Chapter 19

He held the sword's body vertically in the center, showed his respect, and then Jang U-yang leaped. Jang U-yang unleashed his sword at the same time as he leaped. The movement of the sword was like a fluttering, falling flower petal. The moment one fluttering petal stopped in mid-air, the petal trembled and spewed out 18 sword shadows into the air. The dazzling display was like a falling flower petal being blown by the wind, with an undeniable momentum and change.

"Chaotic Flower Sword!"

But the person who was truly surprised was not Bi Ryu-yeon, who was directly facing the sword. The one who let out a surprised cry from behind was Jin Ryeong. The person in question, Bi Ryu-yeon, on the other hand, stood leisurely with an air of even Composure. With a smile on his lips...

The Chaotic Flower Sword, to be precise, the 'Chaotic Flower Flying Sword Sixteen Forms,' was a sword technique considered an ultimate skill even in the Emei Sect, and it was not an art that was carelessly passed on to outsiders. She knew that the Bureau Chief of this Jungyang Escort Bureau called himself a lay disciple of Emei, but she had never imagined that he would have learned the Chaotic Flower Sword. She didn't know how many of the 16 forms of the Chaotic Flower Sword Bureau Chief Jang U-yang had learned, but the fact that a person who was considered an outsider, thinking that being a lay disciple was just a name, had learned the Chaotic Flower Sword was a sufficiently surprising event for Jin Ryeong.

Moreover, judging by the 18 changing sword shadows, she could tell that he had learned the Chaotic Flower Sword to a high level. The subtlety and true value of the Chaotic Flower Sword were its dazzling and splendid display through the interchange of feints and real moves. The subtlety of the Chaotic Flower Sword was to confuse the opponent by switching the feint and real moves of the sword shadows that were shot out.

This secret was also applied to the Chaotic Flower Hand, which was on par with the Chaotic Flower Sword. If he had not properly mastered this secret, the change drawn by the eighteen sword shadows would have been impossible now. His nickname, Eighteen Swords, was not a name he had gotten for free by just swearing all the time. The 18 sword shadows fiercely stabbed towards Bi Ryu-yeon.

'It's in.'

The moment Jang U-yang thought it had gone in properly, the sword passed through Bi Ryu-yeon's body as if it were aimed at a phantom, as if it were swung at an illusion. But Jang U-yang's sword had passed through Bi Ryu-yeon's afterimage. Bi Ryu-yeon dodged through the place where the 18 sword shadows were dancing wildly as if turning time and space into nothing, and kicked the belly of Jang U-yang, who was making a dazed expression.

"Thoughtless Kick."

After the move had hit the opponent, Bi Ryu-yeon said the name of the move. The reason he didn't kindly teach the name of the move before attacking was that the time it took to activate the technique was faster than the time it took to say the three characters of the move's name. If you attack after saying the move, wouldn't you be wasting (delaying) that much time? For techniques that focused on speed or closing-in techniques that dug into the opponent's space, shouting the move's name was like poison.

To be honest, shouting the move's name looks cool, but it's not something you can do anytime. This kicking technique, named 'kicking without any thought,' was a kicking technique corresponding to one of the one fist method, one palm method, one kicking method, and one finger method of the Flying Thunder Sect's pseudo-martial arts, and it was a kick performed mercilessly from a natural state without any thought. This kicking technique was somehow like a ghost, and if you got caught up in it, you couldn't avoid it, and if you were hit, its power was no joke.

Jang U-yang was sent flying, spewing a fountain of blood from his mouth. Still, at the moment of impact, he had greatly reduced the concentrated force, so he did not inflict a serious injury that would be life-threatening. If he died, who would he claim damages from? Because all his efforts so far would be for nothing, he had slightly reduced the force in his foot.

Seeing the Bureau Chief collapse, spewing a fountain of blood, the Chief Escort Leader, 'Fast Spear' Deung Yeo-un, and the Deputy Chief Escort Leader, 'Flickering Flame Spear' Deung Yeo-ho, couldn't hold back and charged in. These two were warriors who had appeared with the Bureau Chief from the beginning, and as their names suggested, they were brothers, and both were masters of spearmanship. Since the Bureau Chief had stepped up himself, they had remained silent, but now that he had been knocked down in one blow, they could no longer just watch.

"You bastard."

"You bastard."

