Book 1 Chapter 19

The Tragedy of the Eighteen Swords, Jang Wooyang

The outside of the courier guild became noisy, and the representative director, Gang Jang-han, entered with several escorts.

He seemed to have been dragged here forcibly from a bar where he was drinking heavily, as his face was flushed red.

"Are you the one who forcibly assaulted someone?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked, as if to confirm, though it was obvious.

"Hiccup, assault? Who assaulted whom? If I were assaulted, maybe, but I assault? How dare you! How dare you change the name of an elder so casually."

Gang Jang-han, or rather, the one who assaulted, 아니, Gang Jang-han, was sputtering, looking as if he would draw his sword and charge at any moment. Seeing his face flushed red and sputtering, he seemed not to have sobered up yet.

"Who are you calling elder, speaking so informally? 'Jijir yeombyeong eul golgolu tteoneungun' [a nonsensical curse]."

Bi Ryuyeon looked at Gang Jang-han with a look of disbelief, as if seeing a truly pathetic individual. Bi Ryuyeon's tone had become so rough that he was about to use expletives.

"When this person drinks a bit too much, he becomes like this, so I hope the guest can understand his rudeness. Boys, wake him up a bit."

The guild master, the Eighteen Swords Jang Wooyang, unable to watch any longer, ordered the escorts standing nearby. How does one sober up? Throughout history, various secret methods have been passed down, such as shock therapy, hangover drinks, hangover soup(?), or hangover elixirs, but a method that anyone could use easily anytime, anywhere was still widely used by the public. Especially now, in midsummer, there was nothing to worry about.

"Is it cold?"

The guild master asked.

"Achoo!"

Gang Jang-han, doused with a bucket of water from each side, replied like a drowned rat. It wasn't a very polite answer. It failed to meet the minimum standard for a response in intelligent conversation.

"Oh, I've come to my senses."

Gang Jang-han said, adjusting his clothes. Water was still dripping from his entire body.

"The person involved has arrived. Shall we talk then?"

Bi Ryuyeon said, looking at Gang Jang-han, who seemed to have regained some of his senses.

"Let's."

"……?"

Gang Jang-han, who had just been dragged here, drunk, had no idea that the confrontation between the two men and the reason his courier guild was under attack were all because of him. He couldn't understand why the intact guild gate was broken, why dozens of escorts were lying with their heads buried in the wall, or why these two people in front of him were confronting each other.

Gang Jang-han claimed that he had never done anything "like this" or "like that," as Bi Ryuyeon described.

"That guy first made remarks that defiled my honor and the honor of our Jungyang Courier Guild, so I fought to protect my honor and the guild's honor."

"Hey, is there honor even in a place where many people beat one person collectively?"

Bi Ryuyeon scoffed.

"It was never the case that many attacked one person."

"Hmph, all the evidence speaks for itself. You're still denying it. Fine, let's hear from others. Where are the escorts who were with you? If we beat them up, they might talk. We need to recover the debt from them as well."

"They are over there, over there."

The guild master's finger pointed to where the escorts lay piled up, their heads buried in the wall as if dead. They had all been struck by Bi Ryuyeon's fists and were lying unconscious or in a coma, regardless of how he had hit them.

"Grrr, you bastards! I will never forgive you for destroying the evidence. All the evidence speaks for itself. You must have ganged up on me because you were weak. Stop denying it and come at me. Come at me and defend that so-called fake honor of yours. Though I doubt it even exists. You cowardly and despicable bastard!"

"Kuaak, who knocked people down and you're picking a fight? I can't forgive any more of your taunts."

He drew his sword from his waist and shouted fiercely. He needed the conversation to be concise, the dialogue short, and the actions swift, even to cover up his own weaknesses. If the talk went on any longer, his actions might be revealed. He desperately needed to silence them. And as quickly as possible. However, Gang Jang-han's attempt was completely futile.

"Oh really? Then try to protect that honor, which I doubt even exists, once more. Against me, you shameless, disabled, cowardly, and despicable bastard!"

