Chapter 2. Slicing the Sword Saint to Pieces

Does the question even matter?

Hugong shook off the rising thought and increased his speed.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa…

The sinister energy grew more and more intense.

From a distance, he heard the Sword Saint’s cry mixed with mad laughter.

“I’ve slaughtered Shaolin’s One Hundred and Eight Arhats, and you think just the two of you from the Ten Guests can stop me!”

The Ten Guests referred to the Ten Guests of the World.

They were known as the ten pillars of the Martial Alliance.

Their martial prowess surpassed that of the sect leaders of the Nine Great Sects. Each one of them was a being capable of reigning as a hegemon of a region on their own.

“Sword Saint, come to your senses! So what if you’re not the Strongest Under Heaven! The martial world is full of people who admire you, so what more could you possibly want!”

“Yes, that’s right. I am a humble and benevolent man.”

“Your character is flawless enough to be called the best in the world, so how did it come to this!”

Cheonguja cried out.

Only four people remained.

The Ten Guests, Cheonguja and Sohyangak.

And the Shaolin Sect Leader, Neungin, and his martial brother, Neungcham.

Around them, the Shaolin monks who had formed the One Hundred and Eight Arhats Formation were horribly torn apart, with blood and flesh scattered everywhere.

The Sword Saint began to mutter.

“Right. That’s right. I am… humble. Humble and humble and humble. And humble and humble and humble…! Kuhahahahahaha!”

The Sword Saint was standing here, and yet, the Sword Saint was not.

There was only a madman soaked in insanity.

His form was no longer human.

Black smoke enveloped him.

It was a wavering shape, as if the smoke itself had taken on a human form.

If not for the fierce, red-glowing eyes and the smiling white teeth within the smoke, one might have thought it was just a coincidental human-like shape formed by the smoke.

“That shabby, fat Hugong is so self-indulgent. Hailed as the Strongest Under Heaven, he just looks down on everyone. How arrogant. While praising me, he must have been laughing at me inwardly. Thinking how ridiculous it is for someone not even a handful to be called the Sword Saint. Yes, so I have no choice but to be humble. I must remain humble. Hehehe, because I am a humble man. So I must forever be humble and humble and humble and humble and a modest man.”

The Sword Saint’s madness grew more and more violent.

“Some say I pretend to be humble because I cannot reach his level. Is that truly so! What is it about my aptitude, my talent, my bone structure, my martial frame, my knowledge, my wisdom, my etiquette, that is inferior to him, to him, to him, to that bastard. I! I, the Sword Saint, will bring that pig to his knees and teach him humility. Hugong, that pig, that pig bastard. Kuhahahaha!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The remaining four were so appalled by the Sword Saint’s madness that no one could speak.

“Now I am the Strongest Under Heaven! I am the Greatest Sword Under Heaven! Before me, who has become the Strongest Under Heaven, everyone must bow their heads and show respect. They must revere me. They must revere me, the fruit of my perseverance, of my perseverance, of my perseverance, of my perseverance, born from the arduous days I spent in the darkness, carving my bones, grinding my teeth, and enduring the pain of my flesh being torn apart to surpass that pig. Kuhahahahahaha!”

“Namu Gwanseeum Bosal… Sword Saint, your current state is not normal. How have you gone so mad!”

The words of the Shaolin Abbot, Neungin, had no effect.

“You witless monk! You, who nibbles on vegetables like a rabbit, dare to say I’m mad? I’m mad? Me? Meeeeee! Kuhahahaha!”

The black smoke danced violently with the Sword Saint’s mad laughter.

“Now I, I, I am the Strongest Under Heaven. No one can stop me. No one can survive my sword! A great power to destroy anything is surging within me.”

The Sword Saint’s aura boiled over, lashing out like a blade. Like a storm, the black smoke stretched out towards the four people, including the Shaolin Abbot Neungin.

‘This is the end.’

Despair clouded the faces of the four.

It was a black mist containing a power more terrifying than any divine soldier, impossible to dodge, impossible to even think of dodging.

It was at that very moment.

Kwa-gwang!

A violet radiance struck the black smoke directly.

The radiance wrapped around the smoke, trapping it. It spun like a whirlwind, completely sealing it, and the smoke within began to dissipate.

At the same time, two other radiances poured down on the Sword Saint’s main body, and a scream erupted from the misty form.

“Kraaaaaaaahk!”

A brilliant light burst forth and then subsided, and when it did, the black, burning smoke was no more.

Instead, an old man with a ruined appearance stood there.

It was the Sword Saint.

His two arms were severed, and blood gushed like a fountain from beneath the tattered flesh. His chest was also wide open, with a hole large enough for the wind to pass through.

The Sword Saint looked down at the hole in his chest.

His eyes were filled with disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Ugh…”

He spat out a mouthful of blood and raised his head.

Floating in the sky like a celestial being, beyond the violet radiance that swirled violently around his body, was a single person.

The Sword Saint muttered.

“Hugong…”

The Sword Saint smiled.

Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth.

“Magnificent. It was a magnificent duel. Hehe, it seems… no matter what I do… I cannot… reach you.”

The Sword Saint staggered, coughing up blood.

“To think it would be so… futile. I was certain… I had surpassed him… but it was not to be. But Hugong… you too cannot be eternal. In the darkness… I saw it. Whether it was my delusion… or a dream… you losing everything… becoming a fragile form that sways even in the wind… I hope it is so. I hope that is your ruin…”

“You talk too much.”

Tak!

Hugong flicked his finger.

Swish!

A violet sword light swirled towards the Sword Saint. It flashed and spun, and the Sword Saint’s head was severed, his body quartered. The Sword Saint was sliced to pieces and scattered without even a chance to scream.

At that moment, Neungin collapsed.

The Shaolin Abbot had only been barely holding on until now.

Cheok.

Hugong, who had become a streak of light, caught Neungin in an instant.

Neungin’s red kasaya was torn, and his complexion was as dark as if ink had seeped into it. Hugong laid him down and placed his palm on the crown of his head.

Soon, a mass of black mist flowed out from the crown of Neungin’s head.

The clump of mist squirmed as if trying to escape Hugong’s grasp.

Hwareureu.

A blue flame erupted from Hugong’s hand, and the mist was instantly annihilated.

The color slowly returned to the Shaolin Abbot Neungin’s face.

“Alliance Leader, thank you.”

“…”

Hugong stared blankly.

There was no way those words were sincere.

One Hundred and Eight Arhats.

The corpses of the Shaolin monks were scattered all around.

Neungin was not the type to be grateful for being the only one to survive amidst the scent of their blood.

Neungin was only feeling sorry that he hadn’t died first.

Hugong turned his gaze.

“Cheonguja.”

“Yes, Alliance Leader!”

Cheonguja bowed his head.

He was one of the Ten Guests of the Alliance.

“Your Myeongwon Art should suffice. Erase all traces of the Sword Saint completely.”

“As you command!”

“Sohyangak.”

“Your orders, please!”

“You are to go to Wudang immediately and ask for help.”

“As you command!”

“I will go to the place where the Sword Saint was staying.”

Hugong became a streak of light, crossing the sky and disappearing into the distance.

The Ten Guests of the World and Shaolin’s Neungin and Neungcham looked up at the sky.

***

Half a year after that day.

At dawn.

The Alliance Leader’s quarters.

Pat!

A white light flashed and disappeared in the room of about ten pyeong. It was so instantaneous it seemed like a lie.

The Alliance Leader’s face on the bed contorted.

In an instant,

“Heok!”

He gasped violently and his eyes flew open.

It was so passionate, as if he had been holding his breath for a long time and had just managed to take one, that the blanket heaved greatly and the bed shook. He sat up and took a few more quick breaths before he finally calmed down.

As the Alliance Leader threw off the blanket and moved, the bed creaked under his heavy body.

“…A dream?”

The Alliance Leader tilted his head, then raised his plump right hand to look at it, turning it over and over. He touched his right hand with his left, then touched his face, and then his chest and stomach, before tilting his head again.

A deep question arose in his eyes.

‘There’s no way my body became fat overnight. Whose body is this?’

Come to think of it, the room was not his own quarters either.

‘Where is this place?’

The sight of the room, viewed from the bed, was completely unfamiliar at first.

He got out of bed and walked around the room.

He caressed the decorative cabinet with a porcelain vase on the left, looked at the mural hanging on the wall, and then reached the right wall.

Three swords were hanging there.

In the shape of the character for three (三).

From top to bottom, they were a heavy sword, a dagger, and a long sword.

The scabbards and hilts of all three swords were identically engraved with a swirling pattern that looked like a dragon ascending to the heavens.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror located in the corner of the wall. In the mirror, a fat old man was tilting his head.

One corner of his mouth went up. But his eyes turned cold.

“It’s not a dream. Could it be that my body has been swapped? No, should I say my soul has been swapped. How strange… and interesting…”

The one who had entered the Alliance Leader’s body smiled.

And he opened his mouth in a low voice.

“Where is Songhwa?”

There was no answer.

Now his eyes began to smile.

“Songhwa isn’t coming. Ah, she must not be able to come. If this is soul transmigration, then who on earth… no, what meaning is there in the reason.”

He led his newly acquired large body towards the displayed swords. He picked up the dagger in the middle.

When he drew the sword, a violet radiance flashed and then softened.

“Hehe…”

He brought the dagger to his neck.

The sharp treasured sword, just by being lightly touched, dug into his flesh and drew blood on his neck. At that moment, the sword emitted a radiance and hummed.

He soothed it.

“Don’t cry. I am not your master.”

He gripped the sword tightly.

“To think my wish would be granted like this. How joyful it is to be able to die. Just like this…”

He plunged the sword into his neck.

Puk!

“I hope I don’t return… forever…”

Blood gushed from his pierced neck. With the sword still embedded, he slit his neck all the way to the right. Blood spurted out like a fountain, and the Alliance Leader’s body fell forward.

Kuuung!

The pool of blood flowing from his head slowly soaked his entire body.

***

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

In the morning, a piercing scream erupted from the Alliance Leader’s bedroom.

The one who discovered the Alliance Leader’s corpse was the dedicated maid who cleaned his room.

She ran to Jegal Hye in a panic, as if she had seen a ghost.

Her whole body trembled like an aspen leaf as she began to speak incoherently. The maid, in her late teens and in the prime of her life, looked completely deranged, only short of having her hair disheveled.

“Stop, stop!”

Jegal Hye held up her hand.

She frowned slightly and questioned her.

“Did you not sleep well? Or are you sick somewhere?”

The uncle was dead? And in his own quarters.

Where in the world could there be a more absurd statement than this?

“No, ma’am. I definitely saw it with my own eyes…”

“That’s enough.”

Jegal Hye clicked her tongue, looking at her as if she were pathetic.

But when the maid continued to speak while sobbing and eventually collapsed and burst into tears, there was nothing she could do.

“You take the day off and don’t do anything. I’ll go see the Alliance Leader myself.”