Plum Blossom Swordsman, Have You Heard? (3)
“Wasn’t that incredible?”
“Incredible? That’s an understatement!”
The people speaking were flushed with excitement.
Of course, it wasn’t rare for martial artists in the martial world to test their skills against one another. But it was not often that they did so in broad daylight, under everyone’s gaze, while openly bearing the name of their own sect.
Having witnessed such a rare spectacle with their own eyes, they naturally had plenty to say.
“So that’s Mount Hua for you! Those Taehaeng Three Swords may not be much to look at, but they still have a fair bit of reputation in Hebei!”
“Oh, come on now! Taehaeng Three Swords? What’s so impressive about them? Compared to the disciples of a main mountain sect, they’re nothing!”
“And where would we ever get a chance to see the disciples of a main mountain sect? Those people are like immortals living in the heavens! For men like that, the Taehaeng Three Swords are already formidable experts!”
Ordinary people could go through their entire lives without ever seeing the face of a single disciple from one of the Nine Great Sects. So for someone to rise even to the level of the Taehaeng Three Swords was enough to make them a master in most places.
“And Mount Hua cut those men down with a single sword strike!”
“Did you see that dazzling sword qi? That must be the famous sword qi of Mount Hua people talk about these days.”
“Hmm. But it seemed a little different from what I’d imagined...”
“Different how?”
“I’d heard Mount Hua’s Maehwageomgi flutters like flower petals one by one, but what we just saw looked more like...”
“Nonsense, man! What’s with the ridiculous talk? Just because the Mount Potentate’s Swords of Pointing Sun say they can pierce the sun, do you really think they’ll actually drill a hole through the sun? And just because Hainan’s Long Wind Breaking Waves Sword is said to surge like waves, do you expect it to literally create waves?”
The man who rebuked him clicked his tongue as if he found the other hopeless.
“Martial arts are always exaggerated. Do you honestly think a human can wave a sword around and produce sword qi like flower petals? That’s just a metaphor that sounded nice.”
“Now that you put it that way, I suppose you’re right. That does make sense.”
“At the very least, it was definitely floral sword qi! Seeing it made me realize just how incredible Mount Hua truly is. Whatever else you say, they’re still a secular sect, and yet they took down three disciples of Jongnam with a single strike! If you ask me, that was no less than the skill of the famed Mount Hua Divine Dragon or the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua!”
“Hey, now! That’s going too far! The number one prodigy under heaven, the Mount Hua Divine Dragon? And the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua, who’s called the strongest of Mount Hua’s younger generation?”
“Hmm? Ah... yes, perhaps I did overstate it a bit. Still, the feat was so tremendous it deserved those names! What I’m wondering is why someone like that remained unknown until now.”
“I wonder about that too. It was certainly impressive.”
Everyone gathered in small clusters was busy chattering about the duel.
“And not only that, he was a hero too!”
“Exactly! I’d heard Mount Hua had acted heroically in Hebei, but I never imagined every one of their disciples would be so full of righteous spirit. They could have simply turned a blind eye and left without anyone knowing.”
“That’s why Mount Hua’s name is echoing across the world, isn’t it?”
At that, one man turned his head. It was Jinpyeong.
One of the people who had been excitedly talking all this time asked in surprise, “Why have you been so quiet?”
Jinpyeong’s face tightened slightly under the question.
“No, it’s just...”
After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke with awkwardness.
“He didn’t look like anyone I’d seen from Mount Hua.”
“Oh, come now. Because you happened to stop by Mount Hua for a little while, does that mean you’d know every disciple there?”
“No, it’s not that... It’s just that every sect has its own basic dress and its own atmosphere, doesn’t it?”
“Tsk tsk. Main sects have different clothes for wearing inside the sect and outside it. And Mount Hua is especially secular-minded, so when they’re out in the world, they even let their disciples wear comfortable common clothes.”
“That’s true, but...”
Jinpyeong reluctantly nodded.
He didn’t know Mount Hua all that well himself, so it was hard to say exactly what felt wrong. Still, an inexplicable unease kept gnawing at him.
