Chapter 161: Night Raid (1)

Right now, all my senses had become so sensitive that the screams sounded unbearably loud.

Then came intermittent screams.

Grrrr!

As the scratching noise continued, I could no longer focus on circulating my qi.

It was truly frustrating.

At this rate, I would have been able to reach the internal and external realms I had never been able to even approach before.

The thought of waking up to these screams before fully experiencing that state felt so regretful that I let out a long, heavy sigh, like someone heartbroken from a failed love.

I opened my eyes and sharpened my hearing to pinpoint where the scream was coming from.

‘It’s Miss Seok’s voice.’

I had deliberately arranged for Seok Unjeong’s quarters to be near mine.

It was because she often felt anxious.

I stood up and opened the door.

“Ah, today’s a full moon.”

Seok Unjeong suffered from the Lunar Yin Pulse, and every full moon brought her unbearable pain.

I headed toward her quarters.

When I arrived, Jeong Minji was already there, having heard the screams as well.

She greeted me with a troubled expression.

“No matter what I do, her pain won’t subside.”

I entered the room to see Seok Unjeong trembling violently, scratching the floor with her fingernails.

Even as blood streamed from her broken nails, she seemed unaware of the pain.

“Aaaaargh!”

Seok Unjeong, who had been screaming, suddenly began tearing her clothes to shreds.

In an instant, she was stripped bare, and she began clawing at her own body with her nails.

Seeing this, Jeong Minji rushed over and grabbed both of her hands.

Seok Unjeong’s rolled-back eyes seemed to return slightly to focus.

With her body trembling, she spoke in a dying voice.

“S-Sister, please… kill me. Set me free from this pain! Sister! I beg you!”

Jeong Minji wept as she looked at Seok Unjeong.

She had lived until now enduring a level of pain that made her wish for death.

I moved behind Seok Unjeong and placed my hand on her Myeongmun Point.

“It’s no use. I tried infusing my qi, but I almost fell into Qi Deviation myself. For some reason, her body rejects any qi from the outside. I don’t think it’s her will that’s rejecting it… it must be the Lunar Yin Pulse acting on its own.”

Jeong Minji looked at Seok Unjeong with pity in her eyes.

“Hold her down. Let me try.”

I placed my hand on her Myeongmun Point again and infused my qi.

‘As expected, it’s rejecting the qi.’

When both Yin and Yang qi from my lower and upper dantians were pushed out, I infused the Yin-Yang qi I had recently experienced.

I stayed still, waiting until the two energies naturally fused and began to move on their own.

This energy had a property of healing damaged meridians by itself, so I believed it would surely penetrate into Seok Unjeong’s body.

As the two energies fused, they began moving on their own just as I had anticipated.

The moment they stirred, they immediately flowed straight into Seok Unjeong’s body.

‘Hmm!’

At first, the Tai Chi energy trembled around her Myeongmun Point, unable to advance.

But then it began to encircle the rejecting energy, gently pushing its way in bit by bit.

Once the Tai Chi energy pierced through the Myeongmun Point, it started seeking out and healing the meridians damaged by the strange energy.

‘What is this energy? Is this what they call Lunar Yin Qi?’

The chilling, sinister energy made my skin crawl.

As my qi began to heal the injured meridians, Seok Unjeong stopped screaming.

Gradually, she began to calm down.

Jeong Minji watched the scene with wide eyes, astonished.

‘Just how advanced is Young Master Yong’s cultivation that he can infuse qi directly into another’s body like this?’

While gazing at me with awe, she gently wiped away Seok Unjeong’s tears with one hand.

I generated more Tai Chi energy and infused it deeper into Seok Unjeong’s body.

Strangely, the Lunar Yin Qi, which had fiercely resisted the Tai Chi energy at first, seemed to mistake it for its own and stopped resisting.

As that happened, the raging Lunar Yin Qi began to settle down. I started using my qi to observe inside Seok Unjeong’s body, attempting to understand the true nature of the Lunar Yin Qi.

I thought that if I could understand what it truly was, I might be able to cure the Lunar Yin Pulse.

Just as I was about to approach the Lunar Yin Qi with my Tai Chi energy again, another scream startled me.

At first, I thought it was Seok Unjeong again, but sharpening my hearing, I realized the scream was coming from outside.

Not just one, but several screams echoed from different directions. With no choice, I withdrew all the qi from Seok Unjeong’s body.

That’s when I noticed that the qi I had absorbed carried a much stronger Yin energy.

‘Ah, the Lunar Yin Pulse harbors an extremely cold Yin energy.’

But the continued screams outside were too concerning for me to dwell on Seok Unjeong’s condition any longer.

I stepped outside.

Outside, I saw figures in black clothing rushing toward us with weapons in hand.

“Miss Jeong, intruders. Protect Miss Seok.”

“Yes, Young Master Yong. Don’t worry about this place.”

‘But who would dare attack the Namgung Clan?’

It was reckless beyond reason.

The Namgung Clan was known as the strongest of all the Martial Clans.

Whoever was behind this attack, I wondered how they planned to deal with the aftermath.

I slashed at the attackers rushing toward me with my sword.

But they blocked all my sword strikes perfectly and attacked in unison.

As we fought, I realized their martial arts style was similar to that of the subordinates of the Third Young Master, whom I had fought in Soho.

“Are you the Third Young Master’s men?”

They didn’t respond to my words and just kept attacking.

“Damn it!”

Unable to waste more time with them, I had no choice but to enter the state of Flowing Compliance.

Using Spatial Awareness, I deflected all their attacks and slipped through the gaps in their formation.

Identifying the space between their attacks, I pierced my sword through it.

