Chapter 29: Chapter 29
Namgung Jin was moving forward, drawing his sword and cutting away the bushes blocking his path as if it were bothersome.
Little Sword Dragon.
Acquiring that moniker was the first competition in the martial world that Namgung Jin had experienced.
For generations, the moniker Little Sword Dragon was bestowed upon the most outstanding young swordsman of the contemporary Righteous Path.
As the sword was a common weapon, forces famous for the sword were countless, but the most famous in the Righteous Path were the Namgung Clan, Mount Hua Sect, Wudang Sect, and Zhongnan Sect.
In the Wudang Sect and Zhongnan Sect, there were no rising stars around Namgung Jin’s age. However, in the Mount Hua Sect, there was a promising Plum Blossom Swordsman named Jin Un.
Martial artists of Shaanxi, including the Mount Hua Sect, considered that Jin Un would obtain the moniker of Little Sword Dragon.
However, the Namgung Clan, especially the Patriarch, the Sword King, could not just stand by and watch this.
A desperate training began. At that time, Namgung Jin’s day could only see its end once he satisfied his father, the Sword King.
Without his father’s permission, he could neither eat food nor sleep. Even going to the outhouse was not permitted.
In that way, going through several years of hellish training and endless competitive bouts, Namgung Jin was finally able to obtain the moniker of Little Sword Dragon.
‘I am the Little Sword Dragon.’
In other words, it meant he was the martial artist who wielded the sword best among the rising stars of the era. The moniker obtained through enduring that hellish process was Namgung Jin’s pride and everything.
However, that pride had been shattered countless times recently.
‘Cheon Woo-jin…’
Just where on earth did such a bastard pop out from?
Fundamentally, for a martial artist, master and family were important.
No matter how outstanding a genius was, if there was no one to teach him properly, it was of no use. One might become a fairly decent martial artist, but could not grow into an expert representing the era.
That was the primordial power possessed by deeply traditional forces such as the Five Great Clans and the Nine Great Sects and One Clan.
Yet, a bastard named Cheon Woo-jin had neither an affiliated sect nor a master.
No, to put it accurately, they could not find out.
The Namgung Clan investigated personally, but the bastard truly just popped out of nowhere from the mountains. Of course, not just the Namgung Clan, but all forces that put forward rising stars in the selection exam, such as the Gu Clan, Mount Hua Sect, and Sichuan Tang Clan, must have investigated.
Even so, seeing that there was not even a proper rumor to this day, it was one of two things.
Either his master was in a place beyond the reach of the Five Great Clans or the Nine Great Sects and One Clan, or an out-of-scale existence that would truly carve his name in history had appeared.
Of course, both were nonsense. At least according to Namgung Jin’s mind, that was so.
How far had he advanced while parting the bushes like that?
“What?”
Very far away in the middle of the forest, two men lying down as if dead caught his eyes. The peculiar thing was that they were in a state where not a single thread was worn.
Namgung Jin immediately unfurled his qi sense to guard his surroundings while simultaneously raising his vision.
As his vision cleared even brighter, the faces of the men separated by a distance could be seen at a glance.
“Th-This is bad!”
Namgung Jin dashed forward immediately. It was because the men were none other than his seniors and the two missing Heavenly Tiger Squad members.
Even while unfolding his lightness arts toward them, Namgung Jin did not lower his guard in the slightest. Although it was his first real battle, he had experience accumulated through years of combat-like sparring.
In his widely spread qi sense, nothing could be felt.
“Seniors!”
Reaching them in an instant, Namgung Jin laid his sword on the ground and examined the seniors’ conditions.
Their faces were pale, and wounds were present all over their bodies. In particular, their hair was torn out in patches, perhaps because their hair had been grabbed violently, and beads of blood had formed on their scalps.
They had truly suffered a gruesome state.
“…”
Examining the seniors’ conditions for a long time, Namgung Jin soon lowered both arms. They were not breathing. They had been used to the fullest by the Lust Demon and killed.
Namgung Jin gritted his teeth firmly.
