Chapter 8
The students murmured quietly among themselves.
“Don’t tell me that instructor is scared right now?”
“He must be nervous. If he loses, it’ll be a complete disgrace, and if he wins, he’ll just break even.”
“He should just stick to teaching spear techniques. Why did he even take on being a homeroom teacher…”
Just then.
“You rascals! What disrespectful words are these toward the instructor?”
The students’ gazes turned.
Just then, Deung Bu-hyeong appeared, rounding the corner of the building.
When Sa Bigang glanced back briefly, Deung Bu-hyeong grinned and said,
“I came to observe for a moment. Since this is Instructor Sa’s first class, I wondered if there might be disrespectful youngsters like those…”
“I appreciate it, but you can go now.”
In an instant, veins bulged on Deung Bu-hyeong’s forehead.
‘This green-behind-the-ears little bastard…’
But he couldn’t show all his inner thoughts.
Deung Bu-hyeong flashed that characteristic bright smile and said,
“But that student’s words also have merit, don’t they? It would certainly seem strange to them. In fact, those youngsters have never once seen Instructor Sa’s sword skills.”
“If I teach sword techniques, they’ll naturally come to acknowledge me.”
“No, no. Without trust, even the right things look wrong to today’s youngsters. In that sense…”
“…?”
“I’ll help you. So the students can see just how remarkable Instructor Sa’s sword skills are. You can’t really cross swords with the students, can you? So I’m saying I’ll serve as your opponent.”
Deung Bu-hyeong smirked.
‘Hehe. Let’s see you get humiliated in front of the students. I have the Jahanak-indo, worth a thousand troops. Well, even if I held a fire poker, a guy like you would be easier than eating cold porridge.’
Meanwhile, hearing Deung Bu-hyeong’s words, the students stirred with eyes full of anticipation.
“What? So Instructor Deung and Instructor Sa are going to spar?”
“But Instructor Deung uses a saber, doesn’t he?”
“What does that matter? Instructor Sa can just use a sword.”
Sa Bigang stared intently at Deung Bu-hyeong and asked,
“Will you be alright?”
“Hmm? Hahaha! Are you worried about me right now? Hahaha! How amusing! I’m fine. More than fine!”
“Huhu. Good. Then don’t regret it.”
Deung Bu-hyeong nodded.
‘Crazy bastard. He’s going to keep up that bravado to the very end. Don’t you know that the deeper the quagmire you’re falling into becomes?’
He inwardly sneered as he took a formal stance.
Sa Bigang also formally paid his respects and stood ready.
Deung Bu-hyeong, who was about to draw his saber and take a ready position, slightly frowned.
‘Hmm? Why isn’t he drawing his sword? Oh no, did he get too nervous?’
Deung Bu-hyeong laughed loudly.
“Hahaha! Instructor Sa. Even if you’re nervous, you can’t forget to even draw your sword!”
The students snickered at his words.
But Sa Bigang just shrugged his shoulders and replied calmly,
“Don’t mind me and start. Huhu.”
“But this way, I’d be attacking an instructor in a defenseless state…”
“Goodness, so much talking. Just start already.”
Sa Bigang muttered as if to himself while gazing at distant mountains.
But since the sound was loud enough for everyone to hear, Deung Bu-hyeong’s face turned red and blue.
“Fine, fine! Don’t regret it!”
“Please don’t.”
Deung Bu-hyeong inwardly ground his teeth.
He had still intended to go easy on him.
But when he acted so impudently, didn’t all merciful feelings disappear?
‘Oh yes, today I’ll definitely send you to Busin Pavilion Master.’
The Jahanak-indo glowed red as it caught the light.
Ready to attack at any moment.
Yet Sa Bigang still didn’t budge.
‘Hehehe. He’s completely frozen. He can’t even move a finger.’
The sword Sa Bigang was holding was also extremely strange.
It looked like it came from the Western Regions, and he must have picked up some decent-looking thing from among those rolling around in the marketplace.
Deung Bu-hyeong curled his lips upward.
In an instant.
“I’m coming!”
It was a final courtesy.
He didn’t want to hear whining about sneak attacks and such if he attacked without warning.
But…
Shwiiiit! Chakaang!
A flash of light flickered.
Right after that, everything seemed to move slowly.
Before he knew it, Sa Bigang had drawn and raised his sword, and the Jahanak-indo he had brought down collided with the blade and shattered into pieces.
‘Shattered…?’
