Chapter 27. Twin Swords of the Wind and Clouds (2)
A porter had suddenly become a murim martial artist and a grandson of the Palm Martial Emperor. As a result, those who had treated him as lower than themselves in social status didn't have the courage to approach him due to sheer awkwardness.
Woo-Moon walked with Woo-Gang in front of the carriage for a while, but then naturally slowed down and moved behind the carriage. Soon, he distanced himself from the noisy crowd around Woo-Gang.
'Good.' Woo-Moon walked slowly and thought about the Raging Wind Palm and the Heavy Rain Fist.
He wanted a lightness art of his own, but for now, he needed to prioritize completing the palm and fist techniques that he was already working on.
Woo-Moon recalled the images of the Raging Wind Palm and the Heavy Rain Fist in his mind, then slowly started moving accordingly, reproducing those mental images using his palms and fists.
'Ever since I used the Raging Wind Palm that one time, the technique feels much more familiar and natural than the Heavy Rain Fist.'
At that time, Eun-Ah started wriggling, indicating that she had woken up from her slumber in Woo-Moon's breast pocket. Come to think of it, he hadn't been able to let her play outside in the past two days.
"Poor thing, you must be pretty frustrated, huh?"
Woo-Moon thought he could let her out now. He lifted Eun-Ah, who had become a little heavy, and put her on the ground.
"Kyaaa?" Eun-Ah was puzzled for a moment. She looked around for a moment with sleepy eyes, and then started prancing around Woo-Moon. She seemed to have a great time.
"Kyaa! Kyaa! Kyaaa! Kya!"
Eun-Ah couldn't stay still for a moment and jumped all around, releasing her stress and frustration after having stayed in Woo-Moon's coat all that time. She stepped on wildflowers, chewed grass, and then proceeded to choke and cough at the grass's bitterness. Naturally, people's gazes were drawn to her.
"That thing over there... Isn't it a tiger?"
"Seems to be. It looks like a white tiger cub."
"Huh! You mean that's a rare white tiger? How cute!"
"Cute, huh? Just wait, haha. Let's see how cute you think it is in a year, when it grows up and eats you."
Well, that part was, of course, true, but it was a problem for later. Now that she was a cub, everyone thought she was cute. Considering how young the white tiger was, it would fetch a very exorbitant price if sold to a rich family.
However, now that it had been revealed that Woo-Moon was a martial artist and the Palm Martial Emperor's grandson to boot, no one dared to covet Eun-Ah.
Woo-Moon made sure Eun-Ah wouldn't go more than three meters away and continued to think of martial arts in his mind.
After a while, the caravan stopped for lunch.
The cook personally brought food to the carriage that Si-Hyeon and the Palm Martial Emperor rode. He told Woo-Moon and Woo-Gang that he would do the same for them, but both brothers refused his offer.
When Woo-Moon headed over to grab a meal, the cook was all smiles and had a very servile attitude, and he gave Woo-Moon several times more food than others. Returning to his seat, Woo-Moon opened the rice container with Eun-Ah next to him.
"Wow, the cook really gave me a lot"
Woo-Moon gave about half of it to Eun-Ah and started to munch on his own portion.
As he ate, the porters who were in the same group approached him timidly.
"Mr. Seo, go talk to him first."
"What? Why should I go first?"
"Weren't you closer to him?"
"Mr. Ban, you were closer!"
They were quietly whispering amongst themselves, but Woo-Moon was able to hear their conversation clearly. He greeted them happily, pretending to have just noticed them.
"Oh! Uncle Seo, Uncle Ban, everyone! Hello!"
The porters looked at each other in surprise for a moment, but then greeted Woo-Moon brightly, thinking, 'As expected, Woo-Moon's personality hasn't changed.'
"Hahaha, Woo-Moon, how have you been?"
"Hey! Mr. Ban. How can you call him Woo-Moon, just like that? He's the grandson of the Palm Martial Emperor. Show some courtesy."
Woo-Moon smiled and shook his head. "No, no! It's alright, Uncle. Just call me Woo-Moon. Please treat me the way you always did."
At his words, the porters finally relaxed and started chatting with him like always.
