Kang Sogun

Creak.

After the black figures disappeared, the city gate opened again. The one who appeared was the young ronin.

The ronin listened for a moment to the sound of horse hooves coming from afar and then threw himself forward.

But his lightness skill was unique. With one step, he slid a full ten feet.

After the ronin disappeared, a person appeared on the railing of a three-story building attached to the main road.

"As expected, that guy is definitely from the Doryong Society."

The one who muttered as if to himself was No Ichil.

After finishing his words, No Ichil suddenly jumped from the railing.

The skill of descending from a three-story building, fluttering like a bat, was also a rare lightness skill.

Below the building, a horse was tied. A long sword was stuck in the horse's side.

No Ichil got on the horse and pulled the reins.

As if it were a well-trained horse, it shot out without even a neigh.

Then, from behind the building, a group of cavalry shot out and followed No Ichil.

No Ichil also rode his horse in the direction that Kang Sogun had disappeared.

***

"He escaped through the south gate."

At his subordinate's report, the Heavenly Martial Faction's military strategist, Jo Gaeryang, rubbed his mustache and was lost in thought.

"The south gate, then he's going to the Yangtze River."

Jo Gaeryang asked his confidant next to him.

"Where is the Three Blade Sect's Heavenly Fire Brigade now?"

"According to the last carrier pigeon report from the pursuit team, they are heading for Poyang Lake."

Jo Gaeryang tilted his head.

It was unexpected that the Heavenly Fire Brigade was heading south.

According to his prediction, it was right for the Heavenly Fire Brigade to head north and join them at the Yangtze River.

"Does that mean it has nothing to do with the Three Blade Sect anymore?"

Jo Gaeryang had interrogated the people around White Dragon Temple and the Crimson Dusk Inn in Yueyang and had found out almost all the details of what had happened.

'Yeon Hwasim went to find that man and requested his help, and for some reason, that man was seriously injured and they fled to the Three Blade Sect together.'

Of course, he had not found out everything. There were also unexpected variables.

'To think that the Three Tigers of Shandong were crouching in the Crimson Dusk Inn.'

He also did not know what connection the Three Tigers of Shandong had to help the Three Blade Sect.

But that didn't matter. The two people he had to catch now were Yeon Hwasim and Kang Sogun.

Last night, the Heavenly Star Brigade had searched the entire mountain, but had come up empty-handed. Only at dawn did they find out that he had escaped to Xinyang and had chased after him.

Gu Yeongang was furious and had cut off the noses and ears of the scouts who had made the wrong judgment. And he had ordered the Heavenly Star Brigade Commander, Gu Gyeongyeom.

"Don't even think of coming back until you find the whereabouts of that bastard and Yeon Hwasim."

At Gu Yeongang's anger, Jo Gaeryang had personally stayed on the outskirts of Xinyang City and had tracked Kang Sogun's whereabouts.

Jo Gaeryang had no great interest in Yeon Hwasim and the Heavenly Fire Brigade. Since he had taken over the business of the Three Blade Sect as planned, he had achieved his goal.

But he was curious about the identity of the nameless master who had harmed Gu Yangun.

According to what he had heard so far, he was a master comparable to Gu Yeongang, one of the ten great masters.

He could be a big variable in the struggle for the world.

"Abandon the Heavenly Fire Brigade! Tell the Ghost Shadow Brigade to just attach a pursuit team and have the rest head north to the Yangtze River. Let them know his whereabouts frequently and block his path."

At Jo Gaeryang's words, a Ghost Shadow Brigade messenger ran out.

His disciple, Hong Uibal, approached and said as if in admiration.

"As expected, your prediction was correct, Master. That bastard will never escape your grasp."

The fact that they had stirred up Xinyang City for all to see was a tactic of beating the grass to startle the snake.

Hong Uibal attributed the fact that it had worked and that Kang Sogun's whereabouts had been caught as he was trying to escape the city to Jo Gaeryang's credit.

Hong Uibal's flattery was endless.

"Since the Heavenly Star Brigade Commander went himself, there will be no chance of missing the bastard."

Jo Gaeryang shook his head.

"The bastard is the one who killed Wu Wonsong. Even the Black Horse Brigade Commander couldn't handle him. Although he is injured, he is a tiger. When you hunt a tiger, you have to do your best."

Jo Gaeryang said to Hong Uibal.

"Release the killing demons."

"What?"

The killing demons were the assassination squad of the Heavenly Martial Faction. They were people who did not officially exist.

