Chapter 120: The Moment of Resolve (2)
“Hm?”
“What's wrong?”
“……”
“Young Master Yeon?”
“Huh?”
“What's the matter? Is something bothering you?”
Yeon Hojeong shook his head.
“Nah. My neck just suddenly started tingling.”
“An assassin?”
“As if.”
“Why not? I overheard people saying the Yeon family is one of the most famous clans in the martial world.”
“Not the most famous, but yeah, we're well-known.”
“Then the eldest son of such a family would have plenty of people gunning for him, right?”
Yeon Hojeong blinked.
“That's not wrong... but how'd you figure that out?”
Muk Bi grumbled.
“You're not underestimating me too much?”
“I'm not underestimating you. Ignorance isn't a crime.”
“Even I know that much, no matter how naive I am about the world.”
Even three people gathered together would split into factions, waging subtle power struggles to gain the upper hand. The martial world was that on a scale of tens of millions. A sect with high prestige and strong influence was bound to draw envy and checks. Muk Bi had learned that much from the Yeonshin Hapjeon.
“It's been a whole month already, huh.”
“Yeah.”
It had been over a month since they'd stayed at Hoseon Daehi House. Autumn had fully settled in. Fallen leaves swirled in the chill wind, and people's clothes grew thicker by the day.
Moyong Woo had visited twenty days ago and left the same day. After that, Yeon Hojeong had scouted the Zhejiang coastlines, wrapping up his market research. It was about time to head back.
“By the way, you don't need to meet that guy again?”
“Who?”
“The one named Moyong Woo.”
Yeon Hojeong smirked.
“Talks are done. Now it's his move. If he takes my offer, he'll reach out then.”
He recalled Moyong Woo's words.
'But since I've made up my mind, I don't want to play it half-hearted.'
They'd only just met. No need to stick together from the start with someone whose moves he hadn't synced with yet—and it wouldn't even be possible. You couldn't just twiddle your thumbs waiting for help; that led nowhere. The master of your life was always yourself. Moyong Woo knew that well.
'Figure it out on your own. I trust you have the chops.'
Muk Bi asked, “So we can head straight back?”
“Yep.”
“Not stopping by Mo Gan Mountain?”
“Mo Gan Mountain? Oh, Jipyeong?”
“Yeah.”
Yeon Hojeong tilted his head.
“You think he's still there? And it's a whole mountain. How would we even find him in that vast place?”
“If we've got time to kill anyway, we could train our lightness skills while combing the whole mountain.”
“Oh? Not a bad idea.”
“Hehe.”
Yeon Hojeong chuckled.
“You miss Jipyeong that much?”
Muk Bi scratched her cheek.
“It's the first time.”
“First for what?”
“Excluding you, Young Master Yeon—the first person to approach me without any ulterior motives.”
“Dad would be hurt hearing that.”
“Ah, it's different with Lord Father. I mean, like...”
“Well, anyway, you have a point. No real plans back home besides training, so might as well swing by Mo Gan Mountain... Whoa!”
“What?”
Yeon Hojeong's face went pale. Muk Bi tensed instinctively. She'd never seen his expression this grave.
Wooong.
Muk Bi channeled her Hong Ryeon Palace True Energy, scanning the surroundings.
“Something wrong? Enemies...?”
“I didn't send a letter.”
“Pardon?”
Yeon Hojeong swallowed hard.
“Not a single status letter to Father. Not once.”
“……”
“Fucking hell.”
Muk Bi sighed in exasperation.
“You can be so ridiculously random sometimes.”
“Hey! You don't know my dad! Do you have any idea how much hell I went through that day?”
Yeon Hojeong clutched his head without thinking. People were scarier in silence than in words. That day, his father had stared him down wordlessly until he recited the filial piety chapter of the Myeongsim Bogam aloud. It was a trauma almost rivaling his first kill. The mental blow had kept him up for nights.
Muk Bi was dumbfounded.
Just what is this guy's real face?
She remembered their first meeting. The crimson-and-azure aura, both radiant and shadowy, pouring from him as his piercing gaze looked down. The martial arts that subdued her in an instant and crushed Baek So-kyeong—it was pure shock. The merciless dignity of a ferocious general had chilled her to the bone.
Later, comforting her, he'd shown the shadow of a curt sage. As time passed and familiarity grew, she'd seen his youthful mischief. Talking with Moyong Woo, he'd revealed the face of a bold strategist.
And now?
He's a total idiot?
Who knew how many faces he was hiding. But one thing was clear.
“In a way, this is your most honest side.”
“What're you on about?”
“Nothing.”
Muk Bi turned away. Every face he showed was shocking, but none were fake. Once he saw you as his own, he dropped all masks. Maybe that was Yeon Hojeong's greatest charm.
“Don't just stand there like a moron. Time to head out.”
“Moron?!”
“Heading off first.”
Paang!
Muk Bi shot down the mountain path at blinding speed. Yeon Hojeong smacked his lips.
Cold as ever.
Thud!
