Chapter 54: Confucian Scholar [1]
Seuk!
A hideous sound arose, followed by a scholar beside Changgweon falling, with blood gushing like a fountain from his neck.
“Fight!”
Changgweon brandished his short sword while shouting out loud. Although his skills were not good, his spirit could overwhelm the enemy. Even the Japanese bandit who killed the scholar flinched in face of his fierce spirit.
“Huck!”
However, the other places were different, with screams everywhere. The scholars tried to stab with their bamboo spade, in vain.
On the other hand, whenever the Japanese bandit’s sword danced, one or two men fell.
“Be careful!” Yeoni shouted while pushing Ganghyuk away.
Chang!
At that moment, a Japanese with buck teeth attacked him. He was not really a match for Yeoni, but her injured leg bothered her nevertheless. Hence, she could not defeat him at a blow. Rather, she just managed to defend against his attack.
“Son of a b*tch.” Ganghyuk exclaimed while swaying his bag.
“Eok!”
The sword of the bandit was broken while he fell. It was made of good leather, and seemed to have some mysterious spirit considering how it was performing.
‘It is quite good actually.’
He felt that it would be better than the sword, which he could not use very well. It might be used as a shield as well.
…Just like now.
Kang!
With a dull sound, the other Japanese bounced back as well. Even though swords bumped on it, the bag was not damaged at all.
At this moment, Yeoni capitalized on the opportunity and stabbed out.
“Sir…”
“Yes?”
“You had better leave your sword down.”
“Yes, I was thinking that too.” Ganghyuk then threw his sword toward the Japanese who was approaching him. Accidentally, it hit the forehead of the man directly, causing Yeoni to misunderstand his skills.
“You are really good at stone throwing, sir.”
“Well…” He could not help laughing on hearing her comment. However, he could not keep laughing; they were in a battlefield after all.
“Eok.”
Another scholar beside him fell; it was even worse in the back side. He did not know why, but the scholars were better than the farmers in sword fighting.
‘If I were in the backside, I may have already been dead.’
Ganghyuk looked at the dead people on the ground and shuddered. He could see some Japanese, but there were far more famers on the ground.
When he was wondering if he should run away, Changgweon shouted while managing to beat a Japanese with difficulty. “It is almost over! Fight to the end!”
His arms and legs were full of scratches and bruises, but he looked vibrant. In fact, he even looked manlier than Shin Rip.
With his encouragement, the villagers’ morale was uplifted while the Japanese became demoralized.
“Waaa!”
‘The small man shows great spirit.’
His spirit was formidable, which encouraged the villagers. It was the real virtue of a scholar indeed; he showed consistency in speech and action.
“Euk!”
The villagers and scholars swayed their weapons with a high morale while Japanese bandits fell here and there. Some were cut by the sword, and some were stabbed by the spades.
The number of Japanese bandits was smaller than that of villagers from the beginning, so the goddess of victory showed her smile on the village soon.
At that moment, Yeoni screamed while pointing toward someone with her sword.
“Sir!”
“The guy!”
A Japanese bandit had arrived on the front line, holding a longer sword and wearing a black mask. He could not be the one that they met the day before, but he must be similar to that one for sure.
He swayed his sword without saying anything, slicing the neck of a Japanese bandit who was retreating and causing blood to gush out of the latter’s neck.
However, the masked man did not show any emotion.
“Euk!”
Changgweon’s face became pale on seeing all this happen, not to mention the others. The man with the mask had changed the mood of the battlefield without even fighting. Considering the cruelty of killing his own man and the extraordinariness of his blow, he must definitely not be an ordinary one.
“Bakayaro! (1)” He kept walking forward after slamming the corpse on the ground.
“Euk!”
Seeing this, all of the villagers retreated back while matching his steps. Changgweon recovered his consciousness just as he was retreating with the villagers.
His spirit as a scholar awoke him, and then he moved forward instead of retreating with the others.
“Do not go backward!”
His hand holding the sword trembled, but he did not stop walking.
“Sir!”
Some scholars moved by Changgweon ran to him. With this incident, the mood was a little reversed, but the masked man just laughed in response. “Keul keul.”
His strange laughter added to the villagers’ fear.
Ganghyuk knew the strength of the masked man. Moreover, this one looked stronger than the other one he had met the day before.
He was bigger, and had a longer sword.
“Shall we run away?” Ganghyuk looked back with tensed eyes.
As the farmers had fought with all their might, there were some gaps in the Japanese camp. If he tried to run away with all his might, he might actually be able to escape.
“Run away?” Yeoni shook her head with placidity. “We have more people. We can win if we protect the village.”
“But, they are stronger. You know their skills.”
“Yesterday, I was alone. But today, we have more people here.”
He had actually thought of running away alone while leaving Yeoni there without even realizing it. But suddenly, the masked man came forward near him.
He was so fast that he arrived on the front line before they realized.
Hiss!
With a hideous sound, a scholar collapsed. Blood gushed furiously, but they could not see where he was cut. All of this seemed beyond human capabilities.
With his signal, the other bandits rushed to the villagers, and the second fight made the situation worse for the defending side.
