Chapter 319 – There Was One More (2)
Hwangbo Hyosun’s head was pounding. She had heard from Lady Geomsung that the group called Eunryunhui was a sub-faction of the Sapa group and had connections to the Jungpa faction.
“Perhaps there are people associated with them in the Gupa, but until the situation becomes clearer, we shouldn’t stir things up,” Lady Geomsung had said.
But there was a faction among them, and it was even said to be partial. According to the speculation of the people in front of her, not even in a position as a leader.
Moreover, their goal was to cause a civil war and throw the river into chaos, at least according to the prisoners.
“What the hell can we do about this…”
Realizing that a powerful force was lurking in the shadows, Hwangbo Hyosun swore under her breath out of frustration, only to look up and realize that everyone was staring at her.
“Hwangbo Yeohyeop? What’s the matter?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Partiality, huh? They must be incredibly skilled.”
Hwangbo Hyosun stumbled over her words, but the man easily understood. As she breathed a sigh of relief, the man spoke again.
“But our thoughts are that their claims about causing chaos in the river and whatnot are likely not true.”
“Huh? Um, well…go on.”
“It’s more likely that it’s a trick by the Magyo. There’s a member of the Sapa among them, and without the backing of the Magyo, how could they do such a thing?”
Hwangbo Hyosun thought the man’s speculation was completely wrong. Of course, it wasn’t impossible for the Magyo to be involved, but it wasn’t the only possibility.
Unaware that Kang Yoon was watching her, she continued to listen to the man, trembling.
“I think it’s better to strike first before they can further weaken the Jungpa with such a clumsy trick.”
“Wait…look at me for a moment.”
Hwangbo Hyosun pulled the man aside, looking around to make sure no one was listening.
“Why are you doing this?”
“What do you mean?”
She spoke quietly, worried that others might hear.
“You clearly didn’t say that before. That you would calm down the Magyo and achieve peace in the river. Didn’t you say that to me?”
“I thought that way at the time, but what’s the point of worrying in front of people who are pretending to avoid a fight but are actually trying to start one? The Magyo is a harmful presence that must be eliminated!”
“…You can’t say for sure that the Magyo is behind them!”
Hwangbo Hyosun protested, but the man remained firm in his beliefs.
“Then where could they be? Geumrim? Odokmun? Can they really cause such chaos with the support of Hwalak Palace? It’s only the Magyo! They are the ones…”
“Have you ever seen such a frustrating person?”
Hwangbo Hyosun tried to grab the man’s collar, but he lightly stepped back, causing her hand to slip through the air.
“If you still have negative feelings towards me and are opposing my opinion because of that…”
As the man spoke, Hwangbo Hyosun’s face turned red with anger. She couldn’t help but think of the night she had spent with him, a memory that still occasionally haunted her.
“Don’t bring that up!”
Hwangbo Hyosun waved her hand in disgust, but the man couldn’t help but feel pleased with her reaction.
Her face was definitely not showing a look of discomfort from the experience.
Furthermore, he was convinced that Hwangbo Hyosun kept suggesting that the Magyo might not be in cahoots with them.
‘Interesting…’
The man suppressed the urge to push harder as he looked at her flushed face and continued to argue his point.
“I’m sorry. But I need an explanation that I can understand too. It’s hard to believe that their idea of causing a civil war by riding the line between the Jungpa and Sapa is true.”
“Ugh…!”
It didn’t matter if he kept going. With her or someone else’s power who knew the same information, the civil war would be avoided as much as possible.
But if she easily gave up her argument here, she would surely be suspected. So the man continued to push.
Meanwhile, Hwangbo Hyosun was in deep thought. The information her grandfather Geomsung had told her was something she had struggled with even then.
But could she just tell this man in front of her? Hwangbo Hyosun couldn’t make a quick decision.
“Ugh…”
Hwangbo Hyosun let out a long sigh and then reached behind her back towards the sword she was carrying. The man flinched and stepped back.
“Why the sudden black sword…”
“There’s a reason that would convince you, but it’s not easy to say.”
As she slowly drew the heavy sword, she aimed it at the man and spoke.
“But I’m not sure if it’s right for me to tell you this.”
“…”
“So the decision has to be made with this. If you win against me, I’ll tell you. But if you lose, I won’t.”
As Hwangbo Hyosun regained her momentum, her clothes fluttered slightly.
