#72: Loosening And Tangling (3) — The Patriarch of Sichuan

Hearing thunderous cheers as she came down from the arena, Seol So-ha went straight to look for Jin-hyeon.

But she could not find him anywhere.

‘Where did he go?’

She wanted to hear what was good and what was lacking in this night match.

‘Did he go look around?’

It was not something to grumble about. He had been a reassuring presence, but she knew the teacher’s goal was not to protect her.

He had come to watch the Radiant Sword Festival, and for experience’s sake had even brought Han Cheol-sang and Im Yeo-wol along.

‘He must have gone to look over the market.’

Still, thinking that he had not watched the bout made her a little sad.

‘I should practice.’

Shaking off the slight regret, she recalled the bout just now.

The teacher had surely been right. She had trained much at night with her father, but training and real combat were very different.

‘If I had faced Beon Gang, the murderer from that case? If I had fought him, what would have happened?’

She could not know, not knowing his power. She felt that even if she had won, she would have suffered great damage.

She learned much from this fight.

‘The tension given by darkness is surely different. If my mind had been like a clear mirror, I could have finished five exchanges earlier. I still lack cultivation.’

Pushing past the cheering people, she headed for the eastern riverside.

Passing through thick woods to the riverbank, there was no one around. The sound of the water was louder than expected, but a moderate noise would rather help concentration.

Sitting by the river with her sword held to her chest, she recalled the bout.

‘His skill was a step below that saber-wielder of the first match. But he was adept at irregular tricks. Even with a clear gap in realm, one cannot know the result in real combat.’

To her eye, this round’s swordsman was much calmer than the first saber-wielder. The earlier swordsman had a fiery temperament, and it showed plainly in his swings.

If the swordsman she just fought had provoked the first-round saber-wielder, stalled, then unfolded his peculiar irregular sword techniques?

She was sure the swordsman would have won.

‘Personality is as important as martial arts. Psychological warfare is also a tactic. Thinking so, I did not show a good face today. My sword path went off three times from tension.’

Seol So-ha reviewed the bout several times while seated.

After reviewing and reviewing again, she rose.

‘When trading the opening blow, had I honestly gone for midline from the start…’

Just then.

‘?’

Her body, about to draw the sword, froze as it was.

Uuu-woong.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Only-White Art began to stretch.

The cold True Qi settled in her dantian surged and circulated through her whole body. The Only-White True Qi that passed countless points in an instant expanded her five senses to the extreme.

A chill glinted in Seol So-ha’s eyes.

“Who is it?”

Even the sound of the water breaking seemed about to freeze.

Ttak!

With her left thumb she flicked the guard to bare the blade, and murmured low.

“Since you not only followed in secret but also hold killing intent, you must be ready to be cut.”

She gave the final notice without three chances. She was ever thus.

Uuuu-woong!

At the moment the Ten-Thousand-Year Only-White Art activated to the extreme.

Seureuk.

Three men were walking along the riverside.

Narrowing her eyes to heighten sight, she was soon greatly startled.

“You are?!”

“Long time no see, Seol So-ha.”

The man in black martial clothes standing at center.

He was Lee Yong-dan, the second son of the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild.

The Heavenly Wolf True Art, strongest among strengths, is not an art that suits stealth arts.

Of course, after passing Three Paths and reaching the Fourth, it is different. The fourth stage opens all of the Heavenly Wolf True Art, transcending even the nature of its Qi, so if desired, one can even realize proficient stealth arts.

Naturally, Jin-hyeon, who remained at this stage of Cunning Wolf Path, could not erase his presence perfectly.

But what he wanted was to slip from the opponent’s awareness for a moment. Gathering his internal energy and tuning his aura to not differ greatly from others, if he blended into the crowd even a decent master would find it hard to pick out his presence.

He hugged the jutting sword hilt over his right shoulder to hide it, and lowered his posture so the conspicuous white hair would show as little as possible.

In that guise, he recalled a beast approaching prey.

‘He is flustered.’

In an instant he closed thirty-odd meters.

He followed the owner of the presence that had last shown killing intent. He felt the unknown figure, flustered, moving about the vicinity.

‘Closer.’

Moving naturally, picking only positions behind big folk, he finally narrowed to nine meters.

‘…’

Between people’s shoulders, at last he saw the face of the man who had shed killing intent.

He looked between late thirties and early forties. A face between late youth and middle age, with indistinct lines. A face common enough to meet in the marketplace.

The man, glancing around, caught sight of Jin-hyeon approaching low.

Flinch.

Surprise tinted the man’s face.

Jin-hyeon immediately straightened.

He could not start a fight in a crowded space anyway. It would be nice to press points up close, but the opponent’s martial art was not trivial either.

“Keh, did you see the Seol clan’s eldest daughter?”

“The rumors were no lie. How can one be so beautiful.”

“Her martial arts match her beauty. Lord Seol must lose sleep, worrying who will snatch such a precious daughter.”

