Chapter 186: Jaseung, Enraged

One martial artist ran busily across the training grounds.

Beside him three martial artists walked in silence and to the side two attendants walked while laughing and chatting.

Dan Woobin sat alone in his room and watched the scene through the window. His eyes held no focus. He simply let his gaze drift after whatever shapes passed before him.

Beside the table a pile of letters rose high. They were the letters he had exchanged with Songhwa. He had read them over and over.

Eventually he thought nothing at all. He had worried so much that at some point his mind felt as if it had stopped.

At that moment he heard the sound of a door opening behind him.

“I’m fine, so you can leave.”

He assumed it was Mujin or Ma Young-gi coming to console him. He did not want to speak with anyone now.

“Alright, I will come back later then.”

Dan Woobin flinched at the voice. The one who had entered was Baek Seolyoung.

“No, my Lady. Please come in.”

“I will come back later.”

“It is all right. Please come in.”

If it had been Mujin or Ma Young-gi he would have let them leave, but he could not send Baek Seolyoung away.

Baek Seolyoung sat as if giving in reluctantly.

“You want to be alone and I feel like I am disturbing you.”

“Not at all.”

Baek Seolyoung had wanted to come see him because he would be the one who felt the closest to how she felt.

After sitting silently before her for a while Dan Woobin suddenly asked,

“Would you like a drink?”

“Yes.”

Dan Woobin took a bottle of liquor from a cabinet.

“I will have someone bring snacks.”

“No, it is fine.”

“All right.”

He filled her cup then filled his own.

Both drained their cups in one go.

“You are worried about our Lord, aren’t you?”

At his question Baek Seolyoung sighed inside. It was something she should’ve asked him instead. The one she truly worried about was Songhwa.

Yet she did not mention Songhwa’s safety. She did not want to console herself by acting as if she were consoling someone else.

At times like this it was better to be honest.

“Yes, I am very worried.”

Dan Woobin smiled and said,

“The Alliance Leader will do well.”

He said it to himself as well. He believed Lee Jaseung would rescue Songhwa safely.

“His light footwork has improved tremendously lately. He is probably already there by now.”

Considering the distance it was impossible. She knew that, yet Dan Woobin exaggerated even further.

“He may have already taken care of everything and is on his way back already.”

“That’s possible.”

The two smiled at each other.

They emptied their cups again. As he looked down at his empty cup Dan Woobin suddenly spoke.

“To be honest with you…”

He hesitated. He wondered whether to speak or not and eventually continued.

“I kept thinking about something. If the Alliance Leader fails to save her, what should I say to comfort him. He will surely be devastated. I should not think such things but I did.”

His voice trembled.

“I should not think like that, right? If I think of her I must not do that, right? I cannot try to care for the hearts of those left behind already, right? I cannot be worrying only about my own heart already, right? This is the kind of man I am. Even now as the Chief Strategist I should be thinking of the others in the main Alliance but I am worried only about her. I am this selfish of a bastard.”

At that, Baek Seolyoung spoke calmly.

“We are human.”

He lifted his head. Tears had gathered in his eyes.

Baek Seolyoung repeated her words.

“It’s because we are human.”

Dan Woobin lowered his head.

The tears he had held back fell drop by drop into his empty cup.

Baek Seolyoung could feel how deeply he worried for Songhwa. His love was so deep that he escaped reality by worrying about Lee Jaseung and by punishing himself.

He worried about her so much that he did not even realize it himself.

Baek Seolyoung worried about him.

If Songhwa died… he would receive a wound that could never heal.

She looked out the window and said,

“Let us not believe in that man’s fate but in Lady Song’s. Let us believe she is not someone who would die this early.”

* * *

Swaaaash.

A wind that tore at the ears. Songhwa felt regret that this would be the last sound she ever heard.

She felt sorry toward Dan Woobin. She regretted leaving him behind and regretted that she had not even said farewell. She feared that her death would wound him deeply.

Yet she heard no sound and felt no pain.

‘Have I already died? Do people die like this?’

If death was like this she thought she need not have feared it so much.

Then she felt movement in her arms.

Songhwa opened her eyes. Oki was held in her arms.

“Huh?”

She was still alive.

Songhwa turned her head slowly.

She saw the hidden weapon.

The terrifying hidden weapon that had torn people apart floated in the air.

No, more precisely, someone was holding it.

A man stood with his back toward her.

Everyone in the storage fixed their eyes on him.

It was no surprise. The man had appeared out of nowhere and caught Joy’s hidden weapon with his bare hand.

Of course the most shocked of all was Joy who had thrown the hidden weapon.

Seeing it was one thing. His hidden weapon was no ordinary object.

It was the deathly hidden weapon called Blood Origin Disc. It possessed such a sharp edge that it sliced through iron swords as if slicing paper.

Joy spoke in a stunned expression.

“What the?”

There were countless questions he could have asked.

How did he catch it by hand? Where had he come from?

The man had appeared in a sudden flash. It almost seemed as if he had risen from the ground or dropped from the sky.

Joy looked up at the ceiling.

There was no hole in the ceiling. There was no hole in the floor.

So then where had he appeared from?

All the questions gathered into one largest question.

