Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 79 - Not in This World Anymore

Chapter 79 – Not in This World Anymore

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Hundun…?”

Ju-seong furrowed his brow and asked again.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

The Four Venerables of the Cradle of the Demonic Path… If one of them was Hundun, then wouldn’t the rest also be members of the Four Fiends?

After all, Hundun was the name of one of the legendary Four Fiends.

What on earth were the Four Fiends? Surely they couldn’t actually be monsters or something…

Ju-seong’s gaze wavered for a moment. The Master didn’t miss that instant and thrust his sword forward in a straight line.

Ju-seong’s clouded eyes snapped back like lightning, and as if he’d been waiting, his right hand drew out five strands of Heavenly Silkworm Silk.

Ju-seong had never once wielded Heavenly Silkworm Silk with his right hand until now.

-Clink…

The Master, who had been guarding only the left, was quite startled by the Heavenly Silkworm Silk catching his soft sword.

Ju-seong’s scheme didn’t end there.

Though the Master’s specialty was illusory swordsmanship, there was no mystery of illusion in the thrust he was making now.

It was merely a straight thrust loaded with physical strength and internal energy.

Naturally, its trajectory was readable and it was caught fast by the Heavenly Silkworm Silk.

Ju-seong muttered, feeling somewhat hollow that such a scheme had worked.

“Heh… Strong yet weak.”

-SLASH…!

Along with the Master’s soft sword, his left arm was severed and fell in pieces to the floor.

Ju-seong was slightly surprised even while witnessing the scene.

Because the man hadn’t even tried to resist with internal energy in his left arm.

Only then did Ju-seong recall that the fellow’s left and right halves moved separately.

‘Too la… ‘

-CRASH!

A dark yellow energy wave burst out in a circle, and Ju-seong was shot away like a streak of light, slamming into the cavern wall.

The palm technique from the man’s right hand had struck Ju-seong directly.

“Cough! Keh…”

Ju-seong coughed up blood as he staggered out.

The man’s right hand dispassionately pressed pressure points to stop the bleeding, as if his left body was none of his concern.

Likewise, only the left half of the Master’s face was contorted in pain, while the right side remained composed.

Ju-seong let out a hollow laugh at the sight.

“Everything you do and everything about you is inhuman. With that appearance, how do you expect to meet a woman, build a family, and have children?”

Ju-seong was spraying blood with every word he yelled while jabbing his finger at the man. The Master answered indifferently while applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

“I have no intention of building a family or having children. Why should I do what everyone does?”

Ju-seong spoke as if genuinely sympathetic.

“And what you do instead is wipe the ass of some pathetic bastard wearing the name of the Four Fiends, too pretentious to know he’s embarrassing himself?”

The Master laughed as if incredulous. Perhaps slightly angered, his speech grew rougher.

“How do you know that man is like that? Have you seen him?”

“It’s obvious without looking. What kind of person wouldn’t be, if he thinks that’s cool at his age? If he’s above you, that capable a master, he must be rather old. And at that age, doing such things… ‘Cheap’ is the only word that comes to mind.”

“You done talking?”

“No. One more thing. A person who serves such a man is truly a great hero and champion of the martial world. Later when you die, Lord Guan Yu will clap his hands and offer you the seat beside him. In summary…”

Ju-seong bared his blood-soaked teeth in a huge smile.

“Drop dead, you son of a bitch.”

Ju-seong charged toward the man’s right side. The Master felt puzzled seeing Ju-seong move so nimbly.

What the man had taken was his best technique that could be deployed in a short time.

It seemed he was moving on sheer willpower from being enraged, but there had to be a limit to that.

The Master decided to buy time with palm techniques for now.

-BOOM! BANG! Flutter…

The moment two palm force exchanges ended, Ju-seong attempted a grab technique, and the Master puffed up his sleeve to deflect it.

Inflating the sleeve with energy to block the critical moment when a grab technique entered… a petty trick.

But for Ju-seong, who didn’t have abundant real combat experience, it was a good lesson.

The fluttering sleeve sound also served to conceal the sound of a flying needle.

King Yama’s Letter.

This technique Ju-seong had created in Yunnan was being refined and developed further as time passed.

When Ju-seong secretly flicked his hand behind his back.

A long needle drew a very thin silver line, gracefully circling along the blood-soaked cavern walls.

