Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 426

426. Moonlight Encounter

Un Hyun peered into the forest’s darkness, sensing a presence.

“Guest Elder,” he said quietly.

“It’s not murderous intent.”

Un Hyun already knew this.

Yet, such an intense presence… he needed to confirm it, just in case.

Un Hyun turned to Il Ah-young.

“Ah-young, first…”

Un Hyun paused, mid-sentence.

Would it be safe to send Il Ah-young away from here?

“She’s safest by your side,” Guest Elder said, as if reading Un Hyun’s mind.

At those words, Un Hyun made up his mind.

“Follow carefully. Don’t stray behind me.”

“Yes, Uncle Un.”

Il Ah-young, Il Chung-hyun’s daughter, nodded and immediately straightened her sleeves and clothes.

Rustle.

Un Hyun stepped into the forest with Guest Elder.

By coincidence, it was the same place where Un Hyun used to train.

The place where he had once unleashed his sword, unable to bear the frustration of his sworn brother’s family’s hardships.

How close had they gotten?

The presence in the forest grew stronger.

At this point, the other party should have noticed them, but there was no reaction.

Un Hyun was puzzled.

Rustle.

The bushes parted, revealing an open space.

There, where Un Hyun had once unleashed his sword, someone was practicing their swordsmanship.

Whoosh.

Under the dark sky, the sword glinted in the moonlight.

Un Hyun’s eyes widened.

The sword’s path cutting through the air was incredibly beautiful.

Flutter.

The person holding the sword kicked off the ground and soared into the air.

The fluttering of clothes and hair, the graceful figure, clearly indicated that the opponent was a woman.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, someone’s voice was heard from the side.

Un Hyun’s group wasn’t the only one watching the woman’s training.

In an instant, the woman’s eyes sharpened.

“Haa!”

Whoosh.

Twisting her body, she immediately kicked off the air.

‘Oh!’

Un Hyun admired inwardly.

To change direction mid-air, her movement technique must be extraordinary.

‘She definitely seemed to rotate her energy intensely?’

While Un Hyun was amazed by her movement technique, the woman landed on the ground.

Thud.

She stood protectively in front of another woman.

The person who had made a sound upon discovering Un Hyun’s group was the woman standing behind her.

“Who are you!”

The woman holding the sword shouted in a sharp voice.

“Sneaking in under the cover of darkness, you can’t possibly have good intentions! I shall severely punish you today!”

Un Hyun was taken aback. It had turned out exactly as she said.

Thud.

Un Hyun stepped into the bright moonlight.

“Young lady, we are…”

“Ah!”

At that moment, the woman behind him looked surprised.

Unlike the woman holding the sword, her gaze, which seemed quite frail, was directed at Il Ah-young.

“You are from the Hoam Merchant Guild…”

She seemed to recognize Il Ah-young.

Il Ah-young looked puzzled, but the woman holding the sword reacted strongly to those words.

“Hoam Merchant Guild?”

Swish.

The tip of the sword was pointed at Un Hyun and Guest Elder.

She shouted with a sharp look in her eyes.

“Not content with sending thugs, you’ve even followed us here! I will severely punish you today!”

Un Hyun felt a sense of incongruity in her tone.

For a young woman, her speech was excessively archaic.

But there was no time to dwell on that.

Thud.

She immediately pulled the sword towards her chest and stomped her foot.

“No!”

The frail woman shouted, but it was too late.

The woman wielding the sword was already charging towards Un Hyun.

“Tsk.”

Guest Elder clicked his tongue.

Thud, thud.

With a sound like plucking strings, three streams of energy shot out from Guest Elder.

It was to stop the woman charging towards Un Hyun, but the woman didn’t stop or change direction.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Whoosh.

A green aura swirled around the woman’s sword for a moment.

Then, scattering light, it cut through the air.

Pow!

Even Guest Elder was surprised by the sight.

It was sword energy that instantly disintegrated the energy he had unleashed.

“Hyun-ah!”

Guest Elder shouted urgently.

