Chapter 356
After moving to a different place and catching our breath, we checked to see if anyone else was chasing us, and then we talked for a while.
"The energy I felt from that bastard just now. It was definitely demonic qi. Right?"
"Yes. I felt it too."
"Not the Evil Faction Alliance, but a Demonic Cult bastard appeared to take Ma Cheon-deuk."
Maeng Gwang-gae chuckled and continued.
"Isn't that as good as them confessing themselves that the Evil Faction Alliance is related to the Demonic Cult?"
"That's right. I thought so too."
I can't tell him that the person we just fought was the Demonic Cult's elder, the Black Killing Demon Lord.
The fact that I know something he doesn't could seem unnatural.
Especially when it comes to the Demonic Cult, it's even harder to make excuses.
Because it's difficult to get information related to the Demonic Cult even through the Hao Mun disciples, also known as 'swallows'.
So I pretended not to know and talked with him.
"Your senior brothers are probably on their way to the Martial Alliance, right?"
"They should be fine. If something had happened, at least one of them would have come back while we were fighting, but since there's no news yet, it means they're continuing on their way."
"That's a relief, but how did these bastards know I was taking Ma Cheon-deuk?"
"It's one of two things, right? Either they were tailing us and watching us from before, or the information leaked from somewhere."
"Hmm..."
Maeng Gwang-gae let out a groan.
If it were the former, it would be possible because the enemies moved stealthily, but if it were the latter, the matter would become serious.
Probably only the top brass of the Martial Alliance knew that he had come here after receiving my letter, so it would mean that one of them was a lackey of the Demonic Cult.
"For now, I'll have to assume they were tailing us. Have you recovered to some extent?"
"Yes. Actually, I didn't even use that much internal energy."
"Right. It seemed so. The martial art you performed earlier... is it a Wudang Sect martial art?"
"Yes, it is."
"I see. When I first felt it, I thought it might be a Shaolin martial art. Because I felt the energy of demon-breaking."
"In Shaolin, they call it demon-breaking. We call it demon-subduing."
"Demon-subduing. The representative martial art of the Kongtong Sect is the Demon-Subduing Sword Art. Perhaps because we are of the same Taoist lineage, it seems we have martial arts with similar energy."
He, looking at me again with a meaningful eye, continued.
"Somehow, I feel like I should polish that martial art more in the future. The Demonic Cult bastards' ambitions will definitely not end here."
"Yes. I also think it's a good thing I learned this martial art."
"Hoo. Right. For now, let's go back to the place where we fought that Demonic Cult bastard a little while ago."
We got up and went back to the place where we had fought the Black Killing Demon Lord.
When we had almost arrived there, Maeng Gwang-gae stopped walking and stealthily raised his arm to stop me.
And he spoke to me not with his voice, but with telepathy.
-Hwi-ya. Stop. The body is gone.
-Someone was here.
-Right. It seems it was a good decision to move to a different place and rest earlier. Let's leave quietly.
-Aren't you going to find out who took the body?
-How would we know who we'd meet if we tried to find that out with just the two of us? If just three martial artists of a similar level to the one we just fought were to attack, it could be dangerous. If we both die here, we won't be able to deliver what we know to the Martial Alliance.
He spoke coolly.
But I suddenly thought that the reason he had to live was not because he valued his own life, but because he valued information, which was just like Maeng Gwang-gae.
-I'll move first. Let's get out of here slowly.
-Yes, elder.
Maeng Gwang-gae, lying flat on his stomach, began to crawl slowly without making a sound, and I followed him.
For a long time, we moved cautiously, wary of enemies we didn't even know were there or not.
***
Having moved some distance away from where we fought the Black Killing Demon Lord, we now began to run north, towards the Martial Alliance, with all our might.
It was from the thought that the bastards who had cleaned up the Black Killing Demon Lord's body might have chased after my senior brothers.
But fortunately, after running for a day and a half more, we were able to catch up with my senior brothers right below Kaifeng.
My senior brothers were going up the official road honestly, just as Maeng Gwang-gae had taught them.
"Senior Brother!"
"Unhwi-ya! Elder Maeng Gwang-gae!"
My senior brothers, as if they had been running all the time without almost any rest, looked shabby.
But fortunately, there were no signs of having fought with anyone.
"Did you win? The energy I felt from that person was not ordinary."
Un Gwang asked me with a worried face even while running.
"Yes. Thanks to joining forces with Elder Maeng Gwang-gae, we barely won."
"Still, you came back safely. That's a relief."
"Did anything happen to you, senior brothers?"
"Actually, around yesterday, a few people in black martial arts uniforms started following us."
"They did?"
"Originally, we were thinking of sending only Un Cheol, who was carrying Ma Cheon-deuk, first, and we would block them, but... their movement technique was not as fast as we thought, so we just ignored them and kept running. Then they soon fell behind."
I, even in that situation, managed to hold back a chuckle.
This is the result of not being lazy in movement technique training and physical training.
The martial arts skills of my senior brothers are now so strong that they wouldn't be out of place anywhere in the martial world.
Especially in terms of endurance and patience, I can be proud that they will greatly exceed the average of martial artists.
