Book 14 Chapter 1

Wanderers

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Late night!

The view that everyone is sleeping.

The only ones awake would be the guards on the city walls, watching for invaders, thieves with their eyes on the treasures of other people's homes, and the killing machines pondering how to take the life of their targets with ease and simplicity. Perhaps…….

Deep in the night, in the inky darkness that grows thicker and thicker with the passage of time, the silence gains more and more weight. The only sound you hear is the rustle of leaves on the ground, ringing in your ears. It was the only thing that proved his existence in this moment, in the middle of this night.

He walked as inky, dark clouds mocked the moon. His silver-blue robes glowed in the darkness, his hair was snowy and icy blue-silver, and his eyes were like two cold stars beneath them. It was easy to believe that she was a ghost.

The path he's treading is no longer a path at all. The terrain is as rough as if it had been carved with a knife. One wrong step, no more, no less, and you will know the Great King before the night is out. It was clear that even a wild animal would have to exert considerable effort to walk this path.

"look……."

His lips, frozen as cold as frost, slowly part to reveal a naked brain.

"…ferocious!"

A voice that was a mixture of self-help, complaint, and sarcasm. The silver-haired man's face seemed to heat up spontaneously. He suddenly felt pathetic and unbearable.

"What a damned thing to do, why should I do this, at such an ambitious time, in such a ridiculous place!"

The moonlight made the man's hair glow blue and cold in the darkness. At the same time, killing intent flashed in his two ice-crystal eyes. The chill of the moonlight made his face look even more cold.

He was Kang Ho's revered swordsman, holding the honorable status of being a member of the Heavenly Five Swords and a respected master of the Heavenly Martial Academy, but he was also, unfortunately, the nemesis of the short-tempered Wen Shu, and the disciple of a weakling who didn't even know the ingredients of his own medicine called Bi Ryuyeon. His various titles and identities were as incompatible as water and oil, but the tragedy was that they were all true. The owner of this peculiar identity was none other than the Ice Sword.

Binggum searched the mountain path with the faint light of the new moon as a beacon. Torches were out of the question, as their position was likely to be discovered. This was a key location for the entire Martial Realm, so there were always guards stationed around every corner.

He was in the midst of a darkness that would have been impossible for a normal person to discern, but his eyesight, honed by his sword, could see through the thick veil of darkness with only the faintest of lanterns hanging in the sky. Of course, he had to endure some inconvenience, but…….

Yeomdo went with the 'master' and he was left behind. But he didn't like it. Instead, he had a job to do.

"Whoa……."

I sighed, even though I didn't mean to. He realizes he's as pathetic as a kite on a string.

"How is it that a man who is the number one swordsman in the world can be so ambitious as to rummage through such a mountainous landscape at such an early hour……."

We bemoan and lament, but we don't forget to pay attention to each step. This is Tianmubong. Formerly known as the Falling Peak, this peak is famous for its rugged terrain and sheer cliffs, so danger lurks around every corner. If you let your guard down, you could be dead in the blink of an eye.

He looks up once more at the moon, which is casting a faint glow through the shadows of the grotesquely outstretched branches. It is small, faint, tenuous.

"Can we really expect to find it on a night like this, relying on such an unfaithful lantern?"

It was like finding a needle in a haystack or a blackbird in Shaolin Temple - the odds were stacked against us.

"Please look it up, just in case!

His mind was an unpredictable chaos, and he had no idea what he was up to.

"Oh, that's right!"

Bingum thought back to his conversation with a figure from earlier, one of the administrators of the Volcanic Covenant, known collectively as the "Law Enforcers," or "Lawgivers," who had been running and managing the tournament on this mountain for the past hundred years.

"Say it's not there! Please say it's not there!

Binggum didn't know how many times he repeated these words to himself as he asked the question. But his prayers never seemed to reach the heavens.

"Oh, I'm sure there are. Any peak this high is bound to have one or two."

Binggum was greatly discouraged, and then he rebuked himself. If he hadn't known, he wouldn't have known, but now that he did, he couldn't have betrayed his trust. He was that high-minded.

"It's been over thirty years since I've seen it."

Suddenly, as if by a flashback, the elderly person's time has suddenly reversed back 30 years. Once you're caught in the backwater of time caused by some old people, you can't get out for a long time. Bing'er had to work very hard to escape the torrent.

