Chapter 248
Chapter 248
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: Aftermath of the Bandit Raid
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The bandit raid had ended in utter failure.
Thanks to Cheonhwi's exploits, the Bandit Chief was routed and forced to flee with his tail between his legs.
Not only that.
Many bandits couldn't escape death, their corpses strewn across the ground.
The few who managed to survive...
"I surrender!"
"P-Please, spare my life!"
Without exception, they threw themselves to the ground in prostration, desperately begging for mercy.
Those who had tried to flee had been struck by stones hurled by Cheonhwi, leaving them far from unscathed.
Some had lumps on the backs of their heads, while others were covered in bruises on their hips, knees, backs, and limbs.
Cheonhwi looked down at them.
The bandits, meeting his utterly indifferent gaze, were suddenly overcome by a chilling sensation, as if standing on the edge of a blade.
As Cheonhwi withdrew his gaze from the terrified bandits, he turned to Hyeonsang standing beside him.
"So, you're saying we should let these guys live?"
Cheonhwi narrowed his eyes as he asked for confirmation.
No matter how he tried to wrap his head around it, he simply couldn't understand.
Spare the enemy? Why?
Unaware or perhaps uncaring of Cheonhwi's thoughts, Hyeonsang—his face pale from soothing his internal injuries—nodded.
"They've lost the will to fight. Is there any reason to spill more blood?"
A glimmer of hope briefly lit up the bandits' faces at Hyeonsang's words.
But it didn't last.
"Blood's already been spilled, though. What's a few more drops?"
Cheonhwi said flatly.
"Better not to leave any loose ends. Just kill them."
The chilling words drained the color from the bandits' faces once more.
"P-Please, spare us!"
"I'll never set foot on Mount Hua again!"
They looked up at Hyeonsang, their would-be savior, pleading pitifully.
However.
"Silence."
Hyeonsang's tone was ice-cold.
The bandits' faces froze upon seeing the anger in his expression.
"Don't misunderstand. This isn't for your sake—it's for my disciples."
With a cold declaration, Hyeonsang stared straight at the puzzled Cheonhwi and spoke again.
"We are a righteous sect."
Hyeonsang said in a low voice.
He swept his gaze over the Mount Hua disciples receiving treatment and listening intently, then continued.
"I understand your feelings. But if we kill those who kneel and surrender, what sets us apart from them?"
Hyeonsang's eyes grew heavy.
Deep down, he wanted nothing more than to behead every last one of these bandits right then and there.
His injured disciples weren't just one or two.
But he couldn't.
Not if it meant jeopardizing Mount Hua's future.
'This leaves me nothing to say, huh?'
Cheonhwi scratched the back of his head.
Hyeonsang's point was clear. Mount Hua was on the cusp of rising to prominence—why tarnish it with infamy?
There was no need.
On the contrary, showing mercy to invaders who struck first would solidify Mount Hua Sect's position.
"Tch, can't argue with that."
Cheonhwi conceded readily.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and Mount Hua Sect were different.
Their positions, reputations.
And how the world viewed them.
Their responses had to differ accordingly.
Acting as the Cult would turn this place into not Mount Hua Sect, but a branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
"Th-Thank you!"
"Great hero!"
The bandits, their survival assured, wept openly.
Teetering between life and death, they had been drowned in terror.
Now, at the end of that fear, they lived.
But then.
"That doesn't mean we're letting you off scot-free, though."
Cheonhwi emphasized, refusing to yield on this point.
The bandits' faces stiffened.
Hyeonsang nodded silently in agreement.
He turned to his disciples and commanded.
"Cripple their dantians."
The bandits' eyes bulged wide.
The dantian was a martial artist's everything.
And they were to destroy it?
Some nearly jumped up in protest, but held back.
Cheonhwi was glaring at them with murderous eyes, waiting for any excuse.
'No one's resisting? I wanted to make an example out of one...'
Their throats bobbed heavily.
Refusing here meant losing not just their dantian, but their heads.
