Chapter 180
On the roof of Northern Bright Hall, which provided a view of the entire estate of Northern Bright Divine Gate.
Chu Ryang lay flat there, peering through a Heavenly Eye at the inner courtyard of the guest hall, and burst into admiration.
“Kwaaa! So totally cool!”
When Bok Il-ryong launched his devastating attack disguised as sword dancing, he thought Sa Bigang would surely die.
But to block it with chopsticks!
And that wasn’t all?
Didn’t he deflect Gate Master Won-sang’s sword attack with a wine cup?
He’d never seen such a magnificent sight in his life.
‘As I thought, he’s far more incredible than I imagined!’
He’d sensed from the beginning that this was no ordinary person.
That indescribable atmosphere surrounding Sa Bigang.
Though he appeared to be around his own age, he had the leisure of a master who seemed to have lived through decades of experience.
Anyway, it was a feeling.
Not something he could pinpoint and explain clearly.
But this time he had confirmed that feeling with his own eyes.
However…
“What are you doing here?”
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
Soon after, a pitch-black shadow covered him.
Chu Ryang froze like ice and slowly turned around.
An old man standing tall under the moonlight.
On his chest, the character ‘殺'(kill) was engraved in black.
“Huk! Sal…mak?”
Ak Cheon-goe grinned and flicked his finger.
Puk!
Struck directly in a pressure point by a finger wind, Chu Ryang collapsed helplessly.
***
Won-sang still had a shocked expression, unable to recover.
‘How could someone possess such a level of martial prowess…!’
Moreover, the Heaven Annihilation Squad had also far exceeded his expectations.
Weren’t these children who had been students until just recently?
Yet they had easily blocked the attacks of the Thunder Sword Squad, Northern Bright Divine Gate’s pride.
Even surprise attacks from the elite of the elite.
‘This can’t be dismissed as mere coincidence….’
In that instant,
Kwadang!
The main gate leading to the inner courtyard burst open as if about to fall off, and suddenly martial artists came pouring in!
There appeared to be about a hundred of them.
Soon after, martial artists appeared like black dots on the walls all around and drew their bowstrings taut.
Seeing this, Sa Bigang whistled.
“The scale of sword dancing at Northern Bright Divine Gate is incredible. After dancing twice, there wouldn’t be anyone left standing.”
Won-sang’s expression twisted with rage.
“Hmph! Stop with the pathetic jokes!”
Eventually, Sa Bigang looked at Won-sang with deepened eyes.
Won-sang drew a cold sneer.
“Inspector General, you’ll have to die here today!”
Cha-cha-cha-cha-ang!
The Heaven Annihilation Squad members, who had been watching the situation closely, all drew their swords at once.
Heaven Annihilation Squad Captain Dan Li-jeong drew his bowstring taut, aimed at Won-sang, and spoke in a cold voice.
“Gate Master Won. Stop this irreversible action and kneel down immediately to apologize to the Inspector General.”
“You insolent brat…”
Bok Il-ryong ground his teeth and glared at Dan Li-jeong.
But Dan Li-jeong’s expression showed not the slightest waver.
The man who usually appeared gentle had become a completely different person.
The spirit befitting a leader of an organization overflowed from him.
Won-sang chuckled.
“A green young brat who doesn’t know how harsh the world is acting up. Do you even know what the current situation…”
Paeng!
Sswooosh!
Dan Li-jeong released his bowstring.
The arrow flew like a beam of light.
There was no second warning.
Startled, Bok Il-ryong quickly stood in front of Won-sang and swung his sword.
Ttang!
“Keuut!”
Chwa-chwa-chwa-aaa!
He barely managed to deflect the arrow, but pushed by its tremendous force, Bok Il-ryong was pushed back nearly three jang.
His footprints were deeply carved into the stone floor.
‘What kind of arrow is so powerful…!’
He furrowed his brow and was about to charge at Dan Li-jeong, but immediately stopped.
Dan Li-jeong had already drawn his second bowstring and was aiming at Won-sang.
‘Damn, how is he so fast?’
His gaze wavered, and Sa Bigang spoke with a coldly changed expression.
“Seeing you go this far, you must have done something seriously wrong.”
“So what will you do?”
Won-sang collected his startled heart and smiled bitterly.
Dan Li-jeong’s martial prowess was quite surprising, but two hundred and fifty men had already surrounded Sa Bigang and the Heaven Annihilation Squad.
The result wouldn’t change.
Sa Bigang chuckled.
“Hmm. Then as you said, I should stop with the pathetic jokes.”
The next moment,
Ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss.
Won-sang flinched at the suffocating killing intent flying from all directions and looked around.
Not only that, but Bok Il-ryong and all the other martial artists also turned around.
Surprisingly, pitch-black shadows appeared all over the rooftops of the surrounding buildings!
‘When did so many people…!’
He had concentrated maximum personnel at the guest hall.
So it was true that other places in the estate had relatively weak defenses.
But to not notice until so many people had infiltrated the estate!
Just the visible personnel seemed to be twice as many as the elites Bok Il-ryong had prepared.
Among them, someone silhouetted against the moonlight on a high eastern building cupped his hands and shouted.
“Kang So-gun, Swift Wind Squad Leader of the Flash Sword Mok Family, has rushed here on the family head’s orders to assist Inspector General Sa Bigang!”
Following that, another shadow on a southern building cupped his hands and shouted.
“No Dok-myeong, Black Martial Squad Leader of the Flash Sword Mok Family, has rushed here on the family head’s orders to support Inspector General Sa Bigang!”
