Chapter 119: Gyeon's Ten Rounds (8)
At the eastern entrance of the village, there was a forest called Kuaihuo Forest.
Upon the path where bamboo grew densely, a dim dawn moon sank.
A handsome man with dark skin and gold-tinted hair was walking along the path between the bamboo field and the rice field ridge.
Ximen Qing the ‘Protector of Righteousness.’
He was born in a branch of a branch of the Ximen Clan, specifically in a humble family at the very margins of it.
Originally, his surname was Wei, but after being expelled from the family on the charge of causing too many troubles related to women, he changed his surname to Ximen.
The official post called Baoyilang was a low-ranking office that could be bought with money, and at the time, the Wei Clan spent their entire fortune to buy it to cure their youngest son’s obsession with women.
This was because they expected that if their son became an official, he would distance himself from women to maintain his dignity.
However, Ximen Qing called his alias the ‘Protector of Righteousness’ and seduced even more women.
In the end, the Wei Clan struck Ximen Qing out of the family register and expelled him.
Unable to endure it, even his parents declared they were disowning him.
Yet such was a parent’s heart; Ximen Qing’s mother wept for several days, saying it was pitiful to cast her youngest son onto the streets.
Then, she gathered the pocket money she had secretly set aside all the while, added the mutual savings fund of noble ladies on top of it, and purchased an official credential of the Martial Alliance’s Ascending Heaven Academy.
That was precisely the assistant instructor position at the Ascending Heaven Academy, an institution directly under the Martial Alliance.
“Ha—now I am Ximen the instructor of the Ascending Heaven Academy, rather than Ximen the Baoyilang. Yes. Being born as a man, eh? One should work above someone, not below them. Of course.”
Ximen Qing took out a stiff piece of parchment from his breast pocket.
<‘OOO’. We appoint this person as the ‘Instructor Assistant’ of the Martial Alliance’s ‘Ascending Heaven Academy’. -Martial Alliance Leader Bai->
Only a trivial-looking sentence was written, but this was an official document with the seal of the Martial Alliance Leader stamped on it.
Of course, there was no way the Martial Alliance Leader would have personally written an appointment letter for such a low-ranking position, but Ximen Qing still believed that the Martial Alliance Leader had written this credential himself.
“Hahahahaha—so if one just writes their name in the blank space of the name section, anyone can become an instructor assistant of the Ascending Heaven Academy? This is indeed a true blank credential. My old man actually had some capability, surprisingly.”
Even though they were parents who had disowned him, he received quite an expensive item for a final gift.
Now, starting from next month, he planned to move near Mount Song where the Martial Alliance was located and live a new life.
“From now on, I also belong to the Ascending Heaven Academy. Even though it is non-full-time, I am a proper instructor.”
Where was the Ascending Heaven Academy? It was the finest educational institution in the orthodox Wulin, harboring as many as five thousand students, eighteen hundred faculty members, and ten thousand staff.
In the outskirts, if one said they worked as an instructor at the Ascending Heaven Academy, that fact itself served as a guarantee of identity, allowing them to receive all kinds of VIP treatment from local influential people.
“……Of course, a non-full-time instructor is just a position that plays the role of a lackey doing errands under a regular instructor. Still, well. If I slip some bribes to the higher-ups there and flatter them well, who knows.”
He just had to get in first.
If so, he had plenty of confidence to rise to success within it.
Ximen Qing felt his heart swell as if he had already become a regular instructor of the Ascending Heaven Academy.
Naturally so.
“Indeed. How did they know I got a job at the Ascending Heaven Academy? Honeybees are already flocking. They all smell sweet scent amazingly well.”
The former subordinates requesting things like supplying goods or receiving labor contracts were no different from blowflies.
The real ones started from now on.
Not long ago, a certain noble young master visited Ximen Qing.
He said he was a descendant of a distant influential family, and he rode in a splendid carriage while wrapping his entire body in expensive silk clothes.
The noble master said he heard the rumor that Ximen Qing had become an instructor at the Ascending Heaven Academy and suggested they occasionally exchange and share friendship.
Saying he had a sad past of not being able to enter the Ascending Heaven Academy because his body was too weak to learn martial arts, he said he still yearned for the academy even now, and asked if it would be appreciated if Ximen Qing met him occasionally to share drinks and share information related to the Ascending Heaven Academy.
