Single-Instant Blade

Chapter 78 : Escape (3)

“This is!”

The One-Eyed Blood Sword, Jeon Gaseong, was at a loss for words.

The Wildcat was dead. He was lying limp, leaning against a strange burial mound, bleeding profusely.

‘No way!’

Jeon Gaseong blinked his eyes, wondering if what he was seeing was real.

But it was an undeniable fact. The Wildcat was dead.

“Hmm!”

A groan escaped his lips without him realizing it.

It was out of the question for Shin Dopa to escort Ah Geol. He had to escort Ah Geol himself.

A minor secret struggle had occurred between the Ten Lesser Swords.

That’s right. A minor secret struggle. A very small secret struggle. If someone were to threaten the Ten Lesser Swords, even if it were a much deeper and stronger secret struggle than the one that had occurred between the two, it would stop immediately.

It was absurd that the Third Lord had died because of a secret struggle.

But now… let’s just look at the result. The Third Lord, Shin Dopa, had died because of a secret struggle. He was sure that if he had been by the Third Lord’s side, he would not have died in this way.

“To a novice…”

He was at a loss for words.

He had a lot to say to Shin Dopa. When he was alive, he had been a ‘damn guy’, but now that he was dead, he really had a lot to say. But no words came out of his mouth.

Thud! Thud!

Jeon Gaseong walked towards Shin Dopa.

A martial artist was not free even in death.

The thought that he was dead and should now be buried in the ground only applied to ordinary people.

The body of the Third Lord, Shin Dopa, would be escorted to the main sect.

Here, he would examine the cause of death, and after embalming, he would send it to the main sect.

There, the other senior and junior brothers would examine the body.

Everyone had to see clearly what kind of blade had killed Shin Dopa.

The cause of death that had driven Shin Dopa to his death was easy to find. Not just Jeon Gaseong, but even a child who did not know martial arts could tell how he had died, the cause of death was so clear.

“…One blade.”

He had died from a single blade.

There were many parts that could be killed with a single blade, such as the heart, lungs, neck, and head. But he had cut the abdomen.

‘To cut the abdomen of a martial artist of Shin Dopa’s level?’

It was a very dangerous attack. If the blade had been off by just a little, he could have been hit by a ‘last-ditch effort’.

The more of a master the opponent was, the more you had to aim for a fatal part that could be killed in one blow. If you had to aim for a place that would not be an instant kill because you didn’t have a chance, you had to be prepared for a counterattack.

Ah Geol had struck with one blade with all his might.

There was no hesitation in the force that had cut the abdomen. He had not left any spare strength. He had not considered a counterattack.

“This is!”

Jeon Gaseong’s eyes widened.

He immediately bent his waist, and as he swept his fingers over the cut abdomen, he sensed the wound.

The flesh was curled inward.

When the flesh was cut, it should have been torn outward, but it had curled inward. It was the trace of a very fast blade.

The flesh had contracted without even having time to open. The energy that had seeped into the blade had made the flesh shrink.

“That’s right! That blade from that time!”

He had seen such a blade before.

The Living Sword Sect had sent a body, saying that it was a trace of the Single-Instant Sect, and the blade art was the same as the blade that had cut the chest at that time.

The weapon that had cut the Living Sword Sect disciple’s chest was a chopper.

The weapon that had cut Shin Dopa’s abdomen was a blade.

The weapons were different, but the traces were the same. The blade art was also the same. And… the opponent was also the same.

To a human, killing a chicken and killing a duck were the same thing. They were killed in the same way. The same method was used when slaughtering a pig and when slaughtering a cow.

The tool for killing could be different, but the method was the same.

To the human named Ah Geol, the Living Sword Sect disciple he had cut before and Shin Dopa were the same low-level opponents.

The Ten Lesser Swords, Shin Dopa, had been treated the same as a Living Sword Sect disciple.

No, was it too much when he had killed the Living Sword Sect disciple? Had he used a cow-slaughtering knife to catch a chicken?

That was not it either. When he had cut the Living Sword Sect disciple, Ah Geol had used a pig-slaughtering knife. Although it was a bit excessive for cutting a chicken, it was not a tool that could catch a tiger.

