Chapter 296. Divine Bow Lee Jaha

Murim Alliance Leader Im Sobaek must have been a little drunk, because near dawn, the Special Operations Unit arrested him and dragged him off somewhere.

I watched as the Murim Alliance Leader was forcibly taken away. Seeing the Special Operations Unit members clinging to him and hauling him off by force, the Alliance Leader did not look particularly dignified at a time like this.

In truth, if the Alliance Leader was not sleeping, the Special Operations Unit would not be able to sleep either.

I sent Sword Demon, Ghost Demon, and Lust Demon inside to get some sleep, then stood watch alone in front of the inn.

The three of them had fought more than I had at the dock, so it was only right that I take the watch. Drinking while wearing torn clothes and sitting alone in front of the inn, I looked no different from some beggar bastard of Dongho.

Even when I pulled my torn clothes closed, the cold wind kept seeping in. Once day broke, I would have to buy clothes before anything else. At that moment, a peddler walking down the road spoke to me.

“Sect Leader.”

It was the first time I had heard this man’s voice. While I was surprised because his voice was younger than I had expected, Deungnyang of the Mohist School arrived and said to me.

“I’ll have something to eat.”

When I pointed to the table, Deungnyang sat across from me and ate the rations he took out of his bundle. As he ate, Deungnyang said.

“Would you like some? I have more.”

“I will.”

I had already filled my stomach with side dishes and liquor, but I ate again. It felt strange to be drinking with the Alliance Leader at night and then having a hangover meal with a Mohist near dawn.

By the way, when on earth did this man sleep?

“Do you not sleep?”

“I wandered around during the day and slept a little.”

Deungnyang told me what he had observed while moving about.

“I cannot tell where the ships are coming from. There were three large ships at the dock. The floors and holds were packed with firewood that would catch easily. It seems they expected you to board a ship, Sect Leader.”

I nodded.

“I expected it. So did the Special Operations Unit Leader.”

“The Special Operations Unit Leader is the Alliance Leader, correct? I saw him from afar, and he truly fights well.”

This man seemed to have roamed around day and night, watching various incidents unfold. Before I knew it, he had become an eye watching Dongho.

Deungnyang said.

“The ships came, and so did the water bandits. Fortunately, you let a few of them live and leave. This time, I lost them while pursuing them, but as time passes, I may be the first to determine the location of the First Sword of Dongho.”

“But are you operating alone, Martial Artist Deung?”

Deungnyang smiled.

“Not quite. There are people who cook, friends who are finding work in Dongho, and peddlers like myself. We are seeping into Dongho. If you hold out, Sect Leader, there will be results. By the way, the Life-Chasing Scholar managed to survive quite well.”

I answered in a slightly lower voice.

“There were various reasons, but in the end, the Yin-Yang School also played a part. Once the Life-Chasing Scholar recovers, he seems like the kind of man who will start a dispute with the Yin-Yang School first anyway. He holds grudges somewhat.”

Deungnyang answered with a somewhat surprised expression.

“I see. I did not expect the Yin-Yang School to act like that, but they are originally closer to the unorthodox and heretical paths. Rather, it was the Legalist School that crossed the line by requesting help from the Yin-Yang School.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

After eating for a while, Deungnyang spoke with an awkward expression.

“I spoke too much out of turn. Somehow, being with you, Sect Leader, makes me talk more.”

I nodded.

“It is fine. I will be sparing with my words regarding the scholars.”

“Yes.”

As Deungnyang packed up the rations, he said.

“I cannot predict whether the fight will grow larger, or whether it will settle into a lull like this and end with something like a martial duel. However, the Family Head said that one scholarly faction that has not yet had any ties with you, Sect Leader, may come to provide support. Please keep that in mind.”

“Who would that be?”

Deungnyang looked at me.

“It will likely be farmers. However, they too may be coming to look first into the safety of nearby farmers and public sentiment rather than fighting.”

“I will remember.”

Without much expectation, I lifted the remaining bottle of liquor and asked.

“Would it be all right if we had a drink?”

Deungnyang thought for a moment, then said with a smile.

“Shall we?”

