Chapter 61: The Nameless Foot Soldier's Counterattack (4)
Jegal Myeongjae stared at Seo Baek with dazed eyes.
He seemed utterly convinced that his wrists couldn't possibly have been shattered.
And who could blame him?
Seo Baek had overwhelmed the external martial prowess enhanced by sorcery. If Jegal Hyeok had witnessed it from the sidelines, he wouldn't have believed his own eyes—he'd have been struck with sheer astonishment!
Kraaaah!
Jegal Myeongjae swung his judge's brush once more, unleashing a sequence of forms.
But its power had dwindled to less than half its former might.
With his bones fractured, his wrists dangled in tatters, turning the once-fluid, ever-changing forms into clumsy, haphazard strikes.
Yet Seo Baek remained vigilant, refusing to let his guard down.
Jegal Myeongjae was a revenant, incapable of feeling pain.
No matter how outlandish the tactic—say, a mutual destruction ploy—it wouldn't be out of character for him.
Then, something unexpected happened.
The blood-red tattoos covering Jegal Myeongjae suddenly lost their vigor, darkening to a murky black.
Shiiiieek.
Sure enough, the fierce, beast-like glint in his eyes began to flicker and fade like spring mist.
Seo Baek realized what was happening.
The sorcery binding Jegal Myeongjae had been broken.
That meant Yu So Un and Wang Yi Sam were pressing Jegal Hyeok hard on the surface!
In gratitude for his comrades' valiant efforts, Seo Baek offered a nonchalant murmur.
"You broke the sorcery quicker than expected."
With the sorcery's power gone, there was no reason to drag this out.
Seo Baek slashed horizontally with his sword. Jegal Myeongjae raised both hands to block with his judge's brush.
But with shattered wrists and no sorcery left, he was no match for Seo Baek.
The blade sliced through both wrists and continued upward, severing his neck in one clean stroke.
Splatter!
Seo Baek then kicked the headless torso, sending it tumbling away.
Thud. Thump.
'It's finally over.'
Seo Baek exhaled deeply, releasing the tension from his body.
His mind, however, swirled with a torrent of thoughts.
The force that had blocked the judge's brush and snapped those wrists couldn't have come solely from external martial training.
So what was it?
He had unconsciously activated the Shika Heart Method.
'Has enough time passed to allow another activation?'
There was no other explanation.
'I need to calculate the cooldown for the Shika Heart Method more precisely.'
Not long ago, he had felt the acute need to refine the technique to perfection.
As his musings concluded, Seo Baek looked down at Jegal Myeongjae's severed head and said,
"You were once a renowned figure in the martial world. I'll ensure you receive a proper funeral."
He pulled an oil flask and flint from his robes, then set fire to the neck stump where the Blood Thread Worm still writhed.
Kweeeek...
Once the worm was fully consumed by the flames, he turned and headed back to the surface.
* * *
Yu So Un approached Jegal Hyeok's desk, where books lay abandoned in his frantic escape.
Volumes marked with red strokes depicting indecipherable diagrams on every page.
'A copy of the Black Wolf Secret Book.'
The original was said to be stored in Shaolin Temple's sutra pavilion.
But it was an open secret that Jegal Seong of the Murim Alliance was studying it independently.
How had a copy ended up in the hands of the Jegal clan's second young master...?
'Did Jegal Seong give it to his brother?'
'Impossible.'
Yu So Un shook his head.
Jegal Seong was ambitious, but not so villainous as to betray the Central Plains martial world for personal gain.
So who had leaked the Black Wolf Secret Book copy to Jegal Hyeok?
'Someone who could borrow the Black Wolf Secret Book from Jegal Seong.'
Not many fit that criterion.
The renowned elders of the Murim Alliance.
The alliance had formed to counter the Western Frontier's Guryun Temple invasion of the Central Plains.
Each major sect and clan had dispatched their top experts or key elders.
Though the alliance had faded into obscurity after the Black Wolf Castle incident, many prestigious orthodox sects still maintained ties.
'One of them, no doubt.'
Clearly, one of those elders had slipped the copy to Jegal Hyeok.
The motive was obvious.
'Using the revenant outbreak to seize power.'
Jegal Hyeok's backer had likely egged him on to uncover the Black Wolf Secret Book's secrets, promising support for his bid to become clan head.
'That adds one more task for my Shaolin visit.'
He had to identify and punish the traitor who betrayed the Central Plains martial world.
Leaving them unchecked would breed endless trouble.
With those in power chasing selfish interests, the martial world grew harsher by the day.
'Or has it always been this way?'
Yu So Un gave a wry smile at the thought.
Just then, Wang Yi Sam and the other martial artists burst into the room.
"There you are. You aren't hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine."
Yu So Un offered another wry smile.
Wang Yi Sam's concern felt meddlesome, like overbearing fussing.
'Who should be worrying about whom right now?'
But on second thought, he appreciated it.
Didn't it remind him of their old days?
Shadow operatives who, though outmatched by prestigious sect masters, never hesitated to risk their lives for one another.
In truth, Yu So Un had lingered in Jegal Hyeok's room partly to wait for Wang Yi Sam and the others.
In the past, he would have left such a reckless fool to his own devices and pursued Jegal Hyeok alone.
But things were different now.
Returning from Yunnan to the Central Plains, he had sworn to prioritize his comrades above all.
The ways of the jianghu were simple, after all.
Especially someone like Wang Yi Sam—simple-minded and barely first-rate—who needed watching from behind.
'Come to think of it, I was always cleaning up his messes back then too.'
The memory brought a faint smile to Yu So Un's lips.
And sure enough, Wang Yi Sam was primed for rash action without a plan. Peering at the underground passage revealed by the mechanism-trapped floor, he said,
"Is the kid down there? Damn it, I'll go check—wait here!"
The man who had dreaded narrow underground tunnels was now ready to plunge in headfirst for Seo Baek.
'His simple brute ways are unmatched in the Central Plains. He'd make a perfect Shaolin monk.'
Yu So Un smiled to himself.
But even he, whose thoughts and actions bordered on perfection, had overlooked one fatal flaw preventing Wang Yi Sam from becoming a monk.
Alcohol!
'Right—he can't quit drinking, so monkhood's out.'
Blocking Wang Yi Sam from leaping underground, Yu So Un said,
"He's not down there. That's where the second young master fled."
"What? Then why aren't you chasing him?"
"I prefer cutting ahead rather than chasing behind."
Turning toward the door, Yu So Un thought,
'Joint formations are useless in tight corridors anyway, and no need now.'
With Jegal Hyeok fleeing and warriors in pursuit, ambushes were unlikely.
"Follow single file behind me."
His voice returned to its usual icy, irrefutable tone.
Wang Yi Sam and the martial artists gulped and fell in line.
* * *
Jegal Hyeok, fleeing underground, raced through a secret passage.
Always groomed like a dignified scholar, he was a mess now.
His right hand dripped blood from the brush wound, and his face was soaked from upending a basin in panic.
Born the Jegal clan's second young master, he had lived in luxury his whole life—never enduring such humiliation.
Gnashing his teeth, he vowed,
'I'll make them pay for every bit of this!'
Suddenly, a sly grin crossed his face as an idea struck.
'Right—deploy the Eight Formations and wipe them out!'
The Eight Formations—short for Stone Soldier Eight Formations—a formation crafted by Zhuge Liang, the illustrious prime minister of Shu and progenitor of the Jegal clan.
Renowned for its protean, bizarre shifts, it was said no one trapped inside could ever escape.
'As long as the sorcery holds, no one escapes the Eight Formations.'
Even in tatters, Jegal Hyeok brimmed with confidence. The formation's power was that formidable.
And he had a hidden agenda.
'Enchant the revenants with the Eight Formations sorcery, then release them topside!'
Once the horde surfaced and moved in formation, everyone in the Jegal estate would be sealed in forever.
Then he could leisurely regroup elsewhere and return.
He'd kill that brat Seo Baek and seize the Shaolin itinerary then.
'No need to kill him, even. By my return, the kid and everyone will be revenants.'
Imagining his painstakingly gathered horde multiplying manifold, Jegal Hyeok burst into booming laughter.
"Hahaha!"
From the darkness, a figure emerged abruptly.
"Who's there?"
Only his personal guards knew of the underground secret passage. Jegal Hyeok assumed it was one of them.
"Good timing. How goes the battle above?"
The figure replied indifferently,
"I wouldn't know."
"You don't know? What kind of answer is that?"
"I've spent too long in the revenant lair—haven't heard surface news."
Swish.
The figure stepped forward into view. His face became clear.
"You...!"
"Disappointed it's not one of your men?"
The figure was Seo Baek.
Color drained from Jegal Hyeok's face, turning it ashen.
"How in the world...?"
The revenant lair he designed was an inescapable ant nest.
And it housed his masterpiece weapon: the strongest revenant, etched with talisman tattoos.
Even without sorcery, no one nearby could subdue it. Only a peak expert from a prestigious orthodox sect could manage that...
Was this kid before him truly a peak master?
As Jegal Hyeok gaped in shock, Seo Baek read his thoughts and said,
"You're not thinking I only won because the sorcery broke, are you? Don't worry— I defeated him while it was still active."
"...!"
Jegal Hyeok, who scorned others, would normally scoff at such words from Seo Baek. But his tone and expression rang with unflinching truth.
Then, Jegal Hyeok grinned wickedly, pointing at Seo Baek with his index finger.
"You've exhausted yourself fleeing the revenant lair, huh? Squeezed out every last drop of strength from your mother's milk?"
His observation was spot-on.
Seo Baek had wandered the lair all night, utterly drained. His Windbreaker Robe was scratched everywhere, and his sword tip dragged along the ground as he walked.
"Yes. I'm quite fatigued."
"Youth means ignorance of strategy. Retreat when disadvantaged, strike when favored—that's the art of war!"
Seeing Seo Baek's weariness restored Jegal Hyeok's confidence.
"You seized a momentary edge, but you must know when to withdraw as momentum wanes. For teaching you that lesson, I'll claim my due: your head!"
Shing.
Jegal Hyeok drew two judge's brushes from his robes.
But Seo Baek ignored them entirely, asking idly as if distracted,
"How much time has passed?"
"What?"
"How long since the sorcery broke?"
"Hm, about half a shichen."
"Half a shichen should be enough."
"What are you babbling about?"
"Since half a shichen has passed since it ended, I should be able to activate it again."
Activation.
Poof.
In the next instant, the Windbreaker Robe draped over Seo Baek billowed fiercely, like aspen leaves in a gale.
Whooooosh.
Jegal Hyeok's eyes widened in disbelief.
"N-No way... this is...!"
The phenomenon where a master's immense inner energy stirs gales around them—the pinnacle realm of internal martial arts!