“After this Radiant Sword Festival, proposals will come from all quarters, I bet. Just thinking makes the heart pound.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

Amid the boisterous coming and going, only Jin-hyeon and the man stopped, glaring at each other.

Soon, the man jerked his chin behind him.

‘He has something to rely on.’

Jin-hyeon nodded faintly. The man grinned and turned to walk.

Following quietly, he raised his senses to the limit.

‘As expected, it’s of no use.’

He tried to find the other masters who had shed killing intent besides that man.

As he suspected, it was impossible. There were too many people, and they too seemed to be regulating their aura thoroughly.

‘If they meant to take me so openly, they needn’t have watched my reaction.’

He could not know their aim, but it would not be friendly. Yet they had purposely bared killing intent to test him. One who notices that must take ample caution.

It was the sort of act to make one say, “Beat the grass and startle the snake.” If they wanted a covert meeting, they could have sent a letter like Song Cheol-gwang.

‘Half-baked or what-not.’

Thus he followed the man north.

The sloping path descending on the left had many trees. Passersby dwindled, and after half a quarter hour there was not a soul.

Walking along the side path of the official road, the man suddenly turned right. Woods lay to both sides.

The way narrowed more and more.

A dark night, a road without even lanterns. Only soft moonlight was barely pushing the dark away.

He opened his mouth after they had gone about a hundred-fifty-odd meters along the way.

“Impressive.”

“…”

“I thought you were at best a late-generation Sichuan prodigy, but you exceed that. Have you learned killer’s arts? Yet your aura oddly felt fierce for that.”

“…”

“No answer, eh. Well, don’t be too tense. If you choose well, there will be no problem with keeping your li…”

It was then.

He felt an explosive momentum burst from the quiet behind.

Paaak!

He quickly threw himself forward and looked back.

‘Gasp!’

His face turned pale.

In the dark, a white-haired specter burning with a pair of blue lights in his eyes had come right up.

Fast, too fast. Taken by an open ambush, he instinctively shot his left fist at the specter’s neck.

Kwaduduk!

Five long white fingers seized his wrist and crushed the bones with ridiculous ease.

It was as if hundreds of bolts leapt from the crushed wrist. The lightning flowed through his whole body, causing terrible pain.

As he involuntarily opened his mouth to scream.

Peok! Kwaduk!

Jin-hyeon’s left hand shifted to a half-fist, smashed the man’s neck, then chopped his right shoulder to dislocate it.

With his left wrist crushed and right shoulder out, fist arts were impossible. His throat struck, breath choked and no voice came.

Even amid the awful pain and distress, he wondered why the other had not broken his neck.

Jin-hyeon’s right foot whipped the staggering man’s knee.

Udok!

“Ghk! Ghk!”

His right leg bent gruesomely. Three of his four limbs were shattered in an instant.

He hurried to raise his internal energy. He thought only of escaping this spot somehow.

Eudeudeuk!

His mouth gaped. Jin-hyeon had mercilessly stomped the right shin and broke it.

“You all right?”

“Uuugh.”

“You won’t die from a few broken bones. Don’t be too scared. By the way…”

Smiling, Jin-hyeon took the man’s left ankle.

“I don’t know who you are, but your investigation on me was lacking. Though, there wasn’t so much to dig deep on.”

Gripping his ankle, Jin-hyeon walked back the way they came, looking left and right, almost leisurely.

“As for me, I’m far more timid than you vaguely imagine. After taking big hits a few times, my nerves got very sensitive. Thanks to that, my temper got foul.”

As if he had found just the thing, his eyes shone and he walked to a small boulder.

Held by the ankle, the man scraped along the ground like meat on a spit as Jin-hyeon moved. He wanted to writhe, but his broken limbs and throat injury made even that hard.

He lowered his posture, looking at the boulder.

“Even so, I was fine until a while ago. But after getting entangled in this and that, my already foul temper caught fire. When a total stranger glares at me, I actually wonder whether to gouge their eyes first or pull off the lower jaw. And I don’t even find myself strange for it.”

He looked down at the man.

The man kept hacking sounds. He wanted to say something, but no sound came.

“Could you tell me even now who called me?”

He truly wanted to open his mouth. He wanted to say something, be it a curse or plea, if only his voice would come, he was willing to be a chatterer for a moment.

But still no voice came. He tried to soothe the swelling throat with internal energy, but the injury was too severe.

Jin-hyeon nodded.

“I will respect your opinion. If you do not die, I recommend reflecting on what courtesy to invited guests is.”

Strong force gathered in his hand gripping the ankle.

The man’s face went pale. He realized what the other meant to do.

“Ghk! Khk! Khak! W-wai—!”

Jin-hyeon twisted his upper body hard.

Swinging with his whole body, the man’s body, held by the ankle, drew across the air toward the boulder.

Buu-woong! Peoek!

Blood spurted from the man’s nose and mouth.

“Guh!”

“Ut-cha.”