The Heaven-Slaying Sword - Chapter 9

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ The Heaven-Slaying Sword ◈

Chapter 9: Chapter Two - First Foray into the Jianghu, and the Demoness (3)

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To state the obvious, that was simply how it was.

Mok Ri-won knew nothing about women.

No, he did not understand the very concept of other people.

It was a trait born of his warped upbringing.

He had been born and raised deep in a mountain valley somewhere in Jiangxi.

The only people he had ever met were Mok Seon-o, who had raised him, and Ma Il-seok.

To Mok Ri-won, everyone besides those two was a fictional being who existed only in stories. As a result, he had developed a rather strange preconception about other people.

There were three kinds of people in Mok Ri-won's world.

Martial heroes who upheld righteousness, common folk who thanked them for it, and villains who stood opposed to martial heroes.

That was why he had no choice but to regard her, who looked like neither a martial hero nor a commoner, as a villain.

In other words, he had decided that the trembling in his heart was caused by her evil sorcery.

'A demoness! She must be a demoness!'

It was, admittedly, an understandable misunderstanding.

Unfortunately, there was no one here kind and patient enough to clear it up for him.

The woman before him, Hwa Seo, was a fugitive concealing her identity.

The assassins guarding her were all tense over Mok Ri-won's inner power.

An unknown master had suddenly drawn his sword.

To fugitives like them, he was simply a threat.

"Attack!"

Hwa Seo shouted.

The ceiling collapsed with a crash, and seven assassins shot toward him.

It was a clean combined attack technique, clearly honed through long practice together.

But they had picked the wrong opponent.

Clang!

Mok Ri-won's strike, backed by internal energy, crashed into one assassin's shoulder with the flat of his sword. The center of their combined attack collapsed.

A combined attack required its users to fit together perfectly and leave not the slightest opening. Once such a large gap appeared, the remaining six assassins were bound to panic for a moment.

Mok Ri-won's sword did not stop.

Clang!

Having regained their composure, one assassin lunged in from behind, only for Mok Ri-won to strike them in the waist.

The assassin flew back and collided with another rushing forward. In that opening, Mok Ri-won dealt with the enemies attacking from the other side.

Only two more moves followed.

With movements that struck at their vital points, Mok Ri-won sent every assassin sprawling across the floor.

Hwa Seo stared blankly.

'What...?!'

It made no sense.

They might have only recently entered the realm, but every one of them was an accomplished first-rate martial artist.

And that was not all.

Their combined attack was not some shabby street martial art. It was a technique regarded as a secret art even by the family they had fled.

How could it be broken so easily?

'...This is bad.'

Hwa Seo's eyes darted around.

Her only possible escape route was the window behind him, which he was blocking.

If she waited for an opening, she might be able to leap out through it...

'...But I can't leave them behind.'

They had risked their lives and fled the family with her to save her.

She could not abandon them just to preserve her own life.

'What do I do?!'

As Hwa Seo's worries deepened, the door shattered with a bang and a masked figure burst in.

It was So Hyang, her close attendant.

"Miss! Run!"

So Hyang drew a dagger and charged Mok Ri-won, but he had already noticed her. One strike from him sent her sprawling across the floor as well.

Clang!

"Urgh...!"

"Hyang!"

Hwa Seo let out a sharp cry, then made a far from rational decision.

Her eyes widened as she drew up the internal energy in her dantian.

Then, clenching her fist, she rushed at Mok Ri-won.

"Uh, huh?!"

Mok Ri-won panicked.

The moment he realized she was approaching, a thought occurred to him as the distance between them closed.

'P-powder scent...!'

What if she smelled of face powder, like the courtesans downstairs?

What if his body twisted up in embarrassment again, just as it had before?

It was only a moment's hesitation, but for Hwa Seo, an accomplished first-rate martial artist, it was a huge opening.

Her eyes gleamed as she opened her right hand.

Then she slashed at him with her nails.

It was a good attempt.

It might even have worked if her opponent had been anyone but Mok Ri-won.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Moving on instinct, Mok Ri-won struck her body with his index finger.

They were not ordinary pokes, but strikes infused with internal energy.

It was an acupoint-sealing technique that pressed her acupoints and sealed her internal energy and movement.

"Ghk...!"

Thud!

Hwa Seo fell straight to the ground.

The internal energy boiling within her had been blocked in an instant, and her body was so numb that she could not even move a fingertip.

Despair and rage.

Filled to the brim with both, Hwa Seo glared at Mok Ri-won with hatred.

Mok Ri-won grew flustered under her gaze and turned his head away.

'W-what do I do...?!'

Something seemed wrong.

Surely, the demoness should have revealed her true nature and muddled his mind with a seduction art, but the thing she had used at the last moment had been a claw technique.

No, even putting that secondary issue aside, her internal energy was clearly sealed. Why was his heart still pounding?

Mok Ri-won's head spun.

His mouth fell open as he stammered incoherently.

"Get upstairs! There's trouble on the upper floor!"

In the midst of his confusion, Mok Ri-won heard that shout.

It came from downstairs.

His head was already a mess from panic, excitement, and some inexplicable shyness. At the sound of that cry, Mok Ri-won suddenly grabbed Hwa Seo.

He hoisted her over his shoulder, squeezed his eyes shut, and leaped out the window.

