Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Giving Them a Reason
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“That guy must be crazy.”
Bang Jun’s mouth fell wide open. No way he got drunk off half a bottle of liquor, right? That couldn’t be it.
Martial artists who had cultivated internal energy didn’t get drunk easily, even if they drank.
Sure, if they deliberately suppressed their qi to get wasted, that was possible, but Wi Seong-cheon chugging half a bottle and suddenly standing up seemed far more calculated than alcohol-fueled.
“Now of all times?”
Dang Heeran blinked at Wi Seong-cheon too. He’d been perfectly fine just moments ago while they ate and talked together. Was he reacting late to something said in the conversation and getting mad now?
……Now of all times? The students had been badmouthing Wi Seong-cheon and picking on him for days, if not longer.
“Jin Clan, Jin Clan……”
It hit him. The intermediate class student with the Jin surname. The one whose arm Wi Seong-cheon had twisted backward was Jin Yi-yeol, the young master of the Jin Clan.
“Yi-yeol~”
“Argh!”
Wi Seong-cheon stretched out the guy’s name like a sigh of ecstasy.
“Not answering? Didn’t they teach you manners back at that fancy Jin Clan when I asked you a question?”
“Let…… go……!”
“Ignoring my question and just making noise yourself is pretty rude, don’t you think? Think it over carefully, Yi-yeol.”
*Crack!*
Wi Seong-cheon twisted the arm a bit higher. Jin Yi-yeol flailed at the sensation of his shoulder joint wrenching, trying desperately to shake him off.
The students who had been sitting with Jin Yi-yeol spat vicious words at Wi Seong-cheon.
Whatever they said, Wi Seong-cheon kept twisting Jin Yi-yeol’s arm upward, little by little. The joint had already passed its limit. Any more force, and it would fully dislocate, tearing the muscles.
“What did I even do?”
Unable to watch any longer, one of Jin Yi-yeol’s friends, Sang Jun-oh, bellowed and charged at Wi Seong-cheon.
Wi Seong-cheon shoved Jin Yi-yeol’s body in the path of Sang Jun-oh’s swinging fist. Naturally, Sang Jun-oh hesitated, and in that gap, Wi Seong-cheon hooked his leg and sent him tumbling to the floor.
“Urk!”
The moment rolling Sang Jun-oh tried to spring back up, a chilling premonition froze him in place.
Wi Seong-cheon’s foot was now on the back of his neck. Almost no weight pressed down—it was practically standing on one foot—but even so, Wi Seong-cheon didn’t waver in the slightest from Jin Yi-yeol’s struggling.
“Stay still. Force it, and you’ll get hurt bad.”
The sole on his neck carried barely any weight. And yet it felt ominous. It was as if not a foot but a demon blade poised to sever a horse’s head rested there.
“You answer too. What did I do?”
“What……?”
“My arm!”
Even so, Sang Jun-oh grasped the situation faster than Jin Yi-yeol. He stayed down as Wi Seong-cheon ordered, swallowing his embarrassment and flattening himself prone.
*Kid’s overreacting.* Wi Seong-cheon clicked his tongue and showed a shred of mercy, adjusting the angle slightly. Still, Jin Yi-yeol screamed in agony.
“Did I shit in front of you?”
“Let go!”
“Or slap your cheek? Oh, not counting right now. I’m talking about everything up to this point. You’re not so oblivious you can’t get that, right?”
Sang Jun-oh gulped.
Wi Seong-cheon hadn’t done anything outright evil to them. But even without direct harm, people could hate someone. And Wi Seong-cheon gave plenty of reasons to hate him.
Starting with his origin in the Cheonhwa Sect. Once part of the Black Fiend Union, it had joined the Murim Alliance a century ago.
Even after turning orthodox, it hadn’t done anything particularly righteous. The Cheonhwa Sect always had a faint presence.
It had been the same during its Black Fiend Union days. Predictable. The Cheonhwa Sect must have been just as unremarkable back then.
In short, easy pickings.
On top of that, he arrived with a recommendation from the renowned master Won-gwang Bul and entered late via special admission, half a year behind.
Despite an over-the-top recommendation, he got placed in the lower class. And yet he strutted around with his back straight and head high like he owned the place.
All that piled up, making him seem like someone they could ignore.
Jealousy mixed in from his later actions. Friendly with one of the Beggar Clan’s three great disciples and the Tang Clan’s daughter.
