Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Deciding the Winner
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The four representatives from both sides were all gathered at the stern of the deck.
Naturally, Hyeon-gak and Dang Yak-ran stepped forward for the Righteous side, while Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang came out for the Demonic Cult.
A large wooden bowl fetched from the cabin sat at the tip of the bow's keel, its mouth facing the sky.
About one zhang ahead of it was a line drawn in charcoal black. Finally, Heuk Do-san was perched on one of the stern's railings, holding a snowball.
"As I said, when I toss this snowball into the sky, whoever snatches it and races across the deck to drop it in the bowl wins. The key thing to remember is that no one's feet can cross that line drawn there."
Everyone wore expressions wondering what kind of nonsense this was. They'd sent out two representatives each to settle the match, and this was all he asked them to do?
Catch the snowball and drop it in the bowl?
Part of them wanted to shove the guy straight into the sea.
"Oh, and one more thing. If anyone breaks the snowball, that side loses. Everyone got it?"
"How do you know who broke it?"
Dang Yak-ran asked.
"The last one to touch it is the culprit."
Heuk Do-san said.
Yeom Jin-sang raised his hand from the opposite side.
"Just say it."
"Is poking it with a hidden weapon or something allowed?"
It was aimed at Dang Yak-ran. Yeom Jin-sang greatly feared the poison hidden weapons that might be concealed in her sleeve.
"Weapons are absolutely forbidden. Poison goes without saying."
This time, Dang Yak-ran raised her hand.
"I said just say it!"
"Is poking with a finger okay?"
At the end, Dang Yak-ran glared at Yeom Jin-sang.
Yeom Jin-sang paled.
Heuk Do-san felt a slight headache coming on. They'd settled on snatching a snowball to decide the winner, but these fools were gearing up for an outright brawl.
"No hidden weapons, no poison, no eye pokes. Nor will I allow any moves that threaten the opponent's life. That's all. Any more questions?"
"Amitabha, let's get started."
"Alright, here we go."
Heuk Do-san lowered one hand to his crotch level, then shot it straight up. A snowball the size of a man's head soared into the air.
Against the blue sky, the white snowball shot endlessly upward—so high it seemed it might plummet into the sea.
Four heads snapped skyward in unison. As the snowball neared the deck, Hyeon-gak, Dang Yak-ran, and Gong Cheon-ak sprang up like coiled springs.
Yeom Jin-sang was cunning. He bent and straightened his knees to feign jumping along with them, then suddenly rammed his shoulder into Dang Yak-ran's lower belly. He wrapped both arms around her waist and yanked her close.
"Let go, you bald bastard!"
"No way."
Yeom Jin-sang shoved Dang Yak-ran down and rolled across the deck with her.
Dang Yak-ran smacked his egg-shaped bald head with sharp slaps, but it was no use. The more she did, the tighter Yeom Jin-sang hugged her, as if his waist might snap.
Dang Yak-ran was dumbfounded. He was lunging wildly without any pattern, yet somehow she couldn't budge.
She unleashed a barrage of double palms at his slippery scalp, but without enough distance, her strikes lacked power.
"Binding technique?"
If this was truly a binding art, it was a type Dang Yak-ran had never seen before.
Moreover, what was with this crushing grip that felt like it was squeezing her guts? But what truly troubled Dang Yak-ran was this bizarre position. Being held by a man she barely knew.
"Get off me, you bald bastard!"
Meanwhile, Gong Cheon-ak and Hyeon-gak, who had leaped nearly a zhang from their spots, clashed mid-air over the snowball.
Four hands tangled in a chaotic frenzy.
Thwack! Thud thud thwack!
The snowball seemed to fall into Gong Cheon-ak's grasp by a hair's breadth. That is, if Hyeon-gak hadn't headbutted his philtrum.
Smack!
"Argh!"
Hyeon-gak, having snatched the snowball, dropped like a lump of iron.
Iron Head Gong followed by a strike of Thousand Jin Hammer.
