Even though the youngest of the Four Heroes of Green River was out of commission, leaving them as the Three Heroes of Green River, it was still a three-against-one fight. It was conventional wisdom that three against one was an advantageous setup, and it held true even now.
This disparity stemmed from the two parties' attitudes.
Ahn Seong-il, outnumbered, was visibly intimidated, frantically looking for a way out. The Green River Three Heroes, on the other hand, were pushing for a quick, decisive battle.
You could see it in their movements: Ahn Seong-il constantly retreating, desperately parrying blows, compared to the offensive onslaught of the Three Heroes of Green River.
This went on for about twenty exchanges. For reference, in the Murim, an "exchange" is pretty much equivalent to a turn in a turn-based game, in modern terms.
Ahn Seong-il thought, 'Huh. This isn't as bad as I thought, actually.'
Jo Gak-sun, the leader of the Three Heroes of Green River, thought, 'Damn it, was the gap this wide?!'
Actually, the ultimate form of a combined attack isn't three against one, but four against one.
Humans have four directions—front, back, left, and right—so only by occupying all four can a proper combined technique be perfected.
The perfection of the four directions has long been proven.
There are the Four Heavenly Kings in Buddhism and the Four Directional Deities in Taoism, which is why directions have been set at four since ancient times.
Thus, three was incomplete.
Especially when the enemy's realm was superior.
The gap between Late First-Rate and Early Peak Realm Master, though only one stage, was higher than they'd imagined.
Another ten exchanges passed.
Jo Gak-sun exchanged glances with his brothers. It was a silent conversation forged by long-standing brotherhood.
'No good. Let's bail. Gotta get the youngest too.'
'Good idea, Big Brother.'
'I've been waiting for this, Big Brother.'
Honestly, a bit anticlimactic. But when you considered Jo Gak-sun's title, the Green River Swift Wind Hero, it made perfect sense.
Monikers in the Murim follow a surprisingly simple principle.
At the First-Rate level, you're a proper martial artist, but there are far too many First-Rate martial artists in the Murim these days. So, for a First-Rate martial artist to earn a cool moniker, they needed accomplishments that everyone would acknowledge and admire.
However, with many people and few accomplishments, it usually came down to a combination of their base of operations, characteristics, and alignment.
The Ugly Demon of Zhengyou (active in Zhengyou, Ugly, bad guy)
Green River Swift Wind Hero (active in Green River, swift as wind, good guy)
So, in the case of the Green River Swift Wind Hero Jo Gak-sun, his specialty lay in his wind-like speed.
Especially his miraculous military tactic: retreating like a gust of wind when the fight turned unfavorable!
That's the moniker people gave him, impressed by his skill.
'But the youngest isn't coming up, so he must have broken something.'
'That damned youngest, the third brother will get him.'
'What, me again? Can't the second brother get him this time?'
'Hey, Third Brother… are you talking back?!'
Unfortunately, the youngest was already dead. But the news of the youngest death had not reached them yet because dead men tell no tales.
If the youngest had said, "I'm dead, brothers," his brothers would have been enraged by his death and fought to the bitter end.
They might have even managed to kill the villain and avenge their youngest, after getting a few holes punched in their own bodies.
But for now, they only had thoughts of escape.
Jo Gak-sun barely deflected Ahn Seong-il's two simultaneous sword strikes, then suddenly roared,
"Now! Consecutive Shadow Steps!"
Ahn Seong-il, who had been on the offensive, quickly took a step back. He had no idea what "Consecutive Shadow Steps" meant. But he retreated, fearing some dangerous technique was about to be unleashed.
However, Jo Gak-sun's cry, "Consecutive Shadow Steps," meant absolutely nothing.
He had merely blurted out random words to scare his opponent for a swift retreat, and these meaningless words had succeeded in repelling a Peak Realm Master, like Zhuge Liang's empty fort strategy driving away Sima Yi. Truly a miraculous strategy
And the Green River Swift Wind Hero's renown shone brightly.
