Chapter 292
Chapter 292
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 81
>Chapter Title: Reunion (1)
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Humin.
One of the yokai from the Kunlun Mountains, it possessed the upper body of a massive bird and the lower body of a hornet.
Like most imae-mangryang, its power weakened during the day, but Humin's flight speed was incomparable to that of a galloping horse.
No matter how hard they tried to pursue the soaring Humin, the tracking party could only watch its receding silhouette fade into the distance.
"Damn it..."
"How the hell are we supposed to chase that thing?"
Catching something flying through the sky was nearly impossible from the start.
In a daze, they eventually had to turn back.
-Flutter flutter!
"They won't be able to keep up."
Mok Kyung-un, peering at the distant trackers with his exceptional dynamic vision, smiled faintly as he spoke.
Seop Chun, sticking out his tongue in amazement at Mok Kyung-un's words, asked,
"My lord. When exactly did you tame a freak like this?"
"Ah, this one? I got lucky during the assembly."
"The assembly?"
Seop Chun and Mong Mu-yak's eyes widened at Mok Kyung-un's response.
Having lived in the Heaven and Earth Society for so long, they had never seen anything like this.
Then, Yukcheonho So Ye-rin, who had been wearing a black mask, removed it and spoke.
"Young Master Mok is truly skilled in beast taming as well. Taming a yokai like this proves it."
"Just luck."
"Who could tame something like this with luck alone? In any case, since you've... Ah."
As she spoke, she flinched and gripped the cart.
Humin had slightly banked to the side while gaining altitude, throwing off her balance.
Her eyes shook as she looked down below.
She seemed fearless against anything, but apparently, peering down from high in the sky terrified her.
The masked Golden Guard Mara-hyeon asked with a worried look.
"Yukcheonho. Are you alright...?"
"I'm fine! It's nothing."
Before Mara-hyeon could finish, So Ye-rin hurriedly shook her head in denial.
Her slightly flushed face suggested she was embarrassed about showing her fear while looking down.
As if reading his master's mind, Mara-hyeon turned his head away.
He then glanced at the scraps bucket where the Saint Fire Spirit Lord was.
Mara-hyeon's gaze grew peculiar as he looked at it.
Then,
-Clack!
Mok Kyung-un opened the lid of the scraps bucket.
With the lid open, the Saint Fire Spirit Lord, who had been piecing together the outside situation from sounds alone, asked Mok Kyung-un in bewilderment.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"As you can see, we successfully escaped."
"Successfully?"
"Yes."
"Ahhh!"
Her face lit up at those words.
The situation had felt urgently dire, and she had been dying to know what happened.
Hearing they had escaped filled her with profound relief.
Huddled inside the food scraps with only her head poking out, she tried to stand up.
Mok Kyung-un said to her,
"I'd advise you to stay put."
"Didn't you say we escaped? I've been in here, but my ears feel muffled and my stomach is churning—it's uncomfortable in here...!?"
Her expression hardened in that instant.
Looking up, she gripped the cart upon seeing the massive talons clutching it and Humin's underbelly, unable to hide her shock.
"Wh-what is this?"
"Nothing much. We're just in a high place right now."
"A high place?"
"Yes. So please relax back inside?"
".......Ah, I understand."
"Shall I close the lid for you?"
Her stomach still churning, the Saint Fire Spirit Lord nodded.
Staring at it any longer would only make her feel worse, so staying inside without seeing anything seemed better.
Mok Kyung-un closed the lid with a smile and turned his gaze elsewhere.
Mara-hyeon, meeting Mok Kyung-un's eyes, hurriedly averted his own in panic.
-Mortal, you felt it too?
At Cheongryeong's words beside him, Mok Kyung-un shrugged.
Of course he had.
He was sensitive to many things, but especially to killing intent—no matter how well concealed, he detected it like a ghost.
He had long noticed the faint killing intent emanating from Mara-hyeon directed toward the Saint Fire Spirit Lord.
He didn't know the reason, but it seemed tied to some emotional grudge.
-We can't leave them together.
-Indeed.
-By the way, using a yokai like Humin this way— you're quite something.
-Improvization?
-That improvization got us out of the imperial palace. And now even exploiting the Golden-Furred Nine-Tailed Fox—you truly deserve praise for your guts, mortal.
Mok Kyung-un chuckled at her tongue-clicking words.
Humin had been a last-resort backup, but the Golden-Furred Nine-Tailed Fox was pure luck.
Had the fox not whimsically helped due to its nature, they might really have been captured by Gu Su-baek, the South Advance Warrior called one of the Six Heavens.
-Tight!
Mok Kyung-un clenched his trembling left fist.
It wasn't the super-regeneration of Yukhyeolseong Danbaekha, who had consumed spirit beast blood, but his recovery was swift, and strength slowly returned to his hand.
Watching this, Mok Kyung-un let out a shallow breath.
He had absorbed the fox's immense yokai energy and gained some insights, yet the wall of the Six Heavens, called the pinnacle of the martial world, loomed enormously.
'Still a long way to go.'
Those who killed his grandfather were likely part of one massive organization.
To uncover them, he needed either his own forces or overwhelming power—and this fight had shown him he was still lacking.
But there was no need for disappointment.
He had gauged the prowess of one of the Six Heavens, gaining various lessons and insights.
'The ways to handle qi are endless.'
He had closely observed how one who had fully transcended the wall of walls—that is, the Transcendent Realm—manipulated qi.
From that, he vaguely grasped their methods.
Using this, he could handle qi even more effectively than before.
-Swish!
As Mok Kyung-un twitched his finger, the hilt of the Evil Instant Sword in its sheath trembled faintly.
The corner of his mouth curved up.
It was then.
-Mortal.
-......
-Mortal.
-Yes?
-You... you're just going to abandon that bald donkey?
-!?
The bald donkey Cheongryeong meant was none other than Ja Geum-jeong, the apostate Shaolin monk known as the Demon Fist Master.
Things had gotten tangled, and with even Humin mobilized, he had forgotten.
The original plan was to pull the scraps cart out of the outer palace and switch to the carriage Ja Geum-jeong had prepared to escape Gyeongbong.
But with the unexpected escape on Humin, they had left him behind.
-Ah... I forgot.
-I figured.
-No choice.
-Hm?
-We can't go back now..."
Mok Kyung-un glanced at So Ye-rin.
Due to Gu Su-baek's appearance, she had inadvertently left the palace with them, but she would have to return eventually.
So he figured he'd ask her to tell Ja Geum-jeong to come separately.
But then Cheongryeong made a face as if it were ridiculous.
-No need.
-What do you mean?
-Look below.
At her words, Mok Kyung-un puzzledly looked down at the ground.
With his far superior eyesight, he spotted a dot moving over the foliage that looked like a clump of fur, and faint sounds reached him.
Humin's wingbeats and the wind were loud, muffling it, but focusing his hearing picked up the faint noise.
-Yaaaaaaa! Can't you hear meeeeee!?
The shout, infused with inner energy, echoed upward.
The furious voice belonged to none other than Demon Fist Master Ja Geum-jeong.
* * *
In a nearby forest devoid of people.
"Hah... hah..."
The apostate monk Ja Geum-jeong, face drenched in sweat, panted with his tongue lolling out.
Though he had drawn in ambient qi to endure, chasing the flying Humin had exhausted all his stamina.
It was the first time since learning martial arts that lightfoot skill had felt like it might kill him.
Mok Kyung-un smiled at him.
"You kept up well."
"Hah... hah... damn... my lord... you told this monk to prepare a carriage and wait... hah hah... what kind of stunt is it to just ditch me?"
"Ah, not ditching. Circumstances forced it."
"Circumstances? What circum—"
-Thud!
Then Seop Chun elbowed his side and whispered in his ear.
"If you knew what we went through, you'd be shocked too."
"Shocked?"
"Just listen quietly. Actually..."
Seop Chun briefly explained the escape from the outer palace.
Ja Geum-jeong's eyes widened as he listened, questioning,
"What? You fought the North Overlord King Gu Su-baek?"
"No. I said listen quietly, so why ask again?"
Seop Chun shrugged awkwardly.
Yet he subtly looked proud.
Fair enough—though a joint effort, Mok Kyung-un, whom he had chosen as lord, had clashed with Gu Su-baek, one of the Six Heavens at the martial world's peak, and even wounded him.
This wasn't mere luck.
Against a grandmaster who had reached the Transcendent Realm beyond the wall of walls, it was a remarkable feat.
If word spread—not just among them, but the martial world—Mok Kyung-un's fame would soar.
He might even gain renown as a rising master.
'Ah...'
Suddenly Seop Chun licked his lips.
Come to think of it, Mok Kyung-un was officially dead in the palace.
Sadly, this incident tied to the palace meant his fame wouldn't spread.
It was a chance to leap from promising junior to fame rivaling the Eight Stars, but they had to keep it secret.
Then Ja Geum-jeong asked Mok Kyung-un excitedly.
"No, my lord. You really crossed swords with one of the Six Heavens?"
"Hey, baldy."
"What?"
At the sudden call, apostate Ja Geum-jeong scowled fiercely and turned.
The caller was Yukhyeolseong Danbaekha.
"Did you just call me baldy?"
"You call yourself a monk but hate it from others?"
"Hah?"
"Seeing you call Young Master Mok 'lord,' you seem like a subordinate. What kind of manners is that from a brat?"
"What? Does this bodhisattva want to head to paradise already? Dressed worse than this monk like a beggar, and you dare call me a brat you—"
-Thud!
Before he finished, Danbaekha revealed her aura.
-Rumble!
"Not calling a brat a brat—what should I call you then?"
Ja Geum-jeong flinched at sensing it.
The exposed aura alone showed her inner energy far surpassed his.
'What? This bodhisattva?'
Her profound energy, just from the aura, reminded him of his former master, the Shaolin Long Scripture Hall Lord Gongeon Great Master.
What was this woman's identity?
As he puzzled,
Someone dropped to their knees before Yukcheonho So Ye-rin.
It was the masked Golden Guard Mara-hyeon.
At his demeanor, bewilderment flashed in So Ye-rin's eyes.
"What... what is this?"
"......Just as I said. I don't think I can return to the palace with you, Yukcheonho."