I Agree With That. (4)
"Jo Gul."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
"……That guy……."
Yoon Jong subtly motioned toward Chung Myung with his eyes.
"Doesn't he look pissed off?"
"Huh?"
At that, Jo Gul tilted his head and looked that way.
"……Isn't he just being Chung Myung as usual?"
"That’s true, but…… there’s something different."
Yoon Jong's brow furrowed.
Chung Myung as usual…….
Sure enough, nothing about his tone or that lazy, swaggering posture seemed any different. But Yoon Jong could feel the faint anger seeping through Chung Myung’s voice.
His gaze shifted to the Red Snake Blade, Yeop Pyeong, standing before Chung Myung, or rather, to Yeop Pyeong and the Red Snake Unit member dead at his feet.
Is this what evil sects are like?
This wasn’t the first time he had seen someone die.
But this was not a simple death.
He had never once imagined that there would be a man who killed his own subordinate with his own hands.
"……That son of a bitch."
"What kind of beast wears a human face and does something like that?"
A thick, simmering rage began to bleed from the other Mount Hua disciples as well.
Evil sects.
They had only ever heard rumors about them, never experienced them firsthand, and people said those who walked the path of evil were inhuman, twisted beyond the bounds of decency. The moment they looked at Yeop Pyeong, that vague description became painfully clear.
How dangerous they were. And why they were despised.
Putting aside strength or weakness, there was something unnerving that anyone could feel simply by standing before them. That coldness sent shivers racing down everyone’s spine.
"You bastard……."
A deep, blue ghostly aura gleamed in Yeop Pyeong’s eyes.
The lazy, smirking look he had worn just moments ago was gone without a trace. This version of him—standing there with a saber in one hand, exuding a chilling murderous intent—was likely the true face of Yeop Pyeong the world spoke of.
"Cut your throat?"
Yeop Pyeong repeated Chung Myung’s words, then laughed. It was the laugh of a great beast threatening a small animal.
But Chung Myung himself remained absurdly calm.
"I said I’d cut it nicely."
"Ha……."
Yeop Pyeong glared at him with eyes sharp as a freshly honed blade, then lifted his saber. When he spoke again, his voice was low and flat.
"I won’t kill you."
"Huh?"
"You’ll live long enough to watch every one of your senior brothers and junior brothers have their heads cut off by my blade, and only then will I let you die."
"Ha……."
Chung Myung let out a long sigh.
"Evil sect bastards really never change, no matter how much time passes. Hey, come on. Quit running your mouth and do something."
"You lit—"
"No, forget it. I’ll come to you. Damn, you talk too much!"
Just as Chung Myung drew his sword and was about to rush in—
Thud.
Someone’s hand clamped hard onto his shoulder from behind.
"Huh?"
Chung Myung turned his head slightly to look at the one who had stopped him.
"What is it, Sasuk?"
Baek Cheon’s face was rigid as he dragged Chung Myung back and stepped forward.
"I’ll go."
"……Huh?"
Baek Cheon’s brow was tightly knotted.
"I said I’ll take that bastard."
"……."
Chung Myung looked at him with a strange expression.
"Let me do it."
"Why are you so pissed off?"
"……And you still have the nerve to ask?"
Baek Cheon’s face was filled with open fury. Chung Myung had seen Baek Cheon angry plenty of times before, but never this plainly enraged.
Well, that’s true.
Chung Myung might have been leading Mount Hua’s disciples, but the one who truly managed and trained them was Baek Cheon.
The role Un Geom had once played had nearly all passed to Baek Cheon now.
So it was only natural that he would be even less able to stomach what he was seeing right now.
Thinking about what Baek Cheon must have felt witnessing Yeop Pyeong kill his own subordinate made that rage entirely understandable.
"Dangerous, you know?"
"Once you’ve picked up a sword, danger comes with the territory."
"……He’s also kind of strong."
"I know."
Baek Cheon looked straight at Chung Myung with unwavering eyes.
"So what, you’re saying I can’t handle him?"
"Well…… it’s a little complicated, but—"
"Then that settles it."
"Huh?"
"If it’s enough to make you hesitate, then that means there’s a chance. I have no intention of only fighting people I’m guaranteed to beat. I’m doing this."
"……."
Why had this guy suddenly become so intense?
Was it adolescence?
While Chung Myung hesitated, Baek Cheon moved forward without waiting for an answer. In a hurry, Chung Myung stuck a foot out and hooked it behind Baek Cheon’s ankle.
"Eek!"
Baek Cheon nearly toppled to the ground, and turned to stare at Chung Myung as if to say, What in the world are you doing?
Chung Myung smiled faintly.
"Relax."
"……."
"If you go in all fired up and keep your shoulders stiff as hell, you won’t beat anybody, no matter how strong you are. What did you just tell the kids back there?"
"……Lower your stance."
"Right."
Baek Cheon nodded slowly. Then he took a couple of deep breaths on the spot.
Soon, his expression loosened and settled into something calmer. Chung Myung gave one last warning.
"You could actually die, you know."
"So?"
