Chapter 66
It was the side Hongseol had collapsed just moments ago. From the gap, murky eyes flashed, emitting a fierce glare.
“So you rats were alive after all!”
“Mommy!”
“Meow!”
Startled out of their wits, Hongseol and Deung Soso clung tightly to each other.
The Black Badger Gang members hadn’t given up and were digging through the mound of earth in front of them.
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
Once a gap had opened, the men focused all their efforts there.
The sound of frantic hands clawing at dirt and prying out stones was terrifying beyond words.
Hongseol’s mouth went completely dry.
At this rate, they’ll catch us before the rescue team arrives!
There was nowhere to run… except the wall.
But how?
At that moment, a thought flashed through Hongseol’s mind.
Words Grandpa Namgung Ho had once told her.
“Hongseol, palm techniques are truly profound.”
Standing in the middle of the training yard, Hongseol had tilted her head in confusion at Namgung Ho’s words.
“You can strike an opponent directly when you make contact with their body—but if you do it like this!”
Namgung Ho lightly placed his hand on the blue stone floor of the training yard.
At that instant, Hongseol felt the ground lurch.
Startled, she ran over and grabbed tightly onto Namgung Ho’s clothes.
“W-What was that, Grandpa?”
“I adjusted my strength just now, but if you use a palm technique on the ground or a wall, you can even shatter stone.”
“Wow…”
“But you have to control it well—so it affects only as much as you intend.”
“Th-Then… is something like that possible even with my Heavenly Thunder Divine Palm?”
“Of course.”
Namgung Ho smiled warmly, then suddenly turned stern.
“But until your yin-yang severed meridians are healed, you are forbidden from using internal energy!”
“But—”
“If you recklessly use the Heavenly Thunder Divine Palm, your meridians will boil over and you’ll die. Do you understand?”
“Y-Yes!”
Those words frightened Hongseol so badly she nodded at once.
“I promise, Grandpa. I’ll never use the Heavenly Thunder Divine Palm.”
“Good. That’s my good girl.”
“There’s a sound coming from this side.”
Lost in thought, Hongseol looked up. Yang Dojin had suddenly pressed his ear to the wall.
“A sound?”
“Someone’s coming. Every presence I feel belongs to an incredible expert!”
At that, Deung Soso’s face lit up.
“It must be the head of the Deung family! They’ve come to rescue us, right?”
“Maybe. But…”
Yang Dojin looked resentfully at the wall standing between them and the rescue team.
The wall looked as solid as if it would never collapse.
Worse still, if the rescue team didn’t even know they were here…
Then the Black Badger Gang would reach them first.
Just then—
A flustered Yang Dojin shouted at Hongseol.
“H-Hey! What are you doing?!”
The kitten Hongseol stood up on her hind legs and suddenly flipped through the air.
“What—she was a cat beastkin?”
“I knew she was too smart!”
The shouts of the Black Badger Gang didn’t even reach her ears.
Now human again, Hongseol looked at the two children, who stared at her in shock.
Deung Soso’s elegant clothes were torn in several places, her delicate cheeks covered in bruises and grazes.
Yang Dojin was little better.
After jumping into cold water, his cheeks were flushed red, and his body was covered in cuts and bruises.
She wanted to protect them.
Silently, Hongseol spoke with her eyes.
You know… we’re friends, right?
There was no verbal reply, but Hongseol knew.
They had already become true friends.
Determination settled coldly into Hongseol’s black eyes.
For my friends… I can do anything!
Planting both feet firmly on the ground, Hongseol raised her hands with all her strength.
Then she closed her eyes.
She could clearly feel yin and yang energy raging through her meridians.
The two violent forces each occupied one palm, surging like towering waves.
If she concentrated this power into a single, tiny point—
She could break the cave wall without collapsing the ceiling.
Quietly, Hongseol apologized in her heart.
Grandpa… I’m sorry.
Steel in her resolve, Hongseol bravely brought her palms together.
Crack.
Crackle.
At the moment she felt the enormous force created by the collision of yin and yang—
She pressed both palms firmly against a tiny point on the wall.
She felt all the energy drain from her body at once.
Rumble!
A massive thunderclap echoed through the narrow cave.
Startled, Yang Dojin and Deung Soso cried out at the same time.
“Isn’t that the Heavenly Thunder Divine Palm of the Namgung Clan?!”
“How could Hongseol use that?!”
With all her energy spent, Hongseol’s small body swayed unsteadily.
