Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Thud—!

Hong Gakjeong’s body floated up into the air before dropping straight back down. Seeing that sight, Nanhyang’s eyes widened as if she could not believe it.

Just what in the world had happened?

From Nanhyang’s perspective—someone who had never learned martial arts—it only looked like the two had charged at each other, and Hong Gakjeong had been pushed back.

Before long, the quick-witted Nanhyang’s face began to turn deathly pale.

If Hong Gakjeong lost like this, there would be no one left to protect her. No—more precisely, there would be no one who could protect her right now.

Even as Nanhyang’s thoughts raced at lightning speed, Hong Gakjeong could not understand what had happened.

‘How on earth…?’

She had not seen the moment the punch was thrown. She had not even felt it. Had it simply been too fast for her to perceive?

No, it felt different from mere speed. What kind of trick had he used?

Hong Gakjeong glared at Youngho so fiercely that blood vessels popped in her eyes.

Chill—!

In a moment so brief it was almost embarrassing to call it a moment, Hong Gakjeong saw it.

Was that what an Asura climbing up from hell looked like? That thought crossed her mind, because Youngho’s expression was grotesquely twisted.

Youngho’s face, like that of a demon, made the hair on her entire body stand on end just from looking at it. It felt like staring straight into true hell.

However, because of the sword Youngho swung, Hong Gakjeong could only see that expression for an instant.

Youngho swung his sword to sever Hong Gakjeong’s neck.

Clang!

At that moment, accompanied by a clear metallic ring, Youngho’s body was pushed back.

Screeeech!

Dragged backward as his feet scraped against the ground, Youngho stared ahead with a chilling gaze filled with dense killing intent.

Seeing that, the old man glared at Youngho as if he could not believe it.

Strong.

That was the only thought in his mind. Jin Woohyeon, who had blocked Youngho’s strike, pulled Hong Gakjeong behind him and spoke.

“Young Miss, are you all right?”

At his words, Hong Gakjeong replied without even thinking to straighten her twisted expression.

“I haven’t recovered yet. That bastard’s internal energy… urgh!”

Youngho had not simply struck Hong Gakjeong’s side. The moment his fist made contact, he had forcefully injected his internal energy deep into her body.

It was the subtle principle of the Internal Crushing Technique. Though she looked fine on the outside, the inside was violently distorted, and Hong Gakjeong let out a pained groan without realizing it.

Even now, Youngho’s pure internal energy was twisting her internal organs.

‘How could he inject this much internal energy in such a short instant?’

It was internal energy control that had practically reached the level of a divine technique.

Managing somehow to suppress Youngho’s internal energy little by little with her own, Hong Gakjeong gasped for breath and spoke.

“To a piece of trash like you, I…!”

“You got crushed. And miserably at that.”

Hong Gakjeong’s face twisted severely.

Seeing Hong Gakjeong’s face, now so crumpled that the word “beauty” could no longer be applied to it, Youngho let out a snort of laughter.

“With that face, you can’t exactly keep the title of beauty.”

“You wretch!”

“Enough. What’s your name?”

As Youngho pointed at Jin Woohyeon with his finger and spoke, Jin Woohyeon hesitated for a moment.

Seeing that, Youngho thumped his own chest in irritation.

“If I investigate through the Hao Sect, everything will come out anyway. I’m just asking for your name, so say it quickly.”

“Jin Woohyeon.”

“Use honorifics. I am the Alliance Lord’s fifth disciple.”

“…My name is Jin Woohyeon.”

“Good. Woohyeon. I was having a friendly spar with my senior sister for a bit, so I need to know why you interfered with this bout.”

“Of course…!”

For a split second, Jin Woohyeon almost said, Because you were trying to kill the Young Miss, but hurriedly stopped himself.

That was the truth. However, there were truths in this world that were better left unknown.

If rumors spread that during a spar between the Fourth Young Miss and the Fifth Young Master, the Fifth Young Master had almost died, it would not matter. People would have expected that.

But what if it spread that during a spar between the Fourth Young Miss and the Fifth Young Master, the Fourth Young Miss had nearly died?

Naturally, the members of the Unorthodox Faction would be busy tearing Hong Gakjeong down. No—this was the kind of story that would spread even among gossip-hungry onlookers.

Someone who had only formally learned martial arts for six months had defeated someone who had devoted years to martial arts.

Most people would not acknowledge the genius of the one who trained for a short time. Instead, they would drag down the one who had trained for years, calling them lazy, weak, and coming up with all sorts of excuses.

That was simply how people were.

When Jin Woohyeon stopped speaking, Youngho smiled broadly, clearly curious.

“Of course what?”

“……”

He could not say it. But as if Youngho had already expected such a reaction, he sheathed his sword.

“Well, whatever. I don’t really care what kind of rumors my senior sister gets caught up in. But you see…”

Youngho spoke as eerie cracking sounds came from his hand.

“I can’t kill that bitch Hong Gakjeong right now, can I?”

“…That is correct.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll be going now.”

“Pardon?”

“I said I’m leaving. Didn’t you hear?”

“No, it’s not that, but….”

Leaving? Now of all times? For Youngho, with the Fourth Young Miss injured, this was an opportunity that went beyond the word perfect.

Seeing Jin Woohyeon’s expression twist into confusion, Youngho laughed inwardly.

“I’ll just take care of one small thing before I go.”

At that moment, Youngho drew his sword and unleashed Sword Qi. Even Jin Woohyeon could not see the draw—it was speed that could only be described as light itself.

Gasp!

Thinking the Sword Qi was flying toward Hong Gakjeong, Jin Woohyeon instinctively panicked at its overwhelming speed.

But fortunately, it was not aimed at Hong Gakjeong.

The Sword Qi, shot like a beam of light, severed Nanhyang’s ankle.

