—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When we went towards the sound, it was pure chaos.
What was all this, first thing in the morning? At the entrance of Changun’gwan, a man confidently entered, openly displaying his demonic energy. And following behind him were…
Jiangshi (Chinese Vampires).
“How did they get jiangshi in here?!”
How, you ask?
Palseon Village was a place where many merchants came.
They brought all sorts of strange things to showcase products from various parts of the continent, and naturally, this meant that there were many inspections of their cargo.
When there’s more work, gaps are bound to appear. Or perhaps, someone inspecting at the gate was already in league with them.
Or maybe the Demonic Cult had some special know-how. But what did that matter now?
What was important was that those jiangshi, emanating killing intent and approaching Cheongungwan, along with the cultist, were quite a threatening force.
-Clink! Clink! Clink!
Judging by the way they were affected by the bell, they were definitely corpse jiangshi, created using corpses.
The way to counter them was…
“We must capture the one with the bell!”
Correct. A Taoist priest from Changun’gwan shouted.
Corpse jiangshi basically moved according to the commands of their controller, so it was faster to just catch the controller than to try to kill them all. It was the same in the Celestial Moon Order.
“Bring the head priest! Quickly!!”
This was just the beginning. The recurring event, the defense of Changun’gwan from the attack, was about holding off the attack until the head priest of Changun’gwan appeared.
If you managed to defeat the attacking cultists before then, you could choose one of three rewards.
If you couldn’t defeat them before the head priest appeared, your reputation with Changun’gwan would simply increase.
Since we were going to get a reward anyway, it was better to defeat them.
“Innkeeper. Stay behind us.”
“Don’t worry. I can protect myself.”
Hongryeon had already drawn her sword. No, it wasn’t just her. Several other martial artists and Taoist priests had also drawn their weapons and were ready to fight.
Tension soared, and fear settled on the faces of those who were not martial artists.
It was understandable. Even if the martial artists could handle it, to ordinary people, the cultists and jiangshi were no different from terrifying monsters.
Perhaps they were reveling in their fear. The cultist grinned cruelly, swung his bell, and at that signal, seven jiangshi came leaping in.
“Kya, kyaaa!”
People fled. It was fortunate that there weren’t many people since it was early in the morning at Changun’gwan. If there had been a lot of people, it would have been utter chaos.
“Sayun. Protect Innkeeper Yu.”
With a calm word, Hongryeon dashed towards the cultist, and the jiangshi scattered.
The cultist laughed loudly and swung his sword at Hongryeon.
-Clang!!
It didn’t end in one blow. This guy was pretty skilled too.
Then, did that mean we just had to hold off those jiangshi?
“Ah?!”
The Taoist priests and the martial artists, who seemed to be novices, stepped forward to block the jiangshi, but they missed one.
“Waaaah!!”
“Seon-ye!”
A child among the fleeing people had fallen on the ground. Just as a man, who seemed to be the father, tried to grab the child, a jiangshi appeared in front of them.
Jiangshi were like monsters created by reviving the dead. Naturally, they had a strong hatred for the living and were filled with the malice to trample the weak.
So, catching a fallen child, a person who hadn’t even learned any martial arts, was not something they would hesitate to do, but rather something they would enjoy.
-Kyaaaak!!
The teeth in its wide-open mouth were sharp. With its sharp, awl-like claws extended, a jiangshi leaped to tear them apart.
-Thud!!
Sayun and I ran without saying a word. Sayun arrived first and kicked the jiangshi in the chest.
While the pushed-back jiangshi staggered from the blow, Sayun attacked it several more times, pushing it back further. Following her, I approached and tripped the jiangshi with my left leg.
The staggering jiangshi was further thrown off balance when I tripped it, and taking advantage of that, I grabbed its chest with my right hand and lightly pushed down.
Perhaps because Sayun’s attack was no ordinary force.
-Thud!!
I didn’t use much strength, just changed the direction and flow, but the jiangshi tumbled to the ground.
I could still feel it in my palm. It felt like I had hit a tree.
Well, since it was made by treating a corpse with all sorts of chemicals, it was natural that the jiangshi’s body would be as hard as a withered tree.
“I’m not done yet!!”
