Book 13 Chapter 6

Second Testimony of Apprentice Yong

"I believe the previous story was told by an old man with two legs."

The faces of those in the room turned grim at the verbal assault. But I didn't seem to mind at all.

"The rest of the story will be told by this one-armed thief."

At the same time, Usui's sleeve fluttered in the breeze as the fierceness of the Long Tian Dao shone through.

"We were unashamedly puffed up with vain expectations of who would dare to cut his throat and become the unsung hero. The first gateway would be a failure, but he would have inflicted considerable physical damage, and we would be left with a wounded prey. We were only interested in who would have the honor of decapitating him. It was arrogant indeed, and I still wonder how we could have had such boldness, confidence, and arrogance at the time, knowing what he was capable of. It was… yeah, it was like a fever……."

"It must have been the power of numbers, because a wolf in a pack can defeat a lion."

Ryu-yeon Bi was quick to provide an answer.

"Ryuyeon!"

He was so unobtrusive that Na Yerin cautioned him in a small voice. But Bi Ryuyeon only listened and sifted.

The old man's mouth twisted in a bitter accusation. There was no cursing or shouting.

"You're right, we underestimated his capabilities by a long shot."

Pain flashed across the vigorous old man's face.

"I took up residence here with two hundred and forty-four thieves and formed a daojin. Zhong Qian loudly proclaimed that he could stop him at his first gateway, but I knew he would fail!"

As expected, 'he' appeared at the second gateway, held by the apprentice Yong Jingyue. However, what was truly unexpected was the absence of a single wound on his body. The apprentice was said to have cursed at Zhong Xuan in a furious manner.

"I was really chewing the fat and cursing at the top of my lungs, and I was like, 'You're a fool, you've got a big mouth, and all you've got to show for it is this, go to hell!"

At the time, I didn't think that Jongheon was still alive, because I thought that the fact that "he" had gotten this far was the strongest circumstantial evidence.

"When I found out later that Zongqian was alive, I was really surprised. I thought he'd come back from the dead. Although he ended up being a two-legged asshole with two missing legs, which is a perfect pairing for a one-legged asshole……."

Only when 'he' came to the second gateway, where they were waiting to dig a trap and snare him, did the apprentice and his companions realize that they had been far off the mark. He was relaxed, like a fisherman enjoying a swim, like a hiker enjoying a Santa Claus. It was like he was out for a walk in the backyard.

"His eyes did not seem to see a forest of 244 blades. It was as if he had simply walked into a forest of nameless wildflowers, blooming in profusion, and nameless shrubs growing in abundance."

He was like a man who didn't know what fear was.

'"How foolish I was to think that I could pick them whenever I wanted, like apples on an apple tree, when the time came to harvest them! That's probably the blind spot and the scary thing about being grouped together. How foolish they were to believe that they were all in the same place, and how foolish they were to believe that they were all in the same place, and how foolish they were to believe that they were all in the same place.'

The apprentice sighed as if he regretted his mistake. His regret was palpable.

At that moment, a light breeze blew across the shoulders of those seated.

Indeed, the name of the Heavenly Blood God was a myth.

Despite being outnumbered 244 to 1, no one was sure of their victory.

'He' opened his mouth for the first time and spoke.

"Can you entertain me here?"

Wolves in the wild are sometimes more terrifying than lions because they gather in packs. Even the strongest and bravest lion can be forced to move out of the way of a pack of wolves.

However, none of the 244 challengers were convinced of their superiority. Two hundred and forty-four wolves could not hold off a single lion.

Or perhaps they were already disguised as 244 rabbits, not 244 wolves. Two hundred and forty-four rabbits or a thousand rabbits do not frighten the lion. They merely fulfill their mission by becoming the lion's prey or snack.

"Are you ready for some fun, what will you entertain me with?"

Yong stepped forward and answered on behalf of the company.

"We want to see your swordsmanship. If you think you're worthy of being our ruler, prove it here."

"He laughed loudly at us. He seemed very amused. And then he spoke in a sneering voice."

"Wouldn't it be faster to ask a fish to teach you how to swim, or a monkey to teach you how to climb a tree, it's trivial!"

It was a sneer, but no one dared to vomit at the words. It was hard enough for them to compose themselves.

'He' paused for a moment, then spoke again.

