Chapter 295 – Ten Soldiers. Broken Weapons…… (2)

Dong Hwa-woon drew up his protective energy to shield his entire body.

Even though hellfire was terrifying, he had created it himself. There was no way he wouldn't have countermeasures for it.

"Damn things…"

Even while burning in hellfire, the villagers tenaciously held onto Dong Hwa-woon's body. But soon their bodies turned to ash and disappeared.

Dong Hwa-woon muttered as he emerged from the flames.

"No way. Do you think I'd die at the hands of insects like you?"

WHOOOOSH!

At that moment, suddenly tremendous energy pressure rushed toward him.

The moment Dong Hwa-woon raised his head in surprise, a black shadow covered him. It was Dam Ho.

CRASH!

"Kuk!"

Dong Hwa-woon flew backward with a single scream. He had taken the Explosive Star Strike to his chest.

An ordinary person would have died instantly. But although Dong Hwa-woon was wounded, his breath wasn't cut off.

CLANG!

Before he knew it, bronze cymbals were in his hands. In the moment of crisis, he had taken out the cymbals to block Dam Ho's fist.

The cymbals were crying out like screams. Cracks had spread across their surface like spider webs.

"How dare! A cripple…"

Enraged, Dong Hwa-woon drew up his power and hurled the cymbals.

WHIRRRR!

The cymbals spun menacingly as they flew toward Dam Ho. A sound like spinning saw blades echoed through the air.

The pair of cymbals flew drawing different trajectories.

SCREEECH!

Even at the cymbals flying while tearing through the air, Dam Ho didn't blink an eye.

"Die! You crippled bastard."

Dong Hwa-woon's voice pierced Dam Ho's ears like noise.

Dam Ho threw his body toward Dong Hwa-woon.

The charging technique connecting point to point unfolded once again. The difference was that cymbals had taken position between them.

One cymbal aimed for Dam Ho's neck from the front, while another targeted him from behind.

Dam Ho hunched his body and unleashed the Explosive Star Strike toward the cymbal flying from the front.

CRAAACK!

The cymbal, already full of cracks, shattered completely and fragments scattered in all directions. But Dong Hwa-woon didn't think the cymbal was a waste. Because in that time, the other cymbal had struck Dam Ho's back directly.

TING!

But the sound that followed completely betrayed Dong Hwa-woon's expectations. The cymbal that had struck Dam Ho's back directly deflected diagonally with a faint metallic sound.

Golden Turtle Shell.

Dam Ho deployed the protective technique he had created after seeing the round body of a dung beetle in the Heavenly Gold Demon Palace.

It was a martial art created in the early days of the Solitary Path, so he had judged its efficiency lacking. Because of this, after creating the Shield and Violent Demon Energy, he had rarely deployed it. But at this moment, it protected Dam Ho's body from the cymbals more excellently than any other protective technique.

If there was something Dam Ho had realized during this time, it was that the ultimate strength of techniques wasn't what mattered. Even techniques with modest power could produce efficient results if used appropriately for the situation.

The history of the Solitary Path wasn't very long.

It had only just exceeded ten years. Accordingly, there weren't many techniques either. But depending on how they were combined, entirely new techniques could be created.

Fists that actively changed according to circumstances – living fists. That was Dam Ho's Solitary Path.

"You idiot…"

At the unbelievable sight, Dong Hwa-woon spat curses and hastily drew up his power.

BANG!

At that moment, Dam Ho's Explosive Star Strike exploded on his body, making him shake greatly.

"Urgh!"

Dong Hwa-woon bit his lips hard.

Even though he had hastily drawn up protective energy, tremendous shock penetrated his entire body.

An ordinary person would have been neutralized at this point. But he was one of the Ten Soldiers.

One of ten human weapons. Though his character was rock bottom, his skills were real.

He spread both arms wide and shouted.

"Azure Dragon Supreme Energy."

WHOOOOSH!

