“What the hell happened!”
The lady of the house was at the peak of her anger. The sound was mostly drowned out by the cheers and applause, but it was loud enough for the family to hear.
“General! What even happened? Did someone poison him?”
“There was no problem with the meal…”
“If nothing wrong happened, then why is he one of the top three swordsmen! And why is he on the ground, defeated by some random no name thug! Why! How!”
She continued to scream at the results which were difficult to accept.
Even if Shin Yeon lost, she had been putting all her hopes on Kang Won-tae, and they had taken an entire 15 days to convince him to help them.
“Physician! Quickly!”
On one side, several people ran in to check on the condition of Kang Won-tae. And soon they put him on a cloth and took him away.
“Lady.”
Someone went close to her and whispered,
“There are a lot of eyes on you, be wary. Wouldn’t we have thought of the same thing?”
“…General.”
He was Jong Wol. And as the head of the family, when it came to security, he looked after the family.
“The other side had prepared amazingly and thanks to that, our side ended up being careless so we suffered losses. But more than that… be calm.”
“Phew.”
At his words, she cooled down a bit.
“But I heard that the spar is what decides the flow of the bet. If this happens…”
“Haha. The last remaining person, he will be sad if he heard you say this. Who is he and where he is from, didn’t the lady see it?”
“Ah…”
She took a deep breath and then she finally regained her composure.
“No more irregularities right?”
“None. Although Kang Won-tae is strong, it would be odd for him to lose to the other two swordsmen around. Moreover, didn’t you hear of his origin?”
“…I didn’t. I am excited.”
Only then did she control her heart. Because this next one was extremely strong.
“Brother, really…”
On the other hand, Jong Rimi was thrilled, and she could not tell if this was reality or just a dream.
“Why?”
When Jong Ri-heon asked, Jong Rimi spat out,
“That shaman has to be real.”
“…Haha. Right.”
Seeing her speak with a serious expression, he laughed for no reason.
What?
They already had defeated two of three.
On the other hand, the First Elder began to sweat.
How did this…
He had not even considered losing as a possibility up until this point.
But it gradually turned to reality, and it felt like this was the incorrect lineup.
If we lose…
It would be a horrible situation. Far from being accepted, he would have to give up the position as elder and he would be kicked out of the family.
All this while he had sided with the other party too many times, and it was clear that the price of his actions would be too much.
“Then next…”
The paper with personal details which was crumbled after Kang Won-tae—around the time the First Elder as about to speak—
Tuk
He saw a person walking out calmly.
“Hmm. I guess I should take back what was said.”
At Namgung Hun’s words, Namgung Min and Namgung Hye looked there.
“I mean, the smooth looking one isn’t just strong but extremely strong.”
“It makes no sense brother. To have achieved it at that age.”
“Yes, hyung it makes no sense.”
Namgung Hye was shocked, and Namgung Min also did not agree with it.
They could understand the skills, but to do this, to consider him as extremely strong was not possible.
And even if he was extremely strong, the way he responded felt too at ease.
And in their eyes Imugi felt unusual.
“He didn’t even use blade energy, right?”
“Hye, Min, do you think that you need sword energy to beat those who use sword energy?”
Namgung Hun shook his head.
“Rather, since he defeated the enemy without using that, he should be seen as several times stronger. He has skill and experience which overwhelmed his opponent.”
“Ah…”
“Hmm.”
At his words the two went silent.
They could not believe it, but it was right. Apparently, Namgung Hun’s vision was greater as he was stronger than the other two.
“Well, the last one is coming out.”
At his words, the two focused again.
Namgung Min titled his head because the person who came out was bald.
“Shaolin?”
“I don’t think so… his clothing is different.”
Namgung Hye shook her head.
The head was shaved, but that was all. There were no robes of yellow with long sleeves.
In the first place, the people of Shaolin were too particular about their robes and beads.
“This seems fun.”
Namgung Hun spoke of his expectations.
A person whose eyes shone in the dire situation told him he was stronger than Kang Won-tae.
“Here we go!”
The First Elder’s declaration drew the attention of the people.
“Looks like a monk, but if we look closely, it doesn’t seem like it…”
When they first started, Imugi mumbled.
The words which could have been heard around 50 times.
“Right, not a bandit either…”
The voice of Imugi lowered. This mysterious outfit was what those in the mountains wore.
Leather and fabric together—the shoes were also leather shoes and the sword was on the back rather than the waist.
“You seem to be curious about the origin.”
The old man spoke politely and Imugi nodded.
“Will you tell me?”
“Not difficult… but there is an easier way.”
“What is that?”
“If you get me into trouble, won’t the answer come out?”
Swish
The man held his hand and took the stance.
Seeing him hold the sword on his back, the expression of Imugi turned serious.
This guy, he is not just bluffing.
