The Power of the Black Gold Pitchfork
“Carrying it like this works just fine.”
Ju Yu-ryeon, trailing after Yoo Eunhyeon, murmured in satisfaction. She, too, seemed quite taken with the Black Gold Pitchfork strapped to his back.
“But still, no matter how you look at it, it’s a pitchfork… Don’t you think it’s a bit unsuited for a weapon?”
Certainly, the Black Gold Pitchfork was something that, materials alone, could be called a masterpiece. Yet it was far closer in form to a pitchfork than any conventional weapon. It was only natural to wonder whether it could even be wielded as one at all.
“Not at all. If anything, the familiarity is a plus.”
Yoo Eunhyeon seemed entirely unbothered. Rather than gripping a sword or saber he had never used, he appeared far more at ease holding a pitchfork. Even so, Ju Yu-ryeon continued to look skeptical, so Yoo Eunhyeon unstrapped the Black Gold Pitchfork from his back and took it in hand.
“Want to see?”
Yoo Eunhyeon settled into a stance and lightly swung the Black Gold Pitchfork toward a nearby boulder.
The forms unfolded as he swung twice in a cross. Fragments burst upward from the intersection as if exploding. Before long, nine intersecting lines had been carved into the rock.
“Internal energy doesn’t scatter—it moves along with the natural energy.”
Just then a gust of wind blew through, parting the air between them.
“Once you learn to read the flow of natural energy, you can do things like this.”
Kwagwagwang!
The moment the wind brushed the boulder, a thunderous roar erupted as the rock split into nine pieces and crumbled away. Ju Yu-ryeon could only stare blankly at the shattered remains, as if she had lost the ability to speak.
Yoo Eunhyeon gave a quiet chuckle, secured the Black Gold Pitchfork once more, and turned on his heel.
“If you don’t follow, I’ll leave you behind.”
“…Hey, hey! Wait up!”
Ju Yu-ryeon wiped the drool from her mouth and hurriedly chased after him. All that remained in the spot they had left was the unrecognizable rubble of the thoroughly pulverized boulder.
Nearly a full shichen had already passed since they set out on the road.
Ju Yu-ryeon, who had been walking ahead while swinging her arms freely, suddenly stopped short and squinted as she peered forward.
“There’s someone there?”
At her words, Yoo Eunhyeon raised his head. Just as she said, a man sat against a tree trunk by the roadside. Having spotted the two of them as well, he straightened up and blocked the path.
“A bandit? But for a bandit, his face looks somehow familiar…”
Yoo Eunhyeon found the man’s restless, anxious manner somehow familiar. Yet the memory hovered just out of reach, nothing clear coming to mind.
At that moment, Ju Yu-ryeon seemed to recognize him first. She pointed at the man and raised her voice.
“That’s the guy! That Chukhobang Young Master!”
The one blocking their path was none other than Ho Won-jik, the Young Master of Chukhobang, who had faced Ju Yu-ryeon in a sparring match. Judging by his disheveled appearance, he had been waiting for the two of them for quite some time.
“What? Why is this guy here?”
“How should I know?”
Yoo Eunhyeon narrowed his eyes as he studied Ho Won-jik. From the look of things, he hadn’t come to pick a fight out of resentment over the spar. If that had been the case, he wouldn’t have come alone. Yet that only made it all the more baffling why Ho Won-jik was here at all.
Even after blocking the road, Ho Won-jik only mumbled without properly speaking, until Ju Yu-ryeon finally lost patience, frowning as she opened her mouth.
“Do you have business with us?”
At that, Ho Won-jik wordlessly pointed a finger at Ju Yu-ryeon.
“C-come with me.”
At Ho Won-jik’s proposal, Ju Yu-ryeon made an incredulous face, as if she couldn’t make sense of it.
“Hey. I thought that matter was already settled?”
“Th-that was only then!”
Ho Won-jik shouted, flaring up. A strange yearning rose in his eyes. He looked ready to snatch Ju Yu-ryeon away that very moment. Unable to watch any longer, Yoo Eunhyeon stepped in front of Ju Yu-ryeon and intervened.
“Just what is it you want from us?”
“I-if you hand her over quietly, I’ll spare your lives!”
Even as he stuttered, Ho Won-jik settled into a stance. At this point, a fight was unavoidable. Yet they could hardly kill the Young Master of Chukhobang either. Yoo Eunhyeon turned his head to look at Ju Yu-ryeon.
“What should we do?”
If even Yoo Eunhyeon didn’t know, there was no way Ju Yu-ryeon would have an answer. She shrugged her shoulders for all to see.
“H-how dare you lower your guard!”
In that instant, Ho Won-jik cried out sharply and charged at Yoo Eunhyeon. Yoo Eunhyeon managed to step back just in time and deflect the attack, but a few strands of his hair scattered into the air from the force of the knife-hand that had grazed past.
Yoo Eunhyeon let out a deep sigh as he looked at his severed hair. Ho Won-jik still held his stance, provocatively goading him.
“Looks like there’s no other way.”
Left with no choice, Yoo Eunhyeon unstrapped the Black Gold Pitchfork from his back. Now that he had a decent weapon in hand, he couldn’t deny a desire to test its power as well.
“Eunhyeon! You can’t kill him!”
Seeing him draw the Black Gold Pitchfork, Ju Yu-ryeon shouted urgently. Having just witnessed its power right before her eyes, she looked all the more anxious.
In response, Yoo Eunhyeon gave a small nod as if to say not to worry.
“I’ll only thrash him enough to knock some sense into him, so don’t worry.”
“H-hmph! Flaunting power with a mere pitchfork!”
