Chapter 166
Chapter 166
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Putting Things in Order (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Just as his energy circulation was nearing its end.
Ouyang Jue’s eyes narrowed at the sign of someone outside.
By now, it was evening. Considering he had started his meditation at noon, quite some time had passed.
The amount of internal energy filling his dantian was now at a level exceeding a sixty-year cycle.
It was more than enough to surpass most masters of internal energy.
Even so, Ouyang Jue did not let his guard down and cautiously spoke.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me.”
The voice held not a hint of tension. Ouyang Jue smirked and opened the door.
The face revealed in the opening was Jeok Sa-goeng’s, looking utterly exhausted.
“How can a patient rest when you keep pestering them to reminisce?”
“Wasn’t this something you brought upon yourself?”
“...Well, I suppose you’re right.”
A moment of silence passed, and Jeok Sa-goeng, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, glanced at Ouyang Jue.
“Are you alright?”
“Aside from a slight sting around my neck.”
“Ah. I-Is that so.”
As the flustered Jeok Sa-goeng started to pull something from his robes, Ouyang Jue chuckled and stopped him.
“It was a joke, a joke. As if I’d suffer a fatal wound from a mere finger.”
“Then why today…?”
“Because I was hoping for some guests.”
At those words, Jeok Sa-goeng’s eyes flashed.
“Are you planning to wipe them out?”
“Wipe them out… is wishful thinking. Just knowing who came is enough for me. Anyone who comes to kill me or you, Great Warrior Jeok, must have a name for themselves in the martial world.”
*Crack, crackle.*
Stretching his stiff body after the long meditation, Ouyang Jue slowly rose to his feet.
Perhaps it was because of the low ceiling of the hermitage, but Jeok Sa-goeng felt that Ouyang Jue’s presence had grown even larger than before.
‘So I wasn’t the only one holding back in our duel.’
The presence and refined sharpness he felt from him now were on a different level from their match.
As Jeok Sa-goeng twitched his right hand and scowled, Ouyang Jue shook his head.
“No matter how urgent it is, you don’t need to go so far as to circulate your internal energy. If the qi and blood in your right hand get tangled…”
“That’s none of your concern.”
At Jeok Sa-goeng’s stubbornness, Ouyang Jue stopped talking.
Then again, he figured he would be just as bitter if he were in his shoes.
To have his right arm severed just as his true martial arts had finally blossomed and reached a new height.
If he failed to seize this opportunity, he would never forgive himself.
“...Ugh.”
Ouyang Jue heard Jeok Sa-goeng’s groan but pretended not to, casually changing the subject.
“So, what brings you here? You wouldn’t have come to a martial artist’s quarters this late at night just to apologize.”
As Ouyang Jue jibed in an annoyed tone, Jeok Sa-goeng paused his rehabilitation.
“It seems it will take some time before I can wield a spear again, so I came to ask a favor.”
“...?”
“Do you know the saying, ‘It’s none of my business’?”
Was he reminiscing about the past for a moment?
An uncharacteristic sadness and longing appeared on Jeok Sa-goeng’s face.
But it was only for an instant. The moment Ouyang Jue blinked, the old emotion had vanished from him.
“Don’t meddle in others’ affairs and walk away. Accept any evil before your eyes without a stir. Before justice and order were established, the martial world was no different from a den of beasts.”
“Just like now,” Ouyang Jue muttered, almost to himself.
He had heard from Cheol Pung-gae several times how the Martial Alliance, the dark factions, and the unorthodox sects were indiscriminately absorbing smaller clans.
Jeok Sa-goeng did not deny it.
“At some point, such things disappeared after righteous warriors who called for justice appeared in the martial world. I wasn’t one of them. But seeing them was enough to make me change my mind from being a wanderer to a martial artist.”
“...”
A bold personality who spoke his mind to anyone, an attitude of looking down on seniors and juniors alike if he disliked them.
