Book 16 Chapter 18

Jin Seong-gon Im Sung-jin's Strike

-Father and son

"Are you a reader?"

The masked man asked, looking at Im Seong-jin, who was blocking his way.

"Yes."

"What about your sister?"

"Wouldn't you feel sorry for her if she had a father with a face like that?"

"That's right!"

The masked man admitted it all too readily, and there was a brief sound of cursing behind him. He ignored it and continued.

"Your rich man should thank me today. The son will not have to grieve over his father's death, and the father will not have to enjoy the loss of his son for long. What a good thing this will be!"

"What does that mean?"

Lim's strong, thick eyebrows twitched beneath his sweaty forehead. The masked man said, sending out an eerie chill.

"Today, I will do for you what the three heroes of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Ziyi, have not been able to accomplish, even with all their drinking and feasting. Know it as an honor."

Do you really need to say that you're going to let me die on the same day and at the same time in such a long and complicated way? That was the first question that went through Lim's mind before he decided whether he should be honored or not.

'I told you it's a beautiful day…….'

The pain was like being burned by a flaming iron skewer, and it was a wonder his bones weren't crushed. The burning pain of the wound was making his mind scream and his body writhe. It took a great deal of endurance not to let it show.

The masked man was enraged and determined for revenge, and it took him no time to put that determination into action. He raised his sharpened sword and struck the earth with his legs, trained like the legs of a mountainous deer.

He cut through the space like an arrow leaving a demonstration, diving into Lim's gap, a man who knew how to fight an opponent with a longer gap than himself.

"That's it!"

His sword was about to pierce her heart. But just as the black assassin's venomous blade was about to pierce his heart, Lim spun the gong with all his might.

Wedge!

A terrifying rotational force, reminiscent of a whirlpool, accompanied by a powerful spinning updraft, deflected the sword that came within inches of his heart.

"Boom!"

A short groan escaped the masked man's lips as he was pushed off the page. He was looking at his right hand and his side. These were the places where a tremendous rotational force had whipped past a moment ago. The spinning spirals had tattered the clothing on his side and exposed his bare skin. The condition of his palm was even worse. The specialized gloves made from the hard, tough flesh of the pterodactyl were now unrecognizable, and red gore dripped from the torn wounds as if a beast had bitten them.

"Pfft, looks like I've been ignoring you!"

I didn't think I'd be in this position.

"I told you beforehand, it's not going to be easy to beat me!"

"Don't get cocky yet!"

The masked man said through clenched teeth.

"Save that for after you've taken this blow!"

Lim picked up the gong and struck a one-handed stab, one of the most basic of the basic forms.

His father was watching, his father who dismissed his kon. His father, who had told him that gons were for weaklings. He could never be ashamed of himself. He couldn't let this golden opportunity pass him by.

"Sungjin, listen carefully."

"Yes, Master."

"I will now pass on to you the highest aura of my sect."

Lim Sung-jin listened to his master with a pensive heart.

"Do you know which blow is the most powerful?"

The master began to speak.

"A kon has one beginning and one end. A kon begins with a thrust and ends with a thrust. The shortest, simplest strike is the most powerful. If you can make the shortest strike with your life, if you can put your whole body and mind into that strike, you will be able to make the strongest strike."

"Yes, Master, I will keep that in mind."

'Defense is a circle, offense is a point, and the movement of force is a spiral. These are the most basic teachings, and they must never be forgotten. You shall engrave this in your mind and never forget it!'

It was a lesson I've never forgotten.

With the power of the spiral and the will to kill, Lim Sung-jin performed a one-point stab.

The simplest attack, yet the most powerful. Light escaped from his right hand and shot toward the center of the enemy.

Sincerity and Final Reckoning

一點必中

In a single searing flash of light, the masked man was sent flying, blood spewing from his mouth. There seemed to be nothing this blow could not pierce.

"Damn, I missed it, I'm as quick as a cockroach."

He disappeared faster than he appeared. And the dense foliage and fallen leaves provided him with good concealment.

Thinking of the assassin clad entirely in black, Lim felt a sense of identification with the cockroach the more he thought about it. Perhaps the black-clad man feels infinite affection and closeness to the black cockroach every time he sees it. Lim thought so.

"Tsk tsk, who do you think you look like?"

Lim glared at his father, who had given him such a large, thick body.

"What, what, that look in your eyes, you're going to spank me?"

"Are you so ignorant that you don't know that, even though you walk around with thick biceps and thighs like logs every day? It's not because you like me!"

Physical speed was often more or less an innate talent. Acquired training could only take you so far. It was said that there was a single, unique way to do it. But there was no way to tell if it was true or just a rumor from a charlatan.

It was a transmutation. It was a masterful way to transform your body and reorganize your physical abilities. You had to train your mind and body to reach that distant state. There were only a handful of people in the current powerhouse who had surpassed it.

