TWSV 16

Chapter 16

The Weakest of the World’s Greatest Village

A gentle breeze rippled across the still lake.
Lovers whispered to each other from their small boats.
A crimson sunset had settled upon the waters of Lake Soho.
It was a sight of pure serenity — a scene that could stir anyone’s heart.

“Ga-ga, the sunset is so beau—”

From the very center of that tranquil view, a faint ripple began to spread.

Boom.

“…?”

A heavy thud followed — the undersides of the boats began to tremble.

Then—

“Kyaaah!”

A colossal splash erupted from the lake’s center.
Something surged upward within that torrent and came crashing down onto one of the lovers’ boats.

“Pwah! Guh-heuk!”

They were men — four of them.
One, a middle-aged man with his chest bared, hung limp like soaked seaweed.
An old man beside him lay unconscious, his skin charred black.

Of the remaining two, one spat up lake water through his nose and mouth.

“Sir Dragon Lord! You can’t just smash through the ceiling like that! We almost drowned down there!”

The other, a young man who still seemed the most intact, shot back indignantly.

“You were the one who said to blow up the cave! I just flooded it to get us out faster!”

“You should’ve said something first! Cough— cough!”

Namgung Gu, catching his breath, pointed toward the lake’s center —
the exact spot where the Dragon Lord had burst through the ground.

“And what are we going to do about that?”

A massive hole yawned at the bottom of the lake, forming a growing whirlpool at its heart.
It wouldn’t be long before nearby boats were dragged into it.

Panting, Kang Yu stepped out onto the water’s surface.

‘T–Treading on Water…!’

A white frost gathered around his hand.

Crackle.

“!”

The moment his palm touched the surface, the surrounding water froze solid white.
The swirling whirlpool locked into ice, spreading outward nearly fifty meters.

In the middle of Soho Lake, an enormous frozen plain had appeared.

“Done!”

‘T–That’s… the Ice-White Divine Art…’

The Heavenly Demon Arts, the Flowery Palace’s Jade Ice Arts, and now the North Sea Ice Palace’s secret technique.
It was no longer even surprising.

After all, asking Kang Yu about these arts only led to more nonsense answers.

‘…Sure. Why not. Just… sure.’

Namgung Gu, now too tired to even question him, turned to check on Lord Hwang, who lay at his side.

Thankfully, he was mostly fine — merely drained of energy and fast asleep.
A quick pulse check confirmed it.

Next, he examined Namgung Cheon.
The man’s clothes and skin were singed, but not fatally.
Either the Dragon Lord had held back his strength, or the clan leader’s defensive art had saved him.

On the surface, he seemed all right.

But inside, he was not.

Namgung Gu felt his pulse again — his internal energy was raging wildly through every channel.
Unlike Lord Hwang, whose spell was unfinished, Namgung Cheon was suffering a full internal deviation.

If left untreated, he would soon become a cripple — or worse, lose his life.

Namgung Gu dropped to his knees before Kang Yu.

“Lord Dragon! I’ll offer my life if you’ll spare another Great Rejuvenation Pill for the Clan Head!”

The Great Rejuvenation Pill — the miracle medicine of the mortal world.
Even a crumb of it could make men kill or die to possess it.

For some reason, the Dragon Lord seemed to carry dozens of them as if they were common candy —
but right now, that pill was the only thing that could save Namgung Cheon.

Kang Yu, however, remained calm.

“No.”

“P–Please…”

“It’s not that I’m being stingy. But when someone’s overcharged with internal power like your grandpa, the medicine will only make it worse.”

Namgung Gu blinked.

“O–Overcharged?”

“Sure. Anyway, I can just make more medicine back in the village — easy.”

“…What?”

Kang Yu waved both arms grandly.

As usual, his words made little sense.

Still — overcharged?

Kang Yu turned toward the couple still frozen in shock on their boat.

“Excuse me, masters — could I borrow a hairpin for a moment?”

“A… hairpin?”

“Yes.”

The lovers glanced at each other nervously.
After all, these men had just erupted from the water using martial arts — clearly cultivators.
They feared getting dragged into something dangerous.

But Kang Yu’s polite tone disarmed them.
The woman slowly removed a steel hairpin from her hair.

“H–Here…”

“Thank you.”

“…”

Kang Yu took the hairpin and began massaging Namgung Cheon’s limbs — gently stretching and pulling his hands and feet rather than kneading.
Then he heated the end of the hairpin with a small jet of black flame.

The metal glowed red-hot — and he pressed it beneath Namgung Cheon’s fingernails.

“What are you—”

Prick.

A bead of dark, viscous blood welled up beneath the nail.

“…”

That was all.

A simple acupuncture-like prick.

They’d just watched this man use the Heavenly Demon Arts, the Jade Ice Divine Art, and countless other impossible martial secrets —
and now he was treating a severe inner energy deviation with… a bloodletting trick for stomach aches?

Prick. Prick. Prick.

Ten fingers. Ten toes.
Dark blood beaded from each.

“Done.”

“…Done?”

“Yes.”

“Done what, exactly—”

“Hm?”

“Y–You just poked his fingers!”

“Well, yeah. He was overcharged.”

“What?”

“What?”

“…”

That same blank, guileless look.
Namgung Gu was used to it by now.
Still, he grasped Namgung Cheon’s wrist just to be sure—

“Holy—!”

The once-frenzied energy within Cheon’s body now flowed smoothly along its channels.

Moments ago, he’d been on the brink of death.
Now he was perfectly stable — all from a few pokes and a massage.

It was a feat even the Medicine Immortal couldn’t achieve so effortlessly.

“Do that three or four more times — drain the rest of the black blood, rub him down with a healing hand, and he’ll wake right up.”

“Healing hand…?”

“Yeah. You know, ‘Grandma’s hands are healing hands.’ Don’t tell me you’ve never heard that.”

“…”

While Namgung Gu struggled to figure out whether that was another secret art,
Kang Yu stared down at the hairpin — burned, bent, and now stained with blood.

Clearly ruined.

He couldn’t return it like this.
He’d have to compensate her.

He turned toward the couple again.

Paper money would probably offend them — these ‘masters’ were powerful and proud.
He’d learned that much dealing with the clan head.
Had the old man not fainted during their fight, he might’ve been the one unconscious now.

Two masters together would surely be even worse.

But giving too little might anger them — and getting beaten over a hairpin wasn’t worth it.

Kang Yu discreetly reached into his sock.
Two silver taels.

“Here.”

“…”

Exactly the price of a simple hairpin.

The woman blinked, surprised — after all that fuss, she’d expected something more… dramatic.
But still — it wasn’t worth making a scene.

“N–No need, really. You used it to save someone.”

“Thank you.”

“…”

Kang Yu quickly pocketed the silver again.

“As expected, masters like you have hearts as vast as the sea.”

He hoisted Namgung Cheon and Lord Hwang onto his shoulders before they could change their minds.

“Climb on.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go. Quickly.”

“…”

Namgung Gu looked down at Namgung Cheon, slung over Kang Yu’s right shoulder like a sack of rice.

“It may be best to stay nearby until the clan head wakes. This is a tourist spot — there should be good inns around.”

“Don’t you find it strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“The cave. No one was there.”

“No one? We found Lord Hwang and the Clan Head, didn’t we?”

“Exactly. We freed the two people they went through so much trouble to hide, and wrecked that whole fancy playground — but no one came to stop us. No guards, no watchers. Just that fortune teller at the start.”

“…Huh.”

Namgung Gu’s face paled as the realization sank in.

“E–External Master! Lord Dragon! Clan Head!”

From the sky, a group of men came descending rapidly.
They were Namgung warriors, answering the signal flare Namgung Gu had fired earlier.

“In autumn, and Soho Lake is frozen over? What in the world—?!”

They hurried over, surrounding the boats —
but instead of relief, dread settled over Namgung Gu’s face.

‘Don’t you find it strange?’
‘We found them, destroyed the place, yet no one came.’
‘Except that fortune teller.’

His expression hardened.

“…No.”

He looked around — four elders, the Outer Hall Chief, the Inner Hall Chief, the Law Enforcement Head, and their men —
nearly the entire strength of the Namgung Clan.

With the Heavenly Sky Corps deployed elsewhere, this was practically their full force.

Namgung Gu’s face went ashen.

‘A feint…! A diversion!’

He understood now — Kang Yu had seen it before him.

He shouted frantically:

“Elder Han! Inner Hall Chief! Uncle!”

Using internal transmission, he explained the situation as quickly as he could —
then clung tightly to Kang Yu’s back.

“We must go — now!”

“To the Clan Estate?”

“Yes!”

Kang Yu set down the two unconscious men.

“Hold tight. I know the way now.”

“What?”

The landscape blurred as they shot into the sky.

“!”

The altitude — the speed — far greater than before.

Wind tore past them like ripping fabric.
Namgung Gu tightened his grip until his fingers locked.

“You weren’t even using your full power earlier, were you?”

“I was busy asking for directions.”

“…”

Insanity.

This man had fought Namgung Cheon — one of the Ten Dragons — head-on,
used countless supreme martial arts in a single battle,
and still had this much power left in reserve.

He was beyond comprehension.

“Lord Dragon.”

“Yes?”

Namgung Gu spoke with utter sincerity—