Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Zhongnan Sect's Three Great Disciples Gape in Shock
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The Zhongnan Sect's three great disciples' mouths gaped wide open.
They blankly stared at Hyeon-gong and Hyeon-jong, who lay sprawled on the ground, foaming at the mouth.
The Zhongnan Sect disciples gulped dryly as they gazed at the two, peacefully asleep.
A bizarre silence descended over the hall.
At that moment, Hyeon-gung, who had been supported by others, shouted.
"You vile scum! How dare you ambush our sect's disciples?!"
At Hyeon-gung's voice, the three great disciples snapped their heads up.
They had forgotten in their shock at how absurdly Hyeon-gong and Hyeon-jong had collapsed.
To launch a sneak attack mid-conversation!
The three great disciples glared at Namgung Hyeok with blazing fury.
It wasn't important that Namgung Hyeok had taken down Hyeon-jong and Hyeon-gong in an instant.
What mattered was that he had ambushed them.
Hyeon-gung yelled at the three great disciples, who radiated a murderous aura.
"He's disgraced our sect! Make him kneel at once and uphold Zhongnan's dignity!"
"Yes, eldest senior brother!"
"You bastard!"
As the three great disciples responded vigorously and turned toward Namgung Hyeok,
He was already charging like a raging beast.
"Always!"
Baaaang!
Namgung Hyeok's palm struck Hyeon-jeong's cheek with full force.
"Puheheek!"
Hyeon-jeong's head whipped around as if it might snap off, his body spinning once in the air before crashing heavily to the ground.
Namgung Hyeok's palm didn't stop, slapping the cheek of another dazed great disciple from the opposite side.
Baaaang!
With the sound of a leather drum bursting, another great disciple spun in the air and fell.
"All talk and no substance!"
Namgung Hyeok weaved through the leaping great disciples.
Kicking with his feet, slapping cheeks, driving fists in!
The series of movements flowed without waste, swift and unrelenting.
"Kueeek!"
"Puaak!"
"Keuuk!"
Kwaaaang! Paaang! Kuwoong!
The great disciples surrounding Namgung Hyeok flew through the air.
Some smashed into walls like cannonballs, others spun like tops before rolling on the ground, and some crumpled in place like rotten logs.
It was truly like autumn leaves in the wind.
Hyeon-gung's gaping mouth refused to close as he watched the great disciples raining down.
"...A nightmare, this is a nightmare...."
What in the world was happening?
The memory of defeat to Namgung Ryong had already flown far away.
Flaaash!
Kuwoong!
The youngest, struck by an uppercut to the cheek, screamed and sprawled atop the wall like wet laundry.
Namgung Hyeok's face suddenly popped up before Hyeon-gung's shaking gaze.
Pajik!
His eyes met the flashing lightning in the other's pupils.
"You try getting ambushed too."
"Huh?"
"What the fu—"
Pwaaaak!
Kwajik!
Feeling his nose bridge collapse, Hyeon-gung lost consciousness.
No, he wanted to.
But Namgung Hyeok didn't allow it.
"Now, let's start over with you!"
What?
Start what?
"Uhehehe! If you start something, you see it through."
"...!"
With a sinister chuckle, Namgung Hyeok's fist slammed hard into Hyeon-gung's solar plexus.
Pwaaak! Pwapwapwak!
Kwajik kwajik kwajik!
"Hahaha! They hit people even when standing still! Hahaha, who was gonna make who kneel? Ambush? Ambush this, block it!"
Namgung Hyeok's madness began filling the hall.
The fallen Zhongnan Sect disciples groaned.
Watching the madness from afar, Geon Cheon-hwi sighed deeply, while Namgung Ryong gazed at distant mountains.
The Zhongnan Sect disciples' piteous groans echoed lowly, and Namgung Hyeok's wicked laughter soared to the skies.
"...Man, he's gonna kill someone at this rate."
"Mm, he shouldn't kill anyone...."
"Youngest, go stop him."
"Aw, fuck, why's the hard stuff always on me."
"What?!"
The Thunder Dragon Squad's three bickered, and Namgung Ryong's sigh deepened as he stared at the distant mountains.
