Chapter 112: Trap and Ambush (2)

The Southern Heavenly King stepped down from the Dragon Throne himself and walked toward the approaching martial artists.

“Your Majesty, please maintain your dignity.”

The king responded to the captain of the guards.

“Right now, I am not a king but a martial artist greeting others of the same kind. Do you think they would accept me if I approached them as a king? For now, I am a martial artist, so don’t concern yourself too much.”

This sort of behavior was nothing new, so the guard captain simply followed behind him.

As Yong Hwarin and the others approached within about five steps of the Southern Heavenly King, they were stopped by guards.

“We ask that you leave your weapons behind.”

At those words, Jeong Suji’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Coming this far had already been a generous gesture, and now they were being asked to cast aside their pride as martial artists—it was intolerable.

“It’s fine. Asking a martial artist to lay down their weapon before meeting someone is no different from treating them as anything but a martial artist.”

The Southern Heavenly King had two reasons for speaking so confidently.

First, anyone—martial artist or not—who dared harm a member of the royal family would be annihilated along with their entire bloodline. He was confident that no one would dare cause harm to royalty.

So far, there was no recorded history of any martial artist harming royalty.

That alone said enough.

Anyone who harmed the royal family would find themselves facing hundreds of thousands of troops.

Secondly, he had faith in his own martial prowess.

Even during his youth in the palace, he had entered the royal library and trained in superior martial arts, defeating the palace’s top experts in succession.

He believed no one present could possibly harm him, which was why he allowed the martial artists to face him while still armed.

The Southern Heavenly King first greeted the Arhats of the Shaolin Temple, who caught his eye right away.

“Oh! To think I would see the Arhats of Shaolin with my own eyes.”

The four Shaolin Arhats bowed in unison to the king.

“Amitabha. We are the Eighteen Arhats of the Shaolin Temple.”

“Oh, please, come this way.”

The Southern Heavenly King had already prepared seats in the large reception hall.

Once the Shaolin Arhats seated themselves to the king’s right, he called out the young disciples of Mount Hua next.

“You must be the promising talents of Mount Hua.”

The four young swordsmen of Mount Hua cupped their fists together in salute.

Among them, the eldest and most senior in status, Poong Imso, spoke.

“We pay our respects to Your Majesty. We are the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Swordsmen of Mount Hua.”

“Indeed! Truly admirable!”

The Southern Heavenly King let out a cry of admiration as he looked at the young warriors, now beyond adolescence.

The Shaolin Arhats were middle-aged, so their level of martial prowess was understandable.

However, the youthful disciples of Mount Hua appeared so bright and full of potential that anyone could tell they were true prodigies.

“Be seated to my left.”

The Mount Hua disciples sat on the king’s left side.

By placing Shaolin and Mount Hua on either side of him, the Southern Heavenly King had shown his respect for the martial hierarchy.

Next, his eyes swept over Yong Hwarin and Yong Biyang.

“I’ve heard of a rising name shaking the land of Henan lately. They called him the Heavenly Central Sword Hero. Who might that be?”

Yong Hwarin stepped forward only half a step to avoid provoking the royal guards, and bowed with his hands together.

“Your Majesty, this humble commoner greets you. My fellow martial artists have granted me more praise than I deserve. Before anything else, allow me to introduce my father.”

The king nodded.

“This is my father.”

“Oh! I see. They say the son takes after the father. What an extraordinary pair you are.”

Despite being middle-aged, Yong Biyang carried an air of refinement and calm that impressed the king.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know of such a heroic figure as the leader of the Heavenly Central Sect. I must have been blind until now.”

The king remembered the names of many prestigious sects and renowned martial artists, but the Heavenly Central Sect was unfamiliar to him.

“I prefer the life of a recluse and have hidden myself within the sect, so it’s no surprise that Your Majesty has not heard of me.”

“It’s fine. Now that I know, it’s not too late. Should I invite you to the royal court one day, you must come.”

Yong Biyang responded with a silent cupped-fist salute, rather than words.

It was a display of a martial artist’s pride.

The Southern Heavenly King understood and nodded in return.

Throughout, the king never took his eyes off Yong Hwarin.

