Chapter 7
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Wicked to Hell
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“Where are you going?”
Seong Hwi blocked my path.
“This is dangerous. You should stay and protect the main house.”
“I will go with you.”
Seong Hwi took a step forward, insisting.
“Why? I told you it’s dangerous.”
“At the very least, I won’t be a burden. I’m confident I can take care of myself.”
The words ‘With skills like yours?’ almost slipped out.
Seong Hwi had only just reached the first-rate level.
It was a time when the world seemed easy, and for that very reason, it was the most dangerous.
I thought for a moment.
First, I needed to break Seong Hwi’s sky-high confidence.
The followers of the Black Snake Pavilion would use all sorts of despicable methods.
In that respect, Seong Hwi was a liability.
“Let’s spar. Try to last just one move.”
“That much, I can do.”
Seong Hwi drew his sword with a confident expression.
He had always been stronger than this body's previous owner and had been training relentlessly, so perhaps it was a natural reaction for someone his age.
I slowly drew my sword and took my stance.
As I focused my full power, Seong Hwi flinched at my aura.
“Here I come.”
I immediately unleashed the Lightning Flash.
*Swish.*
As my sword surged forward with a sound that ripped through the air, Seong Hwi hastily raised his sword to block.
But my sword was faster.
*Slice.*
I slowly sheathed my sword, clasped my hands behind my back, and stared at Seong Hwi.
Seong Hwi, who had stumbled back a few steps, turned pale when he saw the front of his tunic fluttering, torn in three places.
He realized that if I had used just a little more force, his body would have been sliced vertically into three pieces.
“Well?”
“I-I didn’t know the Young Master’s martial skill was this great.”
“Will you still follow me?”
“Yes. I will act with caution.”
For a moment, my eyes narrowed.
The clever Seong Hwi before me understood my intentions at once, even without me saying a word.
*Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to take him along,* the thought crossed my mind.
“If you disobey my orders, I won’t let it slide. You may follow only if you intend to obey me completely.”
“Understood.”
Seong Hwi replied immediately.
Following behind me, he tilted his head in confusion.
He had been completely different lately, but today was especially so.
Seong Hwi found himself shrinking back from the fighting spirit that flowed from me so naturally.
*Was the Young Master always this formidable?*
While Seong Hwi changed his clothes, I met with my father and received permission to go out.
I didn't bother mentioning anything about dealing with the Black Snake Pavilion.
When I came out with permission, Seong Hwi was waiting in black martial arts attire, his expression firm.
I gave a slight nod and left the estate with Seong Hwi.
After walking for several days, we arrived at a place called Soga Village on the outskirts of Jeongju Prefecture.
Soga Village was Jeongju's most prominent slum, a place so poor and its people so rough that even the prefectural officials were reluctant to enter.
As a result, Soga Village, which was already rough and lawless, became an even more crime-ridden area.
“So a place like this existed.”
As Seong Hwi walked through the filthy back alleys, showing his surprise, I gave him a cold warning.
“It’s not too late. If you’re not confident, go back.”
“I will go.”
“Then don’t show any complaints. Focus your mind. You never know where a hidden weapon might fly from.”
“Understood.”
As my voice grew heavy, Seong Hwi’s tension heightened.
I raised my senses to their peak and walked slowly.
With my former power as the Alliance Leader, I could have found the enemy without much effort, but now, my internal energy was lacking, so I had no choice.
After circling Soga Village a few times, I took Seong Hwi to an inn to stay the night.
Once in the room, I immediately got some paper and drew a map of Soga Village.
“Look carefully. Our target is this house with the red gate. It’s located at the very end, and the only way out is through this single passage. When I strike and go in, you hide here and take care of anyone who comes out.”
“By ‘take care of,’ you mean…”
“Kill them.”
“B-But.”
“But what?”
“There may be truly evil men, but there might be others who aren’t. We should subdue them first and…”
“You’ll die if you do that.”
I scoffed.
Even after living for eighty-two years, I can’t guarantee I can perfectly distinguish between an evil person and one who’s just pretending.
And a novice like Seong Hwi thinks he can? What a joke.
You might show mercy and spare a few innocent people, but most of the time, that’s how you get killed.
When they attack from the shadows wearing the mask of a kind face, novices fall for it every time.
