Chapter 221
Chapter 221
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 62
>Chapter Title: Mixed Blood (1)
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“Would it be better to paint a picture of the Embroidered Guard Captain Thiên Hộ slaughtering all his subordinates and the eunuchs before fleeing? Or should I go with the one where I peel the skin off your faces and put it to good use?”
The blue eyes beneath the mask flinched at the chilling proposal laced with casual malice.
Who the hell was this guy?
What gave him the right to ambush them and spout such threats?
The masked Embroidered Guard’s mind grew chaotic as he hesitated over what to do.
With his back exposed, he’d be taken out before he could even seal his vital points.
It was right then.
The carriage door creaked open.
“What’s going on out there?”
The carriage door swung open, revealing Songa, the daughter of the craftsman.
Songa, spotting Mok Kyung-un standing behind the masked Embroidered Guard with his face concealed, spoke in confusion.
“Wh-who are you?”
“Hmm. I was wondering who you were talking to—it turns out it’s some lowly rat. Judging by your clothes and that stench, you must be connected to Hong Bong-yuk Slaughterhouse... Ah! There it is.”
Mok Kyung-un spotted the leather pouch inside the open carriage.
At that exact moment, the masked Embroidered Guard swiftly sealed his own vital points.
His head snapped around, and Mok Kyung-un instantly recognized the sound for what it was—he swung down toward the man’s neck.
But right then—
Mok Kyung-un’s hand sliced through empty air.
A faint breeze brushed his fingertips.
‘!?’
With that, the masked Embroidered Guard vanished.
A presence soon flickered behind him.
A sharp blade edge pressed against his neck.
To this sensation, Mok Kyung-un remarked,
“...Your lightness skill is incredibly fast.”
He meant it sincerely.
No one since the eldest young master, Nayul-ryang, had outpaced his movements with a lightness skill.
Hearing this, the masked Embroidered Guard, now behind him, pressed the blade tighter against Mok Kyung-un’s neck and demanded,
“You. What’s your identity?”
“Nothing special to identify.”
“Playing word games? You want to die right here?”
He pressed the blade harder into Mok Kyung-un’s neck.
No matter how sharp, a blade only cuts when drawn across flesh.
So the skin merely yielded under the pressure.
The masked Embroidered Guard growled at Mok Kyung-un with murderous intent,
“Keep this up, and your body and head will part ways. Better speak plainly.”
“That’s frightening to hear.”
Mok Kyung-un shrugged nonchalantly as he spoke.
The masked Embroidered Guard frowned at Mok Kyung-un’s calm demeanor.
Even with his life on the line, the man showed no fear.
What the hell was this guy?
‘The energy I sense even after breaking the formations is at the peak of the supreme realm.’
Naturally, that level of skill was more than enough to overpower four Embroidered Guard White Tigers and the eunuchs.
Yet the pressure he’d felt from behind moments ago surpassed even that.
Had he imagined it?
‘Did I screw up?’
That incongruity had prompted him to release his sealed formations.
But if it was merely peak supreme realm, he hadn’t needed to unseal his hidden power.
Then Songa’s voice rang out.
“Were you sent by the workshop head?”
“Workshop head?”
At her words, the masked Embroidered Guard suddenly recalled what Mok Kyung-un had said.
[Embroidered Guard? No, you’re connected to Hong Bong-yuk Slaughterhouse... Ah! There it is.]
He’d said that upon spotting the leather pouch in the carriage.
Meaning, just as she suggested, he might indeed be sent by Hong Bong-yuk’s workshop head.
A master of hidden human-skin masks would surely have ties to skilled martial artists.
With that, the masked Embroidered Guard pressed the blade harder.
“Were you really sent by Hong Bong-yuk?”
To his question, Mok Kyung-un replied,
“I’ve found the leather pouch, so going with the latter doesn’t sound bad.”
“What?”
“Peeling off your face skins and using them doesn’t sound half bad.”
“What are you—”
Whoosh!
In that instant, Mok Kyung-un twisted his neck away from the blade.
He seized the Embroidered Guard’s blade in a flash.
Crack!
‘You bastard!’
The Embroidered Guard tried to wrench the blade free from Mok Kyung-un’s grip.
However—
Clang!
Before he could, the blade shattered in Mok Kyung-un’s hand.
The Embroidered Guard couldn’t hide his shock.
It wasn’t infused with blade energy, but his sword was a famed treasure, sharpened to perfection—no ordinary strength could snap it.
If he had that much internal energy—
‘So that incongruity was...’
Whoosh!