"Kuaak, I will do so without you telling me."

Gang Jang-han's patience had run out, having been pushed past its limits countless times. Gripping his sword, Gang Jang-han fearlessly charged towards Bi Ryuyeon.

"Yaah! Take this!"

"Hey, he told you to take it."

Namgung Sang said.

"Yeah, I heard him too."

Hyun Un agreed.

"He's fearlessly attacking his master first, and with a sword, no less."

Geum Yeong-ho said.

"What do you think will happen? Will that guy die?"

"He'll probably die horribly. I'll bet my dinner on it."

No Hak made a bet.

"I'll bet he dies too."

Tang Mun-hye, the direct descendant of the Tang family and the younger sister of Tang Cheol-yeong, said coldly, radiating murderous intent. The surroundings seemed to turn chilly for a moment. The number of escorts she had already crippled and made to fall uselessly could not be counted even by folding her fingers three times. The words "pity" and "forgiveness" seemed to be absent from her hands.

"If I lose, I'll treat you to three meals a day tomorrow. But he will definitely die."

"I'll bet my dinner and tomorrow's breakfast on him dying."

Cho Cheon-woo of Huashan said.

"I bet he lives. He won't kill him."

Hyun Un said. He added one more thing.

"I'll bet my dinner and dessert tomorrow morning."

Everyone was surprised by Hyun Un's generous offer. For them, meals were the most precious and important things. After five months of forced living, they had become very simple and common people. They were now willing to risk their lives for a single meal. Everyone held their breath, tense, and began to watch which path Gang Jang-han would take on the road to life or death.

While they were laughing and enjoying themselves, Gang Jang-han's sword had already flown far away, broken in half, and stuck in the ground. And his feet, about a hand's breadth off the ground, were being mercilessly beaten by Bi Ryuyeon while he floated in the air. According to No Hak, there was only one martial art that could lift a body this much in the air with vertical force, not just push it back with the impact. It was the martial art he had bitterly experienced…

"Sam-bok Gu-ta Gwon-beop (Three Dogs Beating Fist Method)!"

No Hak exclaimed, hugging his arms as if a chill had set in, pulling out the word from his nightmare. Bumps appeared on his arm, and his previous injuries seemed to ache again. After a few more sounds of blows, Bi Ryuyeon brushed his hands and turned away. It seemed to be over. There was no way to confirm whether Gang Jang-han was dead or alive. Jang Wooyang, the guild master and Eighteen Swords, spoke to Bi Ryuyeon, who was walking away, brushing his hands, leaving behind a body that looked like a corpse, severely beaten, but undoubtedly human before.

"Is he dead?"

"Half dead."

Bi Ryuyeon kindly explained Gang's current condition.

"Ugh."

"Bang, damn it!"

"My food…"

'My dessert, ugh.'

Sighs of anguish, wails of despair, erupting from various places…

Looking at him, spitting up foamy blood and collapsed, it was a miracle he was alive. He looked like he could die at any moment. After half-killing Gang Jang-han, Jang Wooyang, the guild master and Eighteen Swords, drew his sword from his waist and approached Bi Ryuyeon, who was brushing his hands. His stable posture when drawing and holding the sword indicated he was a master of the highest caliber.

"We have our pride, so we can't just let you go like this."

He meant that for the sake of their pride, they had to settle this somehow.

"Oh really?"

Bi Ryuyeon replied, his tone somewhat mocking.

"We have the pride of our Jungyang Courier Guild, so we can't just let you go. If word gets out that the guild was turned upside down by a mere group of sixteen people, who would entrust their valuables to us? On that day, Jungyang Courier Guild would have to close its doors."

"Ah, so you're going to kill me to save the Jungyang Courier Guild, with your sword!"

Bi Ryuyeon said sarcastically and sharply, but Jang Wooyang did not waver.

"In any case, we can't just let you go."

The guild master's attitude was also firm. For the future of the courier guild, they couldn't just let these people go. This was not just a matter of pride, but already a matter of the guild's survival. They couldn't back down like this, staking the survival of the courier guild they had worked hard to build for twenty years.

