Ssshhhh—
The boat cut swiftly across the water, drawing ever closer to land.
Namgoong Seolhwa pulled up her robes to conceal her lower face and bowed her head low.
To an outside observer, she appeared rely frightened and subdued—but in truth, she was hiding her features in case soone recognized her.
— This is bad.
Yugang’s voice ca through, hushed by sound transmission, tinged with unease.
He was carrying Hwarin on his back.
Over the past two days, he had quietly observed the behavior of the river bandits. They hadn’t made much effort to restrain Hwarin, nor had they shown any particular concern about her movents.
Given that they were in the middle of the river with no real place to escape, it seed they had no intent to harm her either.
Even when Yugang walked around with Hwarin in plain view, the most he received was the occasional glance. No one truly cared.
In fact, so seed rather pleased by how well the girl seed to match Yugang’s deanor.
— Sothing’s off. I can feel a master nearby.
They had only just approached the water stronghold, yet Yugang had sensed sothing unusual.
— Have you ever heard of the Demon of the Jianggang River?
— The Demon of the Jianggang River?
— ng Deungho. They say he's one of the Hundred Great Masters. Famous for his skill with the spear.
At the ntion of the Hundred Great Masters, Yugang’s expression darkened.
Anyone ranked among them would, at minimum, have reached the Transcendent Peak Realm.
Such a person was already more than they could hope to handle—and that was just ng Deungho. There appeared to be at least a dozen others here who were also clearly Peak Realm masters.
— Can we... escape this?
— No.
— Then what do we do?
— We wait for reinforcents from Namgoong. Until then, we must be careful not to reveal who we are. Soone like ng Deungho will see through any disguise. He’ll know we’re not just so random kids.
Avoiding him entirely would be ideal.
— Just in case, think of an excuse—like how you learned martial arts.
— Got it.
****
The boat finally docked.
“Move! Co on, hurry up!”
Yugang handed Hwarin over to Seolhwa and went to help unload the cargo.
By the ti the goods were nearly sorted, one of the river bandits—clearly the captain of the vessel and a Peak Realm expert—ordered the three of them to follow him.
He was the most formidable presence on the boat.
“Wait here.”
They arrived at a large military tent. Without another word, the man stepped inside, leaving the three of them outside.
The tent stood deep within the water stronghold and was by far the largest among them—clearly the dwelling of the stronghold master.
— We’re dood. Looks like we’ll have to greet the stronghold lord.
Yugang’s face mirrored Seolhwa’s concern. Clearly, he too had hoped to avoid ng Deungho.
But then again, as newcors to the stronghold, it was only natural they’d be brought before its master.
And if it had been the stronghold lord who had ordered Hwarin’s kidnapping, of course he would want to see her.
Will ng Deungho recognize ?
Had she t him before at this age?
She was still weighing the likelihood of various outcos when the bandit erged from the tent again.
“Co.”
Yugang and Seolhwa exchanged glances.
— I’ll take Hwarin.
Yugang took Hwarin by the hand and moved to her left side, standing beside Seolhwa.
— You two look too alike. If soone catches on, it’ll be trouble.
He wasn’t wrong. At the mont, Seolhwa was posing as a newcor, not a child of the Namgoong Clan.
Inside the tent, the light dimd. At the far end, ng Deungho lounged on a massive chair, posture slanted and relaxed.
Half his face was lit by sunlight filtering through the flap—just ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ enough to cast his expression in shadow, making it impossible to read his eyes.
“...That the child?”
“Yes, my lord,” the bandit answered.
With a tilt of his chin, he gestured at Yugang to bring the girl forward.
Yugang hesitated briefly, then stepped forward with Hwarin’s hand in his own.
“You idiot...”
The bandit muttered through clenched teeth.
He had ant for Yugang to send the girl alone—yet here the boy was, stepping up alongside her.
“Who are you?”
As expected, ng Deungho’s attention turned to Yugang.
His voice rumbled like a beast growling—a deep, coarse growl that filled the tent.
Still holding Hwarin’s hand, Yugang bowed politely toward the throne-like chair.
“Greetings, my lord! I’m the youngest crew mber—just call Kang!”
His voice rang clear and cheerful, shattering the tension in the room.
A long silence followed.
The radiant, smiling Yugang and the silent ng Deungho stood locked in a strange sort of standoff. It was the bandit who had entered with them that finally broke the silence.
“L-Lord ng! He’s the new recruit we just picked up for our boat! We were going to introduce him properly anyway, so—”
ng Deungho raised a hand, halting him.
