The Dragon Scale Armor
"Young Brother!"
"Hello, Daoist Jinmyeong."
Ja Gangcheon's expression brightened as though he had performed a face-changing act. Looking at that smile, the events of a moment before felt like nothing more than a playful joke.
"Young Brother. I will offer my thanks later. Can you take this child somewhere safe?"
Jinmyeong was greatly shocked that Ja Gangcheon had withstood a palm strike from the Blackwater Old Monster, but there was no time to ask about it.
"Yes. I'll be right back, so don't get hurt."
While Ja Gangcheon was gone, the Blackwater Old Monster pulled the Blood Spirit Axe free from where it had been driven into the earth.
Seureung!
This time Jinmyeong struck first, thrusting his sword toward the Blackwater Old Monster.
Chaeng!
Sparks flew from the clash of steel. At that same moment, a chaotic din rose from another direction.
Peopeong!
Jinmyeong glanced that way and ground his teeth.
"So the Ghost-Face Twin Killers have joined hands with you."
The Shandong Fiends known as the Ghost-Face Twin Killers. Twin brothers already past sixty, they had long terrorized the Shandong region. Their cruelty was infamous and their martial arts formidable enough that orthodox martial artists dreaded facing them. The twins' coordinated assault was so subtle and profound that even renowned masters of the jianghu scarcely dared to stand against it.
Those very men had suddenly appeared and were pressing hard against Jinmyeong's master, Unseong True Man.
This is bad.
As the thought formed, a voice thick with mockery reached him.
"No need to worry. You and your master will cross the gates of hell side by side."
The Blackwater Old Monster was a recognized expert among the unorthodox. A young man barely twenty like Jinmyeong was nowhere near his level.
"If any regret remains in me, my brothers of Wudang will settle it. I have no regrets."
Chaechaeng!
Jinmyeong charged the Blackwater Old Monster, who held the Blood Spirit Axe at a slant.
At the same time, elsewhere, Ja Gangcheon raced through the forest with the boy cradled in both arms.
One of them.
Someone was following. The fact that the pursuer kept pace so well meant he was no ordinary expert.
"Wait here."
Ja Gangcheon spotted a large tree and sprinted straight toward it.
Tak!
He planted a foot on the trunk and his body soared into the air. After settling the boy onto a thick branch, he raised a forefinger to his lips.
"Shh."
A short while later, a man arrived beneath the tree where they had vanished.
The black-clad man in his mid-forties carefully scanned the surroundings. He had realized the presence had disappeared at this very spot.
That was when Ja Gangcheon dropped from the tree.
"Huh!"
By the time the startled man sucked in a startled breath, Ja Gangcheon's foot was already descending toward the crown of his head.
Yet the middle-aged man countered at once, driving a fist upward into the sole of Ja Gangcheon's foot.
Peong!
Internal energy collided. The man's knees buckled and he crashed to the ground. Even so, Ja Gangcheon's body could not withstand the force and was flung back into the air.
"Eh?"
The counterattack had caught him completely off guard, and even Ja Gangcheon was startled.
The middle-aged man had clearly taken the heavier blow, yet it was not fatal. In a single exchange their positions had reversed—Ja Gangcheon was falling again, and the man waited below.
Fortune had flipped in an instant.
Then Ja Gangcheon's body swayed.
"What…?"
In midair every fighter's movement was constrained—yet not Ja Gangcheon's. His body seemed to waver, then he suddenly released a burst of internal energy and veered off at a diagonal.
The middle-aged man closed the distance at once and launched a palm strike.
"Die!"
Terrifying force slammed into Ja Gangcheon's back the moment his feet touched the ground.
Peong!
His body lost all center and flew like a scrap of silk in a gale. The speed was so great that the air itself seemed to tear with a ripping sound.
Yet just as a massive tree loomed before him, Ja Gangcheon twisted, planted both feet against the trunk, and floated lightly down to earth.
"Aigoo. Mother made me this robe…"
He craned his neck, trying to check his back, and pouted. Unable to see properly, he finally shrugged out of the upper garment and confirmed the large hole torn through the fabric.
"And I can't even collect for the clothes…"
When Ja Gangcheon lifted his gaze, the middle-aged man stood staring blankly. The man who had landed a successful blow was looking down at his own palm, from which black blood was streaming.
"It's called the Dragon Scale Armor. I hear it's rather famous."
