Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Plundering the Heaven-Earth Sect
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Sasasasasak!
The palm force unfurled like a curtain, grazing past Namgung Hyeok.
*Dodge?*
He swiftly shifted direction and unleashed another barrage of attacks.
*Dodging this one too?*
Gwisu's eyes wavered.
He dodged and deflected every strike that should have been impossible to evade.
Not a single thread of the palm strikes raining down like arrows even brushed Namgung Hyeok's collar.
It was like fighting the wind—the palm force futilely struck the ground, sliced through empty air, and vanished.
Namgung Hyeok seemed to anticipate his every move, effortlessly redirecting the force.
There was no way to track Namgung Hyeok's footwork.
It felt as if he were trapped in the palm of his opponent's hand.
Gwisu's eyelids twitched violently.
*No way!*
He ground his teeth and pressed Namgung Hyeok even harder.
Namgung Hyeok smirked mockingly.
"Is that all you've got?"
"Shut your mouth!"
"Not even breaking a sweat. Guess I don't need to do laundry after this. What kind of sloppy palm technique is that?"
"I said shut it!"
"No thanks?"
"You bastard—!"
Veins bulged on Gwisu's forehead.
He squeezed out every last drop of his inner energy.
Kwaaak!
He clenched his fist as if grasping empty air, forming a hook.
With it, a crimson energy surged forth, as if ready to tear Namgung Hyeok—and space itself—to shreds.
A crude, impure inner energy, bloated with size by aggregating all sorts of杂乱 forces.
Namgung Hyeok's eyes gleamed with interest.
"This guy's definitely from the unorthodox sects!"
Buuuk!
The crimson energy dissipated, and Namgung Hyeok's face appeared right in front of it.
"Isn't this the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand? How'd you reconstruct it?"
"H-How did you...?!"
"You're way too obvious about being shocked. Embarrassing."
Gwisu's face twitched.
*How the hell did this guy recognize the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand at a glance!*
He'd unconsciously unleashed it, and in that split second, this punk had identified it?
A barely reconstructed, unfinished technique—how could he possibly know it!
"You're courting death!"
The cat was already out of the bag.
No reason to hide his true martial arts now.
He formed claws with his hands and circulated the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand.
At its peak, the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand could shred iron swords in an instant.
The net of relentlessly crashing claw energy was like dozens of sword auras...
Ududuk! Papapak! Peuk!
Before the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand's energy could strike Namgung Hyeok, his hands had already struck Gwisu's wrist, elbow, and knee, severing the flow.
The technique was chopped off at the root before it could even fully manifest.
"Guk! Keuuk!"
What the—?
If he'd read and dodged the trajectory before, now he'd preemptively blocked the attack entirely.
Kwaduk! Kwajik!
"Keuaak!"
Namgung Hyeok's iron fist smashed into Gwisu's wrist with a crunch, then rocketed upward into his jaw.
Infinite Steps traced endless circles, hammering his left ribs, right flank, and solar plexus in rapid succession.
Each blow sent a numbing shock through his bones.
Sagagagak!
Gwisu counterattacked with the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand, but it was nothing more than futile struggling.
Doubt and fear crept across Gwisu's face.
*He... He's been toying with me this whole time? Playing with me?*
How was this even possible!
"You wormmmm!"
Gwisu lost his reason in rage and bellowed.
He leaped back to create distance, then closed in, circulating the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand to its limit.
Veins popped on the back of Namgung Hyeok's hand.
"Argh, seriously! Holding back is such a pain!"
Namgung Hyeok scowled fiercely and unleashed the Soul-Shattering Fist.
The energy of the Sky-Piercing Bright King Art stirred.
As his dantian writhed, it spun repeatedly, intertwining with the Soul-Shattering Fist.
Peureok!
Tszuaaaaaak!
With a dull thud, the Soul-Shattering Fist pierced through the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand's energy and slammed into Gwisu's right shoulder.
Puk! Ududuk!
Gwisu's eyes bulged wide.
The arm he'd extended for the Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand twisted unnaturally, and a shockwave boiled his innards.
"Puhwaaaak—!"
Spewing a fountain of blood, Gwisu pitched forward with a thud.
"......!"
"......!"
Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyeok-dong gasped in astonishment.
They were stunned by the speed too fast to follow with the naked eye.
To them, it looked like Namgung Hyeok had dodged a few attacks, then ended it in one decisive push.