Perhaps the bastards who had collected the body of the Black Killing Demon Lord. That is, the Demonic Cult bastards, had tried to chase my senior brothers, but in the end, they couldn't keep up with my senior brothers and had to give up in the middle.
'Fortunately, it seems a master of that level didn't chase them.'
I could guess one thing from the story I had just heard.
Probably a master of the Black Killing Demon Lord's level did not come, and the ones who collected his body and chased my senior brothers were probably the Black Killing Demon Lord's subordinates.
It is rare for Demonic Cult elders to move together, and even if they had moved together, they would have attacked together when facing Maeng Gwang-gae.
But since only the Black Killing Demon Lord had appeared before Maeng Gwang-gae, it would be more correct to see that it was not so.
"Senior Brother Un Cheol. Isn't it heavy? Let me carry him for a bit."
"No. It's fine."
Senior Brother Un Cheol answered with a face that didn't look fine at all.
No matter how much of a martial artist you are, it is not an easy task to carry a person, and an adult man at that, and perform a movement technique at full speed.
Besides, my senior brothers have been running for two days straight, so it must be even harder.
"Everyone, just a little more strength. Kaifeng is right ahead. If we run for another half a day, we will reach the Martial Alliance."
Maeng Gwang-gae, who had already grasped the situation to some extent, said to my senior brothers.
My senior brothers, with a firm expression, nodded their heads and then began to move their legs, which now felt heavy.
I didn't ask my senior brothers if they were tired anymore, or tell them to cheer up.
I just ran hard in front of them.
Hoping that they could get a little more strength by following me.
***
And so, another half a day passed, and we were finally able to arrive at the Martial Alliance.
"For now, I'll take this guy to the prison and come back. You guys rest for a bit."
Maeng Gwang-gae, as soon as he arrived at the Martial Alliance, gave us a guest room inside the Martial Alliance and then disappeared with Ma Cheon-deuk.
Although we could have gotten an inn outside the Martial Alliance and rested there, for now, we decided to rest in a place inside the Martial Alliance, even if it was a little uncomfortable.
Because in a situation where someone might have been chasing us, there is a big difference in psychological stability between being inside the Martial Alliance and being outside.
Of course, no matter how bold the Demonic Cult bastards are, they wouldn't attack us in the middle of Kaifeng.
"Senior brothers. For now, let's take a breather. After resting enough and eating, I'll show you around the Martial Alliance."
"Alright."
"Yeah. For now, I need to rest a bit. I feel like I'm going to die."
"Hoo... now I know why you emphasized stamina so much."
My senior brothers, saying a word each, sprawled out in various corners of the room.
If it were up to me, I would have wanted them to wash up and then rest, but since I knew well that even going to wash up becomes a difficult task when you're exhausted, I didn't say anything.
And so, while we were resting without saying anything to each other, the door burst open and Maeng Gwang-gae came in.
As soon as he entered the room, he covered his nose and said, "Oh my, the smell of sweat. It's starting to smell sour! Are you guys actually from the Beggars' Sect, not Wudang? How can you be so nonchalant while smelling like this? Open the windows a bit, and go out one by one and wash up!"
Although it felt strange to hear such words from a beggar, in fact, my senior brothers and I were in a sorry state.
"If you go out of this pavilion, the pavilion right on the left is the bathhouse! They also give you clothes in the building right next to it, so hurry up and wash and change your clothes."
Maeng Gwang-gae said to us as if he were chiding us, and in the end, my senior brothers had no choice but to go out one by one, wash up, and change into new clothes.
Although it wasn't the clothes worn in the Wudang Sect, but ordinary martial arts uniforms, he had found a size that fit our bodies quite well.
He said he would wash the Taoist robes we had worn and return them tomorrow.
And since I also couldn't avoid the bath, I went last.
Although it was hard when I was doing it, after washing up cleanly with warm water, everyone's face seemed to have regained some vitality.
"Now you look like something. Your stamina seems to have recovered to some extent."
Although I hadn't consumed that much stamina and internal energy, for now, I nodded my head along with my senior brothers.
"Then everyone, get up now. We can't make him wait long."
"Who are we going to meet?"
At Senior Brother Un-hwang's question, Maeng Gwang-gae said with an expression as if asking why he was asking such an obvious thing.
"Who else? Of course, it's the Alliance Leader."
"Yes?"
"Don't you have to tell the Alliance Leader in detail what happened? How you caught Ma Cheon-deuk, and how you ended up here, you have to tell him in detail with your own mouths."
"Then you mean we're going to see the Alliance Leader right now?"
"If not, why would I have washed you and changed you into new clothes? Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and follow me."
My senior brothers, still with a dazed expression, began to follow Maeng Gwang-gae.
Although I was also dumbfounded because I didn't expect to meet the Alliance Leader so soon, I thought it was for the better.
Since we had come this far, we had to see him once before going back, so it might be more comfortable to see him now.
Besides, my senior brothers would also feel something more if they met the Alliance Leader in person.
"Unhwi. Aren't you going to follow?"
As I was lost in thought for a moment and didn't follow my senior brothers, Maeng Gwang-gae turned around and shouted.
"Yes. I'm coming."
I had no choice but to follow him.
(End of Chapter)