Let's Just Die Together
Viiiiiing!
From the joined hands of the two men, a heat-haze of refined qi rose and began to entangle itself together.
One of the Night Ghost Unit warriors hastily shouted out.
“Everyone, hold! Do nothing — stay exactly where you are!”
Not that anyone needed telling. Every one of them had already frozen mid-motion, their expressions stretched past disbelief and well into raw fear.
Into that dead silence, someone let out a low groan that was half a whisper.
“A duel of inner force. In this situation? What kind of lunatic….”
Everyone voiced their agreement the same way — with silence.
Only men supremely confident in their internal cultivation, only men so deranged they had a death wish, ever attempted a clash of inner force.
It meant waging a war not outside the body, but within it.
The method was almost identical to transferring qi to heal someone.
So why call it madness?
Think about it. Even channeling qi into a loved one was done only in a sealed room, with bodyguards posted at the door against every possible mishap. What sane sense did it make to attempt the same thing, riddled with openings, in the middle of a crowd of enemies?
It was, in short, walking a tightrope. A tightrope strung over a cliff, with the man who wanted you dead standing at the other end.
“Everyone, stay quiet and surround him.”
At that, the Night Ghost Unit commander gave his orders in a low voice.
“Our lord will win. The instant that man exhausts his strength and his hands drop, we strike. Give him not a heartbeat's opening.”
The Night Ghost Unit warriors nodded with grim resolve and, hushing their breath, closed in around Jin Cheong-un.
Then—
“Ghhhkk!”
A scream tore through the air.
Not from Jin Cheong-un. From Gwi-ong's mouth.
The moment the duel of inner force began, Jin Cheong-un had privately expected the difference in raw internal power to push him back at the start.
That expectation collapsed in an instant.
Kuuuung!
His Great Heaven Qi rose up like a fortress wall and cut off Gwi-ong's internal power entirely.
Outmatched in quantity, overwhelming in quality.
Perhaps Gwi-ong had never imagined he would face qi this pure, because the old man's momentum visibly wavered for a breath.
Well, of course. This is the refined qi forged after shattering a lifetime of cultivation and rebuilding it from nothing.
Judging that this could not stand, Gwi-ong began to writhe his internal force — twisting it, pulling it, shoving it in desperate flailing.
In classical terms, he was running his power through the Twist formula, the Repel formula, the Draw formula, and more.
Trying to defeat him with techniques?
Laughable.
Did his skill fading mean the heights he had once reached simply stopped existing?
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The Great Heaven Origin Qi severed every one of Gwi-ong's manipulations, each in the exact opposite manner intended.
“Ngh!”
Gwi-ong ground his teeth once, then finally fell back a step and settled into a stalemate posture, content to endure.
A wise choice, truly.
Jin Cheong-un was already badly wounded, and nearby stood the Night Ghost Unit warriors with eyes bloodshot and burning.
Cowardly, yes — but if he simply held out, victory would inevitably be his.
However.
He did not appear to have considered that Jin Cheong-un might be waiting for exactly that.
Flash!
Jin Cheong-un slipped the leash off a second qi — one he had hidden behind the Great Heaven Qi all along.
The new power born from curing Jeong So-ryong's severed meridians.
That qi, which had devoured turbid energy to hammer itself into internal power, surged over Gwi-ong's inner force in one flood and drank it down.
Wha—?
Gwi-ong's breath hitched.
He can't even push me back — so he's pulling me in with his own body?
So the name Sword Ghost was an empty title!
Could anyone really be this much of an idiot?
Gwi-ong smiled a knowing smile and poured yet more strength into his inner force.
And then.
Fwoosh!
It vanished.
Without a trace, without an omen, his inner force simply — gone.
What the devil?
In the instant Gwi-ong's composure shattered, Jin Cheong-un's qi began to swirl and devour his refined energy.
The pain was like having living flesh torn from the bone, and Gwi-ong, jaw clenched against it, finally released an ugly scream.
“Ghhhkk!”
What on earth was this?
Could it be—?
The Energy-Draining Art?
This — this madman!
A former member of the Martial Alliance, cultivating the sorcerous arts even the Iron Blood Fortress had forbidden?!
Good.
Jin Cheong-un, meanwhile, was thinking through a cold sweat.
It had gone according to plan.
Onto a dantian that had been scraped hollow, refined qi was stacking up, layer by layer.
As expected, Gwi-ong seemed never to have faced this breed of martial art before.
But he had to keep his wits sharp.
Everything had been fine right up to here — and then something happened that he had not anticipated.
Wuuuuuuung!
The internal power came flooding in, faster and fiercer.
It gathered momentum like a runaway cart, utterly beyond his control.
The problem was that he wasn't absorbing it wholesale. He was filtering it, straining it, taking in only a fraction.
And what happened to the rest that was filtered out?
“Khk!”
