Translator: Nox

My Dad Is the Strongest Under Heaven

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Episode 29. The Blood Poison Squad

Swooosh!

Having concluded his contact with the Golden Manor, an officer of the Blood Poison Squad traveled for a long while using his lightness technique before arriving at a forest quite far from where Peng Seojin had first been ambushed.

A dense forest where few people ever set foot.

“Phew.”

Catching his breath after running without pause, he suddenly pricked up his ears.

He could tell. A battle was taking place not far away.

Soon, a cruel smile touched his lips.

“Still resisting? A stubborn bastard, isn’t he? Not that he’ll make it past today. Tsk, tsk.”

It was then.

“I wonder. Wouldn’t that be your own fate instead?”

“……!”

Startled out of his wits by the unfamiliar voice suddenly speaking behind him, the officer sprang backward like a coiled spring.

He turned to look at the spot where he had stood only a moment before.

Yet there was nothing there.

“Where are you looking?”

The voice came from behind him once again.

The officer moved his hand to his sword.

His intention was to draw his blade and spin around to cut down his enemy in a single motion.

However—

Grab.

He could not draw his blade.

The opponent’s hand had stopped him first.

“Kh…!”

In an instant, the officer’s face flooded with panic.

Before he could even open his mouth to speak, his throat was seized in the opponent’s grip.

“Guh… Gaaahk!”

He saw them.

The eyes of the man holding him by the throat.

They were the eyes of a savage beast.

Instinct told the man that this person was extraordinarily dangerous.

And before he could even think of a way to escape his predicament—

Crack.

His neck snapped at a grotesque angle.

Just like that, the officer of the Blood Poison Squad died on the spot.

---

Tap, tap. Tap-tap-tap.

Peng Seojin was darting through the dark forest with his lightness technique.

Compared to his usual speed, he was remarkably slow.

It was undoubtedly due to the injuries he had suffered and the blood he had lost because of them.

Having realized that the cave where he had been hiding was surrounded, he had just broken out with every ounce of his remaining strength.

Slash! Swooosh!

Swords flew at him with vicious momentum as he ran.

“Khh.”

Though he had bled enough that his consciousness was beginning to blur, Peng Seojin dodged the strikes with desperate effort and swung his saber toward the direction the blades had come from.

Slaaaash!

“Aaargh!”

Under Peng Seojin’s blade, a fair number of enemies crashed to the ground.

Yet Peng Seojin knew all too well.

The enemies still remaining far outnumbered those he had cut down.

It was a profoundly despairing situation, but he could not simply give up.

The moment he gave up, everything would be over.

Therefore, he would never surrender.

He would survive and return, no matter what.

Even in such dire straits, Peng Seojin never let go of his grip on life.

Yet soon, when he reached a dead end at the base of a cliff in the forest and found himself trapped within the enemy’s encirclement once more, his complexion deteriorated beyond control.

Haa. Haa.

With his back against the cliff, Peng Seojin glared fiercely into the darkness once more.

Before long, enemies emerged from the shadows one by one.

As if there was no longer any need to hide.

“You might as well give up now.”

“You must have lived a life of luxury and comfort your whole life, so why cling so desperately to it?”

“Indeed. Heheh.”

The members of the Blood Poison Squad sneered maliciously at Peng Seojin’s wretched state.

From Peng Seojin’s perspective, he had no leeway to bother responding to such mockery.

Drip. Drip.

Black blood dripped ceaselessly from his arm.

He would struggle to the bitter end, but his wounds were far too severe. To make matters worse, he was poisoned.

Time was not on his side.

“Enough with the useless chatter,” the pale-faced Leader of the Blood Poison Squad spoke from behind. “Kill him already.”

“Yes!”

At a single command, over eighty martial artists moved to strike Peng Seojin at once.

Just then—

Rustle.

Someone appeared in that very spot.

Judging by his attire, he was also a member of the Blood Poison Squad.

“You’re late.”

Judging by the insignia on his mask, he was the subordinate sent to the Golden Manor.

“Well? Did the talks go smoothly?”

“…….”

The Squad Leader spoke to him, but without offering any answer, the figure slowly walked past him and began approaching Peng Seojin.

“Wh-What! Stay back! Ah…!”

Peng Seojin reflexively stepped back, attempting to swing his saber.

Yet the newly arrived man blocked the blade with effortless ease.

As Peng Seojin prepared to follow up with another attack, the man spoke.

“I’m not your enemy. I came to save you.”

“What?”

“Calm down first. Unless you want to lose an arm, that is.”

The man was, of course, Yeo Woonhwi.

Appearing in the guise of a Blood Poison Squad member behind a mask, he grabbed Peng Seojin’s injured arm while the young master was still in shock.

“Khh!”

He let out a groan at the pain in his seized wound, but only for a brief moment. A golden energy flowed from Yeo Woonhwi’s hand, soon seeping into Peng Seojin’s injury.

“……!”

Shhhhh.

Why was it? Though it was an unknown power, a sense of relief washed over him for some reason, and even the pain seemed to gradually fade away.

“Sit down for a moment.”

“You bastard… Who are you?” the Squad Leader spoke up.

That man was not his subordinate.

He could tell at least that much just from the bizarre technique the intruder had just displayed.

“You bastard! The Squad Leader asked who you are!” one of the killers barked fiercely.

Yet Yeo Woonhwi did not spare him a single glance. Instead, he slowly scanned each of the assassins filling the area.

“Quite a crowd you’ve gathered. Well, given this… it’s practically a miracle he held out until now.”

One could call it commendable. Yeo Woonhwi felt like applauding Peng Seojin’s grit and willpower for fighting to the end despite his battered body.