One of the Ten Great Treasures of the martial world, the Dragon Scale Armor. A legendary leather vest woven from meteor iron dust that absorbed internal energy and thousand-year silk. Not only did it drink external impacts; when struck with great force, the needles hidden between the layers of leather stabbed the attacker. Those needles could be coated with any poison one chose. At present they carried the deadly toxin left behind by the late master of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
"Keuk!"
The middle-aged man's body shuddered violently; foam flecked his lips and he collapsed. His breath had already stopped, and his skin had turned a livid blue.
"Still feels nasty."
There was no guilt, yet the instinctive discomfort refused to fade.
"Let's move quickly!"
Ja Gangcheon pulled his robe back on and hurried off, trying to shake the unpleasant feeling. After relocating the boy on the tree to a far more distant spot, he gave a rapid warning.
"Stay right here until I come back for you."
As Ja Gangcheon turned, the boy grabbed him in panic.
"If you don't come…"
"That won't happen."
Leaving the boy, Ja Gangcheon raced back toward the place where the fighting continued.
Seut!
A chill brushed past his shoulder. Unseong True Man retreated at once and raised a curtain of sword light.
Chaechaechaeng!
Two curved blades that had been seeking his vital points rebounded with a harsh metallic ring.
He had escaped the crisis, yet Unseong True Man had no leisure to catch his breath.
It seems I will not escape this calamity after all.
The Ghost-Face Twin Killers' martial arts were in no way inferior to their reputation. If anything, their notoriety had caused them to be undervalued. The joint assault they unleashed together created a pressure Unseong True Man had never felt in all his life. Bound as one, they would rank among the top twenty of the unorthodox world's Ten Great Experts—if not higher.
I must keep Jinmyeong alive.
That was the best he could hope for.
Having changed his mind, Unseong True Man abruptly altered course and charged toward the Blackwater Old Monster who was battling his disciple.
"Myeong-ah! Fall back!"
Chaechaechaeng!
He drove the Blackwater Old Monster back with a surge of internal energy, then shouted once more to his disciple.
"You must carry the names of these murderers back to the mountain! Hurry!"
The reports he had already sent to Mount Wudang had mentioned only the Blackwater Old Monster. If both of them died here, the Ghost-Face Twin Killers would remain unknown. That was the reason he gave—yet Jinmyeong understood the true meaning.
At least you must live!
That was what his master was saying.
"I cannot do that."
"You insolent—!"
"The punishment…"
Before the words finished, Unseong True Man seized Jinmyeong's arm and hurled him backward.
"That is an order—go!"
Unable to defy the command, Jinmyeong vanished among the trees. The Blackwater Old Monster moved to pursue.
Unseong True Man would never allow it. Yet even as he blocked the Old Monster, the Ghost-Face Twin Killers closed in, blades seeking his vitals.
Disaster.
He had failed to buy Jinmyeong enough time. At that very moment—
What…?
The disciple he had flung away came flying back. And he was not alone. Ja Gangcheon had caught Jinmyeong in midair and returned with him.
Pat!
Jinmyeong and Ja Gangcheon shoved off each other and split to either side. Jinmyeong lunged for the vital points of the Ghost-Face Twin Killers; Ja Gangcheon collided head-on with the Blackwater Old Monster.
Kkeureut!
The Old Monster's axe bit into Ja Gangcheon's shoulder.
Contrary to every expectation that at least one arm would be severed, the newly arrived boy's body merely shuddered once and let the axe glance aside.
Kung!
The Blood Spirit Axe buried itself in the earth. As the Blackwater Old Monster's stance collapsed, Ja Gangcheon's foot streaked toward his face.
The Old Monster hastily abandoned the axe and shielded the right side of his face—
Eh?
The expected impact never arrived.
How?
Never imagining that the trajectory of a kick could bend at a right angle, the Blackwater Old Monster hastily raised his protective energy.
Kwang!
When Ja Gangcheon's heel smashed into his shoulder, the Old Monster knew something was terribly wrong. Not only was the internal energy of a boy who looked barely mid-teens beyond belief—the weight loaded into the kick itself defied all common sense.
Udeudeuk!
The sound of a shoulder shattering rang out. Yet decades of experience in the jianghu had not been earned for nothing. Sacrificing the shoulder, the Blackwater Old Monster slammed a fist into Ja Gangcheon's solar plexus.
