Sword God Reborn

Chapter 10 : Samjae Sword Saint!

Cheon Mubaeck was not holding a sword right now.

But that did not mean that Cheon Mubaeck's martial power had weakened.

When you live in the martial world, there inevitably comes a situation where you lose your sword.

It breaks during a fierce fight. Or the blade gets damaged.

During his numerous past lives, when Cheon Mubaeck held a sword, his opponents all thought the same thing.

'Make him drop the sword from his hand!'

Weren't Cheon Mubaeck's past lives the ones who had nothing to fear in the world when they held a sword?

A ghost crazy about the sword, a immortal who held a sword, a demon who was crazy about the sword.

Anyway, Cheon Mubaeck's past lives were judged to have no rivals in the world as long as they held a sword.

But there was something they hadn't thought of, and that was the fact that even if Cheon Mubaeck didn't hold a sword, he was already a distant being who had surpassed the realm of a grandmaster.

Cheon Mubaeck, while grabbing the medicinal herb merchant owner's hair with one hand, struck the bastard's body with his left hand.

His actions were so fast that the medicinal herb merchant owner was subdued in an instant.

He raised his hand and beat the medicinal herb merchant owner with the side of his hand.

He struck the squirming bastard's neck, shoulders, chest, knees, ankles, and shins.

A gruesome sound of bones breaking or tearing rang out.

In the midst of it, a scream of terrible pain erupted when he hit his navel.

This time, it wasn't the side of his hand, but a tightly clenched fist that hit him squarely.

Poong!

"Keok!"

"Do you know what this sound is?"

"Keu..."

The medicinal herb merchant owner, with foam at his mouth and his eyes rolled back.

Cheon Mubaeck glanced at Heo Seong, who was dealing with the other bastards running from behind, and whispered softly in the medicinal herb merchant owner's ear.

"It's the sound of your dantian bursting. You bastard."

The medicinal herb merchant owner, who had been unilaterally beaten, lay sprawled on the floor.

In the meantime, Heo Seong had dealt with all the other bastards.

'He's pretty good.'

Cheon Mubaeck, who had glanced at Heo Seong's martial prowess, nodded his head.

Old Man Jang was also unusual for a mere instructor, and so was Heo Seong, who was said to be the second strongest in the escort agency.

'He's skilled enough to be treated well even if he goes to some prestigious family.'

He probably couldn't reach the peak because he lacked internal energy.

But looking at his improvisation and how he used his sword, he was at least at the end of the first-rate.

"Y-Young Master, are you alright?"

Cheon Mubaeck just shrugged his shoulders.

He sat down in the chair again and tapped the face of the medicinal herb merchant owner who was foaming at the mouth.

"Hey. What's your name?"

"You... son of a bitch!"

"Ha, really."

Even though his dantian was broken, poison flowed from his rolled-back pupils.

"Young Master, please evacuate to the escort agency first. I will take the bastard to the escort agency and investigate."

"No, there's no need for that."

"Pardon?"

"Since I'm out, I should check everything that's not right before I go."

"Young Master!"

"Escort Warrior Heo."

"...Yes."

"I know you have a lot of questions, but I have at least one way to protect myself. So for now, please just watch quietly."

"..."

A complicated light appeared on Heo Seong's face.

He couldn't understand what was going on.

'This bastard must have internal energy too.'

Heo Seong's gaze turned to the sprawled medicinal herb merchant owner.

The bastards he had dealt with also had faint but clear internal energy.

Even if their level was terrible, it meant that they were at least thugs who had set foot in the martial world.

Then wouldn't the medicinal herb merchant owner, who seemed to be the leader here, be at least stronger than the bastards he had dealt with?

But Cheon Mubaeck had subdued him too easily.

No, the fact that he had subdued him at all was strange.

'He was clearly a pathetically weak person.'

No matter how much he had trained his body recently, was it possible?

He had overturned the table in an instant and subdued his opponent in a single breath.

Heo Seong carefully recalled the process.

'If it were me?'

It's possible.

Of course, on the premise that he used internal energy.

'Then the Young Master?'

Whether Heo Seong looked at him with a complicated expression or not, Cheon Mubaeck glared at the medicinal herb merchant owner.

Cheon Mubaeck changed his tone.

