It’s not just a fox. (5)
A chilling silence descended.
Yoon Jong stared blankly at the fallen Black Dragon King.
Even in death, the Black Dragon King’s wide-open eyes reflected the blue sky above.
The inevitable end that no one can avoid: death.
Yet, that end, which seems so distant to everyone, had finally come for the Black Dragon King.
A strange sense of alienation burrowed into Yoon Jong’s chest.
No one could deny that the Black Dragon King Jeok Segwang, whether revered by his followers or cursed and criticized by his enemies, was a giant who dominated Gangho.
And now, he had finally breathed his last here.
“Uh…”
Thud.
As Yoon Jong stood momentarily at a loss, he heard the sound of someone collapsing behind him.
Turning around, he saw Jo Geol slumped helplessly on the ground.
“Get up!”
Baek Cheon, who had been lying down, quickly got up and grabbed Jo Geol by the shoulder, hauling him up with a rough hand.
“It’s not over yet!”
Baek Cheon growled, casting a sharp glance around.
The pirates of the Eighteen Strongholds, whom the Black Dragon King had led, were staring blankly at the scene.
Individually, they might not be particularly threatening, but Yoon Jong had experienced firsthand the formidable power they wielded when they gathered together.
Who could predict how such men would react in this situation?
Thus, they had to maintain their strength somehow. Even if it was just a bluff, it didn’t matter. It was far better than turning their backs on excited beasts a hundred, a thousand times over.
“Raise your swords!”
Baek Cheon’s rough voice restored the tension that had subsided.
The battered swordsmen and Hye Yeon stood back to back, their eyes burning as they watched their surroundings. The resolve to protect each other’s backs no matter what was evident.
However, the pirates’ gazes weren’t directed at them in the first place.
“The, the Black Dragon King….”
“…This can’t be.”
As they looked at the Black Dragon King’s corpse, which was growing cold, the faces of the pirates began to turn pale.
The Black Dragon King. He was a truly tyrannical ruler.
To the pirates of Surochae, he was their king and emperor.
No one could say that the Black Dragon King’s reign was an era of peace. But no one had ever thought he would fall so vainly.
Even with the corpse before their eyes, it was a death that was hard to believe.
“…What should we do?”
“Don’t ask me… what….”
“Is he really dead?”
“Revenge….”
The murmuring spread like ripples on a lake.
Confusion, anger, fear, and countless other indescribable emotions.
Hundreds had gathered, and so too did their emotions split into hundreds of currents.
However, this chaos would not last long. Soon, all emotions would converge into one. It would become a massive torrent that no human force could stop.
It was Baek Cheon who threw a stone into this keg of gunpowder on the verge of exploding.
Boom!
Baek Cheon kicked the fallen Black Dragon King’s corpse.
“Sasuk!”
“What are you doing!”
Disrespecting a dead body was the greatest taboo. Not just for those who called themselves Taoists, but for any human being.
Thud!
But Baek Cheon did not intend to desecrate the Black Dragon King.
His true intention became clear as the kicked corpse of the Black Dragon King sprawled grotesquely on the ground.
“Ugh…”
“Eek…!”
The wretched state of the corpse was revealed to all.
No one could deny the Black Dragon King’s death after seeing that sight. The eyes of the pirates began to tremble.
Baek Cheon lightly picked up the guandao that had fallen to the ground and pointed it at the pirates.
His gaze was cold. Just looking at him sent chills down one’s spine.
Late to realize Baek Cheon’s intention, Five Swords quickly mustered their strength to bolster his momentum.
“Uh… uh!”
“Run away!”
“The Black Dragon King is dead! The Black Dragon King!”
“We’re all going to die too! We need to return to the Yangtze, hurry!”
The balance collapsed in an instant.
Once a dam cracks and bursts, it can’t be completely sealed. But at least the direction of the escaping water can be diverted.
Fortunately, the torrent of chaos created by the pirates of Surochae did not pour towards Baek Cheon’s group. Thanks to Baek Cheon igniting their fear, the rush went in another direction.
“Aaaaah!”
The pirates, gathered like foam, began to flee without looking back.
The sight of them pushing and tangling resembled sheep encountering a tiger.
Baek Cheon, still tense and watching the situation, finally let out a low sigh and gently lowered the guandao he was holding.
Thud.
As if it were a signal, Jo Geol slumped back to the ground. This time, it wasn’t just Jo Geol. Others who had been stubbornly holding on also collapsed in their spots, as if crumbling. The tension that had been stretched to its limit snapped all at once.
“…We survived.”
“I really… really thought we were going to die.”
“It was terrifying.”
“You idiots. Don’t relax just yet…”
Just as Baek Cheon was about to speak, he staggered. He barely managed to support himself by planting the guandao into the ground.
“Ugh…”
Baek Cheon groaned as he watched the pirates scatter and shook his head.
“I don’t know anymore, either.”
He had no strength left, not even to move a finger. Everyone looked equally battered, making it impossible to tell who was worse off.
“Namgung Siju, are you alright?”
“…Do I look alright?”
“You seem to have enough strength to joke, so you won’t die.”
