Chapter 4: Where is the Sword Saint (4)

So-mu trudged along the main street of Baiyang County, which was lined with crowded shops.

The looting had reached its absolute peak. Most of the storefronts were engulfed in flames, and their contents were strewn across the dirt in ruins. It was not just the property; horrific corpses lay scattered along the road, and the air was filled with the wails of those who had lost everything. Occasionally, women could be seen being dragged by their hair.

“Let go of me!”

“Sniff… sob…”

“P-Please spare my life!”

The streets had dissolved into a living hell.

This was the town where Yoo-hwa had lived. So-mu had only wished to show her the sights of Baiyang County one last time on her final journey. However, the scene before his eyes was not what he had envisioned, and it only fueled his growing fury.

At this moment, the only person calmly walking through the devastated streets of Baiyang County was So-mu—aside from the patrolling and looting soldiers of the Hui Dynasty, that is. Naturally, his behavior drew the immediate attention of the soldiers.

Suddenly, someone yelled in irritation from his flank, “Hey! Stand right there!”

So-mu did not stop walking. He merely turned his head slightly.

“Hic!”

The soldier gasped and shut his mouth. Looking into So-mu’s bloodshot, burning eyes, he had felt the chilling terror of death itself.

With his pupils half-unfocused and muttering under his breath, So-mu looked spine-chillingly eerie.

“How amusing. Do all commoners in times of war live like this? I left the Jianghu because I despised the dirty reality hidden beneath the name of righteousness, yet this world is even filthier.”

Sensing the strange atmosphere, more soldiers began to gather around So-mu. Within moments, their numbers grew to dozens. Yet So-mu did not pause for even a single step. Shifting Yoo-hwa’s body to his left shoulder, he spoke in a low, cold voice.

“From this moment on, anyone who stands in my way… dies.”

The soldiers were infuriated by his words.

Such arrogance. He showed no signs of cultivating martial arts whatsoever. No matter how they looked at him, the man in front of them was no different from the corpses lining the street.

One soldier stepped forward with a huff, blocking So-mu’s path.

“Is this bastard out of his mind?”

Without another word, a sharp blade lunged toward So-mu. Yet So-mu did not even glance at the soldier.

In the next moment, a shocking sight unfolded. The tip of the soldier’s sword came to a sudden halt a mere inch from So-mu’s chest.

“Urgh… ah…”

The soldier’s face twisted in panic. Against his own will, his body refused to move. It was as if he were frozen by an invisible force, and he could do nothing but blink in terror.

Before anyone could trace the movement, So-mu’s hand was already gripping the soldier’s helmet.

Crack!

The heavy iron helmet was crushed like a sheet of paper. It was a sight none of the onlookers could believe.

“W-What was that?”

“This is insane!”

Only then did the soldiers realize the gravity of the situation. They began blowing their whistles frantically to call for reinforcements. Drawn by the commotion, the number of soldiers grew to hundreds in minutes, and the crowd only continued to swell.

The soldiers who had witnessed So-mu’s terrifying strength hesitated to approach, but the newly arrived reinforcements had no idea what was happening. One of the retreating soldiers screamed in terror, “Kill him!”

Another soldier confidently stepped forward to block So-mu’s path. A chilling smile appeared on So-mu’s face as he looked at him, looking like a demon incarnate.

When So-mu spread his right palm, a red current of energy materialized around it, radiating a blinding light. Without hesitation, he slammed his palm brutally into the soldier’s chest.

Boom!

It was a strike packed with the full force of So-mu’s complete internal energy. The soldier died instantly, flying into the air without even a chance to scream. The onlookers gaped in horror as the soldier’s body flew over twenty zhang and smashed into the wall of a building.

Crash!

The brick wall crumbled, burying the soldier’s corpse beneath the debris. After witnessing such terrifying power, none of the soldiers dared to block So-mu’s path.

One step. And then another. Every time So-mu took a step forward, the surrounding soldiers took a step back in unison.

By now, the number of soldiers surrounding So-mu had exceeded a thousand. However, the latecomers had not witnessed the previous displays. To them, it simply looked as if their comrades were cowering before a single man.

And as always, there were those who wished to show off their bravery.

“What are you doing, you idiots!”

A general-class officer wearing a helmet decorated with a dark red plume stepped forward. The junior soldiers felt a spark of hope at his arrival.

Having cultivated a decent level of martial arts, the officer was certain that So-mu was not a martial artist. He could not sense the slightest trace of internal energy from him, and the man was walking with a completely defenseless posture. To him, there was nothing to fear.

Moving with a speed incomparable to the ordinary soldiers, the officer covered ten zhang in a single breath. His swift blade flashed right in front of So-mu’s face.

Yet the moment his blade lunged forward, the officer realized something was horribly wrong. The defenseless posture had vanished, and every angle of the man before him felt like an impenetrable iron wall. But it was too late to retreat.

By the time regret washed over him, all he could see was the back of So-mu’s hand closing in. It was the last thing he would ever see.

Boom!

Struck by the back of So-mu’s hand, the officer was slammed headfirst into the ground. His neck snapped instantly, killing him on the spot, but the attack did not end there. A wave of energy erupted from beneath So-mu’s feet, bouncing the officer’s body back into the air. In that instant, So-mu’s right hand shot out like a viper, grabbing the dead officer by the throat.

Grab!

Carrying the corpse of the officer, So-mu continued his march. The soldiers fell back, gripped by an absolute, paralyzing terror.

“H-He’s not human…”

“Retreat! Fall back!”

So-mu tossed the officer’s corpse aside, and it flew thirty zhang before rolling along the dirt.

Though the number of soldiers surrounding him continued to grow, no one dared to stand in his path. A high-ranking commander shouted from the rear, his voice cracked with frustration.

“Attack! He is only one man! What are you waiting for? Attack!”

Despite his frantic screams, the soldiers looked back at him as if telling him to go fight the monster himself.

If So-mu walked another fifty zhang, he would leave the boundaries of Baiyang County. If they let him walk away, the honor and morale of the Hui army would be dragged through the mud. They could not let him leave alive.

Suddenly, the commander’s face lit up as he spotted a red armor unit approaching.

“Make way! The Salatai are here!”

The Salatai. They were one of the elite units of the Hui Dynasty, possessing a myth of absolute invincibility. Every single member was a trained martial artist, and they were renowned as warriors who could each match a hundred men. Clad in blood-red armor and carrying long spears, they marched with emotionless, cold expressions.

These were elite soldiers who did not fear death, forged through training so brutal it could break a man’s soul.

And commanding them was Temur, the commander of the Salatai, who wore a helmet with a black plume. In the martial world, he was known as a terrifying expert who had reached the Flower Realm.

“Form the net!” Temur ordered.

At his command, the thousand Salatai soldiers moved in perfect unison, locking into position. One layer, two layers, three layers. They formed a multi-layered siege with a fluidity that was incomparable to the ordinary soldiers. The tips of a thousand spears pointed at So-mu, humming with faint traces of spear energy.

Even as he walked forward, no one backed down. It was a siege so suffocating that even a peak expert of the Jianghu would sweat. It looked like fishermen tightening a net to catch a fish.

However, if that fish was a great white shark, the net would be useless.

“I gave you a chance, yet you persist in seeking death,” So-mu muttered.

He opened his right hand. A discarded sword lying on the ground flew through the air and landed perfectly in his grip. It was the air-grabbing technique, a telekinetic manipulation that was only possible when one’s martial arts reached the absolute peak.

Temur was deeply shaken. It was not because the man had used internal energy to retrieve a weapon, but because of the distance. Ordinarily, the air-grabbing technique was only possible within a range of one zhang. Even Temur could only manage that.

Yet this man had retrieved a weapon from three zhang away. And the moment the sword settled in his hand, the man’s aura shifted completely.

The Flower Realm… No, he might be even higher.

A massive mountain. Temur could think of no other way to describe the presence before him. An ominous dread that the invincible Salatai might suffer their very first defeat slowly crept into his mind.

Only five more steps and the clash would begin. The tension was palpable. As So-mu took two steps forward, the sword in his hand vibrated, letting out a sharp hum. In that instant, a realization struck Temur’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

Could it be… is he the Sword Saint?

Just two steps remaining. Even the emotionless Salatai elites began to show signs of nervousness.

Temur had to make a decision immediately. Who else but the legendary Sword Saint would dare to walk before them with such supreme arrogance? If the man swung his sword, the Salatai would not just be defeated—they would be slaughtered.

Though his disheveled hair and unkempt beard differed from the rumors, Temur was not willing to gamble.

This was the supreme expert who had led the Great War of Righteousness and Demonism to victory. If this man was indeed the Sword Saint, he had to worry about the survival of his unit.

“Withdraw!”

That single command was the signal. Like fish scattering to avoid a shark, the soldiers dispersed instantly, and the siege crumbled.

“Commander, why are we letting him go? The honor of the Salatai is at stake!” The vice-commander asked in a panic.

Temur shook his head, his hands still trembling slightly. “He is not someone we can face. At the very least, General Wanyan Hui or General Simiao Ari must step forward to stop him.”

No one stood in So-mu’s way anymore. Thousands of Hui soldiers could only watch in silence as his figure receded into the distance.

As he crossed the boundary of Baiyang County, his voice echoed clearly in the ears of everyone on the road.

“I will see for myself what caused Yoo-hwa’s death.”

Though it sounded like a quiet whisper, it vibrated like a massive bell in the soldiers’ ears—a technique impossible to attempt without a truly profound internal energy.

His voice continued to ring out.

“I will see for myself why you are consumed by madness.”

And his final words carried a chilling, icy intent.

“And then, I will judge whether you have the right to live.”

No one dared to speak until he had completely vanished from sight.

After the Sword Saint departed, the Hui army’s looting of Baiyang County ceased.