Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: The Yellow Dragon Fish
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“Gasp, gasp…”
Neung Un-bi gasped for breath as he stepped onto the riverbank.
He had nearly swallowed a gutful of water and ended up needing resuscitation.
“Ptui! Damned muddy water.”
Feeling as if he'd swallowed a mouthful of mud, Neung Un-bi spat several times.
“My lord!”
Seeing him erupt with demonic energy and burst from the water's surface, Ju Seung rushed over, his face etched with worry.
“Are you alright?”
“…”
Unlike before, his breathing was ragged and his face was contorted in a deep frown, so the question was understandable.
But Neung Un-bi pushed Ju Seung aside and glared at the culprit responsible for his state.
Flop, flop.
Perhaps because its scales were so thick, it was unharmed despite being slammed onto the ground with all his might.
And now, it was flopping its way back toward the water, trying to escape.
“You crazy son of a fish! Who said you could get away!”
“…?”
Neung Un-bi dashed over in a single bound and began to stomp on the fish indiscriminately.
Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp!
“You damn bastard! Do you have any idea how much muddy water I swallowed because of you? I'm going to roast you alive!”
STOMP!
Everyone stared blankly at Neung Un-bi as he roared and vented his fury.
What on earth was that fish to make him fly into such a rage?
Anyone watching would think it was a mortal enemy with whom he'd fought a life-or-death battle.
“Hah, Wang Cheon!”
After stomping on the flopping fish for a while to subdue it, Neung Un-bi called out for Wang Cheon in a sharp voice.
“Get a fire going and roast this thing right now… huh? Why isn't he answering?”
But when no reply came, he whipped his head around, searching for him.
“Gurgle, gurgle.”
“…”
Then, spotting Wang Cheon, Neung Un-bi tilted his head in confusion.
At Hyang-i's feet.
Wang Cheon was on the ground, his eyes rolled back in his head, trembling violently.
“What's wrong with him?”
“Well… he is training.”
“Training?”
“Yes. The maid.”
“…”
Neung Un-bi frowned at Ju Seung's answer, which sounded utterly defeated.
That's training?
It just looks like… he's taken some kind of poison and is slowly dying.
“It's a training method to familiarize oneself with the pain of death… by forcibly blocking the blood vessels to induce qi deviation…”
“Hmm.”
Neung Un-bi nodded at Ju Seung's words.
A kind of limit-testing through training that brings one close to death.
He had done it himself. Though not comparable to the pain Wang Cheon was enduring, he had undergone similar training.
Of course, only those who had to perform very special missions underwent such training.
For instance… like feigning death?
How difficult must it be to forcibly enter a state like that of a corpse?
But if one overcomes that moment, they can gain more than they might expect. When you transcend your limits, the power inherent in your instincts is unleashed.
“Shouldn't we… stop it now?”
“Stop it? Why?”
“Well, it looks like the Guard Captain is going to die…”
“Leave him be. If Hyang-i chose this training method, she must have her reasons.”
“…But she said he could die.”
“Nah, no way. You think Hyang-i would just let him die? I'm sure she'll open his airways right before the moment of death.”
Neung Un-bi tried to reassure him, but Ju Seung's expression didn't relax one bit.
It's because you didn't see it.
My lord should have seen the look on her face, smiling so brightly that her dimples showed.
That look, as if she couldn't care less whether we lived or died…
“Besides, that training is quite worthwhile. The results are good. So you should ask her, too. If you just stand by, the gap between you and Wang Cheon will widen considerably.”
At Neung Un-bi's words, Ju Seung laughed like an enlightened monk.
“As a matter of fact… I'm next.”
“Oh, really? That's great.”
Great? How can you say that after seeing him in this state?
“Hmm, then it can't be helped. I'm not close enough with the Branch Manager to ask him to do this… I'll have to roast it myself.”
As Neung Un-bi patted Ju Seung's shoulder and walked past, his body slumped helplessly.
Ha, what a useless lord…
Ju Seung watched faintly as Neung Un-bi walked away, hoisting the fish onto his shoulder.
