Villain Vs Villain (3)

“What are you all doing, not going to clean them out quickly!?”

A helmet adorned with red tassels and silver armor.

At a glance, he looked like a high-ranking commander of the Protectorate.

“B-but…”

The officer commanding the soldiers bowed his head before him.

Ordering an attack on unarmed civilians without learning the situation first, and with passersby crowding around watching, it was only natural they hesitated.

The soldiers hesitated just the same.

Perhaps annoyed by that, the commander grimaced and slapped the officer across the face.

Smack!

“Do those bastards still look like civilians to you! Anyone who disobeys orders will be executed!”

He was clearly a murim warrior of considerable skill.

Unlike the ordinary soldiers, he had sensed something amiss.

The gate was smashed and the gate guards lay motionless as if their vital points had been struck.

And even Lieutenant Bang Chung was half-dead—a situation he couldn’t possibly understand.

At that moment, the slapped officer forced his lips to move.

“…Attack.”

At that point, the soldiers had no choice.

The soldiers pointed their weapons and began to close the encirclement bit by bit.

Yet Yu Jinsan studied the commander’s face without batting an eye. Hidden by the armor but still visible was certainly some kind of emblem.

‘It’s definite.’

The Blue Dragon troops tattoo crawling up his neck.

Yu Jinsan was not the sort who would fail to recognize even a small part of it.

After confirming, he sent a short-range message to the merchant waiting beside him.

• Ready?

This was the merchant who had worshiped him like a god inside the grotto, showering him with fanatical faith.

Yu Jinsan had chosen him because he was unusually fearless.

The merchant gave a slight nod, stepped forward, and shouted loudly.

“Look, everyone! The government troops who should protect the people are protecting thieves and slave traders!”

Who would dare provoke the government troops like that, right to their faces?

The soldiers felt embarrassed, and the onlookers looked somewhat stunned.

The commander, however, eyes wild, drew his sword.

“You brat! Can you shut that mouth this instant!”

The merchant, following Yu Jinsan’s signal, answered back without backing down.

“What crime have we committed to deserve this?”

“Do you not know that smashing a city gate is punishable by execution!”

The merchant spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders.

“Us? With what did we smash the gate? With our hands?”

There was no way he could explain that.

When the commander faltered for words, the onlookers murmured.

At that moment, Yu Jinsan and Yu Seol dragged the collapsed Bang Chung forward, holding him from both sides.

The merchant suddenly pulled open the official’s robe down from his shoulder and shouted.

“Everyone, this scoundrel and that commander are in league! If you look at his neck you’ll find the same emblem as that guy!”

“Hey, you brat, what did you just say!?”

The commander, enraged, prepared to draw his sword.

Still, the merchant showed no fear—he had absolute faith in Yu Jinsan.

“Seeing you flustered means it’s true, doesn’t it? Then we’ll have to check it for ourselves!”

With that, the merchant retreated as if his part was done.

What Yu Jinsan wanted was not a mutiny from the soldiers; he had never expected that.

He only wanted to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, so he could single out the Blue Dragon members without harming innocent soldiers.

To do that, he needed to instill fear in the soldiers.

“You!”

Unable to tolerate it, the commander lunged at the merchant like a bolt of lightning.

But his path was blocked by Yu Jinsan.

As a small palm came toward him, the commander crossed his arms to defend.

Swoosh!!

It was the Yu Family Heaven and Earth Palm technique, bouncing the opponent backward.

The retreating commander, mortified and furious, gripped his sword—but he had no further chance.

Yu Seol had already appeared behind him and kicked out at his ankle.

The lightning-fast speed of her movement was beyond what he could evade.

Kabang!

As the commander stumbled and fell, Yu Jinsan sprang forward.

A clenched fist began to hammer down toward the face within the helmet.

Sensing the danger, the commander, forgetting his pride, rolled his body aside with all his strength.

Thud!!

Yu Jinsan’s fist sank deep into the sand—he had miraculously avoided it.

The commander scrambled up, unable to process it. That he was being bested by children—he couldn’t believe the situation.

Worse, he couldn’t even find the girl.

But he was given no time to think—Yu Seol darted in like an arrow from behind and delivered a side kick.

Screech!!

The armor crumpled as if struck by a giant hammer.

“Guh!”

Staggering forward, his solar plexus was driven into again by Yu Jinsan’s Heaven and Earth Palm strike.

Swoom!!

“…Gah.”

The commander gasped for breath and staggered to his knees.

But the Yin-Yang Twin Fiends would not allow it.

From the front came Yang Monster’s palms, and from behind Yin Monster’s fists and kicks rained down in succession.

Wham! Crack!! Kaboom!!!

The commander couldn’t even fall; he was pounded from front and back until his whole body was a pulp…

Thud!

The sound of his knees hitting the ground.

It all happened in an instant. No one even dared to help.

Merchants and soldiers alike just gaped, like goldfish.

“My, my goodness.”

“…Well, I’ll be.”

Who had ever seen such a shocking scene?

The soldiers were frozen, unable to move. A mighty commander was helplessly subdued by kids; of course they were in shock.

Then Yu Jinsan ripped the tattered armor like paper.

Rrrrip!!

And, as expected, the dragon tattoo was revealed.

Tattoos weren’t banned by the state, so anyone could have them. The problem was that the two tattoos matched exactly.

This alone couldn’t prove complicity, but right now even such a small thing could be used as justification.

The merchant who had fled earlier stepped forward again and shouted.

“Look! This bastard is in the same gang!”

