Chapter 40. Twin Swords of the Wind and Clouds (15)

Woo-Moon swung his sword in a wide arc with the scabbard still on.

Crack!!

The opponent’s jaw shattered, sending his teeth flying through the air.

“Agh!!”

The gang henchman was rolling around, crying as his blood splattered over the floor.

“You bastard!”

Rather than being scared, the other henchmen became even more frenzied after seeing the blood and rushed toward Woo-Moon fiercely.

Woosh!

“Where the hell did he go this time?”

Even if a true cultivator were present, it would have been difficult for them to see through the illusions cast by Woo-Moon as he used the Divine Phantasm Step. How could some random thugs keep up?

With his excellent memory, Woo-Moon went to find all of the henchmen who had sworn at him earlier.

“

Ugh

!”

“It hurts!”

“Momma!!!”

Every time Woo-Moon swung his sheathed sword, legs were broken, arms were crushed, and skin was torn apart by his sword wind.

Of course, the people of the Inksmoke Gang were overall stronger than the enemies who had attacked the Leebi Merchant Guild. Even so, to someone like Woo-Moon, they were merely an army of slightly stronger ants.

“Oh, f–fu–! What the hell are you bastards doing?! What’s keeping you from handling a bastard like that?!” Mu-Shim shouted, frustrated.

He was still caught up in the conversation that had occurred between Yeop Ji-Jil and Woo-Moon earlier, leaving him unable to properly see the reality in front of his eyes. All he could think of was one thing.

‘You bastard, aren’t you the village idiot?!’

“That’s the end of the line, you bastard!” Do Gwi shouted excitedly as he rushed toward Woo-Moon.

“Where is that end of the line you’re talking about?”

Bang!

“Agh!”

Do Gwi flew backward even faster than he had run forward, with blood spurting out of his broken nose.

Meanwhile, a girl watched from a distance as Woo-Moon was making a mess.

Hyeon Yu-Yeon had just arrived at the Inksmoke Gang moments before, after chasing after Woo-Moon in a spirited manner. Sitting on the wall, she watched Woo-Moon’s actions with a sparkle in her eyes.

‘He’s quite impressive, huh? But isn’t that the Divine Phantasm Steps of the Kunlun Sect? How come?’

It turned out that he was a great expert, surpassing even her.

Watching Woo-Moon fight made Yu-Yeon understand it even more clearly.

‘Hmmph! Either way, you’re still a bad guy!’

While cursing inwardly, Yu-Yeon watched Woo-Moon’s actions with a serious expression on her face. Before she knew it, nearly all of the members of the Inksmoke Gang had fallen at the hands of Woo-Moon.

‘What sort of shit is this supposed to be?’

The remaining henchmen finally got scared and slowly retreated from Woo-Moon, looking over at Mu-Shim and Oh-Cheol.

“Bos! Second boss! Please help us, hyung-nim!”

“T-this bastard is stronger than we thought!”

“Please take revenge for us, boss!”

Unfortunately for them, Mu-Shim had belatedly realized that Woo-Moon was in fact a master.

‘You bastards! What the hell do you expect me to do?’

Although he thought that to himself, he still stepped forward after hesitating for a moment, feeling that he couldn’t let himself be embarrassed in front of his subordinates.

“Um... H-how dare you do this to my men, you little brat? Let’s see if you can keep prancing like that after I break your bones!”

Oh-Cheol sighed in relief when the gang boss held up his broadaxe, ignoring the latter’s somewhat awkward movement.

‘Whew. I’m saved.’

Right as he was about to relax, he heard Mu-Shim speak once again.

“You know what? There’s no need for me to go out of my way to catch a little bastard like that. Hey! My loyal deputy, go handle that kid!”

‘You fucking asshole!’

Oh-Cheol swore at Mu-Shim in his mind.

“Do you mean me, boss?”

“That’s right. There’s no way I can step over you and fight first. You go and take care of everything. You can do it, right?”

Within the Black Hand, everything was over once one lost face. If the head of the gang gave him an order but he was scared or withdrew without fighting, his henchmen would also ignore him.

Gritting his teeth, Oh-Cheol nodded.

“Understood! Hey, idiot. Let’s see how you deal with an expert”

Oh-Cheol rushed toward Woo-Moon and swung his blade.

“Yeah, whatever. You really are an expert at running your trashcan mouth, that’s for sure.”

Clang!

Crack!

