Black Sand Gang (3)
The bald man’s body tilted to the side and soon collapsed.
Seo Yeonwoo still gazed at the scene with emotionless eyes.
The thrown dagger had pierced the bald man’s vital point precisely.
The result was instant death. And then, he sensed the presence of a group approaching.
In fact, Seo Yeonwoo had already noticed this ahead of time. He was aware there were people approaching this place.
However, their target was not Seo Yeonwoo but the bald man.
Probably because the man had carelessly blurted out secrets about the Black Sand Gang’s internal affairs.
But Seo Yeonwoo didn’t bother to block the flying dagger. There were two main reasons for this.
First, in Seo Yeonwoo’s judgment, the bald man had already divulged all the information he knew.
He had even coughed up rumors about the gang leader of the Black Sand Gang.
Of course, to Seo Yeonwoo, there seemed to be some truth behind those rumors.
Still, it was unlikely the bald man was privy to the deepest secrets.
Second, there was no reason for Seo Yeonwoo to reveal his skill by catching the dagger.
Concealing one’s abilities was fundamental in a fight.
As he collected his thoughts, he gazed at those approaching.
Their aura was the very picture of the Black Path unorthodox faction.
However, they appeared much more refined than the dwarf or the bald man he had encountered immediately after his regression.
Among the Black Sand Gang members, these were probably elites.
The fact that they had executed the bald man without hesitation supported that theory.
Their status was high enough to summarily dispose of a gang member.
But even so, they were 3rd-rate. Seo Yeonwoo evaluated them coldly.
Those who belong to the Black Path are ruthless, cold-hearted, and unrestrained.
To stand at the apex of such a group, one needs honor instead.
They must avenge the deaths of comrades and cite justification even in their evil deeds.
Just like those on the Righteous Path.
Or, they must possess overwhelming martial might that transcends all such concerns.
The current group, however, did not.
They controlled their subordinates with crude force and nothing more. That made them harsh.
They weren’t even qualified to be called Black Path. A sneer played on Seo Yeonwoo’s lips.
Whether or not they noticed his true thoughts—
“A measly vagabond dares to make trouble in our gang.”
A man dressed in jet black robes, wielding a sword, stood at the front and shouted at Seo Yeonwoo.
Behind him stood three or four men who looked like his subordinates.
‘Hmph.’
Seo Yeonwoo felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he looked at the man in the black robe.
Though the garment was somewhat refined and the face young, Seo Yeonwoo focused on something else.
For instance, the other man’s innate temperament.
“As a courtesy, I’ll advise you once: if you cut off one of your arms yourself and swear in writing never to set foot where our gang holds sway again…”
Arrogant and overbearing. For a moment, a memory from before his regression flashed through Seo Yeonwoo’s mind.
“You sure talk a lot. Gu Gyeom, do you think fights are won with words?”
Seo Yeonwoo taunted his opponent.
He had just recalled the man’s name—Gu Gyeom—and his status.
Gu Gyeom was a member of the Heaven Piercing Cult’s Black Sword Squad.
Most of the squad was made up of outsiders who had sworn allegiance to the sect, infamous for acting as the sect’s hunting dogs—used for every sort of dirty work.
Even before his regression, Seo Yeonwoo had wiped out the Black Sand Gang.
Gu Gyeom, however, survived, and after the massacre, joined the Black Sword Squad to avenge his fallen brethren by taking down Seo Yeonwoo.
And in the end, as a Black Sword Squad member, he died at Seo Yeonwoo’s hands.
Truly, it was a cycle of grudges begetting grudges—a brutal reality of the wulin world.
‘The bastards of the Heaven Piercing Cult really are the root of all evil.’
It was something that could have troubled his heart. But Seo Yeonwoo shifted the blame to the Heaven Piercing Cult.
When traced back, every resentment stemmed from the sect’s scheming. There was no flaw in his reasoning.
Moreover, Seo Yeonwoo’s roots were in the Black Path, not the Righteous Path.
Rather than remorse, he focused on handling the enemy before him.
“What? How do you know me—!”
Gu Gyeom scowled and snapped.
“Word around town is you’re nothing but a savage with crude swordplay and a cruel hand.”
Seo Yeonwoo’s jeers echoed through the room.
“Heh, the tongue on you, vagabond, is too long.”
Gu Gyeom scowled again and retorted to Seo Yeonwoo’s sarcasm.
At the same time, he roared and charged. Those who talked big could be dealt with just by slicing them in half.
His sword drew a great arc—a powerful slash.
Seo Yeonwoo drew his sword and deflected the attack without effort.
Though the technique was rough, the strength behind it was considerable.
He had some talent; his physique was well honed.
And though the Black Sand Gang was a minor force, since Gu Gyeom was its heir, he likely had his share of nourishing elixirs.
Yet to Seo Yeonwoo, who had awakened his ki sense through the Unbreakable Heaven-Gazing Ki Art, Gu Gyeom was no real threat.
A sharp metallic ring sounded as their swords clashed again and again. Gu Gyeom’s expression grew ever more frustrated.
Because Seo Yeonwoo blocked every attack with detached eyes. He hardly exerted any effort.
That was driving Gu Gyeom mad.
If Seo Yeonwoo had simply overwhelmed him with raw strength or skill, Gu Gyeom might despair at the gap and give up. Instead, Seo Yeonwoo kept deftly evading his attacks in inexplicable ways—at least, to Gu Gyeom’s perspective.
Wherever Gu Gyeom’s sword reached, Seo Yeonwoo’s blade was already there.
Such anticipation was only possible for someone thinking several steps ahead, but Gu Gyeom, unable to see the trick, felt as if he were sinking into a bog.
“What the—! Sorcery. You’re using sorcery!”
