Plum Blossom Swordsman, Have You Heard? (2)
Gulp.
A heavy silence fell, so still that one could hear someone swallow dryly. Inside the tavern, now filled with a cold quiet utterly unlike the earlier commotion, the eyes of those watching the scene glittered with interest.
Mount Hua and Jongnam.
Anyone who knew the relationship between those two sects couldn’t help but be intrigued, and even those who didn’t know would have found it impossible to look away from two men facing each other with drawn swords in broad daylight.
“You bastard!”
Just as Gwa Hyeok-so, the leader of the Tae-haeng Three Swords and the Wanri Sword, lunged forward with a growl, ready to pounce on the man, the latter lifted a hand.
“Wait a moment.”
The man who had drawn his sword waved lightly. Then he looked around and spoke.
“I have no objection to crossing blades here, but swords are blind. I’m simply concerned that others might get hurt.”
“…….”
“What do you say? If we’re going to settle this with swords, wouldn’t it be better to move somewhere a little more spacious?”
“This brat…….”
Gwa Hyeok-so bit down on his lip.
Because of that sly tongue, they had been made to look like thugs who swung swords without caring who else was around. In the first place, it should have been the disciples of the prestigious Jongnam who argued the matter first.
“Fine! But you’re not suggesting we go somewhere deserted where no one can see, are you?”
Gwa Hyeok-so sneered openly.
“I’m not about to forgive you just because you kneel and beg where no one can see.”
“Haha. As if I’d do such a thing.”
The man glanced down through the window.
“Down there should be a suitable place to exchange swords. What do you think?”
The Tae-haeng Three Swords exchanged glances and nodded.
“Anywhere is fine.”
“Hmm. Then.”
Without the slightest hesitation, the man stepped onto the sill, sword in hand. And then he jumped out the window.
“Ah!”
“W-wha—!”
The patrons gasped in shock.
“Th-this is the seventh floor!”
“He jumped from there?”
They hurried to the window and looked down. But what met their eyes was not a mangled corpse, only a perfectly intact man standing below, gazing up at them.
“Come down.”
At his clear voice, everyone clicked their tongues.
To leap from such a height and still remain completely unharmed was proof that the man’s martial skill was by no means ordinary.
The Tae-haeng Three Swords thought the same, and their expressions hardened.
“Hmm.”
They looked back and forth between the stairs and the windows, then bit their lips faintly.
“Go!”
“Yes!”
Gwa Hyeok-so, in the lead, hurled himself out the window without hesitation. His two brothers followed right after him.
“Oh!”
“L-let’s go down!”
Those filling the tavern rushed down the stairs in a crowd.
Thud! Thoom!
The Tae-haeng Three Swords landed on the ground.
They could barely stop their faces from contorting in pain.
Ghk.
The impact sent a stabbing numbness through their legs. Their insteps ached as if torn open, and their ankles throbbed so badly it was hard even to stand properly.
But they couldn’t show weakness here.
Forcing their bent knees straight by sheer effort, the Tae-haeng Three Swords glared at the man opposite them.
They had only jumped from the tavern, yet the shock had been enough to make it difficult even to use footwork. And yet there wasn’t the slightest sign of strain on that man’s face.
So he isn’t just all mouth?
Gwa Hyeok-so drew in a breath and spoke.
“What is your name?”
“My name?”
“You may be a nameless nobody, but surely you have a name. Or are you a coward who can’t even give his own name?”
“Hahaha.”
The man laughed loudly once and shook his head.
“There’s no need to provoke me like that. I hide nothing. My name is Jin Yang-geon.”
“What is your lineage?”
“Hmm?”
Gwa Hyeok-so’s eyes turned cold as he stared at Jin Yang-geon.
“If you’re a disciple of Mount Hua, then you must have a lineage rank, mustn’t you?”
“Haha. Why would that matter?”
“……What?”
Jin Yang-geon idly swayed his sword like a fan.
