Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 142



Only Noblemtl

142. Fate (6)

The Bang family, which includes the Onyang Bang clan, is a powerful family in Luoyang. Although they do not have any high-ranking officials with such great prestige now, they are a prestigious family that produces a minister at least once every five generations.

The Emperor confiscated any illegal portion of the land occupied by large landowners by Taejo and imposed enormous taxes in proportion to the land they occupied.

As a result, most large landowners fell into ruin, but the Onyang Bang clan was a wealthy family that did not lose its position as a large landowner in Luoyang even under such institutional oppression. This meant that the wealth they had accumulated since before the imperial period was enormous.

The fact that they had such a large number of wealth also meant that the quality of the soldiers and warriors guarding them was also excellent.

The head of the outer hall that was in charge of guarding Banggajang was still Nanga Sword King. Thanks to his thorough self-management, he was a top-notch master whose skills had not declined even after he was in his seventies. Of course, behind him was Banggajang’s material and spiritual support.

“Your Majesty.”

“why.”

“Why should we practice? Who is going to attack the Banggajang?”

The King of the Swords clicked his tongue.

Nanga Sword King was originally a famous ronin from the North China region.

However, King Nanga, who was fed up with the life of a ronin, accepted the position of Dharma Guardian of Banggajang in order to live a stable life.

Due to the influence of the Nanga Sword King, the guest soldiers of the Bangga Jang were mostly composed of ronin from the North China region.

So, the ronin, who were nothing more than mere guests, could say such things to the Nanga Sword King, who had even secured the position of the head of the external party, without any hesitation.

“The rich are naturally timid. And they have a reason to be timid. Those who rob rural areas are just petty thieves, but those who rob rich people’s houses are robbers who are willing to kill people. We were hired because if we were attacked once, everyone could die.”

“Isn’t that why we were hired, not why we train?”

“No. Don’t you know how cowardly and stingy the rich are? If they think someone is not worth their money, they will immediately kick them out and replace them. This is especially true here. If the tenant farmers don’t get as much as they did last year, they will be mercilessly torn apart.”

“That’s true.”

The guest soldier who was a ronin nodded at the words of the Nanga Sword King. Of course, he did not think that Banggajang would be attacked.

But that thought was overturned in the evening. There seemed to be some noise from the main gate of the manor, and soon a scream was heard.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

As the guest of the outside party said in the morning, no one expected that Banggajang would be attacked.

No one would have thought that someone like this would come in through the main gate, let alone come out to steal in the middle of the night.

Even though the outer party’s soldiers marched to the gate and surrounded the attacker, no one was able to easily attack him.

The attacker was unusually holding a sword in his left hand and was wearing shabby, torn clothes he had picked up in an alley somewhere.

But the reason I couldn’t rush in wasn’t because of this. It was because the assailant’s face was too grotesque.

The assailant had a face covered in sword wounds, as if he did not want his identity to be known. Judging by the blood still flowing from the gaping wounds, it appeared that the wounds had not been done very long ago.

“… …Who are you?”

Someone mustered up the courage to ask.

The creepy-faced attacker looked around the crowd and opened his mouth.

“Is Bang Su-yun here?”

Surprisingly, despite his face that looked like a punk, his speech was polite.

However, the two guards who had been standing guard at the gate had already had their waists cut off cleanly, so it was impossible to answer politely.

“I asked who you were, you punk!”

“I know that Banggajang originally valued family time, so they would usually eat dinner together. It must have been a very harmonious place.”

His soft voice was mixed with anger. The man whose face was torn beyond recognition spoke, and it was eerie no matter what his tone was.

What made the outside party’s unmanned forces even more frightened was the aura of the attacker. Anyone who saw it could tell that the attacker was going to die here.

If he was planning to assassinate and return alive, he didn’t need to tear off his face like that, a human face mask would have been enough. He thought he would die in this room, and he didn’t want to be tracked down because of that, so he tore off his face.

“You’re an unreasonable guy, hit me!”

The outer party’s warriors rushed in. The attackers slashed and cut down the swords as if they were dancing a soft dance.

The Myori was soft enough to be compared to the martial arts that were being created recently, but the man’s identity could not be deduced based on the martial arts alone. The attacker only used the first form of the Samjae Sword Technique, perhaps because he wanted to hide his martial arts as well.

However, the attackers were capable of dealing with all of the rabble of the outer party’s ronin with just the three sword techniques. Palbangpungwoo, Hyeongsocheongun, and Taesanapjeong. With these three techniques, the outer party’s warriors were split in half.

“Eww!”

“Contact the police immediately! He’s crazy!”

In an instant, the once peaceful yard of Banggajang became hell.

The attacker was, of course, Qing Shu, who had come over from Hubei. As most people expected, Qing Shu had tried to hide the fact that he was a shaman. In case anyone recognized him, he had cut his entire face with a sword, and he had left his Songmun sword, which had been bestowed upon him by the previous chief, in the corner of the room, and had bought the crudest sword from the blacksmith shop in Luoyang.

