Chapter 10: Black Tiger Sect (1)
“Hey, Chunbong.”
“...What.”
Chunbong had a pale complexion. Seeing such a tiny thing in that state was pitiful beyond words.
“I’ll go get some food, so you just rest.”
“...Okay.”
She staggered into the house.
Seojun tied his sword to his waist and left. Using the Yellow Dragon Crossing the Rosy Clouds technique, one of the Divine Sword Geum Clan’s secret arts, he stealthily emerged onto the street where there were quite a few people.
Spirit pills, huh...
While pondering where he could get some, he bought dumplings at the market. Of course, meat dumplings. Chunbong was at an age where she should be growing so she needed to eat well.
“I should start making some money soon.”
Occasionally running into Black Path guys in secluded areas was quite profitable. Most were penniless, but those with some position had fairly full pockets.
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Just then, he spotted a guy who looked unmistakably like a Black Path member loitering in an alley.
“Hmm...”
His behavior was extremely suspicious. Looking around carefully, he noticed others pretending to be passersby who didn’t fit in.
“Not my business, I suppose.”
He cheerfully walked on and made eye contact with the Black Path guy in a secluded spot.
“Hey mister, got any money?”
“Foolish brat. Today is the day you die, you damned demon!”
The guys pretending to be passersby slowly approached, surrounding him. Seojun chuckled.
“See, this is why I shouldn’t have let them live.”
Chunbong had nagged so much about blood having a bewitching power and how getting a taste for killing would lead to big trouble, so he’d just beaten them up and let them go. And look how that turned out.
“But... have we met before? I don’t recognize your face.”
“Attack!”
In the narrow alley, the men lined up with swords drawn and charged.
“You friends are always so stupid, I swear.”
Like this, he only had to deal with four at a time, two in front and two behind.
Seojun lunged forward. The two surprised men in front swung their pudaos wide.
Clang—!
Sparks flew as their swords clashed. Seojun grinned as he made eye contact with the men.
“Hi.”
His left hand bent and he suddenly flicked his index and middle fingers, snapping them.
Pew pew—
The two men with holes in their foreheads collapsed. Seojun grabbed one by the collar and threw him backwards.
“Whoa...!”
The Black Path guys stumbled as they collided with the corpse. Seizing advantage of that moment, Seojun grabbed the remaining corpse as a shield and charged forward.
Thud thud—
True to their cruel nature, the Black Path guys paid no mind to their comrade’s corpse. The man in front twisted his sword deeply embedded in the corpse and laughed.
“Die!”
There was no room to dodge in this narrow alley. Thinking he had surely pierced the little demon, the man kicked away the corpse to pull out his sword.
“Huh?”
There was nothing beyond the fallen corpse. Soon after, laughter came from beneath his legs.
Slash────
“Keughhh...!”
“M-My legs!”
Seojun had slipped underneath them, swinging his sword in an arc and cutting off their legs. In one fluid motion, he sprang to his feet and took their lives with a smile.
“We’ll be living comfortably for a while.”
The back alley was stained with blood.
*“Ugh...”
Standing alone, Seojun patted his lower back. Moving so much made his whole body ache.
“That was quite a lot.”
Though grumbling, he diligently emptied their pockets to increase his wealth.
But perhaps due to his overwhelming expectations, they all had thin wallets. The profits were below what he had expected.
Seojun clicked his tongue and threw away the blood-soaked dumplings.
“What a waste.”
As he stepped onto the street covered in blood, people quietly distanced themselves. Even the dumpling vendor trembled.
After silently buying dumplings again, he stealthily returned home.
“Yo, Chunbong. Big bro’s back.”
“Welcome ba... Hey, you bastard! What did you do this time?!”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake...!”
Chunbong smacked her forehead and busily moved on her short legs to prepare a wet cloth.
“Hurry and wash up before the powder falls off!”
After roughly washing off the dried blood and changing clothes, Chunbong sat down with a serious expression and pointed to the seat in front of her.
“Hey, sit down.”
“Why?”
“Just sit when I tell you to!”
Seojun sat down. Chunbong opened her mouth to speak in a stiff voice... or tried to before he stuffed it with a dumpling.
“Mmph...!”
“Let’s eat first, then talk.”
With no intention of spitting out the dumpling in her mouth, Chunbong started chewing vigorously.
“Oh my, look at you eating so well! Just keep growing up big and strong like this, okay?”
After swallowing the dumpling, Chunbong glared at him.
“Didn’t I tell you to stop causing trouble?”
“Sowwy...”
Chunbong let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“Let’s get out of here soon.”
“We’re leaving here? Why so suddenly.”
“You still don’t get it after coming back like this today? If we stay, you’ll end up dead by someone else’s blade.”
At her words, Seojun grinned and tapped the sword at his waist.
“Come on, I could take them all out and we could eat here.”
“No way. Just how many people are you planning to kill.”
“People? From what I’ve seen, those Black Path friends should be counted as heads like animals instead of people.”
If we do that, it’s not murder, it’s butchering. Not many people seriously worry about a butcher’s mental health for doing their job. So there’s no problem even if I kill a few.
