Single-Instant Blade

Chapter 84 : Intestinal Ambush (4)

Swoosh!

Ah Geol moved to a valley with a lot of water.

The Drunken Flower Garden assassins had accurately identified the points where the Ghost Gate martial artists were lurking.

What the Drunken Flower Garden women had sensed, he also sensed.

Quite a few people were hiding. Behind trees, behind rocks, and in holes dug in the ground. In pairs, or in groups of three.

He moved secretly so as not to be seen by them.

The Single-Instant Sect only trained in the blade.

But martial arts did not become strong just by using the blade well. There were many parts that assisted the blade art, such as footwork, movement techniques, fist techniques, and kicking techniques. The basic premise that you had to train the basic arts sufficiently before training the blade was no different for a Single-Instant Sect disciple.

The basic art training of a Single-Instant Sect disciple was so cruel that it made one’s teeth chatter.

Even if you didn’t train the blade and only trained the basic arts, if you went out into the martial world, you could fight like a demon.

Dongbak was such a case.

However, the saying that a Single-Instant Sect disciple only trained in the blade meant that they pursued the blade art, but they had no particularly preferred martial art for the basic arts.

They trained their kicking techniques while running through the mountains and fields. They trained their movement techniques and footwork while climbing trees and jumping over streams. They did not train the basic arts in a formal way, but learned them from nature.

There was no fixed form in Ah Geol’s movements.

Taat!

He jumped, stepping on a rock.

He knew that a Ghost Gate martial artist was hiding on the left tree. He also knew that he would be discovered if he flew his body over the rock. And yet, he moved his body calmly. Just as he was looking elsewhere.

Swoooosh! Swoosh!

After jumping over the rock, he seeped into the forest again.

Ah Geol watched four places.

They were hiding in different places, and two of them were only watching the valley. On the other hand, the other two were only looking at the forest.

‘The security is tight.’

Ah Geol frowned.

It seemed that he had already passed thirty people. But it was still far from over. There were about this many more in front.

‘There it is!’

Ah Geol found a cliff.

It was a place he had found on the drawing that the Drunken Flower Garden assassins had drawn.

He could go behind the destination, and perhaps because it was not a road, the security was also loose.

Swoosh!

The Wall Gecko Art was executed.

It was not the Wall Gecko Art that the martial artists of the world trained in. He didn’t even know how to execute such a martial art, nor was he interested.

Ah Geol crawled up the cliff quickly, as if his two arms and legs were stuck to the cliff.

‘Right above, one person!’

There was one martial artist on guard on the cliff. And there was another one about a zhang away.

The Ghost Gate had laid all its security nets in duplicate.

Ah Geol kicked off the cliff and shot up. At the same time, the half-iron blade tore through the air sharply.

Shurit!

“Keok! Keok!”

The martial artist who had been on guard on the cliff was struck by a thunderbolt and collapsed.

In that instant, Ah Geol shot up like a spring.

Chyut! Chwaak!

The half-iron blade struck the opponent’s waist.

A flash of lightning flashed. The Wooden Blade One Slash of the second sect master blazed on the Ghost Gate martial artist’s waist.

“Kuk!”

He also collapsed with a short scream.

Ah Geol had executed the Falling Flower Blade of the twenty-first sect master and the Wooden Blade One Slash of the second sect master.

Both blades had the characteristic of delivering a strong shock like a thunderbolt to the opponent. The falling of the blade was also a thunderbolt, and the shock of being hit by the blade was also as shocking as being hit by a sudden death.

The shock was so great that the body froze.

It was a relief that the one who had been hit in the head had only let out a scream. If you were struck in the head, you would die immediately, even if it wasn’t the Falling Flower Blade. There was no time to scream.

The one whose waist had been cut had his head frozen by the too strong shock. Although he had felt that he had been hit by the blade, he could not let out any words.

Although he had instinctively opened his mouth and had let out a sound close to a groan, it was far from a desperate scream.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Ah Geol walked along the small road.

The small road that led from the cliff to the destination was well-maintained. Seeing that there was not a single leaf on the road, it seemed that it was swept in the morning and evening.

