"What are you talking about?"

At Eunho's question, Moyong Jaehwa trembled violently and answered.

"I-If my grandfather catches me, I'm dead... Y-Yeah! I'll definitely die."

Eunho was dumbfounded by Moyong Jaehwa's behavior, crouching down to hide on the rooftop and clutching his head with both hands.

Even so, to die by his grandfather's hands? What kind of grandfather in the world...

Ah! His grandfather was the Wind God Breaking Sword!

"Because you picked up a bow instead of a sword?"

"Y-Yeah!"

Eunho tilted his head.

"But you chose the bow knowing you'd be scolded, right?"

"I-I know that, but... I know, but I'm just not mentally prepared yet, I guess... No, I mean, I'm not prepared to get beaten yet, I guess..."

Eunho found it ridiculous.

To think he still chose that path even knowing he would be this terrified.

He was amazed by his paradoxically brave friend.

"Are you that scared? To the point of needing to prepare to get beaten?"

"A-Actually, I was planning on learning an external martial art separately. O-Of course, even if I learn an external martial art, I'll still be hit with internal family techniques, but it would at least leave fewer bruises..."

Eunho audibly gulped at the mention that he had even considered learning an external martial art.

It was because he realized he shouldn't assume this would just be on the level of a normal grandfather giving corporal punishment.

Just how much had he been beaten as a child to act this anxiously...

"Haa... But how did your grandfather at the main estate find out about your situation and come here? Did other people tell him?"

Moyong Jaehwa shook his head so hard his neck might snap.

"That's impossible. I made sure everyone kept their mouths strictly shut. But the one I suspect is..."

Moyong Jaehwa blankly stared at the receipt in his hand.

"..."

"..."

Eunho let out a long sigh of embarrassment.

'Eldest Senior Brother! Eldest Senior Brother! Eldest Senior Brother! Just how much more do you plan on embarrassing me!'

Looking at the receipt, he could roughly picture what had happened.

When everyone had shown anxiety regarding the 'Special Guest Invitation', Jin Sowoon alone had displayed confidence.

Since his Eldest Senior Brother had very few connections as far as he knew, Eunho had wondered who on earth he was planning to invite to be so overflowing with confidence.

No matter how reckless his Eldest Senior Brother was, he wouldn't invite Mr. Go from the blacksmith for the 'Special Guest Invitation'.

'And it turns out that was Lord Wind God Breaking Sword...'

It was obvious he had sent a letter to Moyong Gang, knowing that Moyong Gang would immediately fly over to the academy upon learning of Moyong Jaehwa's deviation.

And he must have planned to ask him to attend the event while he was here, after he was done taking his anger out on Moyong Jaehwa.

He didn't even need to see it to know.

"Haa..."

In the end, the victim of all this would be this poor Moyong Jaehwa.

'No wonder that money ghost opened his coin pouch so willingly.'

Looking at Moyong Jaehwa trembling violently with a pale face, Eunho couldn't lift his head out of guilt.

"..."

Still, should a good person like Moyong Jaehwa suffer because of a crazy person?

Even now, hadn't he called him as soon as he got some money to take care of his friend first?

Evil causes yield evil results (惡因惡果); naturally, the one who caused the problem should be the one to clean it up.

"W-What are you doing?"

Moyong Jaehwa asked as he watched Eunho take out writing supplies from his embrace.

Eunho spread the paper wide, dipped his brush in ink, and answered while moving it.

"Realizing justice."

"Huh?"

It was a gaze filled with a more resolute determination than ever before.

* * *

To dare let out a Lion's Roar loud enough to be heard in the Academy Director's office, within the sacred grounds of the Murim Academy.

The Academy Director and drill instructors had come running to punish that insolent intruder.

However.

"... H-How are you here..."

They were utterly stupefied upon confirming the face of that 'intruder'.

Among the drill instructors, there was even one who turned pale as if recalling a bad memory, stepped backward, and quickly ran away.

The intruder stroked his beard and spoke.

"The spirit of the Three Purities Formless Sword is frightening. You do not even greet your senior when you see him."

The hairs on the back of Buk Wonpyeong's neck stood on end at the 'intruder's' words, and he hurriedly cupped his fists.

"I-I offer my greetings to Elder Moyong Gang! Have you been well?"

Those standing around him also hurriedly bowed their waists to follow.

"We offer our greetings!"

Moyong Gang.

Moyong Gang!

That eccentric and terrifying name echoed throughout the academy.

Even while bowing, the drill instructors' hands were violently trembling.

It wasn't merely because of his strength.

What was truly terrifying was his unpredictable and eccentric personality.

"Seeing you all come out as a group like this, you must be here to condemn me. Come at me!!!"

It was exactly because of things like this.

"W-What do you mean? W-We were just worried that something might have happened within the academy..."

Hadn't he just recklessly unleashed a Lion's Roar loud enough to make the entire academy ring?

Among the servants, there were some who collapsed while vomiting, and among the academy students, some even grabbed their swords and came out thinking a war had broken out.