There were no Ten Lesser Swords who had been tense after seeing the body of the Living Sword Sect disciple.

They had been somewhat tense after seeing the body of the Eighth Lord, Jo Chuhan. But there was a strong aspect of thinking that the Eighth Lord had been hit because he had been careless.

When he had cut the Third Lord, the tool had completely changed. This time, he had really used a tiger-catching knife.

He was not the Ah Geol of before.

He had developed surprisingly and had become a ferocious blade that no one could face carelessly. Although he didn’t know if the heavens had helped when he had killed the Eighth Lord, killing the Third Lord was entirely his skill.

‘I couldn’t even do that, getting out of the Water Dragon Gang, handling the Mourning Guests… and even the Third Lord.’

Jeon Gaseong wrote a long letter.

He wrote down in detail everything that had happened from the time he had received the order to escort Ah Geol until now.

He did not leave out the fact that Mongseol had helped Ah Geol escape.

At that time, if he had not lured the Third Lord, the Third Lord might not have died.

He also recorded the part about the Blood Sword.

The letter was a kind of will.

From now on, he would immediately pursue Ah Geol. And he would fight. He could die like the Third Lord, or he could catch Ah Geol. He could not guarantee what would happen.

So he wrote a long letter.

In fact, this letter contained a certain resolution.

The report could have ended with just conveying the facts. But he had brought punishment upon himself by recording in detail even personal matters such as the secret struggle. Since the Ten Lesser Swords had broken the sect rule that absolutely forbade secret struggles, he thought that some kind of disciplinary action would be taken.

Jeon Gaseong expected expulsion or confinement.

He would gladly accept any punishment. But before that, he wanted to find Ah Geol and complete his mission.

He expected that it would take about fifteen days for the letter to arrive at the main sect, for the facts to be confirmed, and for the disciplinary action to be taken. He intended to catch Ah Geol within that time.

‘That’s it. I have no regrets.’

Jeon Gaseong clenched his teeth as he sealed the letter.

* * *

The body of the Third Lord, Shin Dopa, was secretly transported.

One body entered the Sacred Sword Sect, and all of the Ten Lesser Swords individually examined the cause of death.

They did not examine the cause of death together.

In that case, a vague guess could be swept away by the majority opinion and could be disguised as the truth.

They looked at the body separately, and analyzed the cause of death with their own judgment. And they wrote down the judgment they had analyzed on paper. They also had to write down in detail the reason why they had made such a judgment.

After finishing such a task, it was fine to have a discussion.

“The Wildcat liked to use the Flying Swallow Waterfall Drop. It’s a sword that strikes diagonally… how did he cut the stomach?”

The one who had asked the question had an answer to this. But he had asked everyone because he was not sure.

“I made a judgment based on the mark on the sword.”

“So that’s it?”

Everyone had the same thought.

A blade mark was clearly engraved on the sword.

The blade had engraved a mark on the sword made of cold iron. It had been cut with tremendous internal energy, or with great speed. It was impossible to scratch a treasured sword without such a method.

When the Flying Swallow Waterfall Drop had fallen, he had struck the sword. No, he had struck the sword body with his blade and had pushed it away. The sword would have been pushed to the side, and although it was only for a very short moment, the abdomen had been exposed.

Kkang! Peok!

He had struck the sword, and had cut the stomach.

Looking at the Third Lord’s sword and stomach, the way he had been hit was clearly drawn like a picture.

A speed that surpassed the Flying Swallow Waterfall Drop!

It was dumbfounding. Was it really the Single-Instant Blade?

* * *

Heo Dogi, who had just left the imperial palace, read the letter without even taking off his official uniform.

“Single-Instant Blade?”

The Single-Instant Blade was always a problem.

Since the Single-Instant Blade had shown its appearance to the world, there had never been a time when it had not caused trouble.

But Heo Dogi’s gaze was soon stuck on another phrase.

The Blood Sword!

In this instant, a series of flowcharts quickly passed through Heo Dogi’s mind.

