Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 89

Yeon Ho-Jeong and the beggar, So-Cheong, burst out of the beggar’s den.

The two saw three beggars descending the mountain path in the distance.

So-Cheong’s eyes widened.

‘Why are those guys suddenly…?’

In that instant, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes flashed.

‘Keep this safe until I come back for it.’

Thump!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, tossing the axe aside carelessly, moved immediately.

Whoosh! Fwoosh!

He fully opened his lungs with the White Tiger Qi [a type of internal energy focusing on lung capacity] and heated his heart with the Vermilion Bird Qi [a type of internal energy focusing on heart power]. Simultaneously, he poured Azure Dragon Qi [a type of internal energy focusing on leg strength] into his legs.

Thud!

Yeon Ho-Jeong shot forward with a speed faster than ever before.

A serious look crossed his face.

‘Killing intent!’

Flash!

A sharp killing intent arose from the rear of the beggars descending the mountain path.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes wavered.

‘Danger!’

Thwack!

One of the beggars fell, spitting blood.

It wasn’t his torso. It was his head. Something had struck the back of his head precisely, piercing his forehead and embedding itself in the ground.

‘An arrow?!’

‘Aaaah!’

The remaining two beggars sped up even more. They were terrified and out of their minds.

Yeon Ho-Jeong accelerated even further.

Thud! Thud!

He was fast, but at the same time, he was slow.

The distance was too great. He was faster than before, but he lacked the ability to close the gap in an instant.

‘Damn it!’

Thwack!

Another beggar collapsed. This time, too, his head was pierced.

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked up.

He saw someone standing on the distant mountaintop. The sight of them drawing a large bow was clearly etched in his eyes.

‘From there?’

Incredible.

The straight-line distance must have been at least seventy *jang* [approximately 230 feet]. To hit the head so accurately from that far away.

Flash!

Another sharp killing intent arose.

The distance closed rapidly. The distance to the beggar was now just over ten *jang* [approximately 33 feet].

In an instant, red flames flickered in Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes.

Fwoosh! Thud!

He closed the distance in one breath with the three steps of Bloodwing Soaring Heavens [a high-speed movement technique].

At that moment, the bowstring was released.

Sweeek!

A terrifying speed.

The air around the spinning arrow seemed to swirl. It was an incredibly fast direct shot.

‘Too fast. I’ll miss.’

The arrow would pierce the beggar’s head faster than he could reach out and grab him.

He made a split-second decision. He channeled Black Tortoise Qi [a type of internal energy focusing on defense] into his outstretched hand.

Thud!

‘Ugh!’

The beggar was flung in the opposite direction. It was due to the repelling force of the Northern Sky Twelve Walls [a defensive technique].

Swish! Thwack!

The arrow that grazed the beggar’s forehead brushed past Yeon Ho-Jeong’s arm and flew away, embedding itself in the ground.

Yeon Ho-Jeong quickly grabbed the arrow stuck in the ground and ran up the mountain path.

The beggar would have survived. He couldn’t avoid internal injuries, but it was something to have saved his life.

Now, the important thing was that unknown archer. If he could catch that archer, it would be over.

Was he surprised that the arrow had missed?

The archer, who had been watching this way for a moment, drew his bow again.

Click, click, click!

The sound of the bowstring being drawn seemed to reach even here. It seemed to be a bow that required tremendous tension.

‘Could it be…’

A strange light appeared in Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes.

‘Muk Bi?!’

Could it really be Muk Bi? Could he meet Muk Bi this quickly, and by chance?

All sorts of thoughts ran through his head, but now was the time to clear his mind. The archer’s arrow was aimed at none other than himself.

The archer released the bowstring.

Teeng!

At the same time, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s body moved diagonally to the left.

Thwack!

The arrow pierced a tree and embedded itself in the ground.

He had realized it when Gaebangdo died, but it was truly an incredible power. It pierced through a large tree as if it were tofu, and even the arrow’s fletching was buried in the ground.

With this level of penetration, even Yeon Ho-Jeong couldn’t block it head-on. He had no choice but to intercept it mid-flight or dodge it.

Of course, it wasn’t an easy speed to intercept.

Thud! Thud!

Yeon Ho-Jeong approached quickly.

‘What is it?’

The archer didn’t run away. He took out three arrows from his waist and placed one of them back on the bowstring.

It was a clear threat. The closer the distance, the more his forehead tingled with the sharp killing intent.

‘That guy…’

Even in this urgent situation, Yeon Ho-Jeong couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

‘His physique is different.’

He was bigger than Muk Bi. That is, this person was not Muk Bi. He was more robust than Muk Bi, and his arms and legs were longer.

Decisively, Muk Bi used a *gakgung* [a type of horn bow], not a *daegung* [a large bow]. Muk Bi’s specialty was rapid-fire shots using a specially crafted *gakgung*.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s gaze turned cold.

He knew that the opponent was not Muk Bi. There was no need to hold back.

The red energy that had spread from his heart instantly spread throughout his body.

Whoosh!

The extreme speed of Bloodwing Soaring Heavens leaped over three rocks in one breath.

It was a sudden increase in speed. The archer seemed flustered and shot the remaining two arrows as well.

Thwack! Thwack!

They missed.

The battle with the archer was a battle of distance. Bloodwing Soaring Heavens was a movement technique that consumed a lot of internal energy, so it was burdensome to use it continuously, but there was no other choice now.

Click, click, click!

Once again, the bowstring was drawn.

Whoosh!

He released the Vermilion Bird Qi and let go of Bloodwing Soaring Heavens. The movement technique using Azure Dragon Qi was slower than Bloodwing Soaring Heavens, but it was smoother and freer.

‘Twenty *jang* [approximately 66 feet]!’

At this distance, even if he ran away, he could somehow catch his tail.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had been focusing his gaze on the archer until the end, suddenly widened his eyes.

Whoooosh!

It was just one arrow. It wasn’t even a specially crafted iron arrow, but a common wooden arrow.

But what was this oppressive feeling?

‘Transference of Power?’

The energy concentrated at the tip of the arrow was creating an enormous vortex. It was such a high-level transference that it seemed to be sucking in all the surrounding air.

The problem was that Yeon Ho-Jeong also knew what that arrow, no, what that martial art was.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s mouth dropped open.

‘Dragon Fang Cannon!!’

The archer released the bowstring.

Whoooom!

The air seemed to be burning.

The moment he recognized it as the Dragon Fang Cannon, Yeon Ho-Jeong gave up on intercepting the attack. He threw himself behind a tree in one breath.

The swirling arrow struck the tree directly.

Crash!

The arrow, which had completely shredded a thick tree, crushed a rock and burst into the ground.

Kugugugung.

The tree fell, and the shattered rock flew in all directions.

Crack! Crackle! Kugung!

Rocks collided with each other, and the bouncing rocks broke several more trees and pushed other rocks.

With one arrow of terrifying power, a small-scale landslide occurred. It seemed that the mountain was weak to begin with, and as trees fell and rocks rolled, it became an uncontrollable disaster.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

The area fifteen *jang* [approximately 50 feet] in front of the archer was devastated.

Kugugugung!

The earthquake finally stopped. Thick dust rose from all directions.

The archer slightly lifted his bamboo hat.

A flash of light crossed his sharp eyes.

‘…I got him.’

At a distance of fifteen *jang*, he could easily sense any presence. But he felt no presence at all.

He was certain he was dead.

‘Should I catch more?’

He had missed one beggar. One of the three beggars had seen his face. For safety, he had to catch them all.

That was when it happened.

Tada-dak.

He could feel many people rushing in from a distance. Some of them were martial artists.

‘No choice.’

Well, it didn’t matter if they saw him now. He had only tried to kill them all just in case, but the carriage had already started rolling anyway.

However, what bothered him was the young man who had been charging at him until the end.

‘He was a great martial artist.’

He never thought he would have to use the Dragon Fang Cannon. If it hadn’t been for the Dragon Fang Cannon, he might have been caught.

Sarak.

The archer turned his body. His business was done.

But he needed to be a little more thorough.

Flash.

