Chapter 221 : Chapter 221
Chapter 221. True Colors (3)
Dang Sopyeong’s gaze fell upon the warriors of the Sichuan Sword Clan.
Every one of them was a familiar face.
He had lived in the Sichuan Sword Clan for eighteen years.
He at least knew all their faces and names.
However, there was not a single person among them with whom he had been close.
His gaze moved past the warriors toward Jang Hocheon.
It was truly a tenacious, ill-fated connection.
When he thought about it, it was only natural.
They were blood relatives, after all. Half-blood relatives.
Various memories associated with Jang Hocheon flashed through his mind.
There were many memories, but they were all similar.
Memories of being beaten by Jang Hocheon’s fists and sent tumbling to the ground.
Memories of being trampled by Jang Hocheon while curled up like an insect.
- How dare a bastard son look me straight in the eye!
The contemptuous words that belittled his mother and him.
Even so, he had planned to let it go.
He despised that man, but he had intended to move past it.
The head of the Sichuan Sword Clan was, after all, the husband of his most beloved mother.
He did not want to kill that man’s son with his own hands.
He had planned to let it slide with just a beating until the man's face turned blue, should they ever cross paths.
But that man had crossed the line.
According to Jin Yuseong, he had learned a demonic art.
A horrifying demonic art that treated people as elixirs to be devoured.
Just then, Jin Yuseong’s voice cut into Dang Sopyeong’s ears.
“I will clear a path. Just make sure you deal with that man.”
Before Dang Sopyeong could answer, Jin Yuseong swung his sword. Sword Qi embroidered the air.
The warriors of the Sichuan Sword Clan, who had been standing as if to guard Jang Hocheon, fell like autumn leaves in the wind.
It was not just Jin Yuseong.
Baek Hyang, Nam Geon, Choyeon, Hwangbo Ak, and Paeng Daecheol as well.
They all charged toward the Sichuan Sword Clan warriors at once.
In an instant, a path was cleared.
Without delay, Dang Sopyeong rushed toward Jang Hocheon.
Jang Hocheon’s eyes wavered.
Then his face contorted.
‘Damn it.’
The moment he spotted Dang Sopyeong, his judgment had been clouded by rage.
That man's appearance meant that the people with him were none other than the infamous Ghost Sword’s group.
The problem was that he realized this fact too late.
The warriors guarding his side were being swept away like sand before a wave.
And even that Dang Sopyeong was daring to charge at him.
Gritting his teeth, Jang Hocheon also rushed to meet Dang Sopyeong.
“How dare a bastard son!!”
The only way to survive was to subdue that man and use him as a hostage.
The distance between them closed.
Jang Hocheon thrust his sword straight at Dang Sopyeong’s head.
Dang Sopyeong’s fan moved to block the sword.
And the moment the fan and sword met, a secret trajectory pierced through the air.
SWISH!
Jang Hocheon twisted his upper body and dodged the trajectory.
Even while his sword was locked with the fan.
“To think you’d learn something like hidden weapons! A fitting technique for a filthy bastard!”
He had already heard the news. He knew that Dang Sopyeong had learned to use hidden weapons.
Because he was prepared, he was able to react.
His confidence bolstered, Jang Hocheon swung his sword more fiercely.
‘Yes. There’s no way a filthy bastard like him could be my match!’
That was the way of the world.
From long ago, that man had always squirmed like an insect beneath his feet.
For someone like that to stand against him?
It was an impossible notion.
“So you have now forgotten even the pride of our clan! To abandon the clan’s sword art and learn to use a fan and hidden weapons!”
Yes. From the very beginning, this man was unworthy of being a member of the great Jang Clan.
That was why he had trampled on him since they were young.
So why should he be treated like this?
For the past few months, his father had frequently gotten angry with him.
Asking why he had bullied that man.
Citing the strange reason that he was the cause of that man running away from the clan.
Rage boiled within him.
He could not understand why the man who had said nothing back then was angry now.
But he could not talk back to the clan head.
So he had to take his anger out on this man.
“I will kill you with my own hands so that you can no longer tarnish the clan’s name!”
The thought of taking him hostage had vanished.
He just wanted to kill him.
His emotions churned.
The dark energy dwelling in his dantian surged upward.