Having completed his three-step logic, Seojun puffed out his chest.
“Damn, I’m so fucking smart.”
“You’re a fucking dumbass.”
Chunbong sighed. Seojun, who had maintained a playful demeanor until now, suddenly hardened his expression.
“Besides, a group like the Black Tiger Sect might have spirit pills.”
“You...”
“I don’t think they would, but you never know, right?”
Chunbong squeezed her eyes shut. Before she could say anything, Seojun stood up.
As he sluggishly walked out of the house, a small voice came from behind.
“...not even an idiot would...”
Hahah! Seojun laughed.
An idiot, she says. The Chunbong, who usually called him a dumbass, son of a bitch, bastard, and the like, using a word like idiot was somehow funny.
“Don’t worry. Who am I?”
Lee Seojun, the MUGONG Master. I’m not so pathetic as to die by the blades of mere Black Path thugs.
Today too, his sword ceaselessly cut through the air.
*According to Chunbong, I have a natural talent for manipulating qi.
Just swinging my sword like this would be enough to handle those Black Path guys, but if their numbers increased, it could be a different story.
Pew—
Seojun scratched his chin as he idly shot qi bullets into the dirt ground.
Infusing qi into a sword is the realm of first-rate...
A little beyond that and the qi would manifest externally as sword qi.
Seojun was currently somewhere between second-rate and first-rate. It was an absurdly fast achievement for only one year of martial arts training.
But he still felt lacking. It seemed like he could do so much more with qi, but it felt like he was fumbling around with the path right in front of him.
“Hey, I told you not to rush. You’re not just fast, you’re insanely fast at your level.”
Seojun kept firing qi bullets into the ground, seemingly deaf to her words. Chunbong clicked her tongue as she watched him.
In truth, if he had focused on ascending to the next realm, he would’ve been first-rate long ago. But for the past year, Chunbong had only drilled the basics into him.
It was only natural. Unlike the Unorthodox Faction, if one aimed for the pinnacle of martial arts, the foundation and fundamentals were more important than anything.
After all, carelessly learning something like a divine art could spell disaster. You would either go mad from qi deviation or die from burst meridians.
The Yellow Cloud Divine Art belonged to the realm of divine arts. From the same enlightenment came the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword and Yellow Dragon Crossing the Rosy Clouds.
The Yellow Cloud Divine Art was a cultivation technique, and the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword was both a sword and foot technique. The Yellow Dragon Crossing the Rosy Clouds blended both movement technique and light body art.
These were truly exceptional martial arts. With Seojun’s talent, he had more than enough potential to achieve greatness, and that alone would be enough to put his name among the Hundred Great Masters Under the Heavens.
“But what’s the rush?”
“You don’t know?”
“Well, if I knew, I wouldn’t be ask- cough...!”
Her coughing fit showed no signs of stopping. With each passing day, she felt the yin qi slowly creeping up from her limbs.
At this rate... maybe half a year left?
Chunbong bit her lip and glared at Seojun. There was no hope for her anyway. Spirit pills weren’t called that for nothing, and ordinary people would never see even one in their lifetime.
So at least Seojun... She hoped that at least this lacking guy would grow properly and continue the legacy of the Divine Sword Geum Clan.
“Hey, this won’t do.”
So please. I wish you wouldn’t do such reckless things.
“I’m heading out for a bit. Don’t stay up waiting, just go to sleep.”
“Lee Seojun. Stop right there.”
Seojun’s steps halted. His back looked especially big today, firm and unyielding. She had the sudden feeling that breaking his stubbornness would be difficult. Still, she couldn’t help but try.
“It’s only been a year. So why the hell are you doing all of this? Just for some brat you’ve only known for a year?”
“...”
“Just train quietly. In ten years, you won’t have to kneel to anyone in the martial world. Then, spread the name of the Divine Sword Geum Clan. Make it known throughout the Central Plains. That’s all I want.”
Their eyes met. As usual, but today especially, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
Chunbong continued as calmly as she could.
“Don’t trust people too much. I don’t know who destroyed the Divine Sword Geum Clan. It could even be those Orthodox Faction bastards. They’re all rotten inside anyways.”
“...”
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter for you. You’re the kind of guy who’d even beat up a woman trying to get close to you.”
At that casually thrown joke, Seojun’s lips finally moved. Chunbong stared intently at the movement of his lips.
“Hey.”
“...What.”
“Hee.”
“W-What’s with that all of a sudden?”
When Chunbong blinked in confusion, Seojun grinned.
“Hee. Geum Hee, my foolish little sister. Aren’t you looking down on your big brother too much? It’s not like I’m going off to die.”
He stroked the sword at his waist. The thin crescent moon was suddenly obscured by clouds, plunging everything into darkness. Only his voice could be heard in that darkness.
“Wait patiently. Big brother will bring back some medicine.”
As the clouds covering the moon drifted away and faint light shone down, Seojun was nowhere to be seen.
“...Big brother, my ass.”
Hee quietly lowered her head.