"You're asking for trouble."

His tone suggested he was extremely displeased.

"You go first."

Bi Ryuyeon beckoned with his index finger.

"I will go first."

The guild master Jang Wooyang did not refuse.

He set the sword blade straight in the center, bowed in a gesture of respect, and then leaped. As he leaped, the sword shot out. The sword's movement was like a fluttering falling petal. The moment a fluttering petal stopped in mid-air, it shivered and spat out eighteen sword shadows into the air. The brilliance of falling petals scattering in the wind, an unignorable momentum and change.

"Nanhuajian (Scattered Flower Sword)!"

However, the one who was truly surprised was not Bi Ryuyeon, who was directly facing the sword. The one who exclaimed in surprise from behind was Jin Ling. Bi Ryuyeon, the person involved, seemed relaxed, even at ease. He even had a smile on his lips…

Nanhuajian, to be precise, 'Nanhuabijian Shiliu Shi' (Sixteen Forms of Scattered Flower Hidden Sword), was a sword technique considered a secret art of the Ami sect, not to be easily taught to outsiders. He knew that the guild master of this Jungyang Courier Guild claimed to be an outer disciple of Ami, but he had never imagined that he would have learned Nanhuajian. He didn't know how far Jang Wooyang, the guild master, had learned among the sixteen forms of Nanhuajian, but even though he was an outer disciple, the fact that someone considered an outsider had learned Nanhuajian was a sufficiently surprising event for Jin Ling.

Furthermore, judging by the eighteen sword shadows that changed, he had learned Nanhuajian to a superior level. The true use and value of Nanhuajian lay in its dazzling brilliance and splendor through the alternation of illusion and reality. The illusionary and real strokes of the emitted sword shadows switched, confusing the opponent, which was the essence of Nanhuajian.

This secret was also applied to Nanhuashou, which was on par with Nanhuajian. If one had not properly grasped this secret, the change depicted by eighteen sword shadows like this would have been impossible. His nickname, Eighteen Swords, was not just a name he got for being boastful and swearing. The eighteen sword shadows fiercely stabbed towards Bi Ryuyeon.

'It's in.'

Just as Jang Wooyang thought it had hit, the sword pierced Bi Ryuyeon's body as if he had aimed at a phantom or swung at an illusion. However, Jang Wooyang's sword had passed through Bi Ryuyeon's afterimage. Bi Ryuyeon, evading the flurry of eighteen sword shadows as if turning time and space into nothing, kicked Jang Wooyang in the stomach, who stood there with a blank expression.

"Musaenggak (No Thought Foot)!"

After the technique landed on the opponent, Bi Ryuyeon said the name of the technique. The reason he didn't kindly teach the name of the technique before attacking was that the time it took to activate the technique was faster than the time it took to say the name of the technique. Wouldn't saying the technique name and then attacking waste time? For techniques focused on speed or close-quarters combat, shouting the name of the technique was like poison.

Honestly, while shouting the name of a technique looks impressive, it can't be done anytime. This kicking technique, named "kicking with no thought," was one of the four techniques (one fist, one palm, one kick, one leg technique) from the pseudo-martial arts of the Bi Lei Sect, a kick performed mercilessly in a natural state without any thought. This kicking technique felt like a ghost, impossible to avoid once entangled, and its power was formidable when it hit.

Jang Wooyang, spitting up blood, was sent flying. However, because he had lessened the focused force at the moment of impact, he did not inflict a severe injury that would endanger his life. If he were to die, who would claim damages? It would be all for naught, so he slightly reduced the force in his kick.

Seeing the guild master fall, spitting up blood, the chief escort, Kuae Chang, Deng Ruyeon, and the deputy chief escort, Seom Yeon, Deng Ryeoho, could not stand it and charged forward. These two men had appeared with the guild master from the beginning. As their names suggested, they were brothers and both masters of spear techniques. Although they had remained silent as long as the guild master was directly involved, they could no longer stand by after he was defeated in a single blow.

