Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: They Haven't Died Yet
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They had to wait at the dock to cross the Yangtze River. Their detour to the Wudang side had thrown off the schedule for the boat that the Hao Clan had arranged in advance.
Do Cheon stared idly at the Yangtze before approaching the Seven Star Old Monsters, something he'd been mulling over the whole way from near Wudang.
"Did you make the Thunder Dragon get struck by lightning to teach him thunder ki?"
"How did you know?"
Gwang-yuk, the leader of the Seven Star Old Monsters, asked in surprise. Blood Ghost sighed and cut in.
"I told you not to just blurt it out like that!"
"He already knows."
"You still gotta deny it at least."
"Why?"
"Why are you bragging about it?"
"It's not bragging? The Thunder Dragon succeeded."
"What about the failures? And his brain got fried, so it's only half a success."
"Half? Is it?"
Gwang-yuk tilted his head.
Blood Ghost shook his head and looked at Do Cheon.
"So what are you getting at? You already know we're unorthodox."
"Being unorthodox isn't something to brag about. It doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."
"So?"
"You said you were going to make him fight the Heavenly Demon?"
"You gonna spill that too?"
"He'll die fighting the Heavenly Demon."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I'm learning thunder ki too."
Do Cheon raised his fist to show the thunder ki. Blood Ghost's eyes went wide at the sight. The other Seven Star Old Monsters looked shocked too.
"What the hell are you?"
"This is the Iron Lion King's Thunder Wall Fist. It's just the framework, but it's enough to handle the Thunder Dragon."
"Iron Divine Dragon!"
"That's right."
"You're the Iron Divine Dragon?"
"Yes."
The Iron Divine Dragon was the one they'd planned to catch after the Heavenly Demon. No wonder they were shocked and on guard now that they knew.
Blood Ghost's face filled with wariness.
Do Cheon smirked at the reaction.
"You were planning to catch me after the Heavenly Demon, right?"
"Not exactly..."
"The strength of thunder ki is its intensity. It incinerates in an instant. But it has a fatal flaw."
"Nonsense!"
"It's easy to redirect."
"...!"
"You've heard the story of a non-martial artist surviving a lightning strike?"
"Never heard of it."
"The Thunder Dragon unleashed his thunder power at point-blank range with no defense, but you took no damage. Because you grounded it into the earth."
Blood Ghost's eyes grew even wider at Do Cheon's words.
He'd seen Do Cheon shrug off the Thunder Dragon's attack right in front of him unscathed, so how could he not be shocked?
"The Iron Lion King saw through that flaw in thunder ki and paired the Iron Thunder Divine Art with the Thunder Wall Fist. He unleashes the thunder ki of the Iron Thunder Divine Art as destructive punches so the opponent can't redirect it. But the Thunder Dragon's version didn't seem to have that."
"So you're saying it won't work on the Heavenly Demon?"
"If I figured it out, you think he won't?"
"Hm."
Blood Ghost grew serious.
The others did too.
No one with a human body can withstand lightning. They'd thought the Thunder Dragon, who could take it with his inner power, could at least match the Heavenly Demon. But if Do Cheon was right, he'd get one-sidedly crushed without landing a scratch.
"Fools who don't know to redirect it will get wrecked head-on, but against someone like the Heavenly Demon, it'll backfire."
"Why tell us this?"
"That kid... he hurt his head getting struck by lightning, right? He seems childish."
"We know."
"Knowing isn't enough. He doesn't seem right in the head. You're not teaching him properly as his masters."
"...?"
"He's dangerous like this. If you keep letting him run wild, he'll start killing people mindlessly in his innocence. And when there's no one left to kill around him, he might run out from under your shadow... or even try to kill his masters."
Blood Ghost's spine chilled at the thought of the kid turning on them. He glanced around; the other Seven Star Old Monsters flinched too.
"You at least need to teach him not to kill without reason. That human life isn't a toy."
Blood Ghost fell silent, his face grave. Do Cheon gave him and the others plenty of time to think it over.
The silence from Blood Ghost stretched about as long as it takes to burn one incense stick. Finally, he broke it with words close to resignation.