Instantly, the protective energy surrounding his body writhed like a blue dragon and rose up to attack Dam Ho.

At the tremendous momentum, Dam Ho's hair and windbreaker robe fluttered.

Seeing the blue dragon approaching with its huge mouth open, Eum Yu-kyung and Shin Moo-wol urgently shouted.

"Dodge!"

"Energy techniques can't be taken with bare body. Quickly dodge."

But Dam Ho ignored their cries.

WHOOSH!

Once again, the charging technique unfolded. But it wasn't ordinary charging.

It was faster and more intense.

Dong Hwa-woon's eyes widened greatly.

Like a meteor burning itself as it fell, the charging technique Dam Ho deployed was fierce yet intense.

The three years at Mount Hua had brought another change to Dam Ho.

The biggest change among them was being able to freely indulge in Mount Hua Sect's martial arts.

Since Sect Leader Hyeon-cheon had died, the prohibitions had also disappeared. So he could graft Mount Hua Sect's martial arts onto the Solitary Path.

One of them was the Dark Fragrance Drift.

Dark Fragrance Drift, which only Plum Blossom Sword Masters could learn, was very secretive footwork. When Dark Fragrance Drift, which reached opponents in an instant like a subtle fragrance traveling far, combined with charging, it became faster and more intense.

Like a burning meteor.

CRASH!

The meteor penetrated the blue dragon.

"Krugh!"

With a stifled groan, Dong Hwa-woon's body flew backward. His appearance was beyond words.

His hair was disheveled, his mouth and chest were dyed red with fresh blood. His clothes were torn to shreds, and his entire body was covered with large and small wounds.

Dong Hwa-woon's pupils shook.

The madness that had filled his face was long gone. Instead, the emotion that rose in its place was chaos.

He couldn't believe the situation he was in.

The reality that he was being pushed back by none other than Dam Ho, a cripple.

Dam Ho no longer deployed charging. He was simply walking toward Dong Hwa-woon.

Each time he took a step, his left shoulder sagged slightly. It was a natural phenomenon because he limped with his left leg.

Dong Hwa-woon's face contorted. Because Dam Ho's limping seemed exactly like he was mocking him.

He shouted.

"How dare a leg cripple mock me?"

"Right! I'm a leg cripple."

"Grr!"

"But I'm not a head cripple like you."

"I'm a cripple? How dare someone like you spout such words? Do you know what kind of hell I crawled out of? Do you even know how much I suffered?"

"What do I care?"

"What?"

"What do I care, I said."

"…"

Living life, everyone experiences hardships.

There may be degrees of difficulty in hardships, but the pain is all the same. Everyone experiences the same hell in their hearts.

Yet there are those who act as if the experiences they went through were the most difficult, as if only they experienced hell.

'Do you know how hard things I went through?'

'I had it the hardest.' 'So you all should understand my pain. Whatever I do.'

Armed with such nonsensical logic.

That's how Dong Hwa-woon appeared in Dam Ho's eyes.

While his body had grown to adulthood, his mind was still stopped at a child's level.

Dong Hwa-woon's body trembled.

"Just because you have a loose mouth doesn't mean you can mock me carelessly."

He put his hand into his chest.

When his hand reappeared, it held over ten Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullets.

"Know that you'll burn to death today without even bones remaining, you bastard!"

Dong Hwa-woon rushed toward Dam Ho.

SWOOSH!

He threw Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullets in succession.

BOOM!

Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullets exploded right in front of Dam Ho's nose, producing hellfire. Pure white flames that would burn even bones instantly engulfed Dam Ho's entire body.

"Die! Disappear from this world without leaving even a bone fragment. Hahaha!"

Dong Hwa-woon kept throwing Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullets while bursting into maniacal laughter.

ROAR!

It was like a volcano erupting.

Watching the exploding flames, Dong Hwa-woon's body trembled.

Fire burns everything.

False things, impure things, even the nightmares that tormented him.