The bandits meekly bowed their heads.
"Tch, if just one had stepped up, I could've cleaned house..."
Cheonhwi smacked his lips in disappointment, muttering. The bandits shivered down their spines.
Glancing at the flinching bandits, Cheonhwi addressed Hyeonsang.
"Everyone's busy with treatments. Want me to handle the dantians?"
Hyeonsang smiled faintly.
"Go ahead."
The moment Hyeonsang spoke, Cheonhwi sprang into action.
Vanishing from his spot in an instant, he reappeared before the kneeling bandits, kicking their lower dantians viciously with his toes.
Thud! Thud!
"Guh!"
"Kek!"
Muffled explosions accompanied delayed groans echoing continuously.
"And Hyeonyang, Hyeonheo."
"Yes?"
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"Take these to the prison."
Hyeonyang and Hyeonheo nodded and approached the bandits at Hyeonsang's order.
As Hyeonsang watched the bandits being dragged to the prison, he let out a sigh and turned away.
The sun, once high in the midday sky, now hung half-hidden behind the mountain ridge.
Gazing at the spreading sunset glow, Hyeonsang gave a wry smile.
'You've changed a lot.'
Mount Hua's landscape had transformed dramatically in a single day.
Cracked earth and shattered halls everywhere.
Not only that.
Numerous corpses lay about, their blood seeping into the soil.
In the unprecedented history of Mount Hua Sect, his eyes could only hold bitterness.
But he soon shook his head.
Much had changed, but one thing remained.
All of Mount Hua Sect's disciples were safe.
'There are injuries, though...'
Steeling himself as he watched disciples being carried to the Medical Hall, he closed and opened his eyes before speaking.
"Those who can still move, gather herbs from Harmony Stream."
"Understood."
Disciples without major wounds kicked off the ground without hesitation at his command.
Watching them, Hyeonsang closed his eyes.
"...What a long day."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Wars always took longer to clean up than to fight.
Just tending to the wounded and prisoners took time, not to mention assessing and repairing the widespread damage.
Perhaps because of that.
Not only the disciples but even the elders of the Wise Generation—who normally wouldn't budge—were bustling about with the aftermath.
And among them, especially.
The Medical Hall was unprecedentedly hectic.
Dozens of beds were filled with patients, groans echoing from all sides.
"Ugh... Fourth Uncle."
Medical Hall Leader Cheongo grimaced.
Seeing the wounds etched into the young disciple's body tore at his heart.
"Hang in there just a bit longer. You'll be fine soon."
Repeating the words he gave every injured disciple, Cheongo bellowed at the scurrying Medical Hall members.
"Bring more golden sore medicine!"
"Y-Yes!"
Beside him, Sinui checked the fallen disciples and hurriedly examined them.
"Tsk tsk, clean cut."
Seeing the gash split across the chest, Sinui picked up a medicine vial nearby.
He felt the pure white liquid sloshing inside and uncapped it.
A pungent odor spread everywhere.
The injured man wrinkled his nose at the intense smell, forgetting his pain for a moment, when Sinui tilted the vial without hesitation.
The hemostatic touched the gaping wound.
"Gaaah!"
The injured man writhed, face contorted.
"Endure the pain!"
Sinui shouted, sweating profusely.
At the same time, his fingers moved with astonishing speed, suturing the wound in one breath.
It was an incredibly deft handiwork.
"Phew, that should hold."
Moments later, having stitched everything, Sinui wiped the sweat beading on his forehead with a cloth and looked up.
"Next."
"Got it."
A Medical Hall member quickly supported the sutured patient and stepped back.
Then.
"M-Martial Uncle! Not the Dark Fragrance Pill...!"
At the urgent voice, Sinui instinctively turned.
Right next to him, Cheonhwi was grinning at the internally injured Jeokun.
"Shut up and eat."
With those words, Cheonhwi grabbed one of the Dark Fragrance Pills piled like a mountain nearby and shoved it into Jeokun's mouth.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Though it was in his mouth, Jeokun resisted swallowing. Cheonhwi narrowed his eyes.
