Chapter 65: Finally Establishing the Name of a Rascal (5)
A plum blossom that fell and bloomed again.
Death Plum Blossom Oh Ja-woon raised his body.
A sword hilt was firmly held in his hand.
A sword hilt with the blade missing and split deeply vertically.
At the final moment, what Bi Mu-geuk’s sword had split was not Oh Ja-woon’s ribs, but the sword hilt he had been holding.
Thud!
Oh Ja-woon threw away the sword hilt he had been tightly clutching in his hand.
And he picked up the sword blade that had fallen on the ground with his bare hand.
Squeeze—
The blade dug into his skin and reached the bone.
Blood was trickling down from his hand.
However, Oh Ja-woon raised the blade without caring.
“…”
Bi Mu-geuk faced Oh Ja-woon with an expression as if he were seeing a ghost.
Eventually, his mouth slowly opened.
“Yes. Whether you are a ghost or a person, it is now time to settle this.”
An old ill-fated relationship. A persistent grudge. Now the moment has come to cut all of these off.
Bi Mu-geuk raised his sword while staggering.
Oh Ja-woon also extended his sword while staggering.
The two sharply bristling sword tips bloomed beautiful plum blossoms toward each other’s hearts.
Twenty-Four Movements Plum Blossom Sword Art (二十四手梅花劍法).
The past days when they wept and wept over a total of twenty-four stances flashed by.
The petals fluttering in the rain that was gradually stopping.
In each and every petal scattering red and blue, their youth and good days were formed like dew.
But in the end, it was all a thing of the past.
Just as the red dust (紅塵) is swept away when the wind blows, and the morning mist (沆瀣) disappears when the sun rises, now it was time to let go of all of those things.
First Stance: Plum Blossom by the Roadside (梅花路傍), Second Stance: Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance (梅花蝶舞), Third Stance: Plum Blossom Exhaling Allure (梅花吐艶), Fourth Stance: Plum Blossoms Opening for Sharp Guidance (梅開利導), Fifth Stance: Plum Blossom Falling in Sunlight (梅花落暹), Sixth Stance: Falling and Falling Plum Blossoms (梅花落落), Seventh Stance: Plum Blossoms Falling in Profusion (梅花頻紛), Eighth Stance: Plum Blossom Blood Rain (梅花血雨), Ninth Stance: Nine Transformations of the Plum Blossom (梅花九變), Tenth Stance: Plum Blossom in Full Bloom (梅花滿開), Eleventh Stance: Plum Blossom Enduring Winter (梅花忍冬), Twelfth Stance: Plum Blossoms Gradually Opening (梅花漸開), Thirteenth Stance: Gradually Spreading Plum Blossoms (梅花漸漸), Fourteenth Stance: Plum Blossoms in Full Splendor (梅花爛漫), Fifteenth Stance: Falling Plum Blossoms in Profusion (落梅紛紛), Sixteenth Stance: Falling Plum Blossoms Forming Rain (落梅成雨), Seventeenth Stance: Plum Shadow Creating a River (梅影照河), Eighteenth Stance: Plum Enduring Snowy Cold (梅忍雪寒).
They grazed.
They did not clash.
Bi Mu-geuk’s sword and Oh Ja-woon’s sword only brushed past each other without facing each other directly.
Although clearly swung in the same space with the same trajectory, their swords and their fates just flowed away vainly without a single point of intersection.
However. However, between the two, an unprecedentedly large number of plum blossom petals were scattering endlessly.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Those including Namgung Yul watched the decisive battle between the two with blank expressions.
The swords now exuded a deep fragrance (香) every time they brushed past each other.
Nineteenth Stance: Plum Fragrance Forming a Stream (梅香成流).
The fragrance of the plum blossoms formed waves and rolled.
It was evidence that the plum blossoms bloomed by the sword tips of the two Plum Blossom Swordsmen no longer ended as an existence in illusions, but reached the realm of reality.
Twentieth Stance: Plum Fragrance Soaking the Bones (梅香浸骨).
