That’s Not How You Use Martial Arts

Chapter 10
The Attack (4)

『 Translator – Divinity 』

Leaving the destroyed gates of Cheonpung Martial Arts School behind, I ran straight towards home.

With every step, I released a burst of internal energy through the Yongquan acupoint on the soles of my feet, propelling myself forward.

But my heart was filled with anxiety.

I had wasted too much time dealing with that Se-gon guy.

Had those Dark Heaven Squad bastards already arrived? Had they laid a hand on someone in my family…? No, I shouldn’t think negatively.

Shaking my head, I spurred myself on.

Although the Gun family estate was a bit far from the town center, it was still in the same village. It wouldn’t take long.

At most, a quarter of an hour…

“It’s taking too long!”

If only I had enough internal energy, I could have cut the time in half…!

I had used up half of my internal energy by briefly releasing some Sword Qi while fighting that guy earlier.

Even if I arrived after exhausting all my remaining internal energy, I wouldn’t be able to defeat the Dark Heaven Squad.

Cursing my past self for not even bothering to ask my parents to buy me some elixirs, I gritted my teeth and ran towards home.

***

“J-just who are you people? Why are you doing this?”

Gun Won-pyeong, the head of the Gun family, a respected landlord in Gun-gang County.

He desperately tried to shield and protect his frightened wife and children while glaring at the mysterious intruders.

Several of the house servants had already been killed by them.

Determined not to let anyone else die, he stepped forward and confronted the intruders.

But all he received was a low chuckle.

“Khehehe. Master Gun, it doesn’t matter who we are. What matters is that this house is associated with the rebels.”

“R-rebels…! That’s impossible! We’ve lived in this village our entire lives, how could we be involved in treason!”

At Won-pyeong’s confident words, Im Mu-hong, the deputy leader of the Dark Heaven Squad, gave a sly smile.

“Have you perhaps heard of Cheonpung Martial Arts School?”

“Ch-Cheonpung Martial Arts School…? That’s…!”

There was no way he wouldn’t know the name of the school his beloved youngest son had been attending for the past ten years.

But why were they bringing up that school? Could it be?

Seeing Won-pyeong’s face rapidly turning pale, Mu-hong nodded.

“Indeed. We received intel that they are practicing the wicked Demonic Cult’s martial arts at that school called Cheonpung Martial Arts School.”

“D-Demonic Cult…!”

As soon as the words “Demonic Cult” came out, Won-pyeong’s face turned as white as a sheet.

The Demonic Cult.

Originally called the Ming Cult, they had helped Emperor Hongwu establish the Ming Dynasty, but later, their cruel practices were revealed, and they were subjected to a large-scale purge.

Even in the present day, hundreds of years later, they had been purged countless times by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, yet they tenaciously survived, lurking in the shadows and disrupting the nation.

That was the Demonic Cult.

Most of the villagers here were ignorant of even the existence of the Demonic Cult, but a prominent landlord like him would have heard various stories.

Therefore, he knew.

That those associated with the Demonic Cult, regardless of their status, were summarily executed.

Especially if Ja-seong was truly practicing demonic martial arts…

‘The Gun family is doomed.’

His head spun at the thought of the horrifying future, when suddenly Mu-hong pulled something out from his bosom and tossed it to Won-pyeong.

Won-pyeong caught it instinctively.

“…A book?”

Indeed.

What Mu-hong had thrown to Won-pyeong was an old book.

But the title written on the cover was ominous.

“Blood Explosion Technique…?”

A technique to explode blood, what in the world…?

Just as he was about to ask what it was, Mu-hong spoke first.

“Oh my! Now I see that it wasn’t Cheonpung Martial Arts School, but these Gun family bastards who were the main culprits! To think they were in possession of the Demonic Cult’s martial arts!”

“H-hey, what are you talking about, you were the one who just…!”

Just as Won-pyeong was protesting in disbelief, Mu-hong cut him off and shouted again.

“How dare you betray His Majesty’s grace and side with the Demonic Cult! That crime must be paid for with your lives!”

Finally realizing Mu-hong’s intentions, Won-pyeong’s face turned deathly pale.

It was a conspiracy.

They had intended to kill everyone in the Gun family from the very beginning, no matter what.

‘If only I had sent the children away first…!’

Regret was useless now.

Judging from the swift movements they used to kill the servants earlier, they were all martial artists.

His family members, who hadn’t learned any martial arts, would be caught immediately even if they tried to escape now.

His vision blurred at the sudden crisis of annihilation.

‘…At least it’s fortunate that you’re not here, Seong-ah.’

Although he didn’t know the reason, the only solace was that his youngest son, who had disappeared without a trace in the middle of the night, would survive.