"Prove it to me, and I'll prove it to you. But to see what you haven't seen, what you can't see, and what you can't see, you must pay a price, and that price is the cessation of existence. Are you willing to pay that price?"

"I still can't forget those mocking eyes, both awake and asleep. I still can't shake the feeling that those eyes are watching me from somewhere. I haven't left this place for a hundred years to get away from them, to escape them, but my mind and body still can't shake them."

Suddenly, he looked a hundred years older than he had ever looked in his life.

Thinking back to that time, the old man felt dwarfed, and his loss of confidence was reflected outwardly.

"The price had already been paid, for not a single one of us thought we could reap the fruits of our labor without sacrifice! Without even a hint of anger at being asked to play a trick, we unleashed the promised jin, the Two Hundred and Forty-Four Gulang Nang Asal Ho Jin. It was a jin that might have been a little cowardly, as the name implies, but no one thought of it as cowardly at the time, and his hand slowly, very slowly, lifted upward."

The apprentice interrupted the conversation.

"You know what's scary about a checkup or a dojin?"

When no one was willing to answer the question, Mo Yong-hui, a certified honors student, finally spoke up.

"It's that you're dealing with a majority against a minority."

The apprentice nodded in response.

"There is, of course, the fact that the many can create the most effective and economical lines of maneuver against the few, but more importantly, the many can unite and overwhelm the few. It's an intangible momentum that binds itself like a spider's web to a flailing butterfly. More often than not, they lose the battle before it's even fought. Then it's just a matter of seeing the results! But……."

The apprentice's gaze drifted back a hundred years.

'He' was as relaxed as if he had just gone for a morning walk. The apprentice still hasn't forgotten that move.

A hand raised, casually, lightly, and no one could have guessed what it would do.

The hand that went up came back down just as fast as it went up.

And then…, the red road opened up.

For a moment, the apprentice was unable to recognize what had happened, even as a cloud of red blood filled his vision, accompanied by the thick scent of blood incense.

Pod!

There was a stabbing pain and a long cut on my right cheek, with blood oozing through the cracked skin. I tried to remember when, where, and how it happened, but I couldn't.

Only then did he realize that one of his body parts was no longer there. Strangely, he felt no pain. Not even as much as the pain from the cut on his cheek.

Everything seemed unreal, as if it had happened in a dream, as if his body was floating through the world with nothing to hold on to. I felt like I was standing on my own two feet, not in reality, but in the middle of a field of dreams.

'What? Is this a nightmare? If I don't wake up soon…….'

But he never woke up from the nightmare's scissoring. Instead, his vision went black and a nerve-searing shock washed over him.

"It was…, it was not human skill!"

The harsh hand of reality jerking you out of your slumber.

A number as terrifying as that one would never be repeated in the entirety of Apprentice Long Jing's life.

It was already a skill, something that could not be called herbivory. All he saw was a black flash, a blade of darkness.

The old man, who had been called the apprentice, tried desperately to remain calm as he recalled those days, but his attempts seemed to be failing.

A chill crawled through the delegates' bodies to the gray hairs on their heads. Fear was like a red-hot lava spewing from an active volcano, swallowing everyone's hearts like stones and melting them together. It was a natural disaster, and resistance was futile.

People stopped moving, like dolls frozen in time, and no one dared to approach the overwhelming figure. Not even the apprentice Yong Kyung-do, who was in charge of the core of the Gunlang Nang Asal Hojin.

'He' walked leisurely, as if strolling down a path of blood he had made. The owners of the sharpened blades stood as still as statues. It was as if they were under a collective hypnosis.

His walk came to a halt before a huge, glossy black wall that stood like a folding screen, and he paused in front of it, carefully feeling it through his fingertips and then tapping it with the back of his hand, like an appraiser assessing a masterpiece.

While he appraised the wall, his back was completely defenseless. Giving your back to your opponent was the most taboo thing in the game, and it was the equivalent of saying, "Kill me!" His bare back was an irresistible temptation, more terrifying than the gentle touch of a fragrant beauty. It was like a taunt, urging them to strike without waiting. But no one dared to step through the loophole and attack. Even the apprentice hesitated to give the order. They were still in the throes of panic, intoxicated by the concentrated blood incense.