Three figures vanished with the speed of a gale!
Ahn Seong-il blinked in utter bewilderment.
◇─◇────◆─◈─◆────◇─◇
When A-Qing reached the upper floor, she saw three figures rushing past her like arrows. A-Qing scanned the numbers, their karma, above their heads: seventeen, nine, one.
Low, but still good karma. So, they weren't the Ugly Demon of Zhengyou, it seemed.
A-Qing lost interest, but the three people who brushed past her flinched. A-Qing's appearance was anything but normal. Anyone would be startled to see a female swordswoman covered in blood and grinning faintly.
Moreover, she emanated a pressure that felt like it was squeezing their hearts, due to the ominous glint in her crazed eyes.
However, A-Qing didn't make eye contact with the Three Heroes of Green River.
This was a non-verbal cue among Murim practitioners: "I don't need anything from you, let's go our separate ways."
After the three men passed, A-Qing immediately spotted the villain on the upper floor of the inn. There was a guy with an extraordinary number above his head.
Three hundred seventy-six points of bad karma. He was a guy who had accumulated an awful lot of bad karma. In other words, he was someone who deserved to die. He was trash, and the world would be better off without him.
A-Qing's eyes met Ahn Seong-il's. Ahn Seong-il rolled his eyes away, avoiding her gaze.
Another non-verbal cue from a Murim practitioner, just like before: "Let's go our separate ways."
Ahn Seong-il did not want to get involved with A-Qing.
Didn't the old Murim proverb say? "Beware of children, women, and the elderly." Of course, this proverb didn't mean to specifically be extra cautious of children, women, and the elderly.
If you exclude children, women, and the elderly from the world's population, only adult males remain. And everyone naturally guards against and is careful around adult males.
The saying, "Beware of women, children, and the elderly," was a deeper warning to be wary of everyone you encounter in the Murim and never let your guard down.
Ahn Seong-il tried to avoid a fight with this wisdom, but A-Qing had business with him.
"Hey. You there. old fart. Are you that piece of shit human scum called the Ugly Devil of Zhengyou?"
It was an unexpected barrage of insults. Ahn Seong-il made a dumbfounded expression again. It was such a harsh insult that he doubted his own ears.
"Yeah, you, old bastard. Why are you pretending not to know? It's written all over your face that you're a son of a bitch. Who else here fits the bill?"
Ahn Seong-il's face flushed crimson. It was only natural; he'd just been insulted by a brat young enough to be his granddaughter, at best.
"How dare this bitch who is still wet behind the ears…"
"What? What bitch? Did you just curse? How dare you use such foul language against me? It's soo insulting. I can't tolerate it."
Despite her declaration of intolerance, she was grinning widely, pulling out her sword—
"I've never seen such a crazy wench...! Gasp."
Ahn Seong-il quickly clamped his mouth shut. From A-Qing's Sword Edge, threads of energy shimmered, unraveling like fine silk.
This phenomenon, where residual energy spilled outwards after Sword Qi was generated, was called "Sword silk." It was a technique used by late-stage Peak Realm Masters.
Ahn Seong-il was sweating bullets. The woman before him was a master far above his own realm.
The threat to his life loomed large. A truly overwhelming gap in skill!
"Crazy? You're cursing again? Wow, that's so insulting. Ugh, I'm getting angry, so angry."
"No, that's not what I meant—"
"I could've tolerated it if you insulted my family, my parents. But I absolutely cannot tolerate being insulted myself. No more questions! Die! My Moonlight Sword is hungry!"
Despite her playful movements, before he could even take a breath, the woman's sword tip split into three forms. Three strands of Sword Qi surged forward, coiling and twisting.
Ahn Seong-il's brain was working furiously. Which was real, which was fake? To live or to die? There was no time to ponder. He was about to gamble his life on a three-way choice of death.
