Chapter 283: Taking on a Disciple (1)
Nosim glared at the squad leader and then spoke to the disciples.
"It seems our departure will help stabilize this situation."
Nomuk and Hajin had no choice but to obey Nosim's words.
Just as they were about to leave, a young man suddenly rushed toward the decapitated body.
He cradled the head, which had rolled haphazardly on the ground, and wailed.
"Aigo! Father! What is going on here! Why is your head rolling on the ground like this!"
Though he was wailing, the absurdity of his words made the martial artists all turn to stare at him.
They assud the young man had been separated from his father and had co running after discovering his father's death.
That was understandable, as no qi could be felt from the young man.
That was why they hadn’t been on guard even as he approached.
But then, a hostage's voice stiffened the martial artists.
"Who are you? This man is our father."
The hostage who had been watching the young man muttered incredulously.
At that, the martial artists beca suspicious of the young man and moved to grab his shoulder. Or rather, they tried to.
At that mont, the young man flicked his fingers rapidly.
Pipipipiping!
Imdiately, those who had been pointing their swords at the hostages collapsed limply.
The young man then turned around and struck the Devil’s Points of the martial artists.
The squad leader and three other martial artists, who had been standing at a distance, imdiately attacked the young man.
"Who the hell are you!"
But the young man rushed toward the three attackers like a gust of wind.
To an onlooker, it would have seed as if he were throwing himself to his death.
"That fool!"
Even Nosim of the Mount Wudang Sect clicked his tongue, thinking the young man was reckless.
Then, sothing astonishing happened.
As he reached out toward a sword lying on the ground, the weapon mysteriously flew into the young man's hand.
Exploding with trendous force, the young man struck at the three martial artists.
They were unable to block the blow and were flung back like rags.
"Urgh!"
Two of them coughed up blood and collapsed, dead. The remaining one barely stood up but was in no condition to continue fighting.
"Heh heh heh..."
Nosim wondered if he himself could have withstood the storm-like montum of the young man.
Then he shook his head.
'I doubt I'd have fared much better than them.'
And he realized that the martial artists who had taken that strike were not re small fry of the Black Path.
The squad leader, seeing three of his subordinates killed by a single strike, was jolted as if dunked in cold water.
He had believed the three of them could hold their own even against a Master Level expert if they fought together.
Yet they had been taken out with a single sword.
"Wh-Who are you!"
But the answer ca not from the young man, but from Ha Cheollyeong.
"Hwarin Hyung!"
"Young Master Yong!"
Ha Deokgong and Ha Cheollyeong bead as they recognized the youth.
The young man was Yong Hwarin.
At the sa ti, a white cat leapt from the woods and dove into Ha Cheollyeong’s arms.
"Baekseol-ah!"
Despite the grim scene, Ha Deokgong and Ha Cheollyeong welcod the reunion with joy, and the squad leader turned to look at Yong Hwarin.
Then, upon hearing the na, he recalled soone.
"Could it be... you are the Heavenly Sword Hero Yong Sohyeop?"
Yong Hwarin nodded.
"That’s right."
"Why are you interfering in our affairs?"
"You bastards tried to kill my little brother!"
Yong Hwarin spoke firmly from the start.
He was burning with rage to the top of his head.
He had run at full speed to save Ha Cheollyeong, praying to the heavens all the while.
Begging them to keep Ha Cheollyeong alive.
If sothing had happened to him, Yong Hwarin felt he would never be able to forgive himself.
Seeing the pursuers taking innocent civilians as hostages and killing them pushed his guilt into murderous rage.
"Little brother?"
"That’s right. Cheollyeong has long been like a younger brother to ! You bastards will pay for trying to harm my little brother."
Realizing he could not handle Yong Hwarin, the squad leader sent a telepathic ssage to his four remaining subordinates.
–When I charge at the Heavenly Sword Hero, you kill Ha Deokgong and Ha Cheollyeong!
Finishing his ssage, he charged at Yong Hwarin with a solemn expression.
Simultaneously, the four subordinates dashed toward Ha Cheollyeong and Ha Deokgong, unleashing their swords.
Yong Hwarin, who had already gathered his internal energy, drew on the power of the Dongyeo Thunderquake and threw his sword using the technique of Yeoigwancheon.
Puh-uk!
The sword thrown by Yong Hwarin pierced straight through the squad leader's chest and burst with thunder energy in all directions.
"Keuak!"
The four martial artists struck by thunder energy collapsed, exhaling pale smoke from their entire bodies.
Nosim shuddered all over as the martial artists were eliminated in a single mont by a technique he had never seen or heard of.
And though he had not even fought, Nosim suddenly coughed up blood as if suffering internal injuries.
It was the shock of witnessing a new level of martial understanding, a montary disturbance in body and mind.
"S-Sahyung!"
Nomuk, startled, caught hold of Nosim.
"I'm fine."
Nomuk understood his sahyung’s state of mind.
Nosim had imagined himself facing Yong Hwarin’s technique and simulated the fight in his mind.
Unfortunately, he had failed to block Yong Hwarin’s thod in that ntal simulation and suffered internal damage.
That he could be injured by re imagination showed how great the shock must have been for him.
Ha Cheollyeong ran toward Yong Hwarin, holding Baekseol in his arms.
"Hwarin Hyung!"
Yong Hwarin embraced Ha Cheollyeong tightly.
"You've been through a lot."
Tears began to stream uncontrollably from Ha Cheollyeong’s eyes.
