Chapter 28 : Master’s Gate (3)

The monthly officer of the outer hall often represented the Sacred Sword Sect in reality.

Due to the nature of the outer hall, the martial artists of the outer hall would travel around the central plains and be active rather than staying in the Sacred Sword Sect. They would go around to each sect and regulate disputes, and also supervise the training of the national army.

For that reason, only one or two of the Ten Lesser Swords remained in the Sacred Sword Sect.

So they took turns being the monthly officer.

The monthly officer presided over all the major and minor affairs that occurred in the outer hall of the Sacred Sword Sect for one month.

He would face all the challengers who challenged the Duke Heo’s residence.

He could judge and handle almost all of the matters that the outer estate intervened in by himself.

The monthly officer was given that much authority.

Everyone in the world knew this.

It was even said that even if you challenged the Duke Heo’s residence, you should find out who the monthly officer was and then challenge. Because if you clashed with someone whose sword was soft, you could even survive a defeat where you should have died.

As long as the body was entrusted to the outer estate, the full authority was transferred to the eighth brother who was the monthly officer.

Now the body was the responsibility of the eighth brother, Jo Chuhan.

No other senior or junior brother could interfere with the body other than Jo Chuhan.

On the day the body came in, the person who was the monthly officer of the outer estate was Jo Chuhan. For one month.

Jo Chuhan was a fierce martial artist.

He was one of the fiercest among the Ten Lesser Swords. In terms of the viciousness of his sword, he would probably be ranked in the top three.

Jo Chuhan had heard the detailed story from the Raging Dragon Sword. He had heard everything from beginning to end. And he had examined the body several times. He had already made a conviction in his heart, but it seemed that he was in the mood to look at it again.

Finally, he looked at the Raging Dragon Sword and said, “Tell the Sect Master.”

‘…Tell him?’

The Raging Dragon Sword, Gu Jiyu, was completely disgusted by the continuous informal speech.

He had spoken informally when asking about the body, and now he was treating him like a subordinate.

Whether the Raging Dragon Sword frowned or not, Jo Chuhan said calmly, “I know what kind of blade the bodies were struck by. But I can solve the matter, but I can’t tell you. Did you say a stable boy and an old servant? Tell him that their lives will soon be over.”

“I would like to know the reason why you can’t tell me what kind of blade it is.”

The Raging Dragon Sword asked politely, suppressing his disgust.

He was in a bad mood, but he had come because he was desperate.

They had not been able to find out what kind of blade they had been struck by, but Jo Chuhan had recognized it immediately upon seeing the body.

The Duke Heo’s residence was definitely a cut above.

But he couldn’t just go back and report to the Sect Master in a frustrating way, saying, ‘The Duke Heo’s residence says they will cut down the stable boy and the old servant. They said to just tell you that.’

Jo Chuhan ignored the Raging Dragon Sword’s words. He didn’t even answer, as if he hadn’t heard what he had said.

It was clear that he would not say any more. No, he didn’t even look at the Raging Dragon Sword, as if there was no reason to speak with him anymore, and leisurely got on the carriage and grabbed the reins. To move the carriage.

The Raging Dragon Sword immediately got on the carriage.

Jo Chuhan looked at him sitting next to him and said, “Get off.”

“Are you going to move the body?”

“That’s right.”

“They are our disciples. It is right for me to check until the very end.”

“That’s none of my business. If you keep sitting there, you’ll die. If you’re not thinking of dying, get off.”

“What…!”

The Raging Dragon Sword said with a deep frown.

“…”

Jo Chuhan looked at the Raging Dragon Sword with eyes that said to decide. Would he get off, or would he die?

“Even for the Duke Heo’s residence of the world, that’s a harsh thing to say. I am also one of the Ten Swords of the Living Sword Sect.”

“Ah, were you offended?”

“Where are you taking the body?”

The Raging Dragon Sword also dropped the honorifics. Although he was younger than Jo Chuhan, he spoke informally with him.

“Huhu! You seem to be offended by my words, but there’s no need for that. It’s not like I’m going to use my hand. I wouldn’t raise my sword against someone who hasn’t even challenged, let alone someone who has challenged the Duke Heo’s residence.”

Jo Chuhan’s words sounded as if he could cut him down at any time.

He had heard that the eighth brother of the Duke Heo’s residence was arrogant and haughty. That he was insolent. But he had not known that he would be so unrestrained. He was treating the Ten Swords of the Living Sword Sect like a beggar’s rag, wasn’t he?

