CLS-Chapter 543

Chapter 543:

“Run!”

“I’m running!”

Jang-il was foaming at the mouth.

“……Sorry about this!”

“Don’t talk, you bastard! You’re shaking me!”

Zhuge Mun-in was tucked under Jang-il’s armpit. No matter how confident Zhuge Mun-in was in his own movement techniques, keeping pace with the others was beyond him. In the end, Jang-il had no choice but to carry the lagging Zhuge Mun-in as he ran.

“I’m also sorry, Great Hero Wei!”

“It’s fine.”

Wei Jeong-han was also running with Peng Dao-ji tucked under one armpit. When it came to lacking movement techniques, Peng Dao-ji was no less deficient than Zhuge Mun-in. While it was fine when they could maintain formation and couldn’t reach top speed, once they broke through the encirclement, the difference in ability became glaringly obvious in an instant.

“Instead of talking, run!”

Wei Yan-ho was shouting like a coachman whipping a horse’s rump. Normally, those who would have scolded Wei Yan-ho showed no complaints this time.

They had no choice.

“Chase them!”

“Those bastards are getting away! Catch them!”

With the Demonic Cult swarming behind them like a pack of dogs, who had the mental capacity to bicker with Wei Yan-ho right now? Using that time to take one more step forward was the path to survival.

“Argh! Those vicious bastards!”

Jang-il spat out curses.

The Demonic Cult knew no giving up. Even though they had broken through the encirclement some time ago, the number of Demonic Cult members pursuing them hadn’t decreased one bit. There had to be limits even to having nothing better to do.

“Why are they chasing us so persistently!”

Jang-il was on the verge of losing his mind.

Intruders enter a sect. Moreover, a small number enters, sets fires, and flees. Then is it right for all the disciples to light fire in their eyes and charge after those intruders?

Wouldn’t it be more realistic for a few with fast feet and high martial skills to give chase?

They say common sense doesn’t work with the Demonic Cult, and Jang-il was experiencing firsthand what that meant with his whole body.

When Jang-il glanced back and then quickly turned his head forward, his knees went weak from what he saw. In front were Demonic Cult members in jet-black robes chasing them with fierce glints in their eyes, and behind them rose clouds of dust.

“Hiiek!“

If all those things glimpsed through that dust were people, just how many bastards were chasing after them? Jang-il stopped thinking. That was a sight that would do no good to contemplate.

“Kill them!”

“Catch and kill them!”

Their voices could be heard vividly.

While the shouts carried internal energy and would be much louder than ordinary voices, the fact that those voices could be heard so clearly was also terrifying. The eyes of the Demonic Cult members chasing them were filled with unbearable hatred and rage.

“What did we do to deserve such……”

Jang-il closed his mouth mid-sentence.

‘I suppose they have a good reason.’

If someone had come to his hovel while he was away, stolen his hidden possessions, and set fire to it?

Jang-il would have turned red-eyed and searched the entire neighborhood to catch the culprit. Once he caught the criminal, he would have beaten them senseless so they could never do such a thing again.

He would feel that way even if there was nothing to steal and it was just a hovel made of straw mats that burned down, so how much greater must their rage be when their sect’s sacred ground had burned?

‘If we’re caught, we’ll be beaten to death with spoons.’

They definitely wouldn’t die peacefully. Rather, being torn apart by their hands the moment they were caught would be a more comfortable death. The moment they were captured alive and dragged away, it was obvious they’d become neither living nor dead.

“They’re catching up!”

“No! Why are these guys so fast!”

Tears welled up in Jang-il’s eyes.

He was someone who prided himself on his lightness skills in the martial world, so why wasn’t the distance increasing?

When Wei Yan-ho had proposed that ridiculous plan, the reason Jang-il didn’t run away and followed him this far was his confidence that he could escape with his own body no matter what situation arose.

And now Jang-il was realizing just how laughably arrogant that confidence had been.

The Demonic Cult wasn’t called the Demonic Cult for nothing.

“They seem to be getting a bit tired too.”

Wei Yan-ho said while glancing back occasionally.

“If we go a little further, we should be able to create some distance, right? They can’t keep following like that forever.”

“……”

They had no energy left to respond.

If Wei Yan-ho hadn’t swung his sword to push them back whenever the gap narrowed, they would have been caught long ago. The pursuit was tenacious and fast.

“……I think I’m going to die first.”

It felt like someone was poking his dantian with a needle. Forcing himself to draw up his depleted internal energy was gradually showing the bottom of his dantian. If this pursuit continued for even one more shijin, Jang-il would have no choice but to collapse on the ground and just hope they gave him a quick death.

“Are we just going to keep running like this?”

“Then you want to fight?”

“There should be some plan, some plan!”

“You should ask the person you’re carrying for a plan, not me.”

“Wise words!”

Zhuge Mun-in, dangling from Jang-il’s armpit, clapped his hands and nodded. He was perfectly demonstrating what it meant to have only a mouth that lived.

“Going beyond Xinjiang all the way to Tibet would be one method, but……”

“Say that while running on your own legs, you crazy bastard!”

Jang-il shouted at the top of his lungs. Zhuge Mun-in nodded as if he understood Jang-il’s feelings.

“While the lord might be fine, the others don’t seem to have the strength for that. But it’s not something to worry too much about. They’re getting tired too.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Our speed has also dropped drastically compared to before, but the gap isn’t narrowing.”

That seemed to be the case.

“Demonic cultivation is more domineering than righteous cultivation, but it falls short of righteous cultivation in terms of endurance. So if we just stall for a little more time, they’ll surely run out of stamina and be unable to chase us.”