And in the recent combined class practical, he scored high. Highest among lower class students.
Of course. In practicals against upper class, lower class always played the punching bag. No matter what they did, lower class couldn’t beat upper class.
Even eight lower class students in formation under ideal conditions got toyed with effortlessly by an upper class student.
The gap in innate talent couldn’t be bridged by effort alone.
But Wi Seong-cheon beat Hwangbo Seong-u, they said. No way it was fair. Hwangbo Seong-u was the Hwangbo Clan heir and top of the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking.
The Cheonhwa Sect’s martial arts from its Black Fiend Union days were surely shady, and demonic cult spies had infiltrated the practical too. So……
“The reason doesn’t really matter anyway.”
Wi Seong-cheon muttered.
“I figured I’d get shit-talked everywhere the moment I decided to come to the Heavenly Academy. Yeah, trash-talk me all you want. You’re doing it because you feel like it, right? Fine. In return, I’ll do whatever I want.”
*Still not here?*
He’d thought it was about time.
“Hate me and curse me all you like. But it pisses me off, you know? What did I do? At least I don’t want to feel that way. So I’m making sure it doesn’t feel unfair. If there’s a ‘reason,’ it’s easier for both sides, right? You get a reason to hate me, and I don’t feel wronged.”
Jin Yi-yeol’s face drained white. The loosened twist on his arm was tightening again, inching upward. Sang Jun-oh felt it too. The foot on his neck pressed down harder.
“Stop there.”
*Finally.*
Wi Seong-cheon suppressed the urge to grin.
A group strode in through the wide-open dining hall doors. He turned his head and stared right at them.
Call it rude, but the first thing that caught the eye was the gleaming, bald heads shining under the lights.
Several bald heads.
“If you stop now, we can let it pass without punishment.”
The young man at the group’s center spoke those words. He wore the dark blue uniform of a third-year, draped in a monk’s robe.
Bald as he was, he was handsome, with a sharp nose and long eyebrows.
*The Laughing Buddha visage, Jin Woo.*
The Dragon-Phoenix Ranking’s core and the future of Shaolin.
Up until now,
Wi Seong-cheon had avoided running into Jin Woo as much as possible. No way a Shaolin disciple like Jin Woo would welcome the recommendation from Won-gwang Bul that Wi Seong-cheon carried.
Luckily, different years meant no encounters outside meals, and different class schedules meant avoiding the dining hall on weekends too.
Truth was,
The reason he hadn’t crossed paths with Jin Woo was surprisingly because Jin Woo hadn’t sought him out.
If Wi Seong-cheon dodged, Jin Woo could’ve just approached. Plenty of chances. Wait in the dining hall, visit the dorms.
But Jin Woo hadn’t.
“Isn’t this self-defense?”
“Self-defense? It’ll be crippled.”
*Click.*
Jin Woo rolled the prayer beads draped over his palm as he spoke. Beside him stood three Shaolin disciples who had entered with him, hands in prayer position.
Shaolin disciples of the Jin generation, like Jin Woo. Prodigies touted as the next Eighteen Arhats alongside him.
“If you don’t stop and go through with it, that donor over there will never hold chopsticks with his right arm again. And the one below……”
Jin Woo smiled so wide his pupils vanished. His half-lidded eyes flashed sharply from within.
He tilted his head sideways, glancing at Sang Jun-oh under Wi Seong-cheon’s foot.
“The angle won’t kill him. But everything below the neck will be paralyzed.”
“Eek…….”
“Isn’t that too harsh a punishment for a moment’s mistake? Show some mercy.”
“I’m no Buddhist disciple.”
“Even without being Buddha, one can show mercy. That alone brings anyone closer to Buddha.”
*Easy for you to say.* Jin Woo smiled as he spoke of Buddha, but his gaze was ice cold.
*Click, click.*
The ceaseless rolling of the prayer beads grated on the nerves. Wi Seong-cheon deliberately twisted his lips in a smirk.
*Let’s see what you do.*
*Snap.*
With that thought, he casually wrenched Jin Yi-yeol’s wrist upward. Jin Woo had said he’d never hold chopsticks with his right hand again.
Not entirely wrong. If he *really* snapped it, Jin Yi-yeol’s right arm would dangle as useless meat. Of course, Wi Seong-cheon had no intention of actually breaking it.
[Don’t.]
Right before the snap.
*Wooooong!*
A voice like a mental hammer shook Wi Seong-cheon’s body. Nor was he the only one who heard it. Every student in the dining hall gasped and clutched their ears.
*Ziiiiing!*
A prolonged metallic screech made his hairs stand on end. Amid the dizzying blur of vision, only Jin Woo’s figure sharpened into focus.
“Ugh.”
A foul nausea rose. Wi Seong-cheon grimaced and released Jin Yi-yeol’s wrist. He lifted his foot from Sang Jun-oh’s neck too. Then rubbed his ear with his freed hand.
“My ears hurt.”
A bead of blood welled on Wi Seong-cheon’s earlobe.
Lion’s Roar combined with Projected Finger Force. Jin Woo had flicked a burst of qi that grazed his ear.
“Why didn’t you dodge?”
He’d released Jin Yi-yeol and Sang Jun-oh as ordered, but Jin Woo was more curious why Wi Seong-cheon hadn’t evaded. He hadn’t even noticed.
Wi Seong-cheon hadn’t thought to. In that instant, he had *seen* Jin Woo’s thumb move and even traced the *trajectory* of the qi bullet flicked forth.
“No reason to.”
His ear stung. A direct hit would’ve left him with one ear. If aimed that way, he would’ve dodged to avoid a spectacle.
“You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you dodged.”
“Then it’d feel like I was looking down on you, Senior.”
“Haha!”
Jin Woo burst into laughter.
“What a troublesome donor. Don’t you think saying that is already a slight against me?”
“You’re the one forcing mercy on someone who’s no Buddhist disciple. You’re clearly one yourself, so I trust you’ll graciously overlook this junior’s rudeness with compassion.”
*Squeeze.*
Wi Seong-cheon pressed his bleeding ear with a finger. The pressure stanched the blood.
“Your epithet is Laughing Buddha, after all.”
“Haha, a troublesome epithet indeed. I just smile a lot, but Buddha’s face?”
Jin Woo shook his head with a laugh. *Click.* He rolled his beads, clasped his hands in prayer, and bowed his head.
“Thank you for showing mercy.”
With that, Jin Woo fixed his gaze on the slumped Jin Yi-yeol and Sang Jun-oh.
“Donors, show your gratitude too. Without Wi Seong-cheon the donor’s mercy, you’d have lived as cripples forever. Bow your heads, offer thanks…… and engrave this in your hearts: The tongue that mocks so freely can cut its own wielder like a double-edged sword.”
“Y-Yes…… sir.”
“Thank…… no, thanks…… sorry……”
His words came with a smile, but defiance was impossible. Jin Yi-yeol and Sang Jun-oh awkwardly bowed their heads and apologized to Wi Seong-cheon.
“Oh my.”
It was cringe-worthy. Anyone could see it was a forced apology through gritted teeth. Jin Yi-yeol and Sang Jun-oh felt it to their bones.
The stares from the dining hall students. The whispers. The snickers……. Humiliated by a lowly Cheonhwa Sect punk.
Even if the Laughing Buddha Jin Woo had forced the apology, they wouldn’t have suffered this if Wi Seong-cheon hadn’t grabbed them first.
“That settles it.”
Jin Woo said with a gentle smile.
“I’ve wanted to meet you for a while.”
Jin Woo slowly approached Wi Seong-cheon.
“But chances never aligned. Always just missing each other.”
“If you really wanted to, you could’ve come find me.”
“Not worth seeking out.”
Jin Woo said frankly.
*Figured as much.* A guy recommended by Won-gwang Bul and dumped in lower class. No reason to bother.
But *now*, Wi Seong-cheon was known for felling Hwangbo Seong-u in the practical.
“I was busy too. Third-years returned to the academy just this morning.”
“I know. What’s Qinghai like? I’m a country bumpkin.”
“Worse than you can imagine. It borders the New Frontier Demonic Realm.”
Jin Woo stopped before Wi Seong-cheon as he spoke.
“This morning, I returned to the academy and heard about you.”
“People love juicy rumors.”
“Just rumors?”
The distance was close. Jin Woo’s smiling face was clear, his seemingly closed eyes gleaming sharply from beneath his lashes.
“My first day back, and you stir up trouble in the dining hall. Pure coincidence?”
Jin Woo asked with a smile.