Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Rip You Apart
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Geum Cheomsang hummed a cheerful tune as he prepared the food.
Dishes made from the most famous and expensive ingredients in all of Hubei were completed one by one.
In the blink of an eye, a lavish feast was laid out.
It was prepared with even more care than what the main clan would make.
Geum Cheomsang's face beamed with satisfaction.
"Money really is the best!"
No sooner had the news of advancing to the main round arrived than the Nangong Clan sent over an enormous sum of support funds.
He had used that money to procure these pricey, rare delicacies.
And just before dawn today, all sorts of medicinal herbs and tonics had arrived as well, a clear sign of how thrilled the Nangong Clan was with the tournament results.
"Now, let's see..."
Geum Cheomsang examined the pills in the wooden box.
They were dark and murky, but they reeked of money.
These weren't cheap trinkets.
They were undoubtedly top-grade tonics. Even when attending to Nangong Hyuk, he rarely saw ones of this caliber.
Sure enough, the letter in the wooden box read 'Heart Purifying Pill'.
A single pill was worth well over a hundred taels of silver.
It was an exceptional tonic for calming the mind and regulating one's qi and blood.
Besides the Heart Purifying Pills, there were numerous other elixirs.
Geum Cheomsang began sorting them out with a grin from ear to ear.
"This one's for the Eldest Young Master..."
"The Blood Origin Pill's for the Eldest Young Master too."
"The Black Spirit Pill's for the Eldest Young Master."
"The Origin Gold Pill's for the Eldest Young Master as well?"
"This one's for the Eldest Young Master, that one's for the Eldest Young Master too..."
Huh?
Hold on.
"What the...?"
Geum Cheomsang blinked as he inspected the wooden boxes from the Nangong Clan. He double-checked under the boxes, just in case, and opened the packages again.
His eyes trembled slightly.
"Th-there's... none?"
Nearly all the elixirs were labeled for Eldest Young Master Nangong Ryong.
Geum Cheomsang picked up a single bluish-green pill.
"...This one's for the Second Young Master."
Out of dozens of elixirs, the only one allocated to Nangong Hyuk was this Clear Heart Pill.
Geum Cheomsang's mouth fell open.
Good heavens!
The day had come when the main clan sent more tonics for the Eldest Young Master than the Second!
A brief silence followed.
Then Geum Cheomsang let out a hearty laugh.
"Of course. It's about time we took care of the Eldest Young Master."
No one in the Nangong Clan was unaware of the immense sacrifices and devotion Nangong Ryong had made for Nangong Hyuk.
Geum Cheomsang, who had attended Nangong Hyuk since his childhood, had witnessed it all up close.
Naturally, he could only nod in agreement.
Just the tonics Nangong Ryong had yielded to Nangong Hyuk over the years could fill three or four of the clan's storehouses.
"The Family Head must be over the moon."
Sending tonics right away like this to encourage good performance.
It was well deserved, though.
They had the most entrants from the Five Great Clans in the main round, after all. How ecstatic must they be?
Geum Cheomsang nodded to himself as he muttered.
"Yeah, it's time for the Young Master to ease up on the meds a bit."
Nangong Hyuk absorbed medicine like a sponge.
Even now, he was beating down dozens of men, but if he got any healthier, flipping an entire sect wouldn't be out of the question, would it?
He was already overflowing with energy he could barely contain, rampaging everywhere.
Imagining Nangong Hyuk with even more tonics...
"..."
Geum Cheomsang quietly slipped the Clear Heart Pill into Nangong Ryong's medicine box.
"...Ah, I should bring this to the Eldest Young Master quick."
This was for everyone's sake.
He hurriedly carried the food to the room.
Bang!
The door flew open, revealing Nangong Hyuk and Nangong Ryong sitting inside.
"Meal's ready! And today, we have tonics from the main clan too..."
As Geum Cheomsang transferred the dishes to the table one by one, his eyes met Nangong Ryong's.
"...Eldest Young Master, are you alright?"
"..."
Nangong Ryong stared at Geum Cheomsang with hollow eyes.
His gaze was glazed over, dark shadows under his eyes stretching down to his cheeks.
A faint sweet smell wafted from his slightly parted lips, and his head was tilted slightly to the side.
Drip.
Blood trickled from Nangong Ryong's nose.
"..."
"..."
Silence blanketed the room for a moment.
"E-Eldest Young Master, your n-nose is bleeding..."
Wipe, wipe.
Nangong Hyuk quietly dabbed at Nangong Ryong's nose with a cloth from the side.
"Hmph, hmph."
Hng!
"Damn it, why's your body so frail? The nosebleed won't stop."
