It’s Not Like I’m Doing This For You. (5)

Boom!

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”

Kwang!

“Oh, dear, I’m dying!”

Kwoooong!

“Seriously, does that man never get tired?”

Do-Hyeon couldn’t shake the strange feeling.

What is this?

Do-Hyeon swiftly unleashed a palm strike.

The name of the palm art he had learned was the Nine Yin Shattering Heart Palm. Its exact origin was unclear, but it was a martial art passed down through the Imperial Palace’s secret organization since ancient times.

Because it was a martial art founded on yin qi, it was not easy to master completely, and had originally amounted to nothing more than a martial art learned by assassins. But after eunuchs gained power and became able to study martial arts, its might was reevaluated.

If one could master it completely, it was an unparalleled ultimate art unlike any other palm technique in the world.

And Do-Hyeon had mastered the Nine Yin Shattering Heart Palm to a level almost approaching perfection. It was the result of countless spiritual pills secured through the power he wielded, combined with Do-Hyeon’s innate talent.

Yes, that was certainly the case.

Therefore, anyone struck by his perfected Nine Yin Shattering Heart Palm should have had their heart meridians burst from the yin qi burrowing inside them, killing them on the spot.

Twang!

“Aagh! My stomach hurts! What a filthy martial art!”

How in the world was that monkey-like bastard still leaping around so energetically after taking countless hits from his Nine Yin Shattering Heart Palm?

My palm force isn’t working?

That was impossible.

Gritting his teeth, Do-Hyeon unleashed an even faster and more powerful palm strike. The massive yin qi surging from his dantian raced along his hand and shot toward Chung Myung’s face.

“Hup!”

At that moment, Chung Myung sharply jerked his head aside and evaded the incoming palm force.

…He dodged?

Do-Hyeon’s eyes narrowed slightly, as though he found the scene unfolding before him hard to believe.

Chung Myung then smiled meaningfully.

“I get it now. It doesn’t just burrow in; it also has a sucking property. No wonder it seemed to cling to me whenever I tried to dodge it.”

“…”

Do-Hyeon glared silently at Chung Myung.

Though Do-Hyeon could not say he had faced many people since learning martial arts, every opponent he had encountered so far had been a formidable expert who could not be dismissed.

Yet none of them had grasped the characteristics of his martial art so quickly. If they had, Do-Hyeon would not have been alive and standing here now.

What in the world is that bastard?

He was no ordinary man.

Was this really possible simply because his martial arts were outstanding?

Do-Hyeon’s greatest duty was eliminating threats to the emperor. In other words, he investigated and monitored the thousands upon thousands of talents gathered from across the realm.

That was why he could tell just how extraordinary the masked man standing before him was.

“You’re too good to die in a place like this.”

Do-Hyeon’s eyes grew a little colder.

“Would you consider working under me?”

“Well…”

Chung Myung flinched, then pondered for a long while with a serious expression.

“Hmmmm. Well… Ahem, it’s true that it’s definitely useless, but…”

“…Huh?”

“I don’t think I can. Not using something and being unable to use it are similar, but there’s definitely a difference.”

“Hmm.”

Do-Hyeon looked at him anew, seeming almost surprised.

“A man’s path is to accomplish great things. To be hung up on something so insignificant…”

“…Insignificant?”

“Insignificant.”

Do-Hyeon straightened his shoulders and declared proudly,

“If it is for the sake of achieving what must be achieved, a man should not regret such a thing.”

“Wow.”

Chung Myung covered his eyes with one hand.

The halo seemed to shine from Do-Hyeon as he boldly uttered those words, dazzling Chung Myung so much that he could not look straight at him.

“Now that you mention it…”

Chung Myung abruptly turned his head and looked at his sahyung and sajaes.

“Come to think of it, aren’t eunuchs the true men?”

“…Stop talking to us in the middle of a fight.”

“What kind of bullshit are you spouting now…?”

“But it’s true. The most those monks and the like have to do to pursue Buddhism is shave their heads, and those Taoists and the like merely climb mountains in search of the Way of the Immortals. But becoming a eunuch isn’t something you can do without considerable courage.”

“…No, how did you interpret it that way?”

“Damn it, I almost found that convincing.”

Well… It was true that he had sacrificed something tremendous.

Chung Myung looked at Do-Hyeon with renewed appreciation. Even as their conversation continued, Do-Hyeon held his shoulders proudly, as though he felt not the slightest shame or discomfort.

“So, what do you say?”

“Urgh.”

Chung Myung’s body trembled violently.

“I’m sorry. No matter how you put it, I can’t go that far…”

“Hm. Pathetic.”

“Ghk.”

Chung Myung had always prided himself on being a bold man inferior to no one in the world, but in front of this man, he could not help but hunch his shoulders.

Chung Myung was merely a coward groaning over something forcibly taken from him, whereas this man had willingly given up something dear beyond measure.

“Ah, stop thinking stupid thoughts and focus on fighting properly!”

“Oh, sorry. I went a little too far.”

At Tang Soso’s shout, Chung Myung shook his head vigorously. He had nearly fallen into an inner demon, but fortunately, he had come back out.

Chung Myung spun his sword once and pointed it at Do-Hyeon.

“I appreciate the offer, but, well… I already have somewhere I belong.”

“Hm.”

“Anyway, I know enough now. Let’s finish this.”

At Chung Myung’s attitude, so composed that it bordered on insolence, Do-Hyeon narrowed his eyes.

“Do you think you can defeat me merely because you dodged one attack?”

