Tangmunjeon - Chapter 360



Only Krnovel

Flowers blooming in the snow

As time passed but the sun had not yet set, Dang Mu-jin and his party headed to the training ground of the Bukhae Ice Palace.

Of course, Baek Hyang-ah was an exception. It was only natural that Baek Hyang-ah had to look after her own condition rather than the Bukhae Ice Palace.

There were about forty soldiers from the Bukhae Ice Palace who arrived at the training ground before Dang Mu-jin and his party.

Of course, Seolhwa was also among those people.

Seolhwa waved her hand at Hyeon-gong. Hyeon-gong also raised his hand in response, somewhat shyly.

Seolhwa and Hyeon-gong had a sorrowful expression on their faces, as if they had been apart for years, even though they had just spent time alone together.

Hong Geol-gae kicked Hyun-gong with a kick full of anger.

“Go, go. Who’s stopping you from going?”

“Why are you suddenly like that? You’re being picky.”

Instead of talking, Dang Mu-jin looked around at the people around him.

The warriors of the Bukhae Ice Palace did not look as tense as other martial artists before a battle.

They were each sitting in a comfortable position or moving slowly to stretch their bodies.

The atmosphere is strangely leisurely.

The Bukhae Ice Palace Lord, who discovered Dang Mujin and his party, had a satisfied expression on his face.

Dang Mu-jin went straight to Binggungju and asked.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Wait.”

“Is there anyone else coming?”

“no.”

The Northern Ice Palace Lord shook his head and looked up at the sky.

“A blizzard is coming.”

That was the end of the explanation. Dang Mujin followed the Bukhae Ice Palace and looked up at the sky.

Far from a blizzard, the sky was simply clear.

When Dang Mu-jin took his gaze from the sky and looked around, the Ice Palace was already a little way away.

‘···What’s wrong with the snowstorm?’

However, instead of the Ice Palace Lord, a warrior from the North approached Dang Mujin.

He must be in his late forties. It is the prime of his life as a martial artist.

The northern warrior spoke to Dang Mujin.

“You said your name was Yiryong Dangmujin, right? My name is Seobanchuk.”

Seobanchuk was one of the two warriors who were by the princess’ side when they first met her.

In fact, Dang Mujin could not distinguish the faces of other northerners very well. However, he could definitely recognize Seobanchuk. His hair was yellow like other northerners, but his facial features were very similar to those of a Central Plains person. Of course, he did not know that his name was also in the Central Plains style.

“Were you from the Central Plains, Master Seo Daehyeop?”

“The blood is mixed. My mother was a native of Bukhae Ice Palace, but my father was from Cheonghae.”

“Oh, really? I’m glad to see you even though I’m not from Cheonghae.”

“Me too. Anyway, you don’t have a sword. You’d better get one already. Do you know how to use a sword?”

As Seobanchuk pointed out, Dangmujin did not have a sword at the moment.

In his experience thus far, Dang Mu-jin has not had many opportunities to swing his sword in large-scale battles.

It was difficult to move my body because of the thick clothing I was wearing, and with my friends around me, it was clear that I would not have any reason to use my sword.

Dang Mu-jin took out the wheel from his sleeve and showed it to Seo Ban-cheok.

“I know how to use a sword, but I’ve been using this lately.”

“What is that?”

It would be better to show than to explain. Instead of explaining, Dang Mu-jin immediately threw Bi-ryun.

The two flying wheels barely managed to avoid colliding with each other, neatly scattering the snow piled up on the eaves of a building a short distance away and returning to Dangmujin’s grasp. Seobanchuk was honestly impressed.

“Wonderful. It’s a skill I’ve never seen before.”

“Is this enough?”

“It’s certainly a great skill, but you’d better bring a sword.”

“Is there a special reason?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

If we talk like this, there must be a reason. Dang Mu-jin did not persist any longer and went back to get his sword.

It was soon clear why the Western Front had told him to bring his sword.

After a while, as if by magic, clouds began to approach and a strong wind began to blow. The wind was so strong that even if I tried to stand still, my body would sway.

