Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: An Ordinary Evening
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"Clear Stream Inn? Hmm. All these inn names sound so similar... I don't think I've ever heard of it. But why do you ask...?"
Han Ibi was startled inwardly but forced a nonchalant expression as he replied.
Ban Jin-seong tilted his head and said,
"Really? That's strange. You look so much like someone I know. Han Ibi..."
Han Ibi cleared his throat and said,
"Ahem. I've never heard that name before. My surname is Zhongli. Besides, fair-skinned people like me are pretty rare."
Han Ibi was grateful for the first time that his skin tone had changed.
Only then did Ban Jin-seong seem convinced.
"Ah, I see. You just resemble him so much, I thought maybe you were brothers..."
At that moment, a loud voice came from behind Han Ibi.
"Hey! Didn't you hear you're not supposed to talk to the trainees like that?"
Han Ibi glanced back to see a Mount Hua Sect disciple named Bang Gwang-sil.
This guy was arrogant beyond belief on a normal day, reminding one of Qingcheng Sect's Seong Chun-don in his crude ways.
Jerks like him existed everywhere.
Call it the law of conservation of lunatics.
But right now, Han Ibi was actually grateful.
If his past got exposed, things would be impossible to manage at this point.
Han Ibi said,
"Ah, Brother Bang. Let me apologize on his behalf. He seems not to have learned the rules yet since it's his first day."
Bang Gwang-sil snorted lightly and turned his head away.
Ban Jin-seong shot Han Ibi a silent look of thanks.
Han Ibi chuckled inwardly.
I'm letting it slide out of old times' sake. Heh. But how the hell did you end up here...?
Han Ibi finished picking up his food and took a seat at the table where his roommates were gathered.
The basic unit of movement in the Assembly was these roommates, after all.
Han Ibi greeted Kwak Won-hoe and the others casually.
"Everyone, dig in and enjoy."
Then Han Ibi's eyes caught sight of Hye-on's tray.
His meal was a bit different—mostly tofu and vegetables.
They must have prepared special food for the Shaolin Temple disciples.
Man, with that build, is this gonna be enough?
Feeling a bit sorry for him, Han Ibi commented,
"Brother Hye-on, Buddhism forbids meat, so this must be quite inconvenient for you."
He could've skipped talking to the Journey Sect's Gil Son-rok, but not Hye-on.
The guy was already a monk, so something about forging new worldly ties...
Hye-on replied,
"Donor, just worry about enjoying your own meal."
Well, damn. What a rascal.
Just wearing monk robes doesn't make him a monk—he's a total thug...
Then a clear, somewhat excited feminine voice came from nearby.
"This is so good! It's like eating at a high-class inn. Brother Mun, don't you think?"
Curious, Han Ibi turned to see Emei Sect's Wang Cheong-rin right there.
In wuxia novel tropes, Emei Sect was often portrayed as a group of Buddhist nuns, but not in Dream of the Ant Snake.
It felt more like a mix of Daoist and Buddhist elements.
Plus, the status of women there was notably higher than in other sects.
But wait... Who was this "Brother Mun" she was talking to?
Intrigued again, Han Ibi looked over.
And he realized.
The flower-like pretty boys from Beggars' Sect, Mun Won-bi and Mun Won-wol, who seemed to glow even when standing still.
The older brother, Mun Won-bi, was the "Brother Mun" Wang Cheong-rin was referring to.
As Han Ibi watched, Mun Won-bi flushed red at the sudden question, fumbling for words.
Wang Cheong-rin pressed him again.
"I could go for a cup of maeju with this. Right?"
Unlike her boldness, her Emei Sect roommate Baek Mi-hu blushed and tugged at Wang Cheong-rin's sleeve.
With so few women, even same-sect members ended up rooming together.
Anyway, Baek Mi-hu looked utterly embarrassed.
Both women were stunning beauties, as per wuxia clichés.
Not quite on par with So Eun-ri or Yeon Nan-ju, but still...
Then a shrill voice rang out.
"Hmph! Lady Wang, mind who you're talking to. How would beggars know maeju? They're lucky to get this free dinner."
Holy crap.
Yep.
Mount Hua Sect's punk Bang Gwang-sil again.
Maybe because he looked like a bandit's lackey himself.
He clearly didn't like the handsome Beggars' Sect twins.
Silence fell over the group.
This was an insult no martial artist could easily stomach.
Drag.
The sound of a chair being pushed back came from an unexpected direction.
"What did you say? Who gave you the right to flap your rotten mouth?"
Surprisingly, it was the younger twin, Mun Won-wol, sitting a bit away.
His lips pressed tight in anger looked oddly attractive.
Then someone blocked him—his older brother, Mun Won-bi.
Mun Won-bi smiled serenely and said to Bang Gwang-sil,
"You're right, Brother Bang. For beggars like us to eat food this good for months on end is a true stroke of luck. We're even scared it might end too soon."
Bang Gwang-sil smirked crookedly.
"Oho! Unlike the little brother, the older one has some grit, huh."
Wait, grit? The older one?
Han Ibi and the young men doubted their ears.
Bang Gwang-sil continued,
"Beggars' grit, that is."
A few trainees snickered.