"We... can't teach him like you say. We've lived our whole lives doing whatever we pleased. What could we teach him? Distracting him so he doesn't cause trouble was the best we could do."
Blood Ghost's face grew heavy. The others matched him. They'd been struggling just to keep the Thunder Dragon with them, let alone teach him, so Do Cheon's words hit hard.
Do Cheon had seen their efforts in that short time.
"That's why I brought it up. If the senior members tell me to butt out, I know it's meddling and overstepping. But what if it wasn't meddling or overstepping?"
"...?"
"What if I took him and taught him? He's already scared of me and listens well. I could teach him to respect his masters and treat human life seriously."
Do Cheon liked the Thunder Dragon. He was plenty strong in martial arts already, no need to teach that. Just train him not to toy with lives, and he'd make a fine Iron Lion.
"Impossible."
Blood Ghost said firmly.
"Why?"
"We're unorthodox. Evil sect folk. Him too, the Thunder Dragon—he's pure unorthodox. How could we send him to the orthodox sects? We might spare an orthodox dog, but we won't hand over our own shit to them."
"So if it's not orthodox, you could?"
"Hmph! You trying to betray the orthodox now? We're old, but not so senile to fall for that. Even our eldest is just 103. I'm not even 90 yet!"
"The Iron Lion Sect isn't orthodox."
"Hmph!"
"Of course, it's not unorthodox either."
"Hmph!"
"The Iron Lion Sect is just the Iron Lion Sect."
"Hmph!"
"Heaven-Rending Legion stayed with the main sect to keep it from becoming orthodox. Volcanic Divine Sword stayed for the opposite reason. You heard what I said to that Wudang disciple. He went on about fellow orthodox, but I said we were Baek Na-chal's group."
"...?"
Come to think of it, yeah.
"Orthodox-unorthodox ties?"
"No. We're not orthodox, not unorthodox, not stuck in between—we're just the Iron Lion Sect. We follow our own righteous path."
Neither this nor that, just themselves.
Arrogant? Or brimming with confidence?
Blood Ghost scowled at Do Cheon. He decided now wasn't the time to push harder.
"You'll have a few days' grace until we return to the main sect. Think it over."
Do Cheon bowed politely and returned to his spot. Once he was gone, Blood Ghost looked at the others.
"I'm against it."
Yuk-gwang declared.
"Why?"
"He's our disciple."
What other reason did they need? Blood Ghost looked around. They all opposed too. Same reason as Gwang-yuk: he's our disciple.
Blood Ghost didn't like it either, so he voiced his opposition. That settled it. As he turned away, a lukewarm, unsatisfied feeling welled up in his chest.
'Ah, whatever! Everyone's against, so I am too.'
"Thunder Dragon, wanna go home?"
"No."
"Why? I'll make you tons of mountain stronghold food you like."
"They haven't died yet. Not going."
"You gonna follow them till they die?"
"Yeah."
"What if they don't?"
"They won't die?"
"They didn't no matter what you did."
"Burn them while sleeping? Won't die?"
"They won't. So let's go home."
"Why won't they die? I said I'm the best."
"You're the best, obviously."
"Heavenly Demon's human, right?"
"Obviously human."
"Said we'd catch and roast him. Humans edible?"
"That was exaggerating your Thunder Ki Art—burn 'em to death. Can't eat people."
"Then masters are wrong like he said?"
"Not that..."
"Said Heavenly Demon's stronger than me? I'll get hurt bad?"
"Gotta fight to know."
"Masters didn't know either."
"Know what?"
"Those guys who won't die no matter what."
"...?"
"Didn't know guys like that exist. Could be wrong. Not really wrong. But I feel bad."
The Seven Star Old Monsters wanted to go, but the Thunder Dragon wouldn't budge.
Henan Province, Gangsi Hall.
Do Cheon was surprised by two things.
The hall was twice as big as he'd imagined, and the Gangsi Hall Leader's face was a dead ringer for Ong Jung-seo's.
"Twins?"
"Didn't that bastard tell you?"
"He did."
