Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Mad Demon Art
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Sa Sa Un deliberately twisted his face to hide the ecstasy bubbling inside him.
He had envied the martial arts of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families, but now he had no need to.
Diligent training alone would let him stand toe-to-toe with the Five Absolutes of the Martial World.
"What did your family call that breathing technique?"
"They called it the Blossom Sage Art, sir."
"The original name isn't Blossom Sage Art—it's the Pure Bead Art. The swordsmanship isn't Sa Family Twenty-Four Swords either; it's Heavenly Return Wave."
Sa Sa Un's chest swelled with fervor.
How fitting those names sounded.
Pure Bead Art rang truer than Blossom Sage Art, and Heavenly Return Wave looked far stronger than Sa Family Twenty-Four Swords.
"From now on, I'll call them the Pure Bead Art and Heavenly Return Wave."
"Teach the breathing technique and swordsmanship to your siblings, too."
His impassioned heart cooled in an instant.
"Pardon? Do I... have to teach them?"
How could he share the world's greatest martial art with outsiders?
And they weren't even martial artists—just kitchen hands, pearls around a pig's neck.
"Should I teach them myself?"
At Se Yeong's words, Sa Sa Un bowed his head low.
"N-no, sir. I'll teach them myself."
If Se Yeong taught them personally instead, his siblings might become masters overnight.
"Teach them properly, no skipping. I'll check later."
"Understood, Hero Han."
Finishing his meditation and entering the kitchen, Sa Sa Un couldn't help but be startled.
Peep... peep...
All the eggs he'd left in the corner had hatched into chicks.
His siblings lit up with joy at the sight.
"What should we do?"
"What do you mean? Build a coop."
Se Yeong and the squad members crowded into the kitchen, drawn by the chicks' chirping.
"Whoa... Sa Sa Un's got some real talent."
"Raise 'em quick and eat 'em."
The squad loved it, but Paeng Se Gi was especially thrilled.
"You really have to say that looking at these chicks?"
Dang Ok Yi scolded him, but he didn't back down.
"What's wrong? I'm just stating facts."
As the squad bantered, Sa Sa Un shared his modest ambition.
"These chickens will grow, lay eggs, and those eggs will hatch into more chicks that become chickens. Then we'll have endless eggs and chicken to eat."
Se Yeong approved of his simple goal.
"When the laborers arrive later, ask them to build a coop. Se Gi, no stealing eggs even when the hens start laying."
Heh heh heh...
"Aw, what a shame. Sa Sa Un, roast chicken for dinner tonight."
After breakfast, the laborers arrived and got to work.
Se Yeong called over a skilled one to fix the manor's main gate first.
"Who smashed the gate that was fine yesterday? Looks like an axe did it."
Ha ha...
"It broke during some roughhousing."
Se Yeong brushed it off with a laugh and headed to the training ground behind the manor.
The ground was stained with blood, and a chair had been set up—courtesy of the squad, without him even asking.
"Will that greedy Lord Yi really show?"
Yeonggak was skeptical.
If he were Lord Yi, he'd bring all his retainers instead of land deeds and treasures.
"He'll come for sure."
"What makes you so certain?"
"If he doesn't, the rest of his fingers get chopped off too."
Ah...
Understanding Se Yeong's meaning, Yeonggak clasped his hands.
"Om mani padme hum."
Lord Yi had surely committed a crime worthy of death.
In the martial world, if you sought to kill someone, you had to be prepared to die yourself.
Still, watching someone die never sat right.
Just then, Paeng Se Gi came running from scouting the wall.
"Brother, the patriarch's driving the cart himself."
"Tell the gate repairmen to work elsewhere so they don't freak out."
Paeng Se Gi dashed to the front gate on Se Yeong's order.
Moments later, Lord Yi drove the cart into the training ground, guided by Paeng Se Gi.
"As promised, I've brought the land deeds... and treasures."
His left hand wrapped in cloth, Lord Yi dismounted and bowed cautiously.
He tried to keep a calm face, but his body trembled.
The squad could tell he was terrified.
Se Yeong silently walked to the chair and sat.
Lord Yi hesitated, then knelt and bowed low.
"Yi Gam, patriarch of the Geumcheon Yi Family... surrenders to Hero Hwang Mu Yeong of the Brick Factory."
Se Yeong had no clue how these rituals worked.
So he accepted the surrender outright.
"Surrender accepted. Take your retainers and guests."
"Thank you, Hero Hwang."
The ritual ended abruptly, and the squad released the retainers and handed over the bodies.
"We've committed a mortal sin, Patriarch."
"We have no face left, Patriarch."
The freed retainers prostrated before their lord, weeping.
They instinctively knew their family had submitted to the Brick Factory.
'Pathetic fools...'
Tears welled in Lord Yi's eyes from the injustice and humiliation.
