Chapter : 10
My Cheat is a Status Window (10)
“P-please forgive me, great hero. I didn’t know you were Green Forest, so—”
“Great hero? Don’t kid yourself. You’re going to the underworld before me, so if anything, you’re the senior. You’re the great hero.”
This bastard.
He really means to kill me.
And to think—
I didn’t even kill any of your lackeys.
‘When cornered, even a rat bites a cat.’
Fine.
Let’s see then.
I’d heard rumors the Green Forest (outlaw clan) was formidable,
but in the end, aren’t you just mountain bandits with some martial arts?
If you face a proper orthodox sect master, you’d get blown away in a few exchanges.
If begging won’t work, then I’ll fight like I mean to die.
I lower my stance.
A horseback posture—ready to unleash Linked Palm at any time.
Inner energy surges from my dantian.
“Oh? At least you’re not groveling and running your mouth anymore.”
He sneers as he watches me prepare to fight.
Scratching his side, cackling lazily—
so relaxed it’s infuriating.
He hasn’t even considered me a worthy opponent.
They say once you reach a certain realm, you can gauge others…
Supposedly, when martial attainment hits a certain level, you can sense another’s skill.
Naturally, I’m nowhere near that.
All I know is—
my instincts are screaming he’s dangerous.
But he seems to know something for sure.
He’s convinced I’m weaker.
Even so—
Long or short—
you only know once you measure!
Linked Palm — Gale.
With Trigram Footwork, I shoot forward like a bolt.
My strongest move.
The eighth form of Linked Palm—
the Golden Beast Thrust.
Crack.
“…!!”
My thrust, which should have dropped like lightning onto his throat,
hit not soft flesh—
but cold metal.
“You’re pretty quick. Definitely more than what those nobodies could handle.”
A battle axe had already appeared between us, its edge perfectly aligned to block.
Too fast!
I didn’t see a thing.
This is bad.
I didn’t even notice when he drew the axe.
Get it together.
No time to marvel, Dancheon.
Fight like your life depends on it—because it does.
Throw everything I’ve got.
Linked Palm — Flowing Water.
I stepped in close.
Just grab something!
Target: the wrist.
If I grab his wrist, I can lock a joint.
Snatch.
“…!!”
I grabbed the wrist holding his axe.
Too easily.
Almost as if he let me.
Is he telling me to try? Why?
Doesn’t he know Flowing Water grapples?
Ah—
you arrogant bastard.
Fine. Let’s see you cry later.
I’ll snap your joints one by one.
“…!!”
But the instant I tried to apply the lock—
Heat surged through his wrist into my arm.
“A brat without a shred of inner power—what gave you confidence?”
My grip went numb first, then my entire body.
Like my blood stopped flowing—
numbness spreading through my limbs.
My hand slipped from my control, my upper body trembled, and I gasped for air.
“Ghhh…”
Drool streamed from my lips as my breath jammed in my throat.
My meridians twisted, my inner energy rampaged wildly.
The inner power he forced in was turning my insides into chaos.
I’d never experienced anything like it.
Using inner power to invade another’s body and stir it up…
“If you die now, it won’t be fun. That’s enough.”
“Hhh…!”
The hot surge withdrew all at once.
My own energy slowly started stabilizing in the vacant space.
I had just escaped death.
My guts churned, my head spun,
but my breathing gradually returned.
Smack!
A flash.
When I came back to myself—
my cheek burned.
Haven’t been slapped like that since Hyeokseong.
“So this is how you robbed people? Huh?”
“Agh…”
Crack!
“Guh—!”
My legs.
He kicked the back of my knee.
Pain shot through me and I collapsed face-first.
“How’s it feel rolling on the ground, filth?”
He climbed onto my back.
Shiiing.
I heard the axe being drawn.
“I’ll lop your head clean off. Go wait in the afterlife. Hell’s where both of us are headed anyway! Hahaha!”
Hell…
Can’t deny it.
Ah…
Barely a couple months since I entered the jianghu…
Am I dying like this?
Even after getting such a great fortuitous chance…
Showing off and now dying like an idiot.
This guy isn’t normal.
He’s a top-tier master for sure.
Resisting is meaningless.
Guess I’ll see that teahouse lady in the afterlife.
I should apologize.
Wait—
if I’m going to hell, maybe I can’t?
Anyway—
So this is it…
But why… does it sting so much?
Scritch—scritch—scritch.
“One clean chop would be boring, don’t you think? I’ll kill you slowly. Hahahaha!”
“You… motherf—”
He rubbed the blade across my nape.
Blood poured freely, but he refused to push the axe in.
“Ever heard of bleeding out? Hah! A man dries up and dies. That’s your fate today. Excited?”
“You… bastard!”
I was going to die quietly,
but changed my mind.
I tried to muster strength and get up…
My body wouldn’t obey.
All I could do was twitch and curse.
“What’s wrong? No strength? Don’t know why? Don’t tell me you don’t even know pressure points? Haha! Where’d you steal your martial arts from?”
Pressure points?
Ah… I’ve heard of them.
Not much detail, but masters press them during fights, I think…
He sealed my points.
I had no idea.
“Now—let’s continue. Scrape scrape~ Let’s squeeze out that red juice, hahah…”
From stinging to burning.
More blood trickled down my neck.
Clang!!
“Who the hell?!”
He suddenly leapt off me.
My eyes rolled—
a stone lay on the ground.
Someone threw it, and he’d deflected it with his axe.
“Not a ‘who,’ but a ‘she.’ And who do you think you’re calling a bitch?”
“Calling you a bitch when you throw stones out of nowhere is accurate, no?”
The one who threw the stone was a woman, traveling with a companion.
An elderly man and a young lady—
both in elegant clothing, clearly not ordinary folk.
“You said Green Forest, right?”
Flinch.
The old man behind the woman spoke, and the bandit froze.
He’d been speaking to me long before these two arrived,
yet he hadn’t sensed the old man at all—
and yet the old man remembered every word.
Something was off.
The stone was clearly thrown by the woman.
Her cultivation felt below his—two-rate at best, maybe third-rate.
But the old man…
felt like nothing.
Just a harmless village elder.
And yet—he’d heard everything?
Without the bandit sensing him?
His instincts screamed—
The old man was a martial artist.
A terrifying one.
Best tread carefully.
“Who is the elder?”
“Guo Hui.”
“If you joke around with that name—”
Ssshing.
Before he finished speaking—
The sword in Guo Hui’s sheath rose by itself, floating freely in the air.
Sword-Driving Qi.
Moving a sword by energy, not hand.
Across the vast jianghu, only a handful reach that level.
The Immortal Sword of Mount Hua—Guo Hui.
He was one of them.
“Green Forest junior Hong-Axe Meng Sopyeong greets Senior Guo Hui.”
Meng Sopyeong bowed deeply.
No trace of the madness from moments ago—
only sincere respect.
“Hmph. You sure like calling women bitches.”
“My apologies, young lady. But she threw a stone first, didn’t she?”
“You were cutting a man apart with an axe. What else should I have done?”
“He had it coming.”
“And that ‘coming’ is what, exactly?”
“He bullied my people.”
“Your ‘people’ being bandits?”
“Yes.”
“That makes him a righteous man.”
“Huh?”
“You did the right thing. Eliminating bandits.”
Her firm tone made Meng Sopyeong blink.
“Young lady, may I ask your name?”
“Why?”
“Because… are you perhaps Miss Guo Eun of Mount Hua’s Jade Peak?”
“That’s me.”
“I see…”
He nodded.
Everything made sense now.
“Headed to the Tiger League entrance trials, I presume?”
“Yes.”
A troublesome granddaughter going to take the Tiger League entrance test—
her worried grandfather escorting her from Shaanxi to Kaifeng—
and unlucky Meng Sopyeong happened to cross their path.
Lucky for Dancheon though.
“Is Qinghu well?”
“O-of course. He is.”
Meng Sopyeong quickly straightened up to answer.
Green Forest King, Blue Tiger Tan Daepyeong.
Even Meng rarely saw him, so all he could say was yes.
“I know Green Forest’s situation. But this place is half a day from Kaifeng. Bandits roaming here is unacceptable.”
Guo Hui scolded gently.
Meng Sopyeong bowed his head and endured it.
“It seems that fellow was checking your overreach. Acknowledge your fault and leave him.”
“Yes, senior. I will.”
He had complaints, but he wasn’t someone who could argue.
Frankly, after cursing Guo Eun, being spared at all was luck.
“Thank you for the teaching. I won’t forget Immortal Sword senior’s grace.”
He bowed again and withdrew.
Guo Hui accepted it with a nod.
I couldn’t move—
pressure points sealed and ears ringing from blood loss—
so I missed half the conversation.
But I could tell one thing clearly—
Meng Sopyeong was leaving without killing me.
Who said heaven never leaves a hole for escape?
That proverb was made for me today.
I’m not fated to die yet. Heaven itself sent help!
The whole world seemed to revolve around me.
Even through fading hearing—
I caught his name clearly:
Hong-Axe Meng Sopyeong.
That bastard…
Just wait.
I’ll repay today’s humiliation.
Kindness can wait until convenient—
but vengeance?
In China’s martial world,
you chase that to the ends of hell.
I’ll kill you.
And burn the whole Green Forest base down.
“Grandpa! This guy’s still alive!”
Snow-white skin.
Bright, sparkling eyes.
An undeniably pretty girl peered down at my face.
Could only see her with a sidelong glance, but beauty doesn’t hide.
“Seems he’s hard to kill.”
Guo Hui floated to my side as if swimming through air.
“W-who are… you…”
“Hello! I’m Guo Eun!”
“D-Dancheon…”
Why is she smiling so brightly…?
I’m dying here.
Can’t you… I don’t know… stop the bleeding?
See? Blood. Neck. Pouring.
“Grandpa, I think his pressure points are sealed.”
“Hehehe, yes.”
“Unseal him quickly.”
“Very well.”
Tap tap.
He didn’t even touch me, yet the points released.
How?
Telekinesis?
A real master, no doubt.
Well—no wonder Meng ran.
“Thank you.”
I flipped over and pushed myself up.
A wave of dizziness hit.
“Where were you headed?”
“Tiger League… entrance…”
Just talking made my head spin.
Too much blood lost…
Ah…
Vision blurring.
Dizzy… dizzy… am I dying again?
“I’m headed to the Tiger League test too! Wow, what are the odds? We defeat bandits and go to the trial—two rabbits with—oh! Oh!!”
My consciousness cut out and I collapsed.
Before my head hit the ground,
Guo Hui caught me with qi.
I froze mid-fall, hovering diagonally, tongue lolling out.
“H-he’s dead?!”
“Hahaha. No. He fainted. Let’s get him to a physician.”
“Yes! Hurry!”
Guo Hui lifted Dancheon with Void Grasp.
He sealed the wound as well to stop the bleeding.
Today was definitely not his day to die.
