Chapter 155: Formidable Opponent
Although the curse of calling him a goddamn bastard of the realm rose to his throat, Yoon Jin-hyeok had to swallow it down with all his might.
At any rate, the fact that Adept Heu-do was keeping an eye on Yin Si-hoo allowed him to barely hold onto his sanity.
‘He might be thinking of taking Si-hoo as a disciple.’
The talent of Yin Si-hoo, which had been raised by the great art of the Blood Cult, was outstanding beyond imagination.
For reasons unknown, the bloodlines of the Defeng Yin Clan were strangely well-suited to the great art of the Blood Cult.
Although he had been treated coldly because they concentrated all their power on Yin Seung-hwan, who had outstanding martial talent, the compatibility with the Blood Cult’s great art was far superior for Yin Si-hoo.
He even regretted why he had only noticed it now.
‘It’s possible. Adept Heu-do might have kept an eye on Yin Si-hoo’s talent, which changed to the point where one would think he had undergone Marrow Cleansing. Otherwise, there is no reason for him to come all the way to this place.’
Assumptions full of dreams and hopes hovered in Yoon Jin-hyeok’s mind.
Although it was something that could not happen under normal circumstances, because he had been suffering from so much anxiety of late, he did not even notice that his own thoughts were stiffening.
‘If so, I can make use of it.’
Like a thirsty man who discovered a water bag dropped in front of his eyes, Yoon Jin-hyeok sucked it up without thinking.
There was no room at all to examine what was inside it.
“Hmm?”
Adept Heu-do showed a strange reaction.
“What is…”
“By any chance, have you invited any other famous expert besides me?”
“No, I have not. Since some bad rumors have been floating around recently, we are currently keeping to ourselves.”
“He is quite a strong person.”
Yoon Jin-hyeok’s face turned stiffly hard.
‘Jang Mun-gyeong?’
To think that even the great Adept Heu-do said he was strong.
First of all, the name of Jang Mun-gyeong rose in Yoon Jin-hyeok’s mind.
‘If Jang Mun-gyeong came with determination, fleeing is the best.’
Unlike the other idiots of the clan, Yoon Jin-hyeok was good at knowing his place.
It was an essential ability for the family head of the Defeng Yin Clan.
If that had been impossible, he could not have led the family this far while utilizing something as dangerous as the great art of the Blood Cult.
“The one who comes with good intent does not come, and the one who comes with ill intent is not good.”
Although it means that a good connection does not come on its own feet to a person without effort, it was used in a different meaning in the martial world.
Although he was provoked by Adept Heu-do’s words that scraped his insides, Yoon Jin-hyeok had to keep his mouth shut.
Originally, the initiative is held by the side with power.
‘His character is grave and gentle? An upright person who dislikes the complexity of the world and never treats others carelessly? My foot! As expected, public rumors are nothing to be believed.’
Yoon Jin-hyeok interpreted the subtle hostility felt in Adept Heu-do’s words in a different way and accepted it.
‘He is trying to seize the initiative. That must mean he desires Si-hoo that much. Because if he becomes Adept Heu-do’s disciple, he will not be able to remain as just a lay disciple. It doesn’t look good since it would look like the Wudang Sect is snatching the successor of the Defeng Yin Clan.’
If it was Adept Heu-do’s trick to bring Yin Si-hoo in as a main sect disciple, it made sense.
At least in the structure Yoon Jin-hyeok was thinking, it was perfectly explained.
‘Whatever that ungrateful fellow is like, for now, surviving the crisis is the priority.’
[Jin-o. If the one currently approaching the main house is Jang Mun-gyeong, throw a few of the clan’s idiots to him. I will bring this old man soon, so until then, set up the situation to make our Defeng Yin Clan look like the victim.]
Having received the instruction through transmission, Yoon Jin-o hurried away from his seat, saying he was worried about the situation.
‘Since he desires Si-hoo, when the opportunity to put the clan in his debt comes, he won’t just stand by and watch.’
Yoon Jin-hyeok, who had set up the board in his own way, held his hands cupped in salute with a serious expression.
“To think that a figure of such caliber that the Perfected One speaks of is coming, I am deeply afraid. We have always tried to be fair and upright, but there may be small-minded people trying to oppress us with groundless rumors recently. If by any chance there is an unpleasant affair, would you not lend a hand?”
“Me?”
“Yes. If you only do that, I will give you whatever you want. I request this earnestly.”
Yoon Jin-hyeok bowed deeply.
‘This will do.’
Yoon Jin-hyeok formed a thick smile while his head was bowed.
But because of that, Yoon Jin-hyeok did not see.
“…I will think about it.”
That the gaze of Adept Heu-do, who answered, was ice-cold.
***
“The Defeng Yin Clan is a place where human-scum trash are gathered. As it borders the village, if any fellow escapes, great damage will occur. Although I have laid hands in my own way, there must absolutely be no fellow who is missed.”
Although it is general practice (?) to start by smashing the main gate when sorting out right and wrong in the martial world, this was the reason they quietly crossed the wall this time.
If they got startled and scattered in all directions, civilian damage could really occur, just as Senior Jang Mun-gyeong said.
If that happened, we who stirred up the Defeng Yin Clan would also be rebuked in bulk.
“Do not show mercy in your attacks. This does not mean to beat them all to death, but it means there is no need to show leniency. Even if we only put forward what we saw in the Defeng Yin Clan shrine we just swept, the justification is ours.”
Ahead of the wall of the Defeng Yin Clan, Senior Jang Mun-gyeong made a final request.
At any rate, while taking care of the accompanying Young Lady Jang So-wol, he seemed to take care of us together.
“Let’s go.”
Along with Senior Jang Mun-gyeong’s instruction, the party scattered in a semi-encirclement form and crossed the wall.
Although it was a wall higher than a person’s height, as they jumped over it easily with a single leap, the warrior standing guard inside was visible.
‘As expected, they seem to be alert to Senior Jang Mun-gyeong moving.’
Taking advantage of the gap while he was guarding in another direction, he quickly approached from behind.
‘The nauseating direction…’
Since communicating with heaven, he often felt an unknown disgust from people, but he did not know the criteria clearly.
Although he wondered if they were fellows associated with the Blood Cult, no disgust was felt from the fellows who used black qi.
However, one thing was certain.
That he was a fellow with some problem!
‘If he is a fellow of the Defeng Yin Clan, it must mean he is a fellow who did that deed in that place.’
He was a fellow who deserved to die.
Thump!
“Ugh?!”
At the same time as making him lose balance by striking his knee joint with his foot, he crushed his head in a single strike.
Crack!
‘One fellow approaching.’
Meanwhile, a sign of life was felt beyond the corner.
Whether he heard something briefly just now, his approaching footsteps were cautious.
‘This time, it is not nauseating…’
Although there were cases where it flickered, being felt and then not felt, and the reason was unknown, what was certain was that he had never been wrong about the fellow who emitted this disgust.
There was no certainty that he was a person who received the Blood Cult’s great art in the shrine.
However, seeing the traces of training felt in his walk, it was clear he was a warrior.
‘What should I do?’
The judgment was made quickly.
‘Just do not kill him.’
He moved immediately.
“…”
The moment he turned the corner, he charged in a surprise attack and snatched his neck. And he immediately sealed his mute acupoint.
At that moment, a heavy sensation rose from his abdomen.
The counterattack unleashed at the moment his neck was grabbed struck his abdomen.
It felt like he used his hand with the intention of shattering the dantian.
However.
Thud!
“Nothing much, is it?”
“…”
At the moment of being hit, he unfolded the Soft Vajra.
He made good use of what he had learned.
Turning the blow into nothingness and subduing the opponent’s neck, it was a complete profit in gain and loss.
‘What follows is at my discretion.’
Since he held the neck, shaking the center of the body was a piece of cake.
He smoothly shook the opponent’s center and forced a weakness in the body.
Although he tried to escape by hooking his leg around his knee to hold on somehow, he was faster.
Pulling the hand holding the neck with all his might and then shaking it left and right, the opponent’s center shook like a reed.
In such a state, there was no way he could use his power properly.
Crack!
Therefore, he crushed the knee first.
The moment he hooked the leg and pulled it conversely to apply force, the sound of a joint bursting came from the opponent’s knee.
“…”
Because his mute acupoint was sealed, he could not even let out a single scream, yet his mouth fell wide open.
‘Next is the shoulder.’
He twisted the right shoulder and dislocated the joint.
When using one’s hands, one must do it thoroughly.
Even just now, if not for the Soft Vajra, he would have faced a major setback.
‘To finish, the dantian.’
Loading internal energy, he struck the opponent’s abdomen.
Thump!!
“!!”
Crushing one knee, one shoulder, and shattering the dantian.
He would not be able to live an ordinary life hereafter.
“It’s fine as long as you don’t die.”
He was a person of decent skill.
Even if he did not receive the Blood Cult’s great art, it was clear he held a position in the Defeng Yin Clan.
Even so, whether it was an unsightly view, Master Zhang Sanfeng spoke a word from heaven.
[Wouldn’t it be better to just kill him?]
“Although he is a fellow who held a position in the Defeng Yin Clan, I am not sure if he is a fellow who deserves to die. So I must give him room for rehabilitation. Even if he does not rehabilitate, I have taken measures so that he can no longer commit sins, so it is safe (?). If by any chance he mends his ways on earth and lives a long, long time, wouldn’t it be a gain for this person in the end?”
[Well… consequently… what you say is right, but…]
For now, even Master Zhang Sanfeng did not break his logic.
There is a saying that even rolling in a field of dog dung is better on earth.
Hearing what hell was like, he thought that this might rather be mercy.
[I feel as if this master has made some mistake.]
“It is just your imagination.”
[Is that so?]
Although he did not want to accept it, Master Zhang Sanfeng spoke in a way of being convinced.
For some reason, it felt like a father who had lost a verbal fight to his child for the first time.
[…Raising a child is indeed such a difficult task. Sigh!]
‘No, if you speak like that, doesn’t it make me look like some spoiled child?’
If a fellow like him was a child, wasn’t that a problem in itself?
[Dear me. What kind of strange thing did that gentleman Bodhidharma touch to make me suffer alone?]
Come to think of it, Master Bodhidharma had not come in at all lately.
Previously, he had said he was busy with some business in Tibet, was it that?
‘I requested Master Bodhidharma to look into those who deal with black qi in hell, was it because of that?’
This seemed to be an affair they had to talk about.
But for now, it was a matter after finishing the business of the Defeng Yin Clan.
He focused on the immediate front.
Moving as covertly as possible, he dealt with the visible fellows one by one.
He cleanly cut off the breath of the disgusting ones, and let the others live.
Around the time he had dealt with four more, Baek Mu-ho subtly approached.
“If you are going to let them live in that way, wouldn’t it be better to just kill them?”
“I am a generous person.”
For some reason, Baek Mu-ho looked unconvinced.
“…You are indeed very angry.”
Certainly, from the perspective of the onlookers, his actions looked different.
“How can a sparrow know the will of a phoenix?”
“Uh…”
[Mmm…]
‘Even Master, why are you like this?’
He felt like he would be hurt.
Anyone would think he had really snapped and slightly lost his grip on reason.
“Tsk!”
Right now, the Clear Brightness Mind Method was also ‘running’ perfectly. So there was no way he had lost his grip on reason.
While he was even worrying about the afterlife while letting those who could be killed live.
‘Before being discovered, I should catch a few more…’
“It’s Jang Mun-gyeong!”
“He really came!”
From afar, the shouting voices of the Defeng Yin Clan people were heard.
Although he had planned to deal with a few more covertly before being discovered, regrettably, it seemed to end here.
“Now, fellows who flee will come out.”
“Must be so.”
What he and Baek Mu-ho had to do from now on was to block them well so that the fellows who flee would not come out.
“Catch them!”
“Surround them so they cannot flee!”
However, a somewhat strange sound was heard.
“…Didn’t it sound like a shout to catch just now?”
“It seems you are not the only one who has lost his sanity.”
The fellow Baek Mu-ho had heard the same.
It meant his ears were not strange.
“Did I look too highly upon the Defeng Yin Clan?”
Even putting aside the madmen who were stagnant in the shrine, for the main house of the Defeng Yin Clan, which had been interacting with the world normally, to judge the situation like that.
Unless the blockheads of the Defeng Yin Clan had gone mad collectively, only one thing could be thought of.
“Does that mean they have a move they are confident in against one of the Ten Great Swords?”
This would rather be the rational thought.
Thinking so, tension filled him anew.