Chapter 277: To Wuhan (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 277: To Wuhan (2)
“...I’ll be waiting for you.”
Perhaps because she knew that if we parted now, we wouldn’t see each other for months, Yoo Sowol held me in a tight embrace and wouldn’t let go. Soon, the sound of clapping came from behind us.
Clap, clap, clap.
“How touching.”
It was Cheon Yeo-hwa.
Seeing the bitter smile on her lips, Yoo Sowol’s expression soured. Their gazes clashed in mid-air.
However, Cheon Yeo-hwa was a martial artist of the Transcendent Realm, while Yoo Sowol was of the Peak Realm.
Naturally, Yoo Sowol was outmatched in terms of presence.
Even so, she didn’t look away.
“...You said your name was Jin Yeo-hwa, correct?”
“That’s right.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa stood with her arms crossed and a relaxed expression, but a murderous feeling was beginning to mix into her demeanor. Meanwhile, Yoo Sowol hugged me even tighter, straining as if determined not to be pushed back.
Caught between them, I finally understood what it meant to be a shrimp’s back broken in a whale fight.
“So, Lady Yoo Sowol of Mount Hua? What do you think you’re doing with my escort? Men and women should keep their distance. I wonder if Daoist Hyunseo could even hold her head up if rumors spread that a second-generation disciple of the Mount Hua Sect was fooling around with a strange man in broad daylight.”
“Are you insulting my master right now?!”
“Hmm... It seems you’re misunderstanding something.”
Sssha—
The smile vanished completely from Cheon Yeo-hwa’s lips.
“I’m telling you to stop spouting nonsense and get off my escort.”
“...By what right do you make such a demand?”
At this point, even the gentle Yoo Sowol would not stay silent.
Instead, she pressed deeper into my arms, provoking Cheon Yeo-hwa.
“You don’t seem to be aware, but unlike other sects, the Mount Hua Sect permits marriage. And no matter if you are my brother’s employer, isn’t it crossing a line to interfere in his personal love life?”
“Employer... hehe.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa covered her mouth and laughed.
At the sound of her mocking laughter, Yoo Sowol’s expression hardened as she parted her lips.
“What’s so funny?”
“Is it not? The sight of a mere concubine talking back to the main wife.”
“...Main wife? Concubine?”
In that moment, Yoo Sowol’s eyes turned to me.
I let out a low groan at her gaze, which seemed to demand an explanation.
Things were getting more and more complicated.
“B-Brother, that’s not true, is it...?”
“Hehe, to deny reality even when you see the truth. How pathetic.”
I sighed, gently pushed Yoo Sowol away, and walked over to Cheon Yeo-hwa.
At this sight, the two women’s feelings diverged.
Yoo Sowol felt despair, Cheon Yeo-hwa, victory.
Thwack!
“Ah.”
“Don’t tease her so much.”
Ignoring her reaction, I chopped the crown of Cheon Yeo-hwa’s head with the side of my hand, just hard enough to sting.
It must have hurt a fair bit, as she rubbed the top of her head and frowned slightly.
Normally, I would have soothed her right away, but to prevent any unnecessary problems in the future, I needed to make things clear this time.
“You’re the same age. You should get along.”
Her manner of speaking made Cheon Yeo-hwa seem older, but they were both twenty years old.
“...This lady has only spoken the truth.”
“I’m still single.”
“But you are scheduled to be married, are you not?”
She wasn’t wrong, but I was still single nonetheless.
Therefore, I had neither a main wife nor a concubine.
Besides, the harem I envisioned was a family where everyone held equal status. There might be an order to the marriages, but I had no intention of creating a hierarchy based on it.
“Is that true?”
Yoo Sowol, who had been listening from the side, approached.
A glimmer of hope had appeared in her eyes.
“Are you really single?”
“For now, yes.”
“Then what is your relationship with her?”
“Hmm...”
I fell into thought for a moment.
Since I had used Thought Transcendence, I had plenty of time.
‘How should I explain this...?’
I pondered for a long time how to phrase it to hurt Yoo Sowol the least. Finally, I reached a conclusion.
