Chapter 28

It was purely due to an ominous feeling that Gun-sang opened his eyes.

It was as if his nerves were being scraped by a small spoon. Gun-sang did not ignore his intuition.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the ventilation opening in the ceiling. Though he couldn’t see it with his naked eye, he could instinctively feel that something was inside the vent.

Twang!

It was then.

That his breath was suddenly choked off.

As his throat was constricted, his body was pulled up toward the ceiling. At the same time, the ventilation opening broke, and a black figure dropped down.

It was Pyo Wol.

In his hand was the Silver Thread that was choking Gun-sang’s neck.

As Pyo Wol descended, Gun-sang rose.

“Wu Senior Martial Brother!”

The moment the half-naked woman cried out in surprise, Pyo Wol kicked her in the abdomen. The defenseless woman couldn’t even scream from the shock of her organs being jolted and collapsed.

Swish!

At that moment, Gun-sang, who was flailing in mid-air, cut the Silver Thread above his head with the edge of his hand.

His hand, infused with Internal Energy, was no different from a famed sword. The taut Silver Thread was cut powerlessly, and Gun-sang found his freedom.

Gun-sang threw off the Silver Thread that had been choking him and shouted.

“Who are you?”

Instead of answering, Pyo Wol picked up a sword lying on the floor and rushed at Gun-sang.

Swish!

His sword, like a flash of lightning, aimed for Gun-sang’s vital points.

Gun-sang parried Pyo Wol’s sword with the edge of his hand.

Claaaang!

The sharply honed sword was deflected.

Despite clashing with a blade bare-handed, Gun-sang’s hand did not have a single scratch.

It was the Shadow-Severing Hand, a Secret Transmission Hand Art of the Qingcheng Sect.

Gun-sang had entered a higher realm, reaching a level where he could execute sword techniques without holding a sword.

He scoffed.

“How dare an Assassin sneak in here. You’ve got some nerve.”

Gun-sang rushed toward Pyo Wol, swinging his hand. A cloud-like energy arose and struck Pyo Wol.

“Keuk!”

With a stifled groan, Pyo Wol’s body was pushed back. A trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth. He had suffered internal injuries from a single blow.

Gun-sang advanced, shouting in triumph.

At that moment, Pyo Wol kicked up a Dagger that was lying on the floor.

The Dagger flew accurately, aiming for Gun-sang’s head.

“Hmph! Such a petty trick…”

Gun-sang executed the Special Technique of Empty-Handed Blade Catch and snatched the Dagger.

Although it was a short sword, not reaching the length of the sword he usually used, Gun-sang felt reassured holding a weapon in his hand.

He was skilled in bare-handed Martial Arts, but what he was most confident in was his Sword Art.

The length of the sword could not affect the Sword Art he performed. Gun-sang’s expertise in the sword was that profound.

Swoosh!

He unfolded the Blue Cloud Red Dawn Sword, one of the Sword Arts of the Qingcheng Sect.

The entire underground Training Ground seemed to be dyed in the red dawn light flowing from his sword.

Pyo Wol felt an extreme sense of crisis.

The power contained in Gun-sang’s sword was so great that he dared not face it.

Pipipit!

In an instant, Pyo Wol received three wounds.

Each one was not a light injury.

“Keuk!”

Pyo Wol let out a scream and staggered. But he managed to stay on his feet without collapsing.

Gun-sang launched another series of attacks at him.

Pyo Wol dodged all the attacks by a hair’s breadth.

“Not bad.”

A cruel light appeared in Gun-sang’s eyes.

He pressed Pyo Wol as if a cat were playing with a mouse. Under his formidable Sword Art, Pyo Wol’s entire body gradually became stained with blood.

He had been bored anyway due to the unwanted Isolated training.

He had pulled in a Lay Disciple who had always admired him and held her in his arms, but it was just as tedious.

Gun-sang had shown promise since he was young.

His formidable Insight allowed him to learn any Martial Arts with ease.

Everyone applauded his outstanding achievements, and the senior experts of the Qingcheng Sect each taught him their Special Techniques.

It was probably from then.

That learning Martial Arts was no longer just enjoyable.

Martial Arts that others had to contemplate for over a year, he could master in a month. Because he learned so easily, his interest in Martial Arts actually waned. So from then on, he began to take an interest in women.

There were many women who admired him.

He, too, was in the prime of his vigorous youth, so he did not refuse the women who came to him. If it had been only that, it would not have become such a big problem.

The problem arose when he forcibly took a certain woman. At that time, Gun-sang was drunk and had lost his reason.

He met a woman then, and in her beauty, Gun-sang became a beast and took her by force.

The woman took her own life out of shame, and her family was shattered.

