Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Plum Blossom Bronze Tablet (1)
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The road back to the Mount Hua Sect was dreadfully quiet.
No one spoke, making it feel like a funeral procession.
Yet, not a single person bowed their head or showed any sign of despair.
They didn't intentionally dirty their Mount Hua Sect robes or change into other clothes.
Look, O world.
Look, you vile enemies.
Bai Duanxian stared ahead, his expression as calm as a clear, still lake.
The world's attention was upon them.
Even now, the gazes of what appeared to be the Heretical Faction's forces were palpable on the streets.
Seeing them, Bai Duanxian felt a fire rage within him. He stopped, turned, and looked at Song Muk.
"Capture him."
Bai Duanxian's lips moved. In response, Song Muk shot forward.
"Jin-ak, do you see?"
Bai Duanxian turned his head, his lonely eyes gazing at the carriage where Ha Jin-ak lay.
"This is the world you cherished and loved."
This world did this to you.
Bai Duanxian covered the wrinkles that had come with age with the palm of his hand.
When Song Muk returned, dragging a grunt, Bai Duanxian removed his hand from his face.
In the time it took to pour a cup of tea, Bai Duanxian seemed to have grown slightly younger.
His formidable internal energy had momentarily pushed back his age, and his lips parted slightly.
"There was a time I considered aging to be one of life's pleasures."
"I-I don't know what you're thinking, but it's a misunderstanding!"
"A misunderstanding..."
Bai Duanxian gestured with his chin toward the grunt's lapel. Song Muk gave a sharp nod and searched it.
Inside was a tablet marked with the character 'Jeong'.
"And what do you make of this?"
"..."
At those words, the grunt quickly tried to bite down on a poison pill hidden in his mouth.
Just then.
*Thwack!*
Ouyang Jue's fist, imbued with a sliver of internal energy, struck the grunt's Sea of Qi acupoint.
"Cough!"
The single blow made the grunt's insides feel as if they were twisting into knots.
The Sea of Qi was the ocean that received energy.
Among the many acupoints located on the Conception Vessel, it was the smallest and most crucial.
Despite having struck such a vital point, Ouyang Jue's voice was nonchalant.
"Spit it out."
"Keuk, ugh."
"You hesitate, you get another one."
At Ouyang Jue's breezy words, the grunt spat out the poison pill without another word.
The terror of being struck in his Sea of Qi again before he could even bite down overwhelmed him.
'In a situation like this, it's better to...'
The grunt, noticing the gathering crowd, pretended to tremble and clasped his hands together.
"I don't know anything! Please spare me!"
"You...!"
Just as Bai Duanxian was about to speak, Ouyang Jue interjected again.
He could see a sneer hidden in the grunt's eyes.
"Anyone listening would think we're trying to extort you. You've got a decent head on your shoulders, using the crowd to your advantage."
"..."
"But you picked the wrong opponent."
Ouyang Jue rolled up one of his sleeves, recalling his past.
Back when he was called the Bloodhound, there were three things his opponents should never do.
Beg for their life.
Try to win false sympathy.
And lie.
But this bastard had broken all three rules.
Ouyang Jue's lips trembled slightly.
As Ouyang Jue circulated the Purple Mist True Energy gathered in his dantian, his body trembled faintly.
*Vmmm.*
The surrounding air vibrated. Ouyang Jue's hand moved in an instant.
*Pshuk!*
The first knuckle of Ouyang Jue's index finger pierced the grunt's solar plexus.
To be precise, it was the Zhongting point, near the Yutang—a vital spot close to the heart, the very foundation of life, and bordering on a death point.
"Wh-what is this?"
"Have you ever heard of a 'well carbuncle'?"
The grunt's face contorted at the words. A well carbuncle was known as the most malignant type of boil.
At the same time, he tilted his head in confusion.
Why would he mention a carbuncle in a situation like this?
Just then, Gwak Un-pae, who had been watching silently, stepped in to stop Ouyang Jue.
"Jue, I know he's from the Heretical Faction, but isn't this going too far?"
"I don't think so. With just this, he'll never tell us what he knows, Elder."
Gwak Un-pae swallowed a groan at the unhesitating reply.
"Do you know something?"
But all Ouyang Jue could do was borrow a name.
The name of someone who could never answer for himself.
"...I cannot reveal the details. However, it was the Senior-most Brother's will."
"I see. Is that so."
Gwak Un-pae's gaze briefly shifted to the carriage before returning.
Only Ouyang Jue, unable to reveal the truth, remained silent.
'It would later be revealed that the Heretical Faction had long controlled the Black Dragon Gang from the shadows.'
The origin of this fact was in the future. A secret plot that couldn't be known in the present.
Even then, it was a truth that would not have come to light if not for a protector of the Black Dragon Gang.
Ouyang Jue also glanced back at the carriage.