That's why he loved fire. The fierce flames of purification that burned intensely.

Dong Hwa-woon thought the hellfire would burn Dam Ho completely.

That's when it happened.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly a gust of wind blew.

"What, what?"

Wind filled with hot heat whirled in all directions. It was hellfire that would never be extinguished once it touched the body.

Dong Hwa-woon hastily drew up protective energy to protect his body.

At that moment, a large fist suddenly protruded from the intense flames. It was a fist covered with numerous wounds like a net.

BANG!

"Kreuk!"

The fist struck Dong Hwa-woon's protective energy hard.

The blue protective energy rippled like waves. Though it barely maintained its form, the shock struck Dong Hwa-woon's entire body directly.

Beyond the protective energy full of cracks like spider webs, the black figure of the man could be seen.

Fluttering black hair, billowing black windbreaker robe.

It was Dam Ho.

CRACK!

The second strike hit his protective energy. The cracks spread further.

Through the rippling protective energy, Dam Ho's eyes enlarged.

Killing intent filled the black pupils that had been emotionless.

Until just moments before, Dong Hwa-woon had resolved to make emotions show in Dam Ho's annoying pupils. But the moment he saw Dam Ho's pupils revealing emotion, he realized how childish his heart had been.

'A beast?'

A beast full of killing intent was breathing sulfurous breath.

Hellfire was blazing from Dam Ho's entire body. No, it seemed that way. But the hellfire only swirled around his body without being able to burn it.

Because the Violent Demon Energy was swirling around Dam Ho's body. The hellfire was merely being swept along by the violent current, circling around.

BANG!

The third strike hit Dong Hwa-woon's protective energy hard.

"N-no!"

Dong Hwa-woon's complexion turned deathly pale. He struggled desperately to escape from Dam Ho's hands. But like a fish caught in a net, he couldn't move. It was because of the strange attractive force emanating from Dam Ho's body.

BANG BANG BANG!

Dam Ho's fists became a storm that pounded the protective energy.

CRACK!

The protective energy that had reached its limit shattered like glass, and Dong Hwa-woon, who had been hiding inside, revealed himself.

Dam Ho reached out and grabbed Dong Hwa-woon's hair.

"Krugh!"

Only then coming to his senses, Dong Hwa-woon deployed footwork to try to escape from Dam Ho's grip.

Dam Ho opened his mouth.

"You experienced hell?"

"Grr!"

Like scraping an iron plate with fingernails, Dam Ho's voice scraped the foundation of Dong Hwa-woon's emotions. What was revealed was the emotion called fear that had been latent at the bottom of his heart.

"Real hell isn't something that trivial."

BANG!

Dam Ho's fist exploded on Dong Hwa-woon's face.

With the intense shock, Dong Hwa-woon's face flew back. His left cheek was deeply dented.

Even with the shock that made his mind dizzy, Dong Hwa-woon tried desperately to regain his reason. But at that moment, Dam Ho's fist drove into his abdomen again.

"Urgh!"

Dong Hwa-woon vomited everything inside him.

A nauseating stench pierced his nostrils. A smell he had encountered at least once – that very smell he had smelled from himself and his comrades.

Only then did Dong Hwa-woon realize.

'This guy also crawled up from hell like me.'

But his realization was too late. Dam Ho searched the pockets of the neutralized man. After a moment, Dam Ho's hand that reappeared held an iron ball.

It was a Nine Heaven Fire Soul Bullet.

"You?"

The moment Dong Hwa-woon's eyes widened greatly, Dam Ho shoved the iron ball into his mouth.

"This is what real hell is like."

So-min asked.

“What are you saying, Young Master Jin?”

“As said.” 

Pyo Sang-guk suddenly cut in.

“Wait, earlier Brother Yeong-woon and I circled around that private home just in case, and there were no traces of Poison Dragon.” 

“What kind of traces do you mean?” 

“Traces of a limp.” 

