The Red Moon (7)

Chiiik!

In an instant, the drunkenness drained from Heo Jang-un’s body.

As the drunkenness vanished, his mind cleared, and his overly quickened bloodflow calmed.

But the tension in his shoulders didn’t leave. His stance lowered without him realizing, and the eyes that had been full of desire went rigid.

“What is it?”

“…”

“You’re very tense. Were you planning to go kill someone where no one would see?”

Heo Jang-un couldn’t bring himself to speak.

Of course, he couldn’t take his eyes off Jin-hyeon. His hands naturally rested at his waist so he could draw at any moment.

Flash!

The light in Jin-hyeon’s eyes slowly dimmed.

Seen through the Mind’s Eye laden with Soul-Refining Qi, Heo Jang-un carried many colors. Only dangerous ones at that.

Red signified rage. Pink meant lust. Dark red could be read as murderous desire that could not contain its surging fury.

Either way, it was not normal. One thing was clear. If he let him go like this, some innocent person could be violated or killed.

He had come to beat him down anyway, so it felt fortunate.

“How’s your side? Well, if you could drink yourself senseless, it doesn’t seem like it was cut deep.”

Heo Jang-un stammered as he spoke.

“Did you come for revenge?”

“Revenge? That means you’ve done something wrong related to me.”

“!”

“Why don’t you recite what you did wrong?”

Heo Jang-un’s face twisted little by little.

He couldn’t forget the gaze Jin-hyeon had given him at the arena.

Indifference with not a single negative emotion like disgust, hatred, or anger.

Even a pebble on the roadside would have more life than that. In other words, it wasn’t that Jin-hyeon had no feelings. He had seen him as less than an inanimate object.

It was only a look, but it was so chilling that it stuck in his memory.

“You’re too petty.”

“Yeah?”

“So you still had some affection from teaching her? That was a match between martial artists. It’s only a problem that happened because that bitch’s skill was lacking. I didn’t think you’d come calling it revenge.”

“That’s a very strange thing to say.”

“What?”

Jin-hyeon cocked his head.

“I thought you’d rush me no matter what excuse you could make.”

“!!”

“Didn’t you want to kill me? Didn’t you at least want to gauge my skill?”

Heo Jang-un’s eyes twisted savagely.

That man’s hateful smile, the tilting of his head left and right, they were irritating enough to make him want to kill him.

“You should be grateful. A Radiant Sword Festival champion can’t easily pick a fight without losing face, but I’m giving you a reason to have a bout.”

“…”

“You’re not scared now, are you?”

He shrank under Jin-hyeon’s gaze, but Heo Jang-un’s temper didn’t go anywhere.

The cold taunt made his rage explode again.

“You crazy bastard! Fine. I’ll make you just like that slut!”

Chaaang!

With a crisp draw, Heo Jang-un charged and swung with a split-in-two momentum straight for Jin-hyeon’s crown.

It was swift and decisive. The move was simple, but the pressure alone would make most masters lose the will to fight.

Unfortunately for Heo Jang-un, Jin-hyeon was not such a middling master.

Hwaaak!

His left hand, burning blue, clamped down on both of Heo Jang-un’s hands together.

Kwaduk!

Jin-hyeon’s feet dug an inch into the ground.

That alone showed how intense the strike had been. It had been swung with one-strike-kill momentum.

‘Ghk!’

Heo Jang-un’s face flushed red.

Before the blade even finished its arc, he closed in and sealed his hands along with the hilt. Easy to say, but without superhuman reflexes, it was unthinkable.

What was more unbelievable was the strength of Jin-hyeon’s grip.

Udu-deuk!

“Ugh!”

Along with the handle, it felt like both his hands would be crushed.

It was brute strength. Internal energy aside, even his muscles seemed different from an ordinary person’s.

At this rate, both hands would break. In desperation, Heo Jang-un drove his knee up.

Peok!

“Krak!”

