Chapter 11 : The Nameless Ones
"Ueeek—!"
After vomiting about three times, there was nothing left to come out.
"Tsk tsk... for a martial artist, you can't even look at a few corpses properly."
"Unlike you, Master, who has lived as a martial artist your whole life, I am a young master who grew up delicately in a prestigious family."
"That's something to be proud of! You brat!"
"It is something to be proud of."
"Whether you're a delicately grown young master or not, hurry up and come over here."
"I don't want to..."
Jin Sohyun, with his sluggish body, barely managed to hide behind Kang Cheon and peek at the dead bodies.
"Do you see the cross-section of the corpse?"
"Yes. I see it."
At Jin Sohyun's surprisingly calm answer, Kang Cheon was proud and turned around.
"This brat!?"
Jin Sohyun, who had buried his eyes in Kang Cheon's back and was only sticking out his mouth, barely avoided Kang Cheon's fist and shouted.
"Eek! Why do I have to look at the corpses!"
"Because it's a sight you'll see one day too!"
"Me?"
Jin Sohyun blinked.
"...Why me?"
"Why! Unless it's a spar, a life-and-death fight between martial artists is bound to see blood! Of course, there will be those who die in the process!"
"Kkeung...! I will never have a reason to fight anyone."
"Can you be sure?"
"Yes!"
Jin Sohyun, who planned to go home and not even venture outside once his martial arts training was over, was confident.
"Hoo..."
With a short sigh, Kang Cheon placed his hand on Jin Sohyun's head and spoke in an uncharacteristically gentle voice.
"Whether you want it or not... the day will come when you have to stain your hands with blood."
"What!? Why do I have to do that?"
In Jin Sohyun's blinking large eyes, an untainted purity could be felt.
Kang Cheon suddenly thought that he didn't want this clean and clear boy's eyes to be tainted with blood and wounds.
But he hardened his heart.
'I am this child's master.'
If a family is a being that cherishes and protects each other, a master is a being that teaches.
Therefore, Kang Cheon felt the need to awaken this pure boy, who had no experience of the world yet, to the world of the martial arts.
"The reason is, because you have learned martial arts."
"Yes...?"
"If one day, someone tries to kill your one and only younger sister, what will you do?"
"Well..."
He would use the martial arts he had to subdue the person trying to kill Jin Gahyeon first.
Of course, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't shed blood in the process.
Only then did Jin Sohyun realize what Kang Cheon was trying to say.
"Those without power will not have a reason to stain their hands with blood. But those with power will one day stain their hands with blood. To protect a precious person, or for the goal they want to achieve... so remember."
Kang Cheon faced Jin Sohyun squarely and said.
"Whatever happens in the future, do not doubt your choice, and do not hesitate in your decision."
Jin Sohyun still didn't know about the martial world, but he felt he knew what answer he should give now.
"Yes. I will keep that in mind."
***
The three masters, who had come to the Ghostly Wail Forest at the behest of the pale-faced Jin Sohyun, sent their still young disciple back to his dwelling and put their heads together.
"A clean slash. No unnecessary movements, and no hesitation."
"And he didn't hide his martial arts either."
As Bieunggaek lifted the severed head, O Yoran frowned and turned her head away.
Instead, Kang Cheon checked the dead man's wound.
"A cold qi still lingers in the sword wound. A swordsmanship with such characteristics is..."
"Hmph! It's Cheon Yusin's swordsmanship, what else!"
"It's not certain yet."
"It is certain!"
"You, why are you so confident?"
"Well..."
Bieunggaek fidgeted, glancing at O Yoran, and then said in a small, crawling voice.
"Because I've experienced it myself."
"Aha! You've faced Cheon Yusin's sword yourself?"
"You mean you've competed in martial arts with the White Moon Divine Lord?"
As O Yoran asked in surprise, Bieunggaek shrugged and nodded.
"S-Something like that."
