Chapter 326 – As Chaos Begins, Bandits Rampage Everywhere (1)

The boy's house was located halfway up a low hill near the river. Thanks to this, the entire landscape of the area could be seen at a glance from the boy's house.

True to the place name Chishui, the river was close to red in color. And the mountain covered with green vegetation also had an overall reddish tint. Since the land itself was made of reddish sandstone, influenced by it, both the mountains and water were completely red.

The green vegetation and red earth formed a strange contrast and were quite beautiful. With water mist settling low on top of that, it gave off an even more mystical atmosphere.

"Mister, this is our house."

The boy pulled Dam Ho into the house courtyard with a bright smile. Though the boy's father didn't look too pleased, he had no choice but to allow it since the boy showed such fondness for Dam Ho.

The boy's name was Jang Yu-wol, and his father was Jang Woo-chil. The two were a typical fishing family making their living catching fish in Chishui.

Dam Ho looked around inside the house. The wooden house looked shabby as if it would collapse at any moment, and fishing gear was scattered all over the courtyard. Unknown fish were hanging from the eaves, drying.

Dam Ho patted Black Ghost's neck and said:

"You've worked hard. Rest now, I'll call you later."

Then Black Ghost snorted as if understanding and ran outside.

Dam Ho watched Black Ghost disappear into the forest for a moment before entering the house.

The inside of the house was as shabby and disorganized as the outside. There was no sign of a woman's touch at all.

Jang Woo-chil said:

"Wait a moment. I'll bring out the meal soon."

Without even hearing Dam Ho's answer, he went straight into the kitchen. Left alone together, Jang Yu-wol said:

"Dad's a bit rough, right? But he's not a bad person. He's like that because he doesn't trust anyone since Mom passed away."

"……"

Dam Ho looked at the boy silently. Ordinary people would freeze the moment they received Dam Ho's gaze. But the boy smiled brightly without being intimidated by Dam Ho's eyes at all.

Dam Ho was reminded of Bang Jin-bo. Bang Jin-bo had been like that too. He had approached without hesitation even while looking at Dam Ho's volcanic eyes.

"Am I not scary to you?"

"You, mister? Not scary. Why? Should I be scared?"

Jang Yu-wol rather looked puzzled. Dam Ho silently shook his head at that.

Jang Yu-wol had no preconceptions about Dam Ho. So he could look at and evaluate Dam Ho with pure eyes.

"Mister, did you come from Sichuan Province?"

"That's right."

"Wow! I wanted to go to Sichuan Province once too."

"Why?"

"Because the Qingcheng Sect is there. Learning martial arts at the Qingcheng Sect is my dream."

"There's also Emei Sect and the Tang Clan, why the Qingcheng Sect?"

"To become a disciple of Emei Sect, you have to shave your head, and they don't accept men easily anyway. At the Tang Clan, you don't even qualify unless you have the surname Tang. The Qingcheng Sect is the most realistic and has the highest possibility."

Jang Yu-wol's eyes sparkled. He looked exceptionally bright.

"My older brother said so. He's learning martial arts at the local martial hall, but he'll definitely send me to the Qingcheng Sect to learn martial arts."

"That story again? Don't believe your brother's nonsense. How can you believe the nonsense of someone who can barely take care of himself?"

A gruff voice came from the kitchen. Jang Woo-chil couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up. Still, the smile on Jang Yu-wol's face didn't disappear.

"Hehe! Our dad is always like that. He doesn't like my brother learning martial arts, and he doesn't like me entering the Qingcheng Sect either."

"You brat! A pine caterpillar must live eating pine needles. If it can't do that, it gets sick and dies."

Jang Woo-chil's voice came from the kitchen again. Though he would be discouraged by now, Jang Yu-wol remained steadfast.

Jang Yu-wol was a child who dreamed. He didn't know if that dream would come true or not, but he was happy just dreaming.

Dam Ho looked at Jang Yu-wol silently.

Perhaps Jang Yu-wol needed someone to listen to his stories. That was probably why Jang Yu-wol showed fondness for a strange man he was meeting for the first time.

