Chapter 119
My right foot came crashing down hard onto the dirt ground.
A tremendous boom thundered through the area, and dust billowed up from the ground, which had cracked like a spiderweb with my foot at its center.
The thick cloud of dust obscured everyone’s vision.
The members of the Pleasure Pavilion were thrown into confusion when their view was suddenly blocked. I didn’t miss that moment. I put strength into my planted right foot and shot straight forward.
“AAAGH!”
Then, cutting through the dust, I drove a palm strike into one of the disciples’ chests.
“Damn it, I can’t see!”
“Over there!”
At the cry of their companion, those nearby swung their weapons toward the sound, but I had already disappeared back into the dust. By the time they regained their bearings, another scream was already ringing out.
My hands and feet moved without rest. I grabbed the back of one bewildered man’s neck and hurled him far away, smashed the chin of another man beside me with my fist, and kicked the butt of the disciple in front of me, sending him flying into the sky.
When the disciple who had been sent flying landed among the group and threw their formation into disarray, I dove into the opening and drove my fists into two or three of them.
Those I struck collapsed, coughing up blood.
“AAAGH, what the hell!”
“Don’t swing over here, it’s me!”
“Everyone, calm down and listen for the sounds!”
The situation turned in an instant. The Pleasure Pavilion disciples panicked as they watched their companions fall like leaves in an autumn wind through the hazy dust. Some frantically swung their weapons and struck nothing but air, while others even swung at their own comrades.
The Inspection Squad was just as bewildered, but having witnessed my antics countless times by now, they quickly regained their composure and began imitating me.
A sword blade flashed through the dust.
Judging by the repeated sounds of blades clashing and screams coming from the other side, they were clearly taking down the enemies one by one as well.
‘Good, good.’
I excitedly kicked up even more dust as I ran around, shouting loudly.
“How do you like it, our young masters and ladies? How’s the taste of the dirt? It’s probably your first time tasting it, so are you starting to understand the bitter taste of life?”
“You bastard! Die–AAAGH!”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
That was the only answer I heard. They seemed to be in quite a mess themselves.
As I kept shouting, several blades flew toward me. I flipped backward through the air to evade them, then put strength into my legs and stomped down on several people’s heads as I laughed.
“Hahahaha!”
The melee continued for some time. For a period that could be called long or short depending on one’s perspective, countless clashes of weapons mixed with shouts and screams.
Then, in an instant, the dust settled. By then, two-thirds of those who had jumped over the wall had already been swept away.
Only then did the faces of the Pleasure Pavilion disciples, whose vision had cleared, change in an instant. The confidence they had shown when they initially held the numerical advantage had been replaced with dismay.
I looked up at the roof. The Ningbo Three Devils were also grimacing.
“Hey, Senior! You said you came here just to watch, but what are you going to do now? All the people who were supposed to deal with us have fallen!”
“……”
“Are you going to wag your tail like a dog and run back to your master to report? ‘Woof, woof! Master! We watched them, but those brats from the Inspection Squad were too strong, so all our men got slaughtered! What should we do abou–oops.’”
I abruptly tilted my head. A throwing dagger that had flown over grazed dangerously close to my ear before embedding itself in the ground.
A grinding sound came from between my clenched teeth.
“I’ll make sure you can never run that insolent mouth again.”
Whoosh!
With those words, the Ningbo Three Devils charged.
Each of the Ningbo Three Devils wielded a bizarre weapon. The iron whip held by the Second Devil was not merely a long chain whip made entirely of iron. It began with a thick handle and gradually became thinner toward the end, while jagged spikes covered the iron whip, making it look extremely threatening.
The spiked iron whip flew toward my right shoulder. I hurriedly threw myself to the left.
The Third Devil, wielding steel claws, was waiting there. The Third Devil swung his steel claws in accordance with the direction I was coming from. Five threatening blades flashed in the light. When the blades, extending like lightning, reached my left shoulder and were about to tear apart my upper body…
I abruptly bent my waist backward to evade the blades. Then I planted a hand on the ground, spun my body, and created some distance.
Crunch!
At that moment, the five fingers of the steel claw closed around the spot where I had been.
Seeing that, a chill ran through my chest.
‘These guys aren’t messing around.’
If I’d been caught by those steel claws, there was no doubt that the five blades would have dug deep into my flesh and ripped it apart rather than merely tearing my skin. If things went wrong, they could even damage the bones.
‘That’s a pretty brutal weapon for the youngest.’
I muttered to myself and quickly leaped backward.
Something was flying over my head. It was a pair of scissors.
They were short-handled scissors with long blades. The outer surfaces had been sharpened like swords, while the inner edges of the blades were densely covered in jagged spikes, just like the Second Devil’s iron whip.
I secretly admired them.
‘So that’s the Guigok Scissors.’
The blades of the scissors came crashing down toward my head like a sword. I dodged diagonally, and as though he’d expected that, the First Devil opened the blades of the scissors wide.
‘They looked like the jaws of a beast.’
Before I could be caught inside the beast’s maw, I urgently launched myself upward. Directly beneath me, the two blades of the scissors snapped shut in an instant.
Clack!
Cold sweat ran down my back.
‘If I’d gotten caught between those, my body probably would’ve been cut in half.’
But I had no time to relax. Three bizarre weapons were simultaneously flying toward me while I was suspended in midair.
For an instant, time seemed to slow. With eyes colder than ever, I traced the trajectories of the three weapons.
What should I give up, and what should I take?
I made my decision in an instant and was just about to move when…
Clang! Clang!
My eyes widened. Before I could do anything…
“Guys!”
The Inspection Squad had knocked the weapons away for me!
Liyeon’s Paebaek wrapped around the iron whip and forced it aside, while Daoist Woonhak’s sword struck away the steel claws. Paeng Mirang attacked Ilgwi from behind, throwing off the trajectory of the Guigok Scissors.
Thanks to their help, I was able to land safely on the ground. Quickly backing away, I asked them,
“What? Why are you guys here? Where did everyone else go? Did you take care of all the remaining guys? You didn’t just leave them behind, did you?”
Despite my barrage of questions, Daoist Woonhak answered calmly.
“There weren’t many enemies left. Miss Dang poisoned most of them, so they fell. The others are holding antidotal herbs in their mouths while they clean up below.”
‘Poison really is the scariest.’
“Thanks to you, Lord Dan, we were able to take care of everyone quickly without anyone getting hurt. As expected, the reputation of the Flower-Glutton is well deserved.”
“The Flower-Glutton?”
Ilgwi grimaced and spoke.
“Hah, no wonder your movement technique was unusual. The Flower-Glutton. So it was you. Come to think of it, there was one exceptionally beautiful woman among those brats. How could I have failed to think of that!”
“That’s too much praise, Senior. Who could have known?”
“Flower-Glutton, you and we have no grudge against each other, so why are you interfering with us? This has nothing to do with you, so get lost!”
“That might be difficult.”
I grinned as I spoke.
“I have a policy of never letting anyone take away a beauty who has fallen into my hands.”
At those words, not only Peng Mirang but even Daoist Woonhak’s face soured, but I paid them no mind.
Of course. I could never give up a beautiful woman.
Ilgwi burst out laughing at my words.
“Hahahaha! Yes, yes… You truly are the world’s greatest lecher… Then–”
Ilgwi’s eyes flashed.
“Die here together with them!”
BOOM!
I quickly dodged the Guigok Scissors coming crashing down.
At the same time, Daoist Woonhak shouted,
“We’ll help as well!”
Without even looking, I gave them a thumbs-up.
The course of the battle changed in an instant. At first, the three of them had been pressing me from all sides, but now it finally felt like a fair fight.
I-gwi, who wielded the iron whip, was taken on by Liyeon. Liyeon used the Paebaek like a chain whip, pressing I-gwi back. It seemed possible because the Paebaek’s unusual material prevented it from being torn apart by the iron whip.
The Third Devil, wielding the steel claws, was taken on by Daoist Woonhak and Peng Mirang. I was actually a little worried about this side, but unexpectedly, the two worked well together. The aggressive sword technique that relentlessly pressed forward meshed well with the flexible swordsmanship that redirected attacks, compensating for each other’s weaknesses.
‘What a relief.’
So they really could pull it together when it mattered.
I stopped looking at them and turned my gaze forward. Ilgwi stood there, his eyes now dyed blood-red. The Guigok Scissors were dangerously gleaming as they opened their jaws wide, but that bizarre weapon no longer frightened me.
I playfully cupped my fist in my palm and shouted,
“Then, how about I learn a move or two from you!”
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