Chapter 65 : Great Hero Jeongpan
"My name is Jang Pangyo!"
Jang Pangyo shouted his name loudly to attract the attention of the two people who were continuing their conversation while restraining him.
"So?"
"Why are you telling us that?"
"Our Righteous Sword Squad was dispatched from the Righteous Heaven Alliance to kill the demonic head!!"
Starting with those words, Jang Pangyo revealed the facts he had investigated and found out, and the facts he had inferred from them.
And he asked.
"Who on earth are you? And for what reason is the Righteous Heaven Alliance chasing you!?"
While listening quietly, the one with the young voice suddenly let out a cry of admiration.
"What did you say your name was?"
"Jang Pangyo! It's Jang Pangyo!"
"Jang Pangyo, Jang Pangyo… Great Hero Jeongpan!?"
"Jeongpan… what? No, I don't have such a grand title…"
"No, I was just saying. Pretend you didn't hear it."
Jang Pangyo's head was confused by the actions of the owner of the young voice, no, Jang Baekseo, who had suddenly been surprised, had suddenly asked for his name, had mentioned a flamboyant title like Great Hero Jeongpan, and was now asking him to forget it.
Whether that was the case or not…
'Great Hero Jeongpan! I never thought I would meet him here!'
Jang Baekseo was surprised by the appearance of an unexpected person.
Jang Baekseo's party, who had come out to land with the help of the Flame Star, had continued to move east in a hurry.
But unlike their hearts, their speed was not fast. That was because as time passed, Madam Ma's belly continued to swell.
No matter how much of a first-rate master Madam Ma was, as her belly continued to swell, problems began to arise in her movements.
Of course, she could not even use her lightness skill properly, and her movement speed could not help but decrease.
At first, they had tried to take turns carrying Madam Ma and running, but since Madam Ma was having too much of a hard time, they had had to give up even that.
As that happened, Jang Baekseo had no choice but to make a special decision.
That was to deliberately reveal their appearance and induce pursuit.
The outline of the operation was this.
Madam Ma and Jang Yuran would move separately, and Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon would deliberately leave traces here and there to gather the eyes of the pursuers in one place.
When the enemies gathered at the target point, they would break through the encirclement before it became too thick and shake them off.
Of course, during that time, Madam Ma and Jang Yuran would be continuing their movement, and through this, they would be able to buy some time, however little.
And the place chosen for that was…
"Was it Mount He…?"
"That's right. The mountain terrain is rugged and there are many cliffs, so it's easy to escape. And since it's next to a large main road and a river, it was easy to spread information."
"Haha! The Strong Sword Squad, no, if it's as you say, the Hundred Rivers Association has been completely deceived!"
"Well, if you look at the results, that's right."
Although Jang Pangyo spoke as if the operation had gone well, this operation had a fatal weakness. That was…
'No matter what, if we can't get out of Mount He in the end, it's all for nothing.'
To properly lure the enemies, someone had to remain at the lure point, Mount He.
Since it was an operation that was no different from remaining in a dead-end, it was by no means an operation that could be called a good plan.
As Jang Pangyo and Jang Baekseo were talking…
Hwa Mokyeon sent a telepathic message to Jang Baekseo with a puzzled face.
-Brother, what do you trust to tell that person all those facts? He says he's not the Hundred Rivers Association, but how can you believe that?
Hwa Mokyeon's worry was justified.
But there was a fact that he did not know and that Jang Baekseo knew…
That was about what Jang Pangyo would do in the future and what title he would be called by.
'A few years from now, Jang Pangyo will leave the Righteous Heaven Alliance and will be active as a hero who helps people with unjust stories in the martial world. And the public will call him Great Hero Jeongpan.'
And Jang Pangyo's actions had not changed even during the Righteous-Demonic War. Jang Baekseo, who had been curious about such a Jang Pangyo and had done various investigations on him, knew very well that he had no connection with the Hundred Rivers Association, not even a speck of dust.
