Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: S3. Murim Journey -6
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Blood Spider Crone.
Her name came from how she resembled a spider bloated with blood. Just as a spider delicately manipulates its legs, so too did the Blood Spider Crone's fingers.
Her elongated nails brimmed with blood qi, glowing crimson. When her fingers clicked and twitched like an insect's limbs, deadly red trails streaked through the air in all directions.
Shasha-shashak!
"I'll beat the living daylights out of youuuu!!"
"Kuh!"
"Myeong, be careful!"
Under the Blood Spider Crone's aura, now tripled in intensity, Namgung Myeong and Namgung Seungah—who had been barely holding on with erratic movements—were sent flying back.
Even a graze from those nails would cleave flesh from bone. Realizing this, the Namgung siblings finally drew their swords. It was all to buy just a little more time.
The wicked spirit Hee Yeonghyeon watched the spectacle with an inward yawn.
These manufactured puppets were meshing together like clockwork gears, each fulfilling their scripted roles. The Namgung folk, the Blood Spider Crone—they'd all been created for battles like this.
It was obvious without watching. They'd stagger along in combat until participant Cheonghwi arrived, then conveniently open a gap for him to charge in.
So whether Hee Yeonghyeon helped or not, the outcome would be the same.
Tap, tap.
Scattering a few daggers around would suffice. That much should keep her from catching flak later—no wrinkles in the plot.
"How dare you act cocky one more timeee!!"
"Sis, it's below you!!"
The puppets tangled in chaos. The clash of blade and claw rang out, sparks flew, and it was the sword that shattered. The Namgung siblings plunged into peril.
Every tool has its proper use.
Swords exist to kill, books to be read.
Those puppets existed for their little play. She... she had been made to plunge humans into pits of agony and despair. That much was certain.
She didn't know why. She had simply been forged that way.
So this situation could only bore her. It was like asking a sword to read a book—how could it not be dull?
Why did that mad wizard insist on using her like this? She'd surrendered long ago, and he'd even personally fitted her with a bomb collar to eliminate her at a moment's notice.
No need to go far afield.
If he'd injected her into Roderus's mind, she could've turned him into a raving lunatic in three days. Released among the academy students, she could've brainwashed them into fanatically serving the mad wizard.
If he loathed her sword so much he didn't want to wield it, why not just smash it to pieces?
Mulling it over alone wouldn't resolve the question. Arms crossed, Hee Yeonghyeon called out to Cheonghwi, who was preparing his ambush.
"What do you think, Daoist?"
"...About what?"
"Tools. A blade that cuts humans so superbly, wasted on trimming plants. Isn't that absurd?"
"Asking something so random in this situation...?"
Hee Yeonghyeon's question floated detached from the chaos. Cheonghwi seemed briefly flustered, then gathered his thoughts and replied.
"I'm talking about the Dog-Beating Staff Method. Why do you think a martial art's name means 'dog-catching'?"
"Because it was made catching dogs."
"But the name's so crude, isn't it? For a sect's signature technique, something like Infinite Thread-Piercing Dog Staff or Mount Tai Shattering Staff would've sounded grander..."
Yet he'd named it Dog-Beating Staff Method for a reason. Cheonghwi offered his answer.
"What matters is the meaning."
"Meaning, huh."
"Why would beggars need to catch dogs? Surely to welcome a new family member. Another mouth to feed, so they caught a dog. Killing the dog wasn't the point."
"......"
Why was the Dog-Beating Staff Method the Beggar Clan's foundation? At its core, wasn't it the heart to welcome kin? That's what Cheonghwi believed.
In this harsh world, only fellow beggars could comfort beggars, so they banded together in shared misery, forming tight-knit families.
They welcomed a new beggar—skinny, emaciated, half-dead. For this new family, the clan boiled a dog to keep him alive. They cared for and shared with each other.
"So... even a blade that cuts humans superbly isn't strange if the wielder intends it so."
"What nonsense. The essence never changes."
"But what builds atop that essence does."
Cheonghwi answered thus, then leaped between the Blood Spider Crone and the Namgung siblings. Metallic clashes rang out, ushering in another frenzy of swordplay.
Humans really think too much useless drivel.
The wicked spirit pondered briefly before snapping back to Hee Yeonghyeon and drawing her dagger. The play wasn't over; she had to do her part as a character.
She could think later.
Chaeeng! Kagagagak—!!
The crimson nails ground straight down the longsword's edge. Slowly, the blade split in two. At the end of that trajectory loomed Namgung Myeong's body.
Namgung Myeong, overwhelmed by the sheer power gap, couldn't even dodge. He trembled, clutching the hilt. Just as the longsword—and he—were about to be bisected—
Kang—!!
Cheonghwi swept upward from below, deflecting the Blood Spider Crone's hand.
"Daoist Cheonghwi!"
"I'm here!"
"Sis took a palm strike from the old fiend and lost consciousness!"
"I saw. I left her near Hee Yeonghyeon on my way, so she'll get her to safety. You withdraw too, young hero!"
At Cheonghwi's words, Namgung Myeong bit his lip and shook his head stubbornly. He'd only been saved and received help until now. How could he run again?
"I... I want to help too. I held her off until just now, and my dantian’s healed, so surely...!"
Cheonghwi read the stubbornness in Namgung Myeong's eyes. Had the mounting debt of favors grown too heavy? Platitudes like "You're young, pay it back later" wouldn't work.
Fighting alongside him would help, but if he got hurt again...
Shouldn't an older brother protect his sibling? Cheonghwi dredged up the vilest speech pattern from his memories, channeling it as he grabbed Namgung Myeong and hurled him far toward Hee Yeonghyeon.
"...I'm saying you're in the way, you lowly cur!"
"Uwack...!!"
Imitating Roderus felt oddly off.
Confirming Hee Yeonghyeon tending to the Namgung siblings, Cheonghwi used gaze insight to evade the incoming nails from the blind spot, then swept his leg low across the ground.
The Blood Spider Crone leaped back to dodge, widening the gap. Seeing Cheonghwi land unscathed, her wrinkled face twisted in a fierce scowl.
"...Does that mean the Slaughter Captain fell?"
"He was skilled, but I struck his vital before he could show it. An easy win."
"You... despicable wurm!"
"Who's calling who despicable here...?"
Chwaaak—!
Blood qi sprayed from the Blood Spider Crone's nails like scattered droplets. Shaping qi into tangible form showed she'd reached the peak expert realm.
As Cheonghwi dodged the blood qi, she closed in like a bolt, swinging her nails wildly. But Cheonghwi targeted not the nails, but the hand. His clenched fist shot forward.
"Explosive Shatter Fist!"
Paht, pababak!
Grabbing a bladed weapon barehanded invites injury, so he struck the hand and arm at the nails' root, deflecting the attacks' paths.
Her frequent strikes foiled by Cheonghwi's sharp counters, the Blood Spider Crone—face flushed beet red with rage—unleashed her ultimate technique.
"Raaagh! Ring Hand Flying Claw!"
Chwaak!!
Ferocious blood qi spread in a circular net. An area attack leaving no room to escape. Cheonghwi calmly stepped back with footwork, drawing his rapier and swinging.
A flash gleamed. He repeatedly pierced the net's weak points, tearing it apart, then threw himself through the gap.
Simultaneously, he hurled the rapier like a javelin at the Blood Spider Crone's head.
Shwaaaaak!!
"Heok...!!"
Under that fierce momentum, the Crone twisted desperately but couldn't fully evade—her shoulder was pierced.
It was manageable. Winnable.
No sense of impending defeat. Then, suddenly.
Cheonghwi realized he'd unknowingly breached the wall. His repeated fortunes and experiences had propelled him midway up the peak.
And the Blood Spider Crone facing him sensed it too.
"You brat... how are you already at expert realm...!!"
"Hup!"
Cheonghwi planted his true stance and closed the distance.
He'd mastered many martial arts, so his forms shifted with every thrust.
Piercing fiercely with wizard-slaying techniques, smashing and seizing with serpent-capture arts, flowing and evading with gaze-reading, striking with explosive bursts.
The Blood Spider Crone tried to fend off the downpour of strikes, but attacks seeped through one by one like rainwater through cracks.
Thud, pak!
"Euk...!!"
The Crone counterattacked too. Nails grazed, drawing blood and flaying flesh. Yet Cheonghwi knew pre-impact they weren't fatal.
Analyzing patterns and habits for confident movement. Calculating angles precisely to extend his hand. Dancing like moonlight flickering in his mind.
Like divided streams converging to the sea, all experiences aligned in a single stroke. Cheonghwi felt the flow.
It resembled the Heavenly Demon's movements, yet differed in essence.
"I'll infuse this motion with straightforward advance. My martial arts shall be the vessel for my heart."
"Raaagh—!"
Thud.
The sound wasn't loud.
Cheonghwi's fist sank deep into the Blood Spider Crone's solar plexus. The old fiend spewed blood from her mouth as she flew back, crashing to the ground.
The battle was over.
Namgung Myeong's eyes brimmed with grievance. He'd been personally insulted, after all.
"That's too much...!"
"No, I mean, in the heat of the moment... I couldn't think what to say. I wasn't insulting you on purpose—I've got an older brother figure with a foul mouth, and that's just... 'lowly cur' doesn't mean that."
Endverse had been trying his hand at older-brother-ing in his own way, but with Roderus as his only model, this was the result—explained in roundabout fashion.
Only after 20 minutes of Endverse's chatter did Namgung Myeong's hurt ease, and Cheonghwi sighed in relief, leaning against the carriage wall.
Clatter, clatter.
The group rode a carriage returning to the Namgung Clan.
Hee Yeonghyeon, sharing the same destination, rode along. She stared out the window with a sullen expression.
Leaving Namgung Myeong to his sister, Cheonghwi addressed Hee Yeonghyeon.
"Take the Dog-Beating Staff Method. Times have changed; it may differ from the Beggar Clan's ideals you pursue... but perhaps it'll serve as reference?"
"...I'll keep it somewhere. One of the beggars—or maybe the next Sect Leader—might turn out broad-minded like that. Hand it over."
"Good!"
Cheonghwi grinned, bandages wrapped thick around him.
But one task remained: confronting the mastermind who tried to kill Namgung Myeong.
Cheonghwi slipped a hand into his bosom, fingering the rough-edged paper. It was the letter from the Slaughter Captain's corpse—clear evidence.
The carriage wheels rolled diligently. Like the flow of time.
The returning group, with Namgung Myeong's dantian fully healed, received a torrent of celebrations. How could they not rejoice at their clan's prodigy returned?
Cheonghwi became the Namgung Clan's great benefactor.
Namgung Chaegong separately summoned Cheonghwi and the Namgung siblings to hear the full tale. Once finished, he casually asked:
"How about marrying Seungah?"
Cheonghwi answered sharply.
"Pardon? No... I must decline."
"...I don't want to either?! Don't make it sound like you're the one agreeing, Daoist Cheonghwi!!"
For failing to read her heart, he paid dearly. Cheonghwi got his collar grabbed by Namgung Seungah and shaken like a rattle.