A Clan With Roots (6)

That was when it happened.

“Keulluk!”

Heo Do spat out a handful of blood and staggered to his feet.

Song Oe hurriedly approached him.

“Brother!”

Even though this was official business, a private form of address slipped out. That was how flustered he was.

Heo Do struggled to shake off Song Oe’s support and raised his head.

Jin-hyeon tilted his head.

“Why not just stay lying down?”

“I cannot do that. If I, as their leader, lower my head before the enemy, I would have no face to show my subordinates.”

Jin-hyeon gave a small laugh.

“If I had meant to kill you, you would have died from that one move. You know that, don’t you?”

Of course, Heo Do knew.

In an instant so brief it could hardly be called a moment, he had barely managed to catch Jin-hyeon moving. Against a fist swung from a blind spot in both sight and sense, he had been completely defenseless.

Speed was one thing, but the greater reason was that he had been suppressed by Jin-hyeon’s qi presence. The ability to momentarily disrupt one’s perception was precisely why transcendent masters were difficult to face.

Paaaang!

Heo Do struck his fist with his palm and lowered his stance.

“The opponent is a transcendent master. Everyone, into the Tiger Pressure Formation!”

It was a strict and cold voice.

The White Tiger Unit members, who had been cowed by Jin-hyeon’s gaze, instantly recovered their momentum and quickly spread out to form the formation.

At that moment, Jin-hyeon’s blue pupils turned pink for an instant.

Kwang!

“Keok!”

Heo Do spat blood and flew into the White Tiger Unit members who had formed the formation. The startled unit members hurriedly caught him.

In the opening while the formation was disrupted, Jin-hyeon moved.

Paaaang!

He rushed with Calling Wind, Flying Horse Art and swung both palms.

It was the palm art of the Ten-Finger Soul-Slaughter Art, Air-Shattering Shock.

Rumble!

It was as if an earthquake had struck. With a heavy and chilling roar, a formless wind of force swirled and pierced through the center of the collapsed formation.

Peoeong!

“Kuaaak!”

“Keok!”

It was as if a wave had crashed down right before their noses. Before the power of the double-palmed Air-Shattering Shock completed with silk-reeling force, more than ten White Tiger Unit members collapsed in a heap.

And before all of them had even fallen, Jin-hyeon had already moved into the middle of the formation.

Song Oe shouted.

“Grab…!”

Peoeok!

Before he could even finish telling them to grab him, Song Oe’s upper body folded. The leg technique of the Ten-Finger Soul-Slaughter Art, Iron Pillar Kick, had driven into his abdomen.

Song Oe’s face, his mouth hanging open, was dyed with shock. It was as if Jin-hyeon’s leg had stretched out three meters. It had never been a distance at which he should have needed to block or dodge, yet he had been struck.

‘Impossible…’

And so Song Oe collapsed. He had been knocked unconscious in one strike.

From that moment on, the White Tiger Unit began to fall apart.

If the formation had functioned properly, even Jin-hyeon would not have been able to suppress them easily. But he did not give his opponents the leisure to deploy their formation, targeted only their openings with absolute precision, and avoided contests of strength.

Moreover, this was not an open plain. The street itself was so long and wide that even a battle involving a hundred people would have enough room, but for the White Tiger Unit, which had the greater numbers, their movements were restricted.

Conversely, the side with fewer people could move through a much wider range of directions while facing the enemy.

That was the White Tiger Unit’s fatal mistake.

Peobeobeobeok! Kwang! Peobeok!

Jin-hyeon moved as if possessed, knocking down the White Tiger Unit members. His movements were terribly simple and rational, yet strangely violent.

Naturally, he wasn’t fighting alone. Their Patriarch was fighting, so there was no way the clan members would simply stand by and watch.

Before anyone knew it, Han Cheol-sang, Do Il-gang, and Im Yeo-wol were attacking from the rear, making the already confused White Tiger Unit members even more frantic.

Even with ample real combat experience, when fighting as a unit, certain minimum conditions were necessary. If they had spread out in every direction, taken hostages, or hidden themselves to launch surprise attacks, that might have been different, but the White Tiger Unit, which fought thoroughly through formations, could not withstand the offensive of the Jin-hyeon Clan’s people.

