Chapter 58. A dead end .....
That moment.
Puh-beo-beo-beok!
"Wh-what, what is this!? Kkeuaaaak!"
The newly appeared bandits began wildly swinging swords, axes, and other weapons at the bandits on this side. More than a dozen bandits who had been lagging at the very rear were butchered in an instant.
Having felt at ease thinking they were allies, they could not block the blades that suddenly flew at them at all.
Among them, the one standing at the very front of those who had turned their clothes inside out looked extraordinary at a glance, both in martial prowess and martial arts.
"Chief leader?"
"Why is the chief leader doing this to us...?"
"What in the world is this!?"
The chief leader of the Yangtze Eighteen Water Fortresses, Yangtze River Dragon Tiger, Sasa-ho, that is, Water Shadow, shouted as he cut down yet another bandit's neck.
"Leave not a single one alive—wipe them all out!"
At Water Shadow's order, most began their attack, but a few still hesitated, seemingly reluctant to strike their own allies.
Water Shadow immediately killed those men and shouted again.
"Anyone who retreats will lose their head according to the law of the Yangtze!"
The law of the Yangtze.
It was an absolute law that bandits had to follow. Among them were two rules: absolute obedience to superiors, and never retreat in battle. What Water Shadow spoke of now was precisely those rules.
Though it was difficult to understand the chief leader's command at this moment, they had no choice but to follow it. That was what an absolute law was. There was no room for likes or dislikes. If they wanted to argue, they had to do so after the battle was over. For now, there was no other option.
The bandits no longer hesitated.
From that moment on, the bandits wearing their clothes inside out began indiscriminately attacking the pursuing bandits.
Now, the bandits who had been chasing the survivors found themselves being chased in turn by other bandits.
Judging by the situation alone, they were facing a worse predicament than the survivors fleeing upward. At least those people had an open path ahead and could run freely, but the feet of the pursuing bandits were bound between the Haengho guests and the other bandits attacking them.
Truly, a dilemma with no advance or retreat.
Naturally, the pursuing bandits quickly fell into chaos.
It was a small blessing amid misfortune that the Haengho guests who had survived so far, though bewildered by the situation, fled up the mountain as quickly as possible. The farther they got, the farther they moved away from the chief leader and the bandits trying to kill them.
However, a similar situation was unfolding among the Heavenly Demon Castle followers as well. The pursuing Heavenly Demon Castle followers were being hunted down by other Heavenly Demon Castle followers who had turned their clothes inside out.
An incomprehensible standoff took shape. And that formation could not last long. From the beginning, the balance of power had been tilted to one side.
Even in the midst of urgency, Dong Bong-su looked around in all directions, then flung his body toward an empty space. It was the side of the mountain slope. If he could keep going that way, he judged that he could circle the mountain and escape out the opposite side.
"Kill them! Don't let a single one escape!"
But that direction was already being occupied by bandits wearing their clothes inside out as they climbed up. Among them, one fairly agile bandit charged at Dong Bong-su like lightning.
Puuk!
Dong Bong-su did not bother to avoid him and cut him down without mercy. It was possible because he still had some leeway before leveling up.
Pababak-.
Dong Bong-su immediately used the skill Circulating Energy and Performing the Technique, then displayed Lightness Skill and changed direction upward. The rear and left were occupied by hordes of bandits, the right by Heavenly Demon Castle followers. Even so, it was not safe to assume that the front—that is, upward toward the mountain—was safe. The surviving Haengho guests were there.
However, there was no other path Dong Bong-su could choose. Following behind the Haengho guests who were rapidly pulling away seemed the best option for now.
He ran while maintaining a barely safe distance, just out of reach of the Haengho guests' attacks. It was the only thing he could do at the moment.
Yet he did not stop thinking. Now was the time to find another way to survive.
Meanwhile, at the moment when the bandits and the Heavenly Demon Castle followers had fallen into bizarre internal strife, Tang Wu finally reached the summit of Seonjung Mountain.
"...!"
The moment he arrived at the summit, he stopped. It was absolutely not to take a brief rest.
"H-h-grandfather! This is...!"
The terrain was blocking their steps.
The summit of Seonjung Mountain was wide and flat, like a plate carefully hammered into shape by a heavenly god. If it had ended there, it would have been fine, but the god had split the mountain in half. A long, straight cleft stretched out as if a divine axe had precisely split the mountain in two. On the opposite side stood a mountain identical to this one, making it clear that the two had once been one. From the sky, it would probably look like a huge plate split in half and scattered to either side. However, the distance from here to the opposite cliff easily looked to exceed 300 meters. Unless one was a bird, it was an impossible distance to jump in a single leap.
Only then did Tang Wu understand why the demonic soldiers had focused more on blocking sideways movement than on stopping him from climbing upward.
From the start, the enemies must have been well aware of this terrain. It was clear that they had deliberately driven him and the survivors to this place.
Tadadak...…
With a flustered expression, Tang Wu stood at one end of the断崖.
A small stone that caught under his foot slipped off and fell below the cliff. It pierced through the clouds hanging at mid-mountain and vanished into the unfathomable depths below.
"......."
Tang Wu and Tang Hua stared blankly at the place where the stone had disappeared. Though its whereabouts were unknown, they already knew. The stone must have shattered into dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands of pieces.
