Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Reborn Pavilion Lord's Nightmare Begins
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"Brother Gu. There's something I need to discuss with you."
"What's the matter? Speak freely, little brother."
This was when Yang-hui, now a member of the Sound Fox Search Party, had returned from Mount Gokyeol and requested an audience upon arriving back at Baek Clan Manor.
Up until this point, Gu-ak had been living a thoroughly satisfying life.
When he had first abandoned his position as a direct subordinate in the Crimson Gang to become a retainer of Baek Clan Manor, it had felt awkward and embarrassing.
But now, his days were spent leisurely strolling through Akganseon County, carrying out his "Daily Chivalrous Act" whenever he spotted unorthodox ruffians harassing ordinary folk, while his nights were blissfully spent with his beloved Jeong In-hwa. It was a life that truly tasted sweet.
If there were any complaints, that would be the strange thing.
'Heh heh heh, Daily Chivalrous Act. A far better nickname than Blood Lord. And now I've even got this fancy title of Reborn Pavilion Master.'
For someone who had switched from the unorthodox to the orthodox path, wasn't this a remarkably successful transition?
As such, Gu-ak had been in a remarkably relaxed state of mind lately—and that laid-back attitude proved to be his downfall.
"Brother Gu. You know how much I trust you, right?"
"Judging by that formal bow, it seems like you're about to ask me for a big favor? Hah hah, spill it to your big brother here, little brother."
"Thank you for saying that."
Yang-hui offered an unusually formal clasped-hands salute before continuing.
"My father... the clan head plans to enter secluded training soon. Would you be willing to help oversee the clan's affairs alongside Chief Officer Han in the meantime?"
Gu-ak's eyes widened slightly.
No matter that he had turned over a new leaf, entrusting clan matters to someone who had been an unorthodox figure until recently?
Gu-ak glanced at Baek Mu-ryang, who was seated there with them.
Baek Mu-ryang nodded.
"I was worried about all sorts of issues arising during my seclusion, and Yang-hui recommended you as the Reborn Pavilion Master."
"Brother Gu, you're someone with both the ability and trustworthiness!"
Gu-ak grinned broadly. Honestly, he had been full of worries when he gave up everything to become a mere retainer, but receiving such recognition made his chest swell with pride.
"If the clan head commands it, this Gu will simply obey! By the way, it seems you've made some breakthroughs yourself, Clan Head."
Baek Mu-ryang smiled warmly.
"In my training, I caught a glimpse of enlightenment. I'm entering seclusion to consolidate it properly."
The Harmonious Heaven Principle Origin Art and Heaven-Covering 108 Swords, now the Baek Clan's new martial arts, were profound techniques worthy of being called divine skills.
He had only begun practicing them a few days ago, yet the path to first-rate realm was already visible.
Even though Baek Mu-ryang had reached the second-rate realm some time ago, such progress would have been impossible without the exceptional subtleties embedded in these arts.
"Congratulations on your great achievement, Clan Head!"
"Thank you. Then, can I count on you for this favor?"
"Of course! Though I'm not sure if this Gu can handle it well. Are there no other suitable candidates, Clan Head?"
As Gu-ak pondered, Yang-hui quickly interjected.
"Don't worry. Chief Officer Han will only assign you tasks you can manage."
"Oh, in that case."
"You'll also need to handle the external contracts the Clan Head has made. Since they involve physical work, they might actually suit your tastes even better."
"Ah, I see. Leave it to me, little brother!"
At that level, it didn't seem too difficult.
...Up until that point, Gu-ak had thought so.
'Damn it, should I just run away?'
Baek Mu-ryang and Yang-hui hadn't lied, to be sure.
Chief Officer Han had only assigned him tasks he could handle.
The problem was the sheer volume—enough to break a man's spirit.
And that wasn't all.
The external jobs he had thought would be easier...
"Gu-ak Escort. Greetings."
"......"
Up until now, Baek Clan Manor had sustained itself on the money Baek Mu-ryang earned from external work.
And naturally, most of those contracts made by a second-rate realm expert like Baek Mu-ryang were escort duties.
"Gu-ak Escort. Today, I plan to visit Lake Shadow Tower."
The man before him, today's escort target.
