Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Sichuan Yizhou Net Gang Sect
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Leaving the three thugs reduced to rags behind, I checked over Seolha and Yeonhwa's bodies.
Ugh. Slept well, didn't you? But now it's time to wake up.
I poured my qi into them, sweeping through their bodies in one thorough pass.
To be precise, it was like washing their insides clean with qi.
It wasn't as effective as completely blocking foreign energy from spreading, like I could do, but it should still drive out the sedative's effects.
Once I'd flushed out all the drug, I kneaded Seolha and Yeonhwa's breasts.
I wondered when they'd wake up. Curious how long I'd have to fondle them before they did.
After groping them for a good while like that, Seolha finally let out a faint moan and cracked her eyes open.
"S... Sir Hero?"
"If you're awake, get up. Lying there helpless after getting hit with some sleeping drug—what good is that?"
At the mention of a sleeping drug, Seolha jolted in shock and hurriedly sat up.
"Ugh..."
Her delicate brows furrowed, and she clutched her head in a panic.
Those crazy bastards. How strong was that drug? They're out of their minds.
Seolha glanced at the three collapsed on the floor, her face turning grave.
"Stop scowling and put your clothes on."
She leaped up at my words and obeyed immediately. Only then did Yeonhwa groan and blink her eyes open.
"You too, get up quick. Bunch of sleepyheads."
Yeonhwa was much the same as Seolha.
Once she grasped the situation and realized how close they'd come to disaster, she trembled with rage from head to toe.
"What are you getting mad for? Hurry up and get dressed, I said."
Strictly speaking, it was their own fault for falling for something like this.
If I'd been a little more unscrupulous, I'd have told them they had no right to complain, but I held my tongue for now.
While Seolha and Yeonhwa dressed and prepared themselves, I pondered the three collapsed thugs.
They deserved to die. But the world was full of fates worse than death.
They'd already been hit with muscle-severing bone-dislocation strikes, so at least one limb would be crippled.
Arm or leg, didn't matter. But that alone wasn't enough.
Thugs who pulled stunts like this must have made plenty of enemies.
So I ought to give those enemies a shot at them.
Dropping dead on the spot would be too easy on them—far too irresponsible.
With that, I shattered the three men's dantians.
Now they had no inner energy and broken bodies to boot.
If they'd lived decent lives, someone might help them. If not—and they probably hadn't—someone with a grudge would seize the chance for revenge.
Yeah, the latter for sure. One look at them told the whole story.
With that, I led Seolha and Yeonhwa to the inn's main building.
The food had been drugged, so odds were high the inn staff were in on it.
Or maybe just being used.
But those guys had mentioned the Net Gang Sect.
The Net Gang Sect was a notorious underworld faction in Yizhou.
It hadn't been around long, formed after the Righteous-Demonic-Evil Great War.
Not a real sect, really. Just a den of criminals.
I summoned the innkeeper and gave him a brief rundown of what happened.
Oh, and I let a bit of my aura leak out to scare him, of course.
Just enough to make him piss his pants?
"S-Sorry! We failed in our duty to manage properly... I'll gladly accept the punishment! But this wasn't our doing, I swear! Please, Sir Hero, have mercy!!"
"Sure, you might feel wronged. So here's your chance. I'm off to check out the Net Gang Sect. By the time I get back, have all the cooks and anyone involved rounded up and waiting. Don't do anything stupid to raise suspicions. If you try running... well, go ahead and try. Got it?"
R-Run? We wouldn't dream of it! I'll send men out right now to grab everyone connected. Of course!"
Man, if that's acting, this innkeeper picked the wrong profession.
He should've been on stage. What a waste.
Oh, right, no actors in this era? Maybe Peking opera then?
Anyway, we left the inn and headed for the Net Gang Sect.
Was the innkeeper really in on it?
If the sect was preparing defenses, high chance they were colluding.
No defenses? Then it might've just been those three acting on their own.
Still, the sect bore responsibility either way.
The city's outskirts. A fairly large manor.
A plaque reading "Net Gang Sect." Eerily quiet.
Looks like no connection to the inn after all. Good thing—the inn won't end up vertically bisected.
"Seolha. Yeonhwa. From here on, kill every single one who tries to flee the Net Gang Sect."
"Yes, Sir Hero."
"Yes, Sir Hero."
With that, I threw a light punch at the empty air.
The Shaolin Temple has a technique called Hundred Paces Divine Fist.
True to its name, it lets you strike a target a hundred paces away with a single punch.
Similar concept to Mountain-Breaking Bull Strike.
Not quite a full hundred paces in practice, but definitely possible.
