Chapter 30 The Black Chamber Raid Incident – 4

Chapter 30: The Black Chamber Raid Incident – 4

The riverbank, writhing like a living black dragon, surged violently toward Seolpung.

It was a fierce attack, like a dragon lashing out with its tail.

But even at this moment, Seolpung had not made up his mind.

The image of his mother, who had wept for him in his childhood before passing away, remained etched in Seolpung’s memory like a brand.

Having lived alone with his grandfather deep in the mountains for so long after that, women held no different meaning to him than the memory of his mother.

Therefore, he always found it difficult to interact with women.

Much less could he even imagine laying a hand on one.

At least, that had been the case until now.

But Seolpung knew.

That someday, he would have to face a woman as an enemy and fight her. That if he still couldn’t bring himself to lay a hand on her then, he might cause his comrades to die because of him.

As the black blade lashed fiercely at his body, Seolpung closed his eyes tightly.

Then, like a cat, his body spun mid-air, his new technique lightly gliding over Heukpyeon.

POW!

The moment Black Blade struck the ground in vain, Yaunxiang’s lips curled slightly upward.

“Huh?”

With her smile, Black Blade’s movements grew even more fierce and powerful.

Coiled around the snowstorm, the black dragon lashed its tail in all directions.

CRASH!

Swoosh!

But Seolpung, eyes closed, was also moving faster and faster.

Like a cat darting through the bushes, he nimbly dodged and weaved, rendering all those attacks futile.

Then, as if fully awakened from her drowsiness, Yawunxiang, her eyes now clear, shouted in an excited voice.

“How splendid! How about you try this one!”

Her whip, writhing wildly, split into five in an instant.

It was the Nine-Tailed Whip Technique, which created nine afterimages at its peak.

Just as the five whips were about to rain down on Seolpung from all directions, his body, which had been tightly coiled, vanished in an instant.

Crack!

He had darted away at a speed most martial artists couldn’t even follow with their eyes.

Seolpung’s form, now a streak of light, was suddenly bearing down on Yawunhyang’s very eyes.

“Hmph!”

But Yawunxiang snorted in derision.

While others assumed her close combat would be weak since she wielded the long spear, her dagger skills were actually no weaker than her spear.

Already prepared, Ya Yun-hyang drew the dagger in her left hand like lightning, ready to strike at Seolpung as he charged.

But Seolpung struck first.

Seolpung, who had somehow already grasped the hidden weapon, flung his hand toward her.

Whoosh!

“Throwing darts?!”

Startled, Youn-hyang hastily pressed the dagger to her chest, attempting to block the dart.

But nothing flew toward her.

“What?!”

It was a trick.

Realizing she’d been tricked, Yawunxiang tried to swing her dagger again, but Seolpung had already closed the distance. With a hand wrapped in qi, he parried the dagger.

Yawunxiang gritted her teeth.

She couldn’t lose this easily.

“Yik!”

Her dagger moved nimbly, dodging Seolpung’s hand as it tried to slash him. But by the time the dagger barely grazed his mask, Seolpung’s fingers were already pinching the blood vessel at her throat.

Thud!

Yawunhyang’s eyes went blank.

To be subdued so easily without even being killed—it was a perfect defeat.

In her fading vision, Seolpung’s bare face, revealed by the slashed mask, was the last thing she saw.

Then she lost consciousness.

Seolpung, who had subdued her, wore a troubled expression.

Of all things, he had shown his face. Sunwoo Jin had specifically ordered that if he ever showed his face, he must be killed without fail.

If he had intended to kill her from the start, this wouldn’t have happened. But because he chose to subdue her instead of killing her, he revealed his face. And now that he had revealed his face, he had to kill her. Seolpung felt darkness closing in around him.

But after a moment’s hesitation, Seolpung ultimately decided not to kill her.

After all, she hadn’t killed the others earlier.

He couldn’t be the one to kill a kind woman who had chosen not to kill others.

Reasoning with himself that it was not because she was a woman that he spared her, Seolpung carefully laid her down on a soft spot in the empty prison cell and hurried out.

***

The moment Biseoyoung arrived at the warehouse, he knew he had come to the right place.

Three warriors were surrounding a woman, attempting to rape her.

