Chapter 57. The Cold Glint of a Well-Polished Sword (4)
“W-what are you doing, you bastard?!”
The twelve members of the third platoon drew their swords simultaneously.
Then, as Woo-Moon approached the two people standing at the front, he suddenly exploded forward.
“Ugh!”
The two were unable to move a muscle, let alone swing their swords. They couldn’t even blink as Woo-Moon caught them by the throat. Without losing any momentum, Woo-Moon continued forward as he threw his opponents at his other opponents.
“Agh!!!”
Fearing that their flying comrades would get hurt, the third platoon hesitated for a moment, then dropped their swords and tried to catch their comrades. However, they underestimated the strength behind Woo-Moon’s throw.
“UGH!!!”
Although three people stepped up to catch the two guards, the three of them couldn’t hold their ground and were forced to take a step back. One of them even fell over.
In an instant, Woo-Moon burrowed into the third platoon of the Dragon Sword Squadron. His hands and arms seemed to multiply into dozens of limbs as he attacked everyone around him in various forms: fists, palms, claws, fingers, hooks, and every other attack in the book.
Thwack! Bang! Pow!!
“Cough!”
“Agh!”
Crack! Crack! Snap!!
The sound of bones breaking continued to echo through the air. All twelve members of the third squadron of the Dragon Sword Squadron rolled around on the ground, groaning, as each one had at least one limb broken.
Pat, pat!
Looking down at them, Woo-Moon brushed off his hands before turning away and leaving.
Woo-Moon had done the same as they had, turning a blind eye to status and acting blindly. Still, even though he had disguised himself, if anyone were to think for even a second, they would be able to tell that he come to the third platoon for revenge.
“It was definitely that guy from the Song family!” one of the guards shouted, then grit his teeth and groaned in pain.
“That’s right! We haven’t done anything to incur any grudges, so that would be the only reason for an expert like that to attack us so suddenly!”
“Get up! Let’s go to the leader and report! We’ll definitely crush that bastard!”
They all got up and limped over to where their leader was with his lover.
***
Meanwhile, Woo-Moon removed his mask and quickly returned to the Song family residence, where he resumed helping the guards train.
“Hey, you! Your shoulders are too far back. That’s not right.”
The one Woo-Moon was yelling at hastily corrected his posture. The Song Family Guards were currently learning the Heavenly Lunar Fist, a martial art that Woo-Moon had hastily created two days ago.
‘Well, the name, Thirteen Stances of the Iron Fist, would be more appropriate, but whatever. Hehe.’
While fighting Heon-Won the other day, Woo-Moon had watched him display his Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword in detail from beginning to end. He was later able to internalize his comprehension through his mental imagery training.
If he were to use the Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword now, he would be able to display a level far superior to that of Heon-Won.
Woo-Moon mixed the Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword with Cold Snow and North Wind to create a new fist art.
‘This level is more than enough. Although there is a difference between sword and fist arts, this isn’t inferior to the Thirteen Stances of the Iron Sword. No, I’m actually confident that it’s even better.’
He slowly looked around at the children practicing the Heavenly Lunar Fist. The only person able to fully display the entire set on his own correctly was Jae-Hwa. As expected, he had learned martial arts before, and his natural talent also seemed to be useful.
Woo-Moon then looked over to Ah Sam.
Ah Sam’s achievements were middling overall. However, he seemed to be paying more attention to each movement than anyone else, evidenced by the fact that he was sweating the most.
As he was watching Ah Sam, the gate to the residence suddenly opened as some uninvited guests entered. When Woo-Moon looked over in that direction, he saw a middle-aged man with a large, pointy mustache and solemn appearance leading a group of people littered with injuries and broken bones as if they had been in a stampede.
Just as they entered the manor, Woo-Moon used the Northern Wind Steps and quickly went forward, drawing his sword and pointing it at the man.
“Who are you? Stop right here!”
The man with the big mustache looked at Woo-Moon for a moment with a stiff attitude, then sighed and greeted him..
“My name is Seo Woong, the commander of the Dragon Sword Squadron.”
‘The commander of the Dragon Sword Squadron? Did they bypass the platoon leader of the third platoon and go directly to the commander?’
