Chapter 8

Chapter 8. Ambushed

Jaha already had more than enough complicated problems concerning his own body. Now that he had gotten tangled up in an escort mission as well, irritation quietly began to build inside him.

His frustration was a mixture of several things—the pathetic amount of internal energy possessed by a man named Byeokho, and his own pathetic inability to fully control that body.

Every time the carriage jolted, his irritation seemed to rise with it.

Until now, he had faithfully lived as Byeokho.

But Jaha had never lived such a dutiful life before, so he was beginning to feel suffocated.

At first, he had thought that as time passed, he would absorb Byeokho's spirit and eventually be able to move the body however he wished.

Instead, the opposite seemed to be happening.

The longer time passed, the stronger Byeokho's spirit became. There were now many moments when the body refused to move according to Jaha's will.

That only annoyed him even more.

Damn it. Of all people, why did I have to end up inside the body of such a worthless bastard...?

After cursing Byeokho in his mind for a while, Jaha suddenly slapped himself across the face.

Smack!

Hanseol and Jo Unryong, who had been sitting idly inside the carriage, jumped in surprise when their Second Senior Brother suddenly slapped himself.

"Senior Brother Byeokho!"

Hanseol stared at Jaha in shock.

Jaha gave an awkward smile and quickly made up an excuse.

"Ah, sorry for startling you. I remembered something I'd completely forgotten. I was annoyed with myself, so I did that."

"Still, you didn't have to slap yourself..."

When the two looked at him strangely, Jaha smiled awkwardly.

Soon afterward, the carriage entered the main road and began moving quickly.

After traveling for about half a shichen, Jo Unryong and Hanseol began nodding off.

They had been preparing to leave since early morning without getting proper rest, and the moment they sat inside the moving carriage, sleep overwhelmed them.

The carriage had enough room for three people to sit, but there was nowhere to lie down.

So Jo Unryong rested his head against a corner of the carriage and went to sleep.

Hanseol, meanwhile, leaned over and used Jaha's thigh as a pillow.

She did it so naturally that Jaha missed the chance to push her away.

But Jaha had never even imagined that someone would dare use his thigh as a pillow while sleeping.

He did not particularly like the feeling.

He lowered his right hand to move Hanseol's head away.

At that moment, his left hand grabbed his right wrist.

Byeokho's spirit had moved his left hand and stopped him.

Hey, Byeokho. Are you really going to keep doing this? You're not even a complete soul. You're just half a ghost. Why don't you finally pass on to the afterlife? Stop interfering with things here.

But his left hand stubbornly refused to release his right hand.

So that's how you want to play this.

The fact that Byeokho's spirit was growing stronger and preventing him from completely controlling the body made Jaha's anger rise.

So, purely out of stubbornness, he put strength into his right hand.

His left hand immediately tightened its grip as well.

Jaha suddenly twisted his wrist and struck toward the Goktaek acupoint located at the crook of his left elbow.

He intended to seal the acupoint and immobilize the arm.

But the left hand did not remain idle.

It struck toward the Cheoktaek acupoint at the crook of his right elbow, trying to immobilize Jaha's right arm in return.

You think that's enough? There's no way you'll beat me with such crude grappling techniques.

Jaha's right hand moved in a dazzling series of motions, avoiding the left hand's attack before striking its acupoint.

Before entering your body, I was the Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. Do you seriously think someone like me, who mastered the Demonic Cult's martial arts, would lose to a disciple from some countryside martial arts school?

Feeling triumphant, Jaha grabbed his stiffening left hand after successfully sealing its acupoint.

But Byeokho seemed unwilling to surrender.

The stiffened left hand suddenly forced itself downward.

"You bastard!"

As the left hand slammed downward, it unintentionally pushed Jaha's right hand onto Hanseol's chest.

Hanseol immediately woke up and looked at him.

"Senior Brother Byeokho?"

Realizing what had happened, Jaha hurriedly tried to explain himself.

"Ah, sorry. I was practicing grappling techniques and accidentally struck the wrong acupoint. That's why I ended up grabbing your chest."

The innocent Hanseol accepted his explanation without the slightest suspicion.

"Oh, I see."

That alone showed just how much Hanseol normally trusted Byeokho.

Seeing Hanseol remain completely unsuspecting even in such a bizarre situation gave Jaha a strange feeling.

In the Demonic Cult, if someone accidentally touched a woman's chest like that, she probably would have tried to fight him to the death.

"You actually believe me?"

Even Jaha thought the question sounded suspicious.

Hanseol chuckled.