Beside them, a girl who appeared to be her younger sister, a teenager in her mid-teens, was tightly bound with ropes, crying and screaming.

“Stop this at once! You beasts worse than animals! Stop this immediately!”

But they only chuckled.

Two men held the woman, who appeared to be the older sister, while a third laughed and tried to pull down her pants.

“Heh heh heh! Looks like I’m in for a special experience today!”

“Hurry up and finish! The next one is waiting!”

“Don’t worry. That rabbit won’t last long. Kwahahaha!”

Just as the man, grinning greedily, finally pulled down his pants and the captive woman’s eyes filled with despair,

An enraged Biseyoung flew like a meteor toward the man’s back.

Thud!

His sword severed the man’s neck in an instant.

The remaining men cried out in shock.

“Kang Ga-ya!”

“What, what is this?!”

The men hastily dropped the woman and retreated, grabbing their weapons.

But the speed of Biseoyoung, the great disciple of the Bichong Sect, exceeded their wildest imaginations.

His sword sliced through the neck of one man, then lunged at the man on the left. The blade sliced diagonally through the body of the man who was just about to grasp his weapon.

Puhak!

“Gahhh!”

“Damn it!”

When Biseyeong, having killed the second man, turned his head to face the remaining one, the man had already drawn his sword with a face twisted in rage.

“You bastard, how dare you!”

Biseyeong clicked her tongue.

“Tch!”

Her heart was racing.

Thanks to Bae Jong-gwan causing a ruckus near the main gate, there was no one near the warehouse, but even so, he had made too much noise.

What’s more, the stance of the opponent who had drawn his sword looked anything but ordinary.

“Haah!”

A hazy mist-like substance was visible at the tip of the blade of the man charging at him.

It was a sword spirit.

‘Damn it, he’s a top-tier warrior!’

Biseoyoung screamed inwardly, using the Heavenly Wind Step to deftly parry the opponent’s attack.

The opponent’s skill level seemed to be only top-tier lower-grade, so it didn’t appear immediately dangerous.

But for Bise-yeong, who needed to kill the man quickly and take the women, it was an undeniably troublesome situation.

Moments later, the man, who had just unleashed a storm of sword strikes in a furious assault but failed to hit Biseoyoung, sneered as if he finally understood.

“You bastard, you can’t even create a sword aura. You’re nothing but a second-rate scum, relying only on your swift divine technique.”

Bisaeng gritted his teeth.

But he had no retort.

His current internal energy cultivation far exceeded forty years; by internal energy alone, it was power worthy of a mid-tier first-rate practitioner.

Yet despite his relentless efforts, he simply could not forge a sword.

Despite his ample power, the realm of the Sword Qi Merchant remained elusive to Bi Sa-yeong, like a mirage that refused to grant itself to him.

The man no longer bothered trying to catch the elusive Bi Sa-yeong.

He simply raised his voice to call out to the people.

“Intruder! There’s an intruder in this warehouse!”

Bisaeng’s heart grew anxious.

It felt like he was about to ruin everything.

Of all places, this had to happen right where he’d discovered the daughters of the Shengsiguai.

“You bastard!”

Without a second thought, Biseyang lunged forward, throwing himself at the man. He couldn’t possibly tolerate the idea that everything was being ruined because of him.

Then, as if waiting for this moment, the man swung his sword at Biseyoung. It seemed he had been aiming for this from the start.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sword met sword in countless clashes.

The gap between a first-rate and a second-rate swordsman wasn’t merely about whether one could wield sword energy or not.

It was a vast difference in every aspect: the ability to manipulate internal energy to generate sword energy, and the enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, and senses that came with it.

It was a gap as stark as that between a cat and a lynx.

But Biseoyoung felt no such gap at all right now.

Speed, strength, experience.

He felt he was not inferior in any aspect except for his sword technique.

He realized.

The skill of the man now clashing with him was far inferior to that of the squad leaders, Sunwoojin, Lady Cheongyeon, or Lady Na he had faced before.

A smile finally appeared on Biseoyoung’s face.

At this level, he felt his current self would be more than sufficient.

As his confidence returned, his Bisheng Sword Technique, operated through the Kuaiji Mind Method, began accelerating its speed.

Originally renowned for its swiftness, the Flying Sword Sect’s sword techniques were mostly executed with swift strikes.

