Chapter 110
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: The Last Night in Yunnan (1)
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Moyong Taek had been feeling like he was sitting on a bed of nails with every passing day lately.
"Young Master! The barbarians have appeared ahead again! The young lady has already rushed out to the front!"
"Again? Sigh... Be right there."
He rubbed his forehead, then gripped the twin swords he'd set down beside him for a moment, and Moyong Taek headed back to the battlefield.
Moyong Seol's condition hadn't been great lately.
The reason was...
Why do you need to circulate qi and meditate first thing in the morning?
So you can enjoy breakfast lolololol
Lmaoooo my abs hurt lmao rolling everywhere lmaooooooooo
You lunatic
As expected of Gold Bro lol
Wanna shove him in the palace torture chamber
At least once a day.
Unhak and he would be spamming nonsense in their group chat whenever they were together.
It had been over two weeks since Geum Sihyeon went missing.
Of course, it was only natural for guys to go more than two weeks without chatting, like the laws of nature.
- Urgh, uuuugh... He's not here today either... Taek, has he messaged you by any chance? Urgh, nothing bad happened, right?
Moyong Seol's worries grew day by day.
If it were just worries piling up, that'd be one thing.
But the anxiety of a woman whose prime marriageable age had not only arrived but overflowed was starting to leak out little by little.
"Big Sis, you okay?"
"Y-yeah. I'm fine."
In the meantime, Moyong Seol had already subdued a group of Manchu warriors.
"Urk, you scholar-clan bastards are foreigners too, so why do you──"
"Shut it."
The Manchu warrior, his lower body completely frozen solid, bellowed at the top of his lungs.
But the moment Moyong Seol's sword tip shot toward his throat, he had no choice but to swallow his words.
Moyong Taek sighed as he sealed the acupuncture points of the Manchu warriors one by one.
Soon, Moyong Family warriors appeared in a line and hauled them away.
As he watched them go...
"Big Sis, aren't you pushing yourself too hard?"
Moyong Taek voiced his concern with familial affection.
Like now, whenever her melancholy built up and overflowed, she would charge ahead recklessly, heedless of her own safety.
He couldn't help but worry.
But then, they say even if the sky falls, there's a way out.
Bwoooong──
The vibration broke the brief silence.
Moyong Seol pulled out her smartphone from her sleeve.
The next instant.
"Kyaa...!"
The corners of the mouth of the woman dubbed the Ice-Faced Witch of Manchuria ── for sweeping battlefields with an unchanged expression ── soared straight to the heavens.
The next moment, Moyong Taek's smartphone vibrated too.
What do Ami Sect warriors do first before heading out?
Draw their eyebrows lmaoooooooooooo
Lmaoooooooooooooooo
The moment he stepped out of the barrier that the forest formation had been faithfully maintaining until now.
Not exaggerating, his smartphone vibrated nonstop for over five full minutes.
As he witnessed the cosmic horror of all the unread messages flooding in at once.
He started knocking them out one by one, beginning with the lowest difficulty replies.
Prioritizing his master first, then the elders in order.
▬▬ι═══════ﺤ
Take this sword..., ^^
(Photo)
You alive?
(Photo)
Uuuuuugh...
(Photo)
He fulfilled his duties as a disciple by showing off his twinkling little star.
This body.
Peak Realm.
Handsome, confirmed.
After exchanging greetings with the other acquaintances as well, he finally stared at the last boss remaining.
"......"
Come to think of it, he'd never once answered Luri's video calls inside the forest, so she was probably pissed off big time.
"Young master, what's wrong?"
"Ah, nothing."
Narang Sojeo looked concerned at my cosmic horror-stricken expression and spoke up.
But right now, even Narang Sojeo's personality couldn't dispel my fear.
If he gingerly tapped it...
Krrrang
Krrrooong
Arrroong
Kyung kyung
Kraaang
It looked exactly like prime Beast Palace material ── a small animal that had lost the human tongue, howling wildly.
How to fix this? As he pondered...
"Hold on, go ahead without me. I'll scout the surroundings a bit and catch up."
No telling what disaster might strike if he showed her this beast parade and Narang Sojeo, so he slipped away to a secluded spot.
Then, he activated his illusion technique first.
Soon enough.
Luri's face appeared like a hologram, cheeks puffed out in fury, wearing a sulky expression.
He swallowed the thought that the young sect leader's deputy had way too much free time.
Drew his sword and infused it with qi.
Luri's eyes widened a bit.
He mouthed "su-rim" and sent the same message via Martial Talk.
Only then did her expression soften slightly, as if she'd accepted it.
Once
a day
video call
Not some office boss, but true to her demonic cult roots, Luri was wielding stalker-level aggression.
