Chapter 91
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Returning the Favor
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“What did you say, you bastard?”
Beom Gye-wi’s eyes widened as he shouted.
Ga Du-dal, who had been muttering to himself, was startled, not realizing the man’s hearing was so sharp. He quickly changed the subject.
“It’s just a bit strange, is all. They’re observing you two, but this closely? And with such clumsy fools? The numbers are small, too. Isn't it odd?”
Ga Du-dal tilted his head.
“I may not know much, but when it comes to being chased, I’m the best in the world. Who could be more of an expert in this field than me!”
The moment the words left his mouth, Ga Du-dal regretted it.
Sure enough, a sharp rebuke followed.
“What a thing to brag about. A great expert has graced us with his presence.”
Ga Du-dal’s eyes twinkled.
Despite the jab, it seemed the two were waiting for him to continue his explanation.
Gauging their reaction, Ga Du-dal cautiously shared his opinion.
“Normally, the more dangerous the target, the fewer people they send, and they send skilled ones. But those guys are just a disorderly mob, aren’t they?”
Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi nodded.
He was right; it was certainly strange.
“I’ve seen cases like this a few times…”
Ga Du-dal’s gaze grew serious.
“One is when they underestimate you, the other is when they’re using decoys. They can’t be ignorant of your situation, so it’s not the former. That means it’s reasonable to assume they’re decoys.”
“Decoys?”
“Yes. Sacrificial lambs.”
Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes turned cold.
“They want to make us use our martial arts to expose our identities.”
Ga Du-dal nodded.
“And if there are casualties in the process, all the better for them. From the start, their goal was likely to entangle you two in a web of resentment.”
This was the Huashan Sect’s front yard.
It was the perfect setting for a trap.
If warriors of the Martial Alliance were to die in their territory, the Huashan Sect wouldn’t be able to escape responsibility.
Beom Gye-wi let out a chilling laugh and looked around.
“Then we can just kill them all. Leave no evidence, nothing behind.”
Ga Du-dal flinched at the murderous glint in Beom Gye-wi’s eyes.
Cho Ak-ryang frowned and said.
“Do you never want to see Physician Dan again?”
“...!”
“Have you forgotten why we’re collecting signatures for the petition?”
“Tch!”
Beom Gye-wi clicked his tongue, his face filled with irritation. At the same time, the fierce killing intent vanished as if it had never been there. Ga Du-dal was once again reminded of how significant Dan Ak-seon’s existence was to Beom Gye-wi.
After a moment of organizing his thoughts, a faint smile appeared on Cho Ak-ryang’s face.
“We can’t just play into their hands.”
“So you’re saying we should just quietly eat these soggy noodles and leave?”
As Beom Gye-wi grumbled, the smile on Cho Ak-ryang’s face deepened.
“That wouldn’t be a fair trade.”
Cho Ak-ryang continued, his eyes holding a profound meaning.
“Shouldn’t we return what we’ve received? The Huashan folks don’t seem to have a good impression of the Martial Alliance either. If we give them a pretext, that could be rather interesting, don’t you think?”
“Ah!”
Understanding his words, Ga Du-dal let out a cry of realization and nodded.
Beom Gye-wi, on the other hand, furrowed his brow in confusion.
“What does that mean? Speak simply! I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”
Cho Ak-ryang just smiled.
“You just do what you normally do. Just don’t kill them.”
With those words, Cho Ak-ryang stood up and walked toward a table further away.
The eyes of the Martial Alliance warrior disguised as a customer widened in shock.
Cho Ak-ryang had sat down in the chair opposite him and spoken casually.
“You’re working hard. All because you have a terrible superior.”
“...!”
While the man was too shocked to speak, Cho Ak-ryang continued nonchalantly.
“Still, isn’t this a bit much? Putting the people who saved his daughter under surveillance.”
The Martial Alliance warrior was disguised as a merchant.
The middle-aged man, a low-ranking agent of the Heavenly Ear Corps, flinched.