Sayun’s expression was serious. She knew that this much wouldn’t be enough to take down a jiangshi.
She pointed her sword at the jiangshi, and I adopted a Chae Family Tai Chi stance and said.
“Take the child and get back.”
“Waaaah!! Sniffle! Waaaaah!!”
“Th, thank you!”
The father picked up the crying child and moved away. What remained were the jiangshi and Sayun, who was determined to fight it with all her might.
“You can stay behind, Innkeeper!”
“It’s better to have two than one, isn’t it?”
“Ahaha… Yes! But be careful!”
“Yes.”
Sayun was young, and I was just someone who knew a little bit of Chae Family Tai Chi.
But everyone who could fight in this place was already fighting.
Hongryeon was single-handedly suppressing the cultist, and the Taoist priests of Changun’gwan and the martial artists, who were clearly novices, were blocking the remaining jiangshi from attacking other people.
So, someone had to stop this one jiangshi.
And Sayun and I both knew that it was us.
“Huuu…”
I exhaled and raised my hands.
Right hand yang, left hand yin.
With the raised yang hand facing up, I extended the yin hand to draw out the killing intent.
My right foot became the axis for support, and I extended my left foot to create a foundation that would allow for free movement at any time.
“Here I go.”
-Kyaaaak!!
With a terrifying shriek, the jiangshi rushed towards me, seeking negative energy.
It wasn’t a very strong jiangshi, it seemed. Its attacks were linear and crude.
The hand with its sharp, awl-like claws extended and was about to reach my left hand.
If I clashed head-on, I would lose, but the beauty of Chae Family Tai Chi lay in controlling and changing the flow. So there was no need to resist that flow.
Just.
Change the direction.
I slightly lowered my left hand, avoiding the clash of hands. As I moved my left hand again, the palm touched the jiangshi’s wrist.
The jiangshi’s strength was great. Comparable to the waves of the Yangtze River.
But the Yangtze River just flows smoothly, so changing its flow requires only the force of a feather.
I recalled the principles of Chae Family Tai Chi and slightly added my strength to that force.
I released the force from my right foot and shifted it to my left foot.
Using that force as an axis, I pushed the jiangshi’s arm, and when the jiangshi’s arm swung through the air, I pressed down on its leg with my right foot.
The jiangshi’s body, having lost its balance, crumbled and lost its balance even more.
Taking advantage of that, I moved my shoulder and lightly pushed, and the jiangshi completely lost its balance. Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed the jiangshi and lifted it up.
“Go.”
Just one word, and that was enough.
If it was Sayun, who had trained to the point where her Pretty Sword emitted light, this much should be possible.
“Ha!!”
With a short shout, Sayun leaped up.
Ascending Heaven Kick.
One of the aerial techniques in the first half of the Hongseong Divine Arts.
The jiangshi, struck by the kick that leaped up and attacked an enemy in the air, was flipped in the air.
Taking advantage of that, Sayun spun her body and struck the jiangshi’s abdomen with the Star-Destroying Palm, a technique that also involved internal force.
-Boom!!
A loud sound erupted from the jiangshi’s body as it was hit by the Star-Destroying Palm. Even so, the jiangshi still had some fight left and tried to swing its arm, but her sword was already flashing.
Yes.
Flashing.
The effect of the sword that occurred because the user had grown and the sword’s proficiency had increased.
The moment a faint light settled on her sword, Sayun struck the jiangshi’s chest with a single blow.
The latter part of the Hongseong Divine Arts’ sword technique.
Summer Constellation Wheel.
-Boom!!
Struck by the powerful blow that slashed downwards, the jiangshi was slammed into the ground. It was so strong that it even cracked the stone floor.
The jiangshi couldn’t get up easily, as even it couldn’t withstand this much damage.
And.
“Kyaaaak!”
A scream from behind. Sayun and I immediately turned our heads towards the sound and sighed in relief.
There, the cultist, who had been boasting and acting as if the world was his, was falling with his chest split open, his body cut in half by Hongryeon’s greatsword.
“Huuu… Are you alright?!”
As soon as she defeated the cultist, Hongryeon immediately ran towards us. She seemed quite worried that Sayun and I had blocked the jiangshi.
“We’re fine. We didn’t really do much.”
