Chapter 285
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 285
Chapter Title: Heavenly Flower Palace, You Say?
Gong Ya Hwi-yeon entered An Hui Province.
She kept looking back as she crossed from Hubei Province into An Hui.
Her cherished weapon, hidden in some nameless village, weighed heavily on her mind.
But shaking off the Shaolin pursuers had required that choice.
It was a gift from her grandfather and her mother's own weapon, which made it all the more precious to her.
'I shouldn't have left it behind...'
The thought suddenly crossed her mind.
But slipping alone into orthodox territory while hiding her identity...
She needed that cherished weapon to bolster her confidence and steady her nerves.
Just holding it had been a help.
So she had no choice but to bring it.
Gong Ya Hwi-yeon shook her head vigorously.
'Forget the past. What's ahead matters now.'
She had entered An Hui Province.
Now she needed to decide her next move.
Fortunately, the Shaolin monks' pursuit seemed to have slowed a bit.
She had left false trails, erased her real ones, and moved with utmost diligence to make it so.
Disguised as a man, she would be even harder to spot.
She had even changed her shoes.
To match a man's foot size.
She had paid attention to the depth of her footprints, stuffing the extra space in the shoes with just the right weight.
Still, she couldn't let her guard down.
Sitting in the carriage, gazing at the passing scenery, Gong Ya Hwi-yeon's mind raced.
Soon, she bit her lip lightly.
'Do I have no choice but to head back?'
A master capable of seeing through the Four Thunderbolt Palace's illusions might be tracking her.
She had no idea how that was possible.
Either way, it was a highly dangerous situation.
Even if caught, she wouldn't be killed.
'Because I'm Grandfather's granddaughter.'
But it would burden the Unorthodox Alliance with immense shame.
A greater sin than the one her mother had committed long ago.
The granddaughter of the Unorthodox Alliance Leader, supreme among the unorthodox, taken prisoner by the orthodox factions.
That went far beyond talk of winning the Summer Combat Festival.
She had realized it while evading the Shaolin pursuit.
Those Shaolin monks chasing her were dead serious.
Gong Ya Hwi-yeon recalled the map of the Central Plains in her mind.
Escaping Wu Chang in Hubei had been the priority, so she crossed into An Hui.
This place offered no safety either.
The Namgung Clan was in Hefei.
'Through Jiangxi Province into Hunan Province.'
Hunan Province, Mount Heng.
Home of the Unorthodox Alliance and the frontline of unorthodox territory.
Once she reached there, she could relax.
The problem was northern Mount Heng.
The area around Changsha was orthodox domain.
But one fact she had learned while dodging pursuit...
'Shaolin is hunting me alone.'
Not at the Righteous Heaven Alliance's behest.
The Shaolin Temple was acting independently.
Her path home might not be as difficult as she feared.
The junior brothers had departed.
"Amitabha."
Hyun-gwang rolled his prayer beads while chanting a Buddhist invocation.
To quell the faint unease that he might have unleashed a calamity upon the world.
"All is for the greater good... O Buddha. Amitabha."
The spell's range was vast.
As long as they didn't cross two provinces, he could suppress their movements with the incantation.
"Is it time to involve the Alliance Leader now?"
Hyun-gwang turned once more toward the abbot's quarters.
The Unorthodox Alliance Leader's granddaughter had entered orthodox territory without a word to the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
This was no longer solely Shaolin's affair.
Of course, capturing her would fall to Shaolin, but the Alliance still needed to be mobilized.
It was an orthodox matter.
A messenger hawk took flight from the Shaolin abbot's quarters toward Luoyang, headquarters of the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
"Ugh..."
"Th-this can't be..."
The fully revealed Four Thunderbolt Palace was astounding.
The moment its true form and majesty emerged...
A storm of murderous intent exploded from the bow in Ha Mu-baek's right hand.
Not only the second- and third-generation disciples, but even Yeon Jin channeled their qi to resist the onslaught.
The momentary storm passed.
Yeon Jin bellowed in fury.
"Ha Mu-baek, you bastard! You've betrayed the orthodox factions and learned unorthodox martial arts?!"
But Ha Mu-baek showed no reaction.
