Escort
What? What was that? What just happened?
I’d only tried to catch the man’s sword with the Golden Dragon Body, reinforced by the qi wrapped around my hands and the Iron Body Weight-Adding Force.
What was it again? Where had I seen it? Anyway, I’d once seen someone clap their hands together and trap a blade between them.
It felt like it should work. I’d already deflected swords a few times, so I’d taken a shot, trusting my perfected external arts.
But what was that explosion?
Well, maybe it wasn’t really an explosion. There’d been no flames or anything.
Just a violent impact in front of my face, and then everything went flying.
The burned pavilion went flying. So did the man who’d thrown his sword at me.
All that was left was me, hands still clamped around the blade as if I’d meant to stop it all along.
And, a moment later, the collapsing rafters overhead and the few pillars still standing.
At least my clothes and body were intact. That was a relief.
There was ash, sparks, and smoke swirling everywhere, so it was hard to make sense of anything, but I was fine.
If my clothes had torn, that would’ve been a problem. It probably would’ve been a total disaster.
And then I saw the crowd staring at me from a distance.
Every last one of them had their mouths open as they looked at the man who’d just been blown away.
If there was one thing I’d learned while traveling with Geukseon, it was how to stay calm and collected no matter what happened.
Geukseon was exceptionally good at that sort of thing.
Honestly, if there were a poker-face contest or a contemptuous-stare contest, she should probably be handed the trophy before it even started.
So I, too, brushed off my sleeves and walked toward the man who’d gone flying, acting as if nothing had happened.
He was lying on the ground, unconscious, both arms bent at impossible angles.
The same man I’d seen at Mangeum Trading Company last time. He’d attacked me then, too.
Well, this worked out nicely. Since I’d caught him, this was my chance to find out why he’d targeted me.
So I moved closer and thought for a moment.
I needed to press his acupoints. Could I even do it properly?
Binding the limbs of someone who knew martial arts was stupid.
Even if I did it, I’d have to seal the acupoints first.
Block the flow of inner energy. Only then would tying up his limbs actually mean anything.
The problem was that I’d never really pressed acupoints properly before.
I’d seen it done plenty of times. Been on the receiving end, too.
But I’d never actually tried it myself.
In other words, I was a hack. An untrained hack who’d never received proper instruction or practical experience.
Still, now was the time to press his acupoints.
So I was going straight into the field. No time to hesitate.
Right. Actually, this worked out perfectly. This bastard had tried to press my acupoints last time, hadn’t he? I could just do the same thing back to him.
I flipped the collapsed man over.
The back of his neck. The very spot where I’d been hit.
I gathered my inner energy in my hand and struck there.
“Ghk!”
Huh? He woke up?!
I must have used too much force. This should’ve knocked him out if it was the right pressure point.
Instead, I’d woken him up. But… something about the man’s movements was off.
“Urgh. A-ah—agh.”
He was making these awful groans and trying to thrash, but his body wouldn’t move right, so he just trembled helplessly.
For some reason, I had a very bad feeling about this. Was he… going to die like this?
I was fairly panicked, but I didn’t let it show.
Like I’d done it on purpose. Like this had all been part of the plan.
I just stood there, calm as Geukseon herself.
Then I spotted the beggar I’d entrusted with the candied fruit earlier.
He was staring this way with wide eyes, trying to understand what had just happened.
Probably because he was part of the Beggars’ Sect, huh? He looked like he wanted to memorize every detail of the situation, not missing a single thing.
“You there. Could you go to the Murim Alliance and bring someone over? If they act indifferent, just mention Geukseon’s name.”
“Huh!? A-ah, yes, understood!”
At that, the Beggars’ Sect disciple shot off toward the Murim Alliance with a delighted expression.
Was he too happy about it? Was getting dragged into this kind of situation actually fun for him?
It sure looked that way. Maybe he’d have a good story to tell afterward?
Anyway, since he was from the Beggars’ Sect, his lightness skill was no joke.
As expected. That was a movement art honed through running away, pursuit, and errands. He was only a junior disciple, too, and even then he could move like that.
Since I couldn’t move the suspect until someone from the Alliance arrived, I just stood there and watched the acupoint-stricken man.
The man who’d been groaning only trembled in place, but he didn’t seem to get any worse.
Good. If he died like this, that’d be a headache for me, too.
I had a lot of questions for him.
Especially why he’d attacked me twice. That was something I absolutely had to ask.
The problem was whether he’d answer easily.
As I waited, I replayed what had just happened.
What still bothered me most was why that huge shock had occurred in the first place.
Of course, I had a guess. I’d read plenty of martial arts novels, not to mention all sorts of other novels and games, so I had some idea.
It was probably because of the Purple Sunset Divine Art in my left hand and the Ice Soul Divine Art in my right. What else could it be?
The Purple Sunset Divine Art was an extreme Yang internal art. The Ice Soul Divine Art was an extreme Yin art, second to none in that regard.
The clash of Yin and Yang. The resulting shockwave. That was the most plausible explanation by far.
I’d never really thought about it before, but by pure coincidence, the two had collided when I grabbed the man’s sword with my palm.
And the way to test that theory was simple. Just do it again.
I gathered a tiny amount of Purple Sunset Divine Art in the index finger of my left hand. In the index finger of my right, I gathered an equal amount of Ice Soul Divine Art.
Then I lightly pressed the two fingers together, just like before.
And there it was—that resistance. Since I’d only gathered a minuscule amount of inner energy, I could feel just enough repulsion to make my fingers want to spring apart.