People think of palm winds, but it's a bit different.
Feels like enveloping your fist in inner energy and shoving the ambient natural qi around you?
More precisely, like the Through-the-Back Fist.
Except it strikes through empty space.
Boom!
My punch obliterated the Net Gang Sect's front gate.
Not just broken—shattered into splinters, as if smashed by a massive fist.
Stepping over the wreckage inside, lights flickered on in several spots.
They're responding. Can't expect much from a fake sect like this.
"It's gonna get noisy."
With that warning, I took a deep breath and bellowed.
"Net Gang Sect leader! Show yourself NOW!"
Calling this trash's boss "sect leader" was generous, but whatever.
My shout echoed deafeningly through the compound.
Lights blazed everywhere—far more than before—as a horde of men rushed out.
The Net Gang Sect had about fifty members total. So, fifty punches ought to do it.
Not even that many, really. I could trim the numbers plenty.
With a sword, maybe one swing.
Anyway, the men who charged out gripped weapons and glared, but didn't attack.
Quick on the uptake, huh? They sure knew when to dodge death.
Didn't mean I'd go easy on them, though.
I'd gotten the full rundown on this place from those three I'd crippled earlier.
Better off without scum like this. No different from street thugs.
I tapped the air lightly, like knocking.
The men glaring at me screamed and toppled backward.
All clutching their stomachs. Even through the pain, their faces filled with shock.
Figured. Their dantians were shattered.
For trash like them, that was plenty to wreck it.
Chaos erupted. Screams and wails filled the air.
Every visible one was the same—rolling on the ground, hands on their guts.
"Who the hell are you?!"
A middle-aged man appeared, flanked by three elders.
"You the Net Gang Sect's boss?"
"Ha! The nerve! Who the hell are you, causing this racket in the dead of night... Gah."
I tapped the air again, and the boss clutched his stomach, doubling over.
The three elders behind him gaped in horror.
One quickly dropped to his knees and groveled with a fawning voice.
"We humbly beg the exalted one to enlighten us on what has stirred your wrath!"
Honestly, I was impressed.
That level of street smarts had to be top-tier in the martial world. Right on the money.
The other two elders mirrored him with dawning realization.
Impressive survival instincts. Age hadn't gone to waste.
The boss, spitting blood and groaning, stared in disbelief.
Ignoring him, I approached the trembling elder.
"Three of your men drugged my companions at Changyoung Inn. Can't have been with good intentions. Know anything about that?"
"N-No idea! Whoever they were, it has nothing to do with our sect!"
"Come on, don't say that. How can you cut your own men loose like a lizard's tail? Shame. I was gonna give you a shot since you're sharp."
The elder looked at me in dismay, then slammed his head to the ground.
"We're truly not involved! Please..."
Suddenly, he whipped his arm at me.
A sharp dagger in his hand. Pretty fast.
Too bad my finger caught the blade.
"Yeah, figured it'd be something like this. At least you've got guts."
A strike to the elbow—crack—and his arm snapped.
He gritted his teeth and leaped back, but sadly, I could strike through the air.
Thud! Like a drumbeat on leather, he flew back and slammed into the wall—boom!
Blood trickled from his mouth. Out cold.
After that, no need to hear them out.
I shattered every dantian in the Net Gang Sect. Seolha and Yeonhwa slew the few who tried fleeing, per my orders.
The pain of a shattered dantian is excruciating.
Not like when I slowly crumbled Yeonhwa's bit by bit.
Blasting it like this wrecked their bodies from the shock too.
Didn't matter. No way these scum would live unscathed after this.
Just like those three from our room.
Come dawn, word would spread, and anyone with a grudge against the Net Gang Sect would come swinging sickles.
Back at the inn once it was done, the innkeeper presented three battered men, pleading desperately.
"Sir Hero! These are the ones! The scum who took part in that vile deed! And I know this doesn't excuse the discomfort you suffered. So please, give this Cheon Mo a chance to make up for my failure to manage my staff!"
Desperate begging. Frantic, but he said everything that needed saying.
This guy's sharp too, like that elder. Are all Sichuan folk like this? Weird.
Anyway, he'd done as ordered, owned his mistake, and offered compensation.
Social skills maxed out. Gotta acknowledge it.
"I'm leaving today, so that chance is postponed. Once I finish my business, I'll come back. See you then."
"No, please! You must return!"
Anyway, that was enough. I'd weeded them out—no more trouble from that lot.
"Let's go."
With that, I led Seolha and Yeonhwa out of the inn.
Dawn hadn't broken yet, but it would soon.
Just leaving a bit early, that's all.