Because Un Hyun still hadn’t drawn his sword.

“Prepare yourself!”

The woman wielding the sword charged towards Un Hyun.

Her sword, imbued with a green aura, seemed as if it would split Un Hyun in an instant, but Un Hyun still didn’t move.

“Uncle Un!”

Whack.

From behind, Il Ah-young hugged Un Hyun.

She seemed to be trying to make him dodge, but Un Hyun didn’t budge, as if he were nailed to the ground.

Whoosh.

The sword let out a low cry in front of Un Hyun’s face.

Surprisingly, the woman’s sword was stopped in its place.

And Un Hyun’s gaze was fixed straight into the woman’s eyes.

“…Why didn’t you dodge?”

“Because you have no intention of harming me,” Un Hyun said calmly.

The woman frowned.

Even with terrifying sword energy in front of him, Un Hyun’s eyes didn’t change at all.

“Hmph.”

The woman scoffed.

Whoosh.

The green sword energy surrounding the sword disappeared.

“You have spirit. Know that you’ve been spared thanks to it.”

The woman sheathed her sword.

Un Hyun smiled.

“It is you who has been spared.”

At those words, the woman frowned.

But Un Hyun’s words were true.

Whoosh.

Un Hyun could clearly sense the energy disappearing from Guest Elder’s hand.

The woman also knew that, so she glared at Guest Elder with a sharp gaze.

Meanwhile, Un Hyun released Il Ah-young’s hands, which were hugging him from behind.

Rustle.

“Thank you, I’m okay now.”

Un Hyun turned to Il Ah-young and smiled.

Il Ah-young was bewildered but let out a sigh of relief.

As she stepped back, Un Hyun lowered his hand and lightly pressed his sword, Myeong.

Whoosh.

The quiet cry of Myeong subsided.

Un Hyun raised his head and looked at the woman holding the sword.

She was younger and more beautiful than he had thought, but she had fierce eyes.

“Sorry for the interruption,” Un Hyun said, bowing politely.

“But we didn’t come with bad intentions.”

“Hmph! How can I believe that!”

The woman said in a sharp tone.

“Not listening to the debt certificate [likely referring to a legal document or agreement], you dare to harm my lady!”

Un Hyun looked puzzled.

“Debt certificate?”

“Yes! You…”

“Stop it.”

A frail voice interrupted the conversation.

Thud.

The woman behind him took a step forward.

But soon she faltered and lost her balance.

“Ah!”

Rustle.

The woman holding the sword immediately supported her.

“Th, thank you.”

The frail woman straightened her body.

“My name is Geum Hye-rin from the Geum family. And this person is…”

The woman who identified herself as Geum Hye-rin turned to the woman holding the sword.

“Neng Hwa-young.”

She said curtly.

Geum Hye-rin gave a bitter smile.

“Wouldn’t it be better to mention your alias?”

“Ah, is that so? I’m called Thousand Day Sword.”

It was the first time he had heard that title.

Guest Elder also seemed to be the same; a puzzled light flashed in his eyes.

Neng Hwa-young looked at Guest Elder and said.

“Old man, you’re quite impressive.”

Guest Elder’s eyebrows twitched, as did Un Hyun’s.

Geum Hye-rin said quickly.

“Such a way of speaking is…”

“It’s rude to speak to an elder that way,” Un Hyun frowned and said.

But Neng Hwa-young asked back with a puzzled expression.

“Then what should I say?”

“You should call him Elder.”

“Elder?”

“Yes. Elder Guest Elder.”

Neng Hwa-young nodded obediently.

And said to Guest Elder again.

“Elder Guest Elder’s technique is very advanced. Can you teach me a thing or two later?”

It was like asking to play a game of Go [a strategic board game].

Guest Elder frowned and even turned his head away.

Neng Hwa-young also frowned at the blatant rejection.

“Why? My master said that asking to teach a thing or two is a way of acknowledging the other person.”

“Master?”

At Un Hyun’s words, Geum Hye-rin behind him answered.

