episode_0016

A poor child grows up quickly.

Even a sick child does.

And Jinjangmyeong was both sick and poor.

He wasn’t even poor from the beginning.

When the fever subsided and the dizziness faded, the decorations in the house disappeared, and the servants dwindled.

The spacious garden withered into a cramped, damp corner of the room.

Dad, who went to get medicine, never returned.

Instead, only the medicine came back.

It should have been the other way around.

Mom couldn’t even properly mourn.

On sleepless nights, pretending to be asleep, Jinjangmyeong heard Mom sobbing quietly.

Not long after, he left home.

It was all his fault.

So Jinjangmyeong had to be a troublemaker.

He had to be a naive child.

Becoming mature at a young age only hurt Mom, he understood.

And then he saw her.

A foolish woman with an expensive meal laid out, pretending to be happy.

In Jinjangmyeong’s heart, something dark boiled.

And then he took a bite.

Indulging in the provocation, he ended up overeating until his stomach burst.

The food was delicious, but he couldn’t stand Mom’s pitiful gratitude.

Because it shouldn’t be like that.

It was just a superficial kindness from a foolish person who only wanted the world to be happy.

An endlessly light, shoddy kindness.

—-

Inside the slowly rolling carriage.

Carriages were originally slow-moving objects.

If you speed up a bit, they become instruments of torture for the passengers’ buttocks rather than a means of transportation.

Inside, Ahcheong was struggling.

“Mom, is this really okay?”

“This kid is a bit too much… My dear, Mr. Daehyeop must be uncomfortable.”

“…I’m fine here.”

The comfort of the ride ultimately depended on how scientific the cushioning effect was.

The shock absorption of the carriage relied entirely on the elasticity of the wood.

That’s why Jinjangmyeong’s words were not wrong.

Ahcheong’s thighs, filled with muscle and flesh rather than just cotton padding, provided much better comfort.

And it was good to lean against her back.

After the night’s attack, Jinjangmyeong’s attitude changed.

He didn’t stick to her like a piece of gum.

Instead, Ahcheong became uncomfortable.

If it were just a ten-year-old kid, you could easily hold them in your arms, pat their head, and praise them.

But if it was a petite sixteen-year-old girl?

Just sitting her on your knees was enough to prepare for social death.

And her mother was on the opposite side!

So Ahcheong had to stiffen up.

But isn’t sixteen too young to sit on someone’s lap and play around?

Isn’t it? Is this the distance girls keep?

In fact, Jinjangmyeong was enjoying her sensitive reaction like a sick child.

He noticed that Ahcheong was quite uncomfortable with physical contact.

Jinjangmyeong pushed a little further.

He grabbed Ahcheong’s left and right hands, placed them on his thighs, and intertwined them.

Ahcheong stiffened.

This is really awkward.

To others, he might look like a lady holding her nephew, but it wasn’t the same for Ahcheong.

The saying that inner beauty matters ultimately means that how each individual perceives the world is important.

Ahcheong kept her composure.

Is this a green light? No.

Uh, Ahcheong. Ahcheong’s composure.

Even the various memes that usually come to mind when things get awkward or uneasy didn’t pop up this time.

You were a stormy teenager until yesterday.

When did you and I become us?

Somehow, Achyeong was trying to swallow the nonsense.

“Daehyeop.”

Achyeong was startled by the uncomfortable voice.

Yang Sowol’s stern face was visible.

“I am innocent! As you saw earlier, this was not my intention,”

“It seems like I chose the wrong apprentice.”

Fortunately, it was not an investigation into child abuse.

But why is the apprentice again?

Ah, the apprentice really can’t handle the carriage.

It felt like he had become one with the ground.

He remembered a time when he went on a drive to celebrate his friend’s first car.

He got motion sickness within thirty minutes.

The driver’s influence on the ride is like that.

“The carriage’s speed is decreasing.”

Yang Sowol drew his sword.

Achyeong was surprised.

Even if the apprentice pushed the carriage with his foot, isn’t using a sword a bit too much?

Or is this common sense in the martial arts world?

There might be a custom in the martial arts world to punish apprentices who can’t handle carriages.

It’s such a harsh industry.

Then where do novice apprentices gain experience?

While Achyeong was still confused, Yang Sowol shouted abruptly.

“It’s now!”

There was no time to hesitate.

Yang Sowol forcefully kicked the door and jumped out.

It probably meant to follow him, not to watch.

Achyeong also grabbed his sword and jumped out.

