Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Genius Dandy of the Heavenly Dance Family
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The second duel concluded with Jin Guk lying unconscious in a corner of the training grounds, and Un-pyo standing before him, his greatsword resting on his shoulder.
Unlike the first duel, Jin Guk was a battered mess, while Un-pyo was completely unscathed.
"Such a nobody, getting cocky."
The crowd wasn't as shocked as they had been with Pa-sun and Ho-ryang, but they were truly impressed by Un-pyo's skill.
And all the astonishment and admiration from watching Pa-sun and Un-pyo's duels were directed toward one person.
The Fourth Young Master of the Heavenly Dance Family.
Baek Mu-heun.
The Azure Dragon Unit's Vice-Commander, Cheon Gi-seom, couldn't hide his shock either. He was certain he had seen Un-pyo before. But his talent had not been this remarkable.
While Pa-sun might have been a truly gifted martial artist, he had thought Un-pyo, though an excellent warrior, would be on par with Jin Guk... The result was an overwhelming victory.
"Th-This duel is Un-pyo's victory."
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Gasps erupted from the audience, and cheers echoed through the grounds.
"That was incredible!"
"That powerful man from Blade Leaf Valley follows the Fourth Young Master, right? Right?!"
The spectators roared with excitement after watching the duel between Un-pyo and Jin Guk.
Cheon Ga-rak, the Commander of the Azure Dragon Unit, who had been watching the duels, threw his hands up in surrender.
‘Fourth Young Master...! Just who in the world are you...’
In contrast, the mood within the Azure Dragon Unit was utterly grim.
And for good reason. It was the Azure Dragon Unit's duty to protect the Heavenly Dance Family. That was why they were stationed here, telling the people of the family to trust only in them.
Of course, neither the Commander, the Vice-Commander, nor the veteran unit leaders over the age of thirty had stepped forward themselves, but two defeats were still a bitter pill to swallow.
Worse yet, the last one remaining was Baek Mu-heun, called the lord of the powerful Un-pyo and Pa-sun. Tales of his heroism in Blade Leaf Valley were already well-known even within the Azure Dragon Unit.
And the one facing him was Seo Bong, a rookie who had only recently joined the unit.
There was no way Seo Bong could defeat a man so renowned for his strength.
If so, it would ultimately be a complete 3-0 defeat.
Whether he was aware of his subordinates' gloomy feelings or not, Vice-Commander Cheon Gi-seom shouted with little change in his expression.
"Then, we will begin the next duel immediately. Fourth Young Master Baek Mu-heun of the Heavenly Dance Family and Seo Bong of the Azure Dragon Unit, please come up to the training grounds."
Mu-heun and Seo Bong ascended to the stage.
Vice-Commander Cheon Gi-seom couldn't hide his confusion. It was clear that Pa-sun and Un-pyo followed the Fourth Young Master, Baek Mu-heun.
If that was the case, his martial prowess should be far above average, yet for some reason, he was set to fight not even a unit leader, but the most unremarkable member of the Azure Dragon Unit.
‘I will follow the Azure Dragon Commander's orders, but with Seo Bong as his opponent, I won't be able to gauge the Fourth Young Master's true skill.’
Cheon Gi-seom approached Mu-heun and spoke softly, so only the two of them could hear.
"Fourth Young Master. If your martial skill surpasses that of Pa-sun and Un-pyo, I can change your opponent even now. Would you be willing?"
Hearing this, Mu-heun looked at Cheon Gi-seom with a genuinely bewildered expression.
"Excuse me? Me? Why? My current opponent is perfect. I specifically asked the Commander to find someone I could somehow manage to beat. Phew, that's out of the question."
"......"
Cheon Gi-seom was once again taken aback.
‘Was this the kind of man he was...? Then why is he participating in the Divine Dragon Assembly?’
"I understand. Then, let the duel begin."
"Yes!"
Mu-heun and Seo Bong stood facing each other. Seo Bong looked incredibly tense after watching the previous two matches.
"You're Seo Bong, correct? Don't be nervous, let's have a good match."
"Ah, yes."
As their exchange ended, Cheon Gi-seom shouted.
"Then, we will now begin the duel between the Heavenly Dance Family's Fourth Young Master, Baek Mu-heun, and Seo Bong!"
Boom!
The drumbeat signaling the final duel resounded.
Th-th-th-thump.
The moment the drum sounded, Seo Bong charged at Mu-heun. Mu-heun studied Seo Bong's expression as he rushed forward.
