Chapter 1478: The Plan Was Sound (Part 3)

Whoooooosh!

A small bird with a golden hue soared through the vivid blue sky.

"No! Why is the bird so fast?"

"Birds are naturally fast, bro!"

"Monk! Do something!"

"Oh, Amitabha? Why suddenly to me?"

"Hey! Isn't it the same golden color?" [lmfao]

"Jo Gol Dojang. Have you gone mad?"

While Jo Gol didn't exactly talk nonsense, the faces of others were equally distorted. Pursuing a bird like that – did it make any sense, especially when it wasn't an ordinary bird?

"Sahyung! Sahyung! Can't I just stick a needle in its wings and take the message? Just tell me! I'll make bird skewers for you!"

"The message isn't important right now. What matters is where the bird is going. It can't fly if you stick a needle in it! Just follow it!"

"I can't follow it, that's why I'm saying this!"

"Right."

"How on earth are we supposed to follow that?"

"Well... How can we do better?"

"Sago! This person is crazy!"

"Understood."

Chung Myung, observing the Five Swords spewing out death threats, furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

But looking at Hye Yeon's head glistening with sweat, it seemed like it wasn't just an exaggeration.

Come to think of it, even he was starting to feel short of breath. [ (⊙_⊙) ] Something had to be done...

"Argh! Get away from me, you bastard! It's already tough enough as it is!"

"Kiiiiii!"

"Go down! Oh, I'll really go crazy! Is it imitating my owner? At least stick to my shoulders!"

"Oh?"

Chung Myung, seeing Baek-Ah clinging desperately to Jo Gol's head, flashed a mischievous smile.

"Sahyung! Give me that!"

"Huh?"

Chung Myung rushed to Jo Gol in an instant and snatched Baek-Ah clinging to his head.

"Argh! My hair! Let go! Bastard! Let go! I'll become Hye Yeon! My hair will all fall out!"

"...You will definitely fall into hell, Jo Gol Dojang."

Hye Yeon's words, full of venomous and unbecoming of a Buddhist, flowed from his mouth.

"Kiiii?"

In the meantime, Baek-Ah, grabbed at the back of his neck, looked back at Chung Myung. His eyes seemed to pour out, 'What are you trying to do?'

Seeing those bright eyes, Chung Myung smirked.

"Come back!"

"Kii?"

"Eulachaaaaaa!"

Chung Myung stepped on the ground, and forcefully threw Baek-Ah into the sky.

"Kiiiiiiiiii!"

Along with a desperate scream, the small Baek-Ah shot up into the blue sky.

"Is it raining? What's falling?"

"Tears, it's tears..."

"Ah..."

Amidst everyone's astonishment, the white line drawn by the Baek-Ah's body merged with the golden line in the sky. Just before reaching the flying golden pigeon, Baek-Ah tried to grab it with its short front legs.

"Chack?"

But as soon as Baek-Ah lowered its head slightly, the golden pigeon, unimpressed, effortlessly dodged its front legs.

Then, with a casual turn of its head, the golden pigeon delivered a single 'chirp' sound to the Baek-Ah and continued to accelerate forward.

"Kaaaaaah!"

A harsh cry came from Baek Ah's mouth. Being ridiculed by a bird the size of its head was a matter of pride. Unfortunately, the headstrong temperament similar to Chung Myung's didn't last long.

"...Kii?"

The soaring Baek-Ah gradually came to a slow stop. At the same time, the previously furrowed eyes of Baek-Ahwidened.

And then, in an instant...

"Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii."

No matter how extraordinary the creature, it couldn't defy the laws of nature. The falling Baek-Ah began to plummet, spewing tears and violently flailing its short limbs.

"Oh, Baek-ah!"

"Catch it! Catch it! If he falls as it is, he'll really die!"

Whether it was a spirit creature or a deity, thoughts of surviving a fall from such a height were out of the question. the Panicking Five Swords exerted all their strength to fly towards the spot where Baek-ah was falling.

"Too far!"

