Chapter 53. Twin Swords of the Wind and Clouds (28)
As someone who was only good at running her mouth, Ju-Ryeong had always disliked Jin-Jin, who was always eloquent and graceful. She found herself unable to believe Jin-Jin’s words immediately, thinking that even though Jin-Jin was embarrassed, she was deliberately holding a prideful facade.
‘Kekeke. It really matches well with you, you bitch. How proud you acted when you were young, and here you are, ending up with some backyard trash husband.’
Hye-Ryeong and Ju-Ryeong had always hated Jin-Jin ever since she had come to the Iron Sword Baek Family with her father. They hated having to treat her as an elder even though she was much younger than them, they hated that she was much more skilled in martial arts than they were, and they particularly hated her incomparable beauty.
Thus, the two sisters were jealous of Jin-Jin and hated that men from the other Ancient Families would all lose their minds whenever they saw Jin-Jin.
“Is the young man who came with you your son, dear niece?”
Ju-Ryeong answered Jin-Jin’s question with a big smile.
“Yes. As you know, my husband is a lay disciple of the Shaolin Temple. Even within the temple, he’s one of the most talented; thus, the temple just wouldn’t leave him alone, and he had to leave for temple matters this morning. Ho, ho. Oh, that’s right. This is my son. He’s a good-for-nothing, but what can I do?”
“Hello, my name is Baek Heon-Won.”
As Jin-Jin greeted him back with a kind smile, Ju-Ryeong continued spouting nonsense.
“He really lacks skill. Even at his age, he has only mastered the Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword up to the eighth stance. I mean, just how poor could his training be? He was only just barely able to raise his White Flash Divine Art to the fourth stage, too. Tsk, tsk.”
Although she clicked her tongue in disappointment, her face betrayed an immense pride, as if she was saying “Look how impressive my son is!”
The Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword was one of the sword arts that represented the Iron Sword Baek Family, while the White Flash Divine Art was the best cultivation method that the family had.
The fact that he had been able to master the Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword to the eighth stance and the White Flash Divine Art to the fourth stage was truly incredible considering Heon-Won’s age, to the point where it wasn’t excessive to call him an exceptional genius.
“Oh dear, and here I am, only talking about myself. We can’t gloss over speaking about my dear cousin Woo-Moon here, too. I did hear an extremely blasphemous rumor from my subordinates, though... but it couldn’t be! They say that our dear Woo-Moon, who looks so intelligent, was seen as a fool of the town when he was young! Could that really be true? It was just a rumor, right?”
‘It looks like we’re just going back to the idiot talk again. I’m so tired of it. I want to go to Unhan right now and beat up all those bastards who called me a fool back then!’
Woo-Moon’s rage was about to erupt, but thankfully, he already had a good idea of how to quench it. He simply smiled and answered in place of his mother.
“Oh, no. It’s sad, but true. Because I was lacking in so many ways, I was often called a fool by the other village children when I was younger, hoho.” Woo-Moon put up a stupid grin as he spoke.
Ju-Ryeong then glanced sideways at Jin-Jin before purposefully making a show of suppressing her laughter.
“Pfft. How dare those brats say something like that to our brilliant little cousin Woo-Moon?! Then, could you have learned some martial arts?”
“Ah, yes, hehe. Just a little...”
“Is that so?”
While speaking, Ju-Ryeong smiled mischievously, feeling like she had caught another fish today, just like she had yesterday. Indeed, the feeling of trampling on her “elders” under the pretext of a spar was quite refreshing.
“My son, I mean, your nephew, has had no sparring partner these days. What do you think about allowing him the opportunity to spar with you?”
As she spoke, Ju-Ryeong glanced sideways at Jin-Jin once more.
‘If you refuse, you’ll be embarrassed, but if you let him do it, aren’t you worried about what will happen to your idiot son? Kekeke.’
From Ju-Ryeong’s perspective, it would’ve been different if Woo-Gang had been present—after all, he was one of the Three Legendary Plum Blossoms. As for his idiot brother, she firmly believed that Heon-Won could easily stomp on him.
