The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

At Jin Gahyeon's advice to prepare for any unforeseen disturbances, the escorts, including Yi Haesang, pretended to be relaxed and chatted, but their hands on their sword hilts were ready to draw their swords at any moment.

They became even more tense at the sound of fighting that had been heard for some time.

'Elder Gongsun has started to fight!'

Yi Haesang wanted to mobilize the escorts and help Gongsun Su right away.

But he could not leave this place.

What the escorts had to protect was not a master like Gongsun Su, but the powerless young master and young lady of the Jin Family.

"Grandfather..."

Gongsun Cheong heard the thunder roar from a place quite far away.

'Grandfather will be safe. I have to protect Young Lady Jin.'

Gongsun Cheong raised his internal energy and quickly relaxed the muscles in his two legs.

At the same time, he scanned his surroundings with his sharply honed senses.

Swish—!

Gongsun Cheong, who had witnessed the bush in front of him shaking lightly, shouted in a loud voice.

"Who is it! Reveal yourself and state your identity!"

He knew that they would not reveal themselves on their own.

But by shouting like this, the escorts had drawn their swords and were ready to fight.

'The opponents are assassins! A moment of carelessness will lead to death!'

Gongsun Cheong took a short, deep breath and finished his preparations for battle.

It was then.

A black-clad man revealed himself from the bush.

The sharp blade in his hand reflected the light of the bonfire and shone with a red light.

"Are you Gongsun Cheong?"

The black-clad man's voice was cold.

"That's right. I am Gongsun Cheong."

Gongsun Cheong's lips trembled slightly after he finished his answer.

'Oh no!'

He had made a mistake.

If the assassins were targeting the Jin Family, there was no reason to ask for his name.

But the assassin knew Gongsun Cheong's name and had confirmed it by revealing himself.

'I was the target!'

Gongsun Cheong realized late that the assassin's target was him, but he could not move.

The black-clad man's blatant killing intent was directed past him and towards the Jin Family's carriage.

It was a silent warning not to run away.

'If I retreat here... the Young Lady will die.'

Gongsun Cheong held his ground and raised his internal energy even more.

He could not let Jin Gahyeon die at the hands of the assassin because of him.

"Is it my head that you want?"

"You are a smart child. Don't worry."

The black-clad man took out a register from his bosom and then said.

"You won't even be aware of your own death."

As soon as his words ended, a blade suddenly shot up in front of Gongsun Cheong's eyes.

'Ah...!'

He had been so distracted by the black-clad man in front of him that he had not noticed the presence of the assassin who had come right up to him.

'So this is how I die. But I can't just die easily!'

Even if he were to die by the assassin's sword right now, he had to take at least one companion with him.

Only then would it be easier for the returned Gongsun Su to deal with the assassins, and the chances of the Jin Family's household surviving would also increase.

"Hyaap!"

Gongsun Cheong's right foot, imbued with all his strength, aimed for the assassin's side at high speed, but the assassin's sword was a little faster.

'Gongsun Cheong is finished.'

It was when the black-clad man had taken Gongsun Cheong's death as a foregone conclusion.

Clang—!!

With a sharp metallic sound, the assassin's sword wavered, and in that gap, Gongsun Cheong's right foot kicked the assassin's side with all its might.

Thwack!!

Since it was a blow he had received unexpectedly, the assassin staggered and vomited blood.

The internal energy imbued in Gongsun Cheong's right foot had turned the assassin's insides into a mess.

And the gaze of the black-clad man who was watching this became sharp.

'A coin?'

At the very moment the assassin's sword was about to pierce Gongsun Cheong's neck, a coin that had flown from somewhere had deflected the assassin's sword.

'Where is it?'

While the black-clad man's gaze was busily moving to find the person who had thrown the coin, Yi Haesang and the escorts, who had come running late, stood shoulder to shoulder with Gongsun Cheong and guarded the carriage.

"Are you alright!?"

At Yi Haesang's question, Gongsun Cheong nodded with a dazed face.

'What happened?'

Why had the assassin's sword been deflected?

He had his doubts, but Gongsun Cheong shook his head.

'For now, let's focus on the fight in front of me!'

As the surprise attack failed, the black-clad man decided to quickly deal with Gongsun Cheong rather than search for the culprit who had thrown the coin and raised his hand.

"Strike all at once."

The hidden assassins all revealed themselves at once.

Now their purpose was not the assassination of Gongsun Cheong, but the annihilation of everyone standing in this place.

As the assassins rushed in, thrusting their sharp blades, Yi Haesang shouted with all his might.

"The opponents are professional assassins! Stay sharp!"

In fact, since it was also Yi Haesang's first time dealing with assassins, he was greatly flustered at the sight of the assassins who were running in, leaving a blurry afterimage in front of him.

'What should I do about this!?'

Yi Haesang swung his sword at the assassin who was closing the distance in an instant and thrusting his sword.

The moment the two swords became entangled, a dagger shot out from the assassin's left hand.

"Damn it!"

The assassin's dagger stabbed at Yi Haesang's abdomen.

Whoosh— Thwack—!!

At that moment, another iron coin that had flown from somewhere hit the assassin's glabella.

There was no scream, but the assassin who was hit in the head staggered and lost his balance.

Yi Haesang was not one to miss such an opportunity, so he let out a roar and swung his sword.

Slice—!

The assassin who was cut by the sword collapsed, scattering blood.

"Heok... heok...!"

Yi Haesang, who had almost been done in by the assassin, hurriedly checked on the escorts.

The escorts of the Song'o Escort Agency, who he had thought would naturally be no match for the assassins, were unexpectedly fighting well.

Behind this was the iron coin that had helped Yi Haesang just a moment ago.

Ping— Ping—!!

Like the hidden weapons of the terrifying Sichuan Tang Clan, the iron coins that appeared from the empty air pressed the assassins, sticking into their heads, shoulders, chests, and abdomens.

Thanks to this, the escorts were able to focus on attacking rather than defending and drive back the assassins.

In particular, Gongsun Cheong, who had received a great deal of help from the iron coins, unleashed his Heavenly Prison Thunder Roar Kick Technique to his heart's content and dealt with the assassins.

'Was there another master besides Gongsun Su!?'

Sweat formed on the black-clad man's forehead.

***

"There's a fight!"

Siu was startled by the sound of fighting from outside and flailed her hands in the air.

"Huh?"

No matter how much she reached out, she couldn't feel Jin Sohyun, so the startled Siu this time stuck close to Jin Gahyeon.

"Th-The Young Master has disappeared!"

"My brother must have hidden."

"A-Alone!?"

"Yes."

As Jin Gahyeon smiled awkwardly, Siu made a sad face.

"That's too mean... so this is why you took my money!"

Siu firmly believed that Jin Sohyun had taken the money and disappeared to save himself.

"Even if that's the case for me... how can you run away alone, leaving the Young Lady behind!?"

"Those who can live, must live."

At Jin Gahyeon's calm answer, Siu shook her head from side to side.

'The siblings are not normal.'

While Siu was personally realizing that the Jin siblings were not normal, a fight between the escorts and the assassins was in full swing outside the carriage.

And at the center of it, surprisingly, was Jin Sohyun.

'Oh! I'm so busy!'

Jin Sohyun, who had hidden himself in the darkness, took out an iron coin from Siu's money pouch and held it between his fingers, his two eyes moving at a very fierce speed.

Since fights were taking place in at least ten places at the same time, Jin Sohyun's two eyes had to move faster than that, and his two hands moved faster than his eyes.

Jin Sohyun, who had been blocking the assassins who were trying to kill the escorts for a long time, glanced at the black-clad man's movements out of the corner of his eye.

'That mister looks the most dangerous...'

It was certain that the black-clad man was the leader of the assassins.

His skills would also be the most outstanding, but strangely, the black-clad man did not move.

'Alright, don't ever move. At least until Elder Gongsun comes!'

Jin Sohyun, who had been throwing iron coins wildly, put his hand in the money pouch and was greatly surprised.

'I'm out of money?'

All the coins in Siu's small and light money pouch were gone.

The attack of the iron coins that had been flying in from the darkness stopped in an instant.