“...Orthodox martial arts?”
“!”
Yugang’s smile cracked slightly.
ng Deungho had instantly recognized the nature of his internal energy.
Yugang masked his unease with a laugh.
“Ahaha, well, see, there was this martial hall master from Mount Hua in my village, you know? Ah, not that I attended his martial hall or anything! I couldn’t afford it—but I really wanted to learn martial arts, so...”
He raised a fist and flexed it lightly.
“...I beat it out of soone who did go to the hall.”
He grinned sheepishly.
Seolhwa’s lips parted slightly.
Is that really the excuse he ca up with?
It was absurd—but oddly fitting.
To claim orthodox internal energy, yet give such an unorthodox reason... how very Yugang of him.
“...I see.”
That was all ng Deungho said.
“I’ll do my best, Lord ng!” Yugang chirped again, bowing low with exaggerated earnestness.
The bandit gave Yugang a look, motioning for him to step back—but Yugang ignored it and remained by Hwarin’s side.
Fortunately, ng Deungho did not seem particularly bothered.
His gaze lingered on Hwarin for a mont before shifting back to Yugang.
“Look after this child.”
“Yes, my lord!” Yugang replied imdiately.
That was the end of it.
The stronghold lord dismissed them, and Yugang took Hwarin by the hand and began to withdraw.
ng Deungho’s gaze paused briefly on Namgoong Seolhwa, who stood at the rear—but then he lost interest and looked away.
The three of them left the command tent shortly after their brief eting with the stronghold lord.
Thud!
A heavy fist slamd into the back of Yugang’s head.
“You dumb brat! Why’d you step forward like that?! If the lord hadn’t let it slide, you’d be a corpse by now! Be grateful you’re still breathing!”
“Ow! That hurts!”
Yugang rubbed the back of his head and stumbled back a step.
“But he told to leave, didn’t he?! Why are you yelling at ?!”
“That ‘you’ clearly didn’t an you, idiot! Agh, I swear—!”
The bandit pounded his chest in frustration.
“Co on! All three of you!”
He led them through the stronghold to an area where small tents were clustered close together.
The atmosphere here was different from where the stronghold lord resided. Most of the people present were won, carrying laundry or buckets of water—it appeared this area handled dostic affairs.
It was also, notably, the safest part of the stronghold. If needed, one could flee either into the river or into the nearby mountains.
Are these the families of the bandits?
The bandit grabbed one of the won and explained sothing briefly. Then he turned back to Yugang and Seolhwa.
“You two will help out around here. And like the lord said—looking after that girl is your responsibility too.”
He pointed to Hwarin.
“Lord ng gave specific orders. She’s not to go hungry, and you make sure she has a place to sleep. Not that there’s anywhere to run in here, but still—don’t let her get any ideas. Keep an eye on her until we co to fetch her. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Brat, I’m no sir.”
He gave Yugang a firm smack on the back and walked off.
“...He actually left.”
Yugang scratched his head, watching the bandit disappear into the distance.
“Are we really that trustworthy? He’s leaving a kidnapped kid with people like us.”
“They’re not trusting us,” Seolhwa said flatly.
She turned her gaze across the entire stronghold.
“They’re just certain we can’t escape.”
The bandit's words from earlier hadn’t been an exaggeration—there was truly nowhere to run.
The stronghold was encircled by both river and mountain, forming a natural prison. Thick wooden logs had been lashed together to create a tall periter wall, with only two gates—one on the east side and one on the west.
Guard towers had been erected at regular intervals along the wall, each manned above and below by sentries. Slipping out without being seen would be nearly impossible.
Even if soone did manage to flee, the dense forest beyond made it easy to get lost. And this being a water stronghold, the main access point was via river, not road. It was likely that no real road existed at all.
They wouldn't go to the trouble of kidnapping a Namgoong child only to be careless.
They were confident the girl could not escape on her own.
ng Deungho...
He had not recognized her.
From the mont they entered his command tent, Seolhwa had studied him closely—but not once had he shown any sign of familiarity.
If anything, his attention had been on Yugang, noting the orthodox energy in his internal flow.
It’s a relief he didn’t recognize .
Thanks to that, she could now look for an opening to escape when the ti was right.
— Small training hall. We should find a way out before nightfall...
Just then—
“Hey! You there!”
A sharp, youthful voice rang out from behind a nearby tent.
Yugang and Seolhwa turned in unison toward the sound.
Behind a pile of hay near the tent stood a young boy—he looked about Hwarin’s age—and he was pointing directly at them.
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