Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Embroidered Guards
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The sound of Moyong Yeon’s horse galloping ahead rang out—clop clop clop.
The escape had gone smoothly so far. Hangu Pass loomed visibly in the distance, farther than it seemed, but once we put some space between us, the pursuers lagging behind showed signs of struggling to catch up. And for good reason: the main target, Moyong Yeon, was racing away on horseback, while we weren’t letting them close the gap easily anymore, keeping them at bay. On top of that, it was the dead of night, making visibility poor, so they had to be cautious not to trip and fall if they charged recklessly.
When I’d shattered that large boulder earlier, four of them had been knocked unconscious, leaving just five chasing us now. The missing one was a fist-fighting expert who used weighted hands—he’d taken a beating from Senior Brother Jin So-cheong earlier and hadn’t joined the pursuit. I glanced back at their numbers and said,
“Three against five—we can handle that, right?”
“No. One of them is a hidden weapons expert. We can’t afford a head-on clash recklessly.”
“Hidden weapons?”
“Zanryong—the Remnant Dragon. Be careful.”
Senior Brother Jin So-cheong’s words carried a heavy note of caution.
‘That standoff earlier must have been really dangerous.’
With a hidden weapons master in their midst, Senior Brother—who wanted to avoid a direct confrontation—had been forced to endure their combined assault. The thought that things could have gone south if I’d been even a split second slower sent a chill down my spine. I didn’t know who Zanryong was, but hidden weapons definitely meant avoiding a straight fight was wise. They could be coated in poison, turning the tide at any moment.
Zanryong seemed to be biding his time as he pursued us, not wasting his projectiles recklessly. Made sense—better to wait for us to tire from running than throw them hastily now. Soon the mountain path would appear, and that’s when we’d have to watch out for whatever he hurled from behind.
Clop!
Mid-stride, I turned my question to Nangong Hwan.
“Soaring Heaven Sword Dragon. Don’t you travel with your family’s guards?”
Nangong Hwan gave a wry smile at my question.
“There are internal circumstances. But we’ll be fine once we reach Hangu Pass.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I wanted to hear more about his situation, but we couldn’t afford to waste energy talking while fleeing. Spotting one of the five pursuers subtly picking up speed to close in, I spun around sharply and hurled the short sword from my robes.
Fwee!
“A mere short sword...”
Boom!
“Argh!”
The chains expert blocked my blade with his iron chains, but with a metallic clang, he screamed and flew backward. His chains shattered into two pieces, embedding in the ground. The other four trailing behind hesitated, no doubt wide-eyed. It meant the inner power behind my throw far surpassed that chains expert’s strength and energy.
Nangong Hwan said in awe,
“Truly... monstrous inner power. No one in my family has more than you, Baek Woong.”
“Inner power isn’t everything.”
“Modest, aren’t you.”
He took it as humility and marveled, but I knew full well inner power wasn’t all there was to it. As one ascended to higher realms of martial arts, raw offensive and defensive power from inner energy mattered less than understanding of qi and advanced techniques.
No matter how overwhelmingly I smashed with world-shaking force, some transcendent master would deflect it all and counter. Above masters were grandmasters, and beyond them, absolute experts.
‘That’s why I must learn martial arts in depth at the Azure Dragon Martial Hall.’
Plenty of ways to live comfortably if you just wanted to eat well. But without enough power, you’d always hit a wall somewhere. To overcome it, I had to delve into the origins of my arts up to the master realm.
That was when it happened.
Neigh!
Suddenly, Moyong Yeon’s horse up ahead—about seven zhang away—slowed. As its hindquarters grew larger, closing the distance, the three of us instinctively knew: the flat plain was ending. We’d reached the base of the mountain path leading up to Hangu Pass.
Fortunately, this was a well-maintained official road with a gentle slope, carved low enough that climbing wasn’t too taxing. The issue was it was still too steep for horseback, so we’d have to dismount.
Moyong Yeon hopped off her horse, and Nangong Hwan asked her worriedly,
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. But you, Brother—sweat...”
“Haha... I’m okay.”
We were drenched in sweat on our foreheads and backs after the hard run. Nangong Hwan wiped his brow and glanced back.
“Now we have to settle things with them.”
Indeed. The gap had closed completely—no more running. From how Nangong Hwan had been shielding Moyong Yeon, her skills seemed on the weaker side. Three against four was better than before, but protecting her in the fight would put us at a disadvantage.
A tense silence hung between us and the first-class experts.
Then, from among them, a man who looked like a gaudy courtesan—with an eerie, feminine yin aura and striking beauty—stepped forward with a sneer. I’d glimpsed him once in the daytime marketplace.
“Soaring Heaven Sword Dragon! As I said before, isn’t it too much for you to hog the Heavenly Yin Body all to yourself?”
Nangong Hwan’s face hardened. He clenched his fists in rage and spat,
“Shut your mouth, you lecherous fiend! How dare a lust demon like you...!!”
Lust demon?
Now that I looked, his appearance and aura matched the rumors of lust demons perfectly. They cultivated yin absorption tonic arts, gradually feminizing their features and emitting strange scents, so they powdered themselves heavily.
