Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Vacation Trip (2)
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That evening.
The group, dumped on a barren mountainside with nothing around, slumped in exhaustion.
"Ughhh. What is this? Just yesterday I was sleeping on silk sheets."
"Mm. I wanted a love-struck elopement, but not like this."
Like the sullen Moyong So-hye and Baek Ri-seol, Jegal Tan clutched the back of his throbbing neck.
'To trust the Instructor. What a huge mistake.'
When it came to having no backup plan, who else in the world could rival the Instructor?
He wanted to kill his past self for so lightly following along on what was supposed to be a picnic.
On the other hand, one person showed no signs of agitation.
"Shall we at least set up camp before the Instructor returns?"
As the Instructor vanished with a wicked grin, Nangong Yun-ho set down his backpack.
"Good thing I brought this just in case."
He unpacked and began laying out what he'd brought, item by item.
A large pot, well-dried meat, followed by white rice and vegetables.
Jegal Tan watched as he neatly arranged containers of seasonings by type and asked,
"Yun-ho. Did you know the Instructor would pull something like this today?"
"No. He's kind-hearted, but not one to explain things in detail."
Then what was all this preparation for?
As Jegal Tan shot him a questioning look, Nangong Yun-ho replied nonchalantly,
"I've been carrying this around for a while now. So I can camp anywhere."
Why camp when you have a home?
Puzzled, but his gaze was stolen by the hands of his friend, who had evolved from Ghost of Bronze Hall to campsite expert.
He struck flint to start a fire, hung the pot, washed the rice methodically, and pitched the tent. His movements were so fluid and natural, like a master's touch. Before he knew it, quite some time had passed.
"Smoked meat for the side dish?"
"It's a bit bland, so season it with soy sauce."
"Ah, where did I put the dried seafood for the broth?"
The empty clearing, where they'd just been worrying about survival, transformed in an instant into a cozy campsite.
Baek Ri-seol, thrilled by the sudden change, clasped her hands in awe, her eyes sparkling.
"It's the Instructor. Maybe the caring Instructor prepared all this?"
"Sis, there's no way someone as heartless as the Instructor would prepare something so thoughtful."
"Tch. Useless. He might actually be kind after all..."
As Baek Ri-seol wriggled in感動,
"Nangong. What are you doing?"
The Instructor appeared, hands overflowing with wriggling, gruesome grubs.
Wriggle, wriggle.
The kidnapped grub family desperately danced for escape between his fingers.
"He said he was fetching dinner."
"Of course."
Facing reality, the two girls turned away.
In the midst, Nangong Yun-ho stirred the steaming rice with a hollow laugh.
"You know, right? After that incident, I can no longer return to my family."
"My goodness."
Three pairs of cold stares turned back to the Instructor.
"What? Why?! What?!"
The three whispered among themselves.
"Did he do something really bad?"
"He said it was a family meeting, but maybe it was a family breakup."
"Instructor. How harsh."
Nangong Yun-ho continued slowly,
"Leaving the family was entirely my choice. If anything, I should thank the Instructor for helping me make that decision. But once I left home, I had nowhere to go. So I pitched a tent in the training grounds and lived there."
At his calm confession, the three quickly changed their tune.
"We trusted the Instructor."
"Even the Instructor wouldn't cause a family split."
"I always thought the Instructor upheld justice."
They covered quickly, but the Instructor already looked thoroughly pissed.
"Hey, Jegal."
The honorific 'Assistant' was gone.
'This is bad.'
Jegal Tan answered promptly.
"Yes, esteemed Instructor."
"According to the jianghu common sense you claim to know so well, how does an assistant start a fire?"
"With flint, of course..."
Thwack!
The flint beside Nangong Yun-ho shattered with a loud boom.
'This is not good.'
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
"No flint?"
"Th-that's..."
"In the jianghu, isn't rubbing sticks together the common way?"
"Isn't that a bit too primitive..."
"I'm a primitive bastard, got a problem?"
Jegal Tan shut his mouth fast.
Countless strategies and tactics flashed through his mind, but nothing on 'how to deal with an offended Instructor'.
Who knew his studies would be so useless now.
He regretted all the years wasted studying.
"On second thought, maybe I went too easy."
If they were gaining experience, better do it right.
The Instructor said in a chilling voice,
"So you can survive even in hell."
Shiver.
Goosebumps rose on Jegal Tan's arms.
The next day in the wilderness.
Without flint, the group had to rub sticks to make fire.
It was quite tough.
They also learned that wooden sticks soaked in morning dew were useless.
After countless trial and error, they finally coaxed out some smoke.
Whoosh.
"We did it. We did it!"
"Waaah. It's warm."
"Sob sob. My nails are all chipped."
Having discovered fire like primitives, the group was overjoyed.
Day two.
Fire was no longer an issue.
It was still hard, but they could make it more smoothly now.
The problem was something else.
"Ah... my iron pot."
Holes were punched clean through the sturdy iron pot's bottom.
'How did he even do that?'
Everyone stared at the smooth, finger-sized holes and turned to the Instructor.
"Snooore. Snooore."
Obviously fake snoring echoed.
No need to point out the culprit.
But no one dared accuse him.
The group, who discovered fire like primitives yesterday, learned stone-knapping today.