As the younger brother Mun Won-wol was about to explode in rage,
A sharp voice cut in.
"Hmph. Mount Hua Sect folks lean on their sect's fame to act all lofty... but really, they just extort protection money from commoners. What's so noble about that compared to honest begging?"
It was Wang Cheong-rin.
Then she turned to Shaolin's Hye-jeong, who was eating on the other side. Unlike Hye-on, he actually looked like a proper monk.
"Hey, young monk."
"Yes?"
Hye-jeong absentmindedly replied with half a vegetable still in his mouth.
"Monks beg for alms too, right? Does it embarrass you?"
Hye-jeong's eyes widened in shock.
His face screamed, Why drag innocent Shaolin into this mud? But he had no choice but to say,
"Not at all."
Wang Cheong-rin declared,
"See? Mount Hua Sect leeches off ignorant commoners just like that, so don't insult others."
Oof. Not wrong, but she went too far.
Han Ibi started to worry.
This isn't just scolding Bang Gwang-sil—it's insulting the entire Mount Hua Sect.
And sure enough.
Even the relatively composed Mount Hua disciple Seon Hyeok-rae stood up indignantly.
"Lady Wang, that's going too far between fellow Alliance members. Insult us all you want, but don't besmirch our sect."
Bang Gwang-sil burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! This is why women are no good. Why do you think sects like Wudang and Shaolin, and most upright ones, don't take female disciples?"
Shaolin's Hye-jeong, who had just sighed and gone back to eating, flinched again.
Why keep dragging poor Shaolin into their fight!
Anyway, Wang Cheong-rin showed no sign of backing down.
"Hmph. That's exactly why our founder created Emei Sect separately—because men like you are petty and ill-mannered. Today I truly see how wise she was."
Then Mount Hua's female disciple Joo Geum-ryeong jumped in.
She reigned as a goddess in Mount Hua, where women were extremely rare, but meeting So Eun-ri, Yeon Nan-ju, and the Emei women here had tanked her status, leaving her irritated.
"Ah, so that's why Emei raises all those 'fine female disciples.' Starving like that, it's no wonder they drool over handsome men. Senior Brothers, let's forgive them."
Snickers erupted from all around again.
In an instant, she slipped on her Emei Sect's signature weapon, the Leopard Claw Forks, one in each hand, and launched herself forward.
This was a perfect example of the Assembly rule misused: never let go of your weapon even when sleeping or eating.
The Leopard Claw Forks, developed fifty years ago, had rocketed Emei to the heart of the Murim Alliance.
This bizarre weapon maximized a woman's agility, letting her fight men on equal footing.
Seeing the unique weapon, Han Ibi thought,
Hmm... That looks just like...
Wolverine's claws.
Three sharp blades at the end of gauntlets, curved in different directions—once embedded, they'd rip out flesh to be retrieved.
With Wang Cheong-rin's figure closing in instantly, Joo Geum-ryeong countered by drawing her sword.
Clang!
A metallic ring echoed through the evening mess hall.
Left, right, left, right.
The Leopard Claw Forks unleashed sharp claw strikes alternately.
Despite the "leopard" name, Wang Cheong-rin's movements evoked a nimble wildcat.
But Joo Geum-ryeong was Mount Hua's elite, sent to the Assembly after outcompeting men despite being a woman.
She raised her swift sword, defending even faster.
What a mess.
Han Ibi thought.
Sigh, total chaos. Best not to get involved.
He glanced at his comrades—they all seemed to agree.
Even Hye-on, belying his looks, was munching vegetables while reviewing notes from this morning's "History and Current State of the Demonic Cult."
Clang clang clang clang clang!
Amid the metal clashes, the women's duel built to a climax.
Everyone thought this shouldn't be happening, but as martial artists by nature, they watched with interest.
Joo Geum-ryeong seemed a move ahead in pure skill.
But Emei's unique weapon evened it out, making it a deadlock.
Then a deep voice boomed.
"Young heroes! You can't do this here."
Dressed in typical Daoist robes, it was Wudang Sect's Yang Je.
He looked like a kindly old priest reborn in youth.
Unwittingly the root cause of this mess, Beggars' Sect's Mun Won-bi also stepped up to intervene.
"Ladies! Let's talk it out. Talk first."
That was when.
Whoosh!
Something flew through the air.
Mun Won-bi felt heat on the back of his head.
Bang Gwang-sil had hurled the soup bowl Mun Won-bi had been eating from.
"Out of my way, punk. You're blocking the view. This whole mess is your fault, and you're acting like a diva."
In that instant, Mun Won-bi lightness-kungfu'd up into the air.
A dazzling midair flip.
The soup bowl sailed right between his spinning legs.
Crash!
It shattered noisily.
"Hot!"
A few drops splashed onto Han Ibi's clothes too.
And the soup?
Yep.
It drenched their studious roommate Hye-on, who had been eating and studying.
He flung off his sopping monk robes.
"Oh my!"
"Oh dear!"
The women screamed in surprise.
But Han Ibi was shocked too.
What looked like flab was actually a massive slab of muscle.
Thick shoulders, pecs, traps ready to burst...
"Which one of you bastards!"
(Continued in the next chapter)