The wind was just the beginning.

Soon the wind mixed with the snow. The heavy snow falling from the sky was not a big problem.

As the snow piled on the ground blew away in the strong wind, the whole world was dyed white.

There is no sky, no ground, no horizon. All that is visible is the fluttering snow.

The only sound that can be heard is the sharp howling of the wind. It is as if the pure white world is screaming.

“···It’s an incredible sight. I’ve never imagined anything like this.”

When Hong Geol-gae was impressed, Namgung Myeong grumbled.

“It would have been a great spectacle if we could have just stayed home and watched. But we have to go out and fight in these circumstances, don’t we?”

“Let’s think positively. How many times in a lifetime will we see something like this?”

The world was getting darker little by little. It wasn’t because night had already come. The falling snow had blocked out the sun, so the world had become strangely dark and gray even though it wasn’t that late.

Hyun-gong spoke, sounding a little nervous.

“It’s not as easy as you think. Stretch out your sword.”

Dang Mu-jin stretched out his arms and extended his sword as Hyun-gong had said.

The sword hilt was visible, but the tip was caught in the blowing snow.

Dang Mujin pulled his sword out of its scabbard and threw it slightly forward. It was only about five or six steps further from the tip of the sword.

The snow was falling so hard that I couldn’t see the scabbard very well. Even if someone was standing that far away, they wouldn’t be able to see it very well.

Dang Mu-jin imagined the moment when he would encounter the Demonic Cult’s unmanned forces.

What if an opponent appears at that distance?

By swinging your sword while deploying the technique, you can immediately aim for your opponent’s weak point. The moment you spot your opponent, you are already within each other’s firing range.

The wind was too strong to use the flying wheel, and the field of vision was too narrow to use the flying wheel. Rather than throwing the flying wheel right in front of the opponent’s nose, it seemed better to swing the sword.

‘Is this why you told me to bring a sword?’

Hong Geol-gae, who was swinging his club and drawing the situation, frowned.

“Is there any reason to wait for such bad weather to come and then fight?”

“It looks like it. Look at the people.”

The party of Dang Mu-jin looked at the northern unmanned people who were occasionally visible through the snow flurries. They seemed very accustomed to snowstorms.

Even when strong winds blow, he does not lose his balance, and even in the midst of a swirling snowstorm, he looks ahead calmly with his eyes half-open.

The man standing nearby explained.

“The snowstorm is a great enemy to us as well. However, it is a much more difficult enemy to the Demonic Cult’s unmanned people than to us.”

“I understand.”

But there was something bothering Dang Mu-jin.

Even considering that they were accustomed to bad weather, it seemed difficult for the North Sea Ice Palace’s forces alone to win against the Demonic Cult’s unmanned opponents.

As Baek Hyang-ah said, did the northern warriors go into battle without any consideration of their chances of winning?

Maybe so. At least that’s what the story was about.

But it seemed like that wasn’t all. Dang Mujin looked at Bukhae Ice Palace.

‘No matter how I look at it, it seems like they took into account the situation where our group would get involved in a fight···.’

While Dang Mu-jin was thinking, Binggungju’s voice was heard.

“let’s go.”

Instead of the drones of the North Sea, the roar of the wind answered.

The party of Dang Mujin and the warriors of the Ice Palace advanced into the snowstorm.

*

The warriors left the village and headed east. It seems that they had been tracking the whereabouts of the Demonic Cult warriors in advance.

However, the warriors of the North Sea Ice Palace chattered among themselves without stopping. Rather than being warriors about to fight, they seemed to be out for a walk in bad weather.

Although their voices were drowned out by the wind, Dang Mu-jin and his party felt a little uneasy.

“Isn’t it too loose?”

Hyun-gong answered Nam-gung-myeong’s story.

“You must have something in mind.”

And the moment Hyun-gong finished speaking, the people’s low murmuring voices stopped as if it were a lie.

On the contrary, Namgung Myung was embarrassed.

“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to give you a hint-”

“Please be quiet for a moment.”

Seobancheok, who was walking a few steps ahead of the group, stopped Namgung Myeong. The northern warriors looked at each other.