He had to report to the Heavenly Tiger Squad Leader immediately.
– Clashing is strictly forbidden. Understood?
The warning the Heavenly Tiger Squad Leader had emphasized several times came to mind. Of course, since Namgung Jin also had no intention of dying in such a place, there was no reason to do something reckless.
It was an affair involving none other than the Second-Grade Public Enemy, the Lust Demon. Perhaps those even stronger than her might have gathered to search for the Giant Stone Monster’s tomb.
Namgung Jin stood up from his spot while remaining as vigilant as possible of his surroundings.
It was then.
“…”
Suddenly, he felt the seniors’ corpses were strange. The tips of their index fingers were pointing somewhere. Just as if they were trying to inform the comrades who would find them someday before they died.
Namgung Jin’s gaze naturally turned in the direction they were pointing.
“That is…”
Namgung Jin let out a faint sigh. In the place they were pointing to, there was a small burial mound. In addition, before that burial mound, several wooden boxes and copper coins were strewn about.
Namgung Jin focused on his qi sense once more. As expected, nothing could be felt.
Whether to go and check, or to return immediately and report.
Pondering for a moment, Namgung Jin soon turned his steps.
He was not of a temperament to commit reckless acts. Above all, his mission was not to explore the tomb, but to survey the surrounding situation.
Had it not been for the seniors’ corpses, in the first place, there would have been no reason to come this deep into the mountains.
Just as Namgung Jin turned his steps to return the way he had come.
Thud, thud, thud.
Three human figures dropped down centering around him.
Namgung Jin almost fell backward. Even though nothing had been felt in his qi sense, people had suddenly appeared from the sky.
Moreover, the atmosphere emanating from them was truly not lacking to be called evil and unorthodox.
“As expected of a child of the Namgung Clan, you are clever.”
The Lust Demon smacked her lips while looking at Namgung Jin’s dignified face.
Scanning the three people in turn, Namgung Jin looked at the man positioned between the Lust Demon and Ma Cheong-seok of the Demonic Cult and spoke.
“Lu-Lust Demon…!”
The man wore a pleasant smile.
“Do I look like the Lust Demon to you?”
At that, Namgung Jin’s gaze shifted to Ma Cheong-seok beside him. Ma Cheong-seok fumed with fiery anger.
“You brat! Where do I look like the Lust Demon to you!”
The two men denied it.
Ultimately, Namgung Jin’s gaze had no choice but to turn toward the bewitching woman on the right.
The Lust Demon let out a pleasant smile.
“Did you not know the Lust Demon could be a woman? How narrow-minded.”
“…”
Namgung Jin felt a chill down his spine for a moment.
“I, I am the eldest son of the Namgung Clan, Little Sword Dragon Namgung Jin.”
“Ho-oh, is that so.”
Namgung Jin’s voice trembled without him realizing. Little Sword Dragon or whatever, he was also merely a rising star who had just stepped into the martial world.
Ordinary experts, no, even experts counted on one’s fingers in the Jianghu, would likely not be able to present their names before the three people in front of him.
Running her tongue lightly across her red lips, the Lust Demon spoke.
“Is that all?”
“Wh-What…”
“I am asking if your introduction is finished with that. Is all you have accomplished in your entire life merely being the eldest son of the Namgung Clan?”
Namgung Jin clamped his mouth tightly shut. No matter how much he racked his brain, he had no memory of establishing an achievement that surpassed being the eldest son of Namgung.
At that sight, the corners of the Lust Demon’s eyes curved.
“Even if the Sword King were to appear, he could not intimidate us with his name, yet a mere greenhorn brandishes the name of the Namgung Clan.”
Having said so, the Lust Demon lightly reached her hand toward Namgung Jin’s shoulder. The moment those pale, slender fingers touched his body, goosebumps broke out on Namgung Jin’s back as if ice had touched his spine.
Namgung Jin instinctively brought his hand toward the sword at his waist.
“Will you draw it?”
“…”
“If you draw the other sword beneath your waist, depending on my mood, I might even spare you and send you away. Let us see whether you are a sword dragon or a loach.”