"Swallow."
"Mmph! Gulp!"
Overpowered, he finally swallowed the pill.
As the Dark Fragrance Pill slid down his throat, Jeokun's face gradually turned pitch black.
A vicious poison was rising.
Then Cheonhwi placed his hand on Jeokun's back.
In an instant, Plum Blossom Divine Art energy flowed from Cheonhwi's hand, enveloping Jeokun.
The energy rapidly broke down the swallowed pill. It surged into the lower dantian, swiftly wrapping around the internal injuries.
"There, done."
Cheonhwi withdrew his hand.
"Ugh!"
Jeokun clutched his stomach.
His face twisted as sharp abdominal pain stabbed through him.
He bolted upright and staggered out of the Medical Hall, legs awkwardly pressed together.
"He's gonna crap himself halfway."
Cheonhwi chuckled, watching Jeokun rush outside.
Sinui sighed at the sight.
'I wanted to see what his medical skills were like.'
Having called Cheonhwi due to the manpower shortage, Sinui had hoped to gauge his abilities.
But all he'd seen was...
"Here, swallow. Come on, don't be picky. This cures all ills, I tell you. It'll fix you right up."
...Shoving Dark Fragrance Pills into every disciple's mouth and placing a hand on their backs.
'No chance to see what medical arts he's learned.'
Sinui shook his head with a sigh at the irrelevant energy circulation.
How much time passed like that?
Pat pat—
After the last frantic junior disciple ran off, Cheonhwi dusted his hands and stood.
"Leaving already?"
Sinui, just finishing a treatment, asked.
"I'm done here."
Cheonhwi replied nonchalantly.
"Then I'll head out fi—"
"Wait."
Sinui stopped Cheonhwi.
"I'll learn medicine later."
Cheonhwi preempted, assuming the usual push.
"You're not planning to anyway."
Sinui said with an exasperated look, then beckoned.
"Come here. Let me check your condition."
"My condition?"
Cheonhwi shrugged.
"I'm not hurt."
"I know. But plenty worry about you."
Sinui recalled those fretting over Cheonhwi even amid their own treatments.
'What's so great about that guy?'
Sinui grumbled inwardly, then chuckled.
'Guess I'm the same.'
If Cheonhwi said he'd learn medicine, he'd worry about injuries first.
"Give me your hand."
Cheonhwi hesitated, annoyed, but approached and extended his hand.
'Might just get more hassle if I leave.'
Sinui took Cheonhwi's pulse.
As expected, no issues.
But...
"...Did you get some fortuitous encounter?"
Sinui frowned.
The energy flowing through Cheonhwi's body was even stronger than last time.
"Not exactly a encounter, but I gained a bit."
Cheonhwi said calmly.
Sinui gaped incredulously.
"End of days, I tell you. Higher realm at your age already."
Sinui clicked his tongue unwittingly.
He wasn't well-versed in martial realms, but he could sense it vaguely.
Cheonhwi had reached a supreme realm.
The moment he took the pulse, a purer, more intense energy than any he'd felt poured forth.
An immense amount, like plunging into an ocean brimming with qi.
"Still unstable, though."
Cheonhwi nodded.
He'd had a minor enlightenment.
But hadn't fully assimilated it yet.
"That's why I'm consolidating it now."
Cheonhwi grinned.
"Tch. Fine."
Sinui released his hand.
Cheonhwi pulled down his sleeve, shook out his hand lightly, and stood.
"Take care of the rest."
"I would anyway."
Sinui retorted sharply.
Cheonhwi nodded to him and slipped out of the Medical Hall.
Treatments seemed mostly done; perhaps exhaustion had claimed them.
The hall, once filled with groans, was now wrapped in silence.
Outside, darkness had fallen.
"Time to sort out what I gained."
Cheonhwi murmured excitedly, then looked up at the moonlight piercing the night and moved on.
Toward his abode, Falling Goose Peak.