After simply countering Oh-Cheol's sword and sending it flying, Woo-Moon struck Oh-Cheol’s right shoulder with his sheathed sword. To no one’s surprise, the shoulder bones shattered.

“Aaargh!”

In just a single moment, as Oh-Cheol rolled around the ground and screamed, Mu-Shim’s face turned gaunt and pale. He was drenched in a cold sweat, but to his credit, he still forced himself to take a step closer to Woo-Moon.

“T-that’s better than I thought, runt! Let’s see if you can keep that up after you take my axe!”

‘Please, Great Buddha, Jade Emperor, ancestors, please give me strength!’

Mu-Shim prayed in his heart and rushed toward Woo-Moon as the eyes of the Inksmoke Gang members and Oh-Cheol shone with anticipation.

They thought that the gang’s boss, a tried-and-true top-notch expert, would be able to deal with that monstrous idiot.

The members of the Inksmoke Gang were amazed when they saw Mu-Shim swing his axe.

‘That’s a real expert for ya!’

Due to the nature of martial arts, where one’s abilities would exponentially increase with every level, Mu-Shim’s attack was on a different level from Oh-Cheol's.

It was much stronger and much faster, and the broadaxe was shining with qi clearly visible to the naked eye.

‘Yes, kill him, boss!’

Everyone in the Inksmoke Gang looked dazzled at the qi radiating from the broadaxe as they wished for nothing else but an immediate and painful death for Woo-Moon.

Unfortunately, another light dawned, painting the sky gold.

The full moon that instantly turned Mu-Shim’s qi aura into a firefly was none other than the shining sword qi that spilled out from within Woo-Moon’s scabbard.

The sword qi clashed with the axe.

Ting!

A very light chime echoed in the air, after which Mu-Shim’s broadaxe split exactly in half and fell to the ground.

“Huh?”

As Mu-Shim looked at the remnant sword qi in disbelief, Woo-Moon swung his still-sheathed sword at him.

Crack!

Just like the first person who had been attacked by Woo-Moon, Mu-Shin’s jaw and teeth were shattered and blood spewed out.

“Is this it?” Woo-Moon said.

He then walked toward Ji-Jil, who was looking at him with eyes full of astonishment.

The impossible sight unfolding in front of his eyes had kept Ji-Jil’s jaw down from beginning to end.

‘Is that really Song Woo-Moon? You mean to tell me that’s Song the Dumb?’

His mind was in shambles, unable to fathom that the

thing

heading toward him right now was Woo-Moon. Could it be that it was someone else wearing a mask?

‘What is this?

‘What the hell is this?!

‘W-we’re in big trouble. He’s walking toward me. Is he trying to get revenge or something? I know I bullied him a lot when we were kids, but... what should I do? What am I supposed to do? Someone help!’

Ji-Jil was trembling, regretting his past of tormenting Woo-Moon.

Woo-Moon swung his sheathed sword in front of Ji-Jil, who had shut his eyes.

Tap!

‘Huh?’

There was no pain—just a mere pat on the cheek.

When Ji-Jil barely opened his eyes, he saw Woo-Moon resting his sword on his shoulder.

“Please live your life properly, okay?”

With those words, Woo-Moon turned and walked toward Oh-Cheol. He had known Ji-Jil for a long time and he

had

crippled the man’s father, so he felt sorry for Ji-Jil.

“Hey, wake up.”

Woo-Moon tapped Oh-Cheol with his foot as the man wriggled in pain.

“W-why are you doing this, great hero?”

Even the way that he had addressed him had changed to “great hero.”

‘Is the murim supposed to be like this?’

Woo-Moon mused lightly before speaking.

“Who made that poison? Was it you?”

It was at that moment that he suddenly felt something, almost like a very light breeze, hit his neck.

It took only a moment for it to penetrate his skin, but suddenly, the qi of the Forbidden Divine Art roared like a river during the monsoon, immediately absorbing whatever it was that had just entered his body.

‘Poison!’

While it was different from the aura that he had sensed from that gruel at the inn, it was definitely similar. Almost as if the roots were the same?

At that moment, Woo-Moon’s eyes shone coldly. He suddenly rushed to the corner of the hall, leaving an afterimage behind.

“There you are!”

A moment later, his hand was tightly holding a man by the throat.

The man’s name was Seong Mu, a guest of the Inksmoke Gang for the past few years. A few days ago, at Oh-Cheol’s request, Seong Mu had provided him with a large quantity of Red-Crowned Crane.