"Hahaha! As expected of our Woo-Moon. We sure do have a good eye for people."
"Of course. Where else can you find a kind, reliable young man like Woo-Moon? Despite being the grandson of the Palm Martial Emperor, he doesn't boast, nor does he stay away from people like us...he's a really good young man."
"So, what happened, Woo-Moon? Did you always know that your grandfather was the Palm Martial Emperor?"
Woo-Moon laughed and chatted freely with them. It wasn't too far from the carriage, so Si-Hyeon also secretly listened to their conversation. Listening to his explanation, she unconsciously started to smile.
It was only a minute change in her expression, but the Palm Martial Emperor, who was right next to her, noticed it right away. He also smiled, but much more meaningfully. 'Hmm, maybe accepting her as a foster granddaughter is taking it too far. Shall I accept her as a disciple instead?'
However, the high-ranking officials of the guild and their children, who were gathered around Woo-Gang, frowned at the sight of Woo-Moon talking friendly with the porters, who were the lowest of the lowest on the social ladder.
'Hmph, you can really tell that he had a humble upbringing. Despite being the grandson of the Palm Martial Emperor, he's still.... On the other hand, look how elegant and cultured Woo-Gang is. He is the grandson of the Palm Martial Emperor and even a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.'
Once everyone finished eating, the caravan started moving. Even now, Eun-Ah was still running around Woo-Moon, showing off her endless stamina.
"Kyaaaa!"
Eun-Ah seemed to be really enjoying her time.
After around half an hour however, she suddenly jumped in Woo-Moon's arms. After playing around for so long, she looked sleepy once more.
"You must be tired."
"Kyaaaa..."
Eun-Ah jumped into Woo-Moon's arms on her own and curled up in the warmest and most comfortable place without him having to tuck her in. At the same time, she grabbed his clothes with her hook-like claws. As long as the clothes weren't torn, no matter how much he moved, she wouldn't fall off.
Compared to when they came from Unhan to Go-Ryang Pyeong, the load they were carrying was much lighter, so their speed was also naturally much higher. It was likely that they would camp somewhere tonight and arrive around lunchtime the next day.
The Palm Martial Emperor was sitting in the carriage with his eyes closed. As the twilight slowly approached, he finally opened his eyes and said in a casual, light tone, "Looks like we'll be having guests."
Si-Hyeon didn't understand what he was saying.
However, a few moments later, Woo-Moon also felt what the Palm Martial Emperor had noticed.
'What is this? A lot of people are coming. As far as I can tell... They all seem to be murim people.'
"There's someone in front of us, Grandfather."
"Yes, looks like you've recognized them, Woo-Moon."
Walking ahead of the Palm Martial Emperor and Woo-Moon, Woo-Gang also heard their conversation and focused in order to heighten his senses. Indeed, he felt that a large number of martial artists were approaching them. Each of them exuded quite a bit of qi, and some of them seemed to be very strong.
Woo-Gang frowned.
'Unbelievable... I didn't feel their presence, yet my older brother did, even though he is walking far behind me. Unbelievable!'
Woo-Gang was now aware that Woo-Moon had been learning martial arts. He also heard that Woo-Moon had defeated some wandering martial artists who called themselves the Blue-Red Twin Spears. But that was all. Most wandering martial artists were nothing special, and Woo-Gang logically thought that his older brother's martial arts skills were at best average, since he had only started to learn recently. Naturally, he never entertained the idea that Woo-Moon would be better than him.
'But how...? No way! There's no way Woo Moon's qi is greater than mine. Whatever he practices must be focused on heightening the senses, so that's why he must have noticed them first.'
As Woo-Gang was thinking about this, the Palm Martial Emperor came down from the carriage and called for his two grandsons. "Woo-Moon, Woo-Gang."
"Yes!"
"We can't cause trouble for the others on this business trip. Let's go ahead and deal with these people."
That was also what Woo-Moon wanted. If Baek Sang-Woon hadn't said it, he would have said it himself.
"Understood, Grandfather."
Baek Sang-Woon looked at Si-Hyeon and Jo Mu-Jae and said, "There are people coming towards us, and I am their target. We'll go ahead and clean them up, so you'll have to wait here. Do you understand?"