Come to think of it, the table was littered with white cloths.
Nangong Ryong's head, now even paler from blood loss, lolled to the side with a thud.
Crack.
Nangong Hyuk straightened Nangong Ryong's lolling head.
Crack.
Watching Nangong Ryong's head flop to the other side again, Nangong Hyuk let out a deep sigh.
Geum Cheomsang's mouth fell open.
"...A-Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Not you, Young Master!"
"Ah, he's fine. It's nothing."
"What did you do to make the Eldest Young Master look even worse than before? You said you were grabbing people, grabbing them, and now you've gone and grabbed your own brother!"
"Grab? I'm helping him out."
Even then, Nangong Ryong's head kept drooping to the side.
That wasn't just exhaustion—that looked like he was slowly dying!
"No way! They sent tonics to pep you up, and now this right before the tournament? Oh nooo."
What kind of state was that for a person?
Those weren't bruises, were they?
Oh god, his whole body was black and blue!
Geum Cheomsang looked at Nangong Hyuk with a panicked face.
Nangong Hyuk chuckled dryly.
"We'll just feed him the tonics. What's the big deal?"
"You're gonna have to bury a corpse before the main round—n-nosebleed! Another nosebleed!"
"Ah, geez."
Nangong Hyuk casually wiped Nangong Ryong's nose.
Nangong Ryong grew even sallower.
Geum Cheomsang groaned.
'Is this the Family Head's foresight...'
The timing of the tonics was impeccably perfect.
And in massive quantities, no less.
As expected of the Family Head...
Geum Cheomsang quickly opened the wooden box and popped a Heart Purifying Pill into Nangong Ryong's mouth.
Munch, munch.
Nangong Ryong chewed the pill in his dazed state.
Geum Cheomsang's eyes turned to Nangong Hyuk, who was silently chewing his food.
"What kind of training are you doing to wear a man out like this, Young Master?"
"Wear out? This is all to catch that Jeomchang Sect's Jongbaek bastard or whatever. Still got a ways to go!"
As Nangong Hyuk shouted, Nangong Ryong reacted.
Grind!
Huh?
Geum Cheomsang's eyes widened as he stared at Nangong Ryong grinding his teeth.
Nangong Ryong, who rarely showed emotion, had venom blazing in his eyes.
"Jongbaek."
Grind!
Nangong Ryong ground his teeth again.
What on earth had happened over the past two days to turn the usually mild-mannered man into this?
It had to be the Second Young Master's doing, right?
A reasonable suspicion.
'But the Young Master isn't one to do anything reckless...'
Nangong Hyuk's methods were rough and brutish, but the results were always stellar.
The Thunder Dragon Squad had improved, and their skills had soared—all thanks to Nangong Hyuk.
Lately, he'd even "fixed up" the Third Young Master(?), transforming him entirely...
'The Young Master always keeps his word.'
This time too...
"...Maybe not?"
Not what?
As Geum Cheomsang stared with wide eyes, Nangong Hyuk scratched his head.
"Nah, it'll be good for him."
"That's not what it looks like at all!"
"You toughen up by rolling around. I said that, right? That's the one?"
"..."
As Geum Cheomsang narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Crack, drip.
Nangong Ryong's neck lolled to the side again as blood dripped from his nose.
"Put some strength in your neck. It'll snap like that."
"..."
"Hey, come on. You're doing great. I couldn't have taught you wrong, right? You think I'd mess up? I'm the exp— Anyway, I'm serious, got it?"
Excuse me, Young Master.
No one would buy that.
The guy's who's so "serious" has shaking pupils...
Nangong Hyuk furrowed his brow and glared at Geum Cheomsang.
"What."
"..."
"Why."
"...You can still compete in the tournament, right?"
"Of course. The Azure Spirit Oil's mine, remember?"
"Not you, Young Master!"
"..."
Nangong Hyuk quietly looked at Nangong Ryong.
...Who knows?
"It'll work out somehow."
It'll work out somehow?
Geum Cheomsang, momentarily stunned, sighed deeply and silently pulled another pill from the box, stuffing it into Nangong Ryong's mouth.
Munch, munch.
Nangong Ryong chewed the pill Geum Cheomsang fed him in his daze.
Geum Cheomsang's worries deepened.
'...Family Head, the tonics are being used strangely. What do we do?'
Maybe write a letter without letting the Second Young Master see...
His worries deepened.
* * *
The main stage of the martial tournament hosted by the Righteous Heaven Alliance had begun.
The main round featured thirty-two competitors, each facing off one-on-one in single-elimination matches.
This was truly where the martial tournament began in earnest.
