By Zephyria Gambling Den (5)
“Ugh……. My head.”
Seong Mu-jae woke up cursing and rubbing the back of his head. It seemed Luzhu had struck him there. Bang Gyeom, who had been hiding somewhere, also appeared and helped him up.
The Demon Slayer Unit, confirming Seong Mu-jae, lit up their eyes and rushed at him at once.
“Heeik!”
Seong Mu-jae, terrified, retreated, but was blocked by the wall. The same wall Seong Mu-yeon had been thrown against.
Baek Ryeo-il quickly swung his sword wide at the feet of the Demon Slayer Unit, scraping the floor to prevent their approach.
“Gang Woong!”
“Yes!”
In the short pause as the Demon Slayer Unit hesitated, Gang Woong leaped out and drew his sword. The two stood back-to-back, protecting Seong Mu-yeon’s group as if guarding them from both sides.
“Ugh……”
Gang Woong groaned through his teeth. Still young and with almost no experience, he was barely managing to block the swords of the Demon Slayer Unit flying at him. Baek Ryeo-il was doing the work of more than one, but it was too much for the two of them to face over a dozen.
As the formation threatened to collapse, Baek Ryeo-il knocked down one of the Demon Slayer Unit, snatched his sword, and threw it to Bang Gyeom.
“Help!”
Bang Gyeom caught the flying sword with one hand and joined the fight.
“Luzhu took the Spirit Pill. We have to chase him.”
Seong Mu-yeon grabbed Seong Mu-jae, who was about to slump back down, and pulled him up. He groped at his chest and turned pale. Only now did he realize the Spirit Pill was gone.
He gritted his teeth. Overcoming his fear, he somehow stood up on his trembling legs.
“I’ll take care of this place, so go quickly!”
Baek Ryeo-il shouted. At the same time, Myeong-gwi moved.
Kwaang-!
Myeong-gwi and Baek Ryeo-il collided in mid-air. Swords clashed, resonating with a metallic clang, and sparks flew.
The two, having exchanged a blow, fell back as if repelled.
Baek Ryeo-il didn’t move rashly, glaring at Myeong-gwi with a stiff face. In that one exchange, the two had roughly gauged each other’s skills and confirmed that they were facing a difficult opponent. The two faced off without blinking.
Meanwhile, Seong Mu-yeon, with Seong Mu-jae, hurried up the stairs, panting as they chased Luzhu.
Looking back one last time, Baek Ryeo-il was preventing Myeong-gwi and the Demon Slayer Unit from approaching them.
Seong Mu-yeon ran along the railing. At that moment, one of the Demon Slayer Unit, breaking through the defense, flew overhead, running along the side wall.
“Euaaak!”
Seeing the Demon Slayer Unit approaching like an arrow, Seong Mu-jae, as if forgetting a lifetime of martial arts, didn’t even think to block, screaming and flailing. It was proof that he was completely out of his mind with fear.
“Brother!”
“Sixth Young Master!”
In that moment of crisis, someone shot out and sliced the Demon Slayer Unit in two.
“Keuak!”
The Demon Slayer Unit, who had boldly aimed for the top, scattered blood and crashed to the floor in a miserable state.
Je Cheon-deuk landed lightly on the railing. He must have already evacuated everyone.
“Hmph.”
He flicked his sword once to shake off the blood and then leaped into the middle of the fight.
He naturally joined the formation, pushed Gang Woong, who was on the verge of collapsing, behind him, and took his place.
With Je Cheon-deuk taking Gang Woong’s place, the formation became much more stable. The Demon Slayer Unit even began to be pushed back.
‘No need to worry about that side.’
“Brother, get a grip. What are you doing now? Do you not care about losing the Spirit Pill?”
Seong Mu-yeon rebuked Seong Mu-jae, who was sitting on the floor, trembling. Just now, it was an absurd mistake as a martial artist. If you can’t block an attack, you should at least roll on the floor to avoid it. But Seong Mu-jae couldn’t react at all, which was a fatal mistake tantamount to giving up his life.
He wanted to slap him, but they had things to do.
“Are you going to keep doing that? Get up. If you don’t get up, I’m leaving you behind.”
“A, alright. I’ve come to my senses now! I won’t do that. Let’s go. I need to smash that damn Luzhu’s face in.”
Seong Mu-jae rose, using the dead Demon Slayer Unit’s sword as a cane. Now that Je Cheon-deuk had joined, it was their chance.
“Sixth Young Master! It’s dangerous!”
Bang Gyeom shouted from below.
“Shut up! You just stay here and stop those guys properly!”
Seong Mu-yeon briefly wondered about their overly solemn attitude, but soon heard noise from inside and couldn’t think any further.
