Chapter 140
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Martial Alliance Leader (2)
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"Elder! Are you alright?!"
"Ooh...! Sihyeon...!"
A touching reunion with Elder Dang Wuryang.
This was the first time the elder had greeted me with such a bright smile.
He must have been utterly bewildered.
"I'm fine now. My masters will be here soon too, and on the way, I ran into the Martial Alliance Leader."
"The Martial Alliance Leader...?"
Oh no.
I probably shouldn't have said that.
The elder, who hailed from the Blood Cult's Akazuki branch, had his expression darken slightly.
"...Don't let his appearance fool you."
I gave him a preemptive warning not to make the same mistake I did.
And sure enough.
Bwoooong—Bam!
"Gaaack—!"
Amid a deafening crash.
Yeon Hongun came hurtling from the sky like a meteor and slammed into the ground.
For someone who'd fled in arrogant triumph, it was an utterly pathetic end.
And then.
"Hng... No Mad Demon?"
"...None here."
Casually performing the legendary lightness skill of Walking on Air, the Farmer Alliance Leader floated over the wall with serene ease.
Setting aside the unbelievable feat I was witnessing with my own eyes.
A faint sense of disappointment finally welled up inside me.
In my mind, the Martial Alliance Leader had been in a quantum superposition until now.
Before opening the box, it was like Schrödinger's cat—both the Alliance Leader from my original memories and this Farmer Leader coexisted inside.
"Th-that... Sir Gunsanwol of the Flying Cloud Sword..."
"How do you know about Yuun Sword? That guy's in secluded training."
Thank goodness.
It's not a 'memory that never existed'...!
Yuun Sword, Gunsanwol.
He didn't appear much in the original story, but in the righteous faction route's final battle, if you lost.
Not only did he take the finishing blow meant for you, but he also served as a one-coin power-up who sacrificed himself completely.
- Aren't you afraid of death? Of course I am. But for an old man like me who's lived enough, it's far more terrifying to see a promising young talent like you die first.
The owner of lines dripping with pure romance.
No wonder his nickname was God God God.
Even as a senior of the jianghu, and visually as a ridiculously cool middle-aged guy, he was on another level from Mengseuk...!
"Kuhk."
"Hm, that look in your eyes is a bit insolent."
Dan Yuwol, who had naturally plopped down on Yeon Hongun's back, swept her sharp gaze over me.
"No, it's a misunderstanding."
Old farmer weirdo trait.
Quick on the uptake.
"Let's see, what should we do with him."
Dan Yuwol tilted her head as if pondering Yeon Hongun's fate.
"Why bother sneaking around? Come on in already."
She suddenly shouted toward the wall outside.
I hadn't sensed it because I'd sealed my Moon Harmony Divine Eye after her absurd accusation that I smelled like Demonic Cult, but.
"...Greetings, Alliance Leader."
Chicken Lady entered with the most deferential expression I'd ever seen on her, all timid and hesitant.
Dan Yuwol's eyes narrowed.
Her face already had an arrogant vibe, but with her eyes open like that, it looked even more violent.
Like she was about to yell 'pathetic' any second...!
"Sigh. It's been ages since we harmonized, and you're still at the beginner stage?"
Here it comes...!
Flexing her realm...!
A master can't guide a novice? No, to casually pull off such heinous shit! How bleak is the future of the righteous faction!
Despite those brutally cruel words and actions.
Chicken Lady, who would've normally hurled her axe right away by nature, straightened up like a noble lady and bowed politely.
"This girl shall strive harder."
...?
This girl...?
"Mm. That's right. Now you look pretty. Let's do well?"
I couldn't bear to witness any more of that horrific sight and bowed my head.
Yeah.
To a hundred-year-old farmer weirdo, even forty-seven is still a girl...
"Kkuuuk, kkhuk..."
Yeon Hongun, still crushed under Dan Yuwol's butt, seemed to share my feelings, groaning with a tragic expression.
The first moment I felt sorry for that lecher.
* * *
Soon after.
