Chapter 1106: It Gives Me The Chills Sometimes (Part 1)

[Note: I will use "flying knife", "dagger", and sometimes "hidden weapon" interchangeably. Proceed with caution.]

"Alright! That's it for today!"

Thud!

Thud!

Chung Myung's voice burst forth, and the disciples of Mount Hua, including Hye Yeon, fell like a pile of straw. The relaxed appearance they had when they came out to the training ground early in the morning was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm, already?"

"It's almost midnight."

"Hmm."

Tang Gunak slowly retrieved the daggers, as if he had lingering regrets.

"I was just starting to loosen up a bit. In my time, once the excitement hit, I could throw flying knives for three days and nights... Why stop at a moment like this?"

"Don't worry. We'll resume in just two hours."

At that, the Mount Hua disciples, who had been lying like corpses, suddenly raised their heads like lightning.

"Two, two hours?"

"It was originally three hours! Why did the words change, you little rascal?"

"Oh, was it?"

Chung Myung clicked his tongue.

"But did these guys swallow their stomachs or something? It's not just anyone; it's the Lord of the Tang Family himself who's training them! Even with that golden time, they can't spare a bit more effort to secure it!"

"Uh..."

Honestly, it wasn't an incorrect statement. Well, considering it came from that jerk's mouth, it was a rare, very rare, sensible thing to say.

It wasn't just anyone; it was Tang Gunak, the Poison King. He was one of the absolute experts dominating the current Kangho.

And he wasn't just teaching simple martial arts or sparring, instead engaging in training the entire day close to real combat, wasn't he?

"If others had heard this, they would have come and begged on their knees, bringing millions of won, asking to get a taste just once! These bastards are really too lucky!"

"Ugh."

That was true... it was true, but....

"...Whether it's a million wons or what, shouldn't the first priority be staying alive?"

"What's the use of improving your skills if you're dead?"

"Save me."

"Amitabha...I saw heaven."

"There...that's hell, monk. You can't go to heaven."

The Five Swords squeezed out tears of sadness.

Were Tang Gunak's hands really merciless? No, it wasn't that bad. If he had genuinely wanted to attack them, and if it were a situation where they had to defend against him all day long, how many of them would actually survive?

Of course, Tang Gunak was also taking into account their abilities. Moreover, hadn't they already been competing with Chung Myung, who had skills equal to or even better than that of the Tang Family Lord for three years?

'Yeah, I know all that.'

Baek Cheon shivered. Despite knowing all these facts, the chills that erupted on his back showed no sign of subsiding.

The problem lay in the difference between the sword and the dagger.

They had absolute trust in Chung Myung's sword. Even if he swung the sword towards their necks with all his might, there was an ultimate belief that the sword would never truly pierce their throats.

Without this belief, fighting each other would be impossible. It was the absolute confidence in Chung Myung's skill that allowed them to exert and defend with their full strength.

However, the issue was that the dagger was not the sword.

No matter how much Tang Gunak was lauded as the Poison King under Heaven, and even if he had a skill that surpassed Chung Myung when it came to unleashing and handling daggers, wasn't the flying knife a weapon that, once it left the hand, became uncontrollable?

A momentary mistake, a simple miscalculation, and that dagger might be driven into their foreheads.

'I never thought it would be such a hair-raising experience.'

Each time the dagger embedded with fierce energy passed by his face, it felt like his soul left his body and returned, to add a little bit of exaggeration.

If there was anyone who wanted to have a near-death experience at least once, he or she could just have it by standing in this spot.

However, they had been repeating it from early morning until midnight today. Who in their right mind would be here?

"Poor things."

"...It's better just to roll your body."

"As expected of the disciples of Mount Hua. They can't keep up with that."

You could tell how extreme the experience was just by looking at the reactions of the surrounding Nokrim and the Tang Family. Those who used to look at Mount Hua with cold eyes filled with jealousy and disdain, now looked at them as if they were the most pitiful beings in the world. Even if they encountered a beggar who had starved for three days, they wouldn't look at them with such eyes.

"How is it?"

At Chung Myung's question, Tang Gunak smiled strangely.

"It's definitely different from throwing the knives alone. I felt it during the battle at Plum Blossom Island too."

"Is that so?"

Tang Gunak nodded.

"I started out with the intention to help, but it ended up helping me in return. I think I'll be able to catch something if we just practice for fifteen days like this."

"Fif-Fifteen days?"

"Are you kidding?"

The Five Swords had a seizure.

Even now, their clothes were full of holes, as if they had been hit by a rain of needles, and their whole body was full of fresh scratches... And they had to endure this for fifteen days or more? Fiften days?

"And... I think I know what was lacking in the Tang Family. I also have a solution."

Tang Gunak looked at Mount Hua and the Tang Family alternately with meaningful eyes. To his look as if he had discovered an amusing toy, both Mount Hua's disciples and the Tang Family's martial artists shivered simultaneously. Strangely, their spines felt creepy.

"Their combination is good."

The most fatal weakness of the Tang Family lay in the fundamentals of their martial arts. While other sects improved their weaknesses through swordplay and repeated sparring, the Tang Family found that impossible. Most of their hidden weapons they used had no substitutes, unlike the wooden replicas used in sparring by other sects, which moderately reduce power.

What would happen if feather-light needles were carved out of wood instead of iron? If you made it exactly the same, it would be too light and lack momentum. However, if you tried to increase its weight by making it larger, the characteristic of the hidden weapon would disappear, making it meaningless."

