Chapter 31 – Something Bigger and Scarier

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read more at Nineheavens.org

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Chapter 31 – Something Bigger and Scarier

The faces of the Ximen Family group flushed deep red.

Not only had he addressed them informally, but he had even thrown out commands – everyone looked like they couldn't contain their anger.

It was like pouring oil on fire.

At that very moment.

One of those who had earlier whispered mockingly toward Cheol Ryu-heun let out a cold voice.

"That's enough, wandering swordsman. Looking at you, you seem to be the type who makes a living chasing bounties – with what confidence do you dare…"

A voice filled with blatant anger.

It meant he should be more discerning about who he showed his bravado and recklessness to.

Unlike the expressionless Cheol Ryu-heun, Ye Woon-rang radiated a sharp glint in his eyes.

'They say the thief cries thief – hah!'

The man called Nu-heum who had identified himself as Third Captain of the Swift Wind Unit, and all the unit members under him, all had the same habits.

The type who flaunt petty power by relying on greater power.

That's right.

As they say, know ten by seeing one – they had probably learned this behavior from watching their master in the carriage.

There's a reason for the saying that clean upper waters make clean lower waters.

The true reputation of an orthodox influential house isn't built on outstanding achievements and overwhelming force alone.

Fairness, responsibility, consideration – pursuing and practicing various virtues befitting righteousness is how one's name becomes even more valuable.

That was common sense.

An extremely natural principle.

Even so, there were always those among them.

Those who are caught up in a sense of superiority and take for granted the privileges, profits, and power they enjoy in daily life.

Such people generally don't know humility, respect, or concession when they consider someone beneath them.

They assign meaningless rankings to people, judge by power and status, and consider anyone below their standards as inferior.

The group before them was no different.

Right now, their words and actions were actually lowering the high standing of the Ximen Family, one of the Seven Great Families.

Just because Cheol Ryu-heun's appearance looked like a mere wandering swordsman, treating him coldly and ignoring him was by no means the dignity of the strong.

Ye Woon-rang barely suppressed his itching urge to speak.

'Hmm… By the way, what is Sect Master Cheol planning to do?'

He was openly blocking the road.

Was his intention to extract an apology?

Well, that wouldn't be easy.

Unless he pushed forward with his formidable martial power.

However, that was definitely not a good solution.

Although the other party had acted arrogantly first, the moment he used force, there was a high possibility it would escalate into conflict between two powers.

The Ximen Family was no ordinary orthodox faction.

Not to mention their combat power – even in terms of lineage and wealth, they wouldn't rank lower than second or third among the Seven Great Families.

For White Peak Sword Sect, which was inferior in all aspects, they could only appeal to justification – there was no practical benefit to gain.

Well, Cheol Ryu-heun didn't seem to care about even that.

Which made him all the more curious.

How exactly was he planning to conclude this matter…

At that moment.

A voice leaked out from inside the luxurious carriage.

"Is this the time to be idly exchanging words with lowly rabble?"

A calm voice that sounded like a young man in his twenties.

Nu-heum flinched and looked at the carriage behind him.

"My apologies, Young Master."

Young Master – that meant the owner of the voice was one of the three sons under the current Ximen Family Head.

Nu-heum looked forward again and cried out lowly.

"I don't want to use force unnecessarily, so begone!"

At that, Cheol Ryu-heun immediately retorted.

"I said move."

"…!"

The Ximen Family group, including Nu-heum, exploded with murderous glares.

But Cheol Ryu-heun completely ignored them and gripped the reins.

"Won't move? Then I'll make you move."

"What?"

The instant one of Nu-heum's eyebrows twitched upward.

Psheeesh-!

Divine Wind exhaled white breath from its nose and mouth uncontrollably, its entire body enveloped in mysterious smoke.

A combative aura reminiscent of a master.

Simultaneously, the horses carrying the Ximen Family group jumped and scattered left and right as if encountering a fearsome beast.

"Whoa!"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!"

"Gah! Damn…"

No matter how hard they pulled the reins, it was uncontrollable.

They had inadvertently cleared a path.

In an instant, Divine Wind's bulging muscles swelled slightly, and then.

Crash!

It stamped its hooves on the ground and charged fiercely.

Rumble-boom, rumble-boom-boom-!

Amid the loud rumbling that shook the ground, drowning out the Ximen Family group's flustered cries.