"Yes, we understand," they replied. Si-Hyeon had a calmer expression than expected, in contrast with Jo Mu-Jae, who had a very nervous face.
The Palm Martial Emperor didn't worry about them. It was clear that the opponents had come after him, and if so, the caravan wouldn't be attacked as long as they stayed away.
'How dare you come for me like this.' It had truly been a long time since someone had last revealed murderous intent toward him.
The Palm Martial Emperor walked forward with a smile that was a mixture of joy, anger, and arrogance at the same time.
"Let's go, boys."
As he walked slowly, Baek Sang-Woon suddenly covered his nose and said, "Huh, what is this smell? Who pooped around here? What a nauseating smell."
"Haha!" As if in response to the Palm Martial Emperor's words, gloomy and bizarre laughter echoed seemingly from everywhere.
It was an odd voice—it sounded like the husky voice of a man, but at the same time, it had coquettish undertones that made it seem like it belonged to an alluring beauty.
'An Absolute Master!'
Woo-Gang looked around in surprise, but the Palm Martial Emperor and Woo-Moon were pretty calm.
Seeing Woo-Moon's self-control, the Palm Martial Emperor felt warm inside. 'I am blessed with such good grandchildren.'
"Man, what a stench! You must be the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, or maybe I should say the Shit Cloud Piss Error who has no idea of the immensity of Heaven and Earth. They say you're drenched in blood and you're a heinous criminal or something like that. Whatever."
Woo-Moon couldn't hold back his laughter at the words of the Palm Martial Emperor. It had only taken him a second to turn someone surrounded by clouds of blood into someone that sprayed out clouds of poop instead.
"Hahahaha!"
However, Woo-Gang couldn't smile like his older brother. It was because of the enormous weight of the title that he had just heard.
The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor was one of the Six Rising Challengers. In terms of ability alone, the Eight Emperors of the Heavenly Martial Arts and the Six Rising Challengers were considered to be of equal standing.
Suddenly, a sharp stench of blood pierced Woo-Moon's nose. In addition, gloom and chills engulfed his whole body.
'What's going on?'
He was always circulating his qi according to the Celestial Sect's Forbidden Divine Art, so the moment he felt an abnormality, his qi automatically reacted. A moment later, the chills that had momentarily taken over disappeared like melting snow.
A man covered in a blood mist walked out of the forest. Well, he looked to be a man, but his figure was rather feminine. He wore a blood-red coat, and with every step he took, the plants and animals around him lost their vitality and were covered in blood stains.
'Have you ever seen the trees and the grass bleed? If you encounter the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, you will be able to see it.'
* * *
The Celestial Sect's Forbidden Divine Art was the authentic, primary root of all Daoist martial arts.
Among the Daoists, there were those who simply studied the Dao, some that tried to understand Daoism as a martial art, and others who sought the Dao by exorcizing ghosts and demons to correct wrongs. The Forbidden Divine Art, however, encompassed all these branches of Daoism. Therefore, it could be said that Woo-Moon, having learned the Forbidden Divine Art directly, had experienced a spiritual awakening of sorts. Of course, he had never learned anything related to souls, and he hadn't worked on that part of the Forbidden Divine Art, so he was by no means an advanced practitioner, but he was nevertheless able to see some things that others couldn't.
Countless souls were screaming on the back and shoulders of the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor. This person had sacrificed people of all kinds, with no discrimination. There were babies, old women, people whose sins deserved the death punishment, righteous people who lived their lives for others, boys and girls who had bright personalities and great potential...
They had all been caught in the absolute evil of the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor and suffered painful deaths. Their souls were unable to escape his power, and all they could do was scream in pain as they were tormented.
Woo-Moon shivered as he witnessed this scene.
Fear?
Was he feeling fear?
No.
He was feeling uncontrollable anger as the Forbidden Divine Art, for the first time, made all the qi in his body boil. Never before had the gentle Forbidden Divine Art caused him such agitation, and he had never felt his own anger rise so sharply. The rage inside him blazed, threatening to consume his very soul!
"YOOOUUUUUU!!!"