By Zephyria Spirit Pill (1)
“No, if I leave them alone, these bastards will look down on me. Fine, it seems you brothers want to die together!”
Seong Mu-yeon didn’t give him time to prepare. He immediately thrust his sword towards Luzhu’s fingertips, where he was holding the pouch.
“Eek!”
Luzhu easily dodged the attack. Then, he pulled out a curved sword hidden under his wide long robe. The blade was shorter than a sword but thicker and slightly curved.
Seong Mu-yeon continued his attacks using only his physical strength without using inner force, and Luzhu had no room to put the pouch away. He held the curved sword in one hand and the pouch in the other, blocking Seong Mu-yeon’s attacks.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
However, a sword without inner force was not much of a threat to Luzhu, who had rolled around in the back alleys.
But in the midst of it, Seong Mu-yeon felt a faint joy.
‘Yak Seon was right.’
The severed meridians affected Seong Mu-yeon’s body, but conversely, his physical condition was unrelated to the illness. As she said, there was no need to cower and protect himself for fear of the disease worsening. Because it would get worse whether he did something or not.
If the vessel is strong, it can withstand leakage for a longer time without breaking.
Seong Mu-jae was briefly surprised that Seong Mu-yeon was fighting better than he had expected. But he soon calmed himself and joined in.
“I can’t lose to my younger brother!”
Whether he was inspired by Seong Mu-yeon, his movements became more refined than before, and the two men’s combined attack pushed Luzhu back.
“Have you forgotten that I am your sworn brother, Seong Mu-jae!”
Luzhu looked troubled. He had long left the physical work to his bodyguards and focused on his business, so his body was not warmed up, and he was struggling.
“Haha! Didn’t you know that patricide is a daily occurrence in our family?”
Seong Mu-jae said lightly, gritting his teeth and launching a sharp attack. Luzhu barely dodged the sword coming towards his chest, and his curved sword wrapped around Seong Mu-jae’s sword.
“Kuh…?”
The Demon Slayer Unit’s sword had a narrow and thin blade. On the other hand, it was easily entangled by Luzhu’s curved sword, which was strong and slightly curved. Seong Mu-jae was almost thrown off balance as he was pulled along by the entangled sword, unable to retrieve it.
“Be careful! The sword will break.”
Seong Mu-yeon warned.
Seong Mu-jae, who was not used to thin swords, became passive, worried that the sword would break. The advantage began to shift back to Luzhu.
“Ah, brother!”
The lack of coordination between Seong Mu-yeon and Seong Mu-jae also played a part. From time to time, Seong Mu-jae stepped on Seong Mu-yeon’s foot or tripped him. It was almost suspicious whether he was doing it on purpose.
“I know!”
But no matter how much they were scolded, the two still didn’t coordinate well.
“Demonic cultist, your name is grand, but you’re nothing special? Seeing how Young master are like this. Hahahaha!Luzhu, who was gradually regaining his sense of fighting, even had the composure to laugh at his opponents.
Seong Mu-jae quickly showed signs of exhaustion without fighting much. This was because he had lost his dantian and stopped training his body, and he had not fully recovered his weakened body.
“Kuh!”
“Brother!”
In the end, the curved sword slashed Seong Mu-jae’s shoulder.
He blocked it in time, but the thin blade could not withstand it and shattered. From the beginning, it was not designed to generate power but was made for quick attacks, so unless inner force was infused to increase the strength of the sword, it had no capacity to win against the strong curved sword.
“I’m fine!”
Seong Mu-jae grabbed his shoulder and took a few steps back, but the broken sword, with only an inch left, could no longer exert any power. Seong Mu-jae threw away the sword and looked around. Eventually, he grabbed all sorts of miscellaneous items from the Cheongdang and charged. He threw pottery and swung candlesticks, but they were only shattered by the curved sword.
“Annoying!”
But it was enough to distract Luzhu. Seong Mu-yeon dodged every attack Luzhu occasionally sent his way. Luzhu’s attacks, whose martial arts were terrible, were too slow to be difficult to avoid, but he, too, was currently at a level where it was impossible to inflict a meaningful blow on Luzhu.
Seong Mu-yeon dodged the palm energy Luzhu unleashed and threw himself.
‘……This won’t do.’
Seong Mu-yeon, who rolled once and got out of the curved sword’s range, thought as he quickly regained his posture.
The sword forged for decoration would not last long either, so Seong Mu-yeon avoided a head-on confrontation with the curved sword. It was a fight he could not win physically, and the longer he dragged it out, the more disadvantageous it would be for them.
“Ugh!”
While Seong Mu-yeon was unable to protect him, Seong Mu-jae staggered from a blow of palm energy. Luzhu’s sword aimed for Seong Mu-jae’s chest and slashed in.
This was also due to the lack of coordination between the two brothers.
‘Damn it!’
Seong Mu-yeon inserted his sword between them without even thinking.
Clang-!
The sword that collided head-on with the curved sword shattered into pieces. Thanks to this, the sword missed Seong Mu-jae and cut through the air, and he was able to quickly move to a safe place.