Meeting Cho Ak-ryang’s cool gaze, he felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.
“Sir… I think you have the wrong person…”
Cho Ak-ryang smiled quietly.
At this point, he almost felt sorry for the man, who was still making feeble excuses even in this situation.
“Go and tell your Alliance Leader.”
Just as Cho Ak-ryang was about to continue, Beom Gye-wi, who had approached without them noticing, cut in.
“That gutless bastard.”
“...!”
The agent’s eyes widened, his expression freezing on his face.
Regardless.
Beom Gye-wi tore into Namgung Baek.
“A real man doesn’t go back on his word. Is this how your Alliance Leader repays a debt of gratitude?”
After speaking, Beom Gye-wi glanced at Cho Ak-ryang.
Seeing Cho Ak-ryang nod, Beom Gye-wi grinned.
“Wh-what are you talking about…”
Seeing the man deny it to the end, Beom Gye-wi glared.
“You wanna die?”
“...!”
Startled, the man hastily backed away.
He had been briefed beforehand that their surveillance targets might be Cho Ak-ryang and Beom Gye-wi.
It was then that a sneer formed on Cho Ak-ryang’s face.
“Do merchants these days carry weapons like that?”
The man, belatedly realizing his own posture, couldn’t hide his bewilderment. Startled by the killing intent emanating from Beom Gye-wi, he had reflexively gripped the flexible sword hidden in his belt.
Seeing the partially revealed sword, Beom Gye-wi roared.
“Wow! The Martial Alliance is terrifying. You draw your sword after just a few words?”
“That’s because you insulted us first…”
Cho Ak-ryang smirked and retorted.
“When did we insult you? We insulted the Martial Alliance Leader.”
“...!”
Left speechless, the man glanced around. But his companions were diligently ignoring him.
It happened then.
‘Huh?’
The man looked down at his hand in confusion.
Against his will, the flexible sword was slowly being drawn from its sheath.
No matter how hard he tried to push it back in, it wouldn’t budge.
Instead, an unknown force pulled the flexible sword completely free.
*Clang!*
The flexible sword whipped through the air with a cold, metallic ring.
The man’s eyes shook uncontrollably.
“Oh! Are you trying to silence us by killing us?”
Beom Gye-wi, who had manipulated the man’s hand from a distance, shouted as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Cho Ak-ryang immediately followed up.
“To try and kill someone the moment your identity is revealed! Is this truly the way of the Martial Alliance!”
The two of them, who usually bickered constantly, were perfectly in sync at times like this.
“No, this is… Hup.”
The man, who had hurriedly opened his mouth to explain, gasped.
The flexible sword in his hand suddenly cut through the air.
“Whoa!”
Beom Gye-wi theatrically stumbled backward, knocking over the table and chairs with a loud clatter.
“Blood!”
A thin, thread-like scratch had appeared on Beom Gye-wi’s neck. He had made it himself with his fingernail, but at a glance, it looked as if a sword’s edge had narrowly grazed him.
“Did your Alliance Leader order you to do this? To bring him the head of the physician who saved his daughter?”
The Martial Alliance agents who had infiltrated the inn were utterly bewildered by the situation.
Their colleague had exchanged a few words with the targets, and then suddenly drew his sword and attacked them.
—Don’t use any advanced martial arts.
—What kind of martial arts would I need for these punks?
*Crash!*
*Crack!*
“Kuaargh!”
“Aack!”
All sorts of furniture shattered as screams erupted from all corners.
Beom Gye-wi had simply grabbed the men and thrown them around with brute force.
—Brother Cho, I have a question.
In the midst of grabbing and throwing the Martial Alliance warriors, Beom Gye-wi sent a mental message.
—Which bone hurts the most when it’s broken?
—The femur. After that, the ribs.
Those were areas difficult to set with a splint and slow to heal. Grinning, Beom Gye-wi precisely grabbed and broke the most painful spots on each man before throwing them once more.
Just then, Ga Du-dal, who was watching outside the inn, spoke cautiously.