But speed alone couldn’t subdue an opponent.

No matter how fast, once the eyes grew accustomed to it, defense became possible. For practitioners of swift techniques, the most crucial skill was controlling the pace—varying the speed of the technique to create openings in the opponent.

But right now, Bi Sa-yeong showed no such variation in pace.

Completely immersed in the fight, he only poured out rapid strikes like a downpour.

Chai chai chai chai chai chai!

Faster, faster.

It was as if he were casting a spell upon himself.

As Biseyoung’s strikes grew faster and faster, the man’s hands grew dizzy. Finally, he let out a battle cry that sounded like a scream.

“Gaaaaaah!”

In that instant, Basa-yeong’s blade sliced through the man’s defense at its fastest speed yet, grazing his body.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

A hazy trail of energy stretched a full inch from the tip of the sword that had sliced through the man’s body.

“Haah, haah, haah.”

Behind Biseyoung, who stood motionless, panting with a dazed expression, the man’s chest split open, spewing blood before collapsing to the ground.

Thud! Crash!

“Ha, ha ha, ha ha ha. So this is the sword energy.”

Biseoyoung smiled.

The sensation of the internal energy transmitted to the very tip of the sword, as if it were her own body, delivered a pleasantly thrilling sensation.

Then, suddenly, the bound girl cried out.

“Hero! Please help me!”

Snapping back to his senses, Biseoyoung hurriedly cut the ropes binding them and asked.

“Are you two the daughters of the Demon Hero of the Life-Death Sect?”

“Yes! I’m the daughter! My brother is the son!”

Huh?

Biseoyoung didn’t understand the girl’s answer at first and asked again.

“…What did you say, young lady?”

Then the girl answered again.

“I’m the only daughter! That one over there is my brother, a boy!”

“…Huh?”

And when he looked again at the person he had thought was his sister, it was a man… who looked incredibly beautiful.

Though he had a slender build and a pretty face that looked exactly like a woman’s, both the clothes he wore and his flat chest, visible through his partially unbuttoned shirt, were unmistakably male.

Stunned, Biseyoung asked.

“Wait, then what about those guys earlier…?”

Then, in a shy voice, the person she thought was her brother answered softly.

“They said I was pretty and unique…”

“Gah…”

Gripping the back of his neck at her words, Biseyoung regretted killing them so easily earlier.

But unfortunately, there was no time to kill them again.

“You two, do you know lightness skills? We’re getting out of here right now!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

The sound of footsteps from people running toward them grew louder and louder.

***

We all safely escaped the Black Chamber and reunited at the remote Gwanje Myo, our rendezvous point.

The squad leader must have been worried about Biseoyoung, as he had joined us early and moved with us.

I was the first to see Bae Jong-gwan, his upper garment torn to shreds with knife wounds, and asked anxiously.

“Jong-gwan, you’ve been through a lot. Are you hurt anywhere? Your clothes look like you went through something really rough.”

I regretted whether I had assigned him too difficult a role.

Then Bae Jong-gwan answered with a hearty laugh.

“Hahahaha! Don’t worry about me. That officer over there was amazed by my external martial arts, so I just showed him a bit more. Seems he was completely smitten by the sheer power of my skills. Wahahahaha!”

…It seems I worried for nothing.

Then he looked at the daughters of the family in distress… or rather, the son and daughter.

The handsome son still looked deeply shaken, his face dark and his mouth shut tight. The daughter, now sixteen, managed to thank us with surprising composure.

“Thank you for saving us. My brother and I nearly faced a terrible fate. When even our father abandoned us, we thought it was all over…”

As she spoke, the girl’s eyes reddened again, her emotions seemingly welling up once more.

“Young lady…”

I hesitated for a moment, unsure what words of comfort to offer a girl so young, when Bisea-yeong spoke.

“Indeed, Lord Saengsaegwe is a remarkable man. To endure his children’s resentment just to save them.”

At Biseoyoung’s words, the girl looked puzzled and asked.

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean how he refused the demand to trade Young-dan for you, and instead placed a bounty on Young-dan. We were able to save you because Lord Saengsaegwe did that. He made the Black Shang Leader judge you worthless and force him to pull out all his forces to capture you. Right, Jin?”

