Mount Hua Is Not the Place You Must Protect
Rainwater seeped into the wound he had cut open. The pain was no longer just stinging—it throbbed, dull and vicious, under the skin.
But Chung Myung’s attention was fixed entirely on Heoksi.
Crkkk. Crkkrk.
Heoksi’s claws kept making an irritating, grating sound.
"...I don’t understand."
Heoksi tilted his head slightly.
"That’s a lethal poison that could drop an ox with a single drop. Even if you cut it off, by now you should’ve been dead already.... You’re not immune to poison, are you?"
Three bright red lines were clearly drawn across Chung Myung’s face. The time it would take for the poison on the claw to spread had long since passed.
And yet the symptoms of poisoning were barely visible.
Only the skin around the cut cheek had darkened.
A normal person would already be dead, their whole body turned black.
Of course, poison rarely worked well on an absolute master with overwhelming internal energy and perfect control of qi. If poison alone could completely bring down men like that, Black Claw Unit wouldn’t have remained merely one branch of Maninbang.
But his opponent was still a young daoist.
It was true he possessed internal energy far stronger than one should at his age, but considering how little time he’d had to practice martial arts, how could he possibly have the kind of control that belonged to a master at the pinnacle?
"The more I fight you, the less I understand you."
Heoksi reached out and pressed the tip of a finger against the edge of his claw.
Even from a touch, blood began to run freely from the fingertip wrapped in black bandages.
The stabbed area only seemed to ache a little, so there was no problem with the poison itself.
And yet it wasn’t working....
"Whatever. If poison won’t do the job, I’ll just put a hole in your gut and stuff it in directly."
Heoksi sneered, and Chung Myung glared back with cold eyes.
In truth, the poison qi that had entered through the wound was already beginning to spread. Burning it away with Samadhi True Fire wasn’t difficult in itself, but no matter how strong Chung Myung was, it was impossible to ignite it separately while he was fighting.
If it had been Heoksi, who had been watching for an opening from the very start of the battle, he would never have missed that chance.
If Chung Myung had still possessed the martial prowess of his previous life as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, the poison wouldn’t have pierced him in the first place. Even if it had, he could have expelled it with simple ease. But the current Chung Myung was not on the same level as the man he had once been.
Of course, since being reborn, he had grown at a rate that would have surprised even himself. It was growth no one in his former life would have dared imagine.
But who was the Plum Blossom Sword Saint?
He had been a swordsman who had completed Mount Hua’s sword learning and forged his own sword path, rising to the level of a master. The only swordsman in the world whom the Heavenly Demon, who had shaken heaven and earth and trampled the world beneath his heel, had ever truly acknowledged was the Plum Blossom Sword Saint.
For Chung Myung, reclaiming that lofty summit was still a distant thing.
He could feel the remaining poison in the cut and the poison that had entered through his face slowly spreading. For now, the best he could do was keep it from spreading any further.
Still.
Whatever.
As long as he brought that bastard down, burning out the poison qi afterward would be nothing.
Chung Myung slowly began to advance toward Heoksi.
Grrrk.
His lowered sword scraped across the ground.
His body, moving sluggishly at first, gradually gathered speed, and then suddenly shot forward at lightning pace toward Heoksi.
In the blink of an eye, he closed to point-blank range and hurled a violent strike straight at the man’s head.
BOOOOM!
Two crossed claws blocked Chung Myung’s plum blossom sword.
Sword and claw collided, and the rain pouring down could not withstand the force, scattering violently in all directions.
Gagagak!
The shriek of metal grinding against metal.
Chung Myung’s raging eyes and Heoksi’s gleaming, murder-laced gaze locked together fiercely in midair.
"Hah!"
With a strange shout, the claws tightened as though they would snap Chung Myung’s sword in two. The sight of them clinging to the blade was like some monstrous bird of prey seizing its quarry with its talons.
Kiiiiing.
The plum blossom sword trapped between the two claws gave a piercing cry. A smug smile appeared at the corner of Heoksi’s mouth.
"Got you—"
Thud!
At that moment, Chung Myung’s foot slammed into Heoksi’s abdomen. His back bent in an instant, his body folding in on itself.
