That won’t be a particularly good choice either. (4)
“Ugh…”
So Yeonshin gritted his teeth so hard they threatened to break.
Yet, his long spear – pressed down with every ounce of his strength – remained completely motionless, blocked by a rusted sword that looked as if it might snap at any moment.
‘What the hell is this bastard?’
He admitted it. Military officers’ martial arts fell short of those of martial artists from Gangho.
Unlike those martial artists, who could devote all their time to martial arts, and focus all their efforts on fighting individual opponents, military officers had far too many other concerns.
But even so, when it came to sheer physical strength and internal energy, there was no reason for them to fall behind martial artists of Gangho. This was not merely So Yeonshin’s opinion, but a fact proven by countless examples.
And yet…
Sccrrape.
It would not budge. As though he had brought his spear down upon a massive boulder the size of a house.
‘How?’
No, this was never a question of the difference between martial artists and military officers. How could someone so obviously young possibly withstand his strength and internal energy? This defied all common sense.
“Argh!”
Feeling his already wounded pride being crushed underfoot, So Yeonshin pressed down on his long spear with every last ounce of strength he could muster. But Chung Myung, feeling the force transmitted through his sword, merely answered So Yeonshin’s determination with a crescent-eyed smile.
“Oho, you’re stronger than I thought. I heard supplies were so scarce that you were living on nothing but thin gruel, but I suppose being a high-ranking official means you’ve still managed to get your hands on some meat?”
“Y-You little turtle bastard*!”
“Hah. Seriously.”
Chung Myung’s face twisted into a scowl.
“Why do you keep calling me a ‘turtle bastard’. Ever seen a turtle this handsome?”
“Has he lost his mind?”
“What’s he on about?”
“He thinks he can say anything just because his face is covered.”
Even in the midst of all this, the disciples of Hwasan had not forgotten to chime in with their usual snide remarks, and Chung Myung ground his teeth.
“…Those good-for-nothings have never been any help.”
Isn’t this enough? What more could they possibly want? It’s even better than the original, for crying out loud**.
“Ugh……”
So Yeonshin’s face contorted hideously. He was blocking his spear and still cracking jokes without a care? He could not even recall whether he had ever suffered a greater humiliation in his entire life.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Boooom!
Unleashing an explosive burst of energy with a shout, So Yeonshin sent Chung Myung flying back in an instant.
“Huh?”
Chung Myung tilted his head as he leaped back.
“Just now, something…….”
“You bastaaaaaard!”
So Yeonshin’s spear spun furiously in his hands as it shot towards Chung Myung’s face.
Its momentum was so fierce that the four characters for ‘charging like a wild boar [저돌맹진(猪突猛進)]’ sprang immediately to mind. An attack that bore down with sheer strength and speed, as though he had no intention of resorting to crude tricks. Faced with such a straightforward attack that gave no thought to what might follow, the corners of Chung Myung’s mouth twisted of their own accord.
“Hyaaaaaaah!”
Craaaash!
“Gweeeeeeeek!”
Chung Myung struck the incoming spear head-on, but unable to withstand the recoil that traveled through his palm, he went tumbling backwards and sprawled onto the ground.
The disciples of Hwasan blinked at the sight.
“What the hell?”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Why would he meet that head-on? Is he out of his mind?”
The disciples of Hwasan stared at Chung Myung, their eyes demanding an explanation.
Facing a heavy weapon like that head-on was sheer stupidity to begin with. It was exactly what his opponent wanted, so why would he oblige him?
“Oh dear. I’m dying.”
Shaking his head a few times as though his skull were ringing, Chung Myung quickly got to his feet.
“You idiot! What are you doing?”
“Shut up! You lot wouldn’t know romance even if it hit you in the face!”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung’s eyes flashed wildly.
“Watch closely. Sure, that man is thoughtless, reckless, far too hotheaded to be a General of a nation, and so weak for his age that he looks like he could drop dead any day now!”
“…Just curse him out already, you rotten bastard.”
What the hell was he doing, saying all that right to the man’s face?
“But the point is, he dared to charge at me with nothing but a spear to keep his men from getting hurt!”
“Uh….”
“When a man shows that kind of sincerity, the proper thing to do is respond in kind. That’s how a real man does things. Do you understand, you filthy Gangho bastards?”
With an expression that defied description, Baek Cheon turned to look at Yoon Jong.
“Didn’t you give him his medicine?”
“…My apologies. I forgot.”
“Hah……”
All jokes aside, he sincerely wished some divine physician would just fall out of the sky and cure that bastard of his madness.
“If we get rewarded for this, maybe I should ask the Emperor to lend us an imperial physician.”
“I’m against it.”
“Why?”
“Because if I found out that even an imperial physician couldn’t cure him, I think the rest of my life would be unbearably bleak.”
“Ah…..”
They do say a person cannot survive without hope…
Even as Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong choked back their tears, Chung Myung was grinning as he taunted So Yeonshin.
“I’ll give you this, you’re strong. I apologize for underestimating you.”
“And you dared to face my spear head-on. I commend your courage.”
“Haha.”
“Heheh.”
Their burning gazes met in midair. Watching them, the disciples of Hwasan muttered in disbelief.
“What are those two doing?”
“Maybe idiots understand each other.”
“An idiot? He’s a military officer who protects the nation.”
“…We’re the ones pointing our swords at that officer, Sasuk.”
“Oh, right. He was trying to beat up Chung Myung, so I thought he was on our side.”
“…”
Chung Myung and So Yeonshin clashed once more.
Claaang!
The massive spear and the crude sword met and parted in midair again and again. Every collision sent a sharp tremor through Chung Myung’s wrist.
‘It’s been ages since I’ve done this.’
After dealing with nothing but bastards who fussed about with their ten thousand swords and whatnot, facing someone who met strength with strength for the first time in ages really got his blood pumping, so to speak? His whole body brimmed with vigor..
Craaaaash!
“Gweeeeeek!”
“…You really will get yourself killed, you bastard.”
Sent tumbling across the ground again, Chung Myung shook his head. Getting his blood pumping was all well and good, but at this rate, his bones were going to break too. That man’s strength was the real thing. Good grief, just look at those bulging biceps.
“You bastard!”
So Yeonshin leaped like a flying tiger towards the fallen Chung Myung.
“W-Wait!”
Seeing the spear hurtling towards his face with terrifying force, Chung Myung rolled away without a second thought.
Crunch!
So Yeonshin, having driven his spear into the bare ground, burst into rage and chased after Chung Myung, repeatedly thrusting his spear into the earth.
“Stop running, you bastard!”
“What, you want me to just die?”
“Is running away all you’ve learned as a man?! Have you no shame?!”
“Did you give up halfway through studying military strategy or something? What happened to the Thirty-Six Stratagems?***”
“You’re all mouth!”
Just as So Yeonshin was about to deliver another powerful thrust, Chung Myung suddenly kicked off the ground and hurled himself at his legs.
“Whoa!”
Unable to react in time to Chung Myung’s attack – which consisted of smacking his legs with his back(?) – So Yeonshin went tumbling across the ground. Meanwhile, Chung Myung quickly rolled clear of So Yeonshin, sprang to his feet, and proudly puffed out his belly.
“Hahaha! Military officers have always been vulnerable to attacks on the lower body.”
“…Stop looking so proud of yourself, you bastard. Please.”
“You can’t even call that martial arts.”
“I know anything goes as long as it works, but now he’s even using the Lazy Donkey Roll to attack.”
What were they supposed to call that?
Why was the Lazy Donkey Roll called the Lazy Donkey Roll. Wasn’t it because it looked like a lazy donkey rolling on the ground? Then what were they supposed to call it when that lazy donkey rolled across the ground to attack.
“Y-You bastard!”
Of course, So Yeonshin did not consider the Lazy Donkey Roll itself to be disgraceful. The battlefield was a place where dignity was worth less than a rag wrapped around one’s feet. As long as a method could let one bring down an opponent, any means were justified.
He felt humiliated not because he had fallen victim to the Lazy Donkey Roll, but because that young brat had caught him off guard.
Had this been a battlefield, he would have been dead the moment he hit the ground. The enemies packed tightly before him would have swarmed over him the instant he fell.
By the same standard, Chung Myung, who had already rolled across the ground a couple of times, would have been as good as dead too, but surely that young brat and he could not be judged by the same standard in the first place.
“…I’ve been humiliated quite a few times today.”
So Yeonshin’s gaze grew cold and steady.
It seemed that Chung Myung’s actions just now had brought him to his senses somewhat. His impatience with an enemy so few in number, and the pressure of the situation he currently found himself in. All of it had been clouding his composure.
Letting out a deep breath, So Yeonshin took hold of his spear and extended it before him.
“I have no interest in who you are. No, I suppose I should say it no longer matters.”
“Hm?”
So Yeonshin fixed Chung Myung with a fierce stare.
“You had better prepare yourself now.”
“Hmm, I wonder. Are you sure about that? You must have realized by now how great the difference in our abilities is.”
“That is of no consequence.”
“Hm?”
So Yeonshin looked at Chung Myung with an unwavering gaze.
“Whether the enemy is strong or not. A soldier’s duty is simply to fight and win. A man who retreats because the enemy is strong is no longer a soldier.”
Something flickered briefly in Chung Myung’s eyes. Sensing the sincerity of those words in his opponent’s stance and gaze, Chung Myung found himself smiling faintly.
“Yes. That’s how a soldier should be.”
Chung Myung straightened his shoulders.
It was not as though he had merely been playing around. He had simply judged that dragging things out as long as possible would be far more advantageous than forcing a hasty conclusion.
But if his opponent was going to take things this seriously, Chung Myung could hardly do otherwise. After all, this was a man who had spent his entire life fulfilling his duty in the bleak northern lands. Even if he walked a different path from Chung Myung, he was more than worthy of respect.
Chung Myung naturally assumed the opening stance. Perhaps reading Chung Myung’s intentions in that movement, So Yeonshin adjusted his grip on the spear, his gaze steadying.
The disciples of Hwasan watching them held their breath as well.
One spark would set it off. The two men faced each other in a taut standoff, the atmosphere so tense that something seemed ready to explode at any moment. A moment of such tension that neither could easily make a move.
Tap.
At the sound of a branch falling somewhere, the two men charged at each other as though by some unspoken agreement.
“Oooooooh!“
“Hyaaaaaaah!”
A furiously spinning spear and a sword radiating vivid blue sword energy. With neither man willing to yield, their weapons bore down on each other and collided violently in midair.
And at that very instant.
Snap.
“Hm? A ‘snap’?”
Chung Myung blinked. His eyes widened into circles as he clearly saw that damned sword, which had just collided with So Yeonshin’s long spear, snap cleanly in half.
“Uh…”
It broke? The sword?
There had to be a limit, no matter how rusty it was. It was still a sword, if it broke that easily…
Having sliced through the lump of rusty iron barely worthy of being called a sword as though it were tofu, So Yeonshin’s spear traced a circle in the air.
“W-Wait! Hold on!”
That’s cheating! You’re supposed to give me time to swap my sword!
At that moment, So Yeonshin’s spear swept through the air, gathering powerful energy around it before shooting like lightning towards Chung Myung’s now defenseless body.
“Eeeeek? S-Spare meeeee!”
His face deathly pale, Chung Myung recoiled in terror, retreating farther and farther back.
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*There are a lot of layers to 자라 (soft-shell turtle) and 지랄 새끼 (offspring of a turtle). Basically a ‘turtle’ is an offensive comparison of a person hiding like a turtle pulling its head into the shell. Since the novel is set in China, the Chinese 王八 (same soft-shell turtle) is also a very derogatory insult.
**I think he is comparing his current face to Geomjon’s face. It was mentioned by Biga that currently Chung Myung is more conventionally handsome, so using the word 원판 (original/original version) makes sense.
***三十六計 – a traditional Chinese collection of military tactics and principles of deception. Chung Myung is most likely referring to ‘retreat or escape when the situation is unfavorable.’
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