Chapter 641: Return of the Demon Sect Leader
Yeon Seol-yeon slowly opened her eyes.
For a long while, she lay there, staring at the ceiling.
How long had she been frozen in place like that?
She could feel the presence surrounding her room gradually fading away.
It had been half a night since she had gone to bed.
Finally, the guards stationed near her room had relaxed their vigilance somewhat.
In truth, calling them guards was a bit of a stretch. They weren’t there to protect her from outside intruders.
They were there to prevent her from sneaking out of the manor in the dead of night.
“Tonight, for sure…!”
Yeon Seol-yeon bit her lip.
For days now, she hadn’t been able to take a single step outside the manor.
When she mentioned preparing for peace talks with Seok Geom-yeong, her parents had been furious.
That very day, Yeon Woo-gyeong had forbidden her from leaving the house.
Mok Dan-hwa, instead of calming him down, had only reinforced the order, instructing the guards to keep a close watch on her.
In the end, she found herself trapped in a prison without bars.
Thinking about that day made her sigh.
How could those who once shared camaraderie and brotherhood with her parents turn into such enemies?
Then again, they say even mountains change in ten years.
It’s been thirty years.
In that time, a person’s heart could change dozens of times.
The human heart is like a reed, after all.
“No matter what…”
Wasn’t this too much?
But she couldn’t just stay locked up in her room forever.
Convincing her stubborn parents was impossible from the start.
So, action was needed more than words.
She had to act first and deal with the consequences later.
What would happen afterward?
She didn’t know.
What was certain was that even now, Seok Geom-yeong was likely worried about her safety.
The date they were supposed to meet had passed, and she hadn’t sent him a single message. How could he not be frustrated?
She felt incredibly sorry for Seok Geom-yeong.
“Tonight, I must escape and meet with him!”
Silently, she moved like a ghost.
The footwork she learned from Mok Dan-hwa was unparalleled in its subtlety.
Quick and precise movements.
She strapped a thin sword to her side and slowly opened the window.
Outside, she saw a shadow passing by.
It was likely one of the guards patrolling the manor.
No one could know she was leaving.
She had to quickly meet Seok Geom-yeong, explain the situation, and return.
Of course, she hadn’t yet figured out how to summon him from the Black Heaven Sect.
Thinking too deeply would only paralyze her.
She had to act first.
Her eyes sparkled with determination.
And then—
Swoosh…!
The window closed as if it had never been opened.
She was already outside.
Rounding the corner of the building, she sprinted down the corridor.
She leaped while the guards on the roof momentarily looked away, and moved swiftly between the buildings, using the shadows to her advantage.
Reaching the outer wall, she launched herself into the air with her light-footed technique.
Whoosh!
With a graceful flip, she landed softly on the ground.
“Phew!”
She exhaled the breath she had been holding and clenched her fists in triumph.
“I did it! I’m finally out!”
Just as she was about to take a step forward—
She froze.
A presence…!
Sure enough.
Swish, swish, swish!
Dark shadows descended around her like rain.
Yeon Seol-yeon’s expression hardened.
A middle-aged man blocking her path sighed lightly and spoke.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The man was Jang Ryeo-shim, the head of the guards assigned to watch over her.
“Step aside.”
Yeon Seol-yeon spoke in a stern tone.
But Jang Ryeo-shim shook his head.
“I’m sorry. It’s the master’s order. Please return to your room.”
“No.”
“Then I have no choice but to be discourteous.”
“In that case, I’ll be discourteous too.”
Clang!
Yeon Seol-yeon drew her sword.
If she returned now, her parents would only become more furious and tighten their grip on her.
Since she had been caught, she wanted to meet Seok Geom-yeong at least once.
Her determination was sharp, causing the guards to hesitate and keep their distance.
But they couldn’t bring themselves to raise their swords against her.
Nor did they retreat.
Jang Ryeo-shim took a deep breath and spoke.
“Then… forgive me.”
He slowly raised his energy.
As expected of Mok Dan-hwa’s most trusted guard, his aura was formidable.
But she wasn’t intimidated.
She could handle this.
They wouldn’t dare wield their swords against her.
At most, they would try to subdue her with their bare hands.
And she had a secret technique no one had seen before.
In that case…
“The one with the sword has the advantage!”
Whoosh!
Yeon Seol-yeon moved like a flash of light, executing the technique she had practiced in secret.
“Will it work?”
It was a sword technique she had never shown her parents.
Swoosh!
Her momentum was fierce.
“Now, what will you do? Do you really think you can beat me with your bare hands? I can use both my father’s and mother’s martial arts!”
Indeed, she was simultaneously using her father Yeon Woo-gyeong’s swordsmanship and her mother Mok Dan-hwa’s techniques.
Her footwork was from the Lightning Flash Sword, while her sword path was from the Dragon-Slaying Sword.
As a result, it was more elusive than the Dragon-Slaying Sword and more powerful than the Lightning Flash Sword.
“It’s working!”
She could feel it as soon as she launched her attack.
The combination of the two techniques was creating an incredible force!
Swoosh!