‘To think that this bitch Jin-Jin’s second son is a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect. And one of the Three Legendary Plum Blossoms? That has to be an empty title. Yes, Mount Hua’s level has just fallen. That has to be it. Our Heon-Won most likely could step all over those plum blossoms or whatever.
Of course, although the gangho’s assessment of the Three Legendary Plum Blossoms was completely different from Ju-Ryeong’s, she and Heon-Won had already made their assumptions. Still, there was some basis for their confidence, as Heon-Won’s achievements in the Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword and the White Flash Divine Art were indeed outstanding.
“Is that okay, Mother?” Woo-Moon asked.
Jin-Jin nodded in response to his question.
“Yes. Accept it, Woo-Moon.”
“Understood.”
Once Jin-Jin had given her permission and Woo-Moon had agreed, they moved to the spacious training hall behind the Song family’s residence.
Heon-Won was just like his mother: his words were technically polite, but the sneer on his face clearly showed what he was actually thinking.
“Would you like to draw your sword first, elder?”
“Hehe. Then I’ll do just that, dear nephew.”
Woo-Moon whined as he tried to draw his sword from its scabbard.
“Huh? Why is this not coming out properly? What’s going on? Has it rusted already?”
Seeing this, Ju-Ryeong couldn’t help but laugh aloud, holding her stomach, and Heon-Won’s sneer grew even wider.
Eventually, Woo-Moon shook his head and said, “I guess it’s not going to work. I’ll just use the sword as it is. You can just draw your own sword.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
"Yes, it’s fine."
“Okay, then.”
Heon-Won drew his sword.
“As I am the junior, please allow me the first move.”
“Good. Come.”
Ju-Ryeong and Heon-Won hadn’t noticed because they were drunk on the feeling of looking down on Woo-Moon and making fun of him, but somewhere along the line, Woo-Moon had stopped pretending to be an idiot and was now glaring at Heon-Won with a cold, steely gaze.
Heon-Won’s sword flew in an arc. Although it was an attack made half-heartedly out of contempt for Woo-Moon, it was still a pretty powerful attack anyway, as it was one of the Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword, the pride of the Iron Sword Baek Family.
‘How laughable. He claims to know martial arts when that’s all he can do?’
Woo-Moon simply moved his scabbard and blocked Heon-Won’s sword. Seeing this, Heon-Won’s eyebrows twitched slightly, as he had thought that he would be able to finish off Woo-Moon with just a single blow.
‘Huh? Look at this fool. How impressive for an idiot.’
Heon-Won swung his sword with even more power. The blade whistled sharply as it cut through the air..
Clang!
However, this attack was also blocked by Woo-Moon’s scabbard.
‘... how infuriating.’
Thinking so, Heon-Won began to display the Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword even more frantically.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Not only was Woo-Moon blocking every blow, but he was obviously not trying all that hard. A spark of rage arose in Heon-Won’s eyes, and he swung his sword with all of his might.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!However, all his might changed nothing. Heon-Won was completely unable to get past Woo-Moon’s leisurely moving scabbard.
It was only then that Heon-Won caught sight of Woo-Moon’s expression.
‘You’re laughing? You bastard, are you really laughing at me? At me?!’
Meanwhile, Jin-Jin could not be less worried or anxious about her son’s safety.
Who was her son, Song Woo-Moon?
He was someone who had survived a battle against an Absolute Master, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, and even the Palm Martial Emperor had called him a monster.
There was absolutely no way that she wouldn’t have absolute trust in him.
By this point, Ju-Ryeong had also realized that things were not going as expected.
It was only then that she noticed that Jin-Jin’s expression was completely devoid of anxiety or nervousness. Moreover, Woo-Moon’s demeanor had also changed.
Ju-Ryeong called out to Heon-Won in impatience.
“Ho ho. Dear son, let’s stop playing around now.”
However, Heon-Won wasn’t in a situation where he was able to joke around. He wasn’t even able to respond. This was only natural—with all his energy put into swinging his sword, how could he hear what his mother was saying?
Hearing Ju-Ryeong’s words, Woo-Moon smiled.
“Oh, I see. So then you must still be messing around now, right?”
Ju-Ryeong was suddenly startled by Woo-Moon’s sarcastic tone.
Wasn’t it the same?! That same damn way of speaking as her grand-uncle, the Palm Martial Emperor?
