Chapter 222: Guangdong Jin Manor-4
Chapter 222: Guangdong Jin Manor-4
Seonwoo Jin's Southern Cross Sword struck at Yun Sak's opening.
It was a perfect ambush, launched at tremendous speed after blocking his blade with the Vermilion Bird Manifestation.
"Haaap!"
Chwaaaaak!
"!"
But unfortunately, Yun Sak was none other than one of the Three Demons of the Southern Sea, alongside the Four Demons Under Heaven's Demon Sovereign Man Hak-sung.
He swung his blade at incredible speed and managed to block Seonwoo Jin's Southern Cross Sword.
Chachaeng!
Having barely blocked the ambush, Yun Sak bounced back from the recoil and asked,
"Who are you?"
Seonwoo Jin aimed his sword at him, positioned himself in front of the two Jin family men, and answered with a grin.
"I am Inparang of the Hainan In Clan. A pleasure, Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak."
At those words, Yun Sak's eyes twitched.
'He knows my identity? How?'
And if he was Inparang of the Hainan In Clan, then surely...
But he was not the most surprised person present.
Jin Gong-mu, who had been supporting his father Jin Sa-mong with one hand, shouted in shock.
"Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak?!"
It was impossible not to know the name Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak.
Though his face was unknown because everyone who had faced him had died, his martial arts — wielding a Japanese blade like a demon — were a source of terror for all who lived in the southern seas.
Jin Gong-mu stared at Yun Sak's Japanese blade and murmured.
"Now that I look at it, that Japanese blade... It truly was Yun Sak!"
It was a strange thing.
He had heard that Yun Sak had vanished from the southern seas without a trace four or five years ago.
According to the rumors, there was talk that he had clashed with the Hainan Sect in a power struggle and been defeated and killed by the Hainan Demon Sword Jin Tae-do...
"How could he be the leader of the White Religion Sect?"
At that, Yun Sak's expression began to harden.
Even when he had been swinging his blade and cutting people down moments ago, his face had worn a faint smile — but now unmistakable killing intent was rising upon it.
"......."
He said nothing, but no one could fail to guess the meaning of that killing intent.
He had truly resolved to slaughter them all and eliminate every witness.
Jin Gong-mu adjusted his grip on his iron staff with both hands and swallowed hard.
The blade-like killing intent radiating from Yun Sak felt as though it would slice his flesh.
It was truly a dreadful momentum.
Jin Sa-mong also wore a grim expression as he readied the broken wooden staff in both hands, preparing to resist.
He was in no condition to fight, but he could not simply stand still.
He had to struggle, even if it was futile.
If only he could at least save his son Jin Gong-mu — but that seemed to be an unreasonable hope.
Because he had no confidence that he could stall that monster here.
But unlike the two of them, who were extremely tense, only Seonwoo Jin grinned and spoke leisurely.
"Right, of course you'd want to kill us. You can't leave people who know your identity alive. But... can you handle the four of us by yourself?"
At his words, Jin Gong-mu suddenly wore a puzzled expression.
Four people?
Why four?
It was at that moment.
One person flew through the air and landed beside them.
"Grandfather! Are you alright?!"
The one shouting was a woman with a cute face, short hair like a man's, and dressed in shabby clothes — none other than Jin Gong-mu's daughter, Jin So-eun.
She had arrived at the battlefield following Seonwoo Jin, holding a wooden staff in each hand.
"...So-eun?"
As Jin Gong-mu stared at her blankly, Jin Sa-mong cried out in alarm.
"So-eun-ah, why are you here?!"
Then he urgently shouted.
"Leave at once! This is no place for you!"
Jin Sa-mong was frantic.
Jin So-eun was the hope of the Jin Family Stronghold in his eyes.
He absolutely could not lose her.
Even if he and his son Jin Gong-mu died here, she could not be allowed to perish.
As long as Jin So-eun survived, as long as she could one day revive the Natural Staff, the Jin Family Stronghold could rise again under any circumstances.
