Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: It's All Mine
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A member of the Underworld Sect tracked the fugitives and discovered the path leading to their hideout.
He said he couldn't go any further.
Fearing he would be discovered if he went deeper, he halted the pursuit, set up surveillance in the area, and returned to report.
Upon hearing the report, Byeok Taesan made an immediate decision.
"Well then, time to go get the rest of the spirit herbs."
Just as Byeok Taesan was about to move, Yeon Harin approached him.
She began by expressing her gratitude.
"Thank you so much for saving me. I always seem to be the one receiving help."
*Hmm? Always? Could it be that something like this has happened before?*
He hadn't done anything. This meant the real Byeok Taesan must have done something in the past.
Byeok Taesan casually threw out the words that came to mind.
"I'll be heading back after we wrap things up here. Why don't you wait and go with us?"
Yeon Harin's eyes widened.
"Really? Is that truly okay?"
"Well... I don't see why not."
Yeon Harin smiled with delight.
Seeing this, Byeok Taesan turned and walked over to where the Underworld Sect member was standing.
He then mulled over the words he had just spoken.
He had a strange feeling, as if he'd said something uncharacteristic, yet at the same time, it didn't feel entirely out of place.
*At my age...*
Byeok Taesan chuckled and was about to walk away when he felt a peculiar gaze on him.
He turned his head and saw it was the same old man who had been in a serious conversation with Yeon Harin earlier.
The old man was watching Byeok Taesan with a strange look in his eyes.
Byeok Taesan asked Yeon Harin.
"That old man you were talking to earlier, who is he?"
"Ah, he's an elder from the Baengli Family."
Yeon Harin explained in detail about Baengli Jangcheon, including how he had given her a letter of recommendation.
After hearing the whole story, Byeok Taesan smirked.
"So, who's going to use that recommendation?"
"Pardon? Well..."
Yeon Harin fell silent.
Come to think of it, there was no suitable person to use it.
Even with a letter of recommendation, she couldn't just send anyone.
After all, the person would be taking a position that Baengli Jangcheon guaranteed was important, so it had to be someone with considerable capability.
Or someone with a lot of experience.
If not that, then it had to be someone anyone could readily acknowledge.
For example, the Head of the Yeon Family.
But the Yeon Family Head would never abandon his family to join the Hubei Martial Alliance.
In truth, besides the Family Head, the Yeon Family had no one else with significant experience and ability.
Yeon Harin was the one they had high hopes for, considered one of the most talented prodigies in the family's history.
So, who should use this?
"There's no one to use it."
Yeon Harin gave a bitter smile.
"What do you mean, no one?"
"Because my father would never use it."
"What about you?"
"Pardon? Me? How could I dare..."
Byeok Taesan chuckled at her words. He glanced at Baengli Jangcheon before turning his gaze back to Yeon Harin.
"That old man, he's been aiming for you from the start. It's a good way to build a pretext."
"A pretext?"
"A pretext to bring you into the Baengli Family."
Yeon Harin's expression hardened. Only then did the situation begin to form a clear picture in her mind.
If Yeon Harin were to take a key position in the Hubei Martial Alliance on Baengli Jangcheon's recommendation, what kind of talk would that stir up?
Naturally, people would say the Baengli Family's influence was involved.
And to justify that, Yeon Harin would have to be someone very important to the Baengli Family.
For example, someone betrothed to the heir, Baengli Munryang.
"But shouldn't everyone know by now that I'm the Young Master's fiancée?"
"What does the truth matter? They can just make the situation into the truth."
Yeon Harin thought, *no way,* but Byeok Taesan's words echoed in her mind.
"Well, maybe not."
As if it didn't matter to him one way or the other, Byeok Taesan tossed out the remark and walked towards the Underworld Sect member.
"Who do they think they're eyeing? How audacious."
In any case, whatever is around me is all mine. I had no intention of letting anyone touch it. Not then, not now.
***
Baengli Jangcheon kept his eyes on Byeok Taesan.
Byeok Taesan's role in today's battle had been truly immense.
*To think he can defeat the Half-Jiangshi just by existing.*
It was unknown how long the fight against the Half-Jiangshi would last. But it was certain that those bastards were targeting the Hubei Martial Alliance.
Therefore, they had to keep Byeok Taesan in the Hubei Martial Alliance at all costs.
*But isn't he moving too openly?*
What would their enemies think after what happened this time?
It was obvious. They would try to eliminate Byeok Taesan.
"He must be careless because he's young."
With such an ability, he should have moved with much more caution. Of course, if he had, they might have had a harder time escaping the danger this time, but Byeok Taesan's safety was far more important.
At least until they found a sure way to deal with the Half-Jiangshi.
"By the way, where is he off to now?"
Seeing Byeok Taesan on the move, Baengli Jangcheon furrowed his brow.
Watching closely, he saw that not only Byeok Taesan, but also the people who came with him, and even Yeon Harin, were all going together.
Baengli Jangcheon looked around.
The cleanup was gradually finishing. All that was left was to send these people to the Hubei Martial Alliance.
And then contact each family to send more escorts.
Baengli Jangcheon rose from his seat.
He called over the leader of the Hubei Martial Alliance's warrior squad.
"You can handle the rest, can't you?"
The squad leader's eyes widened.
"Shouldn't you be leading us, Elder?"
"I have somewhere to be. So you take everyone to the Hubei Martial Alliance. When you get there, tell the general manager to contact each family and have them send at least three times the escorts."
"Yes, I will do that. But where should I say you've gone, Elder?"
He wanted to have an answer ready, as the Alliance Head would surely ask if he went back like this.
"I must protect that young man. And I also have to protect a child who might one day become family."
"Pardon?"
The squad leader looked confused at Baengli Jangcheon's words, but then followed his gaze to the retreating figures of Byeok Taesan and Yeon Harin and finally nodded.
"Ah... I understand what you mean."
The squad leader's gaze on Yeon Harin was very warm. He would probably never forget the memory of her fighting earlier.
Seeing that, Baengli Jangcheon's expression became strange again.
*What a waste, what a waste.*
Baengli Jangcheon muttered this to himself as he began to follow Byeok Taesan.
***
"What's this? That old man is following us."
At the One-Needle Eccentric's words, the Divine Doctor of the Ages glanced back.
Baengli Jangcheon had separated from the group and was heading their way.
"Young Master, what should we do?"
"Just leave him be."
As soon as Byeok Taesan spoke, everyone stopped paying attention to Baengli Jangcheon.
Only Yeon Harin, seeming concerned, kept looking back.
Then she suddenly realized they weren't heading towards the Hubei Martial Alliance.
"Where are we going right now? Weren't we returning to the Hubei Martial Alliance?"
"Hm? Did we not tell you?"
The Divine Doctor of the Ages looked at Yeon Harin. Then he shifted his gaze to Yu Seoyeon, who was beside her.
Yu Seoyeon quickly whispered to Yeon Harin.
"My lady, we're going to deal with the remnants now."
"Remnants?"
Yeon Harin's eyes grew as wide as saucers.
Remnants. Didn't that mean they were heading to the main base of those dangerous bastards who attacked them earlier?
How could they go without knowing what kind of enemies were there?
Besides, they said there was a master there that even Baengli Jangcheon would have trouble handling.
Even if Baengli Jangcheon, who was following them now, dealt with that one, what if there was another master of that caliber?
"We're going there by ourselves?"
Yu Seoyeon calmly soothed the startled Yeon Harin.
"We'll go and check it out first. If it seems like too much to handle, we'll just come back."
Yu Seoyeon
*Though I doubt that will happen.*
omitted the last part of her thought.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't imagine them losing.
Of course, it depended on who the enemy was, but she couldn't even begin to imagine Byeok Taesan being defeated.
"But..."
"Don't worry too much. It'll really be fine."
As she said this, Yu Seoyeon glanced around at the others. Yeon Harin followed her gaze and looked at the rest of the group.
Everyone was so composed that she felt foolish for making a fuss.
As her heart settled, influenced by her surroundings, something else caught her eye.
It was the Master of the Golden Jade Pavilion.
She was seeing this person for the first time; she was very beautiful, and her attire seemed different from everyone else's.
"By the way, that person... who is she?"
"Ah... the Master of the Golden Jade Pavilion... that is, the Yichang Branch Head of the Underworld Sect."
"The Underworld Sect?"
Yeon Harin's eyes narrowed at the name 'Master of the Golden Jade Pavilion', then widened at 'Yichang Branch Head of the Underworld Sect'.
Now she began to understand the situation.
"So, the Underworld Sect tracked down the remnants."
"That's right."
Yeon Harin looked at Byeok Taesan with renewed admiration.
"Our Young Master is truly amazing."
Yu Seoyeon was about to say that Yeon Harin was looking at him through rose-tinted glasses, but stopped. On second thought, Byeok Taesan fully deserved to be called amazing.
"Anyway, should we just leave him like that? Shouldn't we go and invite him over?"
