"…"
The leader of the n in black, the man called the team leader by the other n in black, looked down at the cliff.
"There is a river flowing below. I will send the team mbers to confirm their life or death."
At his subordinate's report, the team leader just looked down at the foggy cliff without a word.
Although it was not visible due to the fog, there was a river flowing below, and if one followed that river, Yibin and Luzhou would appear.
"Stop. Unless you are a master who has reached at least the peak realm, this height is dangerous."
As he said, no matter how skilled a martial artist was, such a sheer cliff was dangerous. The four who had just jumped off the cliff: one peak master, two first-rate masters, and one second-rate master.
No matter how skilled a peak master was, at this height, it would be difficult to even take care of oneself. At most, the limit was to take care of one more person.
Moreover, one of the first-rate masters, that is, Madam Ma, was pregnant. She was literally nothing more or less than a burden.
'And the one who jumped while holding that woman was the one with the lowest martial arts level among the four, the brat nad Jang Baekseo… it would be unreasonable to think that he is alive…'
It was a serious situation where the important 'target' might have died. But even so, the man called the team leader could not bring himself to think that they, no, that Jang Baekseo was dead.
His judgnt in creating a way to live and saving his party by taking Madam Ma hostage in the worst situation, his courage in not even blinking an eye when his own senior uncle was bleeding, and his skill in killing the team mber who had been sent to secretly aim for his back in one blow…
"Send people downstream. Whether they are alive or dead, if they fell into the river, they would have drifted downstream."
"Yes, sir!"
The team leader, who had given the order to his subordinate, looked down at the cliff where Jang Baekseo had jumped with eyes whose intentions could not be known.
'I'm curious. Whether you are really dead.'
***
"I'm not dead!!"
Hwa Mokyeon looked at Jang Baekseo while gasping for breath.
"Why did you do such a reckless thing!? We almost died, brother!!"
"We're alive, so isn't that enough?"
Saying so, Jang Baekseo pulled out the sword that was stuck in the cliff.
Clang!
"It's broken."
"Of course it's broken! If you use a sword like that!"
Jang Baekseo, who had jumped off the cliff, had thrown the sword he had recovered before jumping while holding Madam Ma to Hwa Mokyeon, who had jumped after him.
At the sa ti, he had ford sword qi on the remaining sword and had plunged it into the cliff to reduce the montum of the fall.
Hwa Mokyeon, who had seen that, had also caught the falling Jang Yuran and had followed Jang Baekseo's example.
Of course, it was not that they could stop easily. Jang Baekseo and Hwa Mokyeon were each holding another person, and to avoid the eyes of the n in black above, they had plunged their swords right after passing the foggy part of the lower cliff.
As they had fallen a long distance, their falling speed had also increased, and it was that much harder to stop.
But in the end, they had succeeded in stopping just before hitting the surface of the water, and the party was now hanging on the cliff right above the river surface.
"We can't go back up, and we have no choice but to go downstream along the river current."
"We can't."
"Why?"
"Because the opponent will think so too."
"That's…"
"That's certainly true. Then what do you plan to do?"
"Let's go upstream."
"You're not suggesting we go against the river, are you, brother?"
Shake, shake.
It was a season where winter was already fast approaching. No matter how skilled a martial artist was, it was not a wise act to enter the river in this cold. Moreover, with a pregnant woman.
"Then what do you suggest we do, brother?"
"Wouldn't it be fine to go as we are?"
"As we are?"
"Yes, as we are."
Jang Baekseo said so and moved his body upstream while hanging on the cliff.
Jang Yuran and Hwa Mokyeon were at a loss for words, seeing Jang Baekseo moving freely on the cliff as if to say, 'Get out of my way, monkey.' Moreover…
"I-isn't it heavy, Baekseo?"
"Not at all. Madam Ma is as light as a feather. And I'm sorry for stabbing you with a knife from above…"
"No, if you hadn't done that, we would all have been cold corpses up there…"
Listening to the words of Madam Ma, who was on his back, Jang Baekseo thought.
'Except for you.'
But he did not reveal such thoughts and said.
"More than that, isn't it putting a strain on your stomach? Please think of the child in your womb first."
"Huhu, my belly is not that big yet, so it's okay."
While talking like that, Jang Baekseo continued to move upstream.
"Did that brat learn the Wall-Climbing Art too?"
"…More than that, you saw it too, right?"
"What do you an?"
"Sword qi."
At those words, Hwa Mokyeon was silent for a mont.
He had seen it. He had seen it clearly.
The dark sword qi that had covered Jang Baekseo's sword the mont he was about to plunge it into the cliff.
The two went upstream after Jang Baekseo without any more conversation.
***
"Ugh! I can finally live!!"
"M-my arm is numb!!"
The party, which had reached the upstream of the river after several hours, lay on the ground and massaged their madly aching arms.
"You must have been uncomfortable. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. More than , are you okay, Baekseo?"
"Yes, I'm fine!"
Jang Yuran and Hwa Mokyeon were dumbfounded, seeing Jang Baekseo's extrely calm appearance.