When I pierced the chest of the black-clad man on the right, he suddenly coughed up blood from his throat. His companion’s vision was momentarily blocked by the blood, causing him to lose sight of me.

“Damn it!”

Just then, I felt a sting on my neck.

As if I had been stung by a bee, I instinctively grabbed my neck. My head tilted to the side as I collapsed.

While taking down two enemies at once, I immediately dove back into the gap between the black-clad men.

“He’s a strong one! Stay sharp!”

At someone’s roar, three of them threw themselves at me as if they intended to die together.

But they couldn’t dodge my sword and collapsed one after another.

‘They seem like elites of some clan, but how can they be stronger than even an elder of a sect?’

One of them swung his sword while thinking that.

Realizing he was the only one left, he tried to retreat.

But before he could even turn around, his knee buckled and the ground rushed toward him.

Thud!

After toppling the last five of them, I dashed toward the VIP Pavilion, where the screams were coming from.

There, the enemies were already locked in a bloodbath with the young masters of the Namgung Clan.

“Damn!”

As I moved toward the young masters, I opened my eyes wide in shock.

Danmok Gyeol lay on the ground, trembling with half his chest torn apart.

Seomun Yuwon was coughing up blood continuously, gravely injured.

These were all the young masters who had their qi drained by Ihwa Fairy.

Even if Seomun Yuwon somehow survived, Danmok Gyeol was beyond saving.

If Namgung Sohong, who had recently formed a close bond with Danmok Gyeol, found out about this, she might faint on the spot.

Danmok Wan collapsed to the ground, sobbing as her brother lay dying.

That was how dire the situation was.

Seeing me, Paeng Giyok shouted.

“Hwarin is here!”

“It’s Young Master Yong!”

Even Shangguan Joyoung, who had been desperately fighting, unconsciously shouted loudly. He had seen me as a rival, but in this moment, he had never been more relieved to see me.

Having recently grown close to Seomun Yuwon, he fought with desperation after witnessing his fall and Danmok Gyeol’s death.

Paeng Cheollyeon, her face covered in blood, continued swinging her blade without care for her condition but turned when she noticed me.

“Young Master Yong is here! Everyone, hold on!”

It was as if I had become their savior.

Seeing these survivors, who had once escaped from the secret branch of Ihwa Palace, dying so easily here in the Namgung Clan’s territory filled me with fury.

Though I hadn’t built deep relationships with them, they were people I had at least developed some familiarity with through various encounters.

Only the disciples of Mount Hua’s later generation were holding their ground properly against the enemies.

Mount Hua, having trained in sword formations as their foundation, maintained balance by countering the enemy with the Five Elements Formation.

The other martial clans, who didn’t prioritize sword formations, were helpless against this kind of surprise attack.

“Young Master!”

Behind me, the Ten Pillars of the Heavenly Central Sect gathered.

“Protect the young masters!”

But Mu Iso shook his head.

“We have a duty to protect you, Young Master.”

“First, tend to the wounded and protect the young ladies!”

At my command, Mu Iso could no longer refuse.

“Understood.”

As Mu Iso and the Ten Pillars began supporting the young masters and the young ladies of the clan, the losing battle started to turn around rapidly.

“Damn it, what is the Namgung Clan doing? We’re being attacked like this!”

From a corner, Cheong Geonmin shouted angrily.

Of his five guards, three had already fallen, leaving only two to defend him.

Jegal Cheongyeong and Jegal Yeongcheon were fighting while keeping the non-martial Jegal Yohye protected in the center. When Jegal Cheongyeong spotted me, she gave a faint smile.

I steeled my resolve again, knowing I had to hold this place until the Namgung Clan’s warriors arrived.

With just a few sword strikes, I brought down more of the advancing enemies.

Corpses of black-clad enemies began piling up around me.

From atop a pavilion on the opposite side of the Namgung Clan’s grounds, First Young Master watched the scene and asked,

“Do you know who that is?”

A scholarly-looking young man replied,

“Judging by his appearance, he seems to be Yong Hwarin of the Heavenly Central Sword Alliance. I heard even the Third Young Master suffered greatly and had to retreat because of him. On top of that, he killed the Crimson Demonic Twins, which enraged the Grand Duke.”

First Young Master nodded.

“Indeed, he’s skilled enough to give my brother a hard time. He’s on another level compared to the rest. The Crimson Demonic Twins weren’t just any experts. If he killed them, this one is truly dangerous.”

“I think so too.”

Still, it was frustrating that nearly a hundred subordinates couldn’t subdue him.

Unlike the cunning Third Young Master Eum Sajeok, who knew when to retreat from stronger opponents, First Young Master was a fighter who burned with fighting spirit. That worried the young man.

Sure enough, First Young Master couldn’t take his eyes off me, clearly itching to fight.

At that moment, First Young Master turned his head toward the opposite direction.

“Quite the quick response.”

The Namgung Clan’s elites had begun rushing toward the VIP Pavilion.

Paeng Giyok and I both let out a sigh of relief as the Namgung Clan’s warriors finally arrived.

We thought the attackers would retreat now.

But the black-clad men showed no signs of fleeing or falling back, as if they intended to fight to the death here.

Seeing this, I realized their true objective.

‘Ah, so they came to rescue Ihwa Fairy. They attacked us to draw the Namgung Clan’s forces here, intending to smuggle Ihwa Fairy out while we were distracted. That’s why they’re not retreating. We need to finish them off quickly to minimize the damage.’

Just as I was thinking that, a wagon rolled into view among the Namgung Clan’s warriors.

Seeing it, Ho Cheongun spoke.

“Huh? Isn’t that the wagon we brought as part of our cargo?”

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