An overwhelming display, shredding and suppressing Gwisu's palm strikes and Blood Yin Dragon Claw Hand.
"I-Is he... dead?"
Geon Cheon-hwi stammered.
Namgung Hyeok furrowed his brow slightly.
"...He's still alive."
"Oh."
"Whew, I've got a long way to go. Back in the day..."
He felt a dent in his pride for not subduing him in one hit.
But this guy was stronger than expected too.
*Even so, he's nowhere near my old level. Makes me realize it all over again.*
Namgung Hyeok clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
The opponent was a master in his own right, yet here Namgung Hyeok was complaining—Geon Cheon-hwi and Tak Hyeok-dong could hardly believe their ears.
*What kind of realm is he even thinking of?*
They couldn't even imagine.
He'd never been one for normal thinking, so the level he envisioned was surely beyond normal too.
While the three were lost in thought,
Ha Taegon clamped his gaping mouth shut with effort, holding his breath.
*What the hell kind of intel did that Namgung-baek bastard give me?!*
Gwisu had been defeated?
He'd crushed the Thunder Dragon Squad's leader and deputy like toys, and now he'd been overwhelmed!
Describing a monster like that as "a bit better than a late-stage expert"?
*Crazy, fuck, we're screwed.*
Ha Taegon backed away unsteadily.
There was no chance of victory now.
If even Gwisu had fallen, what more could he do?
"Hee, heek!"
Ha Taegon dropped his sword and bolted.
A massive sense of crisis screamed that capture meant death, driving his lightness skill to mad extremes.
Who cared about the sect anymore?
The moment Namgung family's second young master survived and returned, it was all over anyway.
Ha Taegon fled toward the Heaven-Earth Sect.
Or tried to.
Paaat!
The instant Namgung Hyeok crossed thirty張 in a flash and appeared, despair shadowed Ha Taegon's face.
"Hee, hiiiik!"
Ha Taegon yelped in terror and fell on his ass.
His eyes darted wildly.
Behind him, the Thunder Dragon Squad sauntered over casually.
The Heaven-Earth Sect warriors and bandits involved in the plot were already subdued and bound like dried fish.
*What do I do? What now?*
...No escape.
They'd chosen a mountain stronghold with only one path to set the ambush.
That decision had backfired.
He'd assumed total success, but reality differed.
Ha Taegon's eyes fixed on Namgung Hyeok approaching steadily.
*...H-He won't kill me, right? It's the Namgung family after all? No casualties on their side!*
At least they'd interrogate him.
Wouldn't they want to know who was behind it?
Then he could trade info for a deal...
At that moment, their eyes met, and Namgung Hyeok grinned.
"Hey, got a shovel around here?"
Huh? Shovel?
Ha Taegon's pupils shook.
"...E-Excuse me. No interrogation?"
Namgung Hyeok tilted his head.
"Huh? Why would I?"
"...Pardon?"
As he looked up in a daze,
The Thunder Dragon Squad had surrounded him, grinning.
Siiiik.
Their smiles weren't friendly.
...They're seriously gonna bury me?
He'd doubted it, but seeing Namgung Hyeok chuckling with delight, Ha Taegon looked like he'd been struck in the back of the head.
*...This guy really doesn't care who tried to kill him? For real?*
Watching dirt being shoveled out vigorously, Ha Taegon panicked.
"Y-Young master! Spare me, please spare meee! I-I'm innocent! I just followed that vile bastard's orders, keuhuhuk! Mercy! I'll tell you everything—!"
Tak Hyeok-dong hefted the shovel handle high.
"Shut it, punk!"
Peureureok!
"Keuaaaak!"
Ha Taegon fainted with a death rattle.
* * *
Ha Taegon stared blankly at the sky.
Buried up to his neck in the frozen winter dirt, it felt like he'd been tossed into an ice bath—pure agony.
*...This really is a grave.*
In this miraculous spot where burying the head made an instant tomb, Ha Taegon sobbed silently.
"Kkeueueuk."
"Eueueuk."
"Heueu, heuk!"
The Heaven-Earth Sect warriors who'd plotted with him were likewise buried head-only, drooling helplessly.
In the bone-chilling cold that fogged their breath, their faces had all turned blue.
*How did it come to this...?*
Where had it gone wrong?
Even when he'd lured Namgung Hyeok here, he'd thought things were going smoothly—or so he'd thought...
