Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Tearing Down (4)
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An eye-blindingly fast swift sword.
This was unmistakably reminiscent of the symbol of the Loyal Ghost Sword, Yang U-ryang.
"You... you're the Lo, Loyal..."
Moyong Yo, whose throat had been pierced, stared at Yang Hui-gun, wanting to say that this was the return of the Loyal Ghost Sword Yang U-ryang, but it was too late.
The moment Yang Hui-gun withdrew his sword,
Kuuuung!
Moyong Yo tumbled backward and breathed his last.
Moyong Yo, the steward of the Moyong Clan and a renowned swordsman representing the clan, known as the Curved Whirling Sword.
For a man of his fame and skill, this was an utterly ridiculous and pathetic death.
"Steward Moyong!"
"Father!"
Moyong Gwi and Moyong Jin-hui, witnessing Moyong Yo's sudden death, cried out in shock with screams of dismay.
The Moyong Yo they knew was not the type to collapse after a single counterattack or one mere technique.
'No way! Even if I fought Steward Moyong, it would take over a hundred exchanges to win!'
Moyong Gwi was too shocked to even close his mouth.
Moyong Gwi's current skill was at the upper peak realm, while Moyong Yo was at the initial peak level.
Even so, Moyong Gwi had to fight with utmost seriousness and through a fierce battle to emerge victorious. Who could have imagined that even if caught off guard and underestimated, his throat would be pierced in a single strike?
"You wench!"
Having suddenly lost her cherished foster father, Moyong Jin-hui tried to sprinkle poison on Yang Hui-gun and poison him, just as she had done when capturing him in the past.
She had long since lost her composure.
She hadn't even realized that such petty poison was utterly ineffective against the current Ghost Shadow Sword Yang Hui-gun.
Srraack!
As a result, Yang Hui-gun succeeded in turning the two key figures who had deceived and helped abduct him into guests who would never return.
Yang Hui-gun, famous around Dome Green Mountain for his gentle nature and caring watch over those around him.
That gentle demeanor was the exception, at least for today.
'Now I understand why Lord Heavenly Demon trained me so rigorously.'
Having exacted his own revenge with his own hands, Yang Hui-gun came to comprehend the Heavenly Demon's profound intent.
It wasn't just about making his right hand strong. True revenge was most exhilarating when done personally, without borrowing others' hands.
"Steward Moyong! Jin-hui!"
As indispensable key personnel from the current Moyong Clan fell one after another, Moyong Gwi could no longer endure it.
"You dare invade the Moyong Clan and slaughter our people, thinking you'll get away unscathed?"
Moyong Gwi bellowed in fury, then shouted,
"Warriors of the Moyong Clan! Draw your swords and protect the clan's prestige!"
The very man who had trampled the clan's prestige like dog food had the gall to say such things.
Chaeng! Chaeng!
With the patriarch's order given, the confused Moyong Clan warriors drew their swords without hesitation and closed in, tightening the encirclement.
Their numbers reached hundreds, a sight that even made the Ghost Sword Manor side falter for a moment.
"Wouldn't it be better to save your lives rather than your prestige?"
At last, the Heavenly Demon Gunryong stepped forward.
The Heavenly Demon faced the onrushing hundreds without a hint of fear or intimidation.
'When I dreamed of conquering the Central Plains, what were hundreds? Even facing thousands or tens of thousands of warriors, I felt no fear.'
Far from fear, he had been so exhilarated and amused that his military advisor and left hand, Sima Hui, had warned him to maintain his dignity.
To such a Heavenly Demon, this was mere child's play.
-Dark Shadow Thunder Strike!
The Heavenly Demon raised the Heavenly Lord Demon Dragon Sword, shrouded in the Nameless Veil, and swung it toward the charging Moyong Clan warriors as if he had been waiting.
Then, the technique Dark Shadow Thunder Strike from the Dark Sky Thunderclap Sword Art descended—thunderstorms crashing down from dark shadows—striking before the hundreds trying to interfere with Yang Hui-gun's vengeance.
"Kwaaaagh!"
"Aaaagh!"
The Heavenly Demon's words about prioritizing lives over prestige were no light jest.
The price for brushing off that golden advice was gruesome.
Those who passionately led the charge in loyalty to the Moyong Clan collapsed dead or critically wounded without exception.
Some might question if the Heavenly Demon's hand was too heavy, or why strike at subordinates instead of Moyong Gwi himself.
But the Heavenly Demon thought differently.
'I clearly warned them. Those who value their lives, step back.'
They ignored the warning by their own choice, charging because they trusted the Moyong Clan's name to crush him.
From the moment they pointed swords at him, the Heavenly Demon cared not if they were friends or even family.
"Huff! Haaah!"
Seeing the Heavenly Demon single-handedly halt hundreds of warriors, Moyong Gwi could barely breathe.
The warriors from Liaoning, Hebei, and Henan who had gathered to celebrate his sixtieth birthday were the same.
Most were around first-rate, so the rampaging Heavenly Demon must have seemed like a heavenly god.
"Amitabha, Amitabha!"
Even Jong-woo, the Small Buddha Sword, a lay disciple of Shaolin with considerable skill, was stunned.
He had started by watching amusingly, subtly leaning toward helping the Shaolin-friendly Moyong Clan, but then?
From the Ghost Shadow Sword Yang Hui-gun's appearance, things had far surpassed what he could handle.
How could he even remonstrate the Heavenly Demon?
