Dropped Into the Murim with an Instant-Kill Skill - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Across the World This June, the Petals All Have Fallen (2)

TL/ED – Miso

With the entertainment about to begin, the assembled jianghu practitioners traded comment after comment.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Surely it’ll be Young hero Seong Gwang, head disciple of Great hero Phantom Step, no?”

“Mm. If it’s Laughing Wind Seong Gwang, then certainly.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think anyone’s going to make it. And if no one makes it, well, there’s no winning or losing to speak of.”

“True enough.”

“That’s a fair point.”

This entertainment was restricted to those aged twenty-five and under.

Which meant that most of the challengers were second-rate.

The realm called first-rate was such that reaching it even by thirty earned a martial artist the name of someone truly exceptional.

By contrast, first-rate experts were not few among the army officers barring the way. That was why so many jianghu practitioners predicted failure.

Realizing this, Yeon So-wol felt his breath catch a little.

“Is this even possible……? If they’re first-rate, isn’t that the same realm as Father?”

Even at a rough count, the army officers who looked first-rate numbered over twenty.

Twenty Yi Yu-baeks……?

Goosebumps rose on his skin.

“Little brother, don’t worry. Not every first-rate is the same first-rate.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Even among second-rates, doesn’t skill vary enormously?”

What was a second-rate?

By Yi Yu-baek’s standard, they were people who had cultivated their inner energy to the stage of Exhaled Smoke and Cloud and trained in the martial arts.

Most of the people Yeon So-wol had met so far were second-rate.

‘He’s right. The gap really is huge.’

Thinking it over carefully, it was true.

He himself was second-rate. Mad Dog was second-rate. The pathetic Black Path thugs who had come with Mad Dog were second-rate, Resentful Dog was second-rate; even Eun-yeong of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, who had taught him how to use his qi sense, and County Inspector Jang Wi-san of the Junior Ninth Rank, who had looked monstrously strong, had breathed out white puffs from their mouths, which meant every one of them was second-rate.

Once a martial artist began kindling the True Fire, smoke no longer rose from the mouth, for by then every impurity within the Eight Extraordinary Meridians had already been burned away.

So they were all lumped together as second-rate, but when actually measured against one another, the difference within that tier was as vast as heaven and earth.

Kang Mu-hyeok said.

“But among first-rates, the gap is even worse. Kindle the True Fire and they call you first-rate, sure, but there are stages within that too.”

The entry stage of the first-rate tier was called Valiant Fire Soaring Aloft.

The stage where the hotly kindled True Fire began radiating heat and pressure outward.

When such a martial artist drew up true qi, the blood vessels bulged where the skin ran thin, at the temple point or the back of the hand, and a subtle shimmer of heat rose from them.

Upon reaching the middle stage of the first-rate tier, the True Fire’s pressure and heat compounded until a fierce blaze pierced the very heavens; this was called Fierce Fire Piercing Heaven.

The stage where, upon drawing up true qi, the robes billowed and the shimmer surged upward as if set aflame.

“A good number of them look to be at the stage of Valiant Fire Soaring Aloft. Nothing compared to Master.”

“Which means some of them have reached Fierce Fire Piercing Heaven……?”

“Even so, they’re no match for Master.”

However he put it, Yeon So-wol’s feelings stayed tangled.

‘But what can I do about it.’

He forced himself to steady his mind.

“All right. Let’s give it a shot. The military officials’ martial arts must be tailored to the military examination, so wouldn’t their principles be rather narrow? If we dig into that, we might find an opening.”

As if the evils of rote education existed only in Korea!

“Little brother, truer words were never spoken! These are men who think that if someone jumps high, an arrow will bring him down, and if someone sneaks close, armor will take the blow. There’s bound to be a gap somewhere.”

“All right! Let’s work out a strategy!”

The second disciple, Seon Je-hun, called out cheerfully and dragged Mo Cheong over as they gathered round.

