Chapter 29: Covenant of Cao Mo (1)
“……”
An icy silence settled over the venue.
Those who were raising complaints to the Namgung Clan, and the Namgung Clan warriors who were trying to soothe those complaints, all stood blankly, having lost their words.
Namgung Paeng-saeng was dead.
In the inner courtyard of the Namgung Clan, at the deepest part of their main base, an elder had been murdered.
And that, too, in the middle of a grand banquet hosted by the Namgung Clan.
“……”
Before this unprecedented situation in history, no one could find the appropriate words or actions.
Meanwhile, Chui silently performed his task.
…*Thud!*
Namgung Paeng-saeng’s corpse flew through the air and rolled onto the table in the center of the grand banquet hall.
Food and tableware splattered in all directions, and the maidservants nearby fell back in fright.
*Clang! Clang! Shrrk…*
Only then were swords drawn.
The warriors of the Namgung Clan surrounded the altar like a pack of well-trained military dogs.
“……He is a peak expert.”
“Exercise caution upon caution.”
“He is a strongman of the level to beat Northern Palace Elder to death single-handedly.”
Only now was Heaven’s Net spread in earnest.
It was impossible to just let go of the culprit who had infiltrated deep into the main base and caused a mess.
At that moment, there was someone who parted the sea of swords to both sides.
Namgung Pa.
Beads of sweat flowed on his forehead, and his neatly combed-back hair had become disheveled.
He was still carrying his daughter on his back.
“……”
As soon as he arrived at the center of the banquet hall and saw Namgung Paeng-saeng’s corpse, Namgung Pa swallowed a low groan.
Soon, he said in a heavy voice.
“Keep the promise, Three Calls of the Yellow Springs.”
“……”
Chui immediately understood what Namgung Pa’s words meant.
Since half a shijin had not passed yet, Namgung Yul was still in a poisoned state.
Namgung Pa must have returned to this place after seeking a physician and hearing that there was absolutely nothing they could do about her condition.
However, the poison issue would naturally resolve itself as time passed.
Chui originally rarely told lies, but as it was a situation where his life was on the line, he decided to drag this situation out a bit longer.
*Slide-*
Chui raised the bottle that was rolling around the altar again.
“This is the antidote.”
“Nonsense. That is poison.”
“It is medicine if you follow the dosage. It is such a small amount that you have to pick it up with a needle and apply it to the tongue.”
At Chui’s words, Namgung Pa bit his lips.
He could neither believe those words nor disbelieve them.
He only hesitated because it was a matter concerning his daughter’s life.
Chui shook the bottle.
The bottle was completely empty, but that was a fact known only to Chui.
Chui showed the cap of the bottle loosely unscrewed.
“Only a little medicine is left.”
“Fine. I understand, so hand it over quickly. If you do, I will spare your life.”
“Since the cap is loose, if you do not catch it quickly, it will all scatter.”
“……?”
Namgung Pa, who was reaching out his hand toward Chui, wore a puzzled expression.
Right at that moment.
…*Throw!*
Chui threw the glass bottle.
It fell into the large artificial pond prepared next to the banquet hall.
*Splash!*
The bottle was submerged in the center of the pond.
Namgung Pa shouted in spite of himself.
“S-Salvage it!”
The warriors of the Namgung Clan rushed toward the pond in a hurry.
Taking advantage of that very gap, Chui jumped down from the altar.
…*Thud!*
Stepping on the faces of several warriors who were drawing their swords, Chui instantly crossed the manor and leapt over the wall.
Chui was rather confident in his lightbody art.
If the spear ghost joined their hands to support him from the ground and the air, he only had to step on them and leap up.
If other martial artists had seen that, it was a level they would likely mistake for the realms of Flying on Grass, Snow Tread Without Trace, or Void Step, which only absolute experts who had reached the peak of lightbody art could display.
…*Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!*
Chui dodged the swords swung by several elders of the Namgung Clan like a ghost, wrapping their bodies in a red wind forged by afterimages.
“He is an absolute expert!”
“To think such lightbody art exists in the world!”
“Even the elders of the Namgung Clan are struggling!”
“I cannot believe my eyes. Was Three Calls of the Yellow Springs of that caliber…!”
The other martial artists who did not belong to the Namgung Clan merely gaped their mouths and marveled.
However, since they were also unable to be free under the Namgung Clan’s name in the end, they had to draw their swords.
Now at last, Chui was in a state of being completely pursued.
The interior of the manor turned entirely into a forest of swords and mountain of blades.
Inside the manor where flowers of swords bloomed and bamboo of blades stood, Chui flew about like a butterfly.