But Jin So-eun did not obey her grandfather's words.
She tossed one of the wooden staffs she had brought to her grandfather and smiled brightly.
"If a martial artist of the Jin Family Stronghold isn't here, where else would she be? I am a martial artist of the Jin Family Stronghold raised by you, Grandfather."
Her words were spoken as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
At those words, so overwhelmingly worthy of pride, Jin Sa-mong's throat suddenly tightened.
His granddaughter, who had only ever been kind and gentle, the granddaughter he had dragged into the mountains and made suffer endlessly — she was all grown up now and standing before him as a martial artist, declaring herself to him.
But emotion was emotion, and reality was reality.
Jin Sa-mong barely managed to squeeze out his voice and tried to speak to her again.
"But So-eun-ah, you...!"
It was then.
Seonwoo Jin shouted sharply.
"Jin Sojeo!"
"Yes!"
Unlike Jin Sa-mong, who was far too flustered, Seonwoo Jin and Jin So-eun had not taken their attention off Yun Sak's movements.
So the moment Yun Sak charged, Seonwoo Jin called Jin So-eun's name.
Shaaaaak!
Yun Sak's Japanese blade slashed at Seonwoo Jin at terrifying speed.
But Seonwoo Jin did not meet it head-on.
He merely stepped backward with ghost-like movement technique.
Seuseusuk!
And into that space, Jin So-eun leaped.
"Haaap!"
At that, the startled Jin Sa-mong shouted her name.
"So-eun-ah!"
Jin Sa-mong believed she was the greatest talent who could revive the Natural Staff.
But she was still lacking.
She lacked experience, but more than anything, her internal energy was absolutely insufficient.
There was no way that a girl like her could block Yun Sak's blade — a blade that even he himself, stuck at the wall of the transcendent peak, had ultimately failed to stop.
But Seonwoo Jin's thoughts differed from his.
That was because, having tested her when she had emerged from her energy circulation and breathing meditation and just crossed the wall of the peak level, Seonwoo Jin had come to understand what had made Mukrang so astonished by her.
He thought with a grin.
'Show me once more, Jin Sojeo. That wondrous staff technique of yours.'
Mukrang also spoke in an amused tone.
- I would like to see it again as well.
Yun Sak's Japanese blade flashed like a halo of light and slashed at Jin So-eun in an instant.
Shwiiiiik!
Teong!
But his Japanese blade was struck on the flat of the blade by Jin So-eun's wooden staff and deflected away.
The wooden staff moved as though a live fish were thrashing — Jin So-eun's Natural Staff had revealed itself once more.
Yun Sak's expression remained blank.
Striking the flat of his quick blade to deflect it was an astonishing response, but it was a sight he had already grown accustomed to during his fight with Jin Sa-mong.
Yun Sak immediately spun his blade and launched a flurry of blows at even greater speed.
Light and swift, like fragments of shattered sunlight, the rapid barrage enveloped Jin So-eun's entire body dazzlingly.
Charararararak!
Jin So-eun kept her eyes wide open, staring straight at the attacks scattering toward her.
A quick blade unlike anything she had ever experienced in her life — not just one, but over ten blade-lights were bearing down on her.
Yet somehow, she was not afraid.
"Hwoop!"
She exhaled a short breath and extended her arm forward.
Then, centered around her arm, the wooden staff began to whirl fiercely.
Once again, it was the sight of the Natural Staff — moving as if alive, as if it possessed life of its own.
Teotototototeong!
Dozens of collisions occurred in a single instant.
Moving as though alive, the wooden staff guarding Jin So-eun's surroundings had struck away every one of Yun Sak's halo-like Japanese blade strikes.
Jin Gong-mu's face stiffened as he watched.
"...So-eun did that?"
His daughter Jin So-eun's response was similar to what his father Jin Sa-mong had shown earlier.
It was a defensive method of striking the flat of the blade rather than the edge to deflect it. But Jin Gong-mu could see something in her wooden staff that was different from his father's staff technique.
