Chapter 32
Chapter 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Western Duo (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Seo-ran and Geum Yeongyeong shared one glaring flaw: their impulsiveness stirred up no end of trouble.
Their common strength was that they never caused disasters beyond their ability to handle, and they apologized promptly.
The two of them bent at the waist, their backs folding low.
Fortunately, Investigator Jong was a man of extraordinary character.
He readily forgave the fresh-faced young duo who had barged in and accused him of being a bandit.
In truth, the fact that the misunderstanding had cleared up quickly without any blood being shed played a major role.
The three cultivators exchanged awkward words.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could we hear a bit about the Three Rings Sect?”
When Seo-ran asked, Investigator Jong replied.
“Well, I’m not sure if it’s the kind of information you’re after. It’s already been two years since I left the Three Rings Sect. Honestly, you all probably know more recent details than I do.”
Seo-ran briefly recounted the raid incident.
A logistics hub, three hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, vanished cargo.
Even hearing that the Three Rings Sect had completely collapsed didn’t shock Investigator Jong much.
He spoke in a nonchalant tone.
“I see. So the Three Rings Sect’s history ends like this.”
Geum Yeongyeong asked.
“You don’t seem surprised.”
“Honestly, it feels like it was bound to happen someday. The civil war killed countless cultivators and turned them all into bitter enemies. The last new disciples joined decades ago.”
“Was the situation that bad?”
Investigator Jong nodded at Seo-ran’s question.
“Yes, they were no different from rats fleeing a sinking ship. Some fled with treasures in hand, others killed their grudge-holders before running. Distrust reigned, and everyone turned selfish.
Truth be told, the leadership was at fault too. Facing hardship, they pushed overly discriminatory policies. Telling cultivators with worse spirit root talents than Triple Roots that they’d receive zero cultivation resources—how does that even make sense?
Even if focus and selection were needed, providing minimal support to the rest is the righteous way. That policy was basically saying they’d exploit poor-talented cultivators like livestock and discard them. I understand the desperation, but it was an utterly disastrous move.”
The two biggest beneficiaries of spirit root discrimination policies flinched.
Frankly, Seo-ran and Geum Yeongyeong were experts at gnawing away at their own sect’s foundations.
To exaggerate slightly, the spirit stones and pills they’d swallowed as Single and Dual Spirit Root holders could easily form a hill.
The two, feeling the sting, denied it vehemently.
“That’s outrageous! Are Quadruple Root holders not even human?!”
“Exactly! People aren’t oil-squeezing beans!”
Investigator Jong, who had brought it up first, was startled by their fierce reaction.
Seo-ran swiftly changed the uncomfortable subject.
“So, did you leave the Three Rings Sect because of the discrimination policy too, Investigator Jong?”
He shook his head.
“No, I stayed a few more years.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, you look young. Must be because of your excellent spirit root talent?”
“I’m a Five Spirit Root holder. It took me about a century to reach Foundation Establishment. My youthful looks are just a family trait.”
Seo-ran and Geum Yeongyeong were stunned.
They’d never been so shocked since the day hair grew on their heads.
Investigator Jong was a rare handsome middle-aged man.
That face belonged to a hundred-year-old grandpa?
Even being generous, he looked in his forties or fifties?
Had he plucked and eaten an immortality peach or something?
Sturdy build, stunning looks, and eternally youthful.
The textbook definition of someone the world revolved around.
Someone like this should pay five times the taxes.
For a moment, Seo-ran felt at ease.
Her conscience’s triangular torment had stopped spinning.
She wasn’t the only one without a shred of it.
Then Geum Yeongyeong, sensing something off, asked.
“Huh? Then why stay those extra years? If you wanted to leave, you could’ve fled much earlier. Was there some special circumstance?”
Investigator Jong shook his head.
“Nothing like that. I just hoped the leadership would soon admit their mistake and reverse the decision. In the end, I couldn’t wait and just ran.
Anyway, as you’ve heard, all I have is outdated info. You’d be better off heading to the capital and finding cultivators who stayed with the Three Rings Sect until the bitter end. They’ll know the details.”
“That sounds like the best plan. Thank you for telling us. And we’re truly sorry about earlier.”
Geum Yeongyeong apologized alongside her.
“I was incredibly rude too.”
Investigator Jong replied with a benevolent smile.
“The misunderstanding’s cleared, and no one’s hurt, so it’s fine.”
Truly remarkable character.
Seo-ran probed gently.
“By the way, have you thought about joining another cultivation sect?”
The Black Bamboo Sect’s bylaws allowed external cultivators to join.
All it needed was the applicant’s consent and a guarantor’s endorsement.
Seo-ran didn’t think Investigator Jong would cause issues.
It was an excellent offer, but he shook his head.
“Thank you, but I’ll decline.
Sect infighting kept me from cultivating properly for so long. And with my poor spirit root talent, there’s no hope of Core Formation before my lifespan ends.
I’d rather live as a mortal in a quiet village like this. If possible, I’d like to marry and start a family.”
Geum Yeongyeong’s eyes sparkled.
“Marry? That young lady who was sitting next to you earlier?”
Investigator Jong blushed faintly.
“Mm, it’s embarrassing, but yes, I have feelings for her. Her wrinkle-free demeanor from a harmonious family keeps drawing my eye. And her face is beautiful too, isn’t it?”