“Hey!”
Yang Dojin hurriedly caught her as she collapsed. Half-conscious, Hongseol struggled to look toward the wall.
D-Did it work…?
But—
Cruelly enough, the cave wall still stood intact.
Ah… what do I do…
Tears welled up. At that moment, Hongseol lost consciousness.
Then—
Rattle.
A small pebble rolled down the wall and struck Yang Dojin’s foot as he held Hongseol.
That was the beginning.
Plop. Plop.
One by one, stones fell from the cave wall.
Then—ten holes, large and small, suddenly opened, pale outside light pouring in through the gaps.
Murmuring as if he couldn’t believe his eyes, Yang Dojin said,
“She… pierced the wall?”
That frail Hongseol, who didn’t seem to have even a shred of internal energy?
The next moment—
With a thunderous crash, the wall separating them from the outside collapsed without a trace.
“No!”
Yang Dojin hugged Hongseol’s unconscious body tightly.
Afraid that flying stones might hurt her, he shielded her with his own body.
“Cough, cough.”
“Ugh… what’s with all this dust…”
At last, the billowing dust began to settle.
Through it, silhouettes appeared.
Clutching Sorang tightly, Deung Soso muttered in disbelief,
“Is that… Young Master Namgung Baek?”
Standing before the collapsed wall was a silver-haired boy with sharp blue eyes.
The moment his gaze fell on the small child cradled in Yang Dojin’s arms—
Yang Dojin felt a chill of terror he couldn’t explain.
It was killing intent far more frightening than the Black Badger Gang pursuing them from behind.
“….”
Without taking his eyes off Yang Dojin, the boy gripped the sword at his waist.
Yang Dojin’s eyes widened to the size of fists.
That bastard’s insane!
Even without any words or action, Yang Dojin could tell—the person before him was not in his right mind.
Sensing danger, he squeezed his eyes shut.
A silver arc flashed through the air.
“Aaah!”
At the same time, an arm marked with a black feather tattoo went flying.
The Black Badger Gang had finally broken through the dirt wall.
Turning around, Yang Dojin shouted urgently at Namgung Baek, who was charging forward.
“You crazy bastard, stop! There are too many of them!”
Namgung Baek paid no heed, continuing to swing his sword as if dancing.
“Get him!”
“He’s just a kid!”
The remaining Black Badger Gang members poured through the collapsed wall and rushed Namgung Baek all at once.
At that moment—
“Ha!”
A furious lion’s roar shook heaven and earth.
Its owner was Namgung Ho, the Supreme Patriarch, who appeared with his robes fluttering.
“Aaah!”
“Kyaaa!”
The men charging at Namgung Baek clutched their ears and collapsed.
“Ui-gyeol!”
This time, Clan Head Namgung On shouted.
Namgung Ui-gyeol immediately lunged forward, targeting the foremost enemy with his blade sharpened to a blue gleam.
Boom!
The sword was so heavy that it not only split the man in half but carved deeply into the ground.
“Th-Thousand-Catties Sword Hero…!”
The apparent leader of the gang recognized Namgung Ui-gyeol.
His body began to tremble like a leaf.
“It’s the Namgung Clan…! Retreat! Retreat!”
The Black Badger Gang members raised their internal energy and fled at full speed.
Even so, they didn’t hesitate to kill their own comrades who were still alive.
“Ugh!”
“Aaagh!”
Standing a step back, Namgung On commanded,
“Ui-gyeol, pursue them!”
“Yes, sir!”
As Namgung Ui-gyeol extended his arm, the Azure Sky Guard shot forward, chasing the surviving gang members.
Meanwhile, Namgung Baek was already holding out his hand toward Yang Dojin.
“Give her to me.”
Yang Dojin guarded Hongseol protectively.
“Who the hell are you?!”
Namgung Baek answered without hesitation.
“I’m her older brother.”
“What?”
A shrill voice rang out.
Deung Soso stared with her mouth agape.
“How can a cat beastkin’s brother be a wolf beastkin of the Namgung Clan…?”
Ignoring her, Namgung Baek took Hongseol from Yang Dojin’s arms.
At that moment, the cold expression on his face changed.
Hongseol’s body was burning—far too hot.
It felt as though she had swallowed the inner core of a carp brimming with extreme yang energy, the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp.
But that wasn’t all.
The next instant, her entire body turned icy cold—as if she had consumed the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
Sensing something terribly wrong, Namgung Ho and Namgung On hurried over.