In a flash, he was on her tail—then right beside her. Muk Bi stuck out her tongue.
“You're getting faster by the day.”
“I work at it every day.”
“How many seong have you mastered?”
“That stuff doesn't matter.”
“Huh?”
“For other martial arts, maybe. But for lightness skills, obsessing over seong levels is pointless.”
To Yeon Hojeong, lightness skills were an endlessly deepening study. In a way, like inner cultivation methods. Gauging inner energy depth by seong or stages was just superficial.
'Just move your body to fit your insights and build.'
Whoosh!
Yeon Hojeong accelerated further, his posture unflinching—like a lofty crane, yet brimming with battle-ready ferocity, ready to swing his axe at any moment.
Muk Bi's eyes deepened.
'So much to learn from him.'
Forgetting old skills while acquiring new ones was natural. Not for Yeon Hojeong. He honed everything he'd ever learned without neglect.
'Not just smarts or talent.'
Now she understood the foundation of his solid growth.
'His whole attitude toward life.'
He embraced every insight from mind and body. As if he believed you couldn't survive otherwise. Feasibility be damned—he collided head-on. Even if impossible, he charged. Ideals without pursuit were meaningless.
Swoosh!
“Still too slow.”
“You're the one who's too fast.”
“Hmph.”
Papapang!
Muk Bi unleashed ferocious bounding steps, surging ahead. Terrifying lightness skill. Yeon Hojeong, watching her back in a daze, smiled inwardly.
'She's changed well.'
When he first saw her, she was like a crumbling wall. Not anymore. Feeling human warmth in the Yeon household's shelter, glimpsing the martial world's facets in Zhejiang—she held her true heart steady amid the chaos. Yeon Hojeong admired that.
“Hey! Keep up! Slow down a bit!”
“Hurry up!”
“You damn thing!”
Scaling the mountain path like mad—one refusing to yield, the other pushing limits—they reached Mo Gan Mountain's foothills in less than a day. Each filling the other's gaps.
“Whew, hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Here.”
“Oh? Onigiri?”
“Yeah. Pork filling inside. Well-seasoned.”
“……Guess I'm fated to never escape onigiri.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Damn, these are huge. One'll fill me up.”
They munched vigorously.
“Tastes a bit off.”
“Won't kill you.”
“Won't, but still.”
Both had lived rough—mice, snakes, tree roots were routine. Their iron stomachs digested the sour onigiri in no time.
Yeon Hojeong stood.
“Alright, shall we hunt for Jipyeong?”
“Sure?”
As he stretched, axe slung on his shoulder, ready to dash—
'……'
His eyes sharpened. Muk Bi eyed him curiously.
“What's up?”
“……”
“Forgot something besides the letter?”
“Shh.”
His face was far graver than expected. Hers sobered too. He scanned like a hawk.
'……What is it?'
Bi-ra Jin-gyeol surged, the Three Divine Energies of the Four Gods burning calmly.
'No presence caught...?'
Just trees, earth, grass, leaves. The mountain flowed nobly; the breeze was crisp, chilling. All the autumn mountain offered. Nothing else.
'But this air...'
Amid the fresh breeze, a needle-sharp, razor-edged foul smoke pricked.
After scanning long, Yeon Hojeong spoke.
“How many arrows?”
“Huh?”
“Arrows.”
Muk Bi checked her quiver.
“Twenty-four.”
“Twenty-four...”
Wooong.
Detaching Gwang Yong Bu from his shoulder, he circulated Bi-ra Jin-gyeol. His core solidified; senses sharpened to extremes.
“Save 'em, just in case.”
Muk Bi gripped her Hong Ryeon Palace bow tighter.
“Enemies?”
“Assassins.”
“Assassins?!”
“No presence. But this foul air... gotta be.”
One edge black paths held over white: assassins. Black path elites leaked zero killing intent. Their arts could fool even peak masters.
So how to fight? No method—just survive and eliminate. Fail to detect, and you're dead. Experience piled up, and you'd catch not killing intent, but atmospheric shifts.
'Weird.'
Yeon Hojeong grew certain. Assassins targeting them—this spot, him specifically. The thickening murk proved it.
'Not just assassins... something else?'
Then—Muk Bi's eyes flashed.
“Saw 'em.”
“What?”
“Down the mountain, two men in ancient-tree-colored clothes.”
A distance even he strained to spot. Archers' eyesight outstripped any warrior's—special eye techniques trained.
Her hawk-like vision caught the assassins.
'Then...'
Scanning terrain, Yeon Hojeong yelled.
“Upward! Go higher!”
“What?!”
“Gongseong Saljin! They're overwhelming with numbers!”
Parararak!
That instant, over two hundred assassins charged from below. No stealth kill—a formation to sweep them in one go. The most brutal assassin tactic.
Realizing detection, they'd switched to open assault.
Pababak!
They broadcast presence boldly. The creeping killing intent was bonus. Despite being assassins, their behavior screamed anything but—Yeon Hojeong ground his teeth.
“What the hell are you idiots doing?!”