"This bastard."

"This bastard."

Perhaps because they were brothers, their battle cries were the same. Kuae Chang Deng Ruyeon, Seom Yeon Deng Ryeoho. Their secret technique, the 5-stage consecutive strike, was renowned for being difficult to counter because the five changes were all thrust in with different time lags. Furthermore, their combined attack of the 5-stage consecutive strike, manifested simultaneously from left and right, was considered an unstoppable threat.

Individually, their skill was below that of the guild master Jang Wooyang of Jungyang Courier Guild, but in a combined attack, their martial arts were even stronger than the guild master's. Their combined attack exhibited a fearsome power that even the guild master, the Eighteen Swords Jang Wooyang, could not stop.

Deng Ruyeon's dark spear lunged towards Bi Ryuyeon's right flank, imbued with five changes, and Deng Ryeoho, wielding a spear of the same material and color, attacked Bi Ryuyeon's left flank with the same technique, the 5-stage consecutive strike.

A simultaneous attack from both sides by two top-class masters, and both their weapons were spears. Their effective range was much longer than Bi Ryuyeon's, who was now unarmed. However, Bi Ryuyeon showed no intention of moving until their attacks were right in front of him. It was only about three inches (about 10 centimeters) to Bi Ryuyeon's body.

Then it happened. Suddenly, Bi Ryuyeon crossed both hands above his head and moved his left foot behind his right heel, spinning with furious speed fueled by that momentum. In an instant, a strong gust of wind swirled around Bi Ryuyeon, and the stances of Deng Ruyeon and Deng Ryeoho, who were attacking, began to falter under the force of the wind. Their offense was swept towards Bi Ryuyeon, like trees being sucked into a whirlpool. Deng Ruyeon's spear, thrusting from the right flank, narrowly missed the front of his chest, and Deng Ryeoho's spear, thrusting from the left flank, narrowly missed Bi Ryuyeon's back. And then…

"Thwack."

Bi Ryuyeon's hands, raised above his head, turned into sword hands and struck the necks of Deng Ruyeon and Deng Ryeoho, who were attacking. Without even using all five changes, the two brothers, born under the same father, living in the same house, eating at the same table, serving the same master, wielding the same weapon, and learning the same martial art, fell face-first onto the ground simultaneously. As if stopping the combined attack of the chief escort and deputy chief escort, considered the strongest here, was not enough, Bi Ryuyeon said something after knocking them down.

"Technique name: None!"

He had just moved his body as needed, without any particular thought, so there was no technique name. In this way, from the lowliest escorts to the representative director, and even to the chief escort and guild master of the Jungyang Courier Guild, all were laid out on the ground by Bi Ryuyeon and his disciples.

Bi Ryuyeon approached the beaten guild master triumphantly, grabbed his ear, and said loudly. The words were like thunder to Jang Wooyang's ears.

"How is it, are you awake? It's only natural for anyone to feel pain when hit. Speaking of which, shall we continue the conversation we left off? That guy who assaulted someone was so impolite. He interrupted the elders. That's why you need to educate your subordinates well. Education is important. If your subordinates are not well-educated, it's all your responsibility. But putting that aside, my disciple who was assaulted, he's a direct descendant of the Sichen Tang Sect. Did you know that? The Tang Sect, I heard they are masters of poison and hidden weapons. Those who are poisoned by their poison are left with nothing but a handful of blood, and their thrown hidden weapons are impossible to dodge, haven't you heard? The Tang Sect of Sichuan, the Sichen Tang Family. Their name is quite renowned. So much so that my ears are ringing."

All color drained from the guild master's face. He couldn't not know. Who in the martial arts world, let alone in Sichuan, or the entire martial arts world, wouldn't know the Sichen Tang Sect, the epitome of poison and hidden weapons? Moreover, this was Sichuan, and Jang Wooyang knew and felt the power of the Tang Sect better than anyone.

