Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Black-Clothed Men
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No one noticed that the head of the Nam Family stronghold had died until the three of them had slipped out.
But it was certain that the body would be discovered before long, so the trio hurried away from the village at a brisk pace.
“Easier than I thought.”
“Would be nice if we could pass through without any hassle.”
The three headed toward Luoyang at a slightly faster pace than usual.
As they walked, Dang Mujin felt a tightness in his chest.
It wasn’t a problem with his body. It was simply because he had witnessed the Nam Family head dying right before his eyes, and the anxiety that someone might investigate the matter.
It had been several months since he set out following the Strange Physician. Dang Mujin had seen people struck down by blades more than a few times by now. He no longer dwelled on the dead for days on end.
Yet at the same time, death didn’t feel quite so commonplace. He wasn’t sure if it ever could.
Still, the heavy mood didn’t last long.
Hong Geolgae lightened the tense atmosphere with a nonstop stream of jokes. It was impossible to stay down in such an environment.
The stiffness eased after about two shichen, and the group was able to have their evening meal in a mood not much different from usual.
The trouble came after that.
Just as Dang Mujin was about to spar with Hong Geolgae, the Strange Physician, who had been lounging with his chin propped up, sat up.
“As expected, guests have come calling.”
“What guests?”
“Who do you think?”
The Strange Physician offered no further explanation and slipped behind a tree. Suddenly, Dang Mujin and Hong Geolgae were left standing there awkwardly.
Moments later, the guests the Strange Physician had mentioned appeared.
They were wrapped head to toe in pitch-black cloth, with only eye holes barely cut out. Men in black.
Dang Mujin tensed up immediately. Setting aside that this was his first encounter with such men, he had never heard of black-clothed men appearing with good intentions.
In fact, each of them carried a weapon, hands already resting on the hilts as if ready to draw at any moment.
The black-clothed men chattered among themselves.
“What’s this? Weren’t there three?”
“Yeah, three sets of footprints.”
“Let’s see. Only two greenhorns here. Where’s the old geezer?”
“You think we don’t age? Call me senior. You rude bastards.”
The Strange Physician popped out from beside the black-clothed men and swung his sword. With one strike, a head flew into the air.
The surviving three leaped back nimbly.
They sized up the Strange Physician. One of them recognized him.
“You fuck, it’s Yi Chung! Who was it that called him just an old geezer?”
“Who’s Yi Chung?”
“The Strange Physician Yi Chung!”
“Shit!”
The moment the moniker was spoken, the black-clothed men gave up resisting and turned to flee.
The Strange Physician’s nickname was far more renowned than his plain name.
The three scattered in different directions, fleeing at full speed—their pace astonishingly swift.
The one who bolted first and got farthest away was the one who had recognized the Strange Physician.
The Strange Physician stepped toward that black-clothed man while speaking to Dang Mujin and Hong Geolgae.
“I’ll take the one in the middle. You two chase down the other pair and finish them off.”
“Can we win?”
“You have to. Fail, and this journey’s going to get a lot more annoying. You won’t even sleep properly.”
The Strange Physician dashed straight ahead, while Dang Mujin and Hong Geolgae moved toward their respective targets. Dang Mujin to the left, Hong Geolgae to the right.
His heart pounded, his mind a whirlwind. Could he catch up to someone fleeing that fast? Would he lose his way in the dark forest? Even if he somehow caught up, could he win?
The black-clothed man’s pace was so swift that Dang Mujin’s doubts were justified. It was less like a man running and more like a four-legged beast bounding away.
Yet even stranger was that the distance between Dang Mujin and the black-clothed man was gradually closing.
‘Have I gotten this fast?’
His training in the Purple Cloud Step must have paid off.
Memories of the first day he learned it flooded back.
He remembered staggering along like a patient twisted by a strange illness, forcing each step.
At first, he couldn’t cover even a few li in a day before collapsing in a sweat as the sun set. Now it was second nature. The moment he thought to pursue at speed, his body naturally executed the Purple Cloud Step.
Sensing the presence closing in, the frantically fleeing black-clothed man glanced back.
Dang Mujin’s eyes met the black-clothed man’s. Relief shone clearly in the man’s gaze.
The black-clothed man slowed his pace and caught his breath. Even through the mask, Dang Mujin could tell he was smiling.
“What gave you the confidence to chase me? I fled because of the Strange Physician, not you.”
The black-clothed man took a couple steps toward Dang Mujin, then in an instant closed the gap like lightning and swung his saber. From draw to slash in one motion. Iaijutsu.
Dang Mujin half-drew his Soulsever Sword from its sheath to block the saber. It was an awkward stance for defense, yet astonishingly stable.
“Quick reflexes!”
The black-clothed man’s saber lashed out repeatedly. Dang Mujin, on the defensive, parried this way and that with his sword.
His blocks were steady, but attacking felt burdensome.
It wasn’t that his resolve wavered or that he hesitated to cut the man down.
