Unrivaled Spear Demon
61 The Name of a Foolish Boy (1)
The sound of raindrops, falling one by one, drumming against the blades of grass.
Bi Mugeuk blinked for a fleeting moment at the sight, as if the tiger he had once slain had come back to life.
“……Ah.”
He realized immediately that it was merely an illusion.
For the enemy before him was no mere beast to be compared to a tiger; he was a truly terrifying predator.
Bi Mugeuk looked at O Ja-un’s clean-shaven face and let out a dry laugh.
“So, you even know how to scheme?”
“It wasn’t my own wit, but I had a good teacher, and I watched and learned much by his side.”
O Ja-un also smiled as he looked at Bi Mugeuk.
There is a saying: Reducing the hearths to lure the enemy.
It is a ruse used during the movement of troops, where one reduces the number of cooking stoves to make the pursuing enemy misjudge the size of one’s army.
Chui had crossed the mountains, increasing the number of campfires, discarding food and water, and finally, by creating bloodstains, he had feigned that his physical condition was steadily deteriorating.
And as a result, Bi Mugeuk now stood face-to-face with an O Ja-un who was in peak condition.
However, Bi Mugeuk seemed a little concerned.
He drew the sword from his waist and spoke.
“I felled a large tree on my way here.”
“…….”
n
“It suddenly made me think of you.”
The gazes of Bi Mugeuk and O Ja-un met at a single point.
Bi Mugeuk continued.
“The trunk was too gnarled to be used as a plumb line, and the smaller branches were too twisted to fit a carpenter’s square or compass. So, I cut it down. It means that if something is too large, it is useless. Do you understand what I mean?”
At this, the corners of O Ja-un’s mouth curved slightly.
“A wildcat is small and fast, so it catches mice well, but a cow is large and slow, so it cannot catch mice. But, can you turn a mountain into a field with a wildcat?”
“…….”
“You say that a large tree has no place to be used, but what if that tree could be transplanted to the entrance or the center of a village? Children would come to hang swings, farmers would enter its shade to escape the scorching sun, and one could even place a flat bench there for travelers to rest.”
Upon hearing this, Bi Mugeuk’s brow furrowed.
“Questions and answers are, in the end, useless. Indeed, what need is there for conversation between a wildcat and a cow?”
“I did not necessarily compare you to a wildcat. However.”
O Ja-un’s eyes gleamed.
“I am the cow. A cow with the strength to carve away mountains and turn them into fields.”
“…….”
“If I were to go to the Demonic Cult, and if I were to return here, there is one mountain I would turn into a field first.”
“……!”
Hearing O Ja-un’s words, Bi Mugeuk’s eyes widened.
“You insolent fool! How dare you insult Huashan!”
“Hahaha—I merely said I would cultivate a mountain into a field; I do not know why you are so angry. Did I ever say I would turn Huashan into a wasteland?”
At the same time, Bi Mugeuk swung his sword.
O Ja-un also raised his only remaining arm and swung his blade.
Clang!
Thunder rumbled a bit early in the sky, where raindrops were just beginning to fall in earnest.
The sound of the two blades clashing fiercely erupted with a clamor.
O Ja-un’s sword and Bi Mugeuk’s sword stood on edge against each other, unfolding the essence of the Huashan Sect’s supreme technique, the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
First Form: Plum Blossoms by the Roadside.
Like plum blossoms auspiciously blooming by the road, the tips of their swords swayed with their usual tranquility.
The sight was so peaceful and composed that it appeared as if neither side harbored even a shred of hostility toward the other.
Second Form: Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance.
The plum blossom petals approached each other, dancing like butterflies.
The sword tips moved with such elegance that they appeared not the least bit dangerous, but rather, one felt the urge to reach out and caress them.
Third Form: Plum Blossoms Exhaling Fragrance.
The petals, fluttering like butterflies, seduced the opponent with a voluptuous glow.
It was a beauty so exquisite that it made the observer want to reach out and grasp it.
Fourth Form: Plum Blossoms Opening the Way.
Though they appeared beautiful, these plum blossom petals were all drawn by the tips of blades.
