“Are they coming now?”

Hong Dae-Kwang stretched his neck. He could feel several points of Qi approaching him.

And he was interested,

“Who will it be?”

Mount Hua? The Ghost Clan?

He knew that Mount Hua was better in terms of martial arts, but the Ghost Clan had better footwork.

All of the martial arts the Ghost Clan held were specialized in footwork. This made it so they had better control over their center of gravity, allowing them to move fast and light.

So when footwork was the only topic of discussion, he wouldn’t judge the side of Mount Hua. Even he, who was known in the Beggars Union as someone with expert footwork, found it difficult to predict the outcome.

‘But Mount Hua…’

If it were Mount Hua’s Five Swords, they could not be…

Just then…

Pat!

Something soared high from the top of a bush.

“You did well!”

“Oh?”

The person who came out of the bush kicked the tree at the top of the mountain and turned back, beginning to run back down at the same speed.

‘The Ghost clan?’

He thought it would be Baek Cheon or Yu Yiseol, but surprisingly, it wasn’t them.

“T-The way down is from there!”

“I know!”

The man ran without looking back at Hong Dae-Kwang, who was now very confused.

‘Then Mount Hua?’

At that moment, several people began to come up.

“You did well!”

“I will head back!”

In succession, four people reached the top, and they were all disciples from the Ghost Clan, making him feel shocked.

‘How could this happen?’

What? No matter how fast they were, they couldn’t be winning one-sidedly over Mount Hua. But then he could hear a scream, almost as if to answer him.

“AHHHHH!”

“I will kill him!”

“Eh?”

The voices of several people came ringing in.

He thought the forest was shaking from these shouts, but then the trees bent down as if they would break, and someone burst through.

Baek…. was that Baek Cheon?

A human dyed an odd color ran to the summit on all fours? And Hong Dae-Kwang, who saw their angry eyes, hesitated.

‘It is him.’

But what was with the mud all over his body?

“Ah, B-Baek Cheon Disciple! How did…”

Baek Cheon didn’t even have time to answer as he kicked through the air and touched the tree, almost breaking it, before running back down.

One after another, the disciples of Mount Hua popped out.

‘W-what is with them?’

At least one of them being covered in mud could be understood, but Jo Gul and Yoon Jong were now humans made of clay.

And with each step they took, soil and mud would fall down.

Looking at this bizarre scene, Hong Dae-kwang wondered what this was.

“AHHHH!”

“I will kill him! For sure!”

The two of them ran with beast-like eyes. And then there was silence.

“….”

Hong Dae-Kwang frowned.

Wasn’t this a simple race?

“Then next…”

Swish!

Before he could think of anything, something dark came from the forest.

“…”

Yu Yiseol. She was emanating ghost qi from her hawk-like eyes, and she moved down quickly by kicking the tree.

Hong Dae-Kwang felt a chill run down his spine for no reason.

‘Just what happened?’

It had to be a coincidence that all of Mount Hua’s racers were like this.

“Sasuk!”

Yoon Jong and Jo Gul, who had caught up, called for Baek Cheon.

“…I will kill them.”

But Baek Cheon didn’t even pay attention to them and ran faster, his gaze fixed forward.

And an eerie voice rang out,

“Faster!”

“Oh my! You shocked me!”

Jo Gul looked shocked, and there was Yu Yiseol with her cold face, who had already caught up to them.

Baek Cheon gritted his teeth and said,

“Catch them! I will catch him! I am not losing to him!”

“Yes!”

“Let’s kill them!”

“OHHHH!”

The disciples of Mount Hua began to speed up.

Kwaaak!

As the four men were racing with all their might, a huge shock happened behind them.

“More! Move faster! Use your strength!”

At the cry of Baek Cheon, the other disciples moved.

“Those bastards!”

“Catch them!”

The words of a Toaist should never be shouted out. And contrary to their faces, their speed also increased. They proved, with their entire body, that they would not back down at all.

“I see them!”

“Got it!”

Their eyes were glistening with madness as they caught up to the Ghost Clan disciples.