"Compete... you almost died at the hands of Cheon Yusin after robbing the White Moon Palace's treasury. Elder O, did you know that the Shadowless Thieving Ghost's butt is lopsided?"
"That was information I really didn't want to know."
As O Yoran shook her ears as if she had heard something unpleasant, Bieunggaek shouted in frustration.
"He is a master of swordsmanship! And I am a master of movement technique! We just competed with what we were most confident in! In the end, it was my victory since I survived!"
"Let's just say that."
Kang Cheon waved his hand as if annoyed and checked the dead, then approached the first black-clad man who had died.
"No mark... no tattoo... nothing to indicate his affiliation, but strangely, only this guy's location and form of death are different."
Unlike the two martial artists who had died standing side by side, this man had died with his hand outstretched forward.
"Whoever these guys are, to think there are those who would touch the White Moon Palace of all things. They have some nerve!"
Bieunggaek casually put down the head he was holding and dusted off his hands.
"Well, it's none of our business. Let's just bury them roughly and go back."
"Wait."
Kang Cheon stopped Bieunggaek, who was about to dig a hole right away.
"Why?"
"We can't end it like this. We need to find out who these people are."
"The White Moon Palace will take care of it, so why go through the trouble?"
As Bieunggaek muttered, unable to understand, O Yoran, who could no longer bear it, stepped forward.
"Ugh! Bieunggaek! Is that thing on your shoulders just a decoration?"
"Wh-What!? What does that mean!"
"Have you already forgotten why this place is called the Ghostly Wail Forest?"
"That's because the whole mountain died because you taught my one and only disciple, Sohyun, a shoddy sound art!"
"That's right...! N-No! What do you mean, shoddy sound art!"
"Then are you saying Sohyun's talent is shoddy?"
"That's..."
O Yoran, who was at a loss for words, glared at Bieunggaek with a flushed face as if to kill him.
Bieunggaek also did not back down and confronted her, and the sharp gazes of the two old masters clashed intensely.
Kang Cheon, who could no longer watch, stepped between them.
"Very few people know that these people died in the Ghostly Wail Forest, and that the one who killed them was a person from the Cheon Family. Unless there's another person like you who has survived a direct hit from Cheon Yusin's sword."
"Hmph! So, you're saying the mastermind behind these black-clothed guys might suspect Sohyun?"
"They won't be able to do anything to Sohyun for now since we're here... but there's no harm in being careful. Now is not the time to attract public attention."
The brighter the talent, the more likely it was to become the target of those who were jealous and afraid of it.
Moreover, the shining talent of Jin Sohyun, who could be called a Heavenly Martial Body, would surely illuminate the entire world.
Therefore, for now, they had to be careful and not let Jin Sohyun's existence be known to the outside world.
"Isn't there someone who can recognize this?"
At Kang Cheon's question, Bieunggaek scratched his beard, which O Yoran had teased him for having a broom attached to.
"I have one guy in mind."
"Really?"
"For once, you're useful."
Bieunggaek glared at O Yoran once and then scratched the back of his head this time.
"But there's one problem."
"What problem?"
A strange fear could be felt in the eyes of Bieunggaek, who was fearless enough to rob Cheon Yusin's treasury.
"You'll know when you meet him."
***
"Wow! To think that I, in my lifetime, would get to meet the one and only F-L-Y-I-N-G! H-E-A-V-E-N! T-E-N! S-W-O-R-D-S! Master Kang Cheon, one of the Five Great Masters of the Central Plains! And even the living legend known as the master of sound art! Master O Yoran!!"
Kang Cheon and O Yoran stared at the beggar Bieunggaek had brought with vacant faces.
At first, they thought the beggar they had just met was just a lively person.
But they did not know.
The reason why Bieunggaek had used all his strength to hide himself as soon as the introduction was over.
"Hahahaha! My name is Gu Yong! As you can see, I'm a beggar from the Beggars' Sect! And you see, I've admired martial artists since I was young! But my talent for martial arts was ordinary, so instead of becoming a master myself, I decided to stay by a master's side and record his life! That's why I became a beggar of the Beggars' Sect. Ah! Would you like to see this?"
"F-First..."
Kang Cheon felt like he was going to lose his mind, and O Yoran was already staring blankly outside as if she had lost her mind.
It seemed she was controlling her hearing by raising her internal energy.
'If they ranked people by how much they talk, this guy would be number one under the heavens.'
Realizing that the problem Bieunggaek had mentioned was that non-stop chattering mouth, Kang Cheon wanted to gag Gu Yong right away.
But since there was something he had to find out first, Kang Cheon had to exercise superhuman patience.
"This is the third volume of the Encyclopedia of Central Plains Martial Artists that I have compiled! It contains information about the martial artists I have actually met and those I have only heard about through rumors. Do you know what the biggest scoop among them is!? I am the one who... of the White Moon Divine Lord...!!"
"You mean you've met Cheon Yusin in person?"
"The eldest son...!"
"The eldest son... Cheon Gasung? You've met him?"
"Yes! I've met Master Cheon Gasung in person! Although I only saw him passing by, seeing his noble face... ah... he was handsome and tall, it was like seeing the reincarnation of Master Cheon Yusin. My dream is to record all the number one under heaven of the era, and I felt that he might become the next number one under heaven."
"Hmph!"
At the muttering of the beggar with sparkling eyes, Kang Cheon snorted.
Then, Gu Yong asked in a whisper, as if afraid someone would hear.
"Has Elder Kang also seen Young Master Cheon?"
"I haven't seen him in person, but he will not be called the number one under heaven in this generation."
"Hoo... why!?"
"That's because, of course...!"
"Elder Kang!"
O Yoran, who felt something was wrong, hurriedly pinched Kang Cheon's thigh.
Feeling a sharp pain, Kang Cheon had to bite his lip.
"Ouch! Wh-What are you doing! Elder O!"
—Have you already forgotten that we agreed to keep quiet about Sohyun!?
'Oh no!'
Realizing his mistake through the telepathic message O Yoran had sent, Kang Cheon let out an awkward cough.
"Ahem! Anyway, it seems like that... it's my intuition."
For a moment, Gu Yong's gaze sharpened slightly.
"It feels like you know something I don't. Come to think of it, I've heard a rumor that the eldest son of the Jin Family, Young Master Jin, is here."
"I have a connection with Family Head Jin, so I'm just teaching him some self-defense."
"Self-defense..."
Gu Yong's gaze swept past Kang Cheon and O Yoran, and then he recalled Bieunggaek, who had brought him.
Putting the scattered pieces together, he could form an interesting hypothesis.
'These three are teaching one disciple?'
Feeling Gu Yong's eyes turning sinister, Kang Cheon slammed the table hard.
Bang—!
Startled by the sound, Gu Yong jumped.
"E-Elder?"
"The reason I called you is not to have such trivial conversations!"
Gu Yong, who had come to his senses, also nodded and began to carefully examine the corpses that Kang Cheon and Bieunggaek had brought.
But even Gu Yong seemed unable to identify them and frowned.
"No matter how I look, I can't find any distinguishing features."
At Gu Yong's answer, a sense of disappointment flashed across the faces of Kang Cheon, O Yoran, and Bieunggaek, who had appeared at some point.
But then, Gu Yong snapped his fingers.
"That's why I think I know."
"What do you mean, that's why you think you know?"
"They are the Nameless Ones."
"The Nameless Ones?"
At his answer, O Yoran slightly opened her mouth and frowned her beautiful brows.
"Those who have no name... no connections... not even the life that a human should have..."
"Yes. That's why they are the assassins of the Nameless Pavilion, the best assassin organization in the Central Plains, who don't even have names. And the one behind them is..."
The gazes of the three gathered on Gu Yong's lips.
"The Heretic's Path Alliance."
(End of Chapter)