Chapter 92
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Xi'an Twin Fiends
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Their names were the Xi'an Twin Fiends. They were demon martial artists who had spread their ill repute throughout Xi'an.
There was no foul deed they wouldn't commit for money, and with their brutal dispositions and merciless hands, they were monsters feared by everyone in Xi'an.
Chae Hong Salshin Hwang Joyang, who had just answered Old Man Nogeuk's question, was especially infamous among the women of Xi'an's pleasure quarters.
Tall, handsome, and with clear skin, women who saw him for the first time were easily drawn to him.
But after spending a night with him, they trembled as if they had glimpsed a yaksha from hell.
Only they knew the extent of his cruel, terrifying, and filthy acts, but as the rumors spread widely through the pleasure quarters, more and more women began avoiding him.
Now, there were even rumors that he was targeting women from ordinary households for his lecherous pursuits.
In contrast, Mok Guja, the Cheonghu Salgoe standing to his right, had the complete opposite appearance.
His height was barely five feet, no different from a child's.
His face resembled a monkey's, and his skin had a bluish tint, making him look like a truly grotesque monkey.
But his temperament was even more bizarre and ferocious; he would fly into a rage over trifles and frequently injure or kill people.
Yet the reason these two remained powerful in Xi'an was, of course, their martial prowess.
Moreover, with unclear origins from any sect and interest solely in money, they were free from the tangled enmities of the martial world.
If such men had come all the way to Dunhuang, it was clear that the Prosperity Merchant Guild's money had drawn them here.
Right now, Old Man Nogeuk lacked the confidence to face both of them alone.
He might have been able to stand against one, but with Somyeongcho already dead, they were exceedingly troublesome opponents.
"Fortunately, you recognize them. What will you do now? Are you ready to follow my orders? Haha..."
The middle-aged man from the Prosperity Merchant Guild changed even his tone to pressure Nogeuk.
Nogeuk ground his teeth inwardly, but he couldn't decide what to do.
He had considerable pride as an expert from the Mount Hua Sect, yet now he had to bow his head to some lowly merchant guild underling.
And submit to the threats of such trash?
But with no immediate solution, Nogeuk chose to lower his head.
"Understood. I'll do as you say."
His resentment was plain in the way he spat out each word as if chewing them.
The middle-aged man sneered at his tone and issued his first command.
"Come on, pour me a drink."
He extended the hand holding his cup, and Nogeuk lifted the wine bottle with one hand to fill it.
"What a joke. Can't you pour properly with both hands?"
At the man's provocation, Nogeuk sighed deeply and added his other hand to tilt the bottle.
But just as the wine was about to pour, the man shifted his cup aside, and the wine spilled across the table.
Nogeuk looked at the man with a bewildered expression, and he smirked again before speaking.
"You'll have to relearn how to pour. Now stand up and offer it politely with both hands."
Nogeuk hesitated at the words, then rose from his seat.
As he did, he glanced at the Xi'an Twin Fiends now standing behind the middle-aged man.
They too wore smiles as they watched the scene.
But then Nogeuk smiled at them.
He hurled the wine bottle toward the wall while drawing the saber at his waist and swinging it.
The middle-aged man's head floated into the air with the same laughing expression, followed by a fountain of blood from the severed neck.
By the time Nogeuk's saber had traced a clean arc and returned, the Xi'an Twin Fiends could only stare in stunned silence.
Nogeuk's strike had been that swift and unexpected.
"You can kill a warrior, but you can't humiliate him. Right?"
Holding his dripping saber, Nogeuk asked, and Cheonghu Salgoe Mok Guja answered first.
"Quite right. He deserved death. I would've killed him too."
His voice was raspy like a crow's caw, eerie and chilling.
"But what now? We've already taken the money..."
Chae Hong Salshin Hwang Joyang's voice that followed was remarkably soft and pleasant.
"Now we'll take your head at least."
This time, both spoke in unison, and their assault began simultaneously.
Mok Guja, originally a fist fighter, swung his bare fists, while Hwang Joyang drew a long sword from within his robes and thrust forward.
Nogeuk, having anticipated this, swung his saber to counter their attacks.
Now, there was no need to hide or hold back.
He set aside the Mount Hua school's Seven Plum Blade Technique and unleashed the infamous Blood Residual Demon Blade Method he had kept secret all this time.
Indeed, the blade method was bizarre and vicious; even the Xi'an Twin Fiends faltered momentarily, their movements thrown into disarray.
A demonic red energy flickered from Nogeuk's saber like a ghost's tongue.
