Chapter: 05
“…”
While reading the approaching presences, Unhyeon frowned and clutched his chest.
He had spent the past few days trying to recover from his internal injuries, but there was no way meridians ruined by an extreme poison could heal in only a few days.
Just circulating a tiny amount of internal energy to sense the intruders made his chest throb with pain.
Still, one could not show weakness before an enemy.
Suppressing the pain, Unhyeon raised his gaze.
Before he knew it, two masked men were already standing in front of him.
“Who’s this old man? I thought a child lived here alone.”
“That’s what I heard too. Nobody said anyone else was here.”
Unhyeon frowned.
They’re not here for me?
The moment the masked men revealed their presence, he had naturally assumed they were assassins sent by Namgung Mohyeon.
His younger brother, unable to find his corpse, had finally tracked him down and sent killers to finish him off.
But—
“So? Did you hear anything?”
“What’s there to think about? Just kill the brat along with him.”
Their conversation made it clear.
Their target was Yeonwoo.
Unhyeon’s eyes darkened.
First-rate? No… around second-rate.
Ordinarily, they were opponents he could have subdued simply by releasing his aura.
Even now, despite being unable to properly use his internal energy, they weren’t particularly formidable.
If I want to learn why they’re trying to kill Yeonwoo, it’s better to play along for a while.
Suppressing his anger, Unhyeon asked calmly,
“Why are you trying to kill the child?”
The masked men stopped talking among themselves and turned cold eyes toward him.
One of them rested his sword on his shoulder and stepped forward.
“Why does a dead man need to know?”
“A man should at least know why he’s dying.”
“Hah! Look at this old fool! You’d buy yourself more time by begging for your life!”
The masked men burst into snickering laughter.
They were openly mocking him, but Unhyeon paid them no mind.
His pride wasn’t what mattered now.
“Tell me. If you’re going to kill us anyway, there’s no harm in explaining. Why are you trying to kill that little child?”
“Why else? Once the kid in this house dies, the Gwan family will have no choice but to send their own child!”
“The Gwan family?”
The Gwan family…
The family that had bought Yeonwoo.
The family that had purchased him as a substitute child to send to the Demon Dragon Hall.
Only then did Unhyeon understand their true objective.
So what they really want is the Gwan family’s bloodline.
If the substitute child died, the Gwan family would ultimately have no choice but to send one of their own children to the Demon Dragon Hall.
These men were after that child.
I don’t know what standing the Gwan family holds within the Demonic Cult, but apparently they can’t be touched directly.
That was why they were resorting to such a despicable method—sending assassins after an innocent child to force the Gwan family’s own child into the Demon Dragon Hall.
However, who stood behind the assassins or what troubles plagued the Gwan family were none of Unhyeon’s concern.
The only thing that mattered was that the child destined to be sacrificed in their struggle…
…was Yeonwoo.
“And if you kill this child, do you really think the Gwan family will hand over their own child?”
“What?”
“If this child dies, won’t they simply buy another?”
Now that he knew their purpose, there was no reason to treat them with courtesy.
The disrespect in Unhyeon’s voice made the masked men blink in surprise.
The old man’s entire demeanor had changed in an instant.
But their tension lasted only a moment.
The masked men laughed again.
“So what? If they buy another brat, we’ll just kill that one too! What are they going to do? Follow every kid around forever?”
If they killed the substitute child and another was bought, they would simply kill that one as well.
Whether ten innocent children died or a hundred meant nothing to them.
“We kill whoever we’re told to kill! It’s up to the Gwan family how many kids that ends up being!”
“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
They spoke of children’s lives as though discussing a joke.
Not a trace of guilt could be found in their carefree laughter.
“You truly are despicable.”
Shing—
Staring at the masked men, Unhyeon slowly drew his sword.
At the same moment, his fury became an overwhelming pressure that swirled around him as though he were unleashing his internal energy.
“Has this old man gone insane…?!”
Only after seeing him draw his sword did the masked men tighten their grips.
Their words remained bold, but only in appearance.
Crushed beneath the fierce pressure suddenly pouring from Unhyeon, they instinctively took hesitant steps backward.
“Y-You want to die?! Huh?!”
“I do not consider vermin like you to be human.”
