Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: Black Mist
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His eyes burned with a ferocity like that of an enraged wild bull.
They said even one fierce general could stand against a thousand troops!
The downward slashes of Force Uprooting Mountains and Qi Covering the World poured down on Tak Bu-yong's entire body all at once.
"No!"
Tak Bu-yong bellowed at the top of his lungs, wringing every ounce of strength from his body as he whirled his Taiji Swordsmanship.
Clang!
Tak Bu-yong's sword flew from his grasp before the absolute power.
Almost simultaneously, a long gash tore open from his chest down to his abdomen.
Unable to withstand the overwhelming energy, Tak Bu-yong was sent flying three zhang away.
But...
'Huh? Something feels off?'
The sensation in Han Ibi's hand felt somewhat dull.
Looking at Tak Bu-yong's wound, he saw something glittering between the streaks of blood...
'Something sparkling.'
Indeed.
Tak Bu-yong was wearing something over his upper body.
Probably a protective garment like the Thousand Silken Protective Armor for safeguarding the body.
Han Ibi was flabbergasted.
How could the leader of the great Wudang Sect wear armor like him?
Tak Bu-yong had thus avoided a fatal wound...
But the final attack had been so ferocious that he couldn't escape injury entirely.
Han Ibi spoke.
"I was just trying to get a peek inside that twisted soul of yours, but I failed."
A thin trickle of blood dripped from Tak Bu-yong's lips as he struggled to his feet, staggering.
"Heh... heh... heh. You mad... mad..."
"I'm not mad."
"Heh... heh... heh. To push me this far... this..."
"Life has its ups and downs. Of course, I did intend to kill you. But..."
Han Ibi grinned as he continued.
"...I've realized in my excitement that letting you live might be the better choice."
He strode toward Tak Bu-yong.
In that moment, all mirth vanished from Han Ibi's eyes.
"Master Song suffered so much because of scum like you before passing away. You think I'll just send you painlessly to the afterlife?"
Han Ibi wiped the blood from his single sword with his sleeve and continued.
"It wouldn't be bad to expose your filthy deeds to the Wudang Sect and the Murim Alliance, letting you writhe in shame as your true face is revealed."
Tak Bu-yong cackled.
"You punk... You think anyone will believe the ravings of a nobody like you?"
"Yeah. They will."
"What?"
"Of course they will. They heard it straight from your mouth with their own ears."
With that, Han Ibi suddenly ducked behind a large boulder.
Tak Bu-yong watched in bewilderment.
But then...
Figures suddenly emerged from behind the rock.
Tak Bu-yong's face twisted in utter shock at the sight.
And for good reason...
One was the young Wudang disciple who had guided the Murim Alliance inspection team to the seclusion training grounds, and the other was the leader of the inspection team itself.
Han Ibi abruptly pointed and pressed their acupoints.
He was releasing the sealed pressure points.
The young Wudang disciple was the first to speak, staring at Tak Bu-yong.
"S-Sect... Sect Leader... H-How is this..."
Meanwhile, the inspection team leader's expression had hardened even further.
Han Ibi said,
"Now, we have people who can believe my words."
The inspection leader, Gil Jang-han, asked in a stiff voice,
"Sect Leader Tak. Is everything I heard today the truth?"
Han Ibi said,
"Why even ask? He confessed it all himself."
Overwhelmed by the shock, the young disciple collapsed to the ground.
Tak Bu-yong was the pride of Wudang, the eternal idol of its youth.
Hearing of his dark inner thoughts and deeds had drained all strength from his body.
Then Han Ibi turned to Gil Jang-han.
"Oh! Just to avoid any misunderstanding, let me clarify upfront."
Gil Jang-han turned to him.
"Though the Demonic Cult and Demonic Taoists share the same 'demon' character, they are entirely different."
Gil Jang-han raised one eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?"
His tone had grown somewhat more deferential.
"Someone in the Murim Alliance seems to have firmly misunderstood me as part of the Demonic Cult... but that's not the case at all. I'm just the youngest son of the Zhongli Clan and a disciple of the Demonic Taoist Song Myeong-cheon, whom I met by chance. So, I'm definitely not from the 'Demonic Cult'."
But Gil Jang-han, still reeling from the situation, said nothing.
Han Ibi continued,
"Anyway... everything's settled now, right? Don't go spreading different stories later, or it'll be trouble. Well then..."
He handed the Thousand Silken Binding Rope he'd taken from the inspection team to Gil Jang-han.
"Just arrest him. Please take him into custody. If you need help, I can tie him up for you."
Then the young Wudang disciple's voice rang out.
"Ah! W-What's that?"
All eyes turned in the direction he indicated.
Indeed.
It was shocking enough.
A massive cloud of inky smoke was billowing toward them.
That's when Feng Jiaogon shouted urgently.
"Everyone, hold your breath! And..."
Feng Jiaogon pointed toward Tak Bu-yong, who was already vanishing into the black mist.
"Hurry, after Tak!"
Hearing this, Han Ibi shot through the black mist toward where Tak Bu-yong had been.
With visibility zero, he had to rely on memory alone.
Then came the sound of coughing and violent retching.
It was the young Wudang disciple.
Unlike the others with their profound inner energy, his martial arts were at a very low level.
So he was the first to react to the poisonous mist.
Gil Jang-han rushed to the disciple and hoisted him up.
Meanwhile, Han Ibi desperately searched the poison mist for Tak Bu-yong...
But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find him.
A thought flashed through Han Ibi's mind.
He quickly climbed to the treetops outside the expanding poison mist zone.
"There he is!"
Han Ibi spotted figures in motion.
The man was of average build, clad in green robes, with Tak Bu-yong slung over his shoulder.
Yet the green-robed figure was fleeing at blinding speed, Tak Bu-yong dangling from him.
'Another person was here?'
It was the man who had watched Tak Bu-yong and Han Ibi from beside the arena with a dissatisfied look.
Han Ibi leaped from the tree to pursue them but suddenly had another thought.
'Elder Feng.'
Yes.
He still had many inconveniences with movement and such.
Han Ibi dove back into the black smoke.
After a short time, Feng Jiaogon was once again on his back, just as when they'd first arrived.
The poison mist was thinning, but Han Ibi could only stamp his feet in frustration, watching the green-robed man and Tak Bu-yong disappear.
With the Murim Alliance preliminary tournament underway, it was the perfect time for an emergency meeting.
All they had to do was gather in the conference hall.
Under the Murim Alliance inspection team's auspices, the emergency meeting convened.
In the center of the hall, Han Ibi was spitting as he explained everything from the beginning.
Truth be told, he was reluctant to mention Bok Yeon-hwa, a woman... but with even the Wudang disciple knowing, evasion was impossible.
As the full stories of Bok Yeon-hwa, Song Myeong-cheon, Feng Jiaogon, and others emerged, sighs echoed throughout the hall.
How could they believe that the Wudang Sect Leader had done something even a shameless rogue wouldn't?
Yet with insiders who had heard it directly from the man himself, denial was impossible.
When Han Ibi mentioned the green-robed man, many ground their teeth, speculating he was a Demonic Cult or Black Dao spy.
Anyway, Han Ibi's account reached this point.
"Well, no proof... but the Nangong Clan's incident with their son meeting an accident is highly suspicious too."
Then Nangong Tae-gil, overseeing the outer hall, shouted excitedly.
He had stayed behind alone in preparation for any contingency.
"Hmph! If Wudang played dirty tricks, the Nangong Clan won't stand idly by. You have no idea how much effort our patriarch put into preparing for the Alliance Leader selection!"
Thus, the innocent Wudang elders could only fidget helplessly due to their sect leader.
Gil Jang-han, still veiled, spoke.
"Our inspection team will investigate any instigation and report. Please calm yourself, Hero Nangong."
Only then did Nangong Tae-gil finish and sit.
At that moment, Master Hyeonbeop of Shaolin, co-chairing the meeting with the inspection team on Wudang's behalf, said,
"Amitabha. Shall we conclude the emergency meeting?"
Then Song Won-in, leader of the Progressive Sect, asked,
"Does that mean the next Alliance Leader selection is postponed?"
Master Hyeonbeop pondered briefly before replying,
"This humble monk thinks so... but what say the patrons?"
Agreements murmured from around the room.
"That would be best."
"Of course."
"In this state, how could we..."
The only one looking displeased was Jin Ho-ryang, leader of the Kunlun Sect.
From his perspective, the past few days had been utterly fruitless...
Master Hyeonbeop said,
"Then, we'll announce the next leader selection via the Murim Alliance later. This concludes the emergency general assembly."
As the assembly ended, the crowd buzzed as they filed out.
Han Ibi thought,
'Letting Tak Bu-yong escape... it's truly regrettable, but if he's in the jianghu, we'll meet again someday. I'll have to postpone true revenge for now.'
He turned to Gil Jang-han.
"Then I'll be off."
Gil Jang-han replied,
"Please wait a moment."
"Why? Isn't everything done?"
Gil Jang-han continued with an impassive gaze.
"I've seen the situation myself, but this is a formal Murim Alliance request. It'd be best if you accompany us to wrap it up."
"Ugh! Back to the Alliance again? I'll wear out their doorstep."
"Please bear with us, Young Hero Zhongli."
No choice now.
He had to go.
Han Ibi said,
"Since we're at it, I'll escort Elder Feng partway before heading back."
Gil Jang-han had no grounds to refuse even that.
"Then we'll accompany you."
Thus, Han Ibi went to find Feng Jiaogon...
'What the heck! This old coot! He's nowhere no matter where I look. He slipped away alone. Putting on all that 'about to collapse' act!'
Han Ibi grumbled to himself...
But the missing man wasn't about to reappear.
"Are all the inspection team coming?"
Gil Jang-han shook his head.
"Some have serious injuries... No need for everyone. Just you and I."
Han Ibi noticed Gil Jang-han's arm in a splint.
Now he felt a bit guilty.
Han Ibi said,
"If you're going alone, I wouldn't let you, so this works better. How about we head up the mountain briefly before departing?"
Han Ibi scoured Mount Wudang for the finest bone-continuing herbs to aid the fractured inspection team members.
[You can boil and drink this or have a physician make pills. It's top quality, so no lingering effects from fractures.]
In that moment, he'd had no choice but to clash with the inspection team.
But if he had to keep working with the Murim Alliance, antagonizing them gained nothing.
Handling such organizations cautiously was best for his health.
Perhaps the herbs eased tensions.
Riding a horse lent by the team, Han Ibi soon arrived at Huainan Castle, the Murim Alliance headquarters.
The familiar Thousand Hands Pavilion came into view.
Han Ibi asked Gil Jang-han,
"Do we need to see the Alliance Leader?"
Gil Jang-han answered,
"We report only to him."
"Ah, right..."
So full of yourself.
Then a familiar voice whispered in his ear.
(To be continued in the next episode)