Chapter 567
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 567
Chapter Title: Ah, Guard the Inn Well
The Yunwoo Martial Hall was drawing ever closer.
The main gate of the hall came into view.
His steps quickened with joyful anticipation.
Screeech.
The gate swung open, and Gwan Ha-kyeong stepped out.
He had sensed the approach of the martial hall's retainers and come out to greet them.
A smile spread across the lips of Yu Gwi-gwang and Pung Geon, who were walking at the front.
"Come on in. You must be exhausted—hurry inside and rest."
Gwan Ha-kyeong welcomed the Yunwoo Martial Hall's retainers as if they were guests arriving at his own home.
"Anyone would think you were the master here."
Gwan Ha-kyeong flashed a bright smile at Pung Geon's teasing remark as they reached the gate.
"That's exactly how I've been treating it."
As they passed through the gate and entered the training ground, Pung Geon was taken aback.
It was completely different from how it had looked when he left.
There were still faint traces of battle, but compared to the state when Pung Geon had departed, it was remarkably clean.
Gwan Ha-kyeong's smile deepened at Pung Geon's reaction.
"I heard there was a fierce battle here... but doesn't the training ground look too pristine?"
Yu Gwi-gwang remarked as he looked around.
To an outsider, it might have seemed like they had simply returned home after a long journey.
"I put in some effort. Heh."
Gwan Ha-kyeong let out a satisfied chuckle at Yu Gwi-gwang's surprise.
It was gratification for her hard work over the past few days being recognized.
The retainers hurriedly dispersed to their quarters.
And promptly fell into deep sleep.
They were that exhausted.
Yu Gwi-gwang laid Yu Seon-a down on the bed.
He was just as tired, but sleep wouldn't come.
Leaving his wife in the room, he stepped outside.
Not all traces of battle had vanished from the training ground.
Gwan Ha-kyeong said she had left the spots that seemed to need professional help untouched.
She wasn't familiar with the local situation in Sangnam.
Even those remnants alone allowed him to infer the scale of the incredible fight that had taken place on the training ground.
Combining what Pung Geon had told him with the evidence before his eyes.
"To think transcendent experts clashed right here."
He still could hardly believe it.
What on earth had happened at this quiet martial hall?
Why this place, of all places?
"Not asleep?"
Just then, Pung Geon appeared.
Yu Gwi-gwang looked at him.
"Well, you've got a lot on your mind, I suppose."
Pung Geon nodded in understanding.
"Shouldn't Pavilion Lord Pung be resting too?"
Gwan Ha-kyeong appeared as if on cue.
The three of them sat side by side on the steps of the Yunwoo Martial Hall's training ground, gazing up at the night sky.
"Hard to believe this little martial hall went through all that chaos."
Yu Gwi-gwang muttered self-deprecatingly.
"What is it, really? Just a martial hall. It just got caught up in the schemes of some local bastards. And that's all settled now."
Yu Gwi-gwang nodded faintly at Pung Geon's words, but the bitter expression on his face lingered.
"Is it because I came back?"
Suddenly, a lament slipped from Yu Gwi-gwang's lips.
"Things wrapped up this neatly because you came back."
Pung Geon shot back with a look that said not to talk nonsense.
"Exactly. If Squad Leader Yu hadn't returned home, we wouldn't have come, and then Corps Leader Ha wouldn't have shown up either."
Gwan Ha-kyeong chimed in.
It was the simple truth.
If Yu Gwi-gwang hadn't returned before then, Yu Hyeon-gwang would have been taken down without a chance to fight back.
From the very moment the Black Face Hall had forged that IOU.
Yu Gwi-gwang knew that. He understood.
Even so.
"The timing feels too coincidental."
The fact that this had all blown up right after his return.
It made him wonder if the Black Face Hall or Plum Fragrance Gate would have even eyed the Yunwoo Martial Hall if he hadn't come back.
"It was coincidental that we came looking for you. Otherwise, you'd have just gotten steamrolled by Plum Fragrance Gate."
"Corps Leader Ha showing up is the real unbelievable part."
Gwan Ha-kyeong muttered, still incredulous.
From Xibei in Jiangxi Province.
All the way to Sangnam in Shaanxi Province.
What kind of method could cover that distance in such time?
Even at full speed with lightness skill?
But if he'd rushed here at full tilt, he'd be collapsed from exhaustion upon arrival.
Yet the corps leader had shown overwhelming dominance against a transcendent expert the moment he arrived.
"So quit overthinking it."
Pung Geon added firmly.
"Overthinking?"
Yu Gwi-gwang turned to him.
"You've got that look like you're about to leave Sangnam behind. Whether alone or with the whole hall. Don't. You said this place has been here for a hundred years."
At Pung Geon's words, Yu Gwi-gwang turned his gaze back to the sky.
Myriads of stars twinkled brightly.
Dawn broke.
Ha Mu-baek came down to the inn's first-floor dining hall for breakfast.
Gwi Hwi was already eating.
Wi Su-yeon, having finished her meal in her room, sat at the same table as Gwi Hwi, sipping tea.
Gong Hae-bin and Gong Hae-jun kept stealing glances at Ha Mu-baek.
Before sitting, Ha Mu-baek approached Gwi Hwi.
"Hm?"
"The Yunwoo Martial Hall folks came back last night."
He said it briefly and took an empty seat.
Gong Hae-bin scurried over to take his order.
Wi Su-yeon tilted her head in puzzlement.
Was it possible Ha Mu-baek had visited the Yunwoo Martial Hall last night?
"At his level, he might have sensed their presence."
Gwi Hwi stated calmly, as if reading her doubt.
