Chapter 39: In the Human World, April's Fragrance Ends (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 39: In the Human World, April's Fragrance Ends (10)
It was morning. Sunlight stretched long across the wooden floor.
For the first time in a long while, Seo Mu-ryang was in a truly excellent mood.
"A man really does need a good bath every now and then."
The screams from the previous night still echoed pleasantly in his ears. The sensation of her skin beneath his hands—fragile, as if she would shatter at the slightest touch—had been exquisite. And drawing her blood to use for his bath? That had been the perfect finishing touch.
He felt as if his Heart Fire had been completely extinguished, leaving his mind smooth and serene.
The chirping of birds. The cool morning air.
Seo Mu-ryang smiled contentedly and drifted back toward sleep in his quarters.
‘Hm…?’
A faint sense of unease jolted him awake. It was a discomfort that was difficult to put into words.
‘What is it…?’
A heavy wave of displeasure washed over him. He had been woken far too suddenly. He’d had the distinct feeling he would sleep soundly for at least another four hours before waking up lazily at his leisure.
‘Why…?’
Annoyed by the inexplicable disturbance, Seo Mu-ryang rolled roughly onto his right side, as if throwing a sleepy tantrum.
Shunk!
A blade bit deep into his left shoulder.
It struck the exact spot where his heart would have been had he remained lying on his back.
“Aaargh!”
CRASH!
Reflexively rousing his True Qi, he struck the floor and launched himself into the air. As his wild eyes darted around the room, they landed on an expressionless woman dressed in black. She held a blood-soaked dagger.
Seo Mu-ryang didn’t waste a second thinking. While still airborne, he curled his thumb and index finger.
TWANG!
He unleashed his Finger Flicking Art. The recoil sent his body spinning as he landed back on the floorboards.
Fwip!
Eun-yeong dodged the Finger Flicking Art by a hair’s breadth. She kicked off the wooden floor and rushed toward Seo Mu-ryang. Though she pushed off with explosive force, her footsteps remained completely silent. Only plumes of white vapor puffed from between her lips.
“So you’re just a crazy bitch, aren’t you?”
Seo Mu-ryang stared directly into Eun-yeong’s eyes. They were filled with nothing but the singular will to kill him. Her form approached with blinding speed.
But he wasn’t the least bit afraid. In fact, he smiled.
“What’s this? Where did a thing like you come from?”
Even as blood streamed from his left shoulder, he moved with fluid ease, evading Eun-yeong’s dagger. He twisted his hand and snapped a blow toward her lower abdomen.
CRACK!
It was force unleashed as naturally as breathing. Eun-yeong’s body didn’t even get the chance to fly backward. The sheer impact slammed squarely into her, the force coursing through her entire being. It was a blow powerful enough to have turned the organs of even a martial artist who had mastered the Breath of Smoke and Clouds into pulp.
“Cough!”
She spat a mouthful of blood.
Thud.
Eun-yeong collapsed.
Smack!
Seo Mu-ryang kicked her wrist, sending her dagger flying across the room.
“Sniff—sniff—”
He stood over her and took a deep breath. A thin, cruel smile hung on his lips.
“Well, look at this. Isn’t that the scent of face powder?”
He gave the collapsed Eun-yeong a light, mocking kick.
“You. What is your relationship with the Cheongun Pavilion? Why do you smell of it?”
Tap. Tap.
“I didn’t think the Cheongun Pavilion Master had this kind of courage. Don’t tell me… you came because of that girl, Cho-ran? For revenge? Hmm. What to do? Should I hold them accountable for this crime and take the heads of the Pavilion Master and Cho-ran? It is about time I re-established some discipline.”
Seo Mu-ryang, chuckling, took an exaggerated step back.
“Ooh. Such killing intent. You’re still radiating that much malice in such a state? But you know, if you can’t even hide your killing intent, did you really think I’d fall for your act?”
His thin lips stretched into an even wider grin, as if he found the entire situation hilarious. He took another step and a half, closing the distance to Eun-yeong again. He leaned down and whispered into her ear.
“How about it? Try to hold on until then. Don’t die just yet. Hm? You want to see Cho-ran’s head, don’t you?”
“Huk!”
A sharp sting!
“...!”
Something thin and sharp had pierced the nape of his neck. Seo Mu-ryang reflexively pulled back.
SHLICK!
But before he could fully retract his foot, a dagger plunged into the top of his left instep.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Ptui!”
Spitting out a thin tube she had been holding in her mouth, Eun-yeong pushed herself up. In each of her hands, as if by magic, appeared another dagger.
“You…! Don’t tell me!”
Seo Mu-ryang’s eyes flew wide.
‘She was pretending to be hit?’
To make him let his guard down? He ground his teeth in fury.
“Me? Tricked by you?”
Huuuuu—
Eun-yeong didn’t answer. She simply exhaled more plumes of white vapor and charged again. Seo Mu-ryang tried to respond immediately, but a dizzy spell washed over him as he felt the strength drain from his entire body.
‘Poison…?’
The needle that had struck his neck—it had been coated in a paralytic poison.
“Kugh!”
Szzzzzle!
A heat haze shimmered above Seo Mu-ryang’s shoulder. The poison that had seeped into his body couldn’t withstand the heat of his True Fire; it burned away, exiting his pores as wisps of black smoke.
A first-rate martial artist could neutralize most poisons on their own. But because of that, his reaction was slightly delayed.
Eun-yeong’s dagger aimed for the nape of his neck. No, perhaps it wasn’t his neck she was targeting. With a flick of her flexible wrist, who knew if the blade would strike his chest or suddenly drop to pierce his thigh.
Seo Mu-ryang couldn’t read her killing intent.
‘Then the killing intent from before was on purpose…?’
To make him lower his guard? What the hell was this woman?
Horrified, Seo Mu-ryang drew heat into his Eight Extraordinary Meridians. True Qi surged along the turbulent pathways.
“Kraaagh!”
With a guttural roar, he threw his entire body back and kicked off the floor.
CRACK!
The wooden floorboards split along the grain, and his left foot, which had been pinned by the dagger, was torn free. The recoil from the kick, amplified by his force, sent Seo Mu-ryang’s body flying backward explosively. He was thrown back as if struck by the hand of a giant.
CRASH! CRUNCH!
He smashed through the sliding doors and flew out of the building, skidding to a halt as he dug his right hand and right foot into the dirt.
Shhhhhhh—
“Huuuuuuu…”
As he took a deep breath, the heat haze along his spine intensified, as if he were bursting into flames. Blood dripped from the dagger wound in his shoulder, aggravated by the violent movement.
Seo Mu-ryang gritted his teeth and roared.
“What are you all doing! It’s an assassin! You useless parasites!”
“...!”
The once-quiet Golden Powder Gang headquarters suddenly erupted into chaos. The clamor of men grabbing their weapons and rushing over echoed from all directions.
Even so, Seo Mu-ryang never took his eyes off Eun-yeong as she walked out of the building. He narrowed his eyes.
“I was wondering how you withstood that first blow…”
His gaze fell to her lower abdomen.
“You over-tempered the wounded area, didn’t you? Not enough to make it evaporate instantly, but just enough, here and there. You created a unique structure with your Qi. That’s how you’re holding on.”
Scanning Eun-yeong with his Qi Sense, he could feel a minuscule amount of Essence and Qi leaking from the center of her lower abdomen. It was clear proof that she had forcibly reinforced her abdomen—perhaps even her shattered organs—with raw energy.
Since Essence and Qi were energies that could be fixed in place with both power and pressure, it wasn’t impossible to temporarily replace a destroyed body part if one was skillful enough.
“But that’s just a temporary fix, isn’t it? There’s no way a mere assassin could have learned a supreme ultimate art passed down only in the great, prestigious sects…”
Seo Mu-ryang laughed, dumbfounded.
“You. You came here intending to die from the very beginning, didn’t you? You didn’t just come here prepared to die; you factored your own death into the plan. Ha. You wanted to kill me that badly?”
He himself had no shortage of experience in life-and-death duels. He had faced enemies who fought to the death when outmatched, but he had never encountered an opponent who had laid a trap using their own life as the bait from the start.
He was not one to be easily impressed, but in this moment, goosebumps crawled over his skin.
“So this is an assassin. The kind you only hear about in the legends of the martial world. A real assassin.”
He grinned crookedly.
“But… even after all that, you still couldn’t kill me, could you?”
Rumble!
“Gang Leader!”
“There! The assassin is over there!”
The members of the Golden Powder Gang, who had arrived in an instant, surrounded Eun-yeong.
“What are you going to do now?” Seo Mu-ryang sneered.
Eun-yeong, in response, exhaled a puff of white smoke.
Tat!
And then she charged. Straight toward the Black Path warriors of the Golden Powder Gang who had encircled her.
“Mince her!”
A torrent of blades rained down on her. Thick broadswords. Straight-bladed sabers. Goose-quill sabers. Curved willow-leaf sabers.
Eun-yeong charged into their midst without hesitation. She had the skill to instantly overwhelm the three or four gang members in front of her, but she had no interest in them.
She just… looked.
She saw the small path that appeared between the downpour of blades. And she threw her entire body toward that narrow gap.
Wrapping herself in True Qi.
PAAANG!
For the first time, a sound erupted from her footfalls, and a refined wave of force swept across the ground.
THWUNG!
Her body accelerated, piercing the air like a cannonball through the ranks of the Golden Powder Gang.
“What—!”
Having broken through the multi-layered encirclement in a single step, Eun-yeong’s body shot straight toward Seo Mu-ryang.
“Huh—?!”
Seo Mu-ryang was stunned. He had thought she might be able to break through the encirclement, but he never imagined it would be like this.
“You crazy—!”
Eun-yeong’s charging body was covered in blood. A red line traced the ground behind her, drawn by the blood she shed. This was the price for escaping through that narrow path in a single step. She had squeezed through the gap, letting the blades tear away her flesh wherever they caught her arms and legs.
All for one single chance. To catch Seo Mu-ryang off guard and close the distance.
Seo Mu-ryang frantically fired his Finger Flicking Art with his right hand.
TWANG!
Eun-yeong threw herself to the ground as if collapsing to dodge the attack. Unable to plant her feet because of her bleeding legs, she slammed her knees into the ground and threw her whole body forward. She clutched a dagger in her right hand, which she had preserved until the very end.
“You—!”
Having already fired the Finger Flicking Art with his right hand, Seo Mu-ryang…
TWANG!
…this time, fired it with his left.
A heat haze shimmered over his left shoulder, which was still dripping blood from the stab wound. His muscles and joints, tempered just beyond their limits, made a grinding sound. But because he pushed through, Seo Mu-ryang was able to lift his injured left arm and fire the Finger Flicking Art.
CRACK!
The move he had saved until the very end worked perfectly. Eun-yeong’s right collarbone shattered. Her body lurched to a halt and spun around, her final strike cutting futilely through the empty air.
“God fucking dammit…!”
Seo Mu-ryang clutched his trembling left arm with his right hand. He had acted in such a hurry, forcibly tempering his left arm to use it, that he might be left with severe aftereffects.
“Huuuk… huk…”
Eun-yeong, her head pressed to the ground, twisted her eyes upward to glare at Seo Mu-ryang. Her forehead was drenched in sweat from repeatedly exerting power beyond her limits in such a short time.
Feeling an inexplicable chill, Seo Mu-ryang shouted.
“What are you doing! Kill this bitch, now!”
It was an order born from his reluctance to approach Eun-yeong himself. But the first to react to his command were not his subordinates.
Tuk—
A faint sound came from behind him. The sound of a foot touching the ground. As light as a cat landing, extremely refined.
Seo Mu-ryang felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. His keenly honed Qi Sense detected a blade extending from behind him. But his awareness came a moment too late.
“You bastards…!”
His Eight Extraordinary Meridians churned. The cultivation realm of a first-rate martial artist was one where Essence was melted with True Fire to create Qi. Qi was harmony. When the churning Qi in his Eight Extraordinary Meridians resonated throughout his body, a True Qi combining power and harmony would arise.
It was like an electric current flowing through metal within a fluctuating magnetic field. But this time, it wasn’t simple power, but a special force that twisted phenomena and created harmony.
Whoosh!
The heat haze rising from Seo Mu-ryang’s entire body was caught in a vortex and began to spin. The harmony created by the True Qi of a first-rate martial artist. Without moving or exerting any strength, the vortex that formed around Seo Mu-ryang wrapped around his body and spun him around. Simultaneously, the vortex sought to twist and deflect the approaching blade.
But even caught in the vortex, the blade’s path did not deviate. A white blade, thrusting straight forward.
Seo Mu-ryang had to hastily fire his Finger Flicking Art one more time to parry the blade.
CLAAANG!
‘If only I had a single dagger…!’
Gritting his teeth, Seo Mu-ryang finally saw his opponent’s face. Seo Mu-ryang and Yeon So-wol’s eyes met.
“You…!” he exclaimed in shock. “You learned the sword in that short time? And you can even emit Force?”
Within the passing breeze, he seemed to feel the wind from that night by the Jipseong River.
Yeon So-wol’s eyes were cold. He recovered his deflected sword, spun his body, and unleashed his blade once more. With the Sword Secret Finger formed in his left hand, he held his focus, and into the sweeping blade, he threw his entire body and soul.
TWANG!
Seo Mu-ryang frantically fired his Finger Flicking Art again. Yeon So-wol’s sword was knocked away once more. But unlike before, he didn’t stagger. He dissipated the force with his own force, quickly regained his stance, and extended his sword again.
With his left foot and left arm rendered useless by Eun-yeong, Seo Mu-ryang felt a wave of dizziness.
“Gang Leader!”
It was then that the members of the Golden Powder Gang finally intervened.
SWOOOSH!
Forcefully swung broadswords and willow-leaf sabers blocked Yeon So-wol’s path. These were some of the more skilled among Seo Mu-ryang’s subordinates, their blades imbued with Force.
CRACK!
SHATTER!
“Huh…?”
The blades, imbued with Force, were shattered by the Sword Secret Finger that Yeon So-wol had swung so lightly.
“Huh?”
“Wha—?”
Why did they break like that? From just two fingers?
In the face of a phenomenon no one could have predicted, everyone froze for a split second.
Hwook!
Only Yeon So-wol took that one step forward.
Shunk!
At last, the tip of his sword pierced Seo Mu-ryang’s neck.
“Gurgle…”
SLIIICE!
Yeon So-wol drew the blade sideways to pull it free.
“Keh…”
His neck nearly severed, Seo Mu-ryang made a sound like air escaping a balloon. He collapsed to the ground, his limbs twitching and convulsing.
“…”
“…Gang Leader?”
Seo Mu-ryang convulsed. Blood stained the ground black.
Twitch.
Twi…tch.
Silence descended upon the scene. Looking down at it all, Yeon So-wol thought.
‘…It really does feel different.’
The difference between killing to survive and killing someone in a preemptive attack when not in immediate danger. An unsettling feeling seeped into his chest.
But now…
‘This is no time for that.’
Thwack!
Yeon So-wol kicked off the ground. He stood protectively in front of the fallen Eun-yeong. Staring down the silent members of the Golden Powder Gang, he asked Eun-yeong in a whisper.
“Are you alive?”
“Yes.”
Eun-yeong looked up at Yeon So-wol, her forehead still resting on the ground. She was wounded as if on the verge of death, yet she was unbelievably calm.
Yeon So-wol asked again.
“Can you live?”
“No.”
“…You should try. Just a little.”
“It’s fine. Go.”
“…If you die, I’ll carry your body out.”
“Why?”
“Young Miss Cho-ran and Young Miss Eun-yeong both helped me. How can I just leave you here?”
“Go.”
As the two spoke, the members of the Golden Powder Gang began to come to their senses one by one.
“Gang Leader…”
“That son of a bitch…”
They looked down at the dead Seo Mu-ryang, his neck half-severed, with shock and rage. Seo Mu-ryang had been cruel, but he was a gang leader who always provided them with plenty of gold. Their anger was, to them, justified. Without Seo Mu-ryang, none of them could have enjoyed the prosperous lives they now led.
“You…! Yeon So-wol of the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall!”
“How little did you think of us…”
“Our Golden Powder Gang had no grudge against you!”
To their chaotic shouts, Yeon So-wol asked, “Are you going to fight?”
“We’ll tear you into a thousand, ten thousand pieces.”
“My father will be here soon.”
“We’ll throw your shredded corpse to the Pungryu Sword.”
Yeon So-wol sighed. He held the Demon-Slaying Sword he had received from the Chief Daoist of Yanggwang in his right hand and formed a Sword Secret Finger with his left.
Bending his knees slightly.
“Let’s end this all today.”
He aimed the tip of his sword.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
The enraged Black Path warriors of the Golden Powder Gang charged toward Yeon So-wol and Eun-yeong.