[Long]
“You saw.”
It was just one word but it was enough to give me goosebumps.
It was a completely different atmosphere from the guy I met in that shrine-like place. Rather than feeling like a Eight Great Warrior, I felt an extremely dangerous and evil feeling from this man.
Chun Mu-seong turned to me and Baek Hye-hyang.
“I asked if you saw.”
My body trembled.
It was similar to the feeling I had when I met Sima Chak. The air inside seemed to be overflowing with killing intent.
If I relaxed even a little it felt like he would pierce through my heart.
Shhh!
I could feel Baek Hye-hyang pushing her feet to the ground, it was like she was ready to jump into a fight at any moment.
She, too, was like me.
I tightly gripped Iron Sword and looked at the prison wall on the side. It was something I couldn’t understand.
If this was true, it meant that we both had just witnessed something worthy of being a great scandal in the Murim.
At that time, Chun Mu-seong tried to take a step between the prison and the cave.
Like he was ready to take us down
“Senior… I do not know who the person inside is, but I do not want to get involved with you any further.”
“That should be before you had looked in.”
At those words I pretended.
“I didn’t get a nice look.”
“Do not use that head. Didn’t you see clearly that the face is similar to mine?”
To say it with his own mouth. The person inside the prison was a skinny man, but he had the same face.
If he had been in good shape, anyone would think that he was Chun Mu-seong. At that time, Kang Mu-hyuk shouted.
“T-teacher. I couldn’t help it. They… they took my eye. They forced…”
Chun Mu-seong clicked his tongue at those words.
“Tch tch, you prove how worthless you are like this.”
Then, the index and middle fingers were placed together and he aimed for Kang Mu-hyuk.
At that moment, I felt a sharp energy.
‘No!’
Without even thinking I could feel what this was and I swung Iron Sword.
Chang!
With the metal sound, I got pushed back three steps. The body of the sword trembled.
I just managed to do it, but I couldn’t believe the force he held.
“M… I…”
Kang Mu-hyuk, who almost died now, couldn’t keep his mouth shut about what happened. It was exactly like he said.
The teacher who didn’t care for his disciple.
“The right thing to do. For the easily speaking guy.”
Baek Hye-hyang didn’t find this strange at all.
And Chun Mu-seong added.
“Pity. You both are a lot better than that worthless idiot. If you had stayed still, I would have used you talented people right.”
Living meant to get stronger.
“… That sounds like you are going to kill us.”
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
It wasn’t a situation where we could get out using just the head.
So we had to fight. This made my body tremble.
No matter what the identity of the man was, he was a monster who was a lot higher than us. I raised Iron Sword and asked him.
“If you’re going to kill, please help me out so I don’t feel frustrated in the underworld. Who is the real one?”
At my words, he smirked.
“Well. Who could be the real one?”
Shhh.
As soon as the words ended, Chun Mu-seong pulled out his sword at us. Then, the air in front of me trembled too clearly.
It was intended to cut both of us down in one sweep.
“You must be the fake one!”
Baek Hye-hyang raised the sword and swung it at him. I too opened up my middle dantian right away and retrieved the silver string. At the same time, I swung the sword as if breathing.
Chak!
The swords of the two collided and flew away. As the qi within it was pushed into the walls, there were traces of marks on it.
Kikk!
The walls began to shake a little.
Compared to the black iron walls prison we came from, this seemed weaker, like it was not the first one intended to use.
‘Ah!’
Suddenly, a good idea flashed in my head. I turned to Baek Hye-hyang and she too stared at the ceiling.
Chun Mu-seong approached us with cold eyes like he had noticed it.
“Abandon your foolish thoughts. Do you think you can get away from me?”
“We will know once we try.”
A red haze arose from Baek Hye-hyang’s body and the sword in her hand turned red.
-KWAAKKKK!
The sword screamed which echoed in my head. As expected, an ordinary sword couldn’t withstand her qi.
Chun Mu-seong who saw this frowned.
“You? You are the descendant of Blood Demon?”
He seemed surprised.
Baek Hye-hyang didn’t answer the question. She was too focused on her qi and the sword.
Jjjkkk!
The sword began to crack. I began to infuse qi into Iron Sword in order to spread the technique that was the best.
Baek Hye-hyang’s voice sounded beside me.
“Move at my signal.”
“Huh!”
He clearly knew what was going to happen, but there was no way he would let it happen. He finally moved.
Baek Hye-hyang stretched out her hand with her sword clad in red.
Crack!
The cracked sword split apart and began to turn into fragments. It wasn’t a sword which could handle it.
It seemed like she had just turned a sword into grass. Fragments of sword, stained red, covered Chun Mu-seong like a net.
“Now!”
Baek Hye-hyang and I moved right away and jumped to the ceiling at the same time, but something unexpected happened.
Jajajaja!
Chun Mu-seong, piercing through the fragments of broken sword moved for us.
‘Damn it!’
If we moved we would get hit before the ceiling was hit. So I turned my body and sword toward the ceiling.
Then, holding the sword with both hands, I spread ahead from Chun Mu-seong.
‘Meteor Falling Sword.’
The technique was called the Meteor Falling Sword. When I blocked the path of Baek Hye-hyang’s way and threw a sword at him.
“Such a fool! I will cut you in half!”
Chang!
The sharp sword qi which flowed from the sword instantly deflected Iron Sword, which I was using to unfold the technique. My palm holding the sword had a tear.
I gritted my teeth but suddenly I could feel my stomach hurt.
‘I need to endure this.’
In the blink of an eye, I focused the qi into my stomach to not let it tear.
However, the moment I did it, I could feel my stomach tear itself.
Chak!
“Kuak!”
A scream rose from it. It meant that the qi which touched the skin had cut into the stomach muscles and pierced into the five organs. For a moment, I was losing consciousness.
It was then.
Kwaaaang!
The ceiling cracked with a roar and collapsed like an earthquake happened.
Baek Hye-hyang seemed to have succeeded in knocking down the ceiling.
“This year has been crazy!”
As the ceiling collapsed, Chun Mu-seong moved back.
“ACKKKK!”
The scream which I assumed to have come from Kang Mu-hyuk.
It seemed that he wasn’t able to move with his blood points sealed. But I was of the same fate.
My stomach split open so I fell down helplessly, as a large stone fell on me, it was crushing.
Pak!
In a brief moment, someone tugged my collar and pulled me.
It was Baek Hye-hyang.
Grrrr!
The stone fragments of the ceiling collapsed in front of my eyes. The plan sure worked out.
-Wonhwi!
-Are you fine?
I was not at all okay.
Half of my body was split around the stomach. Blood flowed from the throat and felt like my consciousness was on the verge of dying.
“You!”
Baek Hye-hyang must have been moved because I looked like this, her face was red. Something felt horrible in my stomach.
Baek Hye-hyang laid me down right away and ripped the robe near my throat and placed her palms on the wound.
“Bite onto this.”
Chiiik!
“Kuaaaah!”
The hot qi began to move through the burned flesh, as if she had mastered Hot Sung Palm.
It seemed that she was trying to close the wound by doing this. She took off her robe to tie it around the abdomen.
“Kuak! Cough!”
Blood continued to move to my mouth. She continued to push deeper on my wound.
“You fool! Why did you have to do that!”
What would I say?
If I hadn’t stopped both of us would have been wounded. But when I looked at her arms, the clothes were stained in blood, as if she was the one who was attacked.
It seemed like she did hard to prevent the rocks from falling on me.
“Kua… ack… You are the same?”
“Dummy! You have your stomach split in half!”
“Stop… what… cough”
It was difficult to speak with my throat clogged in blood and she was carrying me. I could feel her arms shaking as she tried to lift me up.
“Don’t die. You are mine. You cannot die now.”
Even in this situation she was being so greedy.
But I didn’t hate her though.
“So Wonhwi! So Wonhwi!”
Fearing I would faint she kept calling my name. She was all focused on me because I wasn’t in a good condition.
“Ears… hurt. I will… not… due.”
“Hah! Your mouth is still working.”
There was one thing I couldn’t tell her, but I believed it.
I didn’t know if it would work though.
-That recovery ability?
Yes.
It wouldn’t take long for this pain to heal. Even if I’m not like that man with golden eyes, I could still restore the body.
-What if you don’t get better even…
Bang bang!
We could hear the loud roar from the ceiling collapsing. A voice rang on either side.
-Foolish things! Do you think you can get out with these tricks!
Bang!
The fallen stones trembled.
Looking at the force, it looked as if it would break down any moment.
Seeing this, Baek Hye-hyang bit her lip and used footwork while carrying me.
Every time she moved, I would feel more pain.
“Get yourself together!”
-Wonhwi!
-Do not close your eyes!
Baek Hye-hyang, Short Sword and Iron Sword continued to talk to me. When I opened my eyes, all I could see was the end of the aisle.
The stairs went up.
And then a roar emerged from behind.
It seemed like Chun Mu-seong had succeeded in coming out of the barrier. It looked like he would soon catch up.
“Tch!”
Baek Hye-hyang hurried.
As she climbed up I could see there an iron door blocking and as she pushed it a small enclosed space opened up.
“What is this?”
Baek Hye-hyang nervously pushed it.
The material seemed to be made of wood, but when we came out, the place we moved to was none other than a large chest.
A place full of crates.
It seemed to be a warehouse that stored these crates.
Baek Hye-hyang turned around and looked at the chest. Then suddenly she began to open these chests.
“Cough… what… are… you… doing…”
“Be quiet.”
And she opened the chest and put me into one. After laying me into it, she performed qi infusion into me.
“I made sure no one will find you. Hide here. I will lure him out.”
‘….?!’
Baek Hye-hyang removed her arm’s sleeve and then bit into the wound making more blood flow. Was she trying to leave behind bloodstains?
She said, touching my cheek.
“Do not die… If you die… do not die on me. If you do die, I will take down this entire Dual Martial Forces.”
With those words, she pressed the main blood points and my breathing stopped as my eyes closed.
How long was it?
-Wonhwi?
-Get yourself together.
The voice of Iron Sword and Short Sword rang in my ears. With that, I opened my eyes.
It was all dark.
I was still within the crate.
-You’re fine?
At Short Sword’s words, I touched my stomach and surprisingly, I felt no pain.
‘It doesn’t hurt.’
-Really?
Would I lie? I untied the hem of the dress she tied around the stomach.
‘Ah!’
Smooth.
There were no wounds on the stomach, nor were there any marks and scratches.
-Wow… this is like a lizard.
Amazing!
I had no idea that the recovery ability would be this great.
‘I am alive.’
This time I thought this would be my death. It was a wound that could kill anyone.
’Phew!
Using my middle dantian, I opened the qi senses and scanned my surroundings. Fortunately there was no presence.
I gently opened the door chest.
‘Light?’
I sneaked out and saw sunlight streaming in between the tiles of the roof.
How long have I been here?
-You have been unconscious the entire time. I thought you died because we couldn’t even hear your breath.
Have I been unconscious for that long?
‘Do you know what happened?’
-We were down with you, so we just heard the sound.
-Right. It seemed that Baek Hye-hyang left the warehouse right away. And it wasn’t long before that scary guy arrived. Fortunately, he went after the girl right away.
-I think he ran behind her.
She really did lure him away. I opened the chest door fully and got up. The stains on the wooden floor were blood stains and it had to be of Baek Hye-hyang because it went till the entrance.
“…”
I never thought she would go this far with me.
That greedy woman.
I wonder if she went out safely.
Her opponent was one of the Eight Great Warriors.
-If she was caught, wouldn’t there have been some mess and noise raging?
There was a point in the statement. Considering his secret, there would be harm.
‘Who the hell is he?’
I was curious about the man. And the person in the prison with the same face. This meant that the person who killed us had to be the fake one.
The people here seemed unaware of this which was why this happened in the first place.
‘… Then he is the one who kills your real father?’
The one who had the most power now. But who would have guessed that he had such a secret?
Coming to meet my real father and getting caught up in such a thing. This made my head complicated.
-You found out without searching for it, but it doesn’t seem like a problem you can solve, Wonhwi.
Iron Sword was right.
As an outsider of this place, if I touch any of their internal matters, it would be dangerous.
In addition, the opponent was a leader of a sect. There was nothing I could do here.
Short Sword added.
-That is alright, but are you fine?
What do you mean?
-I think it will be noon soon.
‘Noon? Ah!’
I forgot about it since I was caught in something bad.
If I didn’t reach the 8th floor by noon, I would be considered to have failed in the second test. Then, suddenly something passed through my mind
‘If there is a problem that I, an outsider cannot touch…’
Half an hour before noon.
It was around the time when the sun was getting low and the people were crowding up in front the Storm Shadow tower.
Actually the test should be happening but it was stopped and this was due to the second test being conducted.
Rumor had it that it was the first time three people passed the first test, and the warriors watched this with disappointment, wanting them to fall.
“No. Why hasn’t one come yet?”
“The one with the eye patch.”
“It’s almost noon. Did one give up before the second test?”
“Maybe it is because the opponents are descendants of Eight Great Warriors.”
“Well, even if he passed the first test, he should know his limit.”
“Still, it would be worth taking the test. And he was rather quick to give up.’
There was a heated talk over the one who didn’t arrive.
The guard there smiled at this.
No one knew why the third guy didn’t come but they were already talking about weird things.
Whisper!
But then whispers were heard around them.
‘What is it?’
As he was wondering people began to move to sides as if a beast was appearing and someone covered in blood arrived.
Gap Wonchun was shocked.
‘How is he?’
It was Haun.
Wasn’t he the kid who should be locked up?
Gap Wonchun hurriedly blocked Haun from entering the tower.
‘What happened? Just what happened for him to be here?’
He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t just let him in. It should be noon in a while.
So he would have to make the guy wait. Thus, he said.
“Young warrior. What happened for you to be like this? Whatever has happened…”
He couldn’t finish the words though, it was because Haun, no So Wonhwi, was glaring at him so he couldn’t continue speaking.
‘No. I cannot stop this guy and if I do, he might expose the truth here making it more difficult.’
After holding him until he could think it, he decided that if Wonhwi was let into the tower, he would just inform the Martial Heavenly Sect.
“G-go inside.”
He stepped aside letting him go.
He hoped the kid would go, but So Wonhwi didn’t move.
‘Why is he not going?’
He was puzzled and blinked until something changed.
’Uh?!
He couldn’t believe it.
He was obviously outside the tower but now he was looking inside, the tower door was firmly closed.
“W-what is this?”
“What are you trying?”
Startled by the voice, he turned to find So Wonhwi behind, grabbing his neck.
Clench!
He was a warrior around master level, yet So Wonhwi seemed to be few realms above him.
And Wonhwi said in cold voice.
“I am not in a good mood right now to handle things right.”
Puak!
“Ac!”
That moment, So Wonhwi’s hand dug into his stomach like a weapon.