They had had a hard ti even taking care of themselves, but for him to be so calm…
Of course, it was not that Jang Baekseo was really fine. But since he had been training in the Dansim Art and the Fla-Burning Body Art in parallel since his regression, he had been able to endure it sohow.
And above all, Jang Baekseo had had the experience of learning the Wall-Climbing Art during his Sword Fiend days before his regression.
No matter how skilled he was, if he had not had the aptitude for the Wall-Climbing Art, he would not have been able to co all that long, and with a person on his back at that.
Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran, whose bodies had recovered to so extent, stood up and said.
"What do you plan to do now, brother?"
The place where Jang Baekseo's party, which had gone upstream, was now was a place close to Mount Ei, among the three great prestigious Orthodox Faction sects located in Sichuan.
"I think the best course of action here is to stop by Mount Ei, ask for protection, and dig into the identity of the n in black…"
As if agreeing with those words, Jang Yuran also nodded her head.
But,
"No!!"
Madam Ma vehently refused.
"Madam Ma… because of your stubbornness, we forced the escort mission and things turned out like this. Do you know how many people died because of your stubbornness!?"
At Hwa Mokyeon's shout, Madam Ma lowered her head without a word.
Although Madam Ma had tried to squeeze out so words…
"…The Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency will officially cancel Madam Ma's request this ti. We will pay the compensation. So please don't be stubborn anymore."
If they canceled Madam Ma's request and paid ten tis the compensation, the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency would really go bankrupt.
But what did that matter? In this escort mission, most of the escort warriors of the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency had already died.
Since the already insufficient escort warriors had been further reduced by this incident, whether they paid the compensation or not, the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency was finished with this.
At the cold attitude of the two, Madam Ma could not say anything.
Swish.
Jang Baekseo approached such a Madam Ma.
"Madam Ma."
"Baekseo…"
"Do you trust ?"
"…"
"At that ti, on the cliff, Madam Ma trusted . If that trust is still there, please tell us the 'truth'. Otherwise, we can no longer help you, Madam Ma."
Jang Baekseo emphasized the word 'truth'.
No matter how much, she could not deceive them by saying that the attack, which had even mobilized a transcendent master, was the work of a noble family that did not like Madam Ma.
This ti, Jang Baekseo was planning to hear the truth from Madam Ma.
The reason why a blood relative of the Cold Demon had left the territory of the Demonic Cult, was hiding her identity, and was crossing the Central Plains! And the identity of those who were chasing such a Madam Ma!
Jang Baekseo was convinced that this was an important clue that would change the future after his regression.
Madam Ma, who was looking at his eyes without a word, suddenly laughed like a girl.
"M-madam Ma?"
"No, I-I'm sorry, but that's."
Madam Ma, who had even shed tears from laughing so much, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said with a nostalgic expression.
"…That question, 'Do you trust '… I've heard it from my husband before… so, yes, for so reason, I feel like you and my husband are strangely similar…"
After saying that much, Madam Ma caught her breath.
"My na is Ma Juhwa. I am the daughter of the master of the Cold Demon Palace, one of the Twelve Demon Palaces of the Demonic Cult, the Cold Demon, Ma Jeonghu."
At that one word, Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran's mouths dropped open in astonishnt.
Chaang!
Thud!
And at the sa ti, they aid their swords and spears at Madam Ma, no, Ma Juhwa.
But Jang Baekseo blocked it with his back.
"You can point your weapons after listening to Madam Ma's words to the end. And is it really the act of a person of the Orthodox Faction to aim a sword at a pregnant woman?"
At Jang Baekseo's rebuke, Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran, who had drawn their weapons in surprise, could not refute and lowered their weapons with red faces.
"But brother! If that's true… isn't that woman the daughter of a great demonic head!"
"Yes, Jang Baekseo! If it's the Cold Demon… she's a cruel demonic head who is said to turn people into ice sculptures with her terrifying ice art! The daughter of such a person…"
Although they had never t a proper demonic person in their lives, they showed an extre fear of demonic people.
'Well, it's understandable…'
The generation that had gone through the past Righteous-Demonic War had all died, and there were none left in the present generation.
But that's why they had added flesh to the flesh of an unsubstantiated illusion that they had never seen directly, and the image of the demonic person in them that had been completed in that way had beco the very demon that had descended on the human world, tearing human flesh and quenching its thirst with blood.
But such an image was ultimately all a created illusion. The image of an illusion created by those in power to control those who were not. That was the identity of the prejudice that Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran had.
"…Yes, of course, I am the daughter of the great demonic head, the Cold Demon, whom you all of the Orthodox Faction loathe. But, but please help ."
Madam Ma knelt on the ground and bowed her head.
"I beg you."
At that sight, Jang Yuran and Hwa Mokyeon could not say anything.
It was because it was a completely different appearance from the demonic person they had known.
The appearance of Madam Ma, who was bowing her head in front of their eyes now, was nothing more or less than the appearance of a woman who was in a predicant and was sincerely asking for help.
Jang Baekseo, who had made Madam Ma raise her head, asked with a serious face.
"Please tell , Madam Ma, the truth of all this…"
And so, Madam Ma's story began.
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