Episode 373

A member of the Red Snake Group, known as Hyung Po, couldn’t understand what he was watching from the Mount Hua disciples.

‘Just who are these people?’

The Red Snake Group were the kind of troops who had experienced battle since birth.

Like most sects on the side of evil, they had been through countless fights. Sometimes to live, sometimes to steal, and sometimes they were just following orders. They had fought countless times.

In this lifelong battle, they had proven themselves, and Hyun Po also had to prove himself to make it here.

So compared to them, these disciples in front of him were little kids who had never killed anyone.

Obviously, even when they had first met, these kids were trembling.

But…

“Uhahahha! Where do you think you are running to?”

“You want to swing your blade?”

Hyung Po’s eyes trembled.

‘Are these really young kids from a sheltered sect who haven’t experienced anything before?’

The battle had just started, and yet he felt frozen as if nothing he could do would affect them.

The sight of his own men swinging their weapons felt so in vain.

‘This cannot be.’

It was common for bandits to always handle the little kids or young children of a sect first in a fight because they would be too nervous and unable to display their true strength.

Just how many had he killed like that?

It had nothing to do with what sect they belonged to. These Taoist disciples rarely came out into the wider world and experienced such things.

But these Mount Hua bastards in front of him were running wild; they were the first of a kind.

Kaaang!

Their swords flew, and the Red Snake Group blades struggled to block them.

“Did you stop this?”

“How dare you evil bastard block my attack!”

“Don’t push your luck!”

What he was seeing…

At this point, it was confusing to tell who was on the side of evil and who was from the Taoist Sect.

‘Isn’t Mount Hua a Taoist sect?’

Those bastards are Taoists?

Did I misunderstand something? No matter how I look at this, they seem a lot closer to us?

But his thoughts didn’t last long.

“Haaaa!”

Chang!

A sword, flying in swiftly, had pierced his shoulder guards and stabbed right into the flesh beneath.

He hurriedly swung his blade to stop it from going further, but the sword didn’t move, and like a snake that had caught its’ prey, it went for his side.

“Kuk!”

Hyung Po, who had to do his best not to die, fell to the ground, and despite all that, there was a large wound on his side.

Shhh.

Blood trickled down his side.

Looking at the long cut, Hyung Po felt his body go cold.

Pang!

The sword flew at a terrifying speed. It was hard to understand how these kids were handling such swords.

Their attitude and the sword movement that didn’t hesitate.

Hyung Po’s eyes looked around and began to tremble more.

The Red Snake Group.

Their group, which was known to be one of the main forces, was being pushed back too clearly.

“D-Damn it! For this to happen!” shouted Hyung Po, who was enraged by this.

On the other hand, Baek Cheon took a short breath and relaxed his shoulders.

‘I keep getting stronger.’

It had to be the way they practiced. There was no need to be nervous at the blade qi or anything else.

The most important thing was not to be nervous but to be able to use their best skills.

Wasn’t that what Chung Myung always emphasized?

Baek Cheon calmed his heart and finally looked at the warrior holding the blade in front of him.

From the tournament in Shaolin to now, there was only one question that had taken up residence in his head.

‘How strong am I?’

He knew what position he held when it came to kids his age. And he had even gained confidence recently in his fight against his brother and had gained some more confidence watching Chung Myung, in which he could see the future growth of his sahyung-sajaes.

Which was why he needed to know this.

‘Where do I stand now?’

Baek Cheon’s eyes lit up.

From now on, the Baek disciples would be the main force of Mount Hua, and they would have to travel across the land, and that would mean crossing paths with many strong people…

At least…

“If we want to cut them down without trouble, I need to be in the topmost position of Mount Hua.”

Baek Cheon, who calmed himself, stepped forward.

His sword felt heavy with the weight of the future.

Thud!

The moment the blade and sword met, the face of his opponent contorted, which was noticed by Baek Cheon.

‘Not so tough.’

He put more force into his leg. Was his opponent weak?

As if!

His opponent was strong, but Baek Cheon was a lot stronger.

The disciples of Mount Hua had endured training every other sect would consider truly horrifying. They were feeling confident now that their foundations had been strengthened.

Confidence stemmed from performance.

There was no reason for Baek Cheon to be weak as long as he believed in his effort and achievements.

Thud!

Baek Cheon pushed ahead one step, and his opponent pushed back.

Baek Cheon’s basic swordsmanship was not anything flashy.

When excited and nervous, he would always remember the words Chung Myung would tell them…

“Don’t get excited!”

Baek Cheon shouted loudly,

“Stick to the basics! Lower your body and center of gravity! Start with their lower body to deal with their swords!”

What he had heard over and over again. If they could stick to that, then even if the flow of fight changed, they could continue to attack.

“Yes, Sahyung!”

“Yes!”

Even in the midst of a fierce battle, he heard a few responses.

At the same time, every disciple of Mount Hua had lowered their stance at once.

Baek Cheon looked at that and nodded as he turned back to his opponent.

“Y-You, little bastard!”

“You keep calling me little since a while back.”

He smiled.

“Looking at how things are going, aren’t you the little one?”

“What?”

“And…”

Baek Cheon shook his head,

“It is annoying to hear, but that guy wasn’t wrong. Today I relate to this a lot more. How dare the fucking Forces of Evil clan raise their heads in front of a disciple of Mount Hua? Should I just cut your throat?”

“…”

“Come here. I will show you what Mount Hua is.”

“Eik!”

The guy rushed for Baek Cheon with his eyes open in anger, and Baek Cheon just pushed his sword forward.

