Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: There Is Something That Must Be Done, Even If It Means Death
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There is something that must be done. Even if it means dying.
Ak Muyoo thrust his right arm forward and placed his left arm below his waist. He stretched both legs back and lifted his hips. His posture resembled a wolf poised to lunge at its prey right before the pounce.
As Ak Muyoo got down on his belly, Zabujongdo bristled its fur and growled at Parap.
The distance between them was merely one and a half zhang.
“Who the hell are you to keep interfering in my business?”
Parap glared at Ak Muyoo and said.
“You should’ve been satisfied with getting the Wind Killing Family’s technique. If you had, none of this would’ve happened. And you did something no martial artist should ever do. Martial artists killing and fighting each other? I don’t care about that. That’s just how those bastards are. But you don’t touch the common folk. You weren’t supposed to attack the Chacha Kingdom.”
“Did you kill Jeok Yeom-cheon?”
Parap’s eyes widened.
Pa-at!
Ak Muyoo kicked off the ground with both hands and feet at the same time. His form shot forward at a terrifying speed.
“Cha-ha!”
As if he had been waiting, Parap swung his saber.
It would’ve been nice to have the Black Dragon Demon Spear, but even without it, it didn’t matter. The saber infused with blade energy flew toward Ak Muyoo’s torso.
“Cha-ha!”
With a shout, Ak Muyoo swung both arms simultaneously. The Fear Demon on his left blocked Parap’s saber, while the Fear Demon on his right grazed past Parap’s left neck.
Kwa-ang!
Parap’s saber struck the Fear Demon away. Ak Muyoo’s left arm snapped back violently.
U-duk!
A strange sound leaked from his shoulder. It was similar to the sound of a bone breaking. As his left arm bent at an impossible angle, his left neck was left wide open. Parap swung his saber toward Ak Muyoo’s exposed neck.
Keu-rang!
A roar erupted, followed by excruciating pain surging from his thigh.
“Euk!”
Parap’s body flinched, and his stance wavered slightly. It was an extremely brief moment, less than a second, but that instant decided the fight. If Parap hadn’t flinched, Ak Muyoo’s neck might have been severed, ending in Parap’s victory.
The Fear Demon that had just passed by Parap’s neck swung back and sliced across it.
The moment Parap’s head was severed, his saber struck Ak Muyoo’s neck. If there had been enough pulling force, the carotid artery would’ve been cut, but with his head lifted, it only gouged in.
Ak Muyoo collapsed with a thud.
“Muyoo!”
Ara rushed to Ak Muyoo’s side.
Kyung!
Zabujongdo approached as well. It immediately began licking Ak Muyoo’s wound.
“Are you okay?”
Ara asked.
“Put my left arm back in.”
“Why’s your arm like that?”
“It’s dislocated.”
“How do I do it?”
“Push hard while it’s straight.”
“Got it.”
Ara did as instructed. Soon, Ak Muyoo’s arm returned to normal.
“How’s the wound?”
“This is nothing.”
“What’s Zabujongdo doing right now?”
“My blood must taste good.”
“It’s drinking your blood?”
“This guy seems to have figured out that it gets stronger by drinking my blood.”
“So it recovered earlier after drinking your blood?”
“Yeah.”
“…….”
“I told you. It picked up three inner cores.”
“So the inner core energy is still in your blood?”
“Seems like it.”
“Let’s stop the bleeding.”
Ara tore her clothes and wrapped Ak Muyoo’s neck. Ak Muyoo stood up, picked up Parap’s head, and looked around. With Parap dead, the Black Dragon Temple collapsed rapidly.
That was when Sun Woo Chang Cheon approached the group.
“Thank you for your help.”
Sun Woo Chang Cheon clasped his hands toward Ak Muyoo’s group.
“No need to thank us. We have to help each other to survive…….”
Ara, who had been smiling faintly as she spoke, trailed off. She had spotted a nun approaching them. It was Geumjeong Sinni, her master whom she had spent twenty years with.
“It really is Buljeong.”
Geumjeong Sinni’s legs gave out, and she sank to the ground.
“Master.”
Ara went before Buljeong and slowly bowed.
“It really is you. It really was you.”
