I couldn’t believe it.
If my eyes weren’t deceiving me, this was definitely Ah Song.
Even if his eyes and mouth were sewed shut, how could I forget the helper who had looked after me ever since I was a child?
‘Just how did this…’
Even after deploying the sect’s intelligence troops and the Lower District Sect, none of them could find him. It was as if he had vanished from the world.
However, seeing him here in this state left me speechless.
‘… Ah Song.’
This was the man who left everything to find me when I suffered hardships in the Ikyang So family. Our reunion now broke my heart.
“Uhhhh.”
Ah Song, whose neck I still held, struggled and tried to free himself.
“Stay still!”
I bent his arm and pressed his head from the back. This was strange.
My physical strength and his would surely be at different levels.
Despite pressing him down with my own strength, his defensive capabilities seemed better than most warriors.
‘Just what did she do?’
I glared at the carriage and wagon and still felt a sense of anger and rage from within it.
Even though I couldn’t see her, I knew she was watching me.
-This!
Blood Demon Sword spoke sharply.
When I turned my gaze to him, I saw that he had dug halfway through the neck of a bamboo man who held onto the blade.
This was absurd.
‘How is that man still moving?’
How was something like that even a human?
Blood Demon Sword tried to move, but another man grabbed his blade and trapped him in place.
-These cheeky humans!
It seemed that Blood Demon Sword became enraged at this. The veins on the hands holding onto his blade began to bulge up before eventually bursting.
-These people?
Yet they did not let go.
Perhaps it was because they didn’t feel pain, so they didn’t care and continued to hold on.
‘Short Sword! Help Blood Demon Sword!’
-Okay… look behind you!
I already knew.
The sound of footsteps running from behind me.
After kicking Ah Song back with my foot, I stretched out my right hand to the leg of the bamboo hat person behind me. A silver thread came out and wrapped itself around his feet.
The man was rushing in with a singular focus that he didn’t even notice.
Pak!
I jerked the silver string back, shifting his balance to one side, and made him collide with another bamboo hat person running alongside him.
I tightened the silver string, turned my body, and immediately used his other leg to pull them further.
Thud!
The bamboo hat person tied up by my silver string ended up knocking down the two holding onto Blood Demon Sword.
In the meantime, Short Sword managed to pierce their wrists and allowed Blood Demon Sword to escape.
-Damn those people!
I could hear Blood Demon Sword curse inside my head.
The bamboo hat man who had let go of Blood Demon Sword from his grasp managed to stagger and move even after being cut. The one whose blood veins had burst also stood up while trembling.
Anyone could see how this situation would end.
‘Come back.’
-This body…
‘Come back!’
-Tsh!
Blood Demon Sword silently returned after I gave it a stern order. This was not a situation where he could mess around.
They were crazy beasts doing crazy things to the point where unusual things, such as moving around with cut throats, seemed logical.
Tring!
The bell rang again from the carriage.
Ah Song’s back, which was trapped and fixed, then bent back like a bow.
‘What?’
This was not a position where a human’s back would normally bend.
He then broke his own teeth and tried to wrap his legs around me. At that moment, the idea of cutting his legs off rushed to my mind, but I was unable to do it.
Pat!
I dodged his attempt to entrap me, but he was moving swiftly enough that I could no longer see his movement.
“Ah…”
Damn it.
I could not call out his name in my current position.
Instead, I used internal qi.
[Ah Song!]
At that moment, Ah Song’s rushing movement stopped momentarily, his body trembling as if he had recognized me.
I could see the area where his eyes and mouth had been sewn together was moving.
[Ah Song, do you hear my voice?]
“Uhhhh!”
Ah Song groaned and nodded at my words.
It didn’t seem like he was moving entirely according to the Revolting Mother’s will. If that was the case, I needed to remove those threads.
Tring!
The bell rang again, and grabbed his head in pain.
[Ah Song!]
I approached him and supported his body.
[Ah, take it easy. Do not fall for that old woman’s tricks!]
“Uhhhh”
‘Ah!’
[Young master.]
It was a groan of pain, but it was close to what Ah Song once called me.
If he recognized my voice, there was a good chance I could bring him out of this. At that moment, I heard the sound of the bamboo hat people rushing toward me.
“Do not disturb!”
Blood Demon Sword’s blade was dyed red.
I used a series of sword moves using the Blood Heavenly Arts at my attackers.
Chakkkk!
A sharp red light spread through the air, rolling like waves rushing at them. Three at the front were cut down. The power of the move reaching behind them was reduced, but it still cut their bodies in half.
‘This isn’t a situation where we can continue to fight. I need to take Ah Song with me.’
The most dangerous person hadn’t made her move yet. If the Revolting Mother joined, I would not be able to escape with Ah Song.
As soon as I made this decision, I approached Ah Song, who was in pain, and sealed his blood points to stop him from moving.
“Uhhhh…”
[Endure it for a little while.]
Just as Ah Song was ready to be secured.
Puak!
“Huk!”
A feeling of burning pain caused me to stretch my arms forward and throw Ah Song away.
-Wonhwi!
Short Sword, who was flying in the air, flew back to me. A sharp dagger was stuck in the middle of my chest.
The pain was so intense that it was difficult to breathe.
“Ughhh.”
It was very painful, but I could not afford to have this dagger stay stuck inside. Despite the pain, I pulled the dagger out.
Clack!
If I didn’t have the ability to recover, I would have died right away.
“Uhhhh.”
I could see Ah Song stand back up. I truly didn’t expect him to move even after his blood points were sealed.