Rather than greeting him in turn, Woo-Moon stepped forward with his sword in hand.
“Back away.”
He was dissatisfied that Seo Woong and his men had crossed the threshold of the residence without permission.
Seo Woong stepped back with a cold expression.
Woo-Moon, who didn’t want their uninvited guests to see the children practicing the Heavenly Lunar Fist, ordered the diligently practicing children to stop.
“Take a short break.”
As he saw Woo-Moon standing there without asking any questions, Seo Woong took the initiative.
“The reason we’ve come to find you like this—”
Before he could finish, Woo-Moon cut him off coldly.
“How ignorant. Did you ask me for permission before you entered my manor?”
Seo Woong realized he had made a mistake after he heard those words. Because his subordinates had returned after being beaten so severely, he had been so angry that he had immediately set off and entered the manor without bothering to ask for permission.
“It was an emergency, so we—”
“Who cares if it was an emergency? How dare a hired grunt like you trespass into the manor of an elder without permission?”
Woo-Moon was quite angry. Seeing from their actions just now, he was able to see how much they—and by extension, the members of the Iron Sword Baek Family—looked down upon the Song family.
On the other hand, Seo Woong was just as angry.
‘The gall of this family, which is only the family of an elder in name, really reaches the heavens. How dare they treat the leader of Lady Baek Ju-Ryeong’s guards like this? Don’t they know she’s the most powerful person in the family?!’
Rumors had already spread through the family that Sang-Woon had gone on a wandering trip with no set return once again. Once he would go on a wandering trip, his trip would generally last at least ten years. Therefore, the people of the Baek Family had begun to blatantly ostracize the Song family.
“I had no choice but to impose on you unexpectedly after hearing that the culprit who had attacked our Dragon Sword Squadron members was here. I apologize.”
The trio, who were panting from the hard training that made them vomit countless times, looked at the people who had just come in and knew immediately that they were the guards who had attacked them. When they saw how battered the guards were, however, they couldn’t be happier..
‘Just like you deserve, you bastards.’
‘But who could have made them like that?’
In truth, Woo-Moon’s decision to teach them his new fist art had moved them immensely. Dok-Du had almost fallen to his knees without realizing it after he had learned the entire Heavenly Lunar Fist.
Even though they were only Third Class, they could see how great the Heavenly Lunar Fist was. The fact that depraved losers like them were allowed to learn such a great martial art was almost unbelievable.
In addition, Woo-Moon had even said that he would teach them a qi cultivation method, so they were naturally very eager to become Woo-Moon’s disciples.
“Ha! A culprit? A criminal??! Are you suspecting us right now? How dare you come here and talk about how your subordinates have been beaten so badly? Are you that proud of it?”
Seo Woong called out to the most intelligent among his subordinates.
“Ho Cheol-Saeng! Explain.”
“Yes, commander. There was only one person who attacked us. He had a sword tied to his waist with a phoenix engraved on the guard, and he was wearing some kind of bluish white robe.”
‘Huh?’
The trio looked at Woo-Moon with surprised gazes.
The appearance of the culprit described by the guard was precisely the same as Woo-Moon’s.
‘T-teacher took revenge for us?’
‘That’s impossible!’
‘I-I mean, if it’s the demon... no, the demon-like teacher, he’s more than capable of leaving them all like that.’
Although they had sworn to themselves that they would kill Woo-Moon, who was more vicious than a demon, today, they were so profoundly moved by his actions that they were nearly in tears.
‘So you didn’t hate us.’
At Ho Cheol-Saeng’s words, Woo-Moon smiled calmly and mischievously. He brushed off the dust on his hands in the same manner as he had after beating the guards up earlier.
“Haha. Are there really just one or two people in this world who wear white robes and carry a sword engraved with a phoenix? I’m sure you’re not expecting me right now, are you? Did you see his face?”
Speaking nonchalantly, Woo-Moon cast a look of ridicule and contempt toward the guard, whom he had noticed being the leader. Seeing this, the man couldn’t hold back his anger.