Before the knee could rise, a right fist slammed down and struck his thigh.

The bone wasn’t damaged, but his leg went limp for a moment. Heo Jang-un dropped to one knee.

Jin-hyeon withdrew his right fist and swung his right hand again.

Pueo-eok!

His vision flashed white.

He regained freedom of his hands and blade, but he lost balance and fell, staggering repeatedly. A whine rang in his ear, then it went muffled.

He realized his left eardrum had ruptured. But more shocking than that was the fact he had been slapped. Such a humiliating attack!

“You son of a bitch!”

Pung!

A diagonal saber strike rising from low to high.

It was an explosive blow. Compared to the saber edge he’d slammed down earlier with split-in-two and Mount Tai Pressing Down momentum, this one was even sharper.

Flash!

The strike, riding a savage blade wind, shredded a large tree behind Jin-hyeon.

But Jin-hyeon wasn’t there. The Heavenly Escape Steps had been used.

As Heo Jang-un panicked and drew his blade back, Jin-hyeon’s toe drove into the sealed sword wound.

Pueo-eok!

“Kuhk!”

Clutching his side, Heo Jang-un staggered back.

In a life-and-death bout, losing posture to pain was something only a novice did.

Of course, Heo Jang-un was no novice. But the pain was so severe he couldn’t help but move like one.

The wound that had begun to heal quickly with internal energy tore open again. It was fortunate that penetrative force hadn’t been used, but that brought no comfort.

Flash!

Heavenly Escape Steps moved Jin-hyeon’s body to the opposite side once more.

Trying to counterattack somehow, Heo Jang-un was horrified by the savage presence he felt from the rear right.

Udu-deuk.

Caught by a crushing grip, Heo Jang-un’s right hand was bent backward. His palm turned up toward the sky. The blade in his grasp fell to the ground on its own.

Heo Jang-un tried urgently to pull his hand free, but Jin-hyeon’s left hand had already seized his right shoulder.

Kwaduk!

“Aaaargh!”

Peok! Peok!

Enduring the pain of his shoulder breaking, Heo Jang-un desperately hammered Jin-hyeon’s side with his left fist.

He clearly had abundant real combat experience. In that situation, instinctively driving a fist into an opening was impossible for an inexperienced warrior.

Wooong!

A bluish shimmer gathered around Jin-hyeon’s hands.

Hook!

Heo Jang-un’s body lifted into the air as he tried to throw another punch.

Grabbing the broken right arm, Jin-hyeon swung Heo Jang-un around and slammed him down with all his strength.

Kwaang!

The pain in his right arm was severe, but the impact to his back and the back of his head severed his consciousness for a moment.

Of course, Jin-hyeon had no intention of letting him faint comfortably. He came around to Heo Jang-un’s side and drove his fist down without mercy.

Pueo-eok!

The fist that smashed his abdomen sank in so deep it seemed it would touch his spine.

There was no scream. Blood spilled from his nose and mouth, and Heo Jang-un’s complexion turned ashen in an instant.

“This spot, right?”

Regaining his senses, Heo Jang-un grabbed Jin-hyeon’s neck with his left hand. But the shock to his organs had shaken even his dantian, and no strength went into it.

Uduk!

Jin-hyeon broke Heo Jang-un’s left hand too, then began pounding his abdomen in earnest.

Peok! Pueok! Kwang! Kwang!

With each blow growing more violent, Heo Jang-un’s body jolted again and again.

Jin-hyeon didn’t stop. He didn’t mock him or curse him. As if he were simply doing what he had to do, he mercilessly, relentlessly hammered the abdomen.

How long did he strike like that?

With fist raised, Jin-hyeon suddenly looked at Heo Jang-un.

His eyes had lost their light. He was at death’s door. With most of his organs destroyed and even his spine crushed, there was no chance of survival.

“Spare me… s-spare…”

Without a word, Jin-hyeon tipped his chin and swung his fist again.

Kwang!