Lust demons were innately perverse with raging libidos, ruining countless women from households or righteous female warriors who crossed them. Plus, their arts gave them more inner power than average martial artists, making them hard to catch—I’d heard as much.
Senior Brother Jin So-cheong scanned the three beside him and said,
“Remnant Dragon, War Blade Ghost, Steel Axe Breaker. You’re all renowned first-class experts from Anhui Province, yet you follow this lust demon all the way here to forcibly take an innocent woman?”
“......”
Zanryong hung his head, seemingly ashamed at the rebuke. But War Blade Ghost Wi Jong—whose curved saber had only bent when clashing with my power—pointed it at us and scoffed.
“Ha! The Heavenly Yin Body is worth that shame. Take her, and your inner power multiplies several fold in an instant, plus you gain Heavenly Yin Qi. I’d stake my life for it!”
The axe-wielding first-class expert Steel Axe Breaker chimed in. He was a hulking brute with a classic bandit’s rugged face. He leered at Moyong Yeon’s curvaceous figure with lustful eyes and said,
“It’s not like a few rounds in port will show anyway, right?”
“Kyahaha! Steel Axe Breaker, what a mouth on you—kyahahahaha!!”
The lust demon cackled at the crude innuendo.
“Ah...”
Moyong Yeon paled at the sexual humiliation, while her betrothed, Soaring Heaven Sword Dragon Nangong Hwan, flushed crimson. Grinding his teeth, he said,
“You scum who wouldn’t even dare meet my eyes in Anhui...”
The lust demon smirked.
“Hahaha. Sure, in Anhui we yield to the Nangong Family like kings and nobles. But this is Guanzhong—beyond your reach. What good is yelling?”
True enough.
Even mighty prestigious clans or great sects held sway only in their regions—few influenced the entire Central Plains. That’s why martial artists feuding with such powers pulled out all stops to flee their turf.
I couldn’t gauge how a head-on fight would end. I’d crossed many brushes with death, but this was my first real group battle between proper martial artists. With zero experience against hidden weapons, even my superior inner power might not save me from a fatal hit.
I didn’t think I’d lose easily, but facing a tough hurdle meant careful thought. One wrong choice could spell irreversible doom.
How to break this stalemate?
I stepped forward boldly. All eyes turned to me—especially the first-class experts’, laced with fear. No surprise after my inner power display.
I decided to bluff a bit.
“You lot about to die in one hit are yapping away. Aren’t you afraid of me?”
“Urk...”
I released my killing intent, and the previously arrogant lust demon and Steel Axe Breaker flinched, stepping back. They feared I’d charge and unleash an inner power-charged kick. Zanryong openly guarded against me, fingers gripping several hidden weapons.
War Blade Ghost Wi Jong eyed me and said,
“Hmph! Your inner power is immense, true. But your technique and vital point defense are clumsy. Avoid direct clashes, and I alone could handle you.”
“......”
Looks like I wasn’t the only one who’d gauged him in our brief clash. As Wi Jong said, in real combat, no matter how much inner power I had, the one landing the fatal blow first wins.
Power meant nothing if you couldn’t land it. Wi Jong’s footwork was superb; in a prolonged skirmish of probes, he could pin me down solo.
‘Even so, facing me should be burdensome. Is that woman worth risking your life?’
I’d pieced together the context from their talk.
Heavenly Yin Body—Moyong Yeon!
No details, but apparently, a man bedding her gained boosted inner power and a special Heavenly Yin Qi. That explained the dozen-plus first-class experts dogpiling us.
I had zero interest in sleeping with or raping her. With three Millennium Snow Ginsengs fueling my power, I already lorded over the world. If anything, that uncertain Heavenly Yin Qi might disrupt my inner power balance—no thanks. I’d pass on taking her.
So I sneered at War Blade Ghost Wi Jong.
“In short, you’re a gang of rapist scum too weak to take one girl alone. If you’re that desperate to fuck, hit up a brothel. Why strut around like dogs in heat with your dicks out? Is that what your parents taught you, you mother-fucking bastards?”
“......”
“......”
Silence blanketed the area.
‘Oops.’
A simple escort to bring my senior brother to the Heavenly Dragon Martial Hall had spiraled into a life-or-death mess, and frustration made me spew the gutter talk I’d picked up as an escort warrior. Back then, rolling in the dirt fighting bandits, that low, filthy language came naturally.
First-class experts were proper martial artists trained from youth by masters—unlikely they’d heard such vulgar trash often. Unlike the lust demon or Steel Axe Breaker, Wi Jong bore marks of orthodox sect training, so he had less tolerance.
Sure enough, Wi Jong half-lost it, face flushing purple as he lost composure. Unintended provocation—success.
“Y-You... I’ll kill you!”
Swoosh!
He swung his curved saber faster and sharper than our daytime clash. So swift it blurred like twin afterimages, nearly impossible to read in the dark.
‘Here it comes.’
As his saber flew, I clamped my mouth shut and focused. I hadn’t read his footwork before, so I poured inner power into my eyes, betting everything on enhanced dynamic vision. It’d spike momentarily—enough to track Wi Jong’s strike.
