Book 22 Chapter 17

Ten Faceless Ambush (十面埋伏)

— Arrows Showering on a Spring Evening Over a Black Umbrella

Na Yerin’s footsteps paused for a moment as she stepped onto a bridge spanning a small canal, about five or six jang wide. Even if they were somewhat renowned martial artists from the Chang Jiang Water Village, such as the so-called Ten Dragons of Chang Jiang, they were far from enough to deceive her, the direct disciple of a Sword Sovereign, one of the Three Suns of Heavenly Might.

"Yeonbi."

Na Yerin cautiously called out to Yeonbi using inner sound. Yeonbi, meeting her gaze, nodded. It was a sign that she felt what Yerin felt.

"I felt it too."

Realizing her intuition wasn't mistaken, Na Yerin tensed. Something was relentlessly tailing her and Yeonbi. This was no mere impulsive act of a pervert. Though unseen, she could tell they were professionally trained individuals.

"So you felt it too, Yeonbi?"

"The killing intent is so thick. It would be strange not to feel it. My nape has been tingling since a while ago. As expected, beauties attract attention everywhere, which is bothersome."

Hearing Yeonbi’s quiet grumbling, Na Yerin smiled faintly.

"What should we do?"

There was a way to counterattack right away. The circumstances suggested they wanted them to go onto the bridge ahead. Something was hidden there, waiting for them.

"Let's just go."

Yeonbi said nonchalantly.

"Is that okay?"

Na Yerin asked for confirmation.

"It feels like they're just trailing us because they can't confess, so we should give them a chance to charge in."

Of course, she would give them a chance, but she had no intention of accepting their feelings.

"Yeonbi, then?"

To Na Yerin's slightly surprised inner sound, Yeonbi nodded once more. However, from Yeonbi’s smiling face, Na Yerin couldn’t find even a trace of tension.

"So let's keep walking, without stopping."

Yeonbi had no intention of stopping. With each step Yeonbi took, a deep smile spread across her lips like paint. Na Yerin kept pace, walking alongside her.

Stomp, stomp, stomp!

Soon they reached the middle of the bridge. This was likely the spot, according to Yeonbi's prediction.

"They should be appearing soon."

Judging by the number and direction of the killing intent, this was clearly an ambush formation. The basic principle when facing a formation was to be careful not to enter the deployed array. However, Yeonbi's answer, which disregarded even this minimal basic, was refreshingly bright.

"I should at least see their faces and say hello."

She wanted to confirm who had prepared such a troublesome welcoming ceremony. It was safe to say that Yeonbi, as a person, had rarely had any enemies. Yet, the target of this attack was Yeonbi herself. The direction of the killing intent confirmed it.

'Then who could it be?'

She had to find out. And if she found out? Of course, she would repay it threefold. If one has the ability, there’s no need to let those who harm you go unpunished. If the perpetrator faces retaliation for this, it is merely the consequence of their actions, their karma.

"Lin, what do you think karma is?"

Yeonbi asked a leisurely question as they walked.

"Well, that’s a sudden question."

Although Geomgak had a strong Buddhist influence due to Botam, she had never harbored such questions.

"I think karma might be a kind of income and expenditure ledger. Sometimes, if the settlement is delayed, it carries over not to this life but to the next, or even to the next life, a meticulous income and expenditure ledger. In that case, wouldn't it be helpful to the busy gods to expedite that settlement without it carrying over?"

In karma, there is no good or evil in the strict sense. Good and evil themselves are ambiguous scales that change with time and space. However, the fact that human words and actions carry power is a truth that transcends time and place. It is simply power that does not know good or evil. And the results of those actions will always appear. Whether that result is judged as good or evil in that time and space is entirely unknown.

The accumulated power of cause and effect. The stronger the accumulated power, the stronger the resulting consequence, but only God knows whether it will be a blessing or a misfortune.

Ilgang, Yisang, and Samgang of the Ten Dragons of Chang Jiang approached the target, holding crossbows in both hands, each divided into three directions.

Click! Click! Click!

The loading was already complete. The arrows loaded into the crossbows, imbued with killing intent, were coiled tightly within the mechanism, accumulating power to extinguish the target's life. A mere flick of a finger on the trigger could end a human life in this world. Weapons that take human lives were such things. Especially long-range sniper weapons like these, everything ends before one can even feel the weight of life. There was no turning back. And none of these three had any desire to turn back. They were already too accustomed to such things.

Swish!

