Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Myriad Dragon Escort Agency (3)
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Clang clang clang clang clang—!
The bells rang out clamorously, announcing the intrusion.
Startled, Nam Hyuk stood frozen, his mouth gaping open.
His face had turned ashen from the shock, leaving him utterly speechless.
In truth, Nam Hyuk was on the verge of losing his mind and jumping out of his skin.
No, he'd long since given up on any retaliation, so why were they suddenly showing up demanding he seek revenge?
He was so flabbergasted that his whole body stiffened, words failing him.
'That crazy bastard...!'
He should have known from the "mad" in his nickname.
Nam Hyuk protested as if making a defense.
"Hero! Revenge? What nonsense is this?!"
"I broke your teeth."
"No, I've said several times that I'm truly fine...!"
Bang Jongdae cut off Nam Hyuk's words.
"This little monk turned you into a bloody pulp."
"......"
'That crazy bald bastard!'
Reasoning with him was utterly impossible.
No matter what he said, it always circled back to "I broke your teeth" or "Seek revenge on me," making any conversation impossible.
And there was another problem.
For a martial artist to have his teeth shattered in a quarrel with another martial artist was a humiliating disgrace.
But given who his opponents were, he had no intention of pursuing revenge, so he'd kept the whole incident hidden from his fellow escorts all this time.
He'd even investigated those two's identities secretly through others.
And that was the issue.
To the other escorts, those two were nothing more than madmen who dared to storm the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency's castle branch in broad daylight and pick a fight with the chief escort leader Nam Hyuk.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Sure enough.
The lead escort bellowed without knowing the situation.
Cheongun answered the question.
"The ones who broke that guy's teeth."
"You filthy dogs, you dare pick a fight with our chief escort leader?!"
"Hm? Not just an ordinary escort, but the chief?"
Bang Jongdae replied to Cheongun's question.
"Young hero Cheong, look at his attire. See the gold escort plaque pinned to his chest? Wearing the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency's signature Myriad Dragon Gold Plaque means he's no liar about being the chief escort leader."
It was a precise explanation without a single error.
Cheongun nodded at Bang Jongdae's clear breakdown.
Whether in their spar or now, the monk knew far too many useless things.
Thus, Cheongun and Bang Jongdae each corrected their introductions.
"Then I am the one who broke the chief escort leader's teeth."
"This little monk is the one who turned the chief escort leader into a bloody pulp."
At those words, the escort who had asked their identity flushed red and blue with rage surging to the top of his head.
"You worthless mongrels who don't know their place..."
He swung his hand, signaling the attack.
"Boys, get 'em!"
Thud thud thud thud thud!
The already furious escorts swarmed like a hive of bees.
Each one drew their weapons and charged with battle cries.
Swordsmen, spearmen, axe-wielders.
The escorts packed the front, rushing forward densely.
Arrows and hidden weapons rained down urgently from the rooftops on left and right.
Cheongun twisted his body nimbly this way and that, grazing past the incoming projectiles.
At the same time, he pulled something from his pocket.
It was leftover pork femur bones from his meal.
He wedged them between his fingers like darts, assumed a stance, then infused them with sword qi and flung them out.
Whiiiish—!
The bones zigzagged through the air.
Ting.
A crisp metallic clash deflected the oncoming arrows.
The bones accelerated onward, flying freely and wildly.
The men on the rooftops hurling projectiles tried to dodge, but couldn't.
Who the hell would expect someone to throw half-eaten bones as weapons?
It was unforeseeable, and above all, they were accelerating too fast.
The result was gruesome.
Six bones embedded neatly into the foreheads of the six men hiding on the rooftops—thwack thwack thwack!
This bastard! Enraged cries.
Simultaneously, one leaped from the left, another from the right, dropping from above and swinging their swords down.
Cheongun drew the fishing rod slung over his shoulder.
He swung it lightly, and the fishing line whipped out.
It latched onto the blade of the man charging from the right, wrapped around it several times, binding it tight.
Then, with a crack!, the sword shattered like a broken windowpane.
"!!!"
The man dropping from the right stared at his sword hilt—now bladeless—cold sweat beading on his brow.
In that instant, Cheongun shot up into the air with a whoosh.
He spun once in midair.
His heel, carrying momentum, slammed down like a spinning kick into the man's nape.
Boom—!
The man crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Die!"
At that moment, another from the left slashed downward.
Bang Jongdae, back-to-back with Cheongun, chuckled dryly and thrust his index finger skyward to the left.
It was the starting form of Shaolin's supreme finger art, the Bullet Finger Divine Skill.
The falling man hesitated, eyes wide in panic.
A single prayer bead rested atop Bang Jongdae's index finger.
In that moment, Bang Jongdae flicked his finger.
A bead infused with brilliant yellow qi rocketed forward with a sonic boom. The panicked man tilted his sword to deflect it.
But the Bullet Finger Divine Skill was Shaolin's ultimate technique, condensing fingertip force into a single piercing point.
The bead, laden with Bang Jongdae's power, punched cleanly through the center of the man's sword hand.
It then continued onward, embedding into his philtrum.
"Gahk!"
Splat.
Foam bubbling from his mouth, the man collapsed onto the dirt.
A chilling silence descended in the wake of the instantaneous carnage.
Bang Jongdae hadn't always been like this.
He had followed the teachings of great compassion and mercy, a gentle and kind monk.
Full of zeal to save sentient beings, he had ventured into the jianghu.
But the real jianghu he encountered was far from his expectations.
Reality hit like a storm.
Villains ran rampant, the virtuous suffered, merciless slaughter everywhere... not a trace of the paradise from the sutras.
Then he met Cheongun and received guidance.
Little by little, doubts crept in about the sutras' teachings on reforming the wicked.
And now, Bang Jongdae finally felt it.
He'd long harbored resentment toward the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency thugs who colluded with merchants to seize commoners' land deeds and plunder their wealth.
Punishing them with his own hands felt refreshing, like a blockage clearing.
Who knew it could feel this exhilarating!
Indeed, the wicked needed to be guided by the rod they deserved.
Then Cheongun spoke.
"Time to meet him now."
With that, Cheongun charged toward the swarming escorts, wielding only his shabby fishing rod.
Each whip of the line crackled with zap zap!—blue lightning flashing in the air.
He passed them lightly as if strolling, piercing straight forward relentlessly.
Bang Jongdae covered the rear, flicking prayer beads into the philtrums of any slipping into Cheongun's blind spots.
Cheongun broke through; Bang Jongdae supported from behind.
It was a flawless assault formation.
"Cr-crazy."
Meanwhile, Nam Hyuk's face was deathly pale as the situation spiraled out of control.
He'd known they were experts, but this exceeded all expectations.
"Kill them!"
Late-arriving escorts rushed Cheongun.
They'd lost all reason; more charged in rage than those cowed by Cheongun's prowess and hesitating.
Only then did Nam Hyuk snap to his senses.
The outcome was obvious at this rate.
A single branch of one of the Ten Great Escort Agencies reduced to ruins by just two men?
If word got out, the humiliation would be unparalleled.
He couldn't predict what blame the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency headquarters would heap on him.
Nam Hyuk bellowed, infusing his inner power.
"Stop!"
Cheongun bellowed back, inner power surging.
"No!"
This mad bastard!
"Your chance for revenge is right in front of you!"
"Damn it! I said I don't want revenge!"
"I broke your teeth!"
"Listen to me!"
By now, Cheongun burst through the horde of escorts.
The fishing line whipped out.
Nam Hyuk twisted right, but the line hooked like a snare, binding him tight.
Trussed up inescapably, Nam Hyuk was dragged along.
He screamed desperately.
"Wh-what the hell is this?!"
He couldn't comprehend.
He had picked the fight first, but he'd clearly begged forgiveness on the spot, and hadn't sought retaliation since!
What grudge could warrant storming this place and wreaking such havoc?!
Cheongun answered.
"Plenty of reasons."
"Pardon?"
"First, you and your crew insulted me and my companion."
"No, we clearly apologized right then!"
"I forgave you. But you shouldn't forgive me."
"What the fu..."
Cheongun slowly folded his last remaining finger as he spoke.
"Above all, know what I hate most?"
"...What?"
"Scum who mess with other people's land."
"What does that have to do with you, hero— Gurk!"
The words weren't even finished.
Cheongun thrust his finger in an instant, striking Nam Hyuk's Demon Seal Acupoint.
Nam Hyuk went limp, collapsing to the ground paralyzed.
A chilling silence fell.
The surviving escorts held their breath, glancing between Cheongun and the fallen Nam Hyuk.
Then Cheongun spoke.
"From now on, I'm the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency's chief escort leader."
"......"