“Kyaaaaaaah!!”

With her ankle suddenly cut off, Nanhyang lost her balance in an instant and collapsed.

“My leg! My leg!!”

“How is it? I cut it on the same side where Sopyung’s leg was broken.”

“Aaaaaaah!!”

Nanhyang glared at Youngho with eyes filled with venomous resentment.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? Just how much do you think our Sopyung hurt?”

“You dog-like…!”

The moment Nanhyang met Youngho’s eyes, she shut her mouth without realizing it. Eyes that looked unbearably empty and hollow—eyes utterly devoid of emotion.

‘What in the world…!’

Nanhyang still remembered the time before Youngho became a formal disciple of the Alliance Lord.

Back then, he was not like this. With his shoulders hunched and his back never properly straightened, Youngho had looked unmistakably cowed by the people within the Unorthodox Alliance.

So how could he now possess eyes like that? Even just a year ago, his eyes had always revealed emotion whenever he spoke. What kind of experiences did one have to go through to end up with eyes like those?

Overwhelmed by the fear spreading through her entire body, Nanhyang could not make a single sound.

She was afraid.

Youngho’s gaze—one that did not see people as people—was terrifying.

“Are you tired of crying like a crow now?”

Though his eyes held nothing at all, Youngho’s voice was warm. Nanhyang forced herself to look back at him instead of avoiding his gaze.

Slice.

In that instant, Youngho’s Sword Qi, shot once again like a beam of light, severed Nanhyang’s neck.

Thud. Roll, roll.

There was not the slightest trace of pain on Nanhyang’s face. Youngho’s Sword Qi, which had cut her down so swiftly that she could not even feel pain, carried a vivid black hue.

“There won’t be a second time.”

With those words, Youngho’s body melted into the shadows.

Jin Woohyeon hurriedly raised his Qi Sense upon seeing Youngho vanish so abruptly, but……

‘Did he escape?’

Youngho had already slipped beyond Jin Woohyeon’s perception.

“Ugh……!”

Hearing Hong Gakjeong’s pained groan, Jin Woohyeon hurried to support her and shouted.

“Is there no one here?! Bring a physician from the Medical Hall at once!”

Even as she accepted Jin Woohyeon’s support, Hong Gakjeong felt as though she had suffered an unbearable humiliation.

Forcing her drooping eyelids open, she thought,

‘I’ll kill you…….’

With that thought, Hong Gakjeong lost consciousness.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome back.”

Youngho sat down on a nearby chair and spoke.

“What happened to Sopyung?”

At that, Horyeung’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Her life is not in danger.”

“And her leg?”

“Well…….”

“Speak quickly.”

“It seems she is suffering from Hallucination Pain.”

At those words, Youngho’s expression twisted.

“Can she walk?”

“Yes. But mentally, she appears to be in a very difficult state.”

“Well, that’s only natural. She hasn’t even come of age yet—going through something like that would break most people.”

Hoo…… Youngho took a deep breath before speaking again.

“If she overcomes the Hallucination Pain, she’ll be able to walk, right?”

“They say we will have to observe to know for sure.”

“I understand.”

“What about the Fourth Young Miss?”

“I inflicted some internal injuries on her. She’ll have to lie low for a while. Otherwise, Baekcheong will devour her. She probably knows that better than anyone.”

“You were unable to kill her?”

“Someone with a bit of skill—still below you—interfered.”

“I see…….”

“Still, I killed that maid called Nanhyang.”

“That is at least reassuring news.”

“We still need to deal with the rest of them.”

“How shall we proceed?”

“First, let’s buy up medicinal herbs that are good for treating internal injuries.”

“Yes? Were you injured as well, Young Master?”

“Are you insane? Why would I be the one getting hurt?”

“Then why the herbs……?”

“I inflicted more severe internal injuries on Hong Gakjeong than I expected. She’ll be looking for herbs good for internal injuries. We’ll buy them all so she can’t get any for a while.”

“Do you have the funds?”

“Does the Gold-Blood Hall lack money?”

“Of course not.”

“Then that settles it.”

“It seems the Branch Hall Master gave you quite a lot.”

“No—more accurately, I gave her quite a lot, so she’s extending me some conveniences.”

“I see.”

“Horyeung, deploy a Qi Barrier.”

“Yes.”

Following Youngho’s order, Horyeung used his internal energy to create a space that enclosed only Youngho and himself.

“Things are about to get busy. I kept saying you will retired here, but you know as well as I do that there’s no such thing as retirement for an Unorthodox member, right?”

“I have been feeling that keenly lately.”

“Right. It’ll get busy. You should always be thinking about pushing yourself higher, too. As for me, in two years, I’ll at least be strong enough that I won’t get beaten around anymore.”

“And right now?”

“Unfortunately, I’m still in the position of getting beaten around.”

Horyeung looked at Youngho with a dumbfounded expression.

“What? Why that look?”

“No, you said you defeated the Fourth Young Miss.”

“That’s because she’s weak. It’s not because I’m strong. You could easily kill someone at Hong Gakjeong’s level too.”

“That may be true, but…….”

Isn’t that a different matter altogether?

Sensing Horyeung’s confusion, Youngho let out a small laugh. Then the expression vanished completely from his face.

“Horyeung, listen carefully. No matter how unmatched one’s potential may be, if you die before realizing it, that’s the end. There’s nothing more foolish than focusing only on the future and failing to secure the present.”

“I will take it to heart.”

He was right. That was why it felt all the more remarkable. These were truths most people only realized after passing forty, yet Youngho understood them at an age not even at his prime.

It was different from a child who had simply grown up too fast. Youngho felt like a genuine adult.

Horyeung did not know why that impression struck him so strongly, but he did not dislike this side of Youngho at all.