Chapter 123
Chapter 123: Dong Bong-soo vs. Murong Byeong (1)
"Please introduce yourself."
Even when crushing someone, one must not lose courtesy. He already knew well what kind of image he presented to the crowd and Namgung Hye, but it would be troublesome if it got worse from here. Murong Byeong knew this well.
Dong Bong-soo opened his mouth indifferently toward such a Murong Byeong.
"Dong Guang-chuan."
Murong Byeong's thin eyes narrowed even more.
"Is that all?"
It was a question asking if he had no epithet.
"That's all."
Heh.
In that instant, Murong Byeong let out a sneer without even realizing it himself. Having no epithet was practically the same as meaning he had just set foot in the Martial World. Moreover, the very fact that he had climbed onto the preliminary arena meant he wasn't a disciple of a prestigious family or major sect.
It was absurd.
The saying that a newborn pup doesn't fear a tiger must have been made for times like this.
[It's not too late even now. How about going back down? This young master is quite magnanimous, so I'll speak well to Young Miss Namgung on your behalf. Ha. Ha. Ha.]
Murong Byeong sneered at Dong Bong-soo through Sound Transmission.
'Is he mocking me?'
Dong Bong-soo had quite a few memories of being ridiculed, scorned, and sneered at throughout his life. Especially here in New Murim, even more so.
It was the result of concealing excellence and pursuing the average.
He had done so because ordinariness was advantageous for hiding himself, and because the mask of normalcy was beneficial for hunting.
However,
There was no need for that anymore.
Dong Bong-soo glanced once at Namgung Hye visible behind Murong Byeong's back and spoke emotionlessly.
"It's not too late even now. The tournament's new rule is still in effect."
Murong Byeong's eyes began to tremble violently.
"Are you saying now that I should advance to the finals through automatic promotion?"
"That's right."
"If that were the case, I wouldn't have climbed onto the arena in the first place, nor would I have sparred with Brother Danmok. Also, if you wanted me to advance to the finals that way, couldn't you have waited a bit longer before climbing onto the arena?"
"It's my prerogative."
Twitch.
Now even Murong Byeong's mouth corners quivered, and his voice sank threateningly.
"What do you mean by that...?"
Despite unbearable rage surging up, Murong Byeong didn't lose his courtesy. To the crowd, that made him seem even more hypocritical.
Without answering, Dong Bong-soo bent down and picked up one of the daggers covered in Danmok Gu's blood.
"I heard that in the arena there's no room for questions and answers, yet you talk too much."
"...Just like Brother Danmok, you too will regret this."
Dong Bong-soo wiped the dagger on his clothes with a swipe.
The pure white blade was revealed, glinting roughly.
"You seem to have seven mouths and eight tongues."
Seven Mouths Eight Tongues.
An idiom used for talkative people. And not in a good way.
At Dong Bong-soo's indifferent insult, Murong Byeong finally exploded.
"Eeek!"
He contorted his jade-like face and rushed toward Dong Bong-soo.
***
Paeng Ho-ryu honestly wasn’t interested—not in the slightest—in whatever foolish thing that idiot Murong Byeong was doing.
He thought watching the tournament preliminaries was pointless either way, but he came out to Central Great Road following him because Murong Byeong said Namgung Hye would appear as a referee today. It would be stranger for a man from the Hebei Paeng Family to have no interest in women.
So he had just come out as a spectator to watch fights and women...
But didn't this idiot suddenly climb onto the arena? Then he spouted strange words to Namgung Hye and received consent to participate in the preliminaries. Clearly, it was a useless ploy to draw Namgung Hye's attention.
Thus the tournament began and jeers poured forth.
What an idiot.
He didn't know what Murong Byeong had expected, but there was no way people would cheer for someone who had been carelessly playing around with his filthy lower half.
Shortly after, one of the people who had been jeering at Murong Byeong—seemingly someone with a grudge—climbed onto the arena and finally the preliminary match began. But that person got beaten to a pulp by Murong Byeong.
Just as expected.
Grudges should end as grudges, and one should put effort into realistic, achievable things...
'It's something he brought upon himself anyway.'
Paeng Ho-ryu swept up the long saber hanging on his back, about two meters in length, once and turned his gaze away. There was no need to watch the fight anymore anyway. Though he was a person with an insect-like disposition, Murong Byeong was skilled. He wasn't someone the preliminary participants here could handle.
To begin with, it didn't seem like there would be any more brave souls to challenge him.
His eyes, which had been scanning the surroundings, soon turned toward Namgung Hye. Since watching the fight had become meaningless, what remained was watching women. He now intended to fully appreciate Namgung Hye's pleasant appearance.
But Namgung Hye's state seemed strange.
Despite being the referee, her head was turned not toward the arena but somewhere completely different.
'What is she looking at?'
He turned his head toward where her gaze was directed.
To the left of Central Great Road, above the roof of Jibin Pavilion.
'Hwa Seon-hyang?'
