Martial Artist Lee Gwak Episode 191

Regret always comes too late (1)

“Ugh!”

Lee Won-chang, leader of the Shenyang Escort Service, bit his lip until it bled.

His group of over fifty men had long since been cut in half, and half of the survivors were so badly wounded that they could barely move.

They had been attacked two hours ago by unidentified enemies.

At first, Lee Won-chang thought they were bandits targeting their cargo. However, these attackers were not ordinary bandits.

They demanded that someone from the carriage be handed over.

But Lee Won-chang could not comply with their demand.

The old man in the carriage had entrusted himself as cargo to their escort service. An escort service that abandons its cargo cannot be trusted in the Jianghu.

For the survival of the Shenyang Escort Service, the old man could not be handed over. As a result, Lee Won-chang refused their demand, leading to a fierce battle.

The martial prowess of the attackers was terrifying. The strength of each individual was far greater than that of the Shenyang Escort Service, and they were far more numerous.

Naturally, it was a battle in which the Shenyang Escort Service was at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, Lee Won-chang and his agency did their best to protect the old man.

They discarded all the items used to disguise their true cargo, protecting only the carriage carrying the elderly man as they fled to this place.

In the process, he lost almost half of his people. The casualties were particularly high among those less skilled in the martial arts.

Nothing could compensate for their deaths.

Tears of blood seemed to flow from Lee Won-chang’s eyes. A moment’s miscalculation had led to the downfall of the Shenyang Escort Service he had worked so hard to build.

If only that person were here…

Lee Won-chang thought of the man who had broken their contract in Leizhou.

If he had been there, they might not have suffered such tragic losses.

After all, he was the man who had defeated the mad dragon.

In terms of martial prowess alone, no one present could match that man. Nevertheless, Lee Won-chang broke the contract because he had no choice but to consider the opinion of the Martial Sword Troupe.

“I thought wrongly. I shouldn’t have broken the contract so easily”.

He blamed himself, but it was a regret that came too late.

Regret is always too late, no matter how quickly it comes.

Just like the current situation of the Shenyang Escort Service.

At that moment, an elderly man with an extraordinary aura stepped forward among the enemies. He was the leader of the attackers.

The aura emanating from the old man was as sharp as a well-honed blade. Just facing his aura made Lee Won-chang feel as if every hair on his body stood on end.

The elderly man, looking at the carriage Lee Won-chang and his men were protecting, spoke up.

“Isn’t it about time you came out? Must I really kill all of them to make you come out?”

“…”

However, no answer came from the carriage.

A flicker of killing intent passed through the old man’s eyes.

“If you won’t come out willingly, I’ll have to drag you out by force.”

There was never any intention to spare the lives of the Shenyang Escort Service martial artists. If word got out about what happened here, it wouldn’t just be a matter of inconvenience.

To prevent any possible witnesses, he had ordered the killing of everyone entering the forest. By now, his subordinates would have likely killed all the unfortunate travelers who had ventured into the forest.

The elderly man in the carriage was O Se-ui, with whom he had a long acquaintance.

He never expected that O Se-ui would betray him and choose to flee with the help of the escort service, which made the betrayal even more bitter for the elderly man.

The elderly man’s name was Moon Gwang, and his nickname was Gatekeeper Assassin
Moon Gwang was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the White Light Sect, a martial arts master of the previous generation. Although he appeared to be in his sixties, he was actually an old master of over eighty.

O Se-ui was a martial artist holding a key position in White Light Sect. Despite the significant age difference, Moon Gwang and O Se-ui shared a close bond over shared convictions.

O Se-ui’s sudden betrayal of the White Light Sect and his decision to flee to the Jade Heaven Alliance only increased Moon Gwang’s sense of betrayal.

Moon Gwang moved towards the carriage.

“Stop him!”

Lee Won-chang almost let out a cry as he rushed towards Moon Gwang, followed by his escorts.

“Hmph! Worthless things… Very well! I’ll kill you all.”

The killing intent in Moon Gwang’s eyes deepened.

He extended his hands forward.

Kwarrr!!

In an instant, a tremendous amount of Qi emanated from his palms.

It was his signature technique, the Heavenly Divine Palm.