But the force that strangled Chung Myung’s sword did not weaken even a little.
Gagagagak!
The claw dragged down along the sword blade. As the edge slid past the grip, it lunged for Chung Myung’s forearm.
Tap!
Chung Myung kicked off the ground. He was trying to widen the distance again.
But Heoksi also sprang after him, relentless. If you used short weapons, the closer the distance, the better.
Clack!
Then a strange sound came from the tip of the claw. A moment later, a curved blade—hooked like an eagle’s talon—snapped out from within it.
CRACK!
A small hidden blade mounted beneath the edge tore into Chung Myung’s forearm and punched five holes through it.
Even Chung Myung, who had seen every sort of battle and calamity in his life, twisted his face in surprise at that.
But he wasn’t the sort to simply take it lying down.
Bang!
The distance was too close to swing a sword properly.
But Chung Myung’s martial arts were not confined to the sword alone. His fist slammed into Heoksi’s face.
Crack.
With the sound of bones shattering, the bandage-wrapped face caved in. Heoksi’s head snapped back as if it might break off.
Red blood began to seep in dots across the black bandages soaked with rain.
And yet Heoksi, as if he could feel no pain at all, only leaned farther back and drove the claws buried in Chung Myung’s arm even deeper.
Crack.
At last the claw blade burst through the other side of Chung Myung’s arm.
"Khrr...."
A grotesque sound leaked from Heoksi’s throat, his head still thrown back.
Chung Myung’s fist, packed with internal energy, smashed into Heoksi’s jaw once again.
BOOOOM!
The explosion sent Heoksi’s body flying like a cannonball. At the same time, the claw blade was yanked free in one swift motion.
"...."
Damn it.
Chung Myung stared at the hole-riddled arm with a stiff expression.
Black, poisonous blood was gushing out in thick spurts from the five holes. As the poison spread, a numbing pain crawled up his entire arm.
He forced internal energy through it to stop the poison from spreading, then tried flexing his fingers. Thankfully, there was no serious problem with the hand that held the sword.
He bit his lip slightly and steadied his mind.
If this had been before, he wouldn’t have fallen for an attack like that, no matter what grotesque weapon the enemy had brought.
He couldn’t tell at once whether he’d been caught because his skill had fallen since the past or because he had grown complacent, lulled by peace.
He had done the best he could to stop the bleeding, but he had still apparently lost quite a bit of blood. His vision was growing faintly blurred.
Then Heoksi, who had been sprawled on the ground, shot his upper body upright.
"Huuuh...."
He groped at the area around his face. His neck twisted grotesquely as he rose like a ghost, and the corners of his mouth were drenched in blood.
"Krrrk!"
He reached up and tore off the bandages wrapped around his mouth. A severed piece of tongue and several teeth dropped from his jaw and hit the ground.
"...If I hadn’t already drained your strength beforehand, my throat would’ve been cut."
His tongue had been sliced, so his speech was blurred, but those eyes still gleamed with the same vile light as before.
But Chung Myung had no intention whatsoever of having a calm little chat.
Whoosh!
He kicked off the ground and charged like an arrow.
His sword trembled lightly in the air, and then began pouring out red plum blossoms in streams.
Plum Shadow Creating River.
Just as its name implied, the plum blossoms multiplied and multiplied until they became a river swollen by a torrential storm. The surging current of plum blossoms leapt over broken dikes and flooded everything in its path as it roared forward.
Heoksi’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
Can this really be made with a sword?
He had fought countless masters and seen countless swordsmen. Yet the scene unfolding before him was wonder itself, something he had never once imagined in his life.
Beneath the thick rain, a river of plum blossoms overflowed toward him.
It was a sight so breathtaking it was almost majestic.
But within that majesty pulsed a murderous intent so savage it was almost naked. That river of plum blossoms would surely shred and crush everything it swallowed.
His knees bent. Heoksi drove his claws hard into the ground and lowered himself until his knees nearly touched the earth. Then he fixed bloodshot eyes on the oncoming river of plum blossoms.
"Hup!"
