Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Fan Dance
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"Where's the old man?"
He was still the Dark Lord who dominated the western martial world, after all.
He was still their lord and patriarch whom they served, after all.
Was it really okay to just call out for him like...
"...We still can't find him."
But the members of the Verdant Guard, the Tang family's top unit, secretly agreed with Tang Yeowon's phrasing, even if they couldn't show it outwardly.
They'd suffered so much, staying up nights searching for the Dark Lord!
"What about the taverns? You checked them properly, right?"
"We've searched every last one."
"The gambling dens too?"
"No sign of him there either. Just to be sure, we shook down all the local black path folks and checked their secret gambling spots, but still nothing."
"He's not the type to go to places like brothels anyway, calling them filthy... Aaaargh! Where the hell did he bolt off to!!"
"He hasn't shown up at the Nine Dragons Branch Family yet either."
Tang Yeowon clutched at her temples.
The day they were supposed to visit the Nine Dragons Branch Family was drawing near.
Yet the Dark Lord, who had vanished without a trace, seemed to have evaporated into thin air—no clues whatsoever!
As days passed, wrinkles of anger creased her fair forehead more deeply, and the gloom among the Verdant Guard grew thicker.
When was it? When they were looking for the Black Water Branch?
Something similar had happened back then too, and they'd practically turned the area upside down before barely finding him.
Because they'd mobilized every servant in the branch at the time, the shame and embarrassment they endured was still so vivid it made them kick off the blankets in their sleep—they could never forget it.
So Tang Yeowon and the Verdant Guard had silently vowed never to let it happen again, and they'd managed to keep watch(?) over the Dark Lord without major incidents since.
That must have made them a bit complacent.
And the Dark Lord hadn't missed that opening.
He even seemed to have learned from the Black Water Branch incident, hiding so flawlessly this time it was uncanny.
It was so thorough, anyone would think he was evading a Demonic Cult heavenly net.
How could anyone not get pissed off?
"...What should we do, miss? We need to send word to the Nine Dragons Branch Family soon."
"Damn it. Hold on a sec."
Tang Yeowon chewed her lower lip.
She couldn't send a messenger to the Nine Dragons Branch Family like this.
A visit to the Dark Lord without the Dark Lord?
No way in hell could she allow that ridiculous scene.
Above all, the Nine Dragons Branch Family was where 'that guy' was.
She absolutely refused to show a pathetic side.
Absolutely!
'To avoid that, I at least need to track down where Grandfather's been—'
But he'd shown no sign at the taverns or gambling dens he'd always sung about wanting to hit up.
No obvious guesses.
Then, a sudden thought flashed through her mind.
'Come to think of it... Isn't that person in Nine Dragons County?'
Back when Tang Yeowon was very young, when she preferred dolls over poisons and hidden weapons.
There was one person who always carried her around, cooing over how pretty she was, and even handmade dolls to put in her hands.
'What do you want today?'
'The one you showed me last time! The one where pressing the button shoots out a needle—pffft!'
'...You're probably the only one in the world who'd turn a Shaolin na han training tool like the Vajra Pestle into a child's play doll. Hahaha! As expected, our Yeowon has such grand ambitions.'
'Hehehehe. Yup!'
She'd heard later that he'd retired to his hometown to rest.
And his hometown was... Nine Dragons County, right?
"Ah, damn, why didn't I think of this sooner?"
Tang Yeowon irritably scratched the back of her head.
Must've been too old a memory, slipped her mind.
Or maybe because her grandfather had fled from family duties, she figured he wouldn't go to the forge again.
Either way, that person would know something about her grandfather's whereabouts, however small.
"Change of plans. First, place to check."
"Is there somewhere worth going?"
"Yeah. One spot."
"Where?"
Flames erupted wildly from Tang Yeowon's eyes.
Whoosh!
"My little grandfather's place."
Tang Yeowon clenched her fist.
Crunch.
Just you wait.
This time, she'd lock him in solitary and bury him in paperwork so he'd never see the outside world again.
Never again!
* * *
"...Hmm, my ears are itchy. Is Yeowon cursing me out somewhere?"
Atop a pavilion overlooking the streets of Nine Dragons County.
The Dark Lord dug at his ear with his pinky, then clasped his hands behind his back and gazed below.
The sun was beginning to set.
Lanterns lit up one by one in the shops, turning the darkening streets bright.
Crowds of people came and went.
All of them warriors, swords at their waists or spears on their backs.
Merchants sold to them, sometimes haggling to buy their goods.
It brimmed with vitality.
The city that never sleeps.
"Nice, real nice."
The Dark Lord always loved watching scenes like this.
At least here, there was no scent of death.
The smell of people living.
He always cherished that peace.
But.
On the flip side, the fact that protecting such peace meant starting a life of killing others now and then filled him with melancholy.
