In an instant, the Soga Po Mokjeom became chaos.
“Emergency!”
“Intruders!”
A few Guard Martial Artists rushed out to light torches, and the windows of the lodging where Miss Yeo Il-ye and Moyong Yeon-hwa were staying burst open.
In the meantime, Dokgo I-seol charged at the attackers. True to being a Peak Expert, she swiftly subdued one but her flow was soon interrupted.
This was proof that there was at least one opponent able to withstand Dokgo I-seol’s moves.
“Get out of my way!”
With many opponents to face, Dokgo I-seol raised her Qi and swung her Dao, but—
Zhang!
The Qi of the martial artist she was facing surged up and blocked her strike.
“Tch!”
“Heh, no chance.”
While the Peak Stage intruders held off Dokgo I-seol, other intruders quickly scattered throughout the Soga Po Mokjeom.
As if this was all pre-planned, Black Cat realized they had entered with a thorough plan.
Black Cat immediately turned her gaze to Son Mi-ok. Noticing that Son Mi-ok was already alert in the commotion, Black Cat grabbed her hand and whispered.
“Let’s move.”
“Aren’t we safest here…?”
Black Cat shook her head.
These were people who had meticulously planned their entry, meaning they likely knew where Son Mi-ok usually stayed.
While Son Mi-ok’s room was structurally secure, it wasn’t a fortress against determined attackers, so they would need to find another hiding place.
As Black Cat thought that far, she bit her lip.
Where to go?
Intruders had already spread in all directions. Was there a safe place to take Son Mi-ok, who didn’t know martial arts, in this situation?
Squeak!
Feeling overwhelmed, Black Cat momentarily stopped in her tracks. Seo Gong, who was watching her, tugged at Black Cat’s sleeve, as if he intended to pull her somewhere.
Although Seo Gong seemed to want to lead Black Cat somewhere, she shook her head in reply. Until she could think of a safe place, it was better to stay put.
Squeak!
Seogong flicked his tail against the ground, showing his frustration, then pretended to scratch at the floor.
A word flashed across Black Cat’s mind.
“…Burrow?”
Squeak!
Seo Gong nodded. Black Cat recalled Seo Gong’s muddy figure returning every day, often misplacing his burrow, and as Hwa-gyeong Martial Artist Hyeok Gi-rin often lost track of Seo Gong, surely, the burrow he dug would be the safest spot in this situation.
Squeak!
Black Cat, feeling a surge of confidence from Seo Gong’s assertiveness, followed him.
Where Seo Gong led her was a room stacked with cleaning supplies and daily items. Seo Gong skillfully removed a wooden board from the floor with his tail.
Black Cat, taken aback, thought it marvelous. He had made the entrance to the burrow in such a clever spot that even Hyeok Gi-rin couldn’t find it!
“…What is this?”
And upon seeing the burrow revealed beneath the wooden panel, Black Cat’s eyes widened. This was no mere rough, small hole; it seemed spacious enough for several people to hide, and the floor was levelled like a true hiding place.
Seo Gong wrapped his tail around Mi-ok’s hand and led her into the burrow. When Mi-ok entered, Seo Gong positioned himself at the entrance.
Squeak!
As if to say he would protect her, Black Cat hugged Seo Gong tight.
“…Thank you.”
Even in a smaller state, Seo Gong could hold his own against considerable martial artists, and if needed, could revert to his main form. Seo Gong gently poked Black Cat’s cheek with his nose, then used his tail to expertly reposition the wooden panel.
It was as if they vanished completely, allowing Black Cat to ease her mind and raise her Qi.
Yet the energy wrapping around Black Cat was no longer the familiar blue light of Hwa-gyeong Qi, but the black light of Black Shadow Qi.
With the Black Shadow Qi cloaking her body, Black Cat suppressed her presence and thought.
The attackers that struck in the dead of night—surely, they believed the dark of night was on their side while preparing such a plan.
But what they didn’t know was—
The night belonged to cats.
So now, it was time for them to pay for their ignorance.
In the darkness of night and with Black Shadow Qi, Black Cat completely erased her presence and began to set her position.
The hunt had begun.
* *
Kwahaha!!!
With a storm-like severity, Yeo Il-ye’s strikes cascaded upon Chamjeong, one of the captains who joined Gwang-yoon’s plan, who barely managed to pull away with a labored groan.
Although Yeo Il-ye was quite renowned, Chamjeong could only consider her just another Peak Expert until he faced her in person and felt his knees weaken.
Blades not one, but two, sliced through the air, straight and ablaze as if set on fire. Even while generating such sword energy was astonishing, the aura enveloping her was clearly defensive energy.
Yeo Il-ye’s strength disrupted the opponents’ plans. Originally, the leaders were supposed to each handle Ho Cheon-an and his companions, but now four people had to face Yeo Il-ye, Dokgo I-seol, and Moyong Yeon-hwa instead.
If So Yeon-hwa showed up as well, they would face certain defeat.
Yet there remained a sliver of hope.
“Just hold out until we capture the hostage!”