Mok Kyung-un’s form blurred, and his kick rocketed toward the man’s jaw.
The masked Embroidered Guard channeled energy into his Yongcheon points and kicked off the ground.
Boom!
Mok Kyung-un’s foot cleaved empty air.
A breeze trailed where he’d grazed, and the masked Embroidered Guard vanished once more.
He wielded a lightness skill of astonishing speed.
Mok Kyung-un’s eyes darted left and right.
Then—
Whoosh!
Mok Kyung-un’s form vanished as well.
He had unleashed the ultra-high-speed movement technique, Manifest Water-Moon Step.
As the masked Embroidered Guard, who had vanished upon using Manifest Water-Moon Step, shifted left and right to circle behind, Mok Kyung-un saw it clearly.
But he wasn’t the only one who noticed.
‘This guy?’
Excluding his own master, the masked Embroidered Guard had never seen anyone match his level during lightness skill deployment.
It was a phenomenon where axes misaligned during ultra-high-speed movement.
Like how everything seems frozen when looking sideways while riding a horse.
Yet another had entered that realm besides himself.
‘How?’
The masked Embroidered Guard couldn’t contain his astonishment.
In that split second, Mok Kyung-un closed in and thrust his sword finger toward the man’s chest.
The masked Embroidered Guard twisted sideways, unleashing a fist technique toward Mok Kyung-un’s face.
‘Terrain Fist Style, Sixth Form: Rock-Shattering Explosive Fist.’
A fist strike erupted from the Embroidered Guard’s punch.
Both were moving at high speed, and with the sword finger extended, evasion was impossible.
Mok Kyung-un blocked the incoming fist aimed at his face with his left hand.
Boom!
But—
‘Rock-Shattering Explosive Fist doesn’t end there.’
Five consecutive strikes followed, enough to pulverize boulders.
The punches surged with force that seemed to pierce his palm, pushing Mok Kyung-un’s form backward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rrrumble!
Boom!
On the fourth strike, Mok Kyung-un’s hand flew upward.
Seizing the opening, the Embroidered Guard launched his final punch toward Mok Kyung-un’s jaw.
Thud!
Mok Kyung-un’s head snapped back from the jaw hit.
In that moment, the masked Embroidered Guard drew both hands to his waist, then thrust them like lightning toward Mok Kyung-un’s chest.
‘Cloud-Sending Palm Style, Fourth Form: Cloud-Dividing Twin Palms!’
Boom!
Waves rippled across Mok Kyung-un’s chest clothing as the twin palms struck, sending his body flying backward.
But the direction he hurtled toward was—
‘Oh no!’
The carriage.
Hong Bong-yuk’s real daughter, Songa, stood there.
Realizing this, the masked Embroidered Guard focused all his energy into his Yongcheon points and double-kicked the ground.
Boom! Boom!
His form accelerated beyond before.
Residual images trailed his movements, making him appear doubled.
Swoooosh!
Matching the speed of Mok Kyung-un hurtling from the twin palms, the masked Embroidered Guard swooped in at the last second, scooping Songa up with one arm.
Thud!
“Kyaa!”
The masked Embroidered Guard, having snatched Songa, shot his form backward.
At the same time, Mok Kyung-un’s body crashed into the carriage.
Boom!
The carriage splintered to pieces upon impact.
Watching it shatter, the masked Embroidered Guard couldn’t hide his distress.
Saving Songa had been priority, but the leather pouch containing the fake workshop head’s severed hands had been inside.
‘Hope it’s okay.’
As he worried, Songa spoke in a startled voice.
“Wh-what in the world is going on?”
To her, untrained in martial arts, the two men had suddenly vanished from sight. Then the masked Embroidered Guard appeared out of nowhere, yanking her, and the carriage exploded into fragments.
Trembling from shock, she heard the masked Embroidered Guard say,
“Nothing serious. But was that guy really sent by your father?”
“I-I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before.”
“You’re sure?”
“No. With his face covered, how would I know someone like that?”
“...Fair enough.”
“But if he was sent by my father, why fight? You said you’d let me go.”
To her question, the masked Embroidered Guard let out a shallow sigh.
“He was dangerous.”
“Dangerous how? If Father sent him, it was to rescue me.”
“Seemed like more than just rescuing you.”
“What do you mean? More than just saving me?”
“I’m not sure if he was provoking me or serious, but it felt like he was targeting everyone here.”
He had sensed endless malice in every word Mok Kyung-un uttered.