“Ugh. Fine, maybe it’s just my imagination.”
“Tsk tsk. You fool, stop talking nonsense and use your head for once. Suppose that hero really was an impostor. Would Mount Hua just sit there and do nothing?”
At those words, Jinpyeong suddenly felt a chill crawl down his spine.
For a moment, he vividly saw in his mind the back view of the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, who could casually plant a foot in someone’s face without warning.
Right. If they know, they won’t stand for it.
A strong man is frightening. But a strong, crazy bastard is even more terrifying.
“R-right. Surely not.”
But what if there really was something wrong?
Then that man might well end up seeing hell while still alive.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Whoosh!
Jo Gul sprinted forward at full speed.
His body felt lighter than ever before.
That was only natural. In the past, he had always run while dragging a steel cart behind him. Whenever he finally thought he could rest, Chung Myung would drag him into sparring or some other nonsense and beat the living daylights out of him. And just when that all started to feel familiar, the bastard would sneak a foot out and trip him, then have the nerve to get angry about it...
I’m getting pissed off again just thinking about it. That damn bastard!
In any case, all the movement he’d done before had been ridiculous. But now there was no cart to drag, no load to carry—he only had to run on his own two feet. He couldn’t feel more liberated.
But... Jo Gul had come to realize something all over again.
The problem wasn’t the carts and the baggage.
The problem was simply moving together with that damn bastard.
“Haaah! Haaaah! I can’t go on... haah... ha!”
“That crazy bastard...”
“Hey! Stop! Stop right there! You bastard, I said stop!”
Baek Cheon, breathing so hard it seemed like his lungs were about to burst, finally kicked off the ground and threw himself forward. He grabbed Chung Myung by the waist from behind and clung on for dear life.
“What are you doing!”
Chung Myung whipped around, glaring with wide eyes.
Baek Cheon bared his teeth and shouted, “I can’t run anymore, you bastard! Are you trying to kill us?!”
“You call that a lot? Quit whining!”
“You lunatic!”
“Huh? Where’s Soso?”
“...She dropped behind early, so Yu Sago is carrying her.”
At that, Chung Myung craned his neck back and clicked his tongue with an expression of utter disappointment.
“Tsk. What’s the use of you all being so weak?”
“What was that, you bastard?”
“Who are you calling weak?”
“Say that again!”
“Good grief. Why are you all like this?”
He’d only meant to scold them casually, but Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, and Jo Gul were grinding their teeth with such savage expressions that Chung Myung flinched a little too.
For the three disciples of Mount Hua, being told they couldn’t fight was tolerable. Being told they were weak in stamina was not. That was an insult to all the training they had endured until now.
“You crazy bastard! Horses don’t even run like this!”
“Of course they should! What use are people who’ve learned martial arts if they’re slower than horses?”
“...Huh?”
Now that he thought about it, that actually made sense, didn’t it?
Jo Gul turned as if asking for help, only for Baek Cheon to let out a deep, exhausted sigh.
Why was this idiot refusing to use his brain more and more with every passing day?
“At this rate, we’ll collapse before we even reach Jiangxi. Then we’ll only waste more time, won’t we? I know it’s urgent, but calm down a little, you fool!”
“Do I look like I’m in any condition to calm down?”
Just as Chung Myung was about to say more, Yu I-seol arrived from behind with Dang Soso hoisted over her shoulder. She caught up to them in an instant and gently set Dang Soso down on the ground.
“Uuuuugh... Y-you bastard of a senior... I... ah...”
Even then, Dang Soso was still gripping the sword in her hand tightly, and Yoon Jong shivered for no good reason before rubbing his arms.
“See? Even Soso can’t keep up.”
“Tsk tsk. The Dang Family is done for...”
“What, you bastard... Ugh, I’m dizzy...”
Thud.
As Dang Soso collapsed again, everyone fell silent.
...She’s getting rougher by the day too.
She’s fainted, and she’s still holding onto her sword.