When Ximen Qing readily consented, the noble master said he was glad to associate with such a hero, gifted him good clothes, a good carriage, and a good horse, and showed a generous side by saying he would support his living expenses even after entering the Ascending Heaven Academy in the future.
Thus, Ximen Qing and the noble master had promised to meet once every three months here in the Kuaihuo Forest to share friendship.
“Crumb, he is a peculiar person. To say any information related to the Ascending Heaven Academy is fine. I wonder what he plans to use such trivial facts for, seriously. Well, what does it matter to me? In return, I get to drink alcohol, have women on my arm, and receive a hefty sum of activity funds to use for bribes. Hehehehe—”
From Ximen Qing’s perspective, these were proposals that made him think what a windfall.
To think he could receive such a massive amount of money just by sharing various stories obtained while working at the Ascending Heaven Academy.
“I will leave this place soon, so should I look around at all the wenches I’ve seduced in the meantime before leaving?”
The faces of several women flashed in Ximen Qing’s mind.
Out of them, Ximen Qing uttered the name of one woman.
“Yuelang…….”
Of course, she alone was not all.
“Jiao’er, Yulou, Xue’er, Chunmei, Ping’er, Ying’er…….”
Even after that, after the names of numerous women came out, Ximen Qing said at last, as if remembering late.
“A, Pan Jinlian. That bitch was there too, indeed. I completely forgot about her.”
Soon, Ximen Qing scratched his head as he climbed onto the rice field ridge.
“When I go to the Ascending Heaven Academy, I should target truly high-class wenches, rather than such shabby wenches.”
The city women he met when he went sightseeing toward the Ascending Heaven Academy in the past came to mind.
Women who were each beautiful and refined.
And among them, there was also a beautiful woman who shone exceptionally brilliantly like a crane among a flock of chickens.
“Was she called the Sword Flower Namgung Yul? Keuh—that was truly not a beauty of the human world. I heard she is the precious daughter of the great Namgung Clan, so is she indeed beyond the reach of a guy like me? Sigh…… still, if I could just exchange words once…… if I could exchange tongues it would be even better…… if I could just share bodies, well, I would even pluck out my family roots entirely to sell them……”
Right at that moment.
Rustle—
Beyond the rice field ridge, a shadow flickered near the bamboo forest.
Ximen Qing stopped his steps.
And turning his head with a sharp gaze, he placed his hand on the sword hilt.
“Who is it?”
“You have good intuition.”
The shadow on the bank revealed its face.
Gyeon Sul was looking down over here with a smiling face.
Ximen Qing was originally a man who had learned martial arts.
His five senses were also not bad, a martial talent.
How else could the Wei Clan fail to let him go until the very end, despite him causing so many troubles?
Ximen Qing recalled Gyeon Sul’s identity with his extraordinary memory.
“……Gyeon Sul? You were alive?”
“Yes. I was alive, breathing well and eating well, you Ximen bastard.”
“My. To think you were alive even after being stabbed like that in the back of the neck, back, and thigh. On top of that, you must have been thrown into the agricultural waterway below the rice field ridge and even hit by severe frost.”
“I owed a great debt back then. I came to pay it back even with interest today.”
“Kekeke—it will be quite expensive. You seem confident?”
“Of course~ deduct the advance interest with this first.”
Gyeon Sul threw something forcefully in front of Ximen Qing.
…Thud!
Ximen Qing caught the object flying through the air.
It was a severed ring finger.
A gold ring embedded with a large jewel was shining in the middle of the ring finger.
“……!”
Looking at the ring, Ximen Qing guessed who the owner of the finger was.
“Ah. Pan Jinlian. You visited her first.”
“Correct. They said she always wore it whether washing or sleeping.”
“Ah, you know well. They said she did. A woman who makes a man sick of her, seriously.”
“You gave a thing like your mother’s ring to such a woman?”
“Huh? Mother’s ring? Ah—you believe that? That’s just a fake jewel. It’s brass with only the outside gold-plated. I always wondered why women fell for such words, but why are you, a fellow male punk, sitting there fooled by it along with them? Kekeke—”
Ximen Qing flicked away Pan Jinlian’s finger he held in his hand.
“So. What, did you come to take an out-of-season revenge?”
“Naturally. Since if one owes a debt, they must pay it back.”
“You were a friend with a very clear calculation. Shall we work together on a job this time? Isn’t future profit more important than past resentment?”