Having spoken without thinking, Pyo Sang-guk turned his head to look at Jin Ja-gang as if something felt off. So-min and Yeong-woon also looked together. 

“Eh. Surely not.” 

“No way.” 

It had been just over a day since Jin Ja-gang supposedly sprained his ankle. He still limped slightly. 

But was it really a sprain? 

Jin Ja-gang had never said with his own mouth that he sprained it. The three had only assumed so. 

At a glance his fair, pale look did not make him seem like someone who practiced martial arts at all. He looked like a bookish scholar who never left the house. 

So-min half-joking and half-serious asked Jin Ja-gang.

“Young Master Jin, are you actually Poison Dragon? Please answer honestly.” 

Jin Ja-gang waited a moment and answered.

“That is what people call me.” 

At Jin Ja-gang’s answer, Pyo Sang-guk and So-min made a startled face. 

“Wow.” 

“What in the world…” 

But again, their reaction was different from what Jin Ja-gang expected. 

Pyo Sang-guk rubbed his forearm and said.

“Brother Jin, your expression just now was seriously chilling.” 

So-min also shivered her shoulders.

“I did not expect this, Young Master Jin. On the surface you seemed mild, but you are totally mischievous.” 

Jin Ja-gang was, rather, dumbfounded.

“Do you not believe it?” 

The three, who had stopped walking, burst into hearty laughter and began walking again. 

Jin Ja-gang felt a momentary urge to scatter poison but held back. 

“Why do you not believe it?” 

So-min came alongside Jin Ja-gang and smiled brightly as she spoke.

“Young Master Jin’s words have too many gaps.” 

“What are they?” 

“Poison Dragon is a butcher. He is not someone as composed as Young Master Jin. And would someone who is being hunted as a bounty target openly declare it? And right to the three of us?” 

It was information heard in the black market. Soon the Zhuge family would place a bounty on Jin Ja-gang. 

“How much is the bounty?” 

“Five thousand taels.” 

“So it is less than ten thousand.” 

“The Zhuge family circumstances are not good. Still, if you add the Martial Alliance reward, it is quite a sum.” 

Pyo Sang-guk laughed while walking ahead.

“Oh right, and there is one more thing. This is something Sister Min told me…” 

So-min wore a puzzled expression of what that was, then realized and tried to cover Pyo Sang-guk’s mouth in alarm.

“Ah, brother, not that!” 

Pyo Sang-guk used footwork to avoid So-min’s hand and walked backward as he spoke.

“They say Poison Dragon is the most handsome man in the martial world. It is said the Tang family’s daughter fell for him at first sight and abandoned her family. After hearing that rumor, Sister Min wanted so badly to see Poison Dragon…” 

Jin Ja-gang felt as if he had been struck. 

“Ah. Handsome… was it.” 

Hearing about himself in such a way, Jin Ja-gang did not know what reaction he should show. It was hard to tell if it should feel good or bad. 

“But to be honest, even though Brother Jin is fair, saying he is the most handsome in the martial world is a bit, ahem. And that is not something I said…” 

“Brother!” 

In the end, So-min clamped Pyo Sang-guk’s mouth shut and punched him twice in the ribs. 

Thud thud. 

Perhaps because it hurt quite a bit, Pyo Sang-guk’s face reddened and he made gestures of surrender while mumbling. 

“Please pretend you did not hear that just now.” 

Then Yeong-woon, who had been silent, spoke.

“There is one way to know whether Brother Jin is really Poison Dragon or not. It is something everyone in the martial world wonders about, but only Poison Dragon himself knows.” 

Pyo Sang-guk and So-min simultaneously nodded, as if they knew what he meant. 

“That.” 

“Right. If Brother Jin is truly Poison Dragon, he will know.” 

At this point, even Jin Ja-gang became more curious about what that was. 

“I will answer as sincerely as I can.” 

Yeong-woon said.

“The poison. The poison that felled countless masters and even made Indestructible Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung kneel.” 

