Chapter 28

“You bastards dare! Do you know where you are?!”

Someone shouted, and the nearest thug threw a punch at Jinmu.

“Cheongu!”

Thwack!

Cheongu moved at the command. One short, crisp motion sent the attacker flying, blood pouring from his nose.

“Raaaah!”

Did they not see that bastard get his ass kicked?

Five of them attacked Jinmu at once.

With fists and feet.

But—

Cheongsang and Cheongu stepped in front of him like a pair of twins.

Crack, thud! Smack! Thwack-thwack!

While Cheongsang and Cheongu dealt with the rest, Jinmu walked straight toward one person.

Nothing else even registered.

Gong Sacheok was all he could see.

As Jinmu advanced slowly, one step at a time, the Sacheok Gang members drew their weapons.

But having already witnessed Cheongsang and Cheongu’s prowess, they dared not attack. They merely kept him surrounded, backing away to open a path.

“You bastard!”

One with a little courage thrust a blade at Jinmu.

Where do you think you’re going, you worthless piece of shit?

Jinmu leaned back slightly to avoid the dagger sweeping across him, and his hand shot out.

“Ghk!”

Caught by the throat, the thug struggled for breath.

“What? Who are these people?”

The sudden commotion interrupted Gong Sacheok’s thoughts. His eyebrows drew into a fierce scowl.

“Who are we?”

His eyes gleaming with murderous intent, Jinmu tightened his grip.

Crack! Crunch!

With a sickening sound, the struggling man’s head lolled limply to one side.

Thud.

Jinmu tossed aside the man, who had died without even managing a proper scream. His sword hanging at his side, he glared fiercely at Gong Sacheok.

“You?”

Confused, aren’t you?

Can’t understand it, can you?

Of course he was surprised. The bastard who should have run off to tattle to Wudang had brazenly barged in instead.

Gong Sacheok wiped the bewilderment from his face and smiled coldly at Jinmu.

“Heh heh heh. What a favor you’ve done me. I thought you’d escaped, yet here you are, walking right into my hands.”

“Stop snickering, you dumb fuck. Give it a moment. We’ll see how grateful you are then.”

At the sight of Jinmu grinding his teeth and spitting curses, Gong Sacheok bellowed like a madman.

“Kill them!”

At his shout, dozens of the surrounding thugs swung their weapons at once.

Kill?

Fine. I’ll kill you!

As the keen edges of their weapons bore down on him—

Jinmu gripped his sword hilt with both hands and opened his dantian fully.

His internal injuries?

They weren’t completely healed.

The healing pills had restored barely half his strength.

But after using the Raging Blood Soul-Severing Qi Art, his power had surged to more than twice its usual level.

The amplified internal energy of the Six Yang Divine Art spread through every part of his body, flowing down his arms and pouring into his sword.

Vrrrrm!

The sword began to buck violently beneath the immense energy temporarily filling it.

The Raging Blood Soul-Severing Qi Art lasted exactly two hours.

Getting here had taken one.

Plenty of time.

“Cheongsang, Cheongu! Fall back!”

Jinmu twisted his grip and exerted his strength. The immortal qi within the blade turned blood-red and extended outward.

“There’s a sword technique just right for this.”

A Wudang sword art.

Soul-Snatching, Spirit-Stealing.

I’ll strip you clean, souls and all!

Whooosh! Crackle!

Blood-red sword qi surged from the blade in Jinmu’s hands, stretching more than ten feet.

Then—

Lowering his stance, Jinmu spun in a whirlwind kick and hauled his sword around with all his might.

Whooom!

Clods of earth flew as the extended sword qi traced an enormous circle.

Shhhk!

Concentric rings of sword qi spread outward in every direction.

Techniques?

He hadn’t needed anything like that to begin with. A single sword strike, making full use of his sword qi’s power and reach.

Whirr! Tap!

After two revolutions, his sword stopped and returned to its original position.

The sword qi vanished, leaving only a bluish aura.

Splash!

Jinmu flicked his blade. The blood collected in its fuller splattered hideously across the ground.

A thin line appeared across the bodies of those who had frozen as the sword qi passed through them.

Thud. Thud-thud.

The men who had attacked Jinmu fell in two clean halves, unable even to scream.