After that, Jang Yu-wol chattered on for quite a while, and Dam Ho silently listened to his stories. Jang Yu-wol was excited just by having someone listen to his stories.

"That's enough. Let's eat."

Then Jang Woo-chil came in carrying a meal table. Only then did Jang Yu-wol's mouth close like a clam.

"As you can see, there aren't many side dishes, so please understand."

As he said, there weren't many side dishes on the table. Just rice filled to the brim in bowls, a few types of greens, and three freshly caught fish. Still, Dam Ho bowed his head to show gratitude.

It had been a long time since he'd had a warm meal and side dishes. Dam Ho chewed slowly and thoroughly so his stomach wouldn't be shocked.

Jang Woo-chil stopped eating and stared at Dam Ho.

"Brother, you're a martial artist."

"……"

"Those calluses embedded like nails on your fists never appear unless you learn martial arts. I don't know what circumstances brought you here, but when you leave, please leave quietly. Don't put ideas into a child who knows nothing. This kid is full of empty dreams because he doesn't know how the world works."

"Dad!"

Jang Yu-wol raised his voice instead of Dam Ho. Then Jang Woo-chil said gruffly:

"You're the same. Don't have empty dreams. The Qingcheng Sect? It's one of the Nine Great Sects of the world. It's not a place a country bumpkin like you should dream of. A pine caterpillar must live eating pine needles, and you can get sick and die just from dreaming beyond your station."

"But brother is learning martial arts at the martial hall."

"When your father speaks, just listen. Why do you talk so much? Just eat your rice quietly."

Jang Woo-chil bowed his head and shoveled rice as if he wouldn't allow further rebuttal. Tears welled up in Jang Yu-wol's eyes at that.

Jang Woo-chil probably knew that too. But without lifting his head once, he quickly emptied his bowl. Then he stood up.

"You clean up the table. And brother, please sleep in that room at the end."

Without even hearing their answers, he went straight outside. Then Jang Yu-wol wiped his tears with his sleeve and said:

"I'm sorry, mister. He's like that whenever I mention learning martial arts. But he wasn't this bad even with my brother."

"……"

"I want to learn martial arts too."

Jang Yu-wol sighed as if frustrated.

The boy's sigh echoed particularly loudly.

Finally, the meal was over. Jang Yu-wol went to do the dishes, and Dam Ho, left alone, went outside briefly.

When he came to the courtyard, he could see Jang Woo-chil sitting blankly on a wooden bench. Jang Woo-chil's back as he sat looking at the river looked particularly bent.

Perhaps sensing Dam Ho's presence, Jang Woo-chil turned around. His face clearly showed his complicated feelings.

"Did you eat well?"

"Thanks to you."

"Good. You must be tired, so go inside and rest."

Jang Woo-chil waved his hand as he spoke. But Dam Ho didn't move and stared at him intently.

"You also learned martial arts."

"……"

"You must have suffered a major injury. Seeing how your energy circulation isn't smooth."

For a moment, Jang Woo-chil flinched and closed his eyes. After maintaining silence for a while, he opened his mouth with a sigh.

"Phew! I acted foolishly before a master. To recognize at a glance that energy circulation isn't smooth, you're quite the master. That's right! I suffered a major injury long ago. Because of that, I returned to my hometown and am living by catching fish."

Once the floodgates opened, words poured out like water.

"I was what's commonly called a third-rate martial artist in the martial world. I truly trained martial arts desperately, but I had no talent and couldn't achieve greatness. Still, my human relationships weren't bad, so I received decent treatment at the martial hall. Back then, I thought it was because I was truly great. But it wasn't. It was because I still had use value. I was thoroughly used and abandoned after being injured."

After that, Jang Woo-chil came to this place and lived completely cutting ties with the martial world.

The martial world he experienced was truly cruel. Though it looked splendid on the outside, fierce dark struggles unimaginable to ordinary people took place inside constantly.

The entry barrier was also high, so unless you belonged to a prestigious family, it was impossible to even receive proper human treatment.