So-min and Pyo Sang-guk looked at Jin Ja-gang with amused expressions. 

Yeong-woon asked.

“If that is truly the case, and Brother Jin is Poison Dragon, you will be able to answer what that poison is. Is that not so?” 

Jin Ja-gang was at a loss for words.

“Haha…” 

He never expected that kind of question. 

It was poison that only Jin Ja-gang possessed, but since Jin Ja-gang had not named it, others had no way of knowing it. 

However, in its current state, it was a poison whose effect was hard to predict and thus hard to use properly. It was not yet a poison worthy of being named. 

When Jin Ja-gang could not answer, the three of them laughed together, as if they had expected it. 

Jin Ja-gang, somehow simultaneously feeling at ease and yet uncomfortable with them, thought he should not continue traveling together. 

Although they treated him with a pure heart, in the end they belonged to their sects and the Martial Alliance. Even now they were almost no different from enemies to him. 

Moreover… 

The killing intent targeting him could be felt again. It felt even more viscous than before, to the point of feeling as if it was calling to him. 

The next time he would meet them, he did not know in what position it would be, but at least this time he wanted to keep them from being entangled further. 

Jin Ja-gang chose an appropriate moment and proposed parting.

“I must go in this direction. We should part here.” 

When Jin Ja-gang said he would go toward the direction from which the killing intent was felt, Yeong-woon hardened his face and spoke.

“Brother Jin, that direction is very dangerous right now.” 

Yeong-woon had sensed the killing intent too. 

“It is likely those from earlier. Brother Pyo, Sister Min, prepare.” 

Pyo Sang-guk raised his internal energy, and So-min also gripped her sword. 

“Really?” 

“Shh. Brother Jin, please hide yourself for a while.” 

Yeong-woon took the lead and headed in the direction from which the killing intent was felt. 

Smoke. 

The closer the killing intent came, the more sooty smoke mixed into the breeze and drifted over. 

Because of the acrid smell, So-min squinted.

“Poison?” 

“It is not poison. It is smoke to block vision. Be careful. They are openly targeting us.” 

The smoke grew thicker. Even a distance of one zhang could barely be seen. 

Only through the faint killing intent they sensed could they tell where the enemies were. 

At the moment they advanced slowly for about a quarter-hour. 

A stream of killing intent poured thickly from above their heads.

“Kill.” 

The leper assassin from earlier leaped down with his skewer. 

“Just one?” 

Yeong-woon swept his sleeve to coil the skewer. Then, guiding his arm gently, he made the skewer glance off to the side. The leper assassin rotated his body with the skewer in hand and kicked Yeong-woon’s temple with his heel. Yeong-woon lifted the leper assassin’s foot with his shoulder as he turned and struck him with his back.

Bang. 

The leper assassin was knocked away.

So-min shouted delightedly.

“They are no match. Did you learn nothing after getting scolded by this young lady earlier?” 

The leper assassin who was knocked away rolled on the ground and then fled. 

“We need to chase and find out what is behind this.” 

So-min and Pyo Sang-guk immediately followed in pursuit. 

Yeong-woon also launched himself. 

Jin Ja-gang knelt down and clawed at the ground. Then, touching the nearby tree trunk, he quietly sniffed the smoke. 

“It is poison.” 

Yeong-woon had judged it not to be poison, but Jin Ja-gang saw it as poison. The smoke itself was not poison yet. But it could become poison at any time. 

Jin Ja-gang slowly followed after the three. 

The smoke became even thicker, and So-min and Pyo Sang-guk lost track of the fleeing leper assassin.

“Damn it, I cannot see anything.” 

Killing intent was felt from the side. A leper assassin burst out. 

“These bastards.” 

Pyo Sang-guk, though startled, immediately sunk his center of gravity low, stepped into bow stance and threw his fist. 

