Kang Sogun

The saber and the saber clashed, and an explosion rang out, shaking Kang Sogun's body.

The attacker retreated a full ten feet. His entire body trembled after using all his strength. It meant his energy was running low.

He said to the two men standing on either side of him.

"This man's internal injuries have not fully healed. If not today, there will be no other chance. Brothers! You haven't forgotten the oath that we cannot return until we have avenged the Pavilion Master, have you?"

The three seemed to have come with the determination to die.

"Of course!"

"Either we die, or that bastard dies!"

At the words of avenging the Yocheon Pavilion Master with their lives, the other two shouted resolutely.

Kang Sogun just stood there, regulating his breathing, and listened to their conversation.

'He has internal injuries?'

Yeon Hwasim was startled and muttered to herself.

She remembered his pale complexion when she first saw him at the pier.

Looking again, Kang Sogun's face was now as white as a sheet of paper.

'So that's what it was. He had internal injuries.'

To have slaughtered Gu Yangun and the Heaven's Mandate Brigade warriors in that state. But she couldn't just be surprised.

Yeon Hwasim stepped forward without realizing it.

Jungrang grabbed Yeon Hwasim and pulled her back.

"You can't step in."

"He's in danger because he has internal injuries."

"Our skills are no help. We will only distract him."

Jungrang's words also made sense.

They were masters who used saber energy.

Even if only one of them stepped up, Jungrang and Yeon Hwasim would be killed in a single blow.

"Still, I can't just watch."

The moment Yeon Hwasim tried to shake off Jungrang's hand, the three men charged at Kang Sogun like lightning.

The three men crossed their sabers and created a net of saber energy.

It was a perfect combined attack.

Kang Sogun stood in the middle of the net of saber energy, his eyes closed, as if he had given up on life.

"No!"

A scream burst out of Yeon Hwasim's mouth without her realizing it.

At that moment, the dagger Kang Sogun was holding suddenly grew to about two feet long.

It was also saber energy.

Boom!

As the saber energy and saber energy clashed, a huge explosion erupted, and fragments of saber energy scattered in a ten-foot radius. The ground was dug up, and trees were broken.

Cough!

Kang Sogun spat out a bowlful of blood. The front of his white clothes was stained with blood.

The three attackers were not in good shape either.

One had lost his left arm, and another had his leg cut.

The other one also had blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his left hand and muttered in a gloomy voice.

"You're tenacious. To take our brothers' combined attack even after being internally injured by the Pavilion Master. It's strange that a man like you has not been known in the martial world until now."

"Let's end this now!"

The three men gestured to each other with their eyes, then took something out from their bosoms and put it in their mouths. Then, the momentum of the three changed.

A storm-like energy enveloped their entire bodies.

"Kuaaah. Die."

The three once again formed a net of saber energy. Surprisingly, its power was significantly higher than before.

This time, Kang Sogun charged first.

Boom!

Again, a storm raged in a radius of about ten feet.

Leaves flew mercilessly.

Even Jungrang and Yeon Hwasim, who were watching from the entrance of the hill about thirty feet away, had to raise their internal energy to block the force.

A moment later, the whirlwind of energy subsided. Kang Sogun was still standing. His white clothes had now turned into blood-red clothes.

Of the three who had unleashed the saber energy, two had fallen.

The remaining one was also half-kneeling, glaring at Kang Sogun before falling to the side.

"Your, your martial arts are..."

He gasped and tried to say something, but he couldn't finish and took his last breath.

'It's similar to that time.'

Yeon Hwasim muttered to herself.

The Xinjiang Samrang had also died in an instant. The only difference was that this time, Kang Sogun was not unharmed either.

Cough.

Kang Sogun spat out another bowlful of blood, staggered, and turned around.

Kang Sogun, who had entered the thatched hut, collapsed.

Yeon Hwasim, who saw this through the broken wall, was surprised and ran over.

"Hey! Get a hold of yourself?"

Yeon Hwasim placed her finger under Kang Sogun's nose. His breath was so weak that it seemed it would stop at any moment.

"Jungrang! Hurry and get Cheoludae. Quickly."

Yeon Hwasim shouted at Jungrang with a tearful face.

A moment later, Cheoludae came up with Jungrang.

Cheoludae checked Kang Sogun's condition.

"It seems he had quite a deep internal injury. But to be shocked again today, an ordinary person would have already died. The energy of his five viscera and six bowels is all messed up. Even this old monk can't do anything about such an injury."

"What do we do."

Yeon Hwasim stomped her feet. Cheoludae looked at the three corpses outside and said.

"This man took a person's life, so it is karma that he should die because of it. It can also be said that it is the will of heaven that he has seen the end of his killing spree like this."

Cheoludae seemed to have no intention of saving Kang Sogun.

"No. They were trying to kill him, so he just fought back."

"He killed someone, and they came for revenge, so it's the same. Even if they hadn't come, people from the Heavenly Martial Faction would have come again. The cycle of resentment is like a constantly turning wheel."

Yeon Hwasim couldn't just listen to Cheoludae's lecture leisurely.

"Jungrang! Carry him."

Jungrang had never seen Yeon Hwasim so anxious. He carried Kang Sogun without a word.

Yeon Hwasim said to Cheoludae.

"Even if I can't escape the cycle of grudges, I have to try to live. Thank you for everything."

Cheoludae sighed as he looked at Yeon Hwasim. Then he took out a medicine pouch from his bosom and took out a pill wrapped in beeswax.

"It's not a miracle drug, but it will help to preserve his life for a while."

Yeon Hwasim found a bowl, crushed the pill, mixed it with water, and poured it into Kang Sogun's mouth. Her touch was gentle.

"Let's go now."

Yeon Hwasim looked around the thatched hut and packed what she thought were Kang Sogun's belongings into a bundle.

Jungrang carried Kang Sogun, and Yeon Hwasim carried the rest of the luggage on her back.

The two ran without resting until they reached Yueyang.

"First, let's go to the Mohong Inn, lay this person down, and find a doctor."

When they went to the Mohong Inn, the waiter recognized them.

"Oh? You're here again?"

The waiter's expression was sour.

It was understandable, as a big commotion had occurred after Yeon Hwasim had left. This time, she had even brought a person covered in blood.

"Give me the annex I stayed in last time and call a doctor. It has to be the best doctor in Yueyang."

The waiter nodded, led them to the annex, and then went out to find a doctor.

Jungrang laid Kang Sogun on the bed. As Yeon Hwasim was pacing the living room anxiously, Jang Mugang came to visit.

"What brings you here this time?"

"I just came as a guest of the inn. I will not forget the kindness you showed me last time."

Jang Mugang looked at Kang Sogun lying on the bed.

"It seems you bring storms with you, miss."

Jang Mugang was curious, but he didn't ask and just left.

A moment later, the waiter came with a doctor.

The doctor took Kang Sogun's pulse, touched him here and there, and then shook his head.

"The internal injuries are too deep. He won't last long."

"How can a doctor give up so easily?"

Yeon Hwasim stomped her feet.

"I have to say what I can't do. In any case, I'll do my best."

The doctor placed needles all over Kang Sogun's body.

"For now, I've temporarily set the positions of his five viscera and six bowels, but the injury is so severe that some of his internal organs are already hardening. In this state, he won't last a month."

The doctor said there was no hope and left.

Yeon Hwasim was devastated.

She had risked death to find him, but was rejected, and still waited with a sliver of hope, only for him to die.

"Third Uncle might have a way."

Jungrang comforted Yeon Hwasim.

Yeon Hwasim suddenly came to her senses.

Her father, Yeon Seongyeol, had two sworn brothers, and the youngest, the White Fan Scholar Hwang Uichae, was skilled in both literature and martial arts and was knowledgeable in many fields.

"That's right! Why didn't I think of Third Uncle. Let's take this person to the manor."

"But I don't know if he can endure the journey."

"We can rent a carriage."

The next day, Yeon Hwasim used the secret passage she had used to escape last time to leave the Mohong Inn again.

A carriage she had asked the waiter to get was waiting in the alley.

Yeon Hwasim laid thick blankets in the carriage to make it comfortable and then laid Kang Sogun down.

Kang Sogun still had not regained consciousness. Except for his faint breath, he seemed to be in a deep sleep.

About half a day after Yeon Hwasim's carriage left Yueyang, about a hundred warriors rushed in.

The word "Heaven's Mandate" was clearly written on the warriors' chests.

A hundred men meant that the entire Heaven's Mandate Brigade had come.

"Are you sure Yeon Hwasim brought that man here?"

The Heaven's Mandate Brigade Commander, Wu Wonsong, asked his subordinate next to him.

"The spies who were watching saw them go in themselves."

"Then why didn't you catch them right away?"

"Well... the owner of this inn is a master."

The subordinate told him what had happened last time.

"Hmph! The inn owner is a master?"

In Wu Wonsong's eyes, the Mohong Inn was just an ordinary inn.

Just then. A strange voice was heard from somewhere.

"That's right. Their martial arts are by no means to be underestimated."

Wu Wonsong cupped his fists in a salute towards the direction the voice came from.

"I heard that Elder Un is here."

The owner of the strange voice was Unsal, who had been watching the Mohong Inn at Gu Yangun's request.

The status of Heaven, Earth, Wind, and Cloud in the Heavenly Martial Faction was unique. They moved independently.

They were only called Heaven, Earth, Wind, and Cloud, without names. They, who guarded the Faction Master and his direct descendants, did not belong to the Heavenly Martial Faction's organization.

Even the Heavenly Martial Faction Master, Gu Yeongang, did not treat them lightly. It was more like a contractual relationship than a guard.

Unsal was not visible, only his voice was heard.

"The entire Heaven's Mandate Brigade has come. If you came to catch Yeon Hwasim, you're already too late."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That bitch named Yeon Hwasim left Yueyang early this morning."

Unsal had been watching Yeon Hwasim from the time she entered the inn until she left.

Yeon Hwasim had left using a secret passage, but he had even noticed that.

Nevertheless, no one in the inn had noticed, so it could only be called an amazing stealth technique.

"Then shouldn't you have stopped her?"

Wu Wonsong frowned.

"Kekeke. Are you questioning my responsibility now? How absurd. Have you forgotten that only Faction Master Gu and his direct descendants can give me orders?"

The last order Unsal had received was to guard this inn. Yeon Hwasim's comings and goings were not his business.

When displeasure was mixed in Unsal's voice, Wu Wonsong reluctantly bowed his head.

"Questioning your responsibility? That's not it. I overstepped my bounds. And there is a new order from the Faction Master."

"What is it?"

Wu Wonsong took out a letter from his bosom.

"Are you saying the Faction Master gave the order himself?"

The letter in Wu Wonsong's hand flew up as if drawn by something.

The letter was sucked into the third floor of the tavern opposite the Mohong Inn.

A moment later, Unsal's voice was heard.

"Do you also know the contents of the letter?"

"I do."

Wu Wonsong answered obediently.

"Then let's go."

Wu Wonsong left Yueyang with the Heaven's Mandate Brigade members.

As the Heavenly Martial Faction's Heaven's Mandate Brigade disappeared, Jang Mugang appeared and stood in front of the inn's door.

Jang Mugang let out a deep sigh. He looked down at the kitchen knife in his hand and muttered as if to himself.

"Brothers. I don't think we can just stand by and watch Sect Master Yeon's daughter die, can we?"

Behind Jang Mugang stood two men in chef's attire. They were holding a large bow and a long spear, respectively.

The one with the large bow had a clean face and was small in stature, looking agile.

The one with the long spear had a short, forked mustache, and judging by his thin body and sharp eyes, he seemed to have a considerable temper.

"Of course! We should be grateful to be back in the martial world. I feel so refreshed."

Sim Mabaek, who was holding the long spear, looked at Jang Mugang and laughed.

The youngest, Wi Eunghwan, who was holding the large bow, met Sim Mabaek's eyes and laughed.

"Of course. We should not forget a debt of gratitude even if we forget a grudge. Let's stretch our bodies for the first time in a while."

(End of Chapter)