“…huh.”

Hyun Young sighed.

He couldn’t believe that his disciples, the disciples of Mount Hua were pushing back such vicious people.

‘When did our kids…’

He knew that his kids from Mount Hua weren’t lacking in anything compared to any other sect in the world. But right now…

He thought that compared to the many enemies in the world, especially the ones here, the other disciples were inferior.

Chung Myung was confident because Chung Myung knew it.

‘For these kids to drive them away.’

It was said that the parents are the ones who underestimate the kids, and teachers distrust the students the most.

“After all, I am just an anxious old man.”

“Eh. Why would you say that? It is because Elder has belief somewhere in his heart that they were able to wield their swords.”

“… still, when it comes to them, the Thousand People clan, they are ones who have made a name for themselves in the world…”

“Right, those evil bastards.”

Chung Myung looked at their opponent and smirked.

What? Experience?

‘Who are you joking with?’

Sure, Chung Myung wasn’t ignoring that. The people who grow through battle often were able to create things that surpass those who have learned the sword systematically.

But…

‘That’s the story of those who fought properly, though.’

How much must the Forces of Evil have to fight to get such raw experience in a peaceful world?

Maybe in the past, they would have learned something amazing, the times when there were dozens of fights in a day.

A time when the day starts with fights and ends with death. Enduring such days in battle was nothing like training for ten days without break.

But there was no way any clan could go through that right now.

‘Maybe once every ten days or once a month.’

There was no way those who trained only through practical fights could stand tall now.

“There is no need to worry.”

“Uh?”

“They are weaker than you assume, and our Sahyungs are stronger than you realize.”

At Chung Myung’s words, Hyun Young turned to the disciples.

‘There was a time…’

When this was a dream of his.

Wasn’t this what Hyun Young had longed to see? The disciples of Mount Hua wearing robes with plum blossoms on them, defeating the bad people and moving across the world?

His dream was happening right in front of his eyes.

‘If Sect Leader saw this, he would be very happy.’

He rubbed his eyes.

But he couldn’t enjoy this. Each time the blade of their opponent swung in front of his disciples, he felt his heart sink.

“Huh!”

Hyun Young was shocked at Yoon Jong, who was slightly cut by the blade of his opponent.

He was so startled that he let out a scream.

“Hit by a knife?”

“…”

A voice of grumpiness and malice exploded.

“No, what did you have to do to go and get hit by the knife of those bastards? Just because you didn’t practice for a while, you don’t mind getting hit by those idiots? Think this is better? It looks like you want to be stabbed because you haven’t been beaten much these days?”

Yah…

The nervousness had to be released.

And if someone hears such curses right next to them, even a healthy man would die of a heart attack, you idiot!

But, whether or not he knew Hyun Young’s thoughts, Chun Myung screamed,

“I am watching it all! I will throw salt on you!”

The disciples of Mount Hua, who heard the words of Chung Myung, such encouraging words began to rive the enemy troops.

“Achhhhhh!”

“The back is more problem than the front! Damn it!”

“What is with that devil? I am not going to let him catch me!”

“Yah, we are Taoists, so why do we hang around with the devil?”

“Taoists?”

The disciples of Mount Hua clenched their teeth and rushed forward.

They only complained with their mouths as it was a habit, but the moment they heard the curses from behind, their minds felt calmer.

Thanks to that, they were being more flashy now when it came time to overwhelm their opponents.

Their opponents began to get pushed back, not knowing how to counter this momentum.

“What is that guy doing…”

“W-What sword is this fast…”

At that moment, a person who was backing away with a fearful face stopped as something touched his back.

“Ah…”

It was Yeop Pyung who touched his back. And his face turned blue, realizing he had made a mistake.

“C-Captain! I…!”

“Tch.”

Yeop Pyung reached out and grabbed the guy.

“P-Please…”

Slash!

Before he could even plead properly, the captain’s blade was drawn to cut his head off in a neat manner.

Thud!

The headless body went limp, and blood flew out from the severed end.

The fighting stopped.

Everyone turned to watch the spectacle with blank expressions.

‘His own subordinate?’

‘… is that guy insane?’

Especially the disciples of Mount Hua were shocked at this. Killing his own men with his own hands was something they couldn’t even fathom to think.

“Fucking trash…”

Yeop Pyung threw the head to the ground and stared at his men.

“Don’t you know shame! How can you step back just because you cannot deal with those kids?”

“W-We apologize!”

“We deserve death.”

Yeop Pyung responded,

“If you did commit a sin, you need to die.”

“C-Captain…”

“But before that.”

A ferocious killing intent rose from his body.

“I will tell you why the Red Snake Group is called Red Snake. Get out of my way! I will cut off the heads of the kids myself.”

Yeop Pyung smiled.

The moment the killing intent rose from his body, the disciples could feel their muscles clench and the hair rise on their bodies.

‘A master.’

It was well known that this was the man who brought the fame over to these troops…

‘The one different from his own members.’

They were able to realize what it felt like to go against a master who clearly knew what he was doing.

That moment…

“That jerk is the leader?”

Came the voice from behind. The voice clearly held irritation and, as usual, apathy.

“I am the boss here.”

Chung Myun walked out with a sword in one hand.

“Well, anything works for me.”

He went past Yoon Jong and took the lead.

“Even now, beating is the answer for those who don’t know how to speak or eat. Come here, kid. I will cut that head prettily for you.”

The smile on Yeop Pyung’s face vanished.