"Even if Senior Brother told me to jump into a blazing fire, I could do it. I'm sure you'd have a reason."

She continued without hesitation.

"As far as I know, you've never done anything dishonorable. And you're someone I truly think of as my real older brother. How could I not trust you?"

Jaha felt goosebumps rise as he stared at Hanseol, who said all of that without even blinking.

He simply wasn't used to such embarrassing, sentimental words.

And yet...

Strangely enough, the warm, ticklish feeling wasn't unpleasant.

It reminded him of when his mother used to clean his ears when he was a child.

"Wasn't I heavy?"

Realizing that she had been sleeping on her Senior Brother's thigh for quite some time, Hanseol raised her head.

But Jaha gently pressed her head back down.

"It's fine. Sleep some more."

Jaha understood now.

To Byeokho, Hanseol wasn't merely an ordinary Junior Sister.

She was truly like a little sister to him.

That was why he felt absolutely no improper desire toward her.

"I'm fine. I've slept enough."

Rattle!

At that moment, the carriage suddenly stopped.

Jaha looked toward the driver's seat.

"What happened?"

"I think you should come outside and see."

Jaha stepped out of the carriage.

The wreckage of a shattered carriage lay scattered across the middle of the main road.

He looked around, but there were no signs of a fight and no bloodstains.

It looked as though someone had simply smashed the carriage apart one-sidedly.

"Could you move that out of the way?"

The coachman spoke to Jaha almost as though giving him an order.

Jaha nearly snapped at him but forced himself to hold back.

The coachmen seemed unwilling to leave their own carriage because they were guarding it.

He couldn't exactly criticize them for that.

With no other choice, Jaha personally moved the wreckage off the main road.

"Again?"

Jo Unryong tilted his head as he stared at yet another pile of broken carriage debris blocking the road.

When he had awakened earlier, he had found his Senior Brother clearing away the wreckage of a carriage.

He later learned that it had actually been the second destroyed carriage they had encountered.

And now, not long afterward, they had discovered a third one.

This time, however, there were bloodstains nearby.

"Doesn't it look like someone is deliberately attacking only carriages?"

Jaha merely nodded at Jo Unryong's question.

For now, it was too early to make any careless conclusions.

The two coachmen were also beginning to look increasingly nervous.

"If we continue like this, we'll probably end up exactly like that carriage. I think it would be better to stop early at an inn in a nearby village and rest. Our Master needs some proper rest as well."

"No. We'll continue as planned."

The narrow-eyed man, whose eyes looked as though they stretched upward, immediately opposed Jaha.

The thick-browed coachman stopped him.

"Let's just do as Young Hero Byeokho says."

At those words, the narrow-eyed coachman reluctantly agreed.

Once they gave their consent, Jaha spoke.

"I was told that I would be responsible for transporting the cargo. Was that not the agreement? Your manor lord told me that I was the person in charge, while you two were merely responsible for driving the carriage."

The two men glared at him.

The thick-browed man asked,

"So what's your point?"

"Simply put, you must follow my decisions. This is my escort assignment."

Neither man could argue with that.

"An escort mission isn't something you complete by blindly forcing your way forward. Since we don't know what might happen, we need to rest at the proper times and preserve our strength."

"That makes sense. Until we reach the destination, we'll follow Young Hero Byeokho's decisions."

Hearing that, Jaha turned around.

"Then let's head to the nearby village and stay at an inn. We should also investigate what's happening in this area."

He glanced back toward the ruined carriage.

"We can't be the only ones who've seen these destroyed carriages. We should be able to hear something once we reach the village."

Realizing that Jaha wasn't suggesting they stop merely because he wanted to rest, the two coachmen nodded to each other.

He supposedly worked as an escort before. I suppose he can say something sensible after all.

Soon, the thick-browed man drove the carriage toward the village.

However, before they could enter the village, the carriage stopped once again.

Two destroyed carriages were scattered across the road.

This time, there were even two corpses lying nearby.

"It seems these people had the same idea as us and tried to head toward the village. Looks like they were attacked on the way."

The moment Jaha finished speaking, three figures descended from a tree five jang away.

"That's right."

They had jumped down from a tree nearly ten jang tall, yet landed as lightly as feathers.

Their movement technique was clearly extraordinary.

The three men had ordinary-looking faces, but the aura radiating from their bodies was anything but ordinary.

And that aura definitely did not belong to members of the orthodox martial world.

"Leave the carriage behind and go. If you do, we won't touch you."

One of them pointed toward the corpses.

"But if you refuse, I guarantee you'll end up exactly like those people lying over there."