Ilgang quietly raised his hand. As his hand fell, the ambush formation was activated. Ilgang took a light breath and lowered his hand.

'Ten Faceless Ambush, activate!'

The crossbows, appearing from three directions simultaneously towards Yeonbi and Na Yerin, fired their contained arrows in rapid succession.

Thwump! Thwump! Thwump! Shwick! Shwick! Shwick! Shiiiiiish!

The arrows, coiled tightly on the crossbow launchers, flew towards Yeonbi and Na Yerin at a fierce speed. Because they were made with a mechanism for continuous firing, the time spent reloading was almost non-existent. These three crossbows could easily perform the work of twelve archers.

An arrow shower, equivalent to twenty people shooting from three directions simultaneously, flew towards the two lives. However, the two remained motionless, taking no action even as the arrows approached within striking distance.

"I'll go first."

The first to move was Yerin Na, the smiling sovereign in white.

Fafafab!

As Na Yerin swung her white sword fiercely, a wall of sword energy instantly unfolded. Blocked by the white light curtain of the sword, the arrows were chopped into pieces before reaching their target and fell to the ground with a clatter. The rain of arrows did not even manage to wet the hem of their clothes, and the sky cleared. The first wave from the crossbows thus came to naught.

"Wonderful skill, Lin."

Yeonbi clapped and praised her. Her tone suggested she had trusted that Yerin would block it.

"Th-This is impossible…"

The three men, who had not imagined that such profound swordsmanship was hidden within such a delicate body, exclaimed in astonishment.

"Wh-What should we do, brother?"

They had expected some resistance, but they had never imagined it would be nullified so thoroughly.

"Ah, damn it, what do we do! Reload!"

As the first wave of attacks was thwarted by the beautiful hindrance, Ilgang, Yigang, and Samgang hurriedly replaced their quivers.

"Shoot!"

Having quickly finished reloading, they began to shoot arrows madly once more.

Thwump! Thwump! Thwump! Thudududududu!

Another arrow shower poured down.

"It's coming again."

Yeonbi remarked, watching it.

"A futile effort…"

Na Yerin let her treasured sword, Bingru, hang calmly and muttered softly.

Shhiiiiiiick!

Even as the arrows cut through the wind and flew right up to her face, Na Yerin stood as still as a piece of ice. However, her hearing remained acutely open. The whistling of the wind indicated the trajectory of the arrows.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The arrows approaching Na Yerin began to be cut down as if they had collided with invisible blades.

"Wh-What kind of sorcery is that?"

In Ilgang's eyes, Na Yerin's sword was still hanging towards the ground. Yet, the arrows approaching her were unmistakably falling in two pieces.

"Excellent swift sword, Lin!"

Yeonbi even clapped and praised her.

"A swift sword that cuts arrows at a speed so fast it's invisible! To those with poor eyesight, it must look like a ghost's work. To ordinary people, it will look like she's just standing still."

As if someone were listening, Yeonbi spoke in an explanatory tone, even though no one was around. In fact, she wanted to tell it to the dumbfounded assassins who must have looked like they were possessed by ghosts, but their incompetent hearing made even that impossible.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Chop! Chop! Chop!

Even though arrows rained down like a downpour, they could not penetrate Na Yerin's invisible sword wall. No matter how much killing intent they held, they all fell in two pieces before her invisible sword wall.

The second wave of attacks also came to naught.

"Damn it! Shoot everything you have left!"

Ilgang, Yigang, and Samgang, without a second thought for the aftermath, discarded their empty quivers and loaded the third quivers they had kept as spares onto their crossbows. The replacement was complete with the clinking sound of metal locking.

"Volley fire! Unleash everything!"

They had anticipated some resistance. After all, the other side seemed quite skilled. However, they had never dreamed they would be blocked so utterly. How could they just stand there without moving an inch! They felt like the attackers, not the attacked. In that sense, they decided to use arrows rather than words for their protest.

Thudududududududu!

Once again, an arrow shower poured down from three directions. Seeing it, Yeonbi remarked,

"They're fools. They should at least change the direction of attack."

She had already figured out where they were hiding and shooting from.

"There's no need to advertise 'I'm here'."

It was so obvious it was embarrassing. They could have hit them with throwing knives from this distance. However, they chose not to.

"It's my turn now."

Yeonbi lightly lifted her fully opened umbrella and spun around. In other words, she turned completely away from the direction the arrows were coming from. Of course, she didn't have eyes on the back of her head.

"Dangerous…!"

