Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Three Evils of Mount Xiaoming
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Seok Ijin, the Absolute Life-Death Sword, reflected on the events he had been through.
It had been that way from the start, but he wasn't flustered. Such things were hardly rare in his life.
In fact, they were quite commonplace. At this point, it wasn't even enough to surprise him.
"Ah."
Seok Ijin raised his head, which had been bowed deeply, and parted his lips. At the sudden sound of his voice, the man nearby whipped his head around.
A gaunt face crisscrossed with sword scars. It was a face one wouldn't easily forget, yet it was hard for Seok Ijin to recall. He'd seen too many faces like it.
"The Three Evils of Mount Xiaoming."
"......What?"
"The Three Evils of Mount Xiaoming. Isn't that it? No, it feels right......"
Seok Ijin tilted his head and muttered in a puzzled tone.
The hazy memory sharpened as he spoke. But he still lacked clear certainty.
Three Evils....... He'd encountered too many with such a nickname. Right now, even in some backwater village, three brutish brothers with some strength and rotten tempers were probably calling themselves the Three Evils of wherever.
"......You just remembered now?"
The man's eyebrows twitched violently. Seeing that reaction, Seok Ijin gave a faint smile.
The memory had been vague, but it seemed he'd hit the mark. Upon seeing Seok Ijin's smile, the man shot up from the rock he was sitting on. Glaring fiercely, he strode over and stopped right in front of Seok Ijin.
Seok Ijin's state was indescribable. His martial robes were slashed and torn in places, caked with dirt and dust until they were little better than rags.
It wasn't just his clothes. His eyes were bruised and swollen, scabs of dried blood clung to his split lips. And as if that weren't enough, thick ropes bound his body tightly.
"I always prided myself on having a good memory, but it seems I was wrong. Still, don't take it too personally. If anything, it's because you lot claimed such a dime-a-dozen nickname as the Three Evils......"
He hadn't meant to taunt. That had been Seok Ijin's intention, but it clearly didn't land that way for the listener.
Thwack!
A solid kick to the solar plexus sent Seok Ijin tumbling backward. His breath caught, and he coughed harshly.
"Still....... I remembered it."
After coughing for a long while, Seok Ijin twisted his body. Cold sweat poured out, mixing with the dirt to smear his face in grime.
"The Three Evils of Mount Xiaoming. You're definitely....... the youngest. Your nickname was Supreme Spear. Supreme Spear....... Pfft!"
When he uttered the newly recalled nickname along with the name Three Evils, Seok Ijin couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.
Supreme Spear, of all things. The Three Evils moniker was ridiculous enough, but Supreme Spear was even more absurd. What kind of confidence made him stick "Supreme" in his own nickname?
"Shut your mouth."
Supreme Spear snarled, his face twisting.
But Seok Ijin didn't oblige. Still sprawled on the ground, he writhed like a worm, laughing all the while.
"If you hate my laughter so much, just kill me."
Seok Ijin sneered. At those words, Supreme Spear's cheeks trembled. His eyes blazed with intense killing intent.
Yet Seok Ijin's expression remained serene. He knew full well that Supreme Spear couldn't kill him right now.
"I'm not sorry about it."
Seok Ijin spoke again. Bound as he was, he shuddered a few times before sitting up straight.
"About killing your older brothers. One's nickname was....... Supreme Sword, right? Goodness, your brothers really love throwing 'Supreme' around."
"I told you to shut up."
"You brought infamy on yourselves with your banditry around Mount Xiaoming. I was just passing through, but as a self-proclaimed righteous wanderer, I had no choice but to punish you. Even so, out of mercy, I only killed the worst of the lot—your eldest—and spared you two younger ones....... Heh heh! Who knew you'd repay that kindness like this."
That was the whole story.
It had happened years ago already. Before Seok Ijin had taken up his post as a professor at the Heavenly Academy.
Back when he wandered the martial world with a single sword, among the many mountains of Hunan, three brothers blessed with inhuman strength had terrorized like tyrants from a tender age on little Mount Xiaoming.
To others, they were utter scoundrels, but their brotherly bond was thick.
So thick that, once grown, they bestowed upon each other grandiose nicknames—Supreme Sword, Supreme Fist, Supreme Spear—and hailed one another as great heroes. At the same time, they branded themselves collectively as the Three Evils of Mount Xiaoming.
Despite the lofty "Supreme" in their nicknames, their deeds changed little.
They plundered villages near Mount Xiaoming or ambushed small merchant caravans and escort agencies.
They knew their limits, avoiding troubles they couldn't handle, and the fact they'd never been on the receiving end showed they had some skill.
Of course, far below Seok Ijin's level. Right before the two younger brothers' eyes, he'd sliced Supreme Sword to pieces, then told the screaming Supreme Fist and Supreme Spear to repent their sins and live honorably. That was six years ago by the calendar.
"They say a gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years. Why not wait the full ten before coming?"
Seok Ijin chuckled through gritted teeth.
Seok Ijin clenched his teeth, his eyes turning red. The grinding of his molars tickled his ears.
"You think your precious disciple can save you?"
"He's not exactly a disciple. Though not not a disciple either....... If I had to say, he's a student. Just as I'm a professor, not a master."
Seok Ijin answered with a smile. It was good news, all the same. Supreme Spear glared at him for a moment before turning away abruptly.
He yanked the spear propped near the rock where he'd sat and twirled it showily a few times.