The Three Young Masters of Refined Arts. No, with Yeon So-wol counted in, the Four Young Masters of Refined Arts huddled close, heads together, thinking it through.

“Our Refined Arts Sect carries wind and willow in its name, and our lightness technique is just as light and quiet. Don’t you think we could use that?”

At Seon Je-hun’s suggestion, Yeon So-wol let out an admiring Ah!

“That’s good! What if we set our course on hiding as much as we can instead of showing off?”

Yeon So-wol pictured Eun-yeong in his mind. The use of qi sense he had learned from her. The way of using it to slip past an enemy’s eyes and ears.

If the problem was strong opponents, then the answer was simply to move unseen.

“Good! That’s a very good idea. Precision of qi sense isn’t a subject on the military examination.”

Kang Mu-hyeok agreed at once. He glanced back and said.

“And as it happens, this works out well. The first disciple of Great hero Phantom Step, famed across Guangdong for his lightfoot technique, is here. Seong Gwang, called Laughing Wind. His lightfoot technique is flashy, so while he’s drawing their eyes, let’s make it our goal to slip in quietly.”

“Not bad, eh, Senior brother? And how about we keep our young master hidden till the very end? If eyes start turning our way, then I, you, and Mo Cheong draw their attention one by one, and the young master stays hidden to the last.”

“That’s very good, Je-hun.”

The Four Young Masters of Refined Arts were of one mind.

But they needed more of a plan. A finer one.

“The problem is……. we’re on a river. We can’t move freely. Step on a boat and we’re bound to draw eyes…….”

It was while they had their heads together, mulling it over.

“Footholds. Step on them.”

!!!

A voice, out of nowhere.

Everyone was stunned. None of them had sensed the slightest sign of anyone approaching.

“Ah! Young lady Eun-yeong!”

Yeon So-wol recognized the owner of the voice that had cut in, and brightened.

“Footholds. Step on them. Quietly. That’s how you go.”

Eun-yeong indifferently reached out and picked up the large wooden trays one by one,

Fwip!

and hurled them low and flat across the water, like skipping stones.

“……Incredible!”

Kang Mu-hyeok breathed in admiration.

“Where on earth did an expert like this…….”

Seon Je-hun exclaimed alongside him.

And no wonder, for she was flinging wooden trays as big as a man’s torso, and gourd bowls besides, without a single whistle of parted air.

It was because she threw them with an adaptation of the way assassins hurl their hidden weapons.

This was the unpredictability of martial artists, something the military officials could never have.

Like night owls, the wooden trays and gourd bowls flew low, quiet, and unseen, settling soundlessly here and there upon the river. Like stepping stones.

Buried in the dark night waves, they were barely even visible.

“Positions. Memorize them. Then. Do well.”

Eun-yeong looked at Yeon So-wol, gave a single wave of her hand, then hopped lightly away, back toward Cho-ran’s side. Cho-ran was still in the middle of her dance.

“……So-wol. That person. She’s dressed as a man, right?”

Mo Cheong nudged Yeon So-wol in the ribs.

“Huh? Yeah, that’s right. She’s a woman. She’s with the courtesans over there. I guess she dressed as a man in case being taken for a courtesan caused her trouble.”

“……She’s really pretty.”

“Hm?”

“What.”

“Don’t tell me you……”

“What.”

Mo Cheong spoke brusquely and looked away, his face faintly red.

Yeon So-wol wanted to tease him a little more, but there was no time left for that now.

“Behold! When this fire arrow falls upon the river, we begin!”

The call announcing the start of the entertainment.

Soon after,

Shwoosh!

The fire arrow climbed into the sky, traced its arc, and fell toward the black night waves,

“Let’s go!”

Dozens of young martial artists took to the air as one.

**

Hwoooo-

On every side, white breaths scattered like mist off the water.

No Gil, Phantom Step. [TL: No Gil is the real name of the ‘Phantom Step’.]

A famous name in the Guangdong martial world, whose title declared that by the time he was seen, he was already gone, his swift lightfoot technique reckoned second to none.