“Darn it! They noticed!”

“Hit them! As long as the kid is fine!”

Unexpectedly, a crowd of illusions gathered.

Achyeong finally realized the situation.

These guys haven’t given up yet.

Achyeong’s hand groped inside his pocket and shot out.

One of the attackers grabbed his eye and screamed in pain.

But anyone would scream like that if a chopstick pierced their eyelid.

After the attack last night, Achyeong reflected a lot.

He became too complacent after gaining confidence as a master.

If his skills were a little lacking, he wouldn’t be breathing so easily now.

So he released some of his accumulated training points.

He raised two of his internal energy techniques to 10th level out of the thirty or so with a white border.

Although he couldn’t reach the pinnacle of 12th level mastery due to the lack of a 12th level mastery technique, there was still a 20% increase in total power.

And he raised one memorization technique to 10th level.

Iljeosamjak.

A throwing technique that means catching three sparrows with one chopstick, it was an easily obtainable memorization technique, so it was difficult to expect much power from it.

However, even a third-rate memorization technique becomes different when used by a master.

Iljeosamjak is an easily obtainable memorization technique that uses a stick, so its power is inherently low.

So the secret lay in the Sungdong stance.

The memorization flew towards the eyes.

One attacker had already become a target.

The attackers prepared themselves. They raised their arms to be able to fend off any attack at any time.

But then a low straight line pierced through their armpits.

The second victim couldn’t even scream.

Instead, he clutched his lower abdomen and frothed at the mouth.

A ruthless attack that severs the lineage.

The attackers felt a bone-chilling fear.

“This is ruthless!”

“Witch, a witch! There’s a witch here!”

In truth, Achyeong also felt a little sorry.

But in this brutal world where one must kill or be killed, should means be spared?

He had only neutralized two with a chopstick, but it was worth the investment in training points.

Achyeong drew his sword. A sharp red sword energy rose.

“Ultimate master!”

“Damn it, I didn’t say ultimate!”

The men hesitated.

Achyeong was about to jump out, but only his forefoot stepped forward.

The startled enemies quickly retreated.

Acheong was conflicted.

Can I bleed this guy out by stabbing him in the side?

I practiced my combat skills in real life last night.

It seems like there’s no expert here, and there shouldn’t be any problems.

If a fierce anger inflicts a deep wound on delicate sensibilities?

At that moment, Yang Sowol flew in gracefully.

“Daehyeop, save Mingi!”

“I trusted you!”

Acheong shouted in exhilaration.

His hands were free. They were all defeated.

The two villains who followed Yang Sowol were cut horizontally by a single sword.

As their bodies separated, their contents spilled out.

The enemies facing Yang Sowol quickly retreated.

And then…

“Stop!”

A man from the Juisang clan appeared out of nowhere, holding a weight in his hand.

Acheong recognized his face.

“You! Yesterday!”

He was the guy who threw and missed yesterday.

Thanks to him, Acheong had a forced experience of being a prison guard.

The gleam disappeared from Acheong’s eyes.

I remember saying I would definitely kill that bastard.

Juisang seemed oddly confident even in the face of death.

And as if to show off, he raised his arm high.

In his hand was a black, large, round object.

“Stop! Can’t you see this? If you don’t all want to die, release that kid right now-”

But Acheong’s eyes had already rolled back.

Of course, she couldn’t see.

Thud! The sound of the Juisang clan’s forbidden technique.

The upper part of Juisang’s wrist was wiped clean.

And the black, large, round object was pushed back and flew far away-

The sound turned into a shockwave that shook the forest.

Trees swayed, dry leaves fluttered, and grass lay flat. Birds flew up in unison.

A faint earthquake pushed against the soles of their feet.

A wall-breaking bomb.

The secret weapon of the Guanbu and the worst nightmare of the martial world.

The only countermeasure was the Hosin Steel Armor.

Even the peak experts would be engulfed by the explosion, leaving no trace of their bodies.

But Acheong didn’t know about any of that.

Acheong already had Juisang’s throat in a tight grip.

“You bastard. I told you I would kill you.”

“I-I didn’t, say that, kind of, thing.”

“You didn’t? In your heart. Desperately.”

“That’s not-”

There’s no separate high-level expert when you press on the neck artery.

Juisang lost consciousness and collapsed.

This guy shouldn’t die so easily.

Now, how do I kill him so that it’s considered a good kill?

But before that.

Acheong’s head turned sharply.

A bright smile and dead eyes faced the attackers.