“……So say that while running on your own legs.”

While Zhuge Mun-in’s calculation seemed reasonable at first glance, it didn’t account for the fact that Jang-il was running while carrying Zhuge Mun-in. If he were alone, he might somehow be able to escape, but how could he shake off the pursuit in this situation?

“You carry him for a bit, bastard!”

“I need to provide cover.”

“Looks like you’re just playing around?”

“Hey, what kind of thing is that to say.”

While everyone was panting and gasping for breath, only Wei Yan-ho was running quite calmly.

Jang-il found that sight insufferably irritating.

‘If you’re frustrated, get stronger, damn it.’

He wanted to unleash a barrage of complaints, but if Wei Yan-ho hadn’t taken the lead, they wouldn’t have been able to break through that encirclement in the first place. So……

But at that moment, Peng Dao-ji asked.

“But Yan-ho.”

“What?”

Peng Dao-ji, dangling from Wei Jeong-han’s armpit like Zhuge Mun-in, tilted his head in puzzlement.

“Couldn’t you have just grabbed all five of us and run to escape already?”

“Yeah.”

Wei Yan-ho answered nonchalantly.

Jang-il’s eyes rolled back.

“Th-that’s possible?”

“Is there any reason it wouldn’t be?”

“Then why are we doing this?”

“Tsk tsk.“

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue.

“We’re not doing this to run away right now. We need to buy time, time.”

“……”

“If we just flee quickly, they’ll form a pursuit team and the main force will head back to Central Plains. That’s why we’re doing this now.”

Zhuge Mun-in and Wei Jeong-han nodded. Wei Jeong-han seemed to be having some difficulty while running, but he appeared to completely agree with Wei Yan-ho’s opinion.

“What if they catch up?”

“That won’t happen.”

“Why?”

“Because they have no intention of catching up.”

Wei Yan-ho glanced back.

“Those guys seem to be in some kind of complicated situation too, right? They don’t seem to be operating with a single clear head.”

“……What the hell are you talking about, damn it.”

Jang-il panted as if he couldn’t understand Wei Yan-ho’s words.

‘If they had intended to catch up from the beginning, they wouldn’t have let those guys go.’

People like Jang-il might be catchable by them. But Wei Yan-ho was absolutely impossible to catch with them. Would the Demonic Cult, which could estimate Wei Yan-ho’s martial prowess through Gwak Hwan, send an ordinary military force to capture Wei Yan-ho?

That was absolutely impossible.

Yet among those pursuing them, no High Priest was visible. That meant they had no active intention of catching Wei Yan-ho. Wei Yan-ho’s mind was getting complicated.

‘What are they aiming for?’

They were moving like a body without a head. While even Wei Yan-ho would die instantly if he faced that many head-on, he had no reason to face them head-on.

No matter how stupid the Demonic Cult was, they couldn’t fail to anticipate this kind of situation. Then why were they stalling for time?

“They’re getting farther away. It seems they’ve given up.”

“Hmm……”

Wei Yan-ho turned his head back. Indeed, those who had been pursuing them seemed to have stopped and were getting farther away.

“We can run a bit slower now……”

Before Jang-il could finish his words, he threw down Zhuge Mun-in and collapsed on the ground.

“Huff! Huff! Huff! Hiik!“

“Tired?”

“I-I feel like my heart’s going to jump out of my mouth.”

“Tsk.“

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue. But knowing that Jang-il’s reaction wasn’t an exaggeration, he didn’t particularly scold him.

“They stopped……”

“It’s faster than expected.”

Zhuge Mun-in said while dusting himself off.

“I thought there would be a pursuit for at least another two shijin. And I expected fierce battles with strong opponents throughout the pursuit, but the chase wasn’t as intense as expected. It was just noisy.”

“Right?”

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.

‘That’s strange……’

They had ruined the sacred fire and set the main temple ablaze. Through that, they had even turned the Demonic Cult’s main force around.

But the pursuit was just lukewarm.

Wasn’t something strange about this?

“What do you think?”

“I think we’ve achieved our primary objective, but……”

Zhuge Mun-in scratched his chin.

“The reaction is completely different from what we expected. I’m starting to think we might be misjudging something right now.”

Wei Jeong-han also nodded.

“If it were the Demonic Cult I know, they wouldn’t make such an obvious pursuit. It’s noisy and almost like……”

“Like they’re putting on a show?”

“Exactly.”

Jang-il raised his head slightly.

A pursuit that seemed like putting on a show? With all those bastards chasing them?

“What would they gain from that?”

“The problem is there’s nothing to gain. Making such a noisy pursuit would only alert people that there’s a main temple here……”

At that moment, the faces of Wei Jeong-han and Zhuge Mun-in hardened.

“There’s a main temple here?”

“……Central Plains is safe.”

“Were we outmaneuvered?”

Wei Jeong-han’s face turned pale.

“W-would the Divine Strategist have anticipated this?”

“It’s hopeless. Just as we struck at their weak point, they struck at ours. No matter how brilliant the strategist……”

Jang-il asked with a blank expression.

“Please explain what you’re talking about. I’m too stupid to understand.”

Wei Jeong-han said in a stammering voice.

“They’re not here.”

“Pardon?”

“The High Priests and strong fighters who should naturally be here aren’t visible. The ones who should have been deployed first to chase after Wei Yan-ho if he appeared aren’t visible!”

“……Yes?”

“Where do you think they went?”

Only one place came to Jang-il’s mind.

If the Demon Lords hadn’t come here, there was only one place they could have gone.

Central Plains.

The moment that thought struck his mind, Jang-il’s head went blank as a white sheet of paper.