Perhaps because they were brothers, the shouts they let out when attacking were also the same. Fast Spear Deung Yeo-un, Flickering Flame Spear Deung Yeo-ho. Their secret technique, the 5-Stage Chain Attack, was well-known for being difficult to break because the five changes all stabbed in at different time intervals. Moreover, the combined attack of the 5-Stage Chain Attack, manifested simultaneously from the left and right, was so threatening that it was evaluated as being impossible for anyone to block.

Individually, their skills were below that of the Bureau Chief, Eighteen Swords Jang U-yang, in the Jungyang Escort Bureau, but in terms of a combined attack, their martial arts were stronger than the Bureau Chief's. Their combined attack exerted a terrifying power that even the Bureau Chief, Eighteen Swords Jang U-yang, could not block.

Deung Yeo-un's ink-black spear, holding five changes, stabbed towards Bi Ryu-yeon's right side, and Deung Yeo-ho, holding a spear of the same material and color, attacked Bi Ryu-yeon's left side, also using the same technique, the 5-Stage Chain Attack, with his spear.

A simultaneous attack from the left and right by two top-class masters, and moreover, both of their weapons were spears. Their effective attack range was much longer than that of the currently bare-handed Bi Ryu-yeon. But even as their attacks came right in front of his nose, Bi Ryu-yeon didn't even think of moving. The distance to Bi Ryu-yeon's body was now about 10 centimeters.

It was then. Suddenly, Bi Ryu-yeon crossed his hands above his head and at the same time moved his left foot towards his right heel, and by that force, he rotated at a furious speed. In that instant, a strong gust of wind seemed to blow around Bi Ryu-yeon, and the postures of the attacking Deung Yeo-un and Deung Yeo-ho began to be disrupted by the force of the gust. As if they were trees being sucked into a whirlpool, their offensive was swept towards Bi Ryu-yeon, and the spear of the older brother, Deung Yeo-un, which was stabbing towards the right side, narrowly missed the front of his chest, and at the same time, the spear of the younger brother, Deung Yeo-ho, which was stabbing towards the left side, narrowly missed Bi Ryu-yeon's back. And...

"Thwack."

Bi Ryu-yeon's hands, which had been raised above his head, turned into hand-blades and strongly struck the necks of the attacking Deung Yeo-un and Deung Yeo-ho. Without even being able to use all five changes, the two brothers, who were born under one father, lived in one house, ate at one table, served one master, held one weapon, and learned one martial art, slammed their faces into the ground at the same time. As if blocking the combined attack of the Chief Escort Leader and Deputy Chief Escort Leader brothers, who were the strongest here, was not enough, after knocking them down, Bi Ryu-yeon said one thing.

"Move Name. None!"

Since he had just moved his body as needed, there was no such thing as a move name. In this way, from the lowest-ranking escort of the Jungyang Escort Bureau to the Great Escort Leader, the Chief Escort Leader, and the Bureau Chief, everyone ended up being stretched out on the ground by Bi Ryu-yeon and his group of disciples.

Bi Ryu-yeon, who had triumphantly approached the Bureau Chief who was lying there, beaten, pulled his ear and said in a loud voice. It was a voice, but to Jang U-yang's ears, it sounded louder than thunder.

"How is it, are you sober? It's human nature for anyone to feel pain when they're hit. By the way, shall we continue the story we were having earlier? That guy, Ganggan-han, was so rude. Interrupting the words of his elders. This is why you have to educate your subordinates well. Education is important. The fact that your subordinates are not well-educated is all your responsibility. By the way, my disciple, the victim, is a direct descendant of the Sichuan Tang Clan. Did you know? The Tang Clan, the T-a-ng Clan! I heard that they are a renowned family of poison and hidden weapons, and if you are hit by the poison they use, only a handful of blood remains, and the hidden weapons they throw can never be dodged. You've heard of it too, right? The one power of Sichuan, the Sichuan Tang family. Their name was quite famous. So much so that my ears were ringing."

The color drained from the Bureau Chief's face. There was no way he didn't know. Who in the martial world of Sichuan, no, the entire Jianghu, would not know of the great renowned family of poison and hidden weapons, the Sichuan Tang Clan? Moreover, this was the land of Sichuan, and Jang U-yang knew the power of the Tang Clan better than anyone and felt it on his skin.

