Chapter 547
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 547
Chapter Title: Too Beautiful...
The empty training ground of the Floating Cloud Martial Hall.
Poong Geon and Gwan Ha-kyeong sat on a nearby staircase.
"Ah, the horses!"
Only then did he remember the horses they'd left on the street.
"Take care of mine too."
Poong Geon said as he leaned back.
"You want me to go get them?"
"Aigoo. I have no energy left at all..."
Poong Geon turned his head and whined dramatically.
"Who doesn't?"
Gwan Ha-kyeong shot back.
"Then recover your energy and go slowly later."
In response to Poong Geon's words...
"Haa."
Gwan Ha-kyeong let out a sigh and stood up.
Already a fair amount of time had passed.
If they delayed any longer, they might really lose the horses.
The horse Poong Geon had ridden belonged to the cremation grounds, but the one Gwan Ha-kyeong rode was from the Fierce Dragon Corps.
Of course, they'd been swapping horses at markets in the cities they passed through, so these weren't the originals from departure.
But losing them would be a problem for Gwan Ha-kyeong, not Poong Geon.
She leaped lightly toward the spot where they'd left the horses.
The horses hadn't gone anywhere and were waiting obediently in place.
Thanks to the chaotic atmosphere on the east street keeping away passersby, no one had made off with them.
By the time she led both horses back to the Floating Cloud Martial Hall, Yu Gwi-gwang and his family were just returning.
It hadn't been that long since they'd left, but they'd run so desperately that they were only now arriving.
"Huh? Squad Leader Yu?"
Gwan Ha-kyeong dismounted with a delighted expression.
Yu Gwi-gwang cupped his hands in a fist and bowed deeply to her.
"I'm truly grateful for your help, Corps Member Gwan."
"Ehehe. No, no, it's nothing."
Embarassed by his gesture, Gwan Ha-kyeong waved her hands shyly.
"And I'm not in the Demon-Sealing Corps anymore. Huh? Wait, that means you're my senior now, Squad Leader Yu?"
As Gwan Ha-kyeong spoke as if the thought had just struck her, a shadow of doubt flickered in Yu Gwi-gwang's eyes.
Senior? Him, to Gwan Ha-kyeong?
Did that even make sense?
Just then...
"That guy's in the Fierce Dragon Corps now."
Poong Geon, having sensed the presence outside, stepped out through the main gate of the Floating Cloud Martial Hall and explained.
"You said you had no energy left?"
Gwan Ha-kyeong shot Poong Geon a sharp glare.
"Ah, thanks to Corps Member Gwan's consideration, I've recovered a bit. Looks like the horses are all safe."
Poong Geon said as he took hold of his own horse's reins and stroked it.
The sight looked utterly infuriating to Gwan Ha-kyeong.
"The Fierce Dragon Corps?"
Yu Gwi-gwang asked, his face full of disbelief.
"Well, the Demon-Sealing Corps got smashed to pieces after you left. There were good reasons for it, right?"
Yu Gwi-gwang nodded at Gwan Ha-kyeong's words.
"We smashed the ones responsible, punished the accomplices, and scattered the existing members. In the midst of all that, I volunteered for the Fierce Dragon Corps."
"Why on earth?"
Yu Gwi-gwang simply couldn't believe it.
Gwan Ha-kyeong was a peak expert capable of wielding qi energy.
For someone like her to join the mere Fierce Dragon Corps?
"Because of the Corps Leader, obviously."
But at that answer, Yu Gwi-gwang couldn't help nodding in understanding.
Fierce Dragon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek.
Thinking of him made Gwan Ha-kyeong's decision perfectly comprehensible.
"Um... Uncle, Sister. Thank you for helping my dad."
At that moment, a young girl peeked out from behind and bowed politely toward Gwan Ha-kyeong and Poong Geon.
Gwan Ha-kyeong's gaze immediately turned to the child.
"Seon-ah?"
At Gwan Ha-kyeong's question, Yu Seon-ah's eyes went wide.
