The Thing That Had To Come Has Arrived (3)

A golden opportunity presented itself, one that would never come again. While his granddaughter held onto the blade of Jong Hyun’s sword, Yu Jinsan let go of the spear in his right hand.

Flustered, Jong Hyun tried to pull back his sword but failed. Despite having 100% more internal qi, he couldn’t withstand the child’s strength.

He was in a state of extreme confusion, his mind turning pale. During this time, Yu Jinsan’s palm rotated half a circle and started to glow blue.

This was the Yu family’s palm technique, the fourth form, One Flash Attack.

His palm moved forward as if it intended to cut down his left chest.

Chak!

“Kuak!”

Jong Hyun lost his grip on the sword and fell back. After flying a whopping three meters back, he stumbled and coughed up blood.

The strike was a huge blow to him, as it was imbued with internal qi. Given the close range of the attack, he was bound to stumble.

Yu Jinsan sighed, looked around, and shouted.

“Are you just going to stand there? How much longer is this young guy going to exploit an old man?”

He didn’t have time for a slow one-on-one fight.

Pungho, coming to his senses, signaled the archers.

“Fire!”

About twenty archers, who had been preparing in advance, let their arrows fly.

Pat! Swish!

The arrows fired directly from close range were a force that couldn’t be ignored.

Jong Hyun was now desperate. Normally, he wouldn’t have paid any attention, but circumstances had changed. He was weaponless, and his body was too wounded to move.

In the end, he resorted to using the Lazy Donkey Roll, a technique considered shameful by warriors.

The arrows continued to rain down on him non-stop.

Puak!

The arrows that were stuck in the ground increased one by one. However, not a single arrow hit his body. But that didn’t matter. The attack was just the beginning.

Pungho, sword in hand, shouted.

“Everyone, attack at the same time!”

At his signal, the bandits surrounding him began to rush in like bees.

There were clearly over seventy of them.

“Woahhh!!”

“AHHHHH!!!”

Jong Hyun’s face filled with anger as he saw the bandits approach. It was as if he couldn’t accept the situation.

‘How is this so absurd…?’

He didn’t have a weapon in hand, and he found it difficult to breathe. At that moment, Yu Jinsan’s back came into his view, and the child on his back turned her head.

A cute child with bright eyes and chubby cheeks. The child, who looked a bit over two years old, smiled brightly at him.

‘Is she a great warrior going through reverse transformation?’

Reverse Transformation was an odd process where the strongest warrior could take the form of a child. He couldn’t interpret what happened in any other way.

As he turned, convinced, his expression, which was full of resentment, began to ease. He thought that his death might not be shameful now.

And after a while, his body vanished in the wave of bandits.

Meanwhile, Yu Jinsan, having achieved his goal, immediately left the bandit’s place.

There was no need to confirm the results.

“Oh my, I might die. Those idiots treat an old man this way?”

As if waiting, he heard a sound from behind.

“Oh my, Seol is dying too.”

If it wasn’t for his granddaughter, he might have ended up dying for real.

The child was so cute that he wanted to pat her on the back, but he couldn’t. His right hand was holding the spear, and he couldn’t move his left arm because of the wound.

“You did well, my child. You saved your grandpa’s life back there.”

“I ood?”

“Yes! Very good. I guess I will have to make meat porridge for you as a reward.”

“Heee~”

Yu Seol was waving her short arms in excitement and hugging her grandpa’s neck tightly. She seemed happy to hear this.

After a while, Yu Jinsan arrived at the residence, untied his clothes, and bound the child as he sat down on the ground.

As he examined the wound on his arm, his expression darkened.

‘This is bad.’

At first glance, it wasn’t a sword wound that could be easily healed. The wound was deeper than he had thought.

He didn’t understand what was wrong, but he couldn’t clench his fist any further. A moment of pain or oddness in life wasn’t a problem.

How could he swing a spear with just one arm? The road ahead of him seemed too tough for that.

“I’m going to take a shower and come back, so just stay here.”

Yu Seol was already lying on the ground. It seemed like she had fallen asleep because she had exerted too much effort fighting.

Yu Jinsan entered the kitchen and cooked porridge for his granddaughter first.

After removing his clothes and washing his wound, he felt immense pain.

He almost groaned at it, but his expression didn’t change. This was because, compared to the disease he had, this was nothing much. And as he finished bathing, he heard someone shouting,

“Grandpa!”

“Elder, are you in there?”

Now, he could tell by the footsteps that they had to be the bandits. It seemed like the situation was all over, so they came here.

After getting dressed and coming out, he saw five bandits, including Pungho and Hyun Hee, bowing to him.

“Why are you here? You should be busy.”

Pungho scratched the back of his head and said,

“I couldn’t even thank you, and you left first. And it looks like you got hurt, so I was worried…”

“There’s no need to worry. I need to get some rest, so come back when you’re done with the bandit business.”

At that time, Hyun Hee smiled brightly and unpacked the bundle she had brought with her.

“I brought some medicinal herbs. Don’t be like that and just sit down for a while, Grandpa.”

She had brought Golden Spear Paste, which was known to be excellent for sword wounds.