Wu Jinpyeong barely managed to resolve the situation and ordered Gun-sang to undergo a year of Isolated training.

Although he admitted his fault, having to be on probation like this for a whole year was a cruel punishment that was hard for Gun-sang to accept.

Therefore, his heart was filled with dissatisfaction. He held the Lay Disciple in his arms, but the fire in his chest did not subside. The Assassin’s Raid that occurred at such a time made his anger explode.

“Did that bitch’s father send you?”

Gun-sang mistook Pyo Wol for someone sent by the father of the woman he had raped. The woman’s father was a man of power known in the vicinity. He had enough wealth to hire a few Assassins.

Pyo Wol did not answer.

His attitude made Gun-sang’s anger explode even more.

As if to take out his frustration on Pyo Wol, Gun-sang unfolded the Sword Arts of the Qingcheng Sect that he had learned so far.

Swish! Ssswish!

The underground Training Ground was filled with his sword’s afterimages.

Only then did Pyo Wol realize what a formidable Martial Artist Gun-sang was.

Sword Qi extended a full three Zhang from Gun-sang’s sword. It was fortunate that it was a Dagger; if he had been holding a longsword, his head would have been separated from his torso long ago.

That was why Pyo Wol had deliberately thrown the Dagger for him to grab.

Pyo Wol didn’t dare to think of blocking the Sword Qi head-on and barely dodged Gun-sang’s attack using the Lazy Donkey Roll technique.

“Die!”

Gun-sang pursued Pyo Wol and unleashed a killing move.

At that moment, Pyo Wol kicked up a sword lying on the floor.

Kang!

But the sword he kicked was struck by Gun-sang’s Dagger and bounced off.

Pyo Wol caught the deflected sword in mid-air and swung it.

“How ridiculous! You dare attack me with my own sword?”

Furious to the point of his hair standing on end, Gun-sang changed his Sword Art.

What he unfolded instead of the Blue Cloud Red Dawn Sword was the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves, one of the Secret Transmission Sword Arts of the Qingcheng Sect.

The chain of sword strikes, like seventy-two waves crashing in, possessed a tremendous power that no Expert in Jianghu could easily receive.

The Seventy-Two Cutting Waves was not the best Sword Art of the Qingcheng Sect. Although there were a few Sword Arts with greater power, he unfolded the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves because it was the most familiar to him.

He had been engrossed in the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves since he was young. So it had been a long time since he reached the state where he could perform it perfectly even with his eyes closed.

Sssshhh!

Sharp sword strikes flew in succession like waves.

It looked as if Pyo Wol’s body would be minced to pieces at any moment.

Pyo Wol took refuge behind the woman who had collapsed after being hit by him.

“Move!”

Gun-sang kicked the body of the woman with whom he had been making love just moments before. The woman he kicked was sent flying and slammed into a wall.

Because of that, Gun-sang’s attention was momentarily diverted.

It was then.

That a Crimson Light appeared in Pyo Wol’s eyes.

He swung his sword toward an odd direction, as if he had given up on everything.

A sneer formed on Gun-sang’s lips.

“Foolish…”

Kaaang!

Then, an unbelievable thing happened.

Gun-sang’s sword, which had been raging fiercely like a wave, was blocked by Pyo Wol’s sword.

“What?”

Gun-sang dismissed it as a coincidence and unfolded the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves again.

Kang!

But this time too, his sword was blocked by Pyo Wol’s.

It was as if Pyo Wol knew Gun-sang’s Sword Stances in advance, cutting off his flow.

In reality, that was the case.

The Seventy-Two Cutting Waves that Gun-sang was performing was a Martial Art that Pyo Wol knew.

The nameless Sword Art he had learned in the underground cavern was none other than the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves.

A total of three children had learned the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves. Two of them died in the onslaught of the other children, and only Pyo Wol survived.

Pyo Wol learned the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves as if his life depended on it. So he knew the strengths and weaknesses of the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves better than anyone.

Although his achievement might be inferior to Gun-sang’s, when it came to dismantling it, he surpassed him.

To Gun-sang, the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves was merely a Sword Art familiar to his hands, but to Pyo Wol, the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves was the one and only hope he could cling to for survival.

Swish!

Pyo Wol thrust his sword.

It was an ordinary thrust based on intuition. But its speed and direction surpassed Gun-sang’s expectations.

Heart Speed.

The speed of the heart moved the body.

It was a strike in which Pyo Wol bet his everything.

On this one chance, Pyo Wol gambled his all.

Puuuk!

The sword dug into the chest.

Pyo Wol’s sword had pierced Gun-sang’s chest.

“Keok!”

Gun-sang vomited blood.

The blood he spewed completely drenched Pyo Wol’s face.

“How do you know the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves?”