Soon, Thought Transcendence was released, and time began to flow normally again.
“She’s my fiancée.”
“...What?”
At first, I had considered phrasing it gently to appease Yoo Sowol.
But that would be deception, not consideration for her. At the very least, I didn’t want to lie to my women.
“I don’t know when it will be, but she’s a woman I want to spend my future with.”
At those words, joy and sorrow once again crossed their faces.
I quickly added more before the misunderstanding could deepen.
“And Sowol, the same goes for you.”
“...Huh?”
For the record, Plan T was still in progress.
No, perhaps it had been in progress ever since I got the dating app. After all, I was often told I was a kind boy when I was young.
“Someday, I want to marry you too and build a happy family. It would be even better if we had about three daughters who look just like you.”
“...”
Hearing my words, various emotions swirled in Yoo Sowol’s eyes: betrayal, disappointment, joy, affection.
I walked over to the confused girl and pulled her into a hug.
“...Am I not enough for you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then...!”
“But just as you are precious to me, Yeo-hwa is also a precious person to me.”
I gently caressed Yoo Sowol’s cheek and gave her a light kiss. Her pouting expression began to soften as I kissed her again and again.
Under Cheon Yeo-hwa’s glare, I continued the skinship until Yoo Sowol’s mood improved.
After nearly thirty minutes, her mood seemed to have lifted, and she snuggled into my arms as usual. Then she whispered in a whining voice.
“...Then I’ll be the main wife.”
“To say such mad things so calmly.”
Shing—
Cheon Yeo-hwa drew her sword.
In response, Yoo Sowol also gripped the hilt of her own.
Caught between them, I held them back and stared at a distant mountain. For some reason, I felt a pulling sensation at the back of my head.
About an hour later, the time to truly part had come.
But before that, I decided to give Yoo Sowol a gift.
“Brother, this is...?”
[Hundred Flowers Unity Pill (百花一圓丹)
Grade: Rare
An elixir made by extracting and blending the essence of 100 types of flowers imbued with magical power. For women, it has a beautifying effect.
Upon consumption, gain 20 years’ worth of internal energy.]
“Take it when you get back to Mount Hua.”
I had found it stored in the Seongbuk Choi Family’s warehouse, so I paid the price and took it.
For reference, it contained pure internal energy, making it somewhat unsuitable for Cheon Yeo-hwa, who practiced demonic arts. As for me, thanks to the Prajna Divine Pill, I didn’t need any other elixirs.
“...Thank you.”
Peck.
Yoo Sowol, looking as if she was about to cry, smiled brightly and kissed my cheek.
At the sight, Cheon Yeo-hwa scowled.
Judging by her expression, she would have normally picked up a rock and thrown it like a hidden weapon.
But there were watching eyes.
To be precise, it was a gaze so overflowing with killing intent it felt like it would explode.
Daoist Hyunseo bit her lip and glared at me.
“Don’t forget. If you don’t return in the end, I will come for you myself.”
I let Daoist Hyunseo’s murderous warning go in one ear and out the other.
After one last kiss with Yoo Sowol, I set off towards Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei.
*
It was a summer day when the rain poured down.
To reduce the number of mouths to feed, my parents sold me, their youngest, to a martial artist of the Evil Faction. I was only five years old at the time.
I wasn’t sad.
Life in the sect I was led to by the martial artists was harsh, but at least I didn’t have to starve.
Moreover, I had a talent for martial arts.
I advanced through the realms faster than anyone else, eventually succeeding in reaching the Peak Realm.
After that, I escaped the tedious sect and became the leader of one of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Forts, a representative of the Evil Faction.
Although I am now just the leader of a mediocre fort, known as prey for the rising stars of the Orthodox Faction, I will one day reach the pinnacle of the Peak Realm and join the ranks of the Top 100 Experts of the World. Furthermore, I will become a member of the Twelve Heroes of the Green Forest, considered the elite among the Seventy-Two Forts.
That’s right.
The legend of the Great Tiger Fort begins now—
“Ch-Chieftain! We have a big problem!”
