Chapter 46 – Flower in Both Hands (4)

It seemed like we had only agreed to fight together at first, but somehow we ended up facing each other with weapons for the first time.

Peng Soso took a stance with her sword drawn and crouched down, just like I had seen her do before. I also drew my sword.

She stood with her legs shoulder-width apart, pointing her sword at the center line, while I stood in a more ordinary stance.

“I’ll make the first move,” she said.

“….”

As Peng Soso nodded her head without saying anything, her momentum suddenly changed.

I felt a fierce energy that made my skin tingle, like facing a wild beast right in front of me. It couldn’t have just been the result of her inner strength and unconsciousness combined, as I had seen her in her usual state before.

I don’t know how she did it, but she must have intentionally created this kind of energy to intimidate her opponent and create openings.

To counter her, I focused my mind and gathered the power of my martial arts. No matter how strong the wind was, it couldn’t shake a firmly rooted pillar.

If she wasn’t spreading such a storm-like energy from a much higher level than me, then this level of intensity was nothing to worry about.

Peng Soso looked a little surprised to see me remain calm in the face of her energy. And then…

Pap!

She rushed forward with the full force of her body, like a giant sword bouncing off. A huge blade that was fully charged with acceleration.

Despite my surprise, my body instinctively raised my arms to block her attack.

Kwak!

Even without the force of my sword, the sound of her powerful weapon and strength combined was deafening.

“Kuk….”

I managed to block her sudden attack, but it wasn’t a good choice.

Once Peng Soso seized the initiative, she wouldn’t let it go easily.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Her attacks rained down on me relentlessly, as if striking from above. It was like she was swinging her sword randomly, but there was no obvious opening.

It wasn’t too difficult to block her attacks for now, but the problem was that I couldn’t find an opportunity to counterattack.

I should have attacked her instead of blocking her from the beginning…

Of course, it wasn’t too late now.

“Hup!”

As our swords clashed, I forced my swollen arm muscles to strike her sword.

Kakak!

With a violent friction sound, Peng Soso’s arm was thrown up. There was an obvious opening, but I couldn’t swing my sword either.

I took a big step forward and kicked hard.

Using the technique of shifting my center of gravity, I tried to shoulder her upper body, but…

Puck!

“Ah!”

Chapter 46 – Flower in Both Hands (4)

It seemed like we had only agreed to fight together at first, but somehow we ended up facing each other with weapons for the first time.

Peng Soso took a stance with her sword drawn and crouched down, just like I had seen her do before. I also drew my sword.

She stood with her legs shoulder-width apart, pointing her sword at the center line, while I stood in a more ordinary stance.

“I’ll make the first move,” she said.

“….”

As Peng Soso nodded her head without saying anything, her momentum suddenly changed.

I felt a fierce energy that made my skin tingle, like facing a wild beast right in front of me. It couldn’t have just been the result of her inner strength and unconsciousness combined, as I had seen her in her usual state before.

I don’t know how she did it, but she must have intentionally created this kind of energy to intimidate her opponent and create openings.

To counter her, I focused my mind and gathered the power of my martial arts. No matter how strong the wind was, it couldn’t shake a firmly rooted pillar.

If she wasn’t spreading such a storm-like energy from a much higher level than me, then this level of intensity was nothing to worry about.

Peng Soso looked a little surprised to see me remain calm in the face of her energy. And then…

Pap!

She rushed forward with the full force of her body, like a giant sword bouncing off. A huge blade that was fully charged with acceleration.

Despite my surprise, my body instinctively raised my arms to block her attack.

Kwak!

Even without the force of my sword, the sound of her powerful weapon and strength combined was deafening.

“Kuk….”

I managed to block her sudden attack, but it wasn’t a good choice.

Once Peng Soso seized the initiative, she wouldn’t let it go easily.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Her attacks rained down on me relentlessly, as if striking from above. It was like she was swinging her sword randomly, but there was no obvious opening.

It wasn’t too difficult to block her attacks for now, but the problem was that I couldn’t find an opportunity to counterattack.

