Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 7: Baek Family's Pavilion Central Treasure (3)
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Chu Un-hwi, who had been silent for a moment, turned his head.
"We're having an important conversation here, but it seems there's an outsider present."
"Merchant So is no outsider. He's soon to be family."
"I'm the overly cautious type. I must have mistaken it when your family started eyeing each other so clingily."
"Watch your words. Merchant So is not someone a lowly instructor like you can address."
"Haha. It's fine."
So Yong-dae made a good-natured expression as he cupped his hands in greeting.
"How could there be no emotion in the gaze of a groom beholding his bride?"
"You look quite advanced in age..."
"There's a bit of an age gap with the bride, but since I'm fully prepared to cherish and love Lady Baek Ri-seol more than anyone, isn't that enough?"
Chwa-rarak.
He pulled a small scroll from his bosom and unrolled it.
Inside the scroll was a portrait of a beauty that strikingly resembled Baek Ri-seol.
"I even painted this portrait with all my love."
Chu Un-hwi tilted his head as he examined the painting.
"The woman in the picture does resemble Student Baek Ri-seol, but she looks quite mature."
"She's my late wife. Truth be told, the reason I proposed to the young lady of the Baek Family is because I believe her to be my late wife's reincarnation. How about it? Can you understand my feelings now?"
"Kik!"
A laugh burst from Chu Un-hwi's mouth for the first time.
In an instant, everyone in the room glared at him with fierce eyes, exuding a chilling aura.
Either unaware or unconcerned, Chu Un-hwi chuckled for a good while before turning to Baek Ri-seol.
"Student Baek Ri-seol. Doesn't that strike you as funny?"
"...Instructor?"
Baek Ri-seol was flustered; this was the first time since arriving here that anyone had directed a question at her.
Seeing her eyes spinning, Chu Un-hwi nodded toward So Yong-dae with his chin.
"Can you believe that half-grown toad-like bastard had such a beautiful wife? Do you buy it?"
"How rude!"
Kwang!
As White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun slammed the table, the rosewood table shattered into pieces.
"You bastard! I tried to speak nicely, but it won't do. Your child needs discipline first."
Flutter.
The moment the guards gripped their swords at his gesture.
In this hair-trigger situation, Chu Un-hwi shouted at Baek Ri-seol in an incongruously cheerful tone.
"Baek Ri-seol. What should we do?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Is it okay to kill them all?"
"Pardon?"
***
What on earth was this instructor saying?
Her father was the White Dragon Swordsman, a renowned swordmaster even within the Baek Family.
And that was not all.
The guards protecting the annex were elites handpicked from the Infinite Pavilion.
Amid this suffocating killing intent, Chu Un-hwi's playful question made Baek Ri-seol wonder if he was insane.
"Are you joking right now?"
"Joking? I'm dead serious."
"But that's..."
"Think carefully before you answer. This could decide your fate."
"!"
A decision that divides fate.
Those heavy words sent a chill down Baek Ri-seol's spine.
'Can I decide my own fate?'
It was a concept she had never even considered, having always lived by others' commands.
She turned her head.
Meeting her father, mother, and brother's cold stares made her heart shrink.
"Hey. Don't chicken out. Where'd that spirited personality go?"
Of course.
How could anyone stay calm in a situation like this?
Baek Ri-seol wanted to retort.
But before she could even open her mouth, Chu Un-hwi had kicked up a table leg from nearby and caught it.
Thud. Thunk.
A few chops with his hand turned the table leg into a fine club.
"Take your time thinking. I'll clear out anyone who might cloud your judgment."
"Be careful! These are experts your father raised with utmost care!"
"Careful, my foot."
Swoosh!
As two guards lunged at Chu Un-hwi from both sides, Baek Ri-seol covered her mouth.
It was indeed the movement of first-rate experts from the Infinite Pavilion.
But something astonishing happened.
Chu Un-hwi merely tilted his upper body while standing and took one step forward. The two men tumbled head over heels, rolling across the floor.
'How in the world?'
Baek Ri-seol's pupils shook as she watched the two collapse in the exact position they had thrust their swords.
"I told you, I'm good with staffs too."
"You bastard! You've got some skill!"
Another guard leaped forward.
He had ignited his sword aura intensely upon seeing his comrades fall.
Sssaaah!
The moment the sharp whoosh of slicing air rang out, Chu Un-hwi kicked a nearby box.
Thud! Clang!
He deflected the sword with his club and flicked his index finger with his left hand. Once again, the opponent let out a short scream and collapsed.
Thud.
Roll roll.
Only when she saw the silver coin embedded in his solar plexus roll out did Baek Ri-seol realize Chu Un-hwi had flicked it with his finger to fell the man.
'H-how?'
Was such a thing even possible?
The guards here were all highly skilled, acknowledged even by the Baek Family's main house.
Each was a master of swordsmanship without exception.
Yet they were falling one after another.
To this nameless instructor.
Baek Ri-seol's eyes twitched.
But somehow, she felt a thrill of excitement.
"You know hidden weapons too?"
"Didn't I mention it? I'm good with those as well."