Ha Taegon gazed vacantly at the sky, only to meet Namgung Hyeok's crooked glare.
Brrr.
It was a fleeting glance, but Ha Taegon felt the threat of death.
"What now?"
"...Pardon?"
"No warehouse in the stronghold, huh? Then why'd you lie and say there was?"
"Th-The stronghold was temporary, so no wha-warehouse..."
"So, the warehouse?"
"...Th-There's none here."
"So, where's the warehouse?"
Only then did Ha Taegon finally grasp what Namgung Hyeok meant.
"...I must've been mistaken. It seems our sect's assets were moved to the Heaven-Earth Sect main branch. The ledgers and treasures are all there. Ha, hahaha! Y-You can have it all."
Namgung Hyeok beamed with a benevolent, bodhisattva-like smile.
"Is that right?"
"...Yes."
Ha Taegon's face went slack with despair.
*It's over. Everything.*
* * *
Jjeolgeureok. Jjeolgeureok.
Chaos erupted from the hidden warehouse behind the Heaven-Earth Sect.
The Thunder Dragon Squad bustled in and out.
Ha Taegon watched them in a daze.
Each trip out carried away heaps of the sect's painstakingly gathered wealth.
Gold statues and silver ingots loaded onto carts in chunks—it was like blood tears.
*The sect's operating funds, gone in a flash.*
Next came porcelain and artworks streaming out.
*Ahh, that was our emergency fund.*
Despair etched Ha Taegon's face.
Glancing the other way, they were stripping the granary bare of winter stockpiled rice and grains onto carts.
*If they take the food too, I'll have to...*
...beg the Beggars' Sect for a job.
Watching the sect's freshly amassed reserves for hard times vanish entirely filled him with desolation turning to emptiness.
"...Th-That's our land deed."
Not just land—every contract from Heaven-Earth Sect operations was rolled up and tossed onto carts.
Ha Taegon's heart soared away with them.
Amid the plundering of body and soul alike, Tak Hyeok-dong scowled at a black rod-like object.
"What's this junk?"
Ha Taegon snapped his head up.
*Th-That's?!*
It looked worthless, but it was a treasured heirloom passed down through generations.
A bamboo flute worth at least five thousand to ten thousand silver taels.
Salvaging just that could let him rebuild if he survived...
"Huh? Young master, set that one aside special."
At Geum Cheom-sang's voice as he sorted goods, Ha Taegon's face hardened.
Namgung Hyeok turned.
"That one?"
"Sell that, and you'll get at least three thousand silver taels."
"Three thousand silver?"
"Yeah, it's a jade flute used by a famous imperial musician a century ago. See the seal there?"
H-How does this servant know that?!
Namgung Hyeok asked skeptically.
"You sure?"
"Young master, to be next chief steward, you gotta know valuables inside out. I've managed plenty of luxury goods and antiques. That's the real deal. Trust me."
"Oh, you've got skills?"
"Ehem!"
"Hey, set that aside special!"
With those words, Ha Taegon's last sliver of hope flew away.
*It's really over. Really.*
The final dream of possible revival shattered.
"Hey, why's he crying?"
"Tears of regret, probably?"
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
Hearing their exchange, Ha Taegon shed fresh tears.
Namgung Hyeok surveyed the area.
From furnishings to land deeds to heirlooms—everything taken left it a hollow ruin.
Puhihihihihihing!
From one side, Geon Cheon-hwi and the Thunder Dragon Squad led a hundred stolen warhorses, neighing powerfully.
Namgung Hyeok gazed contentedly at Geum Cheom-sang as he eyed the vigorous steeds.
"Cheom-sang."
"...Why call my name again."
"How long since we ran out of horses?"
"Over a month, I think."
"Then some must've died in the meantime, right?"
"Young master, that's not right. That's embezzlement..."
"Who said embezzlement? Just asking if some wastrels died off."
"Ah... a bit."
Namgung Hyeok chuckled and turned.
"Let's head back!"
"Yes, young master!"
The Thunder Dragon Squad shouted energetically, hauling the loot.
Namgung Hyeok grinned at the caravan-worthy haul.
"Never thought raiding a bandit lair would lead to looting the sect's warehouse. Now that's striking gold."
"......"
"No more worries about meat!"
Namgung Hyeok's laughter echoed through the now ruin-like Heaven-Earth Sect.