‘Oh? Look at this guy.’
A firm resolve.
Seo Bong had made a solemn vow before the duel.
‘I will go out there and give it my all.’
The previous two duels had clearly been on a level far beyond what Seo Bong could ever hope to reach.
And the opponent now standing before him was the lord of the very warriors who had won those duels.
‘There's no chance I can win. However, as one who has chosen the path of a warrior, I would rather fight to the death than show a disgraceful display of fear!’
Mu-heun looked at Seo Bong with a new sense of appreciation.
‘Those aren't the eyes of someone full of bravado.’
In the brief moment Seo Bong charged, the emotion revealed in his expression was... desperation.
‘Beneath the courage and resolve is definitely desperation.’
Just as Seo Bong reached Mu-heun and swung his sword diagonally.
"U-Ugh!"
Mu-heun dodged the attack by pretending to be startled and falling backward.
"Huh?"
Seo Bong and everyone watching the duel was stunned.
Except, of course, for Pa-sun, Un-pyo, the three other young masters, and the Azure Dragon Commander Cheon Ga-rak, who had witnessed his terrifying power firsthand.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd, and Azure Dragon Commander Cheon Ga-rak laughed at the sight of Mu-heun's unsightly fall.
"Hahaha, so that's his plan."
The Heavenly Dance Family Head, Baek Gun-hak, also smiled.
He had seen the Demon Sealing Paper on Baek Mu-heun's wrist.
‘He intends to hide his power.’
Meanwhile, Seo Bong was greatly flustered by Mu-heun's unexpected display of cowardice, but he quickly remembered his original goal.
‘Get a grip. My opponent's strength doesn't matter. What matters is whether I can pour everything I have into this fight.’
"Haaap!"
Seo Bong raised his sword again and brought it down on Mu-heun.
"Hiiiek!"
Twirl.
Mu-heun rolled away to dodge, and Seo Bong, determined not to lose him, swung the descending sword horizontally.
"Hiiiek!"
Mu-heun comically and narrowly avoided Seo Bong's relentless sword strikes.
Seo Bong pursued him, swinging his sword with all his might.
Clang!
Clang!
Thwack!
But all his strikes hit empty air.
Just then.
Seo Bong varied his sword strikes, throwing a feint. Mu-heun, feigning surprise, dodged the feint, and Seo Bong, not missing the opening, struck Mu-heun with his sword.
Clang!
Mu-heun angled his sword, barely managing to block the strike aimed at his shoulder. Then, pretending to fall, he tripped Seo Bong.
Tripped mid-attack, Seo Bong lost his balance and fell.
Though tripped by Mu-heun's foot, Seo Bong quickly scrambled back up. But in that one moment when he fell, his body blocked the crowd's view of Mu-heun, creating a blind spot.
Mu-heun did not miss that chance.
In that fleeting instant, something glinted from within Mu-heun's sleeve.
As Seo Bong shot back to his feet, ready to attack with fierce momentum, he suddenly coughed violently.
"C-Cough!"
Then he began to stagger. Seeing this, Mu-heun got up and slugged Seo Bong square in the face.
Thwack!
It was a mediocre punch by any standard. Yet, Seo Bong was instantly knocked unconscious and collapsed onto the training ground.
"""!!!"""
Everyone watching the duel was shocked.
"Wh-What just happened?"
"I have no idea."
It all happened so suddenly.
The spectators began to whisper among themselves.
Having been impressed by the martial prowess of Pa-sun and Un-pyo, the audience had been secretly looking forward to Mu-heun's duel.
But Mu-heun's performance was disgraceful from the start,
and its end was simply anticlimactic.
"B-Brother. Wh-What just happened?"
"How should I know?"
Including the young masters of the Heavenly Dance Family, most of the audience couldn't comprehend what had just transpired.
The only ones who understood were the Heavenly Dance Family Head, Baek Gun-hak, the Azure Dragon Commander, Cheon Ga-rak, and Cheon Gi-seom, who was on the stage.
Mu-heun had used a poisoned needle in the instant Seo Bong was falling.
Cheon Gi-seom glanced at Baek Gun-hak and Cheon Ga-rak. He suspected they knew this would happen from the moment the Azure Dragon Commander had designated Seo Bong as the Fourth Young Master's opponent.
As expected, the Family Head and the Azure Dragon Commander nodded at Cheon Gi-seom. After receiving their confirmation, Cheon Gi-seom announced to everyone.
"The winner of this duel is the Fourth Young Master of the Heavenly Dance Family, Baek Mu-heun."