“I know you’ve reached the peak now. So you can’t just say it’s unfair.”
Judging from the smooth movements he had just seen, Hwangbo Hyosun didn’t think her chances of winning were very high.
Even when she was far inferior to him, she had risked her life with a single divine technique from that sly old man. So now, he was definitely not an easy opponent.
“Will you refuse?”
“No, I’ll accept.”
The man smiled slyly and accepted her proposal, causing Hwangbo Hyosun’s lips to curl up without her realizing it.
The two of them examined each other’s distance and soon began to clash.
As soon as the clash began to intensify, Pyeong Yeon-hwa quickly threw a divine technique.
When she arrived at the place where the two were clashing, they had not yet started their first collision, so she could have seen the entire battle.
‘Incredible.’
It was not surprising that the level of the two people’s martial arts was astonishing to the point that she was surprised.
What she was watching was that both of them were using the martial arts of the Three Supreme Divinities.
Although both martial arts had their own history, the martial arts that had been polished by the hands of two top-notch experts, Blood Demon and Sword Saint, had even more powerful power.
It was possible because they were the best experts in their respective martial arts histories.
Hwangbo Hyosun, one of the participants in the battle, may not have known, but the confrontation between the two was a kind of proxy war.
“Ugh…! Really, you’ve grown a lot!”
“Is that so? Actually, I think so too!”
As the two experts suddenly clashed, everyone who had been staying in Fahrenheit rushed over to see what was happening.
However, the two were still clashing, so it was the women’s job to worry like a dumbfounded person with a cold heart, wondering if someone would shout, “No! Isn’t that Blood Demon’s poisonous martial arts?!”
Even though she had already gone out once in the battle of the Nine Dragons, she was confident that she would not be recognized if it were not for Sword Saint, but most of the spectators were people from the martial arts world, so she couldn’t let her guard down.
“Taaat!”
At that moment, with a hearty cry from the man’s mouth, he swung his sword down towards Hwangbo Hyosun, not to resist her sword, but to try to press his sword down on hers and crush it into the ground.
But Hwangbo Hyosun pushed the sword she was swinging aside, causing the man’s force to scatter, and the woman holding the sword moved forward, reversing positions with the man.
Hwangbo Hyosun’s swordsmanship was blocking her opponent’s movements with a wide range of black sword strikes and dealing fatal blows with solid sword strikes, while the man’s martial arts were breaking through her swordsmanship and forcing her to expend her energy.
‘If it continues like this…’
The one who tires out first loses. Pyeong Yeon-hwa came to that conclusion.
And it was highly likely that Hwangbo Hyosun would be the one to tire out first.
How could a mere peerless expert withstand the monster who, every night, dragged women to his bed and used it as his internal energy cultivation?
‘Even if the opponent is holding back, it’s still…’
She had heard stories of how she had almost never lost to two top-notch experts, but seeing their martial arts grow to this level was an overwhelming experience.
As someone who had seen her in her novice days when she had only trained in martial arts for a month, perhaps that was why Pyeong Yeon-hwa felt a sense of betrayal.
“Oh, no? Why?”
She couldn’t understand why the man suddenly dug deep into her sword with a deep sword technique when they were exchanging blows and could have won soon.
Since a sword was basically a weapon, it tended to be at a disadvantage compared to martial arts if it allowed the opponent to approach.
However, that was only true for ordinary people. For those who were proficient in martial arts and could freely pour out their internal energy by mastering the martial arts of the Kwonjangjibup, there was no reason to force their way through the sword technique.
“Suck!”
Just then, the hand that was reaching towards Hwangbo Hyosun’s chest was pushed back by a white light-like sword energy that emerged from the sword, and Hwangbo Hyosun stopped with the momentum of pushing the sword onto the man’s shoulder.
“Ooooooh!”
As the outcome was decided, cheers rang out around them.
Most of the spectators were captivated by the dazzling sword energy and the movements like a meteor, so they were ecstatic when the winner, Kang Yoon, accepted the victory with a cool demeanor.
Of course, among them were a few people who had the vision not to be swayed by such splendor, and they wondered why such a result had occurred.
Among those who had doubts was Hwangbo Hyosun herself, who had won against the man who had lost, and she was momentarily stunned when she stopped the sword on the man’s shoulder, but she quickly started to follow him when she saw him naturally leave the spot.