* * *
"Lift your heads and gaze at the heavens. The Dao is there."
Namgung Hyeok's cackling laughter echoed across the courtyard.
Geon Cheon-hwi sighed as he looked at the ten heads protruding like swollen watermelons in the courtyard's center.
"...Is it okay to bury Zhongnan Sect Taoists like this?"
No matter how reckless Namgung Hyeok was, who would have thought he'd actually bury Zhongnan Sect Taoists alive!
A sigh escaped as he watched Namgung Hyeok carry out what he'd half-doubted.
"Bury? What are you talking about?"
Namgung Hyeok tilted his head.
"I'm teaching them the Dao."
What bullshit is that?
...He nearly shouted it, but Geon Cheon-hwi suppressed it based on past experience.
How does burying people alive have anything to do with the Dao?
Namgung Hyeok clicked his tongue.
"This is why those weak in martial arts don't get it. Watch closely."
"...."
"Heaven, Earth, Man!"
Namgung Hyeok's finger pointed to the sky, the ground, and the Zhongnan Sect disciples.
"Perfect, right? They can properly feel the Three Powers."
"Ah, yes. I didn't realize it had such profound meaning. Yes, yes."
"This is all fateful opportunity, fateful opportunity. When will they ever enter the Void Realm?"
...That's not the Void Realm; they look like they're teetering between life and death.
Geon Cheon-hwi broke out in cold sweat as he scanned the neatly buried Zhongnan Sect Taoists.
They perfectly demonstrated what it meant to be a bloody mess.
Judging by their mashed faces, it wasn't a light injury.
He'd woken the unconscious Zhongnan Sect Taoists, claiming their thick hides, and beaten them a dozen more times— it would be weirder if they were fine....
The Zhongnan Sect Taoists drooled thick saliva from their mouths, gazing blankly at the sky with dazed eyes.
Faces close to enlightenment.
They looked ready to ascend at any moment.
Namgung Hyeok cackled as he caressed his fists.
"Maybe it's because they cultivate the Dao? Feels good on the hands."
As expected, hand-feel is best with the Nine Great Sects!
His wicked laughter echoed through the hall.
The buried Zhongnan Sect disciples shuddered.
"Primeval Lord...."
"...I-is this hell?"
"Why this trial...."
"Infinite... mercy."
Who just cursed?
Hyeon-gung groaned and rolled his eyes.
The Namgung Clan bastards' faces came into view.
'How the hell did this happen... to our sect....'
To be thoroughly thrashed by Namgung Clan brothers, of all places.
He wondered if the Namgung Clan, ranked last among the Five Great Clans, was right.
It wasn't like they'd all popped Spirit Pills!
Hyeon-gung glared at Namgung Hyeok, enduring the throbbing pain in his swollen eyes.
He ground his teeth.
"You think our sect will let this slide?!"
"Yeah, I think they will."
"...!"
"Go brag about it. How the Five Great Clans got smashed by weaklings. Your sect will love that."
Hyeon-gung, about to spew rage, clamped his lips shut.
Namgung Hyeok pointed mockingly and laughed at the sight.
"Idiot, scared? Worried it'll spread?"
"...!"
"You gotta pick your targets wisely with that attitude. I'm right over your heads, punk."
Kid, I've eaten this sword rice for decades.
You think I lack that much sense?
Namgung Hyeok grinned infuriatingly.
Hyeon-gung's face went blank.
It felt like the Namgung Clan had stripped his soul bare.
In front, Namgung Hyeok cackled in mockery, while Namgung Ryong and the Thunder Dragon Squad averted their eyes toward distant mountains.
On one side, Namgung Chang was smacking the Zhongnan Three Hounds' heads with a staff, issuing threats.
"Hic, hic!"
The Zhongnan Three Hounds' sobs stirred Hyeon-gung's heart.
To attain true Dao, countless trials come, so this must be one of them.
'Namgung Clan... Namgung Hyeok... what the hell is this all about?'
An insane unease emanated from Namgung Hyeok, like a million unexploded thunderbombs dangling.
Touch him wrong, and you're dead no matter how they blow.