But the assassins who had already been hit by the iron coins were in a situation where it was difficult to even hold their swords.

"What happened?"

The escorts were also flustered when the helping hand stopped.

The reason they could fight on equal terms with the assassins was all thanks to the help of an invisible hand.

Now that that hand was gone, the escorts also could not move easily.

"Is it over."

The black-clad man realized that the iron coins of the invisible hand had finally run out.

'The target is one, anyway.'

The black-clad man's pupils turned towards Gongsun Cheong.

As his toes pressed down on the ground, Jin Sohyun, who was watching this, bit his lower lip.

'Damn it!'

Jin Sohyun pulled the sword of an escort who had been injured and had retreated, and held it in his hand.

Tadat—!

The black-clad man moved his body.

'He will have to choose. Whether to reveal himself, or to watch Gongsun Cheong die!'

The blade in his hand was so fast and intense that it could not be blocked by anything.

Gongsun Cheong, who faced this head-on, knew that he could not block the black-clad man's sword with his own skills.

'Is this really... the end? But I can't just die easily!'

Gongsun Cheong hardened his resolve for the second time towards the approaching death.

The black-clad man's blade cut through the air.

In time with that, Jin Sohyun also gripped his sword tightly and raised his internal energy.

'There's no time! I have no choice but to use Lightning Flash!'

The power of the three flows of the Flying Heaven Ten Swords was not in the order of strength, even if the order of learning was different.

Each power had its own characteristics...

The gentle and free power of Wind Flow.

The fast and destructive power of Lightning Flash.

The power of Thousand Hands that dominates and controls.

What was needed right now was Lightning Flash, the fastest and most destructive power among the three flows.

A blue lightning flashed from the iron sword imbued with the power of Lightning Flash.

'Please block it!'

A single flying sword that Jin Sohyun had sent flying crossed the space and flew at a tremendous speed.

Until this time, Jin Sohyun did not know.

His body, which had been lazing around for the past five years, had unexpectedly not weakened at all.

On the contrary, the internal energy that had steadily accumulated without him even realizing it had far surpassed Jin Sohyun's expectations.

Flash—!!

A single sword that had flown faster than the blink of an eye reached the tip of the black-clad man's sword, and then continued on.

"...!!"

The black-clad man stared at his right arm with wide eyes.

What should have been there was not there.

'What on earth is this...!'

The right arm that had been holding the sword had been blown away entirely.

The wound created by the tearing of the arm was charred black as if it had been burned.

The black-clad man felt doubt rather than pain.

But his instinct urged him to get out of this place at once.

'Keuk!'

As the black-clad man grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand and disappeared into the forest, the assassins who had followed him also disappeared all at once.

"Heo... heo..."

What on earth had happened in front of his eyes?

Gongsun Cheong tried to recall his last memory, but there was nothing he could know.

The black-clad man's sword had certainly approached him at a fierce speed as if to kill him.

But the next moment, a single ray of light had flashed, and the black-clad man's right arm had disappeared.

As if it had been pierced through entirely by an invisible energy.

"...Who is it?"

He hurriedly turned around, but there was nothing to be seen.

***

"Keuk..."

As he escaped from the line of death, the black-clad man gritted his teeth to endure the pain he felt from his right arm.

'I couldn't even resist!'

In front of that intense power, the martial arts and internal energy that the black-clad man possessed were completely useless.

The blade had shattered into pieces like glass, and his right arm had not just been torn to shreds but had been annihilated.

"Leader."

At that moment, the assassins who had been holding Gongsun Su's ankle returned.

"There is something you must see."

Following their guidance, he went to a place where a single sword was stuck in a tree.

"On my way back to you, Leader, I saw a single ray of light piercing through the forest, and when I followed it, I found this."

The black-clad man approached the sword stuck in the tree.

The power it contained was so strong that the sword was stuck in the tree with only its hilt showing.

The black-clad man, who had turned his gaze in the direction the sword had flown from, discovered that numerous trees had been pierced in a straight line.

The direction the sword had flown from was the place where the black-clad man had been standing until just a moment ago.

"This is... impossible."

(End of Chapter)