Like the messenger of King Yama surveying all this carnage, it was drawn in to punish the one responsible.

The needle tip was targeting the Master’s left side.

Ju-seong had noticed the weakness of the man’s Split-Mind Art.

In other words, when operating the Split-Mind Art, the man was in a state where “the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing.”

The Master’s left eye bulged wide. Only then had he spotted the needle flying at him.

He tried to deflect it, but his left arm was currently severed and couldn’t.

The right side of his body was engaging Ju-seong and still didn’t seem to know a hidden weapon was incoming.

-Tok.

A very soft sound echoed in the cavern.

The Purple Golden centipede’s poison flowed along the Master’s arteries.

The Heavenly Silkworm poison he had been suppressing also began acting up again.

“Chew on this.”

The Master couldn’t even block Ju-seong’s flying kick delivered with a flip.

‘A flying kick, of all things…’

To think such a street acrobat-like move would be the finishing blow.

It was truly an absurd flying kick, but since a peak-level master had delivered it, it carried tremendous force.

-CRASH… Thump! Thump! Thwack!

A crimson energy wave burst, and the Master bounced twice off the stone floor before slamming into the wall.

Though he’d protected himself with internal energy and wasn’t pulverized…

“GUURGH!”

He was in a state of massive internal injuries with poison also acting up.

Ju-seong approached slowly, hand resting on his waist. He too was in terrible shape.

Four of his ribs, which had been hardened by sipping Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine, were broken.

The internal injuries were severe as well.

But he had enough strength left to take the Vajra Pavilion Master’s life. Ju-seong stood before him and asked.

“Vajra Pavilion Master… What’s your name?”

The Master’s eyelids trembled as he stared at Ju-seong. Then he curled his thin lips and spoke.

“…Boom.”

“That’s an unusual name?”

The instant Ju-seong’s unbiased response ended…

-KABOOOM!

An explosion like none he’d ever heard in his life shook the entire area.

Lying collapsed, the Master spoke while clinging to his fading last thread of life.

“…Told you. You won’t get out anyway.”

Ju-seong stared at the cavern walls rapidly cracking, at the Jin River water flooding through the cracks, and muttered.

“…This is absurd. Explosives are illegal, you know.”

Black water engulfed Ju-seong.

* * *

Dong-sam stared at Vajra Pavilion, now thick with black smoke.

Thinking that a bottom-feeding thug like himself had ruined the fancy pleasure house where the big shots gathered, a strange satisfaction rose in him.

He also wondered why such an important task had been entrusted to him.

He looked back and spoke to the courtesans who had come out.

“Let’s get going for now.”

Seol-ran, who had led the courtesans out, relayed what Ju-seong had said. Something about running to find Dong-sam if chaos broke out.

One young courtesan whined.

“Unnie… Why do we have to run so far away? Can’t we just hide for a bit and go back…? The guards will protect us.”

Seol-ran looked at the young courtesan with pitying eyes. If nothing had happened, wouldn’t this girl have been next to disappear?

“Dang-hwa dear, there’s no time to explain. But it’s dangerous to go back. You trust Unnie, right?”

“Ye-es…”

Dang-hwa nodded with teary eyes. Seol-ran was not only the most renowned courtesan at Vajra Pavilion but also served as the leader among the courtesans.

You could call her the queen bee, in a sense.

Depending on this queen bee’s personality, the pavilion’s women could either snipe and squabble with each other or support and encourage one another.

Fortunately, Seol-ran was a woman of good repute.

The older courtesans had sensed something suspicious even before this and agreed to flee.

But how fast could commoners move their feet?

Some of Vajra Pavilion’s guards began to pursue.

With dozens of colorful silk dresses moving quickly along the main street, it would be strange not to catch up.

Moreover, the pursuing guards were those who had sought out the courtesans first even as their workplace descended into chaos.

They were perhaps given to lusting after women, which only made the situation even worse.

“Hey, Seol-ran! Where do you think you’re running off to!”

“Hwa-ryeon, you wench! You dare make this big bro angry! Stop right this instant!”

The guards were following along in a half-playful manner, snickering.

These weren’t the austere, inhuman guards of the inner courtyard, but the cocky martial artists who were practically half dark-path thugs guarding the outer courtyard.

Dong-sam was running as fast as his legs could carry him, and the courtesans were running desperately too, but they couldn’t outpace martial artists.