Yeon Harin said, glancing back.
Baengli Jangcheon was still following them, maintaining the same distance.
Seeing him act like that when he could just come over and ask where they were going or suggest they go together, she felt like she should call out to him.
However, no one else in the group paid him any mind. Only Yeon Harin remained concerned.
As Yeon Harin continued to worry about Baengli Jangcheon, the Divine Doctor of the Ages came over and said quietly.
"Leave him be. That old man is just planning to jump in and take credit if something happens later."
"Pardon? Surely not."
"Besides, we're almost there."
At those words, Yeon Harin looked ahead.
In the distance, a man who looked like a member of the Underworld Sect was quietly approaching.
***
"So they're somewhere in there?"
"Yes. I couldn't go any further."
The Underworld Sect member was at the entrance of a small forest.
It was a place with scattered trees and large boulders here and there, which obstructed the line of sight.
This was as far as the Underworld Sect member could approach without being detected.
"You don't think they moved somewhere else, do you?"
"That's not it. They are definitely in there."
As Byeok Taesan stared at the Underworld Sect member, the Master of the Golden Jade Pavilion, who was beside him, added an explanation.
"You can think of it as sensing a kind of presence. It's not a true aura, but a special sense honed through long years of training."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go in."
With that, Byeok Taesan strode inside.
The group hurriedly followed him.
Baengli Jangcheon, who had been following from a distance, also quickly entered the forest after them.
Once inside, the Underworld Sect member's skills shone.
He expertly and swiftly examined the tracks to find the path the enemy had taken.
They couldn't walk at a fast pace, but they were able to move almost without stopping.
Soon, a fairly large clearing appeared. A wooden stockade surrounded it.
Inside the stockade, several sturdy wooden buildings were visible.
"They've built a full-fledged base here."
The Divine Doctor of the Ages muttered and approached the stockade.
There were no guards. And no gate was visible.
There might be a gate if they walked along the stockade, but Byeok Taesan had no intention of doing so.
All Byeok Taesan did was turn his head to look at Cheon Gyeongwan.
Cheon Gyeongwan stepped forward and drew his sword.
A grim, sharp energy gathered on the blade.
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
Cheon Gyeongwan's sword sliced through the tightly woven logs as if cutting through tofu.
In an instant, he had cut out a section of logs large enough for several people to pass through side by side.
Cheon Gyeongwan carefully caught the cut logs to prevent them from falling, then slowly pulled them out and placed them gently on the ground.
Byeok Taesan was the first to step inside. Everyone was startled by his action, which showed no consideration for any potential dangers, and they hurried after him.
It was quiet inside the stockade.
Whether everyone was inside the buildings or not, there was no one outside.
As Byeok Taesan's group swarmed inside, people finally emerged from the buildings.
It was two men, not Half-Jiangshi. And they were martial artists who had trained in martial arts.
Before Byeok Taesan could give an order, Cheon Gyeongwan and Yu Seoyeon lunged forward.
The two each took on one man.
The men who came out of the building drew their weapons in alarm.
*Clang! Thud!*
With identical movements, Cheon Gyeongwan and Yu Seoyeon parried their opponents' swords and struck them in the solar plexus with their other hand.
The two men collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood.
"Guaaack!"
*Thump!*
Cheon Gyeongwan and Yu Seoyeon each stomped on the necks of the fallen men.
They lost consciousness, their faces shoved into the blood they had coughed up.
Yeon Harin was truly shocked as she watched the scene unfold.
*When did they get so skilled?*
Yeon Harin knew Yu Seoyeon very well. They had been together for a long time.
She was also one of the few people around whom she could open her heart.
But in terms of martial arts, she was definitely superior.
That was why she could send Yu Seoyeon to be Byeok Taesan's guard. Even without Yu Seoyeon, she was confident she could protect herself in Wuhan.
But now, she saw that Yu Seoyeon had become incomparably stronger than before.
The movements just now were at a level that Yeon Harin would find difficult to even imitate.
As she stared at Yu Seoyeon with astonished eyes, she heard a soft clicking of the tongue from beside her.
"Tsk, tsk, they've gotten sluggish. I should have just made them train. I brought them along for nothing."
At Byeok Taesan's words, Cheon Gyeongwan and Yu Seoyeon trembled.
Yeon Harin flinched at the venom and desperation that appeared in their expressions and eyes.
*What in the world happened to them?*
Yeon Harin's gaze darted frantically between Yu Seoyeon, Cheon Gyeongwan, and Byeok Taesan.
And then, people began to pour out of the buildings in earnest.