Ch. 68
"We've found a trace!"
To find the traces of Jang Baekseo, Jang Yuran, Hwa Mokyeon, and the targeted Madam Ma, who had disappeared from Mount He, the Sword Guard of the Mysterious Profound Sect, the Qinghe Sword Guard of Qingcheng, and the Wisdom Sword Guard of Emei were dispatched at the request of the Mysterious Profound Sect.
Their pursuit began by searching for traces at the ambush site on Mount He, where the party's tracks had been cut off.
"Looking at this, it seems Baekseo and his party fled down the cliff."
Grandmaster Gwangha, who had deduced the general situation from the remaining traces and sword wounds at the scene, said so, and Cheongmu, who had just come down from the cliff, also nodded his head.
"Looking at the traces, it seems that Baekseo and his party jumped down the cliff. And…"
As if he were conscious of the eyes around him, Cheongmu looked around and said quietly to Grandmaster Gwangha.
"It seems they used sword qi to reduce the speed of their fall and fled upstream along the cliff."
Although he had heard the words 'sword qi', Grandmaster Gwangha was not surprised at all.
"Haha, it seems the Qingha Divine Pill I gave him was quite helpful."
Cheongmu bowed his head in gratitude without a word.
Thus, the pursuit that had begun from Mount Emei in Sichuan continued to Guizhou.
Due to the death of Signboard, the eldest son of the Signer Family, the atmosphere in Guizhou was extremely grim.
According to the stories, they had even sent an official request for cooperation to the Signer Alliance, so Cheongmu guessed that the atmosphere would not be good for a while.
During the investigation, Cheongmu was able to hear the story that just before Signboard was killed, he had persecuted a Miao person with an illegal loan, and as a result, he had gotten into a fight with an unidentified group of four, and as a result, he had been beaten up by one of the group of four.
Moreover, through the story that a pregnant woman, who was presumed to be Madam Ma, who was presumed to be the cause of the escort mission attack, was among them, he was able to know that the group of four was Jang Baekseo and his party, whom they were looking for.
"Ho ho, that brat Jang Baekseo has a fiery personality~ to beat up the eldest son of the Signer Family, who is said to make even flying birds fall in Guizhou, without hesitation!"
"Who do you think killed the eldest son of the Signer Family, Grandmaster Gwangha?"
"It's obvious. It must be those guys who attacked the escort mission…"
"I think so too."
"…But it's a bit strange."
Abbess Yeonho, a female master of Emei who was leading the Wisdom Sword Guard and had also come to the sixtieth birthday party of the master of the Geumjo Merchant Guild, interrupted the conversation between Cheongmu and Grandmaster Gwangha.
"What is it, Abbess Yeonho?"
"As you all know, it is said that there were terrible traces of torture on Signboard, the eldest son of the Signer Family."
Although the Signer Family had tried to prevent the information from spreading as much as possible, since the scene of the incident had occurred at a famous high-end inn in Guiyang, there was a limit.
In addition, at the death of Signboard, the human scum who ruled Guiyang at the time, a considerable number of the guests in the inn had gone up to see the dead Signboard, and thanks to the rumors spreading from mouth to mouth, the appearance of Signboard at the time of his death had spread throughout Guizhou in an instant.
"But… this may be my strange thought, but I thought that the traces of torture were too professional."
"Professional? Does that mean…"
"As you all expect, the one who tortured and killed the eldest son of the Signer Family must be the unidentified group that attacked the escort mission and is still chasing Young Master Jang. What I'm trying to say is… that they might be members of a regular unit with some kind of regular training and code of conduct… that's the story."
Saying so, Abbess Yeonho made eye contact with Cheongmu and Grandmaster Gwangha one by one and continued.
"Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to torture Signboard in the middle of the city without being caught by anyone, extract information, and disappear without leaving any trace."
"A regular unit? Hah, a well-trained regular unit made up of transcendent and peak martial artists… no matter how wide the Central Plains martial world is, there aren't many such groups…"
"The Nine Great Sects, or the Seven Great Families… if not, then."
"The Righteous Heaven Alliance or the Chivalrous Alliance… are you saying that they are the masterminds, Abbess Yeonho?"
"…Coincidentally, I have recently obtained information that the Righteous Heaven Alliance's elite units, the Righteous Sword Squad and the Strong Sword Squad, have been dispatched to this area… wouldn't they satisfy all of the above conditions?"
"!?"
"…The Righteous Heaven Alliance…"
The faces of everyone in the hall contorted.
The Righteous Heaven Alliance was a collection of the Wudang Sect and the Zhongnan Sect, which were prestigious sects with a long history and members of the Nine Great Sects, the Namgung family, which occupied the top seat among the Seven Great Families, the Guangdong Jin family, the sects of the new twelve families that were newly expanding their power, and countless other small and medium-sized sects.
Even if the entire Sichuan joined hands, it could not be compared to the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
"…The Western martial world can't just stay still like this anymore."
The unification of the Western martial world!
Grandmaster Gwangha was once again strengthening his resolve for that.
***
Jang Baekseo's party, which had escaped from Mount He, headed for Guilin.
Since they had obtained information from Jang Pangyo that Hunan was currently outside the enemy's defense range, they had been planning to go through Hunan, pass through Jiangxi and Anhui, and enter Henan.
Jang Baekseo's party, which had gained confidence that the pursuers' current approximate location and that no more pursuers would be reinforced through their meeting with Jang Pangyo, began to move boldly.
Unlike before, when they had avoided the large main roads and had moved along the foothills of the mountains, they had decided to travel by carriage.
In the first place, Madam Ma's belly was so big that they could no longer force her to travel on foot.
That's why Jang Baekseo's party had decided to change their way of thinking altogether.
"So this is it?"