Was this the warrior's fate?
Even after a life nearing ninety years, it was a question he still hadn't answered.
But what could he do?
If it was a warrior's fate, he'd have to accept it.
'That Dang Unhwi guy, was it...? Wonder how that turned out.'
Even for him, the supreme figure of Sichuan's martial world, it had been quite the intriguing task.
He was curious if the next one would be fun too.
It was right then.
Boom boom boom!
A massive explosion roared from far away, accompanied by an earthquake.
"Huh? W-what's that noise?"
"Something's happening!"
"It's the Nine Dragons Branch Family's main estate! It's on fire!!"
As passersby pointed in confusion, the Dark Lord looked there too and smiled.
'It has begun.'
* * *
What the hell is this?
I snapped my head up in shock.
There was Dang Chwyung grinning.
In that instant, I realized.
I'd been had!
I hurriedly swung the fan.
Clang clang clang!
The hidden weapons all flew off into the air.
"What the hell is—"
"Truth is, I only just learned this myself, but the person who made that fan with me? He said to pass on a message. He'd prepared a fun little gift for you."
"!?"
"Try blocking it well. He said you'd gain quite a bit if you do."
I'd come to test a weapon, only to end up the one being tested.
What kind of bolt from the blue was this?
The problem was that every hidden weapon flying at me targeted only my vital acupoints relentlessly.
As if it had completely analyzed my physical traits!
「Dark Lord! It seems like the Dark Lord!」
Some specter shouted urgently.
My mind sharpened.
'The Dark Lord? Why would that guy mess with me here?'
「The Dark Lord is known for discerning a wielder's habits and physical traits just by touching their sword. Especially among the assassination weapons he devised in the past, some were specialized for a single target with ruthless precision.」
'!?'
That meant his arts for hidden weapons were so advanced he could exploit weaknesses without even seeing them?
Was that even possible?
Did that make sense?
It defied common sense.
But add just one condition upfront, and it all made perfect sense.
—Because it's the Dark Lord.
The Ten Great Masters of the world weren't to be judged by human standards.
They were superhumans who had reached the realm of the divine.
Anything was possible.
So this was just that.
What I really needed to focus on here was something else.
This fan bore the Dark Lord's touch too.
I'd obtained a divine weapon priceless beyond gold.
The issue was how to overcome this absurd gift from the Dark Lord right now...
I first steadied my mind.
I ignited the Purple Origin Technique.
The subtle trajectories of the uncollected hidden weapons filled my vision one by one.
How to deflect them?
Simply batting them away wouldn't cut it.
The very word 'gift' implied some hidden meaning within.
I had to find it.
And if there was a hidden meaning in this fan, there was only one.
—Sword.
The Dark Lord was asking.
How would I unfold my sword with this fan?
He seemed to have a strong curiosity about a Tang clansman learning swordsmanship, wanting to help somehow.
Of course, a second helping might leave nothing of me.
Shhhhwip!
For the first time, I fully unfurled the fan.
A unique design: black base covered in red flowers.
I slowly shifted my feet and began shaking the fan.
Before learning the sword, to build basics for weapon techniques, I'd trained in Orchid Feather Dance.
Refining and advancing it yielded a new foundational form of eight stances.
The Eight Eternal Strokes.
Swish swish!
I slowly drew the Eternal character in the air.
Side stroke, dot the point.
Thrust horizontally.
Strike down the center.
Lift and sever.
The first four stances strengthened the Orchid Feather Dance basics.
Push out.
Deflect aside.
Short peck and pierce.
Deep stab.
The latter four deepened the Orchid Feather Dance basics.
With polearms like staff, whip, spear, and halberd, the first half was so ingrained I could perform it blindfolded.
The latter half still had many flaws, but blending insights from the Storm Tiger Twelve Spears against Baek Mountain, it was starting to feel natural.
Each flutter of the fan made my inner energy and sorcery writhe, eager to burst forth.
I stepped into the Wild Wind Dance.
Wild Wind Dance
Whirlwind Eddy
Whirl whirl whirl...
Wind surged along the fan, flapping. From feet, up the body, hands, fan, drawing in the air.
The Fan Dance unfolded.
I immersed myself fully in the Fan Dance as the fan led.
In this moment, I was the fan, and the fan was me.
Loss of self.
「Hah!」
「Impossible—」
Flutter flutter!
As Wild Wind Dance and Fan Dance merged, the fan fluttered ever more gorgeously, drawing gasps from the specters.
「Your previously separate meridians are linking as one.」
「Your spirit and flesh, once fused, are fully harmonizing, with prior insights melting in completely—elevating your realm—」
Atop the winds pouring from the Fan Dance, the hidden weapons halted, then danced along, soaring into the air.
Like butterflies ascending to the sky.
Clang clang clang!