Chapter 354
For now, Maeng Gwang-gae landed safely on the ground.
It seems it would be difficult to run away any further in this state.
Although it is not far from Kaifeng, it is a distance that would take about half a day to run in this state.
It is absurd to think of running while dodging the attacks of a strange person for half a day.
So he judged that it would be more correct to check who the enemy was and face him.
"Who are you? Reveal your identity."
Maeng Gwang-gae said, growling as he looked up.
Then the strange person came down from the tree and landed lightly on the ground.
"Do you know who I am and are you doing this?"
"I know. Maeng Gwang-gae."
The strange person's voice was thick and deep.
Not only his voice, but it seemed that his deep internal energy could be glimpsed through his voice.
"You know who I am and you're still doing this? Who are you?"
"You don't need to know that."
Maeng Gwang-gae quickly turned his head.
Judging from the divine skill he had just shown, the opponent was a master whom he could not guarantee to win easily even if he used all his strength.
There are not many such masters in the Central Plains.
It is not arrogance, but it means that the martial artist named Maeng Gwang-gae is that much recognized and strong in the Central Plains.
"Maeng Gwang-gae. I didn't come to catch you today. Your turn has not come yet."
"Then?"
"Hand over the person you are carrying on your back. If you just hand him over, you can go back safely today."
"I can't do that. Although he doesn't look like it, he's a pretty important guy."
"That's why I'm telling you to hand him over. If you just hand him over, nothing will happen today. Maeng Gwang-gae."
"Handing this guy over is already something happening, so what do you mean nothing will happen? What does that mean?"
Maeng Gwang-gae, after spitting out an annoyed voice, opened his mouth again.
"Are you perhaps the Evil Faction Alliance Leader? Did you come to find your disciple?"
"No."
"Then what on earth?"
Maeng Gwang-gae said as if he were really frustrated.
If it had been the Evil Faction Alliance Leader, many of his questions would have been answered.
But, he soon came to his senses.
Although he didn't know who it was, in the end, he must have come to him with the bad intention of taking Ma Cheon-deuk from him.
"Maeng Gwang-gae. It wasn't your turn today, but are you trying to hasten your fate?"
"Do you think that kind of bluff will work?"
"What...?"
"Think about it. If you had the skill to completely overwhelm me, would you be talking like this now? You would have attacked me long ago and taken this guy, or you would have killed me too. To be honest, you're just talking because you're not confident that you can easily face me, right?"
"......"
The strange person, as if he had been hit where it hurts, had no answer.
"So don't waste time and come at me."
At Maeng Gwang-gae's annoyed words, the strange person ground his teeth and then raised his sword.
"Heup!"
He grabbed the sword with both hands and swung it wide from top to bottom.
A sword qi that was even bigger than before was shot from his sword.
As Maeng Gwang-gae twisted his body and dodged the sword qi, a considerable roar echoed from behind him.
It was because the sword qi itself had a considerable amount of energy.
'The sword qi a little while ago was not aimed at me.'
Even in that situation, Maeng Gwang-gae realized that the direction in which the sword qi was flowing was subtly aimed not at him, but at Ma Cheon-deuk.
He could clearly see that the bastard's purpose was not Maeng Gwang-gae, but Ma Cheon-deuk.
'If I can't take Ma Cheon-deuk, it means I'll kill him to shut his mouth.'
As he grasped the opponent's intention, a slight smile appeared on his face.
If you think about it the other way, it means that the information Ma Cheon-deuk knows is that valuable.
'That Unhwi fellow. Did he perhaps know this and tell me to grant all of Ma Cheon-deuk's wishes?'
Unhwi had said that rather than torturing him, if he let him meet the Green Snake directly and taught him a way for both of them to survive, he would surely come over.
Of course, although Unhwi didn't know from where to where Ma Cheon-deuk knew, it seems he had at least clearly guessed that he knew something important.
'The problem is that that bastard is stronger than I thought...'