Although there was doubt about whether they could catch So Yeon-hwa as planned, if they could capture at least some servants as hostages, they could likely escape safely. With this in mind, Chamjeong parried the twin blades of Yeo Il-ye together with Gwang-yoon.
Barely managing to deflect Yeo Il-ye’s storm-like assault, Chamjeong cursed loudly at his subordinates and the other leaders in his heart.
“Why the hell are these useless bastards taking so long?!”
This was supposed to be a simple task of capturing people who barely practiced martial arts, yet nobody had shown up!
As Chamjeong cursed his subordinates, one of his men found a servant hiding behind a kitchen pot.
“Were you hiding here?”
“Y-yes! Please spare my life!”
The opponent held his sword to the servant’s throat, irritation evident.
“Get up right now! Do you have any idea how hard we’ve worked to find you?!”
“Yes! Yes!”
Searching in an unfamiliar place in the middle of the night was never easy, especially when seeking a person familiar with the building.
Recently, many significant issues had arisen at the Soga Po Mokjeom, alerting the servants. So when the ambush began, they looked for hiding spots, and the opponents had to thoroughly rummage through the place.
“Hey! Found one!”
“Then hurry up and get over here!”
“Damn it! Where the hell is everyone hiding?!”
Amidst the noise within the building, a voice came back. The reply that came was enough to wrinkle the opponent’s brow.
Which lowly scoundrel from which ship was so rude?
The opponent thought that once the work was done, there would be time for some fistfighting, but the explosive aura made him flinch. Though he had experienced the might of Peak Experts several times, the power radiating now was beyond comparison.
Naturally, fear filled the opponent’s mind, not wanting to be near someone emitting such a deadly aura, which soon morphed into doubt about the plan.
Would such a master really obey if he captured a servant as a hostage?
No, would he even survive to see the moment he captured someone?
As doubts began to spiral, it struck him that not a single person had returned with hostages even after such a significant amount of time. Perhaps someone already had, and in the face of such overwhelming power, had their spirit shaken away?
Even if the leaders were Peak Experts, they couldn’t be expected to hold off such a master completely, so it was entirely plausible.
With that thought, the opponent felt the trembling servant was merely a burden, making him feel it would be unwise to drag this person into danger.
‘You can’t go alone. You’ve got to take someone with you.’
“You! Move!”
“Y-Yes! Yes!”
Shoving the servant towards the palace hall, the opponent shouted.
“Hey! We don’t need too many hostages! Let’s do this swiftly and get out!”
“Can one be enough? There are currently ten of us here!”
The logical response from somewhere made him scowl. Concluding that to go back with such scoundrels would require him to find them himself, he jabbed the servant’s back.
“Move!”
The servant moved sluggishly, trembling, drawing a frown from the opponent as he glanced around. As earlier mentioned, there were roughly ten intruders in total. Though it was a spacious area, it was just a two-story building, so eventually, he would run into someone.
Bang!
Someone on the second floor sounded like something was overturned in anger.
“Go to the second floor.”
“Y-Yes!”
Creak. Creak.
Following the servant up the stairs, the opponent scowled. Did those guys not even know the basics of searching? If a person was around, shouldn’t they split up and check separately instead of clumping together?
This was why no one was found.
As Chamjeong reached the second floor, he quickly realized it was excessively quiet.
“What’s going on?”
Surely ten others accompanied him, so they should create a ruckus, yet it was eerily silent.
Sensing something was off, the opponent instinctively felt fear and wrapped his arm protectively around the trembling servant’s neck.
“Gah! Please spare me!”
“Shut up! Be quiet!”
With such a commotion, at least one should have made some noise, but all he could hear was the servant’s shaky breath, and the opponent’s heart raced, nearly bursting from tension.
“Where the hell did they all go?!”
Crash!!
Unable to withstand the tension, the opponent kicked aside a display case in the hallway, causing a pot inside to shatter.
Huh!
The opponent’s head whipped around. He was sure he heard a groan. Using the servant as a shield, he slowly approached the sound.
His wide eyes spotted a closet. Large enough for one person, perhaps even two if squished inside.
Pushing the servant ahead, the opponent got closer to the closet, suddenly kicking it over, intending to surprise anyone inside.
Bang!
“Yikes!”
However, contrary to his expectations, the voice came from the bed behind him. The opponent quickly turned and yanked the blankets away.
Revealed was a trembling maid, on the verge of tears.
Just moments ago, the opponent, tense as if he might burst, felt his tension dissipate. So it was simply a hiding servant.
“You…”
As the opponent aimed his sword at the maid, attempting to extract information about the ongoing situation, a hand suddenly rested on his blade.
The presence felt as if it surged out from the darkness of the ceiling—startled, the opponent instinctively withdrew his sword, but the delicate hand held his blade firmly.
“Ah.”
An ethereal figure clad in darkness emerged. The only evidence it was human was the glimmering eyes, and the opponent instinctively realized the fate of the other intruders had already been sealed.
That was the last thought of the opponent who had taken hostages.
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