Jo Chuhan said, “This carriage will be moved to another place. Because the person there is not like a human. If an unknown person appears, it’s obvious that they will be killed. If you’re fine with that, then stay seated.”

“Ha! You don’t even have the martial arts of the Living Sword Sect in your eyes. You must have seen me as someone you could kill if you wanted to, but the martial arts of the Living Sword Sect are not that weak.”

The Raging Dragon Sword’s pride was deeply hurt.

Still, the Living Sword Sect was a ruling clan that ruled a region. And the Raging Dragon Sword was one of the Ten Swords. He was a swordsman who had a deep knowledge of the sword. He also had many disciples whom he taught.

Jo Chuhan was completely ignoring such a person. And in fact, he was worth ignoring. Among the masters that Jo Chuhan had defeated, there were many masters that the Raging Dragon Sword could not face.

Certainly, Jo Chuhan was a master of a few levels above.

But the Raging Dragon Sword thought of the Living Sword Sect’s position. He thought that he was representing the Living Sword Sect. So if he was ignored, it was the same as the Living Sword Sect being ignored.

Jo Chuhan smirked.

“If you want to save your pride, formally present a red card. I’ll face you anytime. For whatever reason, what’s the use of a martial artist who can’t even present a red card saving his pride?”

“What did you say!”

“Even if you had presented a red card and we had crossed swords, the Duke Heo’s residence does not kill its opponents. A duel should end in a duel. But the person I am going to meet does not care about such things.”

“…”

“I know that they have never let a stranger live… If they use their hands, you will die. That’s why I said it. Will you still ride in the carriage even after I’ve said this?”

The Raging Dragon Sword clenched his teeth.

It didn’t seem like Jo Chuhan was lying.

No, as he listened to him, it was very strange. It seemed that he was going to show the bodies of the disciples to a stranger, not to the Duke Heo’s residence. The Duke Heo’s residence was showing the bodies to someone else without even telling the Living Sword Sect? To whom?

But no matter who he showed them to, it seemed right for him to watch over the disciples until the very end and cremate them himself.

The Raging Dragon Sword turned his gaze.

He did not look at Jouhan. He did not get off the carriage either. He only looked ahead.

“Huhu! You only know death after the grim reaper has passed by your body.”

Jo Chuhan said something very unpleasant.

* * *

Jo Chuhan was silent.

The monthly officer of the Sacred Sword Sect had left the Sacred Sword Sect and gone out. And he had driven the carriage for a full two days.

He had not said a single word during that time.

He was a person whose mouth was so heavy that it was truly suffocating. Or he thought that the Raging Dragon Sword was not even worth speaking to.

In any case, he continued to drive the carriage.

“Hiyah!”

At a fork in the road, Jo Chuhan snatched the reins to the side.

He finally left the wide official road and entered a narrow mountain path.

‘…Have we arrived?’

The Raging Dragon Sword was tense.

The mountain path was not suitable for a carriage to travel on. Even if he could drive the carriage to the entrance of the mountain valley, the road would soon be cut off.

What would he do after the road was cut off? Was Jo Chuhan thinking of carrying the two wooden coffins by himself? Or was there a private house where the road ended? Or, was it the destination?

But the carriage continued to go on the mountain path, on the mountain path.

It seemed that they had passed ten li, and then twenty li… but the narrow mountain path continued.

‘Where is this?’

The Raging Dragon Sword tilted his head.

It was a road completely cut off from human contact. Even though it was a well paved road that a carriage could travel on, no people were visible. Even though there was land suitable for farming nearby, it was not cultivated.

It was a land that the nearby residents did not even glance at.

It was a completely dead road. A road that no one entered, a road where danger lurked.

“Where is this place?”

The Raging Dragon Sword asked.

Of course, Jo Chuhan did not answer. He just held the reins and drove the carriage.

Creak! Creak! Creak!

The carriage wheels creaked as if they would fall off at any moment.

The road was getting rougher. There were more pebbles, and the grass grew so lushly that it sometimes didn’t even look like a road.

The valley entrance seemed to have been touched by human hands. As he looked at the road the carriage was passing through now, that thought came to him on its own.

“Whoa!”

Jo Chuhan snatched the reins.

The carriage stopped.

A large zelkova tree… a tree so large that he couldn’t even guess its age, appeared. It was a tree that would surely have become a guardian tree if it had been at the entrance of a village.

‘Even five men holding hands wouldn’t be enough. It’s an amazing tree.’

The Raging Dragon Sword could not take his eyes off the zelkova tree.

He had no time to look at things like trees, but strangely, his gaze went to the tree.