I cannot take that hit.
This was nothing like the middle-aged pursuer earlier. The Blackwater Old Monster's force far exceeded what the Dragon Scale Armor could absorb. If the internal energy that punched through the vest reached his solar plexus, even Ja Gangcheon would be in danger.
Sensing it by pure instinct, Ja Gangcheon kicked the Old Monster's fist aside with his free left foot.
Peong!
Using that very force, he shot backward and opened distance.
Lightness skill of that level at his age?
Watching Ja Gangcheon land unscathed, the Blackwater Old Monster was inwardly stunned. The power in the kicks was astonishing, yet the lightness arts and footwork that formed his movement technique were in no way inferior to the Old Monster's own.
Perhaps even superior…
The thought rose unbidden.
In that case I must kill him here and now.
Even with one arm useless and the boy's movement arts outstanding, the Blackwater Old Monster never once imagined he would lose.
That was the mistake.
He was not the only one who thought so.
Chaeng!
A sudden, razor-sharp sensation swept across his back. The Blackwater Old Monster twisted aside.
Seut!
A scorching line opened along his flank; strength drained from his body in a rush. Blood sprayed from the deep gash in his side; his vision swam. Before he knew it, a chill touch rested against his throat.
Tuk.
The Blackwater Old Monster's eyes bulged as his head tumbled to the ground.
"Now we need only deal with those two."
It was Unseong True Man.
"Leave them to us from here."
Jinmyeong and Unseong True Man stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the Ghost-Face Twin Killers. The twins locked eyes for an instant, then abruptly spun and fled.
"Do not pursue."
Jinmyeong started after them the moment he realized their intent, but Unseong True Man raised a hand to stop him.
"Returning to Mount Wudang comes first."
That was what he said, yet in truth Unseong True Man judged pursuit disadvantageous.
They will certainly seek another chance for a joint assault. Their first target will be Jinmyeong.
The Ghost-Face Twin Killers were uninjured. If Jinmyeong ever faced them alone, he could not possibly win. Yet moving together they would never catch the twins. A prolonged chase would leave Unseong True Man pursuing alone—a classic trap of the jianghu. He abandoned the pursuit.
Once the situation settled, he approached Ja Gangcheon first and clasped his fists in a formal salute. The courtesy was excessive toward one so young, yet he offered it without the slightest hesitation.
"I thank you for your aid. Thanks to you, we kept our lives."
He did not diminish Ja Gangcheon's help in the least.
"We're Wudang, after all. That makes us family."
When Unseong True Man looked puzzled, Jinmyeong explained.
"Young Brother says his father was of the Wudang Sect."
"Ah! What a connection this is!"
Just as Jinmyeong had been, Unseong True Man was overjoyed. He seized both of Ja Gangcheon's hands.
"What is your father's honored name? Which of my brothers raised such an excellent son?"
Hearing his father praised put Ja Gangcheon in high spirits; he answered without artifice.
"The surname Ja, the characters Un and Hak."
"Ja Unhak?"
Unseong True Man tried to recall a lay disciple of the Ja surname, yet nothing came to mind.
"Master. Young Brother says he is also on his way to Mount Wudang."
"Ah! Then why not travel with us as far as the mountain?"
"No, thank you. I have a friend, so I'll go separately. You two go on ahead. I saw you have other companions as well."
At those words both men asked the question that had already been troubling them.
"Where is the child?"
"Come with me."
Guided by Ja Gangcheon, they successfully recovered the hidden boy unharmed.
"Why not travel together after all? I cannot quite set my mind at ease."
"Don't worry. Even if those fellows come back, I'm confident I can run away."
After repeated refusals, Unseong True Man had no choice but to abandon the idea of traveling together.
"Then we shall wait at Mount Wudang. Come carefully."
"Young Brother. We will await you at the main gate."
They received Ja Gangcheon's bright farewell and set out on their road.
"Let us make haste."
Even while employing his lightness skill, Unseong True Man kept thinking of the boy they had just left.
That face was unmistakably familiar…
The memory was not clear enough to mention. Yet the more he turned it over, the more it overlapped with a shocking recollection.
"Surely not?"
The shock was enough to halt his lightness skill; he looked back the way they had come.
"The name Ja Unhak… does he mean Junior Brother Unhak?"
But he soon shook his head.
"Impossible."
He decided that longing had merely played a brief trick on him.