Millions of light-years separated the old janitor from his current purpose, which was to abandon his duties and sneak out of the mountains for a drink thirty years ago, when he was still a young man. Besides, it was all too obvious that he was going to be stuck here listening to this boring story for a long time before he could get to the point.

What's more, he was a man of few words, and to put it bluntly, he had a reputation for being hard to follow.

As much as he wanted to escape this retrograde time rapids and get to the point, it wasn't easy. The old man didn't want to miss an audience he hadn't seen in nearly a decade.

The story had now reached the point where the old man had made his way out of the mountains, through the colorful streets of the night, and into the best bar in the county, the Amogae Bar, where he ordered the most expensive Amogae liquor with the most expensive hostess, the Amogae. Binggum finally gave up trying to escape the rapids and stood as still as a statue, sinking into the tide of the story. But the old man's tale went on and on, unperturbed by his audience's inaction.

"And when I encountered it, I was climbing the Tianmu Peak at night, completely sober, with no fear of the elements. Even when you're sober, climbing at night is suicidal, but when you're drunk, the recklessness of it doesn't need to be explained. I must have gotten lost, and that's when it appeared in front of me."

It wasn't until I got bored with the ice sword that I finally got to the point and got distracted. I'd already melted a few seconds before I realized it.

I didn't even have to ask where it was.

I had the unexpected good fortune to have the ranger tell me the geography of the area in great detail, even drawing pictures on the floor. He even describes every single stone beak in excitement. The last thing he wanted to do was get lost in the mountains all night in an unfamiliar place, so he naturally took in the details as if they were burned into his retina.

"It must be around here, but why all of a sudden?"

As he traced his finger over a spot on the terrain he'd drawn, Bingum was at a loss for words.

"Ah… Ah! Rice, it's no big deal, I was just wondering. Wouldn't it be convenient to check out any potentially dangerous elements beforehand, since we can't afford to let our guards down? You can never be too careful!"

It makes me feel as despicable and pathetic as he is, spouting excuses that have nothing to do with the truth.

"Alas, you are right, indeed; indeed, vigilance is an unpardonable sin for a warrior."

I was lucky that he was easily convinced.

He has been living here for decades. This rugged Tianmu Peak is just his backyard to him. So if there was such a person, he would definitely be there. That was the only hope for Bing'er right now.

"Vigilance is an unforgivable sin for a warrior!

The old man's last words echoed in your ears like a mesmerizing echo. The past, too shameful to recall, crawled back up from the bottom of the abyss to reveal its sinister self. Bing'er's face contorted into a grimace as if she had chewed on Xiao Tai.

"Hahaha, I win, right? Then I'll tell you the first condition, no complaints?

I see the smiling face of a human with bangs. It's a very condescending face. Bingum's taut facial muscles twitch in agony. His blue-silver hair glistens in the moonlight.

"For a Musa, vigilance is a sin!

If I knew that, why did I let my guard down? I was guilty! No excuses! And I paid a heavy price for it. Standing here today is part of that punishment…….

Even looking back on it now, it didn't make sense. In fact, Bing'er had thought back to that day dozens of times in his life. Enduring the shame and humiliation that plagued him each time!

But it never made sense to me. But I remembered one thing clearly. If you can't perceive it, you can't influence it. When he reappeared in her awareness, she found herself helpless.

I was powerless…to do anything.

'What is that creepy feeling of dysphoria…….'

How was that possible? It remained a mystery to this day.

"Whoa…, who's to blame, for a man to be unguarded is a capital crime, and everything is the woe of my unguardedness!"

It's that time of year again.

"Damn, now I can't see anything!"

The moon is thin and slender tonight, casting a paltry glow that does little to help him navigate through the dense forest that stretches over the rugged terrain. Cursing the useless moonlight, he trudges back up the trail.

'I'd rather have Salt do this and I'll follow.'

The thought that it would have been so much easier that way, and that he was probably sitting there right now with nothing to do - Bingham was sure of it - made the Yeomdo all the more troubling.

"Fireball, I'm sure he's having a relaxing night out with his kids right now!"