I should have attacked her instead of blocking her from the beginning…

Of course, it wasn’t too late now.

“Hup!”

As our swords clashed, I forced my swollen arm muscles to strike her sword.

Kakak!

With a violent friction sound, Peng Soso’s arm was thrown up. There was an obvious opening, but I couldn’t swing my sword either.

I took a big step forward and kicked hard.

Using the technique of shifting my center of gravity, I tried to shoulder her upper body, but…

Puck!

“Ah!”

I got hit in the side by Peng Soso’s knee and rolled on the ground.

It wasn’t that painful, but I couldn’t breathe. And my posture was ruined, so I ended up falling completely.

I rolled a little further away on purpose, and at the same time, I corrected my posture with the recoil and stood up.

“That’s it for now.”

Peng Soso, who had suddenly approached me, aimed her sword at my neck.

“….”

I couldn’t say anything.

These days, I’ve gotten a lot stronger, but I guess I’m still not strong enough to beat Peng Soso.

Of course, there were a lot of excuses.

Peng Soso had trained her body since she was a child and had mastered the Rising Dragon Fist. She was stronger than most other warriors at the same level.

And I couldn’t use all my strength because of the nature of the Void Spirit Fist.

Well, even if I took all of that into consideration, the fact remained that there was still a significant gap in skill level.

As I was lost in thought for a moment, I felt a poke in my side.

“Jin Gaga? Are you okay?”

Peng Soso, with a slightly worried expression, was gently stroking the spot where she had hit me.

“Huh? Oh. You pulled back a little at the end, so it didn’t hurt that much.”

These days, when I sparred with Hong Yeon-hwa, I also practiced the Iron King Heart Sutra, so every blow hurt to the bone.

Compared to that, the kick from earlier was just a scratch.

I nodded inwardly and replied to Peng Soso’s hesitant tone.

“Even if you teach me the evasion technique, I still have to practice it with my body…”

“It’s okay to go all out. No, I’d rather you did.”

I replied to Peng Soso’s hesitant words.

Peng Gaju…no, even if he loves his daughter more than anything, he wouldn’t try to kill me outright.

But even so, the gap between me and him is like heaven and earth.

And on top of that, what Peng Soso is teaching meis not just any martial arts, but the Rising Dragon Fist, which is the pinnacle of the Peng family’s martial arts.

I have to be able to use it properly if I want to survive in this world.

“Okay, let’s go again.”

Peng Soso nodded and took her stance again.

I also took my stance and prepared to face her again.

This time, I’ll try to attack first.

Even in modern times, there are cases where husbands suffer when their wives have more ability, and it’s probably worse in this era.

Is she worried that I’ll be crooked from the constant training? I understand what she’s saying. I understand, but… it’s a completely unnecessary worry.

“You’ve seen how I handle Yeonhwa. I don’t care about that kind of thing.”

“Oh.”

Pang Soso, who had just been beaten up so badly that it was incomparable to before, made a stupid comment.

Yeah… if I had been crooked because of this, I would have been crooked a long time ago!

I still don’t like the pain, but that’s all. I knew from the beginning that I was not talented.

I have no reason to feel inferior now.

No, wait.

I was so eager to learn from her, but was she worried about getting a hit on her side and being hated?

As I thought about it, Pang Soso, who was wiping her chest, suddenly looked incredibly cute.

Without realizing it, I tried to pat her head out of habit.

“Um.”

Unlike Hong Yeonhwa, whose head was in the perfect position to be patted, Pang Soso’s head was a bit higher, so I hesitated for a moment.

Pang Soso, who noticed my hesitation, smiled bashfully and took my hand, pulling me closer.

Not up, but down.

“Jingaga. If my height is uncomfortable for you.”

She put my hand on her pelvis and took a step closer.

“My waist is fine too.”

Since our heights were similar, her waist was in the perfect position for my hand. It was also easy to grip.

However, Pang Soso didn’t stop there. After blushing, she pulled my hand a little lower.