The minor wounds all over his body were gradually increasing, but Chui did not mind.
At this rate, he could scale the high wall of the Namgung Clan without any major injuries and before completely exhausting his internal energy.
It was a big factor that high-ranking officials including Namgung Pa had all rushed to the pond to find the antidote.
Chui instinctively felt success and threw his body toward the last wall.
……Right at that moment.
“!”
Chui had his throat cut and died.
To be precise, he saw an illusion of himself having his throat cut and dying.
Just before scaling the wall, a single slash flying from behind severed Chui’s neck.
At that vivid illusion, Chui immediately backed away.
……There was no sword behind his back.
……No sword strike had flown in either.
Only.
“Ohohoho—what a child with good instincts.”
Only a single old man clad in a simple black robe was walking over in a relaxed manner.
An old man who looked extremely ordinary, except for his beard being long enough to reach his knees.
However, in front of him, Chui’s expression hardened stiffly.
Sword King Namgung Cheon.
The previous generation’s Namgung Clan Leader.
A living legend of old martial arts.
One of the pinnacles of the Fifteen Pillars of the Orthodox Path, who had once served even as the Leader of the Martial Alliance, was standing facing Chui.
Chui stroked his neck once.
Only cold sweat was flowing, and his neck was perfectly attached.
Then what was it that he just saw earlier?
‘If I had taken even one more step, my neck would have truly been cut.’
Namgung Cheon had exhaled and sent flying condensed killing intent in an instant, and that stimulated Chui’s survival instinct, causing him to stop his steps.
Mind Sword.
It was a divine technique said to be possible only for experts who had entered the absolute realm.
Meanwhile, Namgung Cheon was still adopting a leisurely attitude.
Like an old man in the back room with his hands behind his back, he asked sluggishly.
“Are you not leaving?”
“Did you not unleash killing intent?”
“Oho—how did you know that? It is not easily seen at that realm.”
At Chui’s answer, Namgung Cheon even clapped his hands and laughed like a child.
Chui also asked back.
“Are you not going?”
He was referring to Namgung Yul, who was lying behind.
Under the guard of several escort warriors, Namgung Yul was lying on a makeshift cot while breaking out in cold sweat.
At that.
Namgung Cheon leapt lightly and landed next to Namgung Yul.
And then.
*Sssssss…*
He poured internal energy into Namgung Yul’s palm.
“Cough!?”
Namgung Yul vomited blood.
It was vomited blood mixed with Chui’s blood.
Namgung Yul fainted with a comfortable expression.
Namgung Cheon immediately flew back in front of Chui.
“……”
Chui shut his mouth, having nothing to say.
Namgung Cheon was able to detoxify Namgung Yul from the very beginning.
It had been possible to burn away Chui’s internal energy with his own flawless and absolute internal energy.
The numerous prominent figures who were watching that were swept up in embarrassment.
Chui was the same.
“Ohohoho—”
Namgung Cheon, despite being able to neutralize all of Chui’s moves from the beginning, had not stepped forward until now.
That meant he wanted something from him.
Chui spoke briefly.
“If you intended to kill me, you would have killed me right away. Since you want something else, you are doing this.”
It was similar to the words Namgung Cheon had spoken earlier.
Namgung Cheon also spoke words similar to what Chui had said earlier.
“You are smart, young man.”
“Thank you, old man.”
While the conversation was being exchanged, the warriors of the Namgung Clan including Namgung Pa surrounded Chui once again.
Chui knit his brows.
He had thought that if he braced himself for minor wounds and focused solely on escaping, he would be able to shake off anyone here.
However, that was when excluding the variable of Namgung Cheon.
Because in the past that Chui remembered, Namgung Cheon was a figure who had retired from active duty and went into seclusion long ago.
At that moment, Namgung Pa shouted.
“Capture the villain! Bind him alive and bring him before me!”
The Namgung Clan warriors rushed forward with their swords drawn.
Right at that moment.
“Stop!”
Namgung Cheon shouted loudly.
The expression he had worn until now, looking like he was dying of amusement, vanished completely.
Namgung Cheon, with his expressionless face, was emitting a sense of intimidation that made him seem somehow non-human.
Namgung Pa, who had been like a single large tiger, also watched his father’s reaction in the face of his momentum.
“F-Father. For what reason…”
“Who told you to spoil my fun? You boys lost that child, and I am the one who caught him. Do not try to steal the credit.”
“Father! He is a villain who poisoned Yul-ah and murdered Northern Palace Elder!”
“So what? Yul-ah is detoxified, and was Northern Palace Elder not usually a thorn in your side?”
“Father!”
