Prey of the New Moon
A blue gleam flashed in his eyes.
The wheel-shaped half-moon blades gripped in both his hands radiated a dense killing intent.
The Twelve Zodiac Assassins of the Yaweol Sect were infamous as the finest killers among the assassin sects of the Central Plains.
Realizing he faced an assassin beyond any hope of matching, Yeo Ju-gae sank into despair.
Damn it… hiring a New Moon Assassin costs at least a hundred nyang of gold, doesn’t it?
Even if the four of them joined forces, this was not an opponent they could defeat.
The hems of New Moon Assassin Noh Songbyeok’s robes brushed the ground.
“Yeo Ju-gae, it’s time for you to die.”
“Why are you trying to kill us?!”
“I have no business with a beggar of the Beggars’ Sect.”
Noh Songbyeok’s gaze shifted to Dokjeonhwa standing beside Yeo Ju-gae.
So the target really is the Cheonhwangdo!
Both Yeo Ju-gae and Dokjeonhwa understood at once that the New Moon Assassin’s true quarry was Dokjeonhwa.
Whoever commissioned the Yaweol Sect cannot be the same force that hired Salyeong.
Salyong had never come after him directly, yet the Yaweol Sect seemed utterly indifferent to whether he lived or died.
Dokjeonhwa understood completely now.
How foolish I was. I was the one who lit the fire.
The martial world of the Central Plains had merely pretended not to know. The man who had dragged the Cheonhwangdo back to the surface was none other than himself. Like hurling a massive boulder into still water, he had hauled the Baekcheon Blood Sect Incident—long buried by the Six Great Families—into the open and stirred a violent current.
A low, resonant hum rose as Yeo Ju-gae poured every scrap of strength into his Returning True Heart Art.
As a disciple of the Beggars’ Sect he knew better than anyone how terrifying a New Moon Assassin could be, yet he refused to simply stand and die. If the four of them fought together they would not be slaughtered outright.
“Wolyeonggwangheun, we must fight side by side, must we not?”
“Agreed.”
Unlike the Beggars’ Sect, Dokjeonhwa was certain that being dragged off by the Yaweol Sect would end badly for him. Hard as it would be, fighting alongside Yeo Ju-gae was the best path left.
He opened his Baekcheon Spirit Heart Art. Power flooded every meridian of his body. Inner energy surged from his dantian, racing along his pathways until his entire frame grew light as air.
The New Moon Assassin watched them and laughed.
“Hahahaha! Do you truly believe combining your strength will let you defeat me?”
“You will not find us so easy to handle.”
Yeo Ju-gae leveled his brown-stained dog-beating staff. His eyes met Dokjeonhwa’s.
First strike decides victory.
Dokjeonhwa understood at once and poured inner force into his sword.
“Hyaaah!!”
They attacked the New Moon Assassin in staggered succession. Yeo Ju-gae’s staff first tore wildly through the empty air; Dokjeonhwa’s blade followed in its wake, sealing every gap and driving the assault forward.
Noh Songbyeok watched the two men charge in perfect concert.
“Impressive coordination for a first attempt. But you have chosen the wrong opponent.”
A flash of light erupted. The curved edges of the wheel-form half-moon blades unleashed a blue killing radiance that sliced every direction around Noh Songbyeok with flawless precision.
“Impossible!!”
Yeo Ju-gae intercepted the blade qi screaming through the air and smashed the edge of a half-moon blade with the opening form of Yellow Dog Crouching Heaven.
“Not bad! Though you still seem to lack a true grasp of the form’s subtleties!”
Yet for some reason no real power flowed through the staff. Noh Songbyeok casually flicked the descending weapon upward.
A sharp crack split the air. The second half-moon blade shot through the gap between the raised staff and Yeo Ju-gae’s body, carving across his chest.
“Guh!”
Yeo Ju-gae staggered back with a choked groan. Had he not twisted at the last instant, the cut would have been fatal.
Dokjeonhwa seized that single opening.
Now.
The sword of the Baekcheon Sect was a blade of speed, devoted entirely to the mysterious principles of the Light Sword. He detonated every ounce of power stored in the weapon and moved with explosive swiftness, sword qi blazing around him.
A thunderous boom rolled out—his strongest possible strike.
But—
Hhk…! Damn it…!
The tip of his sword met nothing at all. The figure of Noh Songbyeok before his eyes had simply vanished.
Too fast!
A movement art that surpassed even the swift sword. Before he could check his surroundings he felt a presence bloom behind him.
“Waiting for an opening, you crafty rat. But you are still far from ready to kill me.”
Death itself saturated the New Moon Assassin’s voice.
Twin flashes of light. Dokjeonhwa saw the twin-moon-shaped extreme blade qi rushing toward him yet could not move.
“Aaaaargh!!”
The wheel-form half-moon blades scraped both his shoulders. Dokjeonhwa screamed in agony.
“Master!”