Looking at the assassins in black slowly approaching them, Won-pyeong closed his eyes.

Crash!

A loud noise suddenly rang out.

Won-pyeong opened his eyes in surprise.

And there, he saw his youngest son, who had disappeared, standing before him.

‘Oh no…!’

Despair washed over Won-pyeong’s face.

***

“Gasp… Gasp…!”

I threw open the manor gates as if to break them down, and the sight that greeted me was a scene of carnage I didn’t even want to imagine.

“…Uncle Kang. Nanny.”

The servants of the Gun family lay dead in pools of blood.

“Brother Jin-il, Granny Dal.”

Seeing the people I had lived with under the same roof for twenty years lying dead so tragically, my heart turned to ice, and a fire ignited in my mind.

“H-how could…!”

I looked up from the servants’ bodies, and in the distance, I saw my parents, brother, sister, and the surviving servants surrounded by those Dark Heaven Squad bastards.

“Why did you come back? You should have lived, even if it meant leaving us!”

Father roared with a contorted face.

It was strange to see him like that, always so jovial and smiling.

And behind him, Mother and my eldest sister were desperately trying to hide.

My sister, usually so boisterous, was looking at me with tears welling up in her wide eyes.

The fear my family must have felt fueled the flames in my mind.

And one more thing.

“Are you the youngest son of this house? Oho, you’ve learned some meager martial arts, haven’t you? You must be the demonic martial arts practitioner!”

The man in black spouted nonsense as soon as he saw me.

That Neung guy from earlier was the leader, so this guy must be the deputy leader, right?

Snap!

The deputy leader snapped his fingers, and four of the men who had been waiting behind the five surrounding my family moved to encircle me.

“Seong-ah!”

Mother cried out my name sorrowfully at this sight.

Seeing her tear-stained face, I couldn’t hold back any longer.

Shing

The assassins in black exchanged glances for a moment as they saw me draw my sword.

Then, with smirks on their faces, they started to taunt me.

“Oh my, a little kid shouldn’t be playing with such dangerous things. Come now, hand it over to this mister, okay?”

“Hey, hey, you can’t just snatch it away like that! Here, take this. Buy yourself some snacks. Khahaha—!”

One of the assassins burst into laughter as he held out a single copper coin.

Circulating the remaining internal energy within my body, I dashed towards him and pierced his throat.

Thud!

“Gah…?”

I kicked the man, who was choking with the sword lodged in his throat, and pulled the sword out.

Blood gushed from his open wound like a fountain.

“Huh?”

The remaining three assassins stared blankly at the scene.

Their faces showed they couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

I didn’t have time to wait for them to regain their senses, so I immediately lunged at the one next to me.

Pshhk

As I charged, he finally came to his senses and tried to react, but it was too late.

My sword had already pierced his heart.

That was the second one down.

“You little shit!”

The remaining two, finally snapping out of it after witnessing two of their comrades die before their eyes, charged at me simultaneously.

Like twins, they raised their swords above their heads in unison.

Before their swords could strike down, I swiftly slashed at their necks, cutting them both at the same time.

“Gah!”

“Kugh?!”

They dropped their swords, clutched their necks with both hands, and collapsed.

Blood spurted between their fingers despite their desperate attempts to stop it.

It was a fatal wound. They would probably slowly bleed to death.

Just like that, I had swiftly killed the four assassins who had surrounded me.

“……”

Silence fell over the manor.

Both the Dark Heaven Squad and my family stared at me in disbelief.

“W-what is this…!?”

The deputy leader, in particular, stammered, unable to believe the reality before his eyes.

I slowly approached him.

“S-stop him! Block him now!”

As I drew closer, the deputy leader, who had been backing away, shouted orders in a panic.

At their superior’s command, the remaining five assassins broke their encirclement of my family and charged towards me.

Idiot. If he wanted to stop me, he should have taken my family hostage.

Of course, he would have killed them all before that anyway.

I charged towards the five men approaching me.

“Haaaap!”

I ducked under the sword swung by the man in front, passing him by.

The man right behind him had a look of complete surprise on his face, as if he hadn’t expected me to bypass the guy in front and attack him first.

I immediately thrust my sword into his abdomen and pulled it out, tearing through his side.

“Aaaagh!”

As blood and intestines spilled from his side, he screamed like a child.

Ha, weren’t you supposed to be an assassination unit? Was this how assassins were supposed to act?

Considering what I had seen and heard, I hadn’t expected any stealth skills from them.

But shouldn’t an assassin at least pretend to endure the pain without screaming?

These assassins had no professional ethics.

Well, it didn’t really matter at this point.

They were all going to die by my hand anyway.