Ouyang Jue realized that he and Jeok Sa-goeng were quite similar. Indeed, both of them were closer to wanderers than martial artists.
To put it nicely, they were eccentrics; to put it badly, madmen.
Who would like those who shattered the rules made by the old generation and ignored etiquette?
Jeok Sa-goeng calmly recounted his past.
“It was very difficult at first. No one would accept a man like me, so I always had to face death on the front lines.”
“A meat shield, I see.”
“Well, yes.”
At those words, Ouyang Jue’s gaze shifted to Jeok Sa-goeng’s forearm.
A long scar was etched there, one that looked like it had once been deep enough to expose the bone.
The very fact that he had mastered the spear despite such a wound was a testament to Jeok Sa-goeng’s efforts.
As Ouyang Jue let out a small sigh of admiration, Jeok Sa-goeng continued.
“Then I participated in the war against the old Demonic Cult, and… I met Nangong Cheon.”
“...!”
As Ouyang Jue’s ears perked up, Jeok Sa-goeng’s voice grew quieter.
“He said this to me. He asked if I wouldn’t live for the sake of justice in the martial world, that he wouldn’t disappoint me.”
As he said this, Jeok Sa-goeng reflexively fumbled at the floor.
He was so embarrassed to say such things sober that he had unconsciously reached for a wine cup.
But when his hand found nothing, Jeok Sa-goeng’s gaze turned to the moon visible outside the window.
“But what about now…”
As a voice filled with regret filled the hermitage, Ouyang Jue let out a small sigh.
Regret.
It was an emotion Ouyang Jue always carried with him.
Seeing his reflection in the other man, Ouyang Jue forced a smile and spoke.
“Can’t you just start again from now?”
“Don’t I have my own sins?”
Jeok Sa-goeng wore a bitter expression.
“The sin of standing by and condoning wrongdoing, thinking it was a means to uphold justice, is what took my right arm.”
“...”
With those words, Ouyang Jue and Jeok Sa-goeng fell silent.
It was partly to process the emotions that filled their minds, but more so because their highly trained senses were screaming at them.
*Thud, thud, thud, thud!*
The aftershocks of a battle on the mountainside relentlessly battered the hermitage door.
Their eyes met.
“Let’s go.”
Ouyang Jue’s words were the signal, and the two martial artists shot out of the hermitage.
***
“To think I would have to move myself…”
The man wearing a crow mask sighed deeply, adjusting the unfamiliar stealth suit.
He had taken in the Buddha-Slaying Divine Demon, who was on the run, intending to use him, but who knew he would return with crippled legs.
A blunder of this magnitude was rare.
The problem was that this troublemaker, Ouyang Jue, was always at the center of these incidents.
‘I didn’t pay him much mind before since his martial arts were weak… but it’s time to deal with him.’
He knew too much.
Besides, now was the only time he could quietly kill Jeok Sa-goeng, a former executive of the Martial Alliance.
With his right arm lost and his vitality diminished, Jeok Sa-goeng would be unable to resist.
For this reason, the Crow had received a talisman that concealed one’s presence from the Heaven-Bearing Asura and had arrived at the entrance of Mount Hua.
Then, an involuntary, hollow laugh escaped him.
‘That Heaven-Bearing Asura also got one of his arms cut off… What a spectacle. To think two of the Eight Evils would end up crippled.’
The Crow grumbled about the current situation and took the first step onto the stairs.
It was an evening without even a moon.
From the moment Ouyang Jue had focused on his meditation, the Crow had been making his way up Mount Hua.
Very cautiously, slowly.
Climbing without leaving any sound or trace, the Crow looked around.
The meticulously maintained stairs, carved out of the rugged mountain path, showed their thorough management at a glance.
Had the sect’s former state of near-ruin completely vanished?
A small sound of admiration slipped through the Crow’s lips.
“...Impressive.”
