Chokseong-4

A choice had to be made.

Whether to remain here and confront the unknown enemy of Master, or to retreat for now and plan for the future.

They had to choose.

And the choice was Soyou’s.

“We must leave this place.”

“But Master, what about Grand Master’s enemy?”

Inho asked back at the unexpected words, and Soyou glared at him.

“Did I teach you to face an enemy without any preparation?”

“No.”

“I also want to avenge Master. That’s why we must retreat this time.”

It was only half true.

Soyou was eager to face them right away and set them ablaze.

However, in a chaotic scene filled with all sorts of Deadly moves, it was nearly impossible to protect Inho’s safety while fighting.

These were the ones who killed her Master.

Therefore, it was right to retreat this time.

Furthermore, she was also thinking of temporarily separating Inho to a safe place.

She hated being apart from him even for a moment, but it was an unavoidable choice to see Inho for a long time.

“Then… should we move now?”

“The letter said to go to the Martial Arts Alliance. It seems the Alliance will send a guide.”

“Then we need to meet that guide.”

“That’s right. Fortunately, the meeting place isn’t far from here. It’s a day’s journey, so we can go. Pack your things.”

As soon as Soyou finished speaking, Inho quickly began packing.

He put easily edible foods like jerky into his pack.

After a simple packing, they came down the mountain.

Despite the steep slope, their legs did not stop.

After running for a whole day, they arrived at the meeting place.

A man named ‘Yoonseok’ was waiting for them in a corner of the inn.

“Nice to meet you, Yomryun Skill.”

Introducing himself as a member of the information gathering group operated by the Alliance, he took out a map from his chest, saying let’s skip the trivial stories.

“Unfortunately, there is no possibility of completely shaking off those guys. They’ve already built a surveillance network nearby.”

He pointed to the map with his finger and spoke.

“To think a surveillance network would be set up this quickly. Strange. How did they know we were here?”

Soyou questioned the sudden appearance of the hostile forces.

“That part hasn’t been revealed yet. It seems like it’s because Yomryun Skill’s face is known. Has your face been publicly revealed recently?”

At Yoonseok’s question, Soyou and Inho frowned.

It was because they remembered the commotion in the market.

“……”

As the two remained silent, Yoonseok clicked his tongue.

“It seems like it happened. Well, what can we do? It’s not like you knew things would turn out this way.”

“Then, is there a way to escape?”

Inho asked, thinking of a desperate fight, and Yoonseok nodded.

“Break through by force. That’s the only way.”

Yoonseok’s finger pointed to a spot.

“The terrain here is rough, so even if pursuers catch up, it won’t be easy to surround you. The first goal is to cross over to Sichuan through here around sunset.”

“Certainly, it would be difficult to form a pursuit network in a place like this. But… there’s also the disadvantage that it’s not easy to move around.”

Soyou, who was staring at the map, added.

“Agent Yoon. It might be a difficult request, but can you assist Inho while moving?”

“I was going to say that. I’m not stronger than Yomryun Skill in Martial arts, so I’ll assist Young Master Kang, and I hope Yomryun Skill will prepare for any enemy attacks that might come flying.”

Soyou slowly nodded at Yoonseok’s words. It was the moment when each of their roles was decided.

“The time for sunset is coming soon. Let’s confirm the plan one last time.”

The three men and women turned their eyes to the map.

Night came quickly in the mountains, as always.

From the moment they started running through the mountains as Yoonseok had said, the enemies began to pursue them.

Whether it was to gauge the strength of the fugitives or to wear them down, they kept a certain distance and followed.

“Damn, that scared me.”

Inho stroked his chest as he looked at the hidden weapon that had just passed over his head.

It was fortunate that it was a place where it was difficult to secure visibility, because if it had been broad daylight, his head would have been pierced.

-Clang!

Of course, that’s the story of the trajectory of the hidden weapon.

All the hidden weapons flying towards Inho were being deflected by Soyou.

“The number of flying weapons is increasing.”

Soyou said, deflecting the flying hidden weapons again with her hand.

The number and intensity were increasing. It felt like they were testing how much she could block, and she didn’t like it.

They continued to run along the mountain path, and even set foot in places that were not paths.

The fugitives ran straight, stepping on sharp rocks.

Yoonseok helped Inho, who was stumbling a few times due to his lack of achievement.

“It seems like they are narrowing the encirclement that was spread out.”

“At this rate, we’ll be surrounded, won’t we?”

At Inho’s worry, Soyou closed her eyes for a moment.

She considered various options and chose the most certain method.

“Inho.”

“Yes.”

“You must be safe.”

“What does that mean? Master!!!”

Soyou, who was running with him, gradually began to lag behind, then turned her body in the opposite direction and ran.

“Master!!!”

Soyou, who was running towards the pursuers, was getting farther and farther away.

Inho also turned his body to chase after her, but Yoonseok grabbed the back of his neck.

“Don’t do anything reckless. Yomryun Skill will be safe.”

Inho struggled to get away from Yoonseok, but he grabbed him so tightly that he didn’t lose his posture even while flying through the sky.

“……”

Yoonseok, who was half-carrying Inho, quickly crossed the mountain, riding on the branches of trees.

Yoonseok ran for more than 30 minutes and stopped at an open space surrounded by trees.

Carrying an adult man and crossing the mountain was a difficult task for most Martial artists, but his breathing was not disturbed.

As Yoonseok released his strength, Inho, who had been clinging to him, fell to the ground with a thud.

“I have to go to Master.”

Inho gave strength to his knees and stood up, thinking of Soyou, who was fighting alone.

“Yomryun Skill will be fine.”

“I know very well that Master is strong. But, I don’t know how strong the enemy is, so I can’t just wait.”

Inho said, glaring at Yoonseok, who seemed calm, and Yoonseok raised his hand to stop him.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I meant that she will be safe because the target is not Yomryun Skill.”

Inho’s thoughts stopped at the words that came out of Yoonseok’s mouth.

-Thump, thump

The instinctive sense of crisis was faster than the understanding of the head.

The heart rate accelerated, and the head began to spin.

Facts that had been overlooked until now returned as questions.

‘The Hao Moon protects the identity of the client, so how did the Martial Arts Alliance know where we were?’

‘Why did I think Yoonseok was from the Martial Arts Alliance just because of a letter?’

‘Why didn’t the enemies attack us even though there were so many of them, and why did they just threaten us?’

And

“The person who delivered the news of Grand Master’s death… what organization were they from?”

Inho felt like he was being played on a huge board.