Chapter 26: Okay, Let’s Die (2)
by fnovelpia
In martial arts, there are realms of mastery.
A standard to measure strength— in gaming terms, it could be called a level.
Yang Hogol called himself a master.
And truthfully, it wasn’t wrong.
In the martial world, the moment one could wield sword energy, they were called a master.
That’s why those who reached the peak of mastery feared nothing.
Having overcome the first major hurdle a martial artist faces, their confidence overflowed.
This was what was commonly called the “Peak of Mount Stupidity.”
The time when everything in the world seemed most beautiful— that was the early stage of the peak realm.
Perhaps that was why.
Yang Hogol found it laughable when the man before him drew his sword.
Daring to draw a sword in front of a peak master?
It wasn’t surprising.
Given his bandit-like appearance, ignorant fools often mistook his skill for that of a mere bandit.
In fact, his heart raced at the thought of properly teaching this brat who knew nothing of the world’s vastness.
But wait—
His opponent was also a peak master.
But that was fine.
He, too, could wield sword energy.
The problem arose after that.
“!!!”
Strands of sword energy stretched out, forming a sword aura, and then suddenly, a crackling current of lightning flashed from the empty air.
As they say, you only see what you know.
As a master, Yang Hogol immediately recognized the phenomenon before him as the energy of thunder.
‘What am I seeing?’
Infusing energy with attributes was a feat only achievable by those at the pinnacle of the late peak realm, those who had reached the extremes of enlightenment.
Mastering the principles of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements was required— the interplay of creation and destruction, the essence and foundation of all things under heaven.
How could that not be difficult?
Moreover, mastering just one attribute was hard enough, but the thunder attribute was born from Yang yet belonged to Yin as the attribute of demonic destruction.
What was lightning?
Trapped in metal, striking from the sky to the earth, taking root, descending when rain fell, and igniting fire where it struck.
Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal.
To master the thunder attribute, one had to comprehend the essence of the Five Elements, making it the most viciously difficult of all.
Yang Hogol’s mind raced.
Freely wielding sword energy and sword aura, then drawing streaks of lightning from them.
So, who was this guy?
The answer: A fucking master.
“Let’s die.”
“……”
Yang Hogol’s face turned deathly pale.
Damn it, he’d acted out of line and was about to be turned into minced meat.
“Wait! Great Hero! Let’s talk!”
“Talk? You drank my wall wine. The price for that will be your life.”
“P-please, spare me! Just let me live!”
“Why should I? If I were weaker than you, would you have spared me? You’d have tortured me mercilessly until your amusement ran out, then killed me without hesitation. You know that, don’t you? The stench of blood reeks from your body.”
“N-no, that’s not true! I’ll do anything you ask, just… Ugh—!”
Before he could finish, something flashed past.
Crack!
A streak of lightning split the air, grazing Yang Hogol’s ear.
Just a graze, yet his skin burned as if scorched, tingling with numbness.
Yang Hogol let out an involuntary, hollow laugh at the sheer absurdity of its destructive power.
“Don’t laugh. It’s annoying.”
Yang Hogol gulped hard.
A terrifying sensation crept up his spine as the absolute master of lightning strolled forward with confident strides.
“G-Grandmaster!”
“Don’t speak. I’m currently lost in deep contemplation.”
Contemplation?
What kind of contemplation?
“I’m debating whether to kill you outright or just half-kill you.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Cold sweat dripped down Yang Hogol’s back.
“I-Is there, by any chance, an option where you just let me go?”
At those words, Cheongun’s eyes flashed.
Simultaneously, Cheongun slapped Yang Hogol across the face.
Smack!
“You think I’d let you go after all the shit you’ve pulled?”
Whack!
“Huh? Not even putting up a defense?”
Crack!
“This one’s for Byeok-ju!”
Slap! Slap!
“And this is for all the innocent lives you’ve taken!”
Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!
A series of crisp slapping sounds echoed through the air.
Palm strikes infused with inner energy rained down on Yang Hogol’s cheeks in a relentless barrage.
His lips split, his nose bled, and his face swelled until his already ugly mug became downright hideous.
His eardrums must have burst too, because his hearing turned muffled, accompanied by a persistent ringing.
The sound was so oddly satisfying that before long, a crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle.
After a long while of this brutal beating, Cheongun suddenly called over a waiter.
“Bring me some Byeokju.”
“Y-Yes, right away!”
The waiter scurried off and quickly returned with a gourd bottle filled with the liquor, handing it to Cheongun.
Trembling, Yang Hogol whimpered,
“I-I’m sorry…”
Cheongun took a few deep swigs of the Byeok-ju before replying.
“Get lost.”
“Th-Thank you!”
With that, Yang Hogol staggered away, shoving through the crowd as he fled the scene.
****
Yang Hogol.
He is the leader of the Iron Gate Mountain Stronghold and a figure in the Green Forest (a bandit organization).
