Chapter 6 Pruning (3)

Chapter 6 Pruning (3)

Watching this, the masked man couldn’t hide his look of utter defeat.

He wanted to tear off this suffocating mask right then and there.

‘Who do these bastards think they’re messing with…!’

Nine Serpent Sword, Zha Meng.

The nickname came from his skill, as nimble and fluid as nine serpents moving.

Just a month ago, his talent had blossomed upon reaching the top tier, completely reworking the sword techniques he’d learned in the marketplace.

Therefore, no one knew it, and no one could see through it.

It was a sword style without any established foundation, what the common folk called a crude sword.

‘How could Daoists like Hwasan or Mudaeng possibly read my sword path?’

One who had just turned twenty, and another who hadn’t even reached that age.

Feeling they were sufficient to test his sword, Jamyeong exhaled deeply.

“Huuu…”

A small bit of cockiness and the inferiority complex born of growing up on the streets.

Those two things tangled together, making Zha Meng curious whether the martial arts he had mastered would be enough to defeat a master from a prestigious school.

Moreover, Zha Meng secretly deluded himself like this.

‘The young master couldn’t possibly know about the blood-soaked duels of the martial world.’

He believed that Gu Yangji, standing before him, was just a greenhorn fresh off Huashan Mountain, incapable of parrying his unpredictable swordplay.

Of course, he was wrong.

Gu Yangji had been trampled upon countless times more than Jameung, and had even fought a fierce battle against five opponents with his back to a cliff.

How could he be called a greenhorn?

Then, the breath Zimeng exhaled brushed past Gu Yangji’s nose.

“Your breath stinks.”

Gu Yangji swung his fist as lightly as swatting a fly.

Seeing this, a sneer spread across Zimeng’s face.

‘You think you can beat me with that measly power?’

Apart from a faint glimmer of clarity, his energy felt minuscule—barely five years’ worth at most.

That level couldn’t possibly defeat him.

Having made that judgment, Zha Meng unleashed his sword technique.

But…

Pang!

Internal energy surged to a single point, and a straight line, drawn with fierce precision, pierced through Jameung. Blood spurted from the corner of his mouth.

“Guh, ugh!”

Jameung’s head drooped heavily, and the clothes covering his upper body ripped open.

Even so, Gu Yangjeok’s fist hadn’t even reached his abdomen yet.

Watching from behind, Yu Zhangming murmured his admiration.

It had always been this way, but observing Gu Yangjie made him increasingly sense the depth of his martial arts.

‘Could he really extend the technique of the Village Eye like that!’

The Village Eye was a type of foot-strike technique, a skill that could pierce the skin and deliver an impact deep inside with a short movement.

But Gu Yangjie used the Village Eye differently.

Before it even touched Zimeng, he had fired a small, condensed burst of internal energy in the form of a Xianxian technique.

Yet, to Yu Zhangming, it seemed somewhat peculiar.

After all, Gu Yangjie could have defeated Zimeng without resorting to the Village Eye technique.

‘Why?’

As Yu Zhangming examined Zimeng with a hint of doubt, he quickly realized.

Zameng bore no external injuries whatsoever.

‘Is he trying to leave no trace?’

At that moment, Gu Yangji turned his head and looked at Yu Zhangming.

“Why have you drawn your sword?”

“……Haha.”

Yu Zhangming scratched the back of his head with his free hand.

To be honest, he didn’t think Gu Yangji could easily gain the upper hand against the battle-hardened Zameng.

‘But that was just a rash worry.’

Swish.

Yu Zhangming quietly sheathed his sword and gave a hollow smile.

He could only admire how Gu Yangji’s martial arts had improved by leaps and bounds.

“So, Master, how do you plan to deal with this fellow?”

“……Ah, that.”

He knew it was an unnecessary evasion, but Gu Yangjeok sensed the warm concern in Yoo Jangmyeong’s tone and smiled.

Yet the words that came out were utterly cold.