Blood spurted everywhere, soaking the ground. Severed arms and legs, upper bodies and lower bodies, decorated the garden.

“Aaaagh!”

“Uuurgh!”

The screams of the wounded.

And at their center stood Jinmu, aloof, radiating blood-red immortal qi that resembled his surging killing intent.

Like an immortal who had slaughtered every demon in the heart of hell, he watched Gong Sacheok with a cruel smile.

“…!”

Gong Sacheok could not utter a word at the sight before him.

The underlings who had attacked Jinmu weren’t particularly strong.

The Sacheok Gang’s better fighters had already left to capture Jinmu and his companions.

Even so, dozens had lost their lives to a single strike.

Th-this bastard…

He had never imagined this.

He had thought Jinmu was merely a little better than him at applying his techniques.

Then what was that sword qi extending from his blade?

And it was a full ten feet long.

Jinmu was certainly no weaker than him.

No, he was a far greater master. Come to think of it, he had definitely said he had internal injuries back then.

Gong Sacheok had heard him tell the Jegal Clan members so, clear as day.

Judging by that surging sword qi—

He had already recovered most of his strength. Which left only one conclusion.

You only had to smell something to know whether it was shit or soybean paste.

Gong Sacheok belonged to the unorthodox faction.

And he was a thug among thugs, hardened by a lifetime in the back alleys.

The perfect example of someone who cowered before the strong and bullied the weak.

Not once had he staked his life on a fight he couldn’t win.

First, escape.

He didn’t care what happened to his underlings.

He had to retreat and join forces with the U Family Estate.

Gong Sacheok immediately made his break.

But the instant his foot touched the ground, a blast of tremendously powerful energy screamed through the air toward him.

Whoooosh!

“Ugh!”

It was aimed at his solar plexus, the Chest Center Point.

Horrified, Gong Sacheok swiftly raised his broad saber to knock it aside.

Claaang!

With a harsh metallic crash, the impact hurled him into the wall at the far end of the wooden floor.

“Urgh!”

Incredible power.

He might have imbued his saber with energy in a hurry, but it had still been pierced by a hole the size of a coin.

“Hey. Who said you could run?”

Jinmu approached with his sword resting on his shoulder.

His smile was chillingly cruel.

Cold sweat gushed down Gong Sacheok’s spine like water welling up from underground. Every hair on his body stood on end.

Q-Qi Projection?

Some fifty feet separated them.

There was no way sword qi could extend that far.

Which meant Jinmu had fired it at him.

That son of a bitch who runs the U Family Estate. He hired me to kill a Qi Projection master?

Had the estate master been beside him, he would have wanted to smash that bastard’s head open. But escaping the threat before him took priority.

What could he do?

He had no chance in a head-on fight.

How could he possibly defeat a Qi Projection master?

Unless he had some extraordinary means of escape, he couldn’t get out of Jinmu’s clutches, either.

But if he just comes closer…

Gong Sacheok stealthily touched the concealed weapon inside his robe: the Heavenly King Needles.

What if he used it up close instead of at a distance? He had every chance.

First, distract the bastard and put him at ease. Then fire the Heavenly King Needles and run without looking back.

A brilliant plan.

He marveled at how quickly his mind worked when he was desperate.

His decision made, Gong Sacheok tossed away his saber and immediately prostrated himself on the wooden floor.

“Oh, great hero!”

“…”

“I deserve to die! This lowly wretch was blinded by money, and… Please, just spare my life!”

A Taoist. A Taoist of Wudang.

Taoists who cultivated immortal qi were generally forgiving.

They were lunatics who believed they could guide evildoers onto the right path through moral cultivation and persuasion.

The move that had just killed his underlings did concern him, but those men had shown no remorse.

What if he apologized with everything he had?

Gong Sacheok bowed with his head to the floor, begging and begging, rubbing his palms together until the skin wore off.

He had thrown such things as pride to the dogs long ago.

Groveling? What did that matter?

Nothing was more important than staying alive.

Step. Step.

Jinmu’s footsteps drew closer.

Not much longer.

Just a little, just a little closer!

Then, from where he lay prostrate, Gong Sacheok saw the tips of Jinmu’s feet step onto the wooden floor.