This was the stage where the sharp, true nature of the technique was revealed to the opponent who had been drawn in by the beauty.
Fifth Form: Plum Blossoms Falling in the Sun.
The plum blossom petals were everywhere, like falling sunlight.
Those who had been lured close by the beautiful appearance suddenly realized, upon seeing the plum blossoms filling the space around them, that there was nowhere left to retreat.
Sixth Form: Plum Blossoms Falling and Falling.
Plum blossoms fall and fall.
Plum blossoms fall and fall and fall.
Plum blossoms fall and fall and fall and fall again.
O Ja-un and Bi Mugeuk stared directly at each other through the endlessly scattering plum blossoms.
The title of ‘Plum Blossom Swordsman’ is one that only the greatest talents of the Huashan Sect can receive.
The two who were gambling their lives here were those very Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
Drip— Drip-drip—
By now, the rain had grown quite heavy.
Through the long, falling raindrops, Bi Mugeuk withdrew his sixth form.
O Ja-un also pulled his sword back.
He was half a step further back than Bi Mugeuk.
Bi Mugeuk spoke.
“The plum blossom petals are not falling evenly.”
“…….”
O Ja-un did not answer.
The loss of a left arm has a profound effect on one’s sense of balance.
Indeed, while the plum blossoms of both sides were blooming in a contest of momentum, the plum blossoms on the right side, where O Ja-un’s sword moved, were blooming slightly more evenly.
Watching this intently, Bi Mugeuk opened his mouth.
“I was the sword of the Golden Righteous Sword.”
……
O Ja-un did not answer.
Yet, Bi Mugeuk continued to speak regardless.
“And you were the gold of the Golden Righteous Sword.”
“…….”
Bi Mugeuk was recalling the time, long ago, when he had first entered the Huashan Sect.
At that time, the methods of wearing the Huashan Sect’s robes could be divided into three, and those three paths were collectively called the Golden Righteous Sword.
The first was the Golden Path.
This was the method of entering by paying a massive donation.
This money was primarily used to raise disciples who would later enter the Sword Path.
The second was the Righteous Path.
This was the method of entering through ties of loyalty.
Those who wore the Huashan robes through this method were mostly prominent figures from the government or their children, who did not reside within the Huashan Sect.
The third was the Sword Path.
This was the method of entering through sheer skill.
It was the path of selecting children who had neither money nor backing, based purely on their aptitude for the sword, allowing them to wear the Huashan robes; in a way, it was the most honest yet the most difficult path to pass.
In this, O Ja-un had entered the Huashan Sect through the Golden Path, and Bi Mugeuk through the Sword Path.
Bi Mugeuk recalled the time he first met O Ja-un.
A shaggy-haired boy wearing silk robes and carrying a fine sword.
Bi Mugeuk, who had been the child of a poor farming family, had inwardly looked down on him.
Unlike that rich boy who had entered the Huashan Sect thanks to his parents, he had climbed to this point solely through his own skill and grit.
However, Bi Mugeuk’s stubborn pride did not last long.
O Ja-un, who came from the Golden Path, possessed sword skills so exceptional that the claim he had entered with money became meaningless.
After entering, he broke all the records that had existed in the Huashan Sect and soared upward.
But Bi Mugeuk had not envied O Ja-un from the very beginning.
In his heart, he had acknowledged O Ja-un’s talent and aptitude, and he had envied and admired him.
That was why, in the beginning, he had tried to get along with him, even going out of his way to be friendly.
Then, one day.
Bi Mugeuk had headed to the training grounds after finishing his morning practice to perform additional personal training.
Just as a thousand days of practice is called dan and ten thousand days of practice is called ryeon, making ‘tempering,’ Bi Mugeuk had always been whipping his body and mind to their limits.
That day, too, Bi Mugeuk was repeating his tempering until the skin on his hands wore away and bled.
What he saw then was O Ja-un, who was hiding behind a tree by the well and taking a nap.
The moment he saw the beautiful Maegu disciple resting O Ja-un’s head on her lap, a certain emotion boiled up within Bi Mugeuk’s heart.
