Chapter 414

Jang Sachun’s face twisted horribly.

Gwak No-saeng’s accusation shamed him. A rebellious spirit surged within him, but if they had truly been followed, there was no room for excuses.

“How dare you!”

The half-broken blade hanging at Jang Sachun’s waist was drawn.

The Blade Energy erupting from the half-broken blade struck the ventilation shaft directly.

KABOOM!

With a loud explosion, fragments scattered in all directions.

As the ventilation shaft shattered, Pyo Wol and Yong Seol Lan burst out.

Gwak No-saeng glared at the two and said,

“Ho! A rather pretty-looking pair of lovers. How did you get here? Of course, you must have followed those idiots. You seem quite capable, so you’ll make for useful material.”

From the start, Gwak No-saeng had no intention of hearing Pyo Wol and Yong Seol Lan’s answer. He spoke, answered, and concluded all by himself.

In Gwak No-saeng’s stead, Jang Sachun stepped forward.

“If you’ve snuck into someone else’s home, you should reveal your identities first.”

“If we were going to do that, we wouldn’t have snuck in like this.”

“Did you really track us?”

“That’s right!”

“My senses must have dulled. To not even notice we were being tailed. Where did you start following us from?”

“After your Subordinates killed the young man from the village who was interested in the Fire Heart Grass.”

“So that’s what it was.”

Jang Sachun turned his head to look at the three who had caused the trouble.

The faces of the three men who had toyed with and killed the village youth were deathly pale.

“Th-that is.”

“We were sure we erased all traces…”

“We-we’re sorry.”

The men hastily made excuses. But no excuse was enough to quell Jang Sachun’s anger.

Shwaaak!

Jang Sachun’s half-broken blade cut through the air.

In that instant, the movements of the men making excuses came to a dead stop.

Drip!

Blood trickled from their necks, and they collapsed.

There was no resistance, no scream.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

The atmosphere in the room froze rapidly.

Everyone was shocked by his decisive action, disposing of the Subordinates who had followed him.

Pyo Wol was surprised for a different reason.

It was because he recognized how sublime the single move Jang Sachun had shown was.

There were not many Bladesmen in All Under Heaven who could display that level of power with a half-broken blade.

A man with such Martial prowess would surely have his name known throughout All Under Heaven, yet Pyo Wol had never once heard the name of a Bladesman who used such a half-broken blade.

A sharp awl, no matter how well hidden, will eventually pierce through the cloth.

Similarly, a Martial Artist with that level of Martial prowess would inevitably become known to All Under Heaven. Just like Pyo Wol.

For such a person to be unknown meant that someone had intentionally hidden his identity.

“Gu…ryong?”

Pyo Wol did not miss the flicker in Jang Sachun and Gwak No-saeng’s eyes at that moment.

Jang Sachun forced a calm expression and said,

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s fine if you don’t know. I do.”

“Stop with the nonsense and reveal your identity. Otherwise, you will never leave this place alive.”

“You weren’t going to let me live even if I answered, were you?”

“I will kill you without pain.”

“Forget it! We decline such an offer.”

“You bastard!”

Killing intent shot out from Jang Sachun’s eyes.

Unfazed by his glare, Pyo Wol looked at the people lying on the stone beds.

Almost no signs of life could be felt from those lying on the stone beds.

A living person should have periodic breaths, but such a thing was almost imperceptible from them.

They were clearly alive, yet it felt as if they were not alive at all.

Pyo Wol asked Gwak No-saeng,

“What are you doing to them?”

“Heheh! Brat. This is the residence of this Elder, the Demonic Physician. Whatever happens here is none of your business.”

“Demonic Physician? You mean a Physician?”

Gwak No-saeng had said it casually, but for Pyo Wol, those two words were enough.

A physician — and one with the character for demon attached.

There was no way what such a Physician was doing could be normal.

“Are you toying with living people?”

“Toying? This Elder is transforming them into different beings. You too will soon become like them.”

“Transforming?”

Pyo Wol’s expression hardened.

Transformation meant that an insect or animal undergoes a major change in form during its growth process.

It was not a word to be used for humans. Yet, to use such a word unconsciously meant that the Demonic Physician was using some kind of forbidden medical art on them.

“What have you done?”

“Heheh! You’re quite a curious one. If you want to know, get past them first.”

The Demonic Physician sneered at Pyo Wol and turned his back.

With his back turned, he said to Jang Sachun,

“Handle this properly so there are no more problems. If you mess up again, I will report it to the Lord.”

“That will never happen.”

Jang Sachun replied and stepped forward.

His Subordinates followed behind him.

Jang Sachun said to his Subordinates,

“Capture that bastard. You can sever his limbs. Just bring him to me with his breath intact.”

“Yes!”

The Subordinates replied and charged at Pyo Wol and Yong Seol Lan.

Jang Sachun watched the two with narrowed eyes.

He planned to send his Subordinates first to gauge their strength.

“Heehee!”

“Chahahat!”

The Subordinates attacked the two with strange laughs.

Unlike the Demonic Physician or Jang Sachun, they did not consider Pyo Wol and Yong Seol Lan to be a major threat.

Shwaaak!

Sword Light and Blade Energy descended upon Pyo Wol and Yong Seol Lan.

The first to move was Yong Seol Lan.

“Huu! You are truly unforgivable people.”

Killing the villager was one thing, but she could not stand by and let the Demonic Physician do such terrible things to people.

The blood of the Orthodox Faction’s Emei Sect still flowed in her veins.

Although it had been diluted because of Elder Nun Guhwa, the Emei Sect’s spirit of ‘Subdue Demons, Exterminate Evil’ still remained.

