Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: You're Slapping Cheeks (5)
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My words must have struck a nerve, because the faces of the young Righteous Faction beggars surrounding me flushed red.
'Looks like they still have a shred of conscience left.'
However, before those guys could feel even a twinge of guilt from that scrap of conscience, the mouth of Shaanxi Sub-branch Leader Deok-geun opened.
"Eon Yong-un! Just because you learned the Dragon-Suppressing Palm from Elder No doesn't make you above the sub-branch's division leaders and squad captains!"
With an opening line like that, I crossed my arms and listened to what nonsense he'd spout next.
"Save your cheeky mouth for your underlings! How dare you treat us like fools?!"
True to form for a guy pulling political maneuvers even now, he twisted my words to his advantage and unleashed a tirade at the Nine Beggars Division Leader Bok-cheol and the Beggar Squad surrounding me.
"Division Leader Bok! And Beggar Squad!"
"Yes, Sub-branch Leader!"
"Get your heads straight! The moment we stamped that letter, our Shaanxi Sub-branch climbed onto a tiger's back. Why are you hesitating like that? Don't you know the water's already spilled?!"
"...We know!"
"Then stop dragging your feet and prove we're in the right!"
At Deok-geun's bellow, Bok-cheol gritted his teeth and gave orders to the other nine beggars.
"Form the Beggar Combined Wall Formation! Gye-chun, fill the spot that just flew off!"
"Yes!"
"You'll cover for him, and I'll take your spot! Get ready!"
In response, four Four-Beggar members gripping staffs from the Beggar Squad stepped forward.
And they began slowly circling me clockwise, needlessly stomping the ground.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
At their sight, I sighed inwardly.
'The Demonic Cult bastards are one thing, but guys like the Shaanxi Sub-branch Leader are the real problem.'
Like one rotten orange spoiling the bunch, scum like that scattered everywhere in the world made those around them complacent.
'That's how a Demonic Cult that's barely stirred gets room to slither in.'
Well, that was the end of my thoughts.
'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.'
The single step I needed to take right now was to bulldoze straight through this situation.
To dispel the absurd nitpicking from the Shaanxi Sub-branch's executives.
And to remind the other beggars watching this spectacle of their shame.
Snap.
I extended my left palm forward and tucked my right fist to my waist, assuming the Dragon-Suppressing Palm's starting stance.
Then I gauged the Beggar Combined Wall Formation that the ten beggars were beginning to unfold.
'Quite a stable mess.'
True to its name as a formation for beating dogs, the beggars' movements looked like utter chaos at first glance.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The four staff-wielding beggars kept stomping and circling.
Meanwhile, two of the non-staff beggars groaned incessantly, shuffling along like hunchbacks.
"Aggghhh."
"Ow, my stomach."
The other two wailed as if the sub-branch hall was crumbling.
"Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo. Moooom."
"Waaah! Waaah! Waaaaah!!"
And amid all this.
The Three-Beggar named Gye-chun staggered about like he was drunk.
"Hic!"
Meanwhile, the Four-Beggar Bok-cheol prowled my perimeter like a stray dog.
'But there's order to it.'
It looked hopelessly disorganized at a glance, but a subtle law governed the beggars' footwork.
'That staggering Gye-chun's martial art is Drunken Eight Immortals.'
A so-called Drunken Fist.
The Four-Beggar Bok-cheol's art was the swift swallow-like agility of his Swallow Step and the rapid punches of his Rampaging Fist.
The two beggars versed in those renowned arts, along with the groaning and wailing ones, served as feints and illusions in themselves.
'Even the knots at their waists are part of the deception.'
But I wasn't fooled.
My eyes naturally drifted to Bok-cheol with his Rampaging Fist or Gye-chun mimicking Drunken Eight Immortals.
'But I need to deal with the staff-wielding Four-Beggars first.'
Staffs might look ridiculous without blades, but depending on your grip, you could freely adjust their reach.
You could also use spins for simultaneous defense and offense.
'Leverage that advantage, and multiple staffs swung together can block paths like iron bars.'
Let your guard down thinking the low-knot beggars had no weapons, and you'd eat a surprise blow.
'They're luring eyes to the high-knot beggars, but they can't fool mine.'
Still, I couldn't show I was targeting the staff Four-Beggars.
Famous combined formations across the world had the trait of adeptly repairing breaches the moment they were exploited.
'Otherwise, they wouldn't have made a name for themselves.'
So while inwardly aiming for the staff-wielding Four-Beggars,
I actually followed the formation's lead with my Shadow Heaven-Splitting Step, chasing Bok-cheol's swift steps.
Whoosh!
My own bit of bait.
And sure enough.
Swoosh!
In an instant.
Bok-cheol seemed to vanish into the other beggars like he'd burrowed away.
And into that empty space flew the staffs swung by the Four-Beggars.
Whoosh!
Whoooosh!
The Four-Beggars held oblique positions at the four cardinal directions.
So their swung staffs naturally formed a well shape.
Whoosh!
Whoooosh!
Thanks to that, I was on the verge of getting trapped in a lattice of staffs, unable to budge.
'Compared to weaving through Diamond Corpses, this gap might as well be an open field.'
In truth, this moment was exactly what I'd aimed for.
In the stretched flow of time, I kicked off the ground and leaped vertically.
Thud!
And in midair, I unleashed Flying Dragon Strikes Heaven—a palm technique for striking downward— to check the other beggars.
Screeeeech!!
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!!
Meanwhile, the four staffs that had futilely whipped empty air converged at one point, forming a cross.
At that instant.
I gathered Heaven-Splitting energy into my legs.
'Crush them!'
And I stomped down on the crossing staffs.
A technique known as Thousand-Pound Hammer.