“What is it!”
Kwak Jung-ak, the chieftain of the Great Tiger Fort, glared at the subordinate who had suddenly burst in and shouted.
How dare he interrupt the moment the chieftain was steeling his resolve.
Kwak Jung-ak revealed his ferocious nature and gripped his pride and joy, the Overpowering Great Saber. Despite its grand name, it was, in reality, just an ordinary large saber.
At the sight, the subordinate swallowed dryly and knelt.
“F-Forgive me!”
“Tsk, if this is nothing important, you’d better be prepared.”
At Kwak Jung-ak’s threat, the bandit trembled and spoke.
“S-Some bastards are killing the brothers who went out on the mountain and are heading towards the Great Tiger Fort!”
“Bastards?”
“Yes! One man and one woman, they looked to be just over twenty years old!”
“Hmm...”
Hearing his subordinate’s report, Kwak Jung-ak stroked his beard.
In truth, the location of the Great Tiger Fort was about as bad as it could get. Above them were the Mount Hua and Zhongnan Sects, part of the Nine Great Sects and One Alliance, and below them was the Wudang Sect.
That was why the Great Tiger Fort was the only bandit stronghold in the area.
Therefore, rather than collecting tolls in earnest, they tended to attack small merchant caravans or escort agencies. They also meticulously erased all traces, not even leaving bloodstains, so that no one would even know bandits were there.
Furthermore, in case of unforeseen circumstances, they had even disguised the fort as an ordinary slash-and-burn farmers' village.
Thanks to this, martial artists from the Orthodox Faction had never attacked them before.
“Are they perhaps rising stars from Mount Hua, Jongnam, or Wudang?”
“I don’t think so. Neither of them was wearing sect uniforms; they were dressed in rather fine clothes. The woman, in particular, was wearing a veil.”
“Wearing a veil, you say?”
Hearing this, Kwak Jung-ak grinned viciously.
‘Looks like some clueless rich girl has come out to tour the Murim with her bodyguard.’
It was something that happened from time to time, even when he was part of a sect.
In times like these, one simply had to ‘protect’ them for a while, then contact their family later and hand them over for a reasonable reward.
Kwak Jung-ak saw this as an opportunity.
He was already tired of this bandit life, constantly having to watch his back while squeezed between the major Orthodox Faction powers.
He planned to get a hefty ransom this time and use it as capital to go to Hunan, where the main stronghold of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Forts was located.
When he was alone, he would spout nonsense about becoming one of the Twelve Heroes of the Green Forest or how the legend of the Great Tiger Fort was just beginning, but realistically, that was impossible.
The moment his fort grew even slightly larger, Mount Hua, Jongnam, and Wudang would gleefully send their rising stars.
That was why he had only accumulated wealth so far without expanding his forces.
‘I’ll bribe my way into the main fort, raise my realm, and then steal the position of one of the other Twelve Heroes.’
“Kuhaha!”
Thinking it a perfect plan, Kwak Jung-ak laughed heartily.
Afterward, he led his bandits and ran towards the sound of clashing weapons.
Following the familiar mountain path, they arrived to see a man with a sword, a woman wearing a veil, and the bandits from their fort confronting them.
Several bodies were already strewn about the area.
Kwak Jung-ak shouted, his voice laced with internal energy.
“You bastards! Do you know where you are to be running wild like this!”
“B-Brother!”
“The Chieftain is here!”
At his voice, the bandits’ faces lit up.
Kwak Jung-ak didn’t even glance at his injured men. He turned to the man who appeared to be the bodyguard.
‘...I can’t gauge his realm. Well, he’s just a bodyguard, so he’s probably first-rate at best. Even if he’s at the entry-level of the Peak Realm like me, I can handle him if I attack with my men.’
Many bodyguards had learned internal energy techniques to conceal their presence.
Kwak Jung-ak assumed this man was one of them.
“What’s with the hairy oaf?”
“Kuhahaha! Do you know who this old man is? I am the Seven-Step Great Saber, Kwak Jung-ak!”