A shadow that had already climbed to the top of the mountain ridge glared at the place where the archer was running away.

* * *

‘So, did you catch them all?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good job. Here, eat this.’

‘Thank you.’

‘No need to thank me. You and I are both living lives clinging to the edge of a cliff. There’s no need to be so grateful every time.’

Baek Gung-Cheon, who had taken the pill from the old man, bowed his head for a moment.

‘Cough! Cough! Uweeek!’

Baek Gung-Cheon, who had been coughing roughly, vomited blood.

The old man sighed.

‘How long has it been?’

‘…Three days.’

‘My dear, if the frequency of your seizures has shortened, you should have said something.’

‘…’

‘You’re such a frustrating person.’

The old man rummaged through some medicinal herbs and took out a black pill.

‘Take this too.’

‘Thank you.’

Baek Gung-Cheon, who had swallowed two pills, sighed quietly.

The effects of the medicine were much faster than he had expected. His body felt better in an instant.

But Baek Gung-Cheon knew that this was not a good thing. The fact that the medicine was working so quickly meant that it was very potent, and the fact that he had to take such potent medicine meant that his body was already broken.

‘I have something to ask.’

‘What is it?’

‘How much time is left?’

‘…’

‘My movements are slower than before. The power to draw the bowstring of the Intertwined Dragon Great Bow has also decreased. From some point on, it seems like my internal energy is also being lost minutely.’

‘…Loss of internal energy, you say.’

The old man sighed.

‘So it’s already reached that stage.’

‘…Is it that bad?’

‘As I said before, the Heart-Piercing Red is a poison that is not a poison. As soon as you are poisoned, the poison gathers in your heart. If you don’t detoxify it immediately, that’s the end. The poison that stays in your heart endlessly sucks away your life force.’

‘I know. You told me before.’

‘Your will and internal energy training are amazing, so you are still alive. But the Heart-Piercing Red is potent. When it can’t easily extract your original essence, it is touching your internal energy as a substitute.’

‘…’

‘Once it sucks away a certain amount of energy, that’s the end. Your heart meridian will burst, and you will die on the spot.’

‘That’s why I’m asking. How much time is left?’

‘Fifteen days.’

‘…’

‘At most, it’s fifteen days. If it’s short, it might not even last five days.’

Even after hearing the shocking words, Baek Gung-Cheon’s expression did not change.

‘You said that Galyung’s procedure is tomorrow?’

‘That’s right. As I said before, it will take seven days and nights.’

‘Five days… seven days and nights…’

Baek Gung-Cheon got up from his seat.

‘I’ll start right away today.’

The old man said urgently.

‘No, you can’t. You coughed up blood, so you need to rest today.’

‘There’s no time. I don’t know when that guy will come out again. I have to be on standby from now on.’

‘What if you collapse!’

‘Give me some pills, or something potent, so I don’t collapse.’

‘Hoo.’

In the end, the old man sighed and took out a small box from under the table.

‘I made this just in case. Take two pills in the morning and evening.’

‘You’ve worked hard.’

‘You’re the one who’s worked hard.’

‘And please continue to work hard in the future.’

Baek Gung-Cheon, who had received the box, walked towards the door.

That was when it happened.

‘Since when did the Heart-Piercing Red turn into a terminal illness?’

Whoosh!

Baek Gung-Cheon, who quickly turned his body, drew his bow. It was truly lightning speed.

Baek Gung-Cheon’s eyes flashed. He had spotted a shadow jumping in through the window.

Swish! Sweeeek!

Surprise crossed Baek Gung-Cheon’s face. He had missed.

Thud! Click, click, click!

He drew his bow again, but it was too late. The shadow that had entered with incredible speed moved like a soft wave and quickly subdued the old man.

‘Kuaaak!’

The old man’s back straightened.

The young man who had twisted his arm and choked his neck from behind shone his eyes.

‘We already said hello, right?’

Baek Gung-Cheon’s eyes wavered.

‘You…?!’

‘Your reaction speed is art. Your posture too, you’re a carbon copy of that guy.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong said coldly.

‘Put down the bow.’