Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Unhyang's Breaking Point
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The chirping of grass bugs was disorienting to the ears.
It was utterly silent. Quiet enough to hear the bugs crying, the wind rustling, even the faint scuttling of mice.
Wriggle-.
Cheongryang painfully moved her fingers.
Cold sweat poured down her entire body. It was because she'd strained every muscle to restart her suppressed meridians.
As her body slowly began to respond,
Cheongryang forced her vocal cords to work, squeezing out a voice toward the spot where Unhyang had vanished.
"Y-... y-you... bastard......"
She spat out each word with agonizing effort, picturing Unhyang in her mind.
Come back before the next stream?
Fat chance.
'Jaunyeop is here.'
Unhyang had spent time in Shinryeon Castle, and so had she, for just as long.
Though she couldn't match Unhyang's heavenly talent, Cheongryang had still experienced enough of Shinryeon Castle life to be numb to it.
So she knew the ins and outs of Shinryeon Castle as well as Unhyang—maybe even better.
And that was how the weak survived.
Those with power could close their ears and focus inward. But the powerless had to bow low and keep their eyes and ears wide open.
That way, they knew who not to mess with.
And among them, Jaunyeop was...
'You can't beat him, you idiot.'
One of the few in Shinryeon Castle who could threaten Unhyang.
'The others are elites too.'
And moreover, the thirty warriors who'd come with him.
Not one was a pushover. They might not threaten Unhyang directly, but they had enough skill to draw attention or cause trouble.
And that was fatal against someone on Jaunyeop's level.
Sending thirty more on top of Jaunyeop himself.
Shinryeon Castle was dead serious.
Crunch-.
Once her meridians loosened even a bit, strength gradually returned to her body. She ground her teeth until they felt like they'd shatter and reached out a hand.
Veins burst on her face, reddening her vision. She painstakingly picked up the kit dropped on the ground and dialed a number with trembling fingers.
'I can't help.'
With her skills, she couldn't face Jaunyeop, let alone any of his warriors.
Unlike Unhyang, she wasn't born with talent and had stalled in despair from it—a natural outcome.
But she couldn't just sit idle.
Someone who could rush here right now, far stronger than her, who could actually make a difference.
'Please pick up.'
Only one person came to mind.
She wasn't sure if he'd even change the situation.
And she certainly couldn't be confident he'd fight a massive force like Murim for acquaintances he'd known only a few months.
But.
Thud-.
He was the only one she could lean on right now.
Drip, drip-.
Blood flowed from her forearm, pooling at her fingertips before splattering on the ground.
The metallic stench of blood stung her nose. Unknown blood mixed together, creating a hellscape.
Nearly twenty warriors lay dead.
All cut down by one beautiful woman's blade.
'Like a wounded beast baring its claws.'
Her sclera reddening from burst veins, Unhyang's eyes grew increasingly bloodshot.
Her fearsome appearance made the surviving warriors falter, pressed back by her aura.
To make resolve-to-die fighters retreat.
Definitely no ordinary presence.
"What are you doing? Not fighting?"
Even staggering from blood loss, Unhyang didn't stop.
Thud-.
Unhyang advanced toward Jaunyeop. As if her life meant nothing, she ignored her bleeding.
"Don't push yourself."
"You can't kill me anyway."
It wasn't baseless confidence.
Shinryeon Castle's goal from the start was to capture Unhyang alive.
Knowing that let her keep fighting despite the disadvantage.
"You're right."
In truth, Jaunyeop had to hold back against Unhyang.
Even when he could sever her throat or pierce her heart.
He targeted non-vitals, accumulating small wounds.
"But that doesn't change the situation. It just means it'll take a bit longer."
"Talk big."
Thud-.
"While standing still."
Despite her wounds, Unhyang closed the distance.
She glared at Jaunyeop with blood-red eyes.
"Am I scary?"
"Tch-"
Crackle-.
Blue lightning gathered at Jaunyeop's sword tip.
"Shout-!"
Boom-!
With his sword strike, a blue wave surged. The flattened bamboo grove's ground flipped, mixing black sand and blue lightning.
Splatter-.
Unhyang plunged through it, closing the gap in an instant.
Splat-.
Brushing aside sand with one hand.
Taking the lightning full-body, she swung at Jaunyeop.
Screech-.
Splurt-.
A long gash from chest to shoulder.
Lucky he twisted, or it could've been a clean decapitation.
She'd walked slowly; they'd thought her exhausted.
'Still this much power left?'
Boom-!
Jaunyeop swung his lightning-charged sword again, living up to his title of Heavenly Thunder Sword.
Unhyang and Jaunyeop clashed once more. Both wounded, but Unhyang far more so.
Drip, drip-.
One arm numb and ragged. Waist wound, shoulder—all critical.
She gathered focus, but consciousness blurred.
'Am I losing?'
She had to admit it.
Her opponent was Jaunyeop. He'd gripped a sword long before her birth, tempered endlessly to rule the top ranks.
Even one-on-one, victory wasn't guaranteed.
And now thirty skilled warriors aided him.
Tough. Like this, impossible.
Blur-.
Jaunyeop's sword briefly doubled in her vision.
Consciousness faded slowly. Half-gone, she swung her blade.
Splurt-.
Boom-!
Jaunyeop's forearm gashed long; simultaneously, lightning exploded in Unhyang's abdomen.
Her body reeled. The wounded pair briefly separated.
"Born with heaven's talent, indeed."
A faceless man's voice echoed.
Vision spun. She felt Jaunyeop aiming his sword again.
Eyes and mind hazy.
As Unhyang instinctively swung, old memories unfolded like a foggy film before her eyes.
"Who's this uncle?"
"He's the one who'll teach you from now on."
"Me?"
Uncheon-geuk answered Unhyang's question.
The man who'd spouted nonsense about heavenly talent looked at her like a curious animal.
Boom-!
Blue lightning wave engulfed her body again.
It was strange.
It'd hurt like death moments ago, but now... nothing.
"So this uncle's my master?"
"Something like that."
"Who is he, this uncle?"
She hadn't really been curious.
Honestly, it was ridiculous.
Some nameless man popping up to teach her.
"How will you prove you're qualified to teach me?"
Just 18.
A time of overflowing confidence.
It was inevitable.
She'd always been the best among peers, and few adults with higher rank could match her.
"If a disciple surpasses her master too quickly, it's awkward, right?"
She'd believed few in the world could teach her.
But.
"Prove it, huh."
The man proved his qualification far more dramatically than she'd demanded.
"Guh-."
"Is this proof enough?"
Right there, he pierced Uncheon-geuk's abdomen with his bare hand.
Uncheon-geuk's blood dripped in clumps.
The man's hand soaked red, the overwhelming metallic reek—unprecedented.
All in the heart of Shinryeon Castle.
Shock froze her.
She'd meant a spar to show skill.
But he subdued Uncheon-geuk in one go, inflicting near-fatal wounds.
As if the whole castle as enemy meant nothing.
Terror.
'Teach me?' became 'How can I take someone like that as master?'
'That time-.'
Recalling it, Unhyang let out a wry chuckle.
'What if Father had died?'
Uncheon-geuk survived.
No one knew the wound's secret.
Attacked in his own chambers, he kept it all secret.
'If I hadn't met him?'
She learned the man's identity later, probably after learning much from him.
"Curious who I am?"
"Would I keep asking if I wasn't?"
A man who subdued Shinryeon Castle's lord in its heart.
How could she not be curious? Not wondering would be weirder.
After asking dozens of times, he finally spoke.
"I am-."
Maybe she shouldn't have asked.
Then she wouldn't agonize like this.
Crunch-.
Grinding her teeth to cling to awareness, she saw Jaunyeop's face, fiercely clashing blades with her.
Back to reality.
Boom-!
Jaunyeop unleashed thunder again. Powerful, but oddly painless now.
'Gonna go back like this?'
A small voice whispered in her ear.
She knew whose immediately.
'Shut up.'
'Don't wanna? Then decide.'
Her resolve wavered.
She'd decided long ago. But losing now—repulsively so—was enough to reconsider.
Losing to Jaunyeop meant returning to Shinryeon Castle.
'Just close your eyes once.'
She knew it wasn't once.
Most things start with 'just once.'
But.
'Once......'
Loathsome realities sometimes convinced her for that one time.
'Fine.'
Swoosh-.
The mana flowing from Unhyang's body changed color.
'Just once.'
And in that instant.
Flinch-.
Jaunyeop halted at Unhyang's shifted aura.
His relentless feet stopped; his vital-sparing sword tip veered.
Whoosh-.
He leaped back hastily, widening the gap. Unhyang still staggered.
'What?'
For a moment, her scent changed.
Instantly, he hallucinated his throat slit, body shredded.
As if gripped by fear of her.
Swipe-.
Jaunyeop touched his neck subconsciously, eyeing Unhyang.
Drip, drip-.
She stood bleeding. Both wounded, but he still held the edge.
'Situation unchanged.'
To yield advantage over a fleeting illusion and retreat.
'Need to reflect later.'
Just then,
as Jaunyeop moved to end the fight with Unhyang.
Flash-!
A yellow bolt erupted from the sky.
Boom-!
With a deafening roar, a massive lightning strike engulfed Jaunyeop's body.