The Northern Ice Palace Princess quietly took a few steps back.

Seobanchuk knelt on one knee and held out both hands with their fingers clasped together. No conversation took place between the Northern Sea Ice Palace Lord and Seobanchuk.

The Northern Ice Palace Lord suddenly rushed towards the Western Front.

Although the Ice Palace Lord’s physique was larger than that of an ordinary person, there were no footprints left on the snow. It was the first time that Dang Mujin and his party had seen such lightness.

Then, the Northern Ice Palace Master stepped on the Western Ice Palace Master’s clasped hands and flew into the sky. The height was so high that even though he knew the Northern Ice Palace Master’s power, he was worried about landing.

The North Sea Ice Palace Princess twisted her body in the air like a bird and flew into the middle of the snow field.

But still, there was nothing visible to the Dangmujin party. All that was visible was a snow field that was barely visible through the snowstorm.

But the Northern Ice Palace Lord didn’t care.

The most powerful of all the techniques passed down in the Ice Palace is the Manri Falling Plum.

The new model of the Bukhae Ice Palace, which seemed to be falling normally, suddenly accelerated and crashed down into the middle of the snowfield.

It was as if a transparent giant or a great immortal had thrown the North Sea Ice Palace wine into the middle of a snow field.

The moment the North Sea Ice Palace Sword dug into the snowfield, dozens of nearby pieces of snow jumped up loudly.

The power was so strong that it felt like the snowstorm had stopped for a moment.

Kuuung-

After a very short gap, a dull and loud sound resounded, almost too loud to be a person landing on the snow.

A faint rumbling of air felt at the same time.

The party of Dang Mujin could not even exchange opinions with each other because their eyes popped out and the new forms of the five Demonic Cult warriors who had been hiding in the snow were revealed.

‘···There weren’t even any footprints, so how did you detect the ambush?’

Solving the problem is a problem for later. The warriors of the Demonic Cult and the warriors of the Ice Palace who had been in ambush began to move.

There are no fools among the demonic cult’s unmanned forces that came to the North Sea Ice Palace. The moment their location was revealed, the five demonic cult unmanned forces immediately flew in five directions. If the ambush failed, it was basic to first evade the position.

However, because of the Manri Nakbung’s diet, the movement of the Demonic Cult’s warriors was not smooth as their energy and blood seemed to be distorted.

The snow that had risen for a moment began to fall again. In that short gap, two people arrived at the Demonic Cult’s unmanned group.

Naturally, one of them was the Bukhae Ice Palace Lord who had spread the Manri Nakbung’s recipe and was closest to the Demonic Cult’s warriors.

Without drawing his sword, the Northern Sea Ice Palace Master immediately unleashed the Northern Sea Ice Palace’s recommended technique and struck a powerful blow to the back of one of the Demonic Cult warriors who was running away.

The body of the Demonic Cult warrior who had been suffering from the cold while lying in ambush was once again permeated with the internal energy of extreme yin.

The Demonic Cult warrior’s body stiffened as if his lower body had turned to ice, and soon he began vomiting blood and was covered in snow. Up until this point, even the warriors of the North Sea Ice Palace had expected this scene.

However, aside from the Northern Sea Ice Palace Lord, there was one person who followed the Demonic Cult’s warriors.

A young warrior’s silhouette leapt out from the pouring snow, twisting its body in midair and swinging its sword, decapitating one of the Demonic Cult warriors. The attack was so sudden and fast that the Demonic Cult warrior had to give up his life before he could even fully draw his sword.

Of course, the identity of the young unmanned man was Namgung Myeong.

Then, Namgung Myung kicked the headless corpse down and jumped up from his seat. The body of the Demonic Cult warrior was buried under the snow in the north.

It was an amazing performance, but Dang Mu-jin and his party were not that surprised after seeing it. They thought that Namgung Myung could do something like that.

Both Bukhae Ice Palace Princess and Namgung Myeong took part in the event.

A strange sense of pride and admiration passed between Dang Mu-jin and the Bukhae Ice Palace warriors.

