Kang Sogun

Cheok Muryang, as if to change the mood, raised his wine cup, gulped it down, and said.

"That man, Kang Sogun, is truly amazing. I doubt even a master of the ten great masters could show such martial prowess."

Hwang Uichae had heard from Yeon Seongyeol before that Kang Sogun was a master from the imperial palace.

"As you said, big brother, if he is from the imperial palace, then I have this thought. Although the Four Great Powers of the world control the martial world, if the imperial palace just puts its mind to it, they would crumble like phantoms."

Yeon Seongyeol shook his head.

"It can't be seen that way. The Four Great Powers of the world are not the entire martial world. Isn't there a saying that true masters are like hidden dragons and rarely show themselves to the world?"

"That's right. The martial world is like a deep and wide sea! I remember the days when I wandered in search of a supreme master when I was young. Hahaha."

Cheok Muryang, who had a strong desire to win, had gone on a dueling journey in search of masters in his youth.

As if he had remembered that, he said with a hint of regret.

"When this is over, I want to find him and have a match with him at least once."

Just then.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

The sound of horse hooves was heard from afar. At a glance, he could tell that dozens of horses were running.

"It seems they are finally coming."

Yeon Seongyeol stood up with his wine cup, showed it to his two younger brothers, and said.

"The hegemon of the Four Great Powers of the world and a master of the ten great masters, you say? Let's see how great Gu Yeongang's martial arts really are!"

Cheok Muryang also raised his wine cup.

"Good. I'll show them properly that the Three Blade Sect has the One Saber Three Slashes."

One Saber Three Slashes was Cheok Muryang's nickname.

He used a pair of half-moon sabers, and the name was given because the moment the saber light flashed, the opponent was cut into three pieces.

"Good."

Hwang Uichae raised his wine cup and showed it to his sworn brothers.

The three gulped down their wine cups and at the same time, they smashed them on the floor of the main hall.

It was a sign of their determination to die before the decisive battle.

Thus, the three shared their last drink in this world.

The three went down to the training ground.

A cool wind swept across the training ground, where the afternoon sun shone.

"It's a perfect day to die!"

Cheok Muryang laughed heartily.

***

A port in Wuhan.

Cho Jihang, who had gone to get a boat, returned.

"I've got a boat."

The plan when they left the Three Blade Sect was to take a boat, cross the Yangtze River, and go straight down to Fuzhou.

"I have something to discuss with you."

Cho Jihang called Jang Mugang and Jungrang separately, then took out a map and a letter from his bosom and handed them over.

"Elder Hwang gave this to me."

Elder Hwang was the White Fan Scholar Hwang Uichae.

Jang Mugang read the letter and muttered as if to himself.

"Scholar Hwang had already guessed this situation."

Hwang Uichae had written that Cho Jihang's Fire Heaven Brigade should cross the Yangtze River and head for Fuzhou, and that Yeon Hwasim's party should follow the river, take a detour, and then go to Fujian after some time had passed.

"He said that the Heavenly Martial Faction Master is a ruthless man and will never give up on the young lady."

Jang Mugang nodded at Cho Jihang's message.

Gu Yeongang had personally brought down thirty percent of the Heavenly Martial Faction's power because his son had died.

Hwang Uichae's words were quite plausible.

Jang Mugang asked Cho Jihang.

"Where will we join you?"

"The young lady also knows where the manor in Fujian is. You can go there directly."

Cho Jihang said calmly.

Jang Mugang's eyes wavered. Cho Jihang's words meant that the Fire Heaven Brigade and the Three Blade Sect disciples might not be able to make it to Fujian.

No, it could also mean that they had no intention of going.

According to the plan that Hwang Uichae had written in the letter, they were bait. But Cho Jihang was saying that he would not be bait, but a venomous snake and would bite their heels.

Jang Mugang lamented.

'Why on earth is the name of the Three Blade Sect not known in the martial world?'

In Jang Mugang's eyes, the Three Blade Sect was a small but incredibly strong sect.

"You must think carefully about the reason why Sect Master Yeon acknowledged you as his disciple. If the lineage of the Heaven Returning Twelve Sabers is cut off, he will not be able to close his eyes even in the afterlife. For now, preserve your life and plan for the future."

"I will keep that in mind."

Cho Jihang said with a resolute face as he stood up from his seat.

