Chapter 68. The Cold Glint of a Well-Polished Sword (15)
The ship that the Lust Demon had entered moved toward the back of the fleet to protect itself as Woo-Moon ran toward the nearest ship.
“He’s heading for the admiral’s ship! Stop him!”
Swish, swish, swish, swish!!
Countless arrows flew forward once again and covered Woo-Moon’s figure.
“How bothersome!”
However, just like the first time, Woo-Moon swung his robe again and deflected the arrows. From the number of arrows coming at him, he could get a rough understanding of the number of people shooting at him. Taking out Eun-Ah from his breast pocket, he held her in front of his face.
“Eun-Ah, go and deal with those archers!”
Growl!
Eun-Ah growled in response as Woo-Moon pulled his arm backward and then hurled her forward forcefully.
ROAR!
Eun-Ah flew through the air with her stubby legs splayed out like a weird flying squirrel.
Bang!
“Ugh!”
An archer dropped the bow in his hands and collapsed backward as Eun-Ah barreled into his chest. Eun-Ah landed softly, rolling over the deck and demonstrating the unique flexibility of a cat before leaping forward and moving around in a dizzying pattern, attacking the rest of the archers.
“W-what is this?!”
“You little bastard!”
At this very moment, Eun-Ah’s small size was actually advantageous for her, as it wasn’t easy to even see the tiny tiger in the dark, much less shoot her.
As Eun-Ah created chaos, the number of arrows descending on Woo-Moon decreased, allowing him to go even faster than before, stepping on a branch thrown in front of the ship and jumping forward.
Thud!
Woo-Moon latched onto the ship's hull using the Nine Yin White Bone Claw that he had been practicing recently.
‘This is pretty impressive, isn’t it?’
Nodding in approval at the technique’s usefulness for an amateur climber like him, Woo-Moon crawled up the ship's hull using his arms and legs like a spider.
“That bastard is crawling up!”
“Stop him!! Knock him off!!”
Crossbow bolts and Emei piercers[1] rained down on Woo-Moon. However, he evaded all the attacks by nimbly jumping from place to place.
Tap.
Soon, Woo-Moon was standing on the deck.
“You bandit bastards!”
Whether they were mountain bandits, pirates, thieves, or horse-riding raiders, they were all just groups of murderous thieves who killed good people out of greed for their wealth.
Swish! Squelch!
Before any of them could react, Woo-Moon’s sword left its scabbard and cut through the air, striking the neck of an enemy in front of him.
About fifty men were standing fiercely on the deck of the vast ship, holding Emei piercers, sharp tridents, and crossbows. However, in front of Woo-Moon, they were no different from fifty scarecrows!
He lifted his right foot and stomped the deck with incredible force, breaking through the wood.
Crack!!
With his foot now stuck under a plank, he threw a hard kick forward.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!!
The wooden planks of the deck broke in an instant, and his kick pushed the broken pieces of wood forward.
“Ugh!”
The enemies in front of him hurriedly dodged, but those who were too slow found their entire bodies riddled by sharp splinters of wood.
“The only thing I want is that Lust Demon on the ship! If you get in my way, you die!” Woo-Moon shouted as he ran forward.
“Stop him!” shouted the captain of the ship, realizing that Woo-Moon was heading for the main ship of the Azure Dragon Stronghold. However, because of his shout, the captain found himself facing Woo-Moon’s wrath directly.
“Ugh!”
His body was split in half with a single blade of sword qi.
“Eun-Ah, let’s go!”
Growl!
Amid the fighting, Eun-ah made a giant leap and jumped on Woo-Moon's shoulder as Woo-Moon used the Northern Wind Steps to the extreme and kicked off the ship's railing.
He flew forward like a bird, and although arrows rained down upon him again as soon as he left the deck, not a single one of them could keep up with his movement speed.
However, in the end, he was still nothing but a human, and he was still unable to stay high in the air and fly like an actual bird.
‘Tsk! Just when will I be able to use the Void-Conquering Path?’
Although he was not aware, Woo-Moon was one of the only two people in the entirety of gangho who had actually witnessed the legendary Void-Conquering Path, a technique that allowed the user to tread upon air as if walking on flat ground, with their own eyes. The other one was his father, Dae-Woong.
