Light Novel: Volume 21 Episode 12
Manhwa: N/A
Ko Mu-jin was a young martial artist in his mid-twenties.
His good looks were matched only by his great spirit, and he had many followers.
The Seven Absolute Sect, where he had learned martial arts, was neither particularly great nor famous. However, that didn’t mean the sect’s martial arts were unremarkable.
The inadequacy of later generations to properly learn the martial arts was the issue, not the quality of the Seven Absolute Sect’s martial arts, which were in fact very sophisticated.
Ko Mu-jin had mastered the techniques of the Seven Absolute Sect with the full support of his master.
As a result, he became even more skilled than his master.
As soon as he achieved a certain level of proficiency, Ko Mu-jin made his way into Jianghu.
His destination was Poyang Lake, where a great tumult of Jianghu was unfolding.
At Poyang Lake, he witnessed hell.
The first thing he saw was martial artists slaughtered by the forces of the Golden Heaven Society.
Driven by resentment towards this, he joined the Silver Lotus Society.
After joining the Silver Lotus Society, he began to gather like-minded young martial artists and centrists.
This was the beginning of the Hundred People Assembly.
Being a group formed to support the Silver Lotus Society, it had to operate in utmost secrecy.
Therefore, he chose to hold meetings not at Poyang Lake, but at Dongting Lake.
Not all one hundred members gathered.
Only five leaders of the assembly secretly met to discuss how to lead the Hundred People Assembly forward.
The problem was that the Rakshasa group found out about their secret meeting and launched a surprise attack.
Faced with the surprise attack by the Rakshasa group, Ko Mu-jin and the leaders chose to flee.
This was due to the overwhelming force of the Rakshasa group and the notorious reputation of Lee Chu-soo.
It wasn’t that they were afraid of Lee Chu-soo.
The problem was that Ko Mu-jin carried with him the letter containing the decisions of the Hundred People Assembly.
If, by any chance, the letter fell into the hands of Lee Chu-soo, it was certain that a storm of bloodshed would ensue.
‘I must not be caught!’
It wasn’t for his sake.
It was to protect the Hundred People Assembly.
Ko Mu-jin exerted all his energy into deploying qinggong.
It was then.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound filled the air.
Ko Mu-jin drew his sword and swung it towards the front.
Bam!
Something hit his sword and bounced off.
It was a hairpin typically worn by women.
The hairpin didn’t do any damage to his body, but it was enough to knock him off his feet for a moment.
“Stop!”
The owner of the hairpin appeared.
The cold-eyed beauty was none other than Bing Ha-ran, one of the Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms.
Bing Ha-ran charged towards Ko Mu-jin with fierce momentum.
Just as Ko Mu-jin’s eyes narrowed, Bing Ha-ran threw another hairpin she had been wearing in her hair.
Swoosh!
The hairpin flew at an incredible speed, reminiscent of a lightning bolt.
“Get out of the way!”
Ko Mu-jin shouted, swinging his sword again.
Clang!
The hairpin was repelled with a metallic sound, but it was too soon to relax. Bing Ha-ran was already upon him.
“Do you have the letter? Hand it over.”
“Ice witch, what nonsense are you spouting?”
Bing Ha-ran didn’t miss the slight tremble in Ko Mu-jin’s eyes.
She was confident that her suspicions were correct.
She had not known which of the five members of the Hundred People Assembly had the letter. Her question was a probe, and his involuntary reaction gave him away.
“So it’s you who has the letter.”
Bing Ha-ran smiled coldly and pulled something out of her bosom.
The long cylindrical object was a signal firework.
“No!”
Ko Mu-jin reached out to snatch the firework, but Bing Ha-ran leaped back and set it off.
Boom!
A red flower bloomed in the night sky.
‘Damn it!’
Ko Mu-jin bit his lip in frustration.
Any moment now, the Rakshasa would come, swarming in the area.
At this point, he had no choice but to take down Bing Ha-ran and get out of there as quickly as possible.
“Chaa!”
Ko Mu-jin unleashed the Seven Absolute Frenzied Waves Sword technique2 of the Seven Absolute Sect, attacking Bing Ha-ran.
