Dam Hyun and Yi-gang were unusually flustered.

They had expected to communicate with their master, convey the current situation, and receive information.

The comet and the water basin method of communication was a mysterious technique even Dam Hyun had not originally known.

But it had been exposed to the enemy and they were being traced back instead.

“…Damn it.”

Dam Hyun scratched his head furiously.

It was a blow to his pride.

“Master’s expression didn’t look good.”

Yu Jeong-shin. Yi-gang’s master.

When Yi-gang became a disciple of Azure Forest under the Baek Family, Yu Jeong-shin took him as his pupil.

Yu Jeong-shin did his utmost to help Yi-gang grow into one of the Honor Flower disciples.

He had always been a gentle, composed master.

But the face reflected in the water basin looked extremely anxious and exhausted.

“Something big must have happened in the Forest of Azure Forest.”

“We should go back.”

The wretched seed that once stabbed my master.

But after expelling the murky obsession lodged in his head, Dam Hyun finally became himself again.

“Even if they’re trackers, they don’t know our identities. Isn’t that something we can handle?”

Ha-jun interposed.

There was a certain logic to what he said.

The three of them traveling with Yi-gang were a rare, highly skilled small unit.

If trackers chased them they could run, and if someone blocked their path they could crush them, couldn’t they?

“Don’t speak so lightly about it.”

But Yi-gang shook his head.

There were few they couldn’t beat in a fight, but shaking off a pursuit wouldn’t be easy.

“Only the Honor Flower disciples could use this means of communication in the first place. If the Evil Cult reversed-tracked and killed Honor Flower disciples… we can’t underestimate them.”

Do Cheon, Wi Se-ryeong.

And Do Maeng and the other Honor FLower disciples Dam Hyun had met.

Their strength was astonishing even to Yi-gang.

They were not people whose levels could be judged by martial skill alone.

Not only sorcery and psychokinesis, but also their broad knowledge gained from traveling the world.

Are you telling me the Evil Cult managed to capture and kill such Honor Flower disciples in their return?

“…If we could ride the Cheongho we’d be there quickly.”

Dam Hyun lamented.

If he set his mind to it, he could ride the Cheongho straight to Azure Forest.

But the problem was that only one person could go quickly, and the Cheongho’s appearance was far too conspicuous.

“That’s irrelevant. What we must do hasn’t changed.”

Yi-gang said firmly.

In any case, the choice before them remained the same.

Getting to Azure Forest as fast as possible. That’s it.

Even if the Evil Cult had traced them back, they could escape by speed.

But it soon became clear that Yi-gang and Dam Hyun had underestimated the situation.

They hadn’t had a proper rest for three full days.

The group’s condition was far from good.

Even masters who can go days without sleep have limits.

Dark shadows formed under Dam Hyun’s eyes.

‘Damn it!’

He mouthed every curse he could.

The three of them hid in the shadow of a damp rock.

A centipede crawled across Dam Hyun’s thigh.

It raised its head and waved its antennae.

It felt as if their eyes met.

Few insects are as vicious as centipedes. This one tried to snap at Dam Hyun’s thigh.

Dam Hyun couldn’t stand it and flicked the centipede away with his finger.

The centipede, startled, fled.

Why were they hiding like this?

Of course, to avoid the trackers’ eyes.

Yet there was no trace of tension on their faces.

Only irritation and exhaustion filled their expressions.

The reason was simple. Those so-called trackers were unlike what they’d expected.

“Hey, are you sure they’re over here?”

“I told you it’s here! Search every inch!”

The trackers who had appeared a few days ago were not glaring killers or masters.

They were just herb-gatherers, hunters, and villagers carrying pitchforks and sickles.

The problem was that there were an enormous number of them.

“What are you doing!”

“We’re looking for them! Why else!”

“If you stick your hands into piles of leaves, you’ll just find snakes. As if those fellows would be hiding there!”

“Who knows? They say martial folks were here!”

They had neither proper martial arts nor discipline.

From what was heard, it seemed the Evil Cult hired these people with money.

“Be careful, they’re the scum of the earth. I didn’t expect those Azure Forest rascals to still be around…”

But money wasn’t the only thing moving them.

The world had changed a great deal, but they were still clearly Evil Cultists.

They had been influenced by the Evil Cult into believing Taoists and monks were swindlers.

Dam Hyun glanced at Yi-gang and said.

-Should we just kill them all?

Even without a mental message, the thumbs-across-the-throat gesture made the meaning clear.

Yi-gang shook his head.

If they slaughtered all those dull peasants as they passed, their hands would never dry of blood.

-Let’s break through quietly.

This time too Yi-gang resolved to act stealthily.

In a siege and pursuit, the most threatening factor was sheer numbers.

Despite the risks, the three young masters moved as if they’d practiced coordinating beforehand.

The most reliable was Dam Hyun.

His Stealth Technique could deceive even the eyes of top-tier masters.

They passed through the villagers with their yellowish, glaring eyes as if through a ghostly realm.

It wasn’t so difficult for Yi-gang and Ha-jun either.

Yi-gang slowed and steadied his breathing.

To an ordinary eye it might have looked as if he wasn’t breathing at all.

He closed his eyes and felt the qi around him.

Countless flora existed in nature, each possessing its own unique energy.

That is called natural energy (jayeongi).

Energy circulation breathing is inhaling that natural energy and accumulating it into one’s Internal Power.

Those whose cultivation has reached a high level can harmonize their own qi with natural energy.