Before Na Yerin could even shout a warning, the arrow shower surged towards Yeonbi's body.

Fafafab!

The arrows that hit the black umbrella, Hyoncheon Eurin, scattered in all directions without piercing the single umbrella that blocked the rain. With just a playful flick of the umbrella tip, a black barrier unfolded before them, protecting the two.

"This umbrella is quite special. It's an all-weather umbrella that can block most rain. Even if it's an arrow shower."

Yeonbi said in a leisurely tone to Na Yerin, who had turned to face her. The sound of rain hitting the umbrella seemed to go unnoticed. Just as the rain was about to stop, Yeonbi spun around once more, snatched the last three flying arrows, and without even a half-breath pause, sent them flying towards the three directions. Though thrown by hand, they were several times faster than those fired by a mechanism.

Shiiiiiish!

The arrows flew straight as light beams towards the location where the three ambushing men were hiding, piercing the crossbow launchers mercilessly and lodging in their shoulders.

CRUNCH!

"Kuaaaaaaaak!"

The crossbows instantly became useless, and these three men would be unable to wield weapons for some time. It was precision aimed with perfect accuracy. They should be thankful the arrows didn't pierce their foreheads.

"Mmmph, a little repayment. It's burdensome to just receive."

In such cases, it's good to settle the score promptly to distribute the burden.

"Is it over now?"

"No, I think it's just beginning… "

Yeonbi suddenly grabbed Na Yerin's hand and quickly threw her upwards. There was no need to ask why. The answer came from the bottom of the bridge.

Shoook! Shwick!

As soon as Yeonbi finished speaking, black, sharp objects shot up from beneath the bridge at terrifying speed. They were sharp spears. The two spears, made of steel, had a single blade and body, so there was no risk of getting caught on the tip even when piercing an object. They were spears made as if to anticipate such a situation.

The attackers who had stabbed from below were Saha and Oha of the Ten Dragons of Chang Jiang. They had been hanging upside down from the ceiling of the bridge and did not hesitate to stab the target as it approached. However, their stealth and infiltration skills, which were lacking compared to their spear skills, revealed their presence sooner than planned.

Yeonbi and Na Yerin, who had leaped up lightly, used the tips of the suddenly rising spears as a stepping stone to land there. Saha and Oha were flustered by the sudden weight on their spear tips. They had never imagined anyone would stand on the tip of a spear. If they had stood elsewhere, they could have attacked again, but now that was impossible.

"Eek! Eek!"

They couldn't pull their spears out even when they tried. Some immense force held the spear tips, refusing to let go. Yeonbi, with her black umbrella, and Na Yerin, fixing their stance with their scabbards, were holding the spear blades.

Flustered by the unexpected situation, Saha and Oha's faces turned crimson. However, the spears remained unmoved. They had no choice but to abandon their spears.

"Haaah!"

At that moment, a part of the bridge floor shot upwards. Saha and Oha jumped up through round holes, as if they had been cut out. It was a device they had prepared in advance before the target reached the bridge. They propelled themselves between the two holes and attacked the target with sharp daggers.

"Die!"

Exclaiming rather unremarkable words, the two assassins swung their two daggers sharply. However, their attacks, too pathetic to be called stealth attacks, were blocked by Yeonbi's fully opened umbrella.

Wheeeeee!

As Yeonbi lightly spun her black umbrella, the two daggers caught in the rotation slipped from the assassins' hands and fell below the bridge.

With two more light stabs, the two assassins, with a heart-stopping shock, fell unconscious.

"It's over now…"

CRASH!

With a sound, a single-story gap appeared in the middle of the bridge. Where it should have been connected, it was now divided.

"Oh my!"

Yeonbi let out a short cry.

The bridge, cut precisely in the center, could not support their weight and sank downwards. They never imagined such a crude method would be used! Once it began to collapse, the destruction was instantaneous.

"Lin!"

Though it was a short call, Na Yerin understood the implied meaning. Na Yerin quickly used the umbrella Yeonbi had opened as a stepping stone and leaped upwards like a bird. Then Yeonbi also tried to escape the fall with a swift martial art.

Whee! Whee! Whee! Whee! Whee!

However, that plan had to be abandoned due to six throwing knives that shot up from the water. Crushing the enemy's wish to see them flustered and scrambling in panic due to the sudden turn of events, Yeonbi responded calmly.

