Chapter 375: Baek Ha-jun, Sky Shattering Island (3)

Noh Shik was taken aback.

He didn’t consider himself a righteous warrior, but there was a sense of indignation in his heart.

That rude but clearly ordinary-looking young man had been murdered far too cruelly.

Seeing the way his hands were positioned resembling a hawk’s beak, it was the Eagle Claws.

There was no doubt that this snub-nosed man was a demonic martial artist.

Noh Shik knew that the Demon Cult had a martial art called the Eagle Claw.

He simply couldn’t suppress his rage at such a brutal killing.

As far as Noh Shik knew, Ha-jun was definitely a man of the orthodox faction, but he wasn’t a righteous one.

No matter how cruel the act, he was the kind who wouldn’t even blink.

Even when the young man had been killed by the snub-nosed one, Ha-jun’s expression hadn’t changed.

And yet, now he was stepping forward.

The snub-nosed man appeared to be a peak-level master, and with his internal strength fully sealed and hands bound, Ha-jun had absolutely no means to oppose him.

Ha-jun didn’t even have a proper weapon.

Yet, his cold and condescending tone of voice.

It made one wonder if he had recovered his martial power, but it didn’t appear to be the case.

Chaecheng-!

Sure enough, the snub-nosed man’s subordinates drew their weapons and charged in.

Noh Shik thought to himself.

‘…What’s with this guy, Ha-jun?’

He wasn’t someone to rush in without a plan.

“You must have a death wish, flailing like that.”

The snub-nosed man’s face flushed bright red.

Then he reached his hand toward Ha-jun’s throat.

“You think I won’t kill you…?!”

Masters who trained in Eagle Claw even used their own fingernails as weapons.

They hardened their nails with special substances, making them several times thicker than normal.

The tips were sharpened to a point that if they infused them with internal energy, they could rip through steel plates.

The sharp tip of his nail touched the hollow of Ha-jun’s throat.

The snub-nosed man moved his hand slowly, as if ready to rip Ha-jun’s neck apart at any moment.

Sseuk—

The skin split, and a stream of crimson blood trickled down.

In a moment when their life is hung by a thread, no one could possibly remain calm.

The snub-nosed man looked up at Ha-jun’s face, expecting to see fear.

But Ha-jun’s expression showed not the slightest trace of fear.

Behind him, Noh Shik saw Ha-jun’s fingers, bound behind his back, slowly begin to move.

He wondered if it was a signal, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t that either.

‘Does he have some kind of plan?’

But he couldn’t figure out what it was.

A murderous aura poured out of the snub-nosed man.

Everyone in the arena swallowed hard as they watched the two.

Ha-jun broke the silence with a soft murmur.

“Can’t do it, can you?”

He wasn’t pleading for mercy, if anything, it sounded like he was provoking him.

“You…you!”

As if making up his mind, the snub-nosed man thrust his hand toward Ha-jun’s abdomen just like before.

Someone let out a gasp.

But unlike before, Ha-jun’s abdomen was not pierced.

Ha-jun didn’t even flinch.

The snub-nosed man had failed to kill Ha-jun.

His hand stopped just in front of Ha-jun’s solar plexus.

“…Didn’t even blink, huh.”

Then he withdrew his hand with a laugh.

“As expected of a Special Grade. The guardian’s judgment was spot-on.”

On Ha-jun’s clothing, the character Special (特) was written in bold red.

It was probably the man in white, the so-called Guardian who had assigned Ha-jun’s grade and written the character.

“I’ll forgive your disobedience of the order to shut your mouth. So go stand where you’re told.”

The snub-nosed man was grinning broadly.

Had all that furious yelling been an act?

Some might think so, but to Noh Shik, who had been watching closely, that wasn’t the case.

From his flushed face to the veins bulging in his neck, it was clear he was barely holding back his rage.

Fortunately, Ha-jun no longer resisted.

He calmly headed to the far-left edge of the arena, the spot designated for those judged as Special Grade.

Since Noh Shik was ranked First Grade, he stood right beside him.

There were roughly thirty people detained here.

Among them, Ha-jun was the only one marked as Special Grade, and even among First Grades, Noh Shik was alone.

The snub-nosed man was chatting with his subordinates some distance away.

Taking advantage of the moment, Noh Shik glared at Ha-jun and whispered.

