Chapter 181: v8c6 - First Clash
Volume 8 Chapter 6 – First Clash
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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It was an event so sudden that no one could react.
The body of the District Chief, who was struck on the jaw by Yeon So-hyeon, spun once in the air and rolled on the ground.
Those around could see the teeth fallen from the District Chief’s mouth shining dazzlingly in the midday sun along with fresh blood. “……!”
Although they did not grasp the situation exactly, the three guard officers standing around the District Chief drew their swords all at once, just as they had been trained.
“An ambush—!”
“Protect the District Chief—!”
The words they shouted could not even be finished.
From the abdomen of the guard officer standing on the far right, a sound like an old tree breaking and falling echoed.
It was the sound echoing as his armor was shattered to pieces by Yeon So-hyeon’s Silk-Reeling Force.
Struck by a single fist without even having time to raise his internal energy properly, he flew backward and crashed into a wall as if hit directly by a battering ram.
“…Eeek!”
“Hup!”
The second and third guard officers succeeded in executing one stance each before the first guard officer could fly off and crash into the wall.
However, their strikes cut through the air in vain.
And even before they could feel that their strikes had missed, Yeon So-hyeon’s palms had already reached each of their chests.
With a sound like a drum bursting, the bodies of the two guard officers flew through the air like arrows and collided with different buildings.
As if their bodies, which crashed through the walls, had broken some important pillar, the flimsy slum buildings collapsed all at once.
“How dare you…”
Pulling back his hands, Yeon So-hyeon brushed off his sleeves.
At that moment, with a rumbling sound, a stone wall collapsed on top of the guard officer who had first flown and crashed into it.
Amidst the thick dust that scattered, with everyone’s eyes gathered upon him, Yeon So-hyeon spoke.
“To swing a sword at this Eldest Young Master. You should be grateful that I showed this much mercy.”
One of the District Chief’s aides, who was listening to those words, pointed at Yeon So-hyeon with a trembling hand.
“Even, even if you are the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family, to do, to do such an outrageous thing—”
The words could not be finished.
Hit by Yeon So-hyeon’s single fist, the aide spun once in the air and tumbled onto the ground, in the exact same manner as the District Chief. “……!”
Everyone’s eyes widened once again as if they would tear.
With their mouths wide open, not even realizing dust was entering, the officials could not believe the sight they were seeing.
To assault officials in broad daylight and in front of everyone’s eyes!
Yeon So-hyeon did not even cast a glance at the dumbfounded crowd and looked directly at the Chief of Security.
“You there. Are you the one in charge of the government soldiers?”
Meeting Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze, the Chief of Security gasped in surprise, threw away his hexagonal club, and grabbed his sword hilt.
However, having witnessed all the previous events, he did not have the courage to dare draw his sword.
Watching him hesitate, Yeon So-hyeon spoke as if commanding.
“Withdraw all the government soldiers.”
Should he follow the Eldest Young Master’s command?
“Th-the Eldest Young Master has no authority to command this official!”
If a military officer were to follow the command of the Eldest Young Master in front of everyone, his career as an official would be as good as over.
He shook his head even while breaking out in a cold sweat.
“To assault the District Chief and ambush the government’s military officers, this matter can never be easily overlooked…!”
Watching the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family sigh and take steps to gradually approach, he stepped backward.
Those standing between him and Yeon So-hyeon parted to the left and right, as if avoiding a plague patient.
“Obstructing the execution of official duties of an official appointed by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor by force is defined as a grave crime in the solemn laws of the State of Zhongyuan…!”
The closer Yeon So-hyeon approached, the faster his backward steps became, and the speed at which he moved his lips and tongue quickened accordingly.
“E-Eldest Young Master! This official is a member of the Lee Family, which maintains a good relationship with the Luoyang Sword Family…!”
“The Lee Family?”
“Y-yes, indeed! Our Lee Family is—”
Yeon So-hyeon cut off his words.
“Is not that District Chief bastard collapsed back there a direct descendant of the Lee Family? I heard the Lee Family inserts its family members into Luoyang’s government offices like that, and you were one of them.”
“Wh-what…?!”