A potent poison.

Knowing that Woo-Moon had come all this way because of that issue, Seong Mu had hidden and watched, taking advantage of an opportunity to throw a nail imbued with Red-Crowned Crane at him.

The manufacturing method was difficult, so the amount of poison he could make in a year was nothing more than a fingertip. However, it was definitely effective. It could be absorbed through skin contact and could kill a person within two hours.

Unfortunately, Woo-Moon seemed not to mind being hit by the powder whatsoever.

Seong Mu knew that everything was over.

“

Cough, cough!

”

Woo-Moon glared at him.

“So it’s you. You made the poison, right? Well, no worries, I don’t need you to explain anything. Have you ever thought about what people did with the poison you sold them?”

The moment he finished speaking, Woo-Moon struck Seong Mu’s abdomen.

“

Aaargh...

!”

With his throat held in a steel grip, Seong Mu wasn’t even able to scream properly as his dantian was destroyed. Just as he was about to lose his mind from the pain, Woo-Moon took out his blade and cut Seong Mu’s tendons at the wrists, for good measure.

“You made the poison with these hands, right?”

Woo-Moon searched through Seong Mu’s robes and took away all of the bottles containing multi-colored powder that the poison master had, and only then did he let him go and speak.

“If my father or younger brother had touched that poison before I noticed, they might have died. No, they would have definitely died, because they would have probably eaten the gruel. You know, I really wanted to kill you. I hope you cherish your life after this.”

After realizing that the gruel given to him by the inn cook contained poison, Woo-Moon had decided to find all of the people involved in the poisoning attempt and punish them appropriately.

Off to the side, Oh-Cheol tried to circulate his qi, even throughout the pain he was suffering from his shoulder being crushed. All he could think about was to use his movement technique and flee. However, the pain in his shoulder was beyond imagination, leaving him unable to use his movement technique as quickly as usual.

‘N-no, it can’t be! If I can’t flee, he’s gonna cut my—!’

Sadly, Woo-Moon was faster than him.

“In some ways, you’re even worse than Chae Noh-Cheol. At least he had a goal when he did what he did, but you? We had nothing to do with you!”

Woo-Moon kicked Oh-Cheol in the abdomen.

“Ugh!”

Oh-Cheol writhed in pain as he grabbed the weeds in the ground with his good arm.

However, that wasn’t the end of it.

Woo-Moon’s sword flickered as it severed the muscles and tendons within Oh-Cheol’s healthy shoulder.

“I didn’t take your life, but I made it so that you can never do anything bad ever again. So, live a decent life from now on, okay?”

After saying that, Woo-Moon looked around at the members of the Inksmoke Gang, who were rolling around the ground in pain.

“Listen carefully. I’m going to let things slide here today, but if you cause any harm to the Leebi Merchant Guild or Unhan in the future, I’ll come back and kill you all. Remember it clearly.”

***

When he had come in, Woo-Moon had climbed over the fence. However, as he left, he kicked the main gate of the Inksmoke Gang, smashing it open as he walked out confidently.

“Huh?”

As soon as he left, he encountered three young men.

He wasn’t surprised at all, as he had already sensed the incoming auras of great experts.

The three men were dressed in neat but modest clothes.

“Hey, hey, what’s going on? Did you just smash open the gates of the Inksmoke Gang?”

‘Who are they? Are they related to the Inksmoke Gang?’

For some reason, that didn't seem to be the case, as they gave off a similar feeling to Song Woo-Gang and the other Mount Hua swordsmen.

Woo-Moon couldn’t feel any dark aura emanating from them, as he had felt from the Inksmoke Gang or the subordinates of the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor.

At this time, a girl's clear voice came from above their heads.

"Huh? Hey, aren’t you guys from the Wind Sword Squadron? What are you even here for? It’s already done.”

The girl sitting on the wall was Yu-Yeon.

She expected Woo-Moon to be surprised by her sudden appearance, but the young man was surprisingly expressionless. Yu-Yuen didn’t know it, but Woo-Moon had accurately sensed her presence while fighting the Inksmoke Gang.

However, Mu Bi, a disciple of the Mount Tai Sect and one of the three Wind Sword Squadron members, was shocked by Yu-Yeon’s words.

“Huh? What...wait...no, it seems you’re right, Young Heroine Hyeon. We really are rather late.”