Chapter 33: Chapter 33

Seo Wi-ryang did not answer Jang Geon’s question. Rolling the bamboo pipe in his mouth this way and that, he asked while maintaining his glaring gaze at Jang Geon.

“Are you alone?”

“I’m alone.”

Even at Jang Geon’s lighthearted answer, Seo Wi-ryang did not withdraw his suspicious gaze. He subtly signaled with his eyes to his subordinates. At that, a couple of martial artists rushed out and looked around the surroundings. But there was no way anyone else was there.

At the sight of his subordinates shaking their heads as if there were no one, an astonished look appeared in Seo Wi-ryang’s eyes.

“Did you say your name was Jang Geon? What are you?”

“…What kind of bullshit question is that?”

Seo Wi-ryang looked at Jang Geon, who had really shown up alone, with eyes that could not understand him. Then he gestured sharply to the subordinates standing behind him.

From inside the building, two men beaten to bloody pulps were dragged out. They were men Jang Geon also knew.

“I caught these bastards trying to leave last night. So I found out why you ambushed my wagon. They said it was because of money, right?”

Jang Geon did not answer. He looked at the man bleeding from his completely distorted face from being beaten so severely. That man was also faintly looking back at Jang Geon through his swollen eyelids. As far as Jang Geon knew, that man’s name was Gong Pyeong.

“I also found out that that thief named Yang Goeng recruited my subordinates to plot the plan. Thanks to that, my plans were ruined. I was thinking of wiping out the unorthodox faction ruining the ranch with that fake transport wagon.”

If that bloody man was Gong Pyeong, then the one lying face down on the ground just as he was dragged out must be his younger brother, Gong Rang. But unlike Gong Pyeong, who seemed to have faint consciousness, Gong Rang showed no movement whatsoever as he lay collapsed.

“However, the part I understand the least is your existence. My son trained for ten years since childhood in the Yeon Clan. It sounds like boasting, but his martial arts were decent. Yet he died by your hands. What about Warrior Oh, Oh Jung-seo? Even if he didn’t learn martial arts from an ancient clan or sect, he was a guy counted among the top swordsmen in Gamsan.”

Seo Wi-ryang removed the bamboo pipe from his mouth for a moment and spat out thick phlegm.

“…That guy also died by your hand last night. On top of that, you finished off ten, no, nine of my subordinates all at once? That means you’re no ordinary expert… It means you could be at the level of a Martial Alliance strike force or perhaps even an Imperial Army expert. But no matter how much I beat these bastards, they say they don’t know your identity. So let me ask. What are you? Are you something like a Martial Alliance patrol officer or a Secret Imperial Army agent?”

Jang Geon still did not answer. He met Gong Pyeong’s eyes for a moment, then slowly dismounted from Jojo’s back. As soon as Jang Geon dismounted, Jojo turned around and trotted out of the grounds. That appearance was so natural that the swordsmen watching them thought Jojo was a well-trained horse. Of course, Jang Geon had never given such training.

Sending Jojo away and standing blankly, Jang Geon gripped the scabbard with his left hand and spoke.

“If I’m affiliated with the Martial Alliance or perhaps that Secret Imperial Army, then what changes?”

“…What changes?”

Jang Geon looked at him with eyes half-hidden under his bamboo hat.

“Your son and I competed in martial arts, and I won. I didn’t plunge a blade into his heart, but as a result, I killed him. If you want revenge, come at me. Since that must be the proper right of a father who lost his son.”

When revenge was brought up, Seo Wi-ryang’s eyes began to glint. And matching that attitude, the other swordsmen also held their breath and quietly built up their killing intent.

“…My revenge is justified? Then are you saying you’ll just die by my hand?”

“No. It’s just that who I am, and what sins you committed in this land, are no longer important.”

Seo Wi-ryang said nothing for a moment, then grinned and tossed the small bamboo pipe he was holding aside with a snap.

“Right, exactly. Identity and the like are no longer meaningful. I plan to kill you, and you have no intention of just dying, that is all that exists between the two of us right now. You’re a friend I like. If we hadn’t met like this, we could have built more of a friendship.”

He spoke like that, shaking his head slowly, then flicked his hand and commanded,

“Strike.”

At Seo Wi-ryang’s short command, the swordsmen glaring at him immediately let out shouts and began charging with drawn blades. They were swift, but their movements were not those of people who had properly mastered martial arts. In a way, it was the appearance of the most common guys boasting of being martial artists in this wasteland, and likewise the type of human figures who died off most commonly.

Perhaps because of that, the guy who charged first didn’t even get to swing the blade he had raised high above his head before both his arms and neck were severed simultaneously.

Drawing his sword with a flash and slashing that guy to death, Jang Geon stepped past the forward-collapsing corpse and swung his sword. Two blades targeting him rebounded with clear metallic sounds. Even though they collided lightly, those two swordsmen were flustered by the blades being pushed back, and just as they tried to steady their postures, their necks were taken by Jang Geon’s sword.

One guy thrust a straight sword directly at Jang Geon’s front. At the same time, from behind his back, a guy holding an uncommon axe swung it down forcefully.

Jang Geon spun to the left, parried the thrusting blade to the side, and turned. Immediately after, when he slashed his sword upward, the handle of the descending axe snapped off cleanly. Along with that, Jang Geon’s back kick caved in the chest of the guy holding the sword.

The guy kicked in the chest immediately vomited blood and died. The guy who was left with a blank expression holding the severed axe handle collapsed limp onto the ground as his intestines poured out from his waist at Jang Geon’s following blade.

As five guys collapsed in an instant, the remaining ones hesitated in shock. They had never fought a real expert in this manner before. Seo Wi-ryang, Seo Sang-jeong, and Oh Jung-seo were experts compared to them, but they didn’t fight this fast and ruthlessly.

So as they hesitated without charging forward, this time Jang Geon charged at them.

Startled out of their wits by that movement resembling a ghost approaching, the swordsmen reflexively swung the edged weapons they held forward. But with that motion of merely thrusting their blades forward, they couldn’t touch even a thread of Jang Geon’s collar.

The swordsmen had their necks severed, waists cut through, and limbs separated from their bodies, rolling thuddingly on the ground. Among them, some pulled themselves together and focused their minds to strike a blow at Jang Geon, but Jang Geon’s sword always moved later than theirs yet reached first.

The dry courtyard of the manor became damp with blood. The blood poured out by the dead absorbed the dust on the ground, becoming much thicker than original and getting squished like mud under feet coming and going.

As nearly twenty of their numbers died like a lie, Seo Wi-ryang’s martial artists suddenly felt terrified and fled stealthily toward Seo Wi-ryang’s surroundings. But even that was too late; when Jang Geon stopped and snapped his sword clean, there were only three swordsmen looking at them with fear-filled eyes behind Seo Wi-ryang.

Even in the situation where most of his subordinates were wiped out, Seo Wi-ryang was still sitting on his chair, merely glaring at Jang Geon. Seeing that sight, Jang Geon, who had moved around furiously, asked,

“You must have known your subordinates would die, so why did you push them forward?”

“To see a bit of your skill.”

Jang Geon let out a chuckle.

“Right, did you get a good look?”

Seo Wi-ryang nodded heavily.

“I saw it well. I understand why Sang-jeong and Warrior Oh lost. Seeing your skill, you likely have an epithet, so may I ask?”

“Where would a wanderer have an epithet?”

“That’s a pity. If you had lived a bit longer, an epithet would surely have been created.”

Wondering what he meant, Jang Geon gave a dry chuckle. He meant that since he would die here today, there would be no chance for an epithet to be created.

Seeing that laugh, Seo Wi-ryang grinned himself, then got up leisurely from his chair. And he gestured for one of the martial artists hiding behind him to come closer.

“Y-Yes, Master. I’m sorry. But that guy was too fast…”

“Come closer.”

The martial artist who had been trembling in fear and making excuses showed a puzzled expression at those words and stepped toward Seo Wi-ryang. And before anyone could do anything, Seo Wi-ryang’s hand dug into his chest.

“U-Uh…? Wh-Why?”

“Don’t be too heartbroken. I’ll pay for your funeral at least to your parents.”

When his hand that had dug into the martial artist’s chest pulled out smoothly, a throbbing heart was held in that hand.

“…M-Mother…”

While the faces of the other martial artist and Jang Geon stiffened hard, and while the martial artist whose heart was ripped out exhaled his final breath, Seo Wi-ryang looked at the freshly extracted heart as if it were delicious and swallowed it whole. Given its size, it should clearly be difficult to swallow in one gulp, but he gulped it down as if sucking down honey.

“Ugh, wh-what is that?”

“M-Master?”

At the sight of him ripping out a human heart and swallowing it, the remaining two martial artists flinched back in shock. And Jang Geon muttered a curse at the sight of Seo Wi-ryang trembling as if overcome with ecstasy like someone on drugs.

“Dammit… What is it this time.”

After trembling alone like a madman for a moment, Seo Wi-ryang soon regained his senses, exhaled hot breath, and glared at Jang Geon. Crimson radiance was glinting in his two eyes.

“…When I first obtained this martial art, the Blood-Heart Mad Fire Skill, I thought I would never use it in my lifetime. That’s why I didn’t teach it to Sang-jeong either. What good comes from getting caught by the Martial Alliance or the Imperial Army after practicing demonic arts? It could also be caught by the Yeon Clan where he learned martial arts. But holding onto his corpse, I wondered what the use of all that was. One way or another, I have to survive first to do anything.”

For someone who had just ripped out and eaten a human heart, Seo Wi-ryang looked quite calm. Of course, even so, he had blood messily smeared on his mouth, hands, and chest, making him nothing short of ghastly.

Jang Geon faced that ghastliness with deeply sunken eyes. As if disliking Jang Geon’s composure, Seo Wi-ryang soon growled,

“After killing you, I will kill all those shitty Cheongsu Village beggars and bandits. I will kill them all and burn them down. I won’t leave anyone alive who was involved in my son’s death.”

“And after that?”

“What?”

With slow hand movements, Jang Geon untied the string of the bamboo hat he was wearing and tossed it aside. The bamboo hat whirled through the air and fell into a corner.

“If you kill everyone, what will you do after that?”

“You curious about shit like that? You’ll be dead anyway?”

At Seo Wi-ryang’s rough words, Jang Geon shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“I can be curious.”

Seo Wi-ryang let out a hollow laugh at Jang Geon’s attitude. But that laughing sound, which started as a laugh, grew louder and louder, echoing resoundingly, and began to rumble past the manor across the entire ranch. Unlike Jang Geon, who showed no movement, the two martial artists closest to him covered their ears and let out groans.

“Aaargh… Kkuhhh…!”

“M-Master…! Please!”

As the two people froze while trembling violently, Seo Wi-ryang suddenly stopped laughing abruptly and thrust his hands into each of their chests. The two martial artists let out a scream each and had their hearts ripped out. Seo Wi-ryang immediately stuffed the extracted hearts into his mouth.

Having swallowed two more hearts like that, Seo Wi-ryang opened his mouth wide, looked up at the sky, made choking noises, and snapped back around toward Jang Geon.

“What will I do? Did you ask what I’ll do after killing everyone?”

“That’s right. If you do such a thing, a pursuit force from the Martial Alliance will come after you.”

Seo Wi-ryang, who was no longer emitting red radiance but had his whites completely dyed blood-red, smirked, licked his blood-stained lips, and said,

“Then I’ll just kill that pursuit force too and go find The Palace! This martial art was also given by The Palace! Probably someone like me can take on an important role in The Palace! Black Snake is too insignificant, so maybe I can become Red Snake or White Snake! Hahaha! Maybe they’ll give me the rank of General instead of Snake! That’s a joyful thing! That I, who groveled under Son Gwang, can sit above him!”

Shouting to himself, Seo Wi-ryang seemed to have turned from a cold-hearted boss into a lunatic in that short moment. He babbled nonsense that Jang Geon couldn’t understand and laughed to himself. The only certain thing was that the flames starting to blaze down his two hands and forearms looked extremely dangerous.

However, even seeing that sight, Jang Geon merely smiled bitterly as if tired.

“Do I need to perform an exorcism or something. Why is every bastard I meet lately acting like that shit.”

“Hahahahaha! Thank you, Jang Geon! Thanks to you, I will become a General! I am a General!”

“Crazy bastard.”

Seo Wi-ryang, who was laughing like that, suddenly charged like a beast. Just as a slight crouching motion seemed visible, in the next moment, two blazing palms were pouring down upon Jang Geon. Jang Geon had no choice but to move a moment late.

However, Seo Wi-ryang’s palms, which seemed about to reach first, struck empty air. And before anyone noticed, Jang Geon was standing far behind Seo Wi-ryang with his sword extended. Only after Jang Geon snapped his sword clean did Seo Wi-ryang’s flank split wide open.

“Ohhh…”

Gong Pyeong, who had been lying on the ground watching the fight all this time, let out an exclamation of admiration with his battered face. Even though Jang Geon had moved a step late, he avoided Seo Wi-ryang’s attack and landed a sword strike.

However, Jang Geon did not sheath his sword. On the contrary, he stood holding his sword with a sunken expression and glared at Seo Wi-ryang.

As if that vigilance was not excessive, Seo Wi-ryang, whose flank was split wide open, slowly turned around. It was impossible to tell whether what his monster-like distorted face expressed was pain or rage. His eyes were now completely turned red, so it was impossible to distinguish white from pupil.

With such a distorted face, he opened his mouth wide, let out a roar of ‘Kaaah-‘, and charged at Jang Geon again. His flank, which had split wide open, had already squeezed tightly shut.

Jang Geon stepped back lightly, dodging Seo Wi-ryang’s two hands that were swung ferociously. When Jang Geon stepped back, that bastard immediately pursued, swinging his two hands. Most of the martial artists Jang Geon had met in this land used edged weapons like swords, sabers, spears, etc., but a person who attacked with both palms like that was a first.

However, what surprised Jang Geon was not that crude palm technique. What made his eyes sparkle was the flame blazing down Seo Wi-ryang’s two hands and forearms. Heat and pressure that made his face scorch every time it brushed past. A martial art he had never seen even while training in the Central Plains. The very thing Jang Geon had only imagined so far. The Extreme Yang Palm Technique.

Just then, Jang Geon’s back hit the wall with a thud and stopped. It was the wall of the manor.

“You, bastard,!”

Seo Wi-ryang shouted, extending both palms straight out. The heat contained within them came crashing down scorchingly. However, Jang Geon lightly kicked the ground and the manor wall, leaped up, and cleared over Seo Wi-ryang. Seo Wi-ryang’s two palms struck the empty manor wall.

Along with a thudding sound, two round holes were pierced, and fire caught ablaze around them with a whoosh. However, even though his manor caught fire, Seo Wi-ryang didn’t seem to care, pulling his hands out immediately, turning around, and charging at Jang Geon again.

Dodging that attack a couple more times, Jang Geon realized there was nothing more to see just by looking with his eyes. Seo Wi-ryang’s palm technique was crude to the extreme, and outwardly it had nothing impressive other than spewing flames and heat.

So Jang Geon’s blade drew a flash of light once again.

In an instant, Seo Wi-ryang’s two legs and upper body were sliced open one after another. Immediately after, Jang Geon’s eyebrows furrowed. Just as the flank wound had squeezed shut, those wounds also dripped blood and squeezed shut to block the bleeding. However, the reason Jang Geon furrowed his eyebrows was not that. He had intended to cut off the two arms blazing with fire as well.

However, Seo Wi-ryang’s two forearms were not cut. The internal energy that had grown after consuming three people was extremely concentrated in his two arms, repelling the blade without leaving a single wound.

“Uhahaha,!”

Seo Wi-ryang laughed as if proud of that, attacking again and swinging his two hands recklessly, recklessly from Jang Geon’s perspective. In fact, for Jang Geon, it was a scene that brought out a soft chuckle. What good was it if only two arms were fine? Jang Geon’s sword was faster than Seo Wi-ryang, and the other parts were cut just fine. The other wounds excluding his two arms proved that. From Jang Geon’s perspective, it was enough to just lightly dodge his two palms and slice him up with his sword.

However, Jang Geon changed his mind looking at the two palms blazing with fire.

“Die,!”

Seo Wi-ryang, untiring, pursued Jang Geon to the end as he dodged this way and that, swinging his palms. His two eyes turned blood-red combined with that obsession, giving off a ghastly aspect. Right then, Jang Geon suddenly leaped back.

Seo Wi-ryang, whose reason was almost scattered due to demonic arts, did not feel anything strange even seeing that scene. Seeing only the fact that Jang Geon currently had no weapon in hand, he raised his entire body’s internal energy and leaped forward. His two blazing palms extended straight toward Jang Geon.

Jang Geon, who had sheathed his sword, pulled that sword back behind his waist with a snap and extended his own two hands toward Seo Wi-ryang’s approaching palms.

Jang Geon’s two hands and Seo Wi-ryang’s two hands met as if clapping. However, the sound was not a clap, but a loud bang as if firing a cannon.

And in the next moment, starting from the point where the flames wrapping Seo Wi-ryang’s hands and forearms met Jang Geon’s hands, they scattered in a swirling vortex. Following the flames was the skin, next muscles, and finally bones crumpled and twisted with crunching sounds.

“Kagh!”

Afterward, Seo Wi-ryang vomited blood along with his tattered arms and fell backward. On the contrary, Jang Geon slowly brought his two palms emitting faint smoke up to his chest, then slowly pressed them down while exhaling a breath.

And then, smiling faintly, he shook his hands clean.