The Eighth Elder had stopped his steps here.

Somewhere on the small road, a master who had made the Eighth Elder stop was hiding.

The Eighth Elder had seen with his own eyes the pavilion that the Drunken Flower Garden assassins had targeted, where everyone had felt the breath of a master. It meant that the master that the Eighth Elder had sensed was also hiding near the pavilion.

Thud! Thud!

He walked along the small road without hiding.

There was no one on the small road. Since it was late at night, the small road was completely covered in pitch-black darkness. Not even the moonlight seeped in. So there was no need to hide his body.

Pat!

In an instant, Ah Geol sensed a killing intent.

He felt that a beast was hiding on the right side of the small road. It seemed that if he took a few more steps, a tiger would rush in.

‘I see.’

Ah Geol nodded.

The killing intent was very ferocious. It felt as if he had met a madman who was running wild with an axe.

If the Eighth Elder clashed with this person, he would have to do his best.

It was impossible to decide the fight in one or two moves. He was not an opponent who could be easily faced. They would have to exchange at least a hundred moves before the superiority would begin to be decided.

‘If these people are the master’s bodyguards, it means that the Ghost Gate also has martial arts that are no less than the Drunken Flower Garden’s…’

He explored the opponent’s prayer.

In fact, he could approach the hiding person without a sound. He could kill his presence, approach like a snake, and pounce. If he used his blade at close range, he would die without even making a sound.

But Ah Geol had deliberately revealed his appearance.

He read the energy that the opponent was harboring. He witnessed the martial art that the opponent executed. Since he knew the reason why Mongseol was trying to kill the Ghost Gate Master, he deliberately looked at the martial art.

‘What, this bastard!’

A strange person was walking along the small road.

He was very ordinary. Although he was a martial artist, he was not a master with exquisite martial arts.

‘It seems he’s trained in some petty tricks.’

But the guy had come all the way to the Ghost Gate’s inner chamber. He had climbed the cliff, had killed two guards, and was walking along the small road. He was a guy with quite excellent stealth and ambush skills.

But the guy’s luck was now over.

Although the darkness was enveloping him, in some people’s eyes, he looked as bright as a person standing with a torch.

Sreung!

A sword was drawn in the darkness.

The one who was hiding was a wolf, and Ah Geol was a tiger.

Ah Geol was just beginning to open his eyes to the Single-Instant Blade. He was in the process of finding his own Single-Instant Blade, not the Single-Instant Blade of the previous masters. He had tasted what his own blade was like.

The one who was hiding could not face such a blade.

Of course, the opponent would also feel this. A wolf would never pounce on a tiger. Because it would instinctively feel that it was stronger than him before fighting.

So he discolored his energy.

He took out the energy of a tiger, the energy of a beast, from his body. He buried his ferocity, his sharpness, deep in his stomach.

In the world of assassins, this phenomenon was called ‘thawing’.

The ice melted very slowly, it melted and disappeared, so it did not reveal any killing intent, a person who could not find any excellence or extraordinariness.

Thawing was an assassin’s term that meant the peak of an assassin.

Ah Geol did not know the word ‘thawing’. He had learned it because Mongseol had told him. When they had first met in the stable, she had said that she hadn’t known he was a master because he had looked so ordinary and comfortable.

Remembering those words, he had killed his energy.

He was good at killing his energy. While wandering the world with Grandpa, he had always lived while killing his energy. What would happen if a person who did a lowly job emitted a sharp energy? So he had no choice but to hide it.

When he had killed his energy, the one who was hiding had drawn his sword.

‘Shall I see what kind of martial art it is?’

Ah Geol suddenly flinched as if he had felt some energy. In that instant,

Shwaaaek!

A sword rushed in, tearing through the darkness.

It struck down! No, it struck up. It swung fiercely while spinning its body. It held the sword with both hands and stabbed straight. It struck the back of the sword with its right hand, changed the blade, and then swung it up!

The man had struck with his sword five times in the time it took to take a single breath.

Ah Geol had dodged the sword with a hair’s breadth.

At a glance, it seemed that he had barely dodged it.