But…….
Seong Mu-yeon looked regretfully at the sword hilt, from which the entire blade had disappeared, and threw it away.
“Now you have no weapons, what will you do?”
Luzhu was sweating profusely, but he was still full of energy.
Seong Mu-yeon, who had retreated, glanced at the broken sword rolling at his feet.
“What can you do with that broken sword? Hahahaha!”
As Seong Mu-yeon grabbed the broken sword, Luzhu burst into maniacal laughter. As a result, the pouch he was holding in his hand shook, and Seong Mu-yeon threw the broken sword.
“Huh?”
The sword did not reach Luzhu. Instead, it pierced the pouch fluttering in the air. The pouch, which had slipped out of Luzhu’s hand, was impaled on the broken sword and slammed into the wall far away.
“You rat-like bastards!”
The pouch was dangling out of reach.
“Well, it’s just a last-ditch effort. I’ll just kill you all and then retrieve it.”
Luzhu lowered his curved sword and looked back and forth, as if gauging which of the two brothers to kill first.
In the meantime, Seong Mu-yeon and Seong Mu-jae briefly exchanged glances with each other, their appearances a mess.
Seong Mu-yeon nodded briefly, and Seong Mu-jae blinked as if he understood.
The two had never coordinated before. But because they had the same goal, they understood each other for the first time without speaking.
Seong Mu-yeon charged first.
“You fool!”
Facing a sword with bare hands.
Luzhu raised the corners of his mouth. He raised his sword to cut down Seong Mu-yeon, who was like a moth throwing himself into the fire.
But the sword cut through the air. Seong Mu-yeon suddenly pulled his body away. And suddenly, Seong Mu-jae popped out from behind. At least, that’s how it would have felt to Luzhu.
As Seong Mu-yeon had expected, Luzhu was careless and excited, and his martial arts were not very high, so his field of vision was narrow. Seong Mu-yeon drew his attention first, so he did not notice Seong Mu-jae approaching from a blind spot.
He tried to hit Seong Mu-jae, but Seong Mu-jae, who approached without giving him time to adjust his posture, hugged his arm.
“Kuh……! Let go!”
Seong Mu-jae bit Luzhu’s arm and absolutely did not let go, even as he was being punched by Luzhu. Luzhu, unable to move his arm freely due to the weight, struggled to shake off Seong Mu-jae, spinning around wildly.
At that moment, Seong Mu-yeon clung to Luzhu’s back and strangled his neck.
“Keuk……!”
Seong Mu-yeon’s face also turned red along with Luzhu’s as he strained to apply pressure. He accurately constricted the carotid artery, but whether it was because he lacked strength or because there was a lot of fat on his neck, Luzhu grabbed Seong Mu-yeon’s hair with his remaining hand.
However, unable to overcome being clung to from both sides, Luzhu eventually lost strength in his hand and dropped the sword.
“Kkeueuk……!”
Luzhu seemed confused as to which of the two to remove first. Then, in the end, he bent over and threw Seong Mu-yeon to the ground. As his body became lighter, he shook off Seong Mu-jae as well. He crashed into the wall, breaking a pillar, and slumped down.
“I’ll kill you……!”
Luzhu’s eyes were bloodshot. He panted and looked for the curved sword he had dropped. Seong Mu-yeon, in pain, gasped for breath but kicked the sword far away.
Luzhu glared with bloodshot eyes.
“……You, I didn’t like you from the start. I’ll kill you first.”
“Keuheuk……!”
Luzhu strangled Seong Mu-yeon’s neck. Thick, large hands pressed down on his slender neck. The suffocating situation was also a problem, but it felt like his neck bones would break at any moment. His vision quickly blurred, and naturally, a tear streamed down his cheek.
Was he going to die like this?
As he thought that, he thought of Baek Ryeo-il, who would be fighting outside.
‘Ah, I promised to buy you five bottles of Hundred Flower Dew, but I won’t be able to keep that promise again. I’m sorry.’
That was what he had promised in return for helping him with his work at the Seomun Clan. In fact, Baek Ryeo-il was just being fussy because he didn’t want to help for free, but he wouldn’t hold a grudge about it. If he died, he would at least pray for his soul.
As he thought that far, his gradually closing eyes widened.
‘Why am I dying?’
His mind became clear. He was suffering here because of him, so was he giving up so easily?
His brain must have been messed up from the lack of oxygen.
It wasn’t like Seong Mu-jae, whose dantian was completely destroyed. It was just a difference between dying from suffocation now or dying while spitting blood later.
The latter was better, if possible.
It was the moment Seong Mu-yeon was about to draw up his inner force.
Deeng-!
Suddenly, a bell rang. And the hand pressing down on his neck loosened.
“Cough! Cough! ……Brother?”
Seong Mu-yeon coughed violently and simultaneously inhaled urgently. He felt like he was going to live as fresh air filled his lungs.
Through his tearful vision, he saw Luzhu collapsing with his eyes rolled back. Behind him, Seong Mu-jae was gasping for breath, holding a huge brass gong.