The biggest mistake novices make is having illusions about the martial world.
How many good people could there possibly be in a vicious human trafficking organization like the Black Snake Pavilion? I shook my head.
“I’ll say it again. If you don’t intend to follow my orders, go back. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Understood.”
In the end, Seong Hwi agreed to my instructions.
“Then, Young Master, you intend to go inside and handle everyone yourself?”
“That’s right. Don’t worry. I’m far stronger and more experienced than you think.”
Seong Hwi just swallowed dryly and didn’t ask any more questions.
While he had been training diligently at the clan estate, this body’s previous owner had been roaming around constantly.
So it made sense that he would be experienced, and having witnessed his martial skill firsthand, Seong Hwi had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Seong Hwi was under the mistaken impression that I had been living a double life.
That while I paraded around as a scoundrel, I was actually making painstaking efforts, hidden from the eyes of others.
“Get some sleep. We leave at dawn. We’ll be wearing masks, so be prepared.”
“Understood.”
I quietly sat in a cross-legged position, circulated my energy to fill my core as much as possible, and fell into meditation.
I pictured how I would fight in my mind.
In my time as the Alliance Leader, once I reached the pinnacle, I had no one left to spar with.
With no martial artist daring to properly receive my sword, I ended up sparring with imaginary opponents through solitary meditation.
It was difficult at first, but it became easier the more I did it.
I created virtual opponents out of the many powerful fighters I had faced, and eventually, I made myself the target of my own sparring.
After a calm meditation, I opened my eyes.
Seong Hwi, seemingly too nervous to sleep, was wide awake, quietly watching me.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
I led Seong Hwi out of the inn.
The night was deep, the lamps that had lit the houses were extinguished, and Soga Village was plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Only the faint moonlight allowed one to distinguish shapes.
As we neared our target, I felt a murderous aura.
An aura I hadn’t felt during the day.
I ignored it and kept walking. As we approached the target, three fierce-looking martial artists blocked our path.
“Who the hell are you…”
Before the man in the center could finish his sentence, my sword pierced his heart, and he fell, dead.
“Kill him!”
Only then did the men on either side attack in unison.
Without dodging, I lowered my body, closed in on the man to my left, and slashed both his knees with my sword.
At the same time, his blade grazed past my head by a hair's breadth.
The right-hand man’s blade flew toward my back.
Just as the blade was about to pierce my back, my body dropped low.
“No!”
The man with the slashed knees couldn't dodge the blade.
*Thwack.*
The man on the right, horrified, quickly pulled out his blade and turned his head, but what awaited him was my merciless sword.
He collapsed, clutching his neck with his left hand.
Red blood poured from his throat.
“Take care of it.”
Without waiting for Seong Hwi’s reply, I leaped into the building.
As I opened the door and entered, a huge axe came flying at my head.
If I continued forward, the axe would smash my skull.
But my choice was to advance.
I actually picked up speed and dropped low, and the axe grazed past, cutting a few strands of my hair.
And my sword slashed his right side.
“Keuk.”
I sent the head of the man staggering and clutching his side flying, killing him instantly, and moved on.
Hidden weapons flew at me.
*Clang, clang, clang.*
I lightly swung my sword to block them, and more came from the opposite direction.
I focused my mind and deflected all the hidden weapons.
In the darkness, my ten years of internal energy weren’t enough to clearly identify the weapons, but I used sound and sensation to knock them all away.
When the barrage of hidden weapons stopped, I began my counterattack.
I rushed like a thunderbolt toward the man who had thrown the weapons from the left.
A red line of blood was drawn across the neck of the man who was hastily trying to draw a dagger.
I immediately threw my body to the right.
*Swish, swish, swish.*
More hidden weapons flew.
As I deflected the weapons with light swings of my sword and closed in quickly, his face filled with horror.
*Slice.*
And so, the two men who had been throwing hidden weapons were dead.
“Hoo.”
I gasped for breath.
In my days as the Alliance Leader, I could fight for hours without getting breathless.
Then again, I had sixty years of internal energy back then, and now I only have ten.
I had used my internal energy as sparingly as possible, but I’d already spent two years’ worth.
Now I had eight years left.
They must have known there was an intruder, yet the inside was quiet.
I held my sword and slowly walked inside.
As I entered a narrow corridor, a murderous aura flickered.