If he puts Ma Cheon-deuk down and performs a movement technique at the maximum speed, it seems he can shake off that person.
And as expected, if he puts Ma Cheon-deuk down and fights, it seems he can win.
But judging from the angle of the sword qi he had thrown at him a little while ago, it is highly likely that the bastard will somehow kill only Ma Cheon-deuk and run away the moment he puts Ma Cheon-deuk down.
Then in the end, he comes to the conclusion that he has to fight while holding Ma Cheon-deuk.
'Tsk. If only I had something like a baby carrier.'
He, blaming himself for not having prepared enough for such a situation, put Ma Cheon-deuk on his left waist and drew the Dog Beating Staff with his right hand.
Maeng Gwang-gae's seemingly gentle body suddenly disappeared as if it had been extinguished, and soon, a powerful qi wave erupted from his body.
At the same time, the Dog Beating Staff, pushing out an energy like a tidal wave, poured down on the strange person.
It was truly an overwhelming internal energy. The strange person also seemed surprised by that energy.
The strange person, who had barely blocked Maeng Gwang-gae's attack, was pushed back.
In his eyes, which had been leisurely until a little while ago, astonishment was now settled.
Because he hadn't expected him to be able to perform such an attack even with an adult man on his side.
But Maeng Gwang-gae's attack did not end there.
The short and crude-looking Dog Beating Staff flew relentlessly and began to batter the strange person's body here and there.
Although the strange person was barely blocking it, his sword tip trembled like an aspen tree, as if he were flustered by the unexpected attack.
As if it were the end of the form, the strange person, who had barely blocked the Dog Beating Staff, which was filled with a strong force, with all his might, was pushed back.
He looked at Maeng Gwang-gae with a face that was still not over its surprise.
But Maeng Gwang-gae was also not pleased with this situation.
Although it seemed he had overwhelmed him a little while ago, the important thing is that he could not knock him down with this attack.
What he had just performed was the latter half of the Dog Beating Staff technique.
Although the Dog Beating Staff technique is a basic martial art that you learn as soon as you enter the Beggars' Sect, it is also an advanced martial art that you do not stop training until the very end.
The Dog Beating Staff technique performed by him, who is an elder of the Beggars' Sect, is of course a Dog Beating Staff technique that contains the essence of the Beggars' Sect.
But the fact that he could not knock down the enemy until he performed the last form means that the opponent's skill is more outstanding than he thought.
'It's not good if time is dragged out like this.'
On top of that, Maeng Gwang-gae is not fighting alone, but has to fight while holding Ma Cheon-deuk at his waist and protecting him.
It may be a natural thing that his strength and internal energy are being used twice as much.
"Maeng Gwang-gae. You have a stronger power than we thought."
"Hmph. I don't know what you think of me, but you shouldn't look down on an elder of the Nine Factions and One Sect."
"Yes. It was my mistake to underestimate you. I admit it."
"Then just go back. Then I won't dig into your identity any further."
"I can't do that. Maeng Gwang-gae. You, on the other hand, leave Ma Cheon-deuk and go. Or break his head with your own hands. Then I will disappear without bothering you any further."
"What on earth does Ma Cheon-deuk know that you're trying to kill him so much?"
"Actually, he doesn't know much. But... I'm trying to kill him because he might know."
The strange person shut his mouth after that, and Maeng Gwang-gae's head began to roll quickly again.
The opponent is not an individual, but a group. It can be guessed from the words 'than we thought'.
And the fact that Ma Cheon-deuk doesn't know properly, but might know...
Maeng Gwang-gae had something that came to mind.
"You. You came from the Demonic Cult."
For a moment, the strange person flinched, and his expression hardened.
"I'm not a fool, so if you didn't want to talk, you shouldn't have said anything. You're not hoping I don't know, giving me clues with every word you say, are you?"
"......"
"You shouldn't have just appeared. In the end, the fact that the Demonic Cult sent someone to kill Ma Cheon-deuk is as good as you directly teaching me that the Evil Faction Alliance has a big connection with the Demonic Cult, isn't it?"