I always felt this way, but that guy Biseoyoung could be pretty cool sometimes.

The problem is it happens far too rarely.

I nodded in agreement with Biseoyoung’s words.

“That’s right. Conversely, if we had tried to exchange the Eternal Pill for the two of you as the Black Chamber Master demanded, even the venerable Lord of Life and Death would have been captured by him. Then, to save the two of you, he would have had to spend his life imprisoned in the Black Chamber, manufacturing Eternal Pills.”

At that, the son snapped his head up and asked.

“Is… is that really true? That Father deliberately did that to save us?”

Bisa Yeong spoke as if exasperated.

“Don’t ask us. Ask yourselves. Would your father abandon you just because he was stingy about a few Eternal Pills?”

The son and daughter of Saengsaegweui faced each other and shook their heads violently.

“No, absolutely not.”

“Exactly. Those spirit stones can be made again. So then…”

The shock they felt seemed to stem less from the ordeal they’d endured and more from the disappointment that their father had given up on them.

Now that they knew the truth, the son greeted him with a face that had clearly brightened.

“Thank you! Without you, we would have died like fools, never understanding our father’s true intentions! It was so simple if you just thought about it. Truly, truly, thank you!”

“That’s right! We’re so grateful! How can we ever repay this kindness…”

His younger sister, finally acting her age, shed tears and hugged her brother.

It seemed she had suffered greatly.

Watching them with pride, Biseyoung suddenly asked me.

“Well then, shouldn’t we go rescue the Elder of the Life-and-Death Sect now?”

Team Leader Seolpung also chimed in with a smile.

“Exactly. Seeing them like that makes me want to rescue him quickly.”

Their enthusiasm made my own resolve surge.

But there was something we had to do first.

I led the siblings to the back to rest, then slammed the huge bundle I’d brought down in front of the group with a loud thud.

“Alright, before we go, let’s take a look at this first.”

Everyone focused on it with curious eyes.

“Honestly, I’ve been wondering since earlier. What on earth did you bring?”

“I was curious too. A bundle as big as you? Did you kidnap a few people or something?”

I grinned and finally opened the bundle.

Everyone’s eyes and mouths dropped open wide.

“Wh-what is this?!”

“No way! What is this?!”

“Whoa! What is all this?!”

I smiled contentedly, relishing their reactions.

And rightly so.

I’d scraped together everything that looked good from the Black Chamber’s warehouse.

As for valuables, I only took gold bars, leaving the jewels behind.

I figured it would be a headache if I got tracked down for no reason.

As for the elixirs, I’d brought back every promising-looking one I could find.

Truthfully, while saving lives and resolving crises this time, what he ultimately wanted most were the elixirs. That goal seemed to have been far exceeded already.

Finally, he took the weapons that looked promising.

From among them, I first handed the squad leader two arm guards.

“A gift. They’re called the Mighty Tiger Guards. I heard they were modeled after the Blood Dragon Guards.”

“Huh? Modeled after the Blood Dragon Clan?!”

The squad leader showed interest at the mention of the Blood Dragon Squad.

The Blood Dragon Claw was a secret weapon used by Mak Jong-gi, the Blood Assassin of the Dark Sect.

The four long claws that sprang freely from his arm guards were known as a deadly object of terror, not only to those facing them for the first time but also to those who knew of them.

Adding claws to a martial artist already threatening just by his physique meant its power was beyond question.

After a cursory glance, the squad leader seemed to grasp its principle. He strapped on the arm guard and gave his wrist a slight twist.

Clack!

“Whoa!”

The squad leader marveled at the four long claws extending from each hand.

Then, as he concentrated, crimson energy surged from the claws like flickering flames.

“With these, I can certainly stab, but also slash. I won’t even need to crush the mines; I can easily cut through them. Thank you, Jin. This is the best gift.”

Next, he presented Bise-yeong with a curved sword engraved with the name Danwol and a dagger connected by a thin silver chain.

Biseoyoung immediately drew Danwol and marveled at its piercingly bright blade light.

“Ooh! Magnificent! Thank you, Jin! But what about this dagger?”

He explained to the satisfied Biseyeong with a pleased smile.