“Huh? So stubborn.”

Akso smiled at them.

Now, they were no longer competing with footwork any more. It was only about who reached the finish first.

Footwork was just a way to reach their goals faster. Either way, they just had to finish first.

Perhaps Mount Hua also realized this.

“When we arrive, I will give them a good drink and an apology…”

At that moment, the Ghost Clan disciple in the back glanced back, sensing an eerie aura behind them. Seeing what was behind them, he screamed in fright,

“Sa-Sahyung! The people from Mount Hua are gaining!”

“What? Already?”

Akso looked back in shock, and yes, the disciples of Mount Hua were behind them, running like beasts.

“Speed up more! More!”

“W-We are at our limit!”

“Damn it! What kind of Taoist is this fast?”

Unfortunately, even now, Akso was missing one thing. The fact that Mount Hua’s disciples weren’t just Taoists.

“Gul!”

“Grrrr!”

Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong each reached out one hand and grabbed Jo Gul by either shoulder.

“Bite down!”

“Go!”

The two of them threw Jo Gul at the same time and screamed,

“There is no rule against fighting!”

“Bite them!”

Jo Gul, in his madness and surrounded by dried mud, drew his sword.

“Yah, you fucking bastards!”

“Euk!”

“Avoid him!”

The disciples of the Ghost Clan who saw this scattered.

“So slow.”

But they couldn’t escape.

Jo Gul’s sword hit the thigh of one of the fleeing disciples!

“Ack!”

The disciple rolled on the ground as he collapsed, and Jo Gul lightly landed on the ground.

Thud!

But Jo Gul jumped up again, almost as if he didn’t feel pain, and shouted,

“I will take care of this bastard! Keep going!”

“Quickly deal with them!”

“Eh!”

As the other four shot forward, the fallen disciple of the Ghost Clan was shocked.

“How dare they!”

But Jo Gul blocked his path, and a mischievous smile formed on his lips,

“Play with us.”

“A-Avoid!”

“You must want to. You must want to get away.”

Jo Gul smiled at him and raised his sword,

“At the very least, shouldn’t I take you down with me?”

“…”

“Let’s see.”

Jo Gul glanced and rushed at the Ghost Clan disciple who had been left behind.

“The distance?”

“A little further!”

“Damn it!”

Akso gritted his teeth.

He was running forward until his feet hurt, but the distance to the finish wasn’t closing in fast enough. And the distance behind them was only getting smaller.

‘Is our footwork falling behind?’

That was impossible.

The Ghost Clan specialized in martial arts footwork, so they could not lose here. This was a matter of pride for them, they could not lose to a Taoist sect.

“Ju Pyung!”

“Yes, Sahyung!”

“Nice! Stretch out and hold them down by their ankles!”

“Yes!”

Ju Pyung turned around and charged for the disciples of Mount Hua. He pulled things out of his sleeve, and now in his hand were small round rings.

“Take this!”

The rings scattered through the air.

Pung!

They exploded with a roar, and in an instant, a hazy smoke screen filled the path.

‘Now let’s attack those who jump out…’

Just then…

Without hesitation, a black shadow rushed at Ju Pyung, with no fear of this smoke screen.

“Uh?”

Puaaak!

Yu Yiseol’s fist moved in without hesitation, aiming straight at his face.

“Kuaaak!”

Tung! Tung!

Ju Pyung, who was instantly bounced back, continued to roll back, and Yu Yiseol lifted herself up like a hawk looking at its prey. She had no intention of stopping there and descended on him.

Thud!

She climbed on top of Ju Pyung and ground her teeth.

“You are the guy, right?”

“…M-Miss? I am…!”

Puak!

Before he could answer, Yu Yiseol’s fist turned towards Ju Pyung’s chin. Every time she slammed him, sounds rang out.

“I am going first!”

“…how dare you go!”

Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong passed by her side and ran forward.

“M-Miss! Help… Ack! Spare me! Please!”

The aforementioned Miss, however, had no expression of mercy on her face.

