Reincarnated Sword Ghost-Chapter 24 : Mission

Mission
"It's even better to see you up close like this."
"......"
Jeong-un quietly turned his head away after gazing at Tang Yerin, who was smiling softly at him.
'Getting along well...?'
He had no idea what made her decide on that.
He wasn't even sure the General Affairs Department was supposed to care about such things in the first place.
"Damn, this is so uncomfortable I could die."
Beside him sat Baek Il-gang, looking as if he was being punished, perched nervously on the saddle.
He flinched every time the horse took a step, clearly unable to trust it at all.
"Stop thinking you're just sitting on top of a horse. If you don't sync with your horse, you'll be worse off than walking."
"I'd honestly rather walk."
"Then go ahead and walk. But if you're exhausted and can't fight, you'll be held responsible."
"Che."
The leader of this mission was a man named Lee Si-geon, a dual-ranked warrior of the Blue Scale Corps.
He acted stiffly, exactly as a superior should, but it made him look less like a martial artist heading out into the martial world and more like a constable reluctantly taking a case.
Still, he oddly seemed especially polite to Tang Yerin. That point was something Baek Il-gang did not appear to like.
"Forget the sect for five years? That's bullshit."
Baek Il-gang, who'd finally slowed his horse to come up beside Jeong-un, spoke in a low whisper.
"People just spend that time figuring out how to shore up their connections. As if they could cut those ties anyway."
The last member of the group was a man called Jo Gwang, who'd complained to Baek Sang about the martial attire and gotten a tongue-lashing for it.
He'd passed the latest general recruitment test, and was very skilled at horseback riding.
He kept pulling on his horse's reins and chattering between Lee Si-geon and Tang Yerin, talking endlessly with a bright smile—enough that Jeong-un thought he might be better off as a eunuch than a warrior.
'Maybe the standards for the exam aren't all that high.'
Jeong-un thought as he watched him.
For ten days, they traveled like this without rest. The journey wasn't uncomfortable.
As warriors of Heavenly Martial Hall, they could freely use the postal stations of the Murim Alliance.
Even eating and sleeping posed no problem.
All they needed to do was show their Heavenly Martial Hall status token for utmost hospitality.
At last, they arrived at Dragon Heart Gate in Tang Hayeon.
Despite the low perimeter wall, the main gate was wide open, and they rode their horses right into the compound.
Inside, the Gate Leader of Dragon Heart Gate and his disciples were waiting.
"You must have had a long and weary journey. Please, come in."
It reminded Jeong-un of how the Yu household and Five Star Gate had bowed in respect to Cheong Jin.
At least the Gate Leader here tried to maintain some dignity, but his disciples couldn't hide their awe and kept stealing glances at them.
'Was it always this much?'
Jeong-un, who until recently had been on the other side of such situations, felt a bit uncomfortable.
He realized in this moment just how esteemed Heavenly Martial Hall was in the Central Plains.
"I trust you've heard the general explanation."
"Yes."
Lee Si-geon answered curtly to the Dragon Heart Gate leader. The Sect Leader nodded and spoke in a heavy voice.
"Thirteen people have disappeared, and ten of them were children."
"...?"
Everyone's eyes widened at that. The fact that only children had gone missing was exceedingly strange.
Still, no one spoke up. For now, Lee Si-geon was in charge.
"Two of our disciples, who were searching the area, are missing as well. We believe this is surely the work of some Evil Faction."
"What level were the missing disciples?"
"They had mastered our Dragon Heart Gate's unique sword technique up to the five-star rank. They shouldn't be easy to defeat, but..."
Lee Si-geon didn't seem to think much of it.
His expression suggested that the unique skills of a rural sect like this wouldn't amount to much.
He gave a curt nod and stood.
"Understood. We'll take a look around."
That ended the conversation. After leaving their luggage in the quarters provided by Dragon Heart Gate, they regrouped at the front.
Tang Yerin asked Lee Si-geon,
"What do you think, young hero? Do you really believe it's the work of an Evil Faction?"
"I suspect it's just a large beast. That would explain why only children—those with smaller frames—were targeted."
"But didn't they also say that two warriors went missing too?"
"The martial arts of a place like this are no different from those of commoners. I wouldn't worry too much. Even if it's people, they're likely just bandits at best."
Lee Si-geon did not see it as a dire situation. He looked around at the group and spoke again.
"Each of you will search near the village. If you find anything, return here and wait. Miss Tang, you may rest if you like."
With that, he turned and left first.
Jo Gwang glanced from Lee Si-geon's departing figure to Tang Yerin and then hurried to follow his superior.
"Well, see you later."
Baek Il-gang shot a furtive glance at Jeong-un and Tang Yerin before turning away, clearly uncomfortable around her.
Tang Yerin looked up at Jeong-un and asked,
"What does Young Master Yu think?"
"It's probably neither a beast nor bandits."
"And why is that?"
"If it was a beast, bodies would have been found around here already."
"So, not even bandits?"
Jeong-un nodded.
"This place is pretty far by horseback from the county seat. Moving thirteen people—ten of them children—without leaving a trace is not easy. It's not something ordinary bandits could accomplish."
"They might have used a carriage."
"There were no traces of wagon wheels on the way here. With the long drought, it hasn't rained, so there's no reason for any traces to have been erased."
Tang Yerin stared at him wide-eyed.
"You were paying attention to things like that along the way?"
"... I just happened to remember what I saw."