"......"
"Perhaps you came to shut Ma Cheon-deuk's mouth to hide the fact that the Evil Faction Alliance and the Demonic Cult are in cahoots, but now that I know everything, what are you going to do? I don't have anything more to find out from this guy either."
"......"
The strange person continued to be a dumb person who had eaten honey and couldn't say anything.
Maeng Gwang-gae, as if he were amused, smiled and continued, "Wait. And come to think of it, how did you follow me? Unhwi definitely said that Ma Cheon-deuk was already dead. So there are two possibilities to track Ma Cheon-deuk. You were already monitoring Ma Cheon-deuk and found out that the Unhwi fellow didn't kill him and have been tailing him until now, or if not... you have a spy in the Martial Alliance."
"......!"
"It must have been strange. I moved alone as soon as I sent the letter that Unhwi had sent. There was someone watching it, and that bastard must have given you that information. Ma Cheon-deuk is dead, but instead of a investigation team being dispatched, Maeng Gwang-gae is moving alone. So it's worth tailing him. Something like that?"
Although he doesn't look like it, Maeng Gwang-gae was the one in charge of the brains in the Martial Alliance.
Although he was not officially in the position of a military strategist, he was evaluated as someone who would have done very well if he had been a strategist rather than a martial artist.
The strange person, after looking at Maeng Gwang-gae for a long time... spoke heavily, "It can't be helped like this."
"What?"
"Maeng Gwang-gae. You have to die."
"Can you kill me?"
"Since my origin has already been revealed, there is no need to hide my strength."
A lukewarm energy began to rise from the strange person's body, and soon, it filled the surroundings.
This ominous energy. It is undoubtedly demonic qi. Maeng Gwang-gae, who faced the demonic qi, frowned without realizing it.
'A little while ago... was he hiding his strength?'
The internal energy that the strange person had shown just now was at a considerable level.
A martial art that could be in the quite strong category even within the Nine Factions and One Sect.
But it seems that even that amazing energy was a suppressed energy to hide the demonic qi.
His internal energy, with the demonic qi released, was so immense that Maeng Gwang-gae, who was a little distance away, could feel his skin tingle.
"Maeng Gwang-gae. I tried to spare you several times. But it was you who rejected my goodwill and chose death. So don't feel wronged."
"You crazy bastard. Who in the world wouldn't feel wronged when they're being killed by someone else?"
Although Maeng Gwang-gae answered boldly, he instinctively thought that this fight would not be easy.
The strange person swung his sword without warning.
A sword qi that was twice the size of what he had shot before, and whose color had turned blackish, was shot.
Maeng Gwang-gae instinctively felt that he should not block that sword qi.
As he barely dodged it by a hair's breadth, a roar that was incomparably louder than before erupted from behind Maeng Gwang-gae.
Although Maeng Gwang-gae was curious about what had happened behind him, he couldn't see.
Because he felt that if he turned his head, the strange person would attack him in the meantime.
"Damn it."
He cursed without realizing it.
Literally, it's a checkmate.
If he's that strong, he doesn't know if he can get away from him safely even if he puts Ma Cheon-deuk down on the ground.
'What should I do?'
Maeng Gwang-gae, turning his eyes this way and that, thought about what would be the best way.
"I can hear the sound of your head rolling from here. But, it's irreversible now. Since I've decided to kill you."
"You crazy bastard. Can you even kill me?"
The strange person, about to answer reflexively, noticed that the direction from which the voice had come was strange, and frowning, turned his head.
Then someone appeared from the bushes.
"The back is completely devastated. Well. Thanks to you making such a loud noise, I was able to find this place."
The one who was surprised when he appeared was not just the strange person.
Maeng Gwang-gae was also very surprised and shouted, "How are you here?!"
"Sir. I came to help you."
The man who spoke confidently. It was because he was Unhwi, who was supposed to be going back to the Wudang Sect.
(End of Chapter)