Episode 179

Zhuge Yun, who was dealing with Woo Gok-jin, had a bitter look. He told Zhuge Yeon to run, and that was his goal so he could fight with a little more peace of mind.

With that in mind, he inhaled deeply and aimed his sword.

“I heard the martial arts of the Zhuge family are the lowest among the Eight Great Families, but I guess not.”

“We were lucky, and I did improve my skills recently.”

Woo Gok-jin couldn’t help but feel a bit upset looking at his fallen subordinates. He thought he was keeping his guard up by moving and that the problem was that he did let his guard down, but the real problem was that he didn’t have a good enough opinion of the Zhuge family’s martial arts.

His few subordinates fell in an instant. He now had two left.

And Zhuge Yun wasn’t that safe either.

Woo Gok-jin’s sword technique was strong enough to be on par with Ma Jang-kang. In a situation like that, with two subordinates with him, Zhuge Yun’s end wasn’t too far off.

“But I don’t think your luck would last long… What about you?”

“I don’t know if my luck will run out… or if it will continue, yet.”

Zhuge Yun smiled and clenched his sword.

He was seriously lacking strength.

He blocked Woo Gok-jin for now, forced his daughter to flee, and used considerable effort to cut down the remaining subordinates. But if this continued, it seemed like he wouldn’t be able to handle a single hit.

‘I can handle one-on-one….’

An absurd thought came to him.

One wouldn’t lose to a single opponent, unless they were a fool, and he won’t accept that either. Also, even if they fought each other, he would never be able to win with the strength he currently has.

“You must have gone through so much running. Now offer us your neck.”

Woo Gok-jin slowly narrowed the distance.

His words continued to weigh down on his heart.

He had two subordinates, one on either side, and both of them had their swords drawn. A serious wound would result if one of them managed to land a hit.

Srrrng!

In an instant, he struck down the sword flying in from the right.

Zhuge Yun stumbled due to the force it held.

So he stepped back. The opponent’s sword was much too strong for him to stop it without his hand trembling. He managed to hold on to his sword.

But the force just continued to grow.

Kakakang!

“Kuak!”

The attack flow between the three of them was swift. They were skilled at hitting and evading like they had been training for a combined attack, and they were able to accurately aim for the gap in their target.

When one blocks an attack, another attack comes rushing in, and if they dodge it, the loophole gets violated.

Chak!

His shoulder was sliced.

The wound wasn’t deep, but it bled a good amount. Even though the pain didn’t end, the swords continued to come from all directions. Zhuge Yun noticed something and quickly stepped back.

Chak! Chak! Chak!

“ACK!”

But, it was impossible to defend every attack and the three swords continued to move, wanting to cut him down.

Fortunately, the cut wasn’t deep, and he managed to retreat a little.

However, if things continued as such, he might die from the unstopped bleeding.

“Ahhh…”

Zhuge Yun let his body go weak and took a deep breath.

A little more and his entire body would be torn.

“As expected, from a person who served as the commander for the Murim Alliance, this is why you have this sense when it comes to battle. I really wanted to tear you to pieces.”

“Haha. Actually even I am surprised. I really thought I was going to die there….”

Zhuge Yun looked at all the cuts on his body and smiled awkwardly. He is surviving by the breadth of a single piece of paper. He wondered if this is what it meant to save one’s life, as he was surprised that he was still holding on like this.

“Looking at this, I guess I have some talent for martial arts. I thought I had no hope up till now.”

“Maybe this is just an obsession to live?”

“Haha, do you think so?”

Zhuge Yun grabbed his sword with a groan.

‘What do I talk about now?’

His body was hurting and his strength was low. Truthfully, even holding the sword was difficult.

Unlike him, the other person was strong, so it seemed inevitable that he would die at any moment now.

When he thought about that, the first thing he thought of was his daughter’s face.

That child.

Since she was a child, he was unable to pay much attention to her due to him following Namgung Chun.

Maybe that was why she grew up like that.

When it was time to die, all sorts of thoughts went through his mind.

A bitter smile, regret from it, thinking that if he had known it would end up like this, he would have tried harder.

It was Zhuge Yun who promised to himself that if he survived, from here on, he would always look after Zhuge Yeon.

“You don’t even have the strength to hold your sword.”

Woo Gok-jin, upon noticing his condition, said.

The shaking legs, the drooping shoulder.

At most, he could guess that holding a sword was the best that could be done.

Even his eyes were losing their life force; it looked like he would die if he were left alone.

But that is not acceptable.

Because Zhuge Yun was the one that ordered him to be hunted, and he couldn’t even properly be with the woman he liked.

