Book 11 Chapter 8

Soldier's Sword (君子逍遙劍)

Namgungsang looked at Yi Song with distant eyes.

Ridiculously, neither the Yeomdo nor the ice cubes were any different.

"Hey, Ice, since when did your skills as a greengrocer get to that level?"

The ice sword shook its head. The blade flew by so fast it was invisible, and he drew it out later, letting it slide through with minimal movement. He used the least amount of force for the most effect. The slicing motion was also neat and fluid.

"When did the hierarchy of the greenery become so disrupted?"

The question of Yeomdo was natural. The strongest were always the ones who sat in the highest seats. Nepotism, delay, blood ties, none of it mattered. In their quest for strength, being weak was a sin in itself.

"Hmm, that's the first time I've ever seen debt stocks outperform equity stocks in a green forest."

Funnily enough, the best master of black bean curd was not the owner of the black bean curd, Im Kae, but the man who worked beside him, Lee Song, whose only specialty was his ability to speak fluently.

"I'm sorry, but as your advisor, I had no choice but to block Confucius' sword. I hope you'll forgive me."

This was a different type of green belt than Yi Song had ever encountered, even for a Southern Palace merchant who had met many bandit paddlers beyond his years, whether due to heavenly intervention or fate. He had never met such a polite bandit before. This came as a kind of traumatic shock to him. After a brief moment of mental panic, Yi Song continued, saying that he hoped the master would forgive him for his caution.

"I'm sorry, but even if he doesn't grow up, even if he doesn't grow old, even if he doesn't have the sense to take a younger wife when he gets older, even if he doesn't know what he's doing, even if he likes to drink all the time, even if he likes to play and fight, even if his drunkenness is extremely bad, even if he always puts his emotions ahead of his reason, even if he often does reckless things, we can't let him die here because he's an unavoidable member of our Black Raspberry family, so I hope you can understand and understand."

Mentally battered by Yi Song's verbal assault, which was like a stream of fortune, Lin Kai's face turned more and more gray. He was so stunned that he couldn't even speak properly. He couldn't even wash his eyes and look for any authority or respect for Chaiju.

I wanted to drag him off to the middle of nowhere and psycho-educate him for the rest of the night, but since he'd been saved by Yi Song (and with a life preserver!), I didn't have ten mouths to feed.

"So why don't we just end this quietly right here, as I think it would be beneficial to both of us?"

Namgungsang sneaked a look at Yin Do. As expected, she shook her head. With his fiery personality, there was no way he would let this go unnoticed. Perhaps he was secretly glad to have someone to practice on.

"Impossible!"

Namgungsang flatly refused to listen. His usual glazed look was now all over the place.

"Did you think you could get away with blocking the way of the delegation from the Volcano Covenant Branch of the Heavenly Martial Academy? You've blocked our way, and you'll pay for it!"

"Chu, Tianmu Hall!"

"Huh, volcanic ash!"

They now realize they've been playing with fire next to the oil depot, touching a group of people they shouldn't have.

'I stepped on a turd!

With a grimace, Yi Song muttered something uncharacteristically flippant inwardly, then quickly reconsidered his words and tightened his grip on his sword.

'Are you telling me that delegations to the Heavenly Academy these days don't even carry identification flags because they don't have any money?'

With that flag in front of me, I wouldn't have lifted a finger! I can only assume it was an intentional lure.

It was a meaningful glance that asked the question, "What do you want me to do?" but he ignored it. He was intrigued by the sudden appearance of this swordsman. The ice sword wielder was probably even more embodied than he was. One sleep was all it took to figure out whether he was a master or a sewer. It was possible to tell the difference between a master and a lowlife just by the way he drew his sword. In that context, the author was a master. He was also a peak swordsman who hid his considerable skill.

Not many people would let the White Lightning Illusion, the pinnacle of the Southern Palace Sega's White Lightning Sword Technique, slip through their fingers so lightly. Yi Song's swordsmanship was strictly defensive. Even now, in the face of Nangong Shang's relentless attacks, he was only silently defending and not fighting back, but that didn't mean he was allowing any loopholes. Even now, his sword was slicing through Nangong Shang's sword with minimal movement. It was a remarkable skill to be able to defend so calmly and continuously.

But even more surprising was the fact that his sword was not an apostle's, but a very orthodox sword. There was no way he could have learned such inefficient swordplay in the Sappa or in the green forest.

"Who the hell is this guy?

If he looked at the sword herb more closely, he might be able to figure out its history. Yeomdo strained his eyes to stare at his blade, which was also an ice sword.

"I'm sure I've seen this test before……?"

As he watched Nan Gongsheng and Yi Song continue to slash at each other, he muttered to himself. If it's a sword technique like that, there's no way he doesn't know about it. Even if he hadn't witnessed it, he would have at least heard of it. Such a defense-oriented sword technique that was completely devoid of offense was very rare in this rugged powerhouse. At best, it was elegant, but at worst, it was impractical, and even more so, it was impractical. Or should I say practicality…….

The Namgungsang was attacking again and again, and Yi Song was defending by parrying or deflecting their blows, but the amazing thing was that after more than twenty moves, Yi Song hadn't attacked even once. Obviously, he wasn't just outnumbered and on the defensive, as he was able to parry the swords of the Southern Archers that were coming at him at blinding speeds like white lightning. It was the kind of swordplay where one could only hope that the opponent would tire of the weeding, since there was no effective attack.