Having been utterly ignored, the killer’s eyes gleamed with malice.

“This bastard…! Do you have a death wish?!”

He lunged toward Yeo Woonhwi, slashing his blade viciously.

Yeo Woonhwi extended his fist, intersecting the path of the swinging blade, and drove it straight into the killer’s head.

Crack!

With a sound like a watermelon bursting, the headless corpse of the assassin collapsed to the ground.

Like a marionette with its strings cut.

“……!”

At the sight, everyone present instinctively tightened their grip on their weapons.

He was no ordinary opponent. But no matter how formidable, he was alone.

If so, no matter how much he struggled…

It was then.

“Ha, this is getting quite irritating.”

Yeo Woonhwi’s eyes grew incomparably cold.

Seeing someone he considered family reduced to such a state was certainly not pleasant.

The moment Yeo Woonhwi’s eyes turned icy, the surrounding space seemed to ripple, and everyone present felt their breath seize in their chests.

Urrgh.

What on earth was this overwhelming pressure?

How could a single person radiate such terrifying energy?

Could this truly be the aura of a mortal man?

“Hmph! He’s still just one man!”

Though equally unnerved, the man who called himself the Leader of the Blood Poison Squad ground his teeth and shouted at the top of his lungs.

His voice lent courage to the squad members.

Yes, he was right. Their numbers neared a hundred.

Even if they had lost quite a few comrades to Peng Seojin, over eighty men remained.

It made no sense that they could not overcome a single man.

The moment their thoughts reached that conclusion, their fear vanished completely.

“Kill him!”

“Swarm him all at once!”

“Waaargh!”

Swoooosh! Swiiiish!

The assault began.

They, too, were all formidable experts.

Moreover, their combined assault formation had been honed and perfected over a long time, making it seem impossible to escape at a glance.

At that moment, Yeo Woonhwi’s eyes flashed.

[Blade Wind]

As he pulled his saber back slightly and slashed it forward in a blur, an unbelievable sight unfolded before their eyes.

Wwwwoooooong.

Rumble, crash!

K-BOOOM!

A vortex erupted before them, instantly swallowing every single assassin launching the joint attack.

“Gaaarrrgh!”

“S-Save meeee!”

Before long, the Blade Wind turned into a crimson tempest saturated with blood.

A rain of blood fell all around.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Soon, dozens of corpses plummeted to the ground.

An utterly gruesome scene straight out of hell.

The eyes of the Blood Poison Squad Leader trembled violently.

A phenomenon wrought by a single swing of a saber.

He did not know whether this could even be called martial arts, or what else to call it.

That was how completely nonsensical what he had just witnessed was.

Even Peng Seojin, whose pain had noticeably diminished thanks to the energy Yeo Woonhwi had infused into him despite his severe injuries, wore an equally astounded expression.

Peng Seojin, more than anyone, knew how strong and formidable each of those assassins was.

Even when staking his life, he had barely managed to cut down a few at the cost of taking wounds himself.

Yet seeing them suffer near-total annihilation from a single strike, how could he not be shocked?

He had never even imagined such a feat was possible.

This mysterious man was an extraordinary master.

To the extent that one wondered if he might be comparable to the Twelve Venerables of the World.

Just what realm of cultivation must one attain to make such a thing possible?

It was practically akin to a natural disaster.

He did not know.

He did not realize how monumental a stimulus and nourishment this single experience would become for his future martial accomplishments.

He was simply struck dumb with awe.

For Peng Seojin, at the worst crisis of his life, he was undergoing an invaluable revelation where the boundaries of what he believed martial arts to be were shattered entirely.

Unlike him, however, the Squad Leader was enduring a horrific experience that chilled him to the bone.

He, too, was a master who had reached a fairly high realm.

He was well aware of what the absurd scene before his eyes signified.

He could not even withstand a single strike from this mysterious man.

Just what relationship did this person have with the Hebei Peng Clan, and with that man named Peng Seojin?

What kind of connection could warrant such an unfathomable master suddenly appearing before his eyes?

Could it be the Blade Emperor?

No. As far as he knew, the Blade Emperor was far older.

Moreover, it was widely known that the relationship between the Hebei Peng Clan and the Blade Emperor was exceedingly hostile.

Therefore, he could not be ‘him.’

In any case, there was nothing he could clearly discern at this moment.

Furthermore, at this rate, it was certain that he would lose his life just like his subordinates.

Thus, he needed another way out.

“W-Wait. Hold on, let’s talk for a moment—”

BOOOOM!

Suddenly, accompanied by a tremendous roar, thick dust billowed into the air.

It was not Yeo Woonhwi’s doing.

Soon, as the dust settled, what came into view was the Squad Leader hanging in midair, choking to death in someone’s grasp.

“Guh… Gaaahk!”

Crack.

His neck snapped at a grotesque angle.

It was something that astonished even Yeo Woonhwi.

What on earth…? That Squad Leader was supposed to be a considerable expert.

“Was it you bastards?”

A familiar voice rang out.

Haha.

At last, Patriarch Peng Mugang of the Peng Clan had just arrived on the scene.

Radiating terrifying killing intent.

Swish.

Peng Mugang’s gaze turned toward Yeo Woonhwi.

And then—

BOOOOM!

Yeo Woonhwi was driven sliding backward under the force of Peng Mugang’s fist.

“You insolent bastards who’ve lost your minds. Today, I shall teach you clearly what happens when you lay a hand on the Peng Clan, so prepare yourselves.”

Soon, an overwhelming aura erupted from Peng Mugang’s body like an explosion.

Peng Mugang had severely misunderstood the situation.

Ha. What a mess…

Behind the mask, Yeo Woonhwi’s face contorted in sheer exasperation.