'Until the Senior-most Brother awakens, I have no choice but to buy time with this excuse.'
Ouyang Jue tightened his grip, his finger still embedded in the grunt's Zhongting point.
"I'm not asking for much. Just tell me who sent you here and why."
"Th-that's..."
When the grunt hesitated to answer, Ouyang Jue pushed his internal energy through his fingertip.
"Kuh... Ugh?"
The grunt tilted his head, unable to comprehend the action, but excruciating pain soon followed.
*Gak.*
A pain so immense that he forgot to scream spread throughout his upper body.
"Favorable, critical, or adverse symptoms... which would you prefer?"
Hearing the mental message, the grunt was speechless.
His skin, which had flushed red for a moment, was already turning a dark, blackish color.
Damp-heat toxins were not just accumulating but were being artificially concentrated in one area.
'Was he a boy capable of such a thing?'
Standing in the back, Bai Duanxian frowned but continued to watch.
Normally, his nature would have compelled him to intervene, but not now.
At this moment, he could tolerate anything.
"Speak."
Ouyang Jue's cold words brushed past the grunt's ear.
But he couldn't hear them.
The grunt was too weak a being to endure such pain and listen to another's words.
Nevertheless, Ouyang Jue repeated himself.
"Speak."
Hoping he would instinctively realize that if he didn't speak, he would die.
It didn't take long for him to reach that conclusion.
"It's the Red Tiger Demon!"
A familiar title.
In the near future, the Red Tiger Demon would become a major nuisance known as one of the Eight Evils of Jiangbei.
Ouyang Jue's lips parted slightly.
"The reason?"
"I-I don't know!"
"I see."
*Thwump.*
Ouyang Jue lightly pushed the grunt away and dusted off his palms.
There was nothing more to squeeze out of him anyway, and if the man returned to the Heretical Faction, he was a dead man walking.
Having decided to live as a Daoist of the Mount Hua Sect, he couldn't just go around killing people whenever he pleased.
As Ouyang Jue's face clouded with annoyance, Song Muk, the most accustomed to such situations, spoke up.
"Refrain from evil deeds in the future."
At those words, color returned to the grunt's face, and he nodded.
"Thank you, great hero!"
However, Song Muk was not the type of Daoist to resolve things with mere words.
There was a reason he was called the Clear Sky Sword in his youth.
*Crack!*
Song Muk's fist slammed into the grunt's abdomen once before he retracted his hand.
"...Guuuh."
Seeing the grunt floundering on the ground, it was clear his lower dantian had been crippled.
Witnessing this, Ouyang Jue let out a cold sneer and returned to the driver's seat.
Seeing some in the crowd with expressions that said 'serves him right,' it seemed the grunt, though a nobody, had quite the notorious reputation.
"Hiyah!"
Ouyang Jue slowly urged the horse forward, and the carriage followed, with Bai Duanxian and the two elders walking behind.
Despite the presence of three key figures from a major sect, the procession was eerily quiet.
***
Upon arriving at the Mount Hua Sect, Ouyang Jue personally carried Ha Jin-ak, who was carefully wrapped in cloth, and began the ascent up the mountain.
*Trudge, trudge.*
The weight of a person, especially a limp one, was not an easy burden to bear.
But Ouyang Jue did not grumble over such trivial matters.
"...They say a Daoist who has accumulated great merit is as light as a feather, but I guess that wasn't the case for you, Senior-most Brother."
Ouyang Jue's simple jest swept away the heavy atmosphere.
His stiff expression softening somewhat, Bai Duanxian cautioned Ouyang Jue,
"The mountain path is treacherous. Be careful."
"I am well aware, Sect Leader."
He remembered fleeing in the middle of the night; was he really going to stumble in broad daylight?
Ouyang Jue, sweating profusely, held on tightly to Ha Jin-ak on his back.
Perhaps half an hour passed in this manner.
Sensing the presence of many people, Ouyang Jue lifted his head slightly.
"Quite a few people have come out."
The first faces he saw were Liu Zhangming's and Jo Hun's.
In addition, the Two Great Protectors, whose status was nearly equal to the Sect Leader's, and three elders were staring blankly in their direction.
Ouyang Jue's eyes sharpened slightly.
'I didn't expect the protectors to be here.'
The Two Great Protectors, who were said to only intervene in matters that the Law Enforcement and Disciplinary Halls could not handle.
For Ouyang Jue, this was the first time he had ever seen them.
The Plum Immortal, Master Bai-Zi, Jeong Pa-ro.
And his younger brother, Unselling Fragrance, Master Bai-Sang, Jeong Jung-san.
Jeong Jung-san, in particular, was famous for having lost an arm while fighting Asura Sacheon, a Great Protector of the old Demonic Cult.
If not for the emblems embroidered on their Daoist robes, he wouldn't have recognized them.
'Things have certainly changed.'
