Chapter 42
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Isn't That Broken? (3)
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"...Shall we take a break for a moment?"
"Mm. That might be best."
The disciples of the Blue Radiance Sect and Crimson Yang Sect, who had been gleefully smashing up the inn in the heat of battle, suddenly glanced around warily and sheathed their swords.
At the end of their embarrassed, flustered gazes were Kang Moo-jin and Won Yu-hwa, intently focused on their meal.
"Whoa, he looks like a real powerhouse."
"Did you see that? That Dong-jin guy went flying right up into the sky."
Everyone quietly lowered their swords in the face of Kang Moo-jin's prowess—he had deflected every blind attack and sent the flying assailant truly soaring into the heavens.
He seemed a bit mad, casually eating through the chaos of battle, but they couldn't ignore the aura of a master right in front of them.
"Wh-who is that?"
"No idea. You guys?"
"First time seeing him for us too."
The Blue Radiance Sect and Crimson Yang Sect disciples whispered among themselves, sharing information to figure out Moo-jin's identity.
Then, one brave soul from the Blue Radiance Sect piped up.
"Might we ask if you're a senior expert from some sect!?"
...
But Kang Moo-jin didn't respond.
He was too busy savoring the tender, savory dongpo pork.
"Oppa. They're asking who you are over there."
"Hm? Me?"
Moo-jin snapped out of it at Won Yu-hwa's words, turning his gaze toward the Blue Radiance Sect disciples.
"Eek!"
The Blue Radiance disciples recoiled at meeting his eyes.
The chili oil staining Moo-jin's mouth looked just like blood, filling them with dread.
"I don't know why you're asking, but they call me Golden Ghost Indestructible."
"...!"
"G-Golden Ghost Indestructible!"
"Shaanxi Province's top fist master?!"
The disciples who recognized his moniker widened their eyes in shock.
Before long, Kang Moo-jin's reputation had spread beyond Shanxi into Sichuan.
"Golden Ghost Indestructible, hero. This fight is between us Crimson Yang Sect and those Blue Radiance scum. Stay out of it."
"Sichuan matters will be handled by Sichuan folk! We'll deal with the Crimson Yang bastards, so you needn't concern yourself!"
Moo-jin let out a hollow chuckle at the disciples from both sects chiming in so amicably.
What nonsense is this?!
He was so flabbergasted he nearly burst out laughing.
"Hey. Watch your mouths. I didn't butt in—you lot started fighting while I was eating."
"Hero Kang. There are ways of the martial world, how can you say—"
"Screw the ways of the martial world."
Thud!
Moo-jin tossed the cleanly picked chicken leg bone onto the floor.
Propelled with immense force, it pierced the wooden floorboards like a sharpened dart.
"...!!"
The disciples from both sects paled at the sight of a fragile chicken bone shattering the wood with ease.
"Mind your table manners. Unless you want to die. Don't like stopping the fight?"
Moo-jin growled like a beast.
"Want me to make you stop? Rip off a limb at a time—think that'll do it?"
"C-calm down, Hero Kang."
"W-we were wrong."
The Crimson Yang Sect and Blue Radiance Sect disciples frantically waved their hands and backed away.
They could clearly imagine what would happen if that fist connected instead of the chicken bone.
"We'll take the fight elsewhere, so please lower that fist first..."
"Hahaha!"
Just as the Crimson Yang disciples retreated, a middle-aged man in a black-green fluttering robe leaped into the center of the inn.
"There you are, you bastards!"
The wide-sleeved black-green robe differed from ordinary fluttering robes. He arrogantly perched atop an intact table.
A Crimson Yang disciple shouted upon seeing him.
"Gasp! Thousand Poison Ghost Hand?!"
The Blue Radiance disciples' faces filled with terror at the cry.
Thousand Poison Ghost Hand Dang Yeop was infamous for felling foes before they could take ten steps.
"That's right. I am Thousand Poison Ghost Hand Dang Yeop. Everyone here dies today. So don't resist."
"...?"
Kang Moo-jin scowled at the words.
Even dogs don't bother a man eating, yet this lunatic threatened death mid-meal.
"R-run! Touch the Thousand Poison Ghost Hand and you're dead!"
"Scatter! Everyone, retreat!"
Terror-filled eyes drove the Blue Radiance and Crimson Yang disciples fleeing out the inn.
Chaos erupted at the narrow door—some trampled, others rolling on the floor—but no one cared.
They couldn't afford to, given the Ghost Hand's notoriety.
"Hahaha! Fools. Too late!"
Dang Yeop smirked, arms crossed, watching them flee.
And at that moment.
"Gahk!"
"Cough! Khehk!"
The fleeing disciples vomited blood and collapsed.
The Thousand Poison Ghost Hand had scattered infamous Black Heart Burning Poison the instant he entered.
"Kahaha. If the Yun Clan sees this, they'll... Hm?"
Dang Yeop tilted his head, glancing at Moo-jin.
"What are you? Why aren't you down?"
Black Heart Burning Poison seeped through veins to scorch the heart black—a top-tier toxin even the Tang Family handled with extreme care.
Yet this man stood unaffected.
How...?
Dang Yeop furrowed his brow in confusion when—
"Sigh. You Tang Family lunatics."
Kang Moo-jin sighed, rising to his feet.
His meal—no, protein intake—interrupted twice, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Wha?! My poison doesn't work...? Impossible!"
Moo-jin rolled up his sleeve, staring down the shocked Dang Yeop.
"...!"
Dang Yeop's eyes bulged at the pillar-like forearm.
"For trying to kill me, you die. For ruining my meal, your robe pays."
"Ha! Cocky brat."
Dang Yeop sneered, regaining composure.
"Lucky you skirted the poison cloud, pup. Don't mistake luck for skill."
The Thousand Poison Ghost Hand grinned viciously, coating his fingertips with his signature poison: Corpse Subduing Secret Poison, which paralyzed nerves, leaving victims alive but immobile.
"Country bumpkin by the looks. Rush in blind, and you'll end up a corpse."
Fierce light gleamed in Dang Yeop's eyes.
"Perfect. I'll half-kill you and the girl behind for test subjects!"
Thwack!
Gliding like silk on ice, Dang Yeop lunged, hand outstretched toward Moo-jin's face.
Shooo!
Purple venom sprayed like mist from his palm.
The purple toxin rushed into Moo-jin's nose and mouth.
"Kahahaha! Done, pup. So pathetic you don't even react!"
Confirming the hit, Dang Yeop stood smugly, hands behind back.
Corpse Subduing Secret Poison turned foes into living corpses—the fight was over.
"Fool. That's what happens when you underestimate your foe."
Prod. Prod.
Dang Yeop leisurely poked Moo-jin's forehead.
Won Yu-hwa surged with rage to attack when—
Crack!
Moo-jin seized Dang Yeop's hand and snapped the fingers.
"Aaaagh!"
Dang Yeop stumbled back, fingers grotesquely twisted.
"H-how!?"
Panicked, he botched his elegant footwork, nearly falling on his rear.
"How are you fine after Corpse Subduing Secret Poison?!"
"Simple. Your poison sucks."
"I-impossible! My poisons are elite even in the Tang Family—"
"Shut up."
Crunch!
Moo-jin's fist pulverized Dang Yeop's nose, burying deep into his midsection.
"Khehk!"
The single blow shattered his nasal bone into eight pieces and five teeth. Dang Yeop reeled back.
"How dare you scatter poison in an inn!"
Moo-jin grabbed the flying Dang Yeop by the collar and kneed his gut.
"Gahk!"
Ribs splintered, Dang Yeop's eyes rolled back from the crashing pain and he passed out.
A Tang warrior, inured to thousands of poison agonies, felled by two blows.
"On second thought, killing you feels off."
Moo-jin unclenched his finishing fist.
Slaughtering him here might vent anger but leave complications.
"Hand it over first."
Kang Moo-jin stripped the fine black-green fluttering robe and placed it on the table.
Expensive silk gleamed luxuriously.
"Hey. Wake up."
Smack!
Moo-jin slapped Dang Yeop awake, dislodging more teeth—but that wasn't his problem.
Self-inflicted consequences.
"Eek!?"
Dang Yeop awoke screaming, face etched with fear.
The Thousand Poison Ghost Hand's arrogance, famed for matching his skill, evaporated under Moo-jin's fists.
Each punch hurt worse than any Tang torment.
"S-sorry! Please stop hitting—"
"Oh? Admitting fault?"
"Y-yes! I am."
"Then antidote those people now."
...
Dang Yeop bit his lip, troubled.
"Th-the Black Heart Burning Poison takes at least two hours to brew an antidote..."
"How much time do they have left?"
"One... hour."
Crunch.
Moo-jin raised his tensed fist over Dang Yeop's face.
"Eek!"
Dang Yeop's life flashed before his eyes at the looming fist.
"Brew it in one hour and save them. One death per punch."
"Eek! Y-yes, sir!"
Dang Yeop moved faster than ever, crafting the antidote.
A feat even master Tang antidotes took two hours for—he succeeded in one, a first in Tang history.
"Huff... huff..."
Collapsed in exhaustion, Dang Yeop's face was deathly pale, having poured every ounce of inner energy under mortal threat.
"Ugh..."
"W-we lived!?"
The recovering Blue Radiance and Crimson Yang disciples grimaced.
Their last memory: searing poison pain. Minds still foggy.
"Yes. You all survived."
"Hero Kang?! You beat the Thousand Poison Ghost Hand and saved us!?"
Moo-jin nodded at the quick-witted Blue Radiance disciple.
"Yeah. I subdued him and got the antidote."
"Th-thank you, Hero Kang!"
The disciples brimmed with gratitude.
He'd saved them after they disrupted his meal and got threatened to leave—what magnanimity!
"Thank you?"
"Yes! Hero Kang, we'll never forget this grace!"
Moo-jin nodded, satisfied smile blooming.
"Good. Debts are best repaid promptly. 'No time like the present'—one of my favorites."
"...!?"
The disciples tilted their heads, baffled.
"N-now?"
Moo-jin nodded at the sharp Blue Radiance disciple.
"Yep. Empty your pockets."