6.
‘Judging by the aura they emanate, they are definitely not crude third-rate martial artists.’
Yang Jeong looked at Cheon Seorin and Gyeongjin, imprisoned in the cell, and gauged their martial prowess.
His discernment was sharp. As he surmised, Cheon Seorin was at the level of approaching first-rate while at the peak of second-rate, and Gyeongjin was just entering the second-rate realm.
Considering their age, they were extraordinary talents of the younger generation who had reached a considerable level.
“I am the commander of this place, Regimental Commander Yang Jeong. What are your names?”
“I am Cheon Seorin of Cheonhwa Sword Gate.”
“I am Gyeongjin of Cheonhwa Sword Gate.”
“I heard that you are the daughter of the Cheonhwa Sword Gate sect leader. Is that correct?”
“······.”
Cheon Seorin hesitated to answer. Although it was already too late to hide since Gyeongjin had blurted it out, being in the position of a prisoner made her reluctant to admit it so readily.
But Gyeongjin was different.
“That is correct. Our young lady is the precious daughter of the great hero, Heavenly Flower Swordsman Cheon Jungho, the sect leader of Cheonhwa Sword Gate. She is someone who absolutely does not deserve to be locked in a cell like this.”
As soon as Yang Jeong mentioned Cheonhwa Sword Gate, Gyeongjin became excited and rattled off words like a machine gun.
“Someone who does not deserve to be imprisoned. Was Cheonhwa Sword Gate of the Dragon Blood? I have never heard such a thing.”
Only those of Dragon Blood who inherited the lineage of the Divine Dragon Heavenly Son could stand above the law.
“Impersonating imperial royalty... You have tremendous audacity. Well, you will be beheaded just for plundering military grain anyway, so what is there to hesitate over?”
“Wh-what do you mean impersonating royalty? I was merely trying to inform you of our sect and the sect leader’s standing.”
“Standing?”
“Yes. To speak of our sect leader, he is one of the Hundred Great Experts of the martial world and shares a close relationship with the Provincial Governor.”
Mentioning the Provincial Governor, a high-ranking official of the Senior Fourth Rank, would surely make them reconsider their treatment.
Gyeongjin was confident in his judgment.
“So what you are saying is, since you have the Provincial Governor backing you, we should not question the crime of plundering military grain. Is that it?”
“Ah, no... It is not exactly that...”
At Yang Jeong’s reaction, which was completely different from what he had expected, Gyeongjin’s voice trailed off.
“Yes, it is not. Those words are a threat. You are saying that if we do not release you immediately, we will be unable to handle the consequences, are you not?”
Wonil chuckled as if amused and tossed in a jest.
“I see. Forgive me. My learning in life is shallow, so I have never been threatened before and failed to understand.”
“Ah, no! No! That was absolutely not my intention!”
“No, I understood perfectly well. I may be slow to learn, but what I learn once, I understand thoroughly. Soldiers, listen.”
Yang Jeong looked toward Wi Cheonsaeng and Ganho.
“He dared to threaten a commander of the army. He will need one hundred strokes of the heavy baton. Drag him out.”
“As you command.”
Wi Cheonsaeng and Ganho cupped their fists and opened the cell door.
‘This is rather fortunate.’
Though bewildered by the situation unfolding completely differently from his expectations, Gyeongjin thought this was an opportunity.
Subdue the soldiers in an instant and escape with our young lady.
Gyeongjin raised his internal energy.
“Do not waste your energy needlessly. One hundred strokes of the heavy baton could kill you.”
No, usually even if one survived one hundred strokes, they would waste away and die.
‘Now!’
The moment Wi Cheonsaeng entered through the cell door and approached him, Gyeongjin unleashed his internal energy and threw a punch.
The wind-splitting sound carried by the fist, loaded with martial power, was no ordinary thing.
‘First I will take this one down, then capture the Regimental Commander and escape from here!’
It was a truly perfect plan. Gyeongjin was certain.
But that plan had a serious problem from the very start.
‘Heel steps diagonally outward, naturally connecting to the next step.’
Wi Cheonsaeng executed the Hurricane Leaf Step he had just learned, so naturally that he seized Gyeongjin’s flank.
“Huh?”