“A group of people is approaching. I believe they are from the Huashan Sect.”
Cho Ak-ryang nodded and said to Beom Gye-wi.
“That’s enough. Let’s go.”
“Already?”
Beom Gye-wi smacked his lips in disappointment.
He looked reluctant to give up the satisfying feel of his handiwork after so long.
But the inn was already a complete mess.
Not to mention the broken furniture, the walls were riddled with large holes.
And of course, there were the crumpled forms of the Martial Alliance agents, groaning in pain all over the floor.
Cho Ak-ryang turned his head toward Ga Du-dal.
“Pay the innkeeper for the repairs.”
“Me?”
“This, too.”
Cho Ak-ryang handed him an identification token he had taken from one of the Martial Alliance warriors.
Grumbling inwardly, Ga Du-dal walked toward the counter.
The innkeeper had already fled long ago.
Placing the silver and the Martial Alliance token on the counter, Ga Du-dal leaped away, following the two who had already disappeared.
Inside the ruined inn, only the faint sounds of pained groans could be heard here and there.
***
Han Seol-hwa and Dan Ak-seon were on their way to an inn, guided by Perfected Master Jinmyeong.
“That place is still around?”
At Han Seol-hwa’s question, Perfected Master Jinmyeong smiled quietly.
It was one of the few places that held memories of his time with her.
“The owner has changed with the passing of time, but everything else is just as it was.”
Han Seol-hwa felt a sense of gladness.
It had been a long time since she first visited the inn named Yaraehyang.
A much younger Perfected Master Jinmyeong had guided her there, promising to let her taste the finest noodle dish in the region.
But she had soon been disappointed.
She couldn’t taste the supposedly magnificent flavor.
By then, her facial expressions, sense of taste, and sense of smell had already begun to go numb.
The only thing she could perceive was a faint fragrance that tickled her nose. She later learned it was the scent of a flower called Yaraehyang.
Flowering trees were planted all around the inn, and the inn’s name had been derived from them.
The flowers were not large, nor were they flashy enough to catch the eye.
But just as their name suggested, they kept their petals closed during the day, only to open them wide at night, filling the surroundings with a rich, sweet fragrance all night long.
To Han Seol-hwa, who was losing her senses, that fragrance was an immense comfort.
Recalling the memory, Han Seol-hwa wore a faint smile.
But soon, she was confronted with an absurd situation.
“Everything is just as it was?”
An undeniable look of bewilderment appeared on Perfected Master Jinmyeong’s face at Han Seol-hwa’s words.
The quaint, aged atmosphere was gone without a trace. In its place was an inn that looked like it could collapse at any moment, shattered and tilted in every direction.
“You’ve arrived?”
Just then, someone approached from a distance and greeted Perfected Master Jinmyeong.
“What happened here?”
At Perfected Master Jinmyeong’s question, the owner of Yaraehyang sighed with a troubled expression.
“Well…”
The innkeeper explained everything he had seen and heard just moments ago, without omission or embellishment.
Grasping the situation, Perfected Master Jinmyeong asked with a surprised look.
“You said a warrior from the Martial Alliance attacked with killing intent first?”
“Yes. I hear their targets were the physicians who saved the Martial Alliance Leader’s daughter.”
After receiving the Martial Alliance token from the owner and confirming it, a subtle anger rose in Perfected Master Jinmyeong’s eyes.
Han Seol-hwa, on the other hand, was inwardly dumbfounded.
She had clearly told them to stay put and do nothing, yet those idiots couldn’t resist causing trouble.
“Are they part of your group, Fairy?”
At Perfected Master Jinmyeong’s question, Han Seol-hwa nodded with a complicated expression.
Perfected Master Jinmyeong sighed, his face heavy.
It wasn’t difficult to understand the situation.
Not long ago, disciples of the Huashan Sect had escorted a group of physicians that included Dan Ak-seon and Han Seol-hwa.
“They dared to attack esteemed guests of Huashan? And right on Huashan’s doorstep?”