In a word.
'...We're screwed.'
The Namgung Clan's shadow seemed to loom darkly over his future.
As the three great disciples stirred, Namgung Hyeok quietly raised his hand.
"Quiet."
"...."
The three great disciples, poised to rise, fell deathly silent.
Namgung Hyeok spoke with shameless impudence.
"I'm a guy who really likes talking."
This?
This fucker....
"Most talks end well."
Ah....
The Zhongnan Sect disciples, gaining deep realization, bowed their heads.
"Who would you even tell? Let's part beautifully, beautifully. Keep your mouths shut, end it here. Got it?"
A clean wrap-up.
At Namgung Hyeok's words, the Zhongnan Sect disciples could only nod.
A swift peace treaty was struck.
"Now, get lost on your own."
"....Aren't you going to dig us out first?"
"Figure it out yourselves. You think I'd dig up all that?"
"...?!"
"Ask them to dig you out."
At Namgung Hyeok's gesture, Hyeon-gung turned his head.
The Thunder Dragon Squad's three raised their portable shovels from their waists, eyes gleaming with killing intent.
Their resolve to bury mouthy ones forever burned fiercely.
Namgung Hyeok shook off his hands and entered his quarters without a backward glance.
Namgung Ryong followed, and the Thunder Dragon Squad's three sauntered in after.
The golden-robed maid glanced briefly, gathered some refreshments, and vanished.
Hyeon-gung was dumbfounded.
'...At least unseal our acupoints, you dog....'
He gazed blankly at the sky with a forlorn face.
'Primeval Lord....'
* * *
Baek Jong furrowed his brow at the empty seats still unfilled long past dinner time.
"Have they all fallen asleep? Or did they go out somewhere together?"
Why wasn't even a nose in sight?
He'd clearly said to gather for dinner talk.
Baek Jong asked the servants, but they only reported no one in the quarters.
"Huh, what is this...."
How long did he wait with a puzzled face?
Step. Step. Step.
Footsteps approached from outside.
Baek Jong brightened and opened the door.
"Huh! Where the hell have you.... been....?"
Baek Jong's voice trailed off as he saw the three great disciples' state under the torchlight.
Not even beggars looked this ragged.
Their tattered clothes were caked in dirt, and on closer look, their faces were swollen like soaked cotton.
Baek Jong learned for the first time that human skin could bear such mottled colors.
Their postures were so unnatural, one wondered if bones were broken.
A brief silence passed.
Soon, Baek Jong's agitated voice shattered the quiet, echoing through the hall.
"N-no! What happened to you all! Who did this, who dared?!"
"...."
"Are you okay?! How could you let yourselves get like this before the martial tournament!"
Baek Jong frantically checked Hyeon-gung, Hyeon-gong, and Hyeon-jong's conditions.
Shocked at Hyeon-gung's flailing, he paled.
The three great disciples he knew were always refined and poised.
But now, they all seemed soulless, without a shred of energy.
"Hyeon-gung! What happened? Tell me, quick!"
"Elder."
"Yes, speak!"
"...My virtue and Dao are still lacking, so it might be best not to participate in the tournament."
Blink blink.
Baek Jong mulled over the nonsense before yelling in shock.
"What nonsense is that! Not participating in the tournament?!"
"...That guy will win anyway. This way, our sect avoids disgrace and saves face. This is better...."
"That guy? Who the hell is 'that guy'! Did he do this to you?"
"No, no. It's all my lack of virtue. I'll return to Zhongnan and enter secluded cultivation."
You madman, you've been in seclusion until now!
Baek Jong gaped at Hyeon-gung in bewilderment.
Hyeon-gung's face looked enlightened amid the puffiness.
Not just him—all the Hyeon brothers wore swollen faces infused with a strange glow.
"...What in the world happened?"
Wait, then what about Zhongnan?
Does the sect leader know?
Hyeon-gung muttered blankly.
"This... this is the way to avoid that guy. Zhongnan's honor... Ah, Primeval Lord."
Hyeon-gung's bitter voice echoed in the air, and the Hyeon brothers chanted incantations with similar expressions.