What’s So Amazing About That? (1)
"...He won?"
The eyes of Mount Hua’s disciples, including Yoon Jong, trembled as though an earthquake had struck them.
There had been times when Baek Cheon was pushed back so relentlessly that their hearts clenched so hard they could barely bear to watch.
"Good heavens... He beat Yeop Pyeong of the Red Snake Blade."
"Ha... haha. This is really unbelievable."
None of them could quite steady their shaking hearts.
Yeop Pyeong of the Red Snake Blade.
The head of Maninbang’s Red Snake Unit, a saber expert whose name was famous even in the Jianghu.
And Baek Cheon had defeated him.
It was a different matter entirely from beating a second-generation disciple like Jin Geum-ryong.
Of course, monsters like Chung Myung or Hye Yeon were exceptions, but even among the ordinary promising younger generation, no one was truly recognized as a first-rate expert in the martial world just by making a name for themselves.
But in that moment, Baek Cheon had defeated Yeop Pyeong and proved that he had risen beyond the realm of a mere junior disciple to stand as a proper man of the Jianghu.
It was such an enormous feat that even the Mount Hua disciples, who would normally have leaped in delight and rushed at him whenever he won a duel tournament, now found themselves unable to move their feet.
"Hahhh..."
Hyun Young felt much the same.
His eyes had already grown moist.
"Heh, heh, heh. Baek Cheon... Baek Cheon actually beat that Yeop Pyeong..."
And yet, amid everyone else drowning in emotion, there was one person who remained utterly unimpressed.
"What’s so amazing about that?"
"How is that not amazing? He beat Yeop Pyeong!"
"That’s just how it goes."
"Hm?"
Chung Myung shrugged.
"A junior disciple doesn’t stay a junior disciple forever. People who make a name for themselves usually start by beating some famous expert in the Jianghu, don’t they?"
"Mm. So you’re saying Baek Cheon’s reputation will now shake the whole world?"
Huh?
Was that how it worked?
Chung Myung gave Baek Cheon a slightly dubious look.
As if he had felt that gaze, Baek Cheon walked over toward them at a leisurely pace. Seeing how stiffly he was holding himself upright, with his shoulders puffed out, only made Chung Myung’s mood a little worse.
"I won."
"... "
Petulance rose on Chung Myung’s face.
"What, were you gonna die if you slipped up a little?"
"But I didn’t die."
"And after breaking your sword too?"
"A sword is just a sword. I can use a new one."
"...If that bastard hadn’t let his guard down, you wouldn’t have won."
"Wouldn’t that also count as skill?"
Chung Myung’s cheeks twitched.
He had nothing left to pick on.
To put it bluntly, Yeop Pyeong was at least a notch above Baek Cheon. If Baek Cheon had brought down a man like that, what was there left to sneer about?
His guard was down?
What a joke.
Exploiting an opponent’s opening was skill, and letting one’s guard down was also skill. Whatever the case, once two men had fought and settled matters in a life-or-death duel, the loser had no excuse.
"Uuugh."
When Chung Myung let out a groan, Hyun Young smiled with satisfaction and patted Baek Cheon’s shoulder.
"You’ve worked hard."
"Not at all, Elder. I failed to control my excitement and made a fool of myself. I will reflect on it."
"Yes, yes."
Hyun Young kept patting Baek Cheon’s shoulder as though he were the dearest thing in the world.
And then, at that very moment—
Whoooosh!
"Huh!"
A saber came whirling in from behind Baek Cheon.
Feeling the fierce energy at his back, Baek Cheon wheeled around in shock.
"Anyway."
Clang!
The large saber, blazing with a vicious red aura, was knocked aside by the sword Chung Myung swung, still in its scabbard, and crashed weakly to the ground.
The blood drained from Baek Cheon’s face in an instant.
Yeop Pyeong, whom they had thought was lying there unconscious, had somehow come to his senses and hurled his saber at Baek Cheon’s back.
This...
If Baek Cheon had been alone, that saber might already have been buried in his back.
"Neat and tidy, huh? Real classy."
"... "
"Tsk."
Chung Myung shook his head twice, clearly displeased. Then, still holding his sword, he trudged toward Yeop Pyeong.
"You know why the evil sect is called the evil sect?"
"... "
"Because they don’t care what means they use if it gets them what they want."
Chung Myung did not look back, but Baek Cheon nodded as though he were being watched.
