Sothing Hidden
"This fucking lunatic..."
Jeon Seok-gyeon, who had been staring blankly at Jeong-un for a mont, slipped his hand inside his jacket and threw sothing.
Clang!
It was a dagger imbued with internal energy.
As Jeong-un lightly swatted it aside with his hand, the man gave a nasty, expectant grin.
"...?"
Frowning at that sneer, Jeong-un looked down at his hand.
Just then, the man shouted in a loud voice from the front.
"He's been poisoned! Kill him!"
'Poison, he said?'
Tilting his head, Jeong-un glanced at the man, then looked back down at his hand.
In an instant, his ki sense picked up on the surge of vital ki as figures rushed toward him from all directions.
In the midst of this, Jeong-un spoke to Jeon Seok-gyeon, his voice completely lacking tension, even as swordsn brandishing blades charged at him from every side.
"You really think a re dagger laced with poison could wound the hand of a man whose palm is wrapped in true ki?"
"Wh-what?"
"I expected a little more from you... but you have no understanding of martial arts at all. Even your dead subordinates were better than you."
"You madman...!"
At that mont, soone swung a sword at him, slashing down from the side.
Without so much as looking, Jeong-un rotated his upper body, swinging his right arm.
The true ki circulating in his body fueled the movent, flowing sharply into his wrist.
Clang!
With the back of his hand, he deflected the sword.
The man's eyes widened, and overwheld by Jeong-un's strength, he released the sword guard he'd been gripping with both hands.
In an instant, Jeong-un's front was clear.
Without pause, Jeong-un struck down at the man's head with the edge of his left palm.
Thud!
The man's head shattered, his corpse collapsing.
Beyond it, Jeong-un's field of vision filled with a mass of charging enemies.
Yet another battle had erupted—a situation he had already experienced many tis since coming to Kaifeng.
By now, he was so accustod to it, he felt almost serene.
'This is good.'
A lack of tension was a quality martial artists ought to have.
No matter how exceptional one's martial skills, it was useless if one couldn't fully unleash them.
There was a reason to keep accumulating combat experience.
"Co at with everything you've got."
Muttering to himself, he gripped the sword guard.
Even in that brief instant, the familiar feel of the black sword in his hand was a comfort.
Since leaving the Yu household, he had t many people.
He even found companions he could trust with his back for the first ti in his life.
Yet at monts like this, the one thing he could trust most was still the sword in his hand.
'You shouldn't depend on anyone else.'
Wherever you are, you must be able to stand alone.
Only then can you protect yourself and others.
How many people in this world live harsh lives because they lack strength?
With such thoughts, Jeong-un drew his sword forward.
Srrrrng─!
A piercing tallic sound reverberated throughout the estate, sharp enough to tear an eardrum.
Before he knew it, six n, each swinging their own swords, were already on top of him.
Swords slashing from all angles, aiming for different vital points, ca at him with vicious force.
He took in all of their sword strikes in one sweeping glance.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!
It sounded like hard roof tiles shattering in rapid succession—the sound of six sword blades breaking apart.
Using an astonishing swift sword move, Jeong-un shattered all six blades in an instant.
As shock spread across his attackers' faces, without stopping, he swung his sword again—this ti slashing in a long, horizontal arc toward the center of the group.
Splat―!
"Aaagh!"
One man stumbled back, clutching his wounded arm—the luckiest one among them.
The others died instantly, their necks or bodies severed clean through. Several corpses fell in two pieces.
At the sight, the charging attackers behind them froze in their tracks.
They had witnessed the massacre firsthand, instinctively realizing the danger.
Just as Jeong-un moved to step toward the now-stalled n—
Shweeeek!
He sensed multiple surges of vital ki streaking toward him like arrows.
The sensation was all too familiar—he'd blocked unexpected projectiles before.
'They sure ca prepared.'
Arrows.
Several arrows imbued with true ki were speeding toward him.
A quick glance showed n with bows among their ranks in the rear.
Clearly, they'd been waiting for a mont of distraction like this.
'Simply blocking won't be enough.'
He was confident he could block them all, no matter how many there were.
But Jeong-un had no intention of stopping there. Now was the ti to assert overwhelming dominance with his martial skills.
As soon as he realized this, his internal power surged like lightning through his ridians.
The internal energy circulating throughout his body instantly accelerated to a trendous speed.
Every muscle involved in swinging his sword moved at a rate only his honed physique, built through grueling daily training, could withstand.
His eyes were already tracking every incoming arrow.
The next mont, his hand gripping the sword guard traced the arc he visualized in his mind.
Clang! Clangcl-clang!
Starting with the lead arrow, streaks of golden light instantly deflected every incoming projectile.
That wasn't all—he didn't simply slice the arrows apart; the rebounded arrows, their speed barely diminished, altered course and shot off in new directions—toward the n who'd been charging him.
"Aaagh!"
"Gah!"
"Urk!"
In the blink of an eye, his foes nearby fell.
They hadn't expected such a thing and had not prepared any defense.
'If I leave them alone, they'll only beco troubleso.'
Jeong-un now fixed his eyes on the n pulling bowstrings in the rear.
Their faces had gone pale.