It rampaged through his insides, gouging his organs as it pleased.
Jin Cheong-un coughed up a mouthful of blood and clenched his teeth.
I have to expel it before it's too late.
There seemed to have been a misunderstanding about this power somewhere along the line.
It was never meant to be used this way in the first place, apparently.
That was when it came.
“Keep this up… and we both die….”
Gwi-ong's trembling voice wormed into his ear.
Opening one's mouth mid–inner force duel was lethally dangerous — which meant the old man was desperate enough to accept that risk.
“There's no need for this… just give me information about the object… khk! Count to three… and we each withdraw.”
The words came out in broken pieces, but the meaning was clear enough: let's call it even here.
Jin Cheong-un slowly narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
“No.”
“……!!”
“Let's just die together, Gwi-ong.”
The moment their eyes met, Gwi-ong's breath caught in his throat.
Emptiness.
No killing intent, no clinging to his own life — eyes like a bottomless pit.
This — this man….
Gwi-ong snapped his mouth shut.
In the next breath, he let out a shriek and dumped his entire inner force out in one go.
BAM!
With a detonation, both men were thrown skidding backward, raking furrows through the dirt.
In that instant, Gwi-ong vomited blood and shot one arm out like a thunderbolt.
“Die!”
Jin Cheong-un saw it — something sharp flashing free of the man's wrist with a click of released mechanism.
Fwaaaat!
A thick poisoned needle tore through the air in a screaming rush.
Gwi-ong had doubtless cheated death more than once with that hidden weapon over the years.
It didn't strike Jin Cheong-un as cowardly. Survival justified anything.
It simply hadn't worked this time.
Pshk!
The needle skimmed past the bridge of Jin Cheong-un's nose as he twisted aside.
At the same moment, a strangled “Kk—!” burst out behind him. A Night Ghost Unit warrior who had been circling to strike from his blind side crumpled, the needle buried dead-center in his brow.
Gwi-ong went white with horror.
The Night Ghost Unit surged forward.
Jin Cheong-un focused his inner force into the tips of his toes.
Of them all, the fastest was Jin Cheong-un.
BOOOOM!
The blast erupted outward. Debris of every kind geysered into the sky, a cloud of dust billowed up — and through the gap, Gwi-ong's body was hurled helplessly into the air.
KWAAM!
He slammed into the wall and slid down in a boneless heap.
The outcome was unmistakable.
But the battle wasn't over yet.
“You bastaarrrds!”
Eyes bulging, the Night Ghost Unit warriors charged — and at the very instant Jin Cheong-un drew breath and curled his hand into a fist—
CRACKAAAK! THWACK!
A warrior's skull abruptly caved in and he faceplanted into the dirt.
“……?”
Jin Cheong-un froze. The Night Ghost warriors' eyes all snapped toward whatever had come flying in.
A club?
No — not just any club. That angular shape was unmistakably….
A dog-beating staff.
A roar came from beyond the mouth of the alley.
“Over there! Move it!”
“Those bastards are the last of them! Don't let a single one slip away!”
The Night Ghost warriors' faces contorted with despair.
“The Beggars Sect?! What in blazes were the perimeter men doing outside!”
“Damn it! Secure our lord first!”
Beggars came pouring into the alley like a stampeding pack of hounds.
The Night Ghost Unit warriors, now pitifully few in number, hastily hoisted Gwi-ong between them, kicked off the wall, and leapt skyward.
Jin Cheong-un didn't bother to chase.
He was worn down to the last fiber, barely able to lift a finger — and besides, it seemed he wouldn't need to.
“Who sent you, you treacherous Unorthodox dogs!”
FWAAAH!
In a flash, the sky overhead blazed and the whole scene lit up bright as day.
A palm strike unfurled from a man's body, rippling like a dragon of flame, and crashed down over the fleeing warriors.
The Beggars Sect's ultimate art — the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.
WHUMP!
Gwi-ong and the Night Ghost Unit hadn't managed even a few strides before they were hammered into the ground.
“Bind them, quickly!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Beggars Sect disciples came swarming in on the pinned men. Only then did Jin Cheong-un let out a long sigh and let the tension drain from his body.
“Are you all right, sir! We're so terribly sorry to be late!”
He nodded at the beggar who had dropped down from the rooftop in a single bound.
“It's been a while, Branch Leader Jang.”
“Th-the honor is mine, that you'd remember me. But never mind that — let me support you! Are you truly all right?”
“I'm fine.”
Fine?
He looked like a man who'd bathed in blood.
Just what in the world….
Jin Cheong-un rolled only his eyes, taking stock of the alley.
He caught himself thinking it was a mercy that it was night. If there had been daylight, he'd have been having nightmares for a day or two.
“Ugh!”
“Wang-pal! Get that youngest one out of here! I swear, I'm about to lose my mind….”
“S-sorry, sir.”
