Absolute Regression Chapter 578

578
The Sword King’s gaze turned to the shoes in his hand.

When was the last time you received a gift like this from someone?

“You don’t even wear shoes often?”

“So you should wear cleaner shoes.”

“What does it mean?”

“If you walk around barefoot, don’t those hanging shoes stand out more?”

“Come to think of it, that’s true.”

The Sword King has yet to thank him for the shoes. He is clearly more embarrassed than the Sword Master pulled out his sword.

“If I accept something like this, it will be difficult to ask for favors later.”

The swordsman didn’t ask him what he wanted to ask. Instead, he took it as a joke.

“When you ask me a favor, always look down at your waist!”

The Sword King, who had been staring at the sword dance for a while, sat down and tapped the soles of his feet with his hands.

And then he put on his shoes in front of the swordsman.

“It fits perfectly?”

“How can my keen eye be ordinary? Later on, it will be the kind of eye that will penetrate the teacher’s mind and pierce right into his heart.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to stab him in the eye first.”

The Sword King stood up and dusted off his butt.

“But if you did something to those shoes, why do you wear them like that?”

“I’m going to die because of my lack of insight that didn’t recognize such a worthless person. It’s a shame to die.”

The Sword King took out the old shoes he had on his waist.

“I’ve been wearing these for a long time too.”

They were so worn out that I couldn’t even tell when I had worn them.

“Are these shoes meaningful?”

The Sword King shook his head.

“If these old shoes have any meaning, it would mean that I have lived without caring about what other people think.”

“I’m jealous. I’m so self-conscious about other people.”

“You?”

It was a sword dance that seemed to be freer than anyone else’s.

“I want to be a cool person to that person, I want to seem like a witty person to that person. I want to be the first person to think of me in times of crisis. I want to be the main character in this place. I really do everything I can to be conscious of that. Even speaking honestly now is because I am conscious of you, sir. I want to seem like a sincere person.”

The Sword King felt that the Sword Dance was not lying.

“Wouldn’t it be tiring to live like that?”

“It’s tiring, but it’s also rewarding. If I hadn’t been so conscious of it, would you be having this conversation with me?”

No, it probably wasn’t. It must have been going through a completely different process than it is now. No, it may have already been decided.

Whoosh whoosh.

The Sword King raised the flame in his palm and burned the shoe he was holding.

The Sword King stared at the burning shoes for a moment, then walked away, leaving the shoes behind as they turned to ashes.

Geommugeuk shouted at him as he walked away.

“Don’t poke my eyes! That’s where I feel most confident!”

* * *

The sword dance called Ian and Seojin to an empty lot with no people.

“From now on, I will teach the Yellow Dragon Sword Technique to Captain Seo.”

Seojin looked at Geommu-geuk in surprise. She knew. For the past ten days or so, something had been going on between the instructor and Geommu-geuk through the Yellow Dragon Sword Technique. And now, he was going to pass on the fruits of that to her.

She looked at Ian in surprise. Her expression seemed to ask if it was okay for her to accept it so obediently, but Ian smiled and nodded.

Only then did Seojin look at Geommugeuk and express his gratitude.

“thank you.”

She had been thinking about becoming stronger recently. However, Gwisul was not a martial art that would produce results overnight, and she was not in a position to learn new martial arts either.

How grateful would he be if Geommugeuk knew his own feelings and tried to teach him swordsmanship?

“If you teach swordsmanship to Captain Seo, I will step down.”

Ian tried to get out of the way. It was not polite to be in a position to teach martial arts to others.

If Geommugeuk had intended to send her back, he would have called Seo Jin-man in the first place.

“No. You learn together.”

“Yes? Me too?”

“It will definitely be helpful if you learn it as an auxiliary swordsmanship.”

She also uses the Nine Fire Magic as her main weapon, but there were times when she used the Bicheon Sword Technique. She used the Bicheon Sword Technique to fight enemies that didn’t necessarily require her to use the Nine Fire Magic Technique. She would often find herself in similar situations.

“There is something you should pay special attention to while learning. Think about why the existing Yellow Dragon Sword Technique was reinterpreted this way.”

And the most important thing in this training was this.

“How would you reinterpret it?”

Ian asked with a surprised look on his face.

“Am I eligible for that?”

The sword dance nodded.

“enough.”

Ian was convinced that the process of contemplating the swordplay would be of greater help to him than the swordplay itself.

Ian could tell that this training was also a precious opportunity. The sword dance always gave him moments like this.

Looking at those trembling eyes, Geommugeuk nodded his head once.

