A body lay before him.
‘Useless fools!’
The Living Sword Sect Master frowned before he even looked at the body.
The Living Sword Sect had grown considerably. The days of being engrossed in martial arts with one or two disciples by his side were long gone. Now, although they were called disciples, there were many disciples whose faces he did not even know, as the lineage had continued for four generations, with disciples of disciples, and their disciples.
So he never personally examined the bodies of his disciples.
In particular, he did not even look at the disciples who had been killed in a surprise attack while on guard or on a search.
Their deaths were due to carelessness.
He had told them so many times not to be careless… if they had just been a little more vigilant, they would not have died.
He was so annoyed by that fact that he did not examine them himself. But this time, he would examine them himself.
The Clear and Elegant Sword, Wang Wei, had sent the body, saying that he could not identify the killing sword.
He was his direct disciple whom he had personally taken in and taught, a famous sword whom he had taught all the martial arts he knew… and yet, such a disciple said that he did not know what kind of technique he had been struck by.
‘What on earth is this martial art…’
The Living Sword Sect Master, Song Jodeok, carefully examined the two bodies in the wooden coffins.
The bodies were not gruesome.
There were wounds on their chests, but the wounds were not so open as to be unsightly.
The flesh was not split open to reveal the internal organs, nor were the bones visible.
In a way, the bodies even looked quite peaceful. They looked as comfortable as if they had died in their sleep.
“Is this the state they died in?”
“Yes. It is.”
“Take off their clothes.”
The disciples immediately took off the upper garments of the bodies.
Their strong upper bodies were revealed. Their chests, firmly wrapped in muscle, and their defined abs were exposed under the bright sunlight.
‘This is!’
The Living Sword Sect Master’s eyes widened the moment he saw the wounds engraved on their chests.
On the heart area of the bodies, only a very thin scar, as if a razor blade had been lightly drawn, was visible.
He had said the wounds were deep.
He had said that blood had pooled where they had fallen.
But now… it seemed as if the wounds had healed. It seemed as if they had died from such a small wound.
That was just the appearance.
In reality, the wounds were very deep. The weapon had split the flesh and dug inside to cut the heart.
Generally, when the heart is cut, blood gushes out like a fountain.
These people had also been cut, so blood had poured out, but compared to having their hearts cut, only a very small amount had flowed out.
The blade must have been blocking the place where the blood would have poured out.
The blade and the flesh had been so tightly adhered, as if glued together, that the blood had not had a chance to pour out.
Instead, the blood that had flowed from the heart had spread throughout the five viscera and six bowels.
That was why the bodies’ stomachs were swollen like a pregnant woman’s. If you were to gently touch the swollen stomach, which was like a leather drum filled with air, the blood would probably burst out.
After that, the wound had closed again.
It was a very fast sword.
‘This is very dangerous!’
The Living Sword Sect Master, as a master of the sword, instinctively sensed the danger.
If his disciples had died from such a martial art… now, even the Sect Master himself could not be careless.
He examined the wound in detail.
‘A blade! This is a blade! A blade! A blade! A blade!’
He had been struck by a blade art, not a sword art.
A very fast and strong blade art… a formidable technique that the Living Sword Sect disciples had never experienced before!
The Living Sword Sect Master’s eyes widened. And he immediately said, “Chase him!”
“Yes!”
A resounding answer burst out as if they had been waiting. But the command that followed was not what the disciples had expected.
“All disciples will chase him. But! Never clash with him! If you clash, you will die! He is not a master you can face. Absolutely do not clash! If you clash, you will die! I will say it again. Absolutely do not clash! Do not try to catch him. Then you will die. Do not catch him. Just chase him. If he counterattacks, retreat. Absolutely do not fight. This is an absolute command.”
The Living Sword Sect Master repeated the commands ‘do not clash’ and ‘do not fight’ countless times.
* * *
“Do not chase… do not clash… Hmph, I can’t do that.”
The Ghost Slaughter Sword said with a frown.
“It is an absolute command.”
“Our master has become very weak as he has gotten older. He is not the Sect Master of the old days when he roamed the martial world.”
The Ghost Slaughter Sword, despite the strong dissuasion of his subordinate, only said what he wanted to say. Even though it was a statement that directly contradicted the words of his master and teacher, he muttered it very calmly.
The subordinate said again, “The Sect Master has given a very strong… command.”
“The peaceful times have been long. A martial artist should live by the sword.”
The Ghost Slaughter Sword said with a smirk.
“He says he is not a master we can face.”
The subordinate said again.
The Ghost Slaughter Sword glanced at his subordinate. And with a sneer on his lips, he said, “You… sheathe your sword.”
“What?”
“You are not qualified to touch a sword.”
“I’m sorry.”
“A man who holds a sword is afraid of death?”
“I’m sorry.”
“So you won’t fight if someone stronger than you appears?”
“I will fight.”
“Then why are you saying you won’t fight? Because he is stronger than you? Because you think you will die if you fight?”
“I’m sorry.”
“This is what it means to live by the sword. Whether they are stronger or weaker than me, I have to clash swords with anyone. There is no choice from the beginning. If it’s an enemy, I have to fight unconditionally.”
“Yes! I understand! …Yes. I understand.”
“Let’s go!”
The Ghost Slaughter Sword refused the Sect Master’s command.
He knew that the opponent was a strong person who was difficult to handle. But he had no intention of letting him go while watching him run away with his own two eyes.
You don’t know if it’s long or short until you measure it, do you? You don’t know whose sword is stronger until you cross swords, do you?
Which sword was weaker than the Living Sword Sect’s sword, and which sword was stronger?
Was the superiority of a sword art predetermined?
That side would be a lone wolf, and this side would be a pack of angry hunting dogs.
