Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Slapping Cheeks (4)
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At the northernmost tip of Shanxi Province stood the Great Wall.
If you drew a straight line from the Great Wall's pass to Taiyuan, about a third of the way along was a market called the Horse Market.
This Horse Market was where permitted folks from north of the Great Wall brought horses or sheep to trade for grain or daily necessities.
A procession was steadily approaching the Horse Market.
From afar, it looked every bit like the entourage of some noble dignitary.
And rightly so.
There were massive palanquins called carriage litters, borne by dozens of carriers, and even an eight-man palanquin shouldered by eight sturdy porters.
Over a hundred warriors flanked the two imposing palanquins like an honor guard.
But up close, it was anything but a noble procession.
It was downright eerie.
Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!
Leading the way was a funeral director shaking bells while holding an incense burner that belched out chilling smoke.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Aside from the palanquin bearers, the entire group trailing behind consisted of bluish corpse puppets, each hefting its own coffin—the procession of the dead.
The area nearby had the Great Wall and coal mines.
Naturally, many died there, and people often hired Taoists or funeral directors to escort the corpses back.
The sight of corpse puppets marching wasn't particularly novel, but it wasn't much of a spectacle either.
As soon as the locals heard the guiding bells, they slammed their doors shut, fearing the corpses might bring plague.
Yet one man approached the eerie procession head-on.
An old man in ragged clothes, his left arm severed.
It was Elder Kyung.
Elder Kyung immediately prostrated himself before the procession.
He kowtowed, forehead to the ground, and spoke.
"I pay respects to the Lord of the Ghost King Manor."
The funeral director at the front changed how he shook the bells.
Ding-ding-a-ling!
Ding-ding-a-ling!
The corpse puppets halted abruptly.
The curtain of the rear eight-man palanquin parted.
Two porters instantly dropped to form a human stepstool before the entrance.
Stepping on them, a woman emerged from the palanquin—her skin white as fine jade.
"Hm?"
If captured in a painting, it might sell like hotcakes as a beauty portrait.
But no artist would dare try.
The ghostly aura clinging to her defied brush and ink.
In any case.
The woman from the palanquin walked steadily toward Elder Kyung.
Without lifting his head, he recognized her footsteps and spoke again.
"I pay respects to the Jade Demon Lord."
The woman called the Jade Demon Lord tilted her head exaggeratedly and asked.
"Wasn't Elder Kyung supposed to meet us elsewhere?"
"...Things turned out that way."
She turned to the grand palanquin behind her.
"Master, Elder Kyung is here. But he's missing his dear junior brother and his left arm, and he says things turned out that way."
At her words.
The grand palanquin's window slid open with a rattle.
And the only one in the Ghost King Manor who called Elder Kyung by name stepped forth.
An old man.
"Kyung Gyeon."
The Reverse Heaven Demon Gu Cheon-seo rasped like scraping iron.
"...Are you telling me to turn the palanquin around now?"
At the Reverse Heaven Demon's words.
Elder Kyung kowtowed once more.
"Regrettably, yes."
"...How far must I turn it?"
"Beyond the wild winds and reckless souls in Yi Manor right now, the Northern Hebei Overlord and his disciple have arrived. With my old, dull mind, I believe you'll need to go at least to Beishi—perhaps even further north."
Hearing this, the Jade Demon Lord let out a incredulous chuckle.
"Ha. So the situation progressed enough to summon Master and me, only to unravel overnight?"
She ground her heel into the prostrated Elder Kyung's head and continued.
"The task I took on myself! If you've botched it and lost everything, you must have a fitting excuse!"
Even under her stomping foot, Elder Kyung spoke calmly.
"...The curse on Shanxi Golden Peng was broken, and that's how it happened. The Ghostly Demon Marshal said Eon Yong-un was behind it. Even with my feeble mind, that seems correct."
"Eon Yong-un? The eldest son of the Eon Family who offered up our clan's manual to our royal manor? That crippled, half-wit wastrel?"
"...Yes. I thought so too, but he commands corpse puppets. And he has other bizarre skills..."
Thus, Elder Kyung began detailing what he'd witnessed of Eon Yong-un.
A technique to control stiff corpses without bells, a feat only the Reverse Heaven Demon himself could match.
The black-red sword aura that leaped several realms beyond his innate cultivation in an instant.
Swordplay faintly scented with the Heavenly Demon Sword Arts.
But her foot pressed true qi into his mouth, silencing him.
"Ahahaha!"
"Kuk!"
"The Divine Cult's grand enterprise delayed, our Ghost King Manor's position mired in mud—and your excuse is Eon Yong-un isn't really a wastrel? So you got done in by one punk? Look here, Elder Kyung. If you're trying to make me laugh, mission accomplished."
By the time her foot eased, he would've started with Gwak Sa-hong.
"And this story should come from Sa-hong himself, not you, Elder Kyung."
"The Ghostly Demon Marshal fell to Eon Yong-un and returned to the earth."
