Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: An Unpaid Job
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At that moment, Jeong Cheon’s madness-filled eyes faltered.
The sword forms Bu Eun-seol unleashed were gradually becoming similar to his own Disorderly Sword.
Once caught in Jeong Cheon’s Disorderly Sword, escape was not an option.
But since it couldn't be properly dodged or blocked, the only way was to mimic his Disorderly Sword to defend against it.
*‘He’s mimicking my sword forms?’*
So astonished was Jeong Cheon that he snapped out of his madness, his original gaze returning.
*‘I can’t believe it!’*
How could someone possibly see and mimic the Disorderly Sword, which not only struck as fast as light but also contained twenty-four variations in a single move?
*‘This can’t be happening!’*
Gritting his teeth, Jeong Cheon unleashed even more of his inner killing intent, altering his sword forms.
*Clang, clang, clang, clang!*
But the result was the same.
No matter how he changed his sword forms, Bu Eun-seol would immediately copy them and block the attack.
It felt as if he were fighting a reflection in a mirror.
*‘He was hiding his true strength!’*
Instantly countering an opponent's sword art by perfectly mimicking it was something only a master several times more skilled could do.
In truth, he was using the Neung-hyeong-eo-geom to somehow endure the attacks, creating an opening in the killing-intent-fueled Disorderly Sword.
And he had merely mimicked the sword forms using the techniques of the Man-geom-gwi-jong. It was by no means a superiority in swordsmanship.
*‘If this man had used his full strength from the beginning, he would have cut off my arm within three moves.’*
But Jeong Cheon was under the delusion that Bu Eun-seol was not revealing his full abilities and was going easy on him.
However, Bu Eun-seol was just as surprised.
*‘I can’t… hold on much longer.’*
Jeong Cheon’s Disorderly Sword was truly an unparalleled sword art.
He was barely holding on by defending with the Neung-hyeong-eo-geom and attacking with the Mu-sang-cheon-ryu, but this method was rapidly draining his internal energy and stamina.
*‘At this rate…’*
Finally reaching his limit, he unconsciously lowered the Muk-geom toward the ground.
At the same time, Jeong Cheon’s Disorderly Sword also lost its power.
As his killing intent subsided and he regained his senses, the potency of his sword art greatly diminished.
*Clink.*
As both Bu Eun-seol's and Jeong Cheon's swords pointed to the ground, a brief silence fell over the reed field.
The two men stared at each other with expressions of disbelief.
In the end, it was Jeong Cheon who spoke first.
“You’ve been hiding your strength all this time. I’m ashamed.”
*‘He’s mistaken.’*
To be honest, Bu Eun-seol had been using every ounce of his strength just to block the Disorderly Sword.
Jeong Cheon, who had inherited the essence of the sword art of Cho-geom-rang, one of the Ten Demonic Prodigies. He was undoubtedly a master a cut above Bu Eun-seol.
“I was only mimicking your Disorderly Sword. My own swordsmanship was not enough to block it.”
“To be able to mimic an opponent’s sword art on the spot means you are the superior swordsman.”
“That is… because the martial art of my school itself pursues such a technique.”
*Clink.*
Sheathing the Muk-geom, Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
“This match is a draw.”
“A draw, you say.”
Jeong Cheon took a deep breath, looked to the distant sky, and spoke.
“Although I haven’t been very active in the martial world, I was confident that my skills were the best among my peers.”
Sheathing his sword, Jeong Cheon said in a low voice.
“There must be at least a ten-year age difference between us. Yet you fought me to a standstill… Your future progress will be limitless.”
With a bitter smile, Jeong Cheon spoke softly.
“This match is my loss.”
Then, without hesitation, he turned and walked away.
***
A few days later.
After his duel with Jeong Cheon, Bu Eun-seol temporarily left Jeok-cheon-mak-ji and entered a secluded mountain valley.
Jeong Cheon's Disorderly Sword was the first supreme sword art whose forms Bu Eun-seol had been unable to break.
He needed time to process the insights gained from that fierce battle.
In the meantime, Namgung Un, now fully recovered, waited for Bu Eun-seol with Heuk-pyo at the Daeso Inn.
“It’s about time we started taking on jobs again.”
Upon his return, Bu Eun-seol took Heuk-pyo and Namgung Un back to the Su-gyeong-jeon in Jeok-cheon-mak-ji.
*Murmur, murmur.*
But the atmosphere inside the Su-gyeong-jeon was strange.
An unusually large number of mercenaries were gathered, and on one side, warriors in black uniforms stood in solemn formation.
And the head of the Su-gyeong-jeon, Dam Yu-yeon, who should have been in her office, was talking very seriously with a middle-aged man.
“Why is there a whole crowd of mercenaries here?”
Heuk-pyo immediately answered Namgung Un’s question.
“It seems some clan is hiring mercenaries in bulk.”
“In bulk…”
As Bu Eun-seol stroked his chin with an interested look, Heuk-pyo said in a low voice.
“I will find out the exact situation.”
After speaking for a while with the mercenaries standing around and the staff at the Su-gyeong-jeon’s counter, Heuk-pyo returned and said.
“The Jin-cheon-mun is recruiting and signing contracts with a large number of high-grade mercenaries.”
At that, Namgung Un tilted his head.
“The Jin-cheon-mun? You mean the one that’s fighting tooth and nail with the Pae-do-mun?”
“That’s right.”
“Hah, so they’ve fought so much they’re now resorting to proxy wars with mercenaries.”
Heuk-pyo shook his head at Namgung Un’s words.
“It’s not that. The Pae-do-mun has apparently spent a fortune to hire assassins from the Eum-sa-gok.”
The Jin-cheon-mun and the Pae-do-mun.
Both were clans that straddled the line between the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions, and they had been fighting fiercely for dominance in the Sangyang region for over a decade.
Then, the leader of the Pae-do-mun suddenly paid ten million gold to hire a large number of assassins from the Eum-sa-gok.
And he was using these assassins to cross Ham-chwi-san, which could be called the Jin-cheon-mun’s back door, to repeatedly ambush their rear.
—Fight mercenaries with mercenaries!
In the end, with the tide of battle turning against them, the Jin-cheon-mun decided to hire a large number of mercenaries from Jeok-cheon-mak-ji to counter them.
“Good.”
Bu Eun-seol, who had been listening silently to Heuk-pyo’s explanation, nodded.
“We’ll take the Jin-cheon-mun’s job.”
“About that… they say it’s already over.”
Heuk-pyo scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.
“The Jin-cheon-mun has already paid in full and selected eighty high-grade mercenaries.”
“They’d have no reason to refuse a skilled mercenary offering his services.”
“It won’t work.”
Heuk-pyo said in a low voice.
“They won’t have the money to pay a special-grade mercenary like you, Young Master.”
Special-grade mercenaries, those with top-tier skills, numbered only around twenty even in a large mercenary market like Jeok-cheon-mak-ji.
Moreover, their price was a staggering ten times that of a high-grade mercenary, a level the Jin-cheon-mun could not afford.
“That’s no big deal.”
Bu Eun-seol removed the red tassel signifying a special-grade mercenary and replaced it with the purple tassel of a high-grade one.
Just then, he walked toward Dam Yu-yeon, who had finished her conversation with the master sent from the Jin-cheon-mun and was turning around.
“Jeon-ju Dam.”
“Young Master Seol.”
As Bu Eun-seol strode closer, Dam Yu-yeon’s face flushed.
She had been scheming to stop his fight with Jeong Cheon, and in the end, even her romantic feelings for him had been exposed.
But when Bu Eun-seol treated her with the same calm demeanor as before, she opened her mouth with a relieved expression.
“Is there something you wish to say to me?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
Bu Eun-seol’s gaze was fixed on the Jin-cheon-mun master dressed in the black uniform.
***
Ham-chwi-san.
This place, which could be called a back alley to the Jin-cheon-mun, was a land of rugged mountains filled with bizarrely shaped rocks and peaks.
After a continuous climb up the rough mountain path, a wide clearing emerged where the dense forest gave way.
A temporary barracks set up by the Jin-cheon-mun was spread out there, and in front of it, eighty mercenaries and warriors in uniforms stood in solemn formation.
And atop a rock in the clearing stood a man with twin swords strapped to his back.
It was Mun Gwang, leader of the Human Sword Division, one of the Jin-cheon-mun’s three great divisions: Heaven, Earth, and Human.
“We will now strike the Ung-ga-san-jang, which the Eum-sa-gok assassins are using as their base.”
At Mun Gwang’s words, a sense of tension filled the eyes of the lined-up mercenaries.
The Jin-cheon-mun's objective was not to have the mercenaries defend Ham-chwi-san.
It was to launch a surprise attack on the mountain villa being used as a base by the remnants of the Eum-sa-gok and completely wipe them out.
Mun Gwang continued to issue orders with a solemn expression to the high-grade mercenaries in formation.
The mercenaries listening to him muttered amongst themselves.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen some blood.”
“A surprise attack is good. We won’t take any losses.”
“We got paid handsomely, so once this is over, maybe I’ll spend some quality time at the brothel.”
“Any questions?”
At Mun Gwang’s question, Heuk-pyo, who was at the very back of the mercenary line, raised his hand.
“Then what should we do?”
For a moment, Mun Gwang’s brow furrowed deeply.
*‘Who is that boy?’*
Behind the boy in the black uniform stood a young man who looked like a neighborhood loafer and an ordinary-looking man, both standing there blankly.
He had provided Jin-cheon-mun uniforms for all eighty men, so why were there people here wearing different clothes?
“Who are they?”
“My apologies. I meant to report this earlier…”
Mun Gwang’s trusted subordinate, Mak Goeng, who was standing beside him, quickly replied.
“They are high-grade mercenaries provided additionally by the head of Jeok-cheon-mak-ji’s Su-gyeong-jeon.”
“Additional high-grade mercenaries?”
“Yes, sir.”
Mun Gwang’s brow furrowed deeply.
“What do you mean?”
“Well… the head of the Su-gyeong-jeon, Lady Dam, said she didn’t need the money and told us to take them as a bonus…”
“Take them as a bonus? High-grade mercenaries?”
“Yes, sir. She insisted, so it was awkward to refuse…”
Mun Gwang looked at them with a suspicious expression.
High-grade mercenaries with extensive experience in the martial world were generally in their thirties.
But these three were, at best, a sixteen-year-old boy and two young men who had just come of age.
Even if they were high-grade mercenaries, they couldn't have much real combat experience. Having such young men participate in a large-scale battle would only add to the confusion.
“You three…”
Their numbers were too small to form a proper combat unit anyway. It was awkward to assign them a specific task, so Mun Gwang smacked his lips.
“Wait here.”
“What?”
“The remnants who ambushed our clan may still be in this area. This barracks is our base, so you will wait here until we return.”
Heuk-pyo looked bewildered.
Telling mercenaries who came to fight to guard the barracks like dogs?
But Bu Eun-seol stepped forward and nodded.
“Understood.”
Getting an immediate response, Mun Gwang turned away as if he had lost interest.
Deep in the night.
*Chirp, chirp.*
Only the faint chirping of insects filled the silence of the quiet mountain.
Bu Eun-seol’s group was left alone in the barracks set up on the slopes of Ham-chwi-san.
Heuk-pyo was scanning the surroundings with a very tense expression, while Bu Eun-seol stared at the night sky as if he were a stone statue.
Namgung Un, showing no particular tension, lay sprawled on his back with his hands behind his head, gazing at the moonlight.
“Brother Seol.”
Namgung Un spoke up then.
“I can understand not taking any money, but do we really need to get involved in another clan’s fight?”
No matter how well he hid his name and identity, Namgung Un was the scion of a prestigious Orthodox family. He had no desire to get involved in the feuds of clans that walked the line between right and wrong.
“If you don’t want to, you can leave now.”
Namgung Un shook his head at Bu Eun-seol’s cold words.
“I’m just saying.”
As he continued to grumble, Heuk-pyo cautiously spoke up.
“Young Master.”
Heuk-pyo glanced at Bu Eun-seol before speaking carefully.
“But, are you alright with this?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you came here to fight without pay, but now you’re just guarding the barracks.”
“A battle will happen.”
Bu Eun-seol calmly shook his head.
“The Pae-do-mun surely knows that the Jin-cheon-mun has hired mercenaries. They will at least send scouts to confirm the location of our base and the size of the barracks.”
Then, he looked at Namgung Un and gave a faint smile.
“Besides, at your current skill level, if the two of you were to participate in an all-out battle, you would lose your lives instantly.”