Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Truth Behind the Rumors
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Right at this moment—
The Plum Sword Gang leader, Geon Ho-rak, had been counting down the days to this one.
He had endured a long period of patience just to reach today.
Blood must be repaid with blood.
Just as the dead cannot be brought back to life, once blood is spilled, it can't be gathered up again—that's how vendettas form.
That's why some people respect martial artists and the jianghu, while others fear them.
It was understandable why the common folk shunned places like bottomless pits, Avici hells, or the realm of hungry ghosts, where the stench of blood never ceased.
'Heh.'
Geon Ho-rak stared at Seo Mun-ha's back as he strode ahead, expending considerable effort to suppress his laughter.
The jianghu was a place where people lived, after all.
There was a view that it was a den of blood ghosts who struck first with swords at the slightest provocation, but that wasn't the reality.
Even among the unorthodox paths, there were agreed-upon rules.
Unspoken codes.
Though alliances and doctrines were loose, beneath the law of the jungle lay countless struggles for interests, ensuring at least a minimal line was drawn.
Thud.
Suddenly, killing intent surged within Geon Ho-rak.
'Considering all the hardship this bastard put me through!'
Looking back, it had taken an eternity just to set foot in the Seo Mun Clan manor.
His emotions surged wildly as he stepped forward, each footfall reminding him of the years gone by.
He had officially visited the clan once.
Counting the times he'd sent subordinates, he'd wasted countless steps, not to mention all the spying. But the clan's consistent stonewalling left him baffled every time.
On top of that, they called him the son of the clan leader himself, yet Seo Mun-ha's actions—burdened with vendettas—defied all common sense.
In the end, the Plum Sword Gang had lost warriors without uttering a single protest, reduced to a toothless lion.
Their reputation had plummeted to the dirt.
Afterward, even powerless commoners began subtle acts of defiance, and he'd even been ambushed by some mysterious master.
Crunch.
Geon Ho-rak, turned into a laughingstock, had sharpened his blade shuttling between those two unresolved matters.
In a way, this was a chance for a comeback.
With no leads on the killer using the hand-seizing technique, he was losing sleep over it—this could turn his tarnished name around.
'Hmph, as expected.'
Around the vast sparring arena, Seo Mun Clan members wore grave expressions and hesitant steps, the clan leader among them.
Thwack.
Geon Ho-rak, flanked by dozens of warriors, reaffirmed his noble intent.
"I'll say this beforehand."
All the actors were assembled. Plenty of witnesses as notaries.
"Eight of my gang's warriors were slain. Since Young Master Seo Mun brought it on himself, don't resent the merciless hands."
Eight dead demanded eight in return to balance the scales, right?
Lives weren't mere coins, and one couldn't equate the Plum Sword Gang with the Seo Mun Clan from the start—but on this stark arena, they were heaven and law incarnate.
"You've bulked up quite a bit since last I saw."
Geon Ho-rak and Seo Mun-ha faced off in the arena.
"Do as you please."
To be precise, it pitted the Plum Sword Gang as a collective against Seo Mun-ha as an individual.
"If you're not confident, admit your fault and apologize now."
The very clan meant to protect him had washed their hands of it, yet this much younger man before him shrugged indifferently.
'Whatever his scheme...'
An ignorant fool like him could never match someone who'd clawed from the gutters through every trial.
Be it martial prowess or mental fortitude.
Ghost Flash, my ass—cripple a limb or two just enough, leave them breathing, and claim the profits. Good business.
In an instant, reverting from merchant to warrior, he glanced at his reliable gang members.
Then, a warrior wielding a massive axe stepped forward toward Seo Mun-ha.
"I'm Jo Nam-geol of the Dawn Mansion Duo."
A man with an unremarkable stance but fierce aura revealed his bond with one of the Plum Sword Gang's fallen elite.
"No holding back—let's begin!"
His eyes flashed as he closed the distance with surprising speed for his bulk.
Next, his axe sliced through the air with nimble grace.
"Next."
Seo Mun-ha, thrusting out his arm, ended it the moment it began.
"......"
He still gazed smugly at the group.
Thud!
The man collapsed belatedly, snapping the stunned crowd back to reality.
Long preamble, short execution.
"You...!"
"I'll step up, Gang Leader."
The elder of the unflappable Dawn Mansion Duo.
Jo Nam-geol's sworn brother growled in his signature arrogance.
"More skill than he looks, kid."
No one else might have seen it, but he had clearly caught it.
The strike exploiting Jo Nam-geol's honest speed, turning the tiger's trajectory against him with the Seo Mun Clan's swift sword.
'A heavy sword, too.'
Against an opponent whose thoughts were transparent, Seo Mun-ha had crushed him with raw power, no fancy forms needed.
"I'm not like my brother!"
Like Jo Nam-geol.
"Next."
The man, mixing feints, flew off before unleashing his ultimate technique.
Bam!
To the opposite side from Jo Nam-geol before him.
Balancing both sides of the arena, he welcomed the next foe.