There was someone he knew well there. A disciple of Mount Hua Sect and one of this tournament's participants.
'Is she looking at that woman?'
It didn't seem so.
She, Hwa Seon-hyang, also wasn't looking at the arena, and the person Namgung Hye was presumably looking at was standing beside her.
'Who is it?'
It was a face he was seeing for the first time. Not a disciple of the Nine Great Sects or a child of the Four Great Families. At minimum, he had greeted or was acquainted with all the rising stars from major sects who had come here.
A fairly tall, very slender man who concealed more than half his face with long white hair flowing forward.
Even searching his memory again, there was no such person in his mind. Since he possessed an appearance hard to forget once seen, he was certainly someone being seen for the first time.
Just as Paeng Ho-ryu's head tilted slightly in curiosity, Murong Byeong's first match ended. Though it was unclear whether it was a match or a beating.
The defeated one was hurriedly carried to the Pill Chamber, and shortly after, Namgung Hye climbed back onto the arena to declare Murong Byeong's automatic advancement to the finals.
The very moment she took out the bell and was about to ring it.
Tap.
The person standing beside Hwa Seon-hyang leaped onto the arena. He seemed to have jumped without any preparatory movement, yet had already arrived at the arena.
"...!"
It was remarkable Lightness Arts. Just from seeing that one move, he definitely didn't seem to be an unknown nobody.
"Please introduce yourself."
Murong Byeong asked with a slight grimace.
"Dong Guang-chuan."
As expected, it was a name he was hearing for the first time.
"Is that all?"
"That's all."
No epithet? Was he someone who had just entered the Martial World for the first time?
Heh.
Murong Byeong let out an idiotic snicker. He was looking down on his opponent. If it were him, he wouldn't have shown it so obviously, but Murong Byeong, that fool, was the kind of person who couldn't hide such things at all. Moreover, hadn't he even seen his opponent's excellent Lightness Arts?
'Stupid bastard.'
As Paeng Ho-ryu thought that, Murong Byeong moved his lips slightly and said something to his opponent through Sound Transmission.
He couldn't know the exact content, but he could guess. Because he knew him well usually. He had probably sent a Sound Transmission telling him to just get lost.
Dong Guang-chuan didn't yield to that—no, he opened his mouth completely emotionlessly.
"It's not too late even now. The tournament's new rule is still in effect."
"Are you saying now that I should advance to the finals through automatic promotion?"
"It's my prerogative."
"What do you mean by that...?"
Was it recklessness? Or an expression of confidence?
Paeng Ho-ryu couldn't judge yet. However, the presence that Dong Guang-chuan exuded was tremendous enough to affect even himself below the arena.
Without answering Murong Byeong, Dong Guang-chuan bent down, picked up one of Danmok Gu's daggers that had fallen to the ground, and said:
"I heard that in the arena there's no room for questions and answers, yet you talk too much."
"...Just like Brother Danmok, you too will regret this."
Dong Guang-chuan brought the dagger to his thigh and rubbed it back and forth.
Was it an illusion?
He got the impression that Murong Byeong's existence was already not even in his consideration. To be able to act so leisurely in front of Murong Byeong like that.
Dismissing one of the Nine Dragons? Among those so young, was there anyone besides the Three Stars, Five Phoenixes, and Nine Dragons who possessed such an atmosphere and courage?
"You seem to have seven mouths and eight tongues."
“Heh heh heh.”
Paeng Ho-ryu laughed hearing Dong Guang-chuan's mockery of Murong Byeong. He didn't know how it would turn out later, but just being able to say such words to the Murong Family's successor made him someone worth respecting.
And.
He could guarantee that his skill as well...
Would be considerable.
"Eeek!"
As expected, Murong Byeong couldn't endure and rushed at Dong Bong-soo like a wild beast.
The second match began, and the gazes of everyone surrounding the arena, including Paeng Ho-ryu, Namgung Hye, and Hwa Seon-hyang, focused on the two.
Whoosh!
Was he trying to kill his opponent outright?
Murong Byeong's sword fell viciously toward Dong Bong-soo's head. To anyone watching, it was a killing move.
"Th-that...!"
"Dodge!!"
The crowd stirred. The problem wasn't that victory would be decided in an instant, but that a person's life was in danger.
Yet despite that, Dong Bong-soo's expression revealed by the sword wind was utterly calm, and even looked bored.
Swoosh!
Murong Byeong's sword showed no mercy for Dong Bong-soo's circumstances and struck downward just like that.
"Aaah!"
"...Ah!"
Everyone turned their heads. They couldn't bear to watch. Even for Martial World people, the scene of a person being cut in half wasn't something commonly seen.
Clang.
A clear sound rang out.
'Hm!?'
Only then did the people who had turned their heads look back at the arena.
But!
Murong Byeong's sword was embedded in the blue stone floor beside Dong Bong-soo's feet.
Dong Bong-soo simply stood upright in that same place holding the dagger. Without the slightest movement.