Namgung Jin’s face flushed red with humiliation. He had no memory in his entire life of receiving such treatment to his face. Right now, he wanted to draw his sword, cut out that deceitful wench’s tongue, and sever the necks of the two bastards snickering beside her.
However, there was nothing he could do.
Around the time Namgung Jin’s figure was trembling violently.
The Lust Demon’s hand, which had rested on his shoulder, gradually slid downward.
The Blue Sky Qi unique to the Namgung Clan poured forth in streams from Namgung Jin’s entire body, but it could not obstruct the Lust Demon’s actions.
Soon, just as the Lust Demon’s hand was about to descend below Namgung Jin’s dantian.
“Junior Martial Sister, let us stop there.”
The man of benevolent appearance, the Blood Immortal, dissuaded the Lust Demon with a gentle voice.
The Lust Demon smacked her lips and withdrew her hand. Only then did Namgung Jin heave a rough breath.
– Keep watch so that Ma Cheong-seok does not tamper with Junior Martial Brother Giant Stone Monster’s corpse carelessly.
At the Blood Immortal’s telepathic transmission, the Lust Demon gave a small nod.
Soon, the Blood Immortal took a step toward Namgung Jin.
Namgung Jin swallowed his saliva with a tense face.
“Were you startled? Well, that is understandable. Though she is my junior sister, she is an incomprehensible woman.”
The Blood Immortal’s voice was soft like a cloud, seemingly comforting Namgung Jin’s startled heart.
His gaze and actions, voice and demeanor, there was nothing that was not benevolent.
It was not for nothing that the character Immortal was attached to his moniker.
“What would we do killing a tiny little one like you? We have already found our junior brother’s tomb as well…”
When the Blood Immortal referred to the Giant Stone Monster as junior martial brother, Namgung Jin let out a groan. The Lust Demon alone was startling enough, but the man before his eyes also seemed to be a disciple of the Dark Emperor.
Naturally, Namgung Jin’s gaze turned toward Ma Cheong-seok.
Even while being wary of the Lust Demon, Ma Cheong-seok waved his hand toward Namgung Jin.
“I am someone unrelated to the Dark Emperor. For I came from the west.”
However, Namgung Jin’s face turned even paler.
Because mentioning ‘the west’ abruptly in the martial world meant, in other words, the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Two disciples of the Dark Emperor and an expert of the Heavenly Demon Cult…
Even if the entirety of the Heavenly Tiger Squad and Black Tortoise Squad attacked, they would not be able to do anything.
Namgung Jin realized that he had entered right into the middle of the deep shadow of death.
Looking at the faintly trembling Namgung Jin, the Blood Immortal let out a benevolent smile.
“Do not tremble. Did I not say I would not harm you?”
“…What is it you want?”
Even while trembling, Namgung Jin looked straight into the Blood Immortal’s pupils. Even if he were to die, he had not the slightest intention of bowing his head to demonic heads.
The Blood Immortal let out a hearty laugh.
“Hahaha! Yes, your mettle is splendid. Truly worthy of the Sword King’s firstborn. Who came from the Martial Alliance? Seeing a rising star in this place, at most it seems to be one or two combat squads.”
“Just kill me. Why should I tell you that?”
Namgung Jin retorted boldly in a trembling voice.
Judging from the bastard’s question, they were also wary of the Martial Alliance. If they learned that a mere two combat squads had come alone, they would immediately dash through the mountain and commit a massacre.
The reason they remained docile in this place was because they did not know what kind of experts had been dispatched from the Alliance.
At that sight, the corners of the Blood Immortal’s mouth twisted cruelly.
“I said I would not kill you.”
“If so…”
Namgung Jin’s words could not continue.
Squelch!
It was because the Blood Immortal’s finger cleaved into Namgung Jin’s shoulder like tofu and dug in.
“Kuh…”
Gritting his back teeth tightly, Namgung Jin endured the scream. He had bitten down so hard that his jaw trembled.
‘I cannot show an unsightly display before such bastards.’