He was clearly smitten.
Seo-ran shot to her feet with a bold declaration.
“I have a great idea!”
It was time for Hong Kong kung fu movie fanatic Ryu Seo-ran to step up.
*****
Quite some time had passed since the three entered the shrine.
But inside, all was silent.
It was due to a spell, but the mortals didn’t know that.
The villagers of the Shim clan settlement grew restless.
“What’s going on?”
“Shouldn’t someone check inside?”
Lady Shim, seated next to Great Hero Jong, was already fidgeting anxiously.
Finally, a young man couldn’t bear it and approached the shrine.
But before he could open the door, Seo-ran burst out.
The peculiar part was that she exploded through the door, shattering it.
The startled mortals hurriedly backed away.
In an instant, a ring of onlookers formed an arena.
Geum Yeongyeong soon tumbled into the arena as well.
Seo-ran and Geum Yeongyeong sprang up and assumed stances.
Their two fangtian huaguns pointed toward the shrine’s interior.
Great Hero Jong stepped out, crushing the broken door underfoot.
The spectators held their breath, watching the standoff.
“Ha!”
Seo-ran’s resounding shout was the signal.
The three experts clashed.
A trio with combined martial experience exceeding a century.
Geum Yeongyeong spun her fangtian huagun like a windmill, then swept it sideways.
Great Hero Jong leaped nimbly into the air.
The missed strike pulverized the shrine wall.
Seo-ran’s fangtian huagun thrust like lightning at the airborne Great Hero Jong.
He kicked the shaft, deflecting the tip.
Exchanges flew back and forth in the blink of an eye.
The battle reached a momentary lull.
The clan villagers, witnessing the fierce duel of masters up close, stared with souls half-scared out of their bodies.
Great Hero Jong addressed the two women.
“Must we end this with blood...”
His acting was a bit lacking, but his voice projection was superb.
A deep, resonant timbre echoing in the breathless tension.
And crucially, the speaker was a handsome middle-aged man.
It somehow sounded like the line of a man with a tragic backstory.
The onlookers unconsciously perked up their ears.
He seemed to have an incredible past, even if they couldn’t pinpoint it.
The clan folk began immersing themselves in the scene.
Then Geum Yeongyeong timely dropped the hint.
“Master’s sworn enemy!”
Aha, so he was the sworn enemy of their master.
The story suddenly grew riveting.
The two warriors charged at their nemesis again.
For the record, that was Geum Yeongyeong’s final line.
Her acting was just that abysmal.
Flashy but impractical moves flew everywhere.
To the untrained eye, though, they were no different from divine ultimate techniques.
A collaboration between martial technique expert Geum Yeongyeong and Hong Kong kung fu authority Ryu Seo-ran.
Their goal was audience-friendly action.
Gorgeous yet intuitive, carefully designed so anyone could instantly tell who was attacking and who defending.
Thus, even the clan folk followed every development clearly.
The fangtian huaguns wielded by the two warriors cleaved through everything blocking their path.
Even in perilously close calls that seemed fatal, Great Hero Jong emerged unscathed.
Who the superior fighter was seemed obvious.
Finally, the climax arrived.
The two female warriors flanked Great Hero Jong front and back, unleashing a storm of combo strikes.
Their two fangtian huaguns traced countless trajectories without hindering each other.
They moved as if one person.
But victory belonged to the protagonist.
The two warriors took a flashy counter and rolled across the dirt.
As she tumbled, Seo-ran casually flung off her conical hat.
Even veiled below the chin, anyone could see she was a kingdom-toppling beauty.
Seo-ran gazed at the fallen Geum Yeongyeong and cried out.
“Sister!”
But she didn’t stir.
She looked utterly dead.
Seo-ran spoke with bitter resentment.
“Urk, kill me! I won’t beg for my life from my nemesis!”
Great Hero Jong replied.
“I struck away from vitals. I won’t pursue—take your comrade and go.”
“Why spare us?”
“To honor your master.”
Honor?
The clan folk thought.
“Honor?”
Seo-ran voiced it as representative.
Investigator Jong gazed at the sky with a wistful expression.
“Though fate’s whims dragged us into bloodshed, he too was a fellow hero like me. Thus, the one who saved you is not me, but your master.”
A suitably profound line, open to multilayered interpretations.
Seo-ran alternated glances between Geum Yeongyeong and Investigator Jong.
She visually conveyed inner turmoil through grand, exaggerated gestures.
The clan folk watched with rapt attention, awaiting her choice.
Seo-ran rose limping and glared at Great Hero Jong.
But soon she turned, hoisted the fallen Geum Yeongyeong over her shoulder, gathered her weapon, and limped out of the settlement.
The crowd parted, making way.
Pausing at the gateway, Seo-ran said.
“Thank you for sparing my sister.”
Then the extras exited the stage.
The clan folk turned to the protagonist.
They felt awe not just at his superior skill, but at his mercy in sparing even foes who’d aimed weapons at him.
Lady Shim felt her heart pounding like it might burst.
Great Hero Jong had no choice but to take responsibility and vow a hundred years of harmony.
*****
Seo-ran and Geum Yeongyeong headed for the Yu Nation capital.
They’d gained information, apologized, and even put on a play.
Thanks to it all, their hearts felt truly light.
Investigator Jong, have a beautiful romance.