But if you trained in the Body Protecting Blade of the twenty-fifth sect master, it would be like this. The Body Protecting Blade met the opponent’s weapon with the blade held close to the body. So a collision would occur with a space of one or two fingers.

Ah Geol had not executed the Body Protecting Blade. He had just converted the Body Protecting Blade into a movement technique and had used it to dodge the sword.

The sword that the opponent had struck would always flow away with a hair’s breadth.

Swoosh!

The opponent raised his sword and aimed it at Ah Geol.

With his other hand, he fumbled at his waist and took out a small bamboo tube.

-The Ghost Gate uses a weapon called the Continuous Shooting Needle. Although it’s the size of a palm, it’s full of fine needles, so it’s hard to dodge. Especially at night, you can’t see it at all…

“Who are you!”

A considerable sense of caution was in the opponent’s voice.

After exchanging blows, he had finally realized that the opponent was not to be trifled with.

Ah Geol finally raised his half-iron blade and said, “I didn’t expect to see the Remnant Soul Demonic Sword.”

“You… recognize the Remnant Soul Demonic Sword?”

The opponent’s eyes widened as if he were quite surprised.

That was a mistake. Instead of being surprised, he should have fired the Continuous Shooting Needle. If he had, he could have at least executed one more attack.

The half-iron blade cut through the air.

Shwaek! Peok! Gwajik!

The sound of tearing through the air changed to the sound of tearing flesh and splitting bone.

The opponent’s waist bent to the left, and he collapsed as he was.

The half-iron blade had struck his left waist. After splitting his body in half, it had come out from the front.

Ah Geol had executed his own Single-Instant Blade this time.

The Single-Instant Blade that had cut the Third Lord had cut a person he didn’t know. But the feeling was completely different. It was not the blade from that time. At that time, it had felt as if he had completed the Single-Instant Blade, but now it felt as if he had only executed half of it.

Ah Geol was not disappointed. Nothing was achieved in one go.

Five people were hiding around the pavilion.

There was one person on the roof of the pavilion. There was one person on the east, one on the west, and two inside the pavilion.

It was impossible to cut down five people at once.

The Drunken Flower Garden assassins had stopped as soon as they had sensed them. They had not been able to take a single step and had observed from a distance.

Their martial arts were similar to the one he had just cut down.

The master’s presence was not felt.

In fact, Ah Geol had not even been able to sense the people inside the pavilion. He had known because their figures had been reflected in the light of a lamp. So he was not sure how many more people were inside.

Anyway, there were three people outside.

‘The martial art they’re using is the Remnant Soul Demonic Art. I don’t need to see any more of the martial art. Shall I go on a mountain goat hunt for the first time in a while?’

Ah Geol took out a string and tied his trouser cuffs. He also tied the ends of his sleeves. He could not let out any sound.

A mountain goat lived on a cliff.

Sometimes it would stand in a dangerous place, so much so that you would wonder how it could stand in such a place.

To hunt a mountain goat, you had to be good at climbing cliffs.

A mountain goat ran on a cliff. Although there was no place to put your feet, no place to grab with your hands, it jumped around without hesitation. So it was very difficult to catch a mountain goat with your bare hands without using tools. Almost everyone didn’t even try.

Swoooosh!

Ah Geol began to crawl on the ground, as if he were hunting a mountain goat.

He had to move smoothly, as if a snake were crossing a wall. He could not touch the grass or the rocks.

When he had crawled up the cliff like that and had reached the mountain goat, he would finally get a chance to catch it.

-One person on the pavilion, one on the east, one on the west. The distance between the east and the west is a whopping twenty zhang. Let alone the one inside, it would be difficult to handle the ones outside without a sound.

-You can do it.

-You’re overestimating me. I’m not a god…

-Duke Heo Dogi is the god of war of this era. To defeat a god of war, you, my dear, also have to become a god. Because only a god can defeat a god. Go and do well. I’ll be waiting for good news.

Ah Geol thought of the conversation he had had with Mongseol.

At that time, he had said it as a joke, but it had really become not a joke.

It seemed impossible to handle the ones outside without a sound.

(End of Chapter)