Right side!
Slash—
A shallow cut grazed my shoulder. But I twisted just in time, evading by a hair. Wi Jong gaped in shock—he hadn’t expected me to dodge so cleanly. Impossible by his measure of my skill.
“What?!”
His attack whiffed, exposing every gap. Mercilessly, I pivoted on my right foot, channeling rotation, and swept my sword horizontally.
Slash!
In an instant, Wi Jong’s body split in two—upper half soaring with spilling guts. Blood sprayed like a river; his masterless legs buckled forward. Till death, his eyes bulged in disbelief at his defeat.
Thud. His torso hit the ground. Blood soaked my clothes; disgusted, I wiped my face. Sneering at the corpse, I said,
“What now? I killed you.”
The remaining three recoiled in panic.
“Ugh...”
They’d banked on numbers and hidden weapons to win, but Wi Jong—the one boasting he’d handle me—went down in one shot.
“I’ll have the Heavenly Yin Body no matter what!”
As expected, the lust demon blanched, yelled once, and fled. His lightness skill was phenomenal—faster than Wi Jong. Probably the strongest among them.
“Uh, then I will too...”
Steel Axe Breaker awkwardly tried to slip away. But Soaring Heaven Sword Dragon Nangong Hwan sprang into action.
Clang!
Before two steps, lightning-fast, his sword flashed. Steel Axe Breaker barely parried the first blow with his axe—but escape was impossible now. His skill was clearly a notch below Nangong Hwan’s. Pushed back relentlessly, he wailed,
“Zanryong! Now!”
“......”
“Zanryong!”
No response.
Slice!
“Guh... ugh...”
Nangong Hwan spat,
“Blame that filthy mouth.”
In five moves, he unleashed the Nangong Family’s Emperor Swordsmanship, shredding Steel Axe Breaker’s upper body. Blade lodged in his throat, then tore to the heart—he glared venomously at Nangong Hwan but slowly toppled as the sword withdrew.
Thud.
With Steel Axe Breaker dead by Nangong Hwan’s hand, the fight was nearly over. Only Zanryong remained, standing silently without acting. Nangong Hwan pointed his sword and said,
“Zanryong. Even in Anhui, you’re famed as a hidden weapons master—I feared you most. Yet you’ve done nothing despite chances. What’s your game?”
“......”
Zanryong hesitated, then replied,
“Senior Jin’s words shamed me. I came this far, stooping to anything for power, but realizing it meant raping an innocent killed my drive.”
“That doesn’t erase your crimes.”
“Hah... Think I’m begging for my life?”
With a bitter smile, he continued,
“Also, I didn’t move—not couldn’t. Senior Jin would’ve struck any twitch, and I had no confidence blocking it. I might’ve traded my life for something, but not without fatal wounds.”
“I see...”
From Zanryong’s words, I realized Senior Brother Jin So-cheong—who’d seemed idle—had been solely marking him. That let Nangong Hwan and me butcher the rest freely. Even at that distance, his pressure kept a top hidden weapons master at bay?
Zanryong turned to me and said,
“Baek Woong, was it?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t pull stunts like that again.”
What?
“Without your senior brother here, I could’ve killed you five times over in a blink. Inner power overflowing or not, your fatal points are wide open—easy as flipping a palm. Never strut like that before a hidden weapons master again. If you must, master defense first.”
“......”
Absurd as it sounded from this “kind” senior-like advice, his eyes rang true. Even Senior Jin silently affirmed it. My brief anger faded; the counsel from a hidden weapons master proved useful.
‘Right... I’m too vulnerable to hidden weapons and poison. Need to train that.’
“Got it.”
Zanryong chuckled.
“Thanks for letting me finish. Well then...”
Thuk!
“......!!”
Suddenly, he drew a long needle from his robes and jammed it into his brow. Too fast to stop. Shockingly, little blood flowed despite piercing his brain. He shuddered briefly, collapsed forward, and died. He’d never planned to survive—self-terminating to preserve a warrior’s final pride.
Brutal method, but as a hidden weapons expert, likely painless and swift. Brain destroyed, consciousness vanished before agony hit.
Gazing at the body, Nangong Hwan said bitterly,
“Unlike the others, he had a conscience.”
“......”
“Then we’ll honor Zanryong’s name.”
No doubt Nangong Hwan would cross Hangu Pass, declare these attackers wanted by the Nangong Family, branding them lecherous fiends and lust demons—huntable prey.
But Zanryong chose conscience at the end, so Nangong Hwan would keep it secret to his grave. A boon to Zanryong’s surviving kin or sect.
“Come on. Before more pursuers arrive.”
We headed for Hangu Pass.
‘Was that really for the best?’
I reflected on it.
If Zanryong had thought sharper, acted more ruthlessly without gaps, he could’ve preserved his life and nearly wiped us out. Striking those two openings would’ve been dangerous.
Yet he chose conscience. Seemed heroic, fitting a true wanderer. But something felt off about his death. Glamorous maybe, but I shook my head, unconvinced.