The Eve Festival (5)

“Young Lady.”

White Lotus Squad Leader, Oh Gong-myeong, spoke cautiously.

“Please take a short rest before we proceed.”

“I’m fine.”

There was no tremor in Seol So-ha’s voice. Her eyes scanning the surroundings were sharp as well.

“Let the White Lotus Squad rest. I’ll look around nearby and return.”

“How can we rest when you’re on the move, Young Lady?”

“The swordsmen are short on sleep, aren’t they?”

Oh Gong-myeong smiled.

“They’re not so lax in training that a few days of catnaps would make them whine. As you well know.”

“True.”

Even while exchanging words, Seol So-ha ceaselessly watched the area. Her concentration was remarkable.

She went beyond the five senses, constantly burning her qi-sense.

Anyone who cultivates internal energy knows how hard this is. Keeping one’s senses active constantly expends internal energy, which in turn drains mental strength and, ultimately, the body.

Yet she showed not the slightest sign of strain.

‘What formidable will.’

Oh Gong-myeong marveled anew at Seol So-ha’s resolve.

The White Lotus warriors were just as incensed by the civilian murders. Before their pride as swordsmen of the White Sword Seol Clan, each was a true man of the Kangho, used to righteous acts.

Even they let their focus waver at times, but Seol So-ha was different.

‘It’s not that her martial skill is simply strong or that she’s learned some superb art. It’s the difference in willpower.’

Exceptional will testified to her great sense of duty. But what worried Oh Gong-myeong was Seol So-ha’s frenzy disorder.

‘Let there be no problem…’

The clan warriors thought she was hot-tempered and tried to stay calm. They took her usual impassivity to be for that reason.

Oh Gong-myeong was one of the few who knew of Seol So-ha’s frenzy.

‘Come to think of it, she’s been quiet lately.’

Which made him worry more. If she overexerted herself and it exploded in an extreme moment, it would be disastrous.

Whether she sensed his worry or not, Seol So-ha looked around and asked,

“With so many farmhouses, would the culprit really act here? It’s such an open place.”

“Hard to say.”

Oh Gong-myeong’s face hardened.

“In any case, they said he wields considerable martial arts. One might not know even if something happens next door. If a killer meant to commit slaughter, a place like this is better than a busy street.”

“That could be.”

She answered thus, but judged the chance small.

These murders had overturned central Sichuan. If the culprit had any sense, an open village would be hard to target.

‘He could, of course, catch us off guard… but thinking that way has no end.’

Seol So-ha felt impatience.

She had learned basic strategy and tactics since childhood, but this kind of response was a first. A crazy killer hardly seemed likely to act strategically in the first place.

She was troubled. She knew strength in martial arts wasn’t everything, yet when this actually happened, helplessness crept in.

‘Most of the crimes happened between the Rat hour and the Ox hour.’

It was nearing the Tiger hour now.

‘Could he already have struck…’

Just then.

Kkang.

Halting, Seol So-ha turned her gaze south.

Oh Gong-myeong knit his brows.

“What was that?”

He too had heard something odd. His qi-sense was considerable.

But Seol So-ha heard it more distinctly.

“It sounds like weapons clashing.”

“Eh?”

“Attach just ten White Lotus warriors to me.”

Before anyone could stop her, Seol So-ha kicked off the ground.

Oh Gong-myeong shouted quickly,

“Team One, all of you, follow the lady!”

Thirty swordsmen followed behind Seol So-ha.

Paaaak!

Jin-hyeon’s speed as he ran through the narrow forest was leopard-like.

He read the gaps between trees exquisitely, moving as if on a familiar road.

Even at the Cunning Wolf Path, his movement was astonishing. He was not merely fast, but it was as if he was seeing through where every obstacle lay.

It was the power of the Soul-Refining Art. The power of the mind’s eye.

As if looking down from the high sky, he broke through the forest by the shortest path.

The movement was amazing, yet Jin-hyeon had to grit his teeth against a head-splitting pain.

‘Stop!’

It betrayed its master’s will. With the Soul-Refining Art invoked to the extreme, even ringing filled his ears.

Even in the intense pain, he felt it absurd.

His three dantians, upper, middle, and lower were in perfect concord. Though the art he invoked remained at the Cunning Wolf Path, his body was already pressing toward the next stage.

Yet the Soul-Refining Art would not obey. He had not faced this even when he was the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader. The only time had been after his death and revival, when he ran through a mountain battered by a raging storm.

‘Damn it! What is happening!’

It was then.

‘?!’

A blood scent that hadn’t arisen while moving began again.

Wooooong!!

The Soul-Refining Art heaved. The Heavenly Wolf Qi running through his whole body stirred up waves.

A murderous gleam rose in Jin-hyeon’s eyes.

The smell of blood thickened.

He forgot the splitting pain in an instant. Beyond the forest, along a broad riverbank, a fierce reek of blood was spreading.

‘Heavenly Wolf.’

Wooooo!

A wolf’s howl rang within his body.

The soul of the blue wolf that had ruled the northern land raised its head. The Heavenly Wolf True Qi writhed madly, sweeping his body’s meridians like waves.

Jin-hyeon’s body seemed to lengthen in an instant.

Kwaduk!

Smashing a small tree and lunging, he saw a fairly large house set by the river.

‘There.’

The Soul-Refining Art that had been running wild quieted. The mind’s eye that had overheated the upper dantian stilled. The unknown voice that hovered by his ear was no longer heard.

He went on simply as Jin-hyeon.

Huuk!

A fierce aura surged from within the house.

It was so strong his body tensed at once. Jin-hyeon’s eyes flashed.

Kwaang!

A side wall of the house collapsed and someone leaped toward Jin-hyeon.

Fierce as an active volcano and headlong like a raging bull. In one hand the person held a gently curving saber, and even his running stance was unusual.

No words were needed. Jin-hyeon’s hand gripped the Indestructible Sword’s hilt.

Chaaang!

It was a dashing draw that seemed to cleave even the clouds about the moon.

Jaws and wrists tempered by the Ten-Fingers Soul-Slaughter Art handled the heavy Indestructible Sword like any greatsword. The body tempered by the Body-Refining Art showed not a hair’s deviation wielding a heavy blade.

The Indestructible Sword clashed with the nameless blade.

Jjeo-oo-eong!

Sword and saber struck, raising a tremendous shockwave.

Though he’d charged explosively, he had to fall back over three meters after the clash. The unknown foe retreated three meters more.

Given the momentum, it was natural. But he couldn’t take his foe lightly. It had been a blow willing to fling even his sword, yet the foe merely retreated, his blade intact, his stance unbroken.

Jin-hyeon set thought aside.

This was a duel with a master. Reveal a gap, and he’d be countered.

Huk!

Closing with the Calling Wind, Flying Horse Art, he unfolded the Heavenly Evasion Steps.

When Jin-hyeon, charging like a savage beast, vanished from sight, the unknown master seemed taken aback. He hesitated, then lunged to where Jin-hyeon had disappeared.

Paak!

Approaching from the left, Jin-hyeon marveled inwardly.

‘Good instinct.’

The moment he disappeared from his sight with the Heavenly Evasion Steps, he dashed forward since and attack from the rear was likeliest.

He was rich in real combat. Such movement isn’t born of guesswork. It is the instant judgment of a veteran of hundreds of battles.

Of course, Jin-hyeon had no intention of losing him.

Swiftly chasing, he unleashed the War-Sword Three Arts’ attack technique, Cross Soul-Slash.

Flash!

A cross-shaped stroke, blazing in moonlight, aimed at the foe’s upper body.

A domineering blow packed with high sword-principle. The foe too glared and swung.

The saber that had slid up on a diagonal bent in an instant and dropped at a steep angle.

Jin-hyeon’s eyes wavered. That slash rising diagonally and bending down like lightning stirred a forgotten memory.

‘No, could it be?!’

Kwang! Chiriring!

Force exploded; scattered fragments of blade-energy sparked and vanished.

Koong!

Bracing by pressing the Indestructible Sword low behind, Jin-hyeon immediately stepped ahead of the foe’s next strike he had foreseen.

His prediction was exact.

The saber-wielder, likewise driven back, sprang elastically and leapt, adding power as he spun.

Though he jumped briefly and even spun, there was no gap. The sequence flowed like water. The move that connected with the Cross Soul Slash was the Chain-Linked Saber.

Jin-hyeon’s Indestructible Sword scattered, leaving afterimages.

Wooong!

The Yang-strong Heavenly Wolf Qi raised a shimmering haze, warping the world around its master. It was an offensive defensive art that disrupted not only the enemy’s sight but even their qi-sense through sheer heat.

The saber-wielder’s eyes flew wide.

It seemed the scattered heavy blade existed in all directions. It was like numerous swords raised into a wall.

A collaboration of qi art and swordplay permitting no gaps, the War-Sword Three Arts’ defense technique, Tenfold Prison Wall.

Kaaaang!

The killing-charged Chain-Linked Saber struck the sword-wall and rebounded.

The rebound was powerful. Jin-hyeon, sheltering behind the wall, was fine, while the attacker was thrown back.

When the saber-wielder swiftly recovered and lifted his head, Jin-hyeon was already upon him.

The saber-wielder’s eyes wavered.

A heavy-blade warrior charging with the moon at his back.

White hair under blue moonlight looked frightfully pale. Strands spread like a lion’s mane, and each seemed like a blade.

Like a divine general dispatched from the Moon Palace beyond the sky.

Wreathed in cold majesty and hot pressure, he drove in with storm-like force.

‘Retreat and die.’

Instead the saber-wielder stepped in and brought down the saber gripped in both hands.

A reddish wind seemed to cling to the whole edge. It was a single slash that raised a mad gale, the fiercest of fierce blows.

The instant the two peril-laden blades clashed.

Kwarung!

Around the slash that cleaved the earth, a savage saber-wind howled.

The saber-wielder’s eyes shook.

‘A feint?!’

Behind the wildly raging wind, the white-haired afterimage blurred.

Using Heavenly Evasion at the brink of impact to take his rear, Jin-hyeon drove the Ten-Fingers Soul-Slaughter fist art, Steel-Shattering Hammer.

Peok!

The saber-wielder gulped empty air and staggered.

In that instant, Jin-hyeon’s foot whipped the back of his knee and stamped his shoulder at once.

Ppagak!

The saber-wielder caught himself on the ground.

Even so, he didn’t release the saber. He twisted in a flash, even avoiding a broken shoulder. He had tremendous tenacity.

But the battle was over.

Seureuk.

A chilling blade rested on the kneeling saber-wielder’s shoulder.

Its edge wasn’t honed, but with Heavenly Wolf Qi, the sword could cleave rock. The saber-wielder too realized he had lost.

“Hoo.”

Drawing a low breath, Jin-hyeon asked coldly,

“Who are you?”

Even the flowing river stilled its sound; the force in his voice was immense.

“Remove the hood first.”

Silent with head bowed, the saber-wielder soon took off the hood.

In that instant, Jin-hyeon’s eyes wavered.

The hood had covered even his hair. Casting it aside, a short crop came to the nape into view.

That familiar looking back.

That figure, turning with a smile so as not to trouble customers.

“Shopkeeper?”

The saber-wielder turned his head.

Gone was the cheerful, kind look; in its place was a gloomy face like a collapsed, ruined house.