NOVEL WEB Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Whaaa—
I awoke, feeling a tickle on my face. Our eyes met. Damn those double eyelids. Jumping up, I shook off my body.
“Ao.”
A fly buzzed away in a panic. But I wasn’t the old, weak Seo-jun who would bow down to a quick little fly anymore.
“Ah-ha.”
Murasaki.
I aimed a flick at the fly, and it met its end against the sword’s edge, splatting it all over.
“Phew.”
Isn’t it about time these bugs went extinct? I scratched my itchy arms while surveying the area.
Corpses. Flies. And Chun-bong.
It looked like she had finished her meditation and had fallen asleep against the wall. She shouldn’t have dozed off on guard duty. I was relieved nothing went wrong.
“Wow, my place is a total disaster.”
Everything was wrecked. The furniture and belongings didn’t stand a chance. The building was already close to being a dump, and now it was practically unlivable.
I buried the thought of needing to move deep in my mind and shook Chun-bong’s shoulder.
“Hey, wake up, Goldie. We’ve got a job to do.”
“Ugh… Stop annoying me… Just five more minutes…”
She seemed really tired.
First, I scavenged whatever valuables I could from the bodies nearby, loosening my stiff limbs and checking on my sword’s condition.
‘Is it still alright?’
The blade was fully drawn, but it felt a bit dull. How the hell did I kill people with such a worn-out sword?
Recalling some lessons, I started sharpening it with a whetstone.
Maybe the sound woke her up? Chun-bong rubbed her eyes and casually spat out,
“That’s not how you do it.”
“Want to do it instead?”
When I held out the sword and whetstone, Chun-bong shot me an annoyed look. But, predictably, she accepted them. Classic tsundere move. What a cute kid.
Swipe—swipe—
As she polished the sword, I took a moment to organize my thoughts.
I absolutely had to move. And I needed to gather some info about the Black Tiger Sect or gang—whichever it was.
“Hey, Chun-bong, there’s definitely more to the Black Tiger Gang than just this, right?”
“Yeah. The Black Tiger Sect is pretty big among the dark factions.”
“So it was the Black Tiger Sect, huh?”
I watched Chun-bong as she focused on sharpening the sword. For a kid, she had some serious hand finesse. Suddenly, a question popped into my head.
“By the way, how old are you?”
“Why the rush to ask?”
“So how old?”
“Sixteen.”
“What?!”
She’s not a damn elementary school kid? With that body? She looked like a little kid to anyone!
“What, you got a problem with my appearance?”
“Uh, no, it’s nothing.”
Chun-bong sighed, set the sword aside, and turned around. Her gaze was calm. I stared at her, sensing something was up. Finally, she broke the silence.
“Aren’t you curious about anything else? There’s gotta be more you want to know.”
“Not really.”
“Really?”
“You’ll probably tell me when the time comes.”
It would be rude to pry into matters someone doesn’t want to talk about. The young Seo-jun is a man of etiquette. I nodded coolly, and Chun-bong scoffed.
“Dork.”
“Why?!”
As she pouted, Chun-bong continued,
“Actually, I come from the Divine Sword Golden Family.”
“Uh-huh.”
“That it? Not surprised?”
“What’s the Divine Sword Golden Family?”
“What?”
Chun-bong gaped at me like I was an alien.
“Your background is just too exaggerated.”
“What do you mean ‘exaggerated’?”
“Are you also from the underworld? You sound like it.”
What kind of nonsense is that? I frowned and replied.
“I’m not from the underworld. Definitely not, but….”
“Then what?”
“I’m from another world.”
“Shut the hell up.”
Chun-bong sighed, shaking her head vigorously. Then, she clicked her tongue and stared straight at me.
“Well, if you don’t want to say, fine. I’m just letting you know I’m a survivor of the Divine Sword Golden Family.”
“Survivor, huh…”
Did something happen? I looked at her with a strange expression, and she tossed the sharpened sword at me.
Thud—
I plopped down on the floor, resting the sword beside me.
“Does your health issues connect with your martial arts practices?”
“Yeah. I was hit by the Yin Cold Technique when I was escaping.”
“The Yin Cold Technique? Is that one of those ice powers?”
“Something like that.”
Chun-bong nodded. I wasn’t sure about the details of Yin Cold Technique, but it was definitely not an average martial art.
“It doesn’t just cause injuries; it completely blocks your chi paths. It means you’ve developed a congenital block.”
“Like the nine yin block?”
“It’s not as serious as that.”
The nine yin block was a rare disease that drastically shortened your lifespan. At least, that was how it was portrayed in martial art novels.
And it seemed Chun-bong had a similar block. I adopted a serious tone and asked,
“Then, do you need a Yang-qi elixir or something to heal?”