His head disciple Seong Gwang raced ahead leaving only the sound of the wind’s laughter behind him, and so was called Laughing Wind.

True to that illustrious name, Seong Gwang charged in from the very start, brimming with confidence.

“I’ll go first!”

BOOOOM!

Even the speed with which he kicked off the boat and launched himself was on another level.

While others went whoosh! in arcing parabolas, Laughing Wind went bang! in a straight line, leaving nothing behind but the flap-flap-flap of his fluttering robes.

His strategy was simple.

Faster than anyone. Beyond all comparison!

Full speed from the very first, faster than anyone could anticipate. Before the military officials could even react!

‘At this distance, four leaps will get me there!’

He had already made one.

BOOM!

He kicked off the first boat and leapt again,

BOOOM!

kicked off the second boat and leapt once more,

‘Now the last one!’

Just as Laughing Wind bared his teeth in a grin,

“Fire!”

SHWOOOOOOSH!

“Huh?”

More than ten arrows came flying straight at him. The arrowheads had been removed, only the shafts loosed, but the force behind them was anything but ordinary.

As if, even without heads, they would punch clean through human skin.

Laughing Wind hurriedly flipped his body in midair.

Flap-flap-flap!

His robes whipped this way and that as he folded himself into the gaps between arrows and somehow evaded the volley, but the military officials had shot with such exquisite skill that in the end one or two arrows remained beyond evading.

Clang!

Laughing Wind swung his blade and knocked them aside, but the force drove him back, and he dropped toward the river.

“Damn it all!”

“Senior brother!”

Another of Phantom Step’s disciples flung himself out to serve as a foothold, and only by stepping on his own junior brother could Seong Gwang climb back onto a boat.

“Senior brother! You have to make it!”

Splash!

Though the junior brother who had served as his foothold plunged into the water for his trouble.

Similar scenes were unfolding everywhere.

“Aaargh!”

“Hrrkk!”

“Th-they’re insane!”

“Hey! Snap out of it! Hey! You’re not dead, are you?”

Martial artists who charged in brave and full of spirit, only to be struck by arrows and thrown spears and sent flying.

Even with every arrowhead and spearblade removed, the force loaded into them was ferocious beyond belief.

More than a few floated on the river, out cold.

In the middle of that chaos.

The Four Young Masters of Refined Arts ran a route unlike anyone else’s, treading the footholds Eun-yeong had thrown for them as stepping stones. Low and silent, as if skimming the night waves.

‘Good. Just like this. A little more. Just a little……!’

Yeon So-wol raised his qi sense to its utmost.

By watching the tremors in nature’s qi, one could tell where people’s minds were dwelling.

As if every person and every thing in creation were somehow bound to one another by invisible warp and weft.

Running quietly along night waves like strands of black hair, he suddenly felt a certain stirring at that thought.

‘This world, honestly. What is it…….’

Back on Earth, no matter how hard he had glared, not a single leaf had ever fallen for him.

Did that make this world that rippled along with the heart good? Or did it make it bad?

Amid such thoughts, he suddenly recalled what Kang Mu-hyeok had told him just before they set out.

How did first-rate differ from second-rate?

What must one beware of when facing a first-rate?

‘A person is made of essence, qi, and spirit, and only by kindling the True Fire and reaching first-rate can one finally move beyond essence and command qi.’

Essence was power.

Qi was harmony.

Where essence collided and pushed away, qi enveloped and guided.

Those words still puzzled Yeon So-wol.

‘Are power and harmony really so different?’

They probably differed somehow, he supposed, but if asked “so what exactly is different, and how?”, he would have been hard pressed to answer.

Still, it wasn’t as if he felt nothing at all.

‘If I kindle the True Fire, and I can wield the harmony of qi myself, will I get to see this world from yet another angle?’

The higher his martial arts climbed, the more differently the world appeared; and when the world appeared different, he himself looked different too.

It was getting more and more exhilarating.

Tap.