Like that, they appeared one by one on each building and continued shouting.
“Changcheon Gate Master Ho Yo-beom! I’ve come to support Inspector General Sa Bigang!”
“Dan Li-chu of Ilseong Sword Gate! I’ve rushed here to help Inspector General Sa Bigang!”
“Tang Go-ryun, Poison Dagger Squad Leader of Sichuan Tang Family, has rushed here on the gate master’s orders to assist Inspector General Sa Bigang!”
When the resounding introductions ended, Won-sang felt all the strength drain from his body.
‘This is… how….’
Why were they at Northern Bright Divine Gate?
At this point, he even began to think that Deung Wang-pae had deceived him.
But it wasn’t over yet.
Suddenly, a gentle vibration.
The trembling gradually became more intense, and then,
Dudududududu!
Finally, the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
Soon after,
Kwadaang!
The gate of the inner courtyard fell off completely, and at the same time, a group of martial artists on pitch-black horses came pouring in like a torrent.
They instantly surrounded the interior, raised their long spears, and shouted in unison.
“The Iron Blood Squad pays respects to the Inspector General!”
Their spirit was so tremendous that the sky seemed to ring.
At this point, the martial artists of Northern Bright Divine Gate had no choice but to lose their morale instantly.
Whoooooong!
A wind filled with killing intent swept through the estate once.
Won-sang trembled while holding his sword.
Sa Bigang raised the corners of his mouth.
“Choose. Either dance with swords here and die gloriously, or crawl down and beg for your life.”
“Keuk…!”
Won-sang ground his teeth and trembled.
But wielding his sword in this situation wouldn’t benefit him at all.
He had lived his entire life pursuing only self-interest.
There was no way he would suddenly develop heroism at this point.
Clang.
The sword fell from his hand.
He bowed his head deeply.
“Please… spare me.”
Sa Bigang smiled coldly.
“Will that be enough? Show me more desperation.”
***
Chirp chirp. Chirp.
Ham Cheon-seok opened his eyes to the sound of birds chirping on the railing.
After stretching long, he walked to the railing and looked down at the street.
Though it was early morning, the street was unusually crowded with people.
‘A good night’s sleep after a long time.’
Usually, on days like yesterday when operations were carried out, it was hard to fall asleep easily.
But he was different.
Rather, he slept thoroughly on such days.
Only then could he thoroughly hide the fact that they were involved.
‘But why are there so many people this early in the morning?’
Then the door opened and one of his subordinates rushed in urgently.
“Squad Leader! Something terrible has happened!”
Ham Cheon-seok, who had already guessed the situation, opened his mouth indifferently.
“Don’t make a fuss and tell me.”
“Well… at Northern Bright Divine Gate, the Heaven Annihilation Squad…”
“Must have been wiped out. Then now we should…”
“No. It’s the opposite.”
“Opposite? What do you mean?”
Ham Cheon-seok, finally sensing something strange, tilted his head.
“Last night, the Northern Bright Divine Gate Master knelt before the Inspector General. Currently, Gate Master Won-sang is captured for treason and imprisoned in the thunder dungeon. Northern Bright Divine Gate is in complete chaos right now.”
“That’s…! How could that be possible? Northern Bright Divine Gate against just twenty-one Heaven Annihilation Squad members…”
“It wasn’t just the Heaven Annihilation Squad.”
The subordinate briefly summarized what had happened during the night.
Ham Cheon-seok was too shocked to say anything.
Chills ran down his spine.
If Sa Bigang had foreseen all of this…
‘We almost got our main unit involved too.’
He gulped dryly and hurriedly put on his outer garment.
“What about Chu Ryang?”
“Well… he hasn’t been seen since last night.”
“Damn! Where is this crazy bastard at such an important time?”
He hurriedly left the room.
***
Northern Bright Hall.
The unconscious Chu Ryang collapsed in front of Sa Bigang.
Ak Cheon-goe, who had carelessly thrown him on the floor, smiled coldly.
“A little rat was hiding and watching.”
Sa Bigang looked at Chu Ryang quietly and nodded.
“Good work. You can go now.”
After Ak Cheon-goe disappeared, Sa Bigang approached Chu Ryang lying on the floor.
Slap! Slap!
He unhesitatingly struck Chu Ryang’s cheeks.
Only after his cheeks swelled red from the beating did Chu Ryang groggily open his eyes.
“Mmm… Where is this… who am I…”
“Are you coming to your senses?”
“Hm? You are… huk!”
Startled, Chu Ryang scooted backward while sitting and spoke haltingly.
“Sa, Sa Bigang. Inspector General…!”
“Inspector General?”
“Sir?”
“Right, it’s me. Chu Ryang.”
When Sa Bigang chuckled in response, suddenly Chu Ryang jumped up!
Instantly, tears welled up in Chu Ryang’s eyes.
“You… remembered my name.”
“I couldn’t forget.”
“To that extent…!”
“What were you doing on the roof of Northern Bright Hall?”
Sa Bigang brought up the main point.
In that instant,
Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung…!
Suddenly, Chu Ryang prostrated himself and began banging his head on the floor!
He hit so hard that it was surprising his forehead didn’t bleed.
Sa Bigang frowned deeply.
“You don’t need to do that. I have no intention of killing you for now.”
“This isn’t begging for my life! I’m performing the Nine Bows Ceremony!”
The Nine Bows Ceremony was a ritual performed when a disciple served a master.
When Sa Bigang frowned and looked at him, Chu Ryang shouted with sparkling eyes.
“Please accept me as your disciple, Master! I fell for you at first sight!”