"Hmph!"
Do Cheon judged from the cold snort that businesslike was better than polite.
"Let's make a deal."
"What kind?"
"The main sect has a special zombie."
"...!"
The leader's eyes changed. He stared oddly before asking.
"That true?"
"What?"
"About a zombie that uses martial arts."
"True."
It was what Ong Jung-seo had come babbling about. A zombie that uses martial arts, but can't control it. Showed up one day saying that and asked if he could make it distinguish friend from foe.
"Thought that damn guy's word was lie or exaggeration, but it's not?"
"Hall Leader."
Do Cheon's voice suddenly deepened. The leader flinched and looked up; Do Cheon showed veiled anger on his calm face.
"He's the main sect's guardian now. Watch your words in front of me at least."
"Even so...!"
"I don't know what you've heard about me, but rumors explain less than half."
Iron Divine Dragon!
Heaven-Rending Legion's acknowledged young expert.
That's the gist going around.
'Less than half? Stronger than Heaven-Rending Legion then?'
Ridiculous. But with that piercing glare, caution was wise.
"You gonna show me that zombie?"
"Yes."
"What do you want?"
"One of my juniors entered qi deviation. Needle him."
"Acupuncture... that damn... he said I know medicine?"
"Said you were excellent."
"Damn. That was to myself."
"Know Returning Origin Inner Classic?"
"Course! I trained it and ended up here!"
The leader bristled suddenly. Do Cheon just stared, so he calmed and asked.
"That bastard even told you that?"
"My master wandered the world long ago, buying all sorts of obscure books to restore the sect's martial arts. Returning Origin Inner Classic was one."
"...!"
"I want you to use its Returning Origin Technique on my junior. You know it, so right place."
Do Cheon was glad he knew it. Hopes rose for Nong Sa-un's recovery. But the leader's response was lackluster.
"Forget it. Go home. I've sworn never to use Returning Origin Technique."
The leader stood. Do Cheon frowned at the dismissal but didn't give up. Couldn't abandon his junior like this, and he had a strong card.
"If you're really the Gangsi Hall Leader, you'll take my deal."
"Bullshit."
"That zombie in the main sect forces any deal on you."
"Gonna say it uses martial arts again?"
"That zombie is the Wise King, Generation's Heavenly Demon's confidant."
"...!"
The leader's thoughts froze.
Iron Lion Sect.
As always, Sect Leader Sa Jung-gyeong went for a walk with Yeop Mun-wi after lunch. After half a shichen, they'd head to the training hall to ponder the sect's ultimate arts—daily routine.
But the last few days, one more joined: guardian Ong Jung-seo. The three strolled the grounds, chatting amiably. The fun topic was Ong Jung-seo's thieving exploits around the world. Today, before he could speak, Steward Seo approached.
"What is it?"
Sa Jung-gyeong asked.
"Merchants from the bustling streets in town are crowding the gate, demanding to see you, Sect Leader."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Seems related to that street revitalization project on the road in front of the sect."
"...!"
He'd heard about it but paid no mind. Obsessed with studying ancestors' arts. Plus, trusted disciple Do Cheon would handle it.
"Tricky."
"Yeah. Not a matter for force..."
Ong Jung-seo looked troubled too. Then Man Gwa-hae shuffled up hesitantly.
"Gang Leader Man, what's up? Something to say?"
Sa Jung-gyeong spotted him and asked. Man Gwa-hae seized the chance, bowed low.
"Just send them to me."
"Can't to the head of Sky-Spanning Gang. But what is it?"
"Those people gathered now."
"...?"
"Leave it to me? No force needed, as Guardian said, and it's my project."
Man Gwa-hae bowed deeply. Sa Jung-gyeong recalled Do Cheon's words.
- I left the road project to Gang Leader Man. Expert in that, great business sense. Any issues there, hear his view.
What Do Cheon said when unsure. Sa Jung-gyeong straightened.
"Let's go together. Since Cheon entrusted it to you, I trust you'll resolve it well."
"Thank you."
Man Gwa-hae bowed again and followed after Sa Jung-gyeong, who led the way.