Life and Death Decision
Seok Geum-ryong launched his final attack, and this was no metaphor; he was truly coughing up blood as he threw everything he had into it.
Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique, driven to its absolute limit.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gat!
At that, the sword form that meant a greedy wolf began to rampage even more violently.
The result was immediate.
Shwaaak!
With a sound that sent a chill through the bones just to hear it, he finally succeeded in driving the Silver-Voiced Sword deep into Ma Gwan-pil’s lower back.
The time it took for Shadowless One Shin Dan-woo to turn his gaze away and for Seok Geum-ryong to land that superb strike was no more than the length of a single breath.
“Aaaagh!”
As the Silver-Voiced Sword sank in so sharply it seemed it would pierce straight through his waist, Ma Gwan-pil, the Mad Horse Elder, let out a savage scream.
In truth, it was a rare sight.
Ordinarily, a peak expert of Ma Gwan-pil’s caliber would possess not only formidable defenses but also protective qi.
And in fact, Ma Gwan-pil’s protective qi was by no means easy to break.
Except for one place: the back he had bent since childhood from illness.
Most people would naturally assume the waist was the harder, tougher part.
Even in his previous life, most who faced the Mad Horse Elder Ma Gwan-pil never dared so much as think of touching his waist.
His personality was vicious enough that if anyone did, he would retaliate with even more monstrous methods.
Yet in the past, Ma Gwan-pil had met an unexpectedly humiliating defeat at the hands of the Three Swords of Taiyi, a trio of wandering martial brothers who had brought him down.
The Three Swords of Taiyi were each outstanding experts at the Super First-class level, but still somewhat lacking against Ma Gwan-pil.
Even so, the reason they managed to reverse the battle was that the first and second brothers lured Ma Gwan-pil in while staking their lives, and then the third, resolved to die together with him, thrust blindly and indiscriminately at the one place that had been warped by rickets: the bent back.
In the end, Ma Gwan-pil was able to kill the first and second brothers, but he died absurdly at the third brother’s sword.
That unbelievable story spread widely through the Hebei martial world and came to be passed down like a legend: no matter how inferior the opponent, if they refused to give up to the very end, fortune might favor them and let them bring down a superior master.
“Grrk! You bastard! You basstard!”
Ma Gwan-pil staggered and trembled all over.
It was a miracle he did not collapse on the spot.
Then, desperately.
Chaaaat!
He gathered every last shred of strength and hurled out a furious strike at Seok Geum-ryong.
“Young Master!”
Shin Dan-woo had been pleased by the sudden reversal of the situation, but Ma Gwan-pil’s final struggle startled him into alarm.
If this continued, Seok Geum-ryong would sustain grave injury.
Whirrrrrr!
Indeed, the whip of the Scorpion Venom Whip coiled around Seok Geum-ryong’s right arm and seemed about to tear it clean off.
Even if I die, Seok Geum-ryong, I will take one of your arms with me!
Even with his back struck and split almost in two, Ma Gwan-pil did not hesitate to commit such vile cruelty.
With a single-minded refusal to die without taking someone with him, he dragged on the Scorpion Venom Whip with all his might.
“Hk!”
Seok Geum-ryong suffered intensely for an instant, then swiftly had a flash of insight.
If they continued this tug-of-war, he would lose his arm, and the scorpion venom smeared on the whip would also be driven into his body.
So he deliberately let the strength go out of him.
Whoosh.
The taut force that had seemed ready to rip his arm away vanished, and instead Seok Geum-ryong’s entire body was pulled toward Ma Gwan-pil.
“Die, you bastard!”
Ma Gwan-pil was so consumed by rage that he looked like a demon in his final agony.
Even a superb Super First-class expert like Shin Dan-woo froze in shock, and just as he was about to lock up on the spot.
Heaven-Returning Golden Needle Technique!
There was something Ma Gwan-pil had forgotten.
Seok Geum-ryong was not only an outstanding merchant and a gifted martial artist, but also a physician of great promise.
Papapapapat!