No, there was only one, and he was the head of a prestigious gate in Baekdo at the time called Tae-do-mun, a man who had lost five brothers and three sons in the battle against the Heavenly Spirit. His name was Moon Seok-tae, and his nickname was Kyung-in Tae-do, which means a great sword that frightens people.

And he surprised her as much as the asterisk. His body was sliced neatly into thirty-six equal parts, across some invisible boundary. There was no scream, and there was hardly a splash of blood. If that didn't frighten you, the man's heart must be made of iron. Even if the meat of a pork chop were sliced by a skillful chef, it would not be sliced so neatly and orderly.

It took a long time for people to recognize this situation, which was still an extension of their dreams, as real, or at least to accept it as real. After that, no one dared to challenge him.

Apparently, "he" really liked the wall.

Of course, the people knew what that wall was. It was a wall harder than iron, unbreakable by most swords.

"Since I've come this far, should I leave a commemorative signature? Sometimes it's necessary to show the majesty of the master to quiet noisy dogs who don't know the subject!"

He slowly raised his hand and placed it on the rock.

Shush, shush, shush!

It didn't take much for the pride of the rock, harder than iron, to shatter. No one knew exactly what had happened, only that an invisible, sharp sword energy had erupted around him like a spider's web and vanished like a mirage, and as if to prove that it was not an illusion of the senses, a myriad of spider-like scars had been created on the otherwise mirror-smooth surface of the black rock wall.

After a while, he finally finished his work and looked back.

"Huh? Are they still standing there?"

My face flushed with shame. But she couldn't say a word, and she was miserable.

"Are you still willing to go for it?"

"……."

The answer came back like an unanswered echo.

"You have neither the courage nor the courage of your convictions. I wish you would have gone for it……."

Of course, I'd send them all to their deaths if I tried, but it was more like I'd quit because I couldn't be bothered.

The apprentice's knees buckled. Tears streamed from his eyes like chicken droppings. He had never been so humiliated and disgraced in his life, nor had he ever felt so incompetent and helpless.

"Can I go upstairs now? "

What more could he possibly have to say.

"Oh, come on up."

It had been painstakingly crafted by a renowned swordmaster of the time, a master who had gathered all the talent he could muster, but it was destroyed before it could be unleashed. It was a disastrous failure.

Some of the members of the dojin were of prestigious rank, but none of them objected to the apprentice's decision; they simply stared at the ground, heads bowed, unable to look at the sky.

In fact, his attitude was that if he destroyed everything here and now, he wouldn't have any toys to play with later, so he had to leave it behind. The humiliation that his behavior caused was indescribable.

"When Nobu looked up again, he wasn't there, and they never felt so humble as they did then, and they all made a promise."

It was an unspoken promise.

'What happened in that room is to be kept secret, and not told to anyone!'

If the truth had come out, they would not have been able to carry their faces in a powerhouse that valued dignity and honor. But perhaps, even if the truth had come out, no one would have blamed them at the time.

"……."

A heavy silence settled over them like a huge boulder. A veil of gloom seemed to have settled around them.

"As you can see, this is the wall as it was, and what remains of it is the scarring. A testament to that time, still standing after a hundred years of weathering. Even now, whenever Nobu sees it, he is reminded that it was not a dream. It was so unreal."

The old man could never forget that one number, etched in his eyes, ears, and heart, even to the point of getting dirt in his eyes.

"We call it a cowardly wall! "

The apprentice gestured to the black wall and continued.

"In fact, Nobu's initial reaction to him was more awe than fear."

His overwhelming power was in line with his pursuit of the Dao of Extreme Strength.

"His last words before he left were, 'If you can patch this one, I challenge you! ' So here I sit, guarding these walls, searching for a way to patch the herbivore. And……."

"And?"

"And then he said something like……. Ugh!"

Rage, rekindled in a single leap of a hundred years, ignited in his heart.

"'I hope the next time we meet, we'll have something fun to play with!' He said."

It's clear how devastating and harsh it must have been for them to realize that they barely existed.

Bing's common sense was facing a major crisis.

A sword qi that has transcended a hundred years of time and remains in space!

The remnants of the horror that 'he' had carved had stood the test of time and weathering for over a hundred years. Iceblade could still feel the shuddering sword energy emanating from each of these wounds.

It was indeed frightening. This single glimpse was enough to give me a good idea of how great and terrifying "he" was.

