Splash!
He immersed his body in the icy water.
He broke the thick ice and entered the water. And he quietly closed his eyes.
The young man’s hair was very long. As long as a woman’s. He had tied his long hair back tightly. His eyebrows were thick and dark like caterpillars. His eyes, nose, and mouth, his features were distinct and bold.
It was a handsome face.
But he did not give the impression of a pretty man.
The young man had grown a rough mustache and beard. His skin was also very rough. He exuded a wild feeling, like someone who had lived his life enduring the wind and rain.
That was the truth.
The young man had never lived comfortably. He had never used a bed or a blanket. He had never received a well prepared meal. He had never worn clothes made of good fabric.
He had only lived in the wild.
That aspect exuded from his entire body. If you looked at his features closely, he had a handsome face, but his overall impression was so violent that one would be reluctant to even speak to him.
In a word, it was like looking at a very fierce fighter.
His naked body was also covered in scars. There was no place without a scar. There was a mark on his shoulder where a piece of flesh had been torn off. His chest, stomach, back, legs, thighs… there was no place without a scar.
There were places bitten by beasts and wounds from blades.
There was a sunken wound on his stomach, and a mark on his back where something had pierced through. It was presumed that he had been pierced by a spear.
He closed his eyes in the water and held his breath.
The world died and he died. There was no living life. Everyone was dead. It was very quiet. At that moment,
Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of someone stepping on the snow was heard from a distance.
The old man was walking. He was walking straight towards the stream where the young man was bathing.
The young man did not open his eyes even though he could clearly hear the sound of someone stepping on the snow.
He already knew who was walking towards him. It was his master. But he did not show any sign of being happy. He did not show any respect or courtesy towards his master.
He had entrusted his body to the water.
Crunch! Crunch!
The old man continued to walk. Then at some point, the young man’s eyes flashed open.
The old man’s and the young man’s eyes met in the air.
“Three zhang. Three zhang. Is this your distance? You’ve widened it quite a bit. Is your blade quite fierce now?”
The old man muttered as he stopped walking.
“You said you would kill me if I didn’t widen the distance, so I had no choice but to widen it, did I?”
The young man said, staring intently at the old man.
“Was it about two zhang before?”
“It was two zhang and four more chi, why are you omitting the four chi?”
“You rascal! Two zhang and four chi or three zhang, it’s all the same to me!”
“Shall I use my blade once?”
“I told you to use it whenever you’re confident, didn’t I? Who asks before using it? Why? Do you think you have a chance of winning if you use it now?”
“…”
The young man did not answer and only looked at his master.
A distance of three zhang was the distance at which the young man could use his blade.
It was a distance at which he was confident he could take a life if he used his blade while sitting in the water.
At three zhang, it was difficult to even use a spear. It was a long distance. But the young man stared confidently. A gleam flashed in his eyes, as if he was itching to use his blade right now.
The young man did not get up. He chuckled in the water.
He spoke informally to his master.
“I will use my blade, but I am not confident I can take your life…”
“You rascal, stop with the nonsense. Get ready. We have to go and use our blades together.”
“I heard Dongbak has returned. Is it the Sacred Sword Sect?”
A murderous intent flashed in the young man’s eyes.
“It could be the Sacred Sword Sect or the entire martial world. We’ll have to go and see. We’ll leave tomorrow morning, so be aware.”
The old man turned his body.
The young man closed his eyes again. He sank into a quiet world with his body immersed in the icy water.
He had never laughed in his life. No, he had laughed a lot. But the people around him asked why he didn’t laugh. They forgot his smiling face and only remembered his unsmiling face.
‘Master visited my senior brother. Then he’ll come to me soon.’
The man roasted a deer leg over a fire.
Next to him lay a dead deer with one leg cut off. A pack of wolves that had smelled the blood was circling in the distance.
A fierce beast recognized a stronger fierce beast and did not approach.
The man was tall. His body was slender. His features were also bold, making him look manly.
But there would be no one who would not be afraid of the man.
His pupils, his black pupils, were always raised upwards. So even when he looked at something without any meaning, it felt like he was glaring. It was as if he was deliberately glaring to pick a fight.
If you got angry at this look and picked a fight, trouble would ensue immediately.
The man did not hesitate to use his blade. And when he drew his blade, he would surely take a life.
A fight would even break out just because someone didn’t like his look, and they would die.
Your anger has even stained your blade. If you don’t kill your temper, you won’t be able to escape the Flame Blade!
Is there a need to escape?
Are you saying you will choose the Flame Blade?
Is there a reason why I shouldn’t?
There isn’t. It’s your blade, who can say anything? Who can say anything if you say you will choose the Flame Blade?
When the man held his blade, he became extremely violent, like a demon raging with anger. It seemed as if his anger would not be appeased unless he tore his opponent to shreds.
The blade raged at an incredible speed. From the beginning to the end, it was over in an instant.
Even if you could defeat the man, it was just as frightening. Even if you could counterattack while the man was using his blade, it seemed useless.
The man was someone who would charge even after being hit by a blade.
Even if his stomach was torn and his leg was cut off, he seemed like he would charge like a demon and surely gift a blade.
A fighter, a wolf starved for blood, a jackal… even if you attached all sorts of violent words, it seemed insufficient to describe the man. He was just a fierce beast, a fierce beast that should not be touched.
“Would you like some meat?”
The man lifted the deer leg and offered it into the air.