The leper assassin, using his small body, rolled along the ground and stabbed Pyo Sang-guk’s instep with his skewer. So-min ran in from the side and kicked the leper assassin’s belly. 

Thud. 

The leper assassin failed again and flew off. The leper assassin hid his body in the smoke. The killing intent quickly shifted position. 

“Behind, this time.” 

With killing intent from behind, the leper assassin sprang out. So-min emitted sword energy from her sword. Bright, clear energy drew three sharp petal-like circles on the leper assassin’s body. The leper assassin spun his skewer to block the circles. 

Clang clang thud. 

It was not an ordinary, common skewer; even after blocking sword energy it sparked and did not cut. 

“Ah.” 

Suddenly a smaller stream of killing intent was felt. 

A skewer popped up from the ground. Pyo Sang-guk and So-min quickly retreated backward. Yeong-woon ran over and stomped the ground. 

“Wudang Shock Step.” 

Whummm. 

Profound internal energy dug deep into the ground as the earth vibrated with a rumble. 

The leper assassin hiding underground could not endure and burst out through the dirt. While breaking through the soil, he scattered a jet-black powder. Yeong-woon immediately swung his arms in wide circles. He used his wide sleeves to blow the powder away. 

At that moment, another leper assassin to the side struck flint. 

Pop. 

In an instant, all the smoke around them ignited in flame. It was not an intense blaze. 

“Woah.” 

But the problem was that after the smoke burned, its nature had changed. Countless minute ash particles flew around, and the acridity became extreme. Their eyes stung and their breath caught. It carried poison as well. 

“Cough cough.” 

“What on earth is this.” 

Only Yeong-woon was able to immediately burn away the inhaled poison with internal energy. Steam rose from his head. 

“Get behind me.” 

“It… it is… no use.” 

The leper assassins freely came and went through the smoke to attack the three. The skewer held a hazy thick energy as if heated. So-min held her breath and unfolded Plum Blossom Sword Technique. The leper assassin, as if sneering, swung his skewer down hard. The internal energy borne by the skewer did not lose to So-min. So-min staggered from the impact. 

“They are different from earlier. Earlier, earlier…” 

Earlier, she had driven off three alone. But not now. 

“They were hiding their true skill.” 

One of them was even engaging Pyo Sang-guk in a straight-on fist battle. 

Bang. Boom. 

Each time their fists collided, black ash spread out in concentric circles. Neither yielded. But because the ash carried poison, Pyo Sang-guk, who could not breathe properly, was at a much greater disadvantage. 

Pyo Sang-guk’s strength waned. Gritting his teeth, Pyo Sang-guk circulated his internal energy to burn the poison while simultaneously throwing a punch to shake off the leper assassin. 

Zhongnan White Star Fist. 

The leper assassin stepped on Pyo Sang-guk’s punch and rode it upward, then kicked Pyo Sang-guk’s head. 

If that hit, his neck would break. 

From close range, Yeong-woon blasted out both palms. It was Wudang Sect’s signature Clear Void Palm. If Wudang Cotton Palm was palm force that connected tenaciously, Clear Void Palm was palm force that exploded internal energy in an instant. 

Whooom. 

The vast power of Clear Void Palm poured onto the leper assassin. The leper assassin spun his body around, kicked Pyo Sang-guk’s chest with his back foot and used the rebound to shoot his body away and avoid the Clear Void Palm. 

“Brother Pyo, are you alright?” 

“I’m fine. Cough. But this damn ash… cough cough… I cannot breathe at all.” 

“Gather to one side.” 

Pyo Sang-guk and So-min gathered around Yeong-woon. 

The shadows of the leper assassins surrounded the three front and back. 

Yeong-woon, judging the situation, looked for an opening to escape this standoff. 

“When I give the signal, follow me…” 

But before Yeong-woon could finish speaking, inside the smoke ahead a tall, lanky old man appeared and muttered in a sinister voice.

“We laid the trap to catch Poison Dragon, and where did these fledglings of phoenixes come from.”