The Blood Sword Sutra was Hyeonjeong’s unique martial art. So the one who had leaked the martial art was Hyeonjeong. No one else could have leaked the Blood Sword Sutra. Not even her husband, Heo Dogang.

Currently, Mongseol, who used the Blood Sword, was with Ah Geol, the master of the Single-Instant Blade.

If so, Hyeonjeong had handed over the Blood Sword Sutra to the Single-Instant Sect Master. The Single-Instant Sect Master had divided it and had given it to Ah Geol and Mongseol.

There was no room for doubt.

There were many problems to be solved. Who were Ah Geol and Mongseol? How had they formed a connection with the Single-Instant Sect Master? There were also many curious points. But it was clear that Ah Geol and Mongseol were related to the Single-Instant Sect Master.

‘Sister-in-law, what have you done? When you handed over the Blood Sword Sutra, it means that you already knew who would train in it, which means that you knew of the existence of Ah Geol and Mongseol. What did you plot?’

Heo Dogi also threw the same question to the Single-Instant Sect Master.

‘The fourth disciple. Ah Geol. What did you plot? Then did you expect that you would be hit by me at the Bamboo Peak? No. The Single-Instant Blade is a blade that does not think of defeat.’

Heo Dogi tapped his forehead a few times with his finger, and then threw the letter into the brazier.

Tuk! Hwareureuk!

The letter caught fire. In an instant, a flame arose and swallowed the white paper in one go.

“Huhuhu…”

Heo Dogi laughed.

He had thought he had gotten rid of the Single-Instant Sect Master very easily… but as expected, he had left something behind.

“Yes. This is right. I thought he wouldn’t just die. You… you’re a very persistent person.”

Heo Dogi stood up.

Although the martial world was a bit noisy, he didn’t need to worry about it.

* * *

‘Yellow!’

The Second Lord, the Flashing Thunder, Cho Gapyeong, caught his breath to gauge the weight of the letter he was holding.

The yellow letter was the highest order that his master could give.

It was an ‘unconditional obedience’ order that took precedence over any order, and did not allow for any objection or refusal.

‘Why is this to me…?’

The yellow order had been given to him, bypassing the senior brother, Jeon Gaseong. He had been given the authority to command even his senior brother. He could command all of the Ten Lesser Swords at once.

Until now, the Sacred Sword Sect had been a stage for the competition between the senior brother and the third lord.

It was expected that one of the two would inherit the Sacred Sword Sect.

But the third lord had died so absurdly. The senior brother was still pursuing Ah Geol.

Logically, his master should have delegated full authority to his senior brother.

‘My senior brother has fallen out of favor.’

Although he didn’t know what had happened, his master had pushed his senior brother to the side.

The yellow letter had the words ‘loyal and upright’ written on it. It said that for this matter, a person who would not look left or right and would devote all his strength to catching Ah Geol and Mongseol was needed.

It meant that his senior brother was not such a person.

The senior brother was said to be the best at strange methods. It meant that he had many schemes, but if you thought about it differently, he seemed like a person with many petty tricks.

His master had begun to see his senior brother as the latter.

‘The successor will be decided depending on how this mission is handled. I thought that the senior brother would naturally inherit the Sacred Sword Sect… this is not good.’

Cho Gapyeong shook his head and put the letter in his bosom.

“Fourth junior brother, fifth junior brother, ninth junior brother. You will go with me. The order is one, to kill Ah Geol and Mongseol. There is no need to capture them alive. Kill them unconditionally. Any order other than this is excluded.”

“I understand.”

“Let’s do it.”

The three junior brothers raised their swords.

The sixth and seventh junior brothers were dispatched to the army, and the tenth junior brother was the monthly officer of the Sacred Sword Sect.

It meant that he was taking everyone he could take.

“The order is to kill them unconditionally, right?”

The ninth junior brother asked back.

“That’s right. Kill them unconditionally. From now on, we will mobilize all the manpower and resources that the Sacred Sword Sect can mobilize and pursue them. An official document will have already been sent out throughout the martial world. Hold your swords tight. We will soon clash with them.”

Cho Gapyeong said in a calm and subdued voice.

(End of Chapter)