The one action of putting the leg and one hand out was not a big deal, but he felt the pressure of it.
Maybe it was because of the eyes.
That gaze, with deep experience, said that he was not going to be intimidated by anything.
“…Will you not come?”
When the other person continued to look carefully, the elderly man asked.
When Imugi just stared at him, he straightened his form and closed his eyes.
“Then my side.”
Tat!
As soon as he finished speaking, he ran towards Imugi.
Swish!
In the eyes of Imugi, the opponent was not that fast, similar to Shin Yeon, so he tried to hold the force by drawing back.
But—
Wheik!
He avoided it?
The opponent, who had narrowly avoided the side hit, continued to cling to it without slowing down.
As soon as they got close, Imugi twisted his body.
He used blade wind to move.
Thud!
“…!
The eyes of Imugi, who spun, widened. His escape was blocked. To be precise, it was done the moment the opponent raised his hand.
And because of that response and Imugi being shocked, there was an opening.
No, it was a forced error.
The old man changed his form and blocked the blade of Imugi, and this time he countered with speed.
Ching!
Then Imugi showed a miraculous response to it.
He touched the floor, and in the state of handing, he lowered the blade to the floor and drew it straight up to cut it.
“Kuak!”
However, that did not seem to do much. And it was because the wind was being used.
Jik!
As a result, Imugi was pushed back two paces.
Papat!
This!
The expression on the face of Imugi hardened as he corrected his form. Whether it was showing the skills or not, the opponent was a lot faster than before.
And Imugi hastily used blade energy.
Demonic energy…
True Body Martial arts can be used. But if he did that, demonic energy would flow out, and because of that short moment of hesitation the opponent had an opening he could seize.
Chang! Chang! Chang!
As if waiting, he continued to attack in close combat. It was not with bare hands but those which had internal energy covering them.
Imugi blocked it and soon took a step back as he felt his strength was lacking.
“Haaah!”
The wind blew as the hand of the opponent moved.
Can’t avoid!
Imugi knew that this next attack would be difficult to avoid. Even defense was difficult. Then, he had to take a risk. So, there was just one way left.
Despite not being sure he decided to do it. He put his entire body on the ground and rolled as he managed to dodge the attack.
“…”
At that moment, the old man stopped moving.
The chance of attacking was what he had. It was a situation where he could have won if he pushed Imugi a little harder, but then this man withdrew his hand.
“You man… are so shameless.”
After that he said,
“Uh. If that makes you win that is nice.”
Imugi stood up from the ground and replied. The words were laughed at, but he could feel his heart pound.
Rolling on ground was no great method to evade attacks, but using his body, knowing that the people of the central plains would hesitate to act if he did that, he fortunately managed to use it and make it work. Dusting the body off, Imugi thought,
Wow, this man. I think I need to fight all out…
He felt the intuition that he could not win if he fought by taking this lightly. Even so, he could not bring out the energy of his body, but he looked ahead.
Shaking the head—
He saw Seol-Hwi shake his head.
Nothing can be done.
Again, he did not have a choice.
“I give up.”
At those words the audience fell silent. The First Elder approached him and asked,
“What did you say?”
“I lost. Fighting made me lose my confidence.”
“…”
After those words, a couple breaths passed.
“OHHH! Amazing~”
“He recognizes an expert!”
“How strong was this opponent now?”
There was admiration and cheers from the crowd.
“Ah, this is. I could have used demonic energy…”
When Imugi trudged to the waiting room, he pouted, but Songhwa encouraged him.
“You did amazing!”
“Amazing my ass?”
Imugi had an annoyed face.
“How can you say that? if you fought with all your strength, you would have won!”
Seol-Hwi tapped him on the shoulder.
“Of course,”
Imugi confidently mumbled.
It was no joke, from Seol-Hwi’s point of view he could have won.
“Come here!”
“Is it fine?”
As soon as an unfamiliar man came, Imugi turned to Songhwa.
“Physician, I called him.”
“I see.”
Imugi looked at his wounds, the ones he got from Kang Won-tae.
They were not serious wounds, but the bleeding against the clothes made it seem so.
So with medicine and bandages he had to be healed.
“But, Master, this guy, where do you think he is from? Even with the sword he seemed quite aware of close combat…”
At the words of Imugi, Seol-Hwi stood up and looked at the man on the stage.
“I can guess a couple places.”
“Where?”
“Not sure yet. But if I face him, I am sure to know.”
“Huh. He said the same thing.”
“I guess. I will go.”
“Do it in moderation so you don’t take all the attention away from me.”
Seol-Hwi smiled at his words and turned.
“Songhwa.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Once we win, think about how we will negotiate.”
“Do not worry. That is my speciality.”
Songhwa smiled brightly.
This fight—
Who among the people gathered could win over his master?
This was a smile they could have because only he and Imugi knew about the power of their master.
