Episode 012: A Talent in the Spotlight (3)
The moment I shot forward, the two from the Shandong Jin Family immediately followed.
“It seems Young Master Namgong has found a clue!”
Jin Arin’s excited voice came from behind as well.
But unlike her, I was still cautious.
‘The sensation of killing intent is faint. Like a residual fragrance.’
Even so, I was moving quickly. Because I had to find anything that could serve as a clue.
Shortly after, I arrived where the killing intent could be felt. There were no people. To be precise, no living people.
The first thing to catch my eye were the corpses that had been killed horribly.
The people from the Shandong Jin Family who followed behind were also greatly shocked to see the corpses.
“Th-they’re all dead?”
Unlike the surprised Jin Arin, Jin Museong quickly moved to examine the corpses.
And I was the same. I followed behind him and examined the corpses.
It was a scene bewildering enough to fluster anyone. It was my first time seeing such a sight since I was a newcomer to the martial world.
But strangely, I was composed. No trembling, no tension.
‘All five were killed by the same method.’
Wounds from being stabbed in the neck by a sword and then slashed directly to the right.
But.
‘They are subtly different.’
At a glance, they looked like the work of the same person, but the width of the sword marks differed minutely.
It meant the power of the inner qi loaded onto the swords was different.
‘Moreover, the faint killing intent remaining here isn’t from one person. At least two.’
Just as I was examining the wounds and reaching my conclusion, Jin Museong opened his mouth beside me.
“A sword that stabs the neck and slashes. It must be the work of the Dokgwieumjeok, already rumored far and wide. The blood hasn’t even fully coagulated yet. It seems the Dokgwieumjeok who encountered them killed them all.”
Jin Arin exclaimed in admiration.
“I see! Then the Dokgwieumjeok must be nearby too.”
“Yes. Thanks to Brother Namgong here discovering this place, we’ve managed to pursue him closely.”
“Amazing. How did you find this place?”
Instead of answering Jin Arin’s question, I asked in return.
“Could the Dokgwieumjeok have companions?”
“What do you mean? The Dokgwieumjeok has always acted alone. That’s why the character ‘Dok’ (Solitary) is in his nickname.”
“No. He has companions. Looking at the sword marks, they look like the same person’s technique, but they aren’t. The amount of inner qi loaded onto the swords is different. The angle of the stab and slash can be matched identically, but the amount of inner qi put into the attack cannot be matched exactly.”
I explained while omitting the parts about sensing killing intent. At that, Jin Museong and Jin Arin looked at me silently.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Ah, no. I’m just surprised. I was thinking that the Namgong Family teaches unusual things…”
Jin Museong examined the wounds once more.
“Even after hearing the explanation, I can barely distinguish them. They do seem subtly different somehow. Are you certain?”
“Of course.”
An answer filled with conviction.
Having heard such an answer, they couldn’t help but believe me.
‘So it wasn’t the work of the Dokgwieumjeok alone, but of companions helping him. That’s how he has been able to commit such evil deeds until now, and also kidnap the woman from the Wolha Sect.’
I wasn’t worried. I was even looking forward to it.
At the thought of being able to fight more.
Then, a person appeared on the scene.
He who appeared with a lightness skill as light as a crane landing was Nakilgun, whom I had seen at the inn.
Nakilgun looked around at us briefly.
“All familiar faces.”
Beyond that, he said nothing special. Not even the common exchange of names.
Nakilgun immediately examined the corpses. And shortly after, he reached a conclusion.
“The Dokgwieumjeok’s sword technique. Then he can’t be far from here.”
Even at Nakilgun’s conclusion, I said nothing. Not even Jin Museong and Jin Arin beside me.
Nakilgun gave us another glance, then opened his mouth with a gentle smile.
“Be careful, all of you. The Dokgwieumjeok, who builds his inner power through the method of harvesting yin to nourish yang, has sacrificed countless women. There are rumors that he has already reached the extreme even within the Peak Realm. It is dangerous here, so you all should go back.”
And he turned his body and disappeared.
Jin Arin looked in the direction Nakilgun had disappeared and opened her mouth in frustration.
“He is truly an arrogant man.”
“He has the skill to match, does he not?”
“Hmph! What does he mean be careful! Our older brother has already reached the Peak Realm. If it’s our older brother, who is called the greatest talent in the history of the Shandong Jin Family, he can definitely slay the Dokgwieumjeok!”
At Jin Arin’s praise, Jin Museong gave an awkward smile.
The Dokgwieumjeok was definitely a master. That was clear from how he had survived until now despite committing countless evil deeds.
The Shandong Jin Family had also come this far believing that Jin Museong could face the Dokgwieumjeok.
‘I haven’t yet entered the Peak Realm. At best, I’m probably at the first-rate level. But.’
I was confident I could bridge that gap.
I moved my steps following the traces of a faint, chilling aura.
* * *
Nakilgun of the Hebei Nak Family was moving through Sochasan with his guards, tracking the Dokgwieumjeok’s movements.
Then, his body suddenly stopped. Seven women had appeared before him.
They were all women dressed in white clothes like snow.
As the guards tried to step forward, Nakilgun stopped them.
“If women are wandering around Sochasan where the Dokgwieumjeok is said to be, they must surely be people from the Wolha Sect.”
“As expected, the world does not spread false reputations.”
With a clear, ringing voice, the Wolha Sect martial artists parted. And a woman whose face was half covered by a silk veil appeared.
Nakilgun’s pupils shook. From her eyes alone, revealed above the veil, he realized she was a woman of rare beauty.
“Greetings. I am Eun Sobin of the Wolha Sect.”