The fragrance of the plum blossoms became deep enough to seep into the bones of the onlookers.
If a person who did not know martial arts had come here, they might have mistaken this place for the legendary Peach Blossom Spring (桃源境).
Twenty-First Stance: Plum Fragrance Intoxicated Butterfly (梅香醉蝶).
Everyone including Namgung Yul was intoxicated by the plum blossom fragrance.
Like butterflies bewitched by the petals, they were unconsciously drawing closer and closer to the battlefield.
Twenty-Second Stance: Plum Playing in Green Bamboo (梅遊靑竹).
And even in the midst of that, the two Plum Blossom Swordsmen stood straight like green bamboo, continuing to unfold their sword art.
Both of them, without retreating even a little.
Twenty-Third Stance: Plum Fragrance Forming a Stream (梅香成流).
With the two in between, the fragrance of plum blossoms formed a new flow and surged greatly.
This shared the same trajectory as the nineteenth stance, but was far more vast in terms of its scale, looking as if one were watching a red dragon and a blue dragon tangled and fighting.
Whoosh—
A sweet wind rose and scattered the petals.
Like immortals playing in a flower field, Oh Ja-woon and Bi Mu-geuk showed elegant movements, captivating everything around them.
……However.
That was solely the story when viewed from afar.
The situation of the two Daoists who were actually dancing the sword dance at the center of this Peach Blossom Spring was completely different.
Thwack!
Oh Ja-woon’s shoulder from blood splattered, and a handful of flesh fell off.
Slice—
Two fingers of Bi Mu-geuk’s left hand were sliced off.
Every time a blooming plum blossom petal touched their bodies, fresh blood was invariably splattered, and pieces of flesh and bone scattered in all directions.
The strong pressed the weak.
The fast carved away the slow.
The sharp sliced open the soft.
It was the cold, terrifying, and even desperate reality (現實) itself, hidden behind the beautiful colors and fragrance of the petals.
At that time.
Suddenly, Oh Ja-woon’s mouth opened.
“…Yes. You were the Sword Path (劍路). I was the Gold Path (金路). I had forgotten because it is a thing of the past.”
An extremely dry voice flowed out from deep within his lungs like a sigh.
Across the slowly flowing time and the scattering plum blossoms, Oh Ja-woon stared into Bi Mu-geuk’s eyes.
Bi Mu-geuk answered.
His voice was also cracked wide, like a rice paddy dike in a drought.
“To me, it was not a thing of the past. I always, constantly envied you. You who was more outstanding than me despite always taking naps after training ended.”
Even though he put in blood and sweat to endeavor every single day, the opponent was already that far ahead.
Even while slacking off.
It was precisely from that point that the tip of Bi Mu-geuk’s sword began to twist.
However, Oh Ja-woon denied Bi Mu-geuk’s words.
“I did not take naps because I was slacking off.”
“…?”
Bi Mu-geuk furrowed his brow.
Oh Ja-woon continued speaking.
“I considered each and every training as real combat. I assumed that everyone existing in the training ground held a sword and targeted me.”
“…”
“It was like wandering around the battlefield risking my life every single day. That was also why I could become strong quickly.”
“…”
“After finishing the combat, I naturally had no choice but to fall asleep as if collapsing from exhaustion. It was natural since I had exhausted all my energy. The reason I slept in hiding was also out of fear that I might be hit by a blind arrow flying across the battlefield. Even though the training ended, I could not wake up from the self-suggestion right away.”
“…”
Bi Mu-geuk did not make any reply.
Oh Ja-woon also said nothing more.
Eventually, the two Plum Blossom Swordsmen faced each other at close range.
Gambling Heaven and Earth on a Single Cast (一擲賭乾坤).
The final match-deciding move that separated the living and the dead was cast.
The blades containing the deep plum blossom fragrance crossed toward each other, drawing red and blue trajectories.
Twenty-Fourth Stance: Plum Blossom Fragrance for Ten Thousand Li (梅花萬里香).