She was not trying to move the wooden staff.
She was merely performing simple movements — shifting her body, extending her arm.
But the wooden staff, as if it were a living thing—sometimes like a flopping fish, sometimes like a dragon weaving through clouds—circled around her of its own accord, contending with Yun Sak's katana.
Jin Gong-mu knew it the moment he saw it.
That this was the true Natural Staff technique, and why his own father had seen hope in the still-young Jin So-eun.
He glanced suddenly at Jin Sa-mong, who was watching Jin So-eun's staff technique with eyes brimming with emotion.
The fruits of fifteen years of effort were unfolding dazzlingly before his eyes.
Tutututututung!
Watching Jin So-eun strike down his blade, Yun Sak narrowed his eyes.
It was an astonishing staff technique.
She was undoubtedly a worthy opponent, the kind he had not encountered in a long time.
But he could not drag this out any longer.
He had to end it now.
"Hup!"
He let out a short martial shout and drove his blade strikes faster.
Then, unable to hold out any longer, Jin So-eun was forced to step back.
That was the moment.
Shiiik!
Yun Sak's eyes flew wide open.
Because just as he was about to pour his blade strikes onto Jin So-eun, that young bastard had materialized at his flank with ghostly movement.
The sight of the bastard's smirking face was vividly burned into his eyes.
Chwaaaaak!
The Southern Cross Sword, Seonwoo Jin's cross-shaped sword strike, was carved into the empty air once more.
Unable to dismiss it lightly, Yun Sak hurriedly pulled back his blade and blocked the attack.
Jjeojeong!
Yun Sak retreated one step, then surged forward again, swinging his blade.
Shaaak!
But Seonwoo Jin, who seemed to have seized the upper hand for a moment, unexpectedly did not press his advantage. Instead, he withdrew behind Jin So-eun with eerie evanescence.
And as if swapping places with him, Jin So-eun sprang forward and extended her hand.
From her fingertips, the whirlwind of the wooden staff unfolded once more, striking down the katana.
Tutututututung!
"......."
Yun Sak realized what the bastard was up to.
He seemed to be leaving the defense to the wench while waiting for an opening to launch his own attacks.
And this was clearly a highly troublesome tactic for Yun Sak.
Besides, those two were not the only opponents.
Chwaaaaak!
Jjeojeong!
Seonwoo Jin, who had struck at the flank with the Southern Cross Sword just as Yun Sak was about to unleash his assault on Jin So-eun, withdrew like a ghost and spoke to the two people behind him.
"Are the two of you planning to merely spectate?"
At that, Jin Sa-mong and Jin Gong-mu, who had been staring vacantly at Jin So-eun's Natural Staff, jolted back to their senses.
He was right.
This was no time for the likes of them to be standing around watching.
If anything happened to Jin So-eun, the hope of the Jin family, it would be a catastrophe.
Jin Sa-mong grabbed his wooden staff and leapt toward Yun Sak.
"So-eun!"
Jin Gong-mu also charged in, swinging his iron staff.
"I am coming too!"
Only then did Yun Sak's expression finally crumple.
One by one, none of them were particularly threatening, but facing four at once was certainly a cumbersome prospect.
"Hwoop!"
Shararararak!
Yun Sak unleashed a momentary torrent of blade strikes, forcing Jin So-eun to fall back.
Then, he immediately withdrew a half-step and tried to sheathe his katana into its scabbard.
He meant to execute his most self-assured technique, the one that had elevated him to the transcendent peak realm—the Quick-Draw Sword Technique.
But he did not know.
That there was another who had been lying in wait for precisely that moment.
Mukrang shouted.
- Now!
'Yes!'
Paaang!
Seonwoo Jin shot forward like a lightning bolt using the Explosive Step Technique.
Because he had seen Yun Sak's 'quick-draw' earlier on his way here, he had already anticipated that Yun Sak would resort to it when cornered.
Shuhaak!
Before Yun Sak could even fully sheathe his blade, he was forced into horrified shock at the sight of Seonwoo Jin pressing right up to him.
