The Heaven-Slaying Sword - Chapter 34

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈

Chapter 34: Chapter Five - Dragon-Phoenix Assembly (7)

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Mok Ri-won was naturally fond of people.

Meeting strangers gave him new experiences and stimulation, and every relationship he formed was a precious treasure to him.

Even so, there was a type of person that made even Mok Ri-won uneasy.

People who looked at him with lecherous eyes.

White Phoenix Hye-un, standing before him now, was one such person. The courtesans he had met in Suyang County, Jiangxi, were another.

Whenever Mok Ri-won encountered that sort of gaze, he was gripped by an inexplicable revulsion and fear.

“It seems you've just finished training. You're drenched in sweat.”

“Y-yes...”

Mok Ri-won hesitantly backed away.

Seeing him like that filled Hye-un with mischief.

‘I want to make him cry.’

How thrilling would it be to see tears well up in those pretty eyes?

How thrilling would it be if he bit his lip because he couldn't bear the shame?

And when he finally gave in to desire, panting for breath... Dang Hwa-seo's expression as she watched him...

“...Hehe.”

A laugh slipped out before she could stop it.

Her cheeks began to heat at the images in her mind.

Mok Ri-won's lips trembled at the sight.

“W-well, I really must be going!”

Dang Hwa-seo had told him to come find her if Hye-un approached him.

Mok Ri-won remembered that clearly.

He tried to flee at once, but...

Thud.

“Ah!”

The sound from behind made him stop short.

Mok Ri-won whipped around.

Hye-un was sprawled on the ground, rubbing her ankle.

For a Buddhist nun, her attire was remarkably provocative, leaving her pale ankle brazenly exposed.

“I tripped over a stone...”

It was absurd.

For a martial artist of her standing to twist an ankle on a mere stone was as ridiculous as claiming the Black Path helped the poor.

But Mok Ri-won was too flustered for that thought to occur to him.

“A-are you all right?”

He approached Hye-un with a worried expression.

The price of that carelessness was dreadful.

Grab.

“Caught you.”

Hye-un smiled playfully and seized Mok Ri-won's wrist.

The tremor she felt as she gripped him, the fear slowly spreading across his face, and the way he twisted helplessly as he tried to pull away were a more intoxicating aphrodisiac than anything else.

“Let go...”

“Why were you trying to run away?”

“I-I wasn't running away. I was simply in a hurry.”

“Really? It didn't seem that way to me. I only spoke to you because I wanted to become closer to you, Benefactor Mok. Yet you keep avoiding me. Even I would be hurt by that.”

More than a week had passed since the Dragon Phoenix Gathering began.

There was a reason Hye-un had not approached him sooner.

Like a seasoned hunter studying prey before the hunt, Hye-un had spent that time observing what kind of person Mok Ri-won was.

‘Guilt works well on him.’

Despite his appearance, he had an innocent side.

“It isn't like that...!”

Indignation welled up inside Mok Ri-won.

‘W-why are you doing this to me?’

Why was she tormenting him?

He had done nothing wrong to her, so why was she trying to intimidate him?

“Did Miss Dang say something bad about me?”

Mok Ri-won's eyes wavered at the sudden question.

Seeing that brief hesitation, Hye-un put on a pitiful expression and spoke like a woman crushed by misfortune.

“As expected... Miss Dang must not like me. She's quite competitive, so perhaps she resented being placed on the same level as someone like me. Perhaps that's why she's kept spreading unpleasant rumors about me...”

Though it sounded like self-pity, she was clearly trying to drive a wedge between Dang Hwa-seo and Mok Ri-won.

Hye-un had only one goal.

Plant a momentary doubt between them, then slip into that gap.

But this was a bad move.

“...Miss Dang isn't that kind of person.”

For the first time, Mok Ri-won properly pushed back.

The flustered look from earlier was gone. Firm anger filled his face.

“...Pardon?”

“Miss Dang isn't that kind of person. Apologize.”

“What...”

“As Venerable Hye-un said, Miss Dang has great pride. But she isn't a coward who puts others down to protect that pride.”