‘What were you doing?’

It was a whisper too quiet to be heard.

‘You almost died. Anyone could see they’re brutally merciless. Did you… recover your martial power?’

That question carried a sliver of hope from Noh Shik.

But unfortunately, Ha-jun shook his head.

Noh Shik was baffled that Ha-jun hadn’t even regained his martial power.

‘So you did that… with no plan at all?’

Ha-jun neither confirmed nor denied it.

It wasn’t that he had no plan.

But he couldn’t exactly say he had one with confidence either.

Here, Ha-jun was the only one judged to be Special Grade.

Noh Shik alone was ranked First Grade, while the rest had been judged all the way down to fifth-tier.

When the snub-nosed man killed the young man or dealt with Ha-jun, his eyes constantly flicked toward the ranks written on their clothing.

He pretended not to care, but the snub-nosed man seemed shrewd and calculating.

So he wouldn’t dare touch the only Special Grade prisoner lightly.

What’s more, Ha-jun’s identity was none other than the son of the Murim Alliance Leader…

If the Demon Cult were the type to use captives as leverage, he would’ve already been dragged away and used as a bargaining chip.

As for the other countermeasure…

‘It’s just…’

‘What is it?’

‘No, never mind.’

‘Hmph… Why are you acting like your brother all of a sudden?’

To Noh Shik, Ha-jun seemed to resemble Yi-gang.

‘Even when that guy did something strange, it was never thoughtless. From what I saw, he was cunning and calculating.’

‘So honestly, if it were your brother, he probably wouldn’t have acted like that. Don’t you think?’

Noh Shik was scolding Ha-jun.

Ha-jun quietly sank into thought.

This was undeniably a dangerous situation, objectively speaking.

If it weren’t him but Yi-gang in this position, how would he have acted?

Would he have stepped forward like Ha-jun when the snub-nosed man revealed hostility?

‘…What are you brooding over so hard about?’

Noh Shik looked at the suddenly solemn Ha-jun in disbelief.

After thinking for quite some time, Ha-jun finally opened his mouth.

“I’m not sure.”

Everyone turned their attention to Ha-jun at the unexpected sound of his voice.

“I really don’t know.”

The snub-nosed man glared fiercely at Ha-jun, then turned his head away as if he hadn’t heard.

Ha-jun truly meant what he said.

But he was certain, Yi-gang wouldn’t have left Noh Shik in danger.

At the same time, it was hard to imagine Yi-gang ever begging that man for mercy either.

Ha-jun decided to stop overthinking for now.

Soon, the snub-nosed man came over to where Noh Shik and Ha-jun stood.

“There will be blood.”

The Demon Cultists were slicing the tips of people’s thumbs to draw blood, stamping it on white paper, then repeating the process.

Ha-jun calmly held out his finger.

The snub-nosed man took the blood, glared once more at Noh Shik and Ha-jun, then walked away.

Yi-gang stroked his beard.

It was a surprise. Normally, he couldn’t grow much facial hair, but now a bristly beard like a chestnut husk had sprouted around his mouth.

It wasn’t some pasted-on disguise.

Plucking a hair would sting and leave a bead of blood. This was a real beard.

This was the essence of the Mimicry Disguise Technique.

There was a reason Go Yo-ja boasted so proudly about the mysteriousness of that technique.

Yi-gang had transformed perfectly into Death Blade, a wandering martial artist of the Demon Cult.

Even his voice matched that of a rough wanderer.

“Ah, ah. Hurry up already.”

Behind Yi-gang stood two more wandering martial artists.

They looked just like Ghost Sword and Wolf-fang Axe, followers of Death Blade.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming.”

Ghost Sword, Dam Hyun replied.

Yi-gang frowned and said,

“Use honorifics.”

“Ah, yeah, yeah.”

Given their current roles, Dam Hyun was now supposed to serve Yi-gang as his senior.

“Your acting is lacking. Do it properly, properly.”

“And you too, Wolf-fang Axe. Your tone is unnatural. Behave yourself when we get there.”

Go Yo-ja, disguised as Wolf-fang Axe, wore a sour expression as if chewing on bitter herbs.

The group had deliberated carefully over who would disguise themselves as whom.

Originally, Go Yo-ja, being the eldest and most knowledgeable about the Demon Cult, was going to play the role of Death Blade.

