Chapter 43: A Pushover's Pushover Son
Chapter 42 – A Pushover’s Pushover Son
Yun Jong-seung wore a blank expression.
He looked back and forth between Namgung Cheon and Hwangbo Seung.
Hwangbo Seung was snorting heavily, looking as though he would rush in and wring his neck at any moment.
Although Yun Jong-seung’s size was by no means small, Hwangbo Seung was even larger.
Intimidated by the pressure, Yun Jong-seung scratched the back of his head.
“Um… It feels like I haven’t fully reflected on the pain yet…”
Without waiting to hear the rest, Namgung Cheon smacked Yun Jong-seung on the back.
*Slap!*
“Ugh!”
Pushed by the slap, Yun Jong-seung stumbled forward three or four steps.
“Stop talking nonsense and fight. How long are you going to live being called a pushover?”
Did the word ‘pushover’ touch a nerve with Yun Jong-seung?
Yun Jong-seung grit his teeth and clenched both fists tightly.
Hwangbo Seung stared down at Yun Jong-seung and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha. I’ve lived to see all kinds of ridiculous things… Hey, do I look like a joke to you? Some nobody I’ve never even heard of crawls out here… Ptui!”
Yun Jong-seung scowled deeply at the falling glob of phlegm.
Why was everyone so eager to tear him apart?
Was he really that laughable?
The opponent clearly seemed to have sustained injuries, yet he looked down on him like an underling without a shred of tension.
“This is fucking annoying, seriously.”
“What…?”
Hwangbo Seung’s eyes twitched.
On the other hand, a peculiar light flickered in Namgung Cheon’s eyes.
‘Oh, is he fired up now?’
Yun Jong-seung was the first to swear.
It was a good sign.
If one endured hell, there would eventually come a moment when spite arose.
However, most spite failed to overcome the underlying fear and quickly fizzled out.
Yet, if a little courage was added to it, spite could sometimes win.
This was such a moment for Yun Jong-seung.
The moment when courage and spite combined to transcend fear.
In times like this, there was no telling what might happen.
While Namgung Cheon watched with interest, Hwangbo Seung asked, his cheeks trembling.
“You little brat, what the hell did you just mumble?”
“I said it’s fucking annoying, you retarded bastard.”
Having already crossed the line, Yun Jong-seung did not hold back.
His heart was pounding madly, but that only drove him to continue speaking and acting even more harshly.
Hwangbo Seung wore an incredulous expression.
“Ha! It seems everyone who attends the Dragon Heaven Academy is crazy. Do you even know who I am…?”
“How should I know? You’re just a pig squealing like it’s getting its throat slit.”
“This pushover’s pushover…”
Unable to endure it any longer, Hwangbo Seung focused his energy into his fists. A haze rose from the armguards on his forearms.
Namgung Cheon watched the scene silently.
‘A pushover’s pushover… That’s a novel expression.’
However, Yun Jong-seung could not afford to think as leisurely as Namgung Cheon.
In truth, he was so sick and tired of the word ‘pushover’ that even hearing it made him shudder.
And yet, a pushover’s pushover.
“Who are you calling that, you retarded pig…!”
*Thud!*
“Gah!”
Yun Jong-seung could not finish his sentence.
This was because Hwangbo Seung had immediately thrown a punch, refusing to waste any more words.
It could hardly even be called a martial technique.
He simply rushed at Yun Jong-seung, who stood right before him, and drove an uppercut into his abdomen.
Yun Jong-seung spat up bloody spit and floated into the air.
The blow was so powerful that it felt as though his consciousness would fade right then and there.
Hwangbo Seung did not stop there.
He rushed forward and kicked the falling Yun Jong-seung in the ribs.
*Crack!*
“Aaaah!”
*Crash!*
Yun Jong-seung bounced and rolled along the ground, sliding for quite a distance.
Panting heavily, Hwangbo Seung walked over to the fallen Yun Jong-seung with heavy steps.
“If you’re going to go crazy, you should at least do it properly, you bastard. Going crazy and acting up at the cost of your life? Consider yourself dead today.”
“Ugh!”
Hwangbo Seung grabbed Yun Jong-seung by the hair and lifted him straight up.
“Nnngh…”
In too much pain to even breathe properly, Yun Jong-seung could only let out faint groans.
“Say it again, you bastard!”
*Bam!*
“Kegh!”
*Bam!*
“Ugh!”
*Bam!*
“Gwah!”
Hwangbo Seung held him by the hair with his left hand while unleashing a barrage of punches with his right.
It was a level of physical strength and fist power that made it hard to believe he was a man with a broken arm.
With his face battered and bruised, Yun Jong-seung’s entire body soon went limp.
“S-Save me…”
A faint voice leaked from Yun Jong-seung’s mouth.
Seeing this, Paeng Su-hyeok grit his teeth and was about to step forward, but Namgung Cheon raised a hand to stop him.
“What? He’s still in our group, are you really going to just leave him be?”
“Let’s wait and see.”
Namgung Cheon replied in a calm, low voice.
Paeng Su-hyeok opened his mouth to say more, but after glancing at Namgung Cheon’s expression, he shut it.
This was because he felt an indescribable atmosphere. Moreover, he held back because intervening might end up trampling on Yun Jong-seung’s pride.
Meanwhile, Hwangbo Seung, still holding Yun Jong-seung by the hair, leaned his ear close to the other’s face and asked.
“What? I can’t hear you, you bastard. Speak up.”
“P-Please save me…”
“I said I can’t hear you! What are you saying?”
It was the moment Hwangbo Seung brought his ear even closer to taunt him.
Suddenly, Yun Jong-seung opened his mouth wide and bit down on Hwangbo Seung’s ear.
*Crunch!*
“Aaaaargh!”
Hwangbo Seung reflexively tossed Yun Jong-seung aside and stumbled backward.
“Ptui!”
His face covered in blood, Yun Jong-seung spat out the torn earlobe.
The blood-soaked piece of flesh rolled onto the dirt ground.
Hwangbo Seung clutched his ear and shrieked like a madman.
“That son of a bitch bit my ear! You fucking bastard! You are dead today! You piece of shit!”
Enraged, Hwangbo Seung charged like a bull, throwing wild punches.
*Thud! Thud-thud! Thud! Crack! Thud.*
“Cough, urgh! Gwah!”
Battered by the continuous blows, Yun Jong-seung struggled to keep his senses.
Countless fists flew at him from all directions.
Were these really punches thrown by a single person? Was this the fist of Hwangbo Seung, who had seemed so massive and slow?
This was not an opponent he could ever defeat. Indeed, was he not a direct descendant of the Hwangbo Clan, which was ranked among the Seven Great Clans of the Jianghu—no, even the Five Great Clans? Moreover, was it not a family whose fist arts were superior to those of any other sect or clan?
There was no way he could beat such an opponent. Far from throwing a punch, his entire body stiffened like a log.
*Thud-thud-thud-thud!*
At the end of the incessantly flying fists, Hwangbo Seung unleashed one of his family’s secret techniques, the Red Star Resounding Fist.
The reddish-brown fist flew forward, carrying a heavy sound.
*Rumble!*
*Crack!*
Following a dull impact sound, Yun Jong-seung flew through the air and fell far away.
*Crash!*
Even after falling to the ground and sliding for a long time, Yun Jong-seung lay motionless as if dead.
Paeng Su-hyeok’s eyebrows twitched fiercely as he watched, and Jin So-hong tightly pursed her lips with a tense expression.
Namgung Cheon also let out a soft sigh.
‘Was it still too much for him?’
He thought that since the boy had grit, he might have realized something.
Indeed, even if he had realized something, the opponent was too strong. The beatdown was so one-sided that there was not even a chance to counterattack.
Hwangbo Seung sneered coldly and turned toward Namgung Cheon.
“Hmph! Since the pushover’s pushover has been dealt with, how about the pushover himself steps up now?”
Namgung Cheon stared silently at Hwangbo Seung.
Watching this, Tang Wu-gi curled up the corners of his mouth.
‘Idiots. They must not have known how uncontrollable Hwangbo Seung becomes when he is truly angry. You guys are all dead now. Well, I won’t even need to step in…’
It was then.
Rustle… rustle…
Yun Jong-seung, who had been lying there as if dead, squirmed and began to raise his body.
Tang Wu-gi’s eyes widened, and Paeng Su-hyeok clenched his fists, a smirk playing on his lips.
Namgung Cheon shrugged his shoulders.
“It doesn’t seem to be over yet, you pig.”
“You…!”
Hwangbo Seung’s face turned crimson.
When he spun around, Yun Jong-seung had barely managed to stand, his shoulders heaving.
“Haa, haa, pig… It’s not over yet…”
Hwangbo Seung’s cheeks trembled violently.
“You bastard, do you really want to die? If we keep going, you’ll really…”
“Shut up and bring it! You pig!”
“Don’t regret this.”
“Do you fight with your mouth? You retarded idiot.”
“Yoooou!”
In an instant, Hwangbo Seung kicked off the ground and charged.
He was truly like an enraged bull.
A crushing pressure rushed forward like a gale.
*Step.*
In that instant, Yun Jong-seung drew back his right foot and right hand, taking a starting stance.
Namgung Cheon narrowed his eyes.
The red energy rising from Yun Jong-seung’s dantian rapidly spread along the Hand-Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian.
At that moment, Yun Jong-seung vividly recalled the sensation of being struck in the abdomen by Namgung Cheon.
Perhaps it was because his entire body had been beaten so thoroughly.
While every sensation in his body tingled, the flow of internal energy could be felt clearly.
Finally, when Hwangbo Seung reached him and threw a punch.
*Flash!*
Yun Jong-seung’s foot slipped about a span to the left.
*Whoosh!*
Dragging a violent wind, Hwangbo Seung’s fist narrowly brushed past Yun Jong-seung’s cheek.
‘It worked!’
Yun Jong-seung grit his teeth and thrust his hand forward.
When the energy extending along the Hand-Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian reached his wrist, Yun Jong-seung recalled what he had realized at the very last moment.
‘Rather than blindly making it strong, focus on a distinct lotus!’
The instant his internal energy concentrated at the Yanggu acupoint in his wrist, Yun Jong-seung put great strength into his five fingers. Then, leaving the internal energy to its flow to naturally discharge through his palm, he shouted.
“I’m not a pushover! You bastards!”
*Boom!!*
With an explosive roar, the Red Lotus Palm blasted into Hwangbo Seung’s abdomen.
Hwangbo Seung’s body bent like a bow for an instant, then bounced and flew away like a cannonball.
Having soared through the air, Hwangbo Seung rolled along the ground for a long time as he fell.
Tang Wu-gi, who had been sitting on a rock, sprang to his feet; Yue Goeng, who had been endlessly spinning his spear, froze like stone; and Murong Gang narrowed his eyes.
Nobody spoke first.
After a silence, Hwangbo Seung stumbled to his feet.
“You bastard…! Just a lucky… hit…! Ugh!”
Having barely picked himself up, Hwangbo Seung took a step.
Panting continuously, Yun Jong-seung stared at Hwangbo Seung with a stiff expression.
The moment Hwangbo Seung finally reached Yun Jong-seung and raised his fist.
“Cough!”
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and rolled his eyes back.
*Thud.*
Collapsing straight backward, Hwangbo Seung spread-eagled on the ground, foamed at the mouth, and lost consciousness.
On his abdomen, where his robe was torn open, a distinct lotus shape was imprinted.
With his face swollen and battered, Yun Jong-seung looked down at Hwangbo Seung and muttered.
“I… I won… I won…!”
He had defeated Hwangbo Seung, a direct descendant of the Five Great Clans.
Tears streamed down his face anew.
It felt as if his suppressed resentment was bursting forth like a flood.
“Aaaaah! I won!”
Yun Jong-seung finally declared his victory, fell to his knees on the spot, and sobbed as he looked up at the sky.
“Uuuuhuh! I won!”
A strange sight where the loser said nothing while the winner wept aloud. Namgung Cheon shook his head.
“What a spectacle.”
On the other hand, the expressions of the Righteous Chivalry Academy cadets, including Murong Gang, hardened colder than ever.