That's why he had explained to him, whom he had met for the first time today, without adding or subtracting anything, from Madam Ma's situation to the secret organization, the Hundred Rivers Association, which had settled in the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
"But… you're really amazing… to have gone on such a life-threatening escort mission for a woman who has nothing to do with you, and for a demonic person at that…"
Jang Pangyo, who was thinking about what words to use to praise their chivalry and righteousness, said those words as if he were possessed.
"Great hero… it's literally the action of a great hero."
At those words, Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon, who had been looking at each other for a moment, ended up laughing.
"Wh-why are you guys laughing? D-did I perhaps say something strange?"
Jang Pangyo was flustered and even stuttered at their reaction of suddenly looking at each other and laughing like crazy.
"N-no, it's just… there's something that only we know."
Although Jang Pangyo still had a sour face even after hearing the explanation, he soon fixed his expression and said with a serious face.
"Young Master Jang Baekseo, what do you plan to do now?"
"…I'm thinking of going to Guangdong for now. After that… well, I'll have to improvise, what else can I do?"
"Go to Hunan."
"Yes? But Hunan is the front yard of the Righteous Heaven Alliance. And there are already troops of the Righteous Heaven Alliance in Hunan…"
"The unit that was supposed to be dispatched there is the Strong Sword Squad, right? And it's also the unit that is gathered down there right now. Putting together Young Master Jang's words and my deduction, the Strong Sword Squad probably didn't even go to Hunan in the first place."
"…That's…"
Jang Baekseo had set Guangxi as his destination because he had obtained information from the Black Dot that the units dispatched under the pretext of catching the demonic head had been dispatched to Guizhou and Hunan.
But since the demonic head was just an excuse in the first place, and the real purpose was Madam Ma, the Strong Sword Squad, which had officially been dispatched to Guizhou and Hunan, had been dispatched to Sichuan and Guizhou from the beginning.
"If it's as Great Hero Jang Pangyo says, it's true that there is no particular guard in Hunan at the moment, but even so, Hunan is the front yard of the Righteous Heaven Alliance. If the Righteous Heaven Alliance dispatches a new unit…"
Hearing Jang Baekseo's worry, Jang Pangyo shook his head.
"The Righteous Sword Squad and the Strong Sword Squad, the main combat units of the Righteous Heaven Alliance, are out. It's one thing if we're chasing them, but they won't be able to dispatch a new unit."
The Righteous Heaven Alliance was a huge military group where the Orthodox Faction forces of the southern martial world had gathered. And as a matter of course, it had many enemies to match its size.
Externally, it was in conflict with the Chivalrous Alliance of Henan, and internally, it had to be wary of the Signer Alliance, the alliance of the Unorthodox Faction sects.
In such a situation, if they were to make another lame excuse and send a unit out, complaints would inevitably arise.
"Even in this incident, there are a lot of words coming from inside and outside. Not only the immediate complaints, but since people's eyes are focused, they won't be able to act carelessly."
"Is that so…"
Through Jang Pangyo's words, Jang Baekseo was able to realize once again that, unlike before his regression, the influence of the Hundred Rivers Association was much smaller than he had thought.
"Then I will accept your advice and head for Hunan."
"Then I will pray that good luck will be with you on your journey."
Saying so, Jang Pangyo raised his body.
"Go quickly. The leader of the Righteous Sword Squad, Namgung Jeongmin, will surely attack tonight. Hurry and get out of Mount He, join your party, and go to Hunan. You don't have to worry too much about the pursuit. I'll try to interfere with the pursuit from the inside somehow."
Jang Baekseo, who was looking at Jang Pangyo, who was about to go down the mountain after saying that, with strange eyes, called out to him and stopped him.
"Great Hero Jang, why are you doing this much for us?"
At those words, Jang Pangyo stopped his body, which was about to go down, and looked back at Jang Baekseo.
"Well… why, I wonder?"
Jang Pangyo, who had closed his eyes and had thought for a moment, soon opened his eyes and continued.
"The Central Plains martial world is a heartless place. Although they shout 'chivalry' and 'righteousness' with their mouths, it's all just words."
Moreover, even the Righteous Heaven Alliance, which had the word 'righteousness' in its name, and the Chivalrous Alliance, which had the word 'chivalry' in its name, only put forward 'chivalry' and 'righteousness' as words, as a just cause.