He simply stared blankly at the bow in his hand.
'This bow...'
"Shaolin disciples, immediately form the Arhat Formation and surround this traitor to the orthodox ways!"
At Yeon Jin's command, the Shaolin monks formed the Arhat Formation around Ha Mu-baek.
And Yeon Jin sent a transmission to Hang San.
[Report all this to headquarters at once via messenger hawk.]
It referred to Ha Mu-baek awakening the Four Thunderbolt Palace, which only responded to murderous intent.
Hang San slipped out of the formation and moved hesitantly.
Ha Mu-baek paid no mind to the Shaolin monks' movements.
He was lost in old memories right now.
"I have a daughter about the same age as that child of yours."
A woman so beautiful she might have been a celestial fairy smiled gently.
Or was she truly a fairy from heaven?
Yet even fairies bore children?
Young as he was, he entertained such absurd fancies while gazing at his benefactress.
Even in martial robes, she looked elegant and refined.
Utterly noble, incomparable to a beggar like him—strictly speaking, he was a beggar.
Yet such a noble woman had helped him and his sister.
Solely because his sister was around the same age as her daughter.
Some had helped them before, others harmed them.
Countless had ignored them.
But for such a celestial fairy to aid them...
"Come with me for now. I can't leave knowing what those ruffians might do once I'm gone."
The fairy glanced toward one side.
The clamor of fleeing beggars reached his ears.
"Y-yes..."
The young Ha Mu-baek, clutching Seol Lan to his chest, barely managed a reply.
"Hic. Sob. Sob."
Unable to comfort his crying sister.
"There, there. It's all right. Come here."
The fairy smiled warmly at Ha Mu-baek and took Seol Lan into her arms.
She patted her gently, soothing the child.
Her movements were so natural and practiced that it seemed she truly had a child.
'If only Mother were still alive...'
The sudden thought reddened Ha Mu-baek's eyes.
Ha Mu-baek etched the sight of the fairy comforting Seol Lan into his memory.
He had to remember if he ever hoped to repay the kindness.
And in that memorized image...
There was a bow slung over her shoulder.
A platinum-glowing dragon-shaped bow.
The exact same shape as the one now in his hand.
Ha Mu-baek emerged from the sea of old memories.
He kicked off the ground lightly.
The Arhat Formation formed by the Shaolin monks could do nothing.
Ha Mu-baek landed right in front of Hang San, who had been slinking away.
"Eek!"
Startled by Ha Mu-baek's sudden appearance, Hang San collapsed on the spot.
"Who did you say it was?"
"P-pardon? Pardon?"
"The last person to wield this dragon-shaped bow."
"Ah, uh... The Heavenly Flower Palace."
Hang San stammered his answer.
"Seize that villain! We must save Hang San!"
With Yeon Jin's shout, the Shaolin monks rushed toward Ha Mu-baek.
"Annoying flies... Don't interfere!"
Ha Mu-baek swung his left arm in rage.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Crash!!
The ground before the Shaolin monks cratered deeply amid the deafening roar.
Covered in dust, the monks hesitated and fell back.
Some, utterly shocked, sat down hard.
Yeon Jin stared at Ha Mu-baek in horror.
The scene from a single casual swing, as if swatting flies...
"A m-monster... Amitabha..."
"Stay right there. Interfere again, and you die."
An immense killing intent erupted from Ha Mu-baek's body.
"Eek!"
"G-gulp."
Some disciples trembled uncontrollably, unable to withstand it.
Yeon Jin refrained from rash action at Ha Mu-baek's warning.
If that man said it, he would follow through.
Moving meant certain death.
Death held no fear. But he needed to hear what the man intended to say.
Had he meant to harm Hang San, he would have charged already.
But now, it seemed he wanted answers.
Hang San, right before Ha Mu-baek, trembled just as violently from the killing intent.
"Heavenly Flower Palace?"
Ha Mu-baek's gaze returned to Hang San.
"...Y-yes..."
Hang San nodded.
Ha Mu-baek furrowed his brow.
Heavenly Flower Palace.
A name absent from his memories.
At least, since entering the martial world.