Yeon Seol-yeon’s sword narrowly missed Jang Ryeo-shim’s face.
A hair’s breadth more, and he would have lived the rest of his life without a nose.
Whoosh!
Jang Ryeo-shim instinctively retreated.
His nose tingled from the near miss.
He was surprised.
He had expected her to use either the Dragon-Slaying Sword or the Lightning Flash Sword.
But what she used was neither. Or rather, it was both.
Or was it?
Yes, to be precise, it was a blend of the two.
“How could she…?”
It’s easy to say, but combining two different martial arts into something better is nearly impossible.
Yet Yeon Seol-yeon had done it.
If Yeon Woo-gyeong or Mok Dan-hwa had been there, they would have been astonished.
“How did she blend two martial arts so naturally? Could it be…?”
A flexible mind.
It starts with breaking free from existing frameworks.
Perhaps meeting Seok Geom-yeong, who belonged to the unorthodox sect, had influenced her?
Of course, if Mok Dan-hwa and Yeon Woo-gyeong heard this, they would dismiss it as nonsense.
Meanwhile, Yeon Seol-yeon was also surprised by her own progress.
“It’s working! I can do this!”
Gaining confidence, she swung her sword to clear the area and charged straight at Jang Ryeo-shim.
Swoosh!
An attack that was impossible to avoid.
The moment he dodged, she planned to secure an escape route and make a run for it.
But then—
Swish!
“Ah!”
Yeon Seol-yeon was startled and withdrew her sword.
“What is this…!”
Incredibly, Jang Ryeo-shim was moving toward her sword tip instead of away from it.
If she had extended her sword, he would have been as good as dead.
Forced to retract her blade—
Whoosh!
Jang Ryeo-shim quickly closed the distance and extended his fingers.
Tap, tap, tap!
“Gasp!”
In an instant, Yeon Seol-yeon felt her strength drain away.
He had struck her pressure points.
Jang Ryeo-shim caught her as she collapsed.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why… the sword…?”
“You knew I couldn’t bring myself to harm you with a sword, didn’t you?”
“But…?”
“I also knew you wouldn’t be able to kill me.”
“That’s…”
Indeed.
Jang Ryeo-shim knew that Yeon Seol-yeon wasn’t ruthless enough to take his life.
So, while she hesitated for a moment, he easily subdued her with a pressure point strike.
“That’s unfair…”
Jang Ryeo-shim chuckled.
“In a fight…!”
Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine and turned around.
Swoosh!
A dagger flew out of the darkness.
Clang!
Jang Ryeo-shim quickly swung his sword to deflect it.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three more daggers followed, targeting the guards.
They were so fast that three guards fell simultaneously, unable to move.
“Ugh!”
“Ah!”
Though not fatal, they were struck in vital points and couldn’t budge.
Jang Ryeo-shim, exuding killing intent, shouted.
“Who goes there…!”
But he couldn’t finish his sentence.
Swoosh!
A shadow emerged from the darkness.
The figure moved so swiftly it was hard to follow with the eye.
The intruder’s sword was aimed directly at Yeon Seol-yeon.
“Not on my watch!”
Jang Ryeo-shim quickly swung his sword to deflect the attack.
Clang!
In the next moment—
“Gah!”
Jang Ryeo-shim realized his mistake.
From the start, the intruder hadn’t intended to harm Yeon Seol-yeon.
It was a ruse to lure him in!
Swoosh!
Thud, thud, thud!
The sword struck with the speed and precision of a snake, targeting every vital point in its path.
“Ugh!”
Jang Ryeo-shim struggled to comprehend the technique that had overwhelmed him. It seemed like a direct attack, yet there was something elusive and indirect about it. It was a truly bizarre martial art.
“Who… are you…?”
His eyes burned with intensity, as if the blood vessels might burst from the strain. But his strength was gone, leaving him unable to even lift a finger.
The man in black, his face obscured by a mask, revealed only his eyes. Yet, in the darkness, even those were hard to discern.
The mysterious figure approached without a word and struck a pressure point. As Jang Ryeo-shim lost consciousness, Yeon Seol-yeon, though fallen, spoke with a sharp gaze.
“Who are you?”
“Shh.”
The masked figure raised a finger to his lips, then held up a token with his other hand. In the dim moonlight, it faintly revealed the emblem of the Baekhwadan of the Myeolma Palace.
“Baekhwadan…? What is Baekhwadan doing here…?”
It was puzzling. The Baekhwadan was supposed to be hunting down the descendants of the pro-demon faction to settle old scores. What business did they have with the Seomgeom family, protectors of the martial world?
Just then, the masked figure removed her mask and smiled.
“In a fight, there’s no such thing as cowardice. The moment you draw your sword, you’ve already decided to abandon honor. Worrying about your opponent’s life after that is foolish. If you only intended to threaten, you shouldn’t have drawn your sword in the first place.”
The woman revealed beneath the mask was stunningly beautiful. Yeon Seol-yeon was amazed that such beauty could exist in the world.
“Now, shall we go meet someone you’ve been longing to see?”
With those words, Sabi-ran released Yeon Seol-yeon’s pressure point.