*Thrust.*
I plunged my sword straight into the dark wall.
“Gak.”
A scream.
One of them fell.
Without hesitation, I ran down the narrow corridor.
Then, those who were hiding revealed themselves.
Four first-rate masters.
I drew upon my internal energy and unleashed the Lightning Flash.
I had to conserve my energy, but I had no choice.
*Shwaaaaaa.*
When I unleashed it with all my might, it made a hair-raising sound.
“Kuaaaargh.”
“Geohuk.”
In an instant, three of the men’s bodies were split vertically as they collapsed.
“A-A monster.”
I turned and sent that man’s head flying.
Now, five years left.
I took a deep breath and walked slowly.
I opened the luxurious-looking door at the back.
In the center was a large drinking table, around which sat five half-naked women and one man who looked like a well-honed sword.
Trembling with fear, they served him drinks, clung to his body, played instruments, and danced.
He glanced at me and then took a drink.
I recognized him at once as Gwirangja, the master of the Black Snake Pavilion.
“Strange.”
He set down his cup and glared at me, and a sharp energy pierced my body.
He was a peak master.
He must have grasped my condition at a glance.
“How did you break through this far with such meager internal energy?”
“Because it was a surprise attack.”
I deliberately emphasized the surprise attack to make him let his guard down.
But his eyes remained calm.
“Even if you defeated the men outside the gate and just inside with a surprise attack, it’s hard to believe you killed the ones in the corridor the same way. Pour the drink.”
“Yes.”
*Tremble, tremble.*
The woman was shaking so much she spilled the drink.
“Please forgive me.”
*Thwack.*
Gwirangja brutally murdered her.
All the while, his eyes never left me.
A wicked smile spread across his face.
“I’ve lived for fifty-three years, but I’ve never seen anyone like you. You’re young, yet you seem seasoned. You’re weak, yet you seem strong. But that precious life of yours ends today.”
*Shing.*
He finally drew his sword.
It was a masterwork blade.
I could tell just from the sound.
I slowly raised my internal energy.
I had to make him, a peak master, careless and finish him in a single move.
Otherwise, I would be the one to fall.
This was also why I hadn’t attacked him when I entered the room, even though he hadn’t drawn his sword.
If my full-power Lightning Flash failed to kill him, I would die.
“Shall we see what you’ve got?”
He approached arrogantly.
I focused on the tip of his sword, his shoulders, his feet.
Despite his arrogant expression, he wasn’t careless.
A sharp blade flew straight at me.
*Clang, clang.*
I countered him, using the minimum amount of internal energy.
His sword was cruel, vicious, and heavy.
My wrist throbbed, but I gritted my teeth and endured.
“Not bad.”
A sound of admiration escaped Gwirangja’s lips.
“It’s a wonder a martial artist like you exists. But you will die today.”
A murderous glint appeared in Gwirangja’s eyes.
Seeing that killing intent, I sensed that an opportunity would soon come.
I now had three years of internal energy left.
I would bet everything on this single exchange.
“Die!”
Power flowed into his hand, and for a moment, an opening was revealed.
Having fought me until now, he thought he had a firm grasp of my skills, which gave him a sense of ease and naturally caused him to put more force into his body.
This was the chance I had been waiting for.
“Lightning Flash!”
*Shwaaaaaa.*
A Lightning Flash of absolute speed, on a completely different level from the sword path I had shown until now, unfolded.
We stood with our backs to each other, having swapped places.
“Y-You… Wh-Who are you?”
Gwirangja trembled as he barely managed to speak.
“The Grim Reaper.”
“Son… of a… bitch.”
“Die. The only place for a villain like you is hell.”
*Splurt.*
His body split vertically into three pieces.
“Aaaaaah!”
The women in the room screamed in unison at the gruesome sight.
I pressed their acupoints to put them to sleep.
*Thump.*
Completely exhausted, I collapsed to the floor.
I extended my senses, but I couldn’t feel any other hidden martial artists.
Anyone who could deceive me would have to be a peak master.
Since I had no way to fight back if one appeared now, I boldly began to circulate my energy.
After a few major circulations, half of my internal energy was replenished.
I slowly stood up.
Now, I planned to search the house thoroughly and take every last bit of the dirty money Gwirangja had amassed.
I would take every single coin he had earned through filth.