“Well, that’s one way.”
Is there really no other treatment? Since 九阴绝脉 (nine yin block) often appeared in all sorts of martial art literature, treatment methods were quite varied.
Of course, there was no guarantee those would work here, but I figured I might as well ask.
“Only enough Yang-qi should do it, right?”
“Theoretically, yes.”
“Then would this work?”
I made a ring with one hand and threaded the index finger of the other hand through it repeatedly.
“What’s that…?”
After a moment of thoughtful contemplation, Chun-bong’s face turned bright red.
“Y-you freak!”
“No, I’m asking if it works!”
“Will it work!? How’s that going to give you any Yang-qi?!”
“Won’t it?”
“It won’t! Even if it did, it’d be a measly bit!”
“A measly bit, huh…?” I pondered for a moment before asking again.
“Then isn’t it better to learn a relevant martial art? Like that one… what’s it called… Baozhong Technique? Chaiyin Bao?”
“Crazy bastard….”
I was seriously asking, but she kept mocking me. My expression soured significantly.
“I’ll deck you!”
“Shut up, you moron!”
I took a hit again.
*
After my declaration, Chun-bong, who had been looking at me like I was a bug, suddenly started to squirm and poked me hard in the side.
“Ow…!”
“Hey.”
“What?!”
She still seemed deep in thought. With her eyes shut tight, she finally spoke up.
“Are you thinking of learning any martial arts besides the Three Calamity Sword Techniques?”
“Other martial arts? Like what?”
“Yellow Cloud Divine Sword.”
“Yellow Cloud Divine Sword? That’s a lame name.”
Chun-bong bit her lip tightly.
“…It’s our family’s unique martial art.”
“Oh… Er, I mean, that’s a totally wicked name!”
“Please stop with the nonsense…”
“Sure.”
As I kept my mouth shut, Chun-bong looked even more troubled. It seemed like she was wondering if she should really tell me.
But she must’ve resolved her mind because her expression turned serious.
“I’m not saying this lightly. It’s a unique martial art from my family. Normally, only the family head and the second-in-command can learn it.”
“Is it okay to tell me? I’m fine with just sticking to the Three Calamity Sword Techniques.”
“If I think it’s okay, why should you care? …Now I’ll teach you.”
Chun-bong’s face looked gloomy as she tapped the floor.
“The Three Calamity Sword Techniques is a third-rate martial art. Even if you succeed, it’s lucky to reach first-rate. That’s all there is to that martial art.”
“Climbing to the heavens doesn’t seem too impressive after all.”
“Seems like the moron was a bit full of himself.”
Chun-bong sighed deeply and jumped to her feet. Then she suddenly looked dizzy and plopped back down.
It might have looked silly, but I just stayed quiet.
“…I’m not telling you this because I trust you specifically. It’s just… It’d be nice to have someone around to protect me, so I’m sharing this info. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
“What if I run off with it?”
“……”
Chun-bong’s eyes were fierce. Her entire face was a fiery red, and it looked like she was ready to stab me at any moment.
“…I’m not telling you, you jerk!”
What a bummer.
*
Despite the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword being an innovation, I figured we should move locations first.
Right now, it was fine since not much time had passed, but once the corpses started to rot, that would be a huge headache.
“Where are we going?”
I kept glancing around. The atmosphere, unlike my shabby old place, felt quite different now.
There were lots of people around, with red lanterns filling the streets, creating a sticky ambiance.
“Shh. Don’t do anything dumb around here.”
Chun-bong rolled her eyes, surveying the surroundings.
“Half of this red-light district belongs to the Black Tiger Sect. If we’re not careful…”
“Wait, what are you doing, you crazy bastard…?”
Chun-bong’s mouth hung open. No matter how out of it I was, I didn’t expect this level of chaos.
“Uh… Was that a bad move?”
I stared at the woman sprawled on the ground, struck in the gut. I could see the shock reflected in Chun-bong’s eyes.
“Why are you really…?”
“I was just defending myself when she suddenly glued herself to me.”
“Right, that’s smart.”
Chun-bong darted her gaze around. Every eye in the place was glued to us. Big guys were rushing out from the nearby establishment, clearly affiliated with the fallen woman.
I felt the need to explain myself.
“Hey, c’mon! What if she suddenly attacked me with a knife or something…?”
“Yeah, right.”
Chun-bong smacked the back of my head and took off running.
“Just run, you crazy fool! Who the hell are you to act like that?!”
“I’m perfectly fine. Every morning, it’s absolute mayhem!”
“Aaaah! Damn it!”
“Chun-bong, you foolish sister! Naturally, you can’t trust women!”
“Shut up and run already!”
We took off, sprinting like mad.