Chapter 166 The Meaning of a Second Life

Chapter 166: The Meaning of a Second Life

While Seon Woo-jin desperately tried to restore his body, Jong Woo, a sturdy, taciturn servant warrior, was running with all his might, carrying a sack filled with soil.

‘The Dark Blood Fragrance…’

Death still didn’t feel real to him.

But it seemed clear that this would likely be his end.

The pursuit by Amhyeolhyang, the king of assassins—wasn’t this something he’d never even dreamed of in his entire life?

There was no way someone like him could survive.

‘Brother Jang, Brother Gong, Brother Yang, Brother Lee.’

Perhaps because he had prepared himself for death, the days spent with his comrades suddenly flashed before his eyes like a galloping horse.

The day he first grasped a sword, the day he ran away from home vowing to become a warrior.

The day he nearly died from inexperience, saved by his sworn brother, the warrior Jang Daeryong.

The day I went to see my parents again at my colleagues’ urging and learned of their unjust deaths, and even the days I avenged them alongside my colleagues.

Though the difficult and sorrowful days were more numerous, it was a life without regret.

And he knew well that it was all because he had met good people along the way.

‘For a vagabond’s life as common as weeds, I’ve been quite lucky.’

That’s what he always thought.

If he had to die, he hoped that death would be for the sake of his good connections…

If only I could put an end to this worthless, fleeting life of a vagabond for the sake of a precious connection, I would have no further wish.

And today.

It seemed that day had finally come.

So it seemed I could go happily.

Even in the afterlife, he could boast to his parents.

That he lived splendidly and died splendidly.

Among the lives of worthless vagabonds, it was still the most splendid life.

Suddenly, after years of merely passing by her face, the face of Yuhyang, the courtesan he had promised a future to not long ago, came to mind.

Her face was now the only regret left.

For just a moment, he had dreamed of a life where he could have children with her and raise them.

But it seemed such a life was never meant to be granted to him.

It wasn’t without regret.

But he thought it was okay.

Where in this world is a life that fades away without a single regret?

So, for someone like him, it must have been a life that achieved more than enough.

Jong-woo silently apologized to her one last time.

‘I’m sorry, Yuhyang. If there is a next life…’

It was at that moment.

Puuuuk!

“!”

A steel ball flew in like a ray of light from behind, piercing Jong-woo’s chest.

It was before he could finish apologizing to Yuhyang.

***

Jong-woo’s body, pierced through the chest, rolled across the ground like a ragdoll.

Then, a ghostly shadow appeared beside him. It was Am Hyeol-hyang.

Am Hyeol-hyang swept a glance over Jong-woo and the sack he held, then muttered.

“A sack filled with dirt?”

Then, with ghostly movement, she moved on without hesitation.

It was heading toward the direction Zhang Daeryong, the warrior who had fled toward the center, was going.

At the same moment, Jang Daeryong, who had fled toward the center, and Gong O-mal, who had fled toward the left, were both running as fast as they could.

But it was only natural that they couldn’t shake off the pursuit of the Dark Blood Sect.

Moments later, the Dark Blood Clan finally caught up to the fleeing Jang Daeryong and muttered.

“Two.”

The time it took him to catch up to Jang Daeryong, who had fled toward the center, was less than a single moment (15 minutes) after capturing Jongwoo.

His fingers flicked the iron ball with force.

Ting!

Then the iron ball flew fiercely once more, piercing Jang Daeryong’s chest.

Thud!

“Guh!”

Leaving only a death rattle, Jang Daeryong could do nothing but collapse, powerless.

Confirming that he too lacked a Sunwoo Jin, the Dark Blood Fragrance vanished like a ghost toward Gong O-mal, who had moved to the left.

Now, capturing the third and final target was merely a matter of time.

***

At that moment.

At the exact moment Jang Daeryong’s chest was pierced.

Seon Woo-jin’s eyes finally snapped open as he practiced qigong underwater.

He immediately thrust his head above the water and exhaled a deep breath.

“Puuuuu!”

The energy wasn’t completely gone yet.

Moreover, just moments ago, Seonwoo Jin had glimpsed the possibility of scaling yet another barrier.

Not long after breaking through the eighty-year barrier of internal energy cultivation, he found himself capable of surpassing the ninety-year barrier.

But the moment he felt certain his body was ready to move, he stopped his qi cultivation without hesitation and surfaced from the water.