The martial world he experienced was the world of the Nine Great Sects, Five Great Families, and a few prestigious orthodox sects, not a place where rootless martial artists like himself could compete.

"In Guizhou Province, there are no huge sects like the Nine Great Sects. Instead, mid-tier sects like Black Martial Hall and Golden Sand Sect engage in fierce struggles. Though small in scale, the struggles within are much fiercer. They receive martial artists from nearby small martial halls and are absorbed in hegemonic fights. They only treat subordinate martial artists as tools, not as equal humans. Even if Yu-wol works hard to learn martial arts, he'll only be used as their tool."

Jang Woo-chil let out a sigh.

Since he had experienced it firsthand, he didn't want his son Jang Yu-wol to experience such a future.

"The Qingcheng Sect? One of the Nine Great Sects. Will they accept Yu-wol there? It's impossible. The Nine Great Sects only accept talents counted among the best in the world. Though Yu-wol is smart, he's not that level of genius. If he doesn't have the talent to enter the Nine Great Sects, it would be a much better life to catch fish here with me."

Jang Woo-chil had his eyes tightly closed now.

What parent doesn't want to fulfill their child's dreams? But he couldn't allow it because he knew too well how harsh the path his child would walk would be.

His first son, Jang Yu-gwan, ran away from home one day and entered a martial hall. Though he entered the martial hall against his father's wishes, his limits were too clear.

Like Jang Woo-chil, Jang Yu-gwan also couldn't escape the third-rate realm. So Jang Woo-chil hoped Jang Yu-gwan would return home, but Jang Yu-gwan refused, saying he would rather die in the martial world.

Dam Ho only looked at Jang Woo-chil without saying anything.

He couldn't fully understand a father's heart thinking of his child. He was lucky enough to meet Master Hyeon-so and enter the Mount Hua Sect, but most people in the world weren't given such fortune.

Jang Woo-chil muttered:

"Do you think I'm comfortable doing this? But what can I do? The martial world is too scary to challenge with just reckless courage."

He had lost his first son Jang Yu-gwan to the martial world, but he couldn't lose his second son Jang Yu-wol too.

Dam Ho, who entered the room, circulated his energy.

He had to completely expel the poison energy from his body and heal his internal injuries. Dam Ho quickly fell into deep meditation.

As his energy circulation reached its peak, black energy burst from his pores. The black energy swirled while enveloping Dam Ho's body like fog.

Dam Ho forgot everything.

Forgetting self. Forgetting thought. Forgetting existence.

He forgot himself, forgot his thoughts, forgot his existence. And he even forgot the fact that he was circulating energy.

Thus, forgetting everything, Dam Ho focused only on energy circulation.

Drip drip!

At some point, sweat mixed with a foul smell began flowing from Dam Ho's entire body. The poison energy remaining in his body was being expelled along with sweat.

The poison was expelled and internal injuries healed.

After a considerable time passed, Dam Ho opened his eyes. Only after confirming that all the poison energy in his body had come out could he breathe.

He wiped the sweat on the floor clean with cloth and burned it with True Samadhi Fire. Then he opened the door to ventilate.

Cold wind blew in and cleared away all the unpleasant smell remaining in the room. Only then did Dam Ho gain the peace of mind to rest.

That's when it happened.

"Father!"

He could see someone shouting and running toward this place.

Perhaps hearing the sound, the light in the inner house turned on and the door opened. And Jang Woo-chil appeared.

"Who is it?"

"Father, it's me."

The one who jumped into the courtyard with a loud voice was a young man who closely resembled Jang Woo-chil.

"Brother!"

Jang Yu-wol appeared from behind Jang Woo-chil. As soon as he confirmed the man's face, he ran out barefoot.

"Brother! What brings you here?"

The one who jumped into the courtyard was Jang Woo-chil's first son, Jang Yu-gwan. Jang Yu-wol jumped into Jang Yu-gwan's arms. But Jang Yu-gwan's reaction was different from before. Jang Yu-gwan, who would have hugged him tightly normally, hurriedly pushed Jang Yu-wol away and said:

"There's no time for this. We have to evacuate quickly."