“Who is it?”

“…Hut!”

Suddenly, the tree spoke.

The startled Raging Dragon Sword looked at the tree.

He had not felt any presence. He had not felt that there was a person there at all.

‘A master…!’

The Raging Dragon Sword raised his tension throughout his body.

Jo Chuhan glanced at the tense Raging Dragon Sword and said, “The Living Sword Sect’s Raging Dragon Sword, Gu Jiyu. He is a guest who has brought a gift. I hope you will show him mercy.”

Jo Chuhan said.

“Those who enter and leave will die. Outsiders are forbidden to enter.”

“Didn’t I say I brought a gift?”

“You really don’t understand, do you? Rules are rules. If this rule is broken once, it becomes a mess.”

The tree spoke informally to Jo Chuhan.

Jo Chuhan was not the number one person under heaven. He was not the leader or the head of a sect. But his importance was very high. If he stepped forward, most disputes would be resolved on their own.

The tree was calmly crushing such a person.

‘Who on earth is he…?’

The Raging Dragon Sword was not offended at all, even though the two were talking about his life and death. No, he was even more tense. And now he knew that Jo Chuhan’s warning, that he would die if he rode in the carriage, was not a lie.

“Hoo! I’ll have to take care of it myself.”

Jo Chuhan said, looking at the Raging Dragon Sword.

Swoosh!

A person walked out from the tree.

He was behind the tree. It was partly because the tree was so large that he was not visible… but it seemed that he was not visible because he was so small.

His build was as small as a thirteen or fourteen year old boy. His face was large and he had almost no hair, so he was bald. His lips and cheeks were plump, but his forehead was full of thick wrinkles.

It was impossible to guess his age.

“Just take one blow from my blade. Then I’ll let you live.”

The short man who had come out from the tree said.

“What! Even if you ignore a person…”

When the Raging Dragon Sword was about to get angry, Jo Chuhan, who was sitting in the carriage, said calmly, “Do your best. Even I have a hard time taking one blow from that person’s blade.”

In that instant, the Raging Dragon Sword’s breath was caught.

My god! Who on earth was this man that Jo Chuhan would say such a thing? A blade that a person who had trained in the Illuminating Thousand Swords had a hard time taking.

Papat! Papapat!

The Raging Dragon Sword glared fiercely at the short man.

The man did not emit any killing intent. No, he had no aura at all. He had so little aura that he even looked weak. He did not give the impression of being fast or strong at all.

Swoosh!

The short man held up his blade.

The blade was also shabby. It was originally a large headed blade, but it seemed to have been cut in half somewhere. It was a half blade.

“I haven’t used this in a long time… I don’t know if it will work well.”

The man swung the half blade around.

The Raging Dragon Sword did not dare to be careless.

Just now, Jo Chuhan had said. That it was a blade that even he had a hard time handling. He remembered those words clearly.

“Hooooop!”

He took a long breath and circulated his true energy.

He slowly drew out the Red Haze Sword Art, which had made him stand out as one of the Ten Swords of the Living Sword Sect.

A red mist bloomed from the sword.

“Damn it, that’s not even interesting. It would be better to finish it quickly without wasting time.”

The short man said roughly and then suddenly threw his body up into the air.

It worked! The Red Haze Sword Art was a sword that cut the sky. If the opponent stayed in the air, it was even easier to cut. Just as the red mist spread in all directions, the blade cut the sky in an instant.

Shwaeeek!

He executed the Severing Heaven Accumulating Clouds among the Red Haze Sword Art. But then!

“Ah!”

The Raging Dragon Sword lamented.

The world was split. Suddenly, a diagonal line was drawn across the whole world.

The sky, split diagonally, fell to one side. The bottom of the diagonal line also fell. The top and bottom were separated with the diagonal line as the center. The world was split in half.

“Keok!”

The Raging Dragon Sword let out a short scream.

A stream of blood shot up in front of his eyes.

It was a fountain of blood created by the diagonal line that had cut him in a straight line from his right shoulder to his left side.

Swoosh! Thud!

The Raging Dragon Sword collapsed helplessly.

“It’s a scary blade even when I see it again.”

“Kukuk! You shouldn’t have brought an outsider.”

The short man laughed.

“There are two more people who died from that blade, don’t you want to see?”

Jo Chuhan pointed to the wooden coffin loaded on the carriage with a nod of his head.

“…What? What kind of bullshit is that?”

In that instant, a gleam of light flashed in the short man’s eyes. As if he was quite surprised.

(End of Chapter)