The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 91

Chapter 91. Time for the Hunt (5)

“Confirmed. They say it is indeed the boat rented out in full by the Azure Sky Merchant Guild.”

At the words of the man in his mid-thirties, a young man who looked as though he had only just passed twenty nodded.

“Then please deploy the warriors around this area. They said it was one day’s distance, so it should be about time for them to arrive.”

At the young man’s words, the man nodded, then led the warriors and began taking position at one of the docks around Zhenjiang.

“Haa…….”

“Are you frustrated, Senior Brother Gi-pung?”

At Jang Un-je’s words, who had set out for the Regular Exam with him, Lee Gi-pung nodded.

“Of course I am. My eyes and ears are completely blocked.”

“That is what I mean. Why does the main mountain have to be struggling at a time like this, of all times?”

Lee Gi-pung was not as innocent as Jang Un-je. Did it make any sense for the donations coming into the main mountain to suddenly dwindle, and for businesses operated all across the country to run into trouble? And this was Diancang, of all places.

“From what I heard about Mount Hua, it seems we are not the only ones. They say those fellows are receiving worse support than their seniors did as well.”

“Hmph! Those fellows must have lined up on the wrong side too.”

Mount Hua and Diancang.

Who under heaven would dare squeeze the throats of those two without fear?

This was merely the price of being pushed aside in the sect’s internal power struggle.

It was bitter enough that he was taking the Regular Exam with warriors from Lay-Affiliated Martial Sects instead of the seniors from the main mountain, but now that even money was not being provided properly, it felt as though he had been abandoned by his sect.

On top of that, he had never imagined that allied factions bound together as the Nine Sects and One Gang would act this harshly in front of money.

“Those damned beggar bastards.”

The carrier pigeon letters he had been receiving from the Beggars’ Sect had long since stopped.

Thanks to that, he had been unable to properly take the first trial and the second trial. At this rate, he might fail to enter Murim Academy at all.

“…….”

The moment the thought that he might fail to enter Murim Academy occurred to him, his head went dizzy for a moment. If that happened, an enormous gap would open between him and his junior brothers at the main mountain.

“At least Daoist Master Myeonghyeon is helping us. How fortunate is that?”

“You are right!”

By a stroke of immense fortune, Daoist Master Myeonghyeon of the Murim Alliance had personally sent him information, allowing him to barely overcome the crisis.

“Daoist Master Myeonghyeon has been fond of you since long ago, Senior Brother. How distressed must he be?”

At Jang Un-je’s words, Lee Gi-pung nodded.

Though it was so long ago that his memory had grown faint, he recalled hearing a few words from Daoist Master Myeonghyeon before the man had been recommended as an Elder and gone to the Murim Alliance.

“But, Senior Brother…….”

At Jang Un-je’s hesitant words, Lee Gi-pung tilted his head.

“It feels a bit wrong to say this, but can we trust that information from Daoist Master Myeonghyeon?”

“…….”

After hesitating for a moment, Lee Gi-pung soon shook his head.

“Would Daoist Master Myeonghyeon be the sort of person to speak nonsense?”

“That is true, but is it not a bit unreasonable to believe it exactly as it is?”

“…….”

According to Daoist Master Myeonghyeon, a disciple of the Taeul Sect was taking the exam with only three junior brothers, yet he had secured nine trial tokens in the first trial and as many as six trial tokens in the second trial. Therefore, they were to cooperate with Mount Hua and Wudang to strike them.

It was information that was difficult to believe even after reading it, but because the source of the information was Daoist Master Myeonghyeon, he could not simply disbelieve it either.

He had even connected them to Song Baek of the Huayang Escort Agency, the wealthiest among the Lay Disciples, and filled in the gaps in the lacking information, so in the end, they had no choice but to believe and follow it.

Of course, he had not listened to the part about cooperating with Mount Hua and Wudang.

If Diancang went so far as to join hands with Mount Hua and Wudang just to catch the Taeul Sect’s disciples, what would the people of the murim think of Diancang?

There was also the matter of dividing the spoils that would come from catching the Taeul Sect’s disciples. Right now, Lee Gi-pung was moving together with two junior brothers.

If even Mount Hua and Wudang joined in and they had to divide the spoils, there was a high chance his junior brothers would be excluded.

“Have you prepared the boat?”

“Yes, I did prepare it, but…… is there really a need to go that far?”

According to Song Baek, those tracking them had been repeatedly ambushing them for the past ten days without sleeping or eating.

They would already be drained enough.

Against the Taeul Sect, this much could be called full preparation.

“Did you not hear Junior Brother Song Baek’s words? Warriors from the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect are moving with them. In the worst case, they may try to put only those taking the exam on the boat.”

“Then after the third trial…… no, they would be eliminated before they even reach the third trial.”

“That is why we must make thorough preparations. We cannot cook the porridge only to feed it to a dog, can we?”

He had cleanly ignored the carrier pigeon letter from the Mount Hua Sect, who were moving toward Henan Province, asking, ‘Why are you going to Jiangsu Province?’