"The boat we are taking is a horse-carrying boat. Since about fifty horses and people will be crossing, it will attract people's attention."

He said that since there was no large boat that could carry fifty horses at once, they would go in three trips.

"Cross the river on the second boat. A carriage is waiting on the other side of the river, but pretend to get on and then, taking advantage of the bustle, go down the river. A boat will be waiting at a secluded port."

"How will we recognize that boat?"

Cho Jihang looked at Jungrang and said.

"Jungrang will recognize it. The boatman is someone who was in the Three Blade Sect."

***

The eastern part of Wuhan was a mountainous region where mountains continued like waves.

After passing through those mountains was the land of Henan.

As the sun set and the mountain path became dark, a horse appeared.

The rider on the horse was Kang Sogun, dressed in a blood-stained martial arts uniform.

He held the reins with his left hand and still held a spear in his right hand.

The hand holding the blood-stained spear trembled intermittently.

The Black Horse Brigade Commander was a cut above the Heaven's Mandate Brigade Commander, Wu Wonsong.

The Black Horse Brigade's individual martial arts were also superior to the Heaven's Mandate Brigade's.

Although the Heaven's Mandate Brigade was called the vanguard of the Heavenly Martial Faction, it seemed that in reality, it was a piece that was endlessly consumed and discarded.

It was clear that the military forces such as the Black Horse Brigade were the true main force of the Heavenly Martial Faction.

Blood flowed from Kang Sogun's right side and left thigh.

What bothered him most was the shuriken embedded in the back of his left shoulder.

He couldn't pull out the shuriken. If he just pulled it out, he couldn't stop the bleeding.

He had already lost too much blood.

He felt drowsy and his lips were parched.

Kang Sogun forced his drooping eyes open. Not only was he drowsy, but his throat felt like it was on fire.

Just then, the path met a valley. The sound of water was heard from below the valley.

Kang Sogun got off his horse.

He tied the reins to a tree by the roadside and went down to the valley.

Due to the late autumn drought, the amount of water was not much.

He went up the valley a little and found a pool where a small waterfall was falling.

Kang Sogun bent down, scooped up the water with his hands, and tasted it. Only after confirming that there was nothing wrong did he drink the water.

There was no reason for there to be poison in the water deep in the mountains, but he couldn't help the old habit that was ingrained in his body.

"Phew."

After drinking the water, he put his head in the water.

Dipping his head in the cold water, his mind became clear.

Kang Sogun untied the bundle on his back, reached behind him, and pulled out the shuriken embedded in his shoulder.

"Uk!"

Intense pain shot through his entire body.

It felt as if all his nerves were on end at once.

Kang Sogun gritted his teeth and took off his upper garment.

There were sword marks, saber marks, and spear wounds all over his lean upper body.

Kang Sogun, with his upper body bare, went into the water.

Splash.

The mountain where winter was approaching. The valley water was as cold as ice.

The clear water of the pool was dyed red with the blood flowing from Kang Sogun's side and thigh.

Kang Sogun came out of the water and searched the bundle he had on his back.

He took out a small wooden box, found a hook-like needle, and threaded it.

Looking at the wounds, the wound on his thigh was not deep, but the wound on his side was quite long.

It was a sword wound left by the Black Horse Brigade Commander.

If it had been a little deeper, his liver would have been pierced.

Kang Sogun took out a leather water pouch from the bundle and took a sip. What was in the water pouch was alcohol.

As the alcohol went down, his throat burned.

Then he poured the alcohol on his wounds.

"!"

It was a pain he experienced every time, but it was still painful.

Who said that one becomes insensitive to pain?

The more pain Kang Sogun experienced, the more his body and mind broke, and now he was afraid of even small pains.

The reason he became desperate in front of the enemy might be because he didn't want to experience any more pain.

He stitched his wounds with a hand that trembled uncontrollably due to the nerves writhing in pain.

He stitched the wounds on his side and thigh, but he had no choice but to sprinkle golden sore medicine powder on the shoulder where the shuriken had been embedded.

After treating his wounds, Kang Sogun took out clothes from the bundle and changed. He rolled up the blood-soaked clothes and threw them away.

After taking care of his wounds and standing up, the spear that was leaning next to him suddenly caught his eye.

Kang Sogun washed the spear, which was dyed red with blood, with water.

But the water did not wash it away.

The spear shaft had absorbed the red blood and looked as if it had been originally painted red.

Kang Sogun sat down by the water and examined the spear.

'This is not an ordinary spear.'

The reason he had hesitated for a moment when Yeon Seongyeol had handed him the spear was because he had thought it was a training spear, seeing that the shaft was not painted.

He had accepted it because of the sincerity of being chosen directly, but he had realized that it was not so while using it.

If it had really been a training spear, it would have broken or split several times already.

The spear had withstood Kang Sogun's internal energy and had deflected the enemy's sabers.

It was a spear of a suitable length and ordinary make.

Everything from the center of gravity, elasticity, and the feel in his hand was just right.

Like a sword or a saber, it is not easy to make a spear with balance.

Yeon Seongyeol must have known that it was not an ordinary spear and had given it to him.

As Yeon Seongyeol came to mind, his thoughts naturally turned to the people remaining in the Three Blade Sect.

'What happened to them?'

In fact, even if the Heaven's Mandate Brigade and the Black Horse Brigade had blocked him, he could have just broken through.

The reason he had clashed with them and fought a bloody battle was in his own way, for the sake of the Three Blade Sect.

In any case, he had survived thanks to Yeon Hwasim.

Moreover, thanks to the generous use of medicine by Hwang Uichae and the doctors invited by the Three Blade Sect, he had been able to recover faster than expected.

His chronic internal injuries were unavoidable, but it was a great fortune that he was at least able to move for the time being.

Kang Sogun thought he had to pay that price.

Since he had smashed the Heaven's Mandate Brigade and annihilated the Black Horse Brigade, the Three Blade Sect would have found a way.

'I probably won't see them again.'

As he thought that, Yeon Hwasim's large eyes suddenly came to mind.

The clear eyes he had seen at White Dragon Temple last year.

And the anxious and worried eyes that had followed him all this autumn.

Yeon Hwasim's eyes grew bigger and bigger and enveloped him.

He entered the black pupils.

It was pitch-black darkness.

Neigh!

He was awakened by the sound of his tied horse neighing.

He must have dozed off. The surroundings were already getting dark.

'Could it be a wild animal?'

The possibility was low. If it were a wild animal, the horse's neighing should have continued.

But it had stopped abruptly.

It seemed the enemy had caught up in the meantime.

***

Gu Yeongang was sitting on the grand master's chair in the main hall of the Three Blade Sect.

A doctor sprinkled golden sore medicine on the long wound on his back and wrapped it with a white cloth.

Despite being in his sixties, Gu Yeongang's bare upper body was covered with strong muscles.

A white cloth was also wrapped around his thighs, which were as thick as logs.

"It's done."

As the doctor finished wrapping the cloth and retreated, a servant came with clothes.

After putting on his upper garment and a long robe, he saw the wine bottle on the table in the main hall and the broken cups on the floor.

It must have been the last cups of wine that Yeon Seongyeol had shared with his sworn brothers.

Gu Yeongang's gaze turned to the training ground outside the main hall.

In the training ground lay the bodies of the Three Blade Sect Master, Yeon Seongyeol, and his sworn brothers.

It had been a long fight.

The three had been tenacious and had the martial arts to back it up.

Especially Yeon Seongyeol's Heaven Returning Twelve Sabers was amazing.

The saber wound that ran across his back was left by Yeon Seongyeol.

Cheok Muryang's half-moon twin sabers had also cut his thigh.

If the sword that Hwang Uichae had thrust had not missed, he might have been the one lying on the cold ground of that training ground.

The last moment came to mind.

He had deflected Yeon Seongyeol's saber and pushed Cheok Muryang away with his left fist, when Hwang Uichae's sword had thrust from the side.

He had extended his heavy sword to deflect Hwang Uichae's sword, but had hesitated.

Hwang Uichae's sword had split into three and approached.

'If his study of the Scattering Sword had been a little deeper, I would have been defeated.'

Gu Yeongang had deflected two of the three scattering swords.

What had deflected Hwang Uichae's last sword was Cheonsal, who was assisting from the dark.

If Hwang Uichae's scattering sword had been four, he would have been defeated without a doubt.

As that moment came to mind, Gu Yeongang lamented.

'To think that there were such masters in the Three Blade Sect.'

(End of Chapter)