“Of course, I couldn’t see your face because you were wearing a mask, but it’s you, right? My lord, he did this to get revenge on us!”
“Shut up!”
Although Seo Woong quickly interrupted his subordinate, Woo-Moon didn’t miss it.
“Huh? Revenge? Why would I take revenge on you? Oh, wait a minute! I did hear that three of our servants were beaten earlier by masked assailants. Was... was that you?!”
After he finished his act, Woo-Moon muttered to himself, “I didn’t tell anyone that my brats were hurt, and you wouldn’t know that if you weren’t the assholes who did it, right?”
Of course, as his “muttering” was more like normal speech, all the guards of the Dragon Sword Squadron heard him clearly.
As Seo Woong found himself caught in a trap and unable to answer quickly, Woo-Moon grinned.
“Although I didn’t attack you, now that I’m taking a second look, it seems you have something to hide, don’t you? That must be why you suspected us in the first place and came to us. Right?”
Seo Woong had expected to have it easy with Woo-Moon, who was still a young brat. Sadly, it turned out that Woo-Moon had a way with words, and no matter what Seo Woong said, by this point, the fight was already lost.
“I apologize. We had a momentary lapse in judgment. Please grace us with benevolence and forgive us. Ho Cheol-Saeng! Apologize to him.”
Ho Cheol-Saeng bowed his head deeply and said, “I must have been confused after being hit on the head. Now that I think about it again, no one in the Song family attacked us.”
“Good, good. At least you know how to back down. That’s why you shouldn’t have come to me like this in the first place and embarrass yourself. Did I really look like that much of a pushover to you?” said Woo-Moon sarcastically.
Seo Woong pretended not to hear.
“I apologize for my negligence. Then, I’ll take my leave.”
Once Seo Woong apologized and made to leave, Woo-Moon didn’t push any further.
‘What a waste. If only I pushed him a bit harder, we would’ve thrown hands. But to think he could quickly suppress the anger of his subordinates after having to suffer and retreat like that...’
Seo Woong definitely was an expert.
In Woo-Moon’s opinion, although Seo Woong was probably not a Peak martial artist, at the very least, he had reached the pinnacle of the First Class. It would have been better for Woo-Moon later if Seo Woong suffered internal injuries now.
Woo-Woon then looked at the guards and the trio, who were resting.
"What are you looking at? The break is over. Start again.”
They had been secretly hoping that the others would cause more commotion and prolong their break, so they felt quite disappointed as they resumed their training.
‘Damn it! It’s good to be able to learn martial arts, but it really is hard.’
The trio once again felt amazed by the children from the slums and orphanages, whom they had largely ignored earlier. They hadn’t realized it when they saw it from the side, but the horse stance was extremely difficult, and the martial arts training was just as difficult. Moreover, even the wooden puppets that had appeared out of nowhere were already covered in sweat and blood stains from the countless times the children had struck them with their bare hands as they practiced their fist art.
‘Still, we’ve already started, so let’s work hard!’
One day, then two, passed quietly as they trained hard. While Woo-Moon had his guards undergo arduous training, he himself was also constantly improving his sword skills through mental imagery training.
Suddenly, Woo-Moon’s body stiffened as a sudden voice entered his ears.
—If you don’t want the Iron Sword Baek Estate stained with blood, come to Xiaoyao Ford immediately.
He couldn’t figure out who or what that message had come from. Woo-Moon quickly looked around, but he couldn’t sense anything or find any traces of anyone. It was only natural, as the message used the Harmonic Transmission, a kind of voice transmission that only an Absolute Master could do.
‘This voice is definitely... it's definitely the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor!’
Woo-Moon’s complexion suddenly changed. He didn’t even take the time to say anything to anyone before he hurriedly used his movement technique and left the Baek Estate. He headed toward the Xiaoyao Ford, a ferry port on the Yangtze River, where Zhang Liao, a general of the Wei Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, fought against Sun Quan's hundred-thousand-strong army with only eight hundred soldiers and won.
When he got close to Xiaoyao Ford, he heard shouting and screams.
“Agh!!!!”
“Agh! It’s a devil, a devil!”
Frightened people were running away from Xiaoyao Ford.