But that plan was quickly dismissed because his acting skills were sorely lacking.

Moreover, Go Yo-ja harbored deep resentment toward the Demon Cult, so Yi-gang ended up taking the lead role in the group.

“Gal Dong-tak, no, Tak Dong-du, you better keep your mouth shut too. You remember your identity, right?”

“Tak Dong-du, an officer of the Iron Eagle Fort, one of the Thirty-Six Forts Of Green Forest.”

There was no actual person named Tak Dong-du in the Iron Eagle Fort, but the Demon Cult wouldn’t know that.

“Alright, let’s go. From this point on, be really careful.”

Yi-gang led the horse forward.

The choice of disguises had also been based in part on body shape.

With his transformed appearance and sturdier build, Yi-gang took on the role of the brawniest, Death Blade, the slender Dam Hyun became Ghost Sword, and the shortest, Go Yo-ja, took the role of Wolf-fang Axe.

Yi-gang rode at the front alone.

Behind the horse, Gal Dong-tak was bound like a criminal, with Dam Hyun and Go Yo-ja flanking him on either side as escorts.

They arrived at the designated outpost notified to the wandering martial artists.

“Hey.”

The outpost was in a valley, and a man was already standing there ahead of time.

He was dressed in black with a red sash around his waist.

Yi-gang recognized what that meant and quickly dismounted.

“Oh dear, why did you come out all this way yourself…”

His sycophantic demeanor was exactly like that of a cringing wanderer.

Go Yo-ja inwardly admired Yi-gang’s natural performance.

“Name.”

“I’m Death Blade. These two are Ghost Sword and Wolf-fang Axe.”

Names like Ghost Sword, Wolf-fang Axe, and Death Blade clearly couldn’t be real.

Even as nicknames, they were blatant and childish, but that was typical for wandering martial artists.

They often made up their own monikers and treated them as names.

“Unit 78, huh. Why are there only three of you left?”

“We ran into some Green Forest thugs. The rest of the guys got killed.”

“Hmph, what, did you get robbed by mountain bandits or something?”

“They were headed back to the main force of the Orthodox Alliance. We barely made it out alive.”

“So the one you dragged back is a bandit? I was wondering why you brought just one straggler.”

“Yes. That guy killed the other two by himself. Heh, wouldn’t you say that’s enough to meet the quota…?”

The wandering martial artists’ original mission was to abduct commoners.

But in truth, their priority was capturing young martial artists.

The stronger and more physically capable the captive, the greater the reward the wandering martial artists received.

The supervisor from the Demon Surge Thousand Resolves Division wore a disinterested look.

“Those mountain bandits love to call themselves forest lords, but honestly, they’re worse than Beggars’ Union trash… just fat off river fish.”

Playing his role as a bandit, Gal Dong-tak glared with wide eyes.

Ghost Sword, Dam Hyun quickly smacked him on the back of the head.

“Watch your damn eyes, you punk. Where do you think you’re—”

“Whatever, just bring him in.”

The supervisor gestured at Yi-gang, but flinched when he spotted the disguised Go Yo-ja.

“What’s this bastard staring at me for?”

Go Yo-ja bore a grudge for the annihilation of his sect at the hands of the Demon Surge Thousand Resolves Division.

Though he tried to hide it, the hatred leaked out despite himself.

Yi-gang stepped forward with a theatrical laugh.

“Oh dear, those Green Forest punks were kicking up sand while fighting, so his eyes got bloodshot.”

Go Yo-ja barely managed to lower his gaze.

The supervisor, though clearly displeased, gave a reluctant nod of acknowledgment.

Yi-gang let out a small sigh and glanced back at the group.

Go Yo-ja gave him a slight nod, as if to say sorry.

–My apologies.

–It’s fine. We’ll be traveling alone from here to Xinjiang anyway. Until then, things should go smoothly.

Pretending to be someone else, especially a wandering martial artist who had thrown in with the Demon Cult was no easy task.

Yi-gang’s ability to show no cracks in his act was almost unnerving.

Still, the world never lets things go so easily.

The supervisor brought up something unexpected.

“Perfect timing.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The road to Sky Shattering Island is long. There are some others about to leave, so go with them.”

In other words, they were about to gain unwanted travel companions.

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