“He’s a hermit. More than that, I apologize for surprising you all.”

Geum Hye-rin put her hands together and bowed politely.

Neng Hwa-young seemed dissatisfied but didn’t say anything.

But Guest Elder said in a blunt voice.

“The apology should be made by that one, not you.”

“Me?”

Neng Hwa-young asked back.

She wasn’t offended at all by the title ‘that one’.

Instead, she retorted to Guest Elder’s words.

“Weren’t you the ones who approached secretly? Why should I apologize? I didn’t even kill you. Besides, you’re from the Hoam Merchant Guild.”

“No, we’re not.”

Il Ah-young, who was behind Un Hyun, stepped forward.

“I belong to the Hoam Merchant Guild, but this person is my uncle. They have nothing to do with the Hoam Merchant Guild.”

Il Ah-young’s eyes were firm.

Neng Hwa-young looked back at Geum Hye-rin.

Geum Hye-rin nodded.

“Is that so? Then I was wrong,” Neng Hwa-young said to Un Hyun.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to kill you from the start.”

Un Hyun gave a bitter smile.

It was a tone that didn’t sound sorry at all, but since they were also at fault, he couldn’t say anything more.

“I’m also sorry. It wasn’t my intention, but it was as if I had stolen a glimpse of your sword.”

“Yo, young lady… ?”

Neng Hwa-young’s face hardened slightly.

She quickly cleared her throat.

“Ahem, well, it’s okay. It’s not something you can understand just by looking.”

Originally, watching someone else’s training is forbidden in the martial arts world.

However, Neng Hwa-young didn’t seem to care.

It was then.

“It’s not something you can understand just by looking?”

Guest Elder frowned and said.

“Our Hyun knows everything just by looking. What’s so great about your sword.”

Neng Hwa-young’s eyes immediately contorted.

“Hoo, is that so? Then how about the elder who says that comes out first and competes with me in martial arts?”

Guest Elder’s eyebrows contorted.

The two people’s gazes collided intensely in the air.

Crackle.

Un Hyun sighed quietly and turned his head towards the young lady named Geum Hye-rin.

“You said you were Young Lady Geum?”

“Yes.”

Geum Hye-rin also sighed.

“I’m sorry. Thousand Day Sword doesn’t know much about worldly affairs… Ugh!”

Geum Hye-rin, who was speaking, suddenly grabbed the collar of her chest.

Her beautiful face contorted in an instant, and she bent her body forward.

“My lady!”

Neng Hwa-young immediately supported Geum Hye-rin.

“Tsk.”

Guest Elder clicked his tongue and stepped forward.

“Get out of the way.”

“What!”

Neng Hwa-young glared sharply at Guest Elder.

However, Guest Elder said with a frown.

“If you want to save that child, get out of the way right now.”

Neng Hwa-young bit her lip.

But Geum Hye-rin was already losing consciousness.

Neng Hwa-young carefully laid Geum Hye-rin on the floor.

Rustle.

At the same time as Neng Hwa-young stepped aside, Guest Elder lowered his body.

Guest Elder put his hand on Geum Hye-rin’s neck and examined her condition for a moment.

Guest Elder’s expression distorted.

He put two fingers together, took a sword finger gesture, and tapped several acupoints on Geum Hye-rin’s body.

“How is it? Elder.”

Neng Hwa-young asked with a stiff expression.

Unexpectedly, she didn’t seem to doubt Guest Elder’s treatment itself at all.

Guest Elder looked back at Un Hyun, not Neng Hwa-young.

“We need to move her first.”

Un Hyun nodded.

And said to Neng Hwa-young.

“Where is the Geum family’s residence?”

“Uh, I know the way, but it’s a bit difficult to explain in words…”

“I know.”

Il Ah-young answered.

Guest Elder got up and said to Neng Hwa-young.

“Listen. Let’s go.”

“O, okay.”

Neng Hwa-young immediately picked up Geum Hye-rin.

The feeling of her being so light pained Neng Hwa-young.