novelraw Chapter 179 : Chapter 179
Chapter 179 : Chapter 179
Chapter 179 - With a Sharper Sword
“Who might you be, Young Hero……?”
Master Okjin unconsciously swallowed hard. It goes without saying, but she didn't feel a threat from this imposing man. Although she had stepped down from the front line, she was once an absolute expert who had joined the ranks of the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu.
However, the reason she was inwardly tense nonetheless was because of the dance clothes the man before her was wearing. The dark-colored dance clothes reflecting in the moonlight and the clear wing embroidery on the chest. They were surely the same form as those of the one with the most powerful sword in the Murim, the World's Fastest Sword.
“I am Biyoung. You are Master Okjin, right?”
“……Amitabha. This humble monk’s greeting is late.”
Does one’s characteristic character remain the same even as time passes? Master Okjin had a tendency to excessively lower herself regardless of the other party’s age or rank. I had a thought that if Jeong-i were to enter the Buddhist priesthood, she would have that kind of feeling.
“You’re still going strong. I tried my best to suppress my presence.”
“Since when have you been following behind this humble monk?”
“From when you stepped out of your quarters.”
At those words, Master Okjin’s gaze turned quite sharp. If it was from her quarters, it was a distance of at least thirty minutes’ walk from here. It meant he had tailed her for a long time without a trace, which was impossible unless he was a considerable expert. Another important fact was that the man had been keeping a close eye on her since she was at the lodging.
“You are saying you didn't follow behind me because you were bored.”
“Of course. I’m not such a leisurely person. although you originally haven't been able to sleep at night, Master.”
Master Okjin was caught in a bizarre feeling the more they conversed. He had considerable skill for his age and showed the seasonedness of knowing how to hide his inner thoughts. But the strangest thing was his attitude toward her. He was clearly a face not in her memory, yet it felt like treating an acquaintance met after a long time.
“Have you perhaps met this humble monk before……”
“No. As you know.”
Cutting off Master Okjin’s words, the rude man sat down casually on a nearby rock.
“Only, I have heard stories about you in the past, Master.”
“Is that so.”
If it was a story about the past, nine times out of ten it would be a story related to the Great Heavenly Demon War. A survivor of the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu, half of whom had died. One of the heroes who prevented the Heavenly Demon’s invasion of the Central Plains. It was a question she had heard countless times, and a story she had explained just as many times.
“Does the Young Hero wish to hear a story from me? about the activities of the World's Fastest Sword during the Great Heavenly Demon War.”
Then the man before her gave a bitter smile.
“I’m not particularly interested in that kind of thing.”
“Then……?”
“I want to know who the person was who stabbed with the sword.”
Master Okjin’s face became increasingly puzzled. At that time, the World's Fastest Sword died with his Dantian destroyed at the hands of the Heavenly Demon. Although the number of people who know that fact is very small. However, at the man’s subsequent question, Master Okjin wore an expression as if she had been struck by lightning.
“Who was the one who pierced the neck of the World's Fastest Sword, Yeongbi, from behind?”
“!!!”
Master Okjin’s slender eyebrows flickered like waves. The shock she felt was greater than when she first faced the Heavenly Demon. Just how was this person mentioning content that would never be known unless it was by the parties involved?
“Who…… are you, Young Hero.”
“I told you earlier. Biyoung.”
Right. Biyoung. It was a name Master Okjin had also heard of. The Jade-faced Quick Sword who made great contributions to setting right the annihilated Diancang Sect. Especially the story of defeating Elder Yubeop of the True Dragon Sect had become a great topic of conversation even within the Emei Sect.
She had also heard well through rumors that Biyoung’s appearance was that refined. But. A story like 'Biyoung who knows the end of the World's Fastest Sword' was something she had neither heard nor thought of.
“This humble monk……”
Had there been a time she had trailed off like this since reaching this age? A vague story leaked from her mouth.