"Hey. What's your relationship with the Blood Demon Sect."

"...!"

At the words Blood Demon Sect, an earthquake occurred in the medicinal herb merchant owner's pupils.

Ha, of course.

Cheon Mubaeck smirked at that reaction.

"It wasn't just a poisonous herb. The poison injected into the medicinal herbs. It was something the Blood Demon Sect used to make, wasn't it? It was hard to recognize because it was different from the old days."

"W-What nonsense are you talking about."

"You bastard, from the looks of it, you're just a small fry, so there's not much to dig out. I know you're from the Blood Demon Sect. Now what should I do with you?"

It wasn't just the medicinal herb merchant owner who was flustered by Cheon Mubaeck's clearly changed tone, but also Escort Warrior Heo and Jeombak.

A very violent tone.

Cheon Mubaeck's tone was full of a raw and ominous feeling.

"It means I don't care if I kill you, you bastard. Then if you're going to spill poison, shouldn't you beg me to save you so that my heart will be moved?"

"Save me."

"Your words are short. I'm several years older than you, you know?"

"What?"

"Oh?"

"S-Save me, please."

"Then just tell me everything you know. Did the Blood Demon Sect cause the plague this time?"

"...I don't know. I was just ordered to sell medicine here."

"From where?"

"..."

In an instant, the medicinal herb merchant owner's lips closed as if they had been sewn shut.

Cheon Mubaeck's eyes shone eerily.

That look and reaction, the twitching of the bastard's temple.

A dirty trick.

'Ha. He even put a restriction on him? I don't know if this is the Blood Demon Sect I knew. They were dangerous but stupid bastards, but now they're using their heads too?'

Cheon Mubaeck narrowed his brow.

'Let's see. What should I use?'

Countless martial arts floated in his head.

Among them were sinister martial arts, and many martial arts that had already been lost.

There was definitely a martial art that would make him piss his pants and spill everything he knew.

But it would consume a considerable amount of internal energy, so it was burdensome for Cheon Mubaeck, who was just now accumulating internal energy through his upper dantian.

While he was thinking for a moment.

Heo Seong, who was glaring at the medicinal herb merchant owner, suddenly shouted.

"What's that. Do you work at the Lotus Pavilion too?"

"Lotus Pavilion?"

Lotus Pavilion.

In an instant, Cheon Mubaeck's eyes flashed open.

No matter how much the original Cheon Mubaeck was only interested in arts and music and didn't know what was going on around him, there was no way he hadn't heard the name of the Lotus Pavilion, the largest gisaeng house in this county.

"Ah, Young Master. I mean this nameplate. It's what the pimps who work at the Lotus Pavilion wear."

"A nameplate? You mean this plum blossom pattern?"

"Yes. Not the friends who were originally there, but the bastards who started working about half a year ago wear them."

"Only the new guys wear them?"

"The impression of the new guys is so murderous. They also have a somewhat gloomy feeling. Only those kinds of bastards wear these nameplates."

Cheon Mubaeck narrowed his eyes and looked at Heo Seong.

Heo Seong continued to spill what he knew.

"The Lotus Pavilion was originally famous, but after the kids with these nameplates came, the quality of the water suddenly got better."

"The quality of the water got better?"

"Ahaha, Young Master, there's such a thing. Hmm, how should I put it? We have a pond in our escort agency, right? It means that a lot of beautiful colored carp have appeared there, something like that."

"..."

"Well, anyway. After the bastards with these nameplates came as pimps, the troublemakers who were making a scene all disappeared. They seem to be quite strong."

"You know a lot."

"Pardon? Ah, no. I've just been there once or twice with the escort warriors under me after work."

Cheon Mubaeck laughed inwardly.

He didn't just know a lot about the gisaeng house, he was an expert.

He was usually a sly and easygoing person, but he had been hiding his lecherousness.

Well, it's helpful now, so it doesn't matter.

Let's see, shall I make use of this bastard a little?

Cheon Mubaeck stood up from his seat and said.

"Then let's go there now."

"Pardon? Where, the Lotus Pavilion?"

"Since I'm out, I should check everything before I go. When a guy who was cooped up at home comes out, he feels at ease only after he's done everything he needs to do while he's out, Jeombak."