“The Eldest Senior Sister of the Wolha Sect.”
“We do not seem to have time for greetings. So to get to the point, I ask you to slay the Dokgwieumjeok. And I hope you will rescue our Wolha Sect woman whom he kidnapped.”
Nakilgun had already made up his mind to catch the Dokgwieumjeok. Even if the Wolha Sect hadn’t asked him like this.
“But why not catch him yourselves?”
“We are also tracking him. But the whereabouts of that sound demon are so elusive that it is not easy, which is why I am speaking to you, young hero.”
Eun Sobin, who had briefly caught her breath, continued.
“I presume you know the story of the Huashan Sword Immortal and our Wolha Sect.”
“Of course I know of it.”
“If you slay that sound demon and safely return our person, we will give you a suitable reward befitting the deed.”
It was no different from indirectly saying that she would teach some martial art or teaching related to the Huashan Sword Immortal.
It was a reward that no martial artist could help but be shaken by. But Nakilgun showed no sign of it and smiled gently.
“I do not concern myself with such rewards. I was going to catch him anyway, so do not worry. Rather, did you perhaps make this request to anyone else?”
“To no one else. Among those who came to Sochasan, you, Young Hero Yuseong Geomrang, are the most renowned.”
Nakilgun finally understood.
It seemed the Wolha Sect wanted to retrieve the kidnapped woman by any means necessary.
That was why they had come to him directly and even brought up rewards, trying to spur him on.
‘They must be desperate to get that woman back. Is there some reason they want her back? However, if it’s the Dokgwieumjeok, I doubt he would have kept the woman alive.’
Soon, the Wolha Sect women withdrew, and Nakilgun shot forward quickly with his guards.
Thinking that the martial artists’ net was tightening, so he would soon reveal himself.
* * *
“But do you think the Wolha Sect woman kidnapped by the Dokgwieumjeok isn’t dead yet?”
Jin Arin, following behind me, opened her mouth like that.
Jin Museong answered her curiosity.
“Well. I do not know for certain.”
I, who was walking ahead, answered without looking back.
“She is probably not dead yet.”
“Why? Is there a reason?”
“The reason this matter has grown so big and the Dokgwieumjeok has been chased all the way to Sochasan is because he has the Wolha Sect woman with him. If the Dokgwieumjeok had killed her already and moved only with his people, no one would have been able to discover his movements.”
“…It seems the Namgong Family teaches things other than martial arts.”
I ignored her response and simply continued moving forward.
‘Because after awakening to my past life, many things have changed.’
This sensation of feeling killing intent right now was one of them.
I continued chasing the faint energy of killing intent.
Following the path where that killing intent grew stronger, continuously, continuously.
The two from the Shandong Jin Family silently followed behind me.
The two seemed to think that I had found the corpses earlier and that I knew the geography of Sochasan well.
But the two of them still seemed to think of me as merely a guide.
“Young Master Namgong! If you go that far ahead, you might be attacked by the Dokgwieumjeok’s group! Then we won’t be able to protect you!”
It was exactly what I wished for—the Dokgwieumjeok or his group to appear.
As I was chasing the traces of killing intent like that.
‘Nearby.’
It had grown stronger.
Not a residual fragrance, but truly killing intent felt from a living person.
I stomped on the ground and increased my speed.
And the figures of several people standing on the mountainside came into view.
A scene where two figures in black were killing several martial artists.
“Young Master Namgong! Be careful!”
“Slow down!”
The worried shouts of Jin Arin and Jin Museong came from behind.
But there was no way I would slow down.
I raised my inner qi to the maximum and channeled it into my lightness skill.
My whole body was enveloped in an uplifting sensation as if it would burst. The exhilaration of having finally found them.
The aura transmitted from those bastards told my instincts.
‘It is not the Dokgwieumjeok.’
Whether they were his subordinates or companions, an enemy was an enemy.
I went straight toward them as if drawing a straight line.
I locked eyes with the bastard who was stabbing someone’s neck and slashing horizontally.
His eyes changed in rapid succession.
From doubt about me who had appeared suddenly, to the joy of having found new prey.
A smile hung at the bastard’s mouth, and he immediately thrust his sword at me.
My match with Dancheol.
My match with the Jegeomdang Elder.
And my match with Unnaekhwa.
Their swords had not tried to kill me.
The sword now thrusting at me was clearly a killing move targeting my neck.
Even so, I was not tense or trembling. Rather, I was grateful that the moment I had wished for had arrived.
“Danger!”
Instead of answering Jin Arin’s call, I brought my right hand behind my back. And the moment I grasped the scabbard, I narrowed the distance with the bastard even further.
‘I’m in.’
Into the gap of creation.
With all my strength, I unleashed my sword.
Inner qi exploding from my dantian like erupting lava rushed along the meridians of my right arm and was loaded into the single downward strike.
Boom!
“Kuk!”
The sword momentum that had been thrusting rapidly was rendered meaningless as the bastard’s right arm was cleanly severed.
I didn’t hesitate. I raised my sword once more and slashed horizontally, sending his neck flying.
Thud.
The bastard’s head fell to the ground, and the sound of his body collapsing was heard.
And for a moment, a silent stillness descended upon the scene.
Both the figures in black who had been killing nameless martial artists, and the people from the Shandong Jin Family following behind me.
No one could open their mouths to say anything, frozen for a moment.
In a space where time seemed to have stopped, only I moved, thinking of the next step.
I raised my sword toward the figures in black, aiming for the midsection.
“Don’t move.”
Because I had no intention of letting go of this exhilaration enveloping my whole body as if it would explode.