Boom!

Iceblade suddenly drew his sword and clenched it. The blue blade glowed with a cold light as if it had been chiseled from an ice cap, and a transparent bluish sword qi coated it. A chill that could freeze the air extended outward, centered on the pale sword pole.

Some of the guards shivered in the freezing cold.

"Ho-ho!"

Admiration for this 'swordsman' flashed briefly in the apprentice's eyes.

True (斬)

The sword swung without a sound.

Another sword mark was carved into the wall of the stone circle. It was nothing compared to the previous marks. A mixture of admiration and wonder erupted from the mouths of the onlookers.

But the truth is, Bingum himself is not happy.

Beside him were the blade marks of several other challengers. Perhaps some of the apprentice's as well.

The depth was much shallower and the width much thicker. It lacked a sharp flavor. I compared it to the original.

The sword marks left by 'him' had an indescribable energy that transcended a hundred years of time. It's hard to describe, but each scar seemed to come alive.

Even though a hundred years had passed in the river of time, I felt defeated.

After watching his Wenshu for a few moments, Yin Dao stirred. He felt a sense of urgency that he could not stand idly by while the ice sword was drawing the admiring glances of the guards. And his competitive spirit must have been stirred.

Regardless, I couldn't stand by and let the ice cube strut its stuff in my face.

As they approached the scarred wall, the first of the casters stepped back a little. It was life's wisdom, gained from years of experience.

"Hmm!"

He shot Bing'er a challenging glance before turning to his apprentice, Yong Jingyu, and bowing briefly. It was a very uncharacteristic gesture for a fellow apprentice, and it was enough to surprise a few people who knew him.

Boom!

His dao book revealed a red tao shrine that looked as if it had been forged from concentrated flames.

Soon, the flame-colored pottery began to set the entire shrine ablaze. The heat radiating from the center of the crimson-colored dao pole caused some of the students to back away. It was Sword Qi.

The apprentice's eyes widened again.

Quack, quack, quack!

A binge that shook the heavens and earth! The mountains shook and the atmosphere vibrated. If the Ice Sword didn't make more noise than anyone else, the Dao of Yeomdo made more noise than anyone else.

"Kolok, Kolok!"

A thick cloud of dust rose, making it difficult to breathe for a moment. Those who hadn't moved back as far as the main group were forced to give their bodies to the tiny bits of stone that were thrown.

"Huh? No. Did you take an axe to the wall? What kind of scratches are these?"

The apprentice narrowed his eyes and said.

Even to the untrained eye, the difference between the two men was obvious. Whereas the ice sword's marks were as fine, sharp, and clean as a thread, the salt water marks were thick, deep, and rough, as if they had been made with a giant axe. But the power contained within was unmistakable.

"You're such an insensitive bastard!"

Bi Ryuyeon grumbled, dusting off her clothes.

The superiority of the two men was never determined. The two martial artists were too different to be recognized by their traces alone. This was true even for the apprentice, Yong Jingyue, who was called Il-Dan-Ae.

"But who does this stain belong to, it looks like it's new and not from a long time ago?"

Mo Yonghui pointed to one of the sword marks on the wall. It was wide and lacked any sophisticated flavor, but it contained terrifying power and momentum.

"Ho, ho, good eyesight! That was left by a child of the Ten Thousand Pavilions."

"The Ten Thousand Pavilions!

At the sound of these three syllables, the eyes of the men to their left widened. This was the opponent they were about to face. Without being asked, everyone's eyes were drawn to the sword marks. To be able to know the enemy's capabilities first was to have the upper hand. It was easy to make assumptions about your opponent's skill based on a single sword mark.

"By the way, the delegates from the Great Hall of Heaven……."

Yeomdo asked carefully and thoughtfully.

"Ah, those kids!"

When we were all thinking that we had passed the second gate safely, we got a completely unexpected answer.

"They're buried."

A very calm voice. It was like part of a question and answer session about a very simple, very mundane thing.

"Moo, what do you mean buried? "

At first they didn't understand, so the apprentice had to work hard to help them understand. They grumbled that they were unnecessarily torturing the old man.

It would be great if we could understand each other in just one word, and not have to ask for two or three. However, humans have been misunderstood ever since we learned to speak with our tongues, so sometimes detailed explanations are necessary for smooth communication. Especially for humans, whose reading comprehension skills are woefully inadequate.

