Chapter 36
Chapter 36
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Iron Blood Gang 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Baek Moo-jin, walking behind Jin So-hye, suddenly looked up at the sky.
'Is that a fire?'
Jin So-hye spotted the blazing building a beat later than Baek Moo-jin and came to a halt. Just as Baek Moo-jin opened his mouth to say something, she suddenly bolted forward at a speed that made him wonder if she still had that much strength left.
Baek Moo-jin realized why she was running and followed after her.
'No way... the Jin Family Trading Company?'
On the way, masked figures shouted something and tried to block their path, but Jin So-hye didn't even bother responding. She thrust out her right fist, sending one flying, then simply drew her sheathed sword across, shattering someone's jaw. A series of dull thuds followed, and the black-clad assailants blocking her way began soaring left and right.
Then, as if spotting something, Jin So-hye stopped in her tracks and stood there dazed, looking around. There were countless corpses of Seonghwa Palace warriors scattered everywhere, too many to count.
Baek Moo-jin's expression hardened as well.
'Who the hell... did this?'
At that moment, one of the black-clad men dragging bodies shouted loudly.
"Deputy Leader! There's a woman here with some guy!"
At the warning, all eyes turned to Jin So-hye and Baek Moo-jin. Someone scanned Baek Moo-jin from head to toe and yelled with certainty.
"It's Baek Moo-jin! Baek Moo-jin's here!"
With a rumbling clamor, the crowd surged forward, surrounding the two.
From a short distance away, Yoo Ja-eon of the Iron Blood Gang spoke in a calm voice.
"Make way. They're not your opponents anyway. Let them through here."
As Baek Moo-jin and Jin So-hye started walking, the black-clad men encircled them from behind and moved along.
Black-clad figures were still busily clearing bodies around the Jin Family Trading Company, and to its left, a strange man sat alone at a table with drinks, watching the fire like it was a show.
As Baek Moo-jin and Jin So-hye approached, he grinned with an unnaturally wide mouth.
"Nice to meet you. Sorry to interrupt your good time."
Neither Baek Moo-jin nor Jin So-hye responded.
Jin So-hye merely passed by Yoo Ja-eon and stared silently at the fallen Left Attendant Yi Gon.
Yoo Ja-eon burst into laughter.
"Talk about good luck today. Come on, sit here and have a drink..."
Yoo Ja-eon frowned and waved at his subordinates.
"You lot, back off a bit. You're blocking the light. It's dark enough as it is..."
Baek Moo-jin crossed his arms and gazed at the pitifully dead Left Attendant Yi Gon. A complicated feeling welled up in him.
'He wasn't the type to die like this...'
That thought came first.
On the other hand, he figured the man couldn't hold off this many with his subordinates because he'd come at Baek Moo-jin himself.
Truly, the Left Attendant had been unlucky.
Gazing at the dead man, Baek Moo-jin was struck anew by how harsh the fate of a martial artist could be.
'A martial artist's fate is truly unpredictable, not even a step ahead.'
As the two looked down at the dead man with complex expressions, Yoo Ja-eon narrowed his eyes and smiled while downing his drink.
His mutterings were something to behold.
"Staring at a corpse like that won't bring him back. Sit down and have a drink. Baek Moo-jin... and Little Palace Lord..."
At those words, Jin So-hye asked Yoo Ja-eon without taking her eyes off Left Attendant Yi Gon.
"Who are you?"
"Yoo Ja-eon, the Sound Blade Master. Heard of me?"
Jin So-hye didn't respond, and Baek Moo-jin shook his head.
"Iron Blood Gang?"
Jin So-hye could get a pass as Little Palace Lord, but even the young Baek Moo-jin speaking informally made Yoo Ja-eon shake his head.
"These days' youngsters... sigh... Yeah. I'm the Deputy Leader of the Iron Blood Gang."
Jin So-hye barely suppressed her surging emotions, knelt, and finally closed the eyes of Yi Gon, who hadn't shut them yet.
Baek Moo-jin left her be and sat alone across from Yoo Ja-eon, snatching the liquor bottle and pouring himself a drink.
Only then did Baek Moo-jin and Yoo Ja-eon meet eyes.
Yoo Ja-eon's head tilted sideways as he looked at Baek Moo-jin with pity. He gestured and nodded.
"Tsk tsk tsk... Have another."
Baek Moo-jin nodded and poured another. Yoo Ja-eon continued.
"You're the one who killed our Mak So-gwang and Ban Go-yeong, right?"
Mak So-gwang had been killed by Seo Moon-geuk, but Baek Moo-jin had no mood to correct him here. He admitted flatly.
"Yes."
"Good. Didn't expect to meet you this easily. And bringing the Little Palace Lord who killed Im Ga-so too? Things are looking up today. You two know each other from before?"
Baek Moo-jin replied flatly.
"Not long."
Then Jin So-hye sat beside Baek Moo-jin.
"Pour me one too, Patriarch Baek..."
Baek Moo-jin glanced at her.
"Can't you handle it?"
Jin So-hye looked at him with bloodshot eyes.
"Left Attendant loved his drinks. I need... just one."
Only then did Yoo Ja-eon look straight at Jin So-hye's face. His big mouth gaped in shock as he blinked.