He had clearly seen Wi Cheonsaeng mimicking the Hurricane Leaf Step that he himself had performed, but he had never imagined he could execute it perfectly in actual combat right away.
But that was not what Gyeongjin should have been most surprised about.
“What is this technique called?”
—Bwaak!
“Kuack!”
The Smashing Leaf Single Fist that Gyeongjin had performed was perfectly replicated from Wi Cheonsaeng’s hand.
“Kugh... What the hell is this...”
Groaning from the intense pain in his side, Gyeongjin could not take his eyes off Wi Cheonsaeng, who had assumed the form of the Smashing Leaf Single Fist.
“I told him not to use our sect’s martial arts...”
Cheon Seorin felt her head throbbing.
“Will you not tell me?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“Well then, I shall name it myself. Since a wretch used it, shall I name it the Wretch Fist Technique?”
“I-It is the Smashing Leaf Single Fist!”
Startled by his threat to name it arbitrarily, Cheon Seorin blurted it out.
“Though it may not be on the level of the Falling Flower Sword, it is a fist technique quite renowned in Shaanxi Province. Please, I beg you, do not tarnish the legacy of our ancestors.”
She could not tolerate such a nonsensical name being attached to the proud secret martial art left by her ancestors.
“More importantly, where is your school?”
“My school?”
“Yes.”
“······.”
“Since you have secretly stolen the supreme techniques of our sect, is it not only proper that you at least tell me your school?”
“What is a school?”
“What?”
There was no way Wi Cheonsaeng, who had never even laid eyes on a martial artist before, had ever heard the word “school.”
“Hey! What are you doing? You stand before the Regimental Commander!”
“Ah! Right.”
Wi Cheonsaeng belatedly came to his senses and forcibly grabbed the gasping Gyeongjin, pulling him to his feet.
“I have presented the criminal.”
Wi Cheonsaeng surreptitiously gauged Yang Jeong’s mood with a guilty conscience.
He had forgotten he was in the middle of carrying out the Regimental Commander’s order because he had suddenly witnessed such proper martial arts.
‘His expression does not look good. Am I going to get scolded?’
Having never faced so much as a Hundred-Man Commander, let alone a Regimental Commander, Wi Cheonsaeng was slightly nervous.
“What is your name?”
“Wi Cheonsaeng.”
“Is that your real name?”
“Well... That is what is written in the military registry.”
The name Wi Cheonsaeng was not actually his real name. Because he was serving as a military substitute, he had been living under someone else’s name.
“Your age?”
“I am twenty-two this year.”
“...I have no intention of reprimanding you for being a military substitute, so speak truthfully.”
“I am sixteen.”
“You brat! You were speaking so casually to me at that age?”
At the unexpectedly young age, Ganho had forgotten he was before the Regimental Commander and blurted out.
“When did you start learning martial arts?”
“A few months ago from the Gushipjang.”
“Your internal cultivation method?”
“The Three Calamities Heart Method.”
“Hmph...”
Yang Jeong pressed his temple with his thumb and index finger.
It was something he could not believe even seeing with his own eyes.
Gyeongjin’s punch was not something one could handle having learned it merely by watching over someone’s shoulder. Yet just moments ago, Wi Cheonsaeng had mimicked some tiny steps of footwork in front of the cell door and then executed it perfectly.
And he had even returned the punch his opponent threw right back at him.
“You will be given a new post soon.”
“Yes.”
“Take this.”
Yang Jeong pulled a book from his bosom.
Pear Blossom Spear Technique.
It was the secret manual of the Pear Blossom Spear Technique, the secret art of Yang Family Manor and currently the standard spear technique of the Golden Army.
“Study that for a while.”
“I-I cannot do that.”
When Wi Cheonsaeng panicked, Yang Jeong smiled as if he found it cute.
“The Pear Blossom Spear is the secret art of Yang Family Manor, but it has already been enshrined as a standard technique of the Golden Army, so it cannot be called a secret art. Therefore, you may learn it with ease.”
“Th-that is not it...”
“?”
“I cannot read.”
“Ah!”
Come to think of it, it was only natural. How many common soldiers could read? Even if he searched through all the soldiers here, he would not fill ten fingers.
“Keke. I shall teach him to read.”
Wonil chuckled, seemingly finding the unfolding situation quite amusing.
“Please do. I seem to need to organize my thoughts. I will take my leave now.”
“What should we do with this one? Shall we hand him over to the judicial department?”
Ganho asked, pointing at Gyeongjin, who was still gasping for breath.
“No, I think he has come to his senses sufficiently by now. Lock him back up.”
“As you command.”
Yang Jeong waved his hand instead of saluting and left the place with Wonil, striding away leisurely.
“Whew, I thought we were in big trouble.”
“Right? That surprised me.”
As soon as Yang Jeong left, Wi Cheonsaeng and Ganho simultaneously let out sighs of relief.
“Now throw this guy back in.”
“You do it. I was the one who took him out.”
“Cheonsaeng, you sixteen-year-old. I will not ask you to call me elder brother, but won’t you put him back? How am I supposed to handle it if this guy lunges at me?”
“You promised, right?”
“Heh, nobody believes your age anyway.”
Nine out of ten in the unit were those who had entered as military substitutes. Nobody cared whether the names or ages were real or fake.
“Get in.”
Wi Cheonsaeng pushed Gyeongjin back into the cell.
“Wait a moment.”
Cheon Seorin called out to Wi Cheonsaeng.
“We were interrupted earlier because I was bewildered, but I would like to speak properly again.”
“What about?”
“Is it true that you have no school?”
“I do not have one. I am not exactly sure what that is, though.”
“Our sect always welcomes outstanding talent. How would you like to enter the Cheonhwa Sword Gate?”
“Cheonhwa Sword Gate?”
“Though we may not compare to Mount Hua and Zhongnan, we are quite renowned in Shaanxi. If you enter our sect, you will never regret it.”
At first she had merely been shocked, but as time passed, she realized he possessed a once-in-a-lifetime talent.
‘Such talent! He is truly a pearl in mud. I absolutely must not let him slip away!’
Cheon Seorin was not an ordinary disciple; she was the daughter of the sect leader and one of the candidates to be the next sect leader.
That was why she could change her way of thinking.
“I do not know much about martial artists, but I know they are divided into orthodox and unorthodox factions. The unorthodox commit crimes as easily as they eat, do they not?”
“You need not worry about that. Our sect walks the path of undeniable orthodoxy...”
“A place where even the sect leader’s daughter plunders military grain... I do not think I want to enter such a frightening place.”
“Th-that was an act of chivalrous spirit.”
“Chivalry?”
“Yes! How could we simply watch starving people suffer?”
“Are you going to raid military grain every time you see a beggar from now on? That is a bit frightening, is it not?”
“Th-that...”
It had been her first time venturing into the martial world without an escort. Gyeongjin had vented his anger at the pitiful plight of their hometown’s residents, and that was the beginning of everything.
They had not intended to plunder military grain, but the soldiers suddenly drew their swords and attacked, leaving them no choice.
But...
In the end, the result was plunder.
“······.”
“It seems you still have a conscience, at least.”
Wi Cheonsaeng looked at the silent Cheon Seorin and smirked.
“Very well. Words spoken in such circumstances lack persuasiveness. But if you refuse to become my martial brother, I shall have no choice but to consider you my enemy.”
“My enemy?”
“The sword at your waist right now is my White Fang.”
When swords were mentioned, Wi Cheonsaeng flinched.
‘I should return it after all, should I not?’
He had not known at first, but as time passed, he realized it was no ordinary sword. Though the hilt was wrapped in cloth, it was a rare famous sword that turned ivory-white when touched by sunlight.
“Please take good care of that sword.”
“Take good care of it?”
“I will come to reclaim it someday. I will defeat you with my own strength and take it back. So let it remain as proof of my vengeance until then.”
The talk of vengeance and proof did not particularly register with him.
Wi Cheonsaeng was more concerned about something else.
“Thank you! I will use it well!”
The offer of an expensive item caused polite speech to slip out naturally.
“Are you even listening to me properly? I said I will take it back by force later!”
“So what you are saying is.”
“?”
“If I win next time too, it stays mine forever, right?”
“!”
“Thank you very much.”
“D-do not thank me!”
Cheon Seorin shouted.
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
I will make him walk.