Baek Cheon looked at the girl, who still seemed completely out of it, and asked Chung Myung, “Why are we in such a rush? That guy isn’t going to run away just because he heard about us.”
“Right. And according to the branch master, he hasn’t caused any trouble so far, has he? If he were the type to make trouble, he’d have done it already.”
Yoon Jong added his support from the side. Chung Myung smiled faintly.
“Sasuk and sahyung have it good.”
“...Why?”
“Because you can live your lives without thinking.”
“...”
Chung Myung’s face twisted at once.
“Then, for the love of all things, do thieves send out advance warnings before they steal something? Do they show every sign ahead of time before robbing you? A swindler is always the most normal-looking person in the world right up until the moment he scams you!”
Well... that was true enough.
“If you wait until the scam happens and then catch him, it’s already too late! From the way this bastard acts, there’s no doubt he’s already standing by, ready to do something rotten at any second!”
“No, but how would you know that...”
At that moment, Jo Gul suddenly raised his arm high.
“I say we can trust Chung Myung on this one, a hundred times over!”
“Huh? Why?”
“People of the same kind recognize each other, don’t they? If that bastard’s eyes say he’s a swindler, then he’s a swindler.”
“That’s... actually convincing!”
Baek Cheon shuddered at the clarity of that answer, and then Jo Gul was kicked flying by Chung Myung while screaming in pain.
“You little—!”
“You already beat him up, and now you’re saying ‘you little—’?”
Chung Myung glared at Baek Cheon.
“Anyway, my instincts say this bastard has already done something. Do you think I’ve only seen one or two trash bags like him? I am not getting swindled again in this life!”
“...When were you ever swindled again?”
“I was, damn it!”
Chung Myung snapped his gaze toward Jiangxi and spat out the words through clenched teeth.
“I smell it. I smell it...”
“Then at least wash yourself a bit...”
“Kraaaah!”
Chung Myung swallowed his anger and ground out each word.
“One hour! We rest for exactly one hour. After that, we run all the way to Jiangxi without stopping, so keep that in mind! If you fall behind, I’m leaving you!”
Baek Cheon couldn’t help but sigh.
Forget swindlers—if this keeps up, that bastard will kill us first.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Grrr...”
“He hit... way too hard.”
“That damned bastard...”
Night had fallen completely, and darkness had settled over the mountain. Inside a ruined Guandi shrine in the hills, the Taehaeng Three Swords were tending to their injuries.
As they wrapped bandages around their torn flesh, they clenched their teeth so hard it seemed like they might crack them.
“Are we supposed to just let that guy get away with it?”
“It feels like I’m dying of pain, Big Brother.”
“Shut up!”
Gwa Hyeok-so, the leader of the Taehaeng Three Swords, shot a fierce glare at his two younger brothers. The two of them flinched and quickly shrank their necks back.
“No, it’s just that...”
“This is a bit much, isn’t it?”
“Tsk.”
Gwa Hyeok-so clicked his tongue and looked down at his shoulder. Seeing the dark red bruise spreading across it only fueled his anger all the more.
“That cursed bastard...”
They were still venting their fury over Jin Yang-geon when—
Thump.
Someone knocked on the door. The faces of the three men stiffened instantly.
But before any of them could react, the door to the Guandi shrine was suddenly thrown wide open.
“You...”
“You bastard!”
As soon as they recognized the figure standing at the entrance of the shrine, rage flared in the Taehaeng Three Swords’ eyes like a wildfire.
The person who had appeared in the shrine was none other than Jin Yang-geon, the same man who had sparred with them just moments ago.
Jin Yang-geon strode into the Guandi shrine in a white robe that swayed around his ankles.
The tension in the air rose to a dangerous peak, as though something might explode at any moment.
And then, in that instant—
“Hey, you bastard! We never said you could hit that hard!”
Ma Wi-ryang, the second brother of the Taehaeng Three Swords, shouted in outrage, and Jin Yang-geon responded with a broad smile.
“Haha. Of course. But thanks to that, didn’t everyone get thoroughly fooled?”
A triumphant, self-satisfied air spread across Jin Yang-geon’s face.