Such an honest sword……. The bandit's uncharacteristic savagery was nowhere to be found. A bandit's sword is honest and fair……? Who would believe that this man is the infamous black-robed moneylender of the Green Forest Mafia, just by the way he wields his sword?

'Yeah, like a soldier…….'

'A sword as swift as a soldier!'

A flash of light pierced through Bing's mind.

"Yi Songhak, the Kunzai Sword!"

A name burst from his mouth in surprise.

"Hebei Ten Swords! "

The words burst out of Yeomdo's mouth in a torrent. The commotion around them caused Namgungsang and Yi Song to stop fighting. Namgungsang, who had switched swords with him a moment ago, also looked at Yi Song, or rather, Yi Songhak, in surprise. If this was Yi Songhak, then he had heard rumors of him before.

The Soldier's Sword (君子逍遙劍) Yi Songhak!

He was known to be one of the most honest and humane swordsmen in Jianghu, and even with a sword technique that was far from practical, people did not hesitate to place him among the ten most skilled swordsmen in Hebei. With such a technique, it was even analyzed that he was an incredible sword genius to be alive today.

How great is it that you've survived this long with a crippled (some would say crippled) swordsmanship that's mostly defensive, with only a few offensive moves.

But he mysteriously disappeared in Hebei a few years ago. Not a single word has been heard from him since. On the day of his mysterious disappearance, his room was still neat and tidy. So no one realized that he had disappeared in a puff of smoke. Until a month later, when no sign of him was found.

"You, a member of the Hebei Ten Swords and an elder of the Righteous Gate, why?"

The question left out the words, "Are you here banditrying with the Green Foresters? At Bing's question, a look of despair flashed across the face of the Swordsman Yi Song, or rather, the Swordsman Yi Songhak.

But when he realized that he couldn't get out of here today without telling the story of his life's twists and turns, he gave up. He let out a long sigh and began his story.

"Whoa…, I thought I was so good-natured that I wouldn't feel anything when I lost. I thought, 'A soldier like me doesn't give in to petty competitiveness. I have great control over myself. It's not necessarily about winning or losing!" But it wasn't until I lost to someone that I realized how much of a weakling I was, obsessed with winning."

His face was filled with dark regret.

"Who was he?"

He hadn't even heard that the military saber Yi Songhak had been defeated by someone.

"To my shame, it was a boy."

"Boy? "

The two of them suddenly felt their hearts pounding in their chests. 'Oh, no, it can't be true. It can't be…….' They decided to calm down and continue listening.

"It was a devastating defeat, and it was only then that I realized how much of a frog in the well I was. He was a boy who couldn't have been more than twenty years old, and he was young, but he had a very cold look about him, and it made me wonder if I really deserved to be in this world, to be beaten by a boy who didn't even know what he was doing."

Poof, poof!

Yeomdo and Ice Sword must have felt a stabbing pain in their hearts every time Yi Songhak opened his mouth. It was easy for them to agree with him. Somehow, it didn't seem like anyone else's story.

"There was also some skepticism that maybe I hadn't been doing the world a favor."

Hmph! Hmph! Both Yeomdo and Ice Sword nodded at the same time.

"I felt like I was going to die with a knife in my mouth. I felt humiliated somehow, like I was being made fun of……. It was probably because I instinctively felt that this boy had overpowered me without even giving it his all, and it was very humiliating to be beaten by just a boy."

As I listened, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. He had never heard a story so eloquent and heartbreaking. I wanted to rush over and give him a big hug, and if it weren't for the snow around me, I might have impulsively done so.

'I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it, I get it, my friend!'

But with extreme self-control and patience, he persevered.

"So…, how did it go? Did the boy make any outrageous demands on you to be his student?"

Yeomdo asked in an urgent voice.

"What? What do you mean? "

The look on his face told her otherwise, and she breathed an inward sigh of relief that she didn't have to add another alumni brother.

"Oh…, no, go ahead!"

Yeomdo hastily changed the subject, and his ramblings about Lee Song-hak's past continued.

"The boy told me that I was too stuck in a rut, too stuck in my ways, that I wasn't making any progress, that I couldn't get stronger unless I broke that rut. I don't remember much about the next few days, I must have left the house and walked aimlessly, and when I came to, I found myself in this crowd. And who are you?"

The two men who were listening to Lee Song-hak took off their shades. They had worn them because they were so conspicuous in their everyday attire. It was only then that Yi Songhak realized that the two men speaking to him looked very familiar.

"I am Guan Cheol Chul, the ice sword, the general laborer of the Heavenly Martial Academy."

Binggum introduced himself.

"Yeomdo!"

It was a blunt introduction to Yeomdo.

"Boom, so you've got the famous……."

He was not alone in his contemplation. Most of the bandits' faces turned blue when they were introduced. Some coughed repeatedly, as if they had a bad case of the sores. Others clutched their hearts and made all sorts of facial expressions as if they were having a bad day.

Only then did they realize how reckless and foolish they had been trying to do. The arrows of criticism were all pointed at the vegetarian Lin Kai. His complexion was as dead as anyone else's, and even if he had ten mouths to feed, he had nothing to say.

"I heard that ice and fire never mix and never go together……."

That was why Yi Songhak hadn't realized for a moment that these two were the two famous people. Bing Sword muttered in a bitter tone.

"Sometimes there are unavoidable circumstances and exceptions in the world."

But this time, the exception almost caught more than one person. It was a close call.

"Phew~."

Lim breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like it wasn't going to be his turn.