Chapter 210
Chapter 210
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: The Blood River Sect Falls
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The warriors of the Taeju Alliance sects discarded their weapons.
“R-run away!”
“Eek!”
“I-I surrender! Surrender!”
“D-don’t hit me, please don’t hit! I’m surrendering!”
The warriors, having lost all will to fight, had mostly surrendered or fled over the walls.
With even the Blood River Sect Leader captured by the Black Wind Corps, they had no other choice.
In the end, what loyalty was there between unorthodox sects?
Jo Cheol-rok stared blankly up at the sky.
‘The Nangong Clan bastards were this strong…?’
He couldn’t believe that a mere forty or so had turned the Blood River Sect upside down.
Was this really the Nangong Clan that had cowered before the Black Dragon Sect?
‘…Did we run too wild?’
They had scrambled to build power in Taeju and ended up getting skinned for it.
A rough stone always gets hammered down.
They must have been an eyesore to the Nangong Clan.
That’s why they came masked as righteous bandits to quietly eliminate them.
‘…They’re cleaning up the annoying unorthodox sects around!’
He had thought the Nangong Clan, riding high, would only check the Black Dragon Sect, but apparently not.
He could only chalk it up to bad luck.
‘The Black Dragon Sect bastards are screwed too.’
Pffft, a laugh bubbled up.
The comfort that he wasn’t the only one suffering, and thinking of those thorn-in-the-side Black Dragon Sect fools getting theirs… it made him laugh….
“This bastard’s laughing?”
Jo Cheol-rok shuddered like he’d been struck upon seeing Nangong Hyuk pop up out of nowhere.
“Comfortable?”
“Th-that’s not….”
“Comfortable, huh?”
“……”
“Got a personality problem? Flaunting your teeth? Bash his head.”
Crack!
“Kek!”
Jo Cheol-rok, struck hard on the back of his head, hurriedly clasped his hands behind him and slammed his forehead down.
The subdued Blood River Sect disciples looked at Jo Cheol-rok with pitying eyes.
Nangong Hyuk slouched casually and scanned the surroundings.
The Blood River Sect disciples, bound in a line, flinched every time their eyes met his.
Their already red and blue-bruised faces grew even more pitiful.
Nangong Hyuk spoke quietly.
“Who’s the sect leader here?”
“……”
A brief silence fell.
The kneeling Blood River Sect disciples’ gazes turned to Jo Cheol-rok, who was forehead-planted on the ground.
His flushed face screamed silently with his eyes.
‘Eyes down, you bastards! Eyes down! Look away, you disloyal pricks!’
Jo Cheol-rok resisted desperately, but the disciples’ gazes didn’t waver.
‘Damn unorthodox scum.’
Feeling the stinging stares on the back of his head, Jo Cheol-rok carefully rose.
“H-heh… I-it’s me.”
“Huh? You?”
“Y-yes, is there a problem….”
“You’re really the one?”
“Y-yes….”
“Really?”
“……”
“Weak, though?”
Nangong Hyuk’s wide eyes made Jo Cheol-rok’s expression twist subtly.
‘S-such humiliation!’
He was a sect leader too. A master who had cleaned up Taeju and raised the Blood River Sect to prominence in the martial world!
Seeing Nangong Hyuk call him weak boiled his blood.
“Oh? Look at that face?”
“…M-my head hurts.”
Jo Cheol-rok felt pathetic. He commanded hundreds of disciples, but he couldn’t command his rising clownishness.
“Making faces?”
“Th-that’s not it!”
“Whatever.”
Nangong Hyuk cut him off and stared at Jo Cheol-rok.
Then, in a low, slow voice, he opened his mouth.
“You guys stole the bounty goods, right?”
“Huh?”
“The bounty goods!”
“…W-we didn’t?”
“We did!”
“No! Really! Why would we do something that insane?”
Jo Cheol-rok protested with the most wronged face imaginable.
Nangong Hyuk furrowed his brow.
“Really not?”
“Yes! I swear on everything….”
“You little shit?”
“……”
“Fine, whatever.”
Nangong Hyuk scowled.
‘If not these bastards, then who?’
After sorting his thoughts briefly, Nangong Hyuk asked bluntly.
“Then spill where the warehouse is.”
“W-warehouse? The w-warehouse is over there….”
“Every secret one too. Spill it all.”