After a quarter-hour passed like that.

Every member of the White Tiger Unit lay rolling and groaning.

Surprisingly, not a single one of them was dead. Some had bones broken here and there, and some had been knocked unconscious, but there were no deaths.

“That’s strange.”

Han Cheol-sang scratched his head.

“They could not form their formation, and the Patriarch stirred them up too, but it was easier than expected.”

Jin-hyeon spoke calmly.

“It’s because these bastards are exhausted.”

“Was that it?”

“You must not underestimate fatigue. When fatigue piles up, even a blade that should be swung five times can only be swung four times. A Murim person’s fight is one where life and death are decided by that one swing, so of course they had no choice but to collapse easily.”

The old man, Oh Gyeong, added.

“The Patriarch is right. If they had been in perfect condition, it would not have ended this quickly.”

Han Cheol-sang grumbled.

“You didn’t help again this time.”

“Steward Han, do you dislike me?”

“What is there to like or dislike?”

“You do dislike me.”

“I said I don’t.”

“My good man, at my age, why would I play with small fry like this? There are plenty of young and strong people here.”

“Since they’re small fry, you could have joined in to loosen yourself up a bit. Honestly.”

“Would a few kittens like this even loosen me up?”

“These people are the White Tiger Unit, the White Tiger Unit.”

“They’ve lost all their old prestige. Besides, as the Patriarch said, they’re exhausted too. They’re plenty manageable without me lifting a hand.”

Jin-hyeon raised a hand and stopped the two from talking.

“First, let us tie these bastards up and talk after that. There are people I need to introduce to you all as well.”

That night.

“…”

When he opened his eyes, he saw the cloudy night sky.

So many stars were covered by clouds and hard to see. At least the moon was clear.

Heo Do immediately checked himself internally and raised his upper body.

Throb!

The pain that surged up in that instant was so severe that he fell flat on his back again and steadied his breathing.

‘Acupoint sealing.’

Circulating his internal energy was impossible. His dantian was unharmed, but the surrounding acupoints were tightly blocked by unknown true qi.

Heo Do could instinctively tell that with his ability, he couldn’t release those acupoints.

It was when he clutched his chest and raised himself.

“The sky hasn’t been very good lately.”

Startled, Heo Do quickly threw himself backward.

Even with his dantian sealed and terrible pain in his chest, his movements were nimble. That was how well trained he was.

“But tonight is different. The moonlight is good too. Even if I don’t get to see the sun much, by tomorrow, the clouds seem like they’ll have enough sense to clear out, so I’m looking forward to it. Don’t you think?”

Heo Do’s eyes trembled.

Jin-hyeon was sitting beside him. On the cold winter night, as he sat on the ground and drank alone, a strange wildness clung to him.

“What are you doing? Sit.”

“…”

“Or stand if you want to.”

He didn’t say it twice. Jin-hyeon poured wine into his cup again and slowly drank it.

Heo Do, who had been silently glaring at Jin-hyeon, slowly approached him and plopped down beside him.

The corner of Jin-hyeon’s mouth rose slightly.

‘Not bad.’

He had expected questions like, what are you going to do to me, or where are my subordinates. That would’ve been normal.

But Heo Do didn’t do that.

Even when he had regained consciousness, he had checked his body first, and though he had instinctively opened distance, he obediently approached and sat when told to sit.

He knew that fighting any further would have no meaning. He thought that if the other man intended to kill him, he would have been dead long ago.

It was not easy to understand with the heart what one knew with the head. Jin-hyeon could tell that Heo Do’s vessel as a Murim person was above ordinary.

Jin-hyeon wiped the cup with his sleeve and handed it to Heo Do without a word.

When Heo Do accepted the wine cup, Jin-hyeon filled it for him.

Heo Do drained the cup refreshingly and frowned. It was because the pain in his chest grew stronger.

But only for a moment.

“Give me one more cup.”

“Fine.”

After receiving and drinking two cups of wine from Jin-hyeon, Heo Do let out a deep sigh as if the earth were collapsing.

“Just what are you?”

“Even if it was a mission, you came to transport someone without even knowing who he was?”