The apprentice also decided to take the trouble.

"It's a story about being buried 'pah!' in the ground."

"What do you mean… land?"

The young men, who carried the future of Baekdo on their shoulders, still didn't seem to understand. After explaining everything in detail, they still didn't understand? By now, the apprentice was getting a little annoyed. There are few experiences as frustrating and annoying as a miscommunication.

"Food is also called burial (埋葬)."

"Huh!"

Finally, they understood.

"How did that, how did that happen……."

The younger ones protested to emphasize the importance of life. The old man's response was indifferent.

"Do you think the weak are worthy of surviving the strong? Weakness is synonymous with uselessness. The strong are not thrifty or disciplined enough to feed the weak."

It was an unorthodox, but true, application of economic principles.

"It was probably around there."

"Huh!"

The eyes in the room flew to his fingertips in unison.

In some cases, it looked like the ground was barely compacted.

I'd probably have each and every one of them dig their own cozy grave, and then give them a neat power burial!

Truly a devil without blood or tears!

Fifty thousand different imaginations ran through the vast thought structures in their brains.

"I'm guessing we've buried enough for two great powers?"

"Heh heh heh!"

A voice that doesn't sound serious. The apprentice is just dryly poking around.

"In fact, at night, those corpses come out as ghosts in faded quilts and perform their own unique brand of martial arts. It's a demonstration of grudges and curses. Every second of their souls is dedicated to defeating "him. Sometimes there are even some eye-opening surprises. There is so much to learn! Nobu has been watching them for the past hundred years to improve his own martial arts!"

I wonder if this time will be any different.

"Heh heh heh!"

There was another outburst of horror.

"No way!"

"I can't believe it! "

"This is amazing!"

"Can I?"

"You've got to give them high marks for that freshness!"

Here and there, opinions were spouted, albeit loudly and actively. In any case, there was a serious conversation going on.

Suddenly, the apprentice sighed, as if the earth had gone out from under him. The old man's temples were burning. I'd bet my fortune he wasn't senile.

"Whoa. Please don't be so easily fooled by this. Nobu's just having fun for himself, and it's so ridiculous that he'll keep fooling you!"

With hair as scattered as a prisoner on death row, eyebrows as thick as a worm's, a dagger that could snap a bull's neck in an instant, a beak like a blade gleaming in the moonlight, and a behemoth of a bear that breathes wildness.

Apprentice Yong Jingyue glanced to his left and frowned.

"Hey, young people, do you think the old man looks like a cold-blooded killer?"

Silence!

The audience, momentarily speechless, nodded in agreement, but no one spoke up to save their lives.

"Ugh."

The apprentice sighed, once again, as if the earth would go away. His empty sleeve seemed to flutter with his sigh.

"I was going to say it was a joke, but……."

It's very embarrassing when the joke comes back as a truthful answer.

"But what is the test for this second gateway?"

"What? Argh! The test! Ugh……."

It could only be described as thinking about things that shouldn't be thought about.

"Okay, here's the deal: If one of you leaves a more skillful stamp than that kid over there, I'll give you credit."

Mo Yonghui was about to step forward, but the apprentice quickly restrained him.

"Where's the guy with the long sword trying to challenge you, didn't you hear what Nobu said about forty?"

"Isn't a sword the same as a saber? I don't think it's right to make a distinction."

Nope.

The apprentice was at a loss for words. A lame excuse was not acceptable.

"Do as you please! Do as you please!"

Finally, the apprentice surrendered.

"Let me try."

His name was Ha Yun-ming, a master stormer in the Xinhendai, the direct subordinate of the warlord Maha Ling. His skill in the Drifting Sword Technique had earned him a reputation as a co-winner of the Samurai Tournament.

Boom!

Ha Yun-ming approached the wall of fear and did not hesitate to step on it.

Boom!

"Failed!"

Without looking at the results, Yong Tianming said.

If it were a normal stone wall, the sound of Ha Yunming's blade would not even be audible. For the sound to reverberate so loudly meant that the work was not as smooth as it should have been.

Parse.

His hand trembled as he clutched the mourning. The wall was much harder than he'd expected.

"Look here, young man, what about you, do you think you can do it? No Taoist-minded person should miss this opportunity!"