So he hurriedly drew his blade again and blocked the sword.
Jjeojeong!
"Keuk!"
It was the first moment a groan burst from Yun Sak's lips.
When his Southern Cross Sword was blocked, Seonwoo Jin withdrew without a hint of regret.
But he did not open a significant distance, and with movements that seemed to be aiming for his rear flank, Yun Sak could not bring himself to sheathe his blade again.
Yun Sak gritted his teeth.
He could clearly see at a glance what Seonwoo Jin was aiming for.
By now, wasn't the bastard openly displaying an attitude that he was simply waiting for him to put his blade away?
Moreover, in the meantime, the three members of the Jin family were charging straight at him.
Eudeuk!
Titititititing!
As Yun Sak ground his teeth and contended with the three from the Jin family, Seonwoo Jin's voice suddenly reached him.
"It's astonishing. To think a man of your caliber would submit to Jin Tae-do."
What?!
At the abrupt remark, Yun Sak momentarily lost his equilibrium and nearly took a critical hit from Jin Gong-mu's iron staff.
Ting!
Barely managing to deflect the iron staff, Yun Sak retreated and fixed Seonwoo Jin with a murderous gaze.
But Seonwoo Jin was still moving with the wind-like evanescence, maintaining his distance behind Yun Sak.
And he continued speaking.
"Why are you surprised? Did you really think no one knew that the White Shark Sect belongs to Jin Tae-do? I knew that from the start. What I'm curious about is merely why the Blood Sea Demon Blade himself entered his service."
At those words, the expressions of Jin Gong-mu and Jin Sa-mong, who had been pouring on the assault, also changed.
The Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak, a subordinate of the Hainan Demon Sword Jin Tae-do?
It was the first time they had heard such a thing, but they could not simply dismiss it as absurd.
Because Yun Sak was visibly shaken.
He opened his mouth, a rare occurrence, and shouted.
"Nonsense!"
But Seonwoo Jin simply kept that bitter smirk on his face and continued speaking toward him.
"Are you going to deny it? Ridiculous. Did I not tell you earlier that I am Inparang, the successor of the Hainan In clan? Why do you think someone like me would deliberately come to find the White Shark Sect?"
Yun Sak ground his teeth and glared at Seonwoo Jin.
Whatever it took, he absolutely had to kill that bastard here.
At this, Seonwoo Jin chuckled and said,
"Hoh! You mean to murder me to seal my lips? How frightening. But have you not considered this? Why would I, who needs proof that the White Shark Sect belongs to Jin Tae-do, be here? Right now, that place must be completely empty. Ah, I hear your family, Yun Sak, is also likely there? Your precious son, that is."
Having spoken, Seonwoo Jin's eyes curled into a sly smile as he looked at Yun Sak.
Then, Yun Sak's heart sank.
'...No way?'
Yun Sak instantly understood what Seonwoo Jin was suggesting. And his heart began to pound fiercely.
'If that bastard has his own gang of thugs...?'
Shuhwaaaaak!
Tutututututung!
Yun Sak hurriedly struck down the incoming attacks of the three Jin family members and looked back at Seonwoo Jin.
At him, smirking bitterly with unreadable eyes...
Yun Sak's heart began to race with urgency.
Of course, his words could all be lies.
There was a high probability that it was all a fabrication meant to shake him.
But what if, just one chance in ten thousand, his words were true?
In the main base of the White Shark Sect, there were various documents received from the Hainan Demon Sword Jin Tae-do.
If that place, currently vacant, were ransacked, it meant that all the ties to Jin Tae-do that must not yet be exposed would be revealed.
And above all else.
At that place, there were Yun Sak's wife and young son.
His late-born son, who had come to him later in life...
As if he knew exactly what was in his heart, Seonwoo Jin spoke with cold eyes and a bitter smile.
"You should experience the agony of losing your family, too. Most brutally."
In that instant, it felt as though Yun Sak heard something inside his head snap!