With Plots Against Plots (4)
Moyong Hwa-jeong bit her lip and said,
"It's not just any fan—it's one stuffed with steel barbs."
"At least one eye is working properly."
Charak. Joo Eun-ri snapped the fan shut as she spoke.
"I hear ambushing with a flexible sword hidden at your waist is your specialty. Just like the vile Moyong Clan, resorting to a poison hand."
"A steel-barb fan is too heavy to even fan a cool breeze in summer."
"A poison hand is worse than useless if it fails."
"That's not for you to say, girl."
Their words were polite, but laced with venom.
Joo Eun-ri spread her arms wide again, assuming her unique stance—an invitation: come at me anytime.
But just as their second clash was about to begin, a short, sharp bark echoed from Joo Eun-ri's sleeve.
"Chorang?"
In that instant, the window burst open, and a shadowy figure leaped in, charging straight at Joo Eun-ri.
"...!"
Joo Eun-ri twisted away with agile footwork, dodging the intruder.
Yet the figure closed in instantly, seizing her wrist.
The sudden assailant's identity was Eon Ja-seong, representative of the Pearl Eon Family and one of the Five Families Alliance's five masters.
Unlike the other four, who wielded weapons, Eon Ja-seong fought barehanded.
He was a fist expert and a grandmaster of capture hands.
Joo Eun-ri spun to shake off his grip, but Eon Ja-seong rotated twice as fast, slipping behind her and grabbing her other wrist.
Tak. He yanked both wrists from behind her back.
In that moment, Chorang burst from her sleeve, launching itself at Eon Ja-seong's face with bared teeth.
Eon Ja-seong clamped one hand on both her wrists while swatting Chorang away with the other.
Kaeng! Chorang let out a cry of pain and tumbled out the window.
"Chorang!"
"A savage beast, just like its master."
Joo Eun-ri struggled to break free from his iron grip, but with both arms twisted back to touch her spine, she couldn't budge.
Urdrdrdrk.
"Stay still, or your shoulders will dislocate."
Moyong Hwa-jeong blinked in confusion as Eon Ja-seong subdued Joo Eun-ri without landing a finishing blow. "Why aren't you killing her right now?"
"We can't kill her."
"What? Why not?"
"Well... we need to take her and interrogate her. Find out why she's infiltrated the fortress."
"You can interrogate her after one good punch!"
"And if the prisoner dies? Will you take responsibility?"
"......"
Moyong Hwa-jeong shut her mouth, dumbfounded by the look on Eon Ja-seong's face.
Wasn't he leering at Joo Eun-ri's back, wrists still gripped tight?
In truth, Eon Ja-seong had come to Moyong Hwa-jeong's quarters because his lust was overwhelming him.
With the fortress ablaze, leader Namgung Jin would be busy suppressing the fire. Perfect time to embrace Moyong Hwa-jeong alone. If she refused, he'd force her...
But instead, she was fighting some beauty.
Realizing the woman had infiltrated the fortress, Eon Ja-seong had leaped in and subdued her with capture hands.
That ignited his lust anew. It was the first time in his life he'd ever grabbed a woman's wrists—even in battle.
Eon Ja-seong swallowed hard, admiring Joo Eun-ri's figure. He decided to shift his target from Moyong Hwa-jeong to her.
Moyong Hwa-jeong wasn't blind to the man's lecherous gaze.
"Are you in your right mind? Everyone can see you're not capturing a prisoner—you're trying to satisfy your lust."
"......"
Caught, huh?
With Moyong Hwa-jeong onto him, Eon Ja-seong decided to play it bold. She was just Namgung Jin's plaything anyway.
"To uncover why she's infiltrated, we need to capture her alive first and interrogate. Ordering me to kill her outright—is that jealousy talking?"
"...!"
Moyong Hwa-jeong's jaw dropped in disbelief. Jealousy? Here? Now?
"Fine. Then at least cut off one arm. That way she can't escape."
"......"
This time, Eon Ja-seong fell silent.
He racked his brain and made a quick decision.
She was throwing a fit, so let her sever one arm. A severe wound, but staunch the bleeding and she'd live. Then he could satisfy his urges after.
"Do it. But just one arm."
"You care so much for the prisoner. No wonder the Pearl Eon Family boasts as an upright orthodox sect."
Moyong Hwa-jeong saw through his filthy intentions and laced her words with barbs.
Unaware—or pretending—Eon Ja-seong looked genuinely worried the injury might kill Joo Eun-ri.
Moyong Hwa-jeong swung her flexible sword in one swift motion, exasperated.
But the moment Joo Eun-ri closed her eyes in resignation, a massive sword hurtled from the window toward Moyong Hwa-jeong.
Chwaaak. Puk.
The blade severed Moyong Hwa-jeong's arm before embedding in the wall.
Stunned and uncomprehending, Moyong Hwa-jeong stared at her severed arm—still clutching the sword—falling to the floor. Only then did she scream.
"Aaaahhh!"
Seo Baek followed, leaping through the window.
Even in his lust-fueled haze, Eon Ja-seong reacted like a true master. Hurling a greatsword to sever an arm mid-swing was no small feat.
A peak expert.
Eon Ja-seong shoved Joo Eun-ri forward as a shield against the charging Seo Baek.
As the helpless Joo Eun-ri toppled ahead, Seo Baek rushed in and caught her in his arms.
With Joo Eun-ri—taller than him—shielding his view, that was Eon Ja-seong's aim. He unleashed a fist strike at her back.
"I'll skewer you both at once!"
Shiiiiiik.
Eon Ja-seong's Eon Family Fist, famed for unleashing eighteen strikes in a single form.
Seo Baek pivoted, turning Joo Eun-ri behind him, then thrust his arm forward to meet the fists.
"Block my fist with your fist? Foolish trick!"
In an instant, Seo Baek opened his hand into a blade. His palm grazed Eon Ja-seong's knuckles.
Then it pressed flush against the elbow.
Seo Baek's shorter arm connected first because he'd rotated into the strike, while Eon Ja-seong punched from a static stance.
Seo Baek's arm coiled around Eon Ja-seong's forearm like a serpent, his palm compressing the elbow.
A capture hand technique to wrench the joint backward.
But Eon Ja-seong scoffed.
"Dare use capture hands on me? You've walked right into it!"
Though famed for his Eon Family Fist, his true pride was capture hands.
The art of entangling limbs to subdue, dislocating or snapping bones.
Capture hands weren't as instantly lethal as a blade, but recovery took ages—and a bad set could mean lifelong crippling.
Hence the saying in the martial world: Better a sword cut than capture hands.
True to his cruel nature, Eon Ja-seong preferred maiming with capture hands over killing outright.
His foe was a boy not yet twenty.
But Eon Ja-seong didn't care—he unleashed capture hands with full intent to shatter the arm.
Whirlik.
He twisted his wrist reverse, stepping behind Seo Baek to wrench the boy's wrist backward.
Soon the elbow would snap, then the shoulder shatter.
Eon Ja-seong crowed triumphantly.
"Watch closely. This is true capture hands!"
"......"
In a friendly spar, Seo Baek might have applauded. Eon Ja-seong's technique exceeded expectations.
But this was life-or-death.
Seo Baek abandoned tricks for true martial arts.
Shika Heart Method activated.
To the tenth star.
Sususu.
Eon Ja-seong's face crumpled like paper.
He was wrenching the elbow backward, yet it wouldn't yield further.
Like forcing an iron rod.
"...?"
If capture hands failed to break an arm, one reason: the opponent's internal energy was at an absurd level.
At least a decade of cultivation required. Yet this boy looked under twenty—impossible.
Fury boiling, Eon Ja-seong lashed out a leg to coil around Seo Baek's ankle.
One push, and arm and leg would snap together.
If it held, the spine would crumble next.
"Let's see you endure this..."
His boast died as a bone-chilling cold seeped in.
From Seo Baek's arm, icy energy flooded his body.
"Th-this... surely not the Western Frontier's ice arts?"
"Since you keep picking vicious moves, I must return the special favor."
Seo Baek's voice was glacial.
Eon Ja-seong recoiled in shock, trying to untangle his limbs.
But his body clung like a magnet. Like ripping skin from ice—flesh tore away. Exactly his plight.
The chill had already frozen not just his body, but his mouth.
"Th-this... forbidd... en art... you worm..."
"No, it's perfect for the end of scum like you."
With Eon Ja-seong fully rigid and voiceless, Seo Baek twisted his arm and leg opposite the entanglement.
Uzizizik... pakakak!
Elbow shattered, shoulder pulverized. Knee wrenched backward, bones splintered.
Racked with compound fractures and silenced by ice arts, Eon Ja-seong collapsed like a felled log.
Escaping certain death, Joo Eun-ri stared blankly at Seo Baek—then startled.
His eyes were icily detached, unlike his usual self. A side she'd never seen.
But the next instant, he bowed his head to his chest, reverting to the pure boy's gaze.
Chorang had poked its head from his robes.
"Chorang..."
"It doesn't forgive villains—just like its master."
Seo Baek smiled faintly, petting it. Chorang tilted its head once, then scampered into Joo Eun-ri's sleeve.
Only then did Joo Eun-ri realize she was still in the boy's arms. Blushing, she pulled away and stepped back.
"How'd you find this place?"
"Started from the quarters nearest the warehouse, checked one by one. Lucky I wasn't too late."
"Thanks for the save."
"No trouble."
Joo Eun-ri closed the window quietly, peering out to ensure no guards noticed.
"Once they put out the fire, they'll scour for intruders. Too dangerous here—let's move."
But Seo Baek silently approached the wall, yanking the deeply embedded sword free.
Suk. Pak.
He turned, leveling the blade.
At Joo Eun-ri's throat.
Chek.
"First, something to settle."
"What?"
"Explain why you ditched the group. If it's not convincing, off with your head."
"...!"
Joo Eun-ri swallowed, sensing his unyielding gaze meant business.
Then she spoke.
"Fine. I used you all—for my sect's revenge."