From the moment he let his strength slip, Seok Geum-ryong had already been preparing his golden needles with subtle care.
And as he drew closer and closer to Ma Gwan-pil, he unleashed the Heaven-Returning Golden Needle Technique as if he had been waiting for this exact moment, and the choice was devastatingly effective.
“Kuaaagh!”
With golden needles raining down across his entire face and, even more, concentrating on the weak point that was his back, Ma Gwan-pil let out a true death scream and expired on the spot.
If his death had been delayed even a little longer, Seok Geum-ryong’s right arm might have been torn away, or perhaps he would have died together with Ma Gwan-pil.
“Hah, haah.”
Seok Geum-ryong himself felt that a great crisis had passed over him, and as his breath finally filled his chest, he slowly exhaled.
“Young Master!”
Only then did Shin Dan-woo rush forward and loosen the Scorpion Venom Whip that still clung so stubbornly around Seok Geum-ryong’s right arm.
“Hah! Young Master! The venom from the Scorpion Venom Whip has... penetrated the arm!”
Shin Dan-woo looked at Seok Geum-ryong’s pale face, then at the way the color of his right arm had changed, and cried out in alarm.
This is bad...
The price for eliminating the Mad Horse Elder Ma Gwan-pil with even less manpower than the Three Swords of Taiyi was severe indeed.
Shin Dan-woo was exhausted, and Seok Geum-ryong’s arm had been poisoned into a dangerous state.
Pat! Papapat!
Fortunately, Seok Geum-ryong had studied medicine, and above all, Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil was, according to the original plan, supposed to have been in danger of being poisoned to death himself, which meant he had devoted enormous effort to antidotes and detoxification.
So Seok Geum-ryong took out his golden needle, bound the poisoned arm to keep the venom from spreading any farther, and then, without hesitation, swallowed an emergency restorative pill from his breast.
“The emergency measures are in place. The immediate danger has been put out, so now all we need to do is meet up with the people who took the waterways, or else the reinforcements dispatched from the main Seokga Manor residence.”
Seok Geum-ryong spoke to ease Shin Dan-woo’s worry.
It had certainly been a perilous moment, but with Seok Geum-ryong’s exceptional medical skill and response, they could afford a brief sigh of relief.
Still, if they kept being harried by pursuers or overexerted their inner power, the poison would undoubtedly continue to spread.
Though I took a serious injury, I brought down that monstrous Mad Horse Elder Ma Gwan-pil!
Seok Geum-ryong felt a small, private thrill at the miracle he had created, and rose to his feet with Shin Dan-woo.
“Understood. Then let us move quickly.”
“Right.”
At Shin Dan-woo’s urging, Seok Geum-ryong was about to set off when a thought suddenly struck him.
“What happened to the group that took the waterways?”
* * *
While the strongest expert of Jeokma-dang, the Mad Horse Elder Ma Gwan-pil, the Jeokma-dang Lord Gui Jong-ak, and the eldest of the Ten Red Horses, Golden Big Brother Jin Sa-jun, pursued Seok Geum-ryong, the remaining Ten Red Horses and the other men aboard the huge ship tried to give chase as well.
“We can’t keep running any longer!”
Jang Sam, the servant who had been luring them for so long, shouted in panic.
No matter that Jin Sa-jun and Ma Gwan-pil were absent, the enemy force still held the advantage over the waterways unit.
I can’t let them take the promissory notes from me so easily. If that danger comes, I’ll throw myself into the Hyehwa River and kill myself.
Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil had resolved that, in the worst case, he would sink together with the promissory notes that were as vital as his own life to Seok Geum-ryong’s faction.
“We have no choice. Let us resist to the end.”
Moon Spirit Swordswoman Im So-gun was the first to draw her sword and step forward.
“That suits me fine.”
Wol-papa stood firmly at Im So-gun’s side, lending her support.
The only fortunate thing was that the best expert of Jeokma-dang, the peak upper-tier master Ma Gwan-pil, whom even Im So-gun found troublesome, was nowhere to be seen.
