Chapter 46
If I let the children of Nether Shadow Valley be neglected while I chased after Pae Maseong, it would be a disaster if the mountain bandits from another stronghold came and targeted them.
With only that thought, I used my movement technique, and the gap between me and Pae Maseong gradually narrowed.
At first, I wondered what was happening.
I also thought that Pae Maseong might have decided to listen to me.
Then, seeing Pae Maseong's surprised face as he glanced back, I realized that that was not the case.
Pae Maseong had by no means reduced his speed.
It seemed he hadn't even thought of stopping.
I finally went in front of Pae Maseong and stopped him.
Pae Maseong looked at me blankly, as if he were surprised that I had caught up with him.
At that moment, I, without even realizing that, said to Pae Maseong.
"If you go like this, you'll never see me again. I'm not saying I don't know that you want to take revenge. But now is not the time. You have kids who call you Senior Brother. If you start taking revenge on Son Eun or the Cho family, those guys will target the children of Nether Shadow Valley. Even if it's you, I can't stand by and watch you put those kids in danger."
If it were the usual Pae Maseong, if I had said that much, he would have nodded and accepted it.
But the Pae Maseong at that time had an endlessly unfamiliar face.
"Get out of the way, Socheong."
"Are you really going to go like this?"
"Thank you for finding my younger sister. But I can't just let this go. I will definitely kill Son Eun with my own hands. I will also kill all the guys who helped Son Eun and held my younger sister captive until now. It would have been impossible if the Cho family hadn't helped."
In the end, it seemed that he was saying that he would do as he pleased without listening to a single word I had said.
"Then what about our junior brothers?"
Pae Maseong hesitated for a moment, but then he shook his head.
"No one needs to help. I'll do it alone."
Then he tried to pass me.
I grabbed Pae Maseong's shoulder.
It was not a normal situation, and Pae Maseong was in a situation where he was trying to shake me off and pass by somehow.
I thought that I might be seriously injured on this spot, but I couldn't back down.
I thought that we had to clash once, and that that was happening now.
If I lost Pae Maseong, I would have to chase after this bastard again, and the more I did that, the farther the path back to the children of Nether Shadow Valley would become.
If I hadn't brought them from Nether Shadow Valley from the beginning, it would be different, but since I had brought them, I couldn't let those children die while waiting for me.
"Ya Socheong, I don't want to fight with you."
Pae Maseong said.
"Really? You'll have to fight to pass, won't you? Since you've come to be called Senior Brother Pae by the kids, you can't fight alone. Even if you fight alone, people will try to take revenge on those kids because of you, and I'm saying that I won't tolerate that."
Pae Maseong, as if he had no more time to talk, began to throw punches at me.
It was a fast and strong punch, as if it would break a rock.
It was a clear killing move.
It was unbelievable and surprising that Pae Maseong was using a killing move on me, but now there was no time to hold on to such emotions for long.
I recalled all the martial arts I had seen so far.
My body moved without knowing what to do to stop Pae Maseong.
Just because Pae Maseong had decided to use his fists, there was no reason for me to also have to counter with my fists.
When I shook out all the poisonous creatures in my bosom, I felt the poisonous creatures hesitate for a moment.
The poisonous creatures had been trained not to attack the people who were living with me in the mountain bandit stronghold, so they seemed to be bewildered about whether it was okay to attack Pae Maseong.
To let the guys know, I also showered him with killing moves.
Pae Maseong, seeing me like that, smirked.
Even though he had acted as if he acknowledged me, Pae Maseong must have also thought that if we fought, I would not be his match.
Pae Maseong, who had been trying to finish quickly and pass by, seemed to be angry that I was stubbornly clinging to him.
In the end, Pae Maseong also drew his sword.
Almost at the same time as he drew his sword, he must have also infused his internal energy, as sword ki formed on the sword that came out of the scabbard.
Then he swung it at me, and I blocked it.
Compared to Pae Maseong's splendid and powerful sword strikes, my sword was as unstable as a child's wobbly walk.
And yet, it was drawing an accurate trajectory.
As I continued to block and parry the sword strikes that were flying at me, when I saw an opening, I gave up my defense and thrust into it, and Pae Maseong was surprised and took a step back.
He had a very surprised face, as if he hadn't expected me to be able to do this much.
Pae Maseong was still not using his own poisonous creatures, but perhaps thinking that he had no choice if he wanted to deal with me and pass by, he finally scattered his own poisonous creatures.
Before they could attack me, I swung my sword and cut their bodies.
Pae Maseong let out a hollow laugh.
I had no intention of being sorry, as he had paid the price for being carelessly off guard.
"Ya Socheong, I will definitely kill you today."
Pae Maseong said as he readjusted his grip on his sword.
Just as important as whether one had the ability to kill someone was whether one had the will to kill him.
Until now, I had had no intention of killing Pae Maseong, but now it was different.
If the children of Nether Shadow Valley and Yeon Cheongha were all in danger together because of Pae Maseong's dogmatism, I would willingly kill Pae Maseong.
Just by the fact that my killing intent had become much more intense, strength was put into my sword.
Every time the swords clashed, a creepy explosion and sparks flew.
It wasn't that Pae Maseong was going easy on me. And yet, I was not being pushed back. For now, I was too busy just blocking and looking for openings to be moved by such things, but every time shock appeared on Pae Maseong's face, I realized that I was changing.
I felt as if the enlightenment that could only be obtained in a life-and-death battle where death was expected was pouring into me.
Thinking that if I didn't come to my senses, the next time might never come, I swung my sword and found myself in a place I had never been before.
I faced a question that could not be embraced without reaching there, and I quickly found an answer to it.
I had a feeling that after this fierce battle was over, I would be completely different from the me of the past.
As time went on, Pae Maseong had no choice but to reveal all the secret techniques he had.
Seeing that, I seemed to realize that what Pae Maseong had shown me until now was not all he had.
It was a great feeling to surpass myself every moment.
Feeling a tremendous sense of elation, I operated my internal energy.
There were many people who were not stingy about teaching me what they knew, and all those many teachings were in my head without having settled down.
Then, when the time came, it came to mind and went to its correct place.
An explosion erupted several times, and each time, both of our bodies were pushed back several feet.
It wasn't that I was being pushed back a lot compared to Pae Maseong.
Each time, we ran towards each other and clashed again, and the ground was deeply dug up and then soared high as it was caught up in the sword ki.
As I was doing that, I heard a voice calling me.
"Senior Brother!"
It was Dan Yujong's voice.
As I was wondering how Dan Yujong had come there, Pae Maseong also stopped.
"Stop it!"
Yeon Cheongha, who had come between us at some point, said.
Then he stood in front of Pae Maseong and pushed his shoulder.
"Stop it, Pae Maseong. I know well what you think of this master, and what you think of your junior brothers. I'm saying that I know well that only your revenge is important to you, and you don't care what happens to your junior brothers."
Pae Maseong seemed to be shocked by those words.
Since Yeon Cheongha was not a person who spoke in that way, I thought that he must have been very angry.
I hadn't expected him to bring all the junior brothers with him, but it seemed that it was something that would not have been thought of if it weren't for Yeon Cheongha.
Still, I was relieved to see that all the junior brothers had followed.
I counted their numbers with my eyes to see if any of the junior brothers were missing, and my eyes met with a few of them.
The junior brothers smiled brightly each time.
At first, I didn't know why they were smiling, but after hearing what Yeon Cheongha said, I seemed to know.
"Look at Socheong. Socheong is counting the numbers first after seeing that his junior brothers have come. I'm saying that he thinks of and worries about his junior brothers first. While you were rampaging without even thinking about what would happen if you attacked Son Eun and the Cho family, Socheong was thinking about such things!"
Still, I thought that if he said that in a place where all the children of Nether Shadow Valley were, Pae Maseong would be ashamed, but it seemed that Yeon Cheongha was not saying it to warn him.
"You are not qualified to be called Senior Brother by these children. Rather, sever your ties with these children. The same goes for your ties with me. From this time on, I will no longer think of you as my disciple. Since you abandoned us first, don't say that I'm heartless."
I wondered if those words would be effective on the current Pae Maseong, but Pae Maseong seemed to be going blank.
But it didn't end there, and the children of Nether Shadow Valley said to him one after another.
"We are grateful for the fact that you saved us from Nether Shadow Valley with our Senior Brother, and we will not forget that kindness, but we will not call you Senior Brother in the future."
One person, two people said to Pae Maseong.
Even the children who would become Pae Maseong's closest aides in the novel did so.
Even if the other children were like that, seeing that even the children who would become elders in Pae Maseong's Heavenly Demon Sect in the future were doing that, I was also quite surprised at that time.
Pae Maseong looked at them with a greatly shocked face.
"Ma... master."
Pae Maseong said, but from then on, Yeon Cheongha, as if he had decided to cut off all interest in Pae Maseong, came to me and looked me over.
"Are you hurt anywhere? I heard an explosion. Did you use sword ki? Is your internal energy consumption high?"
"I don't know."
Come to think of it, I understood why Yeon Cheongha was worried about me.
Since Yeon Cheongha would also have thought that I was weaker than Pae Maseong, he must have believed that I would be seriously injured if the two of us fought a fierce battle with killing intent.
Dan Yujong came to me and gave me a pill that was good for internal injuries.
It was something that the family head of the Danli family had given him.
It seemed that he had brought it because Yeon Cheongha had told him to.
"I'm not that hurt."
Pae Maseong stood there blankly while we were talking and then bowed his head.
"Let's go, Socheong. If it's hard to walk, get on my back."
"No. I'm fine."
Everyone treated Pae Maseong as if he were not there.
It seemed that they were really thinking of completely severing their ties with Pae Maseong, and maybe this was better.
(End of Chapter)