The Third Son of the Zhuge Clan is a Returned Martial God - Chapter 06

========== CHAPTER 6 ==========

========== CHAPTER 6 YANG-GYEON ==========

As Jegal Jun walked into the middle of the training ground, the clan’s martial artists silently cleared a path.

It didn’t seem to be the first time they’d experienced this; a strange sense of discomfort clouded the faces of those watching. Jegal Jun turned around, rested his wooden sword on his shoulder, and tapped it—tuk, tuk.

“Now, this right here is the Outer Hall’s training ground.”

I swept my gaze across the surroundings and replied perfunctorily.

“Indeed, it is worthy of the Jegal Clan’s training ground.”

“Right? But for a mere ‘dog’ to set foot in such a magnificent place, does that make any sense to you?”

“…….”

His voice was low, barely audible to those around us.

I chose silence instead of an answer.

Perhaps thinking he had seized the initiative, Jegal Jun soon raised his voice.

“A world where a stray dog gets to use the Jegal surname! Is this even acceptable?”

-He was quiet for a bit, but he’s at it again.

-He held back for quite a while, though.

-Held back, my foot. Didn’t he break an Outer Hall warrior’s leg just a while ago!

-Shh. He’ll hear you.

Low murmurs of concern leaked out from here and there.

Seeming to enjoy that atmosphere, Jegal Jun looked down at me with a satisfied face.

“If you crawl out that door on all fours right now, I might just let this slide.”

The tip of his wooden sword pointed toward the Outer Hall entrance.

He was telling me to leave the clan on my own. Once I crossed that door, it wouldn’t be long before I was outside the clan’s territory.

Gaining freedom didn’t seem that difficult.

“How could I do that, as a younger brother? Opportunities to witness Hyung-nim’s martial arts aren’t exactly common, after all.”

“…….”

This time, Jegal Jun’s mouth snapped shut. It was likely not the reaction he had wanted.

“Have you ever learned any martial arts?”

“I have learned the Three Talents.”

“What? The Three Talents!? Bwahahaha!”

A burst of laughter erupted and rang through the training ground. Laughter also spilled out from among the warriors following him.

After laughing his fill, Jegal Jun covered his mouth with his sleeve and barely managed to calm down.

“By Three Talents, do you mean the dance beggars do in the marketplace when they’re begging for alms?”

“Yes. I have learned the Three Talents Heart Method, footwork, and sword technique.”

“Heh heh. You really were a mutt.”

[Three Talents Sword Technique].

It is a basic sword technique that borrows the principles of Heaven, Earth, and Man, repeating three movements: stabbing, slashing, and sweeping. It is a low-level martial art that street warriors learn first before they even properly hold a sword.

In truth, it is the lowest and most lowly thing, embarrassing to even call a martial art.

So, Jegal Jun’s reaction was perhaps to be expected.

‘A [Breeding Assassin] is different from an ordinary assassin.’

They are beings who must start from the very bottom of a clan or sect and eventually be recognized as a member. So, coming in empty-handed was, in a way, natural.

Though, of course, I have to exclude the things engraved on my body in the past.

Meanwhile, Hyun-ah was sweating, her hands clenched tightly.

“Young Master… I need to inform the Chief Steward…”

The entrance to the training ground was already blocked by a few warriors. Everything was a setup orchestrated by the Second Young Master.

“Hmph. Sorry. I let some ugly words slip out without realizing it.”

“It’s fine, Hyung-nim.”

In an instant, Jegal Jun’s gaze turned icy.

“But how long do you intend to keep calling me Hyung-nim, Hyung-nim? It’s starting to get uncomfortable to hear.”

I didn’t avoid him and looked him straight in the eye.

“We’ll be seeing each other often from now on, so you’ll have to get used to it.”

“You little bastard!”

He shouted, then exhaled deeply.

He kicked a wooden sword that was nearby toward me. I stared at the sword for a while before slowly gripping it in my hand.

“I didn’t like you from the start.”

“…….”

Jegal Jun slowly lowered his stance and took a sword-ready posture.

“That dull look in your eyes.”

I twisted my lips into a smile.

“My eyes, you say?”

“Yes. Those eyeballs without a single point of light! That arrogant gaze that looks like it’s seeing through everything!”

Is it because he’s still young?

He was clumsy at hiding his emotions.