“Um, or here is fine too…”

“Ooh…”

The elastic sensation of her buttocks in my hand. I remembered the round curve of her cheeks and stroked them a few times before squeezing them tightly.

“Hyah!”

“Don’t tempt me like that. We’re still in the middle of training.”

“What? T-temptation… that’s what I was trying to do… eep!”

I covered Pang Soso’s lips with mine as she stuttered and didn’t know what to do.

I didn’t use my tongue. I just enjoyed her soft lips and hot breath before letting her go.

“Huff… we can’t do this… Hong Unni is first…”

“I’m not planning on doing anything more than this. Just teasing you.”

I lightly slapped Pang Soso’s buttocks.

Pang!

“Huahng!”

“Now, let’s finish what we were doing earlier. You had something to say during the training, right?”

“That’s true… sigh.”

Pang Soso took out the sword she had put away a few steps away.

“I’ll start by telling you why Jingaga was struggling with the water control. The first thing I showed her was the six-step sequence of Ohodanmundo….”

We continued with the feedback format, discussing where the problem was and how to overcome it. I understood everything immediately.

From then on, it was a cycle of sparring and reviewing.

During the review, I would stroke Pang Soso’s buttocks with praise and gratitude, or lightly pat her head while pretending not to care, enjoying the way her lips curled up slightly.

***

Clang!

The sword flew out of my hand and landed on the ground with a clear metallic sound.

Normally, I wouldn’t have let go of my weapon so easily, but I was too tired to hold on.

Pang Soso noticed my condition and chuckled as she picked up her sword. She seemed to have more energy than me, even though we had sparred for the same amount of time.

“Shall we call it a day?”

“Huff…huk…yeah, that seems like a good idea….”

I collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

Come to think of it, sparring with Pang Soso felt different from sparring with Hong Yeonhwa. I think I understood why Hong Yeonhwa didn’t want to spar with anyone else.

It was quite a refreshing experience.

First of all, we used different weapons. It was obvious, but the attack methods and ranges were also different.

And the purpose of sparring was different.

Hong Yeonhwa tried to teach me the overall fighting style, so she received my attacks several times and pointed out my shortcomings.

But sparring with Pang Soso was simply to familiarize myself with the Ohodanmundo’s evasion techniques.

Naturally, I had to receive more of Pang Soso’s attacks and respond to them.

Of course, I was still inexperienced, so I was pulled in different directions more often.

That’s probably why there was such a big difference in stamina between Pang Soso and me.

As I caught my breath, I reminisced about the sparring we had done so far. Pang Soso, who had been looking around here and there, suddenly lay down next to me.

“You might smell of sweat.”

“It’s okay. I like Jingaga’s scent.”

She said that and snuggled up to me, wrapping her arm around mine.

Wow, she really has a unique taste.

How long had we been like this? By the time I tried to get up and tidy up the scattered equipment, Hong Yeonhwa came back with a bag full of things.

“I’m back, my lady!”

She threw the bag aside and hugged me tightly.

I couldn’t resist her energy and fell back again.

But Hong Yeonhwa didn’t care and started hitting me with pillows while straddling me.

It was as if I was trying to make up for the time we had been apart.

After a moment of silence, I sat up and looked at Pang Soso with sparkling eyes.

“Listen. Let me tell you what happened at the market….”

I chattered away, telling her everything that had happened in detail. My behavior was like that of a young child who had successfully completed an errand, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

She’s not a child, you say?

Even though she was the oldest here, why did she do such cute things?

Pang Soso seemed to think the same way and giggled, nodding along with Hong Yeonhwa’s words.

By the way, while watching Hong Yeonhwa bragging about how she had negotiated the price while flapping around on my stomach, I suddenly had a question.

“Do I smell of sweat?”

Hong Yeonhwa tilted her head.

“I like your scent, my lady.”

You too!

As Hong Yeonhwa wavered back and forth as if she didn’t know why I suddenly asked that question, she suddenly remembered something and exclaimed.

“Oh, by the way, our sparring with Soso is over now. Let’s rest a little and then continue training with me.”

“….What?”

Did she just say that the training was going to be doubled?