Wi Su-yeon widened her eyes at that.
The distance between the Small Traveler's Inn and the Yunwoo Martial Hall was no small matter.
"And Martial Uncle...?"
A cautious question.
Gwi Hwi paused his meal and closed his eyes.
Wi Su-yeon held her breath.
After a brief moment.
Gwi Hwi opened his eyes and spoke.
"Corps Leader Ha was right. I can sense presences from the Yunwoo Martial Hall."
"Ah!"
Wi Su-yeon let out a soft exclamation upon learning even the Plum Blossom Sword Immortal Gwi Hwi could do it.
"I have to focus and pinpoint the location to barely sense it. Who knows about the corps leader."
Gwi Hwi smiled faintly as he said it.
During the recent war, he hadn't been surprised just once or twice by Ha Mu-baek's ghostly senses.
"Hmmm."
Then Gwan Po appeared, letting out an inscrutable grunt.
He was startled to see Ha Mu-baek already seated and devouring dumplings.
"You."
As Gwan Po subtly tried to turn away, Ha Mu-baek's voice reached his ear.
Gwan Po's face fell in despair. He bowed his head and trudged heavily to Ha Mu-baek's table.
"Looking better now."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, Gwan Po's expression turned to horror.
He could still feel a faint but deep ache throughout his meridians.
"Guard this place for a while."
"Pardon?"
An inexplicable order.
"Yesterday, some Black Face Hall thugs came and caused a ruckus."
"Ah..."
A low exclamation.
It carried a hint of pity for those thugs' fate.
They had been comrades in the same group, after all, for a time.
If Ha Mu-baek mentioned it, he must have seen them.
And he wouldn't have let them off easy.
Though their time together was short, Gwan Po knew full well how terrifying Ha Mu-baek was.
The image of Plum Fragrance Gate's lord's master, Un Se-hyeok, reduced to dust flashed in his mind.
"Understood."
Gwan Po asked nothing.
He simply agreed to follow orders.
Back when he was a vice branch leader in the Black Face Hall, he'd hated those who questioned orders like this the most.
Ha Mu-baek nodded, satisfied with the response.
"Finish this and we'll go."
Gwan Po's eyes widened at the follow-up.
He had no choice but to ask.
"Pardon?"
"Finish what you started. Nine more to go."
Gwan Po's face drained of color.
"B-but... you said guard the inn..."
"After that."
Ha Mu-baek replied curtly, chewing his last dumpling.
"W-wait, I haven't even had breakfast yet..."
A plea laced with desperation.
"That's why we're doing it now. Better on an empty stomach. Today."
Ha Mu-baek was dead serious about meals.
He rarely dragged anyone out before breakfast.
But today was different.
'Wasted if he pukes up everything he just ate.'
That was Ha Mu-baek's thinking.
"Y-yes...?"
"Today, we're focusing on clearing the impurities around your stomach."
Casual as if it were nothing.
But.
Gwan Po's face turned not just pale, but corpse-like.
Yesterday's agony, but in his gut?
Horrifying.
Dazed in shock, he sat there as Ha Mu-baek rinsed his mouth with tea and stood.
His plate was spotless.
"Let's go."
"...Yes..."
With that, the two left the inn.
Wi Su-yeon watched pityingly.
He was one of the scoundrels who attacked the Yunwoo Martial Hall, but his current state was utterly pitiable.
Around then, Gwi Hwi finished his meal too.
"Alright, let's head out."
He said, rising.
"Yes."
The destination was obvious.
The Yunwoo Martial Hall.
Finally.
The long journey from Huashan through Kaifeng was nearing its end.
Along the way, they had witnessed the ugliest side of one of their sect's highest elders—and his death.
It had been anything but smooth.
The two left the Small Traveler's Inn and headed for the Yunwoo Martial Hall.
The small grove from yesterday.
They had returned there.
"Half a shichen again today."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, Gwan Po—now utterly resigned—nodded and assumed the cross-legged position.
Ha Mu-baek placed his palm on Gwan Po's Mingmen acupoint.
"Gaaahhh!"
Gwan Po's scream erupted almost immediately.
Ha Mu-baek infused internal energy briefly before withdrawing.
One strand protected Gwan Po's meridians, channels, and organs; the other burned away the impurities within.
As Ha Mu-baek had forewarned, he paid extra attention to the impurities near the stomach.
The added focus amplified the pain.
"Kiiiiiaaaahhh!"
Gwan Po clutched his belly, writhing on the ground with unearthly shrieks.
Ha Mu-baek sat on the same log as yesterday, watching impassively.
"Keeehh. Ugh. Urk. Kek. Kek."
Clutching his stomach in agony, Gwan Po began vomiting up his gut's contents.
But everything was digested, his stomach empty—only bitter bile rose.
Still, he couldn't stop retching.
His stomach spasmed wildly from the pain and stimulation of the burning impurities.
It was his own body, yet Gwan Po controlled nothing.
That half shichen felt like an eternity.
Before it ended, it seemed the world itself might end.
How much time had passed in that endless torment?
Ha Mu-baek stood.
"Eight more to go."
With that, he turned toward Sangnam.
"Ah, guard the inn well."
He had smashed the Black Dao rogues yesterday, but others might cause trouble, so Ha Mu-baek decided to use Gwan Po for it.
Out of it, Gwan Po lay spread-eagled, staring at the sky.
"Your response?"
Ha Mu-baek's question pierced his ear.
"...Yes..."
A barely audible rasp from Gwan Po, half-dead.
After lying there for about an hour, he finally staggered to his feet and lurched toward the inn.
He had been told to guard it, so he needed to get back and do so as quickly as possible.