It’s not like I’m doing it for you. (5)
Bang!
“Owowowowow!”
Boooooom!
“Good grief, I’m gonna die!”
Booooooooooom!
“Seriously, does that guy ever get tired?”
Do Hyeon could not shake the strange feeling.
‘What is this?’
Do Hyeon swiftly unleashed a palm strike.
The name of the palm technique he had learned was the Nine Yin Heart-Shattering Palm [구음쇄심장(九陰碎心掌)]. Its origins were unclear, but it was a martial art passed down through the Imperial Palace’s secret agents since ancient times.
Because martial arts based on yin energy were difficult to master, it had originally been nothing more than a technique learned by assassins at most. However, after the eunuchs gained power and became able to learn martial arts, its might was reevaluated.
If mastered to its fullest, it was an unparalleled supreme art unlike any other palm technique under heaven.
And Do Hyeon had learned the Nine Yin Heart-Shattering Palm to a level nearly approaching ultimate mastery. It was the result of combining the countless precious elixirs his authority had allowed him to procure with his own innate talent.
Yes, it was undoubtedly so.
So anyone struck by his nearly perfected Nine Yin Heart-Shattering Palm should have died on the spot when the invading yin energy ruptured their heart meridians.
Thuuuuuum!
“Aaagh! My stomach is killing me! What a nasty martial art!”
How could that monkey-like bastard still be leaping around so energetically after being struck by his Nine Yin Heart-Shattering Palm countless times?
‘My palm force isn’t working?’
That was impossible.
Gritting his teeth, Do Hyeon unleashed another palm strike, faster and more ferocious than before.
The enormous amount of yin energy that surged from his dantian traveled along his hand and shot forward in an instant, rushing towards Chung Myung’s face.
“Hup!”
At that moment, Chung Myung violently twisted his head aside and evaded the incoming palm force.
“….He dodged?”
Do Hyeon’s eyes narrowed slightly, as though he could hardly believe what was unfolding before him.
Chung Myung then smiled knowingly.
“I think I get it now. It doesn’t just burrow in, it has a pulling effect too. No wonder it kept clinging to me whenever I thought I could dodge it.”
“…”
Do Hyeon stared at Chung Myung in silence.
He could not say that he had faced many opponents since learning martial arts, but every person he had fought so far had been an expert who could not be taken lightly.
Yet none of them had grasped the nature of his martial art so quickly. If they had, Do Hyeon would not have lived to stand here now.
‘What on earth is that bastard?’
He was no ordinary man.
Could something like this really be possible simply because someone was exceptionally skilled in martial arts?
Do Hyeon’s foremost duty was to eliminate threats against the Emperor. In other words, it was his job to investigate and keep watch over thousands, even tens of thousands, of talented individuals gathered from across the realm.
That was why he could recognize the extraordinary nature of the masked man standing before him.
“What a waste to die in a place like this.”
Do Hyeon’s eyes grew a little colder.
“Would you consider working under me?”
“Well….”
Chung Myung flinched, then spent a long while pondering with a grave expression.
“Uuumm. That… Ahem, it’s true I don’t really have any use for it.”
“….Huh?”
“It won’t do. Not using something and being unable to use it may be similar, but there’s definitely a difference.”
“Hmm.”
Do Hyeon cast a look at him that seemed to say he found the reaction unexpected.
“To be a true man is to undertake great things. And yet you fuss over something so trivial.”
“…Trivial, you say.”
“Trivial indeed.”
Do Hyeon straightened his shoulders and spoke proudly.
“If it is for the sake of achieving what must be achieved, a true man should not lament such things.”
“Wow.”
Chung Myung covered his eyes with one hand.
The halo that seemed to be shining from Do Hyeon as he boldly declared those words was so dazzling that Chung Myung could not look at him directly.
“Now that you mention it……”
Chung Myung abruptly turned his head and looked at his fellow disciples.
“Come to think of it. Aren’t eunuchs the real men?”
“…Stop talking to us while you’re fighting.”
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting now…”
“Isn’t it? Monks and the like claim to pursue the Buddhist path, but all they do is shave their heads, while Taoists and the like claim to seek the Immortal Path, but all they do is climb up into the mountains. Becoming a eunuch isn’t something just anyone can do, you know.”
“…No, how did you arrive at that interpretation?”
“Damn it, I almost found that convincing.”
Well… it was true that he had sacrificed something significant.
Chung Myung looked at Do Hyeon with newfound respect. Even as their conversation continued, Do Hyeon stood proudly with his shoulders straight, as though he felt not the slightest bit of shame or discomfort.
“So, what do you say?”
“Ugh.”
Chung Myung shuddered all over.
“I’m sorry. Even so, I can’t go that far…”
“Hmm… How pathetic.”
“Urk.”
Until now, Chung Myung had prided himself on being a man who could hold his head high before anyone in the world, but even he could not help shrinking back before this man.
After all, Chung Myung was merely a spineless coward lamenting what had been forcibly taken from him, whereas this man had voluntarily surrendered something he held most dear.
“Ah, stop with those foolish thoughts and focus on fighting properly!”
“Yeah, sorry. I went a little too far.“
At Tang Soso’s shout, Chung Myung shook his head vigorously. He had almost fallen to an inner demon, but thankfully, he had snapped out of it.
Chung Myung spun his sword once and pointed it at Do Hyeon.
“I appreciate the offer, but, well. I already have somewhere I belong.”
“Hmm.”
“Anyway, I’ve figured out enough now. Let’s finish this.”
Do Hyeon narrowed his eyes at Chung Myung’s attitude, which was so nonchalant it bordered on insolence.
“Do you think you can defeat me simply because you have managed to evade one attack?”
“That one attack is what matters.”
Chung Myung grinned.
“Well then, no more talking.”
The amusement disappeared from Chung Myung’s eyes.
Perhaps sensing something ominous in that gaze, Do Hyeon immediately launched a palm strike at Chung Myung.
Just as before, it was an incomparably swift and chilling palm force. It was a strike that contained the very essence of the Nine Yin Heart-Shattering Palm.
But at that moment, unlike before, Chung Myung charged straight at the palm force flying at him.
“What?”
A startled cry burst from Do Hyeon’s lips.
If it landed properly, his palm force was more than powerful enough to burst one’s heart meridians in a single strike. Charging straight at that palm force was no different from throwing one’s own life away.
But just as it seemed he was about to be struck by the palm force, Chung Myung drew his sword and raised it high above his head.
‘What?’
Do Hyeon’s eyes widened in shock.
The sword, brimming with powerful energy, thrust towards a point that had nothing whatsoever to do with the trajectory of his palm force. That alone was bewildering enough, but what happened next was truly astonishing.
The palm force he had unleashed began to bend and move as though it were being sucked towards the sword Chung Myung had raised above his head, rather than towards his body.
‘He’s using the nature of my palm force against me?’
Energy composed solely of yin, without the slightest trace of yang, naturally sought out yang energy. That was why his palm force, even without him deliberately guiding its direction, naturally burrowed into the places abundant in yang energy – in other words, into his opponent’s body.
Those who had never faced his Nine Yin Heart-Shattering Palm were unaware of this characteristic, and often lost their lives in the instant they let their guard down.
‘But he’s using that very characteristic to evade my palm force?’
His palm force bent strangely, then collided with Chung Myung’s sword, where even more energy had been concentrated than in his body.
Kwaaaaang!
Avoiding a direct collision did not mean Chung Myung had emerged unscathed. Another characteristic of yin energy was the ability to penetrate. The yin energy that pierced through his own energy instantly wreaked havoc throughout Chung Myung’s body.
Having poured even the energy that should have protected his body into his sword, Chung Myung suffered no small amount of damage. A mouthful of blood burst from his lips.
But that was enough for him.
Having neutralized his opponent’s strike, Chung Myung rushed straight towards Do Hyeon, closing the distance in an instant.
“How dare you!”
Do Hyeon shot him a gaze as fierce as a thunderbolt.
He was a man who commanded countless others. And what men like him were always most wary of was a situation beyond their control.
But now, the culprit before his eyes had completely escaped his control with a single move. Facing the man charging straight at him, Do Hyeon furrowed his brow and let out a fierce shout.
“I won’t be fooled by cheap tricks!”
Both of Do Hyeon’s hands filled with terrifying palm force.
In stark contrast to his contorted expression, Do Hyeon’s hands moved with exquisite delicacy, like those of a woman embroidering gracefully.
Bang! Baaang! Bang!
As though his repeated use of single palm strikes until now had all been a trap, Do Hyeon unleashed dozens of bursts of palm force at once.
The palm forces poured into the air. Imbued with bluish yin energy, they formed an impenetrable wall between Chung Myung and Do Hyeon.
‘You bastard!’
In that fleeting instant, Do Hyeon was certain of his victory.
‘There is no escaping this.’
It was certainly remarkable that Chung Myung had used the nature of his palm force to counter the attack. Yin energy was not something that could be neutralized so easily.
That bastard’s mistake had been assuming that Do Hyeon would be vulnerable to unexpected developments in actual combat. But how could a high-ranking official who was constantly threatened with assassination be thrown into confusion by something like this?
The bastard was charging forward with all his might. At this speed, he would be unable to stop himself before reaching the wall and would inevitably crash into it. Into Do Hyeon’s wall of palm force [장벽(掌壁)], saturated with yin energy.
That moment would decide the battle.
Do Hyeon wore a triumphant smile. For a nameless nobody, the man had fought fairly well, but even so…
But it was then.
“Yaaaaaaaaaaah!”
A ferocious shout rang in Do Hyeon’s ears.
A coarse, violent voice, fierce and crude, spilling forth without the slightest hint of restraint. To Do Hyeon, who had spent decades accustomed to propriety and silence, the voice itself was utterly shocking.
And at the same time.
Fwooosh.
A wall of bluish palm force filled his entire field of vision.
Amid that boundless expanse of blue, like a vast sea, a long streak of light flashed for an instant.
The light passed like lightning in the blink of an eye – so quickly that he could only assume it had been an illusion – and then vanished. The wall of palm force he had created split in two, surging upward like a waterfall pouring towards the heavens.
‘What?’
Do Hyeon froze where he stood.
The palm force had filled the space before him densely, without the slightest gap. Yet that very wall of palm force had been cleaved apart with a single stroke. Even as he watched it with his own eyes, he could not understand how such a thing was possible.
This was not something that could be explained by the strength or weakness of someone’s martial arts. What in the world was this…?
But Do Hyeon could not continue questioning it. Before he had time to understand the situation, the eyes of the culprit who had rushed right up to his face curved like crescent moons.
“You…..!”
Do Hyeon reflexively thrust out his hand. But before he could extend it fully, Chung Myung’s sword sprang upward.
Thud!
He had no idea where or how he had been struck. His vision simply seemed to go black, and before he knew it, all he could see was the darkened sky. And there, against one corner of the sky, was the face of a masked man, smiling with his eyes in the most irritating way imaginable.
“Not bad, huh.”
“…”
“For a high-ranking official who spends all day sitting on his ass.”
Do Hyeon stared blankly at Chung Myung, then let out a hollow laugh.
“…You insolent traitor.”
Do Hyeon quietly lowered both hands, which he had been holding out.
It was a clean admission of defeat.
________
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