Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 29: Lost Item (4)
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“Don't come anymore? Get lost? Me, the young master of the Jinju Un Family!”
What the hell gives them the right!
Rage boiled up inside him, but what tormented Un Ho-seung even more was something else.
“...That Mok guy. Is he okay? I haven't seen him at all.”
“He didn't jump off somewhere already, did he?”
Un Ho-seung's face twisted further at the twins' mutterings.
“Shut up! You're distracting me!”
“...This is unexpected.”
Im So-jeong's voice came from beside him.
“I never thought you'd go looking for Mok, the guy who only cared about the top ranks.”
“I have no choice if I want to win over the temporary instructor before the supplementary exam.”
Despite his curt words, Un Ho-seung's eyes scanned every corner.
“...Besides, it's unsettling not seeing any familiar faces.”
“True enough.”
It was something he'd only just realized, but lately, Un Ho-seung had changed a lot. Back then, he wouldn't have even remembered Mok Yeon-seong, let alone gone searching for him.
He'd only ever cared about climbing to the top ranks.
'What a mysterious guy.'
He knew the secrets of Un Ho-seung's sect, but the more he dug, the more new layers he uncovered.
And it wasn't just new sides to him.
“I didn't know Instructor Song was that irresponsible.”
“Sending away a student who was ready to die with an eviction order? Is he sane?”
“Feels like he's turned into a complete idiot. Well, thanks to that, we got some help.”
Was this really the young master of the Jinju Un Family? Having grasped the situation, Un Ho-seung had skillfully cajoled and threatened the instructors to secure their support.
Thanks to that, they'd even tracked down witnesses who knew Mok Yeon-seong's whereabouts.
'He's inexperienced, but his quick thinking and drive are impressive.'
Winning over instructors much older than him wasn't easy.
Maybe he needed to revise his evaluation upward? Just as he thought that, their group came to a halt.
“Ho-seung. Those guys.”
Un Ho-seung's eyes lit up as he spotted a familiar figure among the group walking cheerfully ahead.
“Paeng Dan-gi... Why the hell is that bastard here...”
“Don't the guys with him look familiar too?”
“Secular disciples from the Nine Great Sects.”
The Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
The nine sects and one gang that propped up the orthodox Murim world.
Though not formal sects, the disciples of these secular family sects wielded considerable influence simply by inheriting martial lineages.
“Tch. Running into these filthy bastards.”
He used to pass them by like stray dogs or chickens, but now it made his blood boil for some reason.
“Hold it in. Mok comes first right now.”
“Im So-jeong.”
He was suppressing his anger when someone suddenly appeared around the corner ahead of them, followed by a thwack!.
“Mok Yeon-seong?”
The figure looked familiar at a glance.
But this wasn't the time to just stand and watch.
“You damn unorthodox scum!”
Ching!
The metallic ring of a real sword being drawn followed.
“Drawing real swords?”
Even in the Divine Martial Academy where spars were commonplace, drawing live blades in the streets like this was rare.
It meant serious trouble had erupted.
“Let's go!”
Everyone kicked off lightly and dashed over.
And there, the group witnessed him.
Mok Yeon-seong, the very one they'd been desperately searching for.
Mok Yeon-seong was deploying his swordsmanship with all he had, but it was easily blocked.
Clang!
He was comically flung aside like trash.
But one thing had clearly changed: madness blazed in eyes that had lost their light.
Thud thud thud thud.
Gritting his teeth against the merciless violence from the group.
“Just one. Just one.”
He kept muttering obsessively, entranced.
One of the watching students muttered in disgust.
“This dog of the unorthodox sects!”
He was someone from memory.
The one whose family had suffered at the hands of the Namju Mok Family long ago.
The one leading the harassment by dredging up old grudges.
That was when he drew his sword.
Slash!
Mok Yeon-seong shook his tightly clenched left hand, and the charging student screamed.
“Aaaagh! Sand! You cowardly bastard!”