Yeon So-hyeon’s footsteps stopped.
It was not because the Chief of Security’s nonsense had worked.
It was because the Chief of Security’s back hit the wall, leaving him with nowhere else to retreat.
“This is the final warning. Withdraw your forces.”
The Chief of Security’s trembling gaze swept around.
Not a single one among the officials opened their mouth.
There was no one who would offer help.
Yet, he could not follow Yeon So-hyeon’s command.
If he were later investigated by the center for withdrawing his forces under the instruction of Yeon So-hyeon, who had no official post, they would all pour out hostile testimonies.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
“…I cannot do that.”
“Is that so?”
Answering as if it were nothing, Yeon So-hyeon turned his gaze and looked around.
The sight of the officials quickly backing away, fearing his gaze might reach them, came into view, but from the beginning, it was not them that Yeon So-hyeon was looking at.
“Oh, mother. Please open your eyes…!”
“Father! Father!”
The figure of a wife shedding tears while holding her husband who died with his head broken.
The figure of a family wailing while holding their father who could not rise.
The figure of children at their wits’ end beside their mother who lay writhing.
In the place swept through by the government soldiers, cries of grief, wailing, and sorrow remained. “…….”
Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze turned toward the bound members of the House of Benevolence and Love.
All the members of the House of Benevolence and Love, except for the armed forces who had retreated to avoid clashing with the government, were there.
Bleeding from his head and with his collarbone sunken, the old physician, who had somehow managed not to lose consciousness, met Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze.
‘I told them to withdraw first if something unexpected happened, though.’
They had protected the slum residents until the very end, only to be severely beaten and captured.
“Eldest Young Master! Eldest Young Master! Please…!”
Yeon So-hyeon looked at the Chief of Security, who could neither let go of his greed to maintain his official post nor show any regret for the wrongful execution.
His shallow thought of believing that the matter would end if he just got hit once and fainted like the other officers was plainly visible.
“The warning is over.”
Yeon So-hyeon lightly tapped his shoulder and turned around.
“Ugh…?!”
Behind Yeon So-hyeon, who turned and walked away, the Chief of Security fell to his knees.
Dark red blood poured from his mouth in a stream, and his body convulsed uncontrollably.
It was because a terrible hidden force destroyed his dantian in an instant and tore apart the meridians of his entire body.
The Yang Family’s secret transmission, Thunderous Sky-Piercing Cannon.
It was a Thunderous Sky-Piercing Cannon that no longer retained even a shred of its original form.
Though he did not die instantly due to Yeon So-hyeon’s control, he would have to spend the rest of his life as little more than a cripple. “…….”
Having turned, Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze directed toward the government soldiers.
Standing in a daze, unable to do this or that, every single one of the government soldiers held a blood-stained hexagonal club in their hands.
Their number easily exceeded a hundred.
Yeon So-hyeon’s mouth opened.
“Subdue and drive them all out!”
The shout laden with internal energy was practically a signal flare in itself.
The armed forces of the House of Benevolence and Love, which had been hiding and waiting after temporarily retreating, began to pour out onto the street.
“Wh-what?!”
A government soldier tried to respond clumsily, only to be struck by an iron-reinforced staff and collapse.
The government soldiers tried to respond somehow, but they were not an army and were merely security forces.
Although their numbers were similar, the armed forces of the House of Benevolence and Love, whose equipment level was different from the start, began to beat them unilaterally.
“Th-these crazy people…?! Attacking government soldiers is no different from rebellion!”
One of the intermediate commanders shouted in a trembling voice.
Just as he said, attacking government soldiers was a serious crime that treated one as a rebel, but the armed forces of the House of Benevolence and Love, who followed their leader’s command, did not hesitate in the slightest.
The intermediate commander, swept up by them, curled up his body without even being able to scream under the showering blows of clubs.
“Gather in the corner!”
“Maintain the formation!”
There were government soldiers who tried to form a line in the corner and respond as they had been trained, but there were two people who rushed in instantly and crushed their formation.
“You bastards! Did you think you could just get away with beating up innocent people?!”
“Hey! Beat down even one more instead of wasting time shouting!”