As he fell toward the water's surface, Woo-Moon took out all of the remaining tree branches that were still tucked under his arm and scattered them in the direction he was moving. Spreading his arms to make his body as light as possible, he kicked off a tree branch with the Northern Wind Steps, pushing himself forward like a swallow flying across the water.
Then, at that very moment, arrows that seemed to have been shot by halfway decent archers blocked his path.
‘They really are annoying!’
Woo-Moon took off his robe once again and grasped it firmly in hand before slamming it down on the water.
POW!!
The robe hit the surface of the water like a cannonball. The shockwave pushed the water up all around Woo-Moon, creating a momentary shield.
Pfft, pfft, pfft!
All of the arrows lost their momentum, unable to pierce through the torrent of water that contained such incredible power. Woo-Moon also used the force of the recoil to his advantage, somersaulting over the wave and moving forward again.
When he got close to the water, he struck the surface again, and he repeated this a few times as he approached another ship. Finally, he swung his robe one more time with as much force as he could muster.
BANG!
A loud explosion echoed as Woo-Moon smashed the lower hull of the ship with his robe, which now was a lot heavier due to being completely soaked with water. The impact created a gaping hole, more than enough for Woo-Moon to enter the space below the deck. Then, he bent his knees and jumped up with incredible force, swinging his sword and punching a hole in the deck as he shot out.
Floating in the air, Woo-Moon saw the enemy waiting on the deck. Spreading his arms wide, Woo-Moon used the Northern Wind Steps to dodge the arrows and land on the deck, where he swung his robe once more.
“Ugh!”
No one would’ve felt good being struck square by a wet cloth swung at full power by a strong man. In addition, the robe’s weight was compounded by the incredibly powerful qi that Woo-Moon imbued into it.
Being hit by the robe was not much different from being hit by an iron bar. The five bandits who happened to be in the way of the strike were instantly blown back, vomiting blood and pieces of organs.
‘I finally found it!’
The ship he had been looking for appeared in front of him.
“Lust Demon! I’ve come to take your life!”
Shouting excitedly, Woo-Moon ran across the deck.
“Stop him! We have to protect the admiral!”
Just like the other captain, the captain who gave the order was the first to be killed by Woo-Moon, his throat pierced before he could even blink. Holding his wet robe in one hand and the sword in the other, he opened the way forward, slashing, stabbing, and crushing any enemy that stood in his way.
As he passed by the mast, Woo-Moon suddenly had a great idea.
Shing!
His sword instantly sliced through the base of the mast, and Woo-Moon kicked the mast toward the ship where he sensed the energy of the Lust Demon.
“Agh!!! The mast, it’s falling!!”
“DODGE!!!”
Some of the enemies who weren’t able to dodge in time found themselves crushed by the mast. Woo-Moon kicked the mast forward once more, pushing it into the water.
He jumped off the ship again, but this time, he didn’t need to use his robe or tree branches or anything like that. Rather, the mast provided the perfect foothold for him to skirt across the water with his Northern Wind Steps.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Woo-Moon raced down the mast and headed toward the Admiral’s ship at incredible speed.
The Lust Demon—actually, the Azure Dragon Admiral—felt tremendous fear and pressure as he saw Woo-Moon rushing at him.
“Stop him, someone, stop that bastard!”
Hec clearly understood that Woo-Moon had come knowing his secret—that he would enter Hefei even without his subordinates knowing, raping women and, if they met his fancy, bringing them back to the ship and locking them in his room.
Otherwise, there was no way that Woo-Moon would have come all this way to kill him while calling him Lust Demon or whatever
‘Damn it! A long tail only invites a foot to step on it. I shouldn’t have gone overboard!’
It was only then that he found out what it meant to regret.
While the Azure Dragon Admiral was rethinking his life choices with a frightened expression on his face, Woo-Moon was still running forward.
“Ha!!”
With a roar, Woo-Moon kicked off the end of the mast viciously, and this time, he landed on the deck of the admiral's ship.
“Lust Demon! So here you were.”
Although the Blue Dragon Admiral had already taken off his mask and hidden away the bundle somewhere, Woo-Moon recognized him at once.
How could he not, considering the admiral’s arm was bleeding from Woo-Moon’s very own attack?
“Protect the admiral!”