The sharp blade tip mercilessly pierced toward his foes' vital points.
But the Xi'an Twin Fiends countered with their own fists and sword, stained with the blood of countless others over decades.
At first, the Twin Fiends were on the defensive against Nogeuk's eerie Blood Residual Demon Blade Method, but now Nogeuk was gradually being pushed back.
Especially their combined assault was exquisitely precise and sharp, leaving Nogeuk increasingly astonished.
Cheonghu Salgoe Mok Guja used his small stature to skim the ground like a monkey, employing his Tiger Form Palm Fist to target Nogeuk's lower body, while Chae Hong Salshin Hwang Joyang wielded an unexpectedly orthodox, elegant sword style to block Nogeuk's saber.
Nogeuk abandoned the Blood Residual Demon Blade Method, suited for offense, and reverted to his original Blood Plum Blade Method.
The Blood Plum Blade Method was ideal for defense against such bizarre attacks, so it was only natural.
The fierce clash of the three dragged on for dozens of exchanges without resolution.
Meanwhile, with such pandemonium in the room, the tavern errand boy came rushing like an arrow.
The scene that greeted him upon flinging open the door was a gruesome nightmare.
Shattered furniture, fixtures, and dishes aside, the room was flooded with blood from the headless corpse.
In such cases, an errand boy's duty was clear.
Quietly close the door and carefully back away.
The errand boy tried to close the door quietly, but it caught on something and wouldn't budge.
Startled, he turned to see an old man grinning at him.
With his front tooth missing, he looked comical at first glance, but the boy couldn't laugh.
The old man's mouth smiled, but his eyes were like a viper's.
Moments later, at the old man's gesture, the boy left the door as is and quietly backed away down the hall, vanishing.
The old man slipped into the room without a sound and began watching the three-way brawl.
Nogeuk was slowly reaching his limit.
Contrary to his appearance, Mok Guja was exceptionally skilled.
His sleeves had initially concealed them, but steel gauntlets on his arms blocked Nogeuk's saber infused with energy.
Faint rays of light emanated from his ten fingertips.
Nogeuk recalled Somyeongcho's face first.
Then the Mount Hua scenery of spring, blooming profusely with plum blossoms.
'Return to the beginner's mind, is it? Looks like my time has come. Heh...'
Instead of blocking Mok Guja's leg strikes at his lower body, Nogeuk decided to leap into the air and strike Hwang Joyang.
In clashes between such experts, leaping into the air was taboo.
It might look flashy, but it exposed one's vitals to the enemy.
Yet Nogeuk had no other choice.
He had to kill Hwang Joyang with one strike to stand any chance against Mok Guja.
Nogeuk's final move was the ultimate killing technique of the Blood Residual Demon Blade Method: Residual Blood Lion Slayer.
But Residual Blood Lion Slayer was a mutual destruction strike meant for a vastly superior foe.
If Hwang Joyang dodged or blocked it, Nogeuk would have to forfeit his life—and the odds were high.
At that moment, the watching old man shouted.
"That's not it, you fool. If you're to die, at least hold out a bit longer."
He swung his right hand, unleashing a palm strike.
Hwang Joyang sensed the immense palm force bearing down and twisted his thrusting sword to block it.
Boom!
It wasn't a force that could be blocked.
The old man's palm shattered Hwang Joyang's sword and struck him squarely.
Hwang Joyang's body flew back, slamming into the wall.
Nogeuk, who had leaped and landed, and Mok Guja, who had been aiming for his lower body, both froze in shock, halting their movements.
The next instant, Mok Guja dashed to where Hwang Joyang had fallen.
He was already dead.
His chest was horrifically pulverized, fragments of his shattered sword embedded throughout his body.
"Hwang... brother."
Mok Guja stared at the sight for a long while, unable to speak, then turned toward the old man.
But the old man had already lost interest in both Mok Guja and Hwang Joyang.
"You rascal. I wondered where you'd gone off to, and here you were playing around. Let's go."
The old man approached Nogeuk, sealed his acupoints, grabbed the collapsing man's wrist, and headed out.
It was ghostly footwork and skill.
"Wait, old timer."
Then Mok Guja's crow-like voice echoed even more chillingly.
The old man stopped and turned.
"Why?"
With that single word, Mok Guja launched himself at him.
"You won't get away like this."
Indeed, Cheonghu Salgoe Mok Guja's spirit was formidable.
Witnessing his comrade Hwang Joyang's futile death before his eyes, he still acted in his own way.
"I'm busy."
The old man tossed out those words and swung his left hand.
His right still gripped Nogeuk's wrist.