He hadn't dodged—he had parried every arrow while twisting each trajectory to redirect them.
An unfathomable martial skill—impossible not to be awed.
Vwoooom!
Jeong-un summoned all his true ki.
With a step forward, the Moonlight Swift Steps smoothly propelled his body ahead.
Before the bown even registered what was happening, he passed right between them.
Simultaneously, he swung his sword again.
Several horizontal sword paths flashed into existence, and those within their range clutched their necks and collapsed.
"...!"
The distance between him and the rear was closed in an instant.
The archers, tossing aside their bows, reached for the swords at their waists—but far too slowly.
Again, he realized the true advantage of the bow: even with clumsy movent, they could fire arrows at such rapid speed.
There were stories of experts striking targets from hundreds of li away.
But these n knew nothing but pulling and releasing the string.
Siiiiing—
A flash of golden sword light—Traceless Flash.
With constant internal power cultivation, it beca even more refined.
True ki surged through his ridians, generating incredible speed.
Mixing with the skill that created bursting energy with the sword, a new and evolved move was born.
The heightened technique beca a streak of light in an instant.
Thud, thud.
Before half of them even reached for their swords, they were dead. Several heads rolled along the ground.
Earth dust drifted into the pupils of those who hadn't even realized they were dying.
"This...this is insane."
"No, this can't be happening!"
Those in the back began to turn and flee.
Seeing it up close, they felt the overwhelming difference in his skills.
The gap was insurmountable; simple aggression would never overco it.
Swoosh!
Another flash of sword light—Jeong-un unleashed his internal power without reservation.
These were precisely the martial arts he'd honed to annihilate his foes; nothing to be stingy about.
Thud, thud.
The n who had been shooting arrows were annihilated.
After mowing them all down, Jeong-un turned.
"..."
He saw faces, their eyes wide with terror, staring at him. Not a single one could speak.
A strange, heavy silence settled over the estate. As the defeated look in their eyes began to spread—
"If you don't kill him, you won't survive in Kaifeng!"
A thunderous voice resounded.
There was no need to search for its source—it was Jeon Seok-gyeon, the faction leader of Musan Group.
Jeong-un scowled, fixing his gaze on him.
The man was shrieking in rage and fear.
"Even if you run now, you'll die by my hand! I am the Musan Lord! If you flee, I'll tear your families to shreds! If you have parents, I'll strip the flesh from their bones and boil it into soup to feed to your children! You think I won't do it?!"
His words caused the swordsn's eyes to waver once more. Because Jeon Seok-gyeon wasn't lying.
Even if they ran, there was no hope avoiding a martial expert of such infamy.
The Musan Group completely ruled Kaifeng's underworld.
The threat to their families was not an empty one.
"If you kill him, I'll promise you riches beyond asure! Wealth, power, won—whatever you want, I'll place into your hands! I swear it on my na! Kill him, write down your nas, and I'll see the owners of those nas live in splendor for the rest of their lives!"
"...!"
Eyes flashed with new resolve among so of the n. Their fate was death either way.
Wouldn't it be better to gamble for a reward?
With numbers still on their side, maybe they could overwhelm and kill him.
No matter how much of an expert he was, a man of flesh and blood would die if stabbed enough tis.
As they looked again, Jeong-un did seem a little tired—
As these thoughts crossed their minds—
Jeong-un tilted his head, fixing his eyes on Jeon Seok-gyeon.
'Why is he doing that?'
However desperate he may have been, there was sothing odd about Jeon Seok-gyeon's expression.
If he truly clung to life, he would be trying to run.
Weren't there others here who could buy him ti?
It was a situation where he could just leap over the wall and escape at any mont.
'Not that it would do him any good.'
The entire estate was already within Jeong-un's ki sense.
The second the man showed any sign of movent, Jeong-un was ready to strike.
Right now, he was reducing the number of enemies simply to lessen the chaos.
There was no comradeship among these underworld thugs.
Once the boss was killed, the rest would instantly scatter.
No matter how capable Jeong-un was, he couldn't chase down every single one of them.
Besides, this was right in the heart of Kaifeng.
Tracking them through all the backstreets and alleys would be too much.
'But still...'
Jeong-un frowned at Jeon Seok-gyeon. The man stood rigid, his face flushed, unable to take a single step. His eyes were bloodshot. It was like the last stand of a commander gambling everything on the fate of his nation. Why would a re thug show such desperation?
Just then, Jeong-un caught the man's eyes flicking backward.
"...?"
Jeon Seok-gyeon's gaze unwittingly drifted to a house behind him.
It was so instinctive that even he didn't seem aware of it.
Not only once, but twice, three tis—he kept glancing over his shoulder, even as he scread.
'What is this?'
He must have lived a comfortable life for so ti now.
For soone facing death for the first ti in ages, it was normal to be too overwheld to look anywhere but straight ahead.
Yet he kept sneaking glances at sothing else. There had to be a reason.
Jeong-un spoke.
"You."
The man, who had been shouting at the top of his lungs, flinched.
Jeong-un's words, laden with true ki, reverberated clearly throughout the estate, reaching the man through all the chaos.
Jeong-un asked,
"Are you hiding sothing here, by any chance?"
"...!"
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