Chapter 28
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Splitting Clouds and Shattering Moon
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Thwack!
The curved whip tore mercilessly into flesh.
“Argh!”
The old man, hands bound by rope and dragged along, screamed as he collapsed and rolled on the ground.
“You bastard! Get up already?”
“Ugh…….”
“Is this old fart out of his mind!”
Crack! Thwaaack!
A man with ferocious eyes swung the whip wildly at the writhing old man on the ground.
Chunks of flesh sprayed out along with spurting red blood, staining the snowfield.
A dozen burly men traversed the snowy plain, dragging along those bound by ropes like beasts.
The one wielding the whip was O Hwan, one of the four deputy leaders of the Nine Dragons Stronghold alongside Woo Tae, and the other ten men were subordinates who had joined the search.
To recapture the prisoners who had fled amid the chaos Yu Hyun had caused, the bandits had scoured the entire mountain over the past three days, managing to capture alive five hostages and one shaman who had been checking another peak of Mount Huang at Yu Hyun’s request.
And then there was the fallen old man.
He wasn’t a hostage; he had been spotted near Pagoda Peak on the way back from the search.
Judging by his appearance, he seemed like an old shaman scraping by in a nearby village.
The Nine Dragons Stronghold normally never ventured toward Anhui Province, so they never bothered people from that side—out of deference to the Nangong Clan, who considered it their territory.
Starting trouble there could draw a massive retaliation from the Nangongs, which would be dangerous.
But this time, they were seething with rage over Yu Hyun, and since the old man had been hiding while watching Pagoda Peak, they had dragged him along.
“You mangy old dog. You’re definitely in cahoots with that bastard, aren’t you?”
“Ugh…….”
Despite his pained groans at Deputy Leader O Hwan’s question, the old man shook his head.
“What do you mean ‘no’! Because of scum like you, we’re suffering hell we never asked for. Once we show you to the leader, I’ll skin you alive, then head down to your village and wipe out your family—hell, anyone who’s ever known you.”
“Ugh…….”
The old man, Eok-su, trembled violently, his pupils dilating in terror.
The reason he had stayed behind watching Pagoda Peak was worry for Yu Hyun.
He had seen flames rise at night and prisoners fleeing their captors.
When he had pointed them to the path and asked, they said Yu Hyun was fighting the Nine Dragons Stronghold bandits.
So he waited longer. In case Yu Hyun fled this way, he could show him a path the bandits couldn’t follow……
He couldn’t abandon the righteous man single-handedly taking on those vicious bandits.
But as he waited for Yu Hyun, the bandits suddenly appeared.
A powerless shaman like him had no chance of escape.
So he was caught and dragged along, enduring brutal beatings.
“You bastard! Won’t you get up?”
“Ugh…….”
O Hwan raised the whip high, then brought it down.
He wanted to kill the old man right then, but he had to keep him alive to present to the leader.
“Hey! You there!”
“……Yes?”
At O Hwan’s call, a man bound by ropes lifted his head with frightened eyes.
He was one of the shamans from Gam-eop, caught by the bandits while searching another part of Mount Huang at Yu Hyun’s request.
“Carry this old man.”
“……Yes.”
It was then, as the man fearfully hoisted the struggling Eok-su old man onto his back.
“Huh? What’s that guy?”
One of the bandits squinted into the distance, tilting his head.
“What? Why?”
“Over there, look. That one draped in wolf pelt looks like one from Deputy Leader Woo Tae’s group…….”
“……?”
O Hwan frowned and peered in the same direction at his subordinate’s words.
At a distance too far to make out faces, some guy was standing there.
Dressed just like one of the men who had gone with Woo Tae, as the subordinate said.
But then, the guy stared their way for a moment before squatting down on the ground, bobbing his head up and down as he packed something.
“What the hell is that crazy bastard doing? Not searching and pulling that crap?”
“Uh…… looks like he’s packing snow?”
“Snow?”
“Yeah. The way he’s using both hands…….”
He couldn’t be sure from afar, but now that he looked, it did seem like snowballs.
“That insane fuck! Does he think this is playtime? What the hell is Woo Tae doing, letting his subordinate pull that shit?”
O Hwan yelled loudly toward Woo Tae’s subordinate, irritation etched on his face.
“Hey! You…… Huh?”
But suddenly, Woo Tae’s subordinate clasped his hands overhead and lifted one leg high.
“That bastard…… what’s he doing?”
As O Hwan and the subordinates exchanged puzzled glances.
The raised leg stamped down hard, and with his torso bending forward like he was pulled by a string, the arm that had swung back whipped forward in a fierce arc.
Whiiiiiish!
“…….”
At the sound of something slicing through the air at blinding speed, O Hwan’s eyes widened.
Thwack!
“Gaaah!”
“…….”
Thwack? A scream?
W-Wasn’t that a snowball?
O Hwan was stunned as the subordinate holding the rope binding the prisoners took a hit to the head with a thud and flew backward.
In that instant, Yu Hyun—who had closed the distance in a flash—hurled another snowball the same way.
Whish! Thwack!
Whiiiish! Thud thud!
“…….”
Three in total.
A hidden technique of hurling by hand to pierce the nape.
“Hand-Thrown Ice Spike!(手投剆膉)”
He had killed exactly three men, so it was Three Balls, Three Kills.
And now, it was time for the grand finale.
Whoosh!
While O Hwan and the bandits panicked amid their falling comrades, Yu Hyun—who had noticeably closed the gap—kicked off the ground hard and leaped skyward.
“D-Deputy Leader!”
“……?”
“Th-These guys are…… d-dead.”