Having clawed their way through the three-day preliminaries, this stage was where sects staked their pride and honor.
Naturally, the audience's excitement was several times greater than during the preliminaries.
"As expected, the Nine Great Sects dominate this tournament too."
"Twenty of them made it, huh? Wow, impressive, impressive."
"Pfft, still fewer than last time. Back then, it was twenty-four or twenty-five."
"Really? Then yeah, it's a bit less this time."
"But didn't the Nangong Clan knock out four disciples from the Nine Great Sects?"
"Yeah! Including the Wudang Divine Star!"
"Whoa, impressive! A true prestigious clan. Who'd have thought such hidden dragons were lurking there!"
"The Nine Great Sects got slapped hard!"
"Keh, the Huangbo Clan didn't even get one in. Could the Five Great Clans' rankings be shifting?"
A strange fervor lit up the crowd's faces.
The Nangong Clan's exploits were stirring up a fresh breeze in the tournament.
The Righteous Heaven Alliance's tournaments were always battlegrounds between the Nine Sects and Five Clans.
But the Nangong Clan had always been pushed to the sidelines in those battles.
This time, however, they were making waves, proving their enduring strength—and drawing all eyes.
Moreover, by ousting disciples from the Nine Great Sects, smaller sects had benefited too.
More diverse experts from various sects were in the main round than usual, delighting the spectators to no end.
"Even the Sword Pavilion's Little Sword Marquess advanced!"
"Does the Sword Pavilion usually enjoy these tournaments that much?"
"Where there are masters of the world, the Sword Pavilion wouldn't miss out."
"Hmm, this is making for even more variety."
"Indeed."
"Ah, there—the Nangong Clan! Nangong Clan!"
"Woooow!"
The crowd spotted the Nangong Clan group sauntering in from one side and widened their eyes.
"Woooow!"
"Whoa, look at that confidence!"
"Hmm! As expected of a prestigious clan's prodigies..."
"The Five Clans'..."
The cheers faltered.
Saunter, saunter.
Yawn, yawn.
The moment they saw Nangong Hyuk dragging his feet and yawning lazily, the audience fell silent.
Sleepiness still clung to his face, mixed with annoyance and irritation.
Huh?
He wouldn't spit, would he...
Ptooey.
He did?
"..."
"...Is that guy really the hidden dragon who beat the Wudang Divine Star?"
"Uh... yeah, I think so?"
"Not the one next to him?"
"The other one's even wor..."
Nangong Ryong looked even paler and more wan.
The one walking ahead, Nangong Hyuk, at least looked healthy— but what was with that state?
"Hmm."
"Huh."
Sighs erupted here and there.
Those seeing Nangong Hyuk and Nangong Ryong for the first time sighed repeatedly in shock, while those who'd seen them before sighed again at how much worse they looked in just a few days.
Oblivious to it all.
Nangong Hyuk's gaze met Jongbaek's as he approached from across the arena.
Jongbaek flashed a sly smile.
His eyes raked from head to toe.
"...You smiling?"
Smiling?
Nangong Hyuk glanced at Nangong Ryong.
"Hey, bro."
"..."
"That bastard dies. Smash him."
"..."
"Whether it's Four Styles or Phantom Light or whatever, get up there and smash him flat. A descendant of the Sword King losing twice to that lightweight? Lose twice and just bite your tongue and die, got it?"
Nangong Ryong stared at Jongbaek across the way with sunken eyes.
He murmured lowly.
"I'll rip him apart."
"...Uh, yeah."
"Definitely."
"..."
Bloodshot veins bulged in Nangong Ryong's eyes, a viscous aura leaking out.
'...Did I drill it in too hard?'
Hmm.
'Whatever.'
Nangong Hyuk jerked his chin at Nangong Ryong.
"Might as well do it right. Show 'em."
Nangong Ryong raised his index finger, pointing straight at Jongbaek.
Jongbaek and the Jeomchang Sect disciples across the way widened their eyes.
Then, as if to show off, Nangong Ryong slowly—ever so slowly—drew his thumb across his throat.
In translation...
"You're dead."
Nangong Hyuk cackled from behind as he eyed Jongbaek.
Silence descended on the arena in an instant.
Then, moments later.
The crowd erupted.
"Whoa, whoaaa! The Nangong Clan just declared war on the Nine Sects!"
"They're insane!"
"Yeeeah!"
The Five Clans' later-generation disciples, including the Thunder Dragon Squad, looked bewildered before spotting Nangong Ryong still miming the throat-slash and gaping in shock.
The Jeomchang Sect disciples across the way had faces slowly hardening.
The martial tournament was heating up to a fever pitch.