‘This isn’t possible...’
Heon-Won was shocked.
Even though he was attacking with all of his might, Woo-Moon was able to not only block it with ridiculous ease, but even open his mouth to speak nonchalantly.
At that moment, Woo-Moon gave up on defending and moved his scabbard offensively for the first time.
Crack!
“Oh dear! What should I do? I’m so sorry. I just thought your antics were so cute that I tried patting you on the cheek, dear nephew, but I got a little too energetic without realizing it.”
A broken tooth protruded from Heon-Won’s mouth after being hit on the cheek by Woo-Moon’s scabbard.
“You...!”
As Heon-Won was about to say something, Woo-Moon's scabbard continued to move.
“Huh? What is this? Maybe it's because I’m such an idiot, but this scabbard just keeps moving randomly! Oh no, what should I do? Avoid it, dear nephew!”
Pow, pow, pow, bang!
“Oh no! That must have hurt, my dear nephew. I’m so sorry. How could this be? Oh dear, I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me!”
Woo-Moon’s scabbard moved so fast that it was invisible to the naked eye, striking Heon-Won all over.
Terrible pain coursed through Heon-Won’s entire body.
Although he tried to fight back, every time he tried to put strength into his arm and swing his sword, Woo-Moon’s scabbard seemed to teleport forward like a ghost and hit both the acupuncture points and the muscles where his strength would flow through at the same time, preventing him from moving.
Clink!
In the end, Heon-Won dropped his iron sword—the lifeblood of any swordsman of the Iron Sword Baek Family.
When and where could Heon-Won have ever been beaten like this? Not only that, but there was such an overwhelming difference in force that it was impossible for him to resist!
It was only then that Ju-Ryeong fully grasped the situation. She shouted in horror, “H-how dare you?! Stop!”
“Huh? You want me to stop? I mean, who was the one to push for this spar, anyway?”
As Woo-Moon complained sarcastically and stopped beating him, Heon-Won finally found an opening to speak. He glared at Woo-Moon and shouted, “You, you dog bastard, dare to hit me! You dare to ignore me?!”
As soon as Woo-Moon heard that, he internally cheered.
‘Ah, you’ve been caught!’
Woo-Moon glared at Heon-Won with a cold gaze.
“Did you just swear at me right now? Did you just curse someone from the same generation as your mother?! To think such immorality could even exist!”
BANG!!
Woo-Moon slapped Heon-Won’s cheek with far greater force than before
“You mannerless brat!”
BANG! POW, POW!
“You mannerless! Ungrateful! Brat!!!”
He slapped him again three times in a row, and then delivered one final blow with even greater force.
THWACK!!!!!!
“AGHHK!!!”
This last slap sent Heon-Won flying through the air, screaming and spewing blood, and the momentum of the fall made him roll on the ground a few times.
Ju-Ryeong’s eyes opened wide at the sight and she glared at Woo-Moon with hatred.
“YOU BASTARD!”
Before she even realized it herself, a massive aura was erupting from her entire body.
She was a powerful martial artist, with higher cultivation than even the head of the Baek Family.
However, Woo-Moon walked straight ahead and stood in front of her, simply ignoring the storm of bloodlust and qi aura that swirled around her. He said with a grin, “Why are you so angry? It’s just that he got an accidental injury during an enthusiastic spar, just like my father. Oh, but do you really have the time to yell at me right now? Shouldn’t you be taking your son to the medical clinic quickly?”
He looked exactly like the Palm Martial Emperor, even down to the exact way he turned her words back to her. No, to be frank, the young man before her seemed even more obnoxious and gut-wrenching than his grandfather.
Thinking that to herself, Ju-Ryeong shivered.
In all fairness, Woo-Moon was actually holding back what he really wanted to say. His inner thoughts were simple.
‘From now on, I’ll take revenge on all of you who dared to try to kill my mother and then dared to pretend it was a mistake. What I just did is nothing, so look forward to what’s coming for you in the future. You won’t be disappointed.’
Woo-Moon was already determined to avenge his mother on behalf of his grandfather, and shake the Iron Sword Baek Family to its very core.
‘All of you, just you wait! This is just the beginning!’