This doesn’t mean he’s just a simple-minded petty thief— he’s a notorious figure in the martial world, a name that carries weight in the unorthodox sects.
“Acting in Heaven’s name to uphold justice.”
“Relieving the poor across the land.”
These were the ideals of the Green Forest— to carry out righteousness on behalf of Heaven and save the world by aiding the impoverished. In simpler terms, it meant taking wealth from the rich and redistributing it to the poor.
This was the lofty banner the Green Forest waved, the justification that they were not mere bandits but righteous outlaws.
Of course, it was all utter nonsense.
No matter how prettily they dressed it up, bandits were still bandits.
At the end of the day, they were nothing more than criminals who extorted money from innocent travelers under the guise of “tolls” to make a living.
And the Iron Gate Mountain Stronghold was a prime example.
These bastards didn’t just target the wealthy— they took from anyone they could lay their eyes on to fill their own pockets.
If it were just about money, that would be one thing, but if anyone so much as displeased them, they wouldn’t hesitate to torture or kill. A pack of vicious scum.
“Huff… haah…!”
Yang Hogol frantically fled the city of Seongdo.
He had been wandering around as usual, planning to extort some money and blow off steam, but he ended up crossing paths with a complete madman.
Beaten like a dog on the hottest day of summer, he barely managed to escape.
But—
“Damn it…!”
He had clearly been told to scram, so he scrammed.
Yet for some reason, that monstrous freak was still tailing them from a distance.
Yang Hogol’s body trembled uncontrollably.
If he hadn’t known the guy was following them, it might have been different— but seeing him stalk them so openly sent chills down his spine, as if a ghost were clinging to his back.
“Boss, that bastard’s still following us.”
“I know.”
“Come to think of it, he only told us to get lost— he never said he’d let us live.”
The bandits nodded at those words.
There was no way that guy was heading in the same direction as them.
So the only explanation was that he was deliberately following them.
Night fell, and darkness enveloped the land.
Yang Hogol settled in a suitable spot and lit a campfire.
Perhaps because everyone was uneasy about Cheongun trailing them, the men gradually gathered around the fire.
“See that?”
Yang Hogol pointed into the distance.
Far away, in the darkness, Cheongun’s piercing gaze was fixed directly on them.
Yang Hogol and his men broke out in cold sweat.
Trembling, Yang Hogol voiced his thoughts.
“We need a plan.”
“A plan, boss?”
“Yeah. You saw that guy, right? He’s not just your average lunatic. We can’t shake him off either. A master who can channel lightning through his sword isn’t someone we can lose with just tricks.”
“Then what do we do, boss?”
Yang Hogol looked around at his men with a troubled expression.
“Either lead him somewhere completely unrelated… or take him straight to the stronghold and offer everything we have to beg for our lives.”
“What do you think, boss?”
“If we try to lead him astray, he’ll probably catch on midway. That way, the stronghold’s location won’t be exposed, but we’ll definitely be killed by him.”
The bandits gulped at his words.
No matter what they chose, there was no good outcome.
So if they had to pick, the only option was to find a way to ambush him here.
The only problem was that the guy was far too strong.
Charging at him recklessly would just get them all slaughtered.
They needed some kind of clever scheme.
After a moment of thought, Yang Hogol asked his men:
“That guy… he seemed like he belonged to the orthodox sects, right?”
At those words, the bandits nodded in agreement.
Though his mannerisms were that of a rogue, the aura emanating from the internal energy he had cultivated was unmistakably that of orthodox Daoist martial arts.
At that moment, one of the men cautiously spoke up.
“Then… what if we take hostages?”
Hostages.
It meant grabbing a few innocent civilians and threatening,
“Back off now, or we’ll kill them!”
“Do you all agree with this plan?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Then let’s proceed with that. Starting today, we’ll take turns keeping watch. They might try a surprise attack.”
“Then, at dawn tomorrow, we’ll head to the nearest village—”
Suddenly, the bandit cut himself off mid-sentence.
“Uh… Chaeju-nim.”
“What is it?”
“That guy… earlier.”
The bandit gulped.
Then he raised a trembling finger and pointed beyond the trees.
There was nothing but thick darkness settling between the trunks.
“He was definitely watching us from over there… wasn’t he?”
At those words, the bandits, including Yang Hogul, quickly turned their heads.
Cheongun was nowhere to be seen.
“……”
An eerie silence filled the air.
It had been terrifying even when he was there— but now that he was gone, the fear and unease grew exponentially.
Gulp.
In the oppressive silence, even the crickets had gone quiet.
Only the sound of their own harsh breathing echoed in their ears.
Then it happened.
—Rustle!
Whip!
All their heads snapped upward at once.
From within the darkness, a pair of glowing, cold blue eyes stared down at them.
Cheongun, hanging upside down from a tree, met their gaze.
“Alright then. Let’s die.”
“……”
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