“Th-there’s no such….”
“Ah, so there is.”
“Ke, kgh! C-can’t… breathe….”
Nangong Hyuk smiled faintly as he lightly grabbed Jo Cheol-rok’s collar and hoisted him up.
The over-six-foot giant dangled from Nangong Hyuk’s hand.
The Thunder Dragon Squad clicked their tongues.
Why invite the whip?
The entire squad sighed with the same thought.
Nangong Hyuk, still smiling faintly, raised his hand toward the pale-faced Jo Cheol-rok.
Slap!
“Guh!”
“None?”
Slap slap!
“None, huh?”
Slap slap slap!
“Still none?”
Jo Cheol-rok’s head whipped side to side. Nangong Hyuk’s palm danced dazzlingly left and right.
Crisp sounds echoed across the Blood River Sect courtyard.
Slap slap slap slap!
Sogolgae let out a groan as he watched Jo Cheol-rok losing his mind.
‘…He’s lost it. Jo Cheol-rok in that state.’
Even if the Jiangsu martial world was dismissed as weak, Jo Cheol-rok was still a top-twenty master.
It was unbelievable that such a master was groveling before Nangong Hyuk.
Moreover, Jo Cheol-rok was infamous for his brutality and decisiveness beyond his martial prowess.
Yet here he was, showing the pinnacle of servility.
His personality….
‘What level is that monster exactly?’
It wasn’t just martial arts—Nangong Hyuk’s personality was crushing Jo Cheol-rok.
Sogolgae’s dazed eyes grew serious.
‘I need to revise my assessment of the Nangong Clan.’
Not just Nangong Hyuk, but the Thunder Dragon Squad’s prowess was astonishing too.
The guys who’d been goofing off and acting weird from behind had fought fiercer than any sect’s elites once the battle started.
Their brutishness and strength didn’t match the Beggars’ Sect intel at all.
Having seen the Thunder Dragon Squad for the first time, his shock was all the greater.
‘And the Paeng Clan and Sword Pavilion’s Little Sword Princess are different from the rumors too!’
Especially Paeng Joong-hyuk’s skill. After all, he’d nearly subdued Jo Cheol-rok single-handedly.
‘Did something change in the Nangong Clan while they were there?’
If the three staying at the Nangong Clan had leveled up….
‘Did Nangong Hyuk do something?’
Sogolgae vowed to report every detail when he returned to the Beggars’ Sect.
Around then, Nangong Hyuk finished interrogating Jo Cheol-rok.
“Over there?!”
Jo Cheol-rok, eyes half-rolled back, nodded weakly.
“Follow him! We start there!”
Nangong Hyuk flung Jo Cheol-rok aside and dashed to the secret warehouse.
The Thunder Dragon Squad, who’d been holding the prisoners hostage, followed Nangong Hyuk into the secret warehouse.
Nangong Hyuk’s eyes widened.
“Whoa!”
The warehouse’s scale dwarfed all previous ones. Seeing the space of dozens of pyeong packed with goods, his expectations soared.
Maybe the bounty goods were here after all.
‘Can’t just trust unorthodox scum. Gotta confirm!’
Nangong Hyuk shouted brightly.
“Empty it all out!”
* * *
“Silk from the Western Regions!”
“Wow! This is an herb only from Sichuan?”
“Mmm! How many Night-Shining Pearls is this?”
The group marveled as they looted the Blood River Sect’s warehouse.
It was beyond what a single unorthodox sect could amass.
You could guess how much blood they’d sucked and how many Taeju sects they’d robbed.
There were three or four small warehouses too, piling goods into small mountains in the courtyard.
The sheer volume could fix their fortunes ten times over, leaving everyone stunned.
As they fondled the gold and jewels for a good while.
“Young master! S-spirit pills! Spirit pills!”
“Spirit pills here too!”
“W-whoa! Here as well!”
“Kuahaha! This one’s a spirit pill too, right?”
“That’s just a regular pill, idiot!”
“Ahem! The good smell fooled me!”
The Thunder Dragon Squad brought spirit pills before Nangong Hyuk.
Sogolgae sighed.
“Damn, these unorthodox bastards really hit the jackpot.”
There seemed to be more spirit medicines here than he’d seen in his entire life.
Considering rarity and value, they were treasures no amount of gold could buy.
