Chapter 597
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 597
Chapter Title: Well, Nothing for It
Crackle. Crackle.
It was a quiet night, filled only with the sound of the campfire burning.
The mountains were so still it bordered on eerie silence.
Was it because of the mood?
Gong Hae-bin and Gong Hae-jun had fallen silent.
They simply huddled close, holding still and letting the fire's warmth seep into their bodies.
Ha Mu-baek watched the children for a moment before flicking out a light burst of qi.
The three streams shot off like arrows, each weaving graceful curves around any obstacles in their path.
And then.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three faint impacts.
Ha Mu-baek spread his hand casually, and three rabbits flew in from different directions, stacking neatly in his palm.
"Huh?"
"What?"
The two children jumped in surprise at the sudden sight.
The dead rabbits floating lightly into the air, drifting slowly to pile up on their master's hand—it was pure magic.
"Dinner's this."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, the kids' faces lit up.
They'd already let their stomachs growl loud enough for their master to hear.
Ha Mu-baek pulled a dagger from a spot away from the fire and swiftly cleaned the rabbits.
His movements were concise and quick, yet somehow mesmerizing.
"S-Sis. Look at Master's hand."
"Why?"
"Water's coming out of it..."
Gong Hae-jun muttered in disbelief.
Of course, Ha Mu-baek heard it too.
They'd whispered, but not quietly enough.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled softly, though the shadows of night hid it from the children.
Instead, they stared blankly at his fingertips, dimly lit by the half-moon and firelight.
Water was clearly flowing from his hand, washing away the rabbits' blood.
But it wasn't water conjured from thin air by Ha Mu-baek.
Not even he could create water from nothing.
He'd drawn it from a nearby stream using his qi to pull it through the air.
A thin stream connected the brook to his hand, hovering invisibly in midair.
If anyone passing by had seen it, they'd have screamed about ghosts.
Of course, there was no one around.
Ha Mu-baek's senses had already swept the area clean.
With the rabbits prepped, he skewered the meat on sticks and set them over the fire.
As the meat cooked slowly, a delicious aroma rose up.
Ha Mu-baek sprinkled salt and spices from his pouch, then kept turning them.
The two children swallowed hard, eyes glued to the sight.
All they could think about was when they'd get to eat.
"Done. Dig in."
Ha Mu-baek handed a skewer with a whole rabbit to each child.
"Careful, it's hot. Won't be as good as what your father makes, but..."
Chomp. Chomp.
Before he could finish, Gong Hae-jun tore into the rabbit like a man possessed.
"Ow, hot...!"
Even as he yelped, he kept devouring the tasty meat.
Gong Hae-bin was no different, chewing away steadily and stripping the flesh clean.
Ha Mu-baek picked up the last one and ripped off a hind leg for a bite.
'Not bad.'
How many times had he camped out and roasted rabbit like this?
Years of experience made it decently tasty, though nothing compared to Gong Yeop-myeong's cooking.
But the kids ate like it was the finest delicacy in the world.
'Hunger's the best sauce, after all.'
Knowing that, Ha Mu-baek smiled faintly and set a bamboo canteen in front of each child.
"Eat slowly."
No sooner had he said it...
"Gah. Cough. Glug, glug."
Gong Hae-jun gulped down water in a panic.
"Jeez."
Gong Hae-bin, sitting beside him, patted his back.
Right after Master said to take it slow, and here he was.
"No one's gonna steal it."
Gong Hae-jun nodded at his sister's words and dove back into the rabbit.
Watching them, Ha Mu-baek gazed down at the rabbit in his hand.
'Well, nothing for it.'
Judging by their enthusiasm, the one he held would soon become theirs too.
'About two-thirds of the way now.'
Bang Sa-uk thought as he looked north.
On the road from Tianzhong Mountain to Kaifeng.
He'd already passed more than sixty percent of the journey.
And naturally, he'd scoured every branch hall along the way.
They were probably empty by now, but he checked each one meticulously anyway.
It was like mad obsession.
"About time for some reaction, huh?"
He muttered, sharpening his senses.
Then he felt them—people racing in from afar.
"As expected."
Bang Sa-uk grinned, scanning the surroundings.
It was the main road.
He wasn't the only one traveling it.
Scattered walkers, people pulling carts, wagons rolling along.
Folks heading north or south, each with their own stories.
And among them stood Bang Sa-uk.
'This'll be fun. Heh.'
As a smile crept onto his lips,
twenty people dropped down around him.
Black knots tied clearly at their waists.
"The Black Knot Squad?"
As Bang Sa-uk murmured,
Kwang Kwon-gae, the acting captain of this mission's Black Knot Squad, muttered in disbelief.
"It really is Bang the Subordinate Leader..."
Bang Sa-uk eyed his waist and smiled faintly.
"Impressive. Already a Black Knot captain."
Bang Sa-uk knew how much time had passed since he threw himself off Nakryong Cliff.
And this captain before him had risen to the post far quicker than expected.
"Didn't think you'd remember me, Bang the Subordinate Leader."
"Subordinate Leader? There's probably another one by now."
True enough.
After Bang Sa-uk's "death," they'd appointed a new one.
He vanished too, and another took his place.
"No idea how you came back, but why the bloodbath at the branch halls?"
Bang Sa-uk nodded at the captain's question.
"Guess that rat from back then knew my face too."