"You know me?"
She looked surprised, not expecting her name to be called.
"Aww! So pretty! You're even cuter in person!"
Gwan Ha-kyeong rushed over in an instant and hugged Yu Seon-ah tightly.
"Whoever the painter was must not be that great. The portrait didn't capture even half of this adorable face."
A puzzled look crossed Yu Seon-ah's face at Gwan Ha-kyeong's fussing.
"Sister saw my portrait?"
She knew exactly which portrait it was.
From a young age, there had only ever been one reason for her portraits to be painted.
To send them to her dad.
"Of course! Your dad stared at those portraits until they were worn out. I got so curious why he looked at them so lovingly that I sneaked peeks from behind!"
Yu Gwi-gwang was the one whose face turned beet red at Gwan Ha-kyeong's words.
He'd never told his family how obsessively he'd pored over his daughter's portraits.
It felt like his embarrassing secret had been exposed.
"But she's your sister, so why am I the uncle?"
Poong Geon suddenly cut in.
He seemed dissatisfied with his title.
"If you're Squad Leader Yu's friend, of course you're the uncle. Why quibble about it with this precious little girl? So petty."
Gwan Ha-kyeong launched her retort in place of Yu Seon-ah's answer.
It was an attack laced with even more annoyance from moments before.
"Uh... you're too beautiful to be an aunt..."
From within Gwan Ha-kyeong's embrace came Yu Seon-ah's mumbled response.
"You've got a real eye for people."
Gwan Ha-kyeong beamed broadly and hugged her even tighter.
"Let's not do this here. Come inside first."
This was still right in front of the Floating Cloud Martial Hall's main gate.
At Yu Gwi-gwang's words, the group moved into the hall.
"What?"
Ban Yun scowled as he glared down at Yeong Wi-sang, who was prostrating before him.
Seo Hon stood beside him, head bowed in a somber expression.
"Failed? You couldn't even bring down a single martial hall? With five first-rate warriors and fifteen ordinary ones from Maehyang Gate?"
Disbelief laced Ban Yun's retort, anger simmering beneath.
"Two peak experts appeared out of nowhere. On top of that, the Floating Cloud Martial Hall's lord, Yu Gwi-gwang, was at first-rate level himself."
Seo Hon stepped forward to explain in Yeong Wi-sang's stead.
He was the chief steward who had recommended Yeong Wi-sang for the job.
In the end, he bore responsibility for this fiasco too.
"Two peak experts just showed up? Does that even sound plausible?"
Indeed.
The peak realm was only acknowledged once one could wield qi energy.
As such, peak experts were exceedingly rare.
Even Maehyang Gate had just four in total, including Sect Lord Ban Yun himself.
That was already considered a large number.
Most mid-sized or small sects were lucky to have one—if any at all.
For two of the mere five peak experts in all of Sangnam to suddenly appear at the Floating Cloud Martial Hall?
Expect him to buy that?
"They... appear to be warriors from the Righteous Heaven Alliance."
Ban Yun's expression shifted again at the follow-up.
"Righteous Heaven Alliance?"
The name of an organization with the power to dispatch two peak experts had come up.
Even so, it was far too abrupt.
Righteous Heaven Alliance.
What business did that coalition of orthodox martial artists have sending anyone to the Floating Cloud Martial Hall?
"Th-they seem to be people Yu Gwi-gwang befriended back when he was in the Fierce Dragon Corps."
"Hah. Looks like the meat shield actually showed some prowess."
Ban Yun, well aware of the Fierce Dragon Corps' treatment, had no choice but to accept the unbelievable tale.
There was no other way to explain the sudden arrival of two peak experts.
"The only Righteous Heaven Alliance warriors a Fierce Dragon Corps member could befriend would be from the Demon-Sealing Corps at best... And surely the Demon-Sealing Corps was smashed to bits just recently."
Ban Yun always kept his ears open to the currents and news of the jianghu.
He even knew of relatively recent secretive events.
It hadn't come cheap, either.
The Haomen bastards charged a fortune for such intelligence.
The Demon-Sealing Corps might have a few peak experts.
They were on the frontline of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, after all.
But for two of them to be on friendly terms with Yu Gwi-gwang?
They'd probably come looking for him during the spare time after the Demon-Sealing Corps fell apart.
For it to happen right now, though? Too coincidental by half.
No—pure bad luck.
Ban Yun fixed Seo Hon with a steady gaze.
"What now?"
"No other choice. We have to strike the Floating Cloud Martial Hall with our full strength."
Ban Yun frowned at the utterly extreme response.
It didn't align with his tastes at all.
His chief steward, who always satisfied him, had disappointed him this time.
"Why?"
Even so, years of built trust prompted him to hear it out once.
"Yeong Wi-sang Squad Leader was recognized as one of ours by Yu Gwi-gwang."
Ban Yun's piercing gaze turned to Yeong Wi-sang.
"Useless fool."
"All five first-rate experts fought Yu Gwi-gwang. The Black Face Hall couldn't possibly have that many elites, and no one else in Sangnam could mobilize such forces, so we were exposed."
A reasonable explanation.
"All five fought? And still couldn't subdue him?"
Ban Yun latched onto something else.
Five first-rates against a first-rate-level warrior, and they failed to take him down?
That meant the opponent wasn't merely first-rate—he was peak.
Yet they said he hadn't used qi energy, so not quite peak either.
"Likely a difference in real combat experience."
Seo Hon defended Yeong Wi-sang vigorously.
It was also a desperate bid to minimize his own culpability.
"Two peak experts from the Demon-Sealing Corps, and now our identity's blown. All-out war it is, then."
Ban Yun muttered, clearly displeased.
Those two peak experts wouldn't stick around the Floating Cloud Martial Hall forever, so they could wait them out...
But the enemy knew that too.
Before leaving, they'd eliminate any future threats—which meant settling things with Maehyang Gate.
Of course, Maehyang Gate could abandon the Floating Cloud Martial Hall to avoid all-out war.
But that would require handing over a document bearing the sect lord's seal or somesuch—an utter humiliation for Maehyang Gate.
An unacceptable option, leaving only full-scale conflict.
"Call the Third Corps Leader."
Ban Yun commanded in a cold voice.
"Yes."
Seo Hon bowed his head in acknowledgment.
"And toss that worthless cur into the Thunder Prison."
"Understood."
He bowed again to the follow-up order.
Relieved that the sect lord's fury hadn't turned on him, that the blame ended with Yeong Wi-sang.
The Crimson Flower Tower was in an uproar.
Because the battered Black Face Hall had returned.
Their savage yet deeply gloomy aura forced the Crimson Flower Tower to turn away even the guests they'd already received.
A brothel sold liquor, music, and laughter.
But given the Black Face Hall's mood, it felt like they'd lash out at the slightest echo of revelry.
No courtesan in the Crimson Flower Tower dared approach the Black Face Hall men right now.
Not even the tower's madam.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed.
Gwan Po made his appearance.
He'd been guarding the brothel when the group's youngest came running in with the news.
"Brother! Where's Big Brother?"
Bang Do, the least injured among them, guided Gwan Po to the room where Seon Gyu lay.
Seon Gyu's face was disastrously mangled where he lay.
"Uh... you came...?"
With several teeth broken, his speech was slurred.
"What the hell? Why are you in this state, Brother? What the hell happened?"
Anger began creeping into Gwan Po's voice.
He whipped his head around.
His blazing gaze fixed on Sa Hun.
His face was badly swollen too, but far better off than Seon Gyu's.
"You explain. What the hell happened?"
"Th-that's... Big Brother..."
Sa Hun stammered, hesitating to answer.
He could already predict Gwan Po's reaction once he knew the full story.
In Sa Hun's mind, things needed to end right here.
That was the right call.
But as Gwan Po's terrifying pressure bore down on him...
"Ugh... damn it..."
Sa Hun had no choice but to speak.