Jeong Cheong cried out at the sight of Dokjeonhwa collapsing, but Yaweol Sect assassins blocked his path on every side. Seol Jo fared no better—already encircled.
Dokjeonhwa’s shoulders sagged; the sword slipped from his fingers. At last he sank to the ground.
“Heh. Not entirely stupid, it seems. Wait there while I finish the rest.”
Noh Songbyeok left him alive and issued orders to his subordinates.
“Kill the others.”
Yaweol Sect assassins rushed to butcher Jeong Cheong and Seol Jo. Yeo Ju-gae threw himself in their path, but already wounded he could barely react to their coordinated assault.
“Haaah…!”
A death-rattle escaped him as strength drained from every limb. Dokjeonhwa, looking almost resigned, stared blankly toward Jeong Cheong.
Jeong Cheong…
“If you want to die, come on!!”
Jeong Cheong roared at the charging assassins until his throat threatened to tear. The mad light in his crimson eyes made even the killers flinch for an instant. Escape, however, remained impossible.
It was the moment everything seemed lost.
“Heh… heh… heh…”
Yeo Ju-gae, soaked crimson from head to toe, let out a guttural laugh. In his hand gleamed a thunderbolt bomb.
“New Moon Assassin… did you think I would die so quietly? When this detonates, everything within ten jang will vanish!”
Noh Songbyeok’s brow furrowed as he watched the reeling beggar approach.
“You mean for us all to die together?”
“Exactly!!!”
Yeo Ju-gae staggered to Dokjeonhwa’s side. The instant their eyes met, he hurled the bomb to the ground.
“You mad bastard!! Fall back!!!”
Noh Songbyeok sprang away and took cover.
A colossal explosion roared. White smoke billowed in every direction, blotting out all sight.
“Damn beggar scum…”
At length Noh Songbyeok rose from hiding. What Yeo Ju-gae had detonated was not a thunderbolt bomb but a white-smoke bomb. Nothing could be seen through the dense white cloud.
Only after the smoke thinned did he finally spot Yeo Ju-gae still barely on his feet.
And the other one?
He scanned swiftly, yet the form of Dokjeonhwa—who should have been lying on the ground—was nowhere to be found.
Yeo Ju-gae already knew none of them could survive.
“Heh… heh… things will not… go as you wish…”
Thud.
A round object dropped in front of Yeo Ju-gae.
Damn him. This time it’s the real thing.
A thunderous blast tore outward. Where Yeo Ju-gae had stood, nothing remained—only scattered fragments of the man himself.
“Damn it…”
Noh Songbyeok scowled. Flying shrapnel had struck his waist. He had raised protective qi, yet the sudden surprise left the defense incomplete.
“Find Wolyeonggwangheun! He cannot have fled far!”
“Yes, sir!”
Yaweol Sect assassins vanished in every direction at once.
“What about this one?”
The New Moon Assassin turned cold eyes on Jeong Cheong, still locked in a standoff amid the remaining killers. Seol Jo already lay a cold corpse on the ground.
“Capture him alive and send him to the main sect. It has been a long time since I saw such pure madness. He will make excellent material.”
“As you command.”
Noh Songbyeok’s expression remained sour.
Unexpected. That the beggar would help him… Still, in that condition he will not last long.
“Huuu…”
Uncheon finished circulating his energy and exhaled a long breath.
There was no doubt: a powerful reserve of inner force lay hidden within his dantian. Until now he had practiced nothing but the family’s ordinary heart methods, yet the Boundless Heavenly Palace Art had never been able to climb past the sixth star. He possessed abilities different from other people, true—but he had never imagined he also carried this buried strength.
But… something feels off. Just now I completed the minor heavenly circuit perfectly and slipped straight into the greater circuit.
By the standards of the family arts such a thing was impossible.
“It’s welcome, of course… yet not knowing the reason is frustrating. It might even strain my body.”
He could hardly rush off and ask his father or the other elders simply because something felt strange. If he told them an odd power simply resided in his dantian, would they even believe him?
“They would only look at me strangely. Hmm… nothing for it. The force flowing through me is clearly that of the Great Flame Heavenly Palace Art, so it should not cause problems.”
While circulating energy he had confirmed the strange truth: it was unmistakably the Great Flame Heavenly Palace energy.
“First I must find a way to draw out the power hidden in my dantian whenever I wish.”
He decided to practice whenever free time allowed, rose from the bed, and stepped outside. The tidy garden’s modest landscaping soothed his mind.
A middle-aged man hurried over the moment he sensed Uncheon’s presence.
“Young master, you have risen?”
“Ah… you said your name was Hwa Jong, correct?”
“Yes, that is right. But you may simply call me by name.”
“No. You are considerably older than I.”
Hwa Jong had spent twenty years with the Chungui Sun Family and had seen Uncheon on previous visits, yet this was the first time they had spoken face to face.
A loud growl rose from Uncheon’s stomach. He grinned.
“Uncle Hwa Jong, I’m starving—can anything be done about that?”
