Chapter 77 : The Plum Blossoms Scatter…
"…F*ck you, you son of a bitch!"
Simultaneously with the curse, Jang Yuran's leg technique, who had been held by the neck, flew towards Namgung Jeongmin's chin.
Swish!
But.
Thump.
"…A foolish and rude bitch with bad foot habits."
Jang Yuran's all-out leg technique was caught by Namgung Jeongmin's hand with an absurd simplicity.
"Ugh, ahhhhhh!!"
Nevertheless, Jang Yuran, who did not give in, struck Namgung Jeongmin's arm, which was holding her neck, with her fists.
But despite Jang Yuran's desperate struggle, there was not even a single blow to Namgung Jeongmin.
"For a bitch with bad foot habits like you…"
Saying so, Namgung Jeongmin added more strength to the grip of the hand that had caught Jang Yuran's foot.
"Kraaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Although Jang Yuran was swinging her fists like crazy at the extreme pain she felt from her foot, her struggle was in vain…
Crack.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
With a sound like a walnut being crushed with a nutcracker, Jang Yuran's ankle was broken.
"You're loud. I thought you were just rude and had bad foot habits, but now I see you're loud too?"
For a moment, lightning qi formed in the hand of Namgung Jeongmin, who was holding Jang Yuran's neck.
And the lightning strike of the Cheonroe Three Palms struck Jang Yuran's neck as it was.
"…Gasp… ah!?"
With her vocal cords damaged following her ankle, only a gasping sound came out of Jang Yuran's mouth.
Only then did Namgung Jeongmin let go of her neck, and Jang Yuran fell to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
Due to the extreme blow of having one ankle broken and her vocal cords destroyed, Jang Yuran could not even take a breakfall and had to fall on her back with a thud.
In extreme pain and the shock of her voice not coming out, Jang Yuran curled up on her side like a baby, clutching her neck and gasping. And Namgung Jeongmin kicked her stomach.
"…Keuk!?"
"Now, say it again. Do you still think I'm a piece of trash?"
Namgung Jeongmin looked down at Jang Yuran, who was lying on the floor and writhing like a caterpillar, with eyes as cold as ice.
Jang Yuran clutched her damaged neck and tried to say something desperately, and Namgung Jeongmin bowed his head and waited for her words.
Although only a hoarse sound came out because her vocal cords were damaged, Jang Yuran desperately squeezed out her words.
"Go… to hell, you piece of… trash!"
"…"
Crack!
Namgung Jeongmin's kick, which had been swung without a word, kicked Jang Yuran's face.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The continuing kicks mercilessly trampled on the defenseless Jang Yuran's body.
'No… please run away… please stop…'
Even in a situation where he could not even lift a finger due to the lightning qi and internal injuries, Hwa Mokyeon, whose senses had become strangely sensitive, was watching the fight between Jang Yuran and Namgung Jeongmin… no, the one-sided trampling that could not even be called a fight, from beginning to end.
But unlike his sharpened senses, he could not even move his fingertips, let alone his voice.
In the dissonance of the dying flame of his body and the senses that were only getting more sensitive, past memories flashed through Hwa Mokyeon's head.
'Ah… is this a revolving lantern?'
Hwa Mokyeon. He was born as the second son of a small shop in Huayin, Shaanxi.
Then one day, he caught the eye of a first-generation disciple of Huashan and his current master, and thus he became a disciple of Huashan.
Innate talent, talent for martial arts, and even a handsome appearance. Soon, Hwa Mokyeon became a promising rising star of Huashan.
But the dark clouds began to gather in Hwa Mokyeon's life, which seemed to be on a roll, paradoxically from the master who had brought him to Huashan.
Political fights were rampant inside the Huashan Sect, which had become very secular, making the name of a Daoist sect colorless.
And unlike his talented disciple, Hwa Mokyeon's master was a person who was not ordinary but lacked talent for martial arts. He could not even become a Plum Blossom Swordsman and had to live a life far from the mainstream forces of the Huashan Sect.
But his disciple, Hwa Mokyeon, had a very outstanding talent and was showing his prominence, and that did not seem to please the eyes of the mainstream forces of Huashan.
Moreover, when he was even selected as a Plum Blossom Swordsman, the checks against him became openly severe.
And Hwa Mokyeon, who could not bear it in the end, chose to run away from Huashan.
The people who were openly checking him, his master who had expectations for him, and the dirty power struggle of Huashan. Hwa Mokyeon, who had come to hate and fear everything, ran out of Huashan and ran far away.
Thus, he had been wandering as a ronin for half a year, hiding the fact that he was a disciple of Huashan.
Then he had come to participate in the escort mission of the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency.
'…To think that the revolving lantern I see at the end of my life is about the Huashan I ran away from myself…'
He was even angry at his insignificant and foolish self.
At that time, there were other memories that flashed through his head.
It was the memory of the journey.
It was the memory of the days he had spent with Jang Baekseo, Jang Yuran, and Madam Ma.
From Sichuan to Hunan, they had jumped off cliffs and had crossed mountains. They had beaten up the trashy young master of the Sain family, had been attacked on a boat, and had even met an absolute master named Gangho. On Mount He, they had strengthened their resolve together and had been about to fight a decisive battle, but had ended up catching Jang Pangyo by chance. They had met a famous demonic head in the world, and had even congratulated Jang Baekseo, who had passed the age of learning and had passed the year. At the end of the memories that flashed through his head in an instant…
-I'll leave this place to you… big brother.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Simultaneously with recalling the words that Jang Baekseo had left behind, a loud baby's cry burst out from the cave.
'Yes…'
The fingertips of Hwa Mokyeon, which had been burned black, twitched.
'I promised…'
Soon, the body of Hwa Mokyeon, who had been leaning against a tree, stirred and he managed to place his hands on the floor.
'A godfather… I promised to be the baby's godfather…'
Even while his whole body was trembling, Hwa Mokyeon stood up.
"…I promised…"
Using pain as a lantern and his will as a law, Hwa Mokyeon barely managed to stand on the ground with his two feet.
"That arrogant brat called me big brother for the first time… a brat like that trusted me and left it to me."
The trembling had disappeared before he knew it. Hwa Mokyeon tightly clenched his sword with his hand, which had all its skin peeled off and had turned black from being burned by the lightning qi.
"If I can't fight now… there's no meaning in having lived my whole life holding a sword…!"
"Haha! To think you'd give birth in a situation like this. Huh? Isn't that right?"
Namgung Jeongmin, who had been trampling on Jang Yuran for a long time, said, looking at the cave with surprised eyes.
But Jang Yuran, who was already a mess, did not even have the strength to open her mouth, let alone answer.
"Ha! A silent bitch!"
Namgung Jeongmin took a stance to kick Jang Yuran once again.
But at that time.
"It's not over yet, you piece of trash, ahhhhhh!"
Namgung Jeongmin's eyes, who had turned his head to where the voice had come from, widened as if they were lanterns.
"…How did you get up?"
"What's it to you?"
"Keuk! Yes, I don't need to know… this time, I'll cut your neck and finish it for sure!!"
Namgung Jeongmin, who was surprised for a moment, soon rushed at Hwa Mokyeon.
As he looked at Namgung Jeongmin, who was rushing at him, what flashed through Hwa Mokyeon's head was the words that his master had told his young self with a benevolent smile on a sunny day.
'Don't be bound by anything. Walk your own, your own path. Then you will be able to bloom more splendidly than anyone else in this world.'
The one phrase that his master had told his young disciple, sitting him on his lap…
'Don't be bound by anything…'
At that moment, for some reason, Hwa Mokyeon looked at his own sword.
The purple sword qi was shaking precariously.
Why was that? Why did his sword qi, which cut even rocks like tofu, look so incomplete and small?
'This isn't it…'
In the world of an instant, divided into one hundred and eight pieces, Hwa Mokyeon searched for the answer.
And at the end of that too short eternity, his hand grasped the starlight.
"Die, ahhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Namgung Jeongmin's sword force was swung with the momentum to split Hwa Mokyeon in two from his head to his groin, and…
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
Soon, a roar shook the mountain.
Jijijijijijijik!
Namgung Jeongmin, who had been thrown back at a faster speed than he had rushed in due to the strong repulsive force, looked at Hwa Mokyeon's sword with eyes that could not believe it.
"…Sword force!? H-how!!"
"…"
Hwa Mokyeon looked at his own sword without a word.
The place where the unstable flame, which had been flickering like a flame, had been, was being filled by a sublime starlight.
"Sword force…"
Even in the midst of a dream and a fantasy, a reality and a revolving lantern that were mixed up in a mess, only that starlight was teaching him that this moment was a clear reality with its brilliant appearance.
"…Ugh!"
Namgung Jeongmin gritted his teeth.
And he soon threw his body at Hwa Mokyeon again.
Although he had been thrown back just a moment ago, Namgung Jeongmin, who thought that it was because he had been careless, not knowing that the opponent was using a sword force, and by no means because Hwa Mokyeon was stronger than him, swung his sword, vowing to finish it for sure this time.
The Boundless Azure Sky Sword Technique, which had been unfolded with all his strength, was about to pour down on Hwa Mokyeon!
Whirl!
Thump!
Something flew and got caught between Namgung Jeongmin's legs.
"What!?"
Namgung Jeongmin, who had noticed what had happened to him, opened his eyes wide.
Jang Yuran, who had been on the verge of death, had picked up her spear and had thrown it at Namgung Jeongmin's legs!
"Th-this is nothing!!!"
Of course, since Namgung Jeongmin was a transcendent master, he did not trip and fall over such a trivial trick.
Just for a moment.
An opening that was too embarrassing to even be called an instant had been created.
And for Hwa Mokyeon, that was enough.
'I feel like I can do it now.'
-The plum blossoms scatter, covering the sky.
-The sword follows, splitting the world.
It was only twenty-four moves.
The phrase written on the first page when he had first seen the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique, which had only twenty-four moves despite being the best sword technique of a sect.
The words of a sage whose meaning he could not understand even though he had seen it so many times.
He felt like he could understand its meaning now.
Just as the plum blossom petals scattering in the wind changed their appearance in an instant, not being bound by anything, the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, which was modeled after that appearance, also changed its appearance countless times in an instant.
Beyond simple illusion and change, since there could be twenty-four changes in one move, he thought that twenty-four moves were rather too many, and a small smile was formed.
And at the small smile, the plum blossom tree in his heart scattered in the wind, and the sword naturally followed.
It was the moment when the true Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique, which had unfolded from the purple sword force, poured down on Namgung Jeongmin without a single bit of mercy.
(End of Chapter)