"By the way, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine! I've got a few cuts, but they're nothing more than scratches. Kahahahahaha!"

Lim Duk-sung laughed merrily as he showed the wounds on his limbs. His beard, which stuck out like a spike, swayed like a pine tree in the wind. His body was so strong that one could be forgiven for thinking it was made of steel.

"Who asked your dad?"

My son gave me a stern look.

"So?"

"Why should I worry about someone who's strong enough to kill and not die? I don't want to waste my time on that. Those stupidly big muscles aren't just for show, are they? It's not like you've been training to be an apothecary. It's not your father's side of the family with the stupidly strong steel muscle armor I'm worried about, it's you, the guy he's carrying."

It was not unusual for the famously proud and otherwise corpse-like Virtue to flee - more shame than death - with a stranger he had never seen before, and one who looked like a fairly young child. Who was this person, and what was his purpose? One can't help but be curious. But the son's response, naturally, upset his father.

'You… you! You're such a dumbass! You can't even talk to the person who raised you?'

He growled, his eyes glowing, but Lim turned his head and pretended not to hear.

"It's the same raising father who kicked him out, too, for very unseemly reasons."

It was a stinging retort. Even the normally insensitive Lim Duk-sung could feel it. Suddenly, he grew quiet. A sigh escaped from his mouth.

"I'm getting help from my runaway son, I'm getting old!"

"Now you're admitting it?"

"It's still a long way, and you're not coming back, are you?"

Lim shuddered at the words.

"There's still so much to experience. It's a big world after all."

"So……."

In a slightly somber voice, Lim replied. But…….

"Do your best!"

It was about approving his son's behavior, his life, his life. For a father who had always tried to deny his son's path, he was being recognized for the first time. As an independent entity, he could finally stand on his own.

"Go… thank you, Dad!"

He scratched the tip of his nose in embarrassment.

"But who is he really?"

"Oh, that guy……."

Inevitably, Lim Duk-sung was forced to give a short version of the story, and Lim Sung-jin was stunned to learn that his father had come up here to meet his idol, Chen Mu-sheng. Why hadn't he captured his father and thrown him in jail, he wondered? That was something he never quite understood.

After finishing his story, Lim looked up at the tree behind him and said.

"Can we stop watching now? I think we're past the good stuff, and the story is over."

"Oh, did they catch you?"

A voice came from above the trees, and an inyoung fell down.

"Isn't the battle of the riches the battle of the century, since the beginning of the world and the beginning of human history? I find that part of it quite interesting, too, but it doesn't have to be the physical fighting. I'm generous and eclectic enough to be interested in the minutiae."

"Yeah, you!"

Lim Duk-sung exclaimed, pointing a finger. He had seen this man before.

"Oooh, Mr. Bandit - it's been a while, have you come to this mountain to do business?"

Bi Ryuyeon greeted me cheerfully.

"I've put my life on hold. I'm on vacation."

Lim replied.

"Vacation?"

Bi Ryuyeon's head twitched as if she had heard something strange. Banditry and vacations… it was a blatant rejection of the idea.

"After twenty years of service, I deserve a break. It's been a while since I've had a vacation."

Lim Duk-sung puffed out his chest and answered proudly. Even though he was her father, she thought he was very shameless.

"Are you here alone?"

Suddenly, he remembered the one person he had forgotten. The one person he had left behind!

"Ouch, whale!"

"Is Mr. Whale here too?"

Whale was another nickname for the Book of Moses.

"Oh no! I have to go. I need you to take care of him, you don't know what's going on over there, it might be safer this way, and he's still breathing… I'll take care of him."

"Uh-huh, Dad!"

Then, ignoring his son's plaintive cries, Im Duk-sung ran toward the Samsung building.

By that time, Mo-Kyung was lying in a pool of blood at the Samseonggak, writhing and waiting to be rescued.

"Uhhhh… Hangnim… Quickly oiso……."

His soul was draining from his pale, bloodless body. On the other side of the door, the dead beckoned, calling to him.

"Now, what am I going to do with this stuff?"

There was little choice.

"We'll just have to float it."

Lim sighed and said. It was Wensu, not his father. He had been a fool to think that a father and son, who had once had good feelings for each other, could have a relationship.

"What is that?"

When they reached their abode, the cave, Jang Hong asked.

"Oh, this? It's a temporary storage item."

"Looks like a human to me."

"It's a person."

"Is he dead?"

It was pathetic to see it hanging limply.

"No, he's still alive."

"I've got enough on my mind with mysterious silver-masked assailants, how am I supposed to take on that burden?"

"Well… Gyeomseong asked me to do it, so it can't hurt."

"There, Swordsman!!!"

"Uh, yeah."

The part about the bandit leader's unilateral request being a favor from Gumshoe was left out, as we felt it was unnecessary. After all, he wasn't wrong to say it was a favor. It was easier this way, and it would be better for the patient. It would be better for the patient, too.