Swish!

From Yong Seol Lan’s hand, the Emei Sect’s Supreme Art, the Infinite Lotus Sword, unfolded.

It was not an ordinary Martial Art, but a Secret Transmission that only the direct Disciple of the Sect Master could learn. Its power could not be ordinary.

“Keuk!”

“Keck!”

The Martial Artists who had charged at the forefront fell to the sharp sword strikes that cut through the darkness.

In Yong Seol Lan’s hand, the blunt tree branch was reborn as a peerless sword, the likes of which had never been seen in All Under Heaven.

“Infinite Lotus Sword? You bitch are a Disciple of the Emei Sect.”

Jang Sachun was astonished, instantly recognizing the Martial Arts Yong Seol Lan was displaying.

As far as he knew, the Emei Sect was Closed-off, and its Disciples no longer engaged in outside activities.

The Infinite Lotus Sword was a Special Technique that ranked among the top of the Emei Sect’s Martial Arts.

It was by no means a Martial Art that just anyone could learn.

For someone who had learned such a Martial Art to appear here of all places was not a good sign.

At least, not from Jang Sachun’s perspective.

Yong Seol Lan’s attacks were sharp, unbelievably so for someone who had put down the sword for a long time.

Every time a white lotus flower bloomed, someone would scream and fall.

Jang Sachun muttered as he looked at the fallen.

“Her swordsmanship is sharp, but her hand is dull. Or perhaps her heart is weak.”

Many had fallen, but not a single one was dead.

It was proof that Yong Seol Lan was holding back.

A bitter smile appeared on Jang Sachun’s lips.

The most difficult types to deal with in Jianghu were those who were strong in Martial Arts and also possessed a venomous heart.

It was best not to make enemies of such people.

Conversely, the easiest to deal with were those whose Martial Arts were profound, but whose hearts were soft, making them unable to kill easily.

Those who were raised gently often had this tendency.

Jang Sachun thought Yong Seol Lan was of that type.

“What are you doing? Charge all at once. That bitch can’t kill you.”

“Yes!”

At least among those present, none were afraid of getting hurt.

Although Jang Sachun had not trained them directly, he trusted their Martial prowess and grit.

“Waaah!”

The Martial Artists charged at Yong Seol Lan with even greater vigor.

A look of panic flickered across Yong Seol Lan’s face.

Having been away from Jianghu for so long, seeing blood was not as easy as she thought. Her wish was to subdue them with only light injuries if possible.

Her enemies exploited her soft heart.

As soon as they realized she couldn’t bring herself to kill, they threw their entire bodies into their attacks.

Because of this, despite her superior skill, Yong Seol Lan was forced to fall back.

Pyo Wol watched Yong Seol Lan’s desperate struggle with indifference.

Everything was her choice.

Following him here was her choice, and fighting them was her decision.

Pyo Wol had clearly warned Yong Seol Lan. Yet, she was the one who ignored the warning and followed him in. Everything that happened from now on was the result of her decision.

Whatever her feelings, she had to bear it all.

It was then.

Swiiish!

Without warning, Jang Sachun sent a blade strike flying at Pyo Wol.

He hadn’t earned the Alias Phantom Demon Blade for nothing.

The Alias was given because he was as swift as an owl flying through the night sky to snatch its prey.

His Phantom Demon Blade instantly approached and slit Pyo Wol’s throat.

Slice!

The sound of cutting echoed in the darkness.

Jang Sachun’s blade had slit Pyo Wol’s throat.

“Heheh! Magnificent.”

Gwak No-saeng clapped and laughed at the sight.

In his eyes, it looked as if Pyo Wol’s throat had been slit. However, the expression of Jang Sachun, who had actually drawn his blade across Pyo Wol’s neck, was grave.

‘There’s no sensation in my hand.’

His beloved blade was certainly a fine one.

When infused with Internal Energy, it could slice through rock like a radish, but even so, it couldn’t cut through flesh and blood with such a complete lack of resistance.

Jang Sachun instinctively felt that something was wrong.

At that moment, the image of Pyo Wol whose neck he had cut vanished without a trace.

‘A Phantom? Dammit!’

Jang Sachun instinctively performed his life-saving Ultimate Technique to protect his body.

Ting!

At that moment, a faint sound, as if something had struck his blade, erupted.

The sound was as small as a tiny pebble hitting it, but the impact was beyond imagination.

“Keuk!”

Jang Sachun let out a low groan and was pushed back by the jarring pain in the hand holding the blade.

“What was that?”

Jang Sachun’s eyes wavered.

He had instinctively blocked his opponent’s attack, but he couldn’t tell what had attacked him.

It was then.

Sssiit!

Once again, that same sound echoed.

Jang Sachun once again performed his life-saving Ultimate Technique and retreated.

Thud!

Although he had deployed an iron-walled Blade Shield, something pierced his thigh.

“Keuk!”

Jang Sachun let out an involuntary groan from the fiery pain.

He focused his Internal Power into his eyes and glared at the object that had pierced his thigh.

‘A thread?’

It was a thread so fine that it would have been invisible if he hadn’t focused his Internal Power.

At that moment, an unbelievable sight occurred.

The thread that had pierced his thigh vanished without a trace.

Only then did he realize that the thread that had pierced his thigh was not a real object, but a Qi Thread created by condensing Qi.

There were many Martial Artists in All Under Heaven, but there was only one who used Qi Thread as a weapon.

Jang Sachun let out a sound that was close to a scream.

“Reaper, you are the Reaper.”