Chapter 144 – Exposing My Body (1)

‘How did it come to this…?’

I was facing off against Kyung Hyun-dong, who was staring at me with a venomous look, while poison coursed through my body in the performance hall attached to the leader’s quarters.

“Well, then, Danju? Do you have no intention of retracting your statement?”

“Did you expect me to let you get away with what you did to me? If you want forgiveness for your sins, kneel down and bow your head! I’ll forgive you for the loss of an arm!”

Forgiveness? How is that forgiveness?

His appearance, reminiscent of the equipment in Three Kingdoms, was completely different. To be honest, he looked pathetic.

Just a day after receiving Kyung Hyun-dong’s rude visit in the presence of the female leader, I received an unexpected challenge.

The challenge was from an anonymous sender who didn’t even reveal their name.

I wanted to refuse, but the master insisted that I accept it, saying that it could be an extension of my training.

He thinks it’s easy for someone else.

“This challenge will be supervised by the female leader. The loser will either surrender or be unable to continue the challenge, as determined by the female leader. Any objections?”

“Of course not!”

“…Yes, there are no objections.”

“Depending on the outcome of the challenge, the loser will follow the winner’s opinion. Is that okay?”

“Yes.”

Even people who were quite far away from the challenge were watching it with interest.

Of course, the master was there, and so was the leader.

They seemed to be having a conversation, and the leader’s expression was twitching, so it must have been quite interesting.

“Well, let’s begin.”

As soon as Young-ho-kyung declared the start, I immediately approached him, kicking the ground.

He clearly didn’t have a weapon in his hand, and his sleeves were quite loose for someone who used the recommended techniques. He was probably a long-range attacker with memorized martial arts.

Sure enough, a crescent-shaped memorized martial art flew in a curved trajectory from his sleeve.

I dodged it lightly and tried to approach him, but Kyung Hyun-dong’s mouth twisted in a sly smile.

‘What’s going on?’

I soon found out. The sound of air being torn apart and a sharp blade.

I immediately lowered my upper body, and the crescent-shaped memorized martial art spun and returned to Kyung Hyun-dong’s hand.

Kyung Hyun-dong clicked his tongue, but I approached him in the same posture.

‘If it were any other time, I would have hit him with one blow…’

By order of the master, I was supposed to maintain the “Gui Sik Dae Beop” unless it was a life-threatening situation.

It felt like running a marathon with my nose plugged.

My movements were not as smooth as usual, and I could only muster about half of my usual strength.

“You arrogant bastard!”

Kyung Hyun-dong lowered his stance and tried to strike me with a quick jab, whether he knew the truth or not.

His momentum was quite sharp, but he seemed to lack the necessary force.

I grabbed his wrist and pushed him back, but dozens of thin needles flew out of his right hand, forcing me to retreat while releasing my tension.

In that moment, Kyung Hyun-dong slipped and fell, throwing three flying blades in my direction.

Watching the erratic movements of the blades, I realized that my hand was moving on its own, catching them all effortlessly.

‘Again.’

There were times when my body performed movements that I couldn’t understand.

I asked the master about it, but he said it was something I should leave alone until I figured it out for myself.

I threw two of the blades back at Kyung Hyun-dong and held the third one upside down in my left hand.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Terror slowly crept up on his face. Kyung Hyun-dong’s martial arts were almost at the top of the first-class level.

He probably didn’t expect to be pushed back by a young master like me.

If I hadn’t learned the basics of dealing with memorized martial arts from Dang Hye-won, I would have had a hard time.

“What kind of person are you?”

“Did you send the assassins without knowing that?”

My words made Kyung Hyun-dong grit his teeth. Suddenly, he threw a disc with a sharp blade attached to it from his sleeve.

“Oh no.”

But I had already been close to being hit once, so I had no intention of being hit again.

Anticipating an ambush while talking, I immediately flicked my finger and knocked the disc out of the air with my memorized martial arts.

Bang!

“Ugh!”

Smoke spread out from the shattered disc, possibly a type of smoke bomb.

Kyung Hyun-dong probably intended to blind me with smoke and attack me with memorized martial arts, but he didn’t seem to have considered being caught in the smoke himself.

I kicked his leg and knocked him down while he was trying to get up in a hurry, then pointed my finger at his neck.

Feeling the force of my memorized martial arts behind his neck, Kyung Hyun-dong stopped moving.

“That’s enough!”

Young-ho-kyung’s judgment came at the right time. Kyung Hyun-dong pounded the ground in frustration, but the outcome was already decided.

“Are you satisfied now?”

Young-ho-kyung’s words contained a light reprimand towards Kyung Hyun-dong. He had no right to challenge me to a fight when he was in the wrong.