'To stop that one, at least the Four Great Vajras—no, the Shaolin Abbot himself would need to come!'
Among the warriors Jong-woo had seen, the absolute best was the Shaolin Abbot.
Yet the Heavenly Demon's display now shattered that belief.
A single sword, a single technique.
With that alone, the Heavenly Demon halted the encirclement and advance of hundreds of Moyong Clan warriors.
'As expected of my lord!'
Watching the Heavenly Demon solidly backing him up, Yang Hui-gun swelled with pride.
With the Heavenly Demon, conquering the Central Plains seemed no dream. He now understood why his ancestor, the Loyal Ghost Sword Yang U-ryang, harbored ambitions of Central Plains conquest.
"Wh-who exactly are you?"
Moyong Gwi felt honorifics slipping out involuntarily as he asked the Heavenly Demon.
"Me? Just... well..."
The Heavenly Demon suppressed the urge to declare himself the Heavenly Demon and continued.
"Someone with many grudges in the Central Plains and a bit too nosy, I suppose?"
"Such..."
Moyong Gwi was at a loss for words at the unexpected reply, when
"Moyong Gwi! We can't let Moyong Clan warriors spill blood and die for one man's mistake!"
Moyong Jeon, a collateral bloodline warrior who had once vied with Moyong Gwi, the Myriad Sword Scholar, stepped forward.
He despised and wanted to kill the One Sword Myriad Changes Moyong Gwi who had imprisoned him instead of fair succession competition, but Moyong Jeon had his own love and concern for the Moyong Clan.
"To the esteemed warriors of Ghost Sword Manor whom I respect and admire... This Moyong Jeon, soon to scatter into the earth, has a request."
Moyong Jeon withdrew his murderous glare at Moyong Gwi and bowed to the Heavenly Demon, Yang Hui-gun, and the Ghost Sword Manor members who had saved and persuaded him.
"Like it or not, this is my home and homeland. If my testimony has helped you, please consider it and... instead of completely destroying the Moyong Clan, punish Moyong Gwi."
Swipe!
Moyong Jeon even prostrated his frail body on the ground.
In other words, spare the Moyong Clan entirely and execute only the criminal mastermind, Moyong Gwi.
And not just a request.
"If you punish only Moyong Gwi, the clan that loses its patriarch will be my responsibility... For failing to restrain the patriarch, we'll accept the clan's fault: seal the gates as long as Ghost Sword Manor demands, and promise material compensation."
Moyong Jeon understood Ghost Sword Manor's rage and feelings better than anyone.
Having spent his youth locked in the Moyong Clan's underground prison for decades, how could he not?
But what he meant was simple: let only the guilty bleed.
Of course, the clan bore guilt for not controlling the patriarch, so he boldly promised sealing and reparations.
"What nonsense about guilt..."
The Heavenly Demon had wanted to smash it all, but Yang Hui-gun felt gratitude toward Moyong Jeon.
"I remember Hero Moyong Jeon's voice. During the days I endured brutal torture, when I pondered ending it myself rather than lingering, a voice came from not far in the underground prison."
Yang Hui-gun closed his eyes, reminiscing.
A voice that had shattered his resolve to die.
-Young man.
Try to endure somehow.
Endure and endure again, and good days will surely come.
That weary, aged voice had lifted him up.
Its owner was none other than Moyong Jeon.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Yang Hui-gun survived to meet the First Heavenly Demon thanks to him.
"If Great Hero Moyong Jeon wishes it, so be it. But!"
Yang Hui-gun was loyal and sentimental but knew to separate public and private.
"Moyong Gwi is absolutely unforgivable. And you must keep the promise to seal the gates."
With the Moyong Clan that swallowed Liaoning's hegemony sealing its gates, who would benefit most?
None other than Ghost Sword Manor, led by Heavenly Demon and Yang Hui-gun, rising anew—it was a foregone conclusion.
"Of course. I stake my life, honor, and all I have left."
Tears streamed down Moyong Jeon's face in gratitude and apology to Yang Hui-gun and the Heavenly Demon for granting his excessive request.
Why do the guilty not weep, while those innocent who try to clean up do?
No one could answer that question.
"One Sword Myriad Changes Moyong Gwi. Did you hear that?"
Yang Hui-gun approached the trembling Moyong Gwi with heavy steps.
"Ha, hahaha!"
Moyong Gwi panicked briefly, then burst into laughter mixed with myriad emotions, realizing he had little left.
"Fine, want to duel me? Me, the foremost in Liaoning, the supreme sword of Liaoning?"
Moyong Gwi knew Yang Hui-gun's skill had grown far stronger, having dispatched Curved Whirling Sword Moyong Yo so easily.
Still, deep down, he harbored this thought.
'With the incomplete Ghost Sword Manor techniques, even revived, you can't beat our clan's arts!'
He had coveted the Loyal Ghost Sword's arts out of a warrior's greed for perfection.
But he believed the Moyong Clan's swordsmanship was strong and valuable enough.
"Good. As the knot is tied, I shall untie it myself."
Moyong Gwi stepped forward boldly.
Fighting that monster-like Heavenly Demon was out, but against Yang Hui-gun, he had hope of victory.
"But... if I win against Young Hero Yang Hui-gun, what then?"
Even in this situation, Moyong Gwi sought a path to survival.
Sneer!
The Heavenly Demon chuckled at the absurd remark.
"What do you mean? Then you die by my hand."