‘Oh?’

Hye-un was taken aback.

It seemed she had touched a sore spot.

‘Smooth this over first. And don't provoke him about this again...’

After thinking quickly, she began to apologize.

“Ah, I misspoke...”

“People don't usually call that a slip of the tongue. What Venerable Hye-un did was clearly an attempt to drive us apart.”

The White Phoenix was dumbfounded.

“...Is that truly so important?”

“If this isn't important, then what is?”

Mok Ri-won shook off Hye-un's hand, rose to his feet, and gave an indignant snort.

“Miss Dang is an upright person! She always knows how to consider others! And that's not all! She's so generous that she always pays for my meals because I don't have enough money!”

He even crossed his arms as he continued praising Dang Hwa-seo.

Watching him, Hye-un suddenly thought, ‘He sounds like a child boasting about his parents.’

“What...”

“Miss Dang is clever too! On our journey from Jiangxi to this place, she mapped out every city we should visit and how we should travel. She knows geography that well! And do you know what else? She's read so many books that she can tell me the names of every plant and flower we see along the road!”

Mok Ri-won's voice gradually grew louder.

It was late at night, but this was She County, where the Dragon Phoenix Gathering was still in full swing. More and more martial artists emerged to see what the commotion was about.

Hye-un grew flustered as onlookers gathered.

“B-Benefactor Mok. Please, wait...”

“Miss Dang is also incredibly beautiful! Every time we visited a city, there were always countless people who blushed when they saw her!”

The crowd stirred.

“What is going on over there?”

“I don't know. That man appears to be the Ink Sword, but he's standing before the White Phoenix and praising the Poison Phoenix.”

“Good heavens, don't tell me the Ink Sword and the Poison Phoenix...!”

“Then the White Phoenix approached the Ink Sword and is being thoroughly rejected? Dear me, she shouldn't meddle with someone already spoken for.”

“Hush! Hush, you fool! Don't say such things so carelessly!”

The whispers among the crowd grew louder.

Mok Ri-won, lost in his own words, did not notice. Hye-un, standing before him, heard every whisper and turned bright red.

‘T-this...’

What humiliation was this in the middle of the night?

No, more importantly, this man named Mok Ri-won...

‘...He's completely insane, isn't he?’

There was no other word for it.

How could anyone say such embarrassing things without feeling ashamed?

Why did he look proud instead?

Hye-un felt embarrassed on Mok Ri-won's behalf as he continued his grand speech.

“P-please, stop now...”

“Miss Dang also has lovely hands! You may think they'd be covered in calluses because she's skilled in fist arts and claw technique, but she knows how to minimize the strain on her body through proper control of her internal energy! I once held Miss Dang's hands, and it truly felt as if I were dreaming!”

“Ooh!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Someone even began applauding.

Hye-un felt dizzy.

Then...

“...Young Hero Mok.”

Another key figure appeared.

It was Dang Hwa-seo, who had come out after hearing the late-night commotion and being struck by the uneasy thought, ‘Could it be?’

Of course, it was.

Dang Hwa-seo had been trembling with embarrassment since Mok Ri-won declared that Miss Dang was incredibly beautiful, waiting for an opening. At last, she could bear no more and stepped forward.

“Ah! Miss Dang!”

Mok Ri-won's face lit up.

Unable to lift her head, Dang Hwa-seo stared at the ground and trembled.

Even so, her reddened earlobes were exposed for all the world to see.

“Venerable Hye-un has misunderstood you, so I was clearing things up! Come here at once!”

Smack!

Dang Hwa-seo grabbed Mok Ri-won's wrist.

Then, moving as though she were using lightness arts, she hurried away with him.

The onlookers cheered at the two figures departing together.

Hye-un remained there, staring blankly at the sky.

‘W-what was that...?’

For the first time in her life, Hye-un found herself unable to understand men.

* * *

If anyone in the Central Plains were to die of embarrassment, it would surely be her.

Back in their lodging at the estate, Dang Hwa-seo made Mok Ri-won kneel while she tried to cool her burning face.

“What in the world were you thinking, saying that there?!”

Flinch.

Mok Ri-won's shoulders drew in.

Dang Hwa-seo couldn't bring herself to say more when she saw him like that. She could only let out several deep sighs.

“Venerable Hye-un insulted you... so...”

That was the best excuse he could manage.

No troublemaker had ever caused trouble quite like this.

She had told him to run if he saw Hye-un, yet what possessed him to stand there praising Dang Hwa-seo instead?

The more she thought about it, the more she felt like hanging herself. Yet somewhere deep inside, something that could only be called joy was blooming.

“I once held Miss Dang's hands, and it truly felt as if I were dreaming!”

Those words, the ones that had finally drawn her out, would not leave her mind.

Why did they make her happy?

If she had thought more deeply about it, she might have found the answer. But Dang Hwa-seo did not.

She was not kind enough to herself to face those feelings directly.

“...In any case, you did well to drive off that Lust Phoenix.”

Mok Ri-won beamed.

He thought today's scolding had not lasted very long.

“But.”

“...!”

“Don't ever do that again. Never. Ever.”

“A-all right!”

“Go get some sleep.”

“You sleep well too, Miss Dang!”

Mok Ri-won hurried out of the room.

Dang Hwa-seo dropped her head onto the table again, trembling.

Later, Jegal San heard the rumor and came by cackling, only to be punched in the solar plexus. That was another matter.

* * *

[Ink Sword! Victory!]

“Waaaaah!”

“Aaaaah!”

The next day, at the group tournament final, Mok Ri-won defeated his opponent in a single exchange once more and stepped down from the platform.

Dang Hwa-seo greeted him with a smile at the waiting area.

“You did well.”

“It was easy!”

Mok Ri-won smiled brightly and continued.

“Won't it be your turn soon? You must claim victory as well, Miss Dang!”

Dang Hwa-seo's Group Three would hold its final today, alongside Mok Ri-won's Group Four.

The tournament grounds, still burning with excitement from Mok Ri-won's victory, awaited her without having had time to cool.

“Yes. I will certainly return victorious.”

Dang Hwa-seo smiled faintly and steadied herself.

‘White Phoenix...’

Today's opponent.

She was a woman Dang Hwa-seo could not possibly like, but there was one fact she could not deny.

During the five years Dang Hwa-seo had been in a slump, Hye-un had first crossed the barrier to the peak realm.

Dang Hwa-seo clenched her fist.

‘The odds are low.’

But that did not mean defeat was certain.

Her martial arts did not fall behind sword arts in the slightest, and the training she had undergone and preparations she had made for today were more than enough.

She had spent over half her money absorbing Poisonous Qi.

She had also fully refined and absorbed the poison gland of the Human-Faced Spider she had obtained in the Valley of Meager Blood.

Her inner power was not lacking.

She could not lose.

‘I must reach the semifinals.’

For the sake of her plans, she had to show the world that she remained at least that capable.

As her thoughts continued...

[We will now begin the Group Three final!]

The announcer shouted.

* * *

People of the Martial World had one habit that could not be ignored.

They took great interest in other people's affairs, so much so that they gave accomplished martial artists bynames.

From that perspective, it was hardly strange that the Ink Sword's speech the previous night and the story of the two women involved had become the topic of everyone's interest.

The two women had already been regarded as rivals.

Now that they were clashing over one man, the situation was the finest firewood for making the tournament even hotter for the spectators.

“Poison Phoenix! Protect your love!”

Some cheered for Mok Ri-won and Dang Hwa-seo's love.

“White Phoenix! Love is something you seize!”

Others urged Hye-un to take Mok Ri-won away, declaring that love must be seized.

“Why not have all three of you get along? Ink Sword! The more, the better! The more, the better!”

Some even shouted for the three of them to get along, claiming the more, the better.

The tournament grounds rang with laughter.

But two people could not laugh.

“...”

Dang Hwa-seo and Hye-un stared at one another from atop the platform.