Although it lacked finesse, its destructive power was unmatched by any other force in the world.

“Kek!”

“Cough!”

Lee Won-chang and his entourage, who were trying to block the Heavenly Divine Palm, were blown away like leaves in the wind.

“Ugh!”

Lee Won-chang hit the ground, vomiting blood, while several escorts lay motionless, evidently dead.

Moon Gwang, without giving the couriers another glance, launched the Heavenly Divine Palm again towards the carriage.

Boom!

The force, like a raging storm, smashed the carriage to pieces.

At that moment, someone jumped out from the carriage.

Dressed in a voluminous robe, his face hidden behind a wide-brimmed hat, it was O Se-ui, the man Moon Gwang had been pursuing.

His face, hidden behind the wide brim, was filled with shock.

‘He has been tracking me down. The sect leader harbors deep suspicions.’

Each of the Four Heavenly Kings was a renowned old master who had made a name for themselves.

In betraying White Light Sect, he had calculated various possibilities, but the movement of the Four Heavenly Kings was not among them.

This was because the Four Heavenly Kings were notoriously sedentary, seldom moving for anything minor. The fact that one of them had been sent out showed just how angry the sect leader was with him.

‘I can’t match him in martial arts.’

O Se-ui chose to flee rather than fight back.

He never thought that he would reach the Jade Heaven Alliance safely with the Shenyang Escort Service.

The Shenyang Escort Service was a disposable piece.

What happened to them was not O Se-ui’s concern. Their usefulness ended the moment he reached this point.

“Cha!”

Before fleeing, O Se-ui suddenly waved his hand. From his sleeve, a green smoke spread out.

“It’s poison. Everyone, back off.”

Seeing this, Moon Gwang hastily covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and shouted. The White Light Sect martial artists who had attacked the Shenyang Escort Service quickly retreated. Instead, the escorts and porters who had been desperately fighting were engulfed by the green smoke.

“Aah!”

“Cough!”

The escorts grasped their throats and collapsed. It was a typical symptom of poisoning. The dreadful scene left Moon Gwang and the martial artists from White Light Sect speechless.

Meanwhile, O Se-ui fled the battlefield at a terrifying speed. He had planned to sacrifice the martial artists of the Shenyang Escort Service from the start.

“How despicable…”

Moon Gwang furrowed his brows at O Se-ui’s malice.

He prided himself on not being inferior to anyone in cunning, but he was not a monster who would sacrifice those who had dedicated themselves to him.

He must have hired the Shenyang Escort Service for this purpose from the start, and entrusted himself as cargo.

“With such malice, it’s no wonder he betrayed the sect.”

There was no time to be astonished forever.

Moon Gwang immediately set out with his subordinates to pursue.

Left behind were the escorts and porters writhing in agony, engulfed in poison.

“Cough!”

“Gasp!”

Those with weaker internal energy were the first to die.

Until their last breath, they struggled in agony.

“Hu…uh!”

A painful groan escaped Lee Won-chang’s lips.

He watched his people dying one by one, his eyes bloodshot as if blood would soon drip down.

The pain of his body coming apart was nothing compared to the heartache of watching his subordinates die, unable to do anything for them.

Thud!

At that moment, Lee Won-chang heard someone’s footsteps. The footsteps got closer and stopped in front of him. But Lee Won-chang didn’t have the strength to lift his head and look up.

‘Who?’

The owner of the footsteps kneeled and met his gaze. Only then could Lee Won-chang see who it was.

“Agency leader Lee.”

The one calling Lee Won-chang with a voice full of sorrow was Lee Gwak. Behind him, Nam Woo Gyeong looked around with a devastated expression.

“What happened?”

The two had rushed here after leaving the Ji siblings for Cheol Gwang Woo to deal with the attackers. But by the time they arrived, the disaster had already happened.

“Poison?”

Nam Woo Gyeong, with his vast experience, quickly realized someone had used poison. Lee Gwak asked.

“Who spread the poison?”

“Cough! The cargo… O… Se-ui, White Light Sect…”

Lee Won-chang mustered the last of his strength to barely speak, but his voice was too faint.

