Chapter 215
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: Hefei, Hefei. (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
While Geum Sihyeon had left the academy, struck the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, struck the Moyong Family, hit Mount Tai, hit Mount Putuo—anyway, during the time he'd made a massive loop around the entire northern Central Plains—other people's clocks hadn't stopped ticking.
Even though there had been that unfortunate incident midway through the semester where the student council president and club federation president had vanished entirely.
"Nooow, we will beeeeegiiiiiin──── the graaaade com-ple-tion exaaaaams───!"
From the declaration of Dan Yuwol, who had set aside his duties as Alliance Leader of the Martial World to indulge in the shady pleasure of being the academy head.
The martial world had thus ushered in the era of the Great Examinations.
The student council members were, of course, no exception.
"Ah! Why nooot meee! It's so boooring!"
"Siyu, Unhak might be a bit of a dimwit in a lot of ways, but treat him like a senior anyway?"
"……."
Unhak, Myo Narang, Geum Siyu.
Mount Wudang jackpot.
"……It's the Nangong Family."
"L-L-Li, Li-Yeon! I-I'm Nangong too……!"
Baek Liyeon, Tang Narin.
Nangong Family jackpot.
They didn't have the courage to get dragged into Geum Siyu's outrageous antics—and with two women no less—and wrap up their Mount Wudang trip that way.
'Big brother or little brother, they're all the same……!'
Unhak shed tears of blood and made a midnight escape.
"Hehe, it's great going with Siyu!"
"I like it too! Unnie!"
Of course, the two left behind didn't particularly care about Unhak.
There was no need for daughter-in-law duties, but thinking of her as a sister-in-law, Myo Narang—who had maxed out her affinity with Geum Siyu—headed off to Mount Wudang cozily with her.
Which left.
"Eek, eeeek……."
"……Come on."
Baek Liyeon and Tang Narin.
Baek Liyeon wasn't the type of cold-hearted person to leave Tang Narin behind and walk off alone.
Besides, a secret they shared had formed between the two due to that chance encounter.
"L-Li-Yeon…… th-thank youuu……!"
Tang Narin was also able to set off on the long journey by relying on her ever-reliable classmate, Baek Liyeon, without any anxiety.
.
.
.
And so their footsteps flowed onward, to Hefei.
"Hap-pee…… Hefei……!"
"What the heck is that?"
"Ugh, th-that Baek Gallery thingy……."
"Put the smartphone down. That's an addiction."
"A-Addiction doesn't feel like thiiiis……!"
"……."
It was obvious to anyone that she was addicted to the gallery, but since her main job was as an addiction specialist.
Baek Liyeon looked around at the bustling cityscape instead of spouting more nonsense. It was a bit shabby compared to Xi'an, but still lively.
From Baek Liyeon's lips.
"Liao… coming, coming."
"……?"
Came a sentiment born purely from her upbringing.
What was Hefei?
It was the city at the heart of the four great wars between Wei and Wu.
Her training had been grueling enough to equate to pure suffering, and her master had never once given her a loving glance.
But there was that one moment.
When she was young, the only comfort for Baek Liyeon had been the occasional Romance of the Three Kingdoms tales her master told when in a good mood.
She had even dreamed of one day galloping across the Central Plains on a fine steed like the generals in those stories.
"S-So, wh-where to for the Nangong Family now……?"
"No need to go looking."
Feeling a tightness in her chest as if the Three Poisons were swelling up even more, Baek Liyeon channeled her heroic spirit and led Tang Narin toward the Nangong Family's Hefei branch.
What they encountered there was.
"Ugh."
"Uuu……."
"Well, if it isn't Liyeon junior and Narin junior!"
The perfect hard counter to the naturally introverted Baek Liyeon and Tang Narin.
A living embodiment of upright living and the pinnacle of social butterflies.
It was Nangong Hwi.
He had no intention of letting these juniors he hadn't seen in a while go easily.
And so, to the tavern.
"L-Li-Liyeon…… d-don't tease her too muuuch……."
"Narin junior. You're the worst one."
"Eek, eeeek……."
Baek Liyeon didn't hide how uncomfortable she found the situation.
That feeling reflected straight into her words, unleashing her ultimate technique against Narin—"using formal speech with Narin"—which landed a critical hit and melted Tang Narin into goo.
"Haha! Sit down! It's on me today—no worries!"
But it had zero effect on Nangong Hwi.
He slapped the prickly yet inwardly kind juniors on the back and plopped Baek Liyeon into her seat.