“Don’t make me laugh.”
Bing Ha-ran sneered and executed the Heavenly Ice Hand technique.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Sword and bare hands collided, creating a continuous eruption of explosive sounds.
The impact caused both their bodies to jolt.
The one who suffered even a slight disadvantage was Bing Ha-ran.
No matter how sophisticated the Heavenly Ice Hand technique was, clashing barehanded against a powerful sword imbued with energy was bound to result in a disadvantage.
An ordinary martial artist would feel frustrated at being pushed back, but Bing Ha-ran was no ordinary martial artist.
Her face showed no shame, no emotion.
She wasn’t fighting to win.
Her purpose was to bide her time, to stall Ko Mu-jin as long as possible.
Since her objective was simply to delay for time, there was no need to be concerned about winning or losing.
The more time passed, the more urgent Ko Mu-jin became. All she needed to do was delay until the Rakshasa group could join.
“Ha!”
Ko Mu-jin continuously unleashed the pinnacle techniques of the Seven Absolute Frenzied Waves Sword, pressing Bing Ha-ran. Yet, he neither inflicted injury nor shook her off.
Bing Ha-ran was like a leech.
Persistently clinging on, refusing to let go.
“Move, witch!”
“Hmph!”
The two exchanged over fifty moves in an instant.
‘This will be endless at this rate.’
Determination flashed in Ko Mu-jin’s eyes.
He charged at Bing Ha-ran like a wild bull.
Bing Ha-ran sneered.
“Futile attempt.”
She unfurled the Heavenly Ice Hand to counter Ko Mu-jin as she had before. But this time, Ko Mu-jin’s response was different.
He completely disregarded defense in favor of attack.
Prrr-prrr-prrr!
The Heavenly Ice Hand struck Ko Mu-jin’s entire body.
His head reeled, blood flowed from his nose, and his internal organs shook, making it hard to breathe. Ko Mu-jin gritted his teeth and endured the pain.
He may have ended up getting several wounds all over his body, but he managed to close in on Bing Ha-ran.
The panic on Bing Ha-ran’s face was plainly visible.
“Cha-at!”
Ko Mu-jin executed the pinnacle technique of the Seven Absolute Frenzied Waves Sword.
Swoosh!
“Ahh!”
His sword inflicted a deep gash on Bing Ha-ran’s side.
With a scream, Bing Ha-ran collapsed.
Ko Mu-jin wished to take her life, but he couldn’t.
“Ha-ran!”
“You bastard!”
Lee Chu-soo and Jang Hwa-young appeared, bursting through the bushes.
Following them was the Rakshasa group, swarming like a pack of wild dogs. If Ko Mu-jin hesitated any longer, he would miss his last chance to escape.
Gritting his teeth, Ko Mu-jin made his escape.
“Dare to wound Ha-ran… I will not let you get away!”
Lee Chu-soo vowed, chasing after Ko Mu-jin with clenched teeth.
Jang Hwa-young examined Bing Ha-ran’s wound.
The wound fortunately didn’t seem life-threatening, but it would likely leave a deep scar.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not.”
Bing Ha-ran shook her head and pushed herself up.
The pain was excruciating, but she forced herself to ignore it.
She applied a healing ointment to her waist to staunch the bleeding, then wrapped the wound tightly.
With a venomous expression, she said,
“I will definitely make him pay dearly.”
“That’s right. That’s my sister.”
Jang Hwa-young smiled, as if she was proud of Bing Ha-ran’s determination, but her eyes were brimming with coldness.
The fact that Bing Ha-ran’s beautiful body, like ice jade, had been scarred, pained her deeply.
Jang Hwa-young said to Bing Ha-ran,
“I’ll follow Sister Chu-soo. Don’t push yourself and just follow.”
“Okay!”
Leaving Bing Ha-ran behind, Jang Hwa-young leaped away.
Boom!
At that moment, a signal firework exploded in the distance.
Jang Hwa-young and her followers rushed towards the source of the fireworks at full speed.
