Chapter 118. Are We Cursed or Something (4)

The ship of the Azure Stream Escort Agency, filled with a mixture of excitement, tension, and fear, cut through the water and advanced for about half a shichen.

The head escort, who had gone to the bow, pointed forward and said.

“That’s the place.”

An island located on one side of the river.

Ships were docked there, and the outskirts of the island were surrounded by a large fence.

It was more like a crude fortress wall made of wood and stone rather than a fence.

The Tang Clan kid, who was watching the scene with me, muttered with slurred pronunciation.

“They called it a water fortress, and they’ve really made a fortress for themselves.”

His cheek, which I had hit, was swollen, so his pronunciation was not very clear.

At that moment, a sharp whistle sound echoed from the island.

Soon after, pirates appeared one after another around the crude fortress wall.

They were all holding bows.

“…Somehow, their actions are more like soldiers of a military unit than pirates.”

At my words, the head escort nodded.

“This was also the reason why we brought them goods. A few escort agencies tried to subjugate them, but they had turned the island into a fortress, so all attempts ended in failure.”

It was a strange story.

Twenty years of being holed up in a corner of the countryside, dedicated only to martial arts training.

When I, from my past life, had stepped into the jianghu, the Dragon King Fortress didn’t even exist.

It meant they had been subjugated in those twenty years.

My head naturally turned towards the latter-generation disciples of the Seomoon Clan and the Pyo Clan.

I had a thought that some of them might have died while attacking the Dragon King Fortress.

And it seemed plausible that they were subjugated by the Seomoon Clan and the Pyo Clan, who had stepped up for revenge.

Or, as the head escort had suggested, they might have asked for help from their clans and wiped them out.

As my reasoning reached that point, I recalled the reclusive Seomoon Clan of the future.

What if we hadn’t been on this ship?

The skills of those latter-generation disciples were outstanding for their age, but they were brats with little actual combat experience.

Without even finding the main base of the Dragon King Fortress, someone could have died in the battle just now.

As my thoughts reached that point, a rumor about Seomun Ak naturally came to mind.

In the future, Seomun Ak was one-armed.

It was said that even though he was a swordsman, he had lost his right arm in some accident as a child.

It was a very difficult thing for a one-armed person to learn the sword.

It wasn’t just a matter of using the left hand for the sword techniques he used to perform with his right.

If you have one arm, your center of gravity is bound to be shaken every time you move your body.

Even under such adverse conditions, Seomun Ak was chosen as one of the seven most outstanding swordsmen in the region north of the Yangtze River thirty years later.

There was also a rumor that spread regarding the reclusive actions of the Seomoon Clan.

A rumor that the one-armed Seomun Ak was reclusive because he didn’t want to show his appearance to the outside world.

In fact, this was the reason why I had gone to the Seomoon Clan to request a duel.

Poison Immortal had told me. That my body was already becoming crippled.

But Seomun Ak, who was already one-armed, was a master called one of the Seven Swords North of the River.

I had gone to him wanting to learn a lesson from his will to overcome his disability.

Well, what I learned from visiting the Seomoon Clan was not the will of Seomun Ak who overcame his disability, but the sight of a father overprotecting his children.

Anyway, since I had learned a rather good lesson from the Seomoon Clan, I willingly went to the Danmok Clan next.

And there, I also became a one-armed cripple, so life was something you could never know.

Shaking off my grudge against the Danmok Clan, I continued my thoughts.

In the past battle, several of the children from the Seomoon Clan and the Pyo Clan died. Seomun Ak also lost his right arm.

After that, the Dragon King Fortress was subjugated by the Seomoon Clan and the Pyo Clan, who stepped up for revenge.

It wasn’t certain, but comparing their naive appearance and the Seomoon Clan of the future, the possibility seemed high.

While I was continuing my various deductions, the distance to the island had become quite close.

In other words, it meant we were now within arrow range.

“Fire!!”

With someone’s shout, a rain of arrows poured down.

Thoughts about the future and such were no longer important.

There would only be a future if I cleaned up this trash right now.

After striking down the arrows that shot up into the air and fell onto the ship for a while.