“Seven-Step Great Saber?”
“That’s right! The prodigy of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Forts who reached the entry-level of the Peak Realm at the age of thirty and will soon join the ranks of the Top 100 Experts of the World is none other than me!”
As soon as Kwak Jung-ak finished speaking, the man’s expression hardened.
Seeing this, Kwak Jung-ak inwardly smirked. As he had expected, the man was either first-rate or at the entry-level of the Peak Realm.
“If you surrender now, I’ll spare your life. And the wench behind you, you too will be released without any trouble once we receive the ransom from your family—”
“...No way.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re only thirty with that face? Anyone would think you’re at least fifty.”
“...”
Normally, he would have just laughed it off.
But hearing it from a handsome fellow who also seemed to have outstanding martial talent, Kwak Jung-ak was triggered.
Already possessing a ferocious temperament, he moved as his instincts dictated.
Boom!
Kwak Jung-ak immediately kicked off the ground, closed in on the man, and swung his great saber.
It was a flawless strike, and in the moment he was certain his saber had cut the man’s neck—
Clang!
‘...Clang?’
A sound he should not have heard rang out.
Why, when a saber met human skin, was there a metallic clang instead of a slicing sound?
Then, Kwak Jung-ak saw it.
His great saber was broken in half.
And a bluish membrane was wrapped around the man’s neck.
“I would have just passed by if you hadn’t bothered me first... Is it because you’re bandits?”
A red glint flowed from the man’s eyes. It was like seeing an Asura descended upon the earth.
As the dense killing intent spread in all directions, the bandits gasped. Those with weaker minds even collapsed to the ground.
Yet, Kwak Jung-ak showed no reaction.
Seeing him standing firm, the bandits saw a glimmer of hope.
“Chieftain!!”
“Show them the power of the Great Tiger Fort!!”
“We believe in you!!”
At the cheers of his men, Kwak Jung-ak gripped the great saber in his hand tightly.
A rough and ferocious aura erupted from him. His six-foot frame and trained muscles were enough to make any opponent flinch.
“Kuhahahahaha!!!”
Then, Kwak Jung-ak suddenly laughed so loudly that the birds in the vicinity startled and took flight.
Immediately after, a bluish energy formed on his broken saber. It was Saber Energy, the symbol of a Peak Realm master.
His moniker, Seven-Step Great Saber, wasn’t because he was the chieftain of the Mount Chilbo fort. It was because of his skill in slaughtering enemies within seven steps.
And now, Kwak Jung-ak’s Soul-Slaying Severing Saber was about to be unleashed.
Clang!
At the scene that followed, the bandits doubted their own eyes.
Something completely unexpected had happened.
“Wh-Where the hell is that bastard going...?”
“...Fuck.”
Kwak Jung-ak had suddenly thrown his weapon at the bodyguard and used the opening to flee.
Never dreaming that he would abandon them and run, the bandits could only stare blankly at his retreating back.
And though he was built like a bear, he was so fast in his escape that he was already nearly thirty yards away.
It was a speed he could never normally achieve.
But at this moment, Kwak Jung-ak’s escape was filled with a desperate will. The survival instinct to live had momentarily elevated his lightness skill by a whole level.
As he skillfully fled through the trees, Kwak Jung-ak recalled the scene from moments ago, his face pale.
‘A-A Protective Aura! Why the hell is a Transcendent Realm monster here?!’
A rising star who looked barely over twenty being in the Transcendent Realm was absurd.
Even the so-called Sword Dragon that Mount Hua boasted of was still in the Peak Realm. That left only one possibility.
‘...He must be an old monster who has undergone Rejuvenation.’
There was no other explanation.
Kwak Jung-ak clenched his teeth until they could bleed and ran like a madman. Just to live.
“Ah, I remember now.”
But tears began to well up in his eyes, blurring his vision.
It was because of a man running leisurely beside him as if it were nothing.
“You’re a wanted man, aren’t you? For killing several government officials?”
“...Fuck.”
Thud!
Then, with a sharp pain in his side, he lost consciousness.