"If possible, I think it’d be better not to—"
"The fact that you said 'if possible' means it’s still okay, doesn’t it?"
"Grrrrr."
Chung Myung let out a long, exasperated sigh.
If he had just thrown a tantrum, Chung Myung could’ve slapped him into shape. But the brat had grown a thick skull and now he was coming at him with logic, nitpicking every point. And he couldn’t exactly chew him out in front of the evil sect bastards!
In the end, Chung Myung held up both hands.
"……If you get hurt, I’ll kill you."
"Got it."
Baek Cheon gave him a sidelong glance, then stepped forward. Gripping his sword, he faced Yeop Pyeong head-on.
Meanwhile, the Mount Hua disciples watched in horror.
"W-what? Is Sasuk fighting him?"
"Watch. Senior Brother will win."
Yu I-seol clenched one fist lightly.
Her eyes were fixed on Baek Cheon as he drew his sword.
Baek Cheon, on the other hand, didn’t notice the commotion behind him at all. Every nerve in his body was focused entirely on Yeop Pyeong.
……Strong.
To be honest, it was terrifying.
When he faced Jin Geum-ryong, his feelings toward the man had forced him to hold back. But now, it was nothing more than the sheer martial skill of his opponent that made his heart tighten.
Even so, seeing Baek Cheon clutch his sword and refuse to retreat, Yeop Pyeong muttered,
"You brats really don't know the world."
"……No. It's because we know it too well that this is a problem."
"Hmm?"
Baek Cheon raised his sword and pointed it at Yeop Pyeong.
"If I were to get scared of trash like you here, I'd spend my whole life running behind someone else’s shadow. I have no intention of living like that."
Keeping his stance fixed, he only shifted his gaze slightly and looked back at Chung Myung.
When he saw that indifferent expression on Chung Myung’s face, the tension in his chest slowly began to ease.
I'm not following him.
I’m catching up.
Even if it was something so far away that it bordered on an impossible dream, the moment he gave up, even that possibility would disappear.
Baek Cheon had no intention of merely walking the smooth road Chung Myung had paved and polished.
"If a road needs opening, then we open it together. If we have to stand in the rain, then we stand in it together. That’s what senior brothers and junior brothers do."
"……What the hell are you saying, you little punk?"
"So."
Baek Cheon bared his teeth.
"Come on. I’ll cut right over someone like you and close the distance."
Yeop Pyeong felt the rage surge to the top of his head.
"You little upstarts……."
He had fought countless people until now, but never once had anyone looked down on him to this extent.
And these weren’t even renowned masters making a name for themselves across the jianghu, either—these were nothing more than younger disciples who had only just begun to gain some fame, and they dared to look down on him?
"Fine! I’ll see whether you can keep talking after your limbs are torn apart!"
With a roar, Yeop Pyeong lunged at Baek Cheon.
BOOOOM!
With every step he took, the ground cracked like a spiderweb beneath his feet. Riding the rebound through his entire body, Yeop Pyeong shot forward like a streak of light.
Then, a slash!
The saber, so fast it seemed beyond speed itself, came crashing down with monstrous force toward Baek Cheon.
It looked utterly impossible for that slim sword to stop such a heavy blow.
Yet—
Even as he watched the saber fall over his head, Baek Cheon’s eyes did not waver in the slightest.
Instead, he stepped forward with one foot and thrust his sword straight ahead.
A perfect stance.
A sword tip that did not tremble.
Without even looking at the descending saber, he drove his blade straight toward Yeop Pyeong’s throat as the man charged in.
"What—!"
For an instant, Yeop Pyeong panicked and shouted.
If he brought the saber down as it was, he might cleave that pale-faced bastard clean in half—but his own throat would also be pierced by the sword.
You insane bastard!
In the end, he twisted his body in a frantic dodge.
The falling saber sliced through empty air, but in turn, the sword that had been aiming for his throat barely skimmed past it.
The result itself was a draw.
But one man’s posture had been broken, and the other’s remained intact.
And that difference created a new result.
Whoosh!
Baek Cheon withdrew his sword at lightning speed and immediately pressed the attack against the twisted Yeop Pyeong. In an instant, more than ten sword shadows split off and attacked every part of Yeop Pyeong’s body.
"Tch!"
Yeop Pyeong swung his saber wide and knocked away the incoming sword shadows.
But a saber strike launched from a compromised posture could never unleash its full power.
He scattered most of the sword shadows, but he could not completely stop the one blade that skimmed past his thigh.
Slash.
With a chilling sound, the outside of Yeop Pyeong’s thigh split open in a long gash.
Blood splattered down in drops, scattering across the ground like ink.
Bang!
Yeop Pyeong kicked himself backward and drove his saber into the ground, regaining his stance.
"……."
As he slowly lifted his head, his eyes were bloodshot and contorted like those of a demon.
"I’ll kill you!"
It was a roar that seemed ready to shake all of Xi'an.
Then, Yeop Pyeong unleashed a momentum so terrifying that Baek Cheon had never experienced anything like it before, and shot forward like a hawk diving on its prey.