Though he spoke so, Ximen Qing’s hand was already drawing his sword.
Shing……
It was a famous sword that was extremely sharp at a single glance.
“By the way, there are quite a lot of brothers who follow me. Will you be okay?”
“I am already on my way after killing them all.”
“Oh~ did you go and enter an assassination sect? Hahaha—both in the past and now, you have quite a good mouth. The bluffing is strong~”
Soon, Ximen Qing’s sword emitted a deep blue sharp energy.
Clang—
Ximen Qing’s sword was blocked by Gyeon Sul’s Dog-Head Guillotine.
Instantly, Ximen Qing’s hand twisted sideways, and the sword strikes bent here and there.
…Clatter-clatter-clatter-clang!
Thirty-six streams of sword arts driving down at immense speed fiercely scraped Gyeon Sul’s Dog-Head Guillotine.
“…….”
Gyeon Sul retreated backward while hiding behind the guillotine blade.
Ximen Qing chased after Gyeon Sul while wielding his sword.
“For two guys who were both disowned by their families, rather than sympathizing with one another in shared troubles, what kind of a grand chaotic drama is this! Instead of doing this, I tell you to come under me? If you’re a guy who held malice for this long time, your spirit should at least be usable. I will use you importantly.”
“…….”
Hearing Ximen Qing’s words, Gyeon Sul still did not say anything.
He merely hid behind the guillotine blade, evading the descending sword.
Looking at Gyeon Sul, Ximen Qing chuckled.
“A Dog-Head Guillotine, you use a unique weapon. Do you claim to be the Dog Butcher of the Yangtze River Water Fortresses? Muhahaha! You at least have some rumors you heard from somewhere!”
As Ximen Qing swung his sword, the surrounding bamboo were cut diagonally and slid down.
Soon, a chilling sword light reflected beneath the brightly shining moon.
“From now on, I will show you the sword art of the Great Ximen Clan.”
Ximen Qing took a starting posture with a serious expression.
His front foot advanced, and his back foot supported.
At the tip of the sword held in his two hands, deep blue sword qi was humming and creating ripples.
Just then, Gyeon Sul’s mouth opened.
“Why did you do that to my brother?”
“……What?”
As Ximen Qing asked back, Gyeon Sul spoke once again.
“You just had to sleep with my sister-in-law. With your strength and wealth, avoiding people’s eyes would have been nothing. You could have just quietly slept with her in secret, so why on earth did you go as far as to poison my brother to death.”
At that, Ximen Qing chuckled.
“He Jiushu, that coffin-selling bastard blabbed everything? I should teach him a lesson later.”
“Since you’ve been caught, tell me the reason.”
“There’s nothing I can’t say. A guy who is short and ugly lives with a woman who is out of his league. How unsightly is that? I consider such a thing a sin.”
“Is that a sin grave enough to be poisoned to death?”
“Well, a person’s life isn’t necessarily suffered only as much as the sins they committed.”
“I see. Those are good words.”
As Gyeon Sul nodded his head, Ximen Qing finally unleashed his sword art.
…Flash!
The exclusive martial art of the Ximen Clan, Lightning Sword Art.
Wielding sword strikes as fast as lightning passing through the sky and as strong as a thunderbolt falling to the ground began to unfold toward Gyeon Sul.
Ximen Qing shouted toward Gyeon Sul.
“First, I will stab you in the back of the neck, back, and thigh just like before! After that, I will cut off your limbs so you can never crawl up again and drop you onto the rice field ridge! Tonight will probably be quite cold! Hahahahaha—”
Deep blue sword qi emitted from the famous sword Ximen Qing wielded, extending stream by stream like lightning.
However, Gyeon Sul merely set his crude Dog-Head Guillotine blade vertically.
“Everyone has a plausible plan.”
At the same time, the guillotine blade swung and aimed at Ximen Qing.
Thud!
Hit hard by the flat side of the Dog-Head Guillotine, Ximen Qing was blown away in the exact posture he was wielding his sword and crashed into the rice field ridge next to him.
…Splash!
Ximen Qing crashed headfirst into the cold mud.
……? ……? ……?
He raised his body with an expression showing he did not understand what had occurred just now.
In front of him, Gyeon Sul stepped down while shrugging his shoulders.
“Until they get punched in the face, that is.”
Unrivaled Spear Ghost