“Are you going to eat that by yourself?”
Hyang-i had already left the writhing Wang Cheon and scurried over to Neung Un-bi.
“Wait. I'll give you some after I roast it.”
“…Hmm, no. Let's go together. I don't know who might eat it first.”
Hyang-i stared at the fish, swallowing her saliva.
“What? What about Wang Cheon, then? You said you were training him.”
“That's right.”
“Is it okay to just leave him like that?”
Neung Un-bi asked, glancing at the nearly unconscious Wang Cheon. Hyang-i winked with a mischievous expression and whispered.
“Don't worry. He won't die. At worst, he might faint?”
“Huh?”
“I just told Ju Seung that on purpose.”
“…On purpose?”
“That way, his resolve will be different. The moment a sense of relief sets in, the feeling that they won't die, they're bound to give up before reaching their limit.”
“…”
“It's actually for the best. Let's leave him. If there's no one to ask for help, his will to live will only grow stronger.”
She wasn't wrong.
Having someone by your side at the moment of death makes a huge difference. In that moment when your will is at its weakest, you subconsciously come to rely on them.
When you should be focusing all your strength on the desire to live…
But can Wang Cheon overcome his limits?
He wouldn't have trained carelessly to reach his current level, but experiencing the moment of death is another matter entirely.
He probably never had the need. He had talent, and he had a powerful family.
Ju Seung, too, would have never trained in such a way, nor would he have ever felt that kind of pain.
“Haa, you really have… a twisted hobby.”
“Twisted? Is it because you don't know that you can't get stronger without becoming that ruthless? And as far as I know, this is the fastest way.”
“That may be true, but…”
For some reason, Neung Un-bi felt sorry for Wang Cheon and Ju Seung.
Asking to learn from the merciless Hyang-i… those fools…
“Anyway, let's go.”
“Yes!”
At Neung Un-bi's words, Hyang-i followed, hopping like a rabbit.
“Give me the tail part.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“That's for men to eat.”
“…Who says?”
“It's an old saying, passed down through the ages.”
“That's ridiculous.”
“I'll give you the head.”
“The head? Why would I eat something like that?”
“Have you never heard the phrase ‘Fish head, meat tail’?”
“…”
“It's well known that the head of a fish is the tastiest part. I'm giving that delicious part to you because I cherish you.”
Hyang-i, who had been staring blankly at Neung Un-bi, finally let out a snort of laughter.
“I've been calling you 'Third Young Master, Third Young Master,' and now you're trying to pull a fast one on me? Want me to rip that mouth of yours wide open?”
How on earth did that bright smile and this murderous tone come to coexist?
And even though she was smiling as she said it, it didn't sound like a joke at all.
There wasn't even a hint of killing intent in her eyes…
“…You can have the tail.”
“Thank you, Third Young Master. You're the only one who thinks of me.”
Having finally achieved her goal, Hyang-i smiled sweetly and spoke with a nasal, cute tone.
This kid who doesn't even know what charm is…
That's a threat. And somehow, it's even scarier.
As the two bickered and approached the fire, the eyes of Branch Manager Jeong Hyo-sang, who was guarding the waterway with the Sakwol Unit, went wide.
“Gasp! Wh-what in the world is that?”
“I caught it. Myself.”
“It's truly enormous. I've seen countless fish in my time, but never one of that size. It's as if it failed to leap the Dragon Gate of the Yellow River and returned.”
The Dragon Gate of the Yellow River.
Such a legend existed. That if a carp could leap over the Dragon Gate, it would become a dragon and ascend to the heavens.
The phrase 'gateway to success' was said to have originated from it. In any case, you had to hand it to people for their exaggerations.
The one who first spread that legend must have been someone like Wang Cheon. The kind of person who loves to take a small truth and inflate it with a mountain of exaggeration.
“Branch Manager Jeong.”
“Yes, Third Young Master.”
“Get a fire going.”
“Are you going to roast it yourself?”
“Yes.”
“How could you do it yourself when we are here, Third Young Master? I will do it.”