“What are you doing! Open the door!”
Turning the corner of the hallway, they saw Luzhu, accompanied by guards, screaming in front of an iron door.
“It’s locked from the outside! But what about those Demonic Cult bastards! Did Luzhu already know?”
The guards, who had only been working for money, were faced with an unexpected and serious situation, and surrounded Luzhu, protesting loudly.
“We value our lives too. We can’t do this anymore.”
“Damn bastards! Don’t even think about coming back!”
The guards spat and left Luzhu behind. They passed by Seong Mu-yeon and Seong Mu-jae without doing anything, just running away.
“You should have earned their trust in normal times. Didn’t you even tell your subordinates about your scheme while you were plotting it? I would betray you too.”
Luzhu, left alone without guards, cursed as Seong Mu-yeon approached him mockingly. Then, he ran away in a flurry.
“Hey, you bastard! Stop right there!”
Seong Mu-jae shouted and chased after Luzhu.
A short chase ensued. Luzhu looked around frantically, turned corners, and slipped into a room. It was the Cheongdang where Seong Mu-yeon and his group had been staying until just now.
When the brothers chased him into the Cheongdang, Luzhu was catching his breath and had just removed the cloth wrapping the Spirit Pill.
“……What is this?”
He stared intently at the small bead emitting a strange light.
“Don’t touch it with those dirty hands!”
Seong Mu-jae’s face turned fierce in an instant.
Luzhu pushed him away with a blast of energy. Seong Mu-jae, hit squarely, tumbled across the floor.
“Seong Mu-jae, how can you be so ungrateful? I fed you and gave you a place to sleep, and this is how you repay me! Do you know what hardships I’ve suffered because of you? Do you know how much I’ve lost! The business I’ve built up over a lifetime is in ruins!”
“Kueuk……”
Seong Mu-jae staggered to his feet. His neatly combed hair was disheveled, but he didn’t care.
“Uaaa!”
He swung his sword wildly. Luzhu easily dodged Seong Mu-jae’s sword and kicked him. Seong Mu-jae rolled across the floor again. He even dropped his sword in the process.
“Those guys wanted this thing……. If this thing is so important, I should take it. Damn Demonic Cult bastards. They dared to ignore me.”
“Brother! What are you doing!”
As Seong Mu-yeon urged him, Seong Mu-jae crawled and grabbed his sword with trembling hands. But he had no strength at all. His posture was unstable, and his face was pale. The tip of his sword shook incessantly.
“Brother, why……”
At that moment, Seong Mu-yeon was shocked as if struck in the head.
“……Could it be.”
It had been a question all along.
Seong Mu-jae, a martial artist, losing his strength after only a few days of starvation, dropping his sword, and failing to dodge attacks. Bang Gyeom taking care of such a Seong Mu-jae so excessively.
Only now did Seong Mu-yeon realize.
“Brother, could it be that you’ve…… lost your dantian?”
Seong Mu-jae didn’t answer. He only glared at Luzhu, sweating profusely, without even looking at Seong Mu-yeon.
Seong Mu-yeon closed his eyes tightly.
“I see.”
Seong Mu-jae hadn’t been doing nothing while losing all his subordinates except Bang Gyeom. He had been doing his best to protect himself and them. He must have poured all his strength into shaking off the Demon Slayer Unit in Cheonghae. Pushed to his limit, he had drawn on his inner force until his dantian was destroyed to survive until now.
“Don’t underestimate me! Even without that damn dantian, I can handle that guy well enough!”
“Hahahaha! A guy who’s worse than a common thug is talking big. Come on, try me! I’ll kill you.”
Seong Mu-yeon sighed briefly and rummaged through his sleeve. He took out a narrow, long string and tightly wrapped his loose sleeves.
“……Seong Mu-yeon, what are you doing?”
“It’s a joint attack, brother.”
Seong Mu-yeon replied with the hair tie in his mouth. There was no one to help them now. It was something the two of them had to solve.
He undid his hair, tied it back up high, and picked up a sword that someone seemed to have abandoned while running away.
“No need! What can you do……. Just watch safely from behind!”
“Brother, our situations are similar, aren’t they?”
Seong Mu-yeon chuckled. A guy without a dantian, or a guy who has a dantian but can’t use it.
“You don’t seem to know, but I’ve gotten a bit healthier lately. I might be better than you.”
He swung the ill-fitting sword around, getting a feel for it.
The stolen sword had a terrible center of gravity, and the sword tassel was decorated elaborately. It was clear that someone with a lot of money was carrying it around for show.
Luzhu had learned martial arts, but he didn’t seem to be very skilled. If they attacked together, they might have a chance of winning.
“……Do as you please.”
“Yes. I’ll do as I please.”