“This is just my thought, but I figured it’d be good for you to learn dagger techniques. You’re training in hidden arts anyway, right? That silver thread is made of something that doesn’t break even by sword energy. If you master it, you might be able to cut down an opponent with just the thread alone.”

“Oh, that’s great?! But you’re training in dark arts too, aren’t you?”

He chuckled at Bi Sa-yeong’s words and replied.

“Heh heh heh, I’ve already got one.”

“Keeh, well then, I’ll gladly accept it.”

Finally, he presented Bae Jong-gwan with a crescent blade.

It was a weapon with a long shaft that could be split into two halves to use as a single-headed spear, and it seemed to weigh over ten kan.

It was the heaviest item among those he had brought.

But Bae Jong-gwan, upon receiving the crescent blade, smiled apologetically and shook his head.

“I appreciate the thought, Jin, but I’m sorry. My own body is enough for me. What use would a weapon be to someone like me who’s mastered external martial arts? Ha ha ha ha!”

Yeah, I figured he’d say something like that.

But wielding a weapon meant gaining an advantage in distance, regardless of its sharpness.

So, my judgment was that Bae Jong-gwan, whose hand-to-hand combat skills were weak compared to his sturdy physique, absolutely needed that street advantage.

I replied with a laugh.

“Of course, I think so too. Jong-gwan, you don’t need a weapon like that. But think about it. If a big guy with a physique like yours were to fight, swinging this crescent blade like a storm, who do you think people would think of?”

“Huh? Who would they think of?”

Looking puzzled, he asked. I looked around the Guan Di Mausoleum where we stood and answered.

“Wouldn’t they think of Guan? Guan Yu, the greatest warrior of the Three Kingdoms.”

“…Guan Yunzhang?”

“Yes, just imagining it is truly fantastic. If Lady Tian were to see that sight…”

Faced with this relentless barrage—from Guan Yu, the eternal idol of warriors, to Lady Tian—Bae Jong-gwan could endure no longer and declared his surrender.

“Oh, really? Should we?”

“Of course!”

Of course, he didn’t bother mentioning that people were more likely to think of Zhen Wei or Xu Zhu than Guan Yu.

Nor did he mention that he wasn’t quite sure how Lady Tian would react if she saw that sight.

Anyway, he only said “if she saw it,” so it wasn’t exactly a lie, was it?

Besides, if using that increased Bae Jong-gwan’s survival rate, wouldn’t that ultimately be a good thing? He rationalized it to himself.

Sergeant Seolpung, who had been examining the Manghojo with a satisfied look, suddenly asked me.

“By the way, what did you decide to take, Jin? Surely you didn’t neglect your own share while making sure we got ours?”

Good people tend to assume others are as good as they are.

But I wasn’t like the squad leader.

I grinned and replied.

“Of course not. I took care of myself, naturally. I found something I really liked.”

Saying that, I pulled out the sword I’d taken and showed it to him.

It was the sword ‘Mukrang’—the one that had instantly captivated me the moment I saw it.

Entirely painted black, from hilt to scabbard, Mukrang was a magnificent sword adorned with the head of a wolf howling at the moon.

The squad leader marveled at its splendid appearance.

“Ooooh! Impressive!”

“Isn’t it?”

But the most impressive thing about this blade was undoubtedly the mesmerizing glow emanating from its blade when drawn. The sight of it effortlessly cleaving a rock in two during a test strike made one wonder if it could even split a mountain in two without a sword’s strength.

A fine weapon is a warrior’s friend and treasure. My comrades, having gained such good friends, were all beaming with joy, too busy examining their own weapons to do anything else.

I felt a deep sense of pride.

Suddenly, I thought.

Wouldn’t I be happy too?

I had already prepared gifts for the female squad members who hadn’t come this time.

My heart fluttered at the thought of the expressions on the faces of the team members who received them, especially Miss Sojeo’s.

Smiling contentedly, I soon clapped my hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright, alright. We’ll test the weapons in actual combat, so let’s get going now! But… since we’re all a bit hungry before departure, how about each of you take an elixir?”

My words drew hollow laughter from my companions.

My internal energy cultivation is now at the minimum requirement to reach its peak in just a few more years—the first cycle.

In the past, I thought it was a waste to use a potion when I only needed a little more to reach it. But with so many potions left over, why hold back?

It was finally time to fill my internal energy to the brim.