“Yes…”

“Then, as agreed beforehand, Kyung Dan-ju will apologize to this Sohyeop and ensure that this matter is not brought up again in the future. Do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

Although he didn’t suffer any serious injuries, Kyung Hyun-dong couldn’t get up from his crouched position.

Perhaps the psychological impact was quite significant.

“Young-ho-kyung, are you okay?”

I reached out my hand to help him up, even though he was a despicable person. Kyung Hyun-dong looked at my outstretched hand with a vacant expression.

“Get up. Are you seriously hurt anywhere?”

Kyung Hyun-dong didn’t answer my question and just stared at my hand.

Eventually, he got up on his own without taking my hand. However, his gaze was still cloudy, and it didn’t seem like he was ready to apologize properly.

“First, take care of your body. Go back and rest for today.”

“…”

Honestly, it was frustrating to lose after challenging someone to a fight, but what could I do?

I could understand why some people suddenly started using wheelchairs when they went to the prosecutor’s office.

It’s hard to speak harshly when you’re wearing a dead expression.

“Well, then…”

I turned my body and walked towards where the master was. I didn’t know if he was satisfied or not, but at least I won, so he probably wouldn’t say anything…

“Ahhhh!”

Suddenly, Kyung Hyun-dong screamed, and I quickly turned around.

“Crazy…!”

Kyung Hyun-dong was rushing towards me with a whip in his hand.

Young-ho-kyung declared my victory, but I felt uneasy.

I had successfully played the role of a “so-gyoju who seeks a trusted subordinate due to the subordinates’ reckless behavior,” as she wanted.

However, Kyung Hyun-dong’s hostility towards me, even to the point of challenging me to a fight, was an unexpected situation for her.

Although the Myeonggyo-do often used martial arts as a means to resolve disputes, Kyung Hyun-dong was an exception.

He relied on his father’s power and influence and had only average martial arts skills.

“Is it more reasonable to think that someone else instigated him… It’s not the Iljang-ro or Samjang-ro… Could it be the Ijang-ro or Sajang-ro?”

There were a total of nine leaders, but only four of them were capable of acting unilaterally.

Among them, the Iljang-ro was naturally excluded, and the Samjang-ro was Kyung Hyun-dong’s father, so he was also excluded.

“Ahhhh!”

Lost in thought, Young-ho-kyung didn’t notice Kyung Hyun-dong’s scream until it pierced her ears. When she turned her head, she saw Kyung Hyun-dong rushing towards Kang Yoon with a whip in his hand.

“No!”

Without hesitation, Young-ho-kyung threw herself forward. Even if you were a skilled martial artist, you could still suffer serious injuries or even die if you were caught off guard without using your strength.

If you had just used up all your energy in a moment of explosive power during a fight, there was a high chance that your reaction time would be delayed.

“Crazy…!”

Kang Yoon tried to dodge and cursed, but it seemed like his strength wasn’t working properly due to the sudden situation.

Like a ghost, Young-ho-kyung intervened between the two and quickly infused her strength into her hand, swinging her sword according to the principles of the Cheonma sword technique.

“Crack!”

Kyung Hyun-dong’s whip, which mainly relied on memorization techniques, was shattered by Young-ho-kyung’s blade, and he groaned and retreated from the force of the infused strength.

He probably felt like his insides were shaking due to not controlling his strength properly in the moment. Anyway, he didn’t seem to be dead.

As soon as Young-ho-kyung confirmed this fact, she immediately lost interest in Kyung Hyun-dong.

“Kang Sohyeop, are you okay…?”

As she spoke, she felt a hot sensation pass behind her back and was startled.

“S-Sogyoju!”

“Are you okay?”

It seemed like Kang Yoon couldn’t stop his attack because he saw Young-ho-kyung intervene suddenly while he was trying to defend himself with his own techniques.

The hot wave that covered her back was probably the shockwave of his technique.

Although she didn’t seem to be hurt anywhere, Young-ho-kyung was once again taken aback when Kang Yoon suddenly crouched down on the ground.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

Did she get caught up in another technique while she wasn’t paying attention?

Kang Yoon must have handled the technique perfectly.

Young-ho-kyung wondered if he had been caught up in the technique after the fight ended, but to confirm it, she had to see Kang Yoon’s body first.

“Kang Sohyeop, show me your body! Why are you doing this?”

“S-Sogyoju, I-I…”

“This won’t do. Lie down on the ground first. Hurry!”

“No, I can’t…!”

Forcing Kang Yoon, who was resisting, down with her strength, Young-ho-kyung carefully examined his body but didn’t find any injuries.

Instead, she discovered a part of his body that boasted a magnificent presence.

It was like a huge bicep, showing off its presence as if it could tear through his pants.

Only then did Young-ho-kyung realize that her clothes were torn in various places, revealing parts of her breasts and thighs.