“I won’t go so far as to sever his tendons and meridians, but I suppose we should at least destroy his dantian first.”

“…….”

At those words, Yoo Jangmyeong fell silent for a moment.

Seeing this, Gu Yangjeok’s expression grew peculiar.

‘Surely he won’t suggest I should just let this slide too.’

Fortunately, Yu Zhangming showed none of his usual gentleness.

He understood too.

At least this time, he must judge not as a Taoist, but as a martial artist.

His realization from the conversation with Baek Cheon had been profound.

Yu Zhangming calmly met Zimeng’s aggrieved expression.

“How dare someone who claims to have studied martial arts swing a sword without hesitation against a child not even of age!”

Yu Jang-myeong barked sternly. Then he looked at Gu Yang-jeok.

“It seems best to do as you say.”

“Then I will do it.”

Seeing Gu Yang-jeok raise his hand, Ja-myeong’s face turned ashen.

“Wait, just a moment! I was merely following orders from above…“

”I don’t understand why you and the people inside keep repeating the same thing.”

Yu Zhangming’s face grew bitterly cold, his very aura alone capable of wounding a person.

Moreover, while Gu Yangji had only recently risen to the top tier, Yu Zhangming was a genius who had ascended to the rank of Sword Qi Master at fifteen.

He was no one like Zha Meng could hope to challenge.

“The righteous path and the heretical path are not divided by others’ words or commands.”

Thump, thump.

Yu Zhangming approached Zha Meng with utterly unhurried steps and crouched down before him.

“The strength to carry out one’s own will. That isn’t something that can be manifested through the flesh alone.”

A sense of suffocation seeped from Yoo Jang-myeong’s breath.

Why couldn’t martial artists uphold the righteousness and principles they were supposed to guard?

Did they regard human life too lightly?

Was that worthless notion of ‘the strong survive’ heavier than human ethics?

Power began to gather at the tip of Yu Zhangming’s sword finger.

Seeing this, Zha Meng snarled viciously.

“There was no other choice!”

“…There was no other choice.”

Yu Zhangming thought of Zhao Hun. And he thought of Gu Yangjie’s childhood circumstances.

In his view, anyone could be born into misfortune.

Even Yu Zhangming himself hadn’t thrown himself into Huashan Mountain out of choice from the start.

There were unavoidable circumstances.

But choosing the path from there was solely up to the master of one’s life—oneself.

At least the resolve not to become a villain.

The conviction not to draw a sword against a child not yet of age.

That was something the masked man couldn’t see.

“You couldn’t be honest, even to the very end.”

As the natural person Yu Jang-myeong, not the Taoist Yu Jang-myeong, he could look upon him with sympathy.

But he himself was a Taoist who had studied various Taoist philosophies, including Laozi’s teachings.

As a Taoist, he could only evaluate Ja-myeong thus:

‘A victim who chose the direct path of evil, not the long road of goodness.’

Zameng’s personal circumstances were pitiable, but the crime he committed could not be erased.

Such was the law of the world.

“Disciple, was anything about the interest recorded in the ledger?”

At those words, Gu Yangjeok shrugged his shoulders.

“Of course I checked that beforehand.”

Given how fiercely the sect leader had fought to protect the ledger, it contained a wealth of information.

The cold handwriting seemed written in anticipation of Zhaoming’s betrayal.

“After killing the young master of the minor sect Taichu Gate, secretly buried him on Wushan Mountain.”

Though his face should have grimaced, Yu Zhangming’s expression remained unflinching.

Gu Yangjie’s voice continued, clear and resonant.

“Disguised the Huashan disciple Ma Diangsang, who was on a mission, as a Green Forest Road member and had him killed. Later, instructed that it be discovered so they could receive the reward.”

As the story unfolded, Jiaming’s expression deepened with bewilderment and betrayal.

‘The Sect Leader has revealed everything about me!’

There was no guilt in that expression.

Both Gu Yangji and Yu Zhangming sensed what was in Zimang’s heart.