“That one little dodge is what matters.”

Chung Myung grinned.

“Now then. No more talking.”

The amusement vanished from Chung Myung’s eyes.

Perhaps sensing something unusual in that gaze as well, Do-Hyeon immediately hurled a palm strike at Chung Myung.

It was palm force just as swift and chilling as before, a strike containing the very essence of the Nine Yin Shattering Heart Palm.

But at that moment, unlike before, Chung Myung charged straight toward the palm force flying at him.

“What?”

A startled cry burst from Do-Hyeon’s mouth.

His palm force was more than enough to burst someone’s heart meridians in a single blow if it struck properly. Charging straight toward it was no different from throwing away one’s own life.

But just as it seemed he was about to be struck by the palm force, Chung Myung drew his sword and raised it high overhead.

What?

Do-Hyeon’s eyes widened in shock.

The sword, brimming with powerful qi, extended toward a place completely unrelated to his palm force. That alone was bewildering enough, but the truly astonishing thing happened next.

The palm force he had emitted began to bend and move as though being sucked toward the sword Chung Myung had thrust above his head, rather than toward Chung Myung’s body.

Is he using the properties of my palm force against me?

Qi filled entirely with yin qi and devoid of even a trace of yang qi would naturally pursue yang qi. Thus, his palm force naturally possessed the property of burrowing into places filled with yang qi—in other words, the opponent’s body—without needing to be directed every step of the way.

Those who had never faced his Nine Yin Shattering Heart Palm did not know of this characteristic, and often lost their lives in the instant they let their guard down.

But he’s using that characteristic against me to evade the palm force?

His palm force bent strangely, then collided with Chung Myung’s sword, which was imbued with more qi than his body.

Kwoooong!

Avoiding a direct collision did not mean Chung Myung escaped unscathed. Another property of yin qi was penetration. The yin qi that broke through his qi instantly churned through Chung Myung’s body.

Naturally, Chung Myung’s injuries were not minor, since he had even poured the qi protecting his body into his sword. A mouthful of metallic blood burst from his lips.

But that was enough for Chung Myung.

Having neutralized the enemy’s strike, Chung Myung rushed straight up to Do-Hyeon’s face.

“How dare you!”

Do-Hyeon’s gaze blazed with the force of lightning.

He was a man who commanded countless others. What such people always feared most was an uncontrolled situation.

Yet the fiend before him had completely escaped his control with a single move. Facing the man charging straight at him, Do-Hyeon furrowed his brow and let out a fierce shout.

“I’m not someone who will fall for cheap tricks!”

Both of Do-Hyeon’s hands filled with terrifying palm force.

In contrast to his contorted face, Do-Hyeon’s hands moved with exquisite delicacy, like a woman carefully embroidering.

Paang! Paaang! Paang!

As though all his repeated single-palm attacks until now had been a trap, Do-Hyeon unleashed dozens of palm forces at once.

The palm forces poured through the air. Imbued with bluish yin qi, they formed an impenetrable wall between Chung Myung and Do-Hyeon.

You bastard!

In that fleeting moment, Do-Hyeon became certain of his victory.

There’s no way he can evade this.

Using the properties of his palm force to unravel the attack had certainly been impressive. Yin qi was not something that could be dispelled so easily.

The mistake that bastard had made was assuming that Do-Hyeon would be weak against sudden situations in actual combat. But how could a high-ranking official constantly plagued by the threat of assassination be flustered by a situation like this?

The bastard was charging forward with all his might. At this momentum, he could not stop himself before reaching the wall, and would naturally collide with it—with Do-Hyeon’s palm wall filled with yin qi.

That would decide the match.

Do-Hyeon wore a triumphant smile. For a nameless nobody, he had fought quite well, but even so…

But it was at that very moment.

“Heave-hoooooo!”

A ferocious voice rang in Do-Hyeon’s ears.

It was a crude, violent voice that knew nothing of restraint and simply spat out whatever it pleased. To Do-Hyeon, who had grown accustomed to propriety and silence for decades, the voice itself was enough to cause shock.

And at the same time—

Flash.

The bluish wall of palm force filled his entire field of vision.

Amid the vast blue expanse, as endless as a great sea, a long streak of light flashed for an instant.

The light passed like lightning in the blink of an eye, and when it vanished—so swiftly that it could only have been an illusion—the wall of palm force he had created split in two and surged upward like a waterfall pouring toward the sky.

What?

Do-Hyeon froze where he stood.

Palm force had filled the space before him without leaving the slightest gap. That palm force had been cleaved apart by a single stroke of the sword. Even seeing it with his own eyes, he could not understand how such a thing was possible.

This was not something that could be explained by concepts such as strength or weakness in martial power. What in the world was this…?

But Do-Hyeon could pursue his questions no further. Before he even had time to understand what was happening, the eyes of the fiend who had rushed right up to his face curved like crescents.

“You…!”

Do-Hyeon instinctively reached out his hand. But before he could fully extend it, the sword swung by Chung Myung snapped upward.

Boom!

He had no idea where or how he had been struck. His vision merely went dark, and when he came to, all he could see was the dim sky—and the face of the masked man hanging in one part of it, wearing an irritating eye-smile.

“You were pretty good, in your own way.”

“…”

“For a high-ranking official with such a heavy bottom.”

Do-Hyeon stared blankly at Chung Myung, then let out a hollow laugh.

“…You insolent traitorous bastard.”

Do-Hyeon quietly lowered both hands, which he had been holding out.

It was a clean declaration of defeat.