I patted her shoulder, and only then did Hongryeon look around.
The jiangshi, which had been following the commands of their master, were now limp and had stopped moving.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
All I did was use Chae Family Tai Chi to push the jiangshi around a few times. Sayun did the rest.
But Hongryeon was only satisfied after checking my pulse by grabbing my wrist and examining my body here and there.
Then she looked at Sayun again and sighed in relief that she hadn’t suffered any major injuries.
“I…”
Just then, a voice came from behind. It was the voices of a fairly young man and woman.
When we turned around, we saw the martial artists who had joined the Taoist priests to block the jiangshi as soon as they appeared.
They were all quite surprised and pale, probably because they had to fight so suddenly.
“Thank you for your help. My name is Nam Goong Hwa.”
The one who bowed her head in greeting was a woman with a rather young-looking impression.
Nam Goong Hwa. She was the youngest of the Namgoong Clan’s Second Elder, right? She had also appeared in the Celestial Moon Order. She wasn’t connected to Sa-yoon, though.
“You used Chae Family Tai Chi, so I thought you were from the Moonlight Pavilion…”
“I am Innkeeper Yuwol of Seomhwa Village.”
I returned the greeting, and she tilted her head before being startled.
“Seomhwa Village? So. You’re not a martial artist?!”
“That’s right. I just learned a little bit of Chae Family Tai Chi.”
“Uh… But still… Weren’t you scared? We were also a bit scared to fight the jiangshi…”
It wasn’t just her, the others behind her were also curious.
“It was something that had to be done, and I did it because I could. Also, Sayun, a disciple of the Hongseong Clan, was with me, and the Sunset Sword, the head disciple of the Hongseong Clan, was dealing with the cultist, so what was there to be afraid of?”
“Hongseong Clan!”
She was startled and looked at Hongryeon. Hongryeon, who had been looking at us with an indifferent expression, nodded slightly.
“Hongryeon, head disciple of the Hongseong Clan. Namgoong Hwa. I heard you’re the younger sister of the Namgoong Clan? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I, I’ve heard a l, lot from m, my sister.”
“Yes. I heard you’re planning to apply to the Martial Alliance Inspection Bureau? Hehe. I’ll see you again later then.”
Namgoong Hwa shrank her shoulders. No, it wasn’t just her. The others behind her did the same.
Was this what it was like to meet someone with a high reputation in the martial world?
I looked at Hongryeon, and she smiled after thinking for a moment.
After the martial artists awkwardly greeted us and left, she crossed her arms. Just then, the child from earlier and a man who seemed to be the child’s father approached.
“Sir… Sir… Thank you…”
“Uncle! Thank you!”
“It was nothing. Are you alright where you fell earlier?”
“Yes!!”
“You’re a brave one. Then that’s good.”
I stroked the child’s head. As the seven or eight-year-old boy smiled brightly, the man hesitated and took something out of his pocket.
And he handed it to me after considering whether to give it to me or Sayun.
Perhaps he thought it was right to give it to me since I was the adult.
“I, I don’t know if this will be enough to express my gratitude, but…”
What the man took out of his pocket was a token. It seemed to be a token symbolizing a family…
“If you ever come to Kaifeng, please visit the Cheon Family.”
Cheon Family? Where was that?
It wasn’t a place that appeared in the Celestial Moon Order, so I didn’t know.
Anyway, Kaifeng… I should promise to go sometime since I might go there one day.
“I look forward to seeing you next time.”
“Yes. Then. And Miss Martial Artist. Thank you. Really. If it weren’t for you…”
“Ah, no! As a disciple of the Hongseong Clan, protecting the weak is something I should obviously do!”
“I hope you will also visit the Cheon Family.”
“Sister! Bye!!”
As he said his earnest goodbyes and left with the child, Sa-yoon, who had been slightly flushed, muttered.
“…Head Disciple. Innkeeper. Is this what it means to be a hero?”
Intoxicated with excitement, she spoke in a trembling voice, and Hongryeon and I looked at each other and chuckled.
Just then.
“What is this…!!”
The head priest of Changun’gwan and an outstanding talisman master, Nam Chae-hyeon, couldn’t hide his astonishment.
In any case, the event was cleared.
We should get a good reward.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