But this was a demon's lair.
He had to leave before he was devoured.
"Load the bodies and unload the treasures."
The retainers, who had been sobbing on the ground, stood.
They removed the yellow cloth from the cart, revealing dazzling treasures: gold bars, jade beads, pearls, jades—enough to blind.
After unloading the chests, they loaded the corpses from the ground.
"We'll take our leave now, Hero Hwang."
As Lord Yi bowed deeply, Se Yeong approached.
"Forget this manor ever existed. Keep your retainers' mouths shut."
Se Yeong's eyes gleamed with blue light.
Recalling yesterday, Lord Yi's legs buckled.
"W-we saw nothing, heard nothing."
"Good. Go."
As Lord Yi and his retainers left the manor, Paeng Se Gi grumbled.
"Brother, you accepted his surrender too easily."
Se Yeong responded offhandedly.
"How should I have done it?"
"Refuse once or twice when he begs, then accept. Show some dignity."
"Too much hassle."
"Rituals and procedures are necessary, Brother."
Se Yeong paid little mind, but the squad thought otherwise.
"Se Gi's right, Hero Han. It's a pain, but those steps change their mindset."
"Yeah, way too quick."
As they chimed in agreement, Se Yeong conceded a step.
"Next time... we'll do it that way."
They were retainers from prestigious martial families, well-versed in such protocols.
Se Yeong, from a rural backwater, hadn't known surrender had procedures.
'I can learn from these guys.'
The Murim Alliance's inspection team experts surrounded the Demon Subduing Squad members.
The squad members were baffled, at a loss.
They'd only come to the inspection hall because they'd been summoned on business.
"What's this about all of a sudden?"
A flustered Demon Subduing Squad member spoke up.
Not just the inspection experts—the Strategist and his elites encircled them too.
True Man Taeheo, with his flowing white beard, stepped forward.
He was a Wudang elder and head of the inspection team.
"We investigated your backgrounds. Too many suspicious points, so we called you in to confirm."
There were five such members.
They exchanged glances, then bowed.
"I see. What exactly is suspicious?"
True Man Taeheo eyed them sharply.
Inspection heads needed keen insight and a cold demeanor.
"We sent men to your hometowns. Locals claim they've never heard of you. The patriarchs who recommended you dodged questions."
It wasn't just hometowns.
The head and Strategist had investigated every Demon Subduing member's origins.
These five were the catches.
The Alliance's own menials were under scrutiny too.
Ha ha ha ha...!
Heh heh heh...
The bowed members burst into laughter.
"So the Alliance's inspection team isn't all talk."
As they revealed their true colors, True Man Taeheo and the Strategist's faces darkened.
They'd suspected, but Demonic Cult spies had indeed infiltrated—five of them.
"Surrender quietly!"
True Man Taeheo's cold shout chilled the air.
Whoosh...
Monstrous auras erupted from the members, and they scattered in all directions.
Slash... slash...
Kraaack...!
Gurk...!
They drew swords and blades, slicing throats and chests of inspection men.
Blood sprayed, screams filled the air in seconds.
"You bastards...!"
Furious, True Man Taeheo drew his Songmundae Sword and launched forward.
Boom...!
Their blades clashed, a heavy pressure surging through.
'Impossible?'
True Man Taeheo was stunned.
A mere squad member's power matched his own.
Shock was brief; he unleashed Mysterious Heaven Swordsmanship.
Kaboom kaboom boom...!
The member wildly parried with his blade, then swung fiercely once.
Bang!
As True Man Taeheo blocked, he spun and fled.
The others slaughtering inspectors followed suit.
"Pursue them...!"
True Man Taeheo bellowed, while the Strategist blocked one's path with his Judge's Brush.
Kraaak...!
The member's eyes bloodshot, he roared beast-like.
His blade's aura surpassed any swordsman's.
Boom...!
Brush met blade.
Absorbing the force, the Strategist thrust at the chest.
But the member ignored him, batting the brush aside and fleeing.
"Don't let them escape!"
The Strategist roared too.
Kraaack...!
Aaack...!
The Demon Subduing Squad rampaged through the Alliance, cutting down workers in their path.
Menials bled out, women and elders losing lives alike.
Gurk...!
Patrol Squad members blocking them had throats severed, chests split.
Kraaack...!
Roaring wildly, they hacked down all in their way.
Ding...!
A seven-stringed zither rang out.
They turned toward the sound.
Ding! Ding ding...!
Thud thud thump...!
Clear notes rang repeatedly, and the berserk members' chests and limbs split open.
Kraaack...!
They sprayed blood, launching away.
Clang...! Thud...!
The metallic tone peaked; fleeing members' necks gushed.
Splat...
Heads flew into the air, blood fountaining.
"Don't kill them all...!"
Thud...!
The pursuing Strategist shouted, but the last member's head already rolled free.