I poured Deungnyang a drink. Deungnyang drank as though he had wandered the wilderness for days and finally found water. It seemed he originally liked liquor very much.

“Martial Artist Deung, if things go well, let us drink somewhere comfortable later.”

Deungnyang nodded.

“I hope so.”

After packing away the rations and finishing his report, Deungnyang bowed his head slightly and set off down the road again.

Only around daybreak did I doze off for a while with my legs propped up on a chair. It had been chilly near dawn, but once the sun rose, sleep came easily after all. There are cases where one stands night watch while sleeping, and I was one of them.

As I dozed under the warm morning sun, I heard Ghost Demon’s voice.

“Go inside and sleep.”

I looked at Ghost Demon, then turned my head and stared at the sky. Black smoke was rising and scattering.

“I’ll go take a look.”

“Aren’t they burning corpses?”

It did not seem so, so I shook my head. It was too early in the morning to gather laborers and burn corpses.

* * *

I arrived at the dock and looked at the ships engulfed in flames. Every ship that had brought the water bandits was wrapped in fire. While watching this, I stared at a place quite far away.

From one large ship, flaming arrows flew into the air and were setting even the other ships at the dock ablaze.

Each time the ships were swallowed by flames, I heard archers laughing.

The distance from the end of the dock to the ship was quite far.

The water bandit bastards, who had already spotted me, waved their hands in greeting, then this time shot arrows that had not been set on fire. Dozens of arrows soared into the air at once, curved downward, and fell around me.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

Looking around, it seemed they had fired from a position where the arrows could barely reach, as some did not even make it to the dock.

I stared blankly at the bastards shooting arrows from the ship.

When I focused and listened carefully, this conversation drifted over from the ship.

“……Isn’t that the Hao Sect Leader?”

“Let’s see. He has a wooden sword at his waist?”

“His clothes are in tatters too.”

“Kill him first.”

The archers clinging to the edge of the ship snickered, then aimed their bows at me again. Once more, a rain of arrows shot up into the air and fell around me. A few were accurately aimed at my body, so I had no choice but to take several steps away.

This time, a shout burst from the ship.

“It is the Hao Sect Leader.”

Then came a curse.

“Hey, you Hao Sect Leader son of a bitch! Swim over here. I’ll face you myself.”

The curses grew more varied. They asked after my parents’ well-being, cursed the master I didn’t even have, told me to eat poison and drop dead, and even declared their ambition to cut off my head and offer it to the foremost man of the Evil Path.

I’d been served a very hearty breakfast of abuse since early morning.

“Plague-ridden bastards… You’ve got no fear.”

Because it was over water, the distance was hard to gauge. I picked up a nearby stone, then skipped it across the surface as if throwing a stone at a riverbank. The pebble bounced over the current and struck near the center of the boat with a thud.

The startled archers stuck their heads down, checked the boat, then began hurling curses again.

They’d make me fish food.

I’d become a water ghost of Dongho.

One even said he’d slice me into jerky and eat me as a snack.

If I threw another stone, the water bandits looked like they might get scared and run, so I waved at the distant boat instead.

When I turned away, cheers and laughter burst from the large boat.

At that instant, I heard something cutting through the wind and moved left. An arrow flew in and lodged in the ground.

Thuk!

I moved roughly fifty steps, then turned back and unleashed my qinggong toward the surging river. It was the greatest speed I could muster. From the end of the dock, I soared high into the air.

The farther I flew through the air, the more clearly I could see the water bandits.

After reaching the apex and beginning to descend, I could hear the water bandits’ laughter quite well. Even though I had leapt an absurd height from the dock, I had only closed about half the distance.

I turned my body in midair, placed both hands near my dantian, brought the edges of my palms together, and spread my fingers slightly. After unleashing the Great Hand Seal with both hands, I drove the force of my palm power downward, lightened my body with the method of the Cloud-Ladder Step, and shifted direction again.

My descending body shot back up into the air as if exploding, and in an instant, I dropped onto the large boat. Arriving at the edge of the deck, I looked at the water bandits, whose faces had gone deathly pale.

As roughly thirty water bandits stared at me, I sat on the prow and said,

“Why so quiet? Keep talking.”