[Ah Song!]
Unlike mere moments ago, He groaned like the other bamboo hat people. It was as if he was never in his right mind from the start.
Was this what he was aiming for? I turned my head to the carriage.
It was then…
Kiiiik!
The door on the side of the carriage opened.
Someone came out through the open door.
Tring! Tring! Tring!
Along with the ringing of a bell, the sound of a stick tapping the ground filled the air.
I spotted a middle-aged woman with a pale face. She was hunched over a child who appeared to be four or five years old with an unclear gender.
‘Not an old woman?’
Looking at her from the side, she looked to be only in her mid-40s.
Even at a high level of martial arts, aging only slows down. It would not be possible to change a woman who was 80 or 90 years old into this.
Shhh!
The moment the woman turned her head, goosebumps rose through my body.
White eyes.
I had heard that she could not see, but I didn’t know it was because of this. However, I couldn’t figure out how she managed to turn to my exact location.
She then said,
“What relationship do you have with that man?”
This was the voice I heard from the carriage. This middle-aged man had to be the Revolting Mother.
I changed my voice as I replied,
“I will ask you. What have you done to him?”
I pointed to Ah Song as she let out a terrifying laugh.
“Kukakakakakaka!”
Did this old woman even try to laugh normally?
It disturbed me to even hear it. She slowly stopped laughing and then said.
“Is that one Ah Song?”
‘…!’
I was shocked by this as I have never called him by his name openly.
‘It makes no sense.’
Was she able to hear me even when I was using internal qi?
This was more shocking than when she was able to hear my heartbeat from inside the carriage. As I fell speechless, she rang the bell by tapping her cane on the floor.
Thud! Tring!
“Uhhhh!”
Ah Song grabbed his head in pain as his face became bright red. The veins on his forehead swelled as if they would burst.
“Cheol Su-ryun!”
“I asked if you knew that man.”
Her fingers were twitching on her cane.
She was trying to tell me that killing Ah Song would not take much from her.
“Stop it right now!”
“Answer my question.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“The one you call lord.”
What was she even asking?
The reason why I tried to even form an alliance with her was to discover the weakness of the golden-eyed man.
But it was difficult to understand anything now.
She then continued.
“You mean to betray my master?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about! Stop this right…”
Tring!
Before I could finish my words, the bell rang again, and Ah Song, who was already in pain, had one of his arms broken as his veins swelled.
Crack!
Bone and torn flesh were visible around the wound.
“Cheol Su-ryun!”
I didn’t even have time to think as I rushed toward her. I moved like a hawk and instantly used the Blood Demon Sword to close the distance.
This was the Blood Demon Sword’s Blood Heavenly sword. There were just two ways to stop her.
Subdue her or kill her. But then something shocking happened.
She moved as elegantly as flowing water to avoid the path of my sword.
‘Just how?’
Her graceful movement was to the point where I doubted that she was blind. No, even if her eyes were open, seeing the path of the Blood Demon Sword was simply too hard. Then how…
Pak!
Her cane swung to my chest, forcing me to step around to avoid it. The path of her cane’s movement was also shocking.
‘So fast.’
It was like seeing a masterfully swift sword.
I swung the Blood Demon Sword parallel with her staff.
‘Third form of the Blood Demon Sword.’
Chang!
This technique concentrated sword qi at the tip of a sword to produce a swift and deadly piercing attack.
The form that flowed around the staff should have reached her hands, but the ground around her feet suddenly collapsed.
That meant that she diverted the flowing qi into the ground in an instant.
To be able to deal with this attack in such a short time was beyond the level of even other skilled people I knew.
Tring!
The bell rang again.
At that moment, I felt a tinge of fear run through my body as if someone had grabbed my feet.
‘What is this?’
I could not afford to be stopped now. The moment I tried to withdraw my qi and shake it off, Cheol Su-ryun’s staff was pointed at my chest and was pushed hard.
Puak!
“Kuak!”
Blood flew out of my chest as something tore through my chest. It was shocking that such power was possible.
She then said.
“This is how you use strong qi, boy.”
Her cane swung at my face as soon as she finished speaking, forcing me to block it with my sword.
Sring!
However, the clash forced me back five steps.
I could feel that her internal qi was superior to mine. Even using the True Blood Diamond Body changed nothing.
This old woman was truly a monster.
Someone who had crossed the wall beyond the wall was so powerful that even I could feel the difference. If I was a little bit careless, then I could even lose a limb.
My entire body feels extra sensitive now. She then said,
“Seeing that my qi had pierced your heart and even your organs, you seem to have a way of overcoming the damage from my cane.”
‘…!!’
She seemed to realize that I had healing powers. She must have noticed it when Ah Song stabbed me in the chest.
Cheol Su-ryun aimed her cane at me and said,
“Looking at your breathing, you seem to have quite a lot of secrets. I will make you confess with that mouth.”
Pat!
At that moment, she moved forward, and I could no longer save myself.
Right now, the only way to deal with her was to use the Wind Shadow Eight Forms and the new Xing Ming Sword technique.
Just as I made the decision to use my father’s technique…
Chang!
She suddenly stopped her charge and frowned.
Tuk! Drrrr!
I then saw something fall to the ground. It was a small iron ball.
‘This….’
She looked somewhere and spoke cautiously.
“… who are you?”
From the direction of her gaze, a middle-aged man with a bachelor’s appearance, a pale face, and a mustache was walking with his hands behind his back.
The man glanced at me once and then told her.
“His father-in-law.”
Comments