A sensation sent chills crawling up his entire body!
'All three are real!'
In that instant, he realized all three sword strikes were genuine. It was the super-sense a person gained when their life hung by a thread, or in martial arts terms, the function of the Upper Dantian.
He parried the strike aimed at his heart and twisted his body with all his might. His shoulder and waist stung, then a fierce pain surged through him.
He had only defended against a single move. Already two wounds. The skill gap was desperate.
Beyond the difference between early and late Peak Realm, the woman's sword art itself was a supreme martial technique. And if a young woman, barely past her coming-of-age, possessed such skill, her background must be from no ordinary sect. This meant he'd die if he lost, and he'd die to a pursuer later even if he won.
Therefore, there was only one answer.
He couldn't fight. This was a guaranteed losing battle.
"Wait! Great expert! It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"
"A misunderstanding my ass. I heard you clearly. You insulted me. You shall pay for this humiliation with your life!"
"No, No! It isn't like that! Great Expert, wa-wait!"
"Great Expert? Do I look that old to you? How dare you one-sidedly raise a woman's age like that."
"Y-Young Expert, please wait!"
"Young Expert? An inferior like you who had just reached the Peak Realm dares to address a martial senior like that? How dare you…!"
"Female Expert! Please, Female Expert! Hear me out just for a moment!"
"Female Expert? Is there a separate title for male and female Experts? Gender discrimination is muddling the world, thus here in this place, I shall break such chains."
The woman's sword kept coming. Sometimes three strands, sometimes four, and by the time it reached five, he had already lost the will to resist. All he could do was desperately blabber.
Twenty exchanges already. It was a miracle he was still standing.
Suddenly, the assault stopped, as if by magic.
"Since you keep saying it's a misunderstanding, let me tell you something."
"Yes, Great Hero, no, Young—no, um…"
"I had finally gotten myself an expensive meal, and I was just about to enjoy it. It was a very special occasion for me, you know. The most pleasant moment since I entered the Murim."
"Uh, that… I'm sorry for causing such a disturbance…"
"No, do you think I'm some kind of psychopath who kills people just because they're noisy? No, it's just that something fell from the sky. Since we're inside an inn, I guess it was the ceiling?"
A-Qing turned her head. Ahn Seong-il followed suit. They saw the gaping hole in the floor.
Ahn Seong-il was drenched in cold sweat. So that's why she was covered in blood.
"Alright. Now you know why you're going to die, right?"
"P-Please spare me!"
"Hmm. What should I do?"
A-Qing pretended to think, drawing out the moment, then said, "First, give me money. I lost my meal. And my clothes are ruined."
"I-I'll give it to you!"
"Ugh, how can I stand this? This is too much."
"Huh? Huh?"
"Again! Give me money!"
"I'll give it to you!"
"I don't need it!"
Ahn Seong-il flustered. What the hell did she want him to do? Was she just playing with him, making him kneel—
Oh.
Ahn Seong-il's eyes widened in realization.
The reason he was still alive and clinging on was that even when the sword strikes came in waves, only one of them was ever a killing blow aimed at a vital point. He could avoid the fatal strikes and somehow block the rest with his body. In other words, the woman was toying with him. Like a cat playing with a bird, a silly grin on her face, having the time of her life.
"I... I've fallen into the hands of a demon."
"Oh. You found out?"
A-Qing's smile deepened.
"See? That's why you should've lived a good life. This is all karma. Karma. My Moonlight Sword only drinks the blood of the wicked."
A-Qing raised her sword. The villain, sensing his end, roared.
"Do you think you'll be safe?! Fine! I'm a bad guy! But do you think you're not?! I'll be waiting for you in hell!"
"Hell, my ass. My good karma is way too high."
Ahn Seong-il's world spun. His collapsing body entered his vision. As he died, he thought:
But how could a sword strike from the front sever his neck?
What kind of miraculous sword art was this...?