He'd suspected someone at a branch might recognize him, so no big shock.
The captain had muttered something first when they arrived.
"Bloodbath... Why?"
Bang Sa-uk turned the question back on Captain Kwang Kwon-gae.
"What do you mean?"
"Beats me."
The twenty Black Knot members scowled at his words.
What brazen nonsense was this?
"Part of it's instinct, I guess. It just pulls me. But whatever's driving that instinct... Hmm. Yeah."
He paused, thinking, then nodded.
"Vengeance. That's it, exactly."
He clapped one hand into the other like he'd just realized it.
"What the...?"
A former Beggars' Sect Subordinate Leader seeking revenge on the sect?
Absurd.
He'd been so promising, more upright than anyone.
At least in Kwang Kwon-gae's memory.
Back during the Great Martial War, when he was still a nobody, he'd looked up to Bang Sa-uk with respect.
"Bang Do-ga of the Beggars' Sect, turning on the sect for revenge?!"
His shout mixed outrage and confusion.
Bang Sa-uk nodded.
"I wondered why instinct led me to Kaifeng instead of Manwol Alliance. And why wipe out every branch along the way. Turns out it's revenge. Good to know."
He grinned wickedly.
Killing intent filled his smile.
Before, it was just instinct. Now, his will fueled it.
The road had cleared out.
People hurried away from their menacing aura, warning those coming the other way.
Martial artists about to fight—no, battle.
So they rushed on or turned back.
Now, only they remained.
Whoosh.
The wind blew.
Flutter.
Bang Sa-uk's clothes billowed.
Not from the wind—from the aura he exuded, rippling his robes on their own.
Kwang Kwon-gae frowned.
He felt the energy pouring from Bang Sa-uk.
"Form the Stick Formation."
At his order, the twenty surrounded Bang Sa-uk.
The Beggars' Sect's ultimate formation: Stick Formation.
Its light name belied its fearsome coordinated assault.
No limit on numbers.
If Shaolin had its Rohan Formation, the Beggars' Sect had this.
Bang Sa-uk eyed the Black Knot Squad's Stick Formation encircling him.
Sect beggars gripping weapons, glaring with murderous eyes.
Bang Sa-uk grinned back, his own gaze brimming with killing intent.
"Bang the Subordinate Leader! Aren't you ashamed before the Sect Leader?!"
Kwang Kwon-gae bellowed.
The mention of the Sect Leader made Bang Sa-uk pause.
"Master..."
Qingzhu the Divine Dog, Beggars' Sect Leader.
The sect's undisputed strongest.
A profoundly enigmatic figure.
Even disciple Bang Sa-uk wondered if he'd ever seen his master's true face.
Kind, righteous, resolute.
The era's true hero, a grand knight-errant.
Thinking of Qingzhu softened the killing intent in Bang Sa-uk's eyes for a moment.
But the thoughts spiraled from there.
And at some point...
Grind.
His killing intent exploded outward.
"Attack!"
Captain Kwang Kwon-gae commanded, and the twenty Black Knot members activated the Stick Formation.
The storm-like formation energy amplified their relentless assaults.
Powerful strikes from all sides, hitting and retreating without cease.
Yet Bang Sa-uk allowed not a single one through.
All were blocked by his brutal fists, sent reeling back.
The fist art he wielded now was Jade-Shattering Hundred Knot Divine Fist, stage 8910.
One of the Beggars' Sect's ultimate techniques.
A killing-intent-laden absolute art clashing against the Stick Formation.
Clang! Tang! Ch'ang!
The Black Knot Squad grimaced at the deafening clashes.
Weapons infused with inner energy striking bare flesh—yet sounding like metal on metal.
And the jarring recoil vibrating through their hands.
'They said he rivals a Dark Blood Iron Corpse... How...?'
His skin's toughness matched one at least.
How was this possible?
His speech, actions, memories—all Bang Sa-uk.
But his body was an Iron Corpse's.
"What did the Blood Cult do to you, you demon?!"
A squad member's shout as he slashed down with sword qi blazing.
Clang!
It bounced off harmlessly again.
Bang Sa-uk's aura grew stronger by the second.
And with it...
From ten points in the Stick Formation, sword auras erupted.
Essential for felling upper-grade entities beyond Iron Corpses.
Though even Dark Blood Iron Corpses could block them.
As the formation shifted, Bang Sa-uk's grin deepened.
Red sword aura gathered in his hands.
He'd held back, playing along till now.
But from here, it was real.
"Kwang Kwon-gae. For old times' sake, I toyed with you this much. Don't feel wronged in the afterlife."
The moment the words left him, red blood aura blasted from his body.
"Just a bit farther. Hurry."
Dam Mu-hyeon said calmly from the lead.
But his appearance told another story.
A total mess.
All focus on speed.
The Hocheon Corps members following him looked like beggars too.
No one would doubt they were from the sect.
"A little more, and it's Yeonryong County."
Yeonryong County.
One-third along the straight path from Tianzhong Mountain to Kaifeng.
Heavenly Eye Pavilion Lord Gong Son Dan-gyeong had predicted Bang Sa-uk and the Black Knot Squad would meet nearby.
So Hocheon Corps had aimed straight there at max speed from the start.
Dam Mu-hyeon at the front had his senses maxed out.
"That way."
Sensing enough killing intent to tingle his skin, he veered direction.
The main road south of Yeonryong County.