‘An unknown child, a senior brother whose face he barely recognized, died so pointlessly here at the hands of such men!’

The injustice must have cut even deeper.

As Gu Yangji’s mouth spilled forth Zimang’s crimes, Yu Zhangming wept inwardly. And swallowed it.

He never uttered a word.

One could not vomit out sorrow in front of one’s enemy.

“…Just this once.”

Yu Zhangming murmured in a small voice.

It was not the Daoist virtue he had learned as a cultivator of Huashan, but the sorrow of one who had seen the ugly side of the outside world, seeping out poignantly.

“It’s hard to control one’s emotions.”

Whack-!

Yu Jang-myeong’s hand struck Zha Meng’s lower dantian in one swift blow.

He couldn’t control his strength at all, striking with a full sixty percent of his power in one go.

“Puh-heek!”

Zha Meng’s body twisted violently, twitching like a frog with its belly skin turned inside out.

Seeing this, Gu Yang-jeok stepped forward to stop him.

“Senior Brother.”

But Yu Zhangming’s expression hardened as he spoke coldly.

“…Two dantian remain. Step aside.”

Of course, Gu Yangji had other intentions.

“If you keep fighting like that, you won’t last long. Why not learn something from this opportunity?”

“……”

Yu Zhangming paused briefly before turning his gaze to Gu Yangji.

Had this been during their seclusion at Huashan, Yu Zhangming could have refused decisively.

But now was different.

It wasn’t a permanent departure, just a brief outing, yet he felt it keenly.

The martial world was never a realm built on goodwill.

Resolving this contradiction required much time and learning.

“Will you teach me?”

Yu Zhangming gazed at Gu Yangji with a distant look.

So utterly detached, it seemed as if he had devoured all emotion.

A peculiar smile formed on Gu Yangji’s face.

‘He’s shed his shell.’

Making Yu Zhangming see the martial world for what it truly was.

Especially through the Huashan Sect’s finances, he had shown him the ruthlessness of the martial world. Yu Zhangming might agonize now, but eventually, he would accept it.

And that wasn’t all.

He had identified the mastermind and held the ledgers in his hands.

Recovering the lost assets through this was no trouble at all.

At least now, they wouldn’t face the destruction of their clan due to poverty.

However.

Seeing Yoo Jang-myeong witness the ugly side of the martial world earlier than he should have made him feel a pang of pity.

“Of course I should teach you.”

Gu Yang-jeok spoke as if making a resolution, then pointed at Ja-myeong, who was crouched on the ground.

“Let’s deal with this guy first, then go inside.”

Thud, thud, thud.

Gu Yangjie’s hand swiftly tapped various points on Zha Meng’s body.

Each spot his fingers brushed was either an acupoint or a vital point. With his lower dantian shattered, even a slightly stronger press could be fatal.

In that regard, Gu Yangjie was so skilled he could rightly be called an expert.

“……!”

Just look at Zaming now—his eyes were wide open, clearly unaware he’d been subdued.

Of course, Gu Yangjeok had no intention of leaving him like that.

Since he’d targeted his life, he had to crush him completely to eliminate any future threat.

Gu Yangjeok bent all his fingers except his thumb, forming his hand into a spear-like shape.

“This is going to hurt a bit.”

Thud.

Gu Yangjeok’s hand crushed down hard on the middle dantian that Yoo Jangmyeong hadn’t yet managed to destroy.

Even without any cultivated energy infused, the force Gu Yangji unleashed in that instant was sufficient to scatter the internal energy residing within.

It had never been purely cultivated energy to begin with.

That made it all the easier to disperse.

Watching Jaemyeong’s eyes roll back, Gu Yangji murmured softly.

“The night is still young, isn’t it?”

He let out a small sigh and turned around.

Now that he had captured Zha Meng, it was time to sit him down face-to-face with the Sect Leader and have a little talk.

“You should stop your pointless acting too.”

A flinch.

With that, the Sect Leader’s fate was sealed.