‘If he were in [Sihyeolgok], he wouldn’t have lasted a day.’

He’s the perfect type to get stabbed.

Then, what would happen if I poked him one more time?

Driven by a passing curiosity, my mouth moved first. Without making a sound, just with the shape of my lips.

-You too.

A short but sincere word.

Recognizing the meaning, a vein bulged on Jegal Jun’s forehead.

“You, you arrogant bastard! I was trying to let this slide!”

I didn’t change a single breath while holding his gaze.

Finally unable to hold back, he kicked off the ground. The wooden sword was raised as if to pierce my eyes right then and there.

-Shouldn’t we stop them!?

-Surely he won’t actually strike, right?

-No, look at that! That’s a form from the [Socheonseong Geombeop]!

Even if he is young, he is a scion of a prestigious clan.

He stepped using the basic sword technique passed down in the clan and the footwork imbued with its essence, closing the distance in an instant, leaving no time to intervene.

Jegal Jun’s eyes were bloodshot.

“A pet dog doesn’t need two eyes, does it?”

The wooden sword descended, slicing through the air.

I kept my eyes wide open and stared at it precisely.

I didn’t feel the need to dodge. The sword path was clearly drawn before my eyes.

-Block it!

-You can’t, Second Young Master!

-Eek!

The urgent shouts of the warriors who realized the gravity of the situation and Hyun-ah’s scream erupted simultaneously.

Pueooooong!

Wind pressure exploded, and a gust swept through the training ground.

My head was thrown back, and my clothes fluttered violently.

Kkadeudeuk.

The wooden sword, fully extended with the technique executed.

Its sharp tip stopped right in front of my pupils.

However, I didn’t even flinch, staring solely at the tip of that sword.

“Huk. Huk.”

Jegal Jun exhaled the breath he had been holding.

No, to be precise, his face showed that he had only just realized it had been stopped.

“How is this…”

His eyes trembled slightly, and his gaze landed on the tip of the wooden sword.

My hand was gripping the tip of the wooden sword precisely.

Jegal Jun’s brow furrowed violently.

“I don’t know what trick you used, but it won’t work this time!”

He stepped back quickly, and a hazy energy rose from his body. The internal energy he had accumulated at such a young age was quite decent.

“As expected of a scion of a prestigious sect, your internal energy is excellent.”

“How dare a guy like you evaluate me!”

Shouting with cheeks trembling from uncontrollable anger, he kicked off the ground.

In an instant, a black figure intervened between the two of us.

“Second Young Master, what are you doing in the training ground right now!”

A heavy, deep voice pressed down on the training ground.

Jegal Jun, who had stopped reflexively, slowly raised his gaze.

A man wearing black martial arts attire was standing there.

“Flying Swallow Unit Leader-nim… that is…”

The [Flying Swallow Unit] was the Jegal Clan’s elite force.

‘If he’s the [Flying Swallow Unit Leader]… then he must be the Clan Head’s younger brother, Jegal Ho.’

In other words, he was my uncle, and I was familiar with him because I had run into him a few times while I was at the [Murim Alliance] in the past.

‘He’s aged quite a bit.’

Although his appearance had aged, his physique, built through external martial arts training, looked even stronger than in his youth, making the seven years seem insignificant.

Jegal Ho’s gaze turned toward me.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I am fine, Uncle.”

His brow furrowed slightly at the title ‘Uncle’.

It seemed this person, too, did not fully accept me as a member of the clan.

“Then that is fortunate. However, Second Young Master. You will have to explain properly how all of this came to be.”

“Well, you see, Uncle… I was just teaching the third one some martial arts…”

“So you unleashed a sword technique against an opponent who hasn’t even properly learned martial arts! And you even used your true energy!?”

The roar rang through the training ground.

It must have been a voice imbued with internal energy, as it was enough to make my ears ring.

The image of him emitting killing intent just a moment ago had vanished without a trace, and Jegal Jun’s eyes wavered as if tears were about to spill at any moment.

‘He was just a kid after all.’

Jegal Ho took the wooden sword from him and continued.

“Since it was training time, I will have to discipline you according to the rules here. You had better be prepared.”

“No, that’s not it, that guy was peeking at the training ground first-.”

“Jegal Jun, do you intend to keep making excuses like that!?”

“…….”

The mouth that had been chattering finally shut. Soon, Jegal Ho withdrew his gaze and turned toward me.