Geumjeong Sinni muttered in a dazed expression.
“I hope you’ve been well all this time.”
“I’ve been the same as always, but you…….”
“I’ve been doing well too. I’ve made a lot of friends.”
Ak Muyoo, who had been watching the two, moved to inspect the temple.
“I am Sun Woo Chang Cheon, the leader of the Boundless Heaven Squad of Boundless Heaven.”
Sun Woo Chang Cheon introduced himself.
“Black Wind.”
“You shouldn’t use that name.”
We, who had been watching them, spoke up.
Ak Muyoo turned his head.
“There’s a bounty of two hundred thousand nyang on the head of Wind Platoon Leader Black Wind.”
“That bastard doesn’t even pay his salary…… Anyway, beggar girl, can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Could someone like a beggar girl throw away a name they’ve used for ten years?”
“You were in the warzone for ten years?”
“Surprising, huh?”
“What?”
“Nothing but crap. How a guy with jack shit has survived this long. Damn! Beggar girl’s got nothing too. No, she has internal energy, so she’s better off than me…… Way better.”
“…….”
Our eyes widened in shock.
To summarize what Ak Muyoo just said, he had no internal energy. It was unbelievable, but if true, it was shocking.
“Um, you said you were in the Wind Platoon for ten years?”
Ja Ryu-ha looked at Ak Muyoo and asked.
“……Ominous.”
Ak Muyoo, staring silently at Ja Ryu-ha, muttered.
“What’s ominous?”
“Nothing. Go ahead.”
“Do you happen to know someone named Yeong Ho Jin-cheon?”
“Damn it.”
Ak Muyoo unwittingly cursed.
“So you do know him.”
Ja Ryu-ha looked at Ak Muyoo with eager anticipation.
“…….”
—Want me to pass it on?
—What should I say?
—Just say he’s dead.
—Do you know how hard it is to say that?
—I’ll pass it on too.
—I only have that one guy, and I don’t know where he is.
—Who is that guy?
—My dad.
—Didn’t you say you had a master?
—He left.
—Then I’ll shout it to the heavens. ‘Ak Muyoo’s dead, so that’s that!’
—That’s a good idea.
—You gonna do it?
—Just don’t die, you punk.
But he really died.
The one who cut off Gongpung’s neck wore a mask made from a wolf’s head, so I don’t know his face. But I clearly remember the weapon. It had a red wolf head at the end of the hilt. Over the years, I’ve relentlessly searched for that saber. But I never saw it even once.
“I’ll look around here a bit.”
Ak Muyoo raised his head and left the spot.
Ja Ryu-ha stared at Ak Muyoo with a blank face. She followed after him.
“Hey, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Seo Haran.”
“Fire Dragon?”
We looked at Seo Haran in surprise.
“Oh? You know me?”
“You’re the top late-stage expert in the Border Wastelands. How could we not?”
“Aigoo! Just the Border Wastelands?”
“Yes?”
“It’d be better if it was both the Border Wastelands and the Central Plains.”
“……That’s absolutely not happening.”
“Why not?”
“Then I’d look shabby.”
“Pfft!”
“But who’s this…….”
“I’m Muk Bu-seong. Nice to meet you.”
Muk Bu-seong clasped his hands toward us.
“I figured it was the Sea Dragon, but it really is. Still…….”
“You’re wondering why we’re hanging around with a dimwit like Black Wind?”
“I’m not sure if he’s dim or not, but you don’t seem to match. No offense, but Black Wind was an Imperial Army general, and you’re Border Wastelands folk.”
“We Border Wastelands people didn’t put a bounty on that guy.”
“……Hohoho! You got me there.”
We burst into laughter.
“The first time we met that guy, he was with Ara girl. Ara girl was covered in wounds everywhere, and he was treating her.”
“I see.”
We nodded and looked at Ak Muyoo. He was inspecting something, and Ja Ryu-ha was silently following.
“That woman seems to have a complicated story.”
“The man she loves joined the Wind Platoon.”
“Why would he go to the desert leaving such a pretty woman behind?”
“It wasn’t because of a woman.”
“Every family has its problems. So what kind of man was he?”