He could see Beggars Sect disciples, finished with the bindings, clearing the alley with faces gone white as paper.
Jang Chil-sam snapped back to his senses and asked, “No one escaped, I trust?”
“I doubt it.”
“None at all….”
Jang Chil-sam quietly ran through what he knew of Gwi-ong and the Night Ghost Unit's full strength in his head.
The average Night Ghost Unit warrior was second-rate at worst, first-rate at best. Gwi-ong had never crossed the wall of the supreme pinnacle, but he was rated a master fully approaching it.
And this man had faced them all alone.
Dozens of them, single-handed, without any preparation — subdued. No. Slain.
“Let me — let me explain the situation first… no, wait! A physician! You need a physician at once!”
“I'll leave it to you.”
Jin Cheong-un nodded, then slumped down right where he sat.
A long breath heaved out of him as he stared up at the sky, and it drifted across the battered alley like a fog.
“Honestly — walking all the way here yourself, in this state….”
The old physician of Yinghua Village focused every ounce of his concentration on keeping his hand from shaking, and snipped the thread.
“The broken bones had already been set, and the cuts had stopped bleeding on their own… I've done all I can for now.”
“Use some of this as well.”
“Golden Crest Salve? Good heavens, this precious stuff — for me?”
Jang Chil-sam handed the physician a jar of the salve, then sent one of his men off to fetch a fresh set of clothes to replace Jin Cheong-un's blood-soaked ones. And he began his report.
“Gwi-ong had recently fallen out of favor with the Iron Blood Fortress Lord, and it seems he chose the Black Tiger Gang as his way back in. What dealings passed between the two of them hasn't been established yet — but with the Alliance and the Fortress under truce, this affair was almost certainly his doing alone.”
“So that was it.”
“…My apologies. The Night Ghost Unit harmed Beggars Sect disciples nearby, which delayed our response. We came as fast as we could once we knew — but this branch's forces were somewhat thin….”
“Has a hole been punched through the Alliance's watch, then?”
Jang Chil-sam tilted his head. “In what sense do you mean that?”
“I'm asking whether I need to be worrying about the aftermath.”
Jang Chil-sam flinched and waved his hands frantically. “N-no, not at all! The only reason they slipped in undetected until they reached Hubei is that they disguised themselves as laborers. The Alliance will lodge a formal protest with the Fortress, and the Fortress will be watching its step in turn.”
Jin Cheong-un let out a short sigh.
Will this reach the Alliance Leader's ears too?
Probably. And she'd give him an earful over it, no doubt.
“You've been through a great deal. I've submitted a report up the chain to ensure there are no lingering complications, so rest easy.”
“If it's no trouble, would you pass word to have the Black Tiger Gang evidence delivered to Geum Tae-bang, Chief Bailiff of Yinghua Village? Just give him my name.”
“Pardon? Why would you….”
“There's something I want looked into.”
With a long “Hnnggh,” Jin Cheong-un slowly pushed himself upright.
Ah, everything ached.
He ached so badly that strange, shimmering lights like little rivers kept flickering before his eyes.
“Whoa there! You mustn't get up yet!”
“In that body, where could you possibly be going?”
Despite the protests of the old physician and Jang Chil-sam alike, Jin Cheong-un gave a faint smile.
The look in his eyes changed so completely in that instant that Jang Chil-sam's face went blank.
“The kids are waiting at home.”
“…Pardon?”
“If I'm late, I'll never hear the end of it. So home I go.”
“We'll — we'll support you!”
Jin Cheong-un firmly waved the offered hands away.
“It's fine. It's new clothes.”
“…?”
Whatever did that mean?
Jin Cheong-un set off for the Jang residence, swaying slightly.
It was a nuisance, but he couldn't quite bring himself to stop the Beggars Sect disciples who trailed after him like bodyguards, watching his every step.
Strangely enough, with every stride he took, he could feel the Great Heaven Origin Qi seeping into his muscles and bones, restoring his vitality.
Did it boost his recovery too? A truly mysterious power, that.
With rests along the way, the trip took quite a while, but at last he reached home.
“M-Master?”
His disciples, crouched in wait by the gate, rushed to greet him.
“Bandages? And — blood! Master! What in the world happened to you?!”
Jin Cheong-un deliberated for a moment, then improvised.
“Got drunk and brawled with a drunkard.”
“How rough was this fight to leave you like this?! And why is it that every time you go out, you come back having fought someone?!”
“Big Sis, let's get him inside first. We need to support him.”
“R-right!”
Jin Cheong-un had been about to quietly slip his arm away, worried he'd get blood on them — but both disciples grabbed hold and clung so tightly that shaking them off was simply out of the question.
An involuntary smile tugged at his lips.
His balance was off and it hurt a little, but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to pull away.
With a soft chuckle, Jin Cheong-un simply leaned into them, full weight and all, and let his disciples haul him inside.