At the thought of it, a spark suddenly ignites in my cold, frozen heart. I've always thought of myself as being icy calm and composed, and I am, but when I think of that burn with the red hair that looks like it's covered in blood, all the mental discipline I've accumulated flies out the window and my irritation and anger breaks through the ice.

Rustle!

That's when he senses a movement beyond the darkened bushes. Keen ears flinched in response. Iceblade's eyes glowed as he sent a shinigami toward the source of the sound. If it was there, it was what he sought, and he would no longer have to trudge up and down the mountain in the cold dew, but would be able to finish quickly and rest, so he moved faster than ever.

In the silence of the night, assimilated branches clawed at his silver-blue robes, but he didn't care.

"Holy shit, what the hell!"

At this point, Yendo was by no means in a good enough position to be reprimanded by Binggum.

His beady eyes, like a tiger's eye, swept fiercely in all directions. Thirty swordsmen surrounded him and his men in a circle. At the sound of the alarm, the doors burst open and they rushed out. Some of them scrambled over the walls with considerable noise.

It didn't take long for the siege to be complete.

"These guys…, they're disciplined!

No amount of training can prepare you to react this quickly and orderly when the unexpected happens. Unless you've literally practiced to the bone.

"Isn't this like soldiers in an army with strict discipline? Who could have trained these men without a sound bite?

Enemies circled around him like fish in a net.

Well, it was siege pressure. And, as a bonus, a thatch. It was a very kind fate indeed, but I didn't have time to take the interlude to thank the gods of heaven and earth for such a damned rare experience.

Yeomdo's thoughts didn't last much longer. They were well trained, and when the encirclement closed in on their idealized form, they pounced, inexplicably. A question-and-answer dance?

"Damn!"

Clutching the red flame, Yeomdo noisily spat out the morsel of dirt he had been chewing in his mouth.

"I'm sure that icy bastard is relaxing with his legs stretched out on a mountain right now, damn it!"

It's frustrating to always feel like you're the one doing the work.

Aha!

Bite your molars to a pulp.

They insisted that they were not alike, that they could not mix like ice and fire, but alumni are alumni. Similar mindsets can be found in unexpected places. But they would never admit it, even if it meant being hanged. They won't admit it until the day they get dirt in their eyes.

"Break through!"

At his shout, the entire rescue party rushed toward the front of the siege. Leading the charge was none other than Yin Do.

"Biiiiiig!"

This granite-hard redhead might have thought so, because there was no way he was going to things in her hand.

Crimson Seventeen Flame Sword Energy

Fire Strike Trigonal Flame

As Ildo struck the earth, the three enemies were simultaneously engulfed in flames, their simmering rage exploding in a spectacular burst of fire.

"You ice-cold bastard, you think you can sleep with your legs stretched out like that, ah!"

Knock, and it will be opened to you; ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find.

His wish had been granted. Unbeknownst to him, in a way he didn't even recognize. He deserved to rejoice and praise.

"I'm sorry, but you're not what I'm looking for, that's too bad."

Binggum said softly in a quiet voice. He really, truly wanted to be nice and move on. But the answer that came back was one of ferocity and wildness.

Crrrrr!

Despite Bing's good words, the pack of wolves surrounding him showed no sign of backing down.

It was bad luck. When he sensed something, he ran, only to find the gaping maws of dozens of wolves waiting for him.

"Well, well, well, aren't you going to let him go?"

Wild eyes were filled with a single-minded determination not to miss their prey. Bingum could feel it, but he had no desire to be a meek midnight snack.

Tsk!

The ice sword was not afraid in the least, and he drew the Bing Lu from its sheath. The moonlight shimmers off the hilt, casting a frosty bluish glow. A mist as white as the moon rose from the hilt and settled over the dark mountainside. The wolves surrounding him flinched, instinctively sensing the threat.

"I don't like fruitless killing. Stand down!"

A cold chill brought winter to the autumn mountains in the middle of the night.

Crrrrr! Crunch!

However, my opponent was not willing to back down easily. It's been like this ever since I was forced to wake up when I shouldn't have. I could put up with anything, but I couldn't put up with having my sleep interrupted. How absurd is it that I can't sleep when I'm supposed to?

"Is someone wishing me misery behind my back?

It was a glaive that gave the right answer without even realizing it.