'And the Righteous Heaven Alliance is even doing this kind of thing…'
Was it because of his skepticism about the Righteous Heaven Alliance, to which he had devoted his youth? Jang Pangyo's shoulders looked somehow heavy.
"But, even so, no, rather, that's why the people called martial artists like the words 'chivalry' and 'righteousness'."
Saying so, Jang Pangyo showed a wide smile that was completely unsuited to this situation.
"If you take away chivalry and righteousness, what is left in the martial world?"
***
Jang Pangyo, who had found out the real purpose of this mission, which he had been looking for, and even the inside story, felt refreshed.
As such, his steps were also light.
As he was running down Mount He…
"Hey! Pangyo!"
"Chuyeong! Why are you here…?"
Jang Pangyo glanced behind him.
Fortunately, the point where Jang Pangyo and Han Chuyeong had met was a place far from the place where he had met Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon.
Jang Pangyo was relieved, thinking that since the two who had lightly overwhelmed him, a peak master, had already almost escaped Mount He.
"I was worried because you didn't come for so long, so I was looking for you!"
"Ah, is that so?"
"Tsk! I went to the nearby stream, but you weren't there, so I thought you might have gone to a mountain valley and came to see… aren't you scared? They say there's a demonic head on this mountain… what would you have done if you had ruined the operation!"
At Han Chuyeong's irrefutable argument, Jang Pangyo could only apologize repeatedly.
"Sigh~ you're good at everything, but the problem is that you sometimes act impulsively. Let's go down now."
"Yes, let's do that."
"I'll watch the front and the left, so you watch the rear and the right. It'll be annoying if we get ambushed in a mountain like this."
"I understand! I'll do that."
Then, suddenly.
Halt.
"Huh? Why are you doing that, Pangyo? We have to go down, don't we?"
"…Wasn't our mission this time to catch the demonic head who caused a disaster in Guizhou and Hunan?"
"…Yes, that's right. Why are you suddenly talking about such an obvious thing, my friend?"
"And that demonic head is a lone criminal. There is no information about an accomplice anywhere."
"…"
"Then why did you just say something like 'it would be troublesome if we were ambushed'?"
"…Haha, this is really."
For a moment!
Swish!
At the surprise attack that had been carried out without a sound, blood spurted from Jang Pangyo's chest.
"Keuk!?"
Although Jang Pangyo had barely pulled his body back at the moment of the attack, his condition was not good.
That was because Han Chuyeong's sword…
"…Sword force…"
"It's really sad… I had to deal with it anyway, but I was a little reluctant to do it myself, as an enlistment comrade~"
Clutching his bleeding chest, Jang Pangyo shouted.
"…Were you hiding your skills? No, before that, since when were you the Hundred Rivers Association?"
"Haha! To think you even know the name of the Hundred Rivers Association! You're a guy who must be killed. I'm glad I followed you, even if it was late!"
Looking at Han Chuyeong's twisted smile, which he had never seen before, Jang Pangyo felt as if his mind was going blank.
"…What? Do you have any last words? Ah, please spare me the begging for your life~ I'm a person who gets hives all over my body when I hear that kind of thing~"
At Han Chuyeong's appearance, who was laughing at him, Jang Pangyo gritted his teeth and said.
"…F*ck you."
"Ouch, you're coming out like that? Well then… goodbye, my friend."
The moment Han Chuyeong's sword was about to be swung at Jang Pangyo!
Whizzzzzzzz!
Thwack!
Han Chuyeong, who was about to swing his sword at Jang Pangyo, hurriedly caught the stone that was flying fiercely at his face.
"…What's this? You rude bastard… didn't your parents teach you not to throw stones at anyone?"
Then, a voice was heard from the tree.
"…Unfortunately, I don't have parents."
And with the answer, a figure fell from the tree.
"…Jang… Baekseo? Wh-why are you here?"
Jang Baekseo, who had waved his hand roughly without answering Jang Pangyo's question, looked at Han Chuyeong and said.
"You've crossed the line, so you have nothing to say even if you die."
Jang Baekseo's sword was aimed at Han Chuyeong.
(End of Chapter)