He had to hide his existence from the Murim Alliance, and he spent a good ten years like that.

Zhuge Yun, the reason for all that, was right in front of him, so it made no sense to kill such a man easily.

He will cut his tongue and limbs off, and throw him into a pigsty to have his intestines devoured while he is still alive.

Woo Gok-jin couldn’t stop smiling at those happy thoughts.

He calmed his killing intent and took a deep breath.

“I will cut your limbs off first.”

While uttering those words, Woo Gok-jin looked at the subordinate next to him and the subordinate nodded, approaching Zhuge Yun.

The moment he raised his blade to cut an arm off,

slash!

His gaze, which was looking at Zhuge Yun, tilted towards the sky.

He could see the sky which couldn’t be touched at any point, and then he turned and saw Woo Gok-jin behind him.

But the subordinate looked confused.

At the same time, he felt pain and looked and saw the blood gushing down his neck, dazed.

“You-!”

Thud!

A loud shout rang out in the entire cave. At that one word, everyone in the cave went still.

The moment they heard the shout, it felt as if their entire body was being hacked to bits.

Woo Gok-jin and the last subordinate stepped back.

He had no idea what was happening.

Suddenly, an old man stepped in between them and Zhuge Yun.

A tall man with fluttering white hair .

A person who managed to instill fear in them by just standing there, and the feeling of being crushed under at the mere sight of him, like a mountain weighing down on them.

“Ah…”

Zhuge Yun exclaimed while the faces of his opponents paled.

Was there a person in this world, who was a warrior and known to all?

A person who rose to the highest position when it came to warriors.

A warrior strong in martial arts, both in name and truth.

The Sword Emperor.

The sight of this man, that long white hair, the fluttering sleeves, and one hand holding the sword, made them want to bow their heads.

“But… it cannot be….”

Woo Gok-jin couldn’t accept this.

This was something which could never happen.

Surely… he was dead, right?

From the time the new Murim Alliance leader was elected, the death of the Sword Emperor was certain. That was because the man had never been sighted again.

And he didn’t step in when the Namgung family was in danger, and even when the Evil Sect invaded, he did not appear.

So many people were certain of his death. Then why did he appear here?

Woo Gok-jin couldn’t understand it.

And it was the same for Zhuge Yun too.

“Alliance… Alliance Leader…?”

Flutter.

The long sleeve fluttered in the wind. The expression on the Sword Emperor’s face, looking at the opponent firmly, was one he had seen since childhood.

Although he only had one arm, he was still strong.

He couldn’t shake off that feeling, so he gulped.

“Wh… why are… you here…?”

Zhuge Yun’s gaze was wavering as he looked at the Sword Emperor. But there was no answer, just cold eyes, and those eyes didn’t leave Woo Gok-jin and his last remaining man.

Fear.

Terror.

Everyone had the same thought.

It was the Sword Emperor in front of them.

That soaring pressure, who would even be able to stand there?

Woo Gok-jin stepped back.

‘Run.’

‘I need to run right now.’

Taking up a sword against the Sword Emeror wasn’t something to be done; it was suicide.

“Woo Gok-jin… that is your name, right?”

His name came out of the Sword Emperor’s mouth, who frowned.

That was when Woo Gok-jin realized he cannot run. There was no need to think that escaping would even work, right?

The opponent was the Sword Emperor.

Unless the man in front of him was a fake, it would be impossible for Woo Gok-jin to run.

This is what the name of the Sword Emperor means.

Woo Gok-jin’s lips trembled.

“…I cannot believe that I managed to meet the Sword Emperor in such a place… what a surprise.”

“…Your luck must have run out.”

Woo Gok-jin couldn’t react to those words.

He was sweating.

What he said to Zhuge Yun was coming back to him.

How did it all come to this?

He was annoyed with the situation.

“Are you planning on leaving like this? Do you think I will let you go?”

Namgung Chun gritted his teeth.

Just by looking at Zhuge Yun, he could tell how bad the situation was.

He hated himself for not coming a bit closer and clenched his sword.

“I am sure you will not let me go. Then how about cutting an arm off…”

“Leave your head and go.”

“If I do that, then I can’t leave?”

Namgung Chun smiled.

Was this guy poking fun now?

The more he thought of it, the more disgusting this man was. He grabbed his sword and swung it. In an instant, a strong wind came and swept over them.

Eventually the wind stilled, and Woo Gok-jin and his man didn’t move.

Drip-

Blood dripped down their mouths.

It wasn’t known what had happened, but one thing was certain.

They were cut.

“Cough… damn… cough…!”

The bodies were split in half, and slowly fell apart.