I Agree With That. (2)
"...What did you just say?"
"Geez, you don’t look all that old. Are your ears already going bad?"
Chung Myung scratched at his ear with a lazy flick and shrugged.
"Hah."
Yeop Pyeong, the Red Snake Blade, let out a low, incredulous laugh, his face twisted with equal parts fury and disbelief.
"Kid. Do you even know who I am?"
"Haha. Of course I do. Which is why I’m definitely saying..."
Chung Myung began to speak, one finger raised, then suddenly flinched.
"Uh..."
He turned his head sharply and looked back over his shoulder.
"What was your name again?"
"..."
"..."
All the Mount Hua disciples lowered their heads at once.
Please, Chung Myung.
I can’t believe there’d ever be a day when I’d be too embarrassed to lift my head in front of the evil sects.
"...Yeop Pyeong, the Red Snake Blade."
"Ah! Right!"
Chung Myung turned back with a snap of his head.
"Yeop Pyeong, the Red Snake Blade!"
"It’s the Red Snake Blade! Red Snake Blade, you bastard!"
At last, unable to hold back any longer, Yeop Pyeong rolled his eyes upward, only for Bang Seung to clamp onto him with both hands.
"L-Leader! Please calm down! You can’t let yourself be toyed with by some brat!"
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Even in the middle of his rage, Yeop Pyeong had to admit that the words weren’t wrong. He let out rough breaths and forced the boiling blood in his head down.
What the hell is this guy?
He had spent his life roaming the world with a saber at his side. He had met more than his share of monsters, and more than a few oddballs besides.
But none of them had ever managed to rile him up with just a few words like this.
If this was a deliberate attempt at provocation, then it was impressive. If not... well, that was even more impressive.
"...I thought that, for all you’re just a kid, you had some decent presence to you. Instead, you’re nothing but an ignorant fool with no idea how the world works."
But before Yeop Pyeong could continue, Chung Myung shook his head and let out a deep sigh.
"The world’s changed a lot. I never thought I’d live to see the day when some evil bastard would flap his mouth in front of me knowing full well I’m from Mount Hua."
"...F-Flap his mouth?"
Yeop Pyeong went momentarily silent.
Had this kid really just used that kind of word in front of him? To his face? This brat from Mount Hua?
"Y-You—!"
"It’s not that I don’t understand the world. It’s that the world’s the one that’s wrong. Whatever, that can be fixed later. So, what’s it gonna be? You want to get beaten here, or are you gonna crawl back outside the city walls?"
"You crazy bastard!"
Yeop Pyeong seized his saber and lunged forward.
"L-Leader!"
But Bang Seung quickly grabbed him again, stopping him in a panic.
"Let go!"
"P-Please calm yourself! If you underestimate him, you’ll suffer for it! That brat is the Mount Hua Divine Dragon making waves all over the martial world right now."
"...Mount Hua Divine Dragon?"
"Yes."
At that, Yeop Pyeong’s eyes bloodshot, he glared at Chung Myung.
"So this kid with the strange air about him is the Mount Hua Divine Dragon."
His voice, heavy with a beastlike growl, was terrifyingly harsh.
"But even then he’s still only a junior. How dare Mount Hua, of all things—not even Zhongnan—stand in our way? I’ll cut off your head and teach you what kind of place you’re standing in!"
Kwaaang!
Throwing Bang Seung off him, Yeop Pyeong stamped his foot down. At once, a fearsome killing intent burst from his body like a storm.
Jo Gul, standing behind Chung Myung, clenched his lips hard at that murderous pressure. Goosebumps broke out all over his body, and it felt as if needles were stabbing at his skin from head to toe.
So this is the real thing...
His tongue may not have been much to speak of, but his martial force was absolutely a threat.
Having managed to threaten every Mount Hua disciple in a single breath, Yeop Pyeong ground his teeth and said,
"If you still insist on interfering, I’ll cut you all down—"
"Man, you sure talk a lot."
"...?"
Every Mount Hua disciple’s gaze shot to the back of Chung Myung’s head.
"Do evil bastards these days fight with their mouths? Why the hell are you so chatty? Hey. If you’re gonna come at me, then come at me already. What, scared?"
"..."
Jo Gul turned his head.
Yoon Jong, standing beside him, was looking back at him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Senior brother.
Yeah. I know what you mean.