Crack-!

The carriage roof was torn off entirely by the wind pressure Divine Wind had created, floating up into the air.

"Heeheehee!"

"Snort, snort-snort!"

The two excited horses tilted the carriage precariously.

Crash-thump!

The coachman at the driver's seat was thrown off and tumbled on the ground.

"Ah! Quickly, grab it!"

At Nu-heum's sharp cry, several Swift Wind Unit members rushed to the carriage and applied their strength.

Thunk…!

As the carriage barely regained its balance, Nu-heum hurriedly came over and threw open the door.

"Young Master! Are you alright?"

But there was no one inside.

At that moment, a quiet voice reached his ears.

"Did you think I couldn't even dodge this?"

When Nu-heum and the others turned their heads to the side, they saw a young man in a blue robe standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

It was the person from inside the carriage.

When the roof had been torn off earlier, he must have slipped out using nimble lightness technique.

Nu-heum bowed his head as if at a loss and answered.

"N-No. How could that be? It's just that everything happened so suddenly…"

"Quite swift, truly."

When the young man spoke while looking toward the other side of the road, the group also gazed in that direction.

Divine Wind, carrying Cheol Ryu-heun and Ye Woon-rang, had already completely vanished from sight.

All that entered their vision were deep gouges in the ground and dust swirling in disarray…

The Ximen Family group all had expressions of disbelief.

They had never seen such a horse in their lives.

"It must be some rare mystical creature."

Having said that, the young man soon lightly moved his hand to brush off the dust on his clothes.

Pat, pat.

Like Cheol Ryu-heun, his face was expressionless and unreadable, but his impression gave off a much colder feeling.

The wind patterns lavishly embroidered on his blue silk robe represented his high status and position.

The third son of the Ximen Family Head, Ximen Yue.

At twenty-three years old this year, he was the youngest of three brothers, but his talent was at a level approaching that of the eldest son who was designated as the next Family Head – a prodigy of swordsmanship.

That was why there were very few who didn't know his personal title, Celestial Wind Sword Youth.

Nu-heum moved slightly and asked.

"Shall I go right away and find out who he is?"

But Ximen Yue, having withdrawn his gaze, clicked his tongue.

"That is your problem."

"Pardon?"

"That mere fawning that only looks good on the surface."

"…!"

Nu-heum's body flinched and his expression rapidly stiffened.

Ximen Yue was like ice.

As if not a single drop of blood would come out even if pricked with a needle.

Going up to Nu-heum, he spoke again.

"That attitude of acting as if just pleasing me is enough… Tell me, am I merely that kind of existence to you?"

"Th-That's not it…"

"Then? Did you truly believe you could catch up to that horse when you said that?"

"My apologies, Young Master!"

Having answered in a fluster, Nu-heum lowered his eyes and swallowed dryly.

The Swift Wind Unit members positioned around them also showed obvious signs of tension.

Ximen Yue's stern aura, reminiscent of a frosty blade, was not something a rising talent of that age could easily emit.

Suddenly, Ximen Yue extended his left hand and gripped Nu-heum's right shoulder.

Squeeze-!

The moment he tightened his five fingers, Nu-heum's face contorted unsightly.

"Kkeurgh…"

A pained sound leaked from his mouth.

If a little more force were applied, it seemed like his acromion bone would simply be crushed.

"Kkk…! Young Master…"

"You well know what it means to serve me, don't you?"

"Y-Yes… Of course…"

"Don't forget that empty words and actions make me question your loyalty. I don't want to be disappointed in you."

"Urk… I will keep it in mind!"

When Nu-heum spoke with difficulty, Ximen Yue finally released his hand.

A space filled with silence.

Ximen Yue mounted one of the horses that had been pulling the carriage, drew his sword, and swung it.

Crack-!

Having broken the shaft connecting it to the carriage, he muttered meaningfully.

"I am curious, though."

Nu-heum glanced nervously and asked.

"Do you mean that fellow from earlier?"

"The mystical creature."

That was Ximen Yue's brief answer.

Indeed, his interest was solely in the horse.

He hadn't cared about the horse's owner from the start.

"Ah, yes. I too am quite curious. I hadn't heard any rumors about such a fine steed in this area…"

"Since we'll be staying in this region for a while anyway, we can send people later to look into it."