“Ah, yes. I shall prepare something at once, but…”
Uncheon already knew what the man was about to say.
“I will eat first and then pay my respects to Grandfather. I’m so hungry I can hardly move. Heh.”
“Haha, very well. I shall have it ready quickly.”
“Thank you!”
Hwa Jong hurried off to arrange the meal. In the meantime Uncheon sat on the veranda and gazed at the distant sky. Far away the heavens were darkening as though storm clouds were gathering.
“Looks like rain.”
Sure enough, half a stick of incense later a torrential downpour began to fall.
The old man in white scholarly robes was neat and full of quiet dignity. Sun Heo regarded his maternal grandson Uncheon with kindly eyes.
“Did you eat well?”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“The journey here must have been hard. Traveling alone from Mount Huang is no simple matter.”
“Not at all. It was not difficult.”
“Then I am glad.”
Sun Heo felt proud of the boy who had come all the way to Hefei by himself.
“Yet I hear you met with danger on the road.”
Sun Heo had already heard the rumors of Blue Stream Sword Fragrance that had spread even to Hefei.
“It was nothing. Please do not worry.”
“Hohoho. I married my daughter into a martial family, and now even our own house has produced a martial artist.”
He looked Uncheon straight in the eyes. Though the corners of those eyes were thick with wrinkles, the light within them still shone brightly. Uncheon met his grandfather’s gaze without flinching.
Grandfather has deep eyes as well. Yet unlike that other man, I can still read what he is thinking.
Once again Uncheon realized how unusual the man named Po-ui—whom he had encountered upon entering Hefei—truly was.
Sun Heo silently marveled. Very few people could meet the light that flowed from his own eyes and remain unmoved.
He faces my gaze and is completely unshaken. This child is no ordinary boy.
A pleased smile touched Sun Heo’s lips.
“You are eighteen now. Do you have any ambitions for the future?”
“First I intend to leave the family.”
“To become a great man one must step into the greater world—that is only proper. Heh. And what is the highest goal every martial artist desires?”
“Mm… for a martial artist, is it not to become the greatest under heaven?”
“Indeed. Then, since my grandson is a martial artist, do you not wish to become the greatest under heaven yourself?”
“I have thought of it once or twice. But it is no easy thing.”
“A man ought to carry at least that much ambition. I know it is not easy, yet if one keeps desiring it in one’s heart, again and again, one day a human being can achieve it.”
“Yes. I will always keep Grandfather’s words in my heart.”
“Hohoho.”
While they smiled together Uncheon asked something that had been on his mind.
“Grandfather, do you know a man named Po-ui? He said he was of the Yeoyang Po Family.”
“How do you know of Po-ui?”
“I happened to meet him on the road into Hefei. He seemed to know Mother well.”
“He studied under me long ago.”
“It may have been only my impression, but he did not seem fond of this place.”
“Heh. Of course he would not be fond of it. You are an adult now, so there is no harm in knowing. He was in love with Yu Hwa, who studied alongside him. But Yu Hwa never returned his interest.”
So that was why he acted so childish…
Uncheon nodded at the unknown story.
“To be honest I still cannot understand why Mother liked Father. Father does not seem the sort of man a woman would fall for.”
“Hohoho. In truth I felt the same. Strangely enough, your mother was just like him. She was always more interested in martial arts than in reading books.”
Even though his grandson was fully grown, Sun Heo still found him endearing and laughed heartily.
“Ah, so that is why she chose Father… Did Po-ui care for Mother a great deal?”
“So it seems. At the time he was so heartbroken he nearly refused food and drink.”
“A tearful love triangle… If a man loves a woman, I suppose that much is only natural.”
“Hohoho! And does my grandson have a young lady he favors?”
“Not yet.”
“Fate is something Heaven bestows. When the time comes, she will appear.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
Uncheon still felt no interest, yet answered respectfully. Perhaps because he could already read women’s thoughts, none of them held any mystery for him.
Just then Sun Heo lifted a wooden case from beneath the table and set it before Uncheon.
“Open it.”
“Yes.”
Uncheon opened the case and examined the object inside.
This is…
It was no scholar’s waist sash but a sword belt of the kind a martial artist used to hang a blade at his hip. Marks of age showed here and there, yet they only made the belt look more antique and refined than any newly made piece.
“A sword belt…?”
“It is a relic left by the founder who established the Chungui Sun Family here in Hefei. According to the final will he left upon his death, the belt was to be given to the first martial artist born of our house. At last I can fulfill that will, and I am glad.”
“In two hundred years not a single martial artist appeared in the family?”
“In truth our bloodline is said to be poorly suited to cultivating martial arts. Your mother was the first of our house to marry into a martial family, so you may be called the very first martial artist born to us.”
“How strange.”
“Try fastening it at your waist.”
Uncheon reached into the case and took hold of the sword belt.
A soft vibration. The moment his fingers closed around it, an intangible energy seemed to flow through his hand and into his body.
I can feel energy… coming from the sword belt itself.