Jo Gaeryang had brought half of the killing demon squad with him on this expedition of Gu Yeongang.

It was a fact that even Gu Yeongang did not know.

The mobilized killing demon squad was fifty.

Jo Gaeryang decided to deploy all of them.

Hong Uibal rushed outside.

The gaze of Jo Gaeryang, who was left alone, was fixed on the map spread out on the table.

'Gu Yangun's death gave us a justification. We will use this opportunity to advance into Henan.'

He was Jo Gaeryang, who knew Gu Yeongang better than anyone.

He knew the reason why Gu Yeongang frequently expressed his anger.

On the pretext of his son Gu Yangun's death, there was a hidden intention to eliminate the Three Blade Sect and advance to the Yangtze River in the south of Henan.

By deploying the Heavenly Star Brigade, the Ghost Shadow Brigade, and the killing demon squad to catch Kang Sogun, Jo Gaeryang was thinking of placing the entire Yangtze River area under the influence of the Heavenly Martial Faction.

'The eldest young master is pacifying Hunan. If so, the Heavenly Martial Faction will be able to control the entire Yangtze River area in Hunan and Henan.'

The Yangtze River was the lifeline of the world's commerce. It would be the foundation for the Heavenly Martial Faction to rise to the position of the number one faction in the world.

In fact, Jo Gaeryang felt like he wanted to praise Kang Sogun.

There was a concern that the succession structure would be disrupted as Gu Yeongang doted on his third son, Gu Yangun, but Kang Sogun had eliminated the root of the trouble.

'And on top of that, a justification for advancing to the Yangtze River!'

No one could stop the justification of revenge.

***

The desolate field, transitioning to early winter, was full of moonlight. The main road that crossed the field seemed to have no end.

There was no place for Kang Sogun, who was riding his horse, or the thirty-odd Heavenly Star Brigade warriors who were following him, to hide.

In the distance, a low hill with three pine trees was visible.

Kang Sogun stopped his horse.

Since he had been running for over an hour, the horse also needed to rest.

Snort.

The horse snorted. Kang Sogun tied the reins to a pine tree and took out a water bottle from the horse's back.

He first took a sip himself and then let the horse wet its throat.

It was so natural that one could not think of him as a person being chased.

"Stop."

The Heavenly Star First Team Leader, Yu Maun, stopped his subordinates. They were about thirty feet away from Kang Sogun.

"Brother, why are you stopping?"

The Heavenly Star Second Team Leader, Bu Chagyeok, approached and asked.

"You also heard the commander's order to just chase from a distance, didn't you?"

The Heavenly Star Brigade Commander, Go Gyeongyeom, had ordered the team leaders to just chase the culprit until he arrived if they found him.

"Cough! Honestly, does that make sense? To think that our entire Heavenly Star Brigade is deployed to catch that one bastard."

Bu Chagyeok grumbled, spitting out the phlegm from his throat, which had become dry from using lightness skill for over an hour.

"Since he's the one who shattered the Heaven's Mandate Brigade and the Black Horse Brigade, I guess he's being careful."

"Hmph! Those Heaven's Mandate Brigade guys. Their reputation is all for show, how many of them can actually use their strength properly?"

The Heavenly Star Brigade was one of the main forces of the Heavenly Martial Faction's inner circle. Naturally, their pride was high.

Above all, Bu Chagyeok did not believe the rumor that one person had annihilated the Heaven's Mandate Brigade and the Black Horse Brigade.

'Honestly, even the Faction Master probably couldn't do that.'

The martial world was a place where all sorts of schemes were rampant.

'He might be a poison user.'

Bu Chagyeok thought of the antidote pill in the medicine pouch he was carrying.

Since it had the effect of detoxifying most poisons, there was nothing to worry about.

"Honestly, I can't believe that bastard did it alone. He must have used some cunning trick."

Bu Chagyeok looked back at Kang Sogun and continued.

"It's also ridiculous that we have to shiver in this cold wind-blown field until the commander arrives. The Heavenly Star Brigade has its honor."

"What do you want to do?"

"I'll go and test that bastard's skills first."

"Why would you deliberately court danger?"

"That bastard is not a monster with three heads and six arms. I can take care of myself, so don't worry."

Yu Maun also knew Bu Chagyeok's martial arts. Bu Chagyeok's aggressive chain saber was something that even he had difficulty handling.