The torn hem of my clothes flapped in the river wind like a madman. From a detached cabin-like structure in the middle of the boat, a man in his thirties who looked like the leader walked out and asked his subordinates,

“What’s going on?”

A brief silence passed before one of the water bandits reported to the leader.

“The Hao Sect Master is here.”

The moment I met the leader’s eyes, a small burp slipped out. The leader glared at me and said to his men,

“What are you standing around watching for? Kill him.”

Even though their superior had given an order, the water bandits did not move. They were on the water, so there was nowhere to flee, and the men had all watched me come flying through the air.

One of them reported in an exaggerated tone,

“He flew here from the dock.”

Only then did the leader check the distance to the dock, then clamp his mouth shut.

I said to the fellow nearby,

“Give me your bow.”

“……”

“Hurry up and hand it over before I kill you.”

The water bandit hesitated, then approached and held out the bow. After taking it, I said,

“You should give me the quiver too, you son of a bitch.”

I took the bamboo quiver and set it down at my feet. The water bandit hurried back to where his comrades were.

I drew an arrow and shot it at the man who had just handed me the bow.

With a ping, the arrow buried itself in the water bandit’s shoulder. Amid his scream, I said,

“I told you to hurry. Tsk.”

Some of them drew their blades, so I silently stared at them, and they all froze again.

“Are you lunatics…? You want to fight? Me?”

The leader, who had been glaring at me the whole time, spoke as if trying to rouse their courage.

“Are you saying thirty-two men can’t kill one man? We have to fight anyway.”

I drew an arrow, nocked it on the bow, and infused it with wood qi. I had never infused an arrow with inner force before either, so I had no idea what would happen.

For now, I let it fly.

Whoosh!

The arrow flew like a thunderbolt and lodged in the leader’s chest, sending his entire body flying into the cabin. A moment later, with a crash, the wooden structure of the cabin collapsed. The leader disappeared inside without even a scream and did not come back out.

To think I would discover a new talent like this.

“…I am the Divine Archer, I Jaha. Have you heard of me?”

“……”

“You probably haven’t, but that is me.”

The water bandits were not very talkative, so I talked by myself.

“Wow, it’s my first time shooting arrows today, and I’m pretty accurate. I must be the Divine Archer, and the Divine Archer must be me. A man born for the bow, a fool who knows nothing but the bow—that’s me. By the way, who was the bastard asking after my parents earlier? They’re the ones who gave birth to the Divine Archer, and you dared? Who was it? You there, not answering.”

Since there was no answer, I fired another arrow.

This time, the arrow lodged in a forehead. With a thuk, the water bandit standing on the deck toppled backward and fell into the river.

I looked at the quiver and said,

“…Let’s do this. For now, there are fifteen arrows left. I don’t know where the number-one idiot of the Evil Path is, but is there anyone who’ll guide me to the island you came from?”

“……”

“If you act like this, I’ll have no choice but to spare only the most cowardly one. If I keep killing you, one coward is bound to come out.”

I nocked another arrow.

“If I guide you, will you spare me?”

I shot an arrow into the face of the fellow staring at me shamelessly, as if proposing a barter. With a thuk, a life that wasn’t particularly worth regretting ascended to heaven after leaving behind a short scream.

As I drew another arrow, I said,

“…There’ll be a coward. Probably. You’re not some great chivalrous heroes, your consciences aren’t intact, and you don’t earn your meals by honest work. If I keep killing you, one will show up.”

At that moment, someone jumped into the river, so I rose from my seat and looked down at the water. With a splash, the man who had leapt in was sinking beneath the surface. I infused the arrow with wood qi and fired. With a dull thump, the arrow pierced the water and vanished without a sound.

A short while later, a corpse with an arrow through the nape of its neck floated up.

“Wow, I hit him. I only shot roughly.”

I engaged in a staring contest with the water bandits, then shot dead one whose features showed an especially cruel disposition.

Gradually, anger and killing intent began to mingle among the water bandits.

I watched that, then killed one more.

When public sentiment erupts in anger, rebellion is bound to occur, so I set down the bow and gripped my wooden sword.

Before drawing the sword, I said to the enraged water bandits,

“You no longer need to guide me.”