Chapter 60 : Waterway Journey
"You bastard!!!"
In the largest and most luxurious inn in Guiyang,
The man who had rented the entire top floor, which had the most expensive seating fee, was drinking alcohol as if possessed by a demon.
Then, as if something was not to his liking, he kicked over the dining table, which was set to the point where the legs of the table were about to break.
Crash!!
"Huck, huck! Damn it!!!"
But the man's pronunciation was a bit strange.
Whether there was a problem with his teeth, his pronunciation was all leaking, and his speech was strangely slurred, as if he were listening to the babbling of a child who had just started to speak.
But it was understandable. That was because the man's teeth, especially his front teeth, were all broken or pulled out without a single one left.
The man's identity was Signboard, the eldest son of the Signer Family, who had been completely crushed after messing with the wrong person while trying to collect the debt of a fraudulent loan from a Miao person.
"…"
Grind!
Signboard recalled what had happened since his fight with Jang Baekseo's party.
Leaving aside the fact that his face had been beaten to a pulp by Jang Baekseo's fist, since the masters of the Signer Family who had been taken as his guards had also been seriously injured, he had been severely scolded by his father, the master of the Signer Family.
Nevertheless, Signboard had protested to his father, saying that touching him in Guizhou was no different from looking down on the Signer Family, and asking if he would just let it go.
But his father's reaction was cold.
In fact, although Signboard did not know, his father, the master of the Signer Family, had released the people of the sect and had begun a search for those who had crushed his son and had dared to injure the masters of the Signer Family as soon as he had returned with his face beaten to a pulp.
But by the time the Signer Family had released their people, Jang Baekseo's party had already left Guizhou.
Moreover, since they had changed their faces once again with the Face-Changing Art in the middle, they could not even find a small clue as to where they had gone, let alone find them.
Of course, even if he knew such circumstances, Signboard's anger would not have been appeased.
Kwaang!
"Damn it!!"
Signboard, who had been continuing his disgraceful behavior by drinking alcohol and breaking the inn, turned his head at the presence he suddenly felt behind him.
"…Who are you?"
A group of people in black robes appeared, illuminated by the dim moonlight seeping in from the open window.
The group, whose faces could not even be known as they were covered in black robes, had an extremely sharp momentum, as if they belonged to some organization.
But Signboard, who was dead drunk, could not notice their momentum and spoke with a crooked posture.
"Are you Signboard, the eldest son of the Signer Family?"
"Ha! Yes, I am Signboard, the young master of the Signer Family!"
Although his pronunciation was all leaking due to his missing front teeth, Signboard's actions were filled with the pride of being the eldest son of the Signer Family.
He was confident.
He was confident that there would not be 'another' fool in this Guizhou who would dare to touch Signboard, the eldest son of the Signer Family!
"…Signboard, I have come because I have something to ask. If you just give us the information we want, we will quietly go back."
At the man in black's words, Signboard snorted.
'This guy and that guy!!!'
"Guiyang is the land of the Signer Family!! Where do you think you are!! To the son of the Signer Family!!"
Saying so, Signboard threw the wine bottle he was holding at the men in black.
Clang!
"Ouch, what's this!? A wine bottle from the inn…"
"Hey, you, be quiet. Right now, in that inn…"
"H-huh!?"
The man in black dodged the wine bottle that Signboard had thrown just by tilting his head.
And the wine bottle that had flown in that way passed through the window and fell in the middle of the main street of Guiyang, which was bustling with people enjoying the night.
"I guess there's no room for negotiation."
At Signboard's appearance, which did not show even a speck of willingness to cooperate, the man who seemed to be the representative of the men in black tilted his head.
Then.
Swish.
"Wh-what!?"
Two of the men in black came forward and approached Signboard with ghost-like movements.
Although he was rotten, he was still Signboard, the eldest son of the best Unorthodox Faction in Guizhou, the Signer Family.
Although he had quickly drawn his sword from his waist and had unfolded the Black Road Twelve Swords, the signature secret technique of the Signer Family, towards the men in black who were approaching like ghosts…
"Uh, huh!?"
The clumsy Black Road Twelve Swords, which was far from mastery, just cut through the air in vain, and the men in black, who had already taken their places on both of his sides, grabbed his arms, twisted them, and made Signboard kneel on the floor.
"I'll give you one more chance. If you give us the information we want, I'll let you live."
The man in black who had said that mentioned the characteristics of certain people.
Although he could not know anything else, Signboard could know one thing.
A person with colored eyes, that is, a woman with green eyes!
Signboard tried to speak in a hurry, but…
'I'm Signboard, Signboard!! In Guizhou, I'm the king, the emperor, and the law!!'
As Signboard stubbornly shut his mouth, the representative of the men in black tilted his head again, as if he had expected it.
And at that moment.
Crack!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"
The man in black, who was restraining Signboard's right arm, broke Signboard's right little finger.
"Are you still not going to talk?"
"I'll talk!! I'll talk!!!"
Signboard, who was experiencing extreme pain for the first time in his life, no, for the second time in his life after being beaten by Jang Baekseo, could not come to his senses.
That's why he was about to readily tell them all the facts in a hurry, but…
Thump!