Yeonbi twisted and turned freely in the air, even without any footing, dodging the continuously flying throwing knives. Dodging such throwing knives was a basic skill that she had repeated countless times since childhood. She could now dodge them with her eyes closed. In fact, they even had classes for that. But that wasn't the problem. While dodging the throwing knives, she had missed the timing to leap upwards.

"Tsk, I guess I have no choice."

Yeonbi gave up on jumping up. But she had no desire to fall into the river either. Although the river wasn't very deep, once you fell in, it would be difficult to get out, like falling into a swamp. This was because there were people targeting them, lurking in the water like sharks hunting prey. She liked fish, but she had no desire to become shark food. She preferred to catch sharks and cook their fins.

Yeonbi unfurled her black umbrella.

PAANG!

Then she lightly kicked off the crumbling floor. This significantly reduced her falling speed.

"I don't have a hobby of swimming on days like this."

Floating in the air, Yeonbi pointed her umbrella downwards. The tip of the umbrella touched the water first. The inverted umbrella floated on the water without much effort. Yeonbi lightly landed on the umbrella pole with one foot. The worry that the umbrella might flip over was unfounded. Only ripples spread around the black umbrella. She increased the repulsive force between the umbrella and the water with her inner energy transmitted through her toes and reduced her body weight with her martial art. This was very unfortunate news for the assassins who wanted to see her flailing in the water.

Na Yerin, who had landed on the canal bank after escaping the collapsed bridge, let out a sigh of relief as she watched. Fortunately, Yeonbi was unharmed despite the continuous ambushes and was not hit by any falling bridge debris. However, her relief did not last long.

Sliiiiiiiiiiiiii!

She spotted two shadows approaching the black umbrella floating on the water, creating ripples.

Originally, the Chang Jiang Water Village, given its industry, had strong water martial arts. Their highly specialized water arts were so powerful that they could pierce a boat with just their bare hands and a single sword. Their power was truly at a level that could conquer the Chang Jiang.

Liu He (Sixth River) and Qi Qian (Seventh River) of the Ten Dragons of Chang Jiang were particularly skilled in water martial arts among the ten. They had been lurking in the canal, wearing water-resistant cloaks, in case of unforeseen circumstances. They hoped it wouldn't come to their turn, but if it did, they were ready to act ruthlessly. The technique they used, leaping out of the water like fish and attacking fiercely with their two oddly shaped sabers with serrated edges, like a shark's jaws closing, was the first move of their most proud water martial art, 'Jiao Ya Ji Sha' (Shark Tooth Kill). The technique, modeled after a shark killing its prey, flew towards Yeonbi's neck and waist.

"Wait a minute!" she tried to shout, but her opponent wouldn't wait. It was obvious they would attack even more fiercely. Yeonbi tapped the umbrella pole with her toe and leaped upwards. As she did, she crossed her feet slightly and rolled up the umbrella. With Yeonbi's miraculous footwork, the umbrella rose in a semicircle.

'What! Huh!'

Yeonbi, having lifted herself up, used Qi Qian's head as her next foothold.

THWACK!

Yeonbi's foot squarely stomped on Qi Qian's face.

"Kheh!"

Qi Qian, losing his balance along with a short gasp, was flung onto the surface of the water.

SPLASH!

Without regard for the violent splash of water, Yeonbi lightly placed her left foot on Liu He's right side, which was attacking with his strangely shaped sabers. Then, using that foot as a pivot, she spun her body and struck Liu He's right face.

CRACK! THUD!

"Kueeeeeeek!"

With a bizarre scream, spitting out a fountain of blood and a few teeth simultaneously, Liu He's body was flung onto the surface of the water. After bouncing on the water like a skipping stone a few times, Liu He's body finally stopped when it collided with the debris of the collapsed bridge. However, his body, no longer having the energy to swim, sank straight to the bottom.

Having finished her task, Yeonbi landed lightly on the water's surface. She wasn't standing on nothing. Well, it wasn't impossible to do so, but it would consume an unnecessarily large amount of inner energy. Since there were countless floating wooden pieces from the collapsed bridge that could be used as stepping stones, there was no need to do such an inefficient thing. Yeonbi used a few of them as stepping stones and lightly moved to stand next to Na Yerin.

"I'm glad you're safe, Yeonbi."

Na Yerin said with a relieved smile.

"Well, it was nothing. It wasn't much effort. I just caught two fish."

Yeonbi replied nonchalantly.

"Are you alright, Lin?"

Lin smiled and replied to Yeonbi's kind question.

"Yes, thanks to you, I'm fine. Thank you, Yeonbi."

"Oh my, it's not something that deserves praise."