The problem was the blatant flaws peeking through the black-clothed man’s saber style.
The openings were so obvious that they seemed like feints.
If he struck at one, he’d likely face the black-clothed man’s sneering grin.
“Ha!”
Oblivious to Dang Mujin’s inner thoughts, the black-clothed man swung his saber with even greater enthusiasm.
In the end, pure defense wouldn’t lead to victory. Dang Mujin steeled himself.
Vowing to retreat swiftly if it proved a feint, he unleashed a form of the Heart-Piercing Sword.
Dang Mujin smoothly deflected the incoming slash and thrust his blade forward.
“Hup!”
The black-clothed man panicked and hurled himself aside to dodge. A limp, unconvincing reaction. He staggered slightly, then shouted with renewed confidence.
“So even a greenhorn like you knows how to swing a sword!”
No matter how he looked at it, those openings didn’t seem like feints.
As he blocked the saber, Dang Mujin occasionally thrust back.
As this repeated, Dang Mujin shifted from defense to offense. He felt dazed.
‘Am I fighting this well?’
If Dang Mujin was bewildered, the black-clothed man was even more so. He barely parried the strikes before leaping back in haste.
‘Trying to run?’
But this time, Dang Mujin’s assumption was wrong.
As he retreated, the black-clothed man produced darts from somewhere and hurled them.
Three darts. One missed, one was blocked by the flat of the blade, but the third grazed his side. The darkness had delayed his reaction.
The black-clothed man’s eyes curved like crescent moons as he grinned in satisfaction.
“Seems you learned swordplay from somewhere decent, but it’s over now. Numb in the side, eh?”
Just as he said, the sensation in his side felt off. The dart had been poisoned.
Widening the gap, the black-clothed man spoke.
“Poison extracted from the viper. Before a shichen passes, your whole body will go numb. You’ll just lie there with eyes wide, watching a blade sink into your throat. Won’t hurt.”
The black-clothed man sneered at Dang Mujin. Whenever Dang Mujin’s feet faltered, he’d close in and swing his saber threateningly.
All to force movement, induce haste, and hasten the blood flow. The faster the blood circulated, the quicker the poison spread.
Dang Mujin calmed his mind, breathed slowly, and parried the strikes.
At the same time, he slowly turned inward, observing the poison. Sure enough, he felt it spreading from his side.
‘But compared to the Seven Treasures Temple’s poison, this is nothing.’
Dang Mujin cautiously circulated his inner energy to draw the poison into his dantian. Perhaps because he had recently handled a stronger toxin, the viper poison meekly seeped into his poison core.
The process felt profoundly natural. Was he actively guiding it, or was the poison core absorbing it on its own? Or had the viper poison sought out the core? He couldn’t tell.
As the fight dragged on, doubt crept into the black-clothed man’s previously relaxed expression.
“Why are you still fine? Got an antidote pellet in your mouth?”
“Why don’t you come check?”
If the black-clothed man fled again here, it would be trouble.
Dang Mujin gradually slowed, then exploded forward in a burst of speed, charging the man. A form of the Heart-Piercing Sword unfolded simultaneously.
“What!”
The black-clothed man panicked and leaped away, but not far enough. Dang Mujin’s sword pierced his abdomen.
A gut-stab rather than a heart-pierce.
The black-clothed man staggered back before collapsing. Blood gushed not just from his belly but his mouth.
“By a mere greenhorn…”
A gut wound was no mere injury. And not the side, but dead center through organs packed with vitals—even prompt treatment by a physician offered slim chances of survival.
He looked up at Dang Mujin in dismay, as if he’d never anticipated defeat.
Pain twisted his face. Even in the dark, his flushed complexion and bulging forehead veins were visible. His breaths came short and ragged, like a consumptive’s.
The black-clothed man fumbled at his waist, then grabbed the sheath where the dart had been lodged.
He tapped it against his wound. The pain must have been excruciating; he seemed to want the viper poison to numb it.
But there wasn’t enough poison left on the sheath to leak out.
Gasping, he clutched his belly.
Dang Mujin watched him for a moment before approaching. The black-clothed man closed his eyes and spoke.
“I know it’s shameless. But show mercy and kill me cleanly. I hate pain.”
Dang Mujin had no intention of sparing him. But was there need for unnecessary suffering?
Dang Mujin crouched beside him and placed his palm on the wound. Soon, viper poison drawn from his poison core seeped back into the injury.
“You’re supposed to kill me…”
The black-clothed man wheezed, uncomprehending, but soon felt the pain slowly ebb.
He lifted his head slightly and looked at his abdomen.
Blood still flowed, his limbs lacked strength. His breathing remained labored.
But it no longer hurt.
Only then did he realize what Dang Mujin’s touch had meant.
“Not just any greenhorn… Thanks.”
With eyes closed, the black-clothed man slowly met his end.
Dang Mujin checked his pulse to confirm death, then turned away.