With a short breath, his body shot forward.
That river of plum blossoms would keep swelling. If he tried to evade clumsily, he would be swept up by it without even being able to resist, just like being dragged into a raging current.
There was only one way out: straight ahead.
Keeping his body as low as possible, he raised his claws and poured madly dense internal energy into them. As his gaunt body spun, the claws carved out savage talons of shadow.
Like a wounded beast lashing out with its claws, irregular and ferocious qi waves began swatting away the onrushing blossoms.
Then a black shadow plunged into the river of plum blossoms. Heoksi, having filled the front of his body with the razor-sharp qi pouring from his claws, screamed something inhuman and pushed forward.
But the river of plum blossoms was fierce and proud.
It surged in.
No matter how much he tore at it, shoved it back, or hacked through it, the plum blossoms endlessly filled the gaps and came on again, and again.
Just as no human being can fight back against a river no matter how hard he curses and strains, Heoksi’s claws could not twist the river of plum blossoms aside.
And yet.
"Kaaaaagh!"
A cry like that of a small beast gone mad with poison rang out from Heoksi’s throat.
Then he slammed his claws into the ground and hurled his body up at an angle. The black shape leapt over the river of plum blossoms and flew straight at Chung Myung.
Of course, that choice came at a terrible price.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Heoksi’s legs, caught in the river of plum blossoms, were instantly carved with dozens of wounds and began spraying blood. And that wasn’t all—his flesh was being torn apart piece by piece.
The agony of being cut hundreds of times at once.
For any human being with sensation, it was unbearable. Heoksi’s mouth flew open, and from that black chasm a silent scream poured out in agony.
But his body did not stop. If anything, he kept charging at Chung Myung at the same speed he had launched himself with.
The eyes that had been slick with killing intent spat out a blazing blue light.
As if he were betting everything on this one move, an appalling surge of internal energy was dragged upward. Unable to withstand the excessive pressure, blood burst from his nose as though a dam had broken, and from his eyes, where every tiny vessel had ruptured, streams of bloody tears ran down his face.
"Hraaaaaagh!"
From the claws in both hands, a force longer than three cheok burst outward.
Heoksi, now without legs and with the huge talons of qi exposed, looked much like a monstrous bird of prey diving toward its quarry.
He hurled himself over Chung Myung.
The eyes of Chung Myung, who had been blooming plum blossoms in full riot, suddenly went cold.
"Die!"
The ten claws spread wide left and right began to close in on him.
Chung Myung, taking a lower stance, lightly sprang backward.
And then.
BOOM!
With a small explosion, the bandages on Heoksi’s back burst apart, and four claws shot out from behind him.
The four claws immediately swept in wide arcs and cut off Chung Myung’s retreat, driving straight for his back.
Yet there was still not a trace of panic in Chung Myung’s eyes.
With his retreat sealed, he stepped forward instead. He twisted the line the enemy was aiming for by a fraction, then stabbed his sword into the body of the charging Heoksi more than ten times in an instant.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
And yet Heoksi did not retreat.
Though more than ten holes were punched through his torso in an instant, he instead kept advancing. Then he dragged the claws, now spewing qi longer than a human torso, left and right to seal off Chung Myung’s movements.
"Kuh!"
At this rate, his body would be torn to pieces.
Chung Myung charged into Heoksi’s embrace and forced his way in.
Slink.
The plum blossom sword pierced into Heoksi’s abdomen. The longer the claws had become, the more the advantage of short weapons was lost. If he could only get inside, he could evade the sweeping qi.
And then, in that instant—
Grab.
Heoksi wrapped his wiry arms around Chung Myung.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The four claws that came flying from behind Chung Myung finally pierced not Chung Myung, but Heoksi’s own arms, as though locking a padlock shut.
Chung Myung raised his head, eyes wide.
Heoksi was smiling, blood streaming from his mouth.
Skull technique?
The arms of Heoksi, holding Chung Myung in place, began to harden to an unnatural degree. Chung Myung tried to push him away by driving up his internal energy, but he couldn’t move a finger, as though he were shackled in chains forged from Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron.
"Kek."