"Impressive internal energy!"
The next peak-level old warrior lasted longer than the last.
"Next."
The low-level warriors who followed needed no mention.
Three, four, five...
Each time Seo Mun-ha moved, Plum Sword Gang enforcers crumpled without landing a single blow.
"Gah!"
Even the Golden Tiger Merchant Group's warriors fared no better.
'What do you make of it?'
'Their overall skill doesn't measure up.'
Two men in the crowd's center murmured without taking their eyes off him.
'Three Peaks Realm, I'd estimate his martial level.'
'Experience, inner power, forms, insight, senses... They were never a match for Young Master Seo Mun from the start. The gang leader's been thoroughly played. Far more terrifying than the rumors.'
Unless they all rushed him at once, Seo Mun-ha toyed with these ferocious warriors like fools before a quack doctor.
'Compared to you, what do you think, Chief Escort Sang?'
'My apologies.'
Hwang Bo Clan's second young master had his chief escort holding his tongue before his lord.
All spectators were Geon Ho-rak's gathered allies, though he didn't know every background.
Splat!
In other words.
"Next."
Their internal discipline and unity fell short of his judgment—unavoidable, if excuses were allowed.
"Damn it all!"
With his superior—not quite, but close—watching, Geon Ho-rak finally spat curses.
"You tricked me! You fooled me again, you bastard!"
As their representative suffering humiliation, he clutched his throbbing head and stormed the arena.
'Looks like he hasn't found the hand-seizing killer either.'
Seo Mun-ha sighed lightly.
Confirming it with his own eyes brought more than a little disappointment.
"Calm down, Gang Leader!"
"This is no joke!"
Of the two restraining him, one was familiar.
A Peak Realm escort guarding Geon Ho-rak, plus a Golden Tiger warrior leading part of their forces—both Peak Realm fighters.
"I'm Seop Mae-ho. Your skills are no joke, young hero."
Reassessing the rumors as fact, the merchant group's warrior blocked Geon Ho-rak alongside his men.
"A formation?"
"No more face to lose, but we can't just take this defeat lying down."
Seop Mae-ho with five escorts.
With official ties, they unveiled the group's signature combined assault.
A formation compensating for mediocre skills, pitting many against many or few.
Whoosh!
Exposing their status, but everyone knew of the Plum Sword Gang-Golden Tiger alliance, so they let it slide.
Seo Mun-ha finally turned from the thinned crowd.
A formation designed against Three Peaks or higher—far superior to the prior posers.
Swish!
Feints linked by real strikes.
Though chaining forms as one body, their qi flow was unrestricted, breaths syncing like veterans.
Front and rear.
Sword strikes from all directions sealed retreats as Seop Mae-ho from the group plunged his blade.
Sword paths tightening like a net.
Killing intent pricking skin, heralding crisis.
'A refined formation akin to the Five Elements Sword.'
Based on widespread arts like Six Harmonies or Three Calamities Sword.
Even reminiscent of Mountain Shattering Heavenly Spirit Sword—a well-forged chain attack.
Fire burns wood, wood roots in earth, earth diverts water, water douses fire.
Swish.
The central metal embodied flesh—naturally, formation core Seop Mae-ho was key.
Shatter that, and flawed cycle and generation turned mutual destruction.
'How?!'
Consciousness fading, Seop Mae-ho glimpsed a crude sword flat.
Thud!
Repeating the posers' fate, he saw his men hastily withdraw amid sloppy moves.
'Terrifying swift sword...'
Most terrifying: Seo Mun-ha's nonchalant eyes piercing all.
Crash!
He fared better, passing out.
"Argh!"
Soon, tangled warriors screamed.
Mutual strikes drawing red blood, soaking the ground.
"......Next."
Indescribable.
Gazing at the youth, awe beyond admiration rooted deep in their minds.
Clang.
One elite warrior dropped his sheath, soul lost in the spectacle.
Subduing foes is twice as hard as killing, they say.
Unharmed subdual quadruples it. Golden Tiger outshone old Plum Sword, yet eyes fixed on one spot.
"You scum—!"
Silence shattered as Geon Ho-rak charged.
Over an hour in, unscathed youth faced death blows without fatigue—Seo Mun-ha, who downed dozens with one sword each.
Clang!
Geon Ho-rak lunged, but met humiliation too.
"Urk!"
"No more next..."
The remaining single digits lost all fight.
Gulp.
In dominating silence, even dry swallows rang loud.
Seo Mun-ha scanned them, murmuring down at Geon Ho-rak.
"Plenty of witnesses this time."
Geon Ho-rak flinched, trembling unwittingly.
"Too bad."
Lips tight, recalling the prior incident's details.
"Anyway, come at me anytime again."
"......"
"A hundred, two hundred—whatever."
Challenge accepted gladly, thunderclap drowning past events.
"But insult my clan once more and lay hands again..."
To the frozen man.
"That day, the Plum Sword Gang vanishes from this land."
Seo Mun-ha left a low warning.
"No matter how many you are—all of you."