He had kicked away the opportunity to surpass the ninety-year barrier.

For martial artists, such opportunities never came easily.

In fact, it was more common for such opportunities to never come, even after a lifetime of waiting.

So perhaps Sun Woo-jin had just kicked away an opportunity that might never come again in his lifetime.

But he didn’t care.

“That sort of thing.”

Seon Woo-jin laughed savagely and looked toward the direction the three rogue warriors had lured the Amhyul-hyang.

Jang the warrior had clearly told Seonwoo Jin to finish channeling his energy and flee in the opposite direction.

But Seonwoo Jin had no intention of following his advice.

He threw himself toward the direction they had gone without hesitation.

POW!

His figure, propelled by the explosive force, shot forward like a beam of light.

Without hesitation, he immediately unleashed the third form of the Moonlit Sword Dance.

Moonlit Sword Dance, Third Form.

Moonlit Illusion.

Instantly, the world was enveloped in a vibrant, multicolored veil.

Whoosh!

It was an extremely dangerous move.

After all, unleashing the Moonlit Flower Sword Dance, Third Form: Hyunmangwol was still a realm beyond Seonwoo Jin’s current capabilities.

But it couldn’t be more dangerous than charging headlong toward the direction where the Dark Blood Fragrance lurked.

So Sunwoo Jin’s actions right now might have been incredibly foolish.

He was throwing away the opportunity the three ronin had risked their lives to create.

But Seon Woo-jin’s resolve was unwavering.

‘I will never again lose my precious people helplessly!’

This resolve was the very meaning and oath of Seon Woo-jin’s second life.

Therefore, violating that vow to prolong his life held no meaning whatsoever for Seon Woo-jin.

Of course, one might question, ‘Weren’t they just people he met briefly? Surely they weren’t precious connections from a past life?’

But Seon Woo-jin could now answer with confidence.

They were indeed his precious people.

Hadn’t he clearly told them before?

‘Since our hearts connected and we crossed the four seasons together, aren’t we close friends?’…

And this time, they had echoed those very words back to him.

So Seonwoo Jin’s dilemma wasn’t whether he should go save them or not.

It was only whether he could save them, and how he should save them.

Soon Woo-jin flew like a ray of light, beginning to devise a way to confront the Dark Cave Clan.

‘Going head-to-head, we obviously don’t stand a chance.’

That was obvious.

If he charged back in after getting beaten like that, that would be the stupidest choice imaginable.

So the only option Seon Woo-jin could choose was to lure him in and then escape.

Of course, he couldn’t be certain that would even work.

‘After all, last time I was ambushed and shot from behind while running.’

But at least back then, he hadn’t known Amhyulhyang was pursuing him.

And he hadn’t even deployed the third form of the Moonlit Sword Dance, the Moon’s Illusion.

So Sunwoo Jin’s thought and hope was that if he fled with all his might while deploying the Moonlight Blade, he might be able to evade the snipers of the Dark Cave Clan.

And that was probably the only possibility.

‘My greatest strength, no matter what anyone says, is my divine technique.’

Having reached that conclusion, Seon Woo-jin immediately gathered his inner energy and shouted.

– Dark Blood Fragrance! I am here! Where are you, Dark Blood Fragrance!

His booming voice, charged with his inner energy, spread out in all directions.

And that moment coincided with the time when Am Hyeolhyang was just about to pursue Gong O-mal and fire an iron ball at him.

“Hm?”

Upon hearing Seon Woo-jin’s voice, Am Hyeol-hyang suddenly smiled faintly.

She retrieved the iron ball she had been about to throw at Gong O-mal.

Killing him would be far too easy, but as a reward for finding Seon Woo-jin quickly, she thought she might spare him.

Wouldn’t they need at least one person to recover their comrades’ bodies?

Having made that decision, his new form transformed back into a ghost and began moving toward the direction from which Seon Woo-jin’s voice had come.

Swish!

Simultaneously, the Gujeolpyeon coiled around Amhyeolhyang’s waist unwound as if alive, beginning to writhe around his body.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Sniping rogue warriors didn’t require anything more than a sliver of a moon.

But when facing Seon Woo-jin, it seemed only right to go this far.

***

Seon Woo-jin advanced like the wind.

Even in that situation, he concentrated all his senses, vigilant in every direction.

His current divine technique speed was about fifty percent of his maximum. At this rate, the Dark Blood Fragrance would undoubtedly catch up soon.

And that thought proved accurate.

