Chapter 102 : Chapter 102

Chapter 102. Growth (2)

‘Damn wench. So young yet so cunning.’

Jang Ik thought as he glared at Baek Hyang.

He had to find an opening somehow and secure Jang Sopyeong.

The anxiety that he might fail the mission sharpened his nerves even more.

Just then, an ominous sound, ‘slice,’ was heard.

Following that, he felt the presence of the idiotic Sword Shadow Unit members being distracted.

“U-Unit Leader!?”

A startled voice.

He could tell the result without looking.

While the Young Master was taken hostage, the damn Sword Shadow Unit Leader, a mere subordinate, who had been giving him orders, was also dead.

In what was truly the worst situation, his experience shone.

‘An opening!’

Was age something one couldn't overcome no matter how cunning?

In the midst of it all, the scorpion-like wench’s gaze was directed towards the Ghost Sword Young Master.

Phat!

As Jang Ik launched his body, the voice of the damn Ghost Sword Young Master was heard from the side.

“Dodge!!”

It was already too late.

For the Ghost Sword Young Master to come and save them.

No, he had to secure that damn wench and Jang Sopyeong somehow before that bastard arrived.

Just as that wench had used Jang Sopyeong as a hostage, he too had to use her as a hostage to get out of this place alive.

But before Jang Ik’s sword reached them.

A massive wall suddenly popped up and blocked his path.

“You shall not pass!!”

Along with a shout, Nam Geon’s fist flew in.

Jang Ik ignored Nam Geon and tried to approach Baek Hyang and Dang Sopyeong.

There was no time.

The two of them, having finally come to their senses, were also hastily trying to retreat.

But Nam Geon did not seem to have any intention of letting Jang Ik go peacefully.

“Haaaaat!!”

With a rough battle cry, he wildly moved both his arms and clung on tenaciously.

He could feel the presence of the Ghost Sword Young Master approaching, emitting a terrifying killing intent with each passing moment.

In a race against time, Jang Ik’s eyes gleamed.

‘This one is also one of their companions!’

Jang Ik took a step forward, pretending to aim for Baek Hyang and Dang Sopyeong.

“You can’t!”

Nam Geon rushed in with a shout.

Aiming for that moment, Jang Ik hastily turned his body and thrust his sword as secretly as possible.

Towards the biggest and easiest hole to target among the seven apertures.

Towards Nam Geon’s wide-open mouth from his powerful battle cry.

Jang Ik’s sword moved with the speed of a beam of light.

The moment his sword was about to pass Nam Geon’s lips and head towards his throat, Jang Ik felt an inexplicable chill.

Nam Geon’s eyes, so swollen that they were almost invisible.

Only then did the light of some certainty, which he thought was dazed, emanating from those eyes, enter Jang Ik’s sight.

***

The short time Baek Hyang had bought by using Dang Sopyeong as a hostage.

Nam Geon, who could not do multiple things at once, was engrossed in only one thought.

‘I-I have to protect them.’

But there was one problem.

The bad old man in front of him was too fast.

Let alone killing him, it was difficult enough to protect his comrades from the bad old man’s sword strikes.

He was definitely stronger.

If only he could catch him, he felt he could do something, but he was too fast to catch.

Even though he was not getting hit anymore, his eyes were swelling up with each passing moment.

At this rate, it seemed his vision would soon be blocked by his swollen eyelids.

But Nam Geon did not give up.

He had learned many things from Jin Yuseong, but there was one thing he had never learned: how to give up.

Was it because he was thinking of Jin Yuseong?

Suddenly, a memory from not long ago came to mind.

A memory he could never forget.

The memory where he felt the greatest helplessness.

The sight of Jin Yuseong fighting the Human-faced Spider.

At that moment.

“U-Unit Leader!?”

“Senior Brother!!”

As the shouts of the bad men and Hyang-i erupted, the bad old man launched a surprise attack.

Nam Geon, who was looking only at Jang Ik, did not miss the movement.

“Haaaaat!!”

Nam Geon continuously shouted and clung to Jang Ik.

As if asking him to stab here.

The moment Jang Ik’s sword finally dug into Nam Geon’s mouth.

Nam Geon’s wide-open mouth firmly shut.

That was right.

The solution Nam Geon had come up with.

It was not Jin Yuseong’s movement.

It was the Human-faced Spider’s movement.

Clang!!