"Grandfather... what do we do now?"
Tang Hua collapsed to the ground with a thud, as if dizzy.
Tang Wu gave no answer. It was not as if he had any clever solution in this situation.
Tak, tadak.
As the two stood there in a daze, the survivors who had followed Tang Wu appeared at the summit of Seonjung Mountain. Judging by how their bodies were covered head to toe in blood, it was easy to imagine what ordeals they had endured.
Along with their exhausted, ragged breathing, the sounds of clashing spears and swords were drawing ever closer. It seemed the pursuers, together with the survivors, were nearly reaching the summit.
There were roughly twenty survivors. As soon as they arrived, they came one by one and stood beside Tang Wu.
"..."
Like Tang Wu, they too lost their words in an instant. They had thought they had finally reached the end of the road of life after untold hardships, only to find that path was a dead end as well... how hollow it must have felt.
"Are all who came here everyone?"
Tang Wu asked, forcing a calm tone.
"Yes... great swordsman of Tang."
A tall, burly man standing beside him replied. The lack of vitality in his voice made it seem as though he had almost given up on living.
"Then who are the ones fighting down there?"
Tang Wu could still hear the sounds of fierce fighting as someone approached from below. His question was asking about their identity.
The man who had answered earlier replied again.
"Bandits and demonic soldiers."
At the incomprehensible answer, Tang Wu asked again.
"Are you trying to jest with this old man? I'm asking who is fighting against the bandits and the demonic soldiers. Judging by the noise, there must be at least a hundred of them."
"No... I would never dare make light of you, daehyeop, in a situation like this. It may be difficult to understand, but those fighting the bandits and demonic soldiers right now are bandits and demonic soldiers themselves. Newly appeared bandits and demonic soldiers are attacking the bandits and demonic soldiers who were pursuing us."
"...!"
Tang Wu once again lost his words. Setting aside their current desperate situation, it was simply too absurd.
'Internal strife among bandits and demonic soldiers.'
The timing of the infighting was utterly ridiculous. That it was happening simultaneously among both bandits and demonic soldiers made it even harder to believe.
It was difficult to accept. Yet, since it came from someone who had been chased just moments ago, it was impossible not to believe.
A bit of vitality returned to Tang Wu's face.
'A good opportunity!'
Using the enemies' infighting, it might be possible to break through the encirclement once more and head down the mountain.
However, the burly man, having read Tang Wu's thoughts, spoke.
"It will be of no use. Among those who came up later were the chief leader of the Yangtze Water Fortresses and the leader on the Heavenly Demon Castle side. The bandits and demonic soldiers who initially pursued us will not last long before being annihilated."
No sooner had his despairing answer ended than several blood-soaked bandits climbed up to the summit where they stood. There were only about a dozen of them at most, and not a single demonic soldier. It seemed certain that the pursuing demonic soldiers had already been completely wiped out.
The bandits' appearances were even more wretched than those of the survivors who had arrived earlier. In particular, the face of the man standing at their very front was so horrific it was hard to look at with open eyes.
Dozens of crisscrossing sword wounds had completely mangled his face, and layers of dried blood were caked on top of it, a total mess. Half of his nose had been cut off and was dangling, and his ears were torn, pouring blood without pause.
What was peculiar was that despite such severe injuries, his eyes alone were intact.
Strangely, his eyes held no emotion at all—bizarre eyes rarely seen again in the human world—yet no one noticed this fact.
He, Dong Bong-su, as soon as he stepped onto the open space by the cliff, headed toward the edge of the opposite precipice, not where Tang Wu and the others stood.
Seeing that they were not coming toward their side, Tang Wu and the Haengho guests remained where they were, merely on guard, and did not attack. Dong Bong-su had acted that way knowing full well it would be so. Whether it was them or him, they were all rats driven into a corner. Rats fighting each other would only hand the fisherman's gain to the cat.
Strangely, the bandits who had barely survived naturally followed behind Dong Bong-su as he moved. That was because they instinctively knew that they had been able to climb up to this place by following behind him.
In fact, unlike what Tang Wu and the other survivors saw, Dong Bong-su had adjusted his distance exquisitely while moving between the pursuers and the survivors, allowing him to reach this place without fighting at all. The bandits who had stayed by his side had now all instinctively realized this as well.
Hwi-iing-.
The updraft rising along the eternal cliff licked past Dong Bong-su's grotesquely peeled forehead as he looked down below.
Even the slightest brush of wind sent unbearable pain shooting through his entire body. Yet there was not the slightest change in Dong Bong-su's expression. He knew how important this moment was.
Though Dong Bong-su had been driven into a corner with no escape, he still had not given up on life. Until it truly ended, it was not over. Until the real end came, he would do his utmost.
Dong Bong-su continued to gaze down the cliff.
A sheer vertical rock wall, clouds hanging at mid-mountain blocking his view, and a bottom with no end in sight.
Everything was despairing, yet his impression as he looked down differed markedly from Tang Wu's.
Where Tang Wu looked down the cliff and saw despair, Dong Bong-su looked down the thousands of meters and instead glimpsed the possibility of survival.
"...…."
Dong Bong-su's eyes shimmered transparently as he gazed into the abyss below.
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