Moreover, no matter how blunt the end were, hidden weapons were hidden weapons. If you made even a small mistake and it caught your eye, not only could you go blind, but your life was also at risk.

Therefore, even if the Tang Family practiced projecting and adjusting their hidden weapons into thin air, the experience of sincerely releasing it toward an opponent was extremely rare. This was an inherent limitation.

However...

"At any rate, they blocked my hidden weapons."

"Us?"

"...We didn't do anything?" 

"I was just standing there."

Tang Gunak smiled wryly.

"Certainly, the disciples of Mount Hua are humble. Is it because they resemble Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword?"

"Is that an insult?"

"Gaju-nim, you've crossed the line. Please apologize."

"That bastard, humble? Humble?"

Tang Gunak nodded happily as he looked at the convulsing Mount Hua disciples.

"They still have spirit. Truly reliable."

Although he said it jokingly, Tang Gunak was actually quite surprised on the inside.

'I didn't expect it to come to this.'

No matter how much Chung Myung trained and cultivated, there was a fixed notion that late-bloomers were late-bloomers. Therefore, Tang Gunak thought that he wouldn't be able to utilize even thirty percent of his actual strength.

However, their skills exceeded Tang Gunak's expectations. Even though he didn't express it outwardly, he was also quite exhausted.

'I almost had to use lethal force.'

Despite not explicitly showing it, he felt a chill down his spine seeing them defend against and counter his thrown daggers. What kind of training had they undergone to reach this level?

Rather than strengthening their defense and holding on, they moved forward without being deceived by the changing trajectories he created.

"In other words..."

"Yes?"

Tang Gunak's smile deepened.

'If they can block my daggers, then our kids' hidden weapons won't pose much of a threat.'

So it was possible.

Just as he was freely throwing his daggers against them, checking himself, wouldn't it be the same for the Tang Family's disciples? Even if they attacked recklessly, he had found perfect targets that wouldn't get hurt.

"Mount Hua's Chivalrous Sword."

"Yes?"

"If your skills improve, anything would be good, right?"

"...."

"Isn't that true?"

Under that subtle pressure, Chung Myung glanced at Mount Hua's disciples.

'I don't know what he's talking about, but just please don't do it!' The eyes were pouring into Chung Myung as if desperately shouting. Chung Myung nodded confidently, as if reassuring them not to worry.

Then he looked at Tang Gunak and said,

"Of course."

"Hey, you bastard!"

"That rotten bastard! Selling out your Sahyungs?"

"I'll curse you even in hell! I will definitely kill you!"

Chung Myung picked his ears.

"Dogs are barking on a moonlit night."

Although Mount Hua's disciples glared at Chung Myung with venomous eyes, it didn't mean much. After all, could you really kill someone with just a look?

"Okay then, let's go."

"Let's do that."

"How about it? You still seem lively. How about a drink?"

"Hmm. It's hard to refuse when you recommend it. Instead, drink moderately. I'll choose the alcohol."

"A bit disappointing, but okay."

As they walked away, chatting away, the gazes of Mount Hua's disciples who were watching them from afar became helpless.

"Yoon Jong-ah."

"...Yes?"

"Sew up that bastard's snout. The one who sold out his Sahyungs."

"...Soso went to get a needle a while ago."

"Alright. She's quick."

Baek Cheon, supporting himself with difficulty, raised his head.

"...I never thought daggers could be this scary."

"I know, right. I'm really feeling it now."

"The fact that they're not in human hands is terrifying."

"Exactly."

Everyone they've faced so far had been someone wielding a weapon or throwing punches directly. In other words, as long as you didn't let them close, you could somehow deal with them.

But Tang Gunak was completely different.

He just stood there, but the flying knives he released from his hand ravaged them at a speed beyond comprehension and toyed with them.

"...There are no limitations."

"Yeah. That's right, Samae."

Baek Cheon nodded heavily.

No matter how freely a swordsman tries to be, they cannot escape the constraint of holding a sword in their hand. Therefore, the changes in the sword are bound by the limits of the body.

However, the flying knife, once out of a person's hand, has no such limits. That's why it brings about unimaginable transformations.

This was another shock to them. Having always lived with a sword in hand, they had never once considered that the sword was confined by the limits of the body.

"...There's so much to learn."

"The progress is too fast, Sasuk."

"But... one thing is certain..."

Baek Cheon now spoke as he looked at the distant Tang Gunak.

"If we fully internalize this, our Mount Hua will become even stronger. This is an opportunity that we, as martial artists, can never afford to miss. I'm happy."

A gleam of resolution flowed from his clear eyes.

However, the reaction of those who heard his words was rather lukewarm.

"That's something to talk about when we're not dead."

Jo Gol muttered disapprovingly.

"It wouldn't be surprising if I fell dead tomorrow...any opportunities would freeze to death."

"..."

"Let's go get some rest. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, let's go."

"I'm hungry too."

"We should eat something."

Everyone got up one by one and left for the lodging, leaving Baek Cheon behind.

"Anyways, he has a disease."

"Let it be. It's Sasuk, right?"

"Baek Cheon Siju sometimes holds too much weight. That too is an obsession."

"It gives me the chills sometimes. Ugh."

Left alone, Baek Cheon stared blankly at their retreating figures.

"Um... guys?"

A cold wind blew from the riverside, sweeping past Baek Cheon.

He shivered and slowly got up.

"Ahem."

He cleared his throat lightly and followed the kids with an awkward look on his face.

"Shall we go together, guys? Hey, guys? Excuse me?"

Having finished his share of training and watching the scene from behind, Baek-ah sighed deeply and shook his head.