In fact, a team leader of the Heavenly Star Brigade would not easily find a rival if he went out into the martial world. Bu Chagyeok would probably rank at the top among the ten team leaders in terms of martial arts alone.

Bu Chagyeok had been confident that he could compete with the Heaven's Mandate Brigade Commander, Wu Wonsong's crescent moon saber, with just his saber.

As Yu Maun hesitated for a moment, Bu Chagyeok had already turned around and was walking along the main road.

"Be careful. Just check his martial arts level and come back right away if you think it's unfavorable."

"Don't worry."

Bu Chagyeok walked, swinging his saber.

'That bastard, he won't die a natural death at this rate.'

Yu Maun clicked his tongue as he looked at Bu Chagyeok's back.

Bu Chagyeok went up the main road, which was revealed in the moonlight.

Kang Sogun was standing, leaning against a pine tree. He was holding a spear in one hand, and it was a dark red blood color.

'A spearman.'

There were not many who used a spear in the martial world.

First of all, it was inconvenient to carry. It was also burdensome to attract the attention of the authorities and other people.

Kang Sogun was watching Bu Chagyeok approach blankly.

Bu Chagyeok stopped three feet away.

It was a distance where he could attack at any time, and also a distance where he could pull back and return.

"Are you the Ghost Spear?"

"..."

"Ah. They call you the Ghost Spear. Is that not your original nickname?"

The Heaven's Mandate Brigade and the Black Horse Brigade had called Kang Sogun the Ghost Spear.

Kang Sogun took his gaze off Bu Chagyeok and looked into the distance.

Bu Chagyeok followed Kang Sogun's gaze, but he could only see the field illuminated by the moonlight.

"Hey, don't my words sound like words?"

Bu Chagyeok growled. He felt ignored because Kang Sogun had taken his gaze off him without answering.

At the words "Ghost Spear," Kang Sogun recalled an old memory.

'Haha. The barbarians call me the Ghost Spear. What would they say if I used a saber?'

It was a time when he was sharing a drink with Jang Seonbaek, who had returned from the battlefield. He thought he had been drinking Hongluju while looking at the garden where a spring rain was falling.

'They would have called you the Mad Saber.'

'What? The Mad Saber?'

'You only know how to strike down like a madman, so aren't you the Mad Saber?'

'This bastard, you haven't seen your brother's saber properly.'

Jang Seonbaek was proficient in the eighteen kinds of weapons, but among them, he was good at the spear and the saber, and if he had to choose one of the two, the saber was a little better.

The raindrops falling from the eaves hit the stepping stone and created a natural melody.

It was probably the end of a gloomy conversation.

The court was always unstable, and that instability weighed down on the two of them.

A joke that Jang Seonbaek had brought up to change the subject.

That was the last time.

Memory is not something that can be held onto just by trying.

As time passed, they disappeared one by one, and he didn't even know which memories had disappeared.

At Bu Chagyeok's words "Ghost Spear," Kang Sogun recalled his conversation with Jang Seonbaek and carefully savored it.

To him, it was more important than the enemy in front of him.

He was trying to find a clue to the fall of the Jang family from the conversation they had had about the political situation at that time.

As Kang Sogun was lost in thought, Bu Chagye-ok shouted.

The position of the Heavenly Star Second Team Leader was not one to be ignored.

"Hey, can't you hear me?"

Bu Chagyeok was ready to draw his saber at any moment.

At Bu Chagyeok's roar, Kang Sogun's gaze, which had been wandering in the past memories, returned.

A dark winter field.

The enemy was crouching over there, and right in front of him, a strong man was glaring at him, ready to draw his saber.

"What is it?"

Kang Sogun opened his mouth for the first time.

"Kehehe. It seems you've finally come to your senses. I heard you annihilated the Heaven's Mandate Brigade and the Black Horse Brigade, and I'd like to see your skills."

"..."

Kang Sogun, who had been standing leaning against a pine tree, slowly stood up.

It meant to come in without needing to say many words.

"I am the Heavenly Star Second Team Leader, Bu Chagyeok. In the martial world, they call me the Lightning Chain Saber."

Bu Chagyeok approached, letting his saber hang down.

At first, he approached slowly, one step at a time, but at some point, his stride narrowed and his steps became faster.

Bu Chagyeok did not believe the rumors about Kang Sogun, but just in case, he put all his internal energy into one strike.

A saber qi colder than the winter wind rushed fiercely.

Kang Sogun took a step back and extended his spear.

The spear extended in a straight line.

(End of Chapter)