Book 10: Chapter 9: Ghost Path

The underground waterways of Luoyang.

Intermediate depth.

A certain point.

[Squad Three. Squad Three, respond!] even if he raised his telepathic voice, it was useless.

“…Damn waterway!”

The structure of the underground waterway was excessively complex, and furthermore, it was literally underground.

The long-range telepathy that Greedy Wolf had improved for generations was not exerting any power at all.

[…It's as if this underground is eating up the telepathy.] at the sight of the squad leader losing his temper, the hunting dog under him shook his head.

[…If Squad Three does not respond, our Squad Two has no support.] the squad leader ground his teeth quietly.

[Likewise, Squad Three is also in a situation where they cannot receive our Squad Two's support.] although the power of Greedy Wolf, which had left its name in the history of the Martial Alliance, also lay in its unique martial arts, it came, in the end, from its peculiar organizational strength.

Like the name Greedy Wolf, their strong organizational power, resembling a pack of wolves, was their sharpest tooth.

[Squads One and Four are probably in the same situation as us.] this vast waterway complexly penetrating here and there beneath the giant city of Luoyang was built by human power.

[What happened to Squad Five, who took charge of support from behind?] a hunting dog scanned the surrounding walls with a tense gaze and said.

[We sent a scout to grasp their location, but even the scout has not returned.] in this vast and unfathomable underground waterway, their organizational power was collapsing in real-time.

[…Squad Leader. Do you intend to keep continuing the tracking like this?] the leader of Squad Two frowned.

[Then what do you want us to do?] they had not lit a single torch for covert maneuvering, and the light from a few night-luminescent pearls about the size of a fingernail possessed by some was all they had.

[I heard this underground waterway has been called the Ghost Path among the common people since before.] the hunting dog, who had been kneeling on one knee and examining the target's movement traces, stood up.

[I have also heard similar information.] the hunting dogs swallowed dry saliva.

[It is said that even the smugglers of that notorious Second Young Master do not use the underground waterway as a smuggling route.] he said while fixing his gaze on the deep darkness as if possessed by something.

[In the past. I heard that the number of slaves sacrificed by the previous dynasty to build this waterway reached a million.] a million.

[That they tried to complete this waterway somehow in order to rectify the declining national fortune.] only then did everyone realize anew.

[At first slaves. And as they all died off, the poor. Next the commoners. I heard they eventually deployed even children here.] amidst the sound of water flowing through the underground channel and the sound of the harsh wind passing through the passages, it felt as if screams were faintly heard.

The sound of ruthless whips brandished by overseers.

The death throes of dying workers.

The sound of chisels and hammers breaking rocks.

The sound of pickaxing.

Down to the groans of those buried in the collapsing ceiling's soil and rocks.

The hunting dogs swallowed dry saliva.

[That their souls became vengeful ghosts, trapped in this maze-like underground with no place to go, and still wander here even now—.] suddenly snapping to his senses, the squad leader strongly infused internal energy into his telepathy.

[Do not talk nonsense!] at the telepathy carrying that strong internal energy, the muttering hunting dog came to his senses.

“……!”

Focus returned to his two eyes.

[I-I am sorry. I talked nonsense….] the squad leader shook his head.

[Forget it. In any case, you found the target's traces, right?] the hunting dog, who had seemed possessed by something, shook his head to clear it and answered.

[…Yes. I found them.] the squad leader spoke to the surroundings.

[Track those traces immediately.] their morale was continuously dropping.

[…Yes.] the hunting dogs calmly began to prepare for tracking again, but the squad leader could tell.

[And that way is rather the safe path for us.] the hunting dog who had babbled about the past story earlier as if possessed was the target.

[What do you mean?] the squad leader showed a smile on his face.

[Do you think our targets entered this waterway without any thought? They are those who know this Luoyang inside out, and would know the ghost stories of the waterway more than anyone else.] a hunting dog questioned back.

[…Could it not be a choice made in desperation?] the squad leader shook his head.

