Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Winning a Fight and Surviving Are Different
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Winning a fight and surviving are different.
The three of them arrived at the Great Sand Dunes two days later.
"They're coming."
A lookout spotted the trio and shouted. The scattered members gathered at the edge. Soon, the three stepped up to where the group was staying.
"Welcome back. No injuries, I see."
Seo Pung smiled at Ak Muyoo.
"What about the enemy?"
Dong Pung asked.
"They won't be attacking us anymore."
"Did you wipe them all out?"
"Yeah."
"Just the two of you?"
"You can't call yourself a host if you let intruders into your bedroom get away."
"Monsters."
Dong Pung clicked his tongue.
"What about Hwangbo Seung?"
Nam Pung asked.
"Dead. Along with his father."
"So now it's just Life-Death Society assassins left?"
"For the time being. But they'll keep coming."
"Figured as much."
Nam Pung nodded.
"But who's this?"
Seo Pung eyed Sun Woo Chang Cheon.
"Let me introduce him. This is Leader Sun Woo Chang Cheon of the Boundless Heaven Squad, a great hero."
"Whoa! A big shot's here."
Dong Pung's group was stunned. While others might not know Sun Woo Chang Cheon well, those in the martial world like them certainly did.
"Aren't you Young Master Bukgung?"
Sun Woo Chang Cheon, who had been quietly observing Dong Pung's group, fixed his gaze on Nam Pung and asked.
"You remember. It's been a while."
Nam Pung clasped his hands in greeting toward Sun Woo Chang Cheon.
"You've been in the military all this time?"
"Yes."
"I see."
Sun Woo Chang Cheon nodded.
"Tell us about it."
Ak Muyoo headed toward the members.
"Good work."
So Pung approached and said.
"How's your martial arts?"
"Wanna see?"
"Show me."
Flash!
No sooner had Ak Muyoo replied than So Pung unleashed Flying Heaven Void Step. His movements were incredible. Soon, a saber aura swirled around So Pung. The technique he had learned was the Moon Shadow Demon Saber Style. So Pung darted east, then west in flashes, wielding his saber light. Ak Muyoo's guess that they were geniuses proved right. Lacking only inner energy, So Pung executed the Moon Shadow Demon Saber Style perfectly.
"It's on another level from when I do it."
Ak Muyoo murmured softly.
"What?"
Ara, who had snuck up, asked.
"Flying Heaven Void Step—it's my technique."
"Lightness skill?"
"Yeah."
"You don't get it, huh?"
"Get what?"
"Your lightness skill is way better than theirs."
"..."
"No joke. Yours is three or four levels higher."
"Why?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Why would mine be better when I have zero inner energy?"
"How should I know? Maybe it's your superhuman strength... no, your transcendent power."
"No way."
"Anyway, no need to feel down. More importantly, didn't you say you'd just lure them into the desert and come back?"
That was why she hadn't followed. At the start, Ak Muyoo planned to draw the enemy deep into the desert, wait for them to tire, then wipe them out in one go.
But the two had returned after eliminating them all.
"Yo Pung's old haunt was a total fortress. We lured them underground and took them out slowly."
"Next time, we go together."
"Got it."
So Pung returned then.
"Are the others on your level too?"
"I'm the weakest."
"Feels that way to me too."
He said it casually, but he'd probably trained the hardest in the group. You could tell just from how he'd mastered Flying Heaven Void Step in days.
"Heading out tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Spread the word. And there's tons of food on the camels below. Let's have a feast tonight."
"Got it."
So Pung relayed Ak Muyoo's orders and headed down the dune with the members.
They checked the camel loads.
"This'll get us to the Central Plains."
So Pung grinned wide.
The camels carried massive supplies. Mostly food, but also water, windproof gear, and even yurts for sleeping.
It seemed like a ton to So Pung, but since Hwangbo Seung had prepared for five hundred men, it was bound to be plentiful.
"Booze too."
Dae Pung said.
"Central Plains liquor?"
"Let's have a drink tonight."
So Pung swallowed hard.
He hadn't touched Central Plains liquor once in the army. Constantly chugging sour mare's milk wine, he'd nearly forgotten the taste.
After checking all the loads, they grabbed food and booze and headed back up.
"Anyone know what this is?"
So Pung held up a liquor jar and yelled.
"Is that booze?"
One member asked.
"Nope."
"Then what?"
"Paradise Juice."
"Hahaha! The kid's got it."
"Everyone, prep for the feast!"
"Yaaaaay!"
"Wooo!"
The members cheered wildly.
"Boss."
So Pung called to Ak Muyoo.
"Yeah."
"Let's get some meat."
"Meat? With booze, jerky won't cut it. Handle it."
"Let's hunt meat!"
Over a dozen dashed down. Half a shichen later, a drinking party unfolded before the cave.
No tables—just squatting on the ground with meat and booze—but the vibe beat any banquet hall.
