Lapkeukchal, the master of Wind Demon Gale.
With a face livid with killing intent, he stared at the ridges of the Tian Shan mountains, which showed their majestic presence under the rising sun.
An uncontrollable, fiery rage boiled within him at the thought that the fiend who had killed his child had been right where he was standing until last night.
"It seems they've noticed we're on their trail. The traces they left to confuse us are causing delays."
Lapkeukchal's trusted subordinate, Bunaegyeong, bowed low.
Lapkeukchal was silent.
He silently emanated killing intent.
"They say he's a former hunter, so rather than chasing blindly, how about we wait for the rear guard to arrive?"
Bunaegyeong spoke again.
Lapkeukchal only frowned, unable to make a decision.
His mind had already raced far ahead, tearing the fiend's body to shreds, but his body was here, confused about what to do.
"If they knew there was a pursuit team, they would try to get as far away as possible. It's either over the ridge or over the mountain peak."
A young voice interjected.
Two young men, dressed completely differently from the slave hunters of Wind Demon Gale, stood to one side.
Pure white martial arts uniforms and long swords.
And the clouds and cranes embroidered on their sleeves.
The Kunlun Sect!
They were undoubtedly disciples of Kunlun, one of the Seven Great Sects of the world.
Lapkeukchal's eyes gleamed as he looked back at the Kunlun disciples.
He understood.
"We'll split into two groups. One group will go straight along the ridge, and the other will go to the peak. Tell the rear guard to search every inch up to that ridge as soon as they arrive."
"As you command."
Bunaegyeong acknowledged the order and moved quickly to carry it out.
Soon, the slave hunters, divided into two groups of about thirty each, moved swiftly towards the ridge and the peak.
"Let's go. We may be a day late in catching them, but we will not lose them."
Lapkeukchal said as he moved.
One of the Kunlun disciples just nodded and started walking.
Then, a disciple who looked two or three years younger opened his eyes wide and grumbled.
"Senior brother, are we going all the way over that ridge?"
"Since we've come this far, we should check with our own eyes."
"Check what? It makes no sense to be looking for a child who disappeared from the Central Plains thousands of li away."
"It is an order from our elders, how can we treat it lightly?"
"I'm not saying we should treat it lightly, but it just doesn't make sense from the start. And look at this. They send us with just this one lousy portrait to find him. If you go to the market, it'll be full of kids who look like this."
The young man, who looked two or three years younger, complained, pulling out a piece of paper with a child's face drawn on it from his bosom and shaking it.
"Even if it's not the child the elders told us to find, they say he caused a tragedy at Wind Demon Gale, so let's catch him first and see."
"That's true too. It's something that happened among people who trade in human lives, we haven't even been able to confirm what's right and what's wrong."
"That's why I'm saying we should check."
"Check what, if you see it, you see it, if you know, you know."
The slave hunters of Wind Demon Gale were clearly listening, but not a single one of them could even frown.
Even the aged master of Wind Demon Gale, Lapkeukchal, said nothing.
He, who was notorious for his ruthlessness, didn't even frown once.
From the moment the young men, who were senior and junior disciples, came to Wind Demon Gale with just that one portrait, saying they were looking for the child, he had treated them with the utmost respect just for the name of Kunlun.
It was because he knew well that if even one of the two Kunlun disciples drew his sword, it would be difficult for any of them to escape death.
To have learned orthodox martial arts meant that they were beings with a different dimension of martial power.
"Hah, when will your mouth ever become heavy?"
"I'm tired, that's why. The Great War between the Orthodox and Demonic factions is over, so we should be able to rest a bit now."
"Watch your words. The thousands of souls who were sacrificed in this battle are probably still wandering the nine heavens. In our sect alone, the Grand Martial Uncle passed away, and seven of our masters never returned. And yet, you can say you're tired so easily!"
At the senior brother's stern rebuke, the grumbling junior disciple made an embarrassed face and shut his mouth.
After that, they moved towards the ridge in silence.
***
Jeok Yorap made full use of his experience from chasing prey.
As a human, when chasing prey, one has to rely on sight and the tracks the prey has left behind.
It was the same for those who were pursuing them now.
So, while moving quickly, he would occasionally stop to create tracks that would confuse the pursuit.
He also moved only through densely wooded areas to avoid being spotted by those chasing from a distance.
Since he had no luggage other than a water pouch, a pouch with some jerky, a bow and arrows, and a short knife hanging from his waist, his speed of movement was quite fast even while leaving confusing tracks.
Cho Myung also followed well without getting tired.
But after about two hours, one of the biggest challenges for the pursued, impatience, began to weigh heavily on his mind.
"I guess you can't fool age."
A short break.