“Heh heh heh. You don't know unorthodox ways?”
Thud thud thud!
Mok Yeon-seong kicked the blinded opponent and lunged like a beast, sweeping his ankle.
There was a skill gap, but what could he do without sight?
“Argh!”
With a short scream, the student toppled. Mok Yeon-seong mounted him and relentlessly smashed his scabbard into the face.
Thud thud thud thud!
Blood sprayed across the pinned student's face in an instant.
The other watching students intervened at the atrocity.
Thud!
He was instantly kicked in the back.
Wham!
And shoved down by another student.
Yet Mok Yeon-seong was tenacious.
Though flung to the ground and rolling in the dirt, he crawled forward and jammed his scabbard into the head of the fallen one again.
“Just one. Just one.”
He looked utterly insane.
But seeing this, Un Ho-seung couldn't help chuckling wryly.
“Ha! Pretending to be all prim and proper, but not bad, huh?”
Murmur. Murmur.
A huge crowd had already gathered for the sudden brawl.
As if someone had called them all.
The secular students seemed flustered by the unintended attention.
And amid it all, another interloper appeared.
“Hey, you punks. All that fancy food, and all you do is fight?”
A familiar voice boomed out from somewhere.
Stomp stomp.
Chu Un-hwi approached after his shout halted the fight, glancing sideways at the scene.
'What a sight.'
Mok Yeon-seong lay sprawled in ruins.
His trampled hair was caked gray with dirt, his clothes rags soaked in blood.
No twitch from his fingertips—unconscious, perhaps.
But between his twitching lips.
“Just. One.”
He murmured the incantation.
'He actually pulled it off.'
Chu Un-hwi was genuinely surprised inside.
All he'd done was offer a few short words.
“Ganging up beats anyone. Just take down one.”
“Don't worry. They won't kill you. They know it can't end badly.”
“Dirty tricks and grapples are for when you're outmatched.”
“Wait in hiding, then smash their pots when they show.”
“Scared around every corner? Now you become the corner ghost.”
“I'll handle the rest.”
Still hesitant, so he added one more.
“Need a place to crash? I'll provide. Run here, I'll cover you. Do it.”
Enchanted by those words, he'd risen, grabbed the stone knife (a bored idle project), and vanished.
As suspected, a bloody stone knife rolled out beside the fallen Mok Yeon-seong.
'Made it for cooking.'
The stone never imagined it'd be a weapon.
No wonder he'd been infamous for brutality in his past life.
'This must be what promising talent looks like.'
Shaking his head, he approached, but a few students blocked him.
“Move.”
“Just a scuffle between students.”
“That's for me to judge.”
Pushing through bodily, five more students blocked him.
One thick-browed youth glanced at his chest and smirked.
“A temporary instructor.”
“Yeah. Got a problem?”
“Quite the sharp tongue. Allow me to introduce myself first. I'm So Yang-un, senior disciple of the Red Sword Sect, a secular affiliate of Mount Hua Sect.”
Among the many secular branches of mighty Mount Hua Sect, the Red Sword Sect ranked in the top ten.
Heard of it?
Chu Un-hwi retorted to the swaggering foe.
“I'm Chu Un-hwi, the most precious first son in my house. Heard of me?”
“And where might your esteemed house be?”
“No clue. No mom.”
So Yang-un, who'd tensed expecting some famed house, chuckled.
“Seems a bit slow on the uptake.”
Chu Un-hwi bellowed.
“Student So Yang-un! Are you insulting and threatening a temporary instructor right now?”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd at the roared challenge.
Realizing the mood had turned, So Yang-un lowered his voice hastily.
“When did I threaten?”
“Dunno. That's how it felt to me.”
“Absurd!”
“My trembling heart is proof.”
“Impossible to reason with.”
So Yang-un muttered and reached with his shoulder.
The internal energy from his hand was serious—feigning a shoulder grab to launch penetrating strikes.
'Looks familiar.'
Quietly subdue and slip away?
Chu Un-hwi could only scoff.
'So outdated.'
From experience fighting orthodox Murim to the death, their dirty tricks were fundamentally flawed.
'Time for the real deal.'
Lessons from a former grand fiend.
“Argh!”
Before the hand reached his shoulder, Chu Un-hwi collapsed with a short scream.
Then popped right back up.
“You! You hit me? Assaulted an instructor?”
So Yang-un panicked at the shout.
“Wh-when did I hit you?!”
“Just now! You, So Yang-un!”
Finally catching on, killing intent flickered in So Yang-un's eyes.
“You really want to end this?”
“Gonna finish me off? Is that what a student says to an instructor?”
The more they talked, the worse it got, so So Yang-un dropped the pretense.
“If you insist on escalating, we have no choice.”
Any more eyes, and the truth would come out.
'They're about to resort to force, ninety percent sure.'
Escape this spot, cover it up easily, subdue quick, and bolt.
Sure enough.
“Didn't want to lay hands on an instructor.”
“Never planned to become instructor hunter.”
“You'll regret this choice forever.”
Crack.
Scabbards rattling as students closed in.
Watching this, Un Ho-seung laughed.
“Crazy bastards. Dying to get killed.”
“Better to die clean, at least.”
The twins glanced at each other at his words.
“How many exchanges? I say at least a hundred.”
“Me too. He'll end it quick and keep pounding.”
Im So-jeong added,
“...Until other instructors show up to stop him.”
All nodded in unison.
Wham!
“Guhk!”
As he tried a quiet gaze-down strike, a thunderous headbutt smashed in.
Crunch.
With the gruesome sound of his nose bridge collapsing, So Yang-un crumpled.
“One.”
Wham!
As nosebleed streamed and he caught it with his hand, the ghost-like temporary instructor hammered iron fists into the dazed students.
'Fast—.'
Thud! Thwack!
Paeng Dan-gi, worthy of a Hubei Paeng branch, landed heavy blows.
But,
“Damn it! My durability is the best in the world!”
This brute endured Paeng Dan-gi's fist art through gritted teeth and finally drove one into his jaw.
Wham!
“Keurk!”
Paeng Dan-gi spewed teeth and collapsed.
“Lying down in front of an adult without permission?!”
Smack smack!
Grabbing the falling Paeng Dan-gi's collar, relentless slaps rained down.
“Stop!”
Wham!
Staggering from the nape strike, the temporary instructor ground his teeth.
“Haa— damn. Now sneak attacks from behind? I'm not on a picnic with the Iron Chain Alliance.”
“Shut up!”
“You shut up!”
Ptoo! Spitting blood-mixed saliva, the temporary instructor leaped, kneeing the face.
Thud!
“Kehk!”
Mounting the fallen student, he plunged fists like swimming strokes.
This was dogfight madness.
Wham!
“Ow, damn it! That hurts!”
Thud thud!
One hit taken, two returned.
Slash!
Sand kicked from his toes nonstop.
So ferocious, the last student flinched and drew his sword unconsciously.
Ching!
“Oh ho. Now stabbing an instructor's gut? Pure unorthodox breed.”
“I-I...”
“Die!”
Smack smack!
Even the final student crumpled under the brutal fists, and So Yang-un screamed like a banshee.
“Th-this! Do you know what you're doing?!”
“Evidence secured. Witnesses secured. Caught red-handed.”
“My family won't let this slide!”
“All you got is bragging family to a motherless guy?”
Thud thud thud!
He finally beat down every last student.
“Appetizer done. On to the main course?”
Grabbing So Yang-un's hair as he approached, the temporary instructor growled.
“Clench tight, punk.”
***
“Outta the way! Move!”
When the instructors finally arrived, what they saw was.
“My god.”
Blood-soaked students crawling on the ground in total ruin.
And,
“Hey. You made it?”
A ragged man lounging casually amid the mess.
“Kids these days are scary, huh?”