"Yes. They are looking for us under the condition of a group of four, a party with a pregnant woman. So we're giving them a confusion."
Jang Baekseo, who was sitting in the driver's seat of the two carriages, said so while driving the carriage.
"Hmm, they might not expect us to go so boldly on the main road."
The carriage that Jang Baekseo was currently driving was a luggage carriage for an escort mission. Moreover, to add a sense of reality, various things were actually loaded inside.
It was an excellent disguise that would look like nothing more or less than a small merchant guild's business trip, no matter who, where, or how they looked at it.
As proof of that…
"Have a good business trip."
"Make a lot of money."
A merchant guild that had passed by on the main road by chance bowed its head, and Jang Baekseo also naturally bowed his head and greeted them.
"Brother, are you planning to go to Hunan by carriage like this?"
"No. If we travel by carriage, we can be disguised, but we can't completely cut off their pursuit. We'll use the waterway."
That's why they were going to Guilin.
Jang Baekseo thought that the reason why they had been attacked by the water ghosts on their way from Guizhou to Guangxi before was because they had used a port in a place where there were too few people.
It was a simple story.
If there were many people at the port where the boat docked, they would not pay attention to who was getting on one by one, and they would not leave a strong impression. But if a small number of people got on at a port with few people, they would naturally be more memorable.
For that, Jang Baekseo was planning to take a boat and leave from Guilin, where a crowd of people gathered.
Guilin!
A city that was once the capital of Guangxi!
This city, which was called Guilin, meaning a place where cassia trees were in full bloom, as it was a region with many cassia trees since the past, was loved by many poets and painters as a subject for its outstanding scenery.
In particular, the specialty was the cormorant fishing, a unique fishing method of this region.
"…Isn't it too creepy to eat a fish that a bird has eaten and vomited?"
"If you put it that way, isn't it creepy to eat a fish that has eaten a maggot used as bait?"
"Huh? That's true too."
Leaving behind Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran, who were exchanging worthless conversations, Jang Baekseo checked the arrival time of the boat bound for Hunan.
"…Do we have to wait for three more days?"
According to the story, there was originally a boat service once a day, but recently, a few boats had been attacked by a group of water bandits based in Dongting Lake and had been unable to operate.
Thanks to that, the number of boats that could operate had decreased, and since the reduced boats could not depart unless they had escort personnel, there were many disruptions in the current boat service.
It was not a very good situation. No matter how much Jang Pangyo confused the information from the inside, there was a limit. Although they had been able to avoid their eyes for a while by disguising themselves as a business trip, they would not be able to completely cut off the line of pursuit.
Jang Baekseo frowned at the fact that the time they had bought would become meaningless.
"Then how about we go there for now?"
"There?"
"Why, didn't the Miao person you saved in Guizhou tell you to stop by the Water Remnant Gang if you go to Guilin?"
"Ah!"
"The Water Remnant Gang. Judging from the name, it seems to be a union made by sailors. Don't you think we can get some help?"
"That's a good idea."
At Madam Ma's suggestion, Jang Baekseo nodded his head and called the two who were still watching the cormorant fishing on the riverbank and talking nonsense.
The Water Remnant Gang was a building in a secluded place a little away from the port.
When they entered the building, a middle-aged man with a protruding belly greeted Jang Baekseo's party.
"Welcome! Boating, fishing, and even business trips! Our Water Remnant Gang is an excellent waterway gang that is among the top ten in Guilin, boasting a customer satisfaction rate of one hundred percent!"
Not caring about the middle-aged man's greeting, Jang Yuran took out the piece of wood that the Miao person had given her from her bosom.
"Do you recognize this?"
"Yes? What is this… ah!! Gangyang! This is Gangyang's thing!? G-guests, what is your relationship with Gangyang?"
Jang Yuran added a little lie and explained that the Miao person, no, Gangyang, had been assaulted after being caught in a fraudulent loan, and that they had helped him.
"…Tsk, that brat Gangyang. I told him to just work hard on the boat… where did he get such a foolish idea…"
Although it seemed there was some backstory, Jang Baekseo's party did not have the leisure to listen to it.
"Gangyang said that if we showed this piece of wood at the Water Remnant Gang, we could get help. Can we get help?"
"Hmph, I can't treat the benefactor of Gangyang poorly. Yes, tell me what I can help you with."
"Please take us to Hunan by boat."
"…Of all places, Hunan…"
"Is there a problem?"
"I wish there weren't, but there is. You must know, since you came here without taking the regular boat service, but these days, water bandits are rampant in Hunan. They used to be guys who would let you go if you just gave them a few coins… but something happened, and they suddenly went crazy and are attacking and sinking boats as they come. Thanks to that, people like us who work on boats are too scared to even set foot in Hunan…"
Hwa Mokyeon stepped forward to the middle-aged man who was speaking with a serious face and said.
"What if there is a peak master?"
Purple sword qi rose from Hwa Mokyeon's sword, which he had drawn with his words.
"Oh, oh oh! Is this the sword qi of the martial artists? It's amazing. I've never seen it in my life!"
At the middle-aged man's enthusiastic reaction, Hwa Mokyeon's nose rose.
"But this is not enough."
Stagger~!
"N-no! If there is a peak master, what's so scary about water bandits that it's not enough!?"
"That's because the opponent is not just a water bandit… you must have heard of the Yangtze River Waterway Fortress, right?"
The Yangtze River Waterway Fortress!
It was a term that referred to the alliance of water bandits who were based in the Yangtze River and engaged in piracy.
However, the difference from ordinary water bandits was that their martial arts were very high-level, unlike ordinary water bandits.
"Don't tell me there is a peak master?"
"According to the testimony of the survivor, his sword was sizzling and burning blue, just like you showed just now…"
(End of Chapter)