Jeong-un replied quietly.
In fact, he found it strange that Lee Si-geon treated the matter so lightly.
'There's no way ordinary bandits did this.'
Anyone capable of taking out two armed warriors was no joke.
He agreed that the martial skills of rural sects weren't tremendous—Yu household was such a place, after all.
But even so, they were not so weak that simple thieves could handle them.
Even Yu Dong-ryong would scoff and draw his sword against a handful of bandits.
'Besides, the fact that they were taken alive is odd.'
If the goal was loot or food, they would have killed and made off with the goods all in one attack.
But the people—most of them children—were taken intact. No bodies had been found.
That meant their purpose was the people themselves—specifically, the children.
'... Could it really be the Evil Faction?'
Jeong-un had never encountered anyone from the Dark Path or Evil Faction before.
He'd just heard the stories—people who valued human life less than a sack of barley.
If he ever ran into such people—
'They must be killed immediately.'
There was no hesitation in his mind.
"I thought it was strange, too."
As Tang Yerin's words reached him, Jeong-un looked at her.
"Taking only children—it's too suspicious. There must be a special purpose for it."
"Does this happen often in the martial world?"
"I'm not sure. But similar things have happened often enough in Sichuan."
She then looked up at Jeong-un and asked,
"Shall we move together?"
"Didn't young hero Lee say for each of us to search separately?"
He also told her, more specifically, that she could rest. At that, Tang Yerin gazed at Jeong-un for a moment before turning away.
"... All right, then. But if something happens, whistle loudly. I have good ears."
With a quick bound, Tang Yerin disappeared into the distance with agile movements.
It was the third time Jeong-un had seen a warrior use lightness skill.
'She's different too.'
Depending on how one manipulated true ki, every lightness skill footwork was unique. Jeong-un observed every detail closely.
He would use these as inspiration, no matter the style.
'I need to create the optimal lightness skill for myself.'
He never planned to just copy someone else's technique outright.
Beyond the level of mastery, it would simply feel like wearing clothes that didn't fit.
In this way, he circled the village.
Whether it was due to the disappearances or the arrival of martial artists from Hanyang County, there weren't many people around.
'Except for the two warriors who vanished while searching, only one adult disappeared.'
Jeong-un focused on that detail.
The missing ones were all children—except for a single adult.
If they were merely a witness, why not just kill him and leave it at that?
But whoever targeted the children went so far as to take even that one adult.
'Perhaps...'
Could they have gone willingly?
With that idea in mind, he sought out the thatched cottage where the missing man had lived and began searching the area.
'... Odd.'
When he asked the neighbors, they said the missing man was a scholar who'd taught the local children for over a decade—a naturally kind-hearted person.
He even heard people say that it was tragic for such a good person to meet that sort of end.
But what Jeong-un felt as he investigated the man's home was the exact opposite.
'There's an ominous energy everywhere.'
He had developed the habit of quietly releasing true ki and sensing his surroundings.
The house was filled with an unpleasant, sinister energy—so much so that it was surprising no one from Dragon Heart Gate had noticed.
'Aren't they at least supposed to be capable of controlling their true ki?'
Frowning, Jeong-un followed the trail of that creepy, unpleasant energy, which naturally led him out of the village and up into the mountain.
After nearly two 2 hours of climbing, he finally encountered the owner of that sinister aura.
"What's this? Some brat...? Haven't seen you before. Who the hell are you?"
"......"
A man who looked to be around thirty was digging at the earth with his bare hands, with a pile of corpses beside him.
Anyone could see they were the missing children.
Every one of them had their eyes gouged out and arms ripped off—so gruesome it was hard to look.
"... Did you kill them?"
"Me? No, no."
The man shook his head violently, almost as if the idea was unthinkable.
"My masters took them all. I'm just cleaning up after them."
"... Masters? Cleaning up?"
The words made little sense, but one thing was clear.
Swoosh—
He could not let this man get away.
But since he mentioned his masters, there were likely people behind him, so killing him outright was unwise.
'I suppose cutting off a leg would be fine.'
As Jeong-un drew his sword, the man broke into a wide grin.
"You want to try me? Well, I wasn't planning on letting you go either. Where are you from?"
"Heavenly Martial Hall."
Jeong-un replied tersely, feet tensed with true ki, ready to spring at any moment.
Upon hearing the answer, the man's eyes widened.
"Heavenly Martial Hall, you say? Perfect. I was just curious how far my martial skills had come. I already killed and ground up all those useless Dragon Heart Gate extras who came before. Turns out consuming the flesh and blood of martial artists really does boost internal energy. Since Heavenly Martial Hall only gathers the most outstanding children, I'll use you to test my level—and chew your flesh to—"
Ssssh—!
The wind whistled.
The slender limbs of the trees between Jeong-un and the man swayed back and forth.
Moments later, leaves drifted softly to the ground.
"... Aaaagh!"
The man clutched his leg and let out a scream.
His lower leg had already been cleanly severed.
Jeong-un kicked the leg, which stood alone on the ground, right into the pit the man had been digging.
"We can talk back at the village."
"Y-You lunatic! My masters won't let you—!"
Crack!
He struck the man's temple with his sheathed sword. The man immediately lost consciousness, as if his life had been snuffed out.
But he wasn't dead.
'I heard there's a way to press the acupoints and seal someone's mouth...'
Jeong-un thought as he slung the man over his shoulder.
He kept finding more he needed to learn.