“It is a story I am hearing for the first time.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
It certainly wouldn't have been the answer he wanted. But Biyoung got up and brushed himself off without much lingering regret. He looked intently at Master Okjin with his characteristic playful eyes. It was a gaze in which no particular ill-will was felt, yet for some reason, Master Okjin felt her face sting.
“Well, it’s not like I particularly expected it. Anyway……”
The expression of Master Okjin reflecting in the moonlight exactly resembled her face. The white and fine jade face on the left, which made her age meaningless, and the dark red demon's face where the terrible three-lined scar was settled. Although it clearly looked like she was hiding something, it also very much resembled the act of trying hard to deny it.
“Even though you painstakingly prevented the Heavenly Demon’s advance, the situation of the Emei Sect doesn't seem to be very good?”
“………….”
Master Okjin stood without saying anything. What Biyoung said was in line with the reason she had been losing her night's sleep. Just who was that young hero, that he was grasping her agony, which she hadn't shown to anyone, as if he were looking through it?
“Since it’s late at night, I’ll be going now. I am also one of the participants tomorrow.”
Just as he was about to turn his back, Biyoung raised the corners of his mouth toward Master Okjin.
“Won't it be more interesting than the martial arts tournament? trying to figure out which one of them divulged the secret to me.”
“!”
Leaving a large ripple in Master Okjin’s heart, Biyoung flew off and disappeared like an arrow. As if he had never been in that place.
***
“Khahahaha!”
The early morning of Mount Song, which would have been incredibly quiet normally. However, today, that peacefulness was broken by someone’s mad laugh.
“You will surely never go to a good place even after you die.”
A large beggar, who burst into a hearty mad laugh, poured out curses at a graceful-looking handsome man. However, the handsome man only snorted.
“Hmph. Then I can just go locking arms with Guardian Gwangyo.”
“Khehe. That sounds good too.”
The reason Guardian Gwangyo of the Beggars' Union had come looking for Biyoung since early morning was because of Master Okjin. He had discovered one of the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu from the past among the elders of the sects participating in the martial arts tournament.
He had gone looking for Biyoung thinking of telling him about her, but to think he had already met Master Okjin last night. What was even more appalling were the last words Biyoung had left. Biyoung had spoken as if a secret had been leaked, but in fact, no one among the Ten Great Masters had given him that fact.
“The person who told you the end of the World's Fastest Sword is really not one of the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu?”
“Right.”
“That is surprising in its own way but……”
Gwangyo showed a truly villain-like smile.
“With this, the surviving Ten Great Masters of Jianghu will come to suspect each other. Since the story leaked out when no one divulged it, it is clear as day that self-strife will occur.”
It was a kind of seed planted by Biyoung. A seed of misfortune planted to make them suspect each other. The fact that the World's Fastest Sword died at the hands of the Heavenly Demon is content known to all martial artists. However, no one knew the fact that his neck was pierced by a comrade’s sword. That means, in other words, that the parties who were on the scene had agreed to remain silent.
“Actually, I still don't fully believe your story. Although defeating the Heavenly Demon is the ultimate task, for the prestigious Ten Great Masters of Jianghu to do such a foolish thing as using a comrade as bait……”
Looking at his twitching whites, he looked like he was about to run to Master Okjin and unleash the Mad Dog's Barking Palm at any moment. Biyoung cooled down Gwangyo’s boiling rage.
“Are you going to cause a disturbance at the opening ceremony of the martial arts tournament? The Union Leader will surely love that.”
“…………!”
“Besides, if you say that without evidence, will people believe you? even you yourself, Guardian Gwangyo, are half-doubting it.”
Gwangyo had no choice but to admit that Biyoung’s words were correct. Insulting one of the Ten Great Masters of Jianghu at a martial arts tournament hosted by Shaolin is no different from a suicidal act. Unless there was clear material evidence, unfortunately, not even a corpse of the World's Fastest Sword remained, let alone the sword he had used.
“It was just wrong from the start.”
“Wrong……?”
Biyoung only said that much and closed his mouth. The idea itself of joining forces with other sects to eliminate a public enemy of the Murim was a wrong thought. the World's Fastest Sword should have faced the Heavenly Demon alone. if he had, he wouldn't have seen this foul sight.