[The fellows are estimated to have definitely met the Eldest Young Master before entering this waterway. That was the last information heard from the squad directly under the commander.] the squad leader, who was running at the very rear, approached one hunting dog.

[…If so!] it was an ironic situation.

[Are you saying the targets' escape route was plotted by the Eldest Young Master?!] although they did not speak, their morale looked distinctly much better than before.

[Yes.] the squad leader nodded.

[Do not believe in our skills, and do not estimate the targets' thoughts.] a twisted smile hung on his lips.

[We must believe in the Eldest Young Master, who is said to possess that divine strategy.] if it is that Eldest Young Master, he would have surely informed them of the safest route to pull his subordinates out safely.

[Therefore, chasing after the targets becomes the safest path for us as well.] after nodding as they looked at each other silently, the subordinates began to run again.

'…To think we are in a situation where we must trust the enemy more than our allies.'

[You.] the squad leader transmitted telepathy to only one person.

[Yes. Speak.] while answering telepathically, that hunting dog did not have a single point of disarray in his movement technique.

He looked to have completely returned to his senses now.

[Ahk, that bizarre history story earlier, where did you hear it?] or…

[Pardon? What do you mean…?] feeling frustrated, the squad leader asked again.

[That history story about the previous dynasty and all that. The story saying a million were sacrificed.] was it momentary distraction?

[…I told such a story?] the subordinate answered with a bewildered expression.

[I do not know what the squad leader is talking about.] […….] for some reason, he did not even remember the story he had told.

Was he really possessed by something?

'…Damn underground waterway!'

The squad leader's expression distorted.

He particularly missed the back alleys of Kaifeng, which was once the location of the Martial Alliance.

Luoyang this giant city, had darkness so deep that even they, Greedy Wolf, who were born in darkness and active in darkness, could not adapt to it at all.

* * *

“Da-Damn…!”

The hero of the Spring of Luoyang pulled out his hand axe with difficulty.

The hunting dog of Greedy Wolf, clutching his neck from which blood was gushing with one hand, staggered.

“Kh-Krrrgh…!”

Even while spilling blood foam from his mouth, the hunting dog tried to swing a dagger to attack the hero.

Squelch.

Only after the hand axe was driven into his skull once again did the hunting dog's movement completely stop.

'I'm in a terrible state.'

The hero holding the hand axe regulated his panting breath somehow and moved his steps.

'…Did I volunteer for the very rear route for nothing?'

Having volunteered for the rear route out of pride, he was regretting it in vain.

Although there was bleeding everywhere on his body, there was not even enough time to properly stop the bleeding.

It was time to get even one step further away.

“Although we are in a position where we must flee out of Luoyang now, our names are not lacking compared to their reputation.”

He felt like hitting his past self who had talked big to the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon.

If it had not been for this damnably complex and bizarre waterway escape route that the Eldest Young Master had prepared.

And if it had not become a situation like now where Greedy Wolf could not exert its peculiar organizational power.

Even ten necks would not have been enough.

'…It's an enemy presence!'

His qi perception, sensitized to the limit, did not miss the faint presence coming from the channel behind.

'Move…! Move, my legs!'

Fortunately, since the hunting dogs of Greedy Wolf also seemed to be exhausted, there were no longer any attacks without presence like at first.

'The end is not far…!'

The end of the map prepared by the Eldest Young Master, the exit, was approaching.

Squeezing out every ounce of his strength, he deployed his movement technique.

The presence of the hunting dogs gradually drew closer.

'Damn it, damn it…!'

His feet were heavy as if hung with some iron weights, and his breathing was rough as if his lungs would burst.

Even so, he ran and ran again.

'I cannot die without even seeing my daughter's face…!'

As breath grew short, his head became dizzy, and the face of his wife, whom he had sent to heaven first, shimmered.

It felt as if the breathing of the hunting dogs was heard right behind his back.

'It should be time for the exit to appear now…!'

Did his earnestness reach heaven?

'It's light!'

Although it was faint because it was night, the external light coming from the exit was visible at the end of the straight passage.

