38. You Are Not Tang Sanzang.
"Seo-Wol! That’s no way to behave!"
Namgung Mu-yeong grabbed Seo-Wol’s shoulders, shaking her with a panicked expression.
But Namgung Seo-wol didn’t budge. Even though Namgung Mu-yeong’s Martial Art Skill was exceptional, Seo-Wol stood her ground without so much as a tremor.
Sun Wukong watched the two quietly.
‘They’re cousins, but the atmosphere between them is totally different.’
He’d heard they were the same age.
Yet, Namgung Mu-yeong acted like the adult. It wasn’t that Mu-yeong seemed old for his age—Seo-Wol just looked younger than she was.
"Let’s have a martial duel."
"What… You…"
Namgung Mu-yeong let out a deep, frustrated sigh. He bit his lip, glancing at Sun Wukong.
He was flustered. He immediately realized there was no stopping this.
‘This stubborn mule… She’s at it again!’
Whenever Seo-Wol pursed her lips in a straight line like that, it meant she was being obstinate. She hadn’t been like this as a child, but after hitting puberty, her personality had completely changed.
How many times had he been dragged into trouble by that stubbornness while traveling the martial world together?
And now, she was suddenly challenging even their Retainer to a martial duel.
And not just anyone—someone considered dangerous.
Of course, part of him was curious. She’d taken down the Blood-Iron Fiend and Honam Island all on her own. Even Muhwa, who’d witnessed his strength firsthand, said he was impressive…
Sun Wukong caught Namgung Mu-yeong’s sidelong glance and gave a wry smile.
‘Not being able to hide your expression… That was Tang Sanzang’s trait too.’
Ever since he’d started suspecting one of them might be Tang Sanzang, he’d gotten into the habit of connecting everything back to that.
Sun Wukong looked at Seo-Wol, who was glaring at him with sullen eyes.
"Let’s keep it simple. No need to go swinging swords around in the middle of the night. We don’t have to go all out."
"Fine."
"Seo-Wol, watch your tone…"
"Hey, Young Lord? That’s what I should call you, right?"
"Ah, yes. Master Sun, please address me however you like. You’re a benefactor of the Namgung Clan, and you’re older than me besides."
Sun Wukong was already speaking informally.
"Young Lord, go easy on her."
"Yes, understood. My apologies. This sudden martial duel…"
"It’s fine. I’m just playing with a kid."
"I’m not playing."
Seo-Wol drew her sword and pointed it at him. Her voice was flat, her face expressionless and indifferent.
Sun Wukong couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Even without a visible expression, her emotions were clear.
He could see the fiery determination burning beneath that stone-cold face.
Seo-Wol spoke firmly.
"We’re fighting."
Her sword tip gleamed coldly. Starlight fractured on the blade, scattering in a chilling shimmer.
"Kid, fighting is just another way to have fun."
Sun Wukong flicked his finger. Before he’d even finished speaking, Seo-Wol lunged at him like a bolt of lightning.
Her sword shot straight out, then twisted at a strange angle.
It was impossible to follow her movements with the naked eye.
Even up close, it looked like a streak of light slashing through the air.
Sun Wukong reached out with a light movement. To thrust a sword and meet it with bare hands was practically suicide. Seo-Wol’s eyes widened. As Sun Wukong’s arm blurred for an instant, she saw an illusion.
‘A snake?’
A snake slithered, coiling its body around her sword.
His arm slid down the flat of the blade, brushing past it like a serpent slipping over a wall.
It was so subtle, she couldn’t even react. Suddenly, the snake’s jaws opened wide, fangs flashing.
Seo-Wol instinctively changed the direction of her sword. There was no calculation—just pure reflex.
"Oh-ho!"
Sun Wukong let out a short exclamation. His hand, which had been about to seize Seo-Wol’s wrist, sliced through empty air.
‘Hiding fangs within subtlety. I was imitating that old snake’s move.’
She dodged it.
But not completely. Sun Wukong’s fingers caught the edge of Seo-Wol’s sleeve.
"…!"
Sun Wukong smirked.
"If you don’t want to show your skin, long sleeves aren’t always a good idea."
His tone was almost instructional.
