Chapter 311
Chapter 311
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 85
>Chapter Title: Reunion (3)
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‘Are they all dead?’
The bamboo hat man clad in a bamboo raincoat narrowed his eyes as he stared at the darkened dormitory building.
-Shooooaaa!
When the rain poured down, the noise interfered with his hearing.
Even when he heightened his hearing with internal energy, the countless raindrops amplified into a deafening roar.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
Rain, as a natural phenomenon, was saturated with water qi, which scattered the surrounding energy.
Because of this, sensing anything through qi perception amid the downpour was difficult, even for the most skilled masters.
‘Does it matter?’
In any case, the original plan had gone awry the moment one of them woke up.
It was practically the same as casualties already occurring.
At that moment, an old man leaning on a snake-headed staff spoke up in a tone of intrigue.
“Who is that one?”
In response, the man who was the branch head replied in bewilderment.
“T-That’s him! The one who fell asleep last.”
“The last one?”
“Yes.”
“How am I supposed to know from that? Tell me his name or which faction of the Heaven-Earth Society he’s from.”
“I don’t know. They all called him ‘Lord,’ ‘Lord’... Yes. Even the deputy leader Mong Seocheon’s son called him ‘Lord.’”
“The deputy leader’s son called him ‘Lord’?”
‘Hm?’
The bamboo hat man couldn’t hide his own puzzlement at the branch head’s words.
Come to think of it, that guy who looked just like him should have meant only three people, including the Sacred Fire Command Leader, but there were six in total.
That meant there were extras who hadn’t been part of the original plan.
However, for the deputy leader’s son to call someone ‘Lord,’ he would have to be at least a disciple of the Heaven-Earth Society’s leader.
‘The leader wouldn’t have secretly dispatched a disciple.’
What on earth was his identity?
The bamboo hat man addressed Mok Kyung-un.
“Is that your real face? Or a human skin mask?”
“This is ridiculous... I thought he was from the imperial palace side, but apparently not.”
“What?”
“Then it’s one or the other, and since your branch head stabbed you in the back, he can’t be from the Heaven-Earth Society. So it must be the organization with that insignia, right?”
With those words, Mok Kyung-un drew in the air with his finger: the number two with a vertical line piercing through its center.
‘!?’
The moment they saw it, the branch head and all the masked figures’ eyes changed.
The old man with the snake staff and the one in the bamboo raincoat were no exceptions.
‘What the hell is this guy?’
He knew of their existence?
This was no simple matter.
-Pat!
Two of the encircling masked men moved, attempting to subdue Mok Kyung-un in an instant with skilled joint attacks.
They targeted his right and left sides simultaneously.
-Sring!
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un casually moved both hands separately, then grabbed their arms in reverse using the Capturing Hand technique.
And then,
-Kwaduduk!
He yanked the seized arms clean off without a second thought.
The masked men, whose arms were torn away in an instant, rolled on the rain-soaked ground with screams.
-Splash!
“Kuaaaagh!”
“M-My aaaarm!”
“Shut up.”
-Puk! Krunch! Puk! Kwajik!
One masked man’s neck twisted completely under Mok Kyung-un’s kick, while another had his head ripped off along with his spine by Mok Kyung-un’s hand.
The encircled masked men’s eyes filled with wariness at the brutally ruthless hands.
Regardless, Mok Kyung-un tossed the severed head aside and spoke.
-Splash!
“Those in masks must be the small fry, so you two and the branch head must be higher-ups in the organization, right? At least Three Boundaries level or...”
He didn’t finish his sentence.
-Sruk!
The snake staff old man vanished, reappearing before Mok Kyung-un in an instant and swinging the staff’s head toward his own head.
However,
-Chaenggggg!
The staff was blocked by the half-drawn blade of Mok Kyung-un’s Demon Instantly Sword.
As a metallic clang echoed from the staff head without it being sliced by the razor-sharp Demon Instantly Sword, Mok Kyung-un remarked with interest.
“It’s not just any staff, huh?”
“What the hell are you? How much do you...”
-Parurururu!
A glint appeared in the old man’s eyes.
Impressive as he was, how strong could a young punk’s internal energy really be?
Yet as he gradually channeled his own energy, the staff only trembled without being pushed back.
This guy was no ordinary foe.
-Guoooo!
And what was this sword?
Even half-drawn and clashing, it emanated a bizarre demonic nature.
Definitely no ordinary blade.
‘Escaping the imperial palace unscathed wasn’t just luck. He’s no mere late-stage successor. Fine then!’
-Shwaaaaa!
The old man fully unleashed his energy.
Green vapors rose from his snake staff.
It was poison qi.
As the toxic energy flowed out, his power doubled, repelling Mok Kyung-un’s form backward with rebound force.
-Splash! Splash!
But the moment his feet touched the ground, there was no sliding or recoiling.
The old man’s eyes narrowed at the sight.
He had infused partial poison qi to create that rebound, yet Mok Kyung-un acted unfazed, which puzzled him.
Come to think of it, he was the only one who hadn’t succumbed to the sleeping herbs he himself concocted—and he had even identified their contents.
‘This guy has expertise in poisons or immunity to them.’
No one could do this without studying poisons.
Then Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“Elder, you’ve mastered poison arts, haven’t you?”
At the question, the old man laughed in disbelief.
“Hahaha. You’re the first young man to address me like that. Yes, I’ve cultivated poison arts. Since before you were even born.”
-Shwaaaaa!
No sooner had he spoken than green vapors rose from his entire body.
Even his hair took on a deep green hue as it whipped about, its intensity so fierce that raindrops vaporized upon contact.
It was tremendous poison qi.
Then,
-Suk!
The bamboo hat man raised his hand, then pointed at the dormitory.
At the signal, the encircling masked men shot toward it as if they had been waiting.
-Papapapak!
-Sheek!
‘As expected.’
Grinning as if he understood the bamboo hat man’s intent, the poison-qi-spewing old man rapidly dashed at Mok Kyung-un to keep him occupied.
Green poison-qi billowed from the snake staff, weaving intricate long-range strikes, forcing Mok Kyung-un to fully draw his Demon Instantly Sword to block.
-Chachachachachang!
-Papapapapak!
As the green poison-qi snake staff clashed with the Demon Instantly Sword, blue flames sparked, sending raindrops flying everywhere.
Where those raindrops landed,
-Chiiiik!
They blackened and burned from the poison.
A masked man unlucky enough to be hit had the toxin spread rapidly through his body, causing him to lose consciousness on the spot.
The surrounding masked men shouted.
“Everyone, fall back!”
“Don’t get near the elder!”
The masked men hurriedly distanced themselves.
As they did, they couldn’t hide their inner shock.
They knew these foes had escaped the imperial palace, implying top-tier late-stage successor skills, but still.
‘What the hell is that guy?’
‘How is a brat holding his own against Elder So?’
‘Is he just tanking the poison?’
The duel made no sense to them.
By then, the two had already exchanged over forty bouts, swords and staff colliding.
-Chachachachachang!
The old man wielding the staff spoke in ecstatic tones.
“Not bad at all. To think I’d encounter someone who can properly withstand five of my eight poisons here, besides that Dang In-hae bastard.”
The old man was genuinely astounded.
He had assumed even someone versed in poisons with resistance would crumple easily to five poisons.
Yet here he was, holding firm against such vicious poison qi.
Where did this monster come from?
He seemed ready for six poisons.
‘Hm?’
But suddenly, something felt off to the old man.
Impressive as holding against him was, shouldn’t the kid be desperate by now?
Thanks to him being tied up, the masked men had entered the dormitory unimpeded.
He should be frantic to shake him off and save his comrades—yet there was no such urgency.
Was he prioritizing his own safety over his allies?
Curious, the old man asked outright.
“You’re an odd one. Of course, escaping me is no easy feat, but you don’t seem to care if your comrades die?”
“Comrades?”
“Yes.”
“Who knows. More importantly, shouldn’t you worry about your subordinates first?”
“What?”
-Kwang!
No sooner had he spoken than the dormitory wall exploded, sending someone flying out.
The old man swung his staff wide to create distance, then turned his gaze to the ejected figure.
‘!?’
The old man furrowed his brow.
The one flung out was none other than a masked man.
His chest caved in from the fist strike, he soon slumped lifelessly, head drooping.
“Rat bastards, daring to slink in wearing masks.”
From the broken wall emerged the precept-breaking monk Ja Geum-jeong, clashing his fists together.
He wasn’t the only one.
Seop Chun followed, his shoulder draped with a blood-soaked Guangmu Sword, and right behind him, Mong Mu-yak was visible dragging what looked like a masked man’s arm.
-Kwa-kwang!
“Keuk!”
It didn’t end there—the dormitory ceiling shattered as one masked man was launched upward by relentless ascending kicks.
His waist nearly snapped from the storm-like barrage evoking Shadowless Kick, and he tumbled from the roof.
-Kung! Deguldegul! Splash!
The one who landed on the roof after downing the masked man was the masked Mara-hyeon.
At the sight of them, bewilderment spread across the masked men’s eyes.
They thought only one was awake, but it seemed they all were.
What was going on?
The old man raised one eyebrow, glaring at Mok Kyung-un.
“It’s you. You did this.”
Instinctively, he pinned the cause on Mok Kyung-un.
If he had resistance to his poisons and could counter the sleeping herbs, preparing countermeasures was no stretch.
Mok Kyung-un shrugged and sneered.
“Did you think I’d just keep sleeping knowing it was a trap? Simpler than you look.”
-Euduk!
Rage boiling, the old man ground his teeth.
-Shwaaaaa!
He then spewed green poison qi incomparable to before.
It was the realm of seven poisons among his eight.
Seven poisons equated to the Poison Man realm, affecting even the surrounding area and falling raindrops.
The bamboo hat man urgently shouted as green vapors spread everywhere.
“Elder! Restrain your poison qi!”
If it only hit the enemies, fine—but there were subordinate masked men nearby.
Turning into a Poison Man and unleashing such deadly toxins would poison his own men too.
“This... world...”
At that moment, Mong Mu-yak, who had followed Seop Chun while dragging a severed masked arm, couldn’t hide his shock upon seeing the old man gripping the snake-headed staff.
Seop Chun asked puzzled.
“What’s wrong?”
“That old man... is Gu Yang-so.”
“Gu Yang-so? Gu Yang-so... You don’t mean?”
“Yes. The head of the Gu clan, Eight Poisons Snake Staff Gu Yang-so.”
Eight Poisons Snake Staff Gu Yang-so.
When naming murim’s top poison experts, two names always came up: Eight Poisons Snake Staff Gu Yang-so and Thousand Poison Hands Dang In-hae of the Eight Stars.
Both had reached the Poison Man realm, but since only Dang In-hae made the Eight Stars, some deemed Gu Yang-so a step below.
That was a novice assumption.
Gu Yang-so hadn’t ranked because he hailed from the Western Regions beyond the central plains, like southern barbarians or northern seas.
Having attained the pinnacle poison art of Poison Man, he was the deadliest among weapon masters at killing.
Mong Mu-yak urgently yelled.
“Lord! That old man is Eight Poisons Snake Staff Gu Yang-so! Don’t fight him up close!”
At the warning, the old man—no, Gu Yang-so—scoffed.
“Too late. So full of yourself—let’s see how you fare against my poisons... What are you looking at?”
His momentum surging, Gu Yang-so furrowed his brow.
Mok Kyung-un was staring not at him, but behind.
Straight at the bamboo hat man, piercingly so. It was absurd.
‘This punk is mocking me.’
He had surged straight to seven poisons.
In Poison Man form, every strike was extreme poison.
Yet in this dire situation, he was distracted?
He must be suicidal.
-Pak!
Gu Yang-so stabbed his staff into the ground, assuming the stance for killing blows.
Crouching toad-like with bent legs—this was his ultimate technique, Toad Poison Arts.
He’d make him pay for looking away...
-Ohsok!
Suddenly, chills raced up Gu Yang-so’s spine, his eyes trembling.
Mok Kyung-un grinned ear-to-ear with eerie menace, exuding unbelievable killing intent.
It wasn’t just him—the encircling masked men all flinched and staggered back, overwhelmed by the killing intent in an instant.
‘W-What killing intent?’
‘This... what...’
-Kkang!
By then, the bamboo hat man’s hand had moved to the sword hilt concealed within his bamboo raincoat.
Instinct told him that immense killing intent was locked on him.