“It’s alright. I shouldn’t take your dinner. You probably only roasted enough for yourself.”
“You met my senior brother? Then I thought you would come to me too, so I roasted a little more.”
Seori Gaheon, who was bathing in the broken ice, and Seori Hyeonggae, who had caught a deer and was roasting and eating its leg… they saw the world sharply.
They were wary of the world.
There was no one to tell them any facts. If they knew something, they had found it out themselves. They had found it out themselves, and they had watched in secret.
“Is it the Sacred Sword Sect?”
When the old man did not take the meat, Seori Hyeonggae asked as he brought the deer meat to his mouth.
“It will be a tough fight.”
“It won’t be that hard to cut down some small fry.”
“See you tomorrow.”
The old man turned his back. In that instant,
Papat!
A flash of lightning shot out from the eyes of Seori Hyeonggae, who was tearing at the meat.
Master’s opening! If I attack now?
The old man had raised three disciples. But the three disciples did not acknowledge their master. They also rejected their fellow disciples. A senior or junior brother was just an enemy that had to be defeated someday. The same was true for the master, an obstacle that had to be overcome. So they respected him, but they were always looking for an opportunity.
This was the fate of a disciple of the Single-Instant Sect.
The Single-Instant Blade was the strongest blade in the world, and even the master had to be defeated. Fellow disciples also had to be defeated. They had to stand tall as the best in the world. By themselves, without anyone’s help.
The only thing they believed in was the blade at their waist.
Udeuk!
Seori Hyeonggae averted his gaze and tore at the meat.
He could not see any openings in his master. He could attack, but he could not take his life.
Even now that he had been acknowledged as having obtained the Single-Instant Blade, his master was a large mountain far away.
Seori Hyeonggae forgot the world and focused only on eating.
* * *
“Are you taking Gaheon and Hyeonggae?”
“I have to. I’ll be busy focusing on Heo Dogi. It would be helpful if the two of them cleaned up the surroundings.”
The old man finished his breakfast.
“I’ll make you some tea.”
“No. Let’s have tea together when the kids come later. We’re going on a long journey, so we should at least have a cup of tea together before we leave.”
“Alright.”
The middle aged wife, Namso, cleared the table.
Her precious treasure, her daughter who she would trade her life for, Oh Bia, had been killed by a wolf, so her sorrow seemed deep. Her eyes were swollen from crying so much.
At that time, a hoarse voice was heard from outside the door.
“I’m here.”
Seori Hyeonggae had come.
“Come in.”
Seori Hyeonggae only opened the door after receiving permission.
Snow was pouring down outside. Snow was piled up on Seori Hyeonggae’s clothes as he entered the room.
Seori Hyeonggae did not brush off the snow on his body. More urgent than that, he swung the blade in his hand and shook off the snow. It was fine for snow to pile up on his body, but his blade always had to be ready to cut.
So Seori Hyeonggae did not even use a scabbard. He carried the sharply sharpened blade in his hand without a scabbard.
Seori Hyeonggae wiped the moisture off his blade cleanly and then stood the blade by the door.
The swordsman had separated the blade from his body.
It was the greatest courtesy to his master.
Seori Hyeonggae approached the old man and lit the fire in the brazier.
“I will make tea.”
“Alright.”
“You seem to have become more fierce. It would be good if you were a little duller.”
The middle aged wife looked at Seori Hyeonggae with a pitiful expression.
The old man and his wife had seen the three disciples since they were snot nosed kids. So they were no different from their own children. Furthermore, the couple had no children. Seori Gaheon, Hyeonggae, and Dongbak were their own children, no matter how fierce they were.
Seori Hyeonggae silently lit the fire with a smileless face and placed the teapot on the brazier.
Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of someone stepping on the snow was heard.
“It seems my senior brother has come.”
Seori Hyeonggae said in a cold tone.
“It seems Gaheon has skipped his morning bath. I thought he would come around nine in the morning.”
The middle aged wife smiled brightly and welcomed him.
Because of the Single-Instant Sect rule that disciples had to live independently, she could not see the disciples often. The old man saw them often, but it had been a long time for the wife.
She was happy to see Seori Hyeonggae, and she was happy to see Seori Gaheon. Very happy.
Seori Gaheon’s footsteps stopped outside the door.
Seori Gaheon did not seem to have any intention of coming in. He stood outside the door and quietly took a deep, shallow breath.
Balkak!
Namso pushed the door open and looked outside.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you coming in quickly?”
Seori Gaheon silently cupped his fists. But he did not seem to have any intention of entering the house. He seemed to be in deep thought, frowning heavily.
But because Seori Gaheon’s face had such a fighter’s impression, the small change in his face could not be noticed.
“Hey! What’s with the greetings between us. Come in. Even if you’re leaving, you should at least have some tea before you go.”
The wife pulled Seori Gaheon.
Seori Gaheon entered the house. And he very naturally brushed off the snow on his clothes.
At that moment, the old man coughed violently.
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
“Gak! Cough!”
The wife, Namso, also coughed as if she were coughing up blood.
In fact, red blood trickled down from the mouths of the master and his wife. A blood vessel that had burst inside their bodies had reversed its flow and was pouring out.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Gaaak! Cough!”
The master and his wife felt something wrong with their bodies. And they soon gathered their true energy and examined their bodies.
The old man looked at Seori Gaheon with surprised eyes and muttered, “Three Cause Poison…!”