Jeok Yorap brought the water pouch to his mouth first.
After a few cool sips, he handed it to Cho Myung.
Cho Myung took only one sip and gave it back.
"Why do you only drink that much? Drink more."
"I'm fine with just a little."
It had become a habit for Cho Myung to eat little of everything.
His thirsty body asked for a few more sips, but he insisted he was fine until the end.
Jeok Yorap thought that Cho Myung was less tired because he was a child and tied the water pouch to his waist.
"I'm saying this just in case, but the place you lived is in the direction where the sun rises in the morning. If you keep going in that direction for a few months, you'll be able to meet Han people."
Cho Myung didn't answer and just looked at him.
He felt that Jeok Yorap's words were concerned about a possible unavoidable situation.
"I want to protect you until the end, but if a large number of people are chasing us, I can't guarantee what will happen."
It started last night.
To be precise, it was after he saw the light in his log cabin.
He didn't show it in front of Cho Myung, but a sense of foreboding kept nagging at him.
It was similar to the chilling feeling in the back of his neck when he realized the presence of a predator chasing the same prey as him.
That's why he was impatient.
He had rushed off without even confirming if they were really slave hunters.
He felt so anxious that he even abandoned his luggage.
"Two days... no, if we can just move ahead for one more day, we can go to a place they won't be able to find..."
Jeok Yorap expressed his regret.
Cho Myung stared intently at such a Jeok Yorap.
"Grandfather..."
Cho Myung, feeling that Jeok Yorap was genuinely worried about his well-being, was enveloped in a warm feeling.
Cho Myung had experienced a hell that no one else had, but at this moment, he was soaked in that warm feeling.
But it was at that moment.
Jeok Yorap shot up, turned in the direction they had come from, grabbed his bow, nocked an arrow, and drew it in one breath.
Jeok Yorap, his face tense enough to harden.
Cho Myung also stared in the direction Jeok Yorap was wary of with a tense face.
Cho Myung had definitely heard it too.
He had heard it before Jeok Yorap, but he was so soaked in the warm feeling in his chest that he didn't even realize he should be wary.
No matter what hellish things Cho Myung had been through, he was still a very young child.
'Something is coming!'
The moment Cho Myung clenched his fists and tensed up.
Something suddenly popped out from between the bushes in the direction the two were wary of.
At the same time, Jeok Yorap reflexively released the bowstring.
A distance of less than thirty meters, he couldn't miss.
P-ing!
The arrow flew.
But it missed the mountain goat, which had veered off in a panic and disappeared.
"It was a mountain goat! Hah! That really surprised me!"
Jeok Yorap let out a long breath and relaxed.
At that moment, two more mountain goats popped out, were startled by Cho Myung's presence, and veered off sharply and disappeared like the previous one.
"I used to be a hunter once..."
Jeok Yorap was lamenting.
"An arrow! An arrow flew!"
"Over there! It flew from over there!"
Bloodthirsty shouts were heard from not too far away.
Jeok Yorap, who had been startled by the mountain goat, was about to sit down but shot up instead. Then he brought his finger to his mouth to signal Cho Myung to be quiet, then grabbed his hand and quickly left the spot.
Soon after the two left, the slave hunters stormed into the spot.
One of them squatted down where Jeok Yorap and Cho Myung had been sitting and examined it.
"Here. The arrow was shot from here."
"You blow the whistle, and the rest of you search the surroundings thoroughly! They're definitely around here. Find them!"
Peeeeek!
As the whistle blew long and loud, the slave hunters scattered in three directions and began to search thoroughly.
A moment later.
Lapkeukchal, the master of Wind Demon Gale, and the Kunlun disciples arrived.
"Here. The fiend shot an arrow from here, and my men, who arrived within the time it takes to drink a sip of tea, have searched a radius of twenty zhang."
"And yet you can't find them?"
"Yes. It's truly a case for the ghosts to cry over. They are definitely around here. It's clear they couldn't have gone far, but they are not visible."
Lapkeukchal scanned the surroundings with eyes full of venom.
There were bushes everywhere.
The only places to hide were on top of the bushes or behind the rocks.
But if they had hidden in such places, it was impossible that his subordinates would not have found them.
"The arrow?"
"Here it is."
Lapkeukchal was examining the arrow he had received from his subordinate.
The senior brother among the Kunlun disciples, who had been looking around, strode forward.
"There's only a cliff on that side. My men looked down, but they didn't see anything."
"If they didn't soar into the sky or hide underground, they must be in a place that can't be seen by the eye."
At the Kunlun disciple's words, Lapkeukchal's eyes gleamed, and he followed behind.
As Lapkeukchal moved, the slave hunters also tilted their heads and followed in a line.
Soon, they came to a rocky cliff.
It wasn't high enough to make one feel dizzy, but it was high enough that a fall would surely mean death.
The Kunlun disciple stood at the edge of the cliff and looked down.
There was clearly nothing to be seen.
The Kunlun disciple slowly turned around.
Then the slave hunters made faces as if to say, "I told you so."
But the Kunlun disciple, who had completely turned around, took a step back and jumped off the cliff.
The moment everyone, including Lapkeukchal, was startled.
"Ugh?"
A sound of someone gasping for air was heard from below the cliff, followed by a dull thud.
And soon, the Kunlun disciple shot up from the cliff.
In his hands were two people.
It was the unconscious Jeok Yorap and Cho Myung.
Jeok Yorap and Cho Myung had been hiding in a hollow space just below the cliff, but the Kunlun disciple had not missed the sound of their breathing.
The Kunlun disciple, who had come up to the top of the cliff, threw Jeok Yorap to the ground and put Cho Myung down.
Jeok Yorap, who had hit his head on the hard ground, regained consciousness from the impact.
"Ugh!"
Jeok Yorap groaned, bleeding from his head.
"Grandfather!"
Cho Myung, who saw the blood, was startled and called out to Jeok Yorap.
"Cho, Cho Myung..."
The slave hunters surrounding them and the Kunlun disciple holding Cho Myung.
Jeok Yorap's heart sank, and he didn't know what to do.
At that moment, the Kunlun disciple looked back at Cho Myung with a bewildered look.
"So you're the child named Cho Myung!"
The name that had been passed down with the portrait was Cho Myung.
The order was to find the child named Cho Myung.
"Hey, why are you here? They said you disappeared from the Central Plains."
The moment the junior disciple spoke in bewilderment, the senior disciple spoke with a heavy expression.
"There are people waiting for you. You must come with me."
The Kunlun disciple started to walk, holding Cho Myung's arm.
Cho Myung resisted, trying not to follow.
The moment he heard that there were people waiting for him, he had thought of the old Taoist and the other old men.
But the Kunlun disciple's strength was so great that he began to be dragged along.
But it was at that moment.
"I can't let you go like this."
Lapkeukchal blocked the way.
"There are people waiting for this child."
"That child is a fiend possessed by a demon! He's the one who brutally killed my child!"
"What nonsense, what demon!"
"Don't stop me! Blood for blood! I must smash that fiend's head to pieces!"
When there was no sign of him handing over the child, Lapkeukchal shouted and drew his sword.
His aura was menacing.
"Are you drawing your sword against Kunlun now?"
The Kunlun disciple's face turned cold.
Even his voice changed.
As the young man, who had been somewhat polite until now, changed his posture, a chilling aura emanated and strongly pressured Lapkeukchal.
"Senior brother, let's take this opportunity to wipe out Wind Demon Gale."
As the junior disciple unleashed his killing intent, even the surrounding air froze.
But Lapkeukchal could not back down.
Wasn't he the enemy who had brutally killed his child?
"Please let me kill him. I will give you all the wealth of Wind Demon Gale."
Lapkeukchal proposed.
But that proposal only provoked the Kunlun disciple further.
"Are you asking me to turn a blind eye to killing a child in exchange for money! How dare you insult Kunlun! You must want to die!"
The Kunlun disciple shouted with a grim face.
It was at that moment.
Someone ambushed the Kunlun disciple.
Jeok Yorap, taking advantage of the loosened guard on him, had drawn his sword and ambushed him.
He had no intention of hurting anyone.
He thought that if he suddenly rushed in, the Kunlun disciple holding Cho Myung would let go and retreat.
"How dare you!"
The Kunlun disciple spun around, knocked away Jeok Yorap's sword, and at the same time, struck him in the chest with his palm.
With a 'thud!' sound, Jeok Yorap spat blood and was thrown backward.
"Grandfather!"
Cho Myung screamed in terror.
It was at that moment.
Puk!
A chilling sound of flesh being torn was heard from Cho Myung's body.
The moment the Kunlun disciple spun around and sent Jeok Yorap flying, Lapkeukchal had plunged his sword into Cho Myung's body.
"This is the price for killing my child! Die, you fiend!"
The moment Lapkeukchal twisted the sword and shouted with killing intent.
"This...!"
The Kunlun disciple's eyes widened in astonishment.
The sight of a large sword deeply embedded in the small body of a child made the young man, who prided himself on being a martial artist, flustered.
"Y-you atrocious bastard!"
The Kunlun disciple unleashed his killing intent towards Lapkeukchal.
But it was at that moment.
A chilling aura that made the hair on one's whole body stand on end exploded out.
From Cho Myung's small body.
(End of Chapter)