Furthermore, if the disciple who was attacked was really a direct descendant of the Tang family, he wouldn't even be able to ask the Emei Sect for help. Because there was no just cause to ask for help. It was clear that the Emei Sect would not be able to move even if the Tang Clan invaded and turned the Jungyang Escort Bureau into a mess. Because they had a just cause, but the Emei Sect and he did not.

In fact, Bureau Chief Jang U-yang knew these situations well, but Bi Ryu-yeon, on the other hand, did not. Since Bi Ryu-yeon had been stuck in the mountains all this time or had only lived in a village with a blacksmith's shop, how much would he know about the Sichuan Tang Clan? He had just spouted whatever he had picked up here and there, mixing in some exaggeration and bluffing. But to Jang U-yang, the Bureau Chief of the Jungyang Escort Bureau who made a living by escorting in the land of Sichuan, it was by no means a joke.

"Is... is that r-really true?"

"Of course it's true. Am I in a position to lie right now? His younger sister is also here with us. If you want to confirm, go ahead and confirm. But I can't be responsible for what happens next. She's on the verge of exploding right now. If she blows up while you're asking, no one can stop her. She's got quite a temper too. She might go home and bring all her relatives and invade. Still want to try?"

Bi Ryu-yeon looked at Jang U-yang with a bright and healthy smile. It was a great confidence. That seemingly endless, absurd confidence was now pressing down on Jang U-yang's mind and body like a karmic burden. Confirmation? He had not the slightest desire to do so. In this land of Sichuan, making an enemy of the Sichuan Tang Clan or getting on their bad side was by no means a wise action.

If he confirmed and it was true, it would be an even bigger problem, and what if it was fake? There was no way. Hadn't it already been broken as much as it could be, and the situation was already over? Moreover, judging by that confidence and skill, it had to be true.

"Wh-what should I do?"

The Bureau Chief asked with a trembling voice. At a glance, Bi Ryu-yeon looked older than him, so Jang U-yang, who did not know that Bi Ryu-yeon was wearing a human-skin mask, used honorifics. Jang U-yang's face, which had no trace of vitality, seemed to be getting paler and paler.

"Don't you know very well what you should do!"

Bi Ryu-yeon said, extending his right hand in front of Jang U-yang's nose.

"...?"

"I demand compensation for the physical and mental damages suffered by my disciple and me, as well as his friends and their families, relatives, and kin, as I mentioned earlier."

The compensation for the mental damages suffered by the disciple's friends and their families, relatives, and kin, which was not mentioned when he first spoke, had been added as an additional item. This was because the compensation for the use of force and the resulting sweat that occurred during the process of trying to reach a mutual agreement had been added. But for the Escort Bureau Chief Jang U-yang, there was no longer a choice. If this matter got any bigger, that day would not just end with nailing the gate shut and taking down the sign, but might leave only a pile of black ashes and a pile of corpses.

"I understand. I... I will give it to you. In... in return, please make today's events as if they never happened..."

Bureau Chief Jang U-yang said with difficulty, his words trailing off. It was clear that he was restless, wondering what he would do if Bi Ryu-yeon refused. For Jang U-yang, there was a need to smooth over this matter somehow, no matter what sacrifice he had to make.

"Of course."

"Pang."

"Heok."

As if stamping a contract, he agreed, cheerfully stamping his hand on Bureau Chief Jang U-yang's back. In this way, Bi Ryu-yeon was able to extort a huge amount of compensation from the Jungyang Escort Bureau under the pretext of compensation for the physical and mental damages suffered by himself, his disciple, and his disciple's friends and family. Only Bi Ryu-yeon knew how much he had received, and he did not disclose it at all. Because he was reluctant for others to know.

"Uhehe."

A pleased smile, a slightly strange laugh, lips that looked like they would split at any moment, a heavy-looking sack held in his hand, and in addition to the visible sack, in Bi Ryu-yeon's clothes was a piece of paper called a 'money draft' that he had secretly hidden from his disciples. But not a single one of the disciples knew that fact. Nor the fact that the amount written on that paper was greater than the amount in the bundle...

After finishing all their venting, Bi Ryu-yeon and his disciples began to climb the mountain towards the training center with bright hearts. On the way past the middle of autumn, the mountain had changed its clothes to brilliant red and beautiful yellow, dazzling people's eyes. The wind, too, had become cool. Only the sun was shining its last remaining warm light on the earth. The time for them to part was also approaching.