He had tried not to cry, but the tears wouldn't stop.
All the mories of being chased by pursuers, constantly crossing the threshold of death, rushed back and the sorrow he had held in burst forth.
He had acted mature to avoid worrying his grandfather, but he was still just a child.
Yong Hwarin wiped away Ha Cheollyeong's tears and said,
"That’s enough. If a man cries too long, his chest runs dry."
Yong Hwarin turned to Ha Deokgong and greeted him.
"Elder, are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
But his complexion was pale, as if he might collapse at any mont.
"Allow to examine you."
Without even asking for permission, Yong Hwarin took his wrist to check the pulse.
Ha Deokgong did not resist and entrusted him with his hand.
"Ah, how did you suffer such serious injuries? First, we must find a physician."
Yong Hwarin infused the energy of the Realm of Self-Existence to aid in treating the wounds.
‘Thank goodness it’s not too late. If I had co even a day later, there would've been nothing I could do.’
Yong Hwarin turned to the Mount Wudang Taoists and greeted them with a clasped-hands salute.
"Thank you. Had you not bought us ti, I would have been left with deep regret. I am Yong Hwarin of the Heavenly Central Sect."
Nosim and his disciples returned the greeting with a clasped-hands salute.
"I am Nosim of the Mount Wudang Sect."
Yong Hwarin asked Nosim,
"Are you on your way to the Shaolin Temple Gathering by chance?"
"Indeed we are."
"Ah, in that case, let’s discuss this matter separately once we reach Shaolin. Right now, tending to the elder’s injuries takes priority."
"Understood. Don’t mind us. We’ll see each other at the Shaolin Temple."
Yong Hwarin turned to the rchants who had been taken hostage by the martial artists.
"Please report this to the authorities and have them take care of the bodies."
At those words, Ha Deokgong spoke up.
"Young Master Yong, these n are not ordinary. If you report them to the authorities, the rchants won’t live to see another day."
Yong Hwarin nodded at Ha Deokgong's words.
"Could you bury them? If corpses lie scattered across the road, how can people safely pass?"
The rchants bowed deeply.
"How could we refuse a request from our lifesaver? Though they ant to kill us, we will bury them."
Nosim was impressed at how the young man handled matters with such care.
Most prodigies of the new generation were so eager to act that they often left chaos behind.
Lacking experience, they rarely had the composure to manage the aftermath.
Seeing how he even took care of the hostages, the Taoists of the Mount Wudang Sect felt they had learned sothing.
"Though they were enemies, let us still pray they don’t beco vengeful spirits."
Nosim realized that, in all his years in the martial world, he had never once prayed for an enemy’s soul.
Watching Yong Hwarin vanish in a flash with Ha Deokgong and Ha Cheollyeong tucked under each arm, he let out another exclamation of awe.
"Truly worthy of his reputation!"
Until now, he had dismissed the rumors about the Heavenly Sword Hero of the Heavenly Central Sect as exaggerated.
But with a single encounter, he realized not a single one had been overstated.
"When we et again at Shaolin, I must deepen this bond."
Nosim and his disciples began to think the Shaolin Temple Gathering, which they had expected to be dull, might turn out quite entertaining.
Yong Hwarin visited the nearest dical hall and quickly began treatnt for the seriously injured Ha Deokgong.
Baekseom and the Blood Green Unit’s pursuit squad stood guard around the periter.
Since his internal organs had begun to rot, scraping out the pus and administering dicine took a full two hours.
"Had another day passed, survival would’ve been impossible."
The physician gave the sa assessnt.
Ha Deokgong had thought himself a dead man, and now, having been pulled back by a thread of fate, was overwheld with joy.
It was unbearably painful to die while leaving behind a young grandson.
"Thank you, Young Master Yong."
"Please don’t say that. Cheollyeong and Elder, you are like family to ."
Ha Deokgong couldn’t understand why Yong Hwarin treated them with such warmth.
No matter how much he thought about it, it was strange that he cared for them so deeply over such a brief encounter at Mount Wudang.
But from Yong Hwarin’s perspective, he held a deep sense of guilt and gratitude toward this grandfather and grandson, which made his feelings different.
After the treatnt ended, Ha Deokgong asked,
"Young Master Yong, why do you treat my grandson and with such kindness? I wish to know the reason."
Yong Hwarin felt it was sothing that could easily be misunderstood, and that he needed to give an explanation.
So he began with a story that would make enough sense.
"In truth, long ago at Mount Pyeongyeo, I t people related to both of you."
Yong Hwarin brought up the story of Pil Gye-young and Bang Yeorip, and ntioned that the Heavenly Central Sect was trying to absorb their strength.
"Because of that, I don’t see Cheollyeong and Elder as strangers. That’s why I’ve been searching for you for a long ti, following any trace I could find."
"I see. I understand now."
He had always wondered how Yong Hwarin found them at just the right ti, but he never imagined there would be such a reason.
"No wonder there was no one at Mount Pyeongyeo when I went."
Ha Deokgong had felt a sense of emptiness and betrayal, believing the martial artists of the Grand General’s Office had all scattered into the secular world.
"Then I saw Baekseol, and that led here."
"Baekseol ran off elsewhere to lure the pursuers away from us."
"So that’s what happened."
Yong Hwarin wanted to ask who had tried to kill the grandfather and grandson, but held back with Ha Cheollyeong present.
Since Ha Deokgong hadn’t brought it up first, he figured it might not be good for Ha Cheollyeong to hear.
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