They also realized that sometimes, for survival, you must look the other way.
The next day, the jerky pouch vanished.
The day after, dried veggies and seasonings. The tent was torn.
"Really? I have no idea."
The Instructor, claiming innocence, chewed nonstop.
Jerky bits clung to his lips. His pouch bulged with something fragrant.
Still, the group concluded,
"Must've been an eagle or crow that took it."
"Bad luck. Nothing we can do."
"Guess we need to forage..."
The group stoically accepted reality.
Thanks to learning the jianghu's harsh survival laws.
As time passed, the group grew penniless.
Losing civilized tools was painful, but bearable.
What was truly hard to endure was different.
"Hunt failed? Oh well."
The Instructor returned from somewhere with a rotten log.
Thud.
Bugs and centipedes poured out from the decayed wood.
Pointing at them, the Instructor said,
"These are pretty edible."
"Grilled, they taste like ten-year-old spoiled chicken."
"Want the method to eat poisonous mushrooms without dying?"
No need.
Didn't want to know.
But oddly, the gruesome knowledge stuck in their heads perfectly.
As if enchanted, even the wrinkles on the bugs etched into memory.
Bad memories become nostalgia eventually, but the Instructor's lessons would haunt them like nightmares till death.
After mastering primitive survival, he taught something else.
"How to find game."
"First, find traces of your prey."
"I'll teach you tracking and trapping."
It sounded like solid, bone-deep survival wisdom.
The issue: tracking meant sniffing dirt or fiddling with animal dung.
Why do this?
"Know what it ate, and you can guess its habitat."
"Fresh dung? Jackpot. Means prey nearby."
"Reverse the tracking to evade trackers."
Dirty, but useful.
Too convincingly practical; almost insulting.
But after learning, a problem arose. All their weapons vanished.
"Bear took 'em earlier."
No idea why a bear took only swords and gauntlets, but they let it slide.
Having endured harsh jianghu, the four knew in the Instructor's world, bears wore clothes, walked upright, flew, or shot palm winds. Not weird.
"This is real survival."
"Right, sis. Can't always have weapons."
"Let's brainstorm countermeasures."
"I'll make a stone knife..."
The ever-positive four rejoiced at evolving from primitives to hunters.
Learning to find joy in small things was a good gain.
If only the Instructor didn't vanish alone and return wafting delicious smells, they'd be happier. Anyway.
Thus, twenty days passed.
Baek Ri-seol crouched low.
Beyond the tickling bushes, the target appeared.
"Sip. Hup."
With controlled breaths, her senses sharpened intensely.
Chirp. Chirp.
At the contrived bird call, Baek Ri-seol kicked off the ground.
Tat.
Leaping over the bush in one bound, she spread her hands.
Papapap!
Wooden splinters flew at the wild boar snuffling the dirt.
Puffpuffpuffthud!
Direct hit.
Now she could infuse qi into these small splinters for precise throws.
"Kweeeeeek!"
But she failed to kill in one shot.
Days of starvation, plus yesterday's near-death from bad mushrooms sapped her strength.
"Kwek! Kwek! Kweeeek!"
Blood spraying from splinter wounds, the boar thrashed wildly.
Snort.
The wounded beast glared, huffing hot breaths.
But Baek Ri-seol was already preparing her next move without hesitation.
"Now!"
This way.
Provoking it, the boar scraped the ground with front hooves.
A calf-sized boar's charge was deadly, but she'd anticipated it.
Papapapak!
Splinters rained evenly around the boar as it lunged.
"Kwek?"
Sensing something wrong, it kicked off late—but spun in place.
Formation.
Jegal Tan's memorized simple formation, honed through effort.
"Iyaaap!"
Mo Yong-so-hye dropped from a tree with a fierce yell, mounting the boar's back.
Thud! Thud!
Fist barrage merciless; boar bucked wildly standing.
"Die! Die already!"
Thud! Thudthudthud!
Her beast-pummeling punches cracked the boar's skull.
Crack!
Head caved, boar collapsed, legs twitching skyward.
Hunt success.
"Hiek. Hieek."
Mo Yong-so-hye, drenched in sweat from her brutal strikes, panted.
"Hehe. Total victory!"
Her beaming smile was nice, but blood dripping from fists onto her forehead made a gruesome sight.
"My turn now."
Nangong Yun-ho appeared, holding a stone knife chipped from rock.
Instructor called it a Paleolithic tool while teaching.
No clue what that meant.
"Heh. We'll eat well today."
Crude knife skinned and butchered swiftly.
Meat seemed to shed clothes. His knife work transcended artisan to art.
"Hate to rush, but pack quick and move. Not enough time to goal."
"Got it. Other beasts feast tonight."
Snip snip.
Selecting prime cuts, bagging in woven bamboo leaves, he tucked away his precious stone knife and stood.
"Let's go. Sun's high, no time to dawdle."
"Baek junior and I will check traps en route."
Navigating without maps to Instructor's point was tough, but traps—near sadistic—were worst.
No one wanted to trip, get buried, or dangle from snares.
Recalling, shadows crossed their faces.
"Hope we pass safely today."
"Yeah. Endless nagging all night is torture."
"Move out."
The wild-assimilated hunters gauged direction and advanced slowly.