Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Chapter 2: One Mountain, Five Rivers (6)
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Oho strode into the room and added,
“I’m not the Heavenly Guard. I just have some brief business. To react right away in an emergency, I need you close by.”
Same as always. There was no choice but to follow him in.
Oho threw open the window and drew in the night air. He leaned his head out and peered down below. The girls entered the room and stood behind his back. He pulled away from the window frame and turned to them.
“The room’s cramped, isn’t it? Jinseong Tower’s layout is bizarre. Normally, they put the best rooms on the top floor. But here, the suites are way down on the third floor. And the view from the third isn’t anything special.”
*Shing.*
He drew his sword as he spoke. He said to Hyang,
“Close the door.”
She could tell he was about to start something. Hyang went back and shut the door tight. Oho rested the tip of his blade on the floor. A glint flashed in Seol and Hyang’s eyes. Right where the sword tip touched, a charcoal circle had been drawn on the floor. It looked like a mark someone had left beforehand.
“What… is that mark?”
“The entrance.”
“The entrance?”
“To meeting the Through Heaven Blade.”
“The Through Heaven Blade? You don’t mean Great Unity Guild Leader Dongpungneung, do you?”
“That’s right. Dongpungneung.”
Oho swung his sword. A flash of blade light sliced the floor.
*Crack! Crunch!*
A square line etched into the floorboards. He crouched low, laid the sword flat, and pried upward. Like flipping open a lid, the wooden panel lifted.
“Call, and he’ll come right down.”
“What?”
Oho tossed out the cryptic words and swung his sword again.
*Scraaape!*
Beneath the three layers of planks, a hole big enough for a person gaped open. Oho threw himself into it.
*Rustle.*
A special suite, was it?
It was a lavish, spacious room, just like the Heavenly Guard’s had been. A rug from the Western Regions, patterned with beasts, muffled even the footsteps falling from above.
“Greetings, gentlemen.”
Oho spoke with brazen nonchalance.
The five men guarding the room reacted with incredible speed.
No frantic shouts of alarm.
Just the soft *shing, shing* of swords drawn.
“Who the hell are you?”
The blades cut through the darkness.
In an instant, five sword points were thrust toward him.
Oho ignored the blades aimed at him. He paid no attention to the stern-faced middle-aged man who had demanded his identity.
His eyes were fixed on one person straight ahead. A man buried in a bed as massive as his enormous bulk. Great Unity Guild Leader, Through Heaven Blade Dongpungneung—that was his name.
“Yawwn. You… who were you again?”
Dongpungneung slowly raised his upper body as he spoke.
Oho stood less than an arm’s length from Dongpungneung’s bed. It meant he had drilled the hole in exactly the right spot. From the guards’ perspective, they had no choice but to be on high alert. In recent years, no stranger had ever gotten this close to their leader.
“Do you know him?”
The stern middle-aged man—the leader of the Great Unity Guild Leader’s guards—asked Dongpungneung.
Unlike his guards, Dongpungneung showed no tension at all. He nodded lightly and replied,
“I remember him. I’ve seen him before.”
The guards’ fierce aura didn’t soften in the slightest.
Just because the leader knew the man didn’t mean he wasn’t an enemy. If anything, they knew someone familiar could be even more dangerous.
“Where was it? Where did I see you?”
“South Lake Tower.”
“Ahhh, that’s right.”
Dongpungneung’s double chin lifted in a round arc. His neatly trimmed, glossy beard traced the same curve. It was a satisfied smile.
“You were bold back then too. Is this the same reason?”
“You could say that. Even if I asked to meet, would you have let me in?”
“Hahaha. Probably not. Especially not at this late hour.”
Dongpungneung chuckled with a hint of gentle reproach.
The guards still didn’t lower their swords.
Dongpungneung was a titan.
Someone you couldn’t meet without a stunt like this.
One Mountain, Five Rivers.
In this vast Shanxi Province, he was one of the top six powerhouses. A man whose face you couldn’t see without serious cause and connections.