"What do you mean? Evacuate?"

Jang Woo-chil expressed doubt.

"There's no time to explain, Father. We have to evacuate quickly."

"What are you talking about?"

"Please, Father. I'll explain the reason later, so evacuate quickly."

Jang Yu-gwan's face was full of urgency. Jang Woo-chil sensed that something had gone wrong.

"What happened?"

That's when it happened.

"Over there."

A group of people came pushing through the darkness toward Jang Woo-chil's house.

The deep red sunset colored the Yangtze River.

Soon deep darkness would cover the river. But the darker it became, the brighter the moonlight reflected on the water surface would become, interfering with the fight. The waves breaking against the ship’s rail and the endlessly flowing currents scattered the moonlight excessively, making visibility flicker.

Beom-mong spoke in a leisurely voice.

“Indeed, if we drag out time, who would be at a disadvantage? What does Master Bulgi think?”

Beom-mong, experienced in all sorts of battles, remained relaxed throughout. But Jin Ja-gang had no experience with shipboard combat, and if he fell into the river, it would be difficult to get out.

The width of the river where the ship was currently passing was a full eight li, nearly a thousand zhang. No matter how much Jin Ja-gang used movement techniques, he couldn’t leap across a thousand zhang.

This was the majesty of the Yangtze River.

In contrast, Bulgi’s killing intent was fierce. His attitude showed he didn’t care about time or place.

“Do you dare look down on me just because I’m missing one arm?”

His right eye that had been tearing up now seemed fine, as if it had returned to normal.

But Beom-mong suddenly said something completely unrelated.

“Isn’t the weather very nice today? With the full moon up, it will be quite bright.”

Bulgi raised his voice at Beom-mong.

“Stop with the pointless talk. Let’s settle this quickly!”

The response wasn’t particularly strange in tone.

But strangely, Beom-mong spoke while looking at Jin Ja-gang.

“Namo Amitabha Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Benevolent Hero speaks falsely, speaks with embellishment, speaks harshly, and is angry. These are all actions that make it difficult to accumulate good karma. To accumulate good karma, kind and warm words are sufficient. That’s not such a difficult thing. Isn’t that right, Benevolent Hero?”

He was looking at Jin Ja-gang but addressing and asking questions to Bulgi.

But Bulgi showed no change in expression and remained silently unresponsive.

Beom-mong looked at Jin Ja-gang with a scolding expression, but his tone was completely different from his face, soft and gentle.

“This old monk can guarantee it. If someone attacks Master Benevolent Hero Bulgi from behind right now, Master Bulgi won’t be able to block it. Am I right? Isn’t that so, Master Benevolent Hero Bulgi?”

While hearing this, Jin Ja-gang also didn’t look at Bulgi. Bulgi still didn’t answer. No, he had turned his head and acted as if he didn’t know what Beom-mong had said.

Jin Ja-gang smiled.

“Impressive, Great Master Beom-mong.”

Woon-jeong was puzzled.

“No, why does Great Master Beom-mong keep looking at Poison Dragon and calling him Master Bulgi?”

Woon-jeong looked back and forth between Jin Ja-gang and Bulgi.

“And why isn’t Senior Bulgi responding?”

Jin Ja-gang answered.

“Great Master Beom-mong’s scheme is truly vicious.”

“What?”

“The Zhongnan Sect master can’t hear. Great Master Beom-mong knows this and is instigating Funeral Parlor.”

“As expected, Poison Dragon!”

Beom-mong laughed heartily. His laughter contained tremendous internal energy, making bodies resonate and the sail flap.

At that moment, one of the few remaining hooded men on deck ambushed Bulgi from behind. He carefully kept his distance and lifted a metal coffin lid to strike his head.

Bulgi turned his body and swung Taiyi Earth Sword with his left hand. The coffin lid and the hooded man’s upper body were severed together.

Slash!

The hooded man spurted blood and fell. The remaining hooded men ground their teeth looking at Beom-mong, not Bulgi.