Lee Gwak concentrated all his senses to listen to Lee Won-chang. However, Lee Won-chang’s voice could no longer be heard. He had passed away.

“Sigh!”

Lee Gwak let out a soft sigh and closed Lee Won-chang’s staring eyes.

“All gone. All twenty-four of them…”

Nam Woo Gyeong shook his head and approached Lee Gwak.

Even though these people had nothing to do with him, the death of so many weighed heavily on his heart.

It was an incident that wiped out an entire escort service. It was the first time since the end of the war with the Celestial Demon Troupe that such a large number of casualties had occurred, which made it all the more shocking.

Lee Gwak relayed to Nam Woo Gyeong exactly what he had heard from Lee Won-chang. After hearing everything, Nam Woo Gyeong’s expression twisted.

“So, the one who entrusted himself as cargo was named O Se-ui, and White Light Sect is involved. We’re entangled in a complicated matter.”

“What kind of sect is White Light Sect?”

“It’s one of the Ten Great Sects.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

“Sigh! To be honest, I don’t know much about the White Light Sect.”

“Not even with the Hao Clans intelligence network?”

“The White Light Sect has been secretive ever since it appeared a hundred years ago, carefully hiding its power. They’re so secretive that it’s difficult for the outside world to know about them. Even our sect has tried to gather information about them, but what we’ve found isn’t much.

“How did a sect so unknown become one of the Ten Great Sects?”

It was beyond Lee Gwak’s comprehension.

While it’s true that other sects among the Ten Great Sects have their secrets, at least their strength was acknowledged by the outside world to a clear and impressive extent.

Having such strength, they deservedly belong among the top ten sects of the Jianghu.

Moreover, the martial prowess of the sect leaders of the Ten Great Sects also played a significant role. At the very least, their martial arts were among the pinnacle in the Jianghu.

That’s why everyone recognizes the Ten Great Sects. In contrast, almost nothing was known about White Light Sect.

Even when Lee Gwak was with Jade Heaven Alliance, he hardly heard anything about the White Light Sect. That’s how closed off they were, and stories from within never leaked out.

Although he hadn’t thought much of it due to his limited Jianghu experience at the time, looking back now, several things seemed strange.

Nam Woo Gyeong answered Lee Gwak’s questions.

“It’s because of the Four Heavenly Kings.”

“Excuse me? What does that mean?”

“Decades ago, four supreme masters swore allegiance to the sect leader of White Light Sect and joined them. They were named the Four Heavenly Kings and accepted as family by White Light Sect. The stature of these masters who joined was so impressive that people judged them worthy of being one of the Ten Great Sects.”

“Who were these masters?”

“Lightning God Sword Gam Il-yeon, Gatekeeper Assassin Moon Gwang, Ghost Spear Jo Yeok-seo and Demon Lash Lee Woon-chang. Even back then, they were revered as unparalleled old monsters in the Jianghu. Having been supreme masters back then, they might now possess a strength not inferior to the Eight Great Martial Artists. And all four of them joined at once. In addition, rumors spread that the sect leader of the White Light Sect had subdued them with his strength.”

The mere fact that the Four Heavenly Kings had joined the White Light Sect was enough to instantly elevate them to the ranks of the Ten Great Sects. After joining the White Light Sect, the Four Heavenly Kings had never shown themselves to the outside world, which aroused the curiosity of many.

The Hao Clan had made extensive efforts to collect information on the White Light Sect, but due to their reclusiveness, they managed to learn very little.

“If the White Light Sect is truly involved, this could be a golden opportunity to learn about them.”

Nam Woo Gyeong’s eyes sparkled.

While the flow of events was uncertain, from his perspective, this was an opportunity to uncover the long-hidden reality of White Light Sect.

While Nam Woo Gyeong calculated the pros and cons, Lee Gwak gathered the scattered bodies of the escorts and porters at the site of the wreckage.

If the bodies were buried poisoned as they were, there was a high chance the area would become a poisoned land.

Lee Gwak used his Samadhi Fire to ignite the wreckage of the carriage. The flames quickly rose into the sky.

After confirming the burning of the bodies, the two returned to the edge of the forest. They were greeted by a frenzied Cheol Gwang Woo and the Ji siblings, shivering in fear.