Yi-gang’s presence grew exceedingly faint.

Though he was plainly in front of them, if they looked away and back again he was barely visible.

Using the subtle art of lightening his body, he moved swiftly along dark, shadowed places.

Yi-gang moved without even the rustle of brushing through brush.

“No matter how I look, I can’t see them. Maybe they’re not here?”

Even with villagers straining their eyes, none saw Yi-gang pass.

At this rate, passing through the veil of human sight seemed no problem.

Just as Yi-gang was stealthily passing by,

“There!”

Someone shouted, and before they could react, the sound of gunpowder exploding rang out.

Piiiiiiing!

One of the villagers had thrust a signal flare skyward.

The hand was cleanly severed.

But the packet of gunpowder that burst from the flare had already shot into the sky.

It belched bright yellow smoke to mark to the encircling net that Yi-gang’s group had been located.

This was how a perfectly functioning Inescapable Net worked.

Ha-jun, who had sliced the man’s wrist with his blade, gritted his teeth.

It was Ha-jun who’d been spotted.

Could the insufficiency of their concealment method have been exposed to the villagers?

No, that wasn’t it.

“Seize them and make them kneel!”

A farmer shouted that while staunching the severed wrist.

No ordinary peasant would act like that.

The Evil Cult used peasants to man most of the Inescapable Net, hiding real cult members among them.

Even so, they’d be unlikely to detect the concealment of ultra-top masters easily… yet they had, as if by sorcery.

‘Impossible… How on earth did they do it?’

Yi-gang clenched his teeth as he thought that.

They seemed to have anticipated and blocked Yi-gang’s party’s route.

Moreover, they often pierced through such concealment. It wasn’t as if the opposing side had a great master among them.

At first Yi-gang thought it was bad luck, but now he realized otherwise.

They possessed methods Yi-gang did not know.

Yi-gang covered his face with cloth and shouted to Ha-jun.

“Break through!”

As before, they intended to increase speed and break out.

But the Evil Cultists did something unexpected there.

A few of them swung their swords and mercilessly cut the throats of the nearby peasants.

“Don’t move! If you run, all the peasants here will be killed!”

They were making threats in this situation.

Even as they slit the throats of the peasants who’d been following them.

Dam Hyun was furious.

“You bastards! Kill them all then!”

The Evil Cult followers, utterly indifferent, plunged knives into the peasants’ bellies.

“Aah! Please save us!”

Numerous screams of pain rang out.

The peasants, not knowing what to do, raised pitchforks and looked around helplessly.

The Evil Cult member with the severed wrist grabbed a peasant’s throat and threatened them.

“Taoists of Azure Forest won’t just let this pass…”

Their intent was clear.

They intended to stall. Having fired the signal flare, the Inescapable Net would soon tighten.

Yi-gang let out a hollow laugh.

Just as they didn’t know the Evil Cult’s methods, those men didn’t either.

“I thought the line of Honor Flower disciples had been thinning out…”

They did not know the identities of Yi-gang’s party.

They merely assumed they were Honor Flower disciples.

They had no idea of the combat power the three here possessed.

Even if they restrained their martial arts so as to hide their identities.

They couldn’t imagine that these three would be unable to offer any resistance or even stall for time…

A dagger thrown by Yi-gang buried itself in the man’s brow.

And Ha-jun and Dam Hyun moved at the same time.

Two Evil Cult members who were hiding their identities lost their lives in the blink of an eye.

The peasants were startled and trembled all over.

Yi-gang merely observed it with cold eyes.

“Let’s keep going.”

Now that things had come to this, there was no need to sacrifice speed to hide their presence.

At Yi-gang’s signal, they began to run.

In this forest, they were faster on foot than a horse running full tilt.

“Senior Brother, do you know what they’re using to track us?”

“I don’t know either. It’s annoying.”

Dam Hyun too showed his irritation.

As Yi-gang increased speed, the scenery around them rushed past.

They leapt rocks and burst through undergrowth.

Even when cliffs appeared, they leapt down without hesitation.

From all around came the sound of signal flares going up.

They had to exit this area before the encirclement tightened further…

Whoosh!

Yi-gang raised his hand to signal.

Then he increased their speed further and surged ahead.

His expression was grave.

He once more lifted his mask and drew an ordinary Cheonggang long sword he’d acquired from somewhere.

Then, as if waiting, someone leapt out in front of Yi-gang.

It was an opponent wearing a mask, seemingly hiding their identity.

Yi-gang’s sword was swung with astonishing force.

And for the first time in several days, his sword was blocked.

Kaaang!

Even if Yi-gang hadn’t revealed his full skill, it was astonishing.

The opponent was at least a leader-level member of the Evil Cult.

A countercut shot up against Yi-gang’s blade.

Just as he was about to stab through the opponent’s neck in one stroke.

That masked person’s continuous swordplay rang with metallic clatter…

“It’s me!”

A voice sprang from the opponent’s mouth.

It was unmistakably a woman’s voice.

Yi-gang’s blade halted abruptly.

The moment he heard that voice, he immediately knew.

The continuous swordplay the opponent used, and that familiar martial art.

It had been so long he could almost not remember it, but certainly.

“…Junior Uncle Yi-gang.”

When the mask was removed, it revealed a woman’s face.

Traces of simplicity and mischief still remained.

But this junior nibling had somehow grown older than Yi-gang. It was junior nibling, Yu Su-rin.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep