Chapter 61: Why Is the Embarrassment Mine to Bear
Even after that, clashes with the bandits occurred frequently.
Every time, I gave the bandits a chance, but the results were all the same.
Whenever they launched a surprise attack, they all grabbed handfuls of dirt and threw them.
“If they love digging up the ground so much, they should do some productive farming instead. Tsk!”
Continuing with this fruitless task made me feel a bit tired.
Perhaps because of that, the words my masters had spoken came to mind.
Especially the words spoken by Master Heavenly Demon.
It was a futile effort.
“Futile… Does that mean a pointless endeavor?”
Since they were people who lived by swindling others, their character was obvious. If I had been weak and easy, they would likely have slit my throat and plundered my pockets.
They were people of absolutely no use to the world. It was clear that they were the kind of spawn whose eradication would benefit the world.
It was a decision made with the thought of reducing the accumulation of killing karma since I had been getting too much blood on my hands lately, but since the results turned out like this, I somehow felt a sense of self-doubt.
“A pointless endeavor doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, does it? If a person lives only for efficiency, wouldn’t that actually be horrible? You live like this, and you live like that.”
[Though it is only occasionally, that fellow has a knack for hitting the nail on the head.]
The one accompanying me today was Master Bodhidharma.
Master Bodhidharma spoke highly of Baek Mu-ho’s remark.
He seemed to view such a disposition as a glimpse of Baek Mu-ho’s flashing talent.
“I don’t know about other things, but coming from you, those words are incredibly persuasive, you know?”
“This bastard picks a fight even when I’m comforting him. Argh!”
Baek Mu-ho, who growled as if he would bite at any moment, cleared his throat and continued speaking, perhaps feeling embarrassed deep down.
“Ahem! Do a better job this time. Try coaxing them with nice words. You know, like, ‘Your mother is crying!’ or ‘You were born to be loved!'”
Putting aside the mention of one’s mother, I wondered if telling people who were desperate enough to end up in a place like this committing banditry that they were “born to be loved” was a different kind of wide-area provocation.
Did he say that to screw with me?
While contemplating for a moment, I naturally scanned my surroundings.
In the depths of the rugged mountains, traces of people passing by were visible.
Judging by past experience, bandits were likely operating in this area.
Indeed, I felt the presence of someone.
“Hm?”
The problem was the sound that echoed right after.
*Clang!*
The sound, which spread violently through the mountain echoes, was intense enough to be detected even by a non-martial artist.
“Looks like someone got here before us?”
“Indeed.”
It was the sound of clashing swords in the mountains, which were presumed to be a bandit operation area.
At first, I wondered if the bandits were in the middle of a sword fight after catching a target, but I could soon guess that the roles had been reversed.
The quality of the sound made by the sword strikes was not ordinary.
“Let’s go.”
Moving toward the sound, I soon saw people fiercely swinging their swords, cutting down those who appeared to be bandits.
The two young men and one woman cornering the bandits wore the same uniform, indicating they belonged to the same affiliation.
[Clear Wind Sword Art. They are of the Qingcheng Sect.]
“Clear Wind Sword Art… Qingcheng Sect?”
“Oh! Impressive. You recognized it?”
I had only repeated Master Bodhidharma’s words exactly, but Baek Mu-ho reacted with surprise.
“Well, the martial arts of the Nine Great Sects are widely known.”
“That’s true. The Qingcheng Sect was highly renowned as one of the Five Great Sword Sects even before the Nine Great Sects fully took root and gained fame. By the way, it seems to be true that the Nine Great Sects are on the move. Seeing them personally coming out to clean up even in these deep mountains, they seem to be acting quite proactively.”
Come to think of it, I had heard that the Nine Great Sects were moving rather aggressively.
The movement of the Qingcheng Sect, which held a seat among the Nine Great Sects, was as good as proving that the bandits’ testimonies were true.
“It’s a mess…”
The Qingcheng Sect was running wild in the Sichuan region, which was like a lit thunderbolt bomb that could detonate at any moment.
Already, the future ahead of me felt bleak.
“Who goes there!”
While a sigh escaped me at the wretched turn of events, one of the three who had finished cutting down all the bandits pointed their sword in our direction.
My brow furrowed naturally at the sharp voice, which sounded as if they would pounce at any second.
[Their upright mind is lacking. If one surrenders their mind to emotion, their martial arts will grow dull and disorganized. Disciples of the prestigious Qingcheng Sect ought to be talents, yet how can they wield a sword so disrupted by emotion? Tsk, tsk.]
Master Bodhidharma clicked his tongue, offering a harsh criticism of the Qingcheng Sect disciple’s speech and behavior.
As Master Bodhidharma said, they were indeed emotionally worked up. Since they were also excited from seeing blood, it was only natural for them to be wary of the appearance of a complete third party.
‘On the contrary, if they approached closely without showing any wariness, that’s when I should be careful. If they narrow the distance while reacting in an unusual manner, it might be for the purpose of launching a surprise attack.’
Thinking of it that way, the opponent’s response was ordinary.
‘It’s not that I can’t understand… but it is a bit disappointing.’
However, the very fact that a disciple of the Nine Great Sects was described as ordinary was a problem in itself. This was because the baseline of comparison was different.
Thinking about it that way, Master Bodhidharma’s words were not wrong either.
“You seem too excited.”
“Indeed. Those people don’t seem to be in league with the bandits here. Seeing that there is a young hero carrying a sword, they appear to be martial artists who came to help, worried that someone might be suffering misfortune at the hands of the bandits instead.”
Fortunately, two of the three showed signs of restraining their companion’s behavior.
Even so, they closely observed us. They seemed to be reading our atmosphere to confirm if we were truly not enemies.
While they refrained from excessive actions, they did not act thoughtlessly either.
‘Yes, this is how the Nine Great Sects should be.’
Although I had been expelled after living as a lay disciple of the Wudang Sect, being a main sect disciple of the Nine Great Sects had once been my dream and longing. Seeing such a disciple show lacking behavior brought a strange sense of displeasure.
In such a situation, seeing the normal (?) reaction of a disciple of the Nine Great Sects made me feel completely relieved.
“Hmph! How can we know a person just by looking at their appearance?”
Though there was one guy who kept acting foolishly until the very end.
‘Let’s just assume that guy is a fool.’
Was it said that if five people gather, one of them is bound to be trash?
The Nine Great Sects were also a place where human beings lived.
In fact, I had experienced it firsthand.
‘Like Yin Si-hoo, or Wise Tao Hall Leader Shin Je-hyeon.’
“I am Lee Do-cheon, a main sect disciple of the Qingcheng Sect.”
While I was briefly recalling those annoying individuals, the other party clasped his fists first and revealed his name.
I also clasped my fists and exchanged greetings.
“Ah, I am Yeon Cheong-un, living in Hubei. This is my friend, Baek Mu-ho. Just as the young lady over there said, we heard the sound of clashing weapons deep in the mountains and came to help if there was any trouble, but I didn’t expect to meet disciples of the Qingcheng Sect.”
Thinking there might be a chance of misunderstanding, I added a detailed explanation of why we came here.
“……!”
However, the reaction of the man named Lee Do-cheon upon hearing my name was strange. Should I say he flinched as if surprised?
Not only that, but the reactions of the other two behind him were similar.
“Is there a problem?”
“Haha! No. It’s just that, by coincidence, it’s a name I’ve heard quite often recently.”
“Hmph!”
Lee Do-cheon wore an awkward look, as if embarrassed to have revealed his inner thoughts.
The annoying jerk in the back was confident while completely displaying his feelings of displeasure and irritation.
Looking at the reactions of the two, they seemed to think of me as someone with the same name.
‘That works too.’
My goal was to deliver the letter entrusted to me by my grandfather to Teacher Emerald Bamboo in Sichuan. I wanted to decline being thrown into the middle of the chaotic arena of the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions by getting entangled with the Qingcheng Sect for no reason.
‘Let’s just pass by quietly…’
While I was responding calmly, thinking we would part ways once we exchanged some light pleasantries, a presence was felt.
The stealthy movement of someone approaching while quietly suppressing their presence caught my senses.
Although they approached while suppressing their presence quite a bit, they could not escape the Listening Force of Master Zhang Sanfeng and the synesthesia of Master Heavenly Demon.
The problem was that the annoying jerk, who was the actual target, was completely unaware of it.
“Damn it!!”
He was a jerk, but I couldn’t just let him die.
I would rather save him and punch him myself.
I drew up the power of the Heavy Earth Divine Art’s third stage in an instant. Combined with the essentials of the Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step, my movement became so fast that it was difficult to trace with the naked eye.
“Ah!”
Unintentionally, I had no choice but to bypass Lee Do-cheon’s side as I moved.
Before the voice raised by Lee Do-cheon, who was startled by my movement that went beyond his awareness, could even fade, my body arrived near the annoying jerk.
‘This idiot!’
However, I could not immediately respond to the one attempting the sneak attack.
Because the startled jerk thrust his hand toward me.
[It is the Heart-Shattering Palm. Be careful.]
The Heart-Shattering Palm was an internal hand technique known to rupture the heart and collapse the internal organs of the target upon impact. It was a martial art so famous that there was a saying that if Wudang had the Cotton Palm technique, the Qingcheng Sect had the Heart-Shattering Palm.
‘Has this bastard lost his mind?’
It was a situation where nice words could not possibly come out.
‘First, with Neutralizing Force!’
The softness of Wudang.
The Tai Chi Chuan executed with one hand read the flow of the Taiji Line and pushed aside the trajectory of the Heart-Shattering Palm.
“Gasp!”
While his attack was neutralized, the jerk’s eyes widened in horror, perhaps having spotted the attack aimed at his flank.
‘Next, the divine power of metal!’
I channeled the divine power of metal, the strength of the Metal God of the West, into my other hand.
I struck back directly against the sword strike that emitted a chilling sharpness.
*Clang clang clang!*
“Damn it!”
It was not just a sword. The sword strikes, imbued with sword qi, fluctuated three times and twisted their path.
At any other time, I would have simply read the Taiji Line and deflected it with Neutralizing Force, but I had to face it head-on for fear that this fool right next to me would get cut.
Thanks to that, even though I mobilized the divine power of metal, it was painful enough to chill my bones.
‘Now that it has come to this, I’ll save you no matter what and discipline you with a good punch!’
Since I had gone this far, I had to save him if only to make up for my grievances.
Fortunately, by clashing and blocking head-on, I gained a bit of distance.
Then, it was time to push them back.
‘Tiger Fist!’
Striking and driving them back.
Valiantly like a tiger.
*Clang clang clang clang!*
“Ugh!”
This time, the opponent was surprised.
The martial arts of Shaolin, where the entire body was a weapon.
The ferocity of the fists and kicks poured out all at once in perfect harmony of hands and feet was savage and extreme violence itself.
Having launched a surprise attack only to be driven onto the defensive in an instant, they hastily retreated.
“To block the sword of this White Demon! You are impressive for a young kid! Who are you?”
It was a statement full of self-pride.
Thinking of the energy contained in his sword, it was fully understandable.
It was the same divine power of metal that had blocked the sword qi of Sang Woo-kyung, who had trained for over a decade in the Mount Hua Sect. The throbbing pain in my hand now was similar to back then.
Considering that I had currently achieved the third stage of the Heavy Earth Divine Art, it meant the energy this person loaded into his sword strike was superior to Sang Woo-kyung’s.
At this level, he was worthy of making a name for himself as a master in the martial world.
‘Why bother exchanging names?’
Even so, I had no intention of introducing myself.
At least, that was my thought.
Until those words erupted from behind my back.
“Young Heavenly Dragon!”
Lee Do-cheon’s gaze looking at me with astonished eyes was no longer that of someone mistaken, thinking of a person with the same name.
Startled, admiring, and astounded.
The words he uttered once more, containing all those emotions.
“Young Heavenly Dragon Yeon Cheong-un!”
At those words from Lee Do-cheon, the surrounding air shifted completely.
Excluding Baek Mu-ho, the gazes of everyone gathered here came to resemble Lee Do-cheon’s eyes.
‘Oh, crap!’
Amid that change, I myself was struggling to keep a straight face.
How should I put it. It felt like I had become an attention-seeker walking around with a nameplate, heavily decorated with gold and silver treasures, stuck on my forehead.
My grandfather’s words were not a joke, but the truth.
‘But why is the embarrassment all mine?’
A dragon of the heavens. Even self-praise should have its limits.
Only those accustomed to such things would enjoy them.
‘Master Heavenly Demon might enjoy it, but I’m not that kind of person!’
“Kikikik!”
Only Baek Mu-ho, who knew me very well, noticed my current feelings and held back his laughter under his breath.