The Jahanak-indo scattered piece by piece like red flower petals falling.
Just one second.
‘Wh-what is this…!’
After what felt like an eternity, the fragments of the Jahanak-indo fell to the ground with a rustle.
The students also couldn’t continue speaking with their mouths agape.
Thud!
Deung Bu-hyeong unknowingly fell to his knees.
His pupils completely lost focus and wandered in the air.
Finally, seeing the red fragments of the shattered Jahanak-indo, tears welled up in his eyes.
“My, my, my… Jahanak-indo…!”
How much had he cherished it for the past year?
Hadn’t he sharpened the blade every morning without missing a single day?
“Um… Instructor?”
Just then, one of the students standing nearby cautiously called out to Deung Bu-hyeong.
Only then did Deung Bu-hyeong recall the current situation and started.
‘Wh-what kind of disgraceful appearance is this? I actually fell to my knees!’
Deung Bu-hyeong jumped up and laughed loudly as if nothing had happened.
“Huh! Hehehuh! Hehehehehe!”
Watching Deung Bu-hyeong laugh like a madman, the students were bewildered.
After laughing with tears for quite a while, Deung Bu-hyeong looked around at the students and shouted,
“Did you see? Instructor Sa has sufficient skill to teach you all! Even though I held back, it would be difficult to display such martial prowess in just one second. From now on, follow Instructor Sa well!”
The students still couldn’t answer with blank expressions.
Deung Bu-hyeong glanced at the fragments of the Jahanak-indo fallen on the ground for a moment, then turned around pretending nothing had happened.
But inwardly, his attachment to the Jahanak-indo was choking his heart.
Someone seemed to be saying something to him, but it didn’t reach his ears.
He only wanted to escape from this place.
Then someone grabbed Deung Bu-hyeong’s arm.
“Who dares!”
When Deung Bu-hyeong turned around irritably without thinking, Sa Bigang was standing there with a puzzled expression.
“I called out but you didn’t answer, so I grabbed you. I apologize if I was rude.”
Only then did Deung Bu-hyeong notice that many students were looking at him and cleared his throat.
“Not at all. I was just thinking about something for a moment.”
“It seemed like a treasured saber you cherished, so I’m sorry about that.”
“Hahaha! No. Actually, that saber was just trash lying around in the marketplace. Don’t worry about it.”
“Ah, I see. I thought it was strange. Huhu.”
“Well then, I’ll be going now.”
Deung Bu-hyeong turned around.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Sa Bigang called him again.
When Deung Bu-hyeong turned around, suppressing his rising irritation, Sa Bigang approached and whispered in his ear.
“I received the gift you sent well. Huhu.”
“A gift?”
When Deung Bu-hyeong made a puzzled expression, Sa Bigang’s face somehow turned sinister.
“Why are you pretending not to know? Huhu. But I wonder if it’ll be alright.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve never sent a gift to Brother Sa…”
“Wouldn’t it be rather awkward if it became known that a Yongcheon Hall instructor is in league with an Evil Faction organization? Gifts are nice, but you should be careful from now on.”
In an instant, Deung Bu-hyeong’s expression froze.
‘H-how does this guy know that…!’
Deung Bu-hyeong was about to say something with a shocked expression when—
“Hahaha! Thank you for helping today!”
Sa Bigang deliberately spoke loudly while clasping Deung Bu-hyeong’s hands.
Conscious of the surrounding gazes, Deung Bu-hyeong forced an awkward smile and replied,
“Not at all. Well then, I’ll be going now.”
Deung Bu-hyeong turned around stiffly and walked away with large strides.
The Jahanak-indo he had cherished so much had shattered like a lie.
Moreover, he knew about his communications with Gwiyeong-bu.
Not only had he been humiliated in front of the students, but he’d also been blackmailed.
‘I’ll kill… him! That son of a bitch! I’ll kill him! Definitely! Sa Bigang! I’ll kill him with my own hands!’
Deung Bu-hyeong’s face was contorted like a demon’s.
Meanwhile, Sa Bigang watched Deung Bu-hyeong’s retreating figure with a cold sneer.
***
“That weakling really beat Instructor Deung?”
“I can’t believe it even though I saw it. To end in just one second.”
“Then, does that mean our homeroom instructor is stronger than Instructor Deung?”
The students removing weeds from the courtyard whispered among themselves.
Yeon U-gyeong and Gok Bo-ok’s group gathered by a rock on one side, watching the students with serious expressions.