At Jeong Hyo-sang's insistence, Neung Un-bi handed over the fish with a reluctant expression.
It wasn't good to be too forward when his subordinates were present. It would only make everyone feel uneasy.
“Please wait with the maid and have a drink. It's so large, I'll have to build a frame, like one for roasting a wild boar.”
“Oh! A whole roast sounds good.”
“I will do my best.”
Jeong Hyo-sang bustled about, making a firm resolve.
Soon, some were setting up posts, while others began to prepare the fish, slitting its belly and removing the innards.
“Hmm, Third Young Master.”
“Yes?”
“The scales are quite thick. I will set them aside and store them.”
“Do as you see fit. All I can think about right now is chewing up that damn fish.”
No matter how much he thought about it, his anger surged. Neung Un-bi chewed his lip as he spoke.
Meanwhile, Ung Pyo, who was being watched from a distance by the Sakwol Unit, glanced at the fish and began to tremble.
“Huh? Uh, uh?”
“…?”
When he eventually widened his eyes and started pointing, everyone tilted their heads in confusion.
“No, no… not that fish, absolutely not.”
As he trembled like a man with malaria and muttered, Neung Un-bi shot him an annoyed look.
What does he mean, 'not that fish'? Is this thing the son of the Yellow River's Dragon King or something?
“The Yellow Dragon Fish! That's the Yellow Dragon Fish!”
“…?”
At Ung Pyo's cry, Jeong Hyo-sang, who was preparing the fish with the Sakwol Unit, suddenly froze.
“Th-this is… the Ye-Yellow Dragon Fish?”
His hand, which had begun to tremble, eventually dropped the knife, and his eyes, trembling just as much, turned to Ung Pyo.
“There's no doubt. I've seen it before. I'm certain of it!”
“It can't be…”
Jeong Hyo-sang suddenly collapsed to the ground.
What's with everyone?
Yellow Dragon Fish? What the hell is that?
Is it really the son of the Dragon King?
Both Jeong Hyo-sang, who had made his living in river transport, and Ung Pyo, the head of the waterway bandits, had the same reaction.
Finely trembling eyes, a terrified expression…
“Pfft! People…”
A laugh escaped him.
This was the problem with people who lived by the water.
They see a slightly large fish and start worshiping it as the son of the Dragon King or whatnot.
The Dragon King himself is just a superstition to begin with…
Just as Neung Un-bi was shaking his head with a look of disbelief.
“My lord! A boat is approaching!”
A warrior from the Sakwol Unit, who was keeping watch, shouted, pointing a straight finger.
Turning his head in the direction of the pointed finger, he saw a small, entirely black-painted boat slowly rowing toward them.
On the boat were only an old man holding a fishing rod and a middle-aged man rowing.
“That must be Mak Cheong-ju, the one who reigns as the king of the river bandits.”
“Hmm, he's not as ordinary as he looks. I think I can feel his sharp energy even from here.”
Neung Un-bi nodded at Hyang-i's words.
Now he could faintly sense it.
That immense presence…
Anyway, he briefly wondered if he should hide the Yellow Dragon Fish.
Isn't Mak Cheong-ju also a river bandit? Perhaps he, too, believed the fish known as the Yellow Dragon Fish was the son of the Dragon King.
But… surely someone who had reached the absolute realm wouldn't believe in such a superstition?
A low voice escaped from the lips of the pondering Neung Un-bi.
“Hyang-a.”
“Yes?”
“Get rid of that. Let's not create any unnecessary problems.”
“Ah, right.”
Sensing the meaning behind Neung Un-bi's words, Hyang-i picked up the Yellow Dragon Fish that Jeong Hyo-sang had been preparing and ran toward the food storage.
“Branch Manager.”
“…Yes. Yes?”
“Silence the bandits. Make sure they don't run their mouths.”
“Yes.”
Neung Un-bi hurriedly prepared (?) to greet Mak Cheong-ju, his expression tense.
Since they'd only half-prepared it, there was still blood and guts left behind… but surely, no one could identify the fish from that, right?
If they could, they might as well be able to guess a person's name just by seeing their blood.