Namgung Myung returned to his friends’ side, wiped the blood from his sword onto his eyes, and smiled.

“Okay. This isn’t a bad start, is it?”

“It was pretty useful.”

The Northern Ice Palace Lord looked around and then gave instructions in a soft voice.

“Divide the group and track them.”

It was a small voice, but the sound cut through the wind and reached everyone’s ears.

“A war of attrition is advantageous to the enemy. Even if you can secure victory, if you cannot cut off the enemy’s head, retreat and ask for help. Time is on our side, so there is no need to rush. The important thing is to reduce the enemy’s numbers with minimal damage.”

The Northern Ice Palace Lord looked up at the sky. The surroundings were gradually getting darker. Evening was approaching the snowy fields of the north. The cold had also become much stronger.

“Let’s meet again after surviving.”

After that story, the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace disappeared across the snowy field with a few of his subordinates.

While Dang Mu-jin and his party were wondering how to distribute the personnel, Seo Ban-cheok led Dang Mu-jin and his party.

“You guys, come this way.”

The number of northern warriors moving with Dang Mu-jin’s party was only four, including Seo Ban-cheok.

At first glance, it seemed like there were too few people, but Dang Mu-jin and his group were not dissatisfied at all. In terms of sheer strength, the group that Dang Mu-jin and his group belonged to was the strongest.

Soon, the party including Dang Mu-jin disappeared into the snow.

*

The blizzard grew stronger. It was difficult to even open one’s eyes, let alone track down and decapitate the enemy. The party of Dang Mujin stood in a line, leaning sideways to resist the wind as they walked.

Maybe because I couldn’t see anything, my head was filled with random thoughts.

‘···Who on earth would settle down in this crazy neighborhood?’

Dang Mu-jin walked silently, thinking about all sorts of things. He occasionally looked left and right, and occasionally observed the heels of the person in front of him, so he had no fear of getting lost.

Then, the person walking in front of me said.

“Go Jin-ak. Which direction was the tangent point?”

“···?”

Dang Mujin thought that it was not a story told to him. He had never heard of Go Jin-ak. It must have been a story told among the unmanned people of Bukhae Ice Palace.

‘But, aside from the Westerners, was there anyone who used a Central Plains name?’

Dang Mu-jin looked ahead while thinking that. The person walking in front looked back with an annoyed expression when there was no answer from behind.

“Go Jin-ak! I’m asking if the contact point is this way…”

At the same time, the person walking in front of Dang Mu-jin and Dang Mu-jin froze like ice. This was because their faces were unfamiliar to each other.

Even the person walking in front wasn’t a Saekmok-in. He had black hair and a messy, yellowish skin. He was clearly from the Central Plains.

The man walking in front was terrified and drew his sword.

“Yes, you! When will you follow me!”

Of course, Dang Mu-jin also had many things he wanted to ask the other party.

‘Since when has this kid been walking in front of me?’

However, Dang Mu-jin did not open his mouth and immediately took out his double sword. It was the only recommended method that the strange man had taught him, the flying palm sword.

The Secretary General’s power was not that strong among the recommended methods, but his movements were quick and agile, making him good for a hand-to-hand fight.

Of course, Dang Mu-jin did not extend his hands to target the power of the secretary-general himself. Through Dang Mu-jin’s left and right hands, two types of poison penetrated into the opponent’s body. It was the moment when the match was practically decided.

“Rain, you cowardly bastard.”

I don’t know for sure, but I think the opponent’s martial arts skills were at the level of a top-class expert.

However, thanks to the preemptive strike, the match that should have been fierce ended up being somewhat bland.

Dang Mu-jin kicked the opponent’s temple, killing him, and then looked around.

His only companion is lying limp and buried in the blizzard.

After a while, all Dangmujin could see was pure white snow.

“···.”

Dang Mu-jin remained silent for a while, then looked at the place where the body was buried and spoke.

“You managed to defeat a master with just one blow… Now even I am afraid of my own strength.”

Of course, the corpse did not answer.

I didn’t even hear the laughter of my friends who should have come back.

The party was lost.