‘……Wait.’
On the day he meets the Heavenly Demon again, Biyoung will stand before him alone, unlike in the past. Holding a sword better tempered than that of the World's Fastest Sword.
***
“Finally, this day has come!”
“I’ve been camping out since last night to occupy this prime spot!”
“The scale is truly incredibly majestic. It seems there are at least tens of thousands of spectators?”
They knew Mount Song was large, but seeing the large, flatly carved arenas, exclamations broke out here and there. It was a scale that one would nod at even if it were said to be built by the Twelve Heavens themselves coming down, and levels were even distinguished along the mountain terrain so that spectators could sit comfortably and watch.
“We shall begin the preliminaries from now!”
At the Lion’s Roar of the monk in charge of the proceedings, numerous people shouted in unison.
“Waaaaaaaa!!”
The entire arenas echoed loudly with expectations and excitement for the young talents. It goes without saying, but that shouting greatly shook the hearts of the participants preparing for the duels. Spectators engaged in debates about the winner of the tournament.
“This time too, the victory will go to Shaolin. Is it only once or twice that they’ve beaten the drum and played the gong in a tournament they held themselves?”
“It will be different this time. According to rumors, the True Dragon Sect has taken special measures for this martial arts tournament.”
“Hmph! What can the True Dragon Sect, which joined at the last seat, do even if they use tricks! I heard the Wudang Sect, which has been indifferent to martial arts tournaments until now, has brought a lot of young talents. It seems they are really sharpening their blades.”
“Hoh. These people. Have you all not even heard the rumor that a genius appeared at Mount Hua? They say there is a swordsman among the third-generation disciples who knows how to paint plum blossoms!”
“Everyone only talks about the Nine Sects One Union, but it’s difficult to forget the successors of the Murim Families. Don't they say the successors of the Five Great Families, including the Zhuge Family Clan and the Namgung Family Clan, have all turned out!”
“Khahahaha! These funny people. Leaving out the hottest sect, what are you all talking about now?”
“The hottest…… sect?”
“The legacies of the World's Fastest Sword, the Diancang Sect has returned! Especially everyone must have heard whom the Jade-faced Quick Sword who appeared in Yunnan defeated?”
“The Diancang Sect……!”
At the mention of the Diancang Sect, the complexions of the surrounding spectators became even more flushed. A prestigious orthodox sect of the past that overcame annihilation and succeeded in revenge! It was a story that anyone who admired the Murim would find romantic.
“Right! There was the Diancang Sect!”
“If it’s the Jade-faced Quick Sword Biyoung, one could easily predict his victory. Who among the young talents could make an elder of the True Dragon Sect kneel?”
“Hmm. I don't believe that rumor. Elder Yubeop must have gone easy on him or been careless. No matter how outstanding the Jade-faced Quick Sword’s skill is, does it make sense that he defeated someone of elder-rank?”
“T-There!”
“Hmm?”
“Is that not the dance clothes of the Diancang Sect?”
“Uh…… it seems so?”
Indeed, a man wearing navy blue dance clothes was walking with steady steps.
“Ohh! That’s right!”
At the thought of seeing a martial artist of the Diancang Sect from the very first duel of the opening match, the spectator seats became even more noisy.
“I can't see well from this side. I heard there are so many good men and good women in the Diancang Sect?”
“True. Why would 'Jade-faced' be attached to Young Hero Biyoung’s nickname for no reason? I heard the swordsmen traveling with him are also mostly handsome men, and the female swordsman is truly a snow-white skin and flower-like beauty.”
The crowd looked at the young man coming up to the arena with expectant faces. As they say, everything else being equal, a red skirt is better; the more outstanding the appearance of a prospect, the more enjoyable it is to watch. However, unfortunately,
“N-No……!”
“Is that man really a swordsman of the Diancang Sect?”
“That’s not a swordsman, just a ruff……”
The first swordsman of the Diancang Sect was a person sufficient to crumble those expectations.