When Namgung Pa shouted, Namgung Cheon picked his ear and frowned.
“Did you not promise earlier that if he handed over Yul-ah, you would send that fellow away safely?”
“That was because I was threatened…”
“Recall the historical event of the Covenant of Cao Mo from long ago. Duke Huan of Qi did not do so because he was stupider than you. Furthermore, in the end, have you not removed a political rival without lifting a finger? You should instead be grateful to that child called Three Calls of the Yellow Springs.”
“No, what on earth do you mean by that, Father! Really!”
Namgung Pa wore an expression as if caught off guard by his father’s words, but Namgung Cheon did not pay any particular attention.
“In any case, do not interfere with my amusement. This is the most interesting moment in nearly twenty, no, thirty years. You must show filial piety, son?”
It was not just Namgung Pa whom Namgung Cheon was rebuking.
He also spoke to Chui, letting out a broad laugh.
“Inside this Namgung Clan, my word is the law, my friend. Furthermore, even His Imperial Majesty the Emperor prioritizes and respects my opinion.”
“……”
“Now, shall we enact a new law?”
Namgung Cheon stroked his beard with his finger and thought of something.
And extending his index finger straight, he continued.
“Without my permission, leaving the manor of the Namgung Clan is impossible.”
Chui glanced away.
Behind was a complex urban area.
If he dug deep inside, a slum with jagged heights would appear.
If he penetrated into that place, the probability of a successful escape was about thirty percent.
Chui asked, thinking of taking a gamble if worst came to worst.
“How will you permit my departure?”
“Hahaha—”
Namgung Cheon raised his right hand and spread his five fingers wide.
“I shall concede five moves.”
At those words, the crowd, including Namgung Pa, was shocked.
To think that the world-renowned Sword King would use the expression “concede moves” when dealing with a distant junior.
And that he would concede only five moves.
That meant he was rating the martial arts of the person named Three Calls of the Yellow Springs before him incredibly high.
Namgung Cheon smiled round and round with an enigmatic smile and continued.
“I shall not draw my sword. Since I will only dodge, would you like to run wild to your heart’s content?”
In a word, it was telling him to bring out all his power.
Since it was a proposal with no reason to reject, Chui gripped his staff anew and changed his posture.
A posture where his weight and the staff’s weight were concentrated solely on his front foot.
It was a preparatory posture that drew in a heavy blow.
*Ruuuuumble!*
The mud on the ground Chui was stepping on seemed to bubble up, but soon hardened firmly, and furthermore, was baked glossily like porcelain.
The internal energy gathered by twisting and squeezing numerous spear ghosts surged up Chui’s entire body and was concentrated at the tip of the black staff.
*Sssssssss…*
Soon, Chui’s weight and the black staff’s weight shifted from his front foot to his back foot.
The staff shot out in a straight line.
*Boom! Craaaack!*
Under the heavy step Chui took, the surrounding walls collapsed down.
At the same time, a terrifying energy exploded toward the front.
Dark red spear qi, no, staff qi flying in like a giant arrow.
It dragged in everything around and then ripped them apart.
At the same time.
“Ha-at!”
Namgung Cheon drew his sword.
*Slash-*
The momentum of the staff that had reached right before him was severed in a single breath.
Chui’s strike cut diagonally completely destroyed a pavilion far away and a bridge that spanned over the lake.
…*Boom-boom-boom! Rumble!*
The surrounding topography and structures took on a completely transformed appearance.
Above the collapsed pavilion, a giant mushroom-shaped dust cloud rose up, and the lake water that swallowed the destroyed bridge all overflowed outside.
Facing that earth-shaking sight, the crowd completely lost their minds.
Meanwhile, Chui was frowning toward Namgung Cheon, who had drawn his sword.
“The sword.”
“Hmm?”
“You said you wouldn’t draw it.”
“Ah!”
At Chui’s pointing out, Namgung Cheon was genuinely flustered.
He looked back and forth between his sword and Chui, flustered, before subtly sheathing the sword and feigning ignorance.
“No, when you reach this age. The sword is more comfortable than the hand. It just moves on its own. And you quickly forget what you said. Really. You will know too when you reach my age. And these days, my dementia keeps coming… and going… well, it seems like that too…”
It seemed he would rather be called a demented old man than hear that he broke his promise.
Soon, Namgung Cheon continued speaking with a smiling face.
“In any case, was your first move not for testing purposes? I shall receive the remaining four moves truly without the sword.”
“……”
At Namgung Cheon’s words, Chui adjusted his posture once again.
The four moves said to remain.
Whether those would be four moves, or the moves of death, was still unknown.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost