Chapter 227
Chapter 227
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 227
Chapter Title: Jang Il-nam
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Blood Rain Guest's disciples felt the fierce wind pressure brushing against their cheeks.
They turned their heads toward the direction the wind was coming from and saw a massive hand.
It was clearly a human hand, yet it didn't feel like one.
The ashen skin tone was strange, and so was the size, large enough to grasp a person's head.
It didn't feel like a human hand at all. It was more akin to the hand of a stone Buddha carved from a massive boulder.
That was why the three men's rational minds failed to grasp the situation immediately.
But their instincts were different. Death had halted right before their eyes. Their legs trembled uncontrollably.
That grip didn't even need to fully enclose their heads. A mere graze would have killed them. Their heads would have burst like overripe fruit.
The palm was blocked by a slender single sword.
Bare flesh met sharp blade, so one would normally worry for the hand's owner, but not now.
People thought: Could such a thin piece of metal possibly block that incredibly sturdy grip?
Blood Rain Guest's disciples had never truly regarded him as their master.
But one thing was certain. Blood Rain Guest had become their lifesaver.
Everyone in the surroundings held their breath as if by prior agreement.
Blood Rain Guest bellowed.
"Brother, what are you doing right now!"
Those unfamiliar with Blood Rain Guest felt nothing upon hearing that voice.
But the Tang family members sensed a thick unease.
"Blood Rain Guest addressing someone so boldly...?"
Three-Eyed Buddha sneered.
"You fool. You should have ignored them and stayed put. Why extend your sword needlessly and complicate things?"
"Complicate things?"
"A simple, straightforward method was right there, yet you're fumbling around indirectly. If that's not troublesome, what is?"
"You're saying you acted just for that reason?"
"If someone oversteps without knowing their place, discipline them. That's the way of the martial world."
This wasn't because Three-Eyed Buddha was a Demonic Cult warrior.
Righteous faction warriors included, nearly all martial artists agreed on one fact.
Those who crawl up without knowing their place could have their necks severed without backlash.
Especially in a situation like this, with so many witnesses.
Blood Rain Guest pressed his sword with force, shaking off Three-Eyed Buddha's grip.
"Discipline them? If it were just that, I wouldn't have intervened. But anyone could see it was a killing blow!"
"Discipline can sometimes lead to death."
"...Who calls it 'discipline' when it kills?"
"If they die, it's their own fault. Those scum have been scraping by on their crude skills. They're not little kids trembling and babbling before their instructor."
Martial artists needed two talents: discernment and ability.
Those with both discernment and ability became renowned warriors, shaking the world with their fame.
Those with only discernment lacked achievements but survived long.
Those with only ability rose quickly but died soon.
How much bleaker was the future for riffraff lacking both?
Three-Eyed Buddha glared at Blood Rain Guest's former disciples, rolling his shoulders—each twice the size of an average person's head.
"Step aside. Since you seem to cherish your disciples, I'll just slap them once each and be on my way."
"No."
Taking a slap from Three-Eyed Buddha meant death. Even for skilled martial artists, not mere riffraff. The only difference was whether the head burst or the neck snapped.
"They're my disciples, so I'll discipline them myself. I'll break their limbs if needed to fix their rotten mindsets. Please look the other way just this once."
"Young Brother Jang. Don't misunderstand. If I'd come to you quietly, that'd be one thing, but they've blabbered like that before all these people. I can't just overlook it alone."
Three-Eyed Buddha continued.
"They climbed onto their master's back, a capital offense, and made their master bow to others, another capital offense. It's '欺師滅祖'—betraying master and ancestors! Moreover, they tried to drag down someone residing in the Tang family manor to their level of scum, another crime deserving death. As guests of the Tang family manor, they must not tarnish its name."
"You're from the Demonic Cult, Brother. The Demonic Cult that was more lenient than anyone to fugitives."
"The Demonic Cult was like that. But the Tang family manor has no reason to be. Besides, even in the Demonic Cult, acting that arrogant means death all the same."
Faced with Three-Eyed Buddha's consistently hardline attitude, Blood Rain Guest let out a deep sigh and aimed his sword at him.
Three-Eyed Buddha's face lit up with satisfaction.
"You've got some spine."
An out-of-place compliment. But it didn't mean he'd back down quietly.
Three-Eyed Buddha glared at the three disciples trembling behind Blood Rain Guest and said.
"You lot should pray desperately that Blood Rain Guest wins."
Three-Eyed Buddha's right shoulder pulled back with tremendous force.
Dang Mujin and Nangong Myeong hurriedly extended their arms from atop the platform, pulling Blood Rain Guest's three disciples away.
In the very next instant, Three-Eyed Buddha's fist slammed into the stone platform.
Boom! Amid the deafening roar, stone fragments scattered everywhere, and Blood Rain Guest leaped high into the air, giving Dang Mujin and Nangong Myeong a glance of thanks.
Blood Rain Guest then checked Three-Eyed Buddha's gaze. The surest way to read an opponent's next attack was to follow their eyes.
Three-Eyed Buddha's gaze quickly swept over Blood Rain Guest before drifting down to the three youths below the platform.
At that moment, tension surged through Three-Eyed Buddha's leg muscles, his thigh bulging massively. Blood Rain Guest panicked.
'Even after they took cover below the platform!'
Blood Rain Guest immediately launched himself to block his disciples' path.
It resembled a swift hawk diving before a bear.
It wasn't a response suited for a speed-based fighter facing a power-based one. But there were no other options.
The internal energy in Three-Eyed Buddha's arm was beyond what an ordinary expert could block.
And this was another killing intent, directed not at Blood Rain Guest but his disciples.
'I can block it head-on. But my stance would shatter.'
Pondering his response, Blood Rain Guest entrusted his body to instinct.
Pouring his internal energy into his sword swing, he simultaneously leaped lightly off the ground, lifting both feet into the air.
Any technique assumed firm grounding with both legs.
Thus, Blood Rain Guest's current response wasn't part of any technique—it was pure sensation and improvisation.
An extremely precarious move, yet undeniably effective.
"Hup!"
As fist met sword, Blood Rain Guest felt pain as if his arm would snap. The sound of the fist cutting air reached him only after the pain. A bizarre experience.
Three-Eyed Buddha's fist veered slightly aside, slicing empty air.
And as the price for barely blocking it, Blood Rain Guest was flung backward into the sky.
Tumbling unsightly through the air, Blood Rain Guest landed at least seven or eight paces away. The moment his form touched ground, his body teetered forward drunkenly, blurring.
It took less than a breath for his blurred figure to reappear behind Three-Eyed Buddha. Among the countless gathered in the Tang family manor, few could visually track Blood Rain Guest's lightness skill.
From behind Three-Eyed Buddha's back, Blood Rain Guest's eyes sought a vulnerability. A spot that could end the fight without threatening life.
'This should do.'
The spot Blood Rain Guest found was the deep groove between the massive muscles of Three-Eyed Buddha's right upper arm.
Blood Rain Guest thrust his sword immediately. Not aiming to harm Three-Eyed Buddha gravely, he held back full power.
Yet it carried considerable force and internal energy regardless. Blood Rain Guest knew Three-Eyed Buddha's skin was tough and resilient.
But a small problem arose. Blood Rain Guest's sword couldn't penetrate even a finger's breadth into Three-Eyed Buddha's arm.
He'd thought only the flesh was tough, but the muscle and meat inside were even harder.
'...Should I have gone all out?'
Blood Rain Guest realized Three-Eyed Buddha was looking at him.
Beyond the massively swollen, writhing ashen shoulder, Three-Eyed Buddha's playful eyes gleamed, along with the large scar on his forehead. Amid the reddish sunset glow, it felt like three eyes glared at him.
Shivering with chill, Blood Rain Guest kicked off the ground with all his might using both legs. Yet Three-Eyed Buddha's right hand, flying from behind his shoulder, reached for Blood Rain Guest's shin.
'Danger.'
In midair, Blood Rain Guest hastily twisted his leg and extended his hand to escape the grip. But Three-Eyed Buddha's hand moved fluidly, brushing aside Blood Rain Guest's fingers.
One of the rare Shaolin Temple's golden hand techniques Three-Eyed Buddha had mastered: Maitreya Three Heavens Release.
Caught off-guard by such an advanced technique at an unexpected moment, Blood Rain Guest couldn't react properly.
The rock-hard grip coiled around Blood Rain Guest's ankle.
'...I'm done for.'
Blood Rain Guest let out a hollow laugh. Of course, holding back full power against someone a level above him was foolish.
Three-Eyed Buddha swung his left arm, and Blood Rain Guest, leg caught, soared like a ragdoll through the air.
All Blood Rain Guest could do was muster his internal energy to brace for the impending impact.
Three-Eyed Buddha violently whipped his arm, slamming Blood Rain Guest onto the platform.
Thud.
Dust billowed with a sound that made everyone flinch, vibrations faintly reaching their soles.
Dang Mujin cried out in horror.
"What are you doing right now!"
Three-Eyed Buddha muttered from amid the dust.
"He's not dead."
Dang Mujin parted the dust and leaped onto the platform to check Blood Rain Guest's condition. Blood Rain Guest lay limp, unconscious.
Dang Mujin carefully flipped his body and scanned the back: occiput, neck, spine. No broken bones.
Finally, he checked breathing. Steady enough. Pulse not weak.
A sigh of relief escaped involuntarily. It seemed he'd only knocked him out skillfully.
Three-Eyed Buddha murmured lowly.
"When I'm old and decrepit, who'll do this for me?"
"...Are you looking for someone to beat you up, Elder?"
"You don't know."
"I do know. I understand why you did it. Still, that was too much."
"Better do it properly while at it."
The dust settled quickly. Eyes turned to the limp Blood Rain Guest and the imposingly standing Three-Eyed Buddha.
Three-Eyed Buddha brushed the small wound on the back of his right arm with his left, then flicked away a drop of blood.
Then, as if nothing happened, he slowly rubbed his massive jaw with his large hand.
In a calm voice, Three-Eyed Buddha said.
"A minor scuffle broke out unintentionally."
"······."
People replayed the scene they'd just witnessed. Not many exchanges, but shockingly high-level and intense.
Even more astonishing: it all happened in an extremely short time. Just three or four breaths?
Three-Eyed Buddha brazenly added.
"It's just a trifling spat that happens now and then, so don't take it to heart."
Quick-witted Hyeon-gong shouted from the crowd.
"What about Blood Rain Guest's disciples?"
"...Sigh."
Three-Eyed Buddha pondered briefly before saying.
"Thinking it over, I may have gone too far. They're the disciples my spoiled little brother took in, so even if distasteful, shouldn't I accept them? Of course, the decision belongs not to me but to the physician or the Physician Dragon."
Three-Eyed Buddha glanced at Dang Mujin. Attention shifted from him to Dang Mujin.
The infamous Three-Eyed Buddha was seeking permission from that young physician.
People realized anew.
A household teeming with peak and absolute peak experts hard to gather in one place. A bizarre clan surpassing most giant sects in might. Neither Three-Eyed Buddha, Blood Rain Guest, nor Flower Blaze Nun was its master.
Dang Mujin nodded accommodatingly.
"I permit it. Pack your belongings and enter the Tang family manor. There should be spare rooms near Blood Rain Guest and Three-Eyed Buddha's quarters."
Eyes turned to Blood Rain Guest. The earnest warrior who faced Three-Eyed Buddha to save his foolish, ignorant disciples.
Then the crowd looked at the three disciples. They huddled, terrified, eyes darting wildly.
The bushy-haired man hesitated before speaking.
"We left our belongings a bit far away... We'll gather them and return by tomorrow."
"Do so."
Dang Mujin replied nonchalantly. But the three would never enter the Tang family manor.
No one in their right mind would choose to mooch off beside absolute peak experts who clearly disapproved.
Claiming they'd return by tomorrow was just an excuse to flee the scene for now.
At Dang Mujin's gesture, Hyeon-gong dashed to the kitchen and returned with a gleaming brass basin full of water.
Dang Mujin splashed the icy water on Blood Rain Guest's face, and he finally stirred awake in confusion, propping up his upper body.
Dang Mujin said in a voice infused with internal energy.
"The mood got a bit strange. But we must continue what we started. If anyone objects to Blood Rain Guest tying up his past life, speak now."
Those who wished to challenge had mostly done so already, and even those who hadn't weren't foolish enough to step up now.
People silently watched the platform. Dang Mujin smiled gently.
"With all of you who came from across the Central Plains as witnesses, the name Blood Rain Guest won't pass lips anymore."
At Dang Mujin's gesture, countless people carried overflowing trays of food and fine liquor through the Tang family manor's main gate.
"Drink freely until you're all drunk, and celebrate today."
"Ooooh-!"
People roared massively. Their cheers alone made the air rumble. The voices and cheers were directed at Blood Rain Guest.
Blood Rain Guest stiffened. An unfamiliar atmosphere. But one urging him to do something. He looked around.
Yet all Blood Rain Guest saw now was the water in the brass basin.
Intoxicated by the mood, Blood Rain Guest hoisted the gleaming yellow basin high. It sparkled like a massive gold ingot catching the sunset.
Blood Rain Guest upended the basin over his head.
Water, chilled to ice in the midwinter air, poured from his crown, soaking him entirely.
His whole body, his past, his infamy, the unclear karmic ties—all swept away by the cold water.
"Waaaaah-!"
The crowd's cheers swelled louder, enveloping him.
The wizened old man, Jang Il-nam, grinned broadly.