Chapter 121: Chapter 121
The creepy, expressionless patrons formed a circular encirclement around Jang Geon in the middle of the courtyard. Perhaps because of their expressions, rather than living people, they seemed like moving corpses standing in a row.
Standing at the center, Jang Geon looked around the encirclement. He felt the demonic arts squirming inside them.
That was not something that could be known simply by looking with the eyes. Looking with the eyes alone could not pierce into a person’s interior. What Jang Geon felt now was what his qi perceived. The internal energy stored in his dantian and circulating through his body via qi channels had transcended simple ‘force’ to become a new sensory organ for the martial artist named Jang Geon, granting a new sense beyond the five senses.
Jang Geon had once thought he had attained qi perception on his own. He had believed that internal energy beyond a certain level combined with the ability to operate it had created a sense beyond the five senses.
However, that was actually a synthesis of senses achieved by combining his five senses into one, an ability closer to a sixth sense commonly called instinct. Internal energy had merely made it easier for him.
True qi perception was different. It was an ability where qi, his internal energy, truly became a new sensory organ like eyes or ears, allowing him to perceive the world.
“Jang Geon. I have read the records about you. You were also the bastard who interfered with the seizure of the Nine Yin Evil Blood in the past, were you not?”
The patron who had spoken first stepped a pace forward from the other patrons forming the encirclement and spoke. He had the appearance of a middle-aged scholar neatly dressed in white robes. However, unlike his gentle impression, his two eyes burned dark.
“Are you still looking for that brat?”
“Still? I do not know how much you and the Shaolin Temple, which took her away, know about the Nine Yin Evil Blood, but that existence is a resource with immense potential. I am saying that power to change history sleeps within that girl’s body. Though those bald monks will teach her Buddhist scriptures without even knowing what formidable power sleeps in their embrace.”
While the middle-aged scholar spoke, those surrounding Jang Geon slyly drew blades long and short from wherever they had hidden them on their bodies. Their eyes and blades gleamed blue.
“Just looking at the matter of the Nine Yin Evil Blood and the incident in Gamsan City, it is self-evident that you are an obstacle to the Palace’s grand plan. A newborn pup running wild relying solely on your own paltry martial arts. Stepping forward as if you are something special, but this is your true self. Though it is obvious what kind of figure would come out from under the reign of a thief Emperor. After all, under a rat’s sky, nothing but a rat can emerge…”
Standing atop the table, Jang Geon stared with blank eyes at the middle-aged scholar who was lambasting him. He did not seem to care much about his insults.
Having listened silently for a moment like that, Jang Geon instead asked abruptly:
“What color are you?”
“…What?”
The middle-aged scholar, who had been buying time to awaken his demonic arts, asked back stupidly at Jang Geon’s sudden question.
“The guy plotting in Gamsan was Green Snake. Before that, I saw guys like Red Envoy and Black Envoy too. What are you?”
“…Is that what you are curious about in this situation?”
“How are you, randomly cursing the Emperor, and I any different?”
The middle-aged scholar seemed momentarily at a loss for words. Seeing that, Jang Geon chuckled lightly as if it was dull, and the middle-aged scholar’s face, which had been eerily like a corpse, contorted.
“…Did my words sound like a joke to you? Then I shall engrave that joke upon your body.”
“Why beat around the bush when you just mean we should cut each other? If you’ve bought enough time, let’s start now.”
As Jang Geon finished speaking, reddish veins bulged on the middle-aged scholar’s contorted face. The same was true for the remaining seven standing in encirclement around Jang Geon. The bright tea house somehow turned dim, and red energy flowed from the eyes of those standing in the shadows.
The demonic momentum exuded by the eight demonic practitioners surged and swept through the tea house. Son Gwang, who was looking down from the second floor, felt the strength drain from his legs unknowingly and hastily grabbed the railing. Then he muttered in a voice full of anxiety:
“…E-Eight people, all demonic art practitioners? Then alone…”
At that moment, the middle-aged scholar shouted:
“Attack—!”
Immediately after, four demonic practitioners kicked off the floor and pounced upon Jang Geon from all sides—front, back, left, and right. Such strong power was gathered in their toes that the floor of the tea house where they stepped cracked with a crunch. Their flying forms were like arrows shot from a bow.
At that moment, Jang Geon also applied force to the soles of his feet. The legs of the table he was standing on could not withstand the downward force and shattered as if exploding. Jang Geon’s height sank down in an instant. Simultaneously, his body spun around.
Losing their intended target point, the panicked demonic practitioners had to hastily block Jang Geon’s sword. Two of them managed to block by raising their blades, but the remaining two received wounds slicing across their chests. Neither the wounded nor those who blocked could withstand the power embedded in that blade, and all were pushed far back.
The moment they were pushed back, the remaining four behind them charged at Jang Geon as if taking turns. Unlike the previous ones who had leapt high, those four slithered like snakes clinging to the floor, aiming for Jang Geon’s windpipe.
Jang Geon’s spinning movement stopped abruptly. It was a motion as if time had frozen for a very brief moment.
And with a rumble, thunder struck.
A head severed from its body spun through the air. The remaining three had to quickly retreat from the light that burst forth centered on Jang Geon and the intense qi wave. Then, this time, Jang Geon moved first.
His foot lightly kicked the debris of the table underneath. A square board spun rapidly as it flew toward the retreating demonic practitioner. Seeing it, the demonic practitioner gathered internal energy in his left hand and struck the board. Under the powerful force, the table debris shattered with a crunch.
Jang Geon was right behind it. Of course, the demonic practitioner, already prepared, thrust the skewer in his right hand straight toward Jang Geon’s neck. The speed was so fast that a long residual image remained.
The skewer failed to reach Jang Geon. It was faster for Jang Geon’s sword to parry the skewer aside, step close, and slam his right elbow into the man’s chest. The demonic practitioner’s chest caved in, and blood gushed from his mouth.
The lifeless body tumbled backward and landed atop a table in the tea house. Broken teacups made a noisy clatter.
Perhaps because of that sound, movement inside the venue froze as if ice water had been poured over it. Jang Geon glanced at the demonic practitioners, maintaining his low stance with his elbow thrust out.
In their appearances, one could no longer find the faces of the ordinary patrons from moments ago. Bulging veins, contorted faces, and demonic qi billowing from their eyes and breath made them look like fiends rather than humans.
The demonic practitioners who had moved violently in a very short moment panted heavily and looked around at themselves. In a single clash, two were dead and two were wounded. Among the demonic practitioners present, none had seen Jang Geon’s sword that moved alongside the thunder. Furthermore, unlike themselves panting for breath, Jang Geon currently looked extremely calm.
Only Son Gwang, looking down from the second floor, muttered in shock:
“Withstanding the joint attack of eight demonic practitioners and even counterattacking… how is that Commandant-level?”
As the silence continued, Jang Geon relaxed his stance, stood upright, and flicked his sword. Of course, Azure Dragon had not a single drop of blood on it despite having severed a person’s head. Only the innocent air was sliced, making faint swooshing sounds.
“What are you doing? Scared now that you’ve seen a bit of blood?”
At Jang Geon’s light provocation, the demonic practitioners’ breathing grew rougher. Regardless of male or female, their body sizes slightly enlarged, and the whites of their eyes were stained red. Beyond-normal internal energy poured into the weapons they held, trickling out dark energy, and for those whose chests had been sliced open, black blood gushed for a moment before their wounds closed up on their own.
They lowered their stances and crouched like beasts before pouncing on prey. Just by the change in their postures, the atmosphere inside the tea house grew taut again. Jang Geon also stopped flicking his sword and looked at them with deeply sunken eyes.
In the quieted tea house, six pairs of eyes and one pair of eyes glared at each other for a moment. Son Gwang, looking down from the second floor, swallowed hard by himself, then flinched, startled by how loud that sound felt. Thanks to that, the railing he held creaked under pressure.
That became the signal.
The two demonic practitioners wounded in the chest moved first. As if not caring about Jang Geon’s counterattack at all, they pounced on him in what was practically a suicidal charge. Though simple, that power was clearly formidable demonic arts; by disregarding consequences, tremendous speed was produced. Black rays of light targeted Jang Geon.
However, the gap between Jang Geon and their level was beyond measure. It was not simply a matter of high or low internal energy. As the demonic practitioners who risked their lives drew near, the moment their blades touched Jang Geon’s body, they could see his body turn faint. Immediately after, Jang Geon’s sword, splitting into two, grazed past their necks. It was the moment two more demonic practitioners died.
However, the remaining demonic practitioners did not care about their lives in the first place. Those two had thrown themselves forward merely to create an opening in Jang Geon. The demonic practitioners, streaming black energy from their blades, sequentially pounced on Jang Geon.
The moment the two decapitated corpses tumbled and overturned tea house tables, the first blade approached Jang Geon. Behind it, the blades of the remaining three followed in succession. It was a moment similar to when Jang Geon had faced the Soaring Eagle Unit head-on the previous day. A moment where the smallest mistake would decide life and death.
Of course, Jang Geon already knew the solution.
Jang Geon raised his sword and parried the first demonic practitioner’s blade outward. Blades heavily imbued with internal energy rubbed against each other, throwing off sparks. Right after, he raised his foot and shoved it into the demonic practitioner’s face. The demonic practitioner who met that sole could not control his own momentum charging forward, and his neck bone snapped with a crunch.
Subsequently, Jang Geon used that demonic practitioner’s force to step on his face and vault lightly into the air. Son Gwang on the second floor gaped blankly, watching Jang Geon soar high enough to meet his eye level.
The remaining three demonic practitioners also saw Jang Geon leap into the air. They quickly halted their forward momentum and aimed for the spot where he would land. Unable to control his body in midair, they intended to attack before he could land on the floor and adjust his stance.
Naturally, Jang Geon twisted and bounced his body in midair, displaying a maneuver beyond their imagination. Jang Geon slammed down to the floor several times faster than they had anticipated.
Along with the rumbling thunder once more, he landed in front of the demonic practitioner at the very rear, the middle-aged scholar. When the remaining two demonic practitioners looked at him, the demonic practitioner standing before Jang Geon had become a corpse split in half from the crown of his head, showing a charred cross-section before collapsing with a thud.
As the corpse fell, Jang Geon slowly stood up and looked back at them. His eyes were still glowing intensely.
“…”
The last two bastards facing him glanced at each other and exchanged looks. Then, as if someone had given a signal, they leaped away in opposite directions.
“Uh, uh! They’re running away!”
Son Gwang, watching from the second floor, cried out in surprise. Then he started to leap down over the railing, only to hesitate. He lacked the confidence to land cleanly like Jang Geon. The second floor of the tea house was higher than expected, so it seemed his ankles wouldn’t survive.
Unlike him hesitating, Jang Geon did not waver. First, his Azure Dragon flew with a swoosh and embedded itself into the back of the man fleeing toward the main gate. Having thrown the sword, Jang Geon immediately caught up behind the demonic practitioner fleeing toward the kitchen and struck his palm into the center of his back.
“Keuk!”
The demonic practitioner struck on the back tumbled inside the tea house kitchen. The teaware and snacks being prepared inside flew around in a noisy mess.
Jang Geon, following behind into the kitchen, paused for a moment this time. It was because a girl who seemed to be an attendant and a middle-aged man who seemed to be the tea house owner were trembling in a corner of the kitchen. However, when the demonic practitioner tumbling in the kitchen tried to stagger up, Jang Geon approached and stomped on his back. The bastard let out a single groan and collapsed onto the floor.
Seeing that, the middle-aged man spoke with a brightened complexion even while sweating profusely:
“O-Oh… G-Great Hero! W-We are commoners who have n-nothing to do with this! Those bastards th-threatened us to do as ordered…!”
As if he could not hear his words, Jang Geon moved his foot to stomp on the demonic practitioner’s neck and twisted it. With an eerie sound of crushing bones, the demonic practitioner’s movement stopped. The babbling middle-aged man and the attendant turned pale seeing that.
Having snuffed out his breath, Jang Geon turned his head toward the middle-aged man and the attendant and approached. The middle-aged man pressing his back against the wall trembled even harder than before, as if terrified of the silent Jang Geon.
“G-Great Hero! W-We are really…!”
At that moment, the hand of Jang Geon, who was approaching the middle-aged man, moved with a swish and caught something in the air. Surprised by his sudden movement, the middle-aged man gasped, slid down against the wall, and collapsed to a sit.
Jang Geon’s eyes, holding something, turned toward the girl attendant next to him. Something faint was connected from her hand to Jang Geon’s hand. The face of the girl who had been trembling turned cold in that short moment.
Looking at Jang Geon’s hand, she muttered:
“Oh dear, I was caught.”
Jang Geon’s opposite hand moved abruptly. Sealed of her acupoints with lightning speed, the girl attendant froze stiff where she stood.
Jang Geon exerted force in the hand holding something. Then it shattered with a clatter and spilled onto the floor. It was glass crafted extremely thin, long, and transparent.
“Hyiik…”
Only the middle-aged man, who was a genuine commoner, trembled violently at the glass shards spilling onto the floor. Dusting off his hands as he looked at him, Jang Geon picked up the girl attendant who was frozen like a block of wood and walked out of the kitchen. Son Gwang, who had been examining the demonic practitioner fallen with a sword stuck in his back, laughed hollowly and asked as he saw Jang Geon emerging carrying a person:
“Who is that?”
“A swindler.”
“…A swindler? I gave you my name. It’s San-san.”
Son Gwang unwittingly stared blankly at the girl who was stiffly frozen with only her mouth moving. The cause of Jang Geon being dragged into this matter stood before his eyes.