The essence (眞髓) and secret technique (奧義) of the Twenty-Four Movements Plum Blossom Sword Art.
The fragrance of the plum blossoms became deep enough to spread ten thousand li away.
Those who watched smelled the fragrance in the illusion and closed their eyes as if possessed.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The more they closed their eyes, the more clearly they saw.
In a space dyed entirely in various colors, the two plum blossom swords tangled.
Oh Ja-woon. Bi Mu-geuk.
The two Plum Blossom Swordsmen of the same generation stared at each other.
The senior and junior brother who had slept in the same place, eaten the same thing, worn the same clothes, and done the same training for a long time targeted each other’s lives.
Since they had witnessed each other’s sword countless times in the training ground, they knew all too well how to evade and how to block.
……However.
At this time, as they were about to face the final moment, there was exactly one thing that had changed.
While Bi Mu-geuk remained the same, Oh Ja-woon had changed.
That was precisely the absence of the left arm he had cut off himself.
The weight exactly as much as the left arm had relieved.
Oh Ja-woon’s sword, which became just a little lighter, extended just a little faster.
Slice—
The sound was small and thin.
The plum blossom petal blooming from the tip of Oh Ja-woon’s sword caressed Bi Mu-geuk’s neck as if grazing it.
“…”
“…”
The two stood without saying a word for a while, with their backs turned to each other.
The rain slowly stopped.
As the long night passed, the dawn’s light began to shine through.
‘…’
A boy with a sharp gaze.
A reliable brother with a one-year age gap.
In Oh Ja-woon’s eyes, Bi Mu-geuk on the day he just entered Mount Hua in their childhood was seen.
‘…’
A shaggy-haired child with clear eyes.
The younger disciple who was cheerful without even a shred of authority-consciousness despite being the son of a rich family.
In Bi Mu-geuk’s eyes, Oh Ja-woon on the day he just entered Mount Hua in their childhood was seen.
The two were looking at each other’s figures with their backs turned to each other.
Oh Ja-woon wept, and Bi Mu-geuk smiled.
Eventually, Bi Mu-geuk’s lips budged.
“…At last. The name of the shaggy-haired boy has come to fly across the world.”
At the same time. The area below Bi Mu-geuk’s neck began to get wet red.
Although his head was placed on his neck as it was, a red horizontal line began to appear around his Adam’s apple, and everything below that line became dyed red.
Even though Oh Ja-woon’s sword had completely severed Bi Mu-geuk’s neck and passed, it had placed the head on the neck as it was.
Eventually.
Thud—
Bi Mu-geuk knelt down and collapsed in that posture.
Even until then, his head was placed on his neck as it was.
Leaving behind the red-spreading plum blossom fragrance, Oh Ja-woon staggered and moved his steps.
A gait that looked like he would collapse at any moment.
Eventually, Oh Ja-woon dropped the sword blade that had dug into his hand onto the ground.
Clatter—
White bone was seen through the redly split gap of his hand.
Although blood was pouring down like a waterfall, Oh Ja-woon looked only at the empty air as if he did not feel any pain.
Namgung Yul spoke a word to Oh Ja-woon without realizing it.
“Daoist Master (眞人)…”
Eventually, the pursuers of the Martial Alliance stepped aside in front of Oh Ja-woon.
The crowd split into two branches, opening a path in the middle.
No one could speak to Oh Ja-woon as he walked slowly between them.
“…”
Between the clearing dark clouds, the dawn’s light being cast shone on him.
Beyond that faint halo of light, the faces of Kang-ah and Maeng Yeong were seen.
They smiled faintly looking at Oh Ja-woon.
Oh Ja-woon smiled while weeping, and wept while smiling.
With a face covered in blood and tears.
At the same time, under the brightly spreading sunlight, Oh Ja-woon’s appearance was clearly revealed.
Everyone including Namgung Yul was shocked to see that sight.
“H-His hair color…!”
Oh Ja-woon’s hair had turned white before they knew it.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost