Chapter 22 A Brief Journey (4)

Chapter 22 A Brief Journey (4)

Tugang had made a mistake, thinking he would be received.

Gu Yangji didn’t consider himself a righteous cultivator.

He was someone who despised or viewed such types with suspicion.

Yet, to show such composure in front of him, performing the ‘Fowangzhilie’ with a ‘Go ahead’ gesture.

It was utterly foolish.

To Gu Yangjeok, Tugwang’s foolish act was an opportunity.

An opportunity to turn overwhelming disadvantage into victory!

‘Foolish indeed.’

Gu Yangjeok unleashed the sword energy of the True Existence upon Tugwang.

Kwoong, Ssak!

The resonance of the sword, fully refined by the Dao’s essence, violently pushed back the wind, creating a piercing sound.

The following energy was more than sufficient to cut through the forced wind.

Watching this, Tugwang forgot his pain with a short breath. He forgot he was bleeding.

Grit!

Instead, he poured the fuel of rage into his chest.

Considering he lost both arms in a single strike, Tugwang’s choice was truly transcendent of humanity.

But if he didn’t, he would die.

Tugwang dodged the blade with a sweeping motion.

Splatter! Blood spurted from the severed stumps of his arms.

-Akgun.

-Yes, brother.

His younger brother, Akgun’s voice held both resolve and desperation.

Tugwang smiled bitterly as he calculated his remaining strength.

One day? No, less than that.

It didn’t matter.

Tugwang turned his back to the moonlight and smiled brightly at Guyangjeok charging toward him.

-This one is a dragon.

-……Yes?

-How could I possibly rely on human hands to deal with a dragon?

Akgun understood the meaning behind those words.

But it was far too dangerous.

Akgun clenched his jaw tightly. Repeated fury etched wrinkles into his skin.

-Brother, it’s too dangerous.

-If we can’t finish him here, this bastard will become an even greater threat. Your revenge? Forget it. He’s a man who should be killed right now.

-Brother!

-I won’t hear your answer.

With that, Tugang pulled his chin back and kicked the flat of Chamhyun’s sword with his foot.

Clang!

Tugang’s eyebrows furrowed.

The previous exchange had sliced flesh from his thigh. Muscles trembled.

‘Too much blood lost.’

Tugang shrugged.

It had been a miscalculation from the start.

Gu Yangji was not someone to be measured by the standards of orthodox factions or the Later Heavenly Path.

Outlaw, or rogue.

Gu Yangjie’s methods were almost identical to theirs.

His swordplay had been exuding the scent of plum blossoms since earlier, but the frame surrounding it was free.

At times, the tip was blurred like a wildflower.

Yes, like now.

Whoosh!

Without any fixed patterns or the repetitive techniques typical of orthodox factions, Gu Yangjie’s blade flew.

The blade’s tip aimed straight for the center of Tugang’s throat.

“…Guh!”

Tugang let out a painful groan, yet his footwork didn’t falter.

Without arms, he had to move twice as much as Gu Yangji.

Then, Gu Yangji’s lips twitched.

“Getting cocky?”

At Gu Yangjeok’s question, Tugwang momentarily lost his focus.

Crack! Chamhyun seized that opening.

One breath, two Heaven-Turning Kicks.

It was the sequence of attacks Tugwang had just been about to unleash against Gu Yangjeok.

But at some point, Chamhyun had appeared between them. The suddenly intervening blade sliced through the space between the two.

“Damn it.”

Tugang let out a cry of shock while unleashing the Mad Confusion Step.

Whoosh, thud.

The powerful internal energy of the true kick and footwork struck the air and ground, slightly dampening Chamhyun’s momentum.

Tugang’s presence also crumbled. No, more accurately, it became entangled within the vision, barely visible.

Kwae and Hwan had at least reached their peak.

Seeing this, Gu Yangjeok’s eyes narrowed.

If Dujeolgwang destroyed people with poison, and Akgun toyed with them through cunning, Tugang shattered them with martial prowess.

Split the Three Evils of Shaanxi apart, and they were merely three minor evils. Yet, since they had conspired as brothers, they were called the Great Evil.

When Gu Yangji realized those pursuing him in the Nine Dragons Battle were the Three Evils of Shaanxi, he had thought.

If three gathered to become the Great Evil, wouldn’t killing one suffice?

‘That was successful.’

Gu Yangji chuckled softly, recalling the dead Du Zheguang.

Had he been here too, the situation would have been quite different.

So.

Killing Tuguang here leaves only a scholar who can think a little.

“…Huu.”

Gu Yang-jeok’s breath came out thin and long.

The air flowing through his fading breath evenly spread throughout his body, heightening his Zha Jin Qi.

He turned his back to the moonlight.

Just as the swiftly extended sword blade was an inch away from Tou Guang’s chest, Tou Guang let out a faint groan.

Tugong.

Blood trickled from Tugong’s wound, a sudden consequence of his internal energy manipulation.

But there was no room for weakness.

“Hmph, ugh!”

Clang!

Each brief clash of blade and qi sent sparks of blue flying.

In those moments, they could briefly assess each other’s condition.

Tugang, bleeding as he forcibly drew upon his inner energy. Gu Yangjeok, seemingly at ease yet relentlessly pressing him.

The original disparity had long since been overturned.

‘Even though I possess twice his inner energy, and even after poisoning him!’

Grit.

Tugang’s molars clenched together.

Regret and seething resentment swirled chaotically in his mind.

‘If only I hadn’t let my guard down.’

But Tugang’s arms had been severed long ago, and he’d lost nearly a lethal amount of blood, leaving him unable to regain his senses.

Soon, Tugang would be defeated.

And that karma would then turn toward the evil general behind him.

Akgun glanced uneasily at the object behind him.

‘I never thought I’d have to use what I brought just in case.’

Should he use it?

Or should he let his brother’s life be wasted like this?

The deliberation was long, but the decision was swift.

The answer had already been given in their recent conversation.

It doesn’t matter.

That was the last words Tugang left for Aekgun.

“Damn it! I won’t forget, brother.”

Aekgun carefully lifted the straw mat covering the object.

An unpleasant, acrid smell stung his nostrils.

* * *

Moonlight.

It wasn’t only present for Gu Yangjeok.

Ha Jin-ak, too, stood with his back to the moon as he faced the five swordsmen.

In fact, he was pushing back the five with even greater composure than Gu Yang-jeok, who was facing just one.

Whoosh!

A heat intense enough to instantly singe the sparse downy hair on their cheeks relentlessly tormented the swordsmen.

One swordsman, unable to contain his frustration, let out an exasperated cry.

“The martial fame of the Flaming Cloud Sword is no lie!”

But he should have chosen his words differently.

Beyond the known martial fame.

Ha Jin-ak held his own against five swordsmen of equal rank, not yielding an inch.

This signified he had earned the right to gaze upon the pinnacle, the very apex of the peak.

Maintaining this situation, however, was his limit.

‘Is it almost time?’

If he could just hold on a little longer, reinforcements from the Huashan Sect would arrive.

Ha Jin-ak sneered faintly, mocking the swordsmen.

“You claim to represent the Black Dragon Pavilion? I had some expectations. Is this all you’ve got?”

“You bastard!”

Seeing their fierce reaction, Ha Jin-ak inwardly reflected on himself.

‘Being with Master Gu Yang… has it changed me a little?’

The righteousness and duty a disciple of Hwasan should uphold.

He had repeatedly taught Gu Yang-jeok this, yet here he was, the senior disciple himself, displaying such a thuggish demeanor.

Ha Jin-ak chuckled softly.

Seeing those Black Dragon Sect scoundrels so enraged, it didn’t seem like such a bad change after all.

In fact, it felt rather exhilarating.

“Come at me.”

“Today, Huashan Sect will burn to the ground!”

Toward Ha Jin-ak, shrouded in the moonlit darkness, the five swordsmen unleashed their most refined techniques without reserve.

Black Auspicious Sword.

Demon-Filled Single-Link Sword.

Hundred-Trunk Sword.

Crescent Moon Ten Thousand Swords.

Ten Swords in One Step.

Five straight lines, branching into dozens of streaks, embroidered the moonlit night.

“…Whoa.”

Beautiful.

For that instant, Ha Jin-ak admired them.

Though their natures and purposes were trash, the martial arts they had mastered were not useless.

The sword techniques unleashed by the Black Dragon Sect’s swordsmen clashed not with each other, but flew solely to harm Ha Jin-ak.

However.

‘Had I maintained my composure, I would have won. I got too excited.’

There was only the chance to pierce through those five straight lines and dozens of branches, tearing them apart.

“Fire Wheel Crimson Dawn Blade.”

Ha Jin-ak, wearing a cheerful smile, lightly swung the sword in his right hand.

But the power contained within was anything but light.

“Krak!”

The waist of the Black Shadow Sword at the very front bent like a cockroach.

Soon, the Chungma Iryeon Sword, radiating intense heat, seized both eyes, and viscous fluid oozed from the palm.

Seeing this, the White Bone Sword hastily stumbled backward.

Thud.

The body of the White Bone Sword, suddenly stepping back, was pierced by the Saku Moon Sword’s blade. There was no resistance whatsoever.

Only, the astonishing expression on the Saku Moon Sword’s face… was consumed by the fiery aura emitted by the Hwarun Jeokha-in.

“Kraaaah!”

Shattered by pain that felt like burning, Sakuyue Man-geom grazed the ankle of the following Ibo Sip-geom.

For an instant, Ibo Sip-geom lost his balance.

“…Kuh, you idiots.”

But he didn’t fall easily.

He merely bent his knees slightly, firmly anchored his lower body, and then leaped forward.

Kwaaang!

Ha Jin-ak gasped in shock at the sight of the ground being torn up.

‘Is that the Fighting Power Step?’

A footwork technique that channels opposing forces into a short segment to repel them—he’d heard it was incredibly difficult to master.

Ha Jin-ak watched the One Step Heart Sword’s movements with apparent interest.

There, the One Step Heart Sword felt an immense sense of humiliation.

“Don’t… look at me like that!”

“Is that so? My apologies.”

Then there was no choice but to finish it.

Ha Jin-ak raised his sword high.

At that moment.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-k

Gu Yangjeok tapped his head, which wasn’t functioning properly.

With a thud, his vision seemed to spin.

It was right then, as he was about to take Tugwang’s life and join forces with Ha Jin-ak.

He had received a massive shock.

But he couldn’t tell where the shock had come from.

It clearly hadn’t been detected by his own aura, so it didn’t seem to be the intervention of another martial artist.

Then what could it have been?

Gu Yangjeok tilted his head in confusion.

Only after mentally replaying the events of moments ago did the nature of the anomaly dawn on him.

‘Right, that explosion. After the explosion, it felt like the earth itself was shaking…’

Suddenly, Gu Yangjeok felt the weight of someone pressing down on his body.

Irritation welled up.

“Damn it. What the hell is this?”

He kicked the person off with an irritated hand. It was Tugwang.

His back felt unusually warm and slippery, but Gu Yangjeok thought it was nothing out of the ordinary.

That is, until someone spoke.

“Didn’t I tell you not to use such un-mystic-like words, cough! …?”

Gu Yangjeok’s expression turned pale.

His voice trembled uncontrollably.

Unable to look him in the eye, he clenched his fists tightly.

“Ah…”

Gu Yangjeok couldn’t say anything else. He couldn’t.

So he froze, uttering only that one word.

His thoughts, however, raced wildly.

‘This can’t be right. Why am I standing here like this? I can’t just leave him like that. I need to move him somewhere immediately and apply burn ointment. No. First, I must…’

At that moment, the kneeling man spoke.

His voice was calm.

“Master Gu Yang.”

Gu Yangjeok answered casually.

No, he tried to answer in a voice that sounded as if nothing was wrong.

But the usual playfulness was missing from his words, making them sound neither here nor there.

“Senior Brother, why have you turned into a badly grilled flatfish?”

“…Kuh.”

Hajinak muttered, “I knew it,” and let out a blackened sigh.

“This elder brother… his body is utterly exhausted, unable to move.”

He spoke with sorrowful eyes.

“Can the priest go?”

At those words, Gu Yang Jie simply closed his mouth, hollowly.

‘I knew.’

That Shu Xi Yi Yue had intended to capture him by force from the start, and that the entire Jian Xian Sect had been annihilated because of it.

Had Bai Qian relayed the warning he had sent earlier to Ha Jin’ak, this crisis might never have come.

But the deed was already done.

Thus, grief, sorrow, and rage at himself surged forth.

Another layer of regret piled up.

Watching Ha Jin’ak, who had shielded him from the explosive force of the gunpowder, Gu Yangjie’s mind raced.

‘Why, did I…’

Had he been hiding things, arrogant, thinking the future was predetermined?

There, once more, grief, sorrow, rage—Gu Yangji confirmed his own body was intact.

He slowly raised his head to survey the staggering enemies.

“You bastards.”

Gu Yangjie’s gaze held a murderous intent thick enough to blanket the sky.

“Forget about returning alive.”