A makeshift trial presided over by the Martial Alliance Leader was held in the woodcutter's old shack where Yeon Hongun had been tried.
Judge: Dan Yuwol.
Prosecutor: Seo Dohee.
Defendant: Yeon Hongun.
Defendant's counsel, speaking rights, and human rights: None.
Torture complainant and featured witness: Geum Sihyeon.
"...That's how it happened."
"Cut it short?"
Seo Dohee calmly testified on behalf of the Hundred Flowers Academy about the damages inflicted on the academy.
Dan Yuwol's brow furrowed slightly at her words.
"No casualties, and no issues with the main hall or the Heavenly Martial Library included."
"Cut it short?"
"Yes. ...The poisoned ones all testified unanimously that they felt ecstatic and, for the first time in ages, got to sleep so peacefully... Though they'd been pulling all-nighters for days prior."
"Cut it—"
Thwack—!
Bonk!
"Ack—!"
The torture complainant, who kept sniping snarky asides at the end of every line, took two invisible chestnuts to the forehead and rolled on the ground.
"Your disciple? Haven't trained him properly?"
"...I'll correct it."
It was a courtroom rigged between judge and prosecutor.
"Tsk tsk. Behave yourself. You're making even me dizzy."
"Eldeeer..."
Even the spectator Elder Dang Wuryang, who should have intervened to uphold justice, was cowering and just watching the Alliance Leader's mood.
This was how terrifying the Mengseuk of primitive ancient martial unity was.
And soon, the verdict came down.
"...If that's all it was, he's not even worth dragging to the Martial Alliance. Just a pathetic petty criminal."
"...!"
"That's absurd! That heinous plot to spread Jade Transformation Preservation across the Central Plains!"
As color bloomed on Yeon Hongun's dirt-caked face from all his rolling, the equally mud-smeared torture complainant clutched his head and cried out about the injustice.
But the judicial system could be so ruthlessly cold at times.
"Even by Central Plains law or Martial Alliance rules, trespassing and attempted theft only merits about three years in prison. And..."
Dan Yuwol pulled out her smartphone from her flat chest, utterly demolishing what little volume it had.
"Ow, let's see. Dohee?"
"Yes."
"Open the massage app or message app or whatever."
"...Yes."
There were enlightened Central Plains folk like Wi Ji-ryang who had no aversion to high-tech gadgets, but even years after smartphones arrived, some still weren't used to operating them.
Dan Yuwol was firmly in the latter camp.
"Read it while you're at it."
"Yes... Mm, that break was so sweet, just one more time... I beg you, show mercy to that person...?"
"...Yeah. How hard does the academy grind its people? Complaints like this are flying into the Martial Alliance."
"...I'll look after them more."
"Good. Let's do well?"
"Yep."
"Anyway."
Dan Yuwol shoved her phone back into the flattened space, restoring its 3D effect, and declared.
"Criminal Yeon Hongun. You're sentenced to three years of hard labor. Any objections?"
"...Then, what about my family..."
"Family?"
Dan Yuwol's face, which had held a somewhat mischievous, impish expression until now, twisted in an instant.
And then.
"Guhk."
Dan Yuwol moved at a speed no one present could follow, instantly grabbing Yeon Hongun by the collar and hoisting him up.
"Don't get the wrong idea, Yeon Hongun. It's only because I'm the Martial Alliance Leader—and giving face to Bongmu—that you're still breathing. If you'd dared invoke your status as the retired head of the Divine Maiden Sect, you'd have been cleaved in two long ago. So don't push your luck."
"...!"
At the thick killing intent laced in her words, Yeon Hongun saw his life flash before his eyes for a moment.
What surfaced was his first wife, Yang Bongmu.
A disciple of the Divine Maiden Sect who'd barely learned the basics of Cloud-Rain Color Technique, she captivated the ecstatic Yeon Hongun on his first foray into the jianghu.
- Hongun, did sis rape you? No, right? You liked it too, didn't you? This was consensual. Got it? Answer if you don't want another beating.
...Now that time had passed and he'd seized the upper hand.