Yeon So-wol stepped on one of the wooden baskets Eun-yeong had thrown and leapt without a sound.

Mobilizing every scrap of his qi sense, he threaded into the places that did not tremble, the spots no mind spared any attention.

But the closer he drew to his destination, the harder it became to find gaps in their minds.

Narrower.

And narrower still.

When no gaps remained at all, Yi Yu-baek’s disciples began to hurl themselves forward, one by one.

“I’ll go first! Aaaargh!”

Mo Cheong deliberately drew their eyes, dashing off in another direction until a spear struck him and he fell.

“I’m going too.”

The second disciple, Gale Young Master Seon Je-hun, drew attention as well and picked up speed. True to the sobriquet Gale Young Master, he showed a burst of explosive speed, flying in an instant nearly to the Governor-General’s boat.

So near that, apart from Laughing Wind Seong Gwang, no martial artist had come closer.

But for that very reason,

Thud-thud-thud-thwack!

struck by the spears and arrows of the thoroughly riled military officials, he pitched headlong toward the river.

‘……He’s not dead, is he……?’

The sight of Seon Je-hun’s body tossed about like a rag doll under the arrows and spears sent a chill down Yeon So-wol’s spine.

“Focus, little brother. This time I’ll buy as much time as I can.”

Kang Mu-hyeok whispered low, then kicked off a foothold and leapt. He landed hard on a nearby boat, driving himself into the military officials’ qi sense and stirring things up for all he was worth.

“Head disciple of the Hall of Refined Arts! I am the Refined Arts Young Master, Kang Mu-hyeok himself!”

Quite unlike his usual quiet nature, Kang Mu-hyeok shouted at the top of his lungs, drawing every eye.

Arrows and spears poured down on him.

‘Brother Mu-hyeok……!’

Yeon So-wol tensed in spite of himself. He was sure Kang Mu-hyeok would be shot down as mercilessly as Seon Je-hun before him.

But,

“Hmph!”

Kang Mu-hyeok snorted. He swung his blade, scabbard and all, and swept the incoming arrows and spears aside.

Swerve!

‘Huh……?’

Yeon So-wol saw it. The sight of arrows and spears bending off their trajectories around the scabbard in Kang Mu-hyeok’s hand, as if caught and led away by something.

Not struck and bounced off, but wrapped and guided.

‘Ah……! That’s qi! Working harmony, not mere power!’

And Yeon So-wol realized one more thing. If Kang Mu-hyeok had used qi, that meant…….

“He’s first-rate!”

“Well now! The Wind Flow Sword’s head disciple, first-rate already!”

“He kindled the True Fire at twenty-five?”

“Faster than his own master!”

“A genius, that one.”

Kang Mu-hyeok, second-rate until only recently, had at last stepped up into the first-rate.

He had become a martial artist who would hear himself called an ‘expert’ wherever in the world he went.

That fact stirred something in Yeon So-wol’s heart.

A thrill ran through him unbidden,

‘Me too……!’

and his chest grew hot.

With a qi sense grown keener still, he searched for the gaps in their minds.

By now they were truly narrow, and even the gaps that showed themselves closed fast, yet still he leapt gladly into them.

Quietly.

Just as Eun-yeong had taught him.

Thump-thump-thump

He no longer watched merely the trembling of nature’s qi.

Rousing all five senses to their fullest, he listened to the sound of the water, heard beyond it the breathing of the army officers, heard the beating of their hearts, felt the wind brushing against his skin.

Reading all of it together with nature’s qi, he fathomed their minds as they groped through the world, predicted them in advance, and flung himself onward.

With a peerless qi sense that scarcely anyone in the world could rival,

taking it all in at a single glance,

a flattened world. He crossed a world thin as a strand of thread.

Tap!

Ta-tap!

Burying only the faintest of footfalls in the waves,

“Aaaaargh! Just a little more! A little more! Move! I’m right there!”

“Daaaamn it! I am! Phantom Step’s head disciple! Laughing Wind Seong Gwang!”

“That’s it! Rampage away, Laughing Wind! Now, little brother! Jump! Now’s the time!”

Far off, the desperate young martial artists and the army officers clashed, while Yeon So-wol walked the dark night waves alone and now sprang into his final step.

Ta-taang!

The sound of a wooden tray kicked hard.

!!!

The army officers, aghast as one.

“Wh-what?”

“Wh-where did he come from?”

“Oh no……!”

He had never once registered on their qi sense.

A young man, leaping in out of nowhere.

His foot descended toward the Governor-General’s boat.

“S-stop him!”

“Shiiit! No!”

Army officers screamed, their faces gone pale.

“Oh……. fuck!”

Seol Cheong, the Mobile Corps Commander leading them, felt the world go dizzy before his eyes.

‘No! This can’t happen!’

Not a single one of them could be allowed through.

Following his desperate heart, the True Fire blazed up fiercely. His Eight Extraordinary Meridians writhed like a dragon, his robes billowed, and the blood vessels bulged from his neck and forehead.

True qi surged through the Twelve Primary Meridians in resonance with the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and as the subtlety of qi mingled within it, power turned to harmony and gathered at the tip of his spear.

PWAAANG!

The spear, hurled with everything he had, skewered the air.

Under the harmony worked by qi, the air’s resistance vanished.

Already loosed, the spear accelerated again and again.

A manifestation of harmony that no amount of power could explain.

‘Huh?’

By the time Yeon So-wol noticed, it had accelerated yet again and was diving into his chest faster than his mind could follow.

‘I can’t block……!’

There was no dodging it.

Even if he blocked, its momentum was too strong. He would be driven out over the river.

‘I’m almost there!’

Literally 1 more second and his foot would touch the boat!

Yeon So-wol ground his teeth.

‘Use the power of the Star of Thousand Deaths.’

Twisting his body, he reached out toward the shaft of the incoming spear.

Revealing his power nagged at him a little, but,

‘It’s a spear I’m using it on, not a person, anyway.’

And martial artists all carried their own unexpected tricks anyway.

‘When it’s time to use it, I use it!’

At last Yeon So-wol’s palm struck the side of the spear.

Snap!

An invisible thread was severed.

Because Yeon So-wol’s body held within it a torn principle of heaven and earth, there was nothing, whatever it might be, that it could not bring to ruin.

A person. A spear. Energy.

CRACK!

The spear shaft broke.

Yeon So-wol unfurled Soaring Wind Drift and flipped his body over. The spear had broken the instant it touched him, so he had taken no force at all, but he spun deliberately, as if bleeding off its lingering momentum.

Adjusting the weight of each part of his body moment by moment, like a spinning top.

Flap-flap-flap!

His robes streamed in the wind,

and by the time Mobile Corps Commander Seol Cheong scrambled to raise another spear,

Tap!

Yeon So-wol had turned one graceful circle and alighted. On the Governor-General’s boat.

Thunk!

Indifferently dropping the broken spearhead still in his grip.

“I have survived!”

A voice rang out that set the river’s waters trembling.

Splash!

Just then, Laughing Wind Seong Gwang, who had closed to within a zhang and a half of the Governor-General’s boat (1 zhang = 3 meters), finally failed to hold out and plunged into the river. Pulling his head above water, he looked up at Yeon So-wol standing tall atop the boat.

While he had thrashed with everything he had, drawing the army officers’ eyes in droves, one person had approached in silence, unnoticed by all.

The one who arrived was that man; the one who fell was himself.

Laughing Wind burst into a hollow laugh.

“So I do all the tricks, and…….” [TL: From the proverb “the bear does the tricks, and the master takes the money”.]

“You have my thanks, Young hero Laughing Wind.”

Beside him, Kang Mu-hyeok, who had landed in the river as well, offered a fist-palm salute.

“Kang Mu-hyeok, you…….”

Laughing Wind’s lips twisted and trembled.

“What. Seong Gwang.”

Kang Mu-hyeok gave a wry smirk.