A beast that preyed upon people deserved only death.
Unhyeon raised his sword toward them.
In the darkness, his lowered gaze shone with sharper killing intent than ever before.
“Come.”
“You crazy old bastard!”
Tap! Tap!
As though on cue, the two masked men charged at him.
Their cultivation was exactly as Unhyeon had expected.
Barely second-rate.
Clang! Clang!
Even unable to use his internal energy properly, their swordsmanship looked like children’s play in Unhyeon’s eyes.
Clang! Thud! Clang!
“Urgh!”
“Gah!”
Only three exchanges.
The two masked men together couldn’t even last three moves.
Unhyeon lightly evaded both swords before smashing the back of each man’s neck with the hilt of his own sword, knocking them unconscious.
“…”
He looked down at the two unconscious men sprawled across the ground.
Then he walked over to one of them, turned him over, and searched his clothes.
A moment later, he pulled out a throwing knife no longer than a finger.
Turning it over in his hand, Unhyeon suddenly—
Whoosh!
Hurled it toward the roof of the house.
Clang!
The knife struck something with a metallic ring.
Unhyeon stood and looked up.
Another masked man sat on the rooftop, a dagger in his hand.
The leader.
The third presence he had sensed.
Unlike the other two, this one radiated dense killing intent.
Tap!
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, the masked man closed the distance.
Clang!
As though expecting it, Unhyeon raised his sword and blocked the attack.
For a brief moment, dagger and sword locked together.
The masked man’s murderous eyes met Unhyeon’s.
Then—
“…!”
Craaack!
With his left hand, the masked man slashed upward.
Without lowering the sword blocking the right-hand attack, Unhyeon twisted his blade and intercepted the second strike.
But—
Ghk…
An agonizing impact hit him, as though he had collided with a massive boulder.
The second strike had been reinforced with internal energy.
As expected… He can use internal energy.
The difference between fighting a second-rate martial artist and a first-rate one was like heaven and earth.
A second-rate martial artist merely surpassed ordinary people.
A first-rate martial artist could infuse every strike with internal energy.
As if proving it, a shimmering aura drifted around the masked man’s body.
Clang! Crack!
His attacks grew even fiercer.
To Unhyeon, the movements themselves were painfully simple.
The problem was the power carried by each blow.
Throb.
He wasn’t taking the attacks head-on; he was redirecting every strike.
Even so, agonizing pain tore through his body.
His injuries had yet to heal, and his body could no longer endure the repeated impacts.
If this drags on, it’ll become dangerous.
Unhyeon made his decision.
He could defeat this opponent without relying on internal energy.
But prolonging the fight worked against him in every way.
In that case—
Clang!
“…!”
The instant Unhyeon swung his sword while channeling internal energy into it, the masked man’s dagger was violently knocked aside.
The masked man’s eyes widened.
Until now, the old man had done nothing but deflect his attacks.
He had assumed his opponent couldn’t use internal energy at all.
“…!”
But by the time he realized the truth…
…it was already too late.
Before he could even recover his arm—
Thud!
Something heavy slammed into his temple.
His vision went black.
Thump!
Watching the masked man collapse unconscious, Unhyeon stabbed his sword into the ground to keep himself from falling.
“…Ugh…”
A searing pain ripped through his chest.
It felt as though someone were tearing his body apart piece by piece.
Pathetic…
What a pathetic state I have fallen into…
To think that merely channeling internal energy into his sword once would leave him like this.
Huff… Huff…
Leaning heavily against the sword, Unhyeon struggled to steady his breathing.
Crackle… Crackle…
His eyes drifted toward the campfire that still burned brightly.
The pheasant Yeonwoo liked was cooking over the flames, half-charred because no one had turned it over.
Now he only had to deal with these men and call Yeonwoo—
“So you’re still alive?”
“…!”
An unfamiliar voice came from behind him.
It came from where the first two masked men lay unconscious.
A chilling sensation raced down Unhyeon’s spine.
“…!”
Reacting instantly, he forced himself upright and pointed his sword toward the voice.
Long black hair tied high behind his head.
Pale skin that seemed almost luminous even beneath the darkness.
Red lips curved into a playful smile.
A handsome man wearing a white half-mask stood beneath the moonlit night.