He agreed that a wolf was stronger than a hunting dog. But he did not agree that a lone wolf was stronger than a pack of hunting dogs. Even an ultra master could become weak depending on the situation.
Gugugu! Gugugu!
Pigeons flew in the sky.
Woof woof! Woof woof woof!
The dogs began to chase, foaming at the mouth.
* * *
“Huhu!”
The old man looked up at the sky and smiled.
Hundreds of pigeons had gathered in the sky.
The main duty of the Living Sword Sect’s pigeons was to act as carrier pigeons. But the carrier pigeons raised in the Fifth Hall also had another role. They became the eyes of the pursuer and ruled the sky.
The fragrance that had stuck to his body, the Vinegar Fragrance, was mixed with a pigeon aphrodisiac.
Pigeons did not have a specific mating season. They would breed twelve months a year unless it was a period of extreme cold or extreme heat.
Taking advantage of this, he had mixed a mating inducer into the Vinegar Fragrance.
It was natural for the pigeons to follow the Vinegar Fragrance. Because it was a very strong smell, a smell that could be detected at once even from a distance… not only the pigeons raised by the Living Sword Sect, but all the male pigeons in the vicinity would flock towards the old man.
It was impossible to escape with the Vinegar Fragrance on him.
The Living Sword Sect’s hunting dogs, their fighting dogs, also went crazy for this smell.
The Living Sword Sect fed their fighting dogs raw meat stained with blood. And they had put the Vinegar Fragrance on the meat.
When the fighting dogs smelled the Vinegar Fragrance, they would immediately think of the bloodstained raw meat.
Very delicious meat… releasing the leash was a signal to go and find prey.
The fighting dogs had been starved for two days. And if they had smelled the Vinegar Fragrance, there was no need to say more.
Where the fighting dogs arrived, a living hell would unfold.
Woof woof woof! Woof woof!
The sound of the fighting dogs rushing in sounded as eerie as the roar of a demon from hell.
“Then shall we begin?”
The old man stood up.
He had no intention of avoiding it. From the moment he had detected the Vinegar Fragrance, he had expected this to happen.
“Where would be a good place?”
He walked slowly.
A good place to fight… there was no such place. Wherever he fought, that was the best place.
If it was a place he knew well, it would be a little different. In such a place, he could fight very comfortably. But if it was a third, unfamiliar place that neither you nor I knew, then all the conditions were the same.
“This place looks good.”
The old man stopped walking after a few steps.
He had found a slightly wide clearing in a nameless forest.
Pine trees stretched out around him. It was a pine grove. The ground was covered with pine needles.
The smell was good. The scent of pine wafted on the blowing wind.
In a place like this, it would be perfect to lay down a mat and eat a bowl of noodles.
It was a pity to sprinkle blood on the clear and clean pine grove.
The old man took out a gourd from his waist and gulped down the strong liquor.
It was the beginning.
He had been able to avoid it until now… but from now on, he could not avoid it. He had to go on only one path, one road.
Woof woof! Woof woof woof!
The dogs were rushing in.
There were also a huge number of pigeons. Pigeons had gathered out of season and were cooing.
Shwaeeek!
The old man calmly extended his sword.
Kkeong!
A fighting dog that had rushed in like a madman was thrown back, spraying blood.
He was not someone who would be flustered by a mere fighting dog. How dare a mere dog rush at a wolf.
Shwek shwek! Puk!
A sword wind rose. The Tiger Claw Ripping Sword cut through the air.
Stab, twist, and pull out.
The movement was so fast that it could not be identified with the naked eye. But after extending the sword, a feeling of a slight pause was transmitted. It was the moment when the Tiger Claw Ripping Sword, which had torn through the flesh, cut off life.
Kkaeng!
A fighting dog was thrown back with a yelp.
Exactly one was killed with one sword strike.
In other words… whoever rushed in had to risk their life to taste one sword strike.
The Tiger Claw Ripping Sword was merciless. It had no life. It was a dead sword, a sword that only brought death… a death sword.
“You rascals, if you have prey, you should bite it quickly. How long are you going to make me wait?”
The old man said, looking at the fighting dogs.
No. He was speaking to the martial artists who were secretly watching from beyond the fighting dogs.
He knew that the Living Sword Sect disciples had followed him.
He said to them. Hurry up and attack.
“Huhuhu! Huhu!”
The Ghost Slaughter Sword twisted his lips and laughed.
The old man… the stable handyman who was called Ah Sam… was he such a renowned assassin?
He recognized the old man’s sword.
The old man’s sword was the sword that had killed the disciples. It was the sword of an assassin. It was called the Tiger Claw Ripping Sword.
Nine of the Tiger Claw Ripping Sword’s forms were stabbing swords. There was only one cutting sword. But the cutting sword had not appeared in the martial world. Because all the killings had been handled with the stabbing sword.
If you just looked at the sword art itself, it was a great study.
The problem was that the old man, Ah Sam, was performing the Tiger Claw Ripping Sword.
The old man’s true energy was very unstable. His true energy would break off and then connect again. It seemed that he had not trained diligently, but had learned a few tricks as a stopgap measure.
Although the Tiger Claw Ripping Sword was an outstanding sword art, there was no need to be afraid if it was the sword that Ah Sam was performing.
‘I’ve got him!’
A strange light flashed in the Ghost Slaughter Sword’s eyes.
His master had told him not to clash with him… but that was a statement that applied to the one called Ah Geol who had cut down the disciples in the stable. The Sect Master had not even seen the Tiger Claw Ripping Sword. Ah Sam could be caught.
Swoosh!
The Ghost Slaughter Sword raised his body.
He was confident that he could catch Ah Sam, but that was only if he went himself. It was too much to leave it to his subordinates. Ah Sam was by no means a weak person.
(End of Chapter)