"You didn't! Before, you said you could handle swords, sabers, spears, staffs, and bows."
"Did I? Well, from now on, let's say I'm skilled in swords, sabers, spears, staffs, bows, and hidden weapons."
***
The room was stunned.
Above all, White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun was dumbfounded to see his cherished elites laid low in an instant.
"You hid your skills."
"I never hid anything. You're just blind."
"Insolent fool."
This wouldn't do.
Baek Ri-seol was wavering.
"Take her inside!"
"Yes, Family Head!"
But the subordinates trying to move couldn't even draw their swords before collapsing.
Roll roll roll.
Silver coins rolled out beside the fallen men.
'What hidden weapon technique renders my guards powerless like this?'
He could no longer stand by and watch. The unrest was spreading among his men like wildfire.
Clack.
Grabbing his cherished sword from beside him, White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun bellowed.
"I was willing to let it slide, but you harm my family's people and seduce my precious child. I cannot forgive this. An apology will require more than one arm."
Baek Ri-seol's face turned pale as she saw her father discard the scabbard.
Though he had held his own so far, her father was on a completely different level from the guards.
In desperation, Baek Ri-seol cried out pleadingly.
"Father, please forgive Instructor Chu."
"Silence!"
Sring.
White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun raised his sword tip and gathered his internal energy.
Flutter. Flutter.
As he channeled his energy, a scorching heat began to rise around him.
It was the starting stance of the Baek Family's signature art, White Dragon Swordsmanship.
"Scary."
"Enough games, you scum!"
Kwang!
As he unleashed his movement technique, the floor where White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun stood exploded with dull thuds.
It couldn't withstand the powerful stomp infused with energy.
Swoosh!
In an instant, he closed in on Chu Un-hwi and swung down with a two-part slash that could cleave him in half.
'No!'
An overwhelming single stroke that could split even rock.
Seeing Chu Un-hwi standing defenseless before it, Baek Ri-seol screamed.
That was when.
Chu Un-hwi hurled the club he held.
"Petty trick!"
Slash!
White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun swiftly severed the club aimed at his brow.
At that moment, Chu Un-hwi toed up swords from the fallen guards.
Tap. Tap tap.
Two swords spun into his hands.
"Dual swords?"
What followed was a familiar starting stance.
"Watch closely. This is the Peerless Supreme Solo Twin-Blocking Twin Swordsmanship."
"Kik!"
Despite the ridiculous name, the technique Chu Un-hwi unleashed was extraordinary.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh! Swoosh swoosh swoosh!
The twin swords moved like lightning, targeting vital points, forcing even White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun to gasp and retreat.
The neck and legs.
The thighs and shoulders.
The twin blades danced like living creatures, slicing at White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun so swiftly it seemed he was trapped within a cage of sword light.
Clang clang clang clang!
How could one handle such bizarre techniques?
The once-dominant White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun could only stagger back with erratic footwork.
Baek Ri-seol could hardly believe her eyes—her father, always a tiger, fierce and intimidating, retreating with disheveled hair.
'Father... is being pushed back?'
The White Dragon Swordsman.
An unparalleled swordmaster.
Though highly acclaimed as a Baek Family swordsman, her father was undoubtedly a formidable powerhouse.
"White Dragon Swordsman, my ass. Come join Bronze Hall instead. I'll train you properly as my assistant instructor."
"You old bastard!"
His pride wounded, White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun roared and unleashed his full power.
Grind grind!
The sword aura flickering at his blade's tip sharpened, momentarily shimmering transparently.
Baek Ri-seol knew what this meant.
"Sword beam! It's a sword beam!"
The supreme feat that only those stepping into the transcendent realm at the peak of mastery could barely grasp.
A sword beam could cut anything in the world, beyond mere sword aura.
No matter how well he had fought until now, the difference in internal energy—and the presence of a sword beam—would decide victory or defeat.
Or so she thought.
Until Chu Un-hwi clashed sword against sword.
Ding!
The energy-infused blades collided, sending a resonant hum rippling outward in concentric waves.
"Cough!"
White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun, who had forcibly manifested the sword beam, staggered.
The sonic wave from the clash had shaken his energy, wounding him internally.
Startled, he withdrew his sword, flipped backward, and somersaulted in midair.
A fitting display for the White Dragon Swordsman.
"Nice dance moves."
Though he earned no praise from Chu Un-hwi.
At that moment, Baek Ri-seol somehow anticipated what would come next.
'He channels the rebound from the clashing swords through his toes and launches a massive swing.'
The technique in her view felt familiar. Just then, Chu Un-hwi spun and unleashed a grand twin-sword sweep.
Like a bird taking flight with flapping wings.
'White Crane Soaring to Heaven.'
Slash!
Boom!
White Dragon Swordsman Baek Ri-jeong-sun crashed through several tables and flew back.
That fierce,
savage father of hers.
"Keuaaagh!"
Landed pitifully on the floor.
"See that?"
"I, I... uh... huh?"
"That's the technique you completed."
"Hic. Hic sob."
Hot tears streamed from Baek Ri-seol's eyes.
The suffocating walls around her were beginning to crumble, bit by bit.