But back then, objectively speaking, Yeon Hongun was the real victim of the Divine Maiden Sect disciple.
Unlike him, a fresh First-Rate beginner on his jianghu debut, his first wife Bongmu was First-Rate late-stage...
This is so unfair, so unfair...!
Really unfair...!
But he couldn't exactly pour out his grievances before a furious Dan Yuwol like this.
"...I'm sorry..."
Today, too, Yeon Hongun had no choice but to grovel.
"Good, that's more like it."
Gazing at Yeon Hongun's enlightened, resigned expression as he submitted to the unreasonable violence, Dan Yuwol's face finally softened a bit.
"I'll go hear what Bongmu has to say. If even a hint of you forcing her comes to light, I'll execute you on the spot in the name of the Divine Maiden Sect."
Pa-ba-bat!
The moment she finished speaking, Dan Yuwol precisely sealed every acupoint on Yeon Hongun's body.
Roll roll.
This time, completely deprived even of hearing, Yeon Hongun flopped to the ground like a furball.
* * *
Right after the bounty hunters caught the Poison Demon and Lecher Demon—who'd fled—and returned to Xi'an.
"...Gone?"
"Yeah, gone."
In a remote wild mountain far from the woodcutter's shack where Yeon Hongun had stood trial.
Two men had hidden their presence completely, waiting out the natural disaster like storm clouds parting.
The Sword Demon and Mad Demon.
Both veterans and survivors of the last Great War between righteous and demonic, they had a rough idea of what would happen if they met Dan Yuwol.
The brief May under the same roof had ended.
"Hahaha! Let's call it here for today!"
"Sure. What point is there in fighting when neither of us has broken through the Harmony barrier yet? We've seen there's a heaven beyond heaven."
The temporary truce was extended a bit longer.
The two men lay sprawled on the snow-covered ground, sharing tales of the past for a moment.
And as the topic flowed on.
"You still buying into that Blood Lord's pie-in-the-sky nonsense?"
At Wi Ji-ryang's question, Dongtan Ung burst into hearty laughter.
"Who knows! But it's sure more fun than back in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult! Roaming around, clashing life-and-death—it really makes you feel alive! Of course, not seeing the Lord is a bit regrettable, but hahaha!"
"Hm..."
Not quite the answer he wanted.
But Wi Ji-ryang felt he could somewhat understand Dongtan Ung's sentiment.
He himself was vicariously satisfied through Mind-Image Sword Debate, but how long had it been since he'd unleashed his full power?
"That much, I envy."
"Hahaha! Don't just talk—I'll introduce you to the Blood Lord!"
"No need."
Not yet.
Wi Ji-ryang looked up at the sky, thinking of his foolish disciple.
Her realm skyrocketing in the blink of an eye—a perfect talent you couldn't find even after a hundred lifetimes.
But she hadn't fully blossomed yet.
- Dying to a swordsman stronger than me has been my long-cherished wish. In ten years, you should be able to grant it.
Recalling the wish he'd shared with his disciple months ago, Wi Ji-ryang rose to his feet.
"You planning to head to that kid Alliance Leader now? Wi Ji-ryang!"
"Trouble's mutual if we cross paths. Guess I'll wander for a while too. You quit harassing that Seo Dohee girl and go prowl the southern evil sects instead."
"Mm! Still got a ways to go, so more training! Blood Lord's rescinded the order anyway—no reason to attack now!"
That settles the Mad Demon issue, then.
Cheon Luri was a slight concern.
But Geum Sihyeon now could protect someone like Luri just fine.
With the elite assassins he'd personally trained as guards, he could rest easy.
...Anyway, as he'd told the Mad Demon, he couldn't return to Xi'an with the Martial Alliance Leader there.
"Been a while—time to check out some Life-Seizing Linked Triple Sword formations... These days' kids are all flash, no substance."
He sent a quick message to his foolish disciple on his smartphone.
And leaving Dongtan Ung still lounging on the ground, prepping for a nap.
Wi Ji-ryang vanished like a ghost.