Pyo Wol didn’t know it, but the Sword Stance he had unconsciously performed was a Technique Form of the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves.

He had dismantled Gun-sang’s Seventy-Two Cutting Waves by performing the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves.

Others might not have, but Gun-sang recognized it.

Pyo Wol did not answer.

He couldn’t.

He felt that if he opened his mouth, his energy would scatter and he would collapse.

In this brief confrontation, Pyo Wol had poured out his everything.

The key was to make Gun-sang perform the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves. Im Sayeol had said that the nameless Sword Art, that is, the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves, was a Martial Art that the target had learned.

He thought he would have a chance of winning if he could just make Gun-sang perform the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves. That was why he had desperately bought time to make him perform it.

This was also the first time he had used Heart Speed in a real battle.

It was a life-or-death gamble.

His gamble succeeded, but in return, he received serious injuries. He had to get out of this place as quickly as possible.

Pyo Wol glanced at the woman for a moment.

The woman, struck hard by Gun-sang, was unconscious.

Pyo Wol escaped the underground Training Ground through the ventilation opening.

From now on, it was a race against time.

He had to get as far away from the Qingcheng Sect as possible before they found out.

＊＊＊

Cheong Il was one of the first-generation Disciples of the Qingcheng Sect and served as the Hall Leader of the Medicinal Kitchen Hall.

Although his Martial Arts were not as strong as the Eldest Senior Martial Brother Cheong Yeop, the Second Senior Martial Brother Cheong Myeong, or Gun-sang, he was respected by many Disciples for his deep knowledge of medicine.

Cheong Il frowned deeply and looked at his Disciple, Jin Gwang.

“What do you mean by that? Dojin is within the grounds? Wasn’t Dojin supposed to be visiting Daoist Temples to collect Medicinal Herbs?”

“That’s what I thought too…”

Jin Gwang wore a troubled expression.

He was the one who had instructed Dojin to collect Medicinal Herbs from each Daoist Temple. But he had heard something strange.

Dojin, who had gone out on his orders earlier, had for some reason returned to the Qingcheng Sect.

There were also testimonies from Disciples who had actually seen Dojin.

Jin Gwang had wandered around the Qingcheng Sect looking for Dojin. But he couldn’t find Dojin anywhere.

“How strange. Dojin not only dared to defy my orders but is also wandering the grounds as he pleases?”

“I found that strange too and looked for him, but he is nowhere to be seen.”

“Perhaps the other Disciples saw him incorrectly?”

“Several people said they saw him.”

“Where was the last place Dojin was seen?”

“Near the Bright Moon Hall.”

“Let’s go and see.”

“Yes!”

The two left the Medicinal Kitchen Hall and went near the Bright Moon Hall.

Cheong Il stopped a Martial Artist guarding the Bright Moon Hall and asked.

“Have you seen Dojin by any chance?”

“I saw him loitering nearby.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! Why do you ask?”

Instead of answering, Cheong Il frowned.

He had a bad feeling about something.

It was strange that Dojin, who should be visiting Daoist Temples to collect Medicinal Herbs, had returned without a word, and of all places, he was loitering around the Bright Moon Hall. Something incomprehensible was happening.

Suddenly, Cheong Il’s gaze turned toward the Bright Moon Hall.

“Is Junior Martial Brother Gun-sang inside?”

“Yes! He is in Isolated training.”

“Please send word to him that I wish to see him.”

“That is…”

As the second-generation Disciple hesitated, Cheong Il’s face contorted.

“Don’t tell me he brought a woman in again?”

“I apologize.”

The second-generation Disciple hurriedly bowed his head.

He couldn’t dare to lie to Cheong Il, a first-generation Disciple of all people.

“I’m going in.”

Cheong Il pushed the second-generation Disciple aside and entered the Bright Moon Hall. The second-generation Disciple did not dare to stop him.

“Ugh! What should I do?”

Expecting a storm to break soon, he hurriedly followed Cheong Il.

After looking around inside the Bright Moon Hall for a moment, Cheong Il soon found the entrance to the underground Training Ground.

Grrr!

When he operated the Mechanism, the entrance opened with a heavy sound.

Cheong Il, Jin Gwang, and the second-generation Disciple descended through the entrance into the underground Training Ground. What greeted them was Gun-sang’s corpse.

“What? Junior Martial Brother!”

Cheong Il, shocked, rushed to Gun-sang and examined him. But Gun-sang’s breath had already stopped.

“Who dared to kill my Junior Martial Brother!”

Cheong Il’s roar echoed through the underground Training Ground.

Jin Gwang, who had grasped the situation, ran toward the Sangcheong Pavilion, shouting.

“An Assassin! An Assassin has killed Martial Uncle Gun-sang.”