Reincarnated Sword Ghost

Something Hidden

"This fucking lunatic..."

Jeon Seok-gyeon, who had been staring blankly at Jeong-un for a moment, slipped his hand inside his jacket and threw something.

Clang!

It was a dagger imbued with internal energy.

As Jeong-un lightly swatted it aside with his hand, the man gave a nasty, expectant grin.

"...?"

Frowning at that sneer, Jeong-un looked down at his hand.

Just then, the man shouted in a loud voice from the front.

"He's been poisoned! Kill him!"

'Poison, he said?'

Tilting his head, Jeong-un glanced at the man, then looked back down at his hand.

In an instant, his ki sense picked up on the surge of vital ki as figures rushed toward him from all directions.

In the midst of this, Jeong-un spoke to Jeon Seok-gyeon, his voice completely lacking tension, even as swordsmen brandishing blades charged at him from every side.

"You really think a mere dagger laced with poison could wound the hand of a man whose palm is wrapped in true ki?"

"Wh-what?"

"I expected a little more from you... but you have no understanding of martial arts at all. Even your dead subordinates were better than you."

"You madman...!"

At that moment, someone swung a sword at him, slashing down from the side.

Without so much as looking, Jeong-un rotated his upper body, swinging his right arm.

The true ki circulating in his body fueled the movement, flowing sharply into his wrist.

Clang!

With the back of his hand, he deflected the sword.

The man's eyes widened, and overwhelmed by Jeong-un's strength, he released the sword guard he'd been gripping with both hands.

In an instant, Jeong-un's front was clear.

Without pause, Jeong-un struck down at the man's head with the edge of his left palm.

Thud!

The man's head shattered, his corpse collapsing.

Beyond it, Jeong-un's field of vision filled with a mass of charging enemies.

Yet another battle had erupted—a situation he had already experienced many times since coming to Kaifeng.

By now, he was so accustomed to it, he felt almost serene.

'This is good.'

A lack of tension was a quality martial artists ought to have.

No matter how exceptional one's martial skills, it was useless if one couldn't fully unleash them.

There was a reason to keep accumulating combat experience.

"Come at me with everything you've got."

Muttering to himself, he gripped the sword guard.

Even in that brief instant, the familiar feel of the black sword in his hand was a comfort.

Since leaving the Yu household, he had met many people.

He even found companions he could trust with his back for the first time in his life.

Yet at moments like this, the one thing he could trust most was still the sword in his hand.

'You shouldn't depend on anyone else.'

Wherever you are, you must be able to stand alone.

Only then can you protect yourself and others.

How many people in this world live harsh lives because they lack strength?

With such thoughts, Jeong-un drew his sword forward.

Srrrrng─!

A piercing metallic sound reverberated throughout the estate, sharp enough to tear an eardrum.

Before he knew it, six men, each swinging their own swords, were already on top of him.

Swords slashing from all angles, aiming for different vital points, came at him with vicious force.

He took in all of their sword strikes in one sweeping glance.

Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!

It sounded like hard roof tiles shattering in rapid succession—the sound of six sword blades breaking apart.

Using an astonishing swift sword move, Jeong-un shattered all six blades in an instant.

As shock spread across his attackers' faces, without stopping, he swung his sword again—this time slashing in a long, horizontal arc toward the center of the group.

Splat―!

"Aaagh!"

One man stumbled back, clutching his wounded arm—the luckiest one among them.

The others died instantly, their necks or bodies severed clean through. Several corpses fell in two pieces.

At the sight, the charging attackers behind them froze in their tracks.

They had witnessed the massacre firsthand, instinctively realizing the danger.

Just as Jeong-un moved to step toward the now-stalled men—

Shweeeek!

He sensed multiple surges of vital ki streaking toward him like arrows.

The sensation was all too familiar—he'd blocked unexpected projectiles before.

'They sure came prepared.'

Arrows.

Several arrows imbued with true ki were speeding toward him.

A quick glance showed men with bows among their ranks in the rear.

Clearly, they'd been waiting for a moment of distraction like this.

'Simply blocking won't be enough.'

He was confident he could block them all, no matter how many there were.

But Jeong-un had no intention of stopping there. Now was the time to assert overwhelming dominance with his martial skills.

As soon as he realized this, his internal power surged like lightning through his meridians.

The internal energy circulating throughout his body instantly accelerated to a tremendous speed.

Every muscle involved in swinging his sword moved at a rate only his honed physique, built through grueling daily training, could withstand.

His eyes were already tracking every incoming arrow.

The next moment, his hand gripping the sword guard traced the arc he visualized in his mind.

Clang! Clangcl-clang!

Starting with the lead arrow, streaks of golden light instantly deflected every incoming projectile.

That wasn't all—he didn't simply slice the arrows apart; the rebounded arrows, their speed barely diminished, altered course and shot off in new directions—toward the men who'd been charging him.

"Aaagh!"

"Gah!"

"Urk!"

In the blink of an eye, his foes nearby fell.

They hadn't expected such a thing and had not prepared any defense.

'If I leave them alone, they'll only become troublesome.'

Jeong-un now fixed his eyes on the men pulling bowstrings in the rear.

Their faces had gone pale.

He hadn't dodged—he had parried every arrow while twisting each trajectory to redirect them.

An unfathomable martial skill—impossible not to be awed.

Vwoooom!

Jeong-un summoned all his true ki.

With a step forward, the Moonlight Swift Steps smoothly propelled his body ahead.

Before the bowmen even registered what was happening, he passed right between them.

Simultaneously, he swung his sword again.

Several horizontal sword paths flashed into existence, and those within their range clutched their necks and collapsed.

"...!"

The distance between him and the rear was closed in an instant.

The archers, tossing aside their bows, reached for the swords at their waists—but far too slowly.

Again, he realized the true advantage of the bow: even with clumsy movement, they could fire arrows at such rapid speed.

There were stories of experts striking targets from hundreds of li away.

But these men knew nothing but pulling and releasing the string.

Siiiiing—

A flash of golden sword light—Traceless Flash.

With constant internal power cultivation, it became even more refined.

True ki surged through his meridians, generating incredible speed.

Mixing with the skill that created bursting energy with the sword, a new and evolved move was born.

The heightened technique became a streak of light in an instant.

Thud, thud.

Before half of them even reached for their swords, they were dead. Several heads rolled along the ground.

Earth dust drifted into the pupils of those who hadn't even realized they were dying.

"This...this is insane."

"No, this can't be happening!"

Those in the back began to turn and flee.

Seeing it up close, they felt the overwhelming difference in his skills.

The gap was insurmountable; simple aggression would never overcome it.

Swoosh!

Another flash of sword light—Jeong-un unleashed his internal power without reservation.

These were precisely the martial arts he'd honed to annihilate his foes; nothing to be stingy about.

Thud, thud.

The men who had been shooting arrows were annihilated.

After mowing them all down, Jeong-un turned.

"..."

He saw faces, their eyes wide with terror, staring at him. Not a single one could speak.

A strange, heavy silence settled over the estate. As the defeated look in their eyes began to spread—

"If you don't kill him, you won't survive in Kaifeng!"

A thunderous voice resounded.

There was no need to search for its source—it was Jeon Seok-gyeon, the faction leader of Musan Group.

Jeong-un scowled, fixing his gaze on him.

The man was shrieking in rage and fear.

"Even if you run now, you'll die by my hand! I am the Musan Lord! If you flee, I'll tear your families to shreds! If you have parents, I'll strip the flesh from their bones and boil it into soup to feed to your children! You think I won't do it?!"

His words caused the swordsmen's eyes to waver once more. Because Jeon Seok-gyeon wasn't lying.

Even if they ran, there was no hope avoiding a martial expert of such infamy.

The Musan Group completely ruled Kaifeng's underworld.

The threat to their families was not an empty one.

"If you kill him, I'll promise you riches beyond measure! Wealth, power, women—whatever you want, I'll place into your hands! I swear it on my name! Kill him, write down your names, and I'll see the owners of those names live in splendor for the rest of their lives!"

"...!"

Eyes flashed with new resolve among some of the men. Their fate was death either way.

Wouldn't it be better to gamble for a reward?

With numbers still on their side, maybe they could overwhelm and kill him.

No matter how much of an expert he was, a man of flesh and blood would die if stabbed enough times.

As they looked again, Jeong-un did seem a little tired—

As these thoughts crossed their minds—

Jeong-un tilted his head, fixing his eyes on Jeon Seok-gyeon.

'Why is he doing that?'

However desperate he may have been, there was something odd about Jeon Seok-gyeon's expression.

If he truly clung to life, he would be trying to run.

Weren't there others here who could buy him time?

It was a situation where he could just leap over the wall and escape at any moment.

'Not that it would do him any good.'

The entire estate was already within Jeong-un's ki sense.

The second the man showed any sign of movement, Jeong-un was ready to strike.

Right now, he was reducing the number of enemies simply to lessen the chaos.

There was no comradeship among these underworld thugs.

Once the boss was killed, the rest would instantly scatter.

No matter how capable Jeong-un was, he couldn't chase down every single one of them.

Besides, this was right in the heart of Kaifeng.

Tracking them through all the backstreets and alleys would be too much.

'But still...'

Jeong-un frowned at Jeon Seok-gyeon. The man stood rigid, his face flushed, unable to take a single step. His eyes were bloodshot. It was like the last stand of a commander gambling everything on the fate of his nation. Why would a mere thug show such desperation?

Just then, Jeong-un caught the man's eyes flicking backward.

"...?"

Jeon Seok-gyeon's gaze unwittingly drifted to a house behind him.

It was so instinctive that even he didn't seem aware of it.

Not only once, but twice, three times—he kept glancing over his shoulder, even as he screamed.

'What is this?'

He must have lived a comfortable life for some time now.

For someone facing death for the first time in ages, it was normal to be too overwhelmed to look anywhere but straight ahead.

Yet he kept sneaking glances at something else. There had to be a reason.

Jeong-un spoke.

"You."

The man, who had been shouting at the top of his lungs, flinched.

Jeong-un's words, laden with true ki, reverberated clearly throughout the estate, reaching the man through all the chaos.

Jeong-un asked,

"Are you hiding something here, by any chance?"

"...!"