A crisp metallic sound echoed from Jang Ik’s sword as it collided with Nam Geon’s teeth and lips.

It was not an entirely good situation.

He could feel the thick scent of blood from Nam Geon’s neck.

Although he had blocked it with his teeth, the inside of his throat was lightly cut, and blood was flowing out.

Even his teeth screamed as if they would break and be pulled out at any moment, and his lips, which were biting the sword, were also being gradually ground away by the fellow’s sword qi.

‘T-The pain in my heart hurts more!’

Nam Geon deliberately ignored the pain and grabbed Jang Ik’s sword, which was overflowing with sword qi, with his left hand.

Grasp.

“I-I ca-ca-aught you!”

The moment his sword was caught by Nam Geon.

Countless thoughts swirled in Jang Ik’s head, unbecoming of a seasoned swordsman.

‘I should abandon the sword and dodge.’

‘What changes if I retreat? I’ll have to face this one plus the Ghost Sword Young Master without a sword?’

‘I should just run away.’

‘Then where does all my loyalty dedicated to the main family go?’

‘I should rather thrust the sword deeper and use this one as a hostage!’

But even when he tried to force it, the sword caught in Nam Geon’s left hand was unmovable.

While he wasted time with a moment’s hesitation and a meaningless struggle of strength.

The Mother's Affection Sword swung by Nam Geon had already reached him.

‘I-I have to dodge…’

The moment he belatedly let go of the left hand holding the sword and tried to retreat using his footwork, a sharp pain shot through his chest again.

“Keuk……”

The wound he had received from the Ghost Sword Young Master, which had not yet fully healed.

He tried to endure the pain and threw his body, but it was a fraction too late.

Jang Ik, who had retreated, could not hold back and coughed up blood.

“Cough……”

The side that had been grazed by the Mother's Affection Sword was deeply indented inwards.

Several ribs were broken, and bone fragments dug into his internal organs.

“Kueuk……”

As he was sitting down, unable to move his body due to the excruciating pain.

Slice!

A series of cutting sounds were heard from nearby.

“Keuk……”

Jang Ik, who raised his head with a groan.

In his eyes, he saw the figure of the Ghost Sword Young Master who had approached him at some point.

Along with the figures of the Sword Shadow Unit members, scattered around with their limbs cut off.

Jang Ik glared at Jin Yuseong and Nam Geon with eyes full of killing intent and malice.

‘It’s because of them. Everything is because of them.’

But the excruciating pain coming from his side made it difficult to even move a finger.

At that moment, Jin Yuseong, who was looking down at him, opened his mouth.

“I can see exactly what you’re thinking. Old slave.”

A tone as if he was utterly pathetic.

Unlike the resentful Jang Ik, Jin Yuseong seemed to have no interest in him.

Soon, Jin Yuseong turned his gaze away from Jang Ik.

He had noticed that the old man had no strength left to resist.

He spoke to Nam Geon, who was lying sprawled to the side.

“You’ve been through a lot, Nam Geon. You did very well.”

It was a very short compliment compared to the hardship he had gone through, but for some reason, Nam Geon felt proud.

Because Jin Yuseong was stingy with compliments.

“Junior Sister also did well. It was an excellent plan.”

As he said that and turned his head, he saw Dang Sopyeong with blood flowing from his neck and arm.

Jin Yuseong smirked and uttered a word to Dang Sopyeong.

“You also went through a lot, playing the hostage.”

Whether Dang Sopyeong crumpled his face or not, Jin Yuseong added one last remark.

“It seems I did the least this time. So you all should tend to your injuries now. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”

Having said that, Jin Yuseong turned his head again and looked at Jang Ik and the few remaining remnants.

He had deliberately left them alive by only cutting off their limbs or suppressing their acupoints.

“Spill what you know about the Unwol Sect and Hyeok Ilso. Until then, you won’t be able to die even if you beg me to kill you.”

***

For how long did screams that seemed to tear Heavenly Peak Ridge apart fill the air?

Thud.

The body of Jang Ik, who had kept his mouth shut with useless obstinacy until the very end, collapsed.

I lightly clicked my tongue in disappointment.

“Tsk.”

I was able to get quite a bit of information.

I found out the locations of two Black Markets in Sichuan and what these bastards had been buying there.

These bastards used to buy items there that could not be obtained legitimately.