"The Little Palace Lord truly is a beauty. Here, have one."
How could these three sit so leisurely, drinking first?
Yoo Ja-eon didn't mind; they'd walked into the tiger's den...
Meanwhile, Baek Moo-jin and Jin So-hye had gauged each other's strength. They ignored whatever Yoo Ja-eon spouted. Having witnessed the carnage, they just needed a moment before acting.
2.
Baek Moo-jin poured into an empty cup and handed it to Jin So-hye. She tossed it back in one go, mimicking someone's motion perfectly.
It was how the Left Attendant drank, something she'd seen since childhood and now imitated once.
Jin So-hye held out the cup again.
"One more."
Baek Moo-jin poured silently, and she downed it. Yoo Ja-eon laughed in a piercing high tone.
"Down it like that. Good, good. So that guy was Seonghwa Palace's Left Attendant. No wonder he put up a fight. Our leaders were struggling; I was curious who he was."
With that, Yoo Ja-eon spread his arms, as if showing the blood on his clothes.
"A tough bastard. Chopped his legs first, then..."
As Yoo Ja-eon started to speak, Baek Moo-jin's right hand shot out.
A sudden ambush...
Baek Moo-jin lunged to grab him outright, and their hands clashed repeatedly in the air. Yoo Ja-eon, caught off guard, felt a chill down his spine but deftly deflected.
Their hands collided, crossed, shifted forms, exchanging over a dozen moves in an instant. Grasping motions met evasions, producing a flurry of sharp sounds.
Suddenly, Yoo Ja-eon's arm spun wide to smash Baek Moo-jin's hand, but Baek Moo-jin flipped his palm and flicked with thumb and middle finger—the Cold Moon Finger Technique—deflecting the incoming hand.
Just a finger flick...
Thung! Tudududuk!
In a flash, Yoo Ja-eon's hand turned deathly pale. But he channeled inner energy, shattering the chill, and thrust a palm strike.
Baek Moo-jin met it squarely with his own palm.
Pak!
Yoo Ja-eon's body flew back; three leaders rushed in, grabbing his back and shoulders to stop him.
His face was full of bewilderment. Sweat beaded on his back instantly, and he thought of taking Baek Moo-jin after dealing with his dead subordinates.
Baek Moo-jin didn't press the attack, just watched.
It happened so fast that the surrounding black-clad men swallowed hard, watching silently.
Yoo Ja-eon's face twisted viciously; he gritted his teeth, reset his right wrist bones with a crack using his left hand, and bellowed.
"Get him!"
Baek Moo-jin calmly raised a hand, commanding the mood.
"Hold on..."
His single word halted the tension oddly. The would-be attackers, gripped by fear, lent natural weight to his voice.
Baek Moo-jin suddenly looked at Jin So-hye.
"We should've held back earlier. What now?"
Jin So-hye replied.
"Yeah. Anyway, Patriarch Baek, Yoo Ja-eon is mine."
"Agreed."
Baek Moo-jin had only wounded him from the start, intending to hand him over.
Yoo Ja-eon laughed at their casual chat. Baek Moo-jin was impressive, but he still had many subordinates—advantage his.
"You crazy bastards."
Baek Moo-jin stood and spoke informally.
"You've been laughing a lot. And you've lost quite a few men too..."
As Yoo Ja-eon opened his mouth, Baek Moo-jin drew his sword with heavy inner energy, drowning out all noise.
Shiiiiiiing...
Weaker foes clutched their ears at the ear-grating ring. Who silences with a sword draw?
Jin So-hye gripped her sword and rose quietly.
At that moment, a thought surged in her: Baek Moo-jin's words before their spar.
[I don't draw my sword lightly.]
Jin So-hye glanced back at him.
Meeting her gaze anew, Baek Moo-jin gave a faint smile. It held only comfort.
As he stepped forward, he said to her.
"Be careful."
Following quietly, she replied.
"I've recovered plenty. Don't worry."
So leisurely.
Despite the Iron Blood Gang's overwhelming numbers...
As Baek Moo-jin approached, some black-clad men instinctively stepped back.
"Anyone who flees dies by my hand first."
Only at Yoo Ja-eon's angry words did three lurkers behind Baek Moo-jin charge simultaneously.
At that instant...
Baek Moo-jin wanted to see how Jin So-hye would handle it.
Swordsmanship, adaptability, martial arts combo...
Baek Moo-jin pivoted, pinning the three-pronged polearms with his White Lotus Sword like stamping them down, then gripped with energy.
Jin So-hye passed quietly beside him, drew, and unleashed a straight sword beam.
Tsutsutsut!
A red beam grazed the throats of the three struggling to free their weapons.
Blood sprayed in an instant...
That signaled it—the encircling black-clad men all rushed in.
Jin So-hye, without breaking stride, leaped high toward Yoo Ja-eon. With elites around him, it seemed reckless.
Baek Moo-jin, watching, fired a horizontal outer energy sword beam at Yoo Ja-eon during her aerial gap.
A white sword glow laced with chill advanced in a crescent...
Simultaneously, Jin So-hye in the air unleashed a vertical red flame-laced beam.
Differently colored cross-shaped sword beams intersected perfectly, flying at the black-clad horde.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