Sword, Silver, Poison (4)
Seo Baek and Dang Ryong had conversed via transmission of voice, so the revenants hadn't detected a hint of living presence.
But the moment the roof caved in, the situation flipped in an instant.
Seo Baek had taken a silver needle to the body, and Dang Ryong had been smashed by a body slam, leaving their breathing rougher than usual.
At that, the revenants sniffed out the scent of the living as swiftly as hanji paper soaked up ink.
Kieeeek!
Dozens of revenants poured down over Dang Ryong's head.
Though it was only a split-second delay, Dang Ryong realized the peril and tried to hurl himself aside.
But his feet stuck fast to the floor as if glued. The body slam from Seo Baek had rattled his brain with a concussion.
His body unresponsive, Dang Ryong reached for his twin swords to hack the revenants apart.
Yet the blades halted midway.
Even if he severed necks and limbs, revenants wouldn't die. No matter how skilled a warrior, getting buried in their midst meant at least one bite.
'Too late.'
Dang Ryong had realized escape was impossible and stopped his swords.
If his martial prowess had been middling, he might have thrashed wildly to survive.
But a true master knows the moment of their death.
As the revenants rained down, Dang Ryong closed his eyes.
Strangely, a faint smile played on his lips.
'Is this the end?'
Yet through slitted eyes, he glimpsed a shadow streaking in like a gale.
In that instant, blinding flashes erupted twice.
The shadow was Seo Baek. Hurtling over Dang Ryong, he spun his body twice, whipping his sword in arcs.
The greatsword traced two massive circles.
Piiing. Piiing.
It was a thunderbolt double strike. The blade moved so fast that the massive greatsword whistled like a switch.
The greatsword mercilessly shredded revenant necks, limbs, and torsos in its spin. In a blink, severed heads and limbs pelted down like hail.
Thud thud thud. Splatsplat splat.
Seo Baek's Shika Sword Technique ground the revenants to pieces. But the chopped heads lunged to bite Dang Ryong, and severed wrists clung to his limbs.
Clack clack clack. Jaws snapped here and there, teeth gnashing.
Then Seo Baek seized Dang Ryong's nape.
Grab.
'……?'
Dang Ryong couldn't fathom Seo Baek's intent.
Why not slash him with the revenants during that double strike? Or infuse qi into the nape's vital point to end any threat?
Suddenly, overwhelming force yanked his nape.
Whoosh.
'……!'
The pull tightened his robe across his chest, choking his breath.
Seo Baek extracted Dang Ryong from the cascading pile of revenant chunks by a hair's breadth.
Gripping the nape still, Seo Baek leaped onward, bursting from the poison-mist-choked coffin pavilion.
* * *
They say that at the moment of death, one's life flashes before them like a lantern show.
Dang Ryong slowly opened his eyes. A blue sky stretched above, and misty cliffs lay below his feet.
It was odd. Such an ordinary scene for a lantern show?
Struggling up, he found himself on a narrow ledge carved into sheer cliffs, lying precariously without tumbling off.
Behind him, Seo Baek sat cross-legged, circulating his qi.
Only then did Dang Ryong recall what happened.
In the crisis of revenants swarming as the roof collapsed from poison arts, Seo Baek had grabbed him and fled the coffin pavilion.
Emerging, Seo Baek dragged him up the cliffside.
No sooner had Seo Baek exited than the pavilion dissolved in poison mist and crumbled. The revenants, buried under debris, couldn't pursue—a stroke of unintended luck.
Safe on the ledge, Seo Baek began circulating his qi.
He'd endured a barrage of crossbows in the Underground Hall, fallen from the cliff, battled revenant hordes—sustaining Shika Heart Method far beyond half a shichen.
Briefly paused in the coffin pavilion, but reignited fighting Dang Ryong.
The Shika Heart Method, risking qi deviation beyond half a shichen.
Yet no anomalies stirred, even after circulating.
Especially in the pavilion, he'd pushed to the twelfth star for the first time since learning it to break Dang Ryong...
'Return light phenomenon?'
The brief rally before death.
But no—that felt wrong. Circulation left him lighter, invigorated.
Noticing Dang Ryong awake, Seo Baek halted.
"Back with us?"
"...Yeah."
Though Seo Baek had saved his life, Dang Ryong's tone remained arrogant, icy.