In particular, when Dang Sopyeong’s late mother entrusted herself to the Sichuan Sword Clan, some of the items purchased to commission the production of spiritual medicine were said to have been obtained from that Black Market.

There was also a story that Jang Muryong, who was the Young Master at the time, had completely sorted out the succession structure after absorbing the spiritual medicine produced that way.

Naturally, the ingredients obtained from the Black Market at that time were all items stained with blood.

It was indeed a move befitting hypocrites who only pretended to be a righteous sect on the outside.

Furthermore, about twenty days ago, I was able to obtain information that the Unwol Sect Leader had visited Seongdo in Sichuan and had a private meeting with the Sichuan Sword Clan Head, Jang Muryong.

The reason I clicked my tongue despite obtaining such varied information was simple.

Perhaps because they were bastards rooted only in Sichuan, they were only knowledgeable about the vicinity of Seongdo in Sichuan.

They were completely unaware of Hyeok Ilso’s existence.

As I pondered about Hyeok Ilso, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

In my past life, the Scholar Chivalrous Hero had told me such a story.

That Hyeok Ilso was under their protection in exchange for handling the dirty work of the prestigious righteous sects.

And this time, the Unwol Sect Leader had visited Jang Muryong to plot a scheme of killing with a borrowed knife.

It was similar to the method Hyeok Ilso used in my past life.

When my thoughts reached that point, a faint memory suddenly surfaced.

From interrogating Qingliang Xueshang, I had heard that Hyeok Ilso had headed to Chongqing.

Of course, since it was information I had heard more than a month ago, the possibility of him remaining there was almost nil.

But there was one prestigious clan in Chongqing that was associated with him.

A prestigious clan that, while not comparable to the Sichuan Sword Clan, was well-known at least in the vicinity of Chongqing.

Bastards who pretended to be a righteous sect on the outside, but dealt with Hyeok Ilso behind the scenes.

A minor problem was that I did not know if they were on friendly terms with Hyeok Ilso at this point in time.

Naturally, such a question followed.

Should I visit that clan in Chongqing?

Or should I visit the Black Market in Sichuan?

The former was not certain but was a path to chase Hyeok Ilso, while the latter was certain but was a path to chase the Unwol Sect Leader.

Since the Unwol Sect Leader had recently shown himself in Sichuan, there was a high possibility of finding traces of the Unwol Sect Leader if I went to Sichuan.

Anyway, at this time, the Unwol Sect Leader was a greater evil than Hyeok Ilso, so how about striking him first?

As I was pondering this, I heard Nam Geon’s voice from behind.

“I-It hurts. M-My mouth stings.”

I turned my head and looked behind me.

While I was continuing the interrogation, the Dang Clan fellow was hastily treating the others.

Clothes were wrapped around his neck and arm, and Nam Geon had medicinal herbs plastered all over his body.

“Haa. Where on earth did you get the crazy idea to bite a sword? Is Young Warrior Nam also becoming like that madman?”

Having said that, Dang Sopyeong turned his head and looked at my Junior Sister.

“The same goes for Miss Baek. To use a comrade as a hosta…”

Then, his eyes met my Junior Sister’s and he trailed off.

“It is truly amazing how you came up with such an excellent idea. Ahem.”

I watched the scene quietly for a bit before shaking my head.

It was not because of the Dang Clan fellow’s crazy behavior of suddenly being mindful of my Junior Sister.

I felt that it was still too early to go to Sichuan.

If it were just the Unwol Sect Leader alone, it might be a different story, but in the worst-case scenario, I might have to face the entire Sichuan Sword Clan and the Unwol Sect together.

If I were alone, I would have just gone.

It was not just because there were trash there.

To grow quickly with my humble talent, I needed a life-and-death battle.

A fierce life-and-death battle where my life was on the line.

To become stronger even a little faster with this special eye.

But my companions were different.

They did not need to take such risks.

Even without such experiences, they were people who would become renowned masters in Murim if they just trained steadily.

It was an act of utter foolishness to drag such people into a death trap so early.

Yes.

With these guys around, there was no need to be hasty.

It was enough to proceed steadily.

It seemed better to head to Chongqing.

It was fine even if that clan was not yet associated with Hyeok Ilso.

Those hypocritical bastards would surely know about the Black Market in Chongqing.

Since Hyeok Ilso had recently visited Chongqing, there was a high probability that a clue about Hyeok Ilso would pop up if I cleaned up that clan and then the Chongqing Black Market.

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