“Jin-hyeon, estimated to be in his early to mid-twenties. A rising figure who has reorganized the current Sichuan Murim. A considerable master, and it is presumed that unknown masters exist behind him. Furthermore, he commands a small number of masters under him.”

“…”

“That is all the information I received.”

“All of it is accurate except for one fact.”

Jin-hyeon drank straight from the bottle.

“Kheu, there is no one behind me.”

“It seems so.”

Heo Do’s eyes deepened.

“You are truly tremendous. Are you really in your early to mid-twenties?”

“After this year passes, twenty-four.”

“…Just who is your master?”

“Why? Are you curious about that?”

“Just how great a master did you learn under to become a monster at that age? Even the Twin Dragons and Three Phoenixes would not have been at this level at your age.”

“I have been hearing a lot about those Twin Dragons and Three Phoenixes lately.”

“Because they are the best.”

“To be precise, they are people evaluated as those who will become the best.”

“Is that not the same thing?”

Jin-hyeon shook his head.

“The moment you believe that, it becomes difficult for you to develop beyond their realm.”

In that instant, Heo Do’s eyes shook.

It meant that even if everyone in the world acknowledged it, the moment he himself acknowledged it, his own development could stagnate. It meant he would be abandoning his own belief that he could surpass them.

The words strangely resonated in his chest. Jin-hyeon had spoken of the Twin Dragons and Three Phoenixes, but to Heo Do, it sounded like a piercing criticism directed at the White Tiger Unit, which only looked toward the glory of the past.

Heo Do, who had been quietly looking at Jin-hyeon, asked as if tossing the words out.

“Why did you not kill us?”

“You said you were a unit officially dispatched by the Heavenly Will Alliance, didn’t you? Could I simply kill you all outright?”

Heo Do snorted.

“If someone else had said that, perhaps I would have grown smug and told them to release me at once. But you’re not that kind of person, are you?”

“How would you know that?”

“That gaze and killing intent when you looked at us on the street were real. You truly intended to sweep us all away.”

“I did.”

“And yet you say that?”

Jin-hyeon shook the wine bottle. The sloshing sound was exceptionally clear.

“That was then, but not now. As you likely thought too, if I intended to kill you, I would have killed you all then and there. But I held back, and I intend to receive one of the many gifts patience gives.”

“Gift?”

“Was it an official order?”

Heo Do’s eyes shook.

But his voice did not waver.

“Then do you think we would have caused this chaos without an official order?”

“I will ask again. Was it an official order issued by the Heavenly Will Alliance’s main headquarters? Or was it an official order made by the hand of a single person in power?”

“?!”

He had been surprised several times while facing Jin-hyeon, but never as much as in this moment.

Heo Do’s unwavering voice slowly began to tremble.

“Do you have a spy in the Heavenly Will Alliance?”

“I would prefer that you not answer a question with a question.”

“You!”

“Not long ago, I obtained information that the Fifth Elder of Hengshan and the Lotus Seven Swords were coming to Sichuan. Naturally, they’re not coming here to sightsee, are they? They had a purpose of their own. A purpose that would drive the Sichuan Murim into a rage.”

“…”

“The White Tiger Unit, which had been tracking remnants of a sect that disappeared over a hundred years ago on the borderlands, was finally returning to headquarters, but of all things, received an order to transport us? While an elder of the Hengshan Sect was on his way here? And not even an order to assist the elder?”

Jin-hyeon’s eyes deepened.

“Do you think that is reasonable?”

Heo Do shouted.

“Whether it is reasonable or unreasonable, all we have to do is carry out the order we were given!”

“But that isn’t true.”

“What?!”

“Your heart hopes it isn’t true.”

Jin-hyeon looked at Heo Do.

Heo Do flinched.

“Is the Heavenly Will Alliance you believed in, followed, and lived with pride in the Heavenly Will Alliance of today? As a unit leader of an organization like that, was living while swinging a rotten blade your justice and conviction?”

“…”

“So White Tiger Unit Leader Heo Do was no famed sword under heaven, but nothing more than a common, chipped piece of iron after all.”

Heo Do’s face flushed bright red.