“I might just… break that stereotype for you…”
Hye Yeon, who was in relatively better condition, stepped up to tend to Namgung Dowi. His voice was calm and composed, but his hands moved quickly and precisely as he bandaged Namgung Dowi’s wounds and channeled his inner strength.
Watching this scene in silence, Yoon Jong glanced at Jo Geol.
“Are you alright, Geol?”
“Yes, Sahyeong.”
Jo Geol nodded slowly. Yet, even in this state, he couldn’t take his eyes off the sprawled corpse of the Black Dragon King. It was as if he feared the Black Dragon King might suddenly rise and attack them.
“He’s dead, right?”
“Probably.”
“That damned bastard…”
Indeed, no matter how tenacious one’s life might be, no one could survive a pierced heart. Though Yoon Jong also felt like the Black Dragon King might get up any moment and go on a rampage again.
“Who would have thought he’d give us this much trouble…”
This wasn’t something to say after defeating the mighty Black Dragon King. Anyone who heard this could rightly criticize him.
But Five Swords had a different perspective.
It might have been understandable if it was the Black Dragon King at full strength, but the current Black Dragon King had lost an arm and couldn’t fully exert his abilities.
No one expected to struggle so much to take him down in such a state.
“The battlefield is like that.”
However, both Jo Geol, shaking his head in frustration, and Yoon Jong, trying to maintain a calm demeanor, now understood.
The outcome of a battle isn’t always determined by sheer strength alone.
‘We almost missed him.’
They had faced even stronger opponents before.
The Black Dragon King was indeed formidable, but even if he had been in perfect health, he wasn’t at the level of the Bishop in Hangzhou.
Yet, he possessed qualities different from any opponent they had faced so far.
He had a cunning disregard for honor, shamelessness in fleeing, and a reckless determination to achieve his goals, no matter the cost.
‘In Gangho, they call that experience.’
In that sense, Jeok Segwang’s behavior embodied what Gangho considered the ‘seasoned’ nature of a true martial artist.
What was truly frightening wasn’t his martial prowess, but the man himself.
At that moment, Jo Geol spoke up.
“But…”
“Hmm?”
He stared intently at the fallen Black Dragon King’s corpse, his face showing clear confusion.
“…Why did he come back?”
Yoon Jong couldn’t answer.
He had seen it too. The Black Dragon King had broken through the encirclement. If he had kept running, he could have thrown himself into the sea of his pirates and ultimately escaped.
Injured and exhausted, they would have had a hard time catching him again.
Though the wounds the Black Dragon King had sustained were severe, if he had just fled, he might have survived.
“But why…”
What was the reason he came back? Jo Geol looked to Yoon Jong for an answer, but Yoon Jong had none to give.
“Well… I don’t know either. Maybe he lost too much blood and wasn’t thinking straight.”
“…Do you think so?”
“Yeah. And also…”
Yoon Jong looked at the fallen Black Dragon King and spoke calmly.
“Even if he had run away, he would have eventually died here. We would have tracked him a hundred times, a thousand times, until we stopped his breath.”
“Sahyeong?”
“Well? Maybe not me, but…”
Yoon Jong’s gaze shifted elsewhere. At the end of it stood a person, leaning on the Black Dragon King’s guandao like a trophy, their body exhausted.
Yoon Jong’s eyes filled with various emotions.
“…That person would have done it.”
“…”
Jo Geol looked at Baek Cheon at Yoon Jong’s words and nodded, as if he completely agreed.
“Yes, he would have.”
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
❀ ❀ ❀
Swish!
“Urgh…”
A pirate with a large hole in his chest spewed frothy blood. A sense of futility clouded his dimming eyes.
“Why… Why…”
Among the Eighteen Strongholds of the Yangtze River, the leader of the powerful Red Dragon Stronghold, Pan Wigong, also known as the Blood Axe, slowly lowered his head.
The weight of the sword fully bore down on him, causing it to bend slightly. His body, losing strength, slid down the blade and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Grr…”
His dying eyes saw numerous corpses. Bodies and blood enough to turn the whole forest red – these were the pirates of the Red Dragon Stronghold who had rushed to save the Black Dragon King.
All of them had to give up their lives to the sword of a single person who appeared out of nowhere.
“How… are you… here…”
Thunk!
The merciless sword pierced the mumbling Pan Wigong’s throat.
After a final spasm, Pan Wigong’s breath ceased.
“A damn Sapa is talking.”
Chung Myung, without any emotion, glanced at the scene before turning his gaze away.
Dense forest, with a glimpse of a vast field beyond. Chung Myung muttered as he looked into the distance.
“A fox cub…”
Swish!
The Dark Plum Sword sliced through the air, scattering the blood droplets that clung to it. Chung Myung lightly sheathed his sword with a smooth motion and briefly scanned his surroundings before moving towards the field.
However, he soon came to a stop.
Standing there as if pondering something, Chung Myung finally muttered after some time had passed.
“…Just.”
His voice carried a strange mixture of emotions.
“It’s not just a fox…”
A fresh smile finally appeared on his lips.
“…Not anymore.”
With noticeably lighter steps, he continued on without hesitation.
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Why do Five Swords keep bringing up the Bishop in Hangzhou?.. They didn’t actually face him, it was Chung Myung and Jang Ilso, they were facing other cultists.
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Return of the Mount Hua 
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