Jaha stepped forward.

"I'm afraid we can't do that. There's a patient inside the carriage, so we cannot leave it behind."

"If I were you, I'd listen. Wouldn't it be wiser to worry about your own healthy body instead of some sick person?"

"I'm afraid I still can't agree. That patient is more important than our own lives."

"Is that so? Then it can't be helped."

The three men drew their weapons.

"You'll simply have to die."

Jaha turned toward Jo Unryong and Hanseol.

"You two protect Master. No matter what happens, do not leave the carriage."

The three martial artists looked Jaha up and down.

"Far too many people in this world only realize they made a mistake after they're already dead."

One of the attackers suddenly swung his sword at the coachmen.

The sword shot forward like lightning.

However, both coachmen easily avoided the strike.

One of them immediately swung the whip wrapped around his arm.

Apparently, the whip was his weapon.

The other coachman swiftly drew a flexible sword from his belt and attacked.

"What the...?"

The attacker had tried to kill both coachmen at once, only to nearly get injured himself.

He cried out in shock.

"You're not ordinary coachmen. There's something suspicious about this carriage."

Another attacker charged toward the narrow-eyed coachman.

The coachman fought him with his whip, and at a glance, the two seemed to be roughly equal in skill.

With two of the three attackers now fighting the coachmen, the remaining man naturally turned his attention toward Jaha.

The fact that he showed no concern for his companions suggested that he was confident the coachmen would eventually be subdued.

"Why don't you three have a little talk with me? You can start by explaining why skilled martial artists were disguised as coachmen."

Jo Unryong and Hanseol drew their swords.

However, both blades were trembling badly.

Neither of them had ever crossed swords with real villains before.

They had only practiced with wooden swords inside their martial arts school.

Their reaction was only natural.

Jaha, however, calmly drew his sword and faced the man.

"At least you're better than those two."

The man smiled coldly.

"But you'll die all the same."

Sword energy erupted toward the vital points all across Jaha's body.

The attacker had no intention of holding back.

He planned to brutally cut Jaha apart in front of the other two and terrify them.

Then they would answer every question he asked.

Clang!

Jaha's sword collided with the man's weapon.

A painful numbness shot through Jaha's hand, nearly making him drop his sword.

He could already feel the difference in their internal energy.

With no other choice, Jaha abandoned the idea of meeting the man's sword head-on and focused on evasion instead.

As Jaha repeatedly slipped away from his attacks, the martial artist intensified his offensive.

Hanseol and Jo Unryong couldn't recklessly jump into the fight.

They desperately wanted to help their Senior Brother, but they were afraid that interfering would only put him in greater danger.

Ah... was Senior Brother really this skilled?

Jaha was using the Demonic Cult's footwork to avoid the man's sword.

His movements were so exquisite that the attacker couldn't easily catch him.

But he couldn't win a battle simply by running away forever.

So Jaha decided to take a risk.

Otherwise, there was no way he could defeat this attacker using Byeokho's mere twenty years of internal energy.

Among the Demonic Cult's martial arts were many techniques designed to launch extremely effective attacks with only a small amount of internal energy.

One of those techniques was called the Half-Nourishing One-Sided Art (半養惼功).

It forcibly sealed the blood flow and energy channels in one half of the body, causing all true energy to circulate only through the other half.

By doing so, the user's power could temporarily be amplified to twice its normal level.

Jaha used his right hand to strike the acupoints on the left side of his body, sealing them.

He had forcibly concentrated all his true energy into the right half of his body.

Seeing Jaha suddenly strike his own acupoints in the middle of their battle, the martial artist couldn't help asking,

"What the hell are you doing?"

Jaha answered him with his sword.

The martial artist had already realized that Jaha's internal energy was shallow, so he directly blocked the incoming sword.

He knew that if their swords collided, Jaha would be the one to suffer.

There was no reason to dodge.

But the instant he blocked Jaha's sword, the shock that traveled from his fingers and up his arm was completely different from before.

His internal energy suddenly increased?

Simply sealing a few acupoints should never have caused such a dramatic increase in true energy.

Regardless, the sudden force knocked the martial artist's sword slightly outward.

Jaha seized the opening.

True energy burst through his right foot as he shot straight into the man's guard.

The instant he saw the martial artist's eyes widen, a triumphant smile appeared on Jaha's face.

You're dead, you bastard.

His sword thrust straight toward the man's chest.

But just before the blade could pierce him—

The attacker who had been fighting the whip-wielding coachman suddenly hurled a dagger toward Jaha.