And then.
The floodgates of stories burst open.
"Man, it's been hard to show my face lately! Have you heard? This thing called ChangPop—some seriously killer music dropped!"
"……Isn't talking about that stuff a disgrace to your clan?"
Even to Baek Liyeon's retort.
"Hm? Something must be off. Just fix it, right?"
Nangong Hwi laughed heartily.
Then, he suddenly leaned forward and lowered his voice.
"Juniors. You should come back in a month or two."
As Nangong Hwi drew closer, Baek Liyeon and Tang Narin simultaneously leaned back and tilted their heads.
"Well…… the family is obviously looking for whoever's behind that song. They'll probably give the same mission to the later disciples too."
"So?"
"How could I, as a gentleman, overlook my juniors doing something as unjust as catching that person?!"
"……Hm. Well, it is music that harms public morals."
Though much diluted, Baek Liyeon—having received the teachings of the Azure Heaven Society—timidly pushed back.
But.
"The moment you block humor, satire, and the path of speech, it's no longer governance—it's tyranny."
At Nangong Hwi's response, Baek Liyeon was momentarily speechless.
It wasn't wrong.
And unlike what she had believed her whole life.
The Azure Heaven Society, her master.
They were far from justice.
"Whoa, abs……! Hmm, but why does it feel so familiar……?"
In the midst of it all.
Tang Narin was intently staring at the man's abs in the ChangPop video.
Seeing that.
Baek Liyeon and Nangong Hwi sighed in unison.
"Phew."
From Mount Putuo to Hangzhou.
It was a short distance, but it felt like hell.
The reason was simple.
No smartphone.
I wondered how I'd endured those years of hardship after escaping Mount Hua. My brain had already fully readjusted to the dopamine hits from the smartphone.
After buying a new smartphone to replace the one snatched by Elder Dugomu, and activating it under my name.
"Shall we report the smartphone as lost, young master?"
"Yes…… no, actually. Just leave it."
"Hmm, wasn't it lost?"
"It was, but…… someone might be putting it to good use."
The Ten Thousand Gold Treasury Fortress smartphone division sales rep gave me a weird look, but I stood tall.
With this choice, I had safeguarded the peace of the martial world.
—Perfect timing. As you've felt, Dugogu Sword is still an incomplete martial art.
—……If this is incomplete, then what counts as a complete martial art?
—Where's the end to the path of martial arts? Anyway, not just Mount Hua—the martial arts of various sects and families have changed. Go clash with them. That's my final order as your temporary master.
—And after I carry out the order?
—Then, cross swords with me once more.
I wouldn't have known before getting the smartphone, but Elder clearly showed early signs of smartphone addiction.
If I canceled the activation here and turned it into a brick?
He'd burst out of the sword vault, hunt me down, and go on a dojo-crashing spree across the Nine Great Valleys and Ten Great Families.
That wasn't what I wanted.
I had to win against him fair and square myself.
As Elder said, once the Azure Heaven Society issue was sorted.
I planned to circle the Central Plains like a tour, crushing dojos and sorting out the rankings.
Well, some had already closed up shop.
Sichuan Tang Family, Poison King down.
Moyong Family, eldest daughter down.
So, back to the original plan.
"Let's go, Nangong Family."
"Kyau!"
Smartphone and wolf pup.
And a single longsword.
I lacked confidence.
Confidence in winning.
.
.
.
If I'd gone straight to the Nangong Family at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain, I would've already turned it upside down by now.
But first.
"That wolf's awfully big…… Is it really tamed?"
"Tamed perfectly. So much affection too. And big? Our wolf pup isn't that big."
"Kyau!"
"……? Doesn't it look smaller now?"
"Oh, come on."
My footsteps had led me to Hefei, the castle city of Anhui.
I hadn't originally planned to loop all the way around like this.
But before parting with Nangong Hwi, I'd heard he'd headed to Hefei.
I planned to flip his family upside down anyway, so I figured I'd at least see his face, share a drink, and chat lightly.
That was the casual mindset.
"Kyeng?!"
"……What? Why are you here?"
On the streets of Hefei.
I ran into the vixen I'd seen before in the Tianshan Mountains.
I'd heard she'd escaped the prison with Hong Sundok.
"U-Uwaa!"
The vixen recognized me too and leaped into the air to bolt.
Was it because she was a beast with poor learning ability?
Now, there wasn't a single beast under heaven that wouldn't bow to me.
"Kneel."
"Kyeng!"
Escapee vixen.
Capture complete.