Furthermore, if the disciple who was assaulted was indeed a direct descendant of the Tang family, they wouldn't even be able to ask for help from the Ami sect. There would be no justification for seeking their assistance. Even if the Tang Sect attacked and devastated the Jungyang Courier Guild, the Ami sect would surely not intervene. They had the justification, but the Ami sect and themselves did not.

In fact, the guild master Jang Wooyang knew all these circumstances well, but Bi Ryuyeon did not. Having lived secluded in the mountains or only in villages with blacksmiths, how much would he know about the Sichen Tang Sect? He was just babbling what he had casually heard, with a bit of exaggeration and bluster. However, to Jang Wooyang, the guild master of Jungyang Courier Guild, who made a living as a courier in Sichuan, this was not a laughing matter.

"Th-that's really true?"

"Of course, it's true. Do you think I'm in a position to lie right now? His sister is also here. If you want to confirm, go ahead and confirm. But I can't take responsibility for what happens afterward. She's about to explode. If she explodes while you're questioning her, no one can stop her. She has quite a temper. She might even bring her whole family and relatives to attack you. Do you still want to try?"

Bi Ryuyeon looked at Jang Wooyang with a bright and healthy smile. It was immense confidence. That seemingly endless, outrageous confidence was now weighing down Jang Wooyang's body and mind like a burden. Confirm? He had no desire to do so. In Sichuan, antagonizing the Sichen Tang Sect or provoking them was never a wise action.

If he confirmed and it was true, it would be even more problematic. And if it were fake, then what? There was no way. The situation was already broken, the conflict resolved. Moreover, with that confidence and skill, it was surely true.

"Wh-what should I do?"

The guild master asked with a trembling voice. At first glance, Bi Ryuyeon seemed older, so Jang Wooyang, unaware that Bi Ryuyeon was wearing a mask, used polite language. Jang Wooyang's face, devoid of any vitality, seemed to be growing paler.

"You know perfectly well what to do!"

Bi Ryuyeon said, holding out his right hand in front of Jang Wooyang's nose.

"……?"

"I demand compensation for the physical and mental damages suffered by my disciple I mentioned earlier, myself, my disciple's friends, and their family and relatives."

The compensation for the mental damages suffered by the disciple's friends, family, and relatives, which was not mentioned before, was added as an additional item. This was for the extra effort and sweat expended in the process of reaching a mutual agreement. However, the courier guild master Jang Wooyang now had no choice. If this escalated further, it wouldn't just end with nailing the door and taking down the sign, but could result in nothing but black ashes and piles of corpses.

"I understand. I-I will give it to you. B-but please make today's events as if they never happened…"

The guild master Jang Wooyang trailed off, speaking with great difficulty. He was clearly anxious, wondering what Bi Ryuyeon would do if he refused. Jang Wooyang needed to smooth over this matter at any cost, no matter what sacrifice he had to make.

"Of course."

"Thwack."

"Huff."

As if stamping a contract, he agreed with a hearty palm strike on the guild master Jang Wooyang's back. Thus, Bi Ryuyeon was able to extort a substantial amount of compensation from the Jungyang Courier Guild under the guise of compensation for physical and mental damages suffered by himself, his disciple, his disciple's friends, and their family. How much he received was known only to Bi Ryuyeon, and it was never disclosed. He was reluctant to let others know.

"Hehehe."

A satisfied smile, a slightly strange laugh, lips that seemed about to burst, a heavy-looking bag in his hand, and in addition to the visible bag, Bi Ryuyeon had some paper scraps called 'money bills' hidden away from his disciples. However, none of his disciples knew about this fact. Nor did they know that the amount written on those papers was greater than the amount in the bag…

After venting all their frustrations, Bi Ryuyeon and his disciples began climbing the mountain towards the training ground with light hearts. As they passed the middle of autumn, the mountain had changed into a vibrant red and beautiful yellow, dazzling people's eyes. Soon, even the wind had become cool. Only the sun cast its last remaining warm light upon the earth. The time for their farewell was also approaching.