Ch 378 - The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

**Doh Moon – 5** "Quickly, find the Two-Moon Leader!!!" Near the banks of the Yangtze River, close to the tavern where the Birth of the Chief took place. The lady’s face, usually unflinching in its dignified composure, was now filled with sheer panic. "Never thought he would actually take the Revival Pill... We must find Kang! Bring me a torch!" The Revival Pill (回魂丸). It was the drug Dan Wan Gi took as a last resort to unleash potential strength momentarily. Though used by the warriors of the dark factions as a last ditch effort for survival, the aftermath was so severe that it was said one might save their life at the cost of becoming crippled. "All the remaining Doh Moon rebels have been subjugated!" "Enough of that! Quickly, find the Chief!" "Light up the surroundings!" "Bring any available boats around here! Quickly, set sail!" The periphery along the Yangtze River became as bright as midday. Although subduing the remnants of Doh Moon, who had released their latent power, was not costly, it did consume precious time. The Hao Mun warriors frantically scoured the flickering riverbanks with their torches, yet not a silhouette was visible on the surface of the water. Could they have been swept away by the Yangtze’s current? As this unsettling thought passed through someone’s mind. "Kang!! Yoon!!! Ho!!! Grrrkmph!" "Blergh! Get off! You idiot!" "There! To the right! In the center! They’re over there!" Of course, neither of them was meant to perish so easily. Entangled against the current in the midst of the Yangtze, it was evident—they were very much alive. "Kang, little brother!" "Wait! I’m coming right away!" "You fools!!! What are you doing!!! You can see Dan Wan Gi and the Chief!!! Quickly, send a boat! Huh?!" "What’s that?" Just as everyone rushed to rescue the two from the water, a sleek black boat cut through the darkness, halting midstream. It stopped near the entangled duo. Could it have paused in goodwill having sighted the distressed? "It’s indeed the Doh Moon Chief’s boat! Hurry, pull the Chief aboard!" Im Ha Yeon's hopes crumbled at the sound resonating from the black boat. "No way! Is it really Doh Moon’s boat?" "Hurry! Set the boats out!" Never did she think the Doh Moon Chief prepared a vessel. Im Ha Yeon shouted urgently. "It’s too late. That’s a fast ship. No matter the craft, nothing can keep up with that boat on this night." A defector from Doh Moon sighed deeply, speaking to those eager to board a vessel quickly. "What are you saying?" "You damned bastard! If they planned to escape, they should’ve fled together! Curse them for sneaking off prepared and taking off solo like this!" The Doh Moon officer gnashed his teeth, lamenting at the sudden appearance of the black boat. While the Hao Mun fighters struggled to lift anchors or row the ferry boats, a rope was thrown from the black boat. It was too far. Even if they set sail now, it would be too late. They wouldn’t catch up. "…Are we just letting Dan Wan Gi slip away like this?" An empty voice murmured from somewhere, the silence dragging down like a blackened shroud. To let Doh Moon Chief, the instigator of civil strife, escape, and the black-haired chief, heroically resolving the internal conflict, staving off death. As a deep sense of defeat enveloped the Hao Mun warriors, it was then— "No, it’s too early to give up." "Leader?" All eyes, marred with dismay, turned to the Leader of Hao Mun. There was no trace of defeat or despair on Im Ha Yeon’s face. She hadn’t given up yet. ‘I must find a way.’ Im Ha Yeon fixated her gaze on the black boat. Certainly, it was the bleakest of circumstances. But when had her love ever conceded at the brink of despair? By his side, she learned never to surrender, even at the worst moments. Rather than succumb, she took a deep breath, always figuring out the next best move. Do as he did. Leverage her strengths and exhaust all means until she discovers a solution. "There is a way." Im Ha Yeon had finally unearthed a method. "What do you mean?" "You can jump across the boats floating on the water." The multitude of vessels afloat on the river. Just as constellations form with stars against the night sky, to Im Ha Yeon’s eyes, the jet-black Yangtze appeared as a path of boats. "What?" "Indeed! Let’s go together." There was no time to waste. The two nodded at each other before moving their feet. "Wait, that’s—that’s doomed to fail!" "We can do it!" Boats aren’t fixed structures on land. For ordinary folks, maintaining balance atop a boat is already a challenge. The occasionally appearing pirates did not bother to master water techniques for no reason, combating the swift currents of the Yangtze. It seemed impossible for a person to leap from boat to boat amidst the wavy waters. Even if boats floated there, the distance between them was monumental. The Hao Mun warrior, attempting to dissuade them, could only watch the astonishing spectacle unfold. "Good heavens! What in the world is that?!" The thief who became a legend in the central plains and the one who would become a legend were executing an extraordinary feat. The father and daughter propelled from the decks, utilized ferries as levers, and embraced the masts’ recoil to narrow the distance to the black boat. "Someone’s coming!" "Something’s not right! Quickly! Pull the Chief aboard!" Naturally, those on the black boat spotted the approach. "Chief! Take my hand! What? Y-your hand?" "Don't mind me! Just haul this barbarian up quickly!" Dan Wan Gi, drenched in internal injuries, barely hoisted himself onto the deck. "Understood! Damn it! Those guys are closing in!" "Unfurl the sails!" Barely after the captor of Kang Yoon Ho pulled him aboard, the sails unfurled on the vessel. "No!!!" Im Ha Yeon's anguished cry echoed over the Yangtze. "Bring a knife! If we catch the barbarian, slit his throat right away!" Midstream on the Yangtze. Standing on a small skiff, Im Ha Yeon cast a heartbroken gaze at the black boat's deck. The vessel, seemingly indifferent to the desperate pursuit of the two, steadily widened the gap. Meanwhile, Im Ha Yeon had run out of boats to leap onto. This can’t be where it all ends. I cannot give up like this. Im Ha Yeon stared at the rushing currents of the Yangtze River. "Ha Yeon! Don’t you dare think of—!" Wang could sense his daughter’s resolve and tried to dissuade her, but upon catching a glimpse of her eyes, words failed him. Those eyes, now grown and determined, harbored thoughts only of one man. Im Ha Yeon turned to her father, whom she had reunited with after ten years. "Losing him would be worse." Since when had it been? In the beginning, all she wanted was to shed the status of an escaped courtesan. But at some point, the issue of being a runaway became secondary to her. She wanted to be by his side. She wanted to live with him. Her life's goals had shifted imperceptibly over time. What use would it be to shed the label of a runaway courtesan? What purpose would it serve to become a famed honorable thief? What point was there to being a Leader? Without him, her life would no longer hold meaning. Im Ha Yeon plunged into the water. "Ha Yeon!!!" She started with the floating plank. She had practiced for this. Though the martial arts of the ethereal shadow-step were fiction, she had secretly practiced them enough to surprise him when he expressed disbelief at the readers' comments. Now was the time to put that practice into action. Im Ha Yeon's body pushed off the plank, moving toward the next floating debris. "Ugh!" Her ankle submerged in the water. At this rate, she would fall in. No more debris lay around her. Should she return? No. When had he ever given up on her? Had he ever abandoned her, even when faced with challenges insurmountable for ordinary people? ‘I never learned how to give up from him!’ She sharpened her senses. Find a way. Yes, the answer lay with him. The energy coiled within, that precious gift he had bestowed upon her, would unfold should she make her move. The energy, akin to a potent elixir, surged within the woman who rewrote the history of the Two-Moon clan with a mere touch of inner strength. Im Ha Yeon placed her foot atop the rushing water. Her ankle was soaked. It didn’t matter. Her desire to reach her beloved was far greater than her fear of sinking into the water. One step followed another. One step. Two steps. Three steps. Underneath the feet of this martial artist, a new chapter of martial history was being written. "Stepping on water...?" A voice, filled with astounded disbelief, escaped the lips of the thief who had once dominated the martial world. Uncharted realms unfolded at the tip of a woman’s feet. "The Leader is walking on water!!!" For Im Ha Yeon, none of this mattered. Neither the shocked faces of the Hao Mun warriors lined along the Yangtze, nor the miraculous feat occurring at her feet. What truly mattered was that she was getting closer to him. "Today, I'll sever your limbs and feed them to the fish of the Yangtze!" "As if! Come and try!" "Fine, today the fish of the Yangtze will feast! Urgh!" Like a meteor descending from the heavens, a pink arrow struck the Doh Moon Chief's vessel. "Doh Moon Chief!!!" "Lady Ha Yeon?" Im Ha Yeon landed on the deck and turned to look at the face she had yearned to see. Even if they were apart for just a moment, she longed to be with him again. For the person who never gave up on her, it was now her turn to speak. "I’ve come to rescue you."