"Understood."

"Let's go now. Leave the carriage."

"Yes."

Thus, the Ximen Family group led by Ximen Yue began moving in the opposite direction from where Cheol Ryu-heun had vanished.

* * *

Divine Wind ran and ran and ran without rest, passing two mountain peaks in succession.

Thud-thud-thud-thud- thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-!

As hole-like tracks were imprinted following the hooves striking the ground hard.

'Aaaaaah… This is crazy! Gah, this horse is insane!'

Ye Woon-rang cursed internally with his eyes squeezed shut.

The vibrations ceaselessly striking his belly and the wind sound brushing past his ears.

Motion sickness assaulted him.

His stomach was churning so badly he couldn't bear it.

Divine Wind's matchlessly swift movement was at an absurd level comparable to a supreme master's superior lightness technique.

No… Honestly, was there even a martial world powerhouse who could continuously run this fast?

Anyway, motion sickness aside, the rock debris kicked up by the hooves that kept pricking his face was no small torment either.

Then at one moment.

Screeeech-!

Divine Wind scraped the dirt ground in a long line as it came to a stop.

It was because Cheol Ryu-heun had pulled the reins.

Right after, Ye Woon-rang started retching violently as if he'd been waiting for it.

"Urgh! Ughhh! Blech!"

Having eaten nothing, only bile came out.

Cheol Ryu-heun turned his head back, and a curt voice flowed from his mouth.

"Tch, how filthy."

Ye Woon-rang bristled even while retching.

'Gah! This is all because of you and this crazy horse!'

Cheol Ryu-heun looked forward again and had Divine Wind move slowly.

When some time had passed.

Rustle, rustle-!

No sooner had sounds of something pushing through the bushes been heard than a gang carrying weapons appeared and blocked the road.

About a dozen bandits.

When Cheol Ryu-heun quietly brought Divine Wind to a halt, the apparent leader of the bandit gang – a hairy man in his forties – issued a threat.

"This is our territory. You'll have to pay the passage fee."

Cheol Ryu-heun muttered in a languid manner.

"Tae Sa-ja's neighbors, something like that."

The hairy man raised both eyebrows and smirked.

"Heh, what are you babbling about? I won't mince words – hand over everything you have and go."

"You were scared of the Ximen Family group and let them pass, but I look easy so you blocked my path?"

When Cheol Ryu-heun hit the mark, the hairy man showed a flustered look before smirking again.

"Quite an amusing fellow. How did you know that? Yes, as you say, you need to be at least Ximen Family level to be exempt from the passage fee."

"Doesn't occur to you that something bigger and scarier might have appeared?"

At Cheol Ryu-heun's bored reply, the hairy man burst into loud laughter.

"Kahaha! What? Bigger and scarier? You? What bullshit. Hey, calm down that old fellow riding behind you. Why does he keep retching? How unsightly."

Ye Woon-rang heard that while vomiting and bristled again.

'Who's an old fellow! I'm younger than you!'

But at that moment.

Rustle, rustle-!

Another bandit gang pushed through the bushes and started running their mouths about passage fees and such.

The hairy man soon gripped his hilt with an incredulous expression.

"Why are you here?"

"Because it's our territory. Asking the obvious."

At the provocation by the one-eyed middle-aged man who appeared to be the other group's leader, the hairy man glared and shouted.

"Damn! You want to go at it?"

"Yeah, let's! You've been an eyesore anyway!"

As the two leaders got into a confrontation, Cheol Ryu-heun let out an indifferent voice.

"Do you lot have any money?"

The hairy man and one-eyed man simultaneously stared at him fixedly.

"…"

What the hell is this crazy bastard talking about?

* * *

Both bandit gangs lay sprawled on the ground without a single exception.

Clink, clink-

Having tucked two hefty money pouches into his clothes, Cheol Ryu-heun shrugged and muttered casually.

"Those who clear the way on their own, those who offer up money on their own – how considerate."

Seeing that, Ye Woon-rang shook his head.

'Huh, in what way is he an orthodox martial artist?'

While at it, Cheol Ryu-heun searched every corner of these mountains, cleared out five more bandit hideouts, and then headed for White Peak Sword Sect.

Afterward.

A peculiar rumor spread widely from this region.

-A crazy bastard riding a crazy horse has appeared, shaking down bandits!