The skeptical old man spoke to Hyo-ryong, who was blending in with the crowd and fixing his gaze on the scarred wall with a dazed expression. The low voice carried power, and power rippled through the man's mind.

But few people noticed. Lee Jin-sul, who was one of the many and had never left his side, spoke up.

"Grandpa, what are you talking about? This person is……."

Before he could finish, Hyorong's feet began to move.

"hyo……."

Lee Jin-sul reached out desperately, but only grasped empty air. She tried to follow his retreating back, but the old man raised his staff to stop her. It was a light gesture, but it robbed her of all possibility of movement. Like a sheep in a pen, she couldn't even squirm.

Looking into the out-of-focus, otherworldly eyes through the scattered hair, I realize that I'm not quite back to my senses yet. The old man's eyes are sharp and deep as he watches Hyo-ryong's back as he walks through the crowd toward the wall.

"Looks like your drone instincts are still alive and well!"

The old man's voice is so low that even Lee Jin-sul, who is next to him, can't hear it.

Bang!

The third challenger had just failed.

"What the hell, how dare you get on the asshole topic? "

One of the guards grumbled as he pushed past Hyo-ryong to get to the front of the crowd. He was a man of the Warlord's Council, and he didn't like Bi Ryuyeon, nor did he like her and her associates. As far as they were concerned, he was the kind of person they couldn't kill and had to keep alive.

But the man's next words could not follow.

"Where's the next thing you're going to say?"

They say there's nothing stronger than the woman you love.

The man could only shake his head in disbelief as he shuddered at the thrill of the twin swords that stood poised to decapitate him. It was a good lesson in what a slip of the tongue could do to a man.

"Did I just leave it in a bad environment for too long?

Dokgo-ryung shook his head in disbelief at the radical behavior of the cute and cheerful Lee Jin-sul. It was said that the environment makes the person. Suddenly, she began to worry deeply about her sisters-in-law.

But the old man nodded with a wry smile as he watched the younger man's brave act, and Jang Hong, who had been standing two steps away, ready to punch the man's thrush, gently loosened his clenched fist as well.

"Would you like to give it a try?"

"……."

Answering in silence, Hyorong drew one of the twin swords on his back. What moved him now was a single voice echoing in his mind. An irresistible command. It was the voice of an old man that controlled his actions now.

"It's obviously going to fail, what can a guy who can't even hold his own body together do?"

A mocking voice rang out behind him, but it was only a hollow echo that passed through his ears. Instead, it roused a few of his friends.

At that moment, Hyorong swung his sword.

It was a sword that unfolded in a trance, and it drew out a martial art hidden in the deepest recesses of his flesh.

Blood-red sword energy flashed brilliantly, carving long sword marks into the black stone wall.

A light bulb went off in the councilman's eyes.

"What the heck was that blood glow?"

It was a new sword technique for Jang Hong, who had always accompanied Hyorong.

The apprentice's words were not easy for Jang Hong to hear.

"You are a peculiar young man, carrying a sword!"

After saying that, Yong Jingyue carefully examined the sword marks left by Hyo Long. If his skills were even slightly lacking, he would never let him pass.

"umm……."

After staring for a long time, the apprentice finally opened his mouth to speak.

"We're not there yet!"

Immediately, the disappointment in the room was palpable. The one who was most disappointed was Lee Jin-sul, who had been cheering him on from the bottom of her heart. She thought it would be difficult for Hyo-ryong to succeed, but she had been praying for his success by reciting the names of all the gods in the heavenly realm.

That's when the apprentice's mouth opened again.

"But I'd say it's pretty good for its age, and with a little polish, it could be useful."

"Well, then?"

The apprentice nodded in response to Yeomdo's question.

"Pass!"

Cheers erupted.

She didn't seem to care about any of this, just stared at the black wall as if she could see right through it. It was an attitude that said it didn't matter if she passed or failed.

He muttered in a husky voice.

"Can't be……."

There was someone who saw it. It was Yong Jingyu.

Suddenly his eyes widened.

As she pressed her palm against the scarred wall, the shadow of another person fell on her back. Suddenly, goosebumps covered her entire body.

"No way!

The apprentice soon denied his idea outright. It couldn't have happened. What he had just felt must have been an illusion.