He was the merchant's son who had fawned over Gu-ak just recently, back when Gu-ak was a direct subordinate of the Crimson Gang and owner of Lake Shadow Tower.
Overnight, their positions had reversed.
"...Gu-ak Escort? You seem displeased. Shall we call it off for today?"
The escort target asked cautiously. Even with their positions changed, he didn't dare disrespect Gu-ak, a first-rate master.
But for Gu-ak, the situation itself was unbearably humiliating.
"...I'm fine."
'I'm not fine! Not fine at all! My pride's in the dirt!'
...Words he couldn't utter in front of the client paying him.
That day, Gu-ak didn't return to Baek Clan Manor until well after sunset, over two hours past nightfall. He stormed straight to Chief Officer Han's residence.
"Chief Officer Han! I can't do this anymore! Why should this Gu-ak have to take on menial escort work?!"
Even at this late hour, Chief Officer Han, who had been poring over documents, lifted his eyeglasses with a swipe.
"Because we need the money."
"But Baek Clan Manor has businesses now!"
After the Unorthodox Brawl, Baek Clan Manor had acquired three new businesses: an inn, a tavern, and more.
The clan was no longer so impoverished that it needed to cling to petty contracts.
"Even Lake Shadow Tower alone brings in enough money that we could afford to pay a penalty fee and cancel these trivial escort contracts!"
Gu-ak vented his frustrations. Chief Officer Han's response? Utter disbelief.
"Everything's smashed to pieces."
"Huh?"
"Lake Shadow Tower or whatever—after the unorthodox brawl turned it into a warzone, do you think the interior furnishings and decorations are intact? The floors reek so much of blood we have to rip them up, and all that costs money."
The soft, calm voice of Chief Officer Han grew louder by the word.
"Penalty fees? Bring me the money to pay those fees! Aaaah, no matter how I crunch the numbers, we're short on cash!"
It was true that Baek Clan Manor's businesses had expanded, promising unprecedented profits in the future.
But right now, they had to front maintenance costs just to start earning.
"We never worried about money after Young Master Hui arrived! But before the investments in Baek Book Merchant Group start paying off, this mess hits, and Lake Shadow Tower alone will cost two thousand taels of silver... Right, it was you, Reborn Pavilion Master, who painted the place floor-to-ceiling in blood! This is all because of you—ack!"
...Gu-ak had no choice but to quietly leave Chief Officer Han's residence.
It was tough. Lonely. He wanted to vent, but there was no one to vent to.
'I miss Ah-rang.'
Gu-ak headed to Baekik Pavilion, now called the Reborn Pavilion, assigned to him.
He quietly opened the door to the bedroom he shared with Ah-rang.
"......"
Ah-rang, the girl, was sleeping soundly. She was a light sleeper, so lying down beside her would wake her instantly.
Gu-ak quietly closed the door and headed to another room.
Coming home well past bedtime every day meant he hadn't shared a bed with her in days now.
The happy life of growing old with his beloved, as promised by Yang-hui... was nowhere to be found.
'This can't go on. I need to find a way.'
Baek Clan Manor was growing by leaps and bounds.
Fertilized by the manure that was Gu-ak.
...If he didn't want to be the manure, he needed to find another sacrificial lamb.
Gu-ak resolved himself.
'I'll pour my heart and soul into reforming those unorthodox bastards. I need to create guys I can trust—guys I can dump all the work on!'
And so began the nightmare of Akganseon's unorthodox ruffians: the infamy of Reborn Pavilion Master and Daily Chivalrous Act Gu-ak.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Taat-!
A light leap. Yang-hui's body shot toward the first wooden dummy.
As his foot hit the nearby floorboard, a mechanism triggered, and the dummy swung a high attack.
Instead of ducking his head, Yang-hui shifted his stance, pressing hard with his toes.
"Two steps northwest!"
The dummy's fingertips barely grazed Yang-hui's hair.
He had evaded without moving his upper body at all, simply by repositioning his lower body.
This threw off the balance between his upper and lower halves, putting him on the verge of stumbling.
"Bend the knees, plant the right foot northwest, and push hard against the ground!"
He shouted the reasoning behind each movement for Je-gal Seol-ha, who was watching and listening from behind.
Thus, Yang-hui bellowed at the top of his lungs each time, passing the twenty-fifth wooden dummy.
'Without using internal energy, it's pretty tricky.'