Beom-mong clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk, he should have just approached with a poison-coated dagger from earlier and stabbed. Because he got scared and created wind, Master Bulgi noticed.”

Thinking the situation was becoming serious, Bulgi frowned and sneered at Beom-mong.

“Wicked monk. A senior of the martial world, and being a monk at that, only pulls dirty tricks.”

“Keke keke, you lost one arm and can’t hear. Poison Dragon also suffered corpse poison and numerous bruises. Seeing that he’s fine despite the corpse poison, he seems to have overcome it. But decisively, didn’t you both experience this old monk’s Hundred Step Divine Fist once each? You endured it once, but you won’t be able to withstand the next time.”

Beom-mong was accurately calculating his opponents’ damage.

He was right. If either Bulgi or Jin Ja-gang took another Hundred Step Divine Fist, their bodies wouldn’t be able to endure it.

But Bulgi mocked Beom-mong.

“Not being able to hear has its conveniences. I don’t have to listen to the monk’s nonsense.”

Beom-mong took a deep breath then shouted with internal energy.

“Right-eous Law! Right-eous Law! Evil-ous Law!”

Rumble rumble rumble.

Internal energy made heads ring so even without hearing, one could understand what was being said.

Thick blood flowed from both of Bulgi’s ears. The vibration made his wounds open wider and blood filled his ears. Bulgi shook his head left and right to drain the blood.

“That damned monk anyway. His nature is extremely vicious!”

Bulgi gritted his teeth and kicked the floor.

Thump! He lightly leaped up and spun Taiyi Earth Sword in his hand. A cluster like twinkling starlight appeared at the tip of Taiyi Earth Sword.

Swish, swish!

As Taiyi Earth Sword rotated, strands of light extended like thick torrential rain.

Beom-mong inflated his robes with Iron Silk. But then he suddenly threw his body sideways to avoid.

Whoosh! With a sound like tearing cloth, holes were punched in the hem of Beom-mong’s robes imbued with Iron Silk. Thin holes were also punched in the deck where Beom-mong had avoided.

Even Jin Ja-gang found it puzzling that sword energy pierced through Iron Silk like tofu. Hadn’t it been deflected earlier?

Bulgi bounced around like a grasshopper, continuously emitting strands of light in midair. Each time, holes continued to appear on the deck as if punched with an awl. The attack was simple but strangely there weren’t many openings for counterattack. He was spreading the light strands in a radial pattern, so if you rushed in for a counterattack, you’d have to be prepared to take a hit.

Beom-mong seemed to have given up on counterattacking entirely, jumping left and right to flee from Bulgi.

Woon-jeong shouted toward Jin Ja-gang who was trying to respond.

“Avoid it! That’s not sword energy but sword force!”

Sword force!

The supreme internal sword technique that condensed internal energy more than sword energy to cut and burn through anything!

It was said to have the power to easily cut through steel hammered hundreds of times, let alone sword energy. Just like how Iron Silk played no role and was riddled with holes.

But what was truly frightening about sword force wasn’t just its destructive power.

It was the understanding of swords gained after swinging swords tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times to reach sword force.

When there was no sword force, one had to find the opponent’s openings and attack while breaking down their defense. Of course, the opponent’s counterattack had to be considered too.

Therefore, one had to read the opponent’s moves and fight like playing chess, looking several moves ahead. Such combat included psychological techniques of alternating between feints and real attacks to shake the opponent’s composure.

However.

Before sword force, defense was meaningless. Using sword force eliminated the need to consider the opponent’s defense.

One could focus solely on attack.

The concept of offense and defense disappeared, leaving only attack.

He was pouring Zhongnan Sect’s martial learning into sword force, disregarding defense and focusing only on attack!

Even the world’s Beom-mong gave up direct confrontation and leaped among the hooded men.

The hooded men were flustered. They couldn’t tell whether Beom-mong approaching them was to attack or to flee.

A hooded man lifted a coffin to block Beom-mong running straight at him. Beom-mong changed direction, kicked the coffin, and threw his body sideways. At that moment, Bulgi’s sword force struck the coffin.