If they were waiting in Henan Province, the moment he sent them off on the boat, they would end up shoved straight into the maws of Mount Hua and Wudang.

“We cannot allow that.”

In Zhenjiang, not only the Diancang Sect but also others who seemed to be taking the Regular Exam were scattered here and there.

However, none among them seemed capable of being a match for Diancang.

“It should be about time for them to arrive…….”

Jang Un-je was looking at the sun in the sky as he spoke.

At that very moment, a WHIIIISH……BOOM rang out.

“……What was that?”

It was clearly a signal firework.

“What is that signal for?”

Lee Gi-pung looked all around, but there were no people making any special movements because of the signal firework.

“Senior Brother! The boat! The boat is leaving!”

“What!”

The Azure Sky Merchant Guild’s boat had raised its anchor and spread its sail, and the sailors had begun rowing.

“We clearly blocked anyone from getting through…….”

At that moment, beside the moving boat, he saw two women soaked to the skin grabbing a rope and climbing up onto the boat.

Seeing how courteously the people on the boat treated them, they were not of ordinary status.

“Damn……! They moved after abandoning their warriors!”

“What do you mean?”

“This is no time for that! Divide the warriors in two! One group will seize their boat, and the other will launch our boat!”

“Yes, sir!”

It was a foolish choice.

They had left their warriors behind.

They might be able to escape this place immediately, but how would they overcome the long journey after the third trial like that?

“That only applies if they can get out of here.”

But then, the Azure Sky Merchant Guild’s boat began doing something strange.

With the two women at the head, the sailors began throwing planks and pails into the river.

“Are they trying to lighten the boat?”

Lee Gi-pung’s thoughts only continued that far.

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD.

A group of mounted riders was galloping madly toward them, raising pale dust.

“S-Senior Brother!”

Jang Un-je, who had been preparing to board the boat, called out to Lee Gi-pung in horror.

“What in the world…….”

“Th-The Namgung Clan!”

“What? Did they not abandon their warriors?”

When the Demonic Cult began its conquest of the murim, there was one organization that proved the most troublesome.

The Iron Horse Black Wind Unit.

They fought in a form unfamiliar not only to the people of the murim, but even to government troops.

If one had to find something even somewhat similar, they were those who fought mounted battles of the sort practiced by the peoples of the far northern lands.

From the Murim Alliance’s position, they were extraordinarily difficult to deal with because no one could get any sense of how to stop them.

The swords and sabers most martial artists used did not bite into horses clad in armor, while the long spears swung by Demonic Practitioners from atop those horses drove deep into the chests of martial artists.

Above all else, there was the absurd breakthrough power of a horse.

That powerful breakthrough force born of a massive weight no human could produce was not something martial artists, flustered before the unexpected strategy known as a cavalry charge, could deal with.

“So this is a strategy ten years too early, in other words.”

The warriors following behind me were running according to my words, but every single one of them looked as though they had no idea what I meant.

“Young Master! Are we going to keep running like this?”

“Keep running! don’t even think of stopping. Just think of it as running over the river!”

“…….”

At times like this, it was better to tell them the sweetness of the result than the rationality of the process.

“Then you will be able to go all the way to Murim Academy with the young ladies.”

“““Yes, sir!”””

The warriors of the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect shouted in thunderous voices.

“S-Senior Brother, they’re not slowing down.”

“What?”

Are they planning to cross the river on horseback or something?

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG—.

With a young man around his age wearing a black martial arts uniform at the very front, more than a hundred mounted warriors began drawing their swords in unison.

“Everyone, charge!”

“““Waaaaaaah!”””

The warriors of the Lay-Affiliated Martial Sects, whose formation had already broken, could neither gather nor spread out properly, and began scattering in all directions, startled by the momentum of the cavalry.

“D-don’t scatter! B-Block them!”

Lee Gi-pung instinctively shouted that they had to stop that mounted group, but no one listened to him.

In the end, Lee Gi-pung kicked off the ground.

One move.

He only needed to scatter their formation with one move.

The Sun-Shooting Sword Art that Daoist Master Myeonghyeon had praised long ago scattered forth.

It aimed at the vital acupoints of the man at the front, the one wearing a black martial arts uniform and holding a black sword.

“Your attainment is below even Jong Byeok-gi’s.”

“What?”

When the name of an esteemed senior he had never imagined came out of the man’s mouth, Lee Gi-pung’s sword form wavered for an instant.

And the warrior in the black martial arts uniform precisely wedged his sword into that broken portion.

THUD!

“Guh!”

“Senior Brother!”

Lee Gi-pung’s body flew back in the opposite direction at a speed even greater than the one with which he had charged in.

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG.

Then the mounted group knocked away the warriors loitering around them with a single sword strike each and charged straight toward the river.

What are they trying to do?

That question was soon answered.

Using the young man in black at the very front as their standard, all of the mounted warriors leapt from their horses.