He always tempered himself with the resolve to die even after training was over, yet O Ja-un always went for a nap or a walk as soon as training ended.
And yet, he was always falling behind O Ja-un.
“……You were always like that. Even while you lazed about napping after training ended, you were still superior to me and everyone else. That is why Maegu's disciple began to take an interest in you as well.”
Bi Mugeuk swung his sword as if to shake off the past.
O Ja-un parried the blow.
Clang!
Bi Mugeuk’s sword, thrusting from below, fiercely pushed away O Ja-un’s sword, which had fallen from above.
O Ja-un, lacking a left arm, stumbled at the sudden, powerful impact.
O Ja-un, who had staggered back, had barely managed not to fall, but his upper body was almost twisted backward.
Seizing that opening, Bi Mugeuk, who had soared upward, lunged downward.
It was a movement like a hawk diving upon discovering a chick.
O Ja-un also prepared for the counterattack.
With his upper body twisted backward, he hid his sword behind his body.
And he prepared a counter-strike against the lunging Bi Mugeuk.
However.
“I can see everything!”
Even as he fell from above, Bi Mugeuk could accurately see the position of the sword hidden behind O Ja-un’s body.
It was because of the puddle formed by the pooling rain.
The puddle of rainwater that had formed at O Ja-un’s feet clearly told Bi Mugeuk exactly where the blade hidden behind O Ja-un’s body was pointed.
Bi Mugeuk intended to strike down with his sword just like that and cut O Ja-un’s body in two.
……At that very moment.
“!?”
Bi Mugeuk felt his heart sink into his stomach.
There was a left arm.
O Ja-un’s left arm had sprouted anew at some point.
That meant O Ja-un was currently gripping his sword with that newly regrown arm, preparing a lethal counterattack!
‘No!’
Bi Mugeuk hurriedly twisted his sword to the side.
If O Ja-un had a left arm, he could not follow through with this trajectory.
If he proceeded as planned, that left-handed sword would pierce through his waist and cleave his body in two.
That was why Bi Mugeuk had shifted his blade entirely to the side.
At that very moment.
…Whoosh!
O Ja-un’s sword swung out.
Originally, Bi Mugeuk’s sword had been half a beat faster, but because he had pulled back and swung mid-motion again, he had lost a full beat.
He was now half a beat slower than O Ja-un’s blade.
And the moment O Ja-un’s sword revealed itself beyond his upper body, Bi Mugeuk’s eyes widened until they felt as if they would tear.
There was no left arm.
The sword was held in O Ja-un’s right hand.
In that split second, Bi Mugeuk had mistaken the reflection of O Ja-un’s right arm in the puddle for a left arm.
Slish—
O Ja-un’s sword sliced across Bi Mugeuk’s left waist.
Red blood erupted from the wound, which was half a palm’s depth.
“Ugh…!”
Bi Mugeuk gritted his teeth.
As he retreated, O Ja-un’s sword thrust forward viciously. It was a lethal strike that even the legendary Plum Blossom Swordsman could never hope to evade.
At that very moment.
With O Ja-un’s sword tip inches from his face, Bi Mugeuk shouted in a hurry.
“Do you know who the culprit is!?”
At that desperate, frantic cry, O Ja-un’s sword tip paused for a fleeting second.
Taking advantage of that opening, Bi Mugeuk shouted once more.
“I am asking if you know who the culprit is that killed your wife, Gang-a!”
O Ja-un’s pupils trembled.
Had it not been for those words, Bi Mugeuk would have lost his head to the sword swing that had just passed.
Before long, Bi Mugeuk stood at a distance from O Ja-un, clutching his side tightly as blood gushed out in torrents.
“…….”
O Ja-un withdrew his sword and took half a step back. It was a movement that demanded an answer.
And then, Bi Mugeuk confessed.
“The culprit who killed your wife, Gang-a, is…”
The enemy of his wife, whom O Ja-un had searched for so desperately.
“Our junior sister. Meng Ying.”
It was the name of the person who had cast his life into the abyss in a single moment.
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