'Please, I hope my comrades are waiting for me at the exit…!'

Just then, a sound of tearing through the air reached his ears, and that he evaded that hidden weapon by missing his footing was purely out of good luck.

“Huaaaaah!!”

Rolling in the dirty sewage and taking a thorough bath, he ran just covering his head.

Regardless of whether at his feet or ears, hidden weapons poured down.

The light of the exit gradually drew closer.

[Duck.] an unknown telepathy reaching his ears.

There was no need to think twice.

“Uaaap!”

The moment he threw his body forward and fell flat on the floor.

Above his head the air was split into dozens of pieces.

It could only be described that way.

Dozens, maybe hundreds of flashes of light glittered, and the incoming hidden weapons were all shattered to pieces and scattered.

'A-A master…!'

There was someone passing by the hero who lay flat on the floor with trotting footsteps.

His other four swords were floating in midair.

'Sword-controlling art…?!'

A total of five swords, including the sword he held in his hand.

And the sword-controlling art.

A fierce impression.

'Definitely having heard of it somewhere—.'

“What is it?”

When he met the flashing killing intent in the gaze of the middle-aged man who was clearly a master, his mind seemed to go blank.

“Pardon? Are you talking to me?”

The hero thought it was a stupid question even after he spoke.

“No. I'm not curious about who you are.”

“Th-Then…?”

The middle-aged man lifted his sword with his characteristic swaggering posture and pointed toward the inside of the passage.

The four swords floating in midair moved together as if connected by invisible threads.

“Them, I mean.”

There, stopping their steps and choosing confrontation due to the middle-aged man's flesh-slicing killing intent, were the hunting dogs of Greedy Wolf.

[Opponent is a master.] thumping his chest in frustration, he muttered.

[If he is a master of that level, there will be a master with matching characteristics in the registry.] he looked back at the hero lying flat.

[Analyzing.] the middle-aged man's face distorted fiercely.

“Why is there only that much?”

“Where did all the rest go?”

“Pardon? Yes?”

“Ah.”

The swords floating in midair clinked and made a crying sound.

“You were the very rear. The last one. But why are there only that many hunting dogs left?”

“I-I do not know.”

The middle-aged master approached his side, squatted, and let out a sigh.

“Is it true, like the rumors, that ghosts really live in the waterway…?”

He was overflowing with composure to the extent that it was hard to imagine he was facing those notorious hunting dogs of Greedy Wolf.

“Ah, it's been a really long time since I got Master's permission, so I was looking forward to properly swinging my sword, you see.”

“Ah, yes.”

As if saying good job, he roughly patted the hero's shoulder and stood up again.

“It cannot be helped.”

His arrogant gaze turned toward the hunting dogs whose tension was distinct.

“If I hold you here…”

It was killing intent so wild that it created waves in reverse on the surface of the roughly flowing sewage.

“the rest will arrive soon, right?”

The hunting dog who was analyzing his characteristics reported, retreating a step without realizing it.

[A-Analysis completed. Th-The opponent is…] revealing his psychology, the operation of his internal energy shook, and his telepathy was unstable.

[Life-Snatching Ghost Sword.] the gatekeeper of Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment, the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.

“Yes. I am the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword.”

Embarrassment was distinct on the faces of the hunting dogs.

[How did he eavesdrop on our telepathy?!] the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword just walked with a smirk.

[Change the telepathic method right now!] whether they made a fuss with telepathy or not.

“Everyone thought I had retired or died. Yet there were still those who recognized me remaining, huh?”

[Everyone!] the squad leader jumped back, securing distance from the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, and urgently gave instructions.

[Watch out for the sword-controlling art! Switch to the anti-master posture—!] no.

He tried to give instructions.

If it had not been for the sword-controlling art fired by the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, he would have been able to give instructions.

“……!”

While his body jumped back, the squad leader's upper and lower body were separated.

His corpse, cut into two pieces, fell with a splash into the flowing sewage.

At that sight, the faces of the hunting dogs turned pale.

“Now, let's play.”

All of the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword's swords wailed long.