“So, what brings you here this time?”
“I’ve come with a surefire way to ease your worries.”
“Worries? What worries?”
“The Taihang Guild.”
The guards’ faces hardened. Because of that name.
They were already deep in conflict. And at this late hour. Coming through the ceiling into the bedroom and uttering such a sensitive word.
“What surefire way do you speak of?”
“It’s pretty straightforward, so not much of a surefire plan.”
“Straightforward?”
“Have a duel.”
“A duel?”
“One-on-one. With the Army Marching Sword. How about a proper showdown?”
Murderous intent flickered across the guards’ faces. They thought he was mocking their leader.
“Who do you think you are, spouting such nonsense!”
The guard leader bellowed.
But Dongpungneung didn’t get angry. Instead, he sat up fully, clearly intrigued.
“A one-on-one duel with Hwang Yeoman. Is that even possible?”
“I’ll make it possible.”
“Haha.”
Dongpungneung laughed again.
He placed a hand on the back of his neck and tilted his head back once. His round chin vanished, then reappeared.
“I’m not sure you have the chops for that.”
“Nothing to lose.”
“There’s more at stake than that. Win or lose, a duel with Hwang Yeoman puts massive pressure on both sides, doesn’t it?”
“Just don’t lose.”
“Haha.”
Dongpungneung laughed a third time. He continued in a voice still laced with amusement.
“You seem inexperienced in the jianghu, but Hwang Yeoman is a true master. ‘One Mountain, Five Rivers’ isn’t an empty title. Even I couldn’t guarantee victory against him.”
“No need to guarantee it. Just make the outcome unclear.”
“Make the outcome unclear? What does that mean?”
Oho paused as if building suspense. Then he spoke slowly, with emphasis.
“The key is the one-on-one duel itself.”
Dongpungneung’s expression grew peculiar. His small eyes gleamed fiercely in the darkness amid his massive frame.
“You mean…?”
“In the current situation, a fight between the Great Unity Guild and the Taihang Guild is a lose-lose. There’s nothing to gain from the start. But neither side can just back down unilaterally. So you need something decisive to settle it. But if you misjudge the direction, it could escalate into a massive bloodbath. If two factions of this scale slaughter each other, it’ll end in mutual destruction, making recovery impossible.”
“So, the leaders step up?”
“Exactly. A one-on-one between leaders draws more attention than any skirmish. It has the power to end all the smaller fights in one go.”
“There’s logic to that.”
Dongpungneung nodded seriously. He was being persuaded.
“But one thing bothers me. Make the outcome unclear? What do you mean?”
“That’s up to the two of you. The duel loses meaning the moment one side wins outright. Because this isn’t a duel to decide a victor—it’s to stop the fighting. If you defeat the Army Marching Sword, what happens next between the Great Unity Guild and Taihang Guild? Your warriors will look down on theirs as weak, and theirs will burn with rage and inferiority. The rift deepens, inevitably leading to a slaughter someday.”
“You’re saying don’t decide a winner?”
“Close, but not quite. Decide a winner, but keep it between the two of you. Unleash your ultimate techniques over dozens or hundreds of exchanges, put on the most spectacular show possible. Declare a draw at the right moment, and your disciples will take pride in their leader’s prowess while respecting the opponent’s valor.”
“You’re telling me to put on a sham for the jianghu folk.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Oho answered boldly, without hesitation.
That very frankness kept Dongpungneung from getting angry.
Staging a fake duel in front of the gathered warlords.
To one of the One Mountain, Five Rivers, no less.
No ordinary guts could even conceive it. Admiration outweighed any offense.
“It piques my interest, tremendously. But… I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“What’s in it for you, making this proposal?”
His gaze was blade-sharp. One wondered how such fierce eyes could come from those small, round ones.
“Nothing grand… but there are a few reasons.”
“Name one.”
“Just one?”
“Yes. Exactly one.”
“If I had to pick one…”
Oho grinned. An overly relaxed smile for facing a titan like Dongpungneung. He continued in a joking tone.
“Peace in Shanxi Province. And by extension, peace across the Central Plains… how about that?”
“Peace in the realm… What an unexpected answer!!”
Dongpungneung looked up.
Straight to the ceiling. He closed his eyes slowly and spoke deliberately.
“Daring to utter ‘the realm’ in my presence. Truly bold, as expected. It’s all well and good. But I can’t give you my full trust.”
“May I ask why?”
“I’m sensitive about my sleep. Can’t rest easy just anywhere. Especially tonight—sleep wouldn’t come. I kept sensing unpleasant presences creeping around.”
A glint flashed in Oho’s eyes.
He felt it too. A presence he hadn’t noticed until now. More precisely, he’d been too focused on Dongpungneung to react to other changes. He’d acted relaxed, but Dongpungneung’s presence was that overwhelming.
“Blade.”
Dongpungneung said to his guard leader. The man shook his head, trying to dissuade him.
“Guild Leader. Leave it to us. No need for you to step in.”
“Bring it.”
Dongpungneung’s words were short but commanding.
The guards’ faces changed. The leader dashed out of the bedroom himself.
*Tack!*
He returned with a double-pronged blade in hand, its tip split in two. Gems adorning the hilt glittered even in the dark. The blade bore no scabbard, engraved boldly with “Through Heaven.”
*Thud.*
Dongpungneung rose from the bed.
He stood face-to-face with Oho, his stature truly immense. Oho wasn’t small, but next to Dongpungneung, he looked like a child.
“Make your excuses.”
“Nothing to excuse.”
*Whish! Crash!*
Before Oho finished, a clamor erupted from directly above. Oho’s face hardened. Enemies had appeared. But not here. Dongpungneung had misread the presence too. The targets weren’t him. Oho shouted upward.
“Come down! Both of you! Hurry!”
A small shadow dropped through the hole Oho had made.
It was Hyang. She looked up. Seol’s face appeared in the hole. As Seol started to descend, she suddenly cried, “Huh?!” and jerked her head up.
She didn’t come down.
She froze, gaze fixed elsewhere.
“!!”
For the first time, urgency crossed Oho’s face as he looked up.
He shouted again.
“What are you doing! Get down!”
He saw Seol straighten up.
“Ah… fat… her…?!”
She murmured, entranced. Oho leaped. But too late. Something yanked her away, and Seol vanished in a whoosh.
“Sister!”
Hyang’s panicked cry echoed. Oho hooked his hand on the severed floor edge and tried to pull his upper body up. Or tried to.
*Shiiiing!*
A chilling whoosh dove for his nape. Oho couldn’t pull out fully. Stuck to the ceiling, he jerked his head back urgently. A broadsword whistled past his nose.
“Damn it!”
Cursing, he twisted his body while clinging to the ceiling. Great Unity Guild Leader Dongpungneung looked up at him. Oho added quickly to Dongpungneung.
“I said there were a few reasons. This is one of them.”
Dongpungneung’s eyes held not anger or surprise, but intense interest. Oho flipped and thrust his head into the hole.
Whooshes poured down as if waiting. From Oho’s waist, a black-and-white sword patterned like a comb slid free.
*Claaang!*
Oho couldn’t easily climb up.
The force from the clashing broadsword was far stronger than the foes at the Gold Flower Garden. The enemies weren’t fools. They were deploying deadlier ones.
“Need a hand?”
The voice from below belonged to Dongpungneung. Oho shouted back.
“No thanks!”
A round smile curved Dongpungneung’s lips. He raised the double-pronged blade. Like firing a cannon, he snapped it from shoulder to arm. The tips pierced the ceiling. *Boom!* The explosion rang out.
*Crunch! Crash-crash-crash!*
A massive hole tore open in the ceiling. Wood shards rained down, mingled with blood.
Through Heaven Blade.
The blade art that shook Shanxi lived up to its name. Its power pierced the thick ceiling in one stroke, reaching the enemies above.