The Arm-Cutting Wager

Seo Joo-cheon stepped forward to face Mak Goeng.

"What kind of wager?"

Mak Goeng, believing at last that he could seize control of the situation, began to recover his composure. He tossed one end of the iron chain lying on the floor toward Seo Joo-cheon.

Thud!

"Tie that around your waist."

Mak Goeng wrapped the other end around his own. Clank. Seeing this, Seo Joo-cheon followed suit.

Jang Hyeon-nam, worried, spoke up.

"Hero Po! Let me do it."

At that passionate voice, Seo Joo-cheon smiled faintly.

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I need to finish this myself."

Jang Hyeon-nam was still no match for Mak Goeng. Though his martial arts and inner energy surpassed Seo Joo-cheon's, he was still a novice.

Still, I have the Time Dilation Authority. That should give me a fighting chance against Mak Goeng.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The Time Dilation Authority was all Seo Joo-cheon could rely on.

Silence settled over the inn. Only the sinister clink of the iron chain echoed through the room.

"What next?"

At Seo Joo-cheon's question, Mak Goeng hurled his sword into the ground between them. Thunk. The blade sank into the floorboards and stood upright.

"Throw yours there as well."

Seo Joo-cheon smiled faintly. Just as he'd expected.

Among the warriors of Macheon Chong, a wager of this kind was popular: two men bound at the waist by a rope, attacking each other with weapons placed between them. If a blood feud existed, they would settle it with a life-or-death duel in this manner. It was known as the Arm-Cutting Duel.

Seo Joo-cheon had introduced this setting himself to emphasize the fighting spirit of Macheon Chong's warriors. He never imagined he would one day be following it himself.

Seo Joo-cheon threw the White Snake Sword as well. Thwack. The blade plunged into the floor beside Mak Goeng's and quivered there, side by side.

At Mak Goeng's words, Ham Cheon-yeong and Kang Chu-mi bristled.

"What kind of trick is this?! Big Brother! Don't listen to that bastard!"

Mak Goeng was a master of the rapid sword, and he was confident in the Arm-Cutting Wager. He believed his swift blade ranked even above that of his superior, Bulsama.

In truth, Seo Joo-cheon had struggled against Bulsama because the Time Dilation Authority had lasted only a few seconds. Without the Queen Jangdokhwe-go, he would have been utterly at Bulsama's mercy. He couldn't be certain the Time Dilation Authority would be enough to stop Mak Goeng.

Then again, there's no way Mak Goeng has the Jangdokhwe-go.

If Mak Goeng possessed the Jangdokhwe-go, the wound on the back of his hand would already have healed.

Still, even against a master, the Time Dilation Authority seems to buy about one breath's worth of time. I'll have to pin my hopes on that.

He would have to create an opening in that fleeting instant if he wanted to win. Looking at the chain bound around his waist, a plan formed.

Right. If I reach the midpoint and use the Time Dilation Authority to wrap the chain around his sword, I'll have a chance.

However brief that single breath of time, it would be enough to coil the chain around the blade. Bind the sword, then cut off Mak Goeng's arm — victory.

"When do we start?"

Mak Goeng answered Seo Joo-cheon's question.

"The moment we both take our first step."

"Fine."

The two men lifted their right feet and stepped forward at the same instant. The duel unfolded so quickly that Baek I-jin and the Plum Blossom Swordmasters had no time to intervene. Or rather, they had no proper justification to stop it.

Neither rejecting Mak Goeng's terms nor supporting Seo Joo-cheon's served their interests. What they wanted was the Gongcheong Seokyu, and the conversation had taken a strange turn that quietly irritated them.

Thud! Thud!

The Mount Hua Sect had been feeling bitter, as if those two men had made them forgotten — but the moment they saw the two take their first steps, they focused their full attention.

Seo Joo-cheon and Mak Goeng sprinted toward the weapons planted at the midpoint. Just as he started running, Mak Goeng stretched out his hand.

Idiot. Reaching now won't get you the sword.

Seo Joo-cheon figured that as long as they arrived at roughly the same time, he had a chance. He had the Time Dilation Authority, after all.

Huh?

But the sword planted in the floor at the midpoint trembled, then flew into Mak Goeng's outstretched hand as if sucked toward it.

Dismayed sighs rose from every corner of the inn. Who would have thought Mak Goeng was a master of such caliber that he could perform Grasping Objects from Afar?

A curse burst out in Seo Joo-cheon's mind.

What kind of novel never goes the way you expect? Isn't this the kind of thing that's supposed to work in the protagonist's favor?

Irritation surged for a brief moment, but he quickly realized his mistake.

I'm not the protagonist!

Just as Seo Joo-cheon felt a wave of hollowness wash over him—

"Big Brother!"

Ham Cheon-yeong cried out, not daring to actually interfere in the duel. Kang Chu-mi knew full well that interfering would mean leaving the martial world.

If it would save Big Brother…

She could retire from the Jianghu for all she cared. Kang Chu-mi gripped the handle of her whip.

"Little sister. Trust Big Brother!"

"The opponent is Mak Goeng."

When Ham Cheon-yeong held her back, Kang Chu-mi muttered in a low voice.

"Big Brother isn't the type to accept Mak Goeng's wager without a plan."

Instead of releasing her whip, Kang Chu-mi took a throwing dagger in her right hand. If things turned dangerous, she would throw it immediately.

Then she noticed that Ham Cheon-yeong's hand, gripping her wrist, was trembling faintly. Among the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes, the one who most respected and cherished their Big Brother was, in truth, Ham Cheon-yeong — a man who would leap into a pit of fire at Big Brother's command. And that man was now telling her to trust Big Brother and wait.

Looking at Ham Cheon-yeong, Kang Chu-mi lowered the hand that held the dagger.

Mak Goeng had not actually reached a realm where Grasping Objects from Afar was possible. When he threw the sword, he had already tied an invisible strand of Thousand Silk to the hilt. Then he had secretly pulled the thread to retrieve the blade.

Having fought the Arm-Cutting Duel many times, Mak Goeng was already well-versed in such petty tricks. As the sword settled snugly into his grip, a smile formed of its own accord.

Where shall I cut first?

He intended to slice off the entire shoulder, so that Seo Joo-cheon would never wield a sword again. As murderous intent took hold, the killing aura within his body ran wild.

Seo Joo-cheon was thrown into disarray the moment Mak Goeng's sword entered his hand.

Damn it, I don't have a Plan B.

His only plan had been to activate the Time Dilation Authority, wrap the chain around Mak Goeng's sword to restrain it, and then cut off his arm. He hadn't considered that this simple duel might have other variables.

How do I stop that sword?

He furiously turned the problem over in his mind, and one method occurred to him.

Right. This should at least keep me from dying.

Seo Joo-cheon spun his body, using his heel as a pivot. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Clatter-rattle-rattle! As he whirled like a spinning top, the iron chain wrapped around him. Starting from his abdomen, the links coiled up across his chest. Still spinning, he yanked the sword from the floor.

Clang!

When they met, Mak Goeng's sword was thrusting toward Seo Joo-cheon's chest. If wrapping the chain had been even a fraction slower, it would have been dangerous.

Seo Joo-cheon did not stop spinning. He pressed his body close so that Mak Goeng couldn't pull any other tricks. Clank! He slammed into the chain wrapped around Mak Goeng's waist.

Mak Goeng grinned as he saw Seo Joo-cheon wrapped in the chain. His sword flew toward Seo Joo-cheon's neck.

I've been waiting for this.

Seo Joo-cheon's sword had already activated the Time Dilation Authority. Mak Goeng's blade came in slowly, horizontally, for a single instant.

Thank goodness. The Time Dilation Authority is working.

He had briefly feared that Mak Goeng's inner energy was too strong for it to take effect.

Seo Joo-cheon ducked his head to evade the blade. A handful of hair was sheared clean off by the sword's edge and scattered through the air. As the blade grazed past his neck, the smile on Mak Goeng's face began to twist. Watching that expression slowly change, his emotions were easy to read.

Seo Joo-cheon slashed swiftly toward the wrist that had overextended in the opposite direction.

To those who knew nothing of the Time Dilation Authority, it would have looked as though Seo Joo-cheon had executed a rapid-sword technique.

"Kh!"

Mak Goeng let out a short cry and stared blankly at Seo Joo-cheon.

Clatter-rattle! Seo Joo-cheon spun in the opposite direction, unwinding the chain. Until that moment, aside from a few martial artists, no one had properly grasped what had happened.

The Plum Blossom Swordmasters let out low groans, and Jang Hyeon-nam stared with his mouth hanging open. Baek I-jin and Sang Ryo wore deeply furrowed brows — the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expression that appears when you've seen something but can't be sure you saw it correctly.

The Black-Eyed Leopard Blade and the White Flame Blade expressed the intensity of that clash with a single full-body shudder. They had seen a vision of their own wrists being severed.

Do-eo-ak-jon's cheek twitched. Honestly, he had thought he could take the heads of those strutting brats with their new title of Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes in a single move. But after watching the clash with Mak Goeng, his body went cold as if he'd plunged into ice water. He realized that to take down the so-called First Hero, he would have to at least sacrifice an arm or a leg.

Thud. Clank.

The sound of the severed wrist and the sword hitting the floor rang strangely through the inn.

In that instant, Mak Goeng sealed his pressure points to stop the bleeding. He still couldn't easily accept that he had lost the wager. But one thing he understood.

Seo Joo-cheon's sword had been heading for his shoulder. But at the last moment, the blade had changed direction and sliced the wrist. Had it cut through to the shoulder, an entire arm would have fallen off, not just a wrist.

He changed direction at the end.

Mak Goeng had intended to take the shoulder, but his opponent had shown mercy in his strike. Even having lost a wrist, he could not fail to recognize that. The difference between missing a wrist and missing an entire arm was as vast as heaven and earth.

Clank. The silence of the inn broke as Seo Joo-cheon unwound the chain from his waist. The sound of martial artists releasing their held breath followed.

Mak Goeng stared down at the severed wrist on the floor as if it belonged to someone else, then picked it up with his left hand.

"I will withdraw."

He spoke in a voice trembling with resentment. Mak Goeng was a warrior who kept his word — even if that transgression earned him punishment from Macheon Chong.

"I knew Commander Mak would keep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his promise. In that case, I'll give you Bulsama."

At those words, Mak Goeng asked in a startled voice.

"Is that true?"

Instead of answering, Seo Joo-cheon dragged Bulsama — whose head dangled loosely — and set him before Mak Goeng. The strange thing was that even with his neck more than half severed, no blood flowed. People stared at it with disbelieving eyes.

"Bulsama… isn't he a jiangshi?"

Someone's words rang out loudly. Most of the martial artists present could not deny it.

"You'd better not pull that dagger out carelessly."

As the two men struck a deal without any consultation, the Plum Blossom Swordmasters scowled. If they returned empty-handed, they could not salvage their damaged pride. One of them forced himself to speak.

"Hero Po! Hand over the elixir."

Seo Joo-cheon had been waiting for those words. If the Plum Blossom Swordmasters had been too ashamed to speak up, his truly important plan would have gone awry.

"Ah, right. Since I'm handing over Bulsama, I suppose we can keep the elixir?"

Mak Goeng could say nothing in response. Taking the elixir on top of receiving Bulsama was something his pride would not allow.

Bulsama glared at Mak Goeng with a look that said he must not give up the elixir, but his eyes had rolled nearly halfway back, and he could not express his will. With his neck half-severed, he could neither use voice transmission nor circulate his inner energy.

"Throw it to the Plum Blossom Swordmasters."

Seo Joo-cheon had already put distance between himself and Mak Goeng.

Mak Goeng rummaged through Bulsama's robes and pulled out a porcelain bottle. For a moment he stared at it, his expression conflicted. He realized just how difficult it was to hand over the elixir in his grasp.

One of the Plum Blossom Swordmasters, fearing Mak Goeng might flee, casually blocked the main entrance. But Mak Goeng had the personality Seo Joo-cheon had written for him — he was not the type to run off with it. That was why this plan had been laid.

"Are you sure I should throw it to the Plum Blossom Swordmasters?"

Mak Goeng asked because he believed Seo Joo-cheon was entitled to take the elixir. After all, it was he, not the Plum Blossom Swordmasters, who had subdued Bulsama.

"I have no interest in that elixir."

"You're an unusual fellow."

"Greed for the wrong things will cut a man's life short."

"You'll live a long time, then."

"I will. At least longer than you."

Mak Goeng threw the porcelain bottle containing the Gongcheong Seokyu to the Plum Blossom Swordmasters. The bottle traced an arc through the air toward them. Bright smiles bloomed on their faces — they were finally about to receive the Gongcheong Seokyu they had been searching for.

Whoosh! Crash!

At that moment, a shadow appeared, snatched the porcelain bottle like lightning, and escaped through the inn's window. While everyone had let their guard down, Do-eo-ak-jon — who had been holding his breath — snatched the bottle and fled.

Two Plum Blossom Swordmasters chased after the fleeing Do-eo-ak-jon. Mak Goeng also issued a voice-transmission command, sending half of the Blood Heaven Unit after him.

Seo Joo-cheon had arranged for the fake elixir to fall into Do-eo-ak-jon's hands, in case Mak Goeng had a change of heart and attacked. That way, the Blood Heaven Unit warriors would scatter in pursuit of Do-eo-ak-jon, making a rematch, if it came to that, a fight worth taking.

"Do we have to start all over from the beginning?"

A sigh drifted through the inn. They had gone through all that trouble to snatch the elixir from the Black-Eyed Leopard Blade, and now they had to start over — it was enough to make anyone sick of it.

Seo Joo-cheon exchanged a glance with the Black-Eyed Leopard Blade and smiled faintly.