Chapter 233: The Return of the Scoundrel (3)
Yeong-yeong’s entire body froze.
She had believed she had grown strong, but she now realized it was a grand delusion.
As Hwa-ryeong stepped closer, the suffocating pressure made it hard to breathe.
“It’s been a while, Yeong-yeong. How have you been? Even your once filthy face has become quite pretty now.”
Her friendly tone made her all the more terrifying. Back in Emei, she had been the definition of absolute terror.
“Greetings, senior…”
“Senior? Since when did we use such a word in Emei?”
“No…”
She was stepping closer, but Yeong-yeong could not flee. Her legs refused to move.
Bending down when she got right in front of her, Hwa-ryeong made eye contact.
Yeong-yeong felt as though she were facing a towering wall.
“Do you see the scar on my face?”
How could she not see it? It was a long cut running across one of her cheeks, stretching from below her ear to her jawline.
“…Yes.”
“The original scar disappeared after I went through the marrow-cleansing rebirth. I sliced it open again so I wouldn’t forget.”
“…?”
Hwa-ryeong smiled and slowly reached out her hand.
Watching the hand draw near, Yeong-yeong swallowed hard. Although the hand was reaching for her head, she couldn’t pull away.
The hand gently stroking her head sent a spine-chilling shiver through her entire body.
“Your friend. Could you tell me where she is? Before I kill you.”
“I don’t know.”
Hwa-ryeong’s expression hardened at the firm reply.
“Hmm. Is that so? Then I have no choice.”
Yeong-yeong instinctively sensed danger and tried to back away, but Hwa-ryeong’s movements were overwhelmingly fast.
Her hand, burning with a red aura, struck Yeong-yeong’s head like a flash of lightning.
Bam—!
Blown back two zhangs, Yeong-yeong slammed against the wall and slumped to the ground.
“Ugh.”
Blood trickled from her forehead, staining her cheek.
It was the first time she had felt the fear of death. It was a pain far too great for a young child to bear.
‘I need to run… What do I do?’
Contrary to her thoughts, her body felt completely limp, and she couldn’t even stand up.
Both her hands trembled violently.
“You want to run, don’t you? Go ahead and try. I’ll cut off your legs.”
Towering over Yeong-yeong, Hwa-ryeong slowly raised her palm.
“If you change your mind and want to talk, just raise one hand.”
It meant she would keep beating her until she talked.
“I’m not scared. I won’t tell you even if I die.”
“Fine. Let’s see how long you last.”
The raised palm descended toward Yeong-yeong’s cheek without hesitation.
Yeong-yeong squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself.
Thud!
A heavy sound echoed, but she felt no pain. It was baffling.
‘What happened?’
Opening her eyes slightly, Yeong-yeong saw Hwa-ryeong smiling. It was a chilling grin, like that of a demon.
“I told you not to bully my friend!”
With So-so having appeared, Yeong-yeong was no longer the focus of Hwa-ryeong’s interest.
“So you walked right into my trap. You remember me, right?”
Seeing Yeong-yeong collapsed against the wall, So-so grew furious, her brow furrowing deeply.
“I remember. The ugly, evil girl.”
Standing face-to-face with Hwa-ryeong, So-so felt that something was amiss.
She instinctively sensed that Hwa-ryeong had crossed the boundary of the Transcendent Realm, known as the Flower Realm. Hwa-ryeong also seemed to realize So-so was in the same realm, but she didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
“In a moment, you’ll be begging for your life.”
The moment she finished speaking, Hwa-ryeong’s body was enveloped in a red light. It was the Crimson Gate Divine Art she had learned from the Qingcheng Sect.
So-so silently raised her hands, taking the starting stance of the Mountain-Shattering Fist.
Just then, she heard Baek-sang’s telepathic transmission from behind.
— So-so, Yeong-yeong looks really hurt.
Yeong-yeong’s pale face looked highly critical. So-so also began to feel rushed.
— Carry her on your back and run while I fight.
— Got it. I’ll take her to the medical hall and ask the doctor for help.
Standing three zhangs apart, the two glared at each other, preparing to clash.
“Shall we begin?”
Hwa-ryeong gestured with her chin, provoking her to come forward.
Neither had any reason to delay.
Taht!
The two figures lunged simultaneously, colliding like magnets and producing a thunderous boom.
Boom—!
That was just the beginning. The two exchanged a flurry of blows, engaging in a chaotic melee.
They were children blessed with unprecedented natural talents for martial arts. Their battle was fiercer than a life-and-death duel between veteran masters of the martial world.
Every exchange erupted with a deafening noise like exploding fireworks.
As the battle began in earnest, Baek-sang scooped Yeong-yeong up and fled, running at full speed using his lightfoot technique.
The Emei nuns also desperately backed away to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Clang—!
With a loud screech, So-so’s body slid backward across the ground. She was being pushed back in terms of raw power.
Capitalizing on the opening, Hwa-ryeong unleashed her techniques.
Her right hand, enveloped in a golden current, lunged toward So-so’s chest. It was the Proud Dragon Repents, one of the stances of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms she had learned directly from the Sect Leader of the Beggars’ Sect.
In response, So-so channeled her internal energy and threw a punch. It was the Explosive Swift Strike, the most powerful stance of the Mountain-Shattering Fist.
Boom—!
Upon collision, So-so was forced backward yet again.
“Ugh!”
She had been completely overpowered once more.
She was flustered and struggling to keep her composure. Except for her parents and the Sect Leader, she had never been pushed back to this extent.
Seizing the moment So-so’s posture crumbled, Hwa-ryeong thrust her index finger forward, executing Emei’s ultimate technique, the Buddha’s Light Single Finger.
A crimson beam of light shot from her fingertip, clean through So-so’s abdomen.
Squish!
Hwa-ryeong’s brow twitched. She realized her attack had only pierced an afterimage.
If it hadn’t been for the Heavenly Demonic Phantom Step, the supreme lightfoot technique of the Demonic Cult, it would have been a perilous moment for So-so.
Barely escaping, So-so caught her breath and drew a blunted short sword from her waist.
So-so was a head shorter than Hwa-ryeong. Consequently, her reach was shorter, putting her at a disadvantage in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.
Seeing her grip the sword, Hwa-ryeong sneered.
“A sword fight? Fine, this should be fun too.”
Raising the sword over her shoulder, So-so took a step forward and began to perform a sword dance. It was the Blood-Seeking Shadow Dance, one of the ultimate techniques of Salmun.
Hwa-ryeong drew her sword, her movements equally extraordinary. The tip of her sword traced a Taiji pattern, cutting off every direction of So-so’s advance.
It was the Taiji Wisdom Sword of the Wudang Sect, widely regarded as the pinnacle of sword techniques among the orthodox sects. Although her mastery had not reached perfection, it was highly formidable.
Within the Taiji diagram, a dance of death unfolded.
They clashed repeatedly, exchanging dozens of moves in a single breath.
And just as the battle reached its climax, a blinding flash of light erupted.
Swish—!
When the light faded, only one person remained standing.
“Unbelievable.”
Hwa-ryeong sheathed her sword and smacked her lips in regret.
One of the nuns approached her with a bewildered look.
“Hwa-ryeong, what happened?”
“I lost her. Her escape technique is truly supreme.”
“In that split second?”
It would have been impossible without the Lightning Shadow Step, the ultimate technique of the Sword Saint.
Though the clash was brief, countless peerless techniques of the martial world had been displayed, and by children, no less.
And the winner and the loser were clear.
“Let’s call it a day. We’ll meet again anyway.”
“Are we heading back now?”
“For now. Get ready to move. The government soldiers are coming.”
“Understood.”
The whistle of the State of So’s patrols drew closer.
Hwa-ryeong and the nuns quickly left the scene and retreated.
***
The place So-so arrived at was the Medical Hall of the palace.
Yeong-yeong was lying face down on the innermost cot. Mo Cheong, the chief of the medical unit, was personally administering acupuncture.
“Grandpa, how is she? Yeong-yeong is going to be okay, right?”
“It would have been critical if you hadn’t arrived in time. I’ve finished the treatment, so she will wake up tomorrow as if nothing happened. But what on earth have you kids been doing?”
These were not injuries from children’s play. The marks left behind were far too severe to be considered a joke.
Resolving to lecture them severely this time, Mo Cheong turned around with a stern expression.
“You kids, if you ever do this again…”
He could not finish his sentence. So-so had already disappeared somewhere.
In an alley about a hundred zhangs away from the Medical Hall.
With her shoulders slumped, So-so trudged aimlessly. The taste of her first defeat was incredibly frustrating.
None of her attacks had worked, not even the secret techniques of Salmun she trusted.
Soon, a food stall came into view nearby. It was a place she frequented.
Seating herself at a table, So-so called out in a gloomy voice, “Mister, a cup of milk, please!”
“Sure, wait just a moment.”
Receiving a large cup of milk from the middle-aged owner, So-so gulped it down as if her throat were parched.
She slammed the empty cup onto the table and huffed in frustration.
“So frustrating… It’s so frustrating…”
It was an emotion she was experiencing for the first time in her life. No matter how she tried to justify it, her anger wouldn’t subside.
Making up her mind, So-so paid and ran home.
Arriving in an instant, she flung the door open.
Bang!
She saw her parents sitting on the veranda, peacefully drinking tea.
They looked bewildered to see a tearful So-so.
Her eyes, brimming with tears, looked ready to burst into a sob at any moment.
“Our daughter, why are you crying?”
“Did something happen? Tell Mommy.”
So-so dashed forward and threw herself into Seo-hwa’s arms.
She wailed as if her heart were breaking.
“Heeinnng…”
They had never seen their daughter cry so bitterly before.
“What is it?”
Sobbing for a long time, So-so said with resentful eyes, “Teach me martial arts…”
So-mu, watching anxiously from the side, nodded and said, “Martial arts all of a sudden?”
So-so moved over to her father, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face.
“Not the weak stuff, the strong ones…”
So-mu and Seo-hwa exchanged bewildered glances. They had absolutely no clue.
Besides, of all the martial arts the child had learned so far, which one could possibly be called weak?
Still, they had to ask.
“Alright, what should I teach you? Leg techniques, fist techniques, just say the word.”
But that was not what she wanted.
Wiping her tears with her sleeve, So-so sobbed, “A finishing move…”
Asking for a finishing move out of nowhere. Their bewilderment knew no bounds.
Patting his daughter’s back, So-mu heard his wife’s voice via telepathy.
— It seems she was beaten by someone.
— What do you mean? You’re saying our So-so was beaten up by someone?
She was a child who had reached the Flower Realm, a level only the top ten masters of the martial world could achieve. It was utterly absurd.
— It’s certain.
The important thing was who the culprit was. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be physically injured, but as parents, they couldn’t just let it slide.
So-mu exchanged glances with his wife and gently asked the child, “Sweetheart. Who hit you? Who dared to strike our pretty So-so?”
“Hing… I don’t want to say.”
So-so’s pride was severely wounded. It seemed she didn’t want to resolve this with her parents’ help.
So-mu let out a regretful sigh and asked Seo-hwa via telepathy,
— What do you think, Yeon-mae?
— Since she’s asking, we should teach her. Her anger will fade as she learns.
— Is there a suitable technique?
But he couldn’t teach her his own ultimate techniques like the Soul-Scattering Sword Technique or the Eight Heavens Sword Technique. They were highly lethal martial arts specialized solely in killing.
But unlike So-mu, Seo-hwa looked completely at ease, as if she had a plan.
— Where would my busy husband find the time to teach our daughter? Leave it to me. I’ll handle it.
She was subtly glancing toward So-so’s half-open room. Specifically, at the top of the wardrobe.