Cheongsu cut down Banggajang’s guest soldiers with the simplest of herbivores. Banggajang’s guest soldiers were numerous even in the entire Central Plains, so they kept coming no matter how many times he cut them down.

Meanwhile, the sword I bought from the blacksmith shop lost its teeth as soon as it cut down about fifteen people.

“Use it!”

Cheongsu leaped upward and threw his sword at the warrior who was about to strike him with his sword, piercing his neck. He then snatched the sword that the warrior dropped and continued to cut down people.

Even though he had worked as a non-combatant shaman for a long time and could not use his right hand, which was his dominant hand, Cheongsu was a disciple of the shaman.

“Who are you! I am the vice-chairman of the foreign party, Cho Cheon-won, the swordsman who stole hearts and blood!”

Cheongsu clashed swords with Jo Cheonwon, the vice-chairman of the Banggajang faction.

Perhaps because he had the title of Unfair Master, he was quite strong, unlike the opponents he had defeated with a single sword. I had never heard of the vicious-sounding nickname of Talsimhyeolgeom, but he seemed at least first-class.

“The Eul and B teams of the outer party should follow the party leader and go protect the family leader!”

Cho Cheon-won shouted as he confronted Cheong-su. The purpose of their existence was to protect the family.

Also, according to the code of conduct of the outside world, if an unidentified attacker came, the head of the household was to head straight to the family office. There was no guarantee that the attacker would only come to one place.

Of course, Cheongsu came alone, but they obviously didn’t think that way.

That was actually a blessing for Cheongsu. The sword attacks that would have originally come from all directions were now reduced to only four directions.

That is why Jo Cheon-won, who was able to stand a chance against Cheong-su by joining forces with other unmanned forces, was beheaded and died not long after.

Cheongsu continued to break through. As it was a prestigious family, there were naturally people everywhere, and there were many formations and organizations to prepare for surprise attacks.

“You must not let them enter the house!”

The outside party’s warriors shouted and blocked Cheongsu’s body. The wounds on Cheongsu’s body also increased one by one.

Dealing with countless formations, organizations, and people was a physically demanding task.

His physical strength had long since depleted, and the only thing that was keeping Cheongsu standing on his own two feet was his mental strength.

Cheongsu allowed all the wounds on his body to be sustained, except for his left hand, which was used to swing the sword. It was a posture that was truly a case of cutting flesh and breaking bones, or returning to the same place as others.

So when Cheongsu cut down everyone and entered Gajujeon, his right arm, which was no longer functioning, was cut off, and the blood that had been covering only his face had spread all over his body.

Cheongsu no longer had the strength to run using lightness. He had to save at least the bare minimum of strength before he could kill the person he had to kill. The strength to cut down a person. That was the only thing he had to save.

Cheongsu went around Gajujeon and cut down people. He didn’t kill everyone. He only killed those who pointed their swords at him.

There were also servants inside the Gajujeon, not just unmanned ones. Most of the servants fled as fast as they could, but some fell down, their legs losing strength at the sight of Cheongsu’s ominous aura. Cheongsu had no reason to kill such people.

Cheongsu slowly walked around the house and searched the rooms. In the magnificent place that looked like the master’s room at first glance, his enemy, Bang Su-un, was not there.

Cheongsu trudged down the corridor. He was already in a state of unconsciousness, his vision blurry from losing so much blood.

As I walked through Gajujeon, I felt a sense of excitement as people gathered there.

Cheongsu walked slowly over to the place and kicked the door open with his foot. As soon as he kicked it open, the fragrant smell of food wafted past Cheongsu’s nose.

“Wow, it’s here!”

Someone shouted in a new voice. I looked over and saw a man with a potbelly in the corner of the room, a beautiful woman, and a little girl with braided hair.

And in front of them was a tall old man who looked to be about seven feet tall. Cheongsu recognized him immediately. It was the Nanga Sword King who had defeated him the last time he had come to visit Banggajang.

“Why are you acting like this! What grudge do you have against me!”

As Cheongsu had expected, the pot-bellied man was Bang Su-un. Naturally, the beautiful woman was Bang Su-un’s wife, and the girl was Bang Su-un’s daughter.

Cheongsu looked like he would collapse at any moment, but he could not collapse. He killed his own younger brother like that, and he was not given a proper punishment, and he was still building a harmonious family. His heart felt like it was burning with anger, but his head was colder than ice.

Cheongsu smiled brightly. When she came to visit Banggajang as a child, she had never even seen his face.

“Ah. Nice to meet you. I really missed you.”

When Cheongsu laughed, bubbles of blood ran down his chin. It was hard to breathe, as if his broken ribs were piercing his lungs.

“Answer me! You punk! Who are you!”

“Well, what should I say? It’s a feeling that’s hard to express in words. I was afraid that you would recognize me even though I’ve ruined my face like this, but now that you don’t recognize me, I feel disappointed. It could be because I’ve committed many evil deeds, or it could be because I don’t think that level of evil is an evil deed, or it could be both.”