Namgung Jin intuited that there were only two paths before him. Either handing over the Martial Alliance’s intelligence to the bastard and begging for his life, or dying in this place.
If he were to choose, it was naturally the latter.
“Kuh, kill me!”
“Hahaha!”
Withdrawing his hand from Namgung Jin’s shoulder, the Blood Immortal brought his blood-drenched finger to his mouth. Soon, as if savoring a fine liquor, he closed his eyes and smiled.
At that grotesque appearance, Namgung Jin was reminded once again that they were disciples of the great evil, the Dark Emperor.
The Blood Immortal spoke.
“Because you are needlessly tight-lipped, I must capture another fellow. While I am away, Junior Sister may do as she pleases with this one.”
The Blood Immortal turned around to look for another prey, and the Lust Demon approached Namgung Jin with a flushed face.
Ma Cheong-seok, who was standing to one side, sat down flat and vented his dissatisfaction.
“Just how long do we have to keep doing this here? When on earth is the Sword Demon coming?”
At that question, the Blood Immortal replied curtly.
“If you have the ability, do not wait for Junior Martial Brother Sword Demon and cut it away on your own. Or kill the two of us and take it whole.”
There was one reason why the three of them were waiting in this place.
If the Giant Stone Monster was a shield that could block anything, the Sword Demon was a sword that could cut anything.
Only when the Sword Demon arrived would they be able to divide the Giant Stone Monster’s body into three equal parts and share it among the three of them.
At the Blood Immortal’s scolding, Ma Cheong-seok shook his head and sprawled out on his back on the ground.
“Forget it. Rather than looking at that state of the Lust Demon, I should just sleep. Wake me when the Sword Demon arrives.”
Soon, Ma Cheong-seok closed his eyes. However, neither the Lust Demon nor the Blood Immortal thought in the slightest that he would truly fall asleep.
The Lust Demon suddenly lost interest in Ma Cheong-seok and approached closer to Namgung Jin. Namgung Jin took a step back without realizing. Humid air, which could not even be compared to when he had fallen to the courtesans’ aphrodisiac poison, filled his chest every time he breathed.
His head grew slightly hot, and his eyes turned red.
The approaching Lust Demon was originally a beauty whose age could not be guessed, but now, she looked like a woman of peerless, world-toppling beauty.
Namgung Jin bit his tongue. Blood flowed down the corners of his mouth. At that sight, the Lust Demon wore an even deeper smile.
“It will not take very long until Senior Martial Brother arrives. How should we play in the meantime? First…”
Soon, just as the approaching Lust Demon stretched her hand toward Namgung Jin’s waist.
Crunch!
A sound of tearing flesh was suddenly heard from behind.
Startled, the Lust Demon whipped her head around.
“Kuuuugh…”
Ma Cheong-seok, who had said he would take a nap, though obviously pretending to sleep, let out a faint groan as if his breath would extinguish at any moment. Atop his face, a solid dark-colored iron staff was driven in.
Cheon Woo-jin looked down at Ma Cheong-seok, who still had breath left, with a dry gaze, then lifted the staff slightly.
The moment Ma Cheong-seok tried to grab the staff with both hands.
Boom!
The Crescent Moon Staff struck down like thunder once again, and Ma Cheong-seok’s face burst completely open like a ripe watermelon.
Lightly swinging the Crescent Moon Staff to flick off the blood, Cheon Woo-jin glanced at the Lust Demon, Namgung Jin, and the surrounding scenery, then spoke calmly.
“His words were true, then.”
The Lust Demon immediately guessed who the ‘he’ Cheon Woo-jin mentioned was. The man who always prattled casually but was faster at calculation than a fox inside, Muk Si-rang. It was certainly that wretched bastard.
If that bastard had told this young rising star their location, it was for one of two reasons.
‘Either he wished to borrow our hands to kill him because he is a hindrance to the Black Overlord Castle…’
Or the opposite.
Even while thinking that could not be possible, the Lust Demon glared at the young rising star before her eyes as if wishing to kill him.