Instead of saying thank you, Ian bowed his head.

If reinterpretation was more important to Ian, it had a different meaning to Seojin.

“Chief Seo will fight until he dies with this swordsmanship.”

He was convinced that there was little chance of obtaining a better swordsmanship. The new Yellow Dragon Sword Technique, which was a mixture of his own and the Sword King’s interpretations, was completed as an excellent swordsmanship.

She needed proper swordsmanship. Once she became a true master of the art of ghostcraft, she wouldn’t need any other martial arts, but until then, she had to survive. No, even then, knowing proper swordsmanship would be much more useful.

Geommugeuk taught the two women the Yellow Dragon Sword Technique that he had reinterpreted.

It was explained very simply. As with any field, only those who truly know it can explain it easily. The essence of that deep ignorance was conveyed to the two women in simple terms.

Of course, Ian was smart, and Seojin was smart too. That’s why the teaching of martial arts was straightforward. He asked questions whenever he didn’t know something, and they talked together.

Since Ian learned with me, we can continue to practice together by discussing any areas we don’t know.

As the training was coming to an end, a man came and handed Ian a small piece of paper and disappeared. He was none other than the man from Eunwol.

Last time, Ian and Seojin were told to go to Tongcheon-gak and Eunwol to look into all the information related to Hwangryongmu-gwan. And today, they obtained urgent information from Eunwol.

Ian relayed the information written on the paper.

“The White Tigers are coming here.”

The sword dance wasn’t surprising at all, as if it had been expected.

“What time do you expect to arrive?”

“I think it will be around midnight today.”

The swordsman looked down at Ian’s Sun and Moon Sword. She wrapped it in an old cloth so that it would not be noticed.

“I think it’s finally time to shed blood on that sword.”

* * *

A carriage was running fast.

There were three people in the carriage.

One of the men opened his mouth.

“This is the first time in years that I’m going on a mission as the youngest.”

The man was none other than Baekpalsa (White Eight Snakes) of the Baeksa Sect.

After he was ranked in the top ten among the hundred poisonous snakes belonging to the White Snake Sect, all missions revolved around him.

But today’s mission was different. There were three of them in the carriage, and the other two were both higher in rank than him.

The white snake and the white snake.

This number naturally meant rank. In other words, Baek Il Sa was the most skilled master in Baek Sa Dan, excluding Dan Ju. Baek Oh Sa was the master ranked 5th in the ranks.

Even Baek-O-Sa boasted a really expensive price, so what about Baek-Il-Sa?

There were many legendary missions that Baekilsa had accomplished. The story of him killing the veteran master of the Murim Alliance, Jacheonggeom, and escaping was a legend in Baeksadan.

“Is there anything about this contract that I don’t know about?”

He had just finished another assignment and joined this carriage yesterday, and he was really surprised to see the two people who had already boarded the carriage. Perhaps Baek Oh-sa and Baek Il-sa had been surprised to see each other at the previous meeting?

Anyway, when I thought about the target of this request, I thought I could go out alone.

“It’s not like it would require all three people.”

Then Baekpalsa looked at the two people’s expressions. This was the first time since he had been assigned to the job that something like this had happened.

Finally, Baek Oh-sa opened his mouth.

“of course.”

Baek O-sa said while looking at Baek Il-sa sitting next to him.

“If we all need it, will we be able to return alive?”

Because it would be a mission of death.

Of course, Baek Oh-sa didn’t think so. Based on the personality of the short story that we’ve seen so far.

“The short-term leader smelled money.”

At Baek O-sa’s words, Baek Pal-sa was able to understand this situation right away.

Danju is trying to extort money from Hwangryongmugwan.

The moment you mobilize Baekilsa, the cost of the contract becomes incomparably more expensive. Baekilsa has a symbolic meaning just by its name.

In short, it would be like trying to use a slaughterhouse knife to kill a chicken and put the bucket on it properly.

And will that greedy Baek Sa Dan-ju really stop with just this request? He’ll probably try to figure out something to extort money.

‘I’m going to suck up all the money I earned without any help.’

The problem is that the person who runs the organization or the people who operate it joined hands with the Baeksadan in the first place. How could that naive person know that once he sets foot on this path, there is no turning back? The beginning of meanness is always the most polite and trustworthy.

In that case, I would have to handle this request myself. I couldn’t come out with my seniors who were like the sky and order them around.

Baekpalsa glanced at Baekilsa. Baekilsa kept his eyes closed and said nothing.

‘How much will I get for this commission?’

Three times more than you? Five times more? You’ll be doing all the work yourself. When you become the best, you make money just by moving around.

Of course, I had no complaints. I knew that one day, I would be able to sit in that seat and make money just by holding the weight.

Baekpalsa asked the horse-riding stone.

“When will you arrive?”

“I will arrive before midnight.”

Baekpalsa said to the two people.

“When you arrive, have a drink and I’ll go and take care of it.”

Then Baekilsa opened his eyes. There was no trace of carelessness in his eyes, which were as cold as a snake.

“The short story… … .”

His soft voice conveyed a sense of majestic inner strength.

“If you sent the White Snake, it must have been because of money. But if you sent me, it means you have something on your mind.”

Baekilsa closed his eyes tightly again and said.

“If you want to return alive, it would be better to move together.”

Baekpalsa bowed his head politely and replied that he would do so, but Baekilsa’s words just now seemed like a sign of shame for making money for nothing.

‘What’s so serious? If someone saw you, they’d think you weren’t a military officer but were going to fight the Demonic Cult.’

* * *

“If someone saw me, they would think I was learning the peerless art.”

The person who entered the empty lot was Yeon Baek-jin.

Suddenly, Geommu-geuk contacted me to meet him. He said that it was an important matter that was life or death, so I should meet him here without being late.

‘What on earth is going on?’

I arrived at the meeting place feeling nervous inside, and Ian and Seojin were practicing the Yellow Dragon Sword Technique.

The sword dance that he taught and the two women that he taught were both extremely serious.

“But doesn’t it seem a bit different from the Yellow Dragon Sword Technique?”

The swordsman said with a smile.

“I’m still immature because I only started learning it a few days ago.”

“That’s not why. It must be because the teacher taught strangely.”

Yeon Baek-jin kept thinking about the temporary instructor he had met at his brother’s office. So he looked into it and found out that he was really a temporary instructor at Baekryong Class.

However, the officials were extremely dissatisfied. They were teaching the Yellow Dragon Sword Technique in a strange way.

“I met that guy, the teacher, in my brother’s office. My brother doesn’t deal with teachers, but he came there.”

“You met your brother.”

Yeon Baek-jin nodded. Since Geommu-geuk had advised him to meet his brother, he explained the situation that day in one word.

“I went to talk to him, but he made me use a knife.”

And he guessed that the reason Geommugeuk called him here today was because of something related to his brother.

“Why did you want to see me? Is this a matter of life or death?”

He really wasn’t that kind of person. He wasn’t the kind of person who would come running just because someone called him, and especially because a mere official called him. If life or death was at stake, then he should come, he was the kind of person who would say, “If it’s life or death, then you should come.”

Whether it’s because of the sword dance, or because of Seojin, or because of that beautiful woman, I somehow feel like I’m constantly being swayed by them.

The sword dance brought surprising news.

“The masters of the Baeksadan are coming to the Hwangryongmugwan.”

Yeon Baek-jin was surprised because it was an unexpected remark.

“Is this information reliable? The White Squadron is not a place that easily leaks information, so how did you find out?”

“A Baek Sa Dan soldier was killed by the sword of a mere Baek Yong Ban official. Would they just sit still? That’s why they sent people out to keep an eye on them.”

Yeon Baek-jin thought that if he was a ghost, he would be able to exert that level of information power.

What if this is true? His gaze naturally turned to Seojin.

“I will protect you.”

He was not the type of person to say such things to a man, especially to a woman.

But strangely, she is the one who catches my eye. Besides, it was my brother’s fault that this all started.

Even though it was a situation where he should have been thankful, Seojin didn’t show any reaction.

Yeon Baek-jin, who felt something strange, looked at Geommu-geuk.

A more surprising fact than the fact that they came from the mouth of the swordmaster was revealed.

“Not only Seojin, but also Yeon Daehyeop are included in the contract target.”

Yeon Baek-jin, who had been standing there blankly for a moment because he was so surprised, felt a belated shock. The words “I can’t believe it” rose to his throat, but he couldn’t say them out loud.

When I went to see my brother, I had a feeling that it might be possible. But he really tried to kill me? He really hired the White Tigers?

“Do you know when they are coming?”

Geommu-geuk’s gaze turned to Yeon Baek-jin’s back. Yeon Baek-jin was deliberately called to this remote place at the right time.

Because I thought the targets of my contract would not miss this great opportunity to meet in such a remote place.

“I think it’s already here.”

Masked men emerged from the darkness.

Yeon Baek-jin turned around and blocked Seo-jin’s path as he spoke.

“If you want to live, stick close to me!”