Chapter 1 – Brush with Death
Sometimes I had such imaginations.
An imagination of wonderfully defeating bandits with my refined martial arts and saving people. Having been reincarnated into a martial arts novel and having learned martial arts in my own way, couldn’t I imagine such a thing at least once?
But when the situation I had only imagined suddenly appeared before my eyes, I was overwhelmed by the intimidation and my body froze, unable to do anything. Why did I happen to encounter this here and now in the first place?
Well, okay.
Taking a step back, it’s perfectly understandable.
Even in a martial arts novel. An attack by a group wearing masks is certainly possible. However, what I really wanted to ask them was not about the reason but the location.
Why attack people at this time, at this place? Couldn’t they have started a little later? There are many things I want to ask, but.
Unfortunately, there was no one who would kindly answer my questions. Instead, judging by their eyes filled with killing intent, they might stick a sword in my body instead of giving an answer.
“An old man walking alone in the mountains late at night?”
“I sense an unusual aura…”
“…”
Fortunately in this misfortune, they too were hesitant to rush at me first. Well, an old man walking alone on a path at night like this. Even I would find it suspicious.
It’s not for nothing that there’s a saying in the martial arts world to be careful of children and the elderly. Except for one thing, the fact that I’m not an old man but a thirty-year-old young man. So why are these guys acting like this?”
‘I’m thirty, damn it.’
They keep thinking I’m an old man. Of course, my hair is white, and I haven’t shaved my beard at all, but. Even so, it’s a little confusing to mistake me for an old man. for nothing that there’s a saying in the martial arts world to be careful of children and the elderly. Except for one thing, the fact that I’m not an old man but a thirty-year-old young man. So why are these guys acting like this?”
No, it was very much so.
However, since I was indeed benefiting from looking aged, I kept my mouth shut without bothering to correct their misunderstanding. There was no reason to cut my own lifeline.
I considered running away without looking back but soon gave up. There was no guarantee that they would let an eyewitness live, and the reason they weren’t charging at me right away was only because I seemed unusual, so they weren’t swinging their swords. It wasn’t because they were showing mercy. But what if I show weakness here, I might say goodbye to my second life. Thanks to this, I was in a situation like being trapped on all sides, unable to move forward or backward. At that moment, one of them walked forward.
“They say a person who sees the shadow of a snake in their cup panics—you’re no different. Pathetic fools.”
“B-but at such a late night. An old man walking alone in these treacherous mountains couldn’t be the culprit, could he?”
“That’s right. Moreover, there aren’t even villages nearby.”
I’m not old, dammit.
But apart from that, I understand why the assassins are hesitating. Assassins aren’t fools; they must have scouted this area carefully before planning their ambush .
Yet here I was, appearing out of nowhere in a deserted mountain. To them, I must have seemed like a formidable master. At least, to third rate martial artists that is how it would appear.
However, those who have reached the level of what is commonly called a master can roughly estimate the level of their opponent. The assassin who just stepped forward could be taken as an example.
If one has a keen eye, they can easily infer that he is the leader of the assassins. A sturdy, robust physique that cannot be completely hidden by a mask.
And unlike the other assassins, his confident stride represented that he was no ordinary assassin. Eventually, the man who approached right in front of me drew his sword and pointed it at me.
“There were orders not to leave witnesses. Regrettably, your head must…”
What gathered at the tip of the sword pointed at me was a surprisingly neatly organized killing intent. At that moment, I clearly felt death, which I had thought was still far away, beckoning before me.
My current level, even at its highest estimation, cannot be called that of a master. In typical martial arts novels with realms of enlightenment and life-and-death, I couldn’t even present a business card as a first-class martial artist.
Moreover, the opponent had not only drawn his sword first but also harboured clear killing intent. For me, who had only learned the Three Disasters Sword Technique, there was naturally no room for leisure in my movements.
And at that moment, the world stopped as if it were a lie. As if time had stopped. In the completely frozen world, only I was moving. I drew my sword and swung it.
In the world that seemed to have stopped time, my sword easily reached the opponent’s neck. But the blade did not dig into the flesh right away. This was due to a momentary hesitation about killing.
However, I had already experienced death once. The almost instinctive desire not to repeat that terrible experience easily cut off even the hesitation that remained in my heart.
The blade drawn from the scabbard like a flash instantly beheaded the leader. The speed was so fast that at first, the opponent couldn’t even recognize his own death.
But soon the leader’s head fell to the ground like trash. Only after blood gushed like a fountain from the cleanly severed neck did screams erupt from those watching from behind.
“L-leader!!”
“The leader has been defeated!!!”
‘…Huh?’
Who would have thought that with just the first move of the Three Disasters Sword Technique, the opponent would be decapitated and killed? It was such a futile death that even I, who had killed the opponent, was surprised.