Seeing that, I finally understood the shock from earlier.
This much force, from so little qi?
I almost smiled without meaning to, but now wasn’t the time, so I forced myself to hold it in.
I couldn’t just grin like an idiot in a place like this.
However happy I was, there were too many people watching for me to look dazed and foolish.
So I kept my joy to myself and waited for help.
I hoped they’d hurry. At the beggar’s earlier running speed, he should already have reached the Murim Alliance by now.
Still acting aloof, I kept stealing glances at the man.
He was still trying to move his body, but failing miserably.
But wait—he should still be able to talk, shouldn’t he? I hadn’t hit his speech acupoints or anything.
Was he… okay?
I wasn’t worried about the man who’d kidnapped and attacked me. The problem was what would happen if he couldn’t speak.
I had a lot to ask him. If he couldn’t talk, that would become a real pain in the ass.
Just as I was worrying about that, someone came running from far away at incredible speed.
And the figure looked incredibly familiar. Uh… wasn’t that Geukseon?
“Child!”
Before I knew it, she’d flown up to me and was checking my face and body with both hands.
I think this was the first time I’d ever seen her look so flustered.
She looked as shocked as if her own child had been caught in some kind of accident, and she was hurriedly checking every inch of my body.
“Why did you come, senior? Weren’t you supposed to stay inside the Murim Alliance?”
“Hmph! And who on earth do you think has the right to order this one around!?”
Geukseon spoke with full confidence, her usual tyrannical attitude intact.
But I knew better. She’d come all this way even though there could be consequences for her.
She’d probably rushed over the moment she heard I’d been attacked.
“Thank you, senior.”
As soon as I said that, Geukseon’s icy, composed expression returned.
But I’d already seen the panicked look she’d had a moment ago, so now that stern face only seemed cute.
Ugh. I must be losing my mind. Why did I keep thinking this woman was cute?
“This one?”
Maybe Geukseon was a little embarrassed by her own behavior, because she pretended not to know anything and asked in a composed voice.
But even that was cute. Was I seriously going crazy?
“Ah, yes. But I pressed his acupoints… or maybe struck them? Anyway, he seems a little strange now.”
At my words, Geukseon frowned slightly and examined the man.
She touched him lightly with her fingertips, then tilted her head.
After studying him for a long while, she pulled her hand back and looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
“Just what exactly did you do to twist his vital energy so thoroughly?”
“Uh… I pressed his acupoints?”
When I answered uncertainly, Geukseon let out a long sigh.
Ugh. So my amateur acupoint press had made the man weird after all. Was he all right?
In any case, a few more people soon arrived, apparently having followed Geukseon here.
They wore the Murim Alliance’s uniforms. They were probably from the Patrol Hall.
After hearing the full story from me, they grabbed the collapsed man by both arms and hauled him upright.
“This one has much to answer for. Treat him with the utmost severity.”
Geukseon spoke with a sharp, chilling expression, and the patrol members responded with a hearty “Yes, ma’am!” before taking the man away under escort.
“Come along.”
Then Geukseon spoke to me, and just as I was about to follow her, I hurried over and picked up the candied fruit basket that had been left behind.
“I should take what’s mine. Want one?”
When I said that, Geukseon looked at me like I was an idiot.
Well, fair enough. This wasn’t exactly easy to picture—Geukseon walking down the road while eating candied fruit, was it?
For that to happen, it would probably have to be the day the Heavenly Demon God, the Blood Cult Leader, and the Leader of the Evil Alliance all gathered at the same table with the Murim Alliance Leader to sign some kind of peace agreement for the martial world.
Actually, even then, there was no guarantee Geukseon would do it.
When we returned to the Murim Alliance, the Alliance Leader was standing at the entrance.
He looked at Geukseon as she came back in and immediately began scolding her.
“Yeong-ok! I told you plainly not to leave the Alliance grounds!”
“What do you mean? Do you think the Alliance Leader would have just sat around if something like this had happened!?”
The Alliance Leader had no comeback for that. He clicked his tongue, then quietly looked away.
After that, he turned back to Geukseon and spoke in a deliberately grave tone.
“Let us not speak of this further! But from now on, you must never defy the Alliance’s orders over something so trivial!”
“Trivial? Alliance Leader, did you just call this trivial!?”
Geukseon answered in a sharp, biting voice.
Just from this, I could tell exactly how she usually lived her life.
What was she, some kind of headbutting dinosaur? Why was she charging even at the Alliance Leader, who was clearly taking her side?
“Senior, please don’t do that. Alliance Leader, this is all my fault. I’m sorry.”
Unable to help it, I stepped in between them and stopped Geukseon while apologizing to the Alliance Leader.
He didn’t seem inclined to argue with Geukseon any longer, so he accepted my apology and quietly left.
“Talking about other people’s business so carelessly… tsk.”
Geukseon muttered something else under her breath, and I led her back to the lodging.
Whatever else happened, she followed along faithfully enough.
Once we were inside, I took out a piece of candied fruit and offered it to her.
“Here, eat this. Sweet things are supposed to help you feel better.”
“Even in a situation like this, you still blurt out such shamelessly carefree nonsense?”
“Oh, come on. Just eat it already.”
At my urging, Geukseon finally took the candied fruit in her hand.
Then, with obvious reluctance, she brought it to her mouth, as if she were eating it only because I’d given it to her.
In the end, though, she ate three pieces. By then, it seemed like her anger had mostly cooled.