He had known it for a long time, but here, in this very moment, it became even clearer. That guy was definitely lacking something called fear.
"You—"
Then Bang Seung quietly stepped forward.
"Leader. If I may just..."
"Move."
"Hehe. No need to get so worked up. Why let yourself boil over over some brat? If you end up brawling with a fool, it’ll only damage your reputation."
"Grrr..."
Yeop Pyeong’s expression remained twisted, but as if he acknowledged that the words weren’t entirely wrong, he gritted his teeth and stepped aside.
"Hmm."
Bang Seung glanced at Chung Myung with interest, then turned his gaze toward Hyun Young. It would be better to deal with someone who looked like an elder than with this loudmouthed kid.
"Judging by appearances, you must be Mount Hua’s elder. Just how reckless do you think you—"
Paaaat!
"...?"
At the sudden noise, everyone looked at Bang Seung in bewilderment.
Something—no one knew what—had flown in and lodged itself in his mouth.
"..."
"..."
Before anyone could even figure out how to react, Bang Seung collapsed straight to the ground.
Thud.
There had never been a more pitiful sound for a person falling over.
"Seriously, now."
Chung Myung set down the foot that was now bare and said irritably,
"I said you talk too much, you bastards!"
"..."
"..."
Baek Cheon watched the scene with a pleased smile.
Chung Myung.
No matter how you looked at it, you really shouldn’t throw a shoe into someone’s mouth while they’re talking. That was a bit too far.
"No!"
Chung Myung’s eyes flashed.
"These bastards. Since when did evil sect trash stand there with their eyes open and run their mouths in front of Mount Hua? If this were the old days, they wouldn’t even have been able to meet our eyes!"
"...Chung Myung, calm down."
"At least let people speak if they’re human."
"He looks like he’s passed out?"
Clearly he hadn’t been very strong to begin with, so he’d probably just been beaten down and dropped unconscious... But even so, getting knocked out by a shoe was a little too tragic.
What kind of agony would he feel when he woke up?
Looking at Chung Myung, Baek Cheon found himself understanding something once again.
If you think about it, there isn’t anyone fairer than this guy.
Whether orthodox or evil sect, he treated everyone he faced no differently, and wasn’t that the very essence of a nobleman’s conduct?
But it seemed not everyone agreed with that interpretation.
"..."
Yeop Pyeong stared silently at Bang Seung, who was convulsing on the ground, and gave a hollow laugh.
"Well, that’s a ridiculous sight."
Yet unlike his words, blue killing intent poured steadily from his eyes.
"Kid."
"What, old man?"
"...All of this was started by you people. Don’t blame us for what happens next."
"Yeah, sure. And don’t blame us either."
"..."
Yeop Pyeong no longer raged. He simply released a bitter, sharpened killing intent, thin and cold as a blade.
There was no need for any more conversation.
"Today, you’ll see the end of Mount Hua right here! Everyone—"
The instant Yeop Pyeong opened his mouth to issue the attack order.
"Hey! Hit them! Strip their skin off!"
"Hey! Say it like that and we sound even more like evil sect trash!"
"Move!"
Without waiting for Yeop Pyeong to finish, Chung Myung struck first. At once, the Mount Hua disciples all drew their swords and charged.
"W-What?"
Having had the initiative stolen from him, Yeop Pyeong flinched as he watched the Mount Hua disciples rushing in.
No... what the hell are these bastards?
He had clashed with orthodox sects countless times while leading the Red Snake Unit, but he had never seen people like this in his entire life.
"Kill them! Kill them all!"
Only after Yeop Pyeong screamed in a frenzy did the Red Snake Unit finally rush toward Mount Hua.
In the middle of the main road of Xi'an, the Red Snake Unit of Maninbang and the disciples of Mount Hua charged straight at each other.
Huff!
Jo Gul clenched his teeth.
His heart was pounding wildly, blood rushed to his face, and the hand gripping his sword was trembling violently in a way it never usually did.
Damn it, calm down!
This wasn’t the first time he’d faced a strong opponent.
Mostly thanks to that Chung Myung bastard, he’d already experienced things a normal third-generation disciple of an ordinary sect would never get the chance to see.
But this was a different matter entirely. First of all, the sabers those men had drawn weren’t meant merely to subdue him or knock him down. They were meant to take his head and end his life.
Of course, he had once fought with his life on the line while obtaining the Honwon Dan. But honestly, back then it had been closer to watching Chung Myung fight than anything else.
This was almost the first time he’d directly crossed blades with someone who truly wanted him dead.
Was that why?
Damn it!
It felt as though his body wouldn’t move properly. No matter how hard he tried to stay calm, he couldn’t suppress the heat surging through him.
Shaaak!
In that instant, the Red Snake Unit fighter rushing at him swung a huge saber down toward Jo Gul’s head.
Ah—!
Jo Gul’s face burned red with shock as he jerked his sword up.
"...Are you all right?"
"Huh?"
Hyun Young looked at Chung Myung with concern.
"This is the children’s first real battle, isn’t it? Of course I trust those kids, but I’m worried someone might get hurt if they can’t bring out their full ability..."
"Oh, that?"
Chung Myung answered indifferently.
"It’s nothing."
"Hm?"
He gave a faint smirk.
"Don’t worry. I’ve already set things up so they can handle it."
"As far as I know, you never trained them in anything like that. Am I missing something?"
"Nope. That’s all there is to it."
"...And yet?"
Hyun Young asked again, still unable to understand, and Chung Myung merely shrugged.
"The same kind of training you always see."
"...Huh?"
"I mean... you’re worried they’ll get too nervous to show their real strength, or that some newcomer to the martial world will make a mistake and tragically die, right?"
"Naturally."
"Have you ever seen a tiger get nervous and die to a rabbit?"
"...I haven’t."
No, of course not. Something like that couldn’t happen.
Chung Myung gave a little nod as if to say, See?
"Claims about not being able to show your full strength because you’re nervous? About being too tense? That’s just what people who haven’t trained properly say. Training, from the start, is supposed to prepare you for the possibility that you might be too nervous to show your full strength."
"..."
"Nerves, or whatever else. In the end, the stronger one wins. As long as you can win while only showing half your ability, that’s enough."
"Then our kids..."
"Yeah, well..."
Chung Myung smiled broadly.
"You really think they’d lose to a bunch of evil sect trash? They’d have to be trying to die."
"..."
Hyun Young closed his eyes tightly as he looked ahead.
Please don’t get hurt, you lot.
If you do, I’m not going to like what I see.
Kaang!
The saber, blocked by a sword, bounced backward.
Huh?
Of the attacker and the one who had blocked the blow, the more startled one was actually the defender.
Jo Gul, looking a little dazed, stared at the Red Snake Unit fighter whose expression was openly baffled.
What...?
Why did it bounce back?
No, I didn’t even push it back?
"Y-You brat!"
But there was no time to think about it deeply. The Red Snake Unit fighter reclaimed his saber and lunged again, his face twisted with rage.
However—
Slow?
His momentum was certainly formidable, but the speed of the incoming saber was somewhat different from what Jo Gul had expected.
In fact, the sabers of the Peng family were far faster and fiercer.
Kaang!
His sword and saber clashed again. The blue sword energy wrapped around his blade drove a finger’s breadth into the Red Snake Unit fighter’s saber, which was steeped in red blade aura.
"Y-You little punk!"
The Red Snake Unit fighter screamed in a fit of rage, shoved the saber hard, and drove his shoulder in.
However—
What is he doing?
Jo Gul, confused, subtly shifted back in response to the movement. As he did, the opponent’s stance collapsed horribly out of shape instead.
"Ha!"
And Jo Gul did not miss the opening created by that collapse. Before his mind could even catch up, his sword was already moving, slicing into the empty shoulder.
"Khh!"
The Red Snake Unit fighter twisted violently and staggered back.
Blood burst from his shoulder and sprayed across the ground, dyeing it red.
"Oh...?"
Jo Gul’s lips curled upward.
And with a face far calmer than before, he leveled his sword slightly and said with a smug little laugh,
"This isn’t that big a deal, huh? Guess I was freaking out too much."
"You little horse-nosed bastard!"
Jo Gul casually looked over his shoulder.
As expected, Chung Myung was watching them with an indifferent expression.
"What are you doing?"
Chung Myung’s voice reached his ear.
"Beat him up!"
Right!
Completely recovered, Jo Gul bared a vicious grin that looked suspiciously like Chung Myung’s and charged at the Red Snake Unit fighter.
"I’ll smash your skull!"
Fueled by a hundred times more confidence than before, Jo Gul’s sword began to sweep through the Red Snake Unit without mercy.