A subordinate who checked the fallen men looked up in shock, eyes wide.
Dead……?
O Hwan whipped his head toward the one who had thrown the snowballs.
“Huh?”
Gone.
He had only turned his head for a split second at the subordinate’s call, but the man who had been throwing snowballs moments ago was nowhere in sight.
……But what was this chill creeping over his head?
Shuuuuw.
At the sound of air being sliced, O Hwan urgently jerked his head up.
A boyish face too young to call a youth, a cold smile playing on his lips……
Yu Hyun descended, foot brimming with spirit energy as if to crush the world beneath it.
“D-Dodge!”
With a desperate shout, O Hwan threw his body aside with all his might.
Boom!
At the same moment, the savage stomp shook the earth, and the piled snow erupted in all directions, blanketing everything.
“Wh-What the……?”
As O Hwan, who had barely escaped alone, struggled to his feet and squinted.
Slash.
A sound like air itself being sliced by a blade, and the thick blizzard bled as if wounded.
Slaaash!
The slicing grew spine-chillingly loud, the blizzard’s crimson hue deepened, and finally, it poured down as red rain.
Drip, splatter.
“…….”
In the face of this brutal scene that forbade even breathing, O Hwan froze mid-motion and stared ahead.
And then the blizzard cleared.
In that space filled with blood and chunks of flesh, only one man stood, coldly smiling as he held a half-broken curved sword dripping blood.
The subordinates……
All dead—no, not even their bodies could be found intact. Aside from Yu Hyun and the hostages, they had all been turned to minced meat.
And in this horrific scene, the fresh-faced boy before him grinned eerily……
O Hwan shuddered, goosebumps racing up his spine unbidden.
“Surprised? Wudang’s Cloud-Splitting Moon-Shatter. A brutal sword art taught to me by one of my masters.”
“…….”
It slices clouds and shatters moons.
The name fit perfectly.
But Wudang? From the Daoist sect?
Such cruelty from their swordsmanship?
O Hwan trembled uncontrollably, not even thinking of fleeing as he stared at Yu Hyun.
“Wh-Who the hell are you…….”
“What? You too? Well, yeah, me too. I’ve changed quite a bit, huh.”
“…….”
Fear brought honorifics automatically, but Yu Hyun just smiled amiably, almost friendly.
After such brutality……
As O Hwan stared blankly, unable to move, Yu Hyun checked on the hostages.
“Hmm, got recaptured, huh.”
“…….”
“One question.”
“……?”
“Were you lot the last ones out searching for the hostages?”
“Th-That’s…….”
“Answer, and I’ll show mercy.”
“…….”
O Hwan’s eyes bulged as he swallowed dryly.
Mercy.
He’d spare me?
The man before him was a monster who had slain over ten subordinates in an instant. Three with snowballs, seven with a broken curved sword……
No thought of winning crossed his mind.
Right now, this guy terrified him far more than Leader Gwak So-san.
Loyalty? What use was that between bandits?
Spill everything he knew and bolt.
“W-We’re the last ones.”
“No one behind?”
“We finished searching yesterday and already headed back.”
“Hmm, okay. No one caught in yesterday’s search?”
“……Yes.”
“For real?”
“Please believe me.”
Yu Hyun nodded in satisfaction at O Hwan’s words.
Everyone else escaped nicely.
Meaning these were the last ones. Save them, and no need to worry about hostages anymore.
“Good. Thanks for the honest answer.”
O Hwan’s face brightened at Yu Hyun’s pleased expression.
“Y-You’ll spare me?”
“Nope.”
“What? You said you would…….”
“Who? Me? Oh, mercy? That doesn’t mean sparing you. It means no torture before death.”
“……You fuck.”
O Hwan’s curse didn’t finish.
With a smirk and a single word, Yu Hyun lightly swung his half-broken curved sword.
Thud.
O Hwan’s head rolled limply across the ground, and his headless body collapsed, spewing blood.
“…….”
Yu Hyun silently gazed down at O Hwan’s head, which had rolled to a stop.
Forgiveness? Bullshit.
If he were Yu Clan Manor’s son Yu Hyun, maybe. He’d have just captured them for the authorities.
But I am Yu Hyun, infused with Jin Wi-gang’s soul. One who favors fists over law, and those he loves.
Mercy for beasts who tried to rape a mother and daughter, slaughtered indiscriminately, and brutalized an innocent old man like Eok-su? As if.
So call it heavenly punishment. Or since I used a sword, heavenly sword? Whatever……
Wipe.
Yu Hyun wiped the blood splattered on his face with his sleeve and approached the hostages and Eok-su old man, who stood frozen in terror.
“P-Please spare us.”
“…….”
The captives slammed their heads to the ground, begging desperately.
Every one wore the look of someone facing a monster.
But he ignored it.
His goal was simply killing the Nine Dragons Stronghold bandits, not earning their fond memories.
“Tch, I told you just to head down…….”
“…….”
Ignoring their fear or lack thereof, Yu Hyun approached Eok-su old man and examined his wounds.
Rip!
The injuries were worse than expected, so Yu Hyun tore his clothes to bandage them and pressed acupoints to staunch the bleeding.
“……Phew, that should do.”
After swiftly finishing first aid, Yu Hyun stood and pointed to one side with a finger.
“From now on, don’t look back. Head down to Gam-eop. No more bandit pursuit, so take it slow and careful.”
“……?”
With that, Yu Hyun turned to gaze at Pagoda Peak before them, his eyes gleaming ferociously.
Yeah, no pursuit.
From now on, I’ll gladly play executioner, meting out heaven’s judgment to these beasts in human skin.