His eyes flashed in an instant.

‘They’re coming!’

Seon Woo-jin’s senses were warning him of danger.

And the moment he sensed it, Seon Woo-jin launched into a burst of speed without even checking his surroundings, changing direction diagonally.

Bang!

The steel ball, which hadn’t even registered his rapidly accelerating head, whizzed past.

Whoosh!

The piercing sound came only after the steel ball had passed.

It was an incredible speed.

Had his reaction been even a fraction slower, it would have pierced straight through his heart.

His instinctive dodge, without even confirming the projectile’s presence, had been an excellent choice.

Seon Woo-jin immediately changed direction and used his burst dash toward the opposite direction the iron ball had come from.

Bang!

Then it began flying at the fastest possible speed.

From now on, it was a battle of divine techniques.

***

Am Hyul-hyang was slightly impressed.

Having already clashed with him once, she had believed a single iron ball thrown at full force would be enough to take him down.

But Sunwoo Jin’s evasive maneuver to dodge it, and the astonishing speed of the divine technique he was now displaying, were beyond anything Amhyulhyang could have anticipated.

‘Hmm, was he hiding his true strength back then? Or has he grown that much in such a short time?’

I couldn’t tell which was the right answer.

But it didn’t matter.

I had dodged it once, but I didn’t think I could keep dodging it forever.

After all, I hadn’t even given it my best shot yet.

Am Hyul-hyang smiled faintly as she thought.

‘Maybe I should pick up the pace a bit?’

POW!

Am Hyeol-hyang, who had always moved like a ghost, pushed off the ground for the first time and began flying with propulsion.

It was an incredible speed, surpassing even Seon Woo-jin’s top speed.

“!”

Seonwoojin, who had been focusing his senses on Amhyulhyang, clenched his teeth at that moment.

The distance between them was steadily closing.

The Dark Blood Sect’s divine technique proved far superior than anticipated.

It seemed the plan to proceed directly to where Master Guangjian was located had failed.

A moment later, judging the distance had narrowed sufficiently, Am Hyeol-hyang ran while attaching an iron ball to the end of Gujeolpyeon.

Then, spinning his body once more, he swung it with all his might.

Whoosh!

Faster than sound, the iron ball surged toward Sunwoojin once more in a fleeting instant.

Swoosh!

Whoosh!

Watching the outcome after throwing the iron ball, Am Hyul-hyang frowned slightly.

“Hmph.”

This one had missed too.

The moment the steel ball was fired, Seon Woo-jin executed a diagonal burst step, and the steel ball swept powerfully past his side.

Am Hyeol-hyang nodded.

‘Impressive, as expected.’

But she wasn’t overly disappointed.

If it had grazed his side at this distance, closing the gap further would surely allow for a direct hit.

Ultimately, it was only a matter of time.

Am Hyeol-hyang’s legs drove into the ground once more.

Pang!

Then, accelerating even more, the Dark Blood Fragrance began closing the distance with Seonwoojin again.

And a moment later, when the distance between them had narrowed to about ten paces.

Am Hyul-hyang moved Gu Jeol-pyeon again.

At this distance, the iron balls would undoubtedly pierce through Sunwoojin’s body the moment they were thrown.

Am Hyeol-hyang moved Gujeolpyeon’s head forward and loaded three iron balls into its mouth.

Though she had never gone this far before, for Seonwoojin, who had impressed her, this level of courtesy seemed entirely appropriate.

In her mind, she conveyed her final words to Seonwoo Jin.

‘Seon Woo-jin, you were truly remarkable. I shall keep your name in my memory forever.’

With that thought, Am Hyeolhyang spun violently once more, swinging Gujeolpyeon.

Whoosh!

Three iron balls burst forth from the whirlwind-like swing of the Gujeolpieon.

Thwack!

And as if teleported, they instantly surged toward Seon Woo-jin’s back.

“!”

Seonwoojin could feel the sensation of the Dark Blood Fragrance firing the iron balls.

So, in that instant, he immediately deployed the Explosive Charge Step.

Bang!

But he felt it himself.

That this alone wouldn’t be enough to evade it now.

I had to try something different.

If I couldn’t, it would be the end.

That was when it happened.

A voice echoed inside Seon Woo-jin’s head.

– Seems like the most dramatic moment to appear. Don’t you think?

It was the third time he’d heard it—a cheerful voice that felt like salvation to the current Seon Woo-jin.