“If my lineage rank is higher than yours, would you bow your head and apologize?”
“…….”
“Or if my lineage rank is lower, would you use it to press me down?”
“You bastard…….”
Jin Yang-geon shook his head with a look of pity.
“Whatever my lineage rank may be, it won’t make what you did right. So why bother discussing it?”
“No, I—”
“The important thing is whether your actions are unjust! Whether they are without the Way! I, Wi Mo, am not the sort of man who turns injustice into righteousness based on a man’s lineage!”
When he shouted with force, the people who had gathered around them were already applauding with moved expressions.
“That’s right!”
“I don’t know who that man is, but he’s only saying the right things!”
Gwa Hyeok-so’s face twisted horribly.
He had only wanted to know the man’s lineage rank. Yet with that one remark, the Tae-haeng Three Swords had become men so lacking in confidence in their own ability that they tried to crush an opponent with status alone.
That bastard!
He didn’t know what had been smeared on that tongue of his, but the man was quickly and skillfully dragging the mood to his side.
“Brother.”
“I know!”
Realizing painfully well that there was no point saying anything more, Gwa Hyeok-so lifted his sword and pointed it at Jin Yang-geon.
“I see your tongue is dangerous. I only hope your sword can follow even half as well.”
At that, Jin Yang-geon looked at Gwa Hyeok-so sideways and shook his head.
“You look like the sort who comes in threes?”
“Don’t be afraid, boy. As if we’d ever gang up on an immature pup like you? I’ll take you on myself, so go dry your pissing pants.”
“No, the opposite.”
Jin Yang-geon smiled faintly.
“One of you won’t be enough. Come at me all three at once.”
“……What?”
“You don’t seem to understand. I said you alone won’t be able to handle me, so come at me together with your brothers.”
Jin Yang-geon lowered his drawn sword and looked at it quietly.
“That way, it’ll at least be a little more interesting.”
Gwa Hyeok-so’s face turned scarlet in an instant.
“So now you’re making excuses before you lose! You think it’ll go the way you want?”
“You’ve misunderstood. I, Jin Yang-geon, am a man who knows what’s proper. I would never make excuses that I lost because you were three, while claiming I could have won if you’d been alone.”
Jin Yang-geon straightened his shoulders with complete calm.
“I only wish to give you a fair chance. That is the natural courtesy one should observe as a swordsman.”
“You little—! Even the main disciples of Mount Hua wouldn’t dare spout such nonsense before us……!”
“Of course. I’m not an ordinary disciple of Mount Hua.”
“……What did you say?”
Jin Yang-geon’s smile deepened.
“Have you heard of the Plum Blossom Swordsman?”
“……Plum Blossom Swordsman?”
“If you didn’t know, then know it now. Know what the Plum Blossom Swordsman is.”
The sword in Jin Yang-geon’s hand, leveled straight ahead, caught the light.
“Through this sword.”
“…….”
Gwa Hyeok-so, rage surging to the crown of his head, ground his teeth. At that moment, the brothers standing behind him cut in with cold voices.
“Brother. Since he’s talking like that, let’s grant his wish!”
“There’s no reason for us to refuse! We should make that greenhorn realize just how terrifying the jianghu really is!”
Gwa Hyeok-so nodded in agreement.
“Fine, let’s do it!”
Once the eldest brother gave the order, the younger brothers stepped forward and took positions to his left and right.
“You brat! It won’t help if you regret it later!”
“I know nothing of regret.”
“You bastard!”
Killing intent blazed in Gwa Hyeok-so’s eyes.
The crowd that had gathered like clouds held its breath and watched the standoff. The atmosphere kept rising, the tension growing so thick it seemed blood might spill at any moment.
Breaking the short silence, Gwa Hyeok-so shouted, “Teach him a lesson!”
“Yes!”
“Y-you bastard!”
The Tae-haeng Three Swords charged at Jin Yang-geon all at once. Even Gwa Hyeok-so, who looked somewhat heavyset at first glance, closed the distance in a blink with lightning speed.
They were proving through their movement technique why they had earned fame as the Tae-haeng Three Swords.
But even seeing that horrifying speed, Jin Yang-geon made no special response. Even when the sword swung by Gwa Hyeok-so was nearly at his head, he merely stared at it blankly.
“Gasp!”
“Th-thi—!”
The more timid spectators had already squeezed their eyes shut. It seemed they could already picture Jin Yang-geon’s head split cleanly in two.
Then—
Claaang!
At that instant, a sharp metallic ring rang out, and the Tae-haeng Three Swords, who had rushed in together, staggered back all at once.
“……Y-you bastard…….”
Gwa Hyeok-so’s eyes flew open wide.
Jin Yang-geon had knocked aside not only his sword, but also the blades of the brothers attacking from left and right, all in a single strike.
“Hmm.”
Jin Yang-geon shook his head slightly, displeased.
“To bully others with only that level of skill. Jongnam has grown far too arrogant.”
“H-how dare you mention Jongnam with that mouth?”
“Watch closely.”
Jin Yang-geon thrust his sword forward.
“This is what it means for a sword to follow the proper path. This is Mount Hua’s sword.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Jin Yang-geon’s sword began to divide.
The onlookers widened their eyes.
“Th-that…….”
The sword, which had multiplied into dozens in an instant, did not stop there. It swelled further and then began spewing white and red sword qi in all directions.
The surrounding area was instantly filled with Jin Yang-geon’s sword qi. The red and white blades of energy were dazzling, like a field of flowers bursting into bloom in a riot of color.
“Th-that!”
“That’s Mount Hua’s Plum Blossom Sword Art!”
Those who had heard of it shouted one after another.
As if answering that expectation, the blossoming sword qi all burst at once and surged toward the Tae-haeng Three Swords.
“Wha—!”
Gwa Hyeok-so’s face turned deathly pale. It was as if the whole world had been filled with sword qi.
Before he even had time to think of resisting, that countless sword qi swept across the entire bodies of the Tae-haeng Three Swords.
“Aaaagh!”
“Aaaagh!”
Cries rang out.
The magnificently blooming sword qi scattered through the air, and what remained were the three members of the Tae-haeng Three Swords collapsed on the ground.
Shiiing.
Jin Yang-geon, his face slightly pale now, sheathed his sword and said quietly to the fallen men, “It seems Jongnam doesn’t teach that one must not bully others through force. But Mount Hua will never tolerate such conduct. Remember this: a sword does not exist to flaunt oneself, but to protect the weak.”
A brief silence followed. Then, after a moment, thunderous cheers erupted from every direction.
“Woooooah!”
“Amazing!”
“Mount Hua! As expected of Mount Hua!”
“So Mount Hua Sect’s reputation across the four seas isn’t for nothing! He looks like a man straight out of a painting!”
Jin Yang-geon gave a light wave to the surging cheers, then walked over to Jin Pyeong.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah…… Yes! I’m fine.”
Jin Yang-geon smiled warmly.
“Good. If anything’s wrong, come find me anytime.”
“Y-yes! Thank you so much, great hero!”
“Then.”
Jin Yang-geon gave a casual cupped-fist salute, then turned without the slightest lingering attachment and began making his way through the crowd.
Even then, cheers and praise continued to pour down on him without pause.
Amid the fevered atmosphere, a tiny flicker of doubt crossed Jin Pyeong’s face.
Something feels a little different…….
Compared with the Mount Hua disciples he had personally seen, everything from the atmosphere to the man’s manner was clearly different somehow. A faint sense of mismatch remained lodged in one corner of his mind.
No, surely not.
There was no way someone with that much skill would be impersonating Mount Hua. Surely not.
But Jin Pyeong didn’t know.
He didn’t see the fleeting, almost imperceptible smile that brushed the corners of Jin Yang-geon’s mouth as he left the arena behind and slipped out through the crowd.