“Ah, damn it all!”

Dong-sam spat a curse and turned back, walking toward the rear.

Seol-ran asked in surprise, panting heavily.

“Hah, hah. Wait, where are you going?”

“Huff, hah… Damn. Just go ahead.”

Seol-ran asked from behind.

“Have you learned martial arts?”

“Of course. I’m actually a hidden young master. Hurry and go. I’ll handle it.”

Seol-ran could tell at a glance that Dong-sam was lying. Dong-sam himself had no idea why he was doing this.

Truth be told, if even one woman was beside him, any man would want to act tough.

With over a dozen beautiful women beside him, Dong-sam’s bravado had naturally multiplied over a dozen times.

It was just that the price of bravado happened to be his life…

‘Ah, why did I have to act up…’

But if they got caught, they’d die anyway. Dong-sam figured he might as well pose once before dying.

Getting tangled up with some random master, burning down Vajra Pavilion, scattering poison, fleeing, then posturing in front of women and meeting his end.

It was truly the most fitting finale for a bottom-feeding thug.

“Well, who’s this guy?”

“Why, wanted to posture a bit? In front of the women? Wow… This is a real man’s man right here.”

“Haha, funny bastard… Hey, let us in on the fun and we’ll spare your life. How about it?”

Dong-sam drew the straight sword he’d only ever used to intimidate people before.

And out flowed a rich string of curses.

“Go fuck yourselves, sirs.”

The guards twisted their lips into smiles and approached with weapons raised.

It was then.

-Swish.

“Young man, do you even know how to swing that thing?”

A rough, dark-skinned hand grasped Dong-sam’s hand holding the sword, as if covering it.

“Huh? That guy from the clinic…”

Before Dong-sam could finish, someone’s foot tapped inside his feet, widening his stance.

“The saber is a fierce weapon; your lower body must be stable when swinging it.”

“Uh, uh…”

Only the guards could see the face of the man standing behind Dong-sam.

“What, who’s that black guy?”

“Kill them both first! The women are getting away!”

Dong-sam relaxed his body as the man behind him guided him.

The middle-aged man’s solid voice came from behind.

“You don’t need any grand mindset… Just simply, swing hard and think about cutting. Like this.”

-SLICE!

A chilling cutting sound. The guard charging at the front had his sword and neck fly off together.

“Oh, oh…!”

Dong-sam exclaimed in amazement, expression blank.

“Like this.”

-SLASH!

A man swinging a cutlass was bisected from crown to crotch and crumpled.

“Ehhh…!”

When Dong-sam kept making stupid noises, the voice said.

“Focus a bit… Never mind. I can teach later… Anyway, move three.”

-SCREECH! SLASH!

An axe swinging downward slid along the blade of the saber, and a slash from below split the guard’s face in half.

“With a well-maintained sharp blade, if you swing accurately and hard, you can easily cut a person.”

“Woahhh…!”

“Are you going to keep that up? Anyway… Like this.”

-SLASH!

“Like this.”

-SLICE!

“…Ah, they’re running. Wait here a moment.”

The hand covering Dong-sam’s disappeared behind him, and soon a black form shot past him.

A silver line danced a few times, and the fleeing guards were cut down without even a dying scream.

-Swish, thud.

A skilled blade warrior sheathed his weapon with disciplined form.

“…The Physician seemed worried, so he sent me. Dong-sam, was it? You’re… An amusing man.”

“Ah, yes… Thank you. Sir Ten Change Blade Guest.”

“Sir? Who’s a sir? You’re not even a martial artist. Acting all high and mighty when you lack the skill… What a ridiculous sight.”

“Yes, I was a bit ridiculous.”

At Dong-sam’s sulky response, the Ten Change Blade Guest chuckled, then asked.

“Where’s Ju-seong, that fellow? The Physician’s junior, I mean.”

“Ah, Young Hero Ju-seong is over there in the inner courtyard…”

Dong-sam pointed toward the inner courtyard. Being on lower ground by the riverside, Vajra Pavilion was somewhat visible from there.

Just then.

-KABOOM…!

An explosion shook the entire area.

The ground where the inner courtyard had been collapsed, and a massive volume of river water flooded in.

Dong-sam spoke in a flat voice.

“He’s not in this world anymore.”