“Peeking at a martial artist’s training is also not right. You also bear responsibility for today’s events, so go back and reflect.”

“Understood, Uncle. Then I will take my leave.”

I bowed my head quietly.

And I left the training ground with Hyun-ah.

Jegal Ho’s gaze did not easily leave my back as I turned away for quite some time.

By the time we reached the entrance of the detached building within the [Naedang].

Hyun-ah approached me in a hurry.

“Are you alright, Young Master?”

I raised both hands leisurely.

“There is no problem at all.”

“You almost got into big trouble today. Why did you do that?”

She scanned my body with a worried expression.

Is this just the unnecessary meddling of a dedicated maid?

“It seems Hyung-nim doesn’t like me very much.”

“That’s naturally-.”

Instantly, she stopped talking and hurriedly corrected herself.

“As you saw, the Second Young Master is a person with a fiery temper. So you must be especially careful when you speak.”

“Fiery, you say…”

“Not ‘fiery’…. Sigh. And when you talk to the superiors of the clan, you shouldn’t look them straight in the eye like that.”

I had only played with Hyung-nim for a moment, but a barrage of nagging poured out.

It was just awkward because it was attention I hadn’t received for the past few years.

“I will do so.”

“And that old-man-like way of speaking, can you please… never mind. Let’s go in first.”

Like that, we went inside beyond the wooden wall of the pavilion.

Having returned to my quarters, I looked down at my hand.

The hand that had caught the Second Young Master’s wooden sword was red and swollen.

“……To think it’s like this even after blocking something that was clearly visible.”

I had consistently trained my physical strength in [Sihyeolgok], but in the end, it was just the body of a child.

“It hurts like hell. I have a long way to go.”

In any case, the beginning of everything starts with recovering my martial prowess.

There is no need to be impatient.

“In that process, I must also find a way to overcome the [Hyeolgo]. [Gihyeolsangchung] that forces will and obedience…”

I’ve never even heard of it; where on earth did they get it?

The biggest reason I couldn’t escape from [Sihyeolgok] was none other than this [Hyeolgo].

Anyway, I will remove this, find [Heuk-myeong], and make him pay the price for what he did to the [Jin Clan].

And.

“Jegal Sang. I will eliminate that hypocrite who only looked after his own interests using the destruction of the [Jin Clan] as an excuse.”

I suspect that the destruction of the [Jin Clan] was a pretext.

Using that name, Jegal Sang rallied the warriors of the righteous Murim and pushed his forces south of the Yangtze River. Only after three sects and five associations belonging to the [Sado Alliance], which held hegemony over the evil path, turned to ashes did the long, long [War of Righteous and Evil] come to an end.

And on top of all that blood, Jegal Sang was recorded as a figure who achieved great merit in the history of the Central Plains Murim.

“The fastest move is to enter the [Gajujeon] and stab him with a weapon openly.”

It is the simplest, but it was the first move to discard.

“Moreover, the Clan Head is a martial artist who has reached the ranks of a supreme master. Even if he were off guard, there is no way he wouldn’t be able to dodge a weapon swung by a child like me.”

Then what about poisoning?

Putting poison in the food served to the Clan Head.

This was a viable option. I had already learned how to make poison from medicinal herbs.

‘I’d have to plan for a few months. The chance of success is ten percent, and escape is hard to expect.’

There was only one plan with a higher probability than that.

‘Learn the Jegal Clan’s martial arts and cut him down head-on.’

If I can do that, escaping the clan after the murder is also possible. Ambush methods based on the situation come to mind.

‘If I add the [Jin Clan]’s martial arts, I will be able to surpass the realm I achieved in the past.’

In the midst of that, if I had to name the biggest problem…

‘It’s the fourth day since I entered the clan. I haven’t even seen the Clan Head’s face since the first day.’

That was to be expected.

He was the busiest man in the entire Central Plains Murim.

I don’t know for sure, but he probably never leaves the [Gajujeon] or the [Uijeongdang].

“Ha, if I delay too long, he might leave for the [Murim Alliance].”

I expected it, but the assassination was by no means easy.

However, a gentleman’s revenge is not too late even after ten years.

‘The time [Heuk-myeong] gave me is ten years. There is no need to rush.’

Just as I was organizing those thoughts.

-What is that supposed to mean!?

A shout that tore through the silence was heard.