"Kuh. Kehheheh. Eon Yong-un this, Eon Yong-un that! Master, this old fool's lost his mind completely! Well, I suspected as much when he crawled under that Sa-hong punk's wing instead of mine."
At that, a bitter smile crept into Elder Kyung's heart too.
'...No surprise. I wouldn't believe it either.'
Eon Yong-un, whom the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult valued less than dirt under a nail.
No one would buy that one such man had overturned Yi Manor, a deed as good as done.
But it was true.
So Elder Kyung wanted to scream and jump.
Yet he'd already resolved to die, so he steeled his face like iron and prepared to speak of Eon Yong-un again.
But the Reverse Heaven Demon spoke first.
"...Enough. He's an old man with merits to our manor. Turning to Beishi and beyond will keep us busy. ...As for Taiyuan, we'll verify in time. The delayed grand plan can be advanced by striking elsewhere."
Calling him an old man of merits while alive meant "end it now."
The Jade Demon Lord lifted her foot from his head.
Elder Kyung straightened from his knees.
"The Divine Cult is invincible!"
With that cry, he smashed his qi-wreathed fist into his own skull.
"Cough."
He spewed blood and collapsed.
The Jade Demon Lord nudged his corpse with her foot.
"Master, can I take this?"
The grand palanquin's window closed without a word.
Do as she pleased.
At her gesture, the corpse was loaded into one of the coffins borne by the puppets.
Ding-a-ling! Ding-ding-a-ling!
The bells rang anew, and the two palanquins and corpse puppets turned direction.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Sending that massive brute Obok flying in just two strikes.
The Beggar Clan Shanxi Branch executives glaring down from several steps above were momentarily flustered.
But perhaps thinking it too late to back down now.
After exchanging sound transmissions among themselves, the four-knot beggar spoke again.
"You've truly mastered the Dragon Subduing Palm. But before demanding explanations, allow proper introductions. I am Bok Cheol of the Four-Knot Beggars."
A Four-Knot Beggar was a squad leader, commanding the 'squads'—low-level units run by branch or sub-branches.
Securing the post young marked him as a promising talent in the clan.
'Like Cheon Jang-ho, who's also a Four-Knot.'
Of course, Bok Cheol and Cheon Jang-ho were cut from different cloth.
Cheon Jang-ho just blurted whatever without tact, but he was honest and knew shame.
"The Dragon Subduing Palm isn't forbidden to non-clan disciples, but it's annotated as 'not for the unworthy.' On the day Yi Manor was attacked, you should've been first to arrive—yet you were absent. Where were you?"
Bok Cheol's tone was polite, but laced with ulterior motives.
"Fighting a demon called Gwak Sa-hong at my maternal clan's ancestral graves."
"So you had the skill to face a demon? Explain yourself. My squad and the Striker Squad will handle it."
The Striker Squad was ten men: two Three-Knots and eight Two-Knots, the violence arm of branch or sub-branch departments.
As Bok Cheol finished.
Eleven beggars, including himself, stepped forward, assuming stances with fists, palms, or staffs.
So all that 'unworthy' talk was just to justify their beatdown.
But I had no intention of dodging the fight.
'They look so small.'
What had battles with death-defying foes like Gwak Sa-hong and Elder Kyung done to me?
These beggars before me didn't seem threatening.
'Knowing they can't kill me helps too.'
No way these politicking types would land a lethal blow on Shanxi Golden Peng's grandson.
'At most, a thorough thrashing.'
Let's see if their pea-brains can challenge me.
I crooked a finger again.
The eleven charged.
"Get him!!"
I tossed back a line at them.
"No shame at all."
Then unleashed Phantom Heaven-Splitting Step toward them.
We closed the gap in a flash.
Even so, Four-Knot Bok Cheol arrived first, swift as a swallow, thrusting a nimble fist.
"Hmph! You beckoned us—don't whine about shame now!"
I casually deflected his punch.
Then fed Divine Dragon Wave Secret to a Two-Knot circling behind.
Boom!!!
The eleven became ten.
The beggars grew cautious.
I addressed them amid the breather.
"Not about ganging up, you beggar scum. People died, and you're scheming to protect your rice bowls? Isn't that shameful?"
Bok Cheol glared innocently, thrusting his palm.
"Why blame us?! I get you're mad your great-uncle died, but don't take it out on innocent beggars!"
Smack! Smack! Thud! Smack! Smack!
Deflecting Bok Cheol and the others, I pondered.
'Yi Gwon-young's death?'
Through my secretly grieving grandfather, Uncle Yun-young, and father, I'd gained a bit more understanding of family.
But the death itself meant nothing to me.
'Completely off-base.'
I'd weathered every trial in my past life.
More plans went awry than succeeded, with unwanted deaths along the way.
This wasn't new.
'I am angry, though.'
Not just because someone died and family grieved.
"Not blaming what happened. People get complacent. Beggars too?"
"......"
"But Demonic Cult vermin laid eggs in your turf. Innocents died. Feel some shame."
What enraged me was their rotten mindset.
"I'll fix that mindset for you."