Clang!!

The head escort, who was striking down arrows alongside me, shouted.

“Be careful! The Dragon King Fortress Leader’s archery skills are notorious in this area!”

As expected, as soon as the head escort’s shout ended, a single trajectory appeared in my eyes.

A trajectory that was close to a straight line, unlike the other arrows that drew a large curve.

As soon as that trajectory appeared, I used my movement technique with all my might.

Damn it, the target of that trajectory was not me.

It was the group of latter-generation disciples gathered on the other side.

It was an arrow flying towards the youngest-looking woman among them.

As soon as I used my movement technique, an arrow flew towards that woman at a tremendous speed.

I barely managed to block her front and swung the Restoring Name Sword with all my might.

Clang!!

Only then, as if they had realized an arrow had flown in, the nearby latter-generation disciples showed a startled reaction.

“Th-Thank you.”

“Th-Thank you.”

The brats who expressed their gratitude in a startled tone.

“You can thank me after you’ve survived.”

Saying so, I looked towards the island.

Following the trajectory of the arrow in reverse, I saw a middle-aged man with a burly physique and a bushy beard.

It seemed that bastard was the Dragon King Fortress Leader.

As soon as his eyes met mine, he smiled bitterly.

It was a smile that showed dirty yellow teeth.

At the same time, a rain of arrows poured down from the air again.

Among them, some arrows were even on fire.

If those fire arrows fell on the ship, there was a risk of the fire spreading on the wooden vessel.

One wrong move and we would be burned to death in the middle of the river, not drowned.

I hastily shouted.

“There are fire arrows mixed in!”

At that, the head escort also shouted.

“Damn it! Don’t let the fire arrows touch the ship no matter what!”

While they were shouting at each other, the arrows embroidering the sky began to fall.

A single straight trajectory that pierced through the gaps in that rain of arrows was visible.

I couldn’t help but frown.

When I threw myself towards the latter-generation disciples, this time the Dragon King Fortress Leader was shooting arrows at the opposite side.

If I threw myself over there again from here, it was obvious that sneaky bastard would shoot arrows at this side again.

But it wasn’t like I was out of options.

“Nam Geon!!!”

I was no longer the Gray Ghost of my past life who traveled alone.

“G-Got it, Hyung-ah!”

Nam Geon, who was nearby, quickly stretched out his arm and struck down the arrow flying at a tremendous speed with his hand.

I nodded in satisfaction.

I entrusted the left side of the ship to my comrades and focused on the arrows flying in from the right.

I also heard the Tang Clan kid’s complaining voice.

“L-Look at that. It was because of the women anyway, so why did you hit me!?”

It seemed I would have to smack his other cheek as well after the fight was over.

The sound of arrows embedding themselves in the ship and the sound of weapons striking down arrows echoed from all sides.

In between, people’s shouts were mixed.

“Throw them overboard before they catch fire!”

“Yes, Head Escort!”

“Please help the injured over here! We can protect you!”

“Just stay alive for now! I’ll save you somehow!”

It seemed I would have to postpone smacking the Tang Clan kid until after he treated the escorts.

After enduring the rain of arrows and the ship advancing for a while.

Now the distance was quite close.

The remaining distance to the island was about fifteen zhang.

An interval where the arrows that had been flying in an arc until now were now starting to fly in a straight line.

“Protect the people first!”

After giving instructions to my comrades, I threw myself towards the river.

The half-baked Flying on Water consumed a lot of inner energy. Because it was a method of foolishly releasing qi instead of using a high-level skill.

But at this distance, it seemed I could rush into the enemy camp without much inner energy consumption.

The river water I stepped on exploded in succession, and each time, my body roughly advanced forward.

Boom!

Boom!!

After taking a few steps while striking down the occasional arrows aimed at me, I was able to reach the island in an instant.

I could see the startled face of a pirate.

I cut him down without hesitation.

Ignoring the dazed pirates around me, I continued to run in a straight line.

Killing these guys was a matter for later.

First, the Dragon King Fortress Leader.

If I let him keep shooting arrows as he pleased, some of the people on the ship might die.

Slice!

Slice!!