"No, no. He's a guy with a lot of guts, to be so stubborn even in front of us. There's no way a guy like that would spill the beans just because I broke one of his little fingers. Right?"
"N-no, that's not…"
Crack!
This time, the little finger on the other side was broken.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
"The night is long. I was getting bored, so please entertain me a little."
"S-s…!"
Although Signboard was about to scream loudly, the man in black was one step faster.
The man in black took out a bundle of black cloth from somewhere and stuffed it into Signboard's mouth… and so, a silent scream spread through the night of Guizhou.
***
After the incident in Guizhou, Jang Baekseo's party headed south to the southwest at full speed.
The hand of the Hundred Rivers Association was already reaching Guizhou and Hunan. They had to hurry to move to Guangxi as quickly as possible.
But.
"Ugh!"
"Madam Ma!!"
"Are you okay, Madam Ma?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine… I'm, ugh!?"
As everyone was getting tired from the continuous forced march, the fatigue of Madam Ma, who was pregnant, must have been beyond imagination.
Rather, it was a situation where her patience should be praised for having followed them well so far.
"…There's no other way. Let's use the waterway."
"Waterway? You mean take a boat, brother?"
"…But the reason we haven't used the waterway so far is…"
At Jang Yuran's words, Jang Baekseo nodded his head.
"If we take a boat, our route will be limited. If we meet the enemies on the boat, there will be no way to escape. Moreover, even if we defeat the enemies on the boat, there is a high probability that the enemies will be waiting at the port where the boat will go next…"
But there was no other way.
If they continued the forced march with Madam Ma like this, he did not know what would happen not only to Madam Ma but also to the baby in her womb.
Jang Baekseo's party, which had hardened their decision, moved their steps to Sandu County in Guizhou.
***
"Are you okay, Madam Ma? Are you not seasick or anything?"
"Huhu, I'm fine, Baekseo."
"Wow! Brother, come and look over there! The scenery is amazing!!"
"Ugh, that brat…"
Jang Baekseo, who was worried about Madam Ma, and Madam Ma, who was trying to reassure such a Jang Baekseo. In the meantime, Hwa Mokyeon, who could not read the atmosphere and was admiring the scenery from the boat, and Jang Yuran, who was looking at him with displeasure. Jang Baekseo's party was currently on a boat from Sandu and had entered Guangxi.
Unlike Jang Baekseo's worries, nothing particular had happened on the way to Guangxi.
But even so, no, all the more so, Jang Baekseo could not let his guard down.
'They must have searched all of Guizhou and Hunan by now. And since they had placed people on the road from Sichuan to Chongqing in advance, they must have figured out that we are fleeing to Guangxi by process of elimination…'
Unlike Jang Baekseo's party, whose speed was slowing down due to Madam Ma, the ones chasing them were all elites of at least the first-rate level.
It would not have been strange if they had already been caught. The reason why Jang Baekseo's party was still able to continue their escape was all thanks to the Face-Changing Art.
'The problem is that those guys should have noticed that much by now…'
The opponent was not a fool. No, rather, looking at the appearance that the Hundred Rivers Association had shown so far, it would be correct to see them as frighteningly meticulous guys.
While thinking that, Jang Baekseo went to the railing of the ship at Hwa Mokyeon's urging and looked at the scenery.
The wide river was clear and calm, unlike Jang Baekseo's anxious heart.
As he was organizing his confused head…
Swish!
Swish!
Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon simultaneously turned their heads and looked at a point.
At the place where the two people's gazes overlapped, a man opened the door leading to the inside of the ship and showed himself.
"…Brother…"
"Yes, this is… the worst of the assumed situations…"
The worst, no, it was more than that.
'To think that a master who has reached the Unrestrained realm, not the peak or the transcendent, would appear here…'
The Unrestrained realm!
A Unrestrained who had gone beyond the transcendent realm, had opened the middle dantian, and had completely surpassed the limits of a human!
No matter how much Jang Baekseo had accumulated all sorts of martial arts extremes and numerous experiences and had learned high-level martial arts, in his current state, the limit was to deal with a transcendent master.
Whether he knew the thoughts of Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon or not, the master of the Unrestrained realm who had walked out from inside the ship…
"Haaaaaaaaam!"
He yawned.
How long had he been sleeping? The yawn was as long as the tail from the head of a dragon.
Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon, who had been very tense, suddenly lost their strength at the man's calm appearance.
But they could not do so at the action that the man showed right after.
The man who had come out to the ship had walked straight to Madam Ma and Jang Yuran without a moment's delay, as if it were a matter of course!
"…!!"
For a moment, Jang Baekseo's body, which had been stiff with tension, shot towards the man like an arrow.
And the moment he was about to draw the sword from his waist!
Thump!
"Whoa, whoa, calm down, young man."
The man, who had been walking straight towards Madam Ma as if he knew nothing until just a moment ago, had appeared in front of Jang Baekseo in an instant. With one hand, he was holding Jang Baekseo's shoulder, and with the other hand, he was pressing down on the hilt of the sword that Jang Baekseo had just been about to draw, preventing him from drawing it.
'Damn it! If only I had reached the transcendent realm…!'
Jang Baekseo clicked his tongue at the ambush that had been blocked in vain. And the moment he was about to use a trick to somehow distance himself…
(End of Chapter)