Seo Baek hadn't expected gratitude anyway. A Sacheon Tang clansman's pride wouldn't yield.
He'd saved him for another reason.
And sure enough, Dang Ryong asked.
"Why spare me?"
Doubt clouded his face.
Why not slash him? Why pull him from the revenants? Why drag him from the pavilion?
Any one omission, and he'd be dead.
Seo Baek cut straight.
"I have a proposal."
"What kind?"
"Rip the stitched seam inside this robe, and you'll find a sealed book in oilpaper."
Seo Baek tapped his chest where it lay.
"If I die or meet harm, deliver it to the Shaolin abbot."
"Why should I?"
"Repayment for saving you from the horde. That's the deal."
"Ridiculous."
Dang Ryong sneered.
Seo Baek had braced for death fighting him in the pavilion, pushing Shika Heart Method to the twelfth star despite the risk.
Subdue Dang Ryong, escape, deliver the book to Shaolin.
That mission from his master was paramount.
Shika Manor under siege by tens of thousands of revenants.
Senior brothers torn apart alive, yet fighting to let only Seo Baek escape.
Their sacrifice couldn't be wasted. Even if qi deviation turned him mad, wandering the plains.
Dang Ryong spoke.
"I refuse."
"Understood."
Seo Baek raised his sword without hesitation.
He'd never expected a Tang to accept easily.
—In the martial world, countless repay grace with blades. Don't trust talk of frontier justice.
Now, race to Shaolin before qi deviation—every moment counted.
"Then, round two."
Seo Baek planted his feet firm on the narrow ledge, sword hoisted over his shoulder.
But Dang Ryong's response defied expectation. Arms crossed, no twin swords drawn.
"Not fighting you now."
"Won't take my head?"
"I will."
"Then?"
"I'll return the favor as received. You saved my life once; I'll save yours once."
"Spare me now, behead later?"
"No."
"No time for games. Now or later, I'll win—so draw your sword. No loose ends on the road to Shaolin."
"Misunderstanding."
Dang Ryong shrugged with his usual nonchalance.
Seo Baek got it now: killing intent overflowed when engaged, but disinterest made the world a bore.
"Deliver the book yourself."
"……."
"I'll save your life once, as said—only once. Then take your head."
Even the meticulous Seo Baek blinked, confused, before repeating.
"Save me once—in mortal peril—then duel again?"
"Finally got it. Slow head, like your sword and eyes."
Seo Baek was dumbfounded.
Save his life, repay by saving once, then behead.
Wang Yi Sam would call it poison in the cure.
But Seo Baek's gaze sharpened.
—Sacheon Tang never lie. Pride demands they keep their word. Their one redeeming trait.
No lie here; no reason for one.
Vigilance eternal from now.
The sort to save him in crisis, then draw steel the next breath.
A fragile truce, shatterable anytime.
Seo Baek lowered his sword.
"Agreed."
"Sheathing already? What if I backstab?"
"Is your promise to save me once a lie?"
"No."
"Then strike. I'll cut you down after."
"Ha!"
Dang Ryong barked a laugh at the resolve.
Seo Baek deep-breathed, stirring qi in his dantian.
No signs of deviation.
But collapse loomed unknown. Do what must be done till the end.
He turned, ascending the ledge.
"Where to? Shaolin's the other way."
"Underground Hall."
"Why them?"
"They loosed crossbows on me and the Shaolin monks."
"Revenge?"
"Like you. Return as received."
"I see."
Dang Ryong trailed with indifference.
Truthfully, Seo Baek wasn't tallying grudges so rigidly.
But the Underground Hall couldn't be ignored.
'Isolating Shaolin, exploiting the revenant outbreak to expand—they must be crushed utterly.'
Another reason for Underground Hall.
'The others might be captured.'
With Song Hyeon there, the group should be safe.
But if harm befell even one?
'Slaughter them all.'
Seo Baek's eyes chilled like ice.
Ascending the ledge, Dang Ryong sensed killing intent wafting faintly from ahead—not the massive qi surge from the pavilion.
But subtle emanation without deliberate qi draw? Beyond most martial artists.
Two types bore such aura:
Those who relish killing.
Or survivors of blood-soaked blade storms.
To Dang Ryong, Seo Baek was the latter.
'Good call coming to Shaolin.'
His bored eyes sparked.
'This neck will be fun to sever.'