I cut down only the guys blocking my path in succession and advanced in a straight line towards the Dragon King Fortress Leader.

When the distance had narrowed considerably, the Dragon King Fortress Leader put down his bow and grabbed a spear that was next to him.

It was a uniquely shaped spear.

It was a spear, but it had two crescent-shaped blades attached to both sides of the spearhead.

It was as if he thought he was Lu Bu or something.

“Now I see you were a bastard with three fathers!!”

When I treated him like the Lu Bu he wanted to be, sparks flew in the Dragon King Fortress Leader’s eyes.

“You son of a bitch!!”

I swing the Restoring Name Sword at the bastard who spat out a curse.

He also swung his fake Heavenly Painted Halberd in return, and when the two weapons clashed in mid-air, sparks flew brilliantly.

At that moment, a man dressed in black shouted from the side.

“Ghost Sword Young Master!! Stop!!”

I couldn’t help but frown.

“Do you know me?”

“Unit Leader, do you know this man?”

Judging from the reaction of the fake Lu Bu, it seemed they were not part of the Dragon King Fortress.

The man in black, called the Unit Leader, moved his lips with a merchant-like smile.

“In any case, you have a grudge against the Unwol Sect, don’t you? There seems to be no need to make an enemy of us.”

The title of Unit Leader. The grudge with the Unwol Sect.

And even the sight of them hanging out with the water fortress bastards.

I could easily deduce the identity of that man.

“What business does the Black Heaven Sect have here?”

“We are merchants. Wouldn’t it be natural for us to come for a transaction?”

The corners of my mouth went up on their own.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together; it was only natural for trash to gather around trash.

Come to think of it, it was not strange at all for the water fortress bastards to be involved with the Black Market bastards.

Did he misunderstand my smile?

The man who was the Unit Leader of the Black Heaven Sect also smiled back.

“So, how about you make a deal with us as well? At least until we bring down the Unwol Sect, it seems we can be excellent comrades.”

What was this madman thinking, proposing an alliance?

The answer was not hard to come up with.

In the last battle, I had briefly joined forces with an old man called Blood Fist Golden Ghost to catch Hyeok Ilso.

And according to my comrades, as soon as that old man died, all the Black Heaven Sect bastards fled.

So, the last image the Black Heaven Sect bastards remembered of me would be me fighting alongside Blood Fist Golden Ghost.

From their point of view, I was a kind of ally.

While I was slyly smiling at the absurdity of that misunderstanding, the Dragon King Fortress Leader, who had taken a step back, frowned.

“Unit Leader, what are you talking about? My fortress has suffered great damage because of this bastard.”

“Hahaha. Don’t worry, Fortress Leader. Our sect will naturally compensate for the damage the Dragon King Fortress has suffered.”

Soon after, the Unit Leader of the Black Heaven Sect slightly moved his lips.

I couldn’t hear any voice, but a skein of qi that left his mouth headed towards the Dragon King Fortress Leader’s ear.

It was Sound Transmission.

I couldn’t know the content, but I could roughly guess.

It was obvious it would be a disgusting story about how much wealth he would give, or that he would bring beautiful women.

As I had expected, a vile smile appeared on the Dragon King Fortress Leader’s lips after hearing the Sound Transmission.

The sight of him prioritizing his own gains over the fact that dozens of his subordinates had died was truly ridiculous.

“Stop for a moment!!”

At the Dragon King Fortress Leader’s shout, the pirates who had been shooting arrows stopped their movements.

“Was it Ghost Sword Young Master. If you join forces with the Black Heaven Sect, they will also be safe.”

“What will you do, Ghost Sword Young Master. Will you accept the deal?”

At the questions from the Dragon King Fortress Leader and the Unit Leader, I slowly turned my head.

Before I knew it, dozens of people were surrounding the area.

Judging by their attire, half seemed to be water fortress bastards and the other half seemed to be subordinates of that Unit Leader.

Besides them, dozens of pirates were still aiming their bows at the ship.

Looking at that scene, a brilliant plan suddenly came to mind.

I willingly put on a smile and opened my mouth to the two pieces of trash.

“A deal. Not bad.”

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