Whoever ends up carrying her on his back, her future husband was in for a rough ride, he thought.
"See you later. Take care."
"Kyuit! Got it! Looking forward to working with you!"
"...Is this why you brought me along?"
"Haha..."
In Xishuangbanna, he'd gotten two smartphones activated and handed them to Myo Hwaseo and Miri-nae, then they bid a brief farewell.
The Beast Palace relocation operation had ballooned bigger than expected.
And since the animals' strides weren't all the same, matching their pace would take too much time.
They were moving with perception-blocking spells from Myo Hwaseo to avoid startling people, so it should be fine.
"If any issues come up, contact me right away. Once you enter Shaanxi, call the contact I gave you, and they'll guide you to the base."
"Okay! See you soon!"
With those words, Myo Hwaseo grabbed Miri-nae's hand and hopped back to the front of the procession.
Left behind were me, Narang Sojeo, and the elder.
The elder hadn't come out yet, so the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
"Kyuit!"
Myo Hwaseo's doppelganger, the squirrel, had climbed onto Narang Sojeo's shoulder and chirped to lighten the mood.
"Kyau!"
The wolfdog, which had been stuck to Myo Hwaseo in the forest, steadily draining her energy bit by bit, puffed up massively into a mega-evolved three-seater extra-large wolfdog.
The saddle was already customized for three riders.
"It'll be fast, so hold on tight."
He warned Narang Sojeo and Elder Tang, who likely hadn't felt 100 km/h speeds before.
Climbed on front, then gently stroked the wolfdog's scruff.
"Kyaauuuu!"
As if to show the limits of speed.
The mountain-trail wanderer wolfdog, riding a unique rhythm unlike any other beast, faster than all, began its charge.
After that.
With occasional breaks in between, they rode for a good long while and arrived near Kunming again.
"Unbelievable..."
"Yeah..."
"Kyauu, kyau!"
The riders didn't stint on praise for the wolfdog's wondrous speed.
And well they shouldn't.
From Xishuangbanna to Kunming was 1,655 li by Central Plains navigation ── about 650 km.
Normally, martial artists covered that distance over three days with their movement techniques.
But the wolfdog, using otherworldly steps, took all its rests, avoided signs of people, and still pulled off a day trip from morning to evening.
"Naran Sojeo, your graduation exam was Jeomchang, right?"
"Yes! Looks like we should wrap that up before heading back to Xi'an."
"Then I'll rest in Kunming tonight too. The wolfdog needs a breather. Elder, is that alright?"
"Do as you like."
"Kyau, kyau!"
He petted the wolfdog's freshly smooshed head as they entered Kunming city.
"It's bustling even at night, hehe."
"Last time we were in Kunming, there was a nice inn-cum-tavern. Let's head there and grab a late dinner."
"Sounds good!"
It felt a shame to part so simply.
And also.
Before parting ── ideally before it got any later.
There was a knot that needed untying.
Late-night meals inevitably come with drinks.
"Here, have a glass."
"...Sure."
Thankfully, neither Narang Sojeo nor the elder were light drinkers, and true to Tang Family stock, they held their liquor impressively well.
If drink and revelry had one positive side, it was as lubricant to smooth out awkward relations.
Amid the passing cups.
"Elder, I've got a question..."
"What is it, ...Sojeo?"
"Why... why did you try to kill the Black Nether Beast...?"
Narang Sojeo was the first to grasp the knot and hold it out.
As he watched the elder's eyes shake complexly...
"Ahem. I've heard the whole story already, so it'd be boring for me. I'll go check on the wolfdog."
"Wait, Geum Sihyeon...!"
The elder grabbed at my wrist in panic, but couldn't touch this Peak Realm body and clutched at air.
My role ended here.
By saying I'd heard it all, I'd created an atmosphere where not speaking felt awkward.
How Narang Sojeo untied the knot she'd presented was now Elder Tang Wuliang's homework.
Hoping father-daughter tensions would resolve smoothly, he didn't shake off the buzz and leaned against the outer wall like a ne'er-do-well, idly watching passersby.
"Aigoo, you've gotten even stronger in the meantime. Did you find some fateful encounter or what?"
A familiar voice flowed into his ear.
"Long time no see, Sect Leader."
It was Gwang Wooja, the Jeomchang Sect Leader who'd been eyeing my back last time.
Elder Gwang Wooja scanned me up and down, then clapped as if something occurred to him and laughed heartily.
"Come to think, I didn't realize last time, but you standardized mahjong rules, huh? You did a huge favor when I was fed up with tile fraud."
...True, but.
For some reason, it felt ominous.
"I'm curious about your skills too. Care for a game? By Jeomchang rules, refusal isn't an option. A challenge is like a loosed arrow. How could one dodge it?"
This is...
Righteous faction...?