"Miss!"

That was right.

It was a kidnapping.

* * *

Mok Ri-won finally stopped after more than two hours of running, even using his swift movement art.

'This place...'

Having run in a blind frenzy, he now found himself in a forest.

Only then did Mok Ri-won realize his mistake, his mouth falling open.

'I've gone too far!'

He had run without thinking, and now he did not even know the way back to Suyang County.

His face darkened at the thought that he might get lost.

Then something else startled him.

"...Put me down."

It was Hwa Seo's whisper from where she lay over his shoulder.

Warm breath brushed against his ear, along with a sweet scent that he was only now beginning to notice.

Mok Ri-won jolted in surprise and threw her to the ground.

Thud!

"Ugh...!"

A muffled groan slipped from Hwa Seo's lips.

Mok Ri-won could only keep taking deep breaths, his heart pounding wildly.

Hwa Seo ground her teeth.

"Where the hell did you come from?"

Her voice was cold.

Her eyes had lost none of their earlier ferocity, but Mok Ri-won was too flustered to notice.

"I-I came from the mountain valley back there!"

He squeezed his eyes shut and vaguely pointed somewhere in the mountain range with his index finger.

Hwa Seo glared at him so fiercely that her eyes became bloodshot.

"Stop playing tricks! Are you from the family? Or are you a master of the Black Path? You worm, don't think I'll do as you want just because you've put me in this state!"

"W-what are you talking about?!"

"Hah. Are you going to keep playing dumb to the end?"

Mok Ri-won trembled at Hwa Seo's murderous air as he stole glances at her.

'W-why is she so angry?!'

His methods might have been harsh, but she had no standing to say such things.

Was she not a wicked demoness exploiting common folk?

He had no doubt about that.

If she were not a demoness, if she were an ordinary entertainer, she would not know martial arts or have been able to throw his heart into such turmoil.

Mok Ri-won pointed at Hwa Seo, unable to hide his sudden sense of injustice.

"H-hey! This demoness sure has a lot to say! I've already heard it all from the common folk here! They said that ever since you came, the Black Path's protection fees have doubled! And is that all? Aren't you gathering outside masters right now to attack the government office?!"

"What?"

"I may be an inexperienced martial artist who entered the martial world only today, but I still know that chivalry and benevolence matter! Don't even think of denying it!"

Thinking he had sounded quite impressive, Mok Ri-won snorted and smiled.

Only then did Hwa Seo realize that something had gone terribly wrong.

'What...'

Something flashed through her mind.

"...He's being entertained. He's all curled up."

So Hyang's report that he had been all curled up while the courtesans entertained him.

"So it was a seduction art that bewitched me! But Mok Ri-won won't be brought down by something like that! Wicked demoness! Reveal your true nature now!"

The way he had suddenly accused her of using a seduction art.

And just before that, he had said he came from a mountain valley.

Hwa Seo let out a hollow laugh.

It was full of utter disbelief.

'Wait, no...'

Could it be true?

He was not from another group, but really just some country bumpkin?

Then what about his martial arts?

'...Was he taught by a reclusive master?'

It was the kind of story that belonged in cheap books for children.

Still, Hwa Seo could not dismiss the possibility.

In her experience, there was no reason for someone with such powerful martial arts to enter a pleasure house as a guest, infiltrate it, then reveal his martial arts later and kidnap her.

In other words...

'His actions have no consistency.'

If he meant to sneak in, he should have stuck to sneaking in. If he meant to cause a disturbance, he should have stuck to causing one.

Instead of properly doing one or the other, this man had made things unnecessarily complicated.

'...He's not a trained operative.'

And the way he now felt proud after saying something so absurd was exactly what some brat would do.

"Go on, make your excuses!"

He pointed at her, brimming with confidence.

A sudden feeling of wretchedness came over Hwa Seo.

'So I...'

She had not been kidnapped by the pursuing family or the Black Path of Suyang County, but by a country bumpkin who was only strong in martial arts.

The thought made her heart ache.

* * *

Overcome by helplessness, Hwa Seo sighed and tried to clear up the misunderstanding.

No, she had another purpose as well.

'Recruit him.'

He was a master with no affiliation.

On top of that, he spoke like a fool who knew nothing of the world, and he even seemed to have feelings for her.

If she used him well, he could be a great help in resolving several of the problems before her.

After making her calculations, Hwa Seo continued speaking.

The longer she spoke, though, the stranger Mok Ri-won's expression became.

"S-so..."

Though Mok Ri-won knew nothing of the world and did strange things because of it, Mok Seon-o had praised him countless times since childhood for his intelligence.

In other words, he could easily understand what Hwa Seo was saying.

"You became the pavilion proprietor because you bought the pleasure house from the former proprietor..."

"Right."

"The Black Path started collecting double the protection fees because they want to take the pleasure house from you..."

"You understand well."

"And the unidentified martial artists..."

"They are simply outsiders. Aren't you yourself a martial artist who came from elsewhere?"

Of course, there were not only ordinary outsiders among them.

There were surely people from the family who had followed her trail.

Hwa Seo did not feel the need to tell him that much, so she glossed over it, and the attempt worked.

"Then the seduction art...?"

"Ever since earlier, seduction art, seduction art. Why are you so obsessed with it? Did you come looking for me so you could fall victim to one?"