Chapter 140: Chapter 140

After the dragon’s roar echoed, the inside of the warehouse fell momentarily silent.

Neither the archers who had been aiming their arrows, nor Jeok Se-in, nor Yang Goeng could understand the situation, blankly staring only at Jang Geon, while the essence of the Samadhi True Fire swirling around Jang Geon’s right arm smoothly subsided. And only then did someone snap to their senses and shout.

“…Shoot! Shoot—!”

Shouting so, he released the bowstring. The arrow notched upon it flew toward Jang Geon’s head with a sharp whistling sound. The arrow cutting through empty air whipped with flexibility.

At the same time, Jang Geon, who had been holding his palm open facing forward, began to move. One might expect him to move swiftly to block or dodge the arrow flying in a straight line, but his left hand at his waist rose drawing a slow curve.

No, it was not slow. Even though it had not moved via the shortest straight line, Jang Geon’s left hand was fast enough to meet the incoming arrow. His palm met the flexible arrow shaft, and his palm drew a smooth rotation, altering the arrow’s trajectory. The arrow followed his guidance as if it were alive.

As Jang Geon’s movement came to a halt, the arrow that flowed along his hand and forearm drove deep into the warehouse floor.

“Guh!”

The arrow precisely pierced the archer’s throat. Dropping his bow with a clatter, he clutched his neck and collapsed smoothly. A faint gurgling rattle continued briefly, then cut off completely.

Afterward, silence fell upon the warehouse once more.

It was a silence different from moments ago. If Bae Won-hyeong being sent flying had been astonishment at a sudden situation, now it was sheer terror. The archers who had emptied their quivers could see the black blooms of arrows covering the first-floor ground in jet-black and the Tai Chi diagram drawn by the empty space at its center.

Yang Goeng, who had been lying flat on the ground covering his head with both arms, sensed that the surroundings had grown quiet and stealthily raised his head. Raising his head and looking around like that, his expression appeared just as dumbfounded as the second-floor archers.

Jeok Se-in, who had naturally stopped her movements alongside the cessation of the arrow rain and Jang Geon’s actions, also panted heavily while rolling her eyes to check the surroundings. Except for sweat pouring down and small holes pierced here and there in her clothes, she appeared unharmed.

The eyes of Jeok Se-in and the dazed Yang Goeng met. Looking at each other for a moment, the two simultaneously turned their heads to gaze at Jang Geon.

Standing in the exact posture from returning the arrow, Jang Geon turned his head and met their gazes. He grinned.

“Now it’s my turn.”

Before Jeok Se-in and Yang Goeng could utter a reply, Jang Geon leaped lightly from where he stood. Then, flipping in midair with agile movements, Jang Geon landed straight onto the second-floor railing. The archers snapped out of their stupor upon seeing him crouched touching the second-floor floorboards.

“You bastard!”

An archer closest to Jang Geon reflexively spat a curse and drew the sword at his waist. And toward Jang Geon, who was smoothly standing up, he swung his sword down with a whoosh.

However, Jang Geon dodged the sword merely by stepping back slightly. At that moment, the distance between the blade and his body barely seemed an inch, appearing for all intents and purposes as if he had been struck. Thus, the archer who swung the sword hesitated briefly at the discrepancy between what his eyes saw and what his hands felt.

Not missing that opening, Jang Geon smoothly burrowed into the archer’s torso and extended his palm. The intense heat surging violently through his qi channels formed a reddish Fire Dragon and gathered in his right palm.

“Ack!”

Struck square in the center of his chest by the Dragon-Subduing Palm, the archer let out a brief scream and was hurled straight backward. Hurled by a might incomparable to what Bae Won-hyeong had suffered earlier, the archer bowled over another archer, knocking him down as well.

Seeing their comrade tumbling like that, the archers glared at Jang Geon with burning fury in their eyes. Casting their now-useless bows and quivers onto the floor, they drew their respective sabers and swords, letting out roars as they began charging at Jang Geon.

Meeting them, Jang Geon lowered his stance and raised both hands level with his eyes. The power originating from his firm lower body surged up through his torso, passing through both shoulders to paint a red dragon upon his arms and hands. The air vibrated from the outward heat, and a roaring sound like a weeping dragon echoed through the space.

An archer who vaulted over his fallen comrade gripped his sword with both hands and aimed for Jang Geon’s crown like striking down with an axe. Without waiting for the sword to descend, Jang Geon struck first, slamming his left palm into the man’s torso. With a loud crack, the archer’s chest caved in, and he collapsed forward from the momentum of his charge, tumbling behind Jang Geon.

The second-floor walkway of the warehouse was not wide. It was a width where two people walking abreast would block the way. Thus, the subsequent archers could not attack Jang Geon all at once, but assaulted him in turns of one or two at a time.

Had Jang Geon been a typical New World martial artist, it would have been a continuous assault hard to withstand. Because pouring out much in one or two bursts would make it difficult to parry the subsequent attacks. But Jang Geon had already reached a realm that could not be categorized in such a manner, allowing him to advance relentlessly while leaving a palm print on the torsos of the archers rushing in with bladed weapons.

At the moment five or six archers collapsed in an instant like that, one of the archers in the rear shouted loudly.

“Dark Wolf Third Squad! This is no time to hide our traces! Give it your all!”

As if that shout were a signal, dark qi began pouring out from the eyes of the remaining dozen-odd archers. Around the eye areas visible above their masks, ugly red veins writhed, and beneath their black uniforms, joints produced grating crunches unable to bear the instantaneously heightened muscular strength.

Turning into demonic persons dripping violent demonic qi, the archers howled like rabid wolves and charged toward Jang Geon.

However, Jang Geon, who had clad both arms in Fire Dragons and unleashed the Dragon-Subduing Palm, showed no particular wavering upon seeing such demonic persons. The sensation of discerning demonic persons acquired at Plateau City had been sending him warnings from the moment he set foot in the warehouse.

He merely quelled the internal energy clashing violently within his qi channels, gripped the hilt of the Azure Dragon at his waist, and in the next instant, a flash erupted as the Azure Dragon cleared its scabbard, drawing an arc of light.

The head of the demonic person who had channeled demonic arts and charged at the very front severed from his body, each flying through the air. Lowering his body to evade the blood and corpse, Jang Geon held the Azure Dragon with both hands, brought it close to his right hip, and crouched into a compact stance. The internal energy that had been violently rotating divided into yin and yang to generate friction heat settled tranquil in that moment, like a lake in the dead of night.

The next instant, a bolt of thunderbolts surged from within the completely subsided internal energy. Unleashing that thunderous lightning racing throughout his entire body as it was, Jang Geon shot forward in a straight line.

Just as lightning draws curves through the connections of countless straight lines, Jang Geon wove through the demonic persons lining the long second-floor walkway. At each inflection point, the Azure Dragon drew a flash, and the bodies of the demonic persons split apart like clay.

The demonic person who had yelled Dark Wolf Third Squad from the rear managed to follow Jang Geon’s movements slowly and attempted to block that blade, but the Azure Dragon slicing diagonally through his upper body was faster than his hands rising.

When Jang Geon came to a stop, the bodies severed by his blade sprayed blood in all directions, caught in the violent movement of air that followed.

Leaving behind the demonic persons tumbling with loud thuds, Jang Geon also finally exhaled the breath he had held with a long whoosh, lowered the Azure Dragon, and stood straight. Turning slowly around, he had circled the walkway running along the square warehouse walls once, returning to his initial spot.

Turning his head toward the first floor, he saw Jeok Se-in with a dazed expression and Yang Goeng looking thoroughly appalled. Gazing at them, Jang Geon gave the Azure Dragon a flourish to flick away the blood and sheathed it into its scabbard. Afterward, standing in place for a moment, he felt the internal energy he had poured out in large quantities slowly settle down.

After receiving energy from Raging Horse, who was a Great Warrior and a spirit, his dantian, which had been much heavier than before, felt slender in a short moment. But it wasn’t all that bad. Rather, there was a refreshing feeling akin to sweating profusely after intense exercise.

“Dear me.”

Suddenly thinking it felt refreshing, Jang Geon wore a bitter smile. To feel refreshed after beating about twenty people to death. Even though they were ones who had sought to kill Jang Geon, and judging by their mastery of demonic arts, were highly likely the demonic persons who had vanished westward as mentioned by the Tribal Alliance, that did not mean they were not human beings. Even if he did not pity them, it was certainly not something to treat unfeelingly as though having cut down straw scarecrows.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he quelled his floating emotions. When those eyes opened once again, his usual composure was back in place.

“…Are you alright?”

Around the time Jang Geon opened his eyes, Jeok Se-in, who had climbed the stairs, asked in a worried tone. Although astonished by the martial arts Jang Geon had displayed, she wore a concerned look wondering what was wrong as she saw him with closed eyes.

“Ayy, Brother Jang is obviously fine. I can’t imagine this gentleman coming to any harm. And it seems your martial arts have grown even higher in the meantime; did you pick up and eat some spirit elixir somewhere?”

Smiling faintly at Jeok Se-in’s concern, Jang Geon chuckled at Yang Goeng chattering playfully as he came up behind her. He was truly a fellow with remarkably thick skin.

Seeing that chuckle, Yang Goeng grinned and stole glances at Jang Geon, feeling guilty for having lain flat on the floor the entire time. Shaking his head gently, Jang Geon turned around and spoke.

“I didn’t kill Bae Won-hyeong. Let’s dig up whatever we can.”

Only then did Jeok Se-in think to look for Bae Won-hyeong, who had been knocked out at the very beginning. Fortunately, finding him was not difficult. Because among the corpses strewn across the second-floor walkway, he was the sole individual crawling on all fours trying to flee.

Watching the mood, Yang Goeng quickly ran over and grabbed the crawling Bae Won-hyeong.

“You punk, where do you think you’re running off to?”

“Ugh…”

Yang Goeng dragged Bae Won-hyeong and shoved him against a wall. Bae Won-hyeong merely let out pained groans, unable to put up any proper resistance. In the center of his chest, scorched clothing and burned bare skin could be seen, looking as if seared by a palm-shaped branding iron.

Sitting with his upper body propped against the wall, he gritted his teeth and raised his head. His eyes met Jang Geon’s.

“K-kuh… To think… I failed to recognize… such an extraordinary expert, far beyond my thoughts…”

He appeared to be trying desperately to feign composure. Looking down at him for a moment, Jang Geon slowly crouched down to meet his eye level.

Without threats or intimidation, Jang Geon asked impassively.

“It doesn’t seem the White Forest Sect raised those demonic persons. You are a renowned orthodox sect of New Sichuan, after all. Do you know who they are?”

“…If you think… I will say anything… throw away such delusions…”

As Jang Geon quietly gazed at Bae Won-hyeong answering resolutely, Yang Goeng beside him subtly chimed in.

“Brother Jang, no need to drag this out, let’s just use that thing. You know, that thing where you poke and stab with your fingers. Let’s not waste time waiting for him to confess and get this over with quickly.”

At Yang Goeng’s words, not only Jeok Se-in, who was observing the situation gravely with crossed arms, but also Jang Geon, who was facing Bae Won-hyeong, turned to look at Yang Goeng. When even Bae Won-hyeong stared at him wondering what he was on about, Yang Goeng stealthily lowered his eyes and took a step back. It seemed he meant he got the message and would shut up.

Having silenced Yang Goeng, Jang Geon lightly scratched the back of his neck, fixed his gaze back onto Bae Won-hyeong, and spoke.

“I could inflict pain as that fellow said. But even if I did, it would likely do nothing more than shorten what little time you have left. If you don’t wish to say anything, just do so. I’ll have to seek out your father anyway.”

At that tranquil tone that sounded nothing like an interrogation, Bae Won-hyeong’s resolve conversely wavered. He dropped his head and looked down at his chest. Jang Geon’s internal force, striking across empty air, had wrecked his internal organs.

How that was even possible was difficult to fathom. Was this what Grade A martial arts deep within the Imperial Palace were like? Bae Won-hyeong felt an utter futility regarding the martial arts he had trained in and the life he had lived up to now. Perhaps because his will had scattered like that, his vision also seemed to blur.

Watching his fading breath as his face dropped, Jang Geon pulled tobacco from his robes and rolled it. Seeing the two in silence, neither Jeok Se-in nor Yang Goeng opened their mouths.

Just as Jang Geon lit the rolled tobacco in his mouth and exhaled the first puff of smoke, the mouth of Bae Won-hyeong, whose head hung low, opened.

“…Council of Elders, Alliance Leader… neither are significantly different… from each other… The elders are shrewd masters of their respective sects… in martial arts, and in politics… Naturally, they already… had deduced it… That they were behind my father and me…”

Listening, Jeok Se-in was startled and reflexively asked back.

“The Council of Elders had deduced the Demonic Palace seeping into New Sichuan?”

“Yes… Of course, the Alliance Leader… likewise… To them, the Imperial Army’s dichotomy… is meaningless… Both the Council of Elders and the Alliance Leader, knowing full well, merely feign ignorance… with the intention of using the situation…”

Jeok Se-in and Yang Goeng grew grim at Bae Won-hyeong’s slow, faltering words. It felt as though they were hearing the sinister secrets at the very summit of the Murim Alliance.

Only Jang Geon, crouching with tobacco in his mouth and releasing smoke, appeared impassive and sullen without any particular perturbation.