With my right foot loaded with that Thousand-Pound Hammer striking the ground, it became a firm anchor.
Kaboom!!!!
The Heaven-Splitting energy transferred along the crushed staffs.
That transferred Heaven-Splitting force clashed with the energy the Four-Beggars poured into their staffs at the tips.
Vrrrroooom!!!!!!!!!
Since the staffs weren't made from divine wood, they splintered to pieces.
Crack! Crack!!
Craaack!! Crack!!!
I unleashed Shadow Heaven-Splitting Step at full speed toward the now staff-less Four-Beggars.
Screeeeech!!
Two of them couldn't even react to my speed, offered their chests, and flew north and south, smashing into walls.
Boom! Boom!!!
The remaining two Four-Beggars managed to pull back with support from the Three-Beggars in the interim.
But because of that, two of those Three-Beggars ate my Dragon-Suppressing Palms and flew east and west into the walls.
Kaboom!! Kaboom!!!!!
Just like that, four beggars were knocked out of the training hall in a flash.
Of course, six still remained, so it was still many-against-one.
Step.
But every time I advanced one step, they retreated two—the Beggar Combined Wall Formation was thoroughly broken.
I sneered at the remaining beggars in the training hall and opened my mouth.
"Feels like a bust, doesn't it?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While Eon Yong-un was beating down beggars in the Shaanxi Sub-branch's training hall.
One beggar was watching the scene in admiration.
None other than No Sam.
'That Eon Family punk is a natural-born fighter.'
The Beggar Combined Wall Formation originally shone when used as human-wave tactics.
So with the minimum ten members, it wasn't an impregnable combined formation—pretty breachable, actually.
'But that doesn't make it easy.'
Plus, the process was impressive.
Anyone with a sense for fighting would notice the staff-bearers adjusting gaps against the Beggar Combined Wall Formation.
'But that Eon punk spotted it from the start and lured the staff-bearers.'
His skill in waiting until the razor-edge moment to dismantle all four staffs at once deserved praise.
'Ballsy, too.'
When staffs loaded with energy come flying, human instinct is to swat the obvious threats first.
'To handle it like that.'
But above all, No Sam was impressed by Eon Yong-un's mindset.
'...I was worried he might fall to heart demons.'
The Demonic Cult's resurgence had nearly shattered Eon Yong-un's maternal clan to pieces.
His maternal grandfather had nearly died, and Eon Yong-un himself had teetered on death's edge.
Self-inflicted or not, his youngest uncle had actually died in the chaos.
And now the Shaanxi Sub-branch—hardly blameless in this mess—was pulling their shit.
'Anyone not furious wouldn't be human.'
Such fury could corrupt a young warrior.
'Uncontrolled rage often manifests as twisted killing intent.'
No Sam had brought him along because Eon Yong-un's will seemed firm, but worries lingered.
Yet now it seemed like needless concern.
'...His eyes are boiling, but.'
His mid-fight judgments were ice-cold.
Each step was heavy, each thrust palm restrained.
'He measures his strikes perfectly.'
Just enough to not kill, you might say?
Of course, if Bok-cheol—who'd just been collared and was getting his cheeks slapped—or the nine beggars plastered around the hall could hear No Sam's thoughts, they'd protest that no "measured" strikes felt like this.
Slap!!
"Does this prove it enough?"
Slap!!!!
"Hnggh... it doesh."
"Pardon? Hng? Speak up, I can't hear you."
"It pro... ves."
Smack!!!!
"What was that?"
"...Yesh."
Well, anyway.
While sparks flew from Bok-cheol's cheeks.
No Sam set aside his worries about Eon Yong-un and quietly mulled over the young man's words.
'...The Eon punk said he wasn't blaming what happened, but if the Demonic Cult raised its head because of it and innocent people got hurt or died, they should feel shame.'
Those words made No Sam reflect.
'We've known the Righteous Faction was rotting, yet we swept it under the rug to avoid strife. That's shameful.'
The Beggar Clan prized righteousness above all.
Feeling shame meant acting to avoid it henceforth—that was upholding righteousness.
'Time to cut out the rotten flesh, even now.'
With that, a firm resolve hardened in No Sam's heart.
And right on cue, the rotten flesh named Deok-geun descended from the dais into the training hall.
"Enough! Eon Yong-un, stay your hand!"
"Is that sufficient explanation?"
Deok-geun began spewing his stench toward Eon Yong-un.
"No. On second thought, you're the one in the wrong."
"......?"
"If you can stand against demon spawn, you should naturally crush our sub-branch's division leaders and squad. From now on, I'll test your skills myself."
At Deok-geun's antics, veins bulged in No Sam's neck.
"You bastard Deok-geun! You old fox!!"
"What?!"
Until now, Eon Yong-un had handled himself well.
The letter demanding explanation had some procedural legitimacy, and No Sam had minded the Righteous Faction's face.
But with the Shaanxi Sub-branch Leader baring his true colors like this, there was no reason to stand by any longer.
"Listen here, Elder No! Did you just call me an old fox?! I've shown you respect, attaching 'nim' to every word. And you call me what, old fox?!"
"Yes, my mistake. I owe an apology to foxes and rats across the land by noon. They'll tear me apart if they learn I lumped you in with them. Let me correct: you old horse-fucker."
"Horse-fucker?! You saying I'm in bed with the Demonic Cult? You filthy mutt! Done talking?!"
"Not yet, you bastard! Let's settle this—you die, I live!"
With that, No Sam lunged toward Deok-geun.
But at that moment.
A grimy hand grabbed No Sam's shoulder.
"Which beggar bastard dares block me?! I don't wanna die with that Deok-geun bas... Wait, what? Clan Leader?!"