He didn’t fully believe the rumors that this youth had already defeated master-level martial artists at such a young age.

However, recently, Yong Hwarin’s alias, the Heavenly Central Sword Hero, had become so well-known that the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword of the Heavenly Central Sect was now considered one of the three great sword techniques of Henan.

‘Hmm, what an incredibly composed young man. How can he possess such calm and poise at that age?’

Yong Hwarin didn’t show even a hint of nervousness in front of the king.

His spirit belonged not to a man in his twenties, but one in his fifties.

In his past life, he had faced those with even more power and authority than the Southern Heavenly King, so he was unfazed.

The Shaolin Arhats and Mount Hua’s young swordsmen, on the other hand, appeared tense before the king.

Even the cold and aloof Three Killing, Three Chivalrous Heroes did not dare speak a word.

“You three female warriors—are you of the Jeong family?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As Jeong Minji stood and offered her formal greeting, the Southern Heavenly King nodded.

“You are about the same age as my daughter. Remarkable. I tried to teach my daughter martial arts, but she thinks martial arts are merely games for brutes, so I eventually gave up.”

The Southern Heavenly King had only one child, a daughter.

“Truthfully, my purpose in summoning you was not only to meet you personally, but also to show my daughter how others her age are making names for themselves in the martial world. I shall call her in to introduce you all.”

The king whispered something to the guard captain, who then exited the hall briefly.

In less than two hours, the guard captain returned with a young woman.

She was so graceful that she looked as though she might ascend to the heavens at any moment, her beauty ethereal.

Yong Hwarin admired her silently.

‘The Princess Gyeongseon.’

Even in his past life, she was known as the most beautiful woman in the Henan government.

He had seen her from a distance several times before, but never this close.

‘Truly, the title of the most beautiful noblewoman in Henan doesn’t do her justice.’

She radiated a noble glow, undoubtedly a product of her aristocratic upbringing.

“Behold, Princess Gyeongseon. These are young heroes whose names shake the world even at such a tender age.”

At the king’s introduction, everyone present rose from their seats and bowed to the princess.

But the way Princess Gyeongseon swept her gaze across the hall was nothing short of haughty.

“Do interact with these young heroes. You may come to realize many things as well.”

At that, Princess Gyeongseon finally spoke a word.

“The young lady has always kept close those who excel in poetry, calligraphy, music, and painting. I find it difficult to be near people whose interests are so different, so I shall take my leave. If martial artists were skilled in any of the literary arts, I would gladly associate with them. But among all the martial artists I’ve encountered, not one has shown talent in poetry, calligraphy, music, or painting. Introduce me to such a martial artist, and I shall engage with them.”

What Princess Gyeongseon meant was clear: martial artists were ignorant, and thus not worth her attention.

She was indirectly expressing that they weren’t even worthy of conversation.

Princess Gyeongseon disliked both learning martial arts and being around martial artists, even if it was her own father who trained in them.

As a daughter, she merely respected her father’s wishes—but had no personal interest in martial arts or martial artists.

“I shall return to my chambers.”

The Southern Heavenly King had believed that because his daughter had only seen older martial artists, she might not be interested in them.

That’s why he’d wanted to introduce her to martial artists her own age.

But when Princess Gyeongseon remained adamant, the king found himself embarrassed.

“Hahaha, my daughter dislikes martial arts. I ask for your understanding.”

Yong Hwarin watched her leave, a vague thought stirring in the back of his mind.

He had lived through fifty years in his past life, and his memories were old and sometimes slow to surface.

‘There was some incident related to them… What was it?’

Back then, Yong Hwarin had walked the path of a merchant and hadn’t paid much attention to the affairs of the martial world.

His only concern in martial circles had been the investigation into the annihilation of his clan.

“Now then, shall we move to the back garden and drink? Isn’t it stifling to remain indoors on such a clear day?”

Yong Biyang, being of a similar age to the Southern Heavenly King, spoke often with him.

He was also well-read, so their conversation flowed easily.

Watching the king laugh heartily from time to time, Yong Hwarin saw his father in a new light.

He realized that his father wasn’t flattering the king as royalty, but treating him as a fellow martial artist.

‘Father has changed a lot. His once timid and reserved nature has lightened since his meridians opened, and now he exudes a certain noble spirit.’

Yong Hwarin sensed that his father had become much more courageous.

As they moved toward the garden, a sudden chill crawled down his spine.

Yong Hwarin had experienced this sensation before and immediately recognized it.

‘An ambush!’

With that thought, Yong Hwarin shouted.

At the same time, one of the Shaolin Arhats must have sensed it too, because he yelled the exact same words:

“Protect His Majesty!”

The Shaolin Arhats, Yong Biyang, the Three Killing, Three Chivalrous Heroes, and the young disciples of Mount Hua quickly formed a protective circle around the Southern Heavenly King and scanned the area.

Swoosh!

A steel arrow shot down from the roof.

These steel arrows were so powerful that ordinary martial artists couldn’t stop them. Even trained soldiers couldn’t easily block them.

Made of solid metal, the arrows flew several times faster than regular ones.

“Father, protect His Majesty. If anything happens to him, the martial world of Henan will fall into chaos.”

At Yong Hwarin’s words, Yong Biyang nodded.

“What are the guards doing? How did these people get all the way here?!”

The king shouted with his internal energy.

“There’s more than one attacker.”

To have reached this place, the assassins had to have overwhelmed the outside guards—this wasn’t the work of just one or two people.

The guard captain ordered ten of his elite guards to form a close ring around the Southern Heavenly King.

The king showed no signs of panic, as if he had encountered this sort of danger many times before.

In fact, he seemed to almost relish the intensity of the moment.

Suddenly, the hazy thought that had been squirming at the edge of Yong Hwarin’s memory burst forth like a spring from the depths.

“Ah! This is—!”

Yong Hwarin wasn’t standing directly by the king’s side; he had stepped back ten paces to observe the situation from a broader view.

Being outside gave him a clearer understanding of the surrounding situation.

“The Southern Heavenly King’s Tragedy at Seopyeong!”

This was an incident from Yong Hwarin’s past life.

The Southern Heavenly King’s Tragedy at Seopyeong was when assassins attacked a feast attended by martial artists, hosted by the king himself.

Although the king was fond of martial artists, after this event, he executed every one of them who had been present.

Not because he had been harmed himself, but because his beloved daughter, Princess Gyeongseon, had lost both her eyes and one of her arms in the attack.

Had she died, perhaps it would have ended there. But for the most beautiful woman in all of Henan to be left in such a state, the king lost his mind and executed every martial artist at the banquet.

They had failed to identify the true assassins.

As a result, the king assumed the attackers had been among those invited and had all of them beheaded.

It was an incident that shook the entire Henan region.

However, Yong Hwarin had only heard about it in passing after it happened, as he had been conducting business in another region at the time.

Now, the twisted future was arriving sooner than expected.

“Ah!”

Yong Hwarin suddenly shouted.

“Where are Princess Gyeongseon’s chambers?!”

The guard captain frowned at his question.

But seeing the urgency in Yong Hwarin’s expression, he quickly raised his hand and pointed the way.

Yong Hwarin launched into the air with lightfootwork, vanishing from sight as he shot westward.

It was as if a dragon of earth had soared toward the heavens—an astonishing sight despite the crisis at hand.

“That is the finest lightfootwork I’ve ever seen. He may be even more skilled than the Celestial Steed Step guest staying in this royal estate.”

Yong Biyang shouted toward the assassins closing in on the king.

“Do not be distracted by them. No matter what happens, stay in your positions.”

The guard captain nodded at Yong Biyang’s words.

It brought him some peace to know someone could calmly assess the situation.

Yong Hwarin stepped on the roof and vaulted once more into the sky.

Only after two more leaps did he begin to see Princess Gyeongseon’s chambers.

From above, he could deduce their location by the movement of the guards and soldiers stationed around it.

‘I have to reach her before the assassins do. Otherwise—’

If events played out like in his past life and Princess Gyeongseon lost her eyes and arm, none of those present would survive.

Masked men in black were already cutting down the guards protecting her chambers.

With urgency, Yong Hwarin drew forth all his internal energy—his Demonic Master cultivation surging—as he descended toward Princess Gyeongseon’s quarters.

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