The vice admiral and other experts of the Blue Dragon Stronghold that had been under the deck rushed toward Woo-Moon.
“I told you to piss off!”
Woo-Moon swung his robe forward, using it as a shield to block the enemies’ weapons. Thrusting his sword underneath his makeshift shield, he pierced through the heart of someone wielding an Emei piercer.
As the man died instantly, without even being able to scream, Woo-Moon flicked his robe like a whip and latched onto the vice admiral’s waist. The vice admiral felt as if a snake had wrapped itself around him.
“Save the vice admiral!”
However, Woo-Moon easily blocked their attacks as he swung his robe again, this time with the vice admiral attached to one end. The enemies were left in a panic, unable to swing their weapons as the vice admiral thrashed about them like a meteor hammer.
Pow, pow, pow, pow!
After swinging the vice admiral in a complete circle, Woo-Moon raised him high into the sky and slammed him down hard onto the deck.
Crack!
The vice admiral vomited blood as he slammed into the deck.
“You cruel bastard!”
“Cruel? Aren’t you bastards just as cruel when you kill people and rob them?!”
Woo-Moon was filled with white-hot rage at the enemy’s words.
“Bastards like you are all the same. When you hit others, it’s fine, but when others hit you, it’s suddenly a problem!”
Woo-Moon swung the vice admiral again at his enemies.
Bang!
Three of the pirates broke every bone in their bodies when they collided with the vice admiral, who had an extremely sturdy physique due to cultivating external martial arts. However, during the collision, the vice admiral was also pierced in turn in the abdomen by an Emei piercer held by one of his subordinates.
Only then did Woo-Moon let go of the robe, and at the same time, his figure suddenly blurred.
As those around him exclaimed in surprise at his disappearance, Woo-Moon suddenly reappeared like a ghost and grabbed an expert of the Azure Dragon Stronghold by the neck.
“Ugh!!”
“Die!!!”
As the expert who had been captured died with his spine crushed, the one next to him swung a machete. However, there was no way that Woo-Moon would fall victim to such an attack. His figure blurred once more, and before any of them realized it, Woo-Moon appeared behind the man with the machete and clawed at his back with the Nine Yin White Bone Claw.
Riiiip!!
Blood spurted everywhere as the man fell, his back turned to rags.
“Isn’t this what it means to be cruel?”
With a growling voice, Woo-Moon used the Northern Wind Steps to dart around in all directions, striking down the remaining people.
Seeing this scene, the Azure Dragon Admiral took a step back with shaky legs. Before he knew it, the only people alive on the deck were himself and Woo-Moon. The other ships had long since fled, shocked and terrified by Woo-Moon's martial arts skills. In the end, that was all the loyalty a pirate gang had to its leaders.
From the beginning, they were just scum who had only gathered together to kill others and extort money and valuables in order to fill their own bellies and satisfy all kinds of ugly passions.
“Lust Demon, there is more than just a single person who shed tears because of your actions.”
Woo-Moon walked toward the Azure Dragon Admiral, and the sword in his hand left behind a trail of blood on the deck.
“P-please spare me. Please, just spare me this once!”
“Do you want to live?”
“O–of course. I want to live! Please spare me!”
Woo-Moon sneered.
“Is the prefect’s daughter still alive?”
“O–of course! She’s alive and well in my room right now.”
“Good. Since you haven’t killed her, letting you live isn’t off the table just yet. But here’s a question: you’re a pirate anyway, so why did you bother masking yourself when you kidnapped her?”
The Azure Dragon Admiral forced a smile and spoke.
“W–well... that’s.... E–even pirates have lines they need to keep. We are supposed to avoid messing with any high-rank officials or going into cities to kidnap someone. Otherwise, we’d just give them a pretext to bring an army and take down the pirate gangs...”
Woo-Moon’s eyes lit up.
"Oh? So no one but you knows that you kidnapped and raped women?”
“Yes, that’s right. Please, if you could just spare...”
“Shut up! The words of a bastard like you are so disgusting that I can’t bear to listen to them anymore.”
The heartless steel of Woo-Moon’s sword slit the throat of the Azure Dragon Admiral.
1. Traditional Wushu weapons said to originate on Mount Emei. They are basically metal rods with a sharp spike at both ends and a finger ring in the middle. They look like this: