Book 15 Chapter 8
The Appearance of the Star-Destroying Army
- Divine Will
An inn is an indispensable strategic point for beggars seeking alms. Without it, begging cannot even be discussed. It is a necessary route.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the quality of a beggar's life is determined by how they conquer this place.
Rarely, but if they manage to obtain leftover byproducts from cooking at an inn, that beggar's life is instantly colored with a bright peach blossom hue for the day. Conversely, if they fall into the hands of a big, determined, and quick-fisted ruffian, their life for the next few days, or even weeks, turns a dull ashen gray, plunging them into gloom.
Despite this, beggars' attempts to conquer inns never ceased. It was a common occurrence. Therefore, when the beggar appeared at the inn, none of the customers paid any mind to his presence. Except for the owner, Du Chil.
“Hey, you punk! Are you deaf? Get lost, quick! Or should I show you the taste of my iron fist, Master Du Chil, which is no less of a delicacy than our Hwaeum Inn’s three proud specialties?”
Du Chil threatened, twirling his fist, as big as a cauldron lid. However, the beggar, as if having mastered the shamelessness of a brazen face for begging, remained unfazed.
“Please, my lord! For this pitiful beggar, bestow just one spoonful of rice! I haven’t eaten anything for two days straight, and if I don’t, I might just eat someone!”
With greasy, matted hair and a disheveled face, the beggar pleaded with a drawn-out voice. His body trembled slightly, as if suffering from an illness. He looked so weak even to move, which was even more likely to evoke pity.
But how many beggars had Du Chil dealt with in his thirty years of business! To exaggerate slightly, there were as many as stars in the night sky. It was a tiresome, boring, and ungraceful fight. Sometimes winning, sometimes compromising, he had run this food business. He was not so easily swayed by a simple psychological attack.
“Do you think Master Du Chil will fall for such a shallow trick? Get lost! Before I discipline you!”
If the inn had been crowded, he might have thrown a lump of rice out of good humor, but today he was in no such mood. Thinking his fist wasn't enough, he now grabbed a club and swung it. The beggar deftly dodged his clubbing by stepping back twice with crossed feet.
“Hmm? What’s that!”
Im Deok-seong's eyes lit up at the sight. He had discovered some principle in those foot movements. However, strangely, it was not of Gaibang style. The cane he used to support his wavering body was not a dog-beating staff, but a stick wrapped in cloth.
Du Chil, enraged, hissed and shouted,
“Oh, you dodged? Wait! I’ll break your legs with…”
At that moment, a spark flashed in the beggar’s hollow eyes.
“Danger!”
Shouting urgently, the beggar thrust his palms forward towards Du Chil.
A sound like a drum being struck echoed from the innkeeper’s thick chest, and simultaneously, his body was flung back nearly a zhang. But it wasn't just the innkeeper who flew back. The beggar, who had delivered the palm strike, was also pushed back nearly a zhang by the recoil.
“Gasp! This… this beggar dares to….”
Du Chil’s spasmodic outburst, which was supposed to be filled with curses and various imprecations, did not continue to the end.
“Hieeeek!”
A scream of utter terror erupted from Du Chil’s mouth.
A sable-colored dagger!
A black dagger, exuding an ominous aura just by looking at it, was deeply embedded in the very spot where he had stood moments before, right up to the hilt.
The beggar’s sleeve was sharply torn, and a thin red line was faintly visible on his forearm exposed through the gap. It seemed to be where the dagger had grazed, and a trickle of red blood dripped from it.
Only then did Du Chil, who understood the situation, say with a voice filled with emotion,
“Gr-gratitude! The meal is on me….”
It was a moment when the beggar instantly transformed into a benefactor, yet the nature of the repayment was strangely unimpressive.
However, the beggar did not seem to have the leisure to fill his stomach by begging. The obsequious face had vanished, replaced by an aura of tense dignity that permeated his entire being. It was a transformation that made it hard to believe he was the same person.
Clang! Bang!
Suddenly, without any warning, the inn’s main gate shut.
Bang bang bang bang!
Next, all twelve of the inn's windows, which had been wide open in all directions, on both the first and second floors, simultaneously closed. However, it was daytime, so it didn't get as dark as one might expect.
“A ghost!”
Du Chil screamed in terror.
Does this ghost have no sense of time? Why is there ghost play in broad daylight? Curses spewed out like a spring.
“Is this a psychic phenomenon?”
Mo Gyeong asked with a wary look on his face, forcing Im Deok-seong to explain something that didn’t need to be said.
“Of course, it’s a human act!”
It was as he said.
“This is quite troublesome!”
A voice, low but with a power that vibrated throughout the inn, spoke, and a person appeared on the second-floor railing.
“Tsk, caught, have I….”
The beggar groaned. It was a voice he remembered. No, it was a voice he could never forget. He had fled here to escape this voice.
He was clad head-to-toe in a black cloth that allowed no light to escape, and like an unwelcome guest, his face was covered by a mask. At a glance, one could tell he was a servant of darkness, living in the shadows and embracing the night dew.
“It is commendable that you have fled here, evading our pursuit, but the game of tag must end now! As I am subordinate to those above, becoming too engrossed in play can lead to trouble with my superiors.”
It was an unusual voice for an unknown shadow. One could tell he possessed considerable refinement and learning.
“Can you really do it alone?”
The beggar scoffed.
“The side effects of the explosive pill must be considerable, no?”
The man in black said nonchalantly.
“Wh-what? How do you know that?”
His body shivered beneath the rags.
“Do not underestimate our intelligence. Besides, it’s not much of a secret, is it?”
The man in black replied in his usual calm voice.
“Hmph, but I haven't been caught yet! If you think I'll be caught so easily, you're making a big mistake!”
It was a voice that conveyed unyielding will and strong spirit. It was the kind of demeanor often felt in those who stake their lives on their beliefs.
“Oh my, a man should indeed be so!”
Even in this situation, the middle-aged woman, who had not stopped savoring her food, clapped her hands and said. She showed no sign of tension whatsoever. She still held her chopsticks.
To display such a brazen attitude, bordering on criminal, even in this situation… The man in black’s eyes naturally turned towards the middle-aged woman.
Sensing his gaze, the woman smiled brightly and said,
“Ah, I'm just a passerby having a meal, so don't mind me. Now, finish what you were saying. Hohohoho!”
It was a bright, untroubled smile that did not suit such a 살벌한 (chilling\/fierce) place.
Saying this, the woman returned to her meal. The two old men also drank their liquor and toyed with their chopsticks with a carefree attitude. They seemed completely unconcerned by whatever was happening around them.
The man in black was momentarily flustered by this indifferent attitude but quickly regained his composure.
“Well, this leisure will only last for now. We have no intention of sparing anyone else. No one will leave this inn alive.”
“Aren’t you boasting too much? Just you alone?”
The fake beggar gnashed his teeth and shouted.
“Too hasty a conclusion? I never said I came alone.”
At his signal, dozens of men in black emerged from the darkness as if seeping out, encircling the first and second floors from all sides. Like the masked man in black, they were all covered in the color of darkness. They looked like the abstract concept of ill omen taking human form to exert its attributes.
Their eyes, hidden behind their masks, were emotionless like inanimate objects, betraying their true nature.
“Damn it, I came all this way… I was so close!”
The beggar gnashed his teeth, looking at the men in black who surrounded him. It was an overwhelming disadvantage.
The situation was dire, and even hoping for a miracle seemed far-fetched.
“You won’t be lonely, as you have friends to accompany you!”
Something was thrown from the hand of the leader in black.
Thud!
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
It rolled diligently to the beggar’s feet, where the cloth of his trousers met the ground, and surprisingly, it was a human head. The head, missing its neck, had its eyes wide open in a look of bitter resentment.
Seeing it, the beggar’s thin, dirty lips contorted like crumpled paper, and his eyes widened as if about to burst.
“Recognize him?”
Of course, he knew the face, the person, the subordinate.
“Gae-ko!”
A mournful cry escaped from between his distorted lips.
The owner of the head was Wang Gyeon, subordinate Gae-ko, with whom he had shared hardships until recently.
“You fool! You boasted you would repay your debt someday…”
Tears dripped from the beggar’s eyes.
“Would you like to see the remaining two? Lord An Myeong-hu, the special inspector of the Cheongcheon Alliance’s Shaanxi branch?”
The masked man said in a voice as cold and indifferent as the sea breeze on a winter night.
“Uaaah! M-murder!”
Du Chil screamed.
But no one fled outside.
“Oh my, how cruel!”
The woman, placing a hand to her lips, slightly furrowed her elegant eyebrows and said in a refined voice. However, she didn’t seem too surprised. The two old men with her also began to watch the situation with quiet attention to understand what was happening.
“Leader, it seems a bit dangerous? Should we withdraw?”
Mo Gyeong whispered in his ear. If the story involved inspectors from the Murim Alliance, there was nothing good to be gained by getting involved (although they had already been inadvertently entangled). It was better to leave before the situation worsened. His premonition was not good.
“Be quiet! How can we run away in a situation like this?”
“Then, are you perhaps going to help?”
He pointed to An Myeong-hu, who was in beggar’s attire, and asked.
“Are you crazy? Why should we help someone from the Cheongcheon Alliance? On what basis of loyalty?”
“Indeed.”
The Cheongcheon Alliance was practically their nemesis, the Seventy-Two Green Forest strongholds. To help an inspector from that organization, even by a slim chance, would earn them the scorn of the entire Green Forest.
“Then?”
“But if we tremble and retreat at a situation like this, what becomes of our reputation? I can’t do that!”
Im Deok-seong crossed his arms and declared resolutely.
“For such a reason?”
“Then what other reason is there? Is there anything in this world more important than my reputation?”
To make such a mistaken judgment at such a crucial moment for such a personal, trivial, and flimsy reason… It was unfair, but lacking in power, he couldn’t protest. He was truly suffering because his superior was ignorant.
“It seems this reputation of yours has brought us a lot of trouble today?”
Mo Gyeong said sarcastically.
“Did you think you wouldn’t be found by scattering and pretending to be beggars? You seem to have underestimated the power of our ‘Star-Destroying Army’.”
At the mention of the name ‘Star-Destroying Army’, the old man in blue clothes twitched slightly.
“Even the Heavenly Dance Three Sages cannot escape death at our hands. We were created solely for such a purpose. How much less so for mere grubs like you! We are almost at our destination. Too bad, Inspector An. You must die here!”
It was tremendous confidence. Indeed, given such an overwhelming difference in power, it was not unreasonable.
However…
“Oh my, how scary! Did you hear that? Even the Heavenly Dance Three Sages can’t defeat them.”
As a warrior’s sword is his life, the chopsticks were the middle-aged woman’s life, and she exclaimed in amazement to the two old men with a ‘Oh my, I’m so surprised!’ expression, still holding them in her hands. Her voice was completely devoid of tension, despite the content of her words.
Of course, the two people with the woman had also clearly heard the story. It was not something that could be dismissed lightly. Especially for the old man in blue, it was a story he couldn't bear to listen to any longer because it tickled his funny bone.
“Pffft… more, I can’t anymore…”
The tickle that had been tickling the old man in blue’s funny bone finally exploded. It broke the dam of his patience like a flood and burst outward as a loud laugh.
“Pahahaha! Khehehehe! Giggle giggle giggle!”
The old man’s unrestrained laughter, echoing throughout the inn as if an earthquake had struck, was filled with a vigor unbefitting his age.
“Well, I can’t stand listening to this any longer, it’s too ridiculous!”
The small old man stretched his body.
“What? Old man? Do you want to die?”
The threat, which had lost all pretense of the courteous demeanor he had maintained until a moment ago, was met with a look from the old man as if to say, "Don't be petty."
“You plan to kill everyone anyway, right? Why the pretense now!”
The old man’s words were undeniably true. For them, destroying evidence was the utmost virtue and principle.
“You know well! Then please wait! I will kill you soon!”
It was a voice filled with ruthlessness. However, the old man in blue did not even bat an eyebrow.
“Can you really do it? Heavenly Dance Three Sages, what nonsense? Puhehehehe!”
“Is that so funny?”
“Funny? Of course, it is!”
With a thunderous roar, the old man in blue’s body suddenly exuded a mountainous spirit. It was a grand force that instantly overwhelmed the entire inn.
“Th-this presence!”
Sama Heun, the masked man in black, was terrified. It was a pressure he had never felt in his life. The immense force emanating from the small old man was unimaginable. It felt as if the old man’s presence filled every corner of the inn without any gaps.
He felt suffocated.
A chilling voice escaped the old man in blue’s lips.
“Hehehehe, you puny subordinates only have loud mouths! Hmph, I can deal with the likes of you with just this finger!”
The old man said, as if playing, extending his middle finger, which he had been using to clean his ear.
“Wh-who are you?”
Sama Heun asked in a trembling voice.
“My name is not so cheap that I would teach it to you. Come at me all at once! I’ll play with you to my heart’s content!”
It was truly bold bravery.
“Haha, well, well! To get so worked up when you’re old… You must still be young.”
The old man in white nodded in agreement with the middle-aged woman.
“Yes. Youth is good, but getting angry too much is bad for your health. It’s not dignified to scold youngsters! Just send them away nicely.”
The woman said as if chiding.
“Then what should be done if they don’t listen to reason?”
“For a child who doesn’t listen, there’s nothing but a spanking.”
At the middle-aged woman’s unwavering words, the masked man in black shivered.
Even Sama Heun, the most dignified killing machine, could no longer bear it.
“Kill them all!”
Enraged, Sama Heun shouted.
It was a definite major mistake.
When the old man in blue mentioned "just a finger," Sama Heun thought it was a mere metaphor. It wasn't a rare saying either. It was a common phrase used by martial artists when boasting. However, he had never imagined it would be used literally, in its direct meaning.
The old man in blue pointed his index finger, starting from his right shoulder, passing his elbow, crossing his wrist, and reaching the last point in the net of his palm lines – his second finger. At its tip, remnants of earwax he had just cleaned still clung stubbornly.
The old man casually spun his index finger in a spiral. It was a playful movement, but its effect was far from small.
“Huh? Uh, uh?”
At first, bewildered by ‘What kind of crazy thing is this?’, the masked man’s mouth erupted in shock. An invisible current, generated by the circular movement of his index finger, enveloped his body. He couldn’t control his body as he wished.
“Th-this is…”
But the masked man’s words did not finish. The old man in blue drew a large circle with his index finger.
“Aaaah!”
A scream erupted from the designated masked man. His body instantly inverted.
Then, with a loud ‘bang!’, the masked man’s head met the floor. He had learned to stand on his two feet, but he had not yet learned to stand on just his head, and he paid the price.
Du Chil, in a fit of horrific imagination, subconsciously turned his head away from the scene and squeezed his eyes shut. The loud noise suggested that one of them had been pulverized. It seemed he would have to dedicate himself to cleaning, so much so that his back would ache, to wipe up the blood that had soaked into the wooden floor.
“Th-this can’t be…”
Sama Heun, who was not far from the scene temporarily named ‘The Incident of the Black-Clad Masked Man’s Head Being Crushed,’ could not properly grasp what had happened. However, one thing was certain: the mysterious incident that had just occurred was related in some way to the movement of the old man in blue’s index finger.
Once again, the old man in blue’s index finger pointed towards the second floor. This time, it was towards the masked man on the far left. As there was a precedent, the masked man tried to evade.
But the old man’s finger had already drawn a circle…
Bang!
Another loud sound echoed through the inn. This time, despite his attempts to defend himself, he was helpless.
“It’s bothersome to catch them one by one!”
Saying this, the old man stretched out his hand. The extended fingers were still only the index fingers on both hands. He stirred them back and forth, as if stirring a boiling cauldron with a ladle.
“Uh, uh, uh, uh…”
Panicked voices erupted from various places. It was understandable. Following the movement of the old man’s fingers, an irresistible current was forming in the air. This current was more immense and continuous than the rough currents of a flooded river. Sometimes it surged, sometimes it rippled, gathering and scattering repeatedly. It felt like facing the immense power of nature.
The masked men were helplessly swept back and forth by this immense current. Like empty boats drifting on the ocean currents…
“Could it be… this technique…”
Only then did the name of a person pop into Sama Heun’s mind. No, it was more surprising that he had forgotten.
In fact, he hadn’t even considered it because such a scenario wasn’t accounted for, because he had believed it couldn't happen. Even though they were a unit created solely to deal with them, they had forgotten the very purpose of their existence.
“Could this be the Drifting Formless Qi?”
The unique current, the flow of qi, that always accompanies the Drifting Formless Sword Style before it unfolds. The restraint within that flow is the true power of the Drifting Formless Sword Style.
“You recognize it, how clever!”
It seemed to be a compliment, but it no longer registered in Sama Heun’s ears. The moment he realized the old man’s identity, his mind had temporarily been paralyzed by the shock.
“The Capital… Ha Hwusik…”
There was only one person in the martial arts world who possessed the ability to freely stir all the currents in the inn with the Drifting Formless Qi. But why was he, who roamed the martial arts world aimlessly and had been missing for years, dining in such a shabby inn? And why at this precise moment!
Still, Sama Heun’s recovery from shock was rapid. He quickly issued an order.
“Deploy the Ten Thousand Jin Sword Wing Formation!”
Then, the black-clad men on the first and second floors gathered around one person, forming a wing shape with their left hands on the backs of the person in front and swords in their right hands.
“Activate!”
With a shout, a creaking sound echoed, and the black-clad men’s feet created a web spread radially on the wooden floor.
“Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? Huh?”
To Doseong, this was quite unexpected. The group of masked men gathered in one place dared to resist the harmony created by his index finger. Just as before, his index finger revolved in a circle, but they remained unmoving, like ancient trees rooted in the ground. Together, they were resisting the movement of the qi generated by his index finger.
“Hmm… A collective Thousand Jin Anchor, is it?”
Doseong muttered, having figured out the cause of the anomaly. Sama Heun nodded and replied.
“Yes. It’s an impenetrable combined force that binds individual Thousand Jin Anchor powers into an enormous weight. The Drifting Formless Qi is ineffective against this!”
The three units of the Star-Destroying Army, which he led, were warriors specially trained to contain Doseong Ha Hwusik.
“Ineffective? Is that so?”
Doseong retorted in a quiet voice. If he were troubled by this, he wouldn’t have been called Doseong in the first place.
“Sand, no matter how much you clump it together, it’s still sand. It can never become a solid rock. It was quite an amusing game. But the play is over.”
Doseong focused his mind on the tip of his index finger, moving his finger and shoulder in a large arc. The mind gathered at the tip of his index finger surged towards an inner point, creating a giant whirlpool.
The internalized universe began to rotate with the axis of the soul at its center.
Drifting Formless Qi, Fifth Secret Art
Spiral Dragon Whirlwind Wind
With a flick of his wrist, a massive whirlwind erupted from the tip of his index finger, sweeping through the black-clad men on the first and second floors in succession. It was as destructive and indiscriminate as a miniature natural disaster. This spiraling whirlwind swept through everything, people and surrounding objects alike.
The Ten Thousand Jin Sword Wing Formation, which Sama Heun boasted of, was shattered into pieces like glass by this single move. The aftermath of the whirlwind was a sight that could not be borne.
“Th-this can’t be… The Sword Wing Formation shattered so futilely…”
Sama Heun mumbled as if he had lost his mind.
Surprisingly, the lethality was low—he had clearly held back—and while there were many injured, there were almost no fatalities. However, his surprise was immense because one of his secret trump cards, which he had inwardly prided himself on, had been so easily destroyed. He himself had been battered and torn by surrounding objects due to the influence of the small whirlwind that had swept through the inn, and it was no small matter. Witnessing a realm beyond human limits, fear and terror descended upon him. He no longer had the courage to face Doseong. And even if he tried, it would clearly be a futile struggle.
Sama Heun immediately chose the next best option.
[We… we absolutely cannot win like this. Take that woman hostage!]
He immediately commanded his subordinates stationed on the first floor via telepathic transmission. The reason was, of course, that she, with her appetite reminiscent of a ravenous wolf, seemed the most manageable of the three. Being the youngest was also one of the reasons.
His subordinates immediately began to carry out the order.
Whoosh!
A fierce sword flew towards the back of the middle-aged woman’s head. The old man in blue and the old man in white either didn't notice or didn't care.
In fact, they weren't interested at all. Because it was an extremely uneconomical act to waste energy on something they knew would be futile. Her ability was not merely 'infinite gluttony beyond comprehension.'
“Oh my? Kyaak!”
The middle-aged woman, letting out a perfunctory scream, dodged the surprise sword with a slight turn of her head. Not content with that, she raised her chopsticks (she had never put them down since the food arrived) and grabbed the tip of the sword that was thrusting at her with undaunted momentum, without even looking back.
Thump!
The sword stopped abruptly, as if under a spell. The fierce momentum, which had seemed capable of slicing through a thousand men moments before, had vanished completely at the mere touch of the woman’s wooden chopsticks.
“Impossible!”
The owner of the sword exclaimed in disbelief. He thought he was going to be reprimanded for dozing off during a mission. He wondered if it was due to lack of sleep from the pursuit over the past few days.
But unfortunately, what he was experiencing was reality.
The woman held out one index finger in front of the masked man’s eyes. The man flinched at the sharp intensity, but the horrifying, brutal, and tragic event he had imagined did not occur.
She merely wiggled the index finger she had brought before his eyes from side to side.
“Tsk tsk tsk, you are a bad child. Sneak attacks are for bad children! And to fail a sneak attack while risking such a reputation… it’s even worse.”
“I-eek!”
The man tried desperately to pull out the sword. However, such an act only served to reconfirm his powerlessness. No matter how much he pushed, pulled, or shook, pouring all his internal energy into it, it remained unmoving as if stuck in a rock.
“It’s no use!”
Whoosh!
As the woman spoke, white frost began to form on the sword hilt held by her chopsticks.
“In addition to the sneak attack, you’re also disturbing my meal! I can forgive a sneak attack, but not this.”
Clang!
With a slight tightening of the woman’s delicate hand gripping the chopsticks, the man’s sword, tempered a thousand times over on an anvil and flame, broke apart as easily as a cookie.
Looking at the sword fragment held by her chopsticks, the woman said with a look of regret.
“This is not edible!”
Ignoring the unspoken words of ‘Perhaps you could eat it…,’ the woman, with a nonchalant expression, flicked her wrist and sent the sword fragment held by her chopsticks flying.
Fiiieeeeeing!
With a fierce whistling sound that cut through the air, the sword fragment whizzed through the air in a terrifying speed.
“Kuaaaaah!”
Four screams, each with a different pitch, erupted sequentially from the silver trajectory the sword fragment had passed.
Having finished her business, the woman nonchalantly returned her chopsticks to the sweet and sour pork.
“Ah, this is quite bothersome! I did not wish for such a commotion…”
The old man in white clicked his tongue and said.
“Don’t you think an elder should maintain their dignity? Squabbling with children like this is undignified…”
Even as he spoke, the old man in white lightly swung the branch he was holding back and forth.
It was a simple, light movement. It didn’t look strenuous at all. There was no flashy swordplay that caught the eye. The renowned swordplay, which was said to be like gazing upon a vast sea of stars, was not visible. Instead, it was too simple and monotonous. It wasn’t very stylish either. Yet, its effect was absolute.
No matter how sharp the blades the black-clad men wielded, they could not overcome his branch. They didn't even get a scratch, let alone get cut.
Perhaps it was natural, as they hadn't collided even once. As the old man’s lightly swung branch struck the foreheads and heads of the masked men, they fell like straw dolls. He didn’t kill them. With such a difference in skill, resistance was meaningless. Still, they didn’t run away and kept attacking. They were persistent.
“I don’t want to see blood.”
Saying this, the old man in white lightly swung his branch, ‘Galaxy,’ again. The sword of his mind, in a state of infinite harmony, extended in all directions.