Naturally, it was only right for the person in charge, the Academy Director, along with the drill instructors to come out and check.

Yet Moyong Gang was using that as an excuse to make a nonsensical demand for them to attack him.

"If so, you should offer your greetings and guide me in. Is it right to leave me standing here on the street like this?"

"T-Then, I will escort you to the Academy Director's office... no, the VIP room."

"I refuse!"

"..."

Ah, seriously! He's not even a child!

As people aged, their eccentric personalities usually settled down.

Why was it that his temper only grew wilder along with his martial arts?

Despite the stomach-turning anger welling up inside him, Buk Wonpyeong did not erase the smile from his lips as he spoke.

"T-Then, may I ask what brings you here?"

"I did not give you permission to ask questions!"

A violent spasm ran across Buk Wonpyeong's lips.

Still, he had to endure it.

He didn't want to become the subject of rumors about getting beaten up and having his legs broken at his age.

No matter if the opponent was the Breaking Sword of the world.

To avoid offending him further, Buk Wonpyeong bowed his head even lower and asked again.

"... Then may I ask if it is alright to ask?"

"... Hmm? Alright, ask away."

This old man, seriously...!

"Ahem, what brings you to the academy..."

"I heard my grandson laid his hands on a bow?"

"...!"

Buk Wonpyeong's eyes shook violently.

Moyong Gang's face turned grim.

"Gulp."

"So you knew."

No, whether an academy student chose a sword or a bow as their main weapon wasn't something the Academy Director could force upon them, was it?

"T-That is..."

Just as Buk Wonpyeong was about to make an excuse.

"Anyway, you surely know it is a fault that you did not inform me, right?"

"..."

"That must be why you are so tense in front of me."

That tenacious gaze that seemed to pierce through everything.

People with eccentric personalities were usually simple-minded.

Coaxing and soothing them... It felt strange to say this about an absolute expert, but if you babied them a bit, they would usually go 'Ahem' and save face on their own.

Moyong Gang had an exceptionally brilliant grasp of his opponent's psychology and used it to torment them.

And he enjoyed it.

More than anyone else.

If he wasn't the Patriarch of the Moyong Noble Clan, he would have long since become a public enemy of Jianghu.

Buk Wonpyeong desperately racked his brain. How on earth could he escape this situation?

Getting hit by Moyong Gang might be unavoidable, but shouldn't he at least avoid getting beaten up in front of people at this point in his life as a prominent figure in Jianghu?

Furthermore, given Moyong Gang's personality, it didn't seem like his anger would dissipate with just a few words.

"N-No, I'm not! U-Um, if I had known, I would have informed you immediately..."

Several trembling drill instructors entered Buk Wonpyeong's line of sight.

The ones who had recently joined hands with the White Path Council to create a fake representative group.

Not stopping there, they were the insolent ones who had argued for disciplining Jin Sowoon, the head disciple of a lay sect, over the Ak Jupyeong matter.

Buk Wonpyeong's eyes flashed brilliantly.

"It is all because of the drill instructors!"

"What??"

"Originally, that duty falls under the jurisdiction of the drill instructors, but they did not report it to me in time..."

The drill instructors' gazes focused on Buk Wonpyeong as if asking what nonsense he was spouting, and Moyong Gang's gaze shifted from Buk Wonpyeong to the drill instructors.

"Is that so?"

Cracck.

"E-Elder Breaking Sword, that is not the case...!"

Before the drill instructors could even make an excuse, Moyong Gang's figure blurred like smoke.

"S-Shifting Form and Changing Position?"

They had witnessed an incredible display of movement that was rarely seen and could broaden one's martial horizons.

... The problem was that the target of the attack was them.

"Argh!"

"Keugh!"

"Gah!"

The standing drill instructors suddenly let out pained screams as a group and rolled on the ground one after another.

Buk Wonpyeong swallowed a thick lump in his throat and wiped away a cold sweat at Moyong Gang's movement technique that didn't even leave a silhouette visible.

After having thrown a fit, Moyong Gang asked Buk Wonpyeong with a much more refreshed face.

"Where is Moyong Jaehwa?"

"A-He is probably in his dormitory. Today is a day off..."

"Where is that?"

For a moment, Buk Wonpyeong unknowingly put on a dumbfounded expression.

"... Did you come without knowing?"

He just came in, got angry, and started screaming his lungs out right away?

Was this person really a warrior of the Orthodox faction?

When Moyong Gang's gaze showed signs of turning sharp, he quickly bowed his head.

"I will guide you there right away."

Like that, they searched the four-person (四) dormitory, but Moyong Jaehwa was nowhere to be found.

The academy students only said that he had gone out without revealing his destination.

Seeing Moyong Gang's expression crumpling as he couldn't vent his anger, Buk Wonpyeong didn't know what to do.

Just then.

SWISH—

The sound of the air being sliced tickled Buk Wonpyeong's ears.

'W-What? A sneak attack?'

It was definitely an artificial sound, yet even when he looked around, he couldn't see any flying object.

"What is this?"

With a bored tone, Moyong Gang reached out his hand.

Then, an arrow plummeting vertically from the sky was effortlessly caught in Moyong Gang's grasp.

'An arcing shot?'

Buk Wonpyeong could not hide his surprise.

Moyong Gang catching an arrow fired in an arc with a single grab was one thing, but the fact that it hadn't been visible to Buk Wonpyeong meant it had essentially been fired straight up.

Meanwhile, Moyong Gang's attention had turned elsewhere.

"A message?"

He unfolded the paper tied to the tip of the arrowhead and slowly read the densely written words.

Just what kind of message was it?

While Buk Wonpyeong didn't even dare to ask.

Having finished reading the message, Moyong Gang's face had already transformed into that of an evil spirit.

Buk Wonpyeong felt as if he was suffocating.

'W-What is it? Was the clan attacked or something?'

An unprecedented pressure spread out in all directions from Moyong Gang.

It was a pressure that even Buk Wonpyeong could not easily handle.

Soon, the name of the person who had provided the cause of his anger burst forth from Moyong Gang's mouth.

"Jin Sowoon!!! You bastard, I'll chew you alive!!"

Huh?

Buk Wonpyeong could not contain his bewilderment.

Why was that guy's name coming up here?

* * *

One Arrow Against a Thousand (一矢當千)

It was the alias given to Moyong Jaehwa, who had protected the academy students with a single bow.

It was an extraordinary alias for a mere academy student who hadn't even officially joined the Alliance yet.

To the eyes of the Shaolin Sect and Mount Cangshan Sect disciples who had been out of their minds due to sorcery, Moyong Jaehwa's display of prowess was astonishing enough to leave them dumbfounded.

It was only natural that his background as a direct descendant of the Moyong Noble Clan, a prestigious family of the sword, would stimulate people's curiosity.

It wasn't just Moyong Jaehwa.

A new alias, Iron Wall Three Dragons (鐵壁三龍), was given to the Geum-eun-dong Brothers, who had blocked the Kunlun Sect's Thirty-Six Swords Cold Plum Sword Array with just three people.

'Fuck, but why am I still the Black Flame Dragon?'

The three Geum-eun-dong brothers expressed their disappointment that their alias of Black Blood Three Dragons had somehow disappeared, though.

Anyway, it was perhaps obvious that the story of our group going to Sichuan Province to rescue the academy students would spread as a rumor.

Wasn't the structure of the story enough to make one crave a drink?

Furthermore, the Murim Alliance's behavior of dragging out the war by messing around in Sichuan Province without utilizing the detailed counter-strategies I had written for them.

The escalating atmosphere of war.

The endlessly soaring prices of necessities and iron ores were making people increasingly anxious.

They needed a story that would eliminate their anxiety.

And among those, wouldn't the absolute best story be One Arrow Against a Thousand?

"Right... This is... an unavoidable matter. Yes, indeed."

Looking at the momentum with which the rumor was spreading, it was obvious that the day the Moyong Noble Clan found out the details would come very soon.

And since Moyong Jaehwa was born as a direct descendant of a prestigious sword family but had chosen the bow in the first place, he had to face this hardship at least once someday.

"Besides, he originally would have just been beaten for free, but now he is getting beaten after receiving money, so what a profitable business this is."

Hmm, the tea smells nice.

Just as I was calmly enjoying the scent of the Seven-Colored Flower while praying for Moyong Jaehwa's soul.

Kaaagh!

Guh!

Keugh!

Screams echoed from the hallway.

'What is it? An ambush?'

I immediately tossed the Seven-Colored Flower into my mouth and placed my hand on the Black Dragon Sword, preparing for the attacker.

'Ak Jupyeong? Zhuge Gipyo? Whichever bastard it is, I'll snap their arm in an instant!'

Even though all the fighting was already over, to think they still couldn't accept their defeat and were making a show of force like this.

It was incredibly unsightly.

As someone who loves justice and abides by the law, it was an absolutely unforgivable act.

Ah, it definitely wasn't because they interrupted my precious tea time.

I circulated the Taiyi True Scripture and prepared for the enemy's intrusion.

And a moment later.

CRASH!

With a massive explosive sound, the office door was smashed to pieces.

Huh? Isn't that a bit too aggressive?

A human figure walked in through the thick dust.

A relentless attitude, a confident stride.

It was clearly the gait of someone who existed in my memories.

'What is this? Why is he here...'

The person who stepped through the dust with a foul temper plastered all over his face was someone who was supposed to be somewhere else right now.

Yes, someone who was definitely supposed to be somewhere else...

"Jin Sowoon..."

Grind.

Why was Elder Moyong Gang, the Wind God Breaking Sword, here at this time?

He, who should currently be giving his wayward grandson a sound beating, had appeared here.

"How dare you try to end the Moyong Noble Clan's bloodlineeeee?!!!!!!"

Looking as if he was going to beat me to death instead of his grandson.

Fuck... what the hell just happened?