SPLASH— SPLASH— SPLASH—

They immediately began stepping on the planks and pails the boat had scattered in every direction and boarding the vessel.

Everyone in Zhenjiang who had been targeting the Namgung Clan, the Iron Sword Sect, and the Taeul Sect could only stare at the sight in a daze.

She had thought it was an absurd operation.

“You are abandoning the horses?”

“Yes.”

“Would it not be better to go around Hongze Lake instead?”

When Namgung Seon-hwa heard that many people, including Diancang, were waiting for them in Zhenjiang, the first thing that came to mind was the detour plan.

But Jin So-un shook his head.

“If we do that, we will not complete the third trial in time.”

“……But even so, what meaning is there in abandoning the horses?”

“That is why we will use a decoy operation.”

Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran would arrive in Zhenjiang first and head to the boat through the water.

At the same time the two arrived, the boat would depart and scatter the Diancang Sect’s formation.

Then the second group would board the boat after it had begun moving.

At first glance, it sounded plausible, but there was a vast gap between something sounding plausible and actually carrying out the operation.

However.

“This actually worked.”

And when she saw that plausible operation actually unfold before her eyes, it felt as though everything she had known as common sense had blown away.

“……It really did.”

Seong Mo-ran also stared blankly at Jin So-un as he leapt down as though flying across the planks on the river.

After landing safely on the boat, Jin So-un immediately picked up the prepared planks and began throwing them.

Then each plank landed neatly under the feet of warriors who had failed to step on one and had nearly fallen into the river.

“I truly cannot believe it even after seeing it with my own eyes.”

The warriors of the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect were elites among elites. In terms of attainment, they were people who had passed First-Rate and stood on the threshold of Peak.

With only Jin So-un’s simple assistance, most of them landed safely on the boat.

“Young Master Jin! Your Junior Brothers!”

The problem was the Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers of the Taeul Sect.

For some reason, Jin So-un had placed the Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers at the very back.

Geum-pyo and Eun-ho were working hard to unfold their movement arts and step on the planks, but each time, they splashed into the water up to their ankles.

On top of that, Dong-ryong was already swimming after falling into the water.

“I’ll go!”

Namgung Seon-hwa immediately stepped forward.

“No.”

With that word, Jin So-un threw a rope to Geum-pyo and Eun-ho, and at the same time stretched his left hand toward Dong-ryong.

Something like the talon of a small silver bird shot out from his hand and snatched Dong-ryong.

“Hup!”

And at the same time, he pulled them in.

Geum-pyo, Eun-ho, and Dong-ryong boarded the boat, soaked to the skin.

“That is why I told you to practice your movement arts ahead of time.”

“Senior Brother! No matter how you look at it, expecting Grass-Skimming Flight from fifteen years of inner arts is practically theft, is it not?”

“Tsk.”

Though they were frowning, smiles lingered around the mouths of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers.

They were not the only ones. The warriors of the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect were also letting out foolish laughs, as though they could not believe they had boarded the boat without a single injury.

WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—

At that moment, arrows poured toward the Azure Sky Merchant Guild’s boat.

“They’ve launched boats too.”

Diancang, Song Baek, and the people who had kept them from sleeping throughout the entire journey all launched boats from the port at once and followed.

Some even boarded small rowboats and rowed.

The boats moored throughout the entire port came out onto the river as if competing with one another.

“At this rate, they’ll catch us.”

Just as she wondered whether going around really had been the correct answer after all.

“……Hm?”

The air around them vibrated tautly.

BOOMBOOMBOOM.

Jin So-un’s martial arts uniform swelled as though it would burst.

A mighty Qi Wave she had never felt before spread out with him at its center.

“Y-Young……Master Jin.”

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE.

It felt exactly as though the sky were collapsing.

A mighty destructive force capable of collapsing Mount Tai and covering the earth writhed within his hand.

Just as she felt stifled, unable to breathe beneath that overwhelming Qi Wave, a vast mass of palm forces poured from Jin So-un’s hand.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMCRASH.

The small rowboats used the mighty storm as propulsion and sent their light bodies shooting forward.

And the large boats that had not yet left the port took a direct hit from the storm and shattered into pieces.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMCRASH.

Among the boats clustered like ants around the port, boats and people suddenly tangled together and flew in every direction as though a waterspout had surged up.

THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHWACK.

Only the horrific scene of an accident remained where the mighty storm had passed.

“Young Master Jin…….”

“They will not be able to chase us now, will they?”

“That is true, but…… if you had this kind of power, why did you not use it sooner…….”

For some reason, it felt as though all their hardship until now had become pointless.

“The flaw of this martial art is that once I use it, I collapse.”

“What?”

“Please help me…….”

With those words, Jin So-un slowly collapsed as though his sleep acupoint had been struck.

Before she knew it, Namgung Seon-hwa had caught him neatly in her arms.

“S-Someone, please help….”

The thought that she was holding a man for the first time in her life left her unable to decide what to do.