"There are plenty of fools who prattle about righteousness, provoke the evil sect, and end up dead. So if you’re going to deal with the evil sect, either don’t get entangled with them at all, or..."
Shrrk.
Chung Myung’s sword slid free of its scabbard.
"...finish them so completely they never get a chance to pull any more tricks."
It was chilling.
It was not the voice of someone joking.
Sometimes Chung Myung showed this incomprehensible seriousness, this cold, stripped-down edge, and every time he did, Baek Cheon felt the tips of his fingers go cold.
"St-Stop him!"
"Protect the unit leader!"
Sensing that Chung Myung’s momentum was not normal, the Red Snake Unit members, who had been at a complete loss, desperately moved to block the space between him and Yeop Pyeong.
But Chung Myung merely looked at them with eyes chilled to the bone.
"You little—"
"Back off!"
The Red Snake Unit men, their faces twisted with poison, tried to threaten him.
But what lurked beneath that expression was less hostility than fear. If they lost their leader here and returned empty-handed, what punishment would Maninbang inflict on them? The answer was painfully obvious.
Even so, though they had drawn their sabers and shouted threats, Chung Myung’s pace did not slow in the slightest. He walked toward them with such calm that it looked like he was out for a stroll, and the Red Snake Unit members flinched back one step at a time.
"Tch!"
But one of them, driven to the brink by his own viciousness, screamed and lunged forward.
"Come any closer and I’ll cut off your—"
Slash.
"... "
Blood burst from his throat.
Staring blankly at the blood spraying from his half-severed neck, he lurched in horror and hurriedly clamped both hands over the wound.
Thud.
He dropped to his knees and collapsed there, gasping, both hands gripping his throat. Instinct told him all he needed to know: the moment he let go, he would die.
"Huff! Huff!"
He could not even feel the pain. Or rather, there was no time to feel it. He was suspended somewhere between life and death.
Step. Step.
Chung Myung passed him without so much as a flicker of expression.
"If this had been the old days..."
Frowning, he said,
"...you’d all have been dead before you even opened your mouths."
"... "
"But what can I do? I can’t live exactly like I used to anymore. So I’ll give you a chance. The ones who block me die. The ones who step back live."
His voice was flat and cold, stripped of all warmth.
"Simple, right?"
"... "
"So decide. Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"
The Red Snake Unit members’ eyes trembled violently.
They had already proven that he was not bluffing.
We didn’t even see it.
Not a single person here had seen how Chung Myung had sliced the first man’s throat. One moment there had been only a blur, and the next, blood had been spraying everywhere.
Which meant that none of them could possibly withstand his sword.
Besides—
These were men who had spent their lives on the edge of a blade. They knew exactly how vicious the sword strike Chung Myung had just shown truly was.
Gulp.
Dry gulps echoed here and there.
Ordinarily, a person could not bring themselves to swing a real blade at another man’s throat.
The throat was a place that could kill with the slightest slip. To truly commit to a sword strike there required a murderous resolve so dark that one could not even attempt it without the readiness to kill—or be killed.
That was why, no matter how confident most warriors were in their swordsmanship, they would not bother aiming for the throat when there were countless other places they could subdue without serious trouble.
But that young bastard had swung for the throat without a hint of hesitation.
Which meant—
He’s used to killing.
He was the sort of monster who could slaughter them all without blinking.
They could not understand how a young disciple from Mount Hua could possibly possess such a nature, but this was hardly the time to question logic, was it?
"Th-That..."
As confusion piled atop confusion and left the Red Snake Unit members unable to decide, Chung Myung urged them on himself.
Not with words, of course.
With his sword.
Slash. Slash.
"Ghk!"
"Hk!"
The men in front, who had been watching Chung Myung approach in a half-frozen daze, collapsed to the ground clutching their throats.
And then—
At last, the remaining Red Snake Unit members lost all will and strength to resist.
"Hiiik!"
"N-no..."
Most of the men blocking the way stumbled back, and in the end, they opened a path.
Of course, there were still a few who kept their pride and held their ground at an awkward distance. But even they did not dare truly stand in Chung Myung’s way.
Step. Step.
It was a bizarre sight, truly.
The Red Snake Unit of Maninbang, sabers raised in menace, and through the path they had opened, a young swordsman in Mount Hua’s martial robes walked in with complete calm.
Where else in the world could one see such a scene?
