Chapter 45: Chapter 45

“Jang-Style Tai Chi?”

Jin Won-sang repeated that unfamiliar name with a dazed expression. He had practiced martial arts at Shaolin for over ten years, but he had never heard of such a martial art. Of course, that was natural, since it was a martial art Jang Geon had created by picking and choosing from memories of his previous life.

Without giving him time to think long, Jang Geon took a step forward again.

“If you don’t come, I will.”

At those words, Jin Won-sang snapped out of his daze and grit his teeth. Whatever martial art it was, it didn’t matter. He raised his internal energy to the limit again and lunged forward.

This time, he didn’t use just one hand. Both hands drew claw shapes, executing Shaolin’s Dragon Claw to its absolute peak. The air shrieked under the pressure of his internal power.

However, Jang Geon’s movements were like water. He did not meet force with force. When Jin Won-sang’s right claw pushed forward, Jang Geon’s left palm lightly brushed the side of his wrist, deflecting the trajectory. When the left claw followed up, Jang Geon turned his waist smoothly, causing the attack to slice through empty air.

Every time Jin Won-sang unleashed a ferocious attack, Jang Geon used minimal force to redirect it, using circular motions to continuously break Jin Won-sang’s balance.

The two who were closely stuck moved using not hands, but elbows, shoulders, knees, waist, and back. The difference was that Jin Won-sang tried to move quickly and straight to obtain strike points, while Jang Geon continuously spun his entire body in circular motions, repeatedly disrupting Jin Won-sang’s balance.

Yet strangely, Jang Geon, who drew curves, was a moment faster than Jin Won-sang, who moved the shortest distance. Jin Won-sang had to suspect whether Jang Geon was reading the future. In the end, after exerting great effort without landing a single effective hit, Jin Won-sang grew increasingly frustrated. He felt as though he had fallen into a swamp or water and was flailing around.

“Kuh-aaah-aaah!”

Finally, getting heated to the top of his head, Jin Won-sang shouted and began moving recklessly. Forgetting the Shaolin martial arts and martial logic he had used until now, he began pouring out the internal power surging inside his body at random.

Of course, as a result, his movements became simpler and he lost his balance more easily. Lightly dodging those attacks a couple of times, Jang Geon smoothly received Jin Won-sang’s forehead ramming toward him with his right hand and passed him right over. Jin Won-sang flew as if thrown by someone and tumbled across the salt ground.

“Guh!”

This time, he could not get up right away from the ground like before. It was because the internal power boiling inside his body raged out of control at Jang Geon’s single hand gesture. Tumbling on the ground like that, he suddenly whipped his head up and glared at Jang Geon. Under the out-of-control internal force and pain, Jin Won-sang’s face distorted to the point where it couldn’t crumple any further.

He roared out.

“Do you,! Do you also think I was wrong? Should I not have held them responsible for their sin? Are you thinking that I shouldn’t have taken revenge for Soso!”

Throwing him over, Jang Geon merely faced him with calm eyes after returning to his initial stance, without answering anything. At Jang Geon’s unchanging appearance, Jin Won-sang, who was about to shout more, suddenly felt that those calm eyes seemed to reflect his own image like a serene lake.

And the moment he realized that, he felt an unknown sense of shame for reasons he couldn’t tell.

At the same time, a question arose. Why wasn’t he more curious about the child? Even if the healing of the illness went well, he would naturally be more curious about the circumstances. Was it really because he felt she was the daughter of the fellow who abused Soso? But if so, was there a need to steal even our temple’s Great Return Pill and come? In any case, saving Soso from her husband’s abuse would have been enough.

“Ah.”

That was it. To him, the important thing was only Soso. The thought of bringing the Great Return Pill to cure her daughter’s illness was because he thought Soso would be happy about it. That was all. There was no mercy of Buddha he had learned for over ten years in that. At the same time, there was no respect for his Master and martial brothers. It was merely a shallow thought of regaining his former lover’s favor.

And now that she was dead, because he could no longer win her heart, that child had no special meaning to him. From the moment he resolved to run to this New Continent upon seeing the letter, he was not the Shaolin monk Jin Jo, but merely a pathetic Won-sang going crazy wanting to regain the lover he missed.

However, despite shedding the appearance of Jin Jo and the past ten years to come here, the fact that what he ultimately faced was Soso’s death drained even the light from that foolish Won-sang’s image. Now, what was here was merely a demonic practitioner who made revenge an excuse to beat people to death indiscriminately and knew only himself.

“…Hehe, heha, hehaha! Uhahaha,!”

Wearing a dazed expression by himself, Jin Won-sang suddenly began laughing as if he had lost his mind. And along with that laughter, the blood tears that had stopped for a moment flowed in streams again, the blood vessels in his neck stood out, and purplish blood vessels rose on his face and body. His appearance became no different from a gruesome monster, yet his mouth kept laughing, so there was no other demon like this.

Even while watching that appearance, Jang Geon had no wobble from his initial stance. However, his two eyes looking at Jin Won-sang were settling deeper.

Laughing like mad, Jin Won-sang suddenly stopped laughing abruptly and said.

“The Sword Dragon Sect must all die.”

He spoke like a crazy fellow, then leaped up and abruptly charged toward the Sword Dragon Sect martial artists. The Sword Dragon Sect martial artists, who were holding each other’s injured bodies and staying far away, flinched in surprise at his sudden charge and screamed.

“What the fuck! Why is he suddenly doing this!”

“S-Save me! Please! No!”

At Jin Won-sang’s sudden charge, Jin Gyeon, who had been sitting down, hurriedly stood up and blocked the front of the martial artists.

“Stop, Junior Brother Jin Jo!”

However, his two arms could not even be raised due to the injuries obtained a short while ago. And Jin Won-sang thrust his clawed hand forward as if he didn’t care about Jin Gyeon’s circumstances, as if he would just tear him to death. Seeing that hand, Jin Gyeon did not pull back. He had a face as if he would rather block it with his body than step aside. Bloodshot Jin Won-sang’s eyes showed no hesitation.

Right before that claw torn Jin Gyeon’s throat, Jin Won-sang was pulled away by some force grabbing his waist from behind. That force turned him half a circle in midair as it was, attempting to drive him into the ground.

However, while being pulled like that, Jin Won-sang violently snapped his waist in midair, shook off Jang Geon’s hand, turned a cartwheel in midair, and landed on the ground. And he immediately threw a right punch at Jang Geon.

Jang Geon intended to raise his left hand and wrap around that fist to push it away like in the previous clash. But the moment the fist and palm met, Jang Geon’s eyebrows twitched. Because the internal energy contained inside was incomparably more powerful than before.

In that moment, he once again ducked the fist like a reed with supple body movements. Immediately after, the internal power contained in the missed fist that was not fully resolved shot out with a pyung sound, leaving a deep fist mark on the white salt ground with a thud.

“Uhahahaha!”

Jin Won-sang then attacked Jang Geon again. Unbelievable immense force was contained in that fist, gestures, and steps, tearing through empty space and smashing the ground as it aimed for Jang Geon. Jang Geon’s movements facing it were wobbling and spinning like before, but at the same time, they looked incomparably precarious.

From the steps the two trod and the internal energy erupting like a storm, the white salt ground and sand were crushed, raising dust that lightly covered their feet.

Pushing Jang Geon back with movements that made his previous flailing unrecallable, Jin Won-sang shouted out.

“How long do you think you can just block and dodge like that!”

After that shout, a murky gray energy formed on his fist. Internal power exceeding normal degree was revealed externally along his skin and fist, like the sword qi rising on bladed weapons. If one had to name it, it could be called fist qi.

“Die,!”

Seeing that light, Jang Geon felt he could no longer block Jin Won-sang by dodging and deflecting. No, of course, if he wanted to keep doing that, he could. Having fully absorbed the spirit medicine obtained from the valley spirit the day before, Jang Geon could match him by recklessly pushing internal power into his hands and feet as much as the raging Jin Won-sang.

However, Jang Geon was feeling one more thing. That Jin Won-sang’s current monstrous internal force was his life force. The qi deviation was finally burning away his everything. It was a firepower that would not last long, like burning straw.

At the same time, Jang Geon was looking into Jin Won-sang’s eyes.

Unlike his gruesomely distorted face and devilishly laughing mouth, right now Jin Won-sang’s two pupils were settled surprisingly calmly and clearly as they faced him. Jang Geon knew what those clear eyes were saying.

“Hehaha! Die, die,!”

Laughing like a madman, Jin Won-sang extended his right fist straight out with gray energy wrapped around it. It was a straight punch extended straight without any trickery or falsehood. It was pure and concise, unlike his devil-like face.

Jang Geon’s left hand extended out to meet that fist. His hand smoothly deflected Jin Won-sang’s simply approaching fist like flowing water, penetrating into Jin Won-sang’s chest. At the same time, starting from Jang Geon’s toe, a fine rotation passed sequentially through his ankle, knee, waist, shoulder, elbow, and wrist, reaching his fingertips. And those fingertips touched Jin Won-sang’s chest like a feather alighting.

After that, slightly late, a thudding vibration arose from Jin Won-sang’s body. After that vibration, neither Jang Geon nor Jin Won-sang moved. The dust that had risen lightly from the duel of the two slowly settled onto the ground.

The sky was still blue, and thin feather clouds floated here and there. The salt plain stretching wide in white light and that sky simply looked peaceful. That landscape was not much different from before they started fighting or now.

Just then, Jin Won-sang opened his mouth.

“…Warrior Jang. Did I tell you that child’s name? Soso’s daughter.”

He asked like that in a slightly hoarse voice. It was a tired voice, but at least it was a better voice to listen to than when he laughed like a madman.

“No. You did not tell me.”

“I see. The child’s name is Jin Seo-ha…”

He faltered for a moment as if something rose from within.

“…This character Jin really intertwined with my life. It was the surname of the fellow who took Soso, it was my generational name when I received my monastic name, and naturally it is also the surname of Soso’s daughter… And ultimately, it was the character I should have realized by looking at myself.”

Just then, without even a surge, bright red blood flowed out in streams from his mouth. Even while shedding blood like that, he looked at Jang Geon and smiled faintly.

“Because of a humble monk like me, you suffered much trouble over the past few days, Warrior Jang. And I am sorry, but please take care of Seo-ha.”

“I am a wanderer without a home.”

“She is a child who lost both parents in a short time. Whether you send her to Shaolin Temple or anywhere else, just don’t leave her alone in the meantime.”

Hesitating for a moment, Jang Geon nodded. Seeing that, Jin Won-sang also gave a small nod, and next moment tipped backward and collapsed.

“Jin Jo! Junior Brother Jin Jo!”

Seeing Jin Won-sang collapse, Jin Gyeon ran over. But lying on his back looking up at the sky, he had already stopped breathing. Kneeling before that corpse, Jin Gyeon tightly closed his eyes and hung his head in grief.

“…Namo Amitabha… Buddha… Avalokiteshvara… Bodhisattva…”

Hearing that restrained prayer mixed with tears, Jang Geon turned his head away. The salt plain stretching a night’s ride west from Salt Lake City had not a single blade of grass or animal to be found, only the sound of a thin, dry wind ringing faintly. Whether that stark white landscape was desolation or unblemished purity would be up to the person looking at it.

Hesitating for a moment, Jang Geon nodded. Seeing that, Jin Won-sang also gave a small nod, and the next moment tipped backward and collapsed.

“Jin Jo! Junior Brother Jin Jo!”

Seeing Jin Won-sang collapse, Jin Gyeon ran over. But lying on his back looking up at the sky, he had already stopped breathing. Kneeling before that corpse, Jin Gyeon tightly closed his eyes and hung his head in grief.

“…Namo Amitabha… Buddha… Avalokiteshvara, Bodhisattva…”

Hearing that restrained prayer mixed with tears, Jang Geon turned his head away. The salt plain stretching a night’s ride west from Salt Lake City had not a single blade of grass or animal to be found, only the sound of a thin, dry wind ringing faintly. Whether that stark white landscape was desolation or unblemished purity would be up to the person looking at it.

Over there, Jojo was trotting up holding the reins of the other horse in his mouth. Discovering that, Jang Geon formed a bitter smile without realizing it.