Jang Hocheon’s brow twitched.
He managed to suppress the energy and swung his sword a few more times.
This time, instead of his dantian, he felt a twisting sensation in his stomach.
“Cough.”
He unwittingly vomited a mouthful of blood.
Black blood.
Sparks flew in Jang Hocheon’s eyes.
“You despicable bastard! How dare you use poison!”
While they exchanged blows at close range, Dang Sopyeong had been secretly and continuously releasing poison.
In small amounts, just enough to affect Jang Hocheon, who was right next to him.
Gritting his teeth, Jang Hocheon swung his sword again.
CLANG!
Dang Sopyeong used his fan to simply deflect the sword.
It was a technique he had learned from Jin Yuseong.
He was executing the Principle of Yielding contained within the Sun Moon Infinite Sword’s first form, Moonlight Coiling Sword, with his fan.
Even as he did so, he continued to spread a tiny bit of poison.
With every swing of the sword, the poison gradually accumulated.
“Gah!”
He hastily tried to flee.
But the moment he tried to create distance, Dang Sopyeong threw his hidden weapons.
CLANG!
While he barely managed to parry them with his sword, Dang Sopyeong closed in on him.
He was the one who was cornered.
He was hard-pressed just to block and dodge the fan Dang Sopyeong wielded and the hidden weapons he stealthily threw.
All the while, the poison continued to build up.
“Cough.”
Jang Hocheon coughed up blood again, his eyes becoming bloodshot.
He was drawing energy from his dantian to resist the poison.
At some point, the energy coursing through his entire body’s meridians escaped his control.
‘Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. I will tear that filthy bastard apart with my own hands!’
Only this thought filled his mind.
- Until you reach the realm, until I, the Clan Head, permit it, you must absolutely hide your martial arts.
The command of his father, which had been like heaven, no longer came to mind.
“How dare you, a filthy bastard!”
Jang Hocheon screamed and swung his sword.
Simultaneously, a black, sticky energy swirled from Jang Hocheon’s sword.
It was an energy that felt ominous just by looking at it.
But Dang Sopyeong did not panic.
Once again, he used his fan, applying the Principle of Yielding to deflect Jang Hocheon’s sword.
“Ha. Who are you calling filthy, you madman who has learned a demonic art?”
“Shut up! It’s nothing compared to the despicableness of the poison and hidden weapons you use!”
Shouting thus, Jang Hocheon swung his sword like a madman.
Each time, a stream of black energy shot out from his sword.
As he deflected the black streams with his fan or dodged them with his footwork, Dang Sopyeong felt a sense of regret.
‘I should have killed him long ago.’
He was not lamenting his failure to kill him before he unleashed the demonic art.
He should have killed him much, much sooner.
‘He was always this kind of person, after all.’
He was the eldest son and young master of a self-proclaimed prestigious clan.
Such a person had routinely assaulted and verbally abused him for the simple reason of being a bastard son.
He was rotten to the core from the very beginning.
Casting aside his final lingering attachment, Dang Sopyeong swung his fan.
CLANG!
The trajectory of the sword that clashed with the fan was twisted.
“Keuk.”
The moment Jang Hocheon’s stance wavered with a groan, a secret trajectory flew with the speed of a light beam. Toward Jang Hocheon’s forehead.
Jang Hocheon barely managed to twist his head and dodge it, but the poison needle grazed his eyelid.
Immediately after, a horrifying pain surged from the shallow scratch.
It was an extreme poison.
“Arrrggghhh!!!”
In response to the pain, Jang Hocheon began to thrash about with a scream.
Having lost his sanity, Jang Hocheon swung his sword indiscriminately.
A black energy raged like a typhoon.
Through a gap in that wind, another thin hidden weapon flew.
SWOOOOOSH.
THUD!
Jang Hocheon’s body, which had been swinging the sword like a madman, came to a halt.
And a moment later, Jang Hocheon’s body, his vital point pierced, collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
***
A few steps away.
Jin Yuseong looked at Dang Sopyeong and the corpse of Jang Hocheon sprawled on the ground.
‘Fate is a strange thing.’
In the past, the Poison Immortal had spoken.
He told the story of how he had fled the Sichuan Sword Clan.
He had succeeded in defeating the young master with his sword art, but was framed for using poison arts.
And this time, as if to fulfill the accusation the young master had made back then, he had ended it with poison arts.
But there was no way Dang Sopyeong could know about his past life.
Jin Yuseong shook off his idle thoughts and approached him.
“You’ve worked hard.”
He did not bother asking if he was okay.
In response, Dang Sopyeong’s complicated expression returned to its usual one.
“Hmph. This much is hardly what I’d call hard work. The bigger problem is the clan head.”
Dang Sopyeong sighed and said.
“He can’t be the only one who learned the demonic art. The clan head must have learned it as well.”
Jin Yuseong nodded and started walking.
Towards the nuns who were confronting the warriors of the Sichuan Sword Clan.
Jin Yuseong clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute toward them.
“My surname is Jin, and my given name is Yuseong. I apologize for startling you with our sudden intervention.”
“Amitabha. Thank you for your help.”
Though she spoke thus, the old nun looked around with a complicated expression.
The corpses of the Sichuan Sword Clan warriors were strewn about.
Jin Yuseong wondered if she was concerned because of the Buddhist precept against killing.
But that was not it.
“The energy that the young master of the Sichuan Sword Clan was using was truly wicked and terrifying, but was that really the energy of a demonic art?”
To begin with, Mount Emei had many wild animals, including tigers.
To protect the pilgrims and themselves, they often killed those animals.
The martial artists of Mount Emei only prohibited taking lives for the sake of martial pride or amusement.
There was an atmosphere of tolerance for killing to protect someone.
“That is correct. It is a technique from the Demonic Cult that allows one to rapidly increase their realm by forcibly absorbing a person's essence.”
He added.
The reason these men came to Mount Emei was with the intention of dragging away the women who had sought refuge there and devouring them like elixirs.
Furthermore, such incidents were occurring all over Sichuan.
After hearing the whole story, the old nun recited the Buddha's name.
“Amitabha.”
The face of the old nun, who had accumulated decades of Buddhist devotion, was filled with anguish.
“Haa.”
With a sigh, the old nun pushed away her anguish and spoke with a face that showed she had made a decision.
“Amitabha. By any chance, are you planning to head to the Sichuan Sword Clan?”
“Yes, we are.”
“If it is not too much trouble, we would like to join you.”
“Are you thinking of stepping into the secular world?”
The old nun nodded.
“First, I intend to see it with my own eyes. Whether they are truly practicing such a horrifying demonic art.”
If that was true, it seemed she would need to change her way of thinking.
The old nun turned her head and looked around at Mount Emei.
“I tried to escape the anguish of the secular world by offering Buddhist prayers on the mountain. I thought it would be enough to just fend off the wild animals. But this incident has made me realize.”
The nun’s gaze returned to Jin Yuseong.
“It seems that if dark clouds gather in the secular world, their influence is bound to reach even this temple deep in the mountains.”
***
A short while later, having made their preparations, they left Mount Emei.
In addition to Jin Yuseong and his companions, five elderly nuns had joined their party.
The remaining nuns all stayed on Mount Emei in case something unexpected happened.
Using their movement techniques, they arrived near the Sichuan Sword Clan in just a few days.
A massive manor was visible in the distance.
Warriors were guarding its entrance.
Looking at them, Dang Sopyeong asked.
“What is your plan?”
At his question, Jin Yuseong stepped forward and drew his sword.
“Now that things are certain, there’s no reason to drag this out any longer, is there?”
The Sichuan Sword Clan was practicing a demonic art.
They had recently been abducting people.
This meant that even at this very moment, someone might be having their essence stolen inside that place.
Just thinking about it made anger well up inside him.
In response to that anger, a massive amount of energy surged.
Subsequently, Enhanced Qi swirled around the Master's Blade.
Jin Yuseong swung the Master's Blade toward the empty air.
The Sword Enhanced Qi that shot out from the Master's Blade cut through the air as it advanced.
SWOOOOOOOSH!
Before long, the Sword Enhanced Qi reached the massive plaque of the Sichuan Sword Clan, and.
BOOM!
With a loud explosion, the plaque bearing the words [Sichuan's First Sword Clan] burst apart.