But who would just watch? Even with a double nosebleed gushing, Gong Cheon-ak swept Hyeon-gak's leg to shatter his balance.
"Huh!"
With a sharp cry, Hyeon-gak toppled. Gong Cheon-ak unleashed a barrage of brutal kicks on his fallen form.
Hyeon-gak rolled humiliatingly across the deck.
The name of this technique, like a lazy donkey rolling on the ground, was Donkey Roll.
It was one of the martial world's infamous ugly arts, considered shameful even to mention by name due to its unseemly form.
"Miss Dang!"
After rolling three or four times to barely evade disaster, Hyeon-gak flung the snowball from his prone position.
Just then, Dang Yak-ran had elbow-smashed the crown of Yeom Jin-sang's head five times. Only now did she feel his arms go slack.
Dang Yak-ran sprang toward the incoming snowball.
Thud!
The heavy snowball slammed into her chest.
She tumbled across the deck twice before springing back up.
"Hmph, where do you think you're going!"
With a booming shout, Gong Cheon-ak's form hurtled in. At the same time, a fist rocketed toward her at terrifying speed—a motion so fast she hadn't even registered his approach. The purple qi swirling around the fist strike wasn't ordinary either. Too late to dodge.
"This is the Seventh Star Lord's martial prowess!"
Dang Yak-ran frantically shielded her face with the snowball she held. It was an instinctive reaction she hadn't even thought about. And yet...
"Huh!"
Gong Cheon-ak exhaled sharply and halted his fist.
Dang Yak-ran's eyes went wide. Then she belatedly recalled the rule about breaking the snowball meaning loss.
"So that's how it is."
Dang Yak-ran thrust the snowball ahead of her with every fist Gong Cheon-ak swung, shifting three steps.
In that moment, something seized her ankle.
"You're not going anywhere!"
It was Yeom Jin-sang. Dang Yak-ran lost her balance and toppled urgently. Even so, she didn't miss one thing.
"Master monk!"
The snowball left Dang Yak-ran's hand and hurtled toward Hyeon-gak, who was a zhang ahead.
At that instant, Gong Cheon-ak's hand, a zhang away, stretched out long.
'Toad Tongue Hand!'
It was a Demonic Cult unique art where a hand hidden in the sleeve extended like a toad's tongue.
Dang Yak-ran had only heard of it; this was her first time seeing it. She didn't know how it was possible, but having seen it with her own eyes, she had no choice but to believe.
"Ke hah ha!"
In the blink of an eye, Gong Cheon-ak snatched the snowball and sprinted joyfully toward the bow. No one knew where such speed came from his hefty frame—it was like a gale wind.
In an instant, he'd covered five steps and leaped over the mast crossing the deck's center.
At that moment, Hyeon-gak kicked the mast upward. The weight on his toe was no joke; the mast rocketed up and struck Gong Cheon-ak's groin dead-on.
Boom!
"Guh!"
Gong Cheon-ak, hit in the vitals, lost balance right there and crumpled. Hyeon-gak closed in in a flash and successfully stole the snowball from his hand with Capturing Hand.
Now, the distance to the bow's bowl was merely five or six zhang. Hyeon-gak glided forward with the momentum of One Reed Crossing the River.
But before he could take three steps, Yeom Jin-sang leaped onto the mast and flew at him, grabbing hold.
Stuck tight to his back, Yeom Jin-sang wrapped both arms around Hyeon-gak's neck. Hyeon-gak arched his back sharply, launching Yeom Jin-sang into the air, spinning him once before slamming him to the deck.
Thud!
"Gahk!"
Yeom Jin-sang sprawled in . Seizing the opening he'd created, Gong Cheon-ak dashed up and palmed Hyeon-gak's back.
Boom!
Hyeon-gak's back bent like a bow. Extreme cold felt hot, or so they said.
First came agony like his whole body was burning, then a bone-chilling frost followed.
Cold Heaven Ice White Palm!
It was a secret art of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, known only to the Heavenly Demon's personal disciples.
'This demon bastard used a killing blow...!'
Had he not mastered the invincible protective Golden Bell, his organs would be frozen and bones shattered by now.
But even amid it, Hyeon-gak clutched the snowball tight. Gong Cheon-ak's barrage continued atop him.
"Die, you stone head!"
Thud thud thud boom!
His red robes flapped like they'd been hit by cannonballs. Even without the snowball, his breath was about to give out.
In that instant, Dang Yak-ran's legs flew through the air toward Gong Cheon-ak's temple.
"Hmph, where!"
Gong Cheon-ak thrust out his left hand. He planned to snare her legs with Capturing Hand and slam her down.
Then, Dang Yak-ran's right hand dipped into and out of her left sleeve.
'Poison needle!'
Warriors versed in poison and hidden weapons were far more dangerous than other experts. You never knew when or how they'd poison or launch darts.
Even the mightiest felt uneasy before poison and needles.
Let alone if they were from the Tang Clan of Sichuan?
"Damn wench!"
Gong Cheon-ak recoiled two steps in shock. Seeing him retreat, Dang Yak-ran withdrew her poison needle.
"Master monk, you okay?"
"F-Fine..."
Hyeon-gak pulled Dang Yak-ran into a hug. With his broad back blocking Gong Cheon-ak's view, he whispered something to her.
Dang Yak-ran's eyes sank calmly, then she suddenly bolted toward the bow. Her belly bulged. Clearly, she'd hidden the snowball in her clothes.
"You cowardly scum!"
Gong Cheon-ak shot forward like lightning in alarm. Yeom Jin-sang had risen too and hurled himself at Dang Yak-ran.
Dang Yak-ran was caught just a zhang from the bow. The three tangled and rolled in a heap.
"Hold still!"
As Yeom Jin-sang grabbed her flailing legs, Gong Cheon-ak wrenched her arms apart with brute force and yanked up her jacket hem. But there was nothing on her belly.
A fiery slap flew in an instant!
Slap!
"You filthy pig!"
There was no time to feel wronged about the slap. Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang whipped their heads aside in unison. A zhang from the bow, just before the line, Hyeon-gak was tossing the snowball toward the bowl.
'Fooled!'
The snowball hit the bowl's rim, spun once, and plopped right in.
Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang's faces froze solid. For a moment, the air chilled as if time had stopped.
Dang Yak-ran shoved the dazed pair aside and stood. She straightened her clothes and approached Hyeon-gak, whose teeth chattered from the cold.
"You alright?"
"I'm not dying from this."
Hyeon-gak grinned ear to ear.
He turned to Heuk Do-san and said,
"Can we take that snowball now?"
At that moment, Bing-seol, who had been trembling in a corner, erupted. She jabbed a finger toward the bow and shouted.
"He stepped on the line!"
She added,
"No doubt about it. I saw it!"
Gong Cheon-ak and Yeom Jin-sang's eyes bulged.
Dang Yak-ran and Hyeon-gak looked incredulous.
A chilly silence stretched.
"Hahaha. Must be a misunderstanding. I swear on Buddha I didn't step on the line."
Bing-seol scurried over and pointed at the line.
A clear footprint, from snow fallen off the snowball, overlapped half the line.
Anyone could see it was where Hyeon-gak had just stood.
"That's no proof it's mine."
Hyeon-gak said, glaring.
Heuk Do-san rose and strode toward Hyeon-gak.
The axe and dagger at his waist jingled with his steps.
Overwhelmed by the menacing aura, Hyeon-gak unwittingly stepped back.
A fresh footprint appeared exactly where he'd been.
"......!"
"......!"
"......!"
"......!"
"......!"
Everyone's pupils reflected the print. Smiles spread white across Gong Cheon-ak, Yeom Jin-sang, and Bing-seol's faces.
Conversely, Dang Yak-ran and Hyeon-gak's faces rotted.
Heuk Do-san bellowed.
"Demonic Cult wins!"