Five people were fighting with the masked man. Without the combination of Ganghyuk and Yeoni, the camp might have actually collapsed by now.
“Go away b*.stards!”
A Japanese collapsed as he was hit by Ganghyuk’s bag. On the opposite side, another one was killed by Yeoni’s sword.
“Sir..” Yeoni called out, sweating profusely. She looked very tired because of the wounded leg.
“What happened?” Ganghyuk was exhausted, too. He was breathless after just giving the short response.
“I think we need to kill the one.”
It was the masked man that Yeoni pointed at with her sword.
Two of the scholars were already killed by him, and there were only three left around him, losing their hold on the fight rapidly.
“Euk!”
And while they were watching, another scholar had collapsed.
They were scholars who read books in Hyanggyo, not the soldiers who could fight skillfully.
“Goodness!”
If Changgweon was defeated, the masked man would come for Ganghyuk. During the combat, the masked man had looked at him savagely after all, which was no wonder because Ganghyuk and Yeoni had killed more than ten Japanese bandits between themselves.
“Let’s go get this son of a b*tch.”
“Yes, sir!”
Yeoni nodded her head as if she were just waiting for his confirmation. She seemed to forget her pain, probably because of the epinephrine circulating due to all the fighting.
“Eok!”
While Ganghyuk and Yeoni ran toward Changgweon, another one had collapsed. The sword of the masked man was broken, and a half of its bounced away.
Now, there was only Changgweon left to fight him, and he might be killed very soon as well. At that moment, he just sat down with dangling arms, having lost his will and seeming like a lamp in the wind.
“Yap!” Yeoni swung her sword while shouting loudly. She did it to attract the attention of the masked man, and it worked.
It was not a usual voice on the battlefield after all.
“Onna (2)?” The masked man looked back at the sharp voice, then defended against Yeoni’s sword by swinging his sword.
Bung!
At the same time Ganghyuk brandished the bag, but it missed the target as the masked man twisted his body.
“Thank you!” Changgweon thanked him as he had indeed saved his life. Ganghyuk answered while swinging the bag constantly.
“We need to finish him first.”
“Yes, you are right.” Changgweon looked back while frowning.
The situation was already extremely close. If the masked man was added to the equation, they would be definitely annihilated.
He had to determine something, so he grabbed the sword strangely without Ganghyuk and Yeoni noticing.
“Eo, there!”
At that moment, somebody shouted out of gladness.
Dududud!
At that moment, the could hear the sound of horses’ hooves. It was the cavalry led by Shin Rip; hundreds of cavalry soldiers were rushing toward the village.
They looked very strong as picked soldiers that Joseon was proud of. With their arrival, the Japanese bandits in the field collapsed like falling leaves in autumn.
“…” The masked man looked at the cavalry in confusion, then attacked again with a fiercer spirit.
“Everyone…Kill!” The masked man shouted in Japanese, hearing which, the other bandits made their final attempts. They looked insane, seeming ready to die. With that, more and more people were killed on both sides.
“Are they crazy?”
The masked man did not care about his own life as he just swung his sword violently. Without the bag, Ganghyuk might have truly been killed already.
Tung!
The bag was very strong as it bounced off every attack.
“What is this?” The masked man shouted while being repelled back, seeming to be greatly shocked. Changgweon rushed toward him without missing the opportunity.
“Eeek!”
The masked man swung his sword and attacked Changgweon, who forced the sword out of the former’s hands, but still did not stop. He rushed out and hugged the masked man with his small body.
“Stab!”
“What?”
“Stab us! Otherwise, we will all die.”
There were rice fields around the village, because of which, the movement of the cavalry was slowed. It would take them a while to arrive here. If they did not kill the masked man, almost everyone would die before they arrived.
The sword in Yeoni’s hand was trembling as she looked at Ganghyuk with twitching eyes.
‘Goodness!’
As a doctor, he had faced times when he had to intervene in the life and death of a man, but never like this.
He had to make decision to kill someone right now.
“Ak!”
Another villager was killed while he was hesitating. They had to help finish off the masked man.
‘F*ck my life!’ Ganghyuk nodded his head. “We cannot help it… Stab!”
“Yes, sir.” Yeoni immediately rushed toward the back of Changgweon with a grim face, taking a deep breath as she stabbed the sword deep into his body after apologizing.
“Sorry, sir.”
“Euk!”
“Eok!”
The sword crossed the old scholar’s body and pierced through the pit of the masked man’s stomach. When she finally removed the sword, the masked man collapsed, but so did Changgweon.
“Ka…”
Blackish red bubbles came out of the masked man’s mouth. He did not die right away, seeming like he could stand up again.
“Are you Ok?”
Ganghyuk and Yeoni rushed toward Changgweon, who shook his head with difficulty while blood rushed out of his mouth as well
“Help… Help them.”
“Yeoni, go there. I will take care of him.”
“Yes, sir!”
Bakayaro – A Japanese curse word meaning ‘stupid.’
Onna – Japanese word for woman
Minna…Sine – Everyone…Kill!
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