If it was a treatment, there was no reason to refuse it.

“The child is sleeping, so go to the hut over there so she doesn’t wake up.”

Yu Jinsan, sitting in the hut, rolled up his sleeves to the shoulder.

A deep wound stretched more than an inch. Moreover, even though the bleeding had stopped, the blood hadn’t dried up yet.

Hyun Hee expressed her surprise as she asked,

“…does it not hurt?”

“Compared to the pain I’ve experienced before, this is nothing.”

At that moment, a bandit wearing a white hood approached from behind, carrying medicinal herbs.

Pungho introduced him.

“This is the guy who specializes in medicine in our bandit group. He comes from a family of healers, so his skills are recognized as pretty good.”

Yu Jinsan nodded and held out his left hand.

The physician, who examined his hand, looked distraught.

“Are… you having discomfort moving your hand?”

“I cannot clench my hand. It’s difficult to heal, right?”

Yu Jinsan had already noticed his condition. He was just asking out of curiosity.

“The tendon inside is damaged. It won’t affect your life, but the spear….”

He had mixed feelings, but what was the use of worrying about something that had already happened? He nodded and looked at the medicine.

“There’s no need to worry. Just clean the wound and head back.”

“…Yes, Elder.”

The physician carefully disinfected the wound and then applied the paste. The treatment was finished after he tied his arm with a clean cloth.

“Good work. Your workmanship is decent.”

“It was nothing. If you experience any discomfort later, come to us anytime.”

He stepped back, and Pungho moved closer.

“Thank you for what you did, Elder. But what happens now?”

Since they had killed one of the Wudang’s Four Swordsmen, there was no way the Wudang would leave them alone.

The situation was spiraling out of control. If a large sect belonging to the Murim Alliance moved in earnest, the bandits wouldn’t be able to handle it.

It was natural for Pungho to seek advice from Yu Jinsan.

“Stronger ones will come next time. They might come in groups, or the elders might step in. What will work in front of them?”

He had already heard about this from Hyun Hee.

Even though Jong Hyun was the highest-level warrior among the disciples, there were likely many more warriors in the Wudang who were better than him.

No matter how much they thought about it, the bandits were no longer confident.

“If you can think of something, please give me some advice.”

Yu Jinsan sat cross-legged and intently gazed at the sky.

“It looks like winter will be here soon. If you want to live, everyone should leave before the flowers bloom again. I won’t be here either.”

The location of the Wudang Sect was Hubei, which was quite far from here.

It would most likely be spring when they would be certain of Jong Hyun’s disappearance. But that was something that even Pungho had expected.

“As you know, our family has a lot to feed. Where can such people even go…? We won’t survive the cold winter and we will definitely die.”

“And the money you stole?”

Pungho sighed deeply.

“Sigh. If we had wealth, why would we worry about these things?”

There was a lot to discuss, and most of the people lived on what they earned. The bandits had little money saved since they didn’t attack merchants.

Yu Jinsan felt frustrated.

“Why are the bandits so worried when they live for today? Shouldn’t you just eat a big meal and run before the winter?”

“As you know, there aren’t many troops we can rob. Moreover, if it is a place with financial resources….”

“Using force will be tough. First, investigate the surroundings and try to understand them. Our priority is to find out if there is a right goal that we can aim for.”

Pungho’s expression slowly brightened.

“So, are you saying that the Elder is with us?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Yu Jinsan needed to travel a lot, and that meant he needed money. If there was a chance to get a share, he didn’t have to turn it down.

At that time, Hyun Hee, who was watching from behind, clapped her hands.

“I think it will be really reassuring if Grandpa is there! I will investigate the surrounding lands and see who has the most money.”

Yu Jinsan nodded and made a hand gesture.

“Fine. If you are done, head back now. I need to rest.”

The bandits stepped back and lowered their heads.

“Yes, Elder. Then we will leave now.”

“See you again, Grandpa!”

After a while, Yu Jinsan was alone, and he sat down to get some fresh air.

His head felt complicated. His biggest concern was his injury.

‘I guess this is the only way.’

He stood up and picked up the spear, which he had set down earlier.

‘If it’s urgent, then I have no choice but to use it like this.’

He placed the spear between two stones somewhere in the yard and grabbed one end. His purpose was to cut it down.

The spear’s shaft could be remade later. First, he wanted a spear that he could use with one hand.

The blade he was holding had a white shine and radiated a blade qi.

‘I truly believe that my ancestors will understand this. It is for the survival of our family.’

How could one feel at ease when they were going to take apart a one-of-a-kind family heirloom with their own hands?

A moment later, the sharp blade qi cut through the shaft.

Slash!

He grabbed the cleanly cut spear with one hand and swung it a couple of times.

Wheik!

“I think it’s quite good now. I’ll fix the remaining part and make one for Seol….”

Yu Jinsan closed his eyes before speaking. This was because he discovered something on the cross-section of the part of the spear that he had cut.

There was an empty space inside the spear’s shaft. What was rolled inside was now sticking out, like parchment.

‘What is this?’

When he carefully held its end and pulled it, the parchment came out cleanly. And there were a lot of small letters written on it.