And from the Blood River Sect, a hole-in-the-wall compared to the Beggars’ Sect!
Sogolgae sniffed.
Gathered together, their scent and subtle energy permeated his whole body.
Gulp.
‘That one looks delicious.’
The aroma was killer.
Killer enough to overwhelm the stench from his own body.
‘Wonder how much my internal energy would grow from one?’
At least five to ten years, easily.
Converting it to usable internal energy was another matter, but with the Beggars’ Sect secrets….
‘But why that face?’
Sogolgae glanced at Nangong Hyuk.
His expression showed emptiness, futility, irritation.
When he should be dancing with joy and shouting jackpot.
Then, Geon Cheon-hwi approached and said to Nangong Hyuk.
“Young master Hyuk! We’ve sorted the spirit medicines and herbs.”
“Sigh, good. All useless.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“Damn, not here either.”
Sogolgae perked his ears, eavesdropping.
‘What’s not?’
That Purple Cloud Pill was priceless, and the Hyeom was top-grade!
What about that five-hundred-year-old ginseng?
But useless?
Nangong Hyuk muttered.
“Just useless wealth piling up. Damn it, my spirit medicine. My ingredients….”
“……?”
“Sigh, you guys eat them.”
Eat them?
Those?
“Crazy!”
Sogolgae’s jaw dropped.
Throw away spirit medicines?
Ones so rare you couldn’t buy them even if you tried!
They boosted a warrior’s internal energy.
Unlike gold and jewels, their status was on another level.
‘Really? Throw those away?!’
The Paeng siblings and So Hye-yeon were just as shocked as Sogolgae’s reaction.
They weren’t strangers to spirit medicines, but yielding them to others wasn’t easy.
Sure, they could claim a share for their work.
‘But not spirit medicines.’
Sogolgae exclaimed in admiration.
‘The vessel is different! Completely different!’
No other explanation.
They’d just looted together like thieves, yet he was giving away spirit medicines!
But Nangong Hyuk’s situation was different.
‘Damn, useless even if eaten.’
His Crimson Heaven Bright King Art had already reached a profound realm. It filtered out impurities even more meticulously and efficiently than before, extracting pure energy.
Ordinary spirit pills were digested away by it….
‘Yeah, give ’em to the kids.’
There were plenty more places to loot ahead; they needed to build up their vitality.
Nangong Hyuk nodded.
Then, Sogolgae approached, thumbs up.
“Young master Nangong Hyuk! No, big brother! I knew it from when you asked me to fetch the Millennium Flower. Ah, this man has a different vessel! Such magnanimity! Haha, hahaha!”
“……”
“Then I’ll eat well….”
“Not you.”
“……Pardon?”
“Not you, just those guys over there.”
Sogolgae’s eyes widened as he turned his head.
Nangong Ryong was his blood brother, fine. The Thunder Dragon Squad were his limbs, okay….
“The P-Paeng Clan and Little Sword Princess?! We’re outsiders, aren’t we?”
“My limbs… no, retainers.”
“No! But I looted with you too!”
“Why give spirit medicines to outsiders?”
“Are we outsiders?!”
Sogolgae stared at Nangong Hyuk with the world’s most aggrieved face.
‘Damn, not even when my beggar’s pouch got stolen was I this sad!’
Tears welled in Sogolgae’s bloodshot eyes.
His reddened glare turned to those sharing the spirit medicines.
“Hey… you crying?”
“No.”
“You’re crying?”
“……”
Sogolgae bit his lip, glaring at Nangong Hyuk, then flinched at his blazing eyes.
‘…No, damn. Those eyes again.’
Nangong Hyuk twitched his hand as if to grab his collar.
The whining Sogolgae swallowed dryly.
Nangong Hyuk said.
“So!”
“……”
“If not these bastards, then where! Huh? Where are the thieves who stole my bounty goods!”
…Whoa, scary.
The loot they’d taken was massive already.
Plus these spirit medicines as replacements for whatever bounty!
“I won’t stop till I find my bounty goods! Never! So spit it out quick—where?!”
Sogolgae rolled his eyes, recalling info.
Then said.
“B-Black Dragon Sect! Only the Black Dragon Sect left!”
Nangong Hyuk’s eyes flashed.
“Black Dragon Sect?”
“……!”
“Those bastards are the culprits!”
Nangong Hyuk’s next destination was set.