Yeonbi waved her hand.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you more."

She had only blocked the initial arrow shower twice. After that, Yeonbi handled everything. Na Yerin felt guilty about that.

"That's enough…"

"No, it's not enough."

Na Yerin said in a firm voice. She wasn't satisfied. She wanted to be an equal friend, not to be protected. She wanted to show Yeonbi that she could protect herself now. She wanted to prove that she was no longer the powerless girl from ten years ago.

"There will be another chance, won't there? Then, next time…"

Before she could finish speaking, the opportunity came sooner than expected. The enemies had no intention of letting Yeonbi rest.

Shhiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiii!

Something black, thin, and long, sharp as a whip, flew from all directions, targeting Yeonbi.

"They are more persistent than I thought."

With a light sigh, Yeonbi and Na Yerin immediately reacted to the movement. Na Yerin unleashed sharp sword energy towards the three whips flying towards them.

The whips that were struck by her sword energy recoiled around them like startled snakes.

Yeonbi batted away two snakes with her folded umbrella. One whip tried to wrap around the black umbrella, but Yeonbi quickly pulled the umbrella back and struck its head, thus failing.

For the last one, their umbrella and sword attacked simultaneously.

Yeonbi and Na Yerin stood back to back, on guard. Soon, six men formed a encirclement around them, swinging black ropes above their heads. Three of them had injuries on their right shoulders.

"What was that just now? Was it a whip? I swung my sword with the intent to cut, but I couldn't cut it."

Na Yerin said in a voice still filled with surprise. Only a heavy sensation, as if she had struck something with her sword, was felt along the blade.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Those black, long ropes made an ominous sound, like thousands of bees swarming, as they spun.

"That's not a whip."

Yeonbi said, concentrating her inner energy into her amber eyes.

"That's a rope! The kind used to tie up a boat!"

Sailors must handle ropes (索) well. For sailors, ropes are their lifeline. It's the rope that saves them from storms, and it's the rope that holds the boat in place. It's the rope used to connect to another ship to rob it, and it's all done with ropes to raise and lower sails, tie them, or adjust direction. Therefore, sailors must be able to tie, untie, throw, and pull ropes well. Without being able to handle ropes like their limbs, one cannot be considered a sailor. Therefore, it is not strange that the most brilliant martial art among the Chang Jiang Water Village martial arts is one that uses ropes.

The ropes they were spinning above their heads were mooring ropes used to anchor a boat. While regular mooring ropes are yellow, the ropes they held were black. These black mooring ropes were twisted using special materials and chemicals, making them resistant to most spears and swords, and even sword energy might not be able to cut them, though it might injure them.

Three of them were bleeding from their right shoulders. Although they had wrapped the wounds with white cloth as a temporary measure, blood was seeping through.

"Oh dear, the wound seems serious. Are you okay without treatment?"

Yeonbi asked with a voice full of concern, and Ilgang replied.

"Ah, no, I'm fine…"

But as he answered, something felt strange.

"Of course I'm not fine! Damn it! Whose fault is this!"

"Oh my, whose fault is it?"

"It's all your fault!"

The Six Dragons of Chang Jiang pointed at Yeonbi simultaneously.

"Bitch, watch your mouth. Before I sew that impudent mouth of yours shut. And don't point fingers. How uncultured. Judging by the looks of it, those are arrow wounds. Whose arrows were they in the first place?"

Yeonbi questioned sharply.

"Th-That's… ours…"

Ilgang's words trailed off.

"See. Those arrows were yours, so you can't blame me for them. Most importantly, who shot arrows at someone else without saying a word?"

"Th-That's true, but…"

Ilgang found himself cornered.

"Women are delicate, you know. They don't like sudden approaches like that. It needs a more subtle touch. Women need a period of mental preparation. Understand?"

"Ah, yes, I understand."

Ilgang replied in a dazed voice. Perhaps it was a side effect of the 'pain relief pill' used to reduce pain or the 'hemostatic ointment' applied to stop bleeding, but he nodded as if Yeonbi's words were perfectly reasonable.

"Leader, snap out of it!"

Igang and Samgang, who had been watching his dazed state blankly, realized something was strange and shouted. At their shouts, Ilgang finally came to his senses.

"W-Was it sorcery…?"

Yeonbi shook her head. Then she replied.

"No, it was rhetoric (話術)."

She meant not to take it too seriously. However, there was no doubt that her words further fanned the anger of the Ten Dragons of Chang Jiang—though four of them were now absent.