“He was amazing with a bow.”
“That guy’s a demon with a bow too…….”
“That’s why Ja girl is following him. You can’t master mounted archery alone.”
At that moment, Ak Muyoo sat down at the end of the temple. It was a spot facing the sun directly.
“We never talked much about personal stuff.”
Ak Muyoo opened his mouth while gazing at the sun.
“If we get close, I’d have to ask about friends every morning, and that’s hard to bear. So we don’t even tell real names and just call each other ‘whatever Wind.’”
“So that’s how the nickname Black Wind came about?”
“It’s not a nickname; it’s a moniker.”
“…….”
“I approached that guy first. Not because I was drawn to him personally, but because I wanted to learn his archery. For someone without internal energy like me, the warzone is a place where you need to master many martial arts to survive.”
“…….”
“Five years ago, that day was just as nice as today. We mobilized after hearing we found the Blood Wolf Clan’s base. Of course, the one who ordered the mobilization was Ju Jang-cheol. We advanced to a spot surrounded by four valleys, but it wasn’t their base—it was a trap. That guy was leading the Wind Platoon then. Seven thousand Wind Platoon members died in that battle, and his name went on the list of the fallen.”
Ak Muyoo pulled something out from his bosom, wrapped tightly in oilcloth, and held it out.
Ja Ryu-ha looked at Ak Muyoo.
“We promised that if one of us died, we’d deliver the other’s belongings. I was originally going to take this and other things back home, but it looks like you’re the owner.”
Ja Ryu-ha carefully unfolded the cloth. Inside was a single ring. A somewhat crudely made gold ring.
“Heuk!”
Tears flowed from Ja Ryu-ha’s eyes.
Ak Muyoo silently watched her for a moment, then stood up.
He scanned the surroundings again.
“As expected…….”
He went to the wall and nodded.
There was a sun-shaped drawing on the wall, with a small hole in the center. He peered through the hole. The wall was about one chi thick, and the hole was drilled at an angle. Looking outside through it, he saw lush grass.
At that moment, a group entered the temple. They wore wolf pelts with heads attached.
“Great Desert Wolf Heaven.”
Ak Muyoo muttered lowly. The ones he had fought for years.
Geu-reung!
Zabujongdo growled lowly, sensing the hostility emanating from Ak Muyoo’s body.
“Enough, you punk. The war’s been over for ages…….”
Keu-aaang!
Zabujongdo roared even louder, unleashing its killing intent. The people inside the temple all turned their heads toward Ak Muyoo at once.
“Huh?”
Ara, who had been talking with Geumjeong Sinni, was startled. A chilling killing intent was flowing from Ak Muyoo’s body. It was the phenomenon of the Beast Blood Demon Art combined with his innate killing intent. But the killing intent soon subsided. And it wasn’t just Ak Muyoo emitting it. Ageukta was also glaring at the newcomers and radiating hostility.
—Is Adalta among them?
Ara sent a transmission to Seo Haran.
—The saber with the red wolf head is the Red Wolf Demon Blade, Adalta’s unique weapon.
—I see.
Ara nodded.
Those inside looked at the Great Desert Wolf Heaven martial artists with tense faces.
“What’s here?”
Ak Muyoo muttered lowly as he looked around.
‘There it is.’
His eyes widened slightly.
Behind where Sun Woo Chang Cheon’s group was, there was an entrance leading downward. They must have fought over that entrance between the Boundless Heaven Squad and the Black Dragon Temple.
If they were the same Border Wastelands or Central Plains folk, they might’ve consulted and entered together, but the two sides were mortal enemies. Probably a trivial matter sparked a fight that escalated into full war.
“That’s war for you. No war ever starts with a grand cause.”
Ak Muyoo sat down. Zabujongdo rested its head on his thigh and lay down.
The number of Great Desert Wolf Heaven martial artists was around five hundred.
“That bastard looks like the Great Desert Wolf Heaven leader. Can I take him out with my skills?”
Kyung!
“Dream on? Yeah, probably. But…….”
Ak Muyoo brushed off his rear and stood.
“A man has something he must do. Even if it means dying to accomplish it.”
Ak Muyoo stared intently at Adalta.