Who in the world are you?

The man who caught Blood Origin Disc wore a mask.

He slowly turned his head.

The masked man was Lee Jaseung.

He had run here with every ounce of strength. Except for the minimal breathing exercise needed to restore his inner Qi he had not rested for a single moment.

He had not simply run. He had pushed his inner Qi to the extreme and enduring pain that felt as if his legs would rip apart as he ran.

Fortunately his effort reached the heavens.

He could not save the others but at least he arrived just before Songhwa died.

Had Songhwa not suggested stacking the boxes earlier she would have lost her life by a hair. Because the boxes were stacked the men had to jump over them and they had thrown in a few extra taunts.

One act of not losing hope in the worst moment saved her life again.

At the familiar eyes above the mask Songhwa felt a small suspicion. Then a voice transmission reached her and turned her guess into certainty.

— I am sorry I am late, sister in law.

Songhwa’s face brightened at once.

She knew the mask and the voice transmission meant he wanted to hide his identity, so she said nothing.

— I will finish up here and greet you properly again.

At his calm voice transmission she nodded with eyes full of joy and gratitude.

Pung Haryang, Baek Yong, and several of the Guard Hall martial artists recognized that he was Lee Jaseung.

‘He has arrived!’

They let out sighs of relief.

Yet they worried at the same time. They believed Lee Jaseung could not handle all the enemies alone. They did not know how much his skill had grown since leaving the Alliance.

Lee Jaseung looked at the corpses scattered on the floor. The cold fury in his eyes turned into action.

He aimed Blood Origin Disc at Joy’s arm in the same gesture Joy had used earlier when aiming at others.

Just as a sense of dread passed through Joy’s mind the hidden weapon flew.

Shwing.

It flew faster and more precisely than when Joy had thrown it. There was no need for extra spins. It was too fast to block or dodge.

Joy’s arm was severed.

“Aaaaargh!”

He screamed.

“You crazy bastard! Go kill that bastard!”

He pressed the pressure point on his shoulder to stop the bleeding while shouting curses.

But no one dared move. The hidden weapon was already back in Lee Jaseung’s hand. His skill at retrieving it surpassed Joy’s. If they acted carelessly the weapon would fly toward them.

Those watching wore satisfied expressions.

Baek Yong turned them all around. The adults covered the children’s ears.

Lee Jaseung pointed at Joy’s other arm.

As Joy flailed his remaining arm in panic.

Shwing!

Chwaaaak!

Blood Origin Disc flew again and Joy’s other arm was severed.

Blood sprayed as Joy screamed. With both arms gone he could not even stop the bleeding.

It was too sudden and Lee Jaseung’s skill was too overwhelming. No one could step forward.

This time Lee Jaseung aimed the hidden weapon at Joy’s neck.

Just as despair flashed in Joy’s eyes!

With a refreshing sweep of wind his head rolled across the floor.

The one who broke the heavy silence was a man standing at the rear.

He leapt over the boxes to bring word of the situation to Rain outside.

The Blood Origin Disc flew and pierced the man’s back brutally. He died instantly and crashed into the boxes with the weapon.

Watching the blood trickle down the boxes everyone swallowed hard.

Lee Jaseung slowly drew Asura and spoke.

“Where are you going? You caused chaos in someone else’s home so you must bear the consequences.”

* * *

“Shall we go in now? It seems to be over.”

At Water’s words, Rain nodded.

Judging by the time passed, the storage should have been settled already.

The two began walking toward the storage in the distance.

The closer they came the stronger the stench of blood became. So many had died that the inside would be horrific.

They entered through the door and leapt over the stacked boxes. As they landed someone stood before them.

A man drenched in blood spoke.

“…Spare me.”

Rain and Water naturally assumed he was a martial artist of the Black Way Alliance.

But the moment they identified him both were startled. The man blocking their path was their own comrade, Ghost.

He who made others tremble with the name Ghost was trembling in fear himself.

On closer look all his joints were twisted. His terror was so great he did not even feel pain. As his breath gave out he collapsed forward.

When he fell the interior scene came into view.

Bamboo, who used the bamboo sword with astonishing skill, lay dead with his entire body shredded. He had been stabbed dozens of times and the bamboo sword stuck in his chest like a stake.

Fist, who had dominated the dark underworld with his fists, was dead with both hands severed and Sorrow lay sprawled with her neck and heart pierced.

Guest lay with his head smashed, Morning lay cut in half at the waist, and Black Sand had probably been blown to pieces with not even a body remaining.

All the rest lay as wretched corpses.

It was truly a horrifying sight.

Along one wall martial artists of the Guard Hall stood in a row and three hundred people stood turned toward the wall. The adults covered the children’s ears.

Among the corpses Lee Jaseung stood. His martial garments were soaked in blood.

The moment Rain met Lee Jaseung’s eyes his whole body froze. The killing intent radiating from Lee Jaseung was more terrifying than anything he had ever witnessed.

Even Water, who was always so relaxed, trembled violently at the carnage inside and at Lee Jaseung’s killing intent.

Lee Jaseung flicked Asura, dripping with blood, and spoke coldly.

“You two over there, come here.”

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