The members laughed and drained their cups merrily.
"To the fallen brothers—cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"To us survivors—cheers!"
"Cheers!"
The toasts kept coming. After over a shichen of eating, drinking, and chatter, they trickled into the cave one by one. Soon, only the Eighteen-Man Squad and Dong Pung's group remained.
"Boss."
So Pung called Ak Muyoo.
"Yeah."
"Got a place to go back to?"
"Of course."
"No home, but plenty of places to crash. What about you, So Pung?"
"Well..."
So Pung trailed off.
"Didn't you say you had family and kids?"
"Y-yeah."
"Go see them. Be nice if you could collect a paycheck, but that's tough."
"Surviving's blessing enough."
"True."
Ak Muyoo nodded.
"Hit the sack."
"Gotta rest up—hard days ahead tomorrow."
"You too."
So Pung's group entered the cave.
"I'm Jung Gwang, from Shaolin Temple."
Dong Pung said out of the blue.
Ak Muyoo turned to him.
"Wanted to tell you."
"What's your job now?"
"Fake monk."
"Age?"
"Thirty-five."
"Not three hundred fifty, thirty-five?"
"Hey, kid! I just look older."
"No amount of weathering makes that thirty-five. Don't scam me, punk."
"Have some faith, punk."
"Then you know Cheon Heo?"
"How do you know Cheon Heo?"
"Saw him at the old Absolute Six Heavens ruins."
"You went there too?"
"I've got connections everywhere. Anyway, knowing that jerk Cheon Heo checks out."
"I bolted from Shaolin because of him."
"Jealous of his genius, huh."
"Heh."
Dong Pung chuckled.
"That guy's the Latent Dragon Ascension Society leader? You knew?"
"First I've heard."
Dong Pung's face twisted.
"As society leader, he's got a lock on one of the Ten Heavens' throne spots too?"
"Best positioned."
Seo Pung answered.
"Tch."
Ak Muyoo tsked.
"Why?"
"A guy that amazing—you gotta get used to it."
"Get used to it how?"
Seo Pung asked.
"Accept it. He's a genius, so he's naturally better than me—that's owning it."
"..."
Dong Pung stared at Ak Muyoo silently.
"'That easy, huh?' says your face."
"That easy, huh?"
Dong Pung echoed exactly.
"It's just facing facts—what's hard?"
"Admit that, and I'm a loser. Not just any loser—a lifelong one."
"I accepted having no dantian the second I knew."
"Zero versus a little short ain't the same."
"Sure, different. 'He's just a bit ahead—if I push harder, I can catch up. He's only better 'cause of his master; without that, he's nothing.' You can't accept if you're stuck thinking that. But no acceptance, no progress."
"Then what after accepting?"
Seo Pung, listening, asked.
"You know, so why ask."
"I don't."
"For real?"
"That's why I'm here."
"Didn't come to find another path?"
"So you're saying find another path, boss?"
Nam Pung asked.
"You've already found a new one, far as I see."
"What bullshit."
Dong Pung snorted.
"Dong Pung, you think you'd beat Cheon Heo? Lose?"
"I'd lose for sure."
Dong Pung stated flatly.
"In a no-kill spar, maybe."
"Real deathmatch is different?"
"Wind Lord Jeok Yeom-cheon, Black Wind Death Venerable Pa Rab, Red Wolf Adalta—if I fought them, who wins?"
"Jeok Yeom-cheon and Pa Rab are two of the Desert Ten Heroes; Adalta matches them. You couldn't last one exchange."
Seo Pung said firmly.
"I fought those three and I'm still breathing."
"For real?"
Dong Pung asked.
"Why lie about that?"
"How'd you win?"
"I said I'm alive—not that I won."
"That's the difference between sparring and fighting."
"Right. Every fight, I stake my life. Not always by choice. When I face someone, I end up staking it whether I want to or not. 'Cause most warriors in this world aren't weaker than me. But being forced to stake your life by the enemy versus choosing to—different."
"How?"
Seo Pung asked.
"Know what I did first when I hit the battlefield?"
"No clue."
"Memorized body parts I could lose a blade to and not die. Lose an eye? Survivable. Both ears? Fine. One arm? Manageable. No legs? Can't walk easy, but alive. Gut stab? Stop the bleed, live. I run that through my head charging in. Then in a fight, when unavoidable, I offer that spot. Foes relax when their weapon hits. Short window, but it's my chance. I stab my weapon into their spots—not the ones I memorized as survivable."
"..."
The five stared at Ak Muyoo blankly.
It wasn't just them. Sun Woo Chang Cheon, who'd overheard, gaped speechlessly at him.
"That's acceptance. Not wallowing in loser vibes—finding another way. Can't guarantee it's right. But you gotta walk the uncertain path anyway. Bedtime."
Ak Muyoo stood.
"Kid's got reasons for being boss."
Dong Pung nodded quietly.