Chung Myung shoved the plum blossom sword in deeper and harder.
Heoksi’s belly split open in a long gash, and his innards began to spill out. But even then, the hardened arms did not budge even slightly.
"Doesn’t work, does it? Kekeke."
Even while coughing up blood in great choking bursts, Heoksi laughed like a man drunk on delight. Then he shouted,
"Now! Kill him!"
Fwoooooosh!
The ground seemed to burst as a figure shot upward and flew toward Chung Myung’s back.
The last remaining Black Claw Unit member, who had hidden underground from the beginning until now, had been given Heoksi’s command and launched himself like a cannonball at Chung Myung’s back.
Swiiish!
A blue sword aura gathered on the pitch-black blade.
Chung Myung, who had turned his head reflexively, clearly saw the thin sword blade coming straight for his heart.
"Die!"
Chung Myung’s eyes flashed blue for an instant.
The thought was short, the decision instant.
CRUNCH!
He dropped his head and, without hesitation, bit into Heoksi’s throat. A chunk of flesh tore free, and blood gushed like a waterfall from the carotid artery that had been severed.
"Keuuk."
Taking advantage of the moment when the force strangling him had finally weakened a little, Chung Myung drove his shoulder into Heoksi’s chest.
Thoom!
His ribs caved inward, creating just enough space to swing his sword.
Shuaaaaaak!
He drew the sword out like a streak of light and severed Heoksi’s arm.
Then, after hurling Heoksi’s body away, he spun around and precisely caught the Black Claw Unit member flying at him.
The Black Claw Unit member’s eyes widened at the sudden change.
No, wait—
Shuaaaaaak!
The sword, swung with brutal simplicity, split the charging man clean in half.
Thud.
The body, cut neatly in two, lost all strength and crashed to the ground.
"...Haaah."
Exhaling roughly, Chung Myung clutched his pierced arm and walked toward Heoksi, who had fallen to the ground.
Step.
Standing directly before Heoksi, whose arms and legs had all been cut away, Chung Myung raised his sword and pointed it squarely at his throat.
"...You should never have climbed Mount Hua."
The light in Heoksi’s eyes faded rapidly.
But the emotion revealed there at the end was neither fear nor shock.
It was confusion.
"...Why?"
Even as he spoke, blood kept spilling from his mouth in thick gulps.
"Why isn’t the ambush... coming...."
That was when it happened.
Thud.
Three heads flew from somewhere and rolled across the ground.
Heoksi, trembling violently, turned his head and looked at the rolling heads.
"...The people you were looking for."
It was a woman’s voice.
From the darkened woods, Yu I-seol limped out, her martial robes soaked through with blood.
"...Sago? Why is Sago...?"
Yu I-seol looked at Chung Myung with a blank expression. Then, instead of answering, she jerked her chin toward Heoksi.
Chung Myung nodded and looked back down at Heoksi. Their eyes met—his cold, and Heoksi’s full of poison.
Puuk.
Chung Myung’s sword pierced Heoksi’s throat.
The gaunt body convulsed once, then went slack. His wide-open eyes were filled with confusion and despair until the very end.
Chung Myung withdrew the sword, sheathed it, and turned to Yu I-seol.
"...Why did you come all the way out here again?"
"Because I’m Sago."
Standing in the pouring rain, Yu I-seol looked quietly at Chung Myung as she spoke.
"Sago protects Sajae."
"...."
Chung Myung stared at her for a long moment, then let out a sigh.
"Your wounds? There should’ve been poison in there."
"It was different from theirs."
"...I see."
It seemed they had prepared not only the Black Claw Unit, but also other ambushers as well.
If he had assumed there might be more, and prepared others in advance, just in case Chung Myung managed to take in all the Black Claw members at once, then this bastard was truly disgusting.
If the ambushers had joined the fight while he was dealing with Heoksi, the situation would have become far more difficult.
Chung Myung looked down at the cooling body of Heoksi, then lifted his head.
"Let’s go back. We need to clean up Mount Hua."
"Right."
Chung Myung and Yu I-seol shot toward Mount Hua, neither waiting for the other to lead the way.