Ho Won-jik snorted and unleashed his killing intent as he charged straight at Yoo Eunhyeon. Dodging the kicks that came at him with a sense of haste, Yoo Eunhyeon observed his movements.
The martial art Ho Won-jik used, the Consecutive Compression Heat Fist, was something Yoo Eunhyeon had already seen once during the spar with Ju Yu-ryeon. But watching from the side and facing it directly were entirely different. Each form Ho Won-jik unfolded drove in with a killing aura.
“Urgh!!!”
Even so, Yoo Eunhyeon was dodging Ho Won-jik’s attacks without much difficulty. The reason was simple. No matter how swift and sharp the attacks, they paled especially in speed compared to Cho-yeong, whom he had faced not long ago.
In the end, Ho Won-jik, unable to even reach Yoo Eunhyeon, raised a voice thick with frustration.
“I-I’ll see if you can dodge this too!”
At last, a massive amount of internal energy began to gather in the body of Ho Won-jik, who had been striking only empty air. His two legs, which had been moving flamboyantly, suddenly stopped, and he lowered his body as if collapsing on the spot.
At that moment, Ju Yu-ryeon, who had been gauging Ho Won-jik’s aura, widened her eyes and shouted urgently.
“Eunhyeon! It’s the Twin Surging Crushing Fist! Dodge!”
A form of the Black Water Sect that gathered power to the utmost and unleashed straight punches with both hands. Unlike the spar with Ju Yu-ryeon, the condensed aura beforehand was incomparably stronger this time.
Taat!
With a bitter smile, Ho Won-jik immediately kicked off the ground. In that instant, his bent body sprang up like a coil, and a kick exploded forth. It was a vertically rotating downward stomp. If it landed properly, it looked powerful enough to snap not only the jaw but the neck as well.
Kaaang!
Without hesitation, Yoo Eunhyeon raised the Black Gold Pitchfork high. Then, just as he would till a field, he pulled it down with all his strength, meeting the kick that had been surging up from below.
A heavy recoil transmitted through the Black Gold Pitchfork, but the weapon was no ordinary thing either. With Yoo Eunhyeon’s internal energy added, Ho Won-jik’s kick was forced back.
“Kraaah!”
But Ho Won-jik rotated his body right then and thrust both fists at Yoo Eunhyeon. As if he had been waiting for it, Yoo Eunhyeon reversed his grip on the Black Gold Pitchfork and this time swung it upward with force from below.
Kuuuung!
The Black Gold Pitchfork and Ho Won-jik’s twin fists collided head-on. An explosive shockwave burst forth in that instant, greatly agitating the surrounding air. Both of their bodies were shoved backward at the same time.
“Cough! Guh!”
After retreating several steps, Ho Won-jik finally dropped to his knees. The internal energy he had forcibly drawn up had scattered in an instant, completely tangling his breathing. A faint trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“Huu…”
In contrast, Yoo Eunhyeon stood in place and let out a long breath. He lightly shook off the Black Gold Pitchfork as if nothing had happened and secured it once more. Anyone could see that victory and defeat had already been decided.
“Having a good weapon sure makes a fight easier.”
But it wasn’t simply that Yoo Eunhyeon had swung the Black Gold Pitchfork. He had drawn in the flow of natural energy just a little and unfolded a small version of Explosive Vertical & Horizontal - Great Harvest.
A compact deployment that gathered and exploded the surrounding natural energy.
The sense of reading the flow of soil when tilling a field. For Yoo Eunhyeon, moving natural energy was not so different from that. And the pitchfork-shaped Black Gold Pitchfork matched that sense perfectly. As if he had taken up a long-used farming tool once more, the flow of energy followed his movements far more smoothly.
So that’s why the monk always carries a sword around. Mudong Hwanmu itself can be used with any weapon, but if you have a weapon you’re familiar with, you can handle it much more comfortably.
Muttering inwardly, Yoo Eunhyeon glanced at Ju Yu-ryeon, who had been watching from a step behind. At that, Ju Yu-ryeon approached Ho Won-jik, who lay collapsed and gasping for breath.
“Hmm… So what do we do now?”
Looking down at Ho Won-jik, who lay as if awaiting disposition, Ju Yu-ryeon stroked her chin.
“Should we seal his pressure points and tie him to a tree? Let the wolves tear him apart for good.”
Ju Yu-ryeon’s eyes gleamed as she recalled everything she had suffered at his hands. Of course, this was an entirely reasonable judgment. No one would welcome someone trailing after them from behind. Especially someone with the tenacity and obsession of Ho Won-jik—it was obvious he would become a nuisance.
At that moment, Yoo Eunhyeon, who had been lost in thought for a moment, shook his head.
“How about taking him with us instead?”
“…What?”
Ju Yu-ryeon’s eyes widened into circles. Yoo Eunhyeon’s gaze turned toward the fallen Ho Won-jik.
“Think about it. Someone of the Chukhobang Young Master’s level would know quite a bit of information. He’d know the shortcuts to the Demonic Cult as a basic. And since I’ve decided to disguise myself without using the Dark Dragon Pearl, bringing this guy along would be far more advantageous. We can use him for identity verification too.”
Ju Yu-ryeon’s gaze gradually changed. After thinking for a moment, she nodded.
“There wouldn’t be any loss in taking him along.”
Yoo Eunhyeon nodded in agreement as well. But soon Ju Yu-ryeon asked again.
“But will that guy listen to us obediently?”
“That’s why we need a plan.”
“A plan? What kind of plan?”
Smiling meaningfully, Yoo Eunhyeon crooked a finger toward Ju Yu-ryeon.
“We just have to coax him gently. Give him something in return.”