Coincidence Forged into Inevitability (1)
So Cheong jumped in surprise.
“W-what did you say?!”
“He asked me to tell you he’s sorry and that he regrets it.”
He glanced at the single corpse lying on the ground. It was a body dressed in fine clothes, hands neatly folded together. A round, punched-in mark was visible on the exposed chest.
His heart was pierced?
So Cheong looked at the woman. Her hair hung loose, obscuring her face. But even at a glance, it was clear she was a young woman. A quiver hung at her waist, and a fairly large hornbow was slung across her back.
“No way… you did this?”
The woman nodded faintly. Her expression was still hidden. So Cheong stared at her for a moment and sighed. He was as quick on the uptake as they came.
“What was your relationship with him?”
“……He was one of my brothers.”
“……!”
“He regretted it deeply. I apologize as well.”
The woman knelt and bowed deeply. So Cheong gazed down at her with a troubled expression, then closed his eyes.
“Get up.”
“…….”
“Who bows to a beggar? Someone might see. Stand up.”
Only then did the woman rise. So Cheong opened his eyes and looked at her.
“What can I say? The beggars who died by his hand had no ties to me either.”
“…….”
“But since you killed your own flesh and blood, it must weigh heavily on you. I know a good physician—let me introduce you so you can heal your mind and body……”
“I’m fine.”
It was a surprisingly firm voice. So Cheong fell silent for a moment, then nodded weakly.
“I understand.”
“In exchange, one question.”
“A question?”
“You know where Yeon Hojeong is, don’t you?”
In an instant, a sharp glint flashed in So Cheong’s eyes.
“Why do you seek him?”
It was blatant wariness. The woman, Baek Hyang, replied.
“He told me to come find him.”
“……Young Master Yeon told you to come?”
“Yes.”
Her tone was stiff, like a man stepping into the world for the first time. Baek Hyang spoke that way.
“Do you have proof? Young Master Yeon is an important guest of our sect. If anything happened to him because of this, we couldn’t show our faces in the jianghu.”
Information on Yeon Hojeong was top-secret. Huigae had ordered the entire Beggar Sect to treat him with the utmost respect. That was how trustworthy he found Yeon Hojeong.
To So Cheong, this woman seemed dangerous. The aura of emptiness radiating from her entire body. It made sense if she’d killed her own brother with her own hands, but even setting that aside, the subtle aura spreading from her was chillingly formidable.
She might even rival Elder Dong.
Dongpung-gae, the East Wind Beggar, was the most recently appointed elder. As such, he was rated a step or two below the other elders. But he was still an elder of the Great Beggar Sect. For So Cheong to think of elder-level prowess while looking at a woman in her early twenties was no small thing.
Baek Hyang shook her head. Her swaying hair looked eerily unsettling with the motion.
“I don’t know about that. If you won’t tell me, I’ll just have to wait.”
She’d wait. What an utterly helpless girl. So Cheong pondered for a moment.
Doesn’t seem like she’s lying.
The reason he’d become branch head at such a young age wasn’t his martial arts, but his keen eye. To him, Baek Hyang’s words rang true. That’s how it felt.
But if there’s even a chance……
What if this woman held a grudge against Yeon Hojeong? After much deliberation, So Cheong sighed.
“I’ll guide you.”
“……?”
“You don’t seem to be lying. But I can’t act on a hunch alone. And I can’t stay holed up in this beggar den forever. I’ll take you there myself.”
Baek Hyang bowed her head politely.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. If you’re deceiving me and attack Young Master Yeon, you’ll become the Beggar Sect’s greatest enemy.”
His words were threatening, but Baek Hyang’s expression didn’t change. So Cheong summoned his subordinates, gave a few orders, and stepped out.
“One thing in advance: I may not know much, but my movement arts are second to none. Keep up.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go.”
* * *
Boom!
A ferocious shockwave swept through the surroundings.
“Kuh!”
His back burned hot. It felt like fleeing a wildfire spreading at breakneck speed. The technique’s power was that immense.
Myeong Heo-rim swiftly leaped away, twisting mid-air to unleash a single palm strike.
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes flashed.
Whoom!
Horror crossed Myeong Heo-rim’s face.
A monster!!
It was the Phoenix Divine Art he’d cultivated by consuming three of the Myeong family’s supreme elixirs. Though his mastery might fall short of his father’s, he believed his inner energy reserves rivaled his old man’s.
Yet that mighty inner energy, channeled into a blazing Phoenix Palm strike, scattered under a mere gesture from his foe.
And that wasn’t all.
Whoosh.
The crimson flames seemed to scatter, only to be sucked into Yeon Hojeong’s body like ink into paper.
Whoom!
It was insanely fast. The footwork that closed the distance in an instant struck like a falling thunderbolt. Five zhang of separation shrank to three in a heartbeat.
Myeong Heo-rim abandoned any thought of fighting back.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Yeon Hojeong furrowed his brow.
Fast.
Phoenix Flight wasn’t a combat visual aid like Blood Wing Swing Heaven. Unless you were a master like Myeong Cheon, it was hard to use effectively in battle.
But when used as pure movement art, it was a different story. At a speed that didn’t pale against Myeong Cheon’s, Myeong Heo-rim shot forward like a single streak of a bird. Even for Yeon Hojeong, pursuing him was no easy task.
The Phoenix Divine Art might ravage mind and body, but its instantaneous power was tongue-tinglingly impressive.
Damn, the bastard still has stamina to spare?
Thud-thud!
He pushed Bi-ra Jin-gyeol to its limits to ward off the strain on his body and unleashed Vermilion Bird Qi.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three steps closed the gap dramatically. Yeon Hojeong swung his axe with that momentum.
Kaboom!
A storm-like force ravaged everything ahead. A fairly large tree shattered, and leaves and dirt on the ground sprayed in all directions.
For a split second, Myeong Heo-rim’s stance faltered. But only for a moment—he regained his footing in an instant and fled even faster than before.
Yeon Hojeong couldn’t help shouting.
“This is driving me insane, that guy!”
He was squeezing out his remaining stamina and inner energy into his movement arts. A desperate flight for survival.
I was too shortsighted.
He hadn’t thought deeply about Myeong Heo-rim from the start. What mattered to him was Muk Bi; Myeong Heo-rim was just a bonus.
Of course, he hadn’t underestimated him. But after fleeing for dozens of days without proper food or sleep, his condition couldn’t be normal.
Tough but not impossible. That’s what he’d thought, and so it had seemed.
The problem was he hadn’t realized the bastard’s movement arts were this refined.
If I could use Void Grasping……
Back when he was called the Black Dark Emperor, he’d been a supreme master who wielded Void Grasping through vast inner energy and ultimate enlightenment.
With Void Grasping, he could have seized a fleeing opponent and slowed him down.
Unfortunately, his current body and arts hadn’t reached that transcendent level yet.
I’m going to lose him at this rate.
The distance was widening. Even Blood Wing Swing Heaven had its limits.
Last chance. I have to catch him with one final move.
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes, flickering with blue light, gradually burned with red flames.
If Myeong Heo-rim was in desperate flight, Yeon Hojeong was in desperate pursuit. At last, he drove himself to the brink.
Vermilion Bird Qi blazed, granting him a single step faster than ever before.
Kr-boom!
The ground he trod exploded indiscriminately.
Flash!
Myeong Heo-rim’s face drained of color. His opponent had leaped over his head and cut him off.
He looked strained, his complexion poor, but those ferocious eyes held no tremor.
Yeon Hojeong thrust out a single fist.
Boom!
“Guhk!”
It felt like a sledgehammer to the chest. Myeong Heo-rim vomited blood and flew backward.
Thud-thud!
Yeon Hojeong landed in an instant, steadying himself as he glared at Myeong Heo-rim.
“Hoo, that should…… Ah, you mad bastard!”
Even with a couple of ribs surely shattered, he bolted in the opposite direction again. Slower now, but still not slow by any means.
His obsession with life was terrifying. Bones broken, internal injuries sustained, yet he fled at that speed.
No more. White winds swirled around Yeon Hojeong’s body.
Boom!
A beastly step that shook the entire mountain.
This time I’ve got you!
He channeled the full power of his White Tiger Overlord Step into both hands. Yeon Hojeong swung the Gwang Yong Bu.
Vrooom!
The six-chi axe, brimming with White Tiger Qi, spun at high speed toward Myeong Heo-rim.
Despair filled Myeong Heo-rim’s eyes.
Can’t dodge……
Splat! Boom!
“Kaaack!”
Myeong Heo-rim staggered and collapsed. He’d lowered his stance, but hadn’t fully evaded. His left arm was severed from the shoulder.
Thud! Drip!
He hurriedly pressed acupoints, but the bleeding wouldn’t fully stop. His inner energy was depleted, and he had internal injuries to boot.
Myeong Heo-rim staggered repeatedly. And Yeon Hojeong stood before him.
“What a mess.”
In that instant, Myeong Heo-rim’s eyes blazed red.
“You son of a bitch!”
Where did that strength come from? Myeong Heo-rim surged up and smashed his remaining right fist into Yeon Hojeong’s chest.
Splat!
Yeon Hojeong’s body shook. That was it.
He’d mustered his last strength for a Phoenix Palm, but this strike too failed to harm his foe.
Myeong Heo-rim muttered in a dazed face.
“What…… what the hell are you? A monster?!”
Thud!
Yeon Hojeong’s toe slammed into Myeong Heo-rim’s solar plexus. Myeong Heo-rim crumpled on the spot.
Yeon Hojeong dusted off his chest with a bitter expression.
“Aren’t you the monsters? You caused all that chaos for one martial art, and when that wasn’t enough, you tried to wipe out an innocent family.”
“Cough!”
Blood trickled from Myeong Heo-rim’s nose and mouth as he lay there. Yeon Hojeong swiftly sealed his death acupoints. His energy was so drained there was no resistance.
“Hoo, I need to find some decent movement art and learn it quick. Can’t even catch a punk like this properly.”
To Myeong Heo-rim, it was an absurd statement. Who was he? One of the Twin Dragons and Three Phoenixes, a once-in-a-generation prodigy of the martial world!
He’d already amassed elder-level strength of the Nine Great Sects, with expectations he’d ascend to the Thirteen Seats of Heavenly Star someday. A genius among geniuses.
And this bastard called him a punk? What kind of monster was he?
Thud!
With the axe planted in the ground, he slung the ragdoll-like Myeong Heo-rim under his arm and headed down the path. He planned to hand him off to Huangfeng Pavilion quickly and be on his way.
How long had he walked?
Hm?
Yeon Hojeong halted.
Presence?
Not some ordinary person’s. Trained footsteps, a sword-like aura. An astonishingly honed sword intent emanated from beyond the mountain path he tread.
Familiar yet unfamiliar. He’d sensed something similar before, but the level was worlds apart.
A moment later.
“Well now?”
An elderly man and some thirty swordsmen stood opposite Yeon Hojeong.
“Impressive. To have already grasped the martial dao at such a young age? Astonishing.”
Yeon Hojeong’s expression turned strange.
“Namgung?”