"You said this bow glowed platinum when the Heavenly Flower Palace wielded it?"
Hang San nodded vigorously.
Now it gleamed with seven colors, even more iridescent and mysterious than platinum.
"Who is the Heavenly Flower Palace?"
This talkative monk might know.
"Sh-she is Woo Moon Ga-yul. Known as the Unorthodox's Greatest Archer, and the wife of Unorthodox Alliance Leader Gong Ya Jang-cheon. During the war with the Blood Cult..."
Hang San, forgetting his fear amid the explanation, grew animated.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes gleamed at the words.
'Gong Ya Jang-cheon's wife!'
Hang San continued.
"She committed a crime and was confined in the Unorthodox Alliance, now forgotten."
"Crime?"
Ha Mu-baek asked again.
"Ahead of a crucial battle, she arrived late to the assembly point... Records say it caused the Unorthodox Alliance's great defeat to the Blood Cult."
Hang San recalled as he spoke.
Ha Mu-baek frowned.
That day's memory resurfaced.
"This must be fate. I'm in a hurry, but I can't rest easy until I see you two safe. Otherwise, worry would slow my steps."
She had said she was busy then.
She had delayed helping Ha Mu-baek and Ha Seol-ran.
'Could that be why?'
A small question arose in Ha Mu-baek's mind.
'I'll confirm with old man Gong Ya.'
Once this was over, his destination was the Unorthodox Alliance.
Returning to the Dragon Training Pavilion would be delayed.
But this matter was deeply personal to Ha Mu-baek.
He had found a clue to his nameless benefactress.
At least now he knew her name: Woo Moon Ga-yul.
Ha Mu-baek glanced at Yeon Jin.
Yeon Jin flinched at the eye contact but still glared with fury.
"Fool. You sensed unorthodoxy from my body? Was the Prajna Wisdom Eye that inept?"
Ha Mu-baek sneered at Yeon Jin.
Yeon Jin, bristling, activated the Prajna Wisdom Eye on Ha Mu-baek.
"H-how..."
And was stunned.
Naturally so.
Not a trace of unorthodox qi emanated from Ha Mu-baek.
Despite the immense murderous aura pouring from the bow in his right hand, his body was pristine.
"A bow that reacts only to unorthodoxy..."
"I don't know either. Why it reacted to my qi."
Ha Mu-baek glared at Yeon Jin.
"I'd love to smash you all for that nonsense. But you all lived thanks to this one."
Ha Mu-baek patted Hang San's shoulder and leaped away.
He needed to find Gong Ya Hwi-yeon quickly.
What Hang San revealed made it clear.
Gong Ya Hwi-yeon was his benefactress's daughter.
His purpose in finding her had changed.
'I'll take her safely to the Unorthodox Alliance.'
That was his way of repaying the favor, however small.
If not for her then...
Ha Mu-baek and Ha Seol-ran might have suffered terribly at those beggars' hands.
They might not even exist now.
"Kahahahaha!!"
A mad laugh echoed through the night sky.
Whoosh! Boom! Boom! Boom! Crash!
Followed by the massive sound of air tearing apart.
Hyun-hwang ran across the ground, laughing heartily.
How long had it been since he breathed such refreshing outdoor air?
Utterly different from the dank, gloomy cave air.
"Mulberry Orchid Mountain in Hubei Province, was it? Kehhehe."
He wanted to take it slow.
But circumstances wouldn't allow it—that was the frustration.
"That puny senior brother of mine."
Hyun-gwang had given Hyun-hwang five days.
Return to Shaolin or report capturing Gong Ya Hwi-yeon alive, or he'd chant the spell.
Mulberry Orchid Mountain was within spell range.
So he had no choice but to hurry.
His form dashing through the air was incredibly fast.
Immensely so.
Hyun-hwang's eyes glowed red as he ran.
"A young unorthodox woman, you said."
His eyes emitted light, scanning all directions.
A world seen not with senses, but eyes.
Eyes that pierced to the essence.
One ability gained upon reading that manual in the Scripture Pavilion.
Far off.
A faint murderous aura appeared.
Rising thick and sticky.
"Kehhehehe."
Hyun-hwang cackled and accelerated even faster.