"Yes, Young Master."

"First, go to the government office and report that a poisonous herb came from this medicinal herb merchant. If you take Physician Jin of the escort agency with you, he will testify that he sold poison here."

"I understand, Young Master."

"Right. Escort Warrior Heo, lead the way."

"Y-Young Master."

"Take this bastard with you too."

"Pardon?"

Cheon Mubaeck looked at the somewhat sluggishly moving Heo Seong with a sullen expression.

In fact, Cheon Mubaeck did not like to repeat himself.

In his previous life, he had reached a realm that no one could approach and had lived his life saying and doing whatever he pleased.

"..."

Paradoxically, silence is sometimes the most effective way to convey one's intentions to the other party.

At Cheon Mubaeck's serious gaze, Heo Seong felt an intense pressure. Cold sweat formed on his forehead. At the terrifying pressure that had been threatening the medicinal herb merchant owner just a moment ago, Heo Seong felt his breath stop.

He finally lowered his head.

"I... will lead the way."

Heo Seong slung the medicinal herb merchant owner over his shoulder.

* * *

The Lotus Pavilion was a high-class gisaeng house.

The gatekeepers were also sturdy enough that most troublemakers couldn't even try any funny business, and their impressions were also fierce.

Even so, they were just pimps.

Those kinds of black-way thugs who only believed in their size and natural strength.

"A customer is coming."

"Well, well. One of them is already passed out."

"Tsk, tsk. He must have drunk a lot since early evening. And yet he comes to a gisaeng house to play with a gisaeng again."

"Alright, alright. Let's check them roughly. If they're already drunk, it's obvious they'll cause trouble. If necessary, just send them away."

The three gatekeepers stared at the faintly visible figures.

Then, suddenly, a look of puzzlement appeared on their faces.

The face of the man who was passed out and being carried was very familiar.

"Wait, isn't that Jo Pyeong?"

"The medicinal herb merchant Jo Pyeong?"

In an instant, a sense of urgency appeared on the gatekeepers' faces.

On the outside, he was a pimp.

But on the inside, the gatekeeper, who had a fairly solid internal energy hidden, saw the sprawled medicinal herb merchant owner and drew his sword like a thunderbolt.

A warning bell rang in his head and his body reacted.

But the moment Heo Seong reacted and was about to step forward, Cheon Mubaeck had already moved one step ahead.

He swung the dagger he had picked up from the medicinal herb merchant.

"...!"

A clean cut from left to right.

"Keok!"

The second bastard who attacked from right beside him was cut vertically from top to bottom.

"Keok!"

The bastard who attacked from the left collapsed, foaming at the mouth, from a thrust that accurately pierced his solar plexus.

It all happened before Heo Seong could even draw his sword from its scabbard.

"...What on earth."

An earthquake occurred in Heo Seong's pupils.

To be honest, he wondered if the Cheon Mubaeck in front of him was the same weak Cheon Mubaeck he knew.

It was absurd to say that he had become like this just by getting healthy after learning martial arts recently. The fast actions, the reaction speed to subdue the opponent, the terrifying pressure that popped out in an instant.

This was not something that came from learning martial arts for a day or two.

'Could it be that he had been secretly learning martial arts since before? Was he deceiving everyone? Why on earth?'

If not, it couldn't be explained.

And the three swings he had just shown.

Three clean strokes.

From left to right, from top to bottom, from back to front.

Heo Seong's mouth fell open.

No matter how he thought about it, that was...

'Samjae Sword Art!'

A swordsmanship that was embarrassing to even call a martial art.

It was something that could be found rolling around in a neighborhood bookstore.

Wasn't it the most basic, consisting of three simple forms?

But it didn't feel like an ordinary Samjae Sword Art.

It was a bland cut and thrust without any forms, but Heo Seong's blood ran cold.

'It was so fast and clean. There was no shaking.'

Is there such a Samjae Sword in the world?

Suddenly, Heo Seong looked back on the history of the martial world.

Among the many legends of the martial world that came to mind when thinking of the Samjae Sword,

In the early days when the martial world was just beginning.

A legendary martial artist who cut down all sorts of sinister monsters and demons with just one Samjae Sword.

"Samjae Sword Saint?"

(End of Chapter)