Now!

He immediately pulled the Heavenly King Needles from his robes and tugged the fuse.

“Kah ha ha! Die!”

Pffwoosh!

Pack a cylinder with gunpowder, then fill the space above it with throwing needles. Pull the fuse, and hundreds of tiny needles shoot out at once.

At close range, no one could block a concealed weapon that powerful.

But—

He was gone.

Jinmu should have been falling before his eyes, bristling like a hedgehog with Heavenly King Needles. Instead, he was nowhere to be seen.

All Gong Sacheok could see were the needles losing momentum and pattering to the ground.

“Just what I’d expect from you.”

Then came a chilling voice from behind him.

“…”

Gong Sacheok froze, his face blank.

I’m fucked.

This was Jinmu, of all people.

In his previous life, he had been infamous throughout the land as the Lord of Sapacheon. There was no way he would fall for Gong Sacheok’s little tricks.

People didn’t change easily.

A kind person could be swindled by a childhood friend and still feel forgiving if the friend looked pitiful enough.

And a vile bastard remained vile even with his life hanging by a thread.

Jinmu seized Gong Sacheok by the hair.

“G-great hero! Th-this was entirely…”

Gong Sacheok went deathly pale, begging with his last shred of hope. Jinmu smiled brightly at him.

“Clench your teeth.”

“…”

Crack!

Holding Gong Sacheok up by the hair, Jinmu rained punches down on him without pause.

Thwack! Thud! Thud-thud-thud-thud!

“Shpare… me, pleashe.”

During a brief pause, Gong Sacheok pleaded through toothless gums, his face a bloody mess.

“Spare you? We’re nowhere near done, you pine-nutted prick.”

Smack, thud, thwack-thwack-thwack!

The jaunty rhythm of the beating continued until Jinmu was breathing hard.

Naturally, Gong Sacheok passed out after only a little while. Even then, Jinmu kept pounding his limp body for a long time.

Until the wooden floor was awash with his blood.

---

“Cheongu.”

“Yes, Martial Uncle!”

“Throw water on him.”

“Yes, Martial Uncle.”

Splash!

“He’s not waking up.”

“No? Try pressing his acupoints, then.”

“Yes, Martial Uncle.”

The scene inside the estate was entirely Jinmu’s handiwork.

A vision of hell, and Gong Sacheok with his face smashed beyond any hint of what it had once looked like.

Cheongsang and Cheongu vowed never to defy their martial uncle, talk back to him, or get on his nerves.

Following Jinmu’s instructions, Cheongu pressed several of Gong Sacheok’s acupoints. At last, there was a response.

“Mmm. Uuugh.”

Gong Sacheok came to and peered about through eyes so swollen they barely opened. Then he spotted Jinmu.

“Eeeek!”

“Quiet.”

“…”

“I’m going to ask you a few questions.”

“Yesh.”

“Just nod. I can barely understand you.”

Nod, nod.

Apart from his face, he hadn’t suffered any particular damage. But Gong Sacheok was already so terrified of Jinmu, whose skills were on an entirely different level, that escape never even crossed his mind.

“Was Geum Jeoksan the one who hired you?”

He shook his head.

“Then the U Family Estate?”

Nod, nod.

Gong Sacheok was a thoroughly contemptible bastard with no sense of loyalty.

He would invent crimes to pin on someone else if it meant saving his own skin. He certainly wasn’t about to protect someone who was actually guilty.

“The U Family Estate, then. Good.”

Jinmu’s eyes narrowed.

The U Family Estate.

A fairly respectable martial arts school, firmly established in Danjiangkou.

Its martial artists were bound to be different from back-alley thugs.

Jinmu might be a Qi Projection master, but the three of them could still have a hard time.

And his internal energy was only temporarily amplified. His body had yet to recover fully.

In the end, taking on the U Family Estate by themselves was too much.

First, he would fuck up the relatively weaker Cheongyang Merchant Guild.

But the Raging Blood Soul-Severing Qi Art wouldn’t last that long.

He had Cheongsang and Cheongu, but the guild was bound to have a fair number of martial artists, too.

In that case?

Jinmu looked at Gong Sacheok and smiled slyly.