The sword force pierced through the coffin and very accurately penetrated the brow of the hooded man standing behind. This meant he wasn’t attacking randomly but properly observing the surrounding situation before acting.

The hooded man with a small hole in his brow fell sideways with the coffin.

The hooded men attacked Beom-mong who had entered among them. Beom-mong caved in a hooded man’s chest with one punch, leaped up and crushed his neck bones by stepping on his head with Thousand Pound Drop. Then Bulgi, who followed behind, also knocked down hooded men with sword force.

Beom-mong annoyingly dodged Bulgi’s attacks here and there. Now there weren’t many hooded men left standing on deck.

After rampaging for a while, a wisp of heat haze rose from the tip of Bulgi’s sword.

Sizzle, sizzle.

Seeing this, Beom-mong smiled with satisfaction.

“Sword force is like charcoal in a furnace – once it starts, it can’t be stopped and continues to be consumed until all one’s internal energy is burned. You thought you were at a disadvantage and brought up sword force too quickly.”

Sword force sucks in internal energy from the body. When pure internal energy is exhausted, it finally scrapes out and burns even the impure energy remaining in the body.

Therefore, as internal energy is exhausted and the bottom is revealed, smoke appears as the impure energy burns.

“The heat haze appearing now is because the sword force’s heat has reached its peak with pure blue furnace fire. You’ve consumed exactly half your true body’s internal energy. From now on, the power will gradually decrease, and when smoke starts appearing, that’s when it ends.”

Beom-mong glanced at Jin Ja-gang while speaking. Actually, this was meant for Jin Ja-gang to hear.

Just like he had instigated Funeral Parlor, he was exposing Bulgi’s weakness.

Though Bulgi couldn’t properly understand Beom-mong’s words, he guessed the meaning from his smile.

“Monk. Did you cleverly sow discord again?”

“Hmm?”

Bulgi pressed Beom-mong more roughly.

Swish swish! Swish!

But if you just escaped the radial range, it wouldn’t reach. Beom-mong didn’t let his guard down and wove among the hooded men again. He used pillars, coffins, and walls to block Bulgi’s line of sight and move in unpredictable directions.

The Great Connection Diamond Steps learned by Shaolin Temple’s Diamond Warriors was deployed to the maximum. Though he paused briefly when changing direction, he was faster than anything when moving in straight lines.

Thanks to this, only the hooded men suffered unexpected disasters. If they didn’t avoid Beom-mong, Beom-mong would attack, and if they avoided Beom-mong, they’d die to Bulgi’s sword force.

But then, Beom-mong, who had been moving quickly, suddenly kicked off the middle of an erected mast, leaped down to the floor and rolled urgently. A strand of blood decorated the air.

“Oh my…”

Beom-mong’s left big toe flew away along with the front part of his navy blue cloth shoe. Blood flowed steadily from the severed big toe.

“Iron Silk doesn’t reach the feet?”

It was Jin Ja-gang’s voice.

Swish. Soul Seizing Thread wound in midair and was retrieved to Jin Ja-gang’s hand.

Beom-mong frowned. At least it was the big toe – his ankle had almost been severed.

Then, as if some thought occurred to him, he looked at Bulgi.

Bulgi laughed loudly.

“You think only you know how to sow discord?”

Bulgi had undoubtedly informed Jin Ja-gang about Iron Silk through telepathic transmission.

Iron Silk was a technique of applying protective energy to outer garments worn over the body. It was a defense method suitable for Taoist and Buddhist martial artists who wore long robes or monk robes extending to their feet, but it didn’t make the entire body indestructible.

Beom-mong’s eyes showed displeasure.

Jin Ja-gang’s action was natural in a way. Since Bulgi was already weakening, it was advantageous to kill Beom-mong first and then fight Bulgi.

Bulgi smiled.

“Keke keke, I told you not to look down on me. I’m Bulgi, Zhongnan’s mad dog.”

I bite only one.

This was why people didn’t mess with Bulgi – a clearly understandable aspect.