The two protectors were Bai Duanxian's senior brothers, having served the same master.
'Is this the first time I'm seeing my Senior Uncles?'
Ouyang Jue let out a dry laugh at the appearance of such esteemed figures.
'In my past life, weren't they the ones who never showed up, citing the lack of a just cause or a clear enemy?'
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Is that what Jeong Pa-ro had said before they left Mount Hua?
Ouyang Jue shook his head. It was bullshit.
If you have power, you must display it.
That was the proper way to live in the martial world.
Just then, he heard the elders' voices from the side.
"Gwak Un-pae, Master of the Reception Hall, greets the Two Great Protectors!"
"Song Muk, Master of the Disciplinary Hall, pays his respects to the Two Great Protectors!"
Gwak Un-pae and Song Muk clasped their hands and knelt on one knee before the Two Great Protectors.
As elders of similar standing to the Sect Leader, they had to show this level of respect.
No, in terms of seniority, they were even higher than Bai Duanxian, so it was a matter of course.
But Ouyang Jue walked right past them.
"...?!"
"H-hey, Jue!"
Ignoring the reactions of the elders and Bai Duanxian, Ouyang Jue silently shifted Ha Jin-ak higher on his back to adjust his posture.
I'd rather be an insolent disciple than waste time on stubborn formalities.
Seeing this, Jeong Pa-ro wore a strange smile.
'He's just like him.'
He marveled, thinking of the great elder of the Mount Hua Sect who was surely watching over them even now.
"My greetings... the circumstances are not ideal, so I will offer them later."
At first glance, Ouyang Jue might have seemed arrogant and audacious, but Jeong Pa-ro laughed it off good-naturedly.
"Yes, hurry to the infirmary."
"Excuse me."
Though his expression didn't look the least bit apologetic.
Ouyang Jue brushed past the protectors and the three elders.
In the process, he saw Liu Zhangming.
"Junior Brother."
"If you have questions, let's talk later."
Ouyang Jue passed by without showing his face.
Liu Zhangming didn't hide his worried expression.
*Are you okay?*
That sentiment was contained in those two words.
That's why he didn't want to talk right now.
'First, I have to save the Senior-most Brother.'
He had forcibly saved someone who was supposed to die, so he didn't expect the treatment to be easy.
But he was alive, wasn't he?
His soul may be buried in his subconscious, but he was still breathing, wasn't he?
*Drip—*
The burn ointment and fluids seeping from Ha Jin-ak's body soaked Ouyang Jue's back.
*Tap.*
Ouyang Jue used his movement technique with all his might.
And then, he forcefully threw open the infirmary doors.
"...Hurry, lay him here!"
At the words of Cheong Ho-won, the master of the Plum Blossom Infirmary, Ouyang Jue quickly removed the cloth and laid Ha Jin-ak down on a spot that smelled of yellow earth.
His movements were so swift and precise that Cheong Ho-won's eyes narrowed.
'To know how to handle true energy so as not to damage the skin... That's not something one can do without considerable experience.'
Cheong Ho-won's curiosity was cut short. Ha Jin-ak's condition was worse than he had imagined.
"Explain."
"The distance was five paces, and the amount of gunpowder was roughly equivalent to three cannons."
"...Isn't that enough firepower to blow a castle gate in half!"
It was a miracle he still maintained a human form after taking such a blast.
Ha Jin-ak's skills must have been greater than the rumors suggested.
With that thought, Cheong Ho-won took Ha Jin-ak's pulse.
"Hmm!"
He already knew that his internal energy was completely gone due to the transfer, but even his primordial true energy was dried up, causing Cheong Ho-won's expression to harden instantly.
At this rate, could he even be saved with a Small Purple Spirit Elixir?
While Cheong Ho-won was deep in thought, Ouyang Jue wiped down Ha Jin-ak's entire body with a nearby cloth.
Seeing this, Cheong Ho-won let out a surprised sound.
'It must be a gruesome sight.'
Moreover, Ouyang Jue didn't even blink as he wiped down the body, focusing on the vital points, which made it easier to place the acupuncture needles.
His surprise was brief.
As Cheong Ho-won carefully picked up a needle, Ouyang Jue bowed his head deeply.
"I'm in your hands, Uncle Cheong."
With those words, Ouyang Jue left the infirmary.
To disturb a physician in a state of extreme concentration was tantamount to killing Ha Jin-ak.
Ouyang Jue stood in front of the infirmary for a moment. Just as he was about to head to the training grounds, a familiar voice came from his side.
"Jue."
"...Yes, Sect Leader."
As if he had been waiting, Bai Duanxian spoke to him. Ouyang Jue greeted him with a respectful bow.
In his hand was a bronze-colored tablet.
"Do you know anything about the Plum Blossom Bronze Tablet?"
"..."
Ouyang Jue hesitated to answer.