He had thought only Bai Duanxian’s disciples were outstanding, but it seemed the sect itself was enjoying a decent period of prosperity.
The Crow committed Mount Hua’s condition to memory and began to formulate his infiltration route more concretely.
After about fifteen minutes had passed.
At a resting place located between the Mount Hua Sect and the mountain’s entrance, the Crow stopped.
“...”
“...”
A single man blocked his path.
The Crow, with a look of contempt, ignored him and walked forward.
But his steps were halted.
*Fwoosh!*
A hot flame erupted from the sword held by the man.
The pure heat, formed from internal energy, made the cold evening air shimmer and let out a faint white steam.
The power felt from that sword energy was comparable to sword aura.
The Crow slowly turned around.
“Who are you?”
“Fire Cloud Red Mist Sword, Ha Jin-ak.”
Ha Jin-ak assumed a ready stance, his eyes flashing.
“Senior-most Brother of the Mount Hua Sect.”
At those words, the Crow let out a strange laugh. In contrast, Ha Jin-ak’s face was filled with seriousness.
‘I don’t know who this man is, but he’s no ordinary foe.’
Cold sweat trickled down Ha Jin-ak’s forehead. It wasn’t just because of the heat flowing through his blade.
Although he couldn’t feel any presence from the Crow, being this close revealed an overwhelming stench of evil.
A foulness so putrid it felt as if a single touch would cause him to rot.
It was a presence that he wouldn’t have noticed if he, Ha Jin-ak, were not connected to Mount Hua’s dragon vein.
He must have some item that conceals his presence, Ha Jin-ak thought, focusing his attention.
He then inwardly tensed and clicked his tongue in regret.
‘If I had more time, I would have brought others…’
But the Crow’s power was too immense, too dangerous. If he were even a little late, his fellow disciples at the Reception Hall might be sacrificed.
That was something Ha Jin-ak did not want. If possible, he wanted a result where no one died.
As for himself, he didn't mind. He was living a second life anyway.
As a firm resolve settled on Ha Jin-ak’s face, the Crow sneered faintly.
“Haha, hahaha…”
“What’s so funny?”
With the mask hiding his expression, Ha Jin-ak felt a deep sense of displeasure.
The Crow looked at Ha Jin-ak with even more admiration, and mockery.
“It’s a pity that one so talented and special, enough to notice me, would do something so foolish.”
“...”
“I can clearly see the emotions you hold. The anxiety and fear rooted in your past emit a deep fragrance. How could I not know?”
*Shhng.*
The Crow drew his blade.
It was a simple action, yet Ha Jin-ak frowned upon seeing it.
The blade he drew was not a typical longsword, but a chopper that one would find in a butcher’s shop.
As Ha Jin-ak’s gaze questioned him, the Crow replied in a cheerful voice.
“There’s no need to bring a sharp blade just to slaughter a beast.”
If Ouyang Jue had heard this, he would have thought it was to hide his identity, but not Ha Jin-ak.
For Ha Jin-ak, who cared for his fellow disciples more than anyone, it provoked an even greater fury.
“You bastard!”
“Don’t shout like that. Doesn’t it make you look weak?”
Despite his words, the Crow was inwardly surprised.
The aura erupting from Ha Jin-ak’s body was far from ordinary.
Sure enough, a brilliant light gleamed in Ha Jin-ak’s eyes as a massive amount of internal energy surged and coiled around his entire body.
The sword energy, which had merely coated his blade, transformed into a thickness reminiscent of a greatsword.
It was as if he were the Great King of the Blazing Hells spoken of in Buddhist scripture.
‘What kind of fortuitous encounter did this bastard have after dying once?’
The Crow grumbled under his breath and moved. To Ha Jin-ak’s eyes, it seemed as if he had vanished for a moment.
But the sound remained like an afterimage, tickling his ears.
*Whoosh!*
The Crow, now airborne, swung his chopper as if to split the moon.