared she felt as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
"Stay back! If you come closer, I'll kill you all!"
Her frightened voice trembled.
Because of that, the Demonkin realized that the poison in the child's hand was not that great.
Step.
One Demonkin who had arrived late came closer.
Perhaps he was of a higher rank, for the Demonkin in front parted to make way for him.
The approaching Demonkin stepped onto the poison sand without hesitation.
Sssssss.
Smoke rose as his shoes melted, but he did not care.
As his huge frame cast a deep shadow, Ye-hwa, buried in darkness, took a step back.
The Demonkin's blade flashed in the sunlight. The spotless, clean blade emitted a strange aura.
"H-hhk."
In the end, Ye-hwa threw the pouch and ran for the tree. Yu-hwa, who had been hiding in the hollow beneath it, quickly pulled Ye-hwa into her arms and dragged her inside.
Like squirrels hiding from a natural enemy, the two girls curled up and trembled.
Step.
The upper body of the approaching Demonkin was hidden by the tree roots.
At the same time, the blade that had been aimed at the ground rose upward and disappeared from sight.
Knowing what the Demonkin was about to bring down, the twins squeezed their eyes shut and clung to each other.
Clang!
The sound of metal colliding rang out.
However, it was not the sound of wood or flesh being cut.
Opening her eyes to a slit, Ye-hwa saw a sword planted vertically in the ground.
It was not the Demonkin's blade.
Blood flowing from the black hilt drew a red line along the blade.
The full body of the Demonkin who had stepped back came into view. He was looking up into the tree.
Soon, that gaze dropped downward.
Tak.
A martial artist dropped down and stepped on the hilt embedded in the ground. Using the rebound, the martial artist leapt high and was hidden again by the tree roots.
Clang!
As the sound of blades colliding rang out, the Demonkin staggered back.
A woman in white martial robes landed right in front of the Demonkin. Her movements were extremely light. She moved as though one with her sword, fluid and graceful.
The flow of her blade was so fast it looked as if she were wielding a whip.
Claaang! Clang!
The Demonkin poured his strength into striking down her sword. However, it was like cutting water with a blade. Letting the attack slide away, the woman spun swiftly.
As if unfolding a movement art, she shifted far to the left, lowered her stance, and slashed deeply at the waist of another Demonkin who was trying to flank her.
Clang!
"Aaargh!"
As the woman returned to the huge Demonkin and blocked his strike, a scream was heard.
It was an incredibly fast movement.
"That person......."
A stunned Yu-hwa muttered without realizing it.
Ye-hwa also could not tear her widened eyes from the woman's back.
Clang! Bang!
While blocking the pouring combined attacks, the woman focused all her effort on driving back the Demonkin who looked the strongest.
The group of Demonkin that had been surrounding the twins had already retreated more than ten zhang. Now, even from beneath the roots, the woman's face could be seen clearly.
She had grown taller, and her face had changed much, but she was definitely the young lady from the fort.
The shabby woman Tang So-hwa had brought was now wearing the robes of the Wudang Sect and single-handedly holding back countless Demonkin.
At the utterly unbelievable sight, the twins forgot their fear and stuck their heads out.
Thud.
The woman who had leapt back significantly spoke with her back to the giant tree.
"Do not come out."
The twins came to their senses and crawled back under the roots.
"The others will join us soon. Please hold on a little longer."
It was unclear whether she was speaking to herself or to the frightened girls, but the words drifted on the wind.
Letting out a small breath, Yeon-ah steadied her breathing once.
A calmed Yeon-ah raised her sword in front of her chest while staring at the enemy.
Slash.
Facing nine Demonkin, the rising star of the Wudang Sect unfolded her stance as if to calm her mind and spirit.