To him, Songa said,
“If Father really sent him, that can’t be. It’d mean he planned to kill you all while saving me to erase evidence—which would only make things worse...”
“We won’t let it blow up.”
‘!?’
Songa and the masked Embroidered Guard whipped toward the voice from the carriage.
Mok Kyung-un stood casually before it, holding something.
It was the leather pouch containing the fake workshop head’s severed hands.
‘What the—?’
The masked Embroidered Guard’s eyes trembled.
Mok Kyung-un looked utterly unscathed.
He’d clearly struck the jaw with Rock-Shattering Explosive Fist, followed by Cloud-Dividing Twin Palms to the chest—enough to damage the heart.
No one could stand fine after blows to brain and heart.
Bewildered, Songa stepped forward.
“Are you really from the workshop head—no, my father?”
“Father?”
“Yes. I’m Songa, daughter of Hong Bong-yuk’s workshop head.”
“Ah. Is that so?”
“If Father truly sent you, stop fighting. This man was going to let me go.”
At her words, Mok Kyung-un tilted his head.
“He was going to let you go?”
“Yes. We made a deal. So you can stop now.”
“Hoo. Really?”
“Yes.”
Songa turned to the masked Embroidered Guard.
“He seems to be from Father. Honor the agreement and smooth this over, sir Embroidered Guard. He didn’t know anything.”
At her words, the masked Embroidered Guard surveyed the surroundings.
The eunuchs and Embroidered Guard White Tigers were all down, but none dead.
After a moment’s thought, he said,
“Fine. I’ll handle this myself. But hand over the leather pouch. Without it, smoothing this over will be tough.”
To his words, Songa frowned briefly before saying to Mok Kyung-un,
“You’ll need to return the leather pouch.”
Mok Kyung-un chuckled at that.
Seeing his reaction, Songa asked puzzled,
“Without returning it, we can’t resolve this. So...”
“That won’t do.”
‘!?’
Songa spoke incredulously,
“What are you saying? I’m telling you it could escalate without it...”
“Sorry, but I wasn’t sent on your father’s request—this is my own initiative.”
“What?”
“I need this to reattach that lowly father’s hands.”
She furrowed her brow at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
What the hell was he talking about?
Reattach severed hands? She couldn’t comprehend.
Then—
Whoosh!
Mok Kyung-un’s form vanished before their eyes.
The masked Embroidered Guard urgently yanked Songa aside.
“Gasp!”
She hadn’t seen it, but Mok Kyung-un had ultra-high-speed moved to strike her acupoints and put her to sleep.
Pulling her to dodge, the masked Embroidered Guard double-kicked the ground.
Boom! Boom! Whoosh!
His form scattered into afterimages, splitting into two.
One pulled Songa further back; the other unleashed a fist technique toward Mok Kyung-un.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
‘Terrain Fist Style, Third Form: Shadowless Shattering Fist.’
His fists birthed countless fist shadows, overwhelming Mok Kyung-un.
Right then—
Mok Kyung-un double-kicked the ground.
Boom! Boom!
Something unbelievable happened.
Mok Kyung-un’s form created afterimages and split into two.
One casually blocked Shadowless Shattering Fist with a single hand; the other lunged toward the one dragging Songa.
The masked Embroidered Guard was aghast.
‘!?’
This wasn’t Mok Kyung-un’s lightness skill—it was his own unique style.
How was this possible?
Panicking, Mok Kyung-un closed in, attempting to snatch Songa with Capturing Hand.
With no choice, the masked Embroidered Guard shoved her aside.
Thud!
He tried to counter Mok Kyung-un’s Capturing Hand with Cloud-Sending Palm Style—
Boom!
Before the palm could form, Mok Kyung-un lightly struck down his hand with an odd technique, then thrust sword fingers at his face with the other.
‘Two different techniques with each hand?’
Unable to cope with simultaneous moves, the masked Embroidered Guard leaned back and shot his form away.
Thud!
He retreated over ten paces in an instant and halted.
Thinking he’d barely dodged the sword finger—
Crack crack!
Cracks spiderwebbed across his mask, threatening to split it.
The sharp sword intent from the finger had grazed him.
‘Damn!’
The startled masked Embroidered Guard grabbed at it hastily.
Anything but letting others see his face beneath the mask.
But as the mask split left and right, he couldn’t hold it all.
Bits fell away.
Plip plip plop!
Chunks broke off, revealing his left face.
Blue eyes paired with a high nose bridge—distinctly foreign features.
Believing his face exposed, Embroidered Guard Captain Thiên Hộ grimaced in shame, covering it with his hand.