"Hey, you crazy person! Is it reasonable to catch that by running?"

"Somehow catch it!"

However, how could a person run to catch something thrown by hand? The moment everyone's faces turned contemplative at the sight of Baek-ah falling from the sky was the very moment.

"Amitabha."

"Huh?"

Jo Gol flinched and looked back. His eyes caught the image of Hye Yeon, smiling with an extremely benevolent face that did not fit the situation.

"Monk?"

Seriously?

"Go! Dojang! Oooohhh!"

"Hey, you crazy bastard!"

Paaat!

With all his strength, Hye Yeon threw Jo Gol forward. Emotions slightly slipped, or rather, only emotions were in that throw, and Jo Gol's body turned into a streak of black light, shooting forward.

Jo Gol, flying like a shell, spun his body to catch the falling Baek-ah.

"Oh!"

"Monk! Amazing!"

Kwoong! Kwoooong! Kwoooooooong!

Unable to control his speed, Jo Gol's body bounced off the ground like a ball, but to the other Five Swords, that fact was already unimportant. After all, the little white weasel would be unharmed.

"Amitabha. Dojang's sacrifice will not be forgotten. Rest in peace."

"I'm not dead! Damn it!"

"Let's go!"

Those who hurriedly approached caught the sight of Jo Gol lying down with foam in his mouth. Everyone's faces froze in an instant.

"Oh, Baek-ah!"

"Are you okay?"

"That bastard's stomach needs to be a little firmer."

"Let's see. Are you okay?"

Everyone rushed forward, fussing over Baek-Ah, who was half-conscious on Jo Gol's belly. Then they lifted Baek-Ah and patted him.

Meanwhile, the dust cloud created by their footsteps settled on Jo Gol's face, lying there quietly.

"Kiiii!"

Baek-Ah, coming to his senses, raised his head. Then, still hanging from Tang Soso's arms, he fiercely swung his short front legs, full of anger, trying to strike someone.

"Give it here."

Chung Myung grabbed Baek-Ah's neck firmly and pulled. Baek-Ah, using both hands, tried to scratch Chung Myung's face.

"Remember?"

"Kaaaaah!"

"Do you remember!"

"...Kii?"

"It's the smell. The smell! I heard that once you smell something, you can follow it for a thousand miles?"

"...."

After thinking hard about those words, Baek-Ah stretched its neck and lightly twitched its pitch-black nose.

Sniff, sniff.

After sniffing for a while, Baek-Ah's two eyes widened.

"Kii!"

As if having caught the scent of Millenium Golden Pigeon, Baek-Ah vigorously nodded. Chung Myung smiled and gently placed Baek-Ah on the ground.

"Good. Lead the way!"

"Kii!"

Baek-Ah, turning his body in a stroke, leaped forward like a small sword.

"Stick with him!"

"Got it!"

"Oh! Right. We didn't really need to follow the bird's butt."

"If you look at this bird once in a while, your head really spins, right?"

"Let's go, Baek-Ah! Run carefully."

Everyone joined together and ran forward.

Observing the scene from behind, Hye Yeon's expression momentarily became peculiar.

'Until just now, didn't that Baek-Ah throw a fit about not wanting to run?'

Whether it was a spiritual creature or something else, ultimately, a beast was a beast. It seemed it had completely forgotten about it.

"Hehe."

However...

Why did it feel like even he had forgotten something? Dust rose like clouds from the ground the Five Swords moved away from and then slowly settled.

"That dog..."

In that dust cloud, Jo Gol, foaming at the mouth, revealed his appearance.

"...Guys."

A clear tear fell from Jo Gol's eyes.

❀ ❀ ❀

"Leaving a person behind?"

"Gol-ah.... you've already said that ten times."

"No, how can you leave a person behind!"

"...Now it's eleven times."

Yoon Jong covered his ears with his fingers. Jo Gol, who had recovered his senses and followed, was pouring out his anger without stopping.

"No matter how you put it, I'm a human! How can I be worse than a beast?"