Spitting blood as his organs burst, Heo Jang-un died on the spot.

“Hoo.”

Jin-hyeon stood and rolled his shoulders.

“That was a good warm-up.”

Seureuk.

Han Cheol-sang, who had been watching from afar, approached.

“Why didn’t you just turn him into fish paste?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Everything between his chest and his lower body is flat. I’d believe it if you told me a demon did this.”

Han Cheol-sang frowned.

“This isn’t because Lady Seol took a dirty hit, right? I know this bastard was a son of a bitch, but that doesn’t seem like reason enough for revenge like this.”

“That’s right.”

“Pardon?”

“I killed him because he was a dog bastard.”

“…”

“And if he lived and ran his mouth to Ha Suk-heon or Gong Cheong, the trust I worked to build collapses.”

Han Cheol-sang studied Jin-hyeon’s face in silence, then nodded.

Personal ties or trust aside, Jin-hyeon was not the type to kill someone just because he felt slighted. There had to be a reason he didn’t know.

‘Then again, just showing killing intent is reason enough to fight.’

He realized that since meeting Jin-hyeon, he had seen a far more peaceful Kangho. Even he, back when he roamed the world with a single sword, had fought countless life-and-death bouts with men who tried to kill over petty slights.

In the real Kangho, there were plenty of people who stabbed first just because they didn’t like how you look at them, or because they were curious how you’d react.

Jin-hyeon wasn’t that kind of madman, but he must have had a serious conflict with that saber-wielder who died looking like rags.

Han Cheol-sang grumbled and lifted Heo Jang-un.

We came for a festival, but it feels like we’re only burying corpses. At this rate, I might retire and become a gravekeeper.

“Leave it. I’ll take care of it.”

“Tend to your internal energy. You took a few hits to the side too. Ah, but…”

“Yeah?”

“You said you were bringing him as a gift. Is it fine that we bury him? Shouldn’t you at least cut off his head?”

Jin-hyeon stared at Han Cheol-sang as if he were ridiculous.

Han Cheol-sang smacked his lips.

“So it was a figure of speech. Understood.”

“Brother Han, sometimes you seem like a crazy person.”

“Who’s saying that to whom right now?”

With that, Han Cheol-sang disappeared. He was taking the corpse to a place fit for burial.

Left alone, Jin-hyeon thought of Ha Suk-heon.

‘They didn’t just recognize his face. They clearly knew each other.’

Gong Cheong said he had recruited Heo Jang-un. It seemed they were actively drawing in masters.

But if it were him, he would never have recruited someone like Heo Jang-un. A vicious bastard like that would cause trouble anywhere.

Gong Cheong couldn’t possibly lack that judgment. Yet he still recruited him, and even intended to appoint him as the unit leader of the Swift Wind Unit.

‘There must have been Ha Suk-heon’s recommendation. Even if Gong Cheong felt uneasy, he would have had no choice but to accept him, considering their ties with Cheongyang Association.’

With Heo Jang-un’s temperament, and a high post like Swift Wind Unit leader…

Someday, he would smear Divine Iron’s name with shit. The fact that someone recommended such a man, and someone else accepted him, said a lot.

‘This isn’t an equal business relationship. Divine Iron is being careful around Cheongyang.’

He didn’t know how Gong Cheong would handle Heo Jang-un, but at least Ha Suk-heon’s intent was clear. He wanted Divine Iron’s name dragged into the dirt. Not a deal with Divine Iron, but Divine Iron’s submission.

So for Jin-hyeon, Heo Jang-un’s death itself could be a gift.

Of course, even Jin-hyeon still didn’t know how he would deal with Divine Iron. One thing was certain. He would, at the very least, drive Gyeong Do-cheon into the abyss.

After a while, Han Cheol-sang came back.

“I buried him well.”

“Good work.”

Jin-hyeon raised his head and looked up at the sky.

The moon was red like blood.

“Shall we go?”