Mu-heun's victory.
But the crowd did not cheer as they had before. Only a few people offered their congratulations to Family Head Baek Gun-hak before departing.
It wasn't a duel that the spectators could acknowledge. In the end, two epithets followed Mu-heun, the victor of the final duel.
The first was the general assessment, as witnessed by most of the audience with their own two eyes.
"The Fourth Young Master of the Heavenly Dance Family lacks martial talent but seems to be blessed with good followers."
The second was a rumor that spread among those with sharper senses.
"The Fourth Young Master of the Heavenly Dance Family may be blessed with good followers, but he is cunning, not hesitating to use despicable tricks like poisoned needles."
When Mu-heun's brothers heard these rumors and came to him for an explanation, he simply grinned and said they would understand everything later.
The rumors gradually spread, carried by gossips, and as Mu-heun watched them circulate, he thought.
‘All according to plan.’
The smokescreen operation of a fox borrowing a tiger's might was a success.
‘I've hidden my cards well enough. All that's left is to use the Thousand-Mile Subtle Fragrance Tracking Art to search for the enemy. Yes, for now, mock me and let your guard down as much as you like.’
***
-Office of the Sichuan Tang Clan Head
"W-When we went to investigate, the original master of Blade Leaf Valley, the Blade Leaf Demon, was alive and well, and the Golden Fang Poison Claw was nowhere to be found."
"...What did you say?"
The face of the Sichuan Tang Clan's Head, Dang Baek-ho, contorted.
The Golden Fang Poison Claw had been reporting his progress in Blade Leaf Valley to Dang Baek-ho periodically. But at some point, the contact had ceased. To confirm the situation, he had sent his men to Blade Leaf Valley, only to hear that the Blade Leaf Demon, who was supposed to be on the verge of death, was perfectly fine, and the Golden Fang Poison Claw had vanished.
Dang Baek-ho, who had expected to have the fruit of the Myriad Fragrance Blood Jade Tree in his hands by now, let out a hollow laugh.
‘The Golden Fang Poison Claw would never have given me a false report. Does that mean the Red Demon Pavilion Lord betrayed me?’
The Red Demon Pavilion Lord was a greedy and cunning man. Thanks to him handling the trade with the Sichuan region for the Demonic Cult, it had been easy to set things in motion together. For him to betray them?
Unlikely.
If the Red Demon Pavilion Lord had betrayed him, he would have wiped out Blade Leaf Valley to erase the evidence. The Blade Leaf Demon being alive made no sense. It was an undeniable fact that the Demonic Cult had joined hands with the Tang Clan to trap Blade Leaf Valley.
This meant there must have been a third party's intervention.
Someone must have discovered that the Red Demon Pavilion Lord was colluding with the Golden Fang Poison Claw to trap the Blade Leaf Demon, and the plan had gone awry.
‘Red Demon Pavilion Lord... Is this how you handle things?’
The important questions now were who from the Demonic Cult had interfered, and how much they knew. Did they also know about the existence of the Myriad Fragrance Blood Jade Tree's fruit?
Could the Golden Fang Poison Claw have revealed their true objective?
No, the Golden Fang Poison Claw would have died before doing such a thing. He was, after all, one of the Tang Clan's three hidden weapons.
This meant that the Myriad Fragrance Blood Jade Tree's fruit could have been taken by someone from the Demonic Cult, or it could still be in Blade Leaf Valley.
That was a relief.
It was a painful loss not to have obtained the fruit immediately, but he could still find it. For now, however, he had too little information.
‘I have no choice. I'll have to pressure the Demonic Cult and find out the Red Demon Pavilion Lord's status first.’
Dang Baek-ho devised a scheme with a sinister smile. He summoned his subordinates who were waiting outside and said.
"Immediately deploy our forces and surround the Demonic Cult's secret branches in Sichuan."
"Yes, sir!"
Even so, the Demonic Cult was a powerful organization. The Tang Clan couldn't oppose them with their strength alone, and even if they could, confronting them single-handedly was something only a fool would do.
"Inform the Qingcheng, Emei, Kongtong, and Kunlun sects, as well as the other clans near Xinjiang, that the Demonic Cult has kidnapped the Sichuan Tang Clan's Divine Doctor, Baek Jung-hyeok, and the Golden Fang Poison Claw, and request their cooperation."
"As you command!"
"In the name of the Orthodox Sects, we will trap those Demonic Cult bastards in the Heavenly Mountains."