“It seems like Instructor Sa will really become our homeroom teacher. But Instructor Sa didn’t really beat Instructor Deung, did he?”
“Of course not. Instructor Deung said he held back.”
One of the listening students replied.
Gok Bo-ok nodded.
“That’s right. We saw the two of them whispering at the end, didn’t we?”
“Right. He probably thanked him for letting him win. No doubt about it.”
“Anyway, these so-called instructors are untrustworthy.”
At Gok Bo-ok’s words, Yeon U-gyeong chuckled.
Since it was a decision made by the academy, they couldn’t overturn the situation overnight.
But…
“It’s fine. There’s also the pleasure of slowly tormenting him over time.”
“Huhuhu. That’s right. This time, not only us but other guys seem quite dissatisfied too.”
Gok Bo-ok’s gaze turned to the other students.
Some students were removing weeds and gravel from the courtyard and straightening crooked signboards as Sa Bigang had instructed, but most of the students were clustered together, giggling and chatting.
All of them, like themselves, refused to acknowledge Sa Bigang as their homeroom instructor.
The reason was simple.
Instructor taming.
While Yongcheon Hall might have boasted magnificent prestige in the past, currently it was nothing more than a gateway for the later generation disciples to advance.
Nevertheless, there were several reasons why numerous later generation disciples wanted to enter Yongcheon Hall.
First, Yongcheon Hall had Seungryong Pavilion, which stored various martial arts secret texts.
These were secret manuals collected by the Jeongdo Alliance during the past Righteous-Demonic War, and by agreement of various sects at the time, they were to be kept at Yongcheon Hall, which was still maintained.
This Seungryong Pavilion was open only to students, and lending was strictly prohibited.
Moreover, if designated as an outstanding student at Yongcheon Hall, not only would they receive various elixirs, but they would also be directly recommended for important positions in the Jeongdo Alliance.
In fact, members of the Jeongdo Alliance were principally selected only from Yongcheon Hall graduates.
While this wasn’t an absolute rule, it was a common practice.
Furthermore, it was a rare opportunity for later generation disciples from various sects and families to interact and build friendships in one place for a long time.
Given these circumstances, prestigious sects and families naturally wanted to send their later generation disciples to Yongcheon Hall, and there was also a strong tendency to try to bribe or cajole instructors to mold them to their liking.
As a result, students also perceived instructors merely as martial arts seniors who moved according to practical interests.
In any case, in such a situation, the existence of ‘Sa Bigang,’ who didn’t communicate well, was like a thorn in their side.
Yeon U-gyeong narrowed his eyes and muttered as if to himself,
“Soon he’ll either obediently follow us or quit on his own.”
“Hehehe. I’m looking forward to academy life from now on.”
Gok Bo-ok let out a sly laugh.
Meanwhile, there was a gaze watching them from a distance…
“Ho. To end Deung Bu-hyeong’s first attack in just one move.”
An old man standing upright on a cliff stroked his white beard and smiled gently.
Though relatively short in stature with wrinkled eyes showing the traces of time, he had an overall appearance that conveyed the dignity of an immortal sage.
Beside him stood a martial artist in black light armor wearing a bamboo hat, whose curvaceous figure was clearly visible despite the armor that couldn’t fully conceal it.
Just then, a clear voice like rolling jade beads rang from her lips.
“It seems Sa Bigang himself was indeed the one who took the head of the Gwiyachae leader.”
“Indeed. So he’s the one who’s been stirring up the academy lately.”
“Just a few days ago, he was an Assistant Spear Instructor who returned injured by an ordinary martial artist.”
“Busin Pavilion Master recommended him?”
“Yes, Hall Master.”
Hall Master.
The woman in black light armor called the old man ‘Hall Master.’
That’s right.
The old man with immortal sage bearing was none other than Eun Gi-ryung, the owner of Yongcheon Hall.
Eun Gi-ryung slowly nodded.
“If there was a recommendation from Busin Pavilion Master, even if his martial arts were lacking, he must surely be a person of upright character. But if he also possesses martial arts, wouldn’t that be even more welcome?”
“There seems to be considerable dissatisfaction among the instructors.”
“Shouldn’t he be able to endure that much? If he’s truly the kind of talent that could be a catalyst for change in this hall.”
“Do you think it’s possible?”
“It remains to be seen. Preferably, I’d like him to cause a refreshing commotion.”
Eun Gi-ryung chuckled and turned around.