“Ackkk! Those fucking leeches!” screamed Akso.

‘No, aren’t they Taoists?’

He didn’t know about the other sects, but shouldn’t a taoist sect be a dignified one?

Even if they did something, shouldn’t they just be running forward?

But these disciples of Mount Hua were nothing like that. They were like wild boars who kept recklessly charging forward.

“Trap?”

“Didn’t work!”

When arrows rained down, they would bounce off their swords, and if the ground collapsed, they would run up without delay. And when the wooden sticks came, they would just grab them with their teeth.

“It cannot be helped! Run! Footwork is going to decide this!”

“Yes!”

The Ghost Clan disciples gnashed their teeth and began to run with all their might.

Kwaak!

They, too, were proud people.

And with their footwork being second to none, they decided to run forward without caring about their opponents.

But…

“Ah, t-they aren’t losing to us, Sahyung!”

“No, what is with them…?”

Akso’s eyes twitched.

‘I-I cannot lose!’

This was the path they used for training. It was different each time, but he knew half the traps and was familiar with the areas where he had to be careful.

And he would still lose?

“ACK!”

Akso pulled up all the qi from his dantian and pushed it all into his legs. As soon as it reached his legs, he shot forward.

His body leaped forward, leaving the others behind.

“Go, Sahyung!”

“Be sure to win!”

As if they instinctively knew what they were supposed to do, his sajaes began to slow down and look for the Mount Hua disciples.

“You cannot go!”

“Hold them down!”

Akso closed his eyes at the sound coming from behind him.

‘I will not forget your sacrifice…’

But at that moment–

“No. These bastards are pretending to be righteous after acting all shitty! I am going to rip your jaw off!”

Uh…

Actually, that was right. Uh, true.

“DIEEEE!”

The screams of his sajaes could be heard following the sounds of punching.

But Akso ran without looking back.

‘More! More!’

His legs were getting weaker. His lungs were running out of breath.

‘I see it!’

At last, he saw the Ghost Clan in the distance.

If he could see it, then with a little more patience, he could win this. And then….

“Ohh?”

“…”

Then, a dark voice came from right behind him.

Unknowingly, Akso looked back and saw a face covered in mud. A smiling face that was bizarre.

“Eh, have you heard of the rules?”

“…”

Uh?

That was what I said earlier…

“Unfortunately.”

White cracks formed on the muddy face, and Baek Cheon’s white teeth could be seen through these cracks.

“I don’t remember them saying there was no fighting either.”

“AHHHHH!”

Akso was frightened, his strength draining, but he continued to run.

‘Little more! Just a little more!’

It felt like the scenery beside him was stretching out, that was how fast he was moving. His heart felt like it would explode, but Akso didn’t stop. Instead, his speed gradually increased.

‘Try catching me, you bastard!’

Sword or not, running was a different story. And no matter how much they run, they cannot catch me!

Phat!

The sound of the ground being kicked for speed was strong.

Realizing that this was the fastest run in his life, he gritted his teeth.

The mountains were passing, he was jumping across the sticks.

He felt pleasure for the first time. And the main gate of his clan began to appear clearer.

20! 10! 3!

Akso, who wasn’t careful till the end, gathered all the leftover strength and kicked the ground. He stretched out his legs to have the flexibility to move swiftly and shot forward.

“I won…”

Tak!

“Uh?”

Akso tilted his head for a moment.

‘What?’

His legs were still floating through the air, they hadn’t touched the ground.

So…

Why did his body stop? Why?

Akso turned his head and saw a man next to him. The man had grabbed him by the neck and had just winked at him.

‘Uh?’

Akso’s eyes watched him.

The man was covered in mud.

“…you.”

Chak!

Akso’s body was thrown straight into the mud. Mud and water splashed around.

“…”

His legs twitched.

Looking down at him, Baek Cheon smiled.

“…there is no such thing in the rules, don’t get me wrong.”

Turning his head lightly, he walked to the Ghost Clan gate with a refreshed face, as if the world had no evil.

…a very small, petty moment of victory he grabbed.