“What a mischievous bastard. Master! Kill him!”

Bang Su-un shouted loudly. The old man slowly stepped forward, dragging a large sword on the ground.

“I don’t know who you are. I’m just doing my job.”

“I understand, King Nanga. I am just doing my job. I have no feelings for you.”

“You’ll never tell me who it is, right?”

“Can’t you tell by looking at this face? I’ve thrown away my name, my face, and my loved ones.”

“I see. I don’t know what the circumstances were, but you’ve definitely failed to attain Buddhahood. You’re going to die here.”

“That’s not scary at all. I’ve been thinking about dying for a while now.”

Cheongsu laughed heartily. The cracking laughter continued for a long time and then suddenly stopped.

And then an explosive energy burst out from Cheongsu’s body. It was a single blow that he had been saving up while extending his arm.

The expression on the Nang-A Sword King’s face changed. There are few auras this dense and powerful. It was the innate energy that a person can unleash only once in their lifetime.

“You bastard, are you really going to die!”

The King of Nang-A Sword let out a loud voice. The innate energy was created by burning the Dan-Jeon, the house built with internal energy. Not only would it end a person’s life as a warrior, but it could also lead to the loss of one’s life by forcibly burning one’s blood.

“I didn’t say anything. I thought about dying a long time ago.”

Cheongsu began to advance step by step, holding the sword that was hanging down. The uncontrollable explosive energy was engraved with each step, causing even the floor to crack.

“Then I will grant your wish!”

The King of the Swords roared and brought down his sword. Although he was old, the wind of the sword that pressed down heavily was fierce.

Originally, Cheongsu, who had lost his right arm, would not have been able to receive it with one hand. However, the innate energy that he had unleashed made it possible.

“Ugh!”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Cheongsu wasn’t shocked.

When Cheongsu received the sword containing the profound internal energy of the Nanga Sword King, he immediately vomited blood.

But Cheongsu did not back down. As he had said earlier, Cheongsu had left everything behind. There was no place to retreat.

Cheongsu continued to walk towards Bangsuun slowly but steadily. Even though he swung his sword containing the innate energy without any precepts, it was powerful.

Cheongsu was also a member of the shaman sect, and his internal energy was quite profound. Nanga Sword King blocked the sword that Cheongsu swung, and spat out blood. Cheongsu’s innate energy had invaded Nanga Sword King’s internal energy.

“He’s really crazy!”

The King of Nanga Swords eventually decided to change his tactics. The standard way to deal with a warrior who had unleashed the Innate Spirit was to wait for his own destruction.

A powerful energy obtained by burning the danjeon. Naturally, fire naturally extinguishes when there is nothing to burn. Nanga Sword King turned to a defensive stance.

“Lord Nanga. I promise. I will kill Bang Su-un and spare my wife and daughter. So please just get out of the way.”

“Do you think that makes sense!”

While fighting the Nanga Sword King, Bang Su-woon ended up urinating himself because of Cheongsu who was glaring at him and approaching him. It was too blatant and vicious a murderous intent for him, who had lived as a nobleman, to endure.

Cheongsu and Nanga Sword King fought their swords like that for fifty times. As their swords clashed, Nanga Sword King’s internal wounds deepened, and the color of his blood gradually turned pink.

It seemed like if he just knocked a few more times, he would be able to break the Nanga Sword King. However, Cheongsu’s knees buckled.

The innate energy had finally burned out Cheongsu’s entire danjeon. Cheongsu’s spirit was still alive due to the residual heat, but his body now refused to move.

Only then did the pain that had been blocking the excitement surge into Cheongsu like a tidal wave.

The pain of having his face cut off, the pain of the large and small lacerations, the pain of having his right arm cut off, and the pain of having his danjeon burned all came together to torment Cheongsu.

“Uh… … Ah.”

Cheongsu was unable to even scream properly due to the excruciating pain.

When King Nanga collapsed, he spat out blood and laughed.

“You’re finally going to die, you crazy bastard.”

“Ugh, aaaah!”

Cheongsu screamed. It wasn’t a scream of pain. It was a scream of resentment.

Even though I had turned my back on everything, I cried out in pain at the blade that I could not reach.

“I don’t know what grievance you have, but you should just die.”

Nanga Sword King slowly approached Cheongsu, who was lying on his stomach.

“Goodbye.”

The King of Nanga Sword, who had placed the clear water under his feet, raised his sword high.

The black sword fell quickly and mercilessly, as if it would not allow even a single breath to the fallen Cheongsu. Bang Su-un, who had been so tense, anxious, and fearful that he felt like he was going to suffocate, was about to let out a sigh of relief.

bang!

“Just a moment.”

The eyes of the Nanga Sword King flashed open. When the heart of Cheongsu and the sword of the Nanga Sword King were an inch apart, there was a blade blocking the way.

“Let me take a breath first.”

The one who held out the blade was none other than Muk Hwi-yeong, who had rushed from Gyunhyeon to Nanyang and was drenched in sweat.