"Well, Gol-ah. Think the other way around."

"Yes?"

"People have to handle themselves, while animals should be taken care of. How could we treat you like an animal?"

"...."

Yoon Jong slung his arms around Jo Gol's shoulders and grinned.

"Do you understand now?"

"Just shut up."

"Aish. It didn't work."

Baek Cheon, who was smiling bitterly while watching the two, looked around.

"But where on earth have we come to?"

"Well, I don't know."

"I'm not familiar with this terrain. Does anyone know Henan well?"

At those words, everyone turned to Hye Yeon. As if responding to their expectations, Hye Yeon nodded.

"Haven't we been running eastward continuously?"

"Yes, that's right."

"If we keep going like this... we'll probably reach there."

"There?"

"Kaifeng (开封)."

At those words, everyone's faces stiffened slightly.

"If it's Kaifeng..."

"Yes."

Hye Yeon nodded.

"That's where the headquarters of the Beggar's Union is."

"Ugh."

A low groan escaped from Baek Cheon's mouth.

They hadn't checked hurriedly because they were already chasing, but when you thought about it, it made sense. Those who would send out a letter upon seeing them would undoubtedly be people from the Beggar's Union. In that case...

"Chung Myung!"

"Yeah?"

"Is the place you're heading to Kaifeng, the headquarters of the Beggar's Union?"

Hearing those words, Chung Myung chuckled.

"I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't have come all the way here if I didn't know that the Beggar's Union's headquarters was in Kaifeng."

"Is that so?"

That's why it was all the more incomprehensible. If the destination was Kaifeng, there was no need for such a cumbersome process. So where were they heading now?

"Why did you come here then?"

"I already said, I didn't come here to get something, did I? It turns out it was here after I came and saw."

"...Huh?"

For a moment, Baek Cheon's face blanked. What kind of strange talk was this?

"Oh, so!"

Chung Myung scratched his head.

"I didn't mean to search under the lamp specifically, but when I groped around, it turned out to be under the lamp. That's it."

"Ah."

Baek Cheon instantly understood the meaning of those words.

"So, the place you're looking for wasn't the headquarters, but it's right here in Kaifeng?"

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Ah, I understand what you mean."

Baek Cheon nodded vigorously. In that situation, it made sense. The place Chung Myung was looking for wasn't the headquarters, but it happened to be in Kaifeng. It was just a coincidence that those two things overlapped.

"Then, we can just ignore the headquarters and continue following them."

"Yeah, right. Simple."

"Yes, simple...."

Baek Cheon's face twisted for a moment.

"Wait a minute."

"Yeah?"

"...Considering that we've been chasing that letter, isn't the location it's heading to a place even the Begga's Union wants to hide?"

"That's right!"

"Normally, wouldn't someone try their best to prevent anyone from coming near that place?"

"Aiya! Our Dong Ryong has become smart again. Did you get smarter by sweating a bit?"

Although Chung Myung teased, Baek Cheon had no energy to respond at the moment.

"Yeah, right. That's true. If you think about it..."

At that moment, Baek Cheon's eyes began to see the appearance of a large city in the distance.

"That... You mean we just have to avoid the eyes of the Beggar's Union and enter the place that the Beggar's Union is trying to hide?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"In the Beggar's Union's territory?"

"..."

"...In Kaifeng, where there are more beggars than commoners, avoiding the eyes of Beggar's Union and infiltrating the location that Beggar's Union is hiding?"

"Uh...."

Everyone's steps slowly came to a halt. Even Baek-Ah, who had been running with all his might, stood straight, staring at Chung Myung.

Facing those gazes, Chung Myung also stopped his feet and fell into deep thought.

His expression changed colorfully, and then an awkward voice flowed out.

"Uh...."

"What, got something to say?"

"Actually, this is, uh… … ."

Chung Myung smiled brightly.

"The plan was sound."

Hearing that simple statement, Baek Cheon also smiled brightly at Chung Myung.

"Just die. You crazy fucker."

I knew it would be like this.

I knew it.