Gu Gyeom shouted as he slashed at Seo Yeonwoo.
“Hahaha… Sorcery, you say?”
A genuine smile lit Seo Yeonwoo’s lips.
A 3rd-rate Black Path hack who’d sold out to the Heaven Piercing Cult accusing him of using sorcery—could anything be more ridiculous?
Gu Gyeom, enraged by Seo Yeonwoo’s words, began attacking recklessly beyond his limit.
He poured out blows that required his full strength.
But Seo Yeonwoo calmly turned aside every strike.
The swordplay of the desperate was wild and unrefined, and the once-fierce blade now trembled feebly.
There was no need to bother with a head-on showdown.
“Haa…”
Before long, Gu Gyeom’s breathing grew ragged.
His stamina had reached its limit. His subordinates, seeing this, drew their weapons as if to help.
But this, too, was within Seo Yeonwoo’s expectations.
In an instant, he operated the Unbreakable Heaven-Gazing Ki Art to its fullest.
True ki surged along every meridian in his body, and the world seemed to move in slow motion.
Another power of the Unbreakable Heaven-Gazing Ki Art: perception acceleration.
Technically, he should not have been able to use such an ability at this stage, but Seo Yeonwoo, who had once reached great heights, was different.
In this sluggish-flowing world, the Black Sand Gang members rushing to aid Gu Gyeom were agonizingly slow, and Gu Gyeom himself could not react to Seo Yeonwoo’s sword at all.
He had already expended all his energy.
Seo Yeonwoo swung his sword.
Calm though the attack was, in accelerated perception, it would seem unbelievably fast to his opponent.
Sure enough, Gu Gyeom failed to react. One strike rendered the opponent’s defensive move meaningless.
Seo Yeonwoo’s eyes flashed.
At the same moment, his sword slashed into the flesh.
The blade, tasting blood, instantly split open Gu Gyeom’s shoulder, and as the strike’s arc completed—
Thud―
A hollow sound rang out as Gu Gyeom’s arm fell to the ground.
Disbelief and horror filled Gu Gyeom’s eyes. But it was not over yet.
Seo Yeonwoo’s blade flashed again.
Gu Gyeom, suppressing the agony from his severed arm, tried to raise his sword.
The instant Seo Yeonwoo’s blade flickered, a chilling sense of death washed over him.
It was different from killing intent. It was the certainty of death, a crushing fear.
For all his effort, Gu Gyeom could not dodge Seo Yeonwoo’s blade.
The razor-sharp swing cleaved Gu Gyeom’s neck in a single, fluid, and beautiful slash.
Blood spurted in thick streams from his nape. Like the bald man before him, Gu Gyeom collapsed without even a death rattle.
Horror filled the eyes of the Black Sand Gang member rushing to support Gu Gyeom.
“Insane… Am I… am I dreaming?”
The bright-eyed youth had just sliced Gu Gyeom in half with a single stroke.
People said even the Black Sand Gang’s gang leader, who had picked Gu Gyeom as his successor, kept an wary eye on his abilities.
No matter how famous Seo Yeonwoo was, Gu Gyeom was not someone to be so easily killed by a mere vagabond.
‘He’s done for.’
Seeing the foolishly gaping gang member, Seo Yeonwoo clucked his tongue.
At the same time, a thick killing intent began to radiate from him.
Having just witnessed his immediate superior’s brutal slaughter, the Black Sand Gang member’s heart broke.
He could not withstand Seo Yeonwoo’s murderous intent head-on.
“Ku, ugh…”
From lips that had just voiced disbelief, a moan of pain leaked out.
Seo Yeonwoo advanced, not particularly quickly, but not slowly either.
His footsteps echoed loudly as he approached. At last, the two were within striking distance.
But in that space, only Seo Yeonwoo could move. Even as his sword flashed, the Black Sand Gang member could not mount a counterattack.
Seo Yeonwoo’s wrist twisted gracefully. No sound of air being cut as the sword traced its path.
In the silence, there was a dull thud as the Black Sand Gang member’s head fell.
At once, Seo Yeonwoo turned to face the last remaining opponent—Gu Gyeom’s other subordinate.
“Are you going to try your luck?”
Seo Yeonwoo taunted the man, who stood tense, searching for an opening.
His tone was mocking. The other, whether out of rage or fear, didn’t answer.
Yet, clearly affected by Seo Yeonwoo’s aura, sweat poured off his body.
“Aaaaargh!”
A sound half between a battle cry and a scream rang out.
The last Black Sand Gang member dashed at Seo Yeonwoo with his sword.
A reckless blow with no thought for defense.
Struggling to overcome fear…
No, it was simply the death charge of a man who had already succumbed to terror.
Such a crude attack could never harm him.
Seo Yeonwoo’s body flickered and his sword flowed out unimpeded.
At the same time, a crimson line was engraved across his charging foe’s body.
Along that blood line, the body split and crumbled in two.
That was the end.
Seo Yeonwoo cast a cold glance over the four corpses strewn nearby.
The bald man and Gu Gyeom. And two nameless Black Sand Gang members.
The Seo Yeonwoo of this era, just a 3rd-rate vagabond, could never have pulled off such a feat.
But the post-regression Seo Yeonwoo had cut down all four with a single sword.
Regardless of his limitless potential for growth, it was undeniable he was now far weaker than in his past life.
Handling the likes of the Black Sand Gang was no problem, but he was still in no shape to face the main force of the Heaven Piercing Cult.
‘What I lack most at this stage is internal energy.’
Strengthening it required destined opportunities or the passage of time; he couldn’t make rapid progress immediately.
Still, there were several places he could visit after this to procure strengthening elixirs.
Shaking off such thoughts, Seo Yeonwoo headed toward the Black Sand Gang’s stronghold.
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