“…”

No one replied; their minds were too muddled.

Then the merchant pointed to the restrained man—the head of the slave traders.

“Tell us the truth! Who else has your back!?”

The man couldn’t refuse; Yu Jinsan glared at him with a terrifying look.

It was clear he was the one pulling the strings from behind.

“Lieutenant Jin Yong, Myung Hak-seung, and general leader Man Sa-jong. And Protectorate Cheon Unpil… They all ordered this. We’re truly innocent.”

The leader, desperate to save his life, even lied.

Was his answer so shocking? Even the civilians watching and the soldiers were greatly shaken.

Then, answering Yu Jinsan’s signal, the merchant shouted again.

“Alright, then let’s march on the office and judge these scum!”

Civilians planning to judge officials—how absurd could that be?

Moreover, the Protectorate head was a high-ranking official.

Yet the steps of the Yin-Yang Twin Monsters at the front showed no hesitation.

The surrounding soldiers instinctively backed away and cleared the way in fear.

There was not a single person to block their path; only the crowd trailing to watch grew larger.

“Grandpa, where’s the office?”

“Probably near the west gate heading toward the Western Regions. But I don’t think we need to go that far.”

By now the news would have reached there too. As he suspected, they’d likely come out to meet them.

“After this, can we buy that?”

Yu Jinsan looked where his granddaughter was pointing.

It was a stall selling skewers coated in spicy seasoning.

Worrying about food while possibly being surrounded by the enemy—his granddaughter’s composure was reassuring.

“It’s not just lamb skewers. We’re all the way here—Seol should eat whatever she wants.”

“Heehee.”

Yu Seol, excited, flashed dimples and stretched both hands behind her shoulders to pull two short spears from her pack.

“Why the spears?”

Since she mastered the Buddha Lion Roar Divine Arts, she’d only used weapons once against the Kunlun’s warrior. The Blue Dragon members here couldn’t be stronger than him.

He wondered why she was raring to fight before even meeting their opponents.

“I’m hungry, so let’s finish this quickly.”

She clearly wanted to try the skewers as soon as possible.

Yu Jinsan took the Dragon Slayer Spear and nodded.

“Right, no need to drag this out.”

The crowd following Yu Jinsan and his granddaughter had swelled to over a thousand.

Half were government soldiers, the rest were civilians trailing to watch.

As expected, a group began approaching from across the way shortly after.

Yu Jinsan stopped and signaled behind him. Those with him forced two officials to kneel in front.

Stripped and in a pitiful state, they were Lieutenant Bang Chung and the eastern garrison commander—or rather, the Blue Dragon members hiding their identities.

“…Heh heh.”

It was Bang Chung’s laugh. He’d been silent until now, but this was his first words.

Yu Jinsan grabbed his hair and asked.

“What’s so funny?”

“You fools don’t understand how terrifying the Dohu is.”

From experience, skill gaps within the Changryong Corps were huge. The strong had even broken through cultivation barriers others couldn’t.

He already suspected that the Lord of Protectorate was the strongest among them, not the small fry.

But how strong he was didn’t matter that much.

Yu Jinsan snorted and said as if there was no need to think deeply.

“You don’t really know either—about the terror of the Yin Yang Twin Monsters.”

Yu Seol was already stretching, wearing an expression that she looked forward to the opponents.

At the head of the approaching group stood a general in ornate silver armor: Protectorate leader Cheon Unpil, the head of West Pacifying Protectorate.

Several commanders and soldiers flanked him. From their movements, they all seemed to be well-trained elites.

After a while, they stopped about ten paces away—they had no choice; Yu Jinsan had his Dragon Slayer Spear aimed at Bang Chung’s throat.

“You bastard! Do you think you’ll escape unscathed for daring to point a weapon at an official’s throat!?”

It was a truly imposing shout.

An overwhelming aura that dominated everyone. From that shout alone, Yu Jinsan could sense Cheon Unpil’s martial skill—he was certainly not beneath him.

He had felt this kind of presence many times before—always from absolute masters who had achieved the Hua Boundary.

“If you have the guts, come and take him.”

Cheon Unpil studied Yu Jinsan with predator-like eyes and easily noticed he was no ordinary child.

“So you’re a martial person. The rule is non-interference between officials and martial folk; why wreak havoc here?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re here to catch martial folk.”

Cheon Unpil’s expression cooled at Yu Jinsan’s cryptic remark.

He must have sensed their identities were exposed. Otherwise, why would two Blue Dragon members be kneeling with their tops torn off?

“What do you want?”

“A duel.”

Cheon Unpil actually welcomed the proposal with open arms—it was a chance to resolve the crisis at once.

True to the head of the protectorate, his spirit was formidable; he stepped forward without hesitation.

“I accept. Whoever wants to come before me, step forward. But don’t even dream of a graceful death.”

Having drawn his sword, he suddenly wore a baffled expression.

A girl with long hair trailing came trudging toward him, a short spear slung behind her neck.

And she gave off no martial aura, appearing like an ordinary civilian—a situation that defied common sense.

‘Could it be she has achieved Age Reformation and Rebuttal Prowess too, and is a top warrior?’

Sadly, rumors of the Yin Yang Twin Monsters hadn’t reached the frontier city of Dunhuang. No wonder there were so many questions about their identities.

While Cheon Unpil paused to think, Yu Seol held out three fingers toward him.

“What does that mean?”

Yu Jinsan answered in her stead.

“What else—it means a three-on-one. We’ll pick two more to join.”