Chung Myung himself was indifferent, but Mount Hua’s disciples watching him felt their knees weaken.
And then, just then, one of the Red Snake Unit members who had been glaring at Chung Myung’s retreating back in silence suddenly lunged in for a swift ambush.
The large saber looked as though it might cleave Chung Myung’s body in two at any moment.
However—
Clang!
The saber he swung was cleanly knocked away by Chung Myung’s sword.
And then—
Slash.
The man whose throat was cleanly cut dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
"... "
Now the Red Snake Unit members’ eyes were filled with terror.
Not once, but four times.
Four times, he had cut the exact same spot with a single strike.
They could not even begin to imagine the gap in skill required to make that possible. Even if it had been Yeop Pyeong, imitating it would have been difficult.
"Anyone else?"
"... "
"If there is, come at me. You can still live if it’s now. I don’t leave people alive when they go for my back. Just like that bastard from before."
"... "
Those words shattered what little resolve remained in the Red Snake Unit.
With eyes half-dead, they all lowered their heads to avoid Chung Myung’s gaze.
Chung Myung gave them a brief glance, then fixed his eyes on Yeop Pyeong, who was still sprawled on the ground.
"Huff... huff!"
Yeop Pyeong, unable to rise because his waist had been badly injured and lying flat on the ground, trembled when he saw Chung Myung approaching him.
It was obvious at a glance.
The man named Baek Cheon was, in the end, one of the righteous sect. He could not bring himself to casually take a human life.
If he had pushed a little harder earlier, Yeop Pyeong’s back would have shattered completely. But even then, he had held back enough that the injury was still recoverable. Wasn’t that proof enough?
But this one was different.
How is a righteous sect disciple like this...?
Unless Mount Hua was a place that raised assassins, how could a young man from there give off this kind of feeling?
This was the air of someone who had seen blood countless times...
Step.
At last, Chung Myung’s foot stopped right in front of Yeop Pyeong’s face.
"Y-you... what are you going to do to me..."
"Still thinking."
Chung Myung hummed under his breath and stroked his chin.
"If this had been the old days, I wouldn’t even have to think about it. But these days, I’ve got a lot more to worry about. Back then, if I ran wild, there was someone who’d clean up after me. Now I’m the one who has to clean up the mess."
Yeop Pyeong could not understand what Chung Myung was talking about.
Nor did he need to. There was only one thing he had to say.
"P-Please, spare me!"
"I said I’m still thinking."
"I-I’ll give you my..."
Thud!
Before Yeop Pyeong could babble out another word, Chung Myung drove his foot into his mouth.
"Aaaagh!"
A scream burst out. Broken teeth spilled from Yeop Pyeong’s mouth.
Chung Myung said indifferently,
"Just shut up for a bit. I’m thinking."
"...Ghk..."
"Honestly, there’s not much to think about. You came here to kill people, and if we’d lost, your side would’ve cut off our heads and hung them in front of the gate by now."
"... "
"In that situation, if we’d begged you to spare us, what would you have done?"
"Ghk... glrk..."
Yeop Pyeong looked up at Chung Myung with desperate eyes. Seeing that look, Chung Myung nodded as though he had made up his mind.
"Yeah. Like this."
Thunk!
Chung Myung kicked Yeop Pyeong over onto his back. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he swung his sword.
Slash. Slash. Slash. Slash.
With chilling sounds, Chung Myung’s sword cut through the tendons in Yeop Pyeong’s wrists and ankles. And then...
Thrust!
Finally, it drove straight into Yeop Pyeong’s dantian.
"People reap exactly what they sow. If you’d been a good person to someone all this time, then even if you lost the use of your limbs and your martial arts, you might still have lived under someone’s care. But if that’s not the case..."
Chung Myung shrugged.
"That’s none of my business."
Whoosh.
He flicked the sword clean, scattering blood onto the ground before sliding it back into the scabbard.
Then, as if there were no lingering attachment whatsoever, he turned around.
"Go back and tell the big shots above you."
"... "
Not one of the Red Snake Unit dared meet his eyes.
"If you set foot in Shaanxi again, then you’ll be dealing with me and Mount Hua."
And with that, Chung Myung strolled out from among the Red Snake Unit without even glancing back, saying,
"Get lost. Before I kill you all."
At that cold voice, the Red Snake Unit members all shut their eyes tight.
It was the moment when the long matter that had unfolded across the short night finally came to its end.
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