…I definitely thought he would block it?
â—‡
If I had stayed overnight as the innkeeper said.
“If only they had at least joined forces with the merchant caravan to increase their numbers, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened? While muttering regrets that were already too late, Murong Hyun glared at those standing before him.
Because they wore masks and dark black clothes like shadows. I couldn’t identify who they were, but. At least I could tell who sent them. Murong Hyun is the young master of the Murong Family.
After countless efforts to become the future family head, he finally reached the first-class realm. It would be absurd for him not to recognize the family’s sword techniques that made him first-class.
“Cough. Are you so afraid of change? To the point of killing the young master with your own hands?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Let’s not lie since this is the end for both of us. You were sent by the Murong Family, weren’t you? Who sent you? The head of the Righteous Dragon Hall?”‘
The Righteous Dragon Hall was the top organization in the Murong Family. They were the strongest warriors of the Murong Family who only followed the orders of the family head. The fact that the Righteous Dragon Hall was here now was proof the family itself wanted him dead.
“…Father, no. The patriarch must be deeply displeased.”
“The patriarch could not stand by and watch the history and tradition preserved by our ancestors being destroyed. Therefore, with a feeling like cutting off his own arm, he gave the order.”
“Nonsense! While history and tradition may sustain the present. In the end, the future is determined by our hands! How long will we be bound by the past and block the future?!”
Unable to hold back any longer at the ridiculous nonsense being sincerely uttered, Murong Hyun spat out a lump of blood and shouted. The glory of being one of the Five Great Families had now become a thing of the past.
Of course, they say even a rich family’s fortune lasts three generations. The history and tradition built by the Murong Family had somehow managed to preserve the name of the Five Great Families until now, but. Even that was just a matter of time now.
Unlike other factions that continued to develop brilliantly through constant exchange. The Murong Family, intoxicated by past glory, cut off all exchanges with a closed attitude and trained alone.
Until a few decades ago, there wasn’t particularly a problem. At that time, their sword might have been the best in the world, as they prided themselves. But recently, even their momentum began to break.
There were several reasons, but. The biggest reason was none other than internal division. Stagnant water eventually rots. And even the Murong Family could not be an exception to that.
Eventually, Murong Hyun, the young master of the Murong Family, judged that a major reform was needed to overcome this situation. He gathered those who followed him and began reforming the family.
Reform is certainly not unconditionally right. But he thought that the current Murong Family would eventually reach a point of no return if it didn’t change. However, even that was by no means an easy task.
[Patriarch.]
[I am clearly the young master now. Discuss family matters with the family head.]
[Don’t you already know? There are disloyal movements in the family. And behind them…]
[….]
[If you fear bloodshed and do not draw your sword, you will eventually lose everything.]
I already knew. Father. No, the family head was harboring disloyal intentions. But how could a son easily stain his sword with his father’s blood?
[I will take care of that part myself. Do not bring it up again.]
He left the family and couldn’t draw his sword first because of the emotional ties of blood. He thought the family head felt the same way. Who knew he would be cut down so easily? It was truly regrettable.
But above all, the fact that his father ultimately tried to kill him. It felt like his heart would collapse at any moment, but. Nevertheless, Murong Hyun gritted his teeth and somehow got up.
I cannot die like this. If I die, what will happen to my only younger sister? Unable to even imagine it, Murong Hyun ignited his fighting spirit.
The situation is the worst. He was already surrounded with no visible escape route, and even those who followed him were dying one by one. But still, I have a sword in my hand!
But they say even when the sky falls, there’s a gap to rise through. At the moment when he was about to respond with a burning fighting spirit until the end. Murong Hyun clearly saw. Not far away.
The figure of an old man quietly watching them. The old man with white hair and beard, although in a ragged appearance. The aura flowing from his bearing was like that of an immortal.
“I don’t know who you are, Master! Please don’t ignore our situation!!”
Therefore, Murong Hyun shouted with all his might. As if he couldn’t give up the only lifeline that had been lowered. And the lifeline that came down from heaven saved them like a lie.
Even Murong Hyun, who was evaluated as the best in the Murong Family in terms of talent alone. And who was looking at the first-class realm at the young age of manhood, could not match the one called the leader.
At least first-class. In the worst case, a warrior looking at the peak. No matter how close to first-class, Murong Hyun, who was still only second-class, found the leader to be a wall he couldn’t overcome.
But the old man beheaded the leader with just one strike? With a sword strike drawn like a flash, the leader who had stepped forward boldly lost his life without even being able to scream.
In that brief moment, Murong Hyun could easily read that the momentum had shifted. To deal with the assassins who had fallen into confusion after losing their leader. Murong Hyun shouted with all his might, infusing his inner force.
“Eliminate the assassins!!”
The momentum had completely shifted to their side