It was Suran and Cheong Ho-wi.
In every direction they rampaged in high spirits, government soldiers flew through the air and rolled on the ground.
At that sight, the intermediate commanders in the rear rank shouted like a scream.
“Re-retreat!”
* * *
“U-uaaa…?!”
Lee, the District Chief of Cheonghak District, who had lost consciousness, regained his senses after having water mixed with filth poured all over him.
But for some reason, his body was tightly bound, and he could not even raise his head properly.
‘Wh-what is this—?’
Before he could even grasp the situation, Yeon So-hyeon’s voice reached his ears.
“What are you doing? Since the bastard has regained consciousness, continue the execution.”
Upon hearing his voice, the District Chief could recall the situation he was in.
He was bound to the torture rack that the security forces could not even pack and had left behind as it was.
And….
“Five strokes!”
With a slapping sound, District Chief Lee’s eyes widened as if they would pop out, and his body bound to the punishment rack twisted as if in convulsions.
“Six strokes!”
The sixth paddle struck his buttocks.
“Mmmph…!”
If it were not for the dirty gag stuffed in his mouth, all his teeth would have already been broken.
“Seven strokes!”
From the corner of the mouth of the old physician, the branch manager of the House of Benevolence and Love’s Walnut Village branch who was watching that sight from afar, a leaking chuckle slipped out.
“Why is a dying old man laughing like that as if something is good?”
The old shamaness who was administering first aid frowned.
She was another branch manager of the Walnut Village branch who had returned after leading the migration of the slum residents who left first.
“Tsk. You are a physician yourself, yet you are the one receiving treatment instead…”
Whether the upset old shamaness clicked her tongue or not, the old physician laughed.
Besides them, supporting medical staff who had gathered under Yeon So-hyeon’s command were tending to the wounded in the surroundings.
The sight of uninjured slum residents being relocated according to the original plan was also visible.
“Eight strokes!”
* * *
The government soldiers who had been captured like prisoners ran toward the Lee Family carrying District Chief Lee and the Chief of Security, who had both been beaten half to death.
Although Suran and Cheong Ho-wi waved their hands to see them off, their minds were not so at ease.
They approached Yeon So-hyeon, who was issuing instructions here and there on the spot.
“Eldest Young Master.”
Yeon So-hyeon turned to them, a smile as usual hanging on the corners of his mouth.
“Did both of you warm up your bodies thoroughly?”
“Yes, thanks to… wait, no.”
Having nodded their heads reflexively at his words, they quickly shook their heads.
“Is it alright to just send those fellows back like that?”
At Suran’s question, Yeon So-hyeon replied as if it were unexpected.
“Wouldn’t it make things too complicated if we killed them?”
At those words, the two of them jumped.
“Kill high-ranking officials?!”
“That is not what we meant!”
Yeon So-hyeon burst into laughter at that sight.
Having merely made a joke, there was no way he did not know the intention behind their words.
“I know your worries well.”
The reason all the officials, without exception, had taken a stiff attitude was that touching public authority would bring about great future trouble to an unstoppable degree.
“Not only did we simply drive them away, but making them half-dead like that…”
“Furthermore, weren’t both the Chief of Security and the District Chief members of that Lee Family?”
At their concerns, Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
“That is true. If we just fold our hands and do nothing while giving our enemies an excellent justification like this, we will be unilaterally torn apart.”
Sensing something in his words, Suran asked again.
“Does that mean you have a way…?”
The smile on Yeon So-hyeon’s lips grew even deeper.
“From now on, I intend to invade the Lee Family and pull out even their very last foundation stone.”
At the chilling killing intent, the two of them reflexively took a step back each.
With a dumbfounded expression at Yeon So-hyeon’s words, Suran spoke.
“…You are going to tear down the Lee Family?”
“Because not only that District Chief bastard but the entire Lee Family has joined hands with that Second Young Master bastard.”
His eyes flashed.
“This is a war between me and that Second Young Master bastard.”
Yeon So-hyeon turned his gaze toward the slum residents migrating in a line in the distance.
“And in war, flogging the buttocks of a single District Chief bastard is merely the beginning.”