Seo-Wol couldn’t reply or counterattack. Before she could even react, Sun Wukong yanked her sleeve.
He didn’t use much force. She could have resisted if she wanted.
But with just the right amount of strength to break her balance, Seo-Wol’s body lurched. Her stance collapsed in an instant. She quickly tried to regain her footing with her Footwork Technique.
"Ugh!"
But she failed. Sun Wukong’s foot slid into the very spot she was about to step.
It was as if he knew exactly how her Footwork Technique would unfold.
‘No way!’
Seo-Wol fiercely denied it in her mind. Footwork Technique is the foundation of Martial Art Skill. It’s all about constant movement. If someone could read your steps, it meant they could see right through your every move.
Unfortunately, Seo-Wol’s denial was wrong.
Sun Wukong had already seen through all her movements.
‘It’s similar to what Muhwa used. Slightly different, though.’
He’d already observed the Namgung Clan’s Martial Art Skill several times in battle.
When Wujing fought Namgung Jeok and Namgung Seon.
When Muhwa fought at the Azure Hero Society.
If he’d said this out loud, not only Seo-Wol but also Mu-yeong, who was watching, would have been shocked.
That would have been even more unbelievable.
Mu-yeong’s eyes widened as he watched.
‘It’s like he can see through all of Seo-Wol’s moves!’
It was astonishing. Even if you’d seen a Footwork Technique once, every martial artist used it differently. The same Martial Art Skill, depending on the depth of one’s internal energy and experience, could look entirely different. That’s what made the martial world so fascinating.
But Sun Wukong harried Seo-Wol relentlessly, as if he knew everything.
‘Could he have grasped the essence of the Footwork Technique?’
Mu-yeong’s face hardened. The essence of a Martial Art Skill—the core, the main thread. Even those who practiced it found it hard to grasp. If you could figure it out just by watching, secret techniques wouldn’t exist in the first place.
Sun Wukong’s movements were so extraordinary, it was hard not to think so.
As Seo-Wol’s center of gravity collapsed, Sun Wukong’s hand slipped in.
"Ugh!"
Seo-Wol, flustered, swung her sword, but didn’t even graze his fluttering sleeve.
Sun Wukong lightly tapped the flat of her sword.
Clang!
"…!"
It was just a light tap, but Seo-Wol swallowed hard at the faint shock that traveled up her wrist.
‘Infiltration State?’
No, it wasn’t that. He hadn’t used the technique of channeling powerful internal energy into her body. His energy hadn’t penetrated her. But the impact was real.
It was as if she’d been punched—layer upon layer of force built up in her wrist.
"Mm…!"
Mu-yeong, watching, swallowed nervously. Anyone could see Seo-Wol was being completely overwhelmed.
He might find his cousin stubborn and troublesome, but even Mu-yeong acknowledged her skill.
He hadn’t expected her to win, but to be dominated like this…
Seo-Wol was stubborn, but she wasn’t stupid. She realized, painfully, that she was completely outmatched.
But that wasn’t a reason to admit defeat.
There are always the strong and the weak in a fight.
There are always winners and losers.
But the strong aren’t always the winners, and the weak aren’t always the losers.
Even iron walls have cracks. If someone made a crack, it meant a stronger blow could break through.
Seo-Wol’s eyes flashed.
Her iron-willed stubbornness caught the tiniest flaw in Sun Wukong’s iron wall.
Her sword tip gleamed sharply.
"…!"
At that moment, Sun Wukong’s expression twisted.
At the same time, his fist came down on her thrusting sword.
Crack!
"…Kgh!"
"Seo-Wol!"
Her sword snapped in half. The internal energy channeled through the blade suddenly had nowhere to go and rebounded. Seo-Wol staggered, her face pale, and collapsed.
Mu-yeong rushed to support her, startled.
As the Namgung Clan’s successor, he immediately understood what had happened.
"Why would you use a Killing Move there…?"
That was a real Killing Move, not something you’d expect in a martial duel.
Mu-yeong supported Seo-Wol and bowed deeply to Sun Wukong.
"I apologize. Seo-Wol got carried away and made a grave mistake."
"It’s fine."
Sun Wukong waved his hand dismissively.
Honestly, he was a little surprised.
‘That was intense.’
He hadn’t expected her sword tip to slip through a gap even he hadn’t noticed.
Of course, Sun Wukong reacted instantly and blocked it, but it had been a while since he’d felt that chill.
More than anything, Sun Wukong was now certain of one thing.
‘A sword filled with murderous intent…’
Seo-Wol’s blade was brimming with Killing Intent.
When it exploded at the end, even Sun Wukong was taken aback.
He even wondered if he’d somehow become her mortal enemy.
"…Killing intent, huh."
—Wukong, your ferocity has gone too far.
—Isn’t that obvious? How could I just let a demon who tried to eat my master go free?
—Even so, depending on how you control your heart, killing can become judgment, not slaughter. In your hands, there’s only the meaning of slaughter, not judgment.
—Don’t talk in riddles. To kill, you have to have the will to kill. Ah, our noble master can’t even kill a bug, so maybe you wouldn’t understand.
—Don’t be sarcastic, Wukong. Controlling your heart and not harboring a murderous mind—that’s the first lesson I have for you.
A conversation flickered through his mind.
Sun Wukong looked at the pale, limp Seo-Wol.
One thing was clear.
"You’re not Tang Sanzang."
*
"Seo-Wol will reflect on this a lot."
Mu-yeong glanced back at Sun Wukong as he followed behind.
Sun Wukong snorted.
"Reflect? She just looked frustrated to me."
"Well, Seo-Wol’s… She’s grown up physically, but she’s still a bit childish."
Sun Wukong chuckled. To him, they were both just kids. Of course, they were both twenty. In this world, you were considered an adult at sixteen, so calling them children wasn’t quite right.
"Having a strong competitive spirit isn’t a bad thing."
Sun Wukong wasn’t bothered.
It wasn’t like a Killing Move would leave a scratch on him anyway. If anything, he was impressed. The way she went for an opening the moment she found it was sharp.
‘She’s the daughter of the former clan head, right?’
The former clan head.
The one called the Sword God.
Maybe it was in her blood. Sun Wukong found himself curious about the Sword God.
‘For a mere human to be called a god…’
He liked the audacity of it. After all, it was a nickname given by others. If people called him that, there must be a reason.
‘I’d like to meet him.’
But since the current clan head was the Sword God’s younger brother, Namgung Jin-Baek, it was clear.
The Sword God wasn’t in the Namgung Clan anymore.
Sun Wukong had asked directly, but everyone in the Namgung Clan avoided the question.
All he got was that the Sword God had gone into seclusion for meditation, but Sun Wukong saw through that lie immediately.
‘He might be dead.’
But that wouldn’t be easy to announce.
The Namgung Clan had many enemies.
As the Honam Island incident showed, the Evil Faction Alliance hadn’t disappeared completely.
If word got out that the Sword God was dead, the clan would lose a huge deterrent.
So maybe they were hiding his death.
‘Of course, that’s just speculation…’
But on this matter, everyone in the Namgung Clan either clammed up or dodged the question, so Sun Wukong couldn’t find out more.
‘I’ll have to look into it gradually.’
But with all the attention on him from the Namgung Clan, it was hard for Sun Wukong to act directly.
And finding out the truth about the Sword God was less important than finding Tang Sanzang and the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
‘Should I ask Wujing?’
He was capable and sharp, and if he thought back to his previous life, he was trustworthy.
‘But it’d be hard for him to do it alone.’
He needed more people. Reliable ones. The first that came to mind was the Ho Family Fortress.
‘But since they’re an outside Black Path Faction, they won’t be much help.’
Sun Wukong set aside his thoughts for now.
He couldn’t meet the former clan head, the Sword God, but he could at least see his younger brother.
"You’re here, Master Sun."
Namgung Jin-Baek greeted him warmly at his quarters.
Sun Wukong looked at him and spoke slyly.
"If I give, I should get something in return, don’t you think?"
As always, he was blunt.
Jin-Baek gave a wry smile.
"True. You’re right. I’m officially asking a Retainer for a favor, and you’re a benefactor besides. So, what do you need?"
Instead of answering, Sun Wukong just stared at Jin-Baek.
How much time passed?
In the silence, Sun Wukong finally spoke.