They arrived at a reed field by the banks of Dongting Lake.
There, Lee Chu-soo and the Rakshasa group were present.
They had surrounded Ko Mu-jin.
“Huff! Huff!”
Ko Mu-jin was gasping for breath, clutching his shoulder.
There was a deep cut on his shoulder.
It was a wound that Lee Chu-soo had inflicted on his body.
If the wound had been any deeper, his shoulder would have been completely cut off.
Ko Mu-jin tried to stop the bleeding by pressing on his acupoints, but the wound was too deep, and the blood would not stop.
Having lost so much blood, his complexion was pale.
“Sister!”
Jang Hwa-young stood beside Lee Chu-soo.
Without turning her head, Lee Chu-soo asked,
“How’s Ha-ran?”
“She’ll be here soon.”
“That’s good.”
“Yes!”
Jang Hwa-young nodded and rushed towards Ko Mu-jin.
She was determined to take the letter from him herself.
Lee Chu-soo watched Jang Hwa-young’s actions with her arms crossed.
Right now, the expression on Jang Hwa-young’s face was one that only appeared when she was extremely angry.
As Jang Hwa-young approached, Ko Mu-jin lifted his head to look at her.
Jang Hwa-young threw a punch at Ko Mu-jin.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
Ko Mu-jin’s face turned sharply from the impact of the punch.
“How dare you wound Ha-ran’s body?”
Thump! Thump!
Jang Hwa-young’s merciless assault began.
Since Ko Mu-jin didn’t have the strength to resist, he had to bear the full brunt of her violence with his whole body.
His face was smashed open, and his ribs were broken.
Jang Hwa-young skillfully restrained herself to ensure that Ko Mu-jin would not die from the beating. Her intention was to vent her anger before seizing the letter.
“She’s indeed a fiery flower.”
“Haha! Watching this is quite satisfying.”
The Rakshasa group smiled as they watched Jang Hwa-young.
No one sympathized with Ko Mu-jin.
Instead, they seemed to relish this moment, their faces showing a sense of relief and enjoyment.
Lee Chu-soo did not scold or reprimand the Rakshasa group.
She, too, was enjoying Jang Hwa-young’s venting.
She didn’t care wheter Ko Mu-jin lived or died.
All she cared about was the letter that Ko Mu-jin was likely carrying.
They had already captured everyone else and found that they didn’t have the letter, so it was undoubtedly with Ko Mu-jin.
“Ugh!”
A desperate scream erupted from Ko Mu-jin’s mouth.
His entire body was drenched in blood, resembling a bloody demon.
Jang Hwa-young was methodically breaking him down, starting from the toes.
At this rate, even if he survived, he would be nothing more than a cripple.
“Killing you quickly would be too merciful for you.”
Madness flickered in Jang Hwa-young’s eyes.
Her goal was to break Ko Mu-jin’s dantian.
She wanted to break it so badly that he would never be able to practice martial arts again.
She raised her fist high into the air.
A light of despair appeared in Ko Mu-jin’s eyes.
‘Is this the end?’
It was then.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted in the reed field where they were.
The dry reeds quickly caught fire, and the flames spread rapidly.
“What’s going on?”
“Why is there a fire all of a sudden?”
“Quick, get away!”
The Rakshasa group scattered in all directions like grasshoppers to escape the flames.
They had been so engrossed in watching Jang Hwa-young’s violence against Ko Mu-jin that they failed to notice the fire approaching.
Caught off guard, they frantically jumped around, trying to avoid the flames.
The reed field quickly turned into chaos due to the unexpected fire.
The first to regain composure was Lee Chu-soo.
“Someone started this fire.”
Jang Hwa-young, who had finally regained her senses, looked down at the ground.
“He’s gone?”
Ko Mu-jin, who had been defenselessly receiving her blows until moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
Someone had started the fire and taken advantage of the distraction to rescue Ko Mu-jin.
Jang Hwa-young quickly scanned the surroundings.
Then she saw a small boat sailing away from the reeds.
“There! They are escaping on that boat.”
Jang Hwa-young shouted at the top of her lungs.
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