"You've improved since six years ago."
"Do you know why I let you live after force-feeding you that Qi-Scattering Poison?"
Supreme Spear spat out. Seok Ijin didn't reply, just grinned.
"So I could beat your disciple to death right in front of you. To make you feel the same helplessness and despair you felt when you killed our eldest brother and we could do nothing!"
"Speaking of Qi-Scattering Poison brings up a trivial question. Your brother—Supreme Fist, was it? Why'd he hide and throw hidden weapons? If that's his style, he shouldn't have called himself Supreme Fist."
Flames reignited in Supreme Spear's eyes. That was the moment.
Thud!
A black-clad figure who had leaped up from below halted near Supreme Spear. Unfazed, Supreme Spear turned his head.
"Brother."
"The ambush failed."
Supreme Fist removed the mask he'd been wearing. At those words, Seok Ijin cackled loudly.
But Supreme Fist and Supreme Spear didn't seem too disappointed. Keeping Seok Ijin alive wasn't solely to kill his disciple before his eyes.
If things didn't go as planned, they could use him as a hostage.
"And there are two of them."
"Two?"
"One is Yun Hwiyeon....... Don't know the other."
Supreme Fist and Supreme Spear murmured. After a moment's thought, Supreme Spear glanced at Seok Ijin and asked.
"Did they run?"
"No, they're chasing us."
"As expected. Inexperienced kids. Don't even know to cherish the lives we spared."
"Even better this way. If they'd fled for help, it'd be a hassle....... But charging in fearless like this."
Supreme Fist smirked viciously. He approached Seok Ijin and prodded his body with his foot.
"Coming all this way without fleeing means your disciple cares for you deeply."
"That's something to be grateful for."
Seok Ijin replied with a pleased expression. Supreme Fist, displeased by his attitude, spat on his face.
Seok Ijin kept his smile, letting the spit trickle down his cheek.
"But two, you say. Were there really just two?"
"Hmph, they brought along one boy about their age."
A boy their age?
Seok Ijin was inwardly puzzled but didn't show it.
The only one he'd arranged to meet here today was Dang Heeran.
A boy....... A boy, huh. A student from the Heavenly Academy? He hadn't seen him himself, so he couldn't know who.
No matter. Seok Ijin finally wiped the spit from his cheek. Bright-eyed Dang Heeran wouldn't bring some unrelated guy.
"They're here."
A short time later, two figures appeared climbing the mountain path.
No one else in sight. Supreme Spear kicked Seok Ijin's body demonstratively. With a thud like kicking a leather ball, Seok Ijin rolled away.
"My goodness."
Wi Seongcheon, suddenly caught up in the mess, glanced at Dang Heeran's expression and muttered.
Two obvious enemies, no idea who. And a bound middle-aged man rolling between them. The situation screamed obvious to anyone.
"That's Professor Seok Ijin?"
"......Yeah."
Dang Heeran replied with a reluctant expression. She glanced once at Supreme Fist and Supreme Spear, who radiated killing intent, then at Seok Ijin sprawled on the ground.
Seok Ijin lifted his head and looked at Dang Heeran.
"Hwiyeon!"
Seok Ijin cried out.
Hwiyeon? Wi Seongcheon tilted his head and looked at Dang Heeran. Her already reluctant expression grew more bewildered.
"......Hwiyeon?"
He immediately recalled who that name belonged to.
Yun Hwiyeon. The name written in Chief Wu's ledger.
Daughter of the minor Yun Clan. The Yun Clan had a short history, unremarkable martial arts, and their current patriarch was no different.
In that Yun Clan's history, Yun Hwiyeon wasn't a dragon rising from the mud, but close enough—a serpent on the cusp.
A child prodigy from youth, she'd built a name for herself bit by bit, enough to enter the Heavenly Academy this year.
That was Yun Hwiyeon. And the one here with Wi Seongcheon was Poison Hand Dang Heeran.
"Come save me!"
"......Ugh."
Wi Seongcheon didn't fully grasp the situation, but Dang Heeran did.
She understood why Seok Ijin was suffering such humiliation in that pathetic state. Why he thought she was Yun Hwiyeon, not Dang Heeran.
"You stay out of it."
Dang Heeran sighed deeply and walked past Wi Seongcheon. He tilted his head, watching her back as she approached Supreme Fist and Supreme Spear.
Wi Seongcheon's eyes met Seok Ijin's. Seok Ijin stared at him intently, eyes gleaming, while Wi Seongcheon blinked before giving a slight bow.
*Who are you?*
A voice echoed in Wi Seongcheon's mind.
Transmission of voice. If Supreme Fist and Supreme Spear knew, they'd faint in shock.
They believed Seok Ijin was poisoned with Qi-Scattering Poison and couldn't muster internal energy.
*Why are you with Heeran?*
*We met on the way here.*
Wi Seongcheon replied calmly via transmission.
Meanwhile, Dang Heeran and the Supreme brothers exchanged the predictable banter fitting the situation—nothing worth listening to.
*So, who are you, then?*
*Wi Seongcheon of the Cheonhwa Sect, newly enrolled at the Heavenly Academy.*
Saying his own name still felt awkward. Seok Ijin's unsurprised reaction made Wi Seongcheon clear his throat.
*Cheonhwa Sect? Why would you enroll at the Heavenly Academy....... Oh. They're fighting now.*
Seok Ijin cut off.
Dang Heeran and the Supreme brothers clashed.