“Most likely the chief steward Ma Gwan-pil and the strongest among the Ten Red Horses, Golden Big Brother Jin Sa-jun, went toward the Young Master’s side.”
Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae said.
The situation was not the worst possible, but Im So-gun, Wol-papa, and Yeo Gwang-rae had to fight while protecting Jang Sam and Gong Sang-pil, who knew nothing of martial arts.
Moreover, the enemy consisted of nine of the Ten Red Horses, along with a host of underlings, and by every measure they were clearly at a disadvantage.
“If running away is impossible... then let’s strike first.”
With those words, Moon Spirit Swordswoman Im So-gun unleashed a tidal wave of pressure that was on an entirely different level.
Especially over the water, the frigid yin force radiating from her martial arts sent shivers through many of the formidable experts among the Ten Red Horses.
“Stay calm! They’re few in number, and there are also unarmed noncombatants we must protect!”
Under Im So-gun’s fierce assault, it seemed as if the huge ship carrying Jeokma-dang might topple, but that did not last long.
They quickly regained their composure, and they were shrewd.
That was the moment the ingenuity of Ok Mun-gyeong, the second of the Ten Red Horses and the strategist known as the Sphere Seat Scholar, came to the fore.
“As slowly as possible! We don’t have to kill them!”
Ok Mun-gyeong was overflowing with composure.
In the end, everything will be decided by Lord Gui and the chief steward Ma.
That was what he believed, and so he considered the battle on the waterways to be merely incidental.
In other words, it would be enough simply to tie them down and keep them from reaching Seok Geum-ryong to serve as his guards.
“Damn it! We have to get to Young Master Seok Geum-ryong as fast as possible!”
“They won’t let us go!”
Under the relentless push and pull of Sphere Seat Scholar Ok Mun-gyeong’s pursuit, Jang Sam and Gong Sang-pil could only grow frantic and stamp their feet in place.
At this rate, should I charge in with Wol-papa and butcher them all?
Im So-gun was even thinking that much when, suddenly.
Shwaaaaaa!
Something unbelievable began to happen.
By then they had crossed beyond Shanxi and were nearing Hebei, and a massive warship was gliding gracefully along the waters of the Hyehwa River.
Without question, that ship had not been built for fishing, nor for any kind of mundane river work; it had been made solely for battle.
And from that warship, a single banner was fluttering high into the sky, emblazoned with the character Seok.
“Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived from the main Seokga Manor residence!”
Gong Sang-pil and Im So-gun, having spotted it, shouted with joy.
“Impossible!”
“It was almost cooked through!”
By contrast, Jeokma-dang drooped in despair.
The arrival of reinforcements from the main Seokga Manor residence meant that the plan to secretly dispose of Seok Geum-ryong and seize the 4,000-gold-tael promissory notes had collapsed into nothing.
Kwaaaaang!
The warship dispatched from the main Seokga Manor residence immediately surrounded the giant ship hired by Jeokma-dang and, before they had even properly exchanged blows, punched a huge hole in its side, robbing them of all will to fight.
“I, I surrender!”
In the end, Sphere Seat Scholar Ok Mun-gyeong gave up on everything and closed his eyes.
After Seok Geum-ryong’s group had held on stubbornly and doggedly, light was slowly beginning to break through the dark.
“We come from the main Seokga Manor residence!”
From within Seokga Manor, the second steward in charge of waterways and ships, Water Ghost Gongson Ban, stepped forward and waved toward Gong Sang-pil’s group.
“Steward Gongson! What in the world is going on?”
Gong Sang-pil asked, looking on in astonishment as Gongson Ban subjugated and captured Jeokma-dang’s men and their ship in an instant.
For he had assumed the main residence’s reinforcements would approach by land.
“Lord Seok Ji-sung, the Seokga Manor head, said this: if there was anyone sharp in Young Master Seok Geum-ryong’s group, they would surely choose the waterways. He also said that moving reinforcements by river was the fastest and most discreet option.”
Gongson Ban shrugged and smiled faintly.