Using internal energy would make it impossible for Je-gal Seol-ha to follow. So Yang-hui was tailoring his passage through the corridor strictly to Je-gal Seol-ha's untrained physical limits—no internal energy, no enhanced abilities.
'Impressive. Truly a remarkable movement technique.'
The dummies' attacks were fast and powerful enough to send a child flying nearly three zhang.
By common sense, it was impossible to pass while matching a delicate girl's capabilities.
But.
Dozens, hundreds of wooden dummies. The singular flow in their positions and spacing.
This form, embodying the principles of superior martial arts, turned the impossible into possible through its profound mystery.
'If I had to compare it to wind. A movement technique that shifts between gentle, airy breezes and fierce, raging gales.'
Gentle when soft, swift when fast—infinitely so.
The subtleties of yielding softness and lightning speed.
Even without full internal energy operation, the form alone confirmed it.
Master this movement technique perfectly, and he'd never let enemies dictate the distance.
'No wonder Sound Fox is hailed as the martial world's pinnacle of lightness skills.'
It paired perfectly with sound arts that widened the gap for ranged strikes.
With that thought, Yang-hui cleared the corridor to the end.
Then he backtracked in reverse to Je-gal Seol-ha's side.
"How was it, little sister?"
At Yang-hui's question, Je-gal Seol-ha beamed with confidence.
It had been a week since she entered the martial hall.
It took about five days to decipher all the movement forms in the dummies.
For the next two days, she repeated them relentlessly, memorizing the forms to seize her one chance.
"This should be enough. Let's move to the next gate today."
"You sure?"
"I'm sick of rat meat anyway."
Je-gal Seol-ha smiled brightly, took position at the corridor's entrance, and took a deep breath.
Yang-hui watched her for a moment.
'She gained the confidence to pass in just two days?'
The subtleties in the dummies were highly refined superior martial arts.
Yet mastering all the forms in a mere two days.
"Haat!"
Finally, Je-gal Seol-ha kicked off the ground swiftly.
Clang!
Two steps northwest. The dummy's high attack merely scattered her long hair.
Clang!
The second attack followed.
She bent her knees, crossed her legs to plant her right foot northwest instead of left, regaining her lost balance.
Then she pushed off the ground, leveling her body to slip past the third dummy's high strike.
"Haat!"
Three steps northeast. One step southeast.
Spin the body, lower the stance, five steps north.
Yang-hui whistled as Je-gal Seol-ha progressed through the corridor more smoothly than expected.
'Impressive... no, talent that demands admiration. And this from a girl who spent nearly three years just clinging to her father.'
Je-gal Seol-ha, who until recently had lived like a broken doll.
Her current display made "genius" seem an understatement.
Then again, in his previous life, Je-gal Seol-ha had unleashed a massive bloodbath, earning infamy as the Soul-Stealing Demon Witch.
No matter that it stemmed from her explosive Peach Blossom Body and left-pathway soul-seizing arts leading to qi deviation—without talent, it would have been impossible.
"Senior Brother!"
Having perfectly cleared the corridor, Je-gal Seol-ha wiped the sweat from her face and waved wildly.
"You saw that! I told you I could do it! Ahahaha!"
Yang-hui chuckled and used internal energy to dash through the dummies in one breath, landing beside her.
"Well done, little sister. Your talent's no joke."
p>"Hehe, I'm a direct descendant of the great Je-gal Clan, after all."
"Then, shall we head to the final gate? Want a break?"
"Right now!"
The two children looked toward the end of the corridor.
An iron door stood wide open, revealing pitch-black depths within.
"I wonder what the final gate tests."
"Who knows."
So far, they had been tested on extreme wood, martial talent, sound talent, and the character of a sage.
With everything that could come already out, the final test was a complete mystery.
"We'll find out when we go."
"Reminds me of what you said, Senior Brother: 'Seeing is believing over a hundred hearings.'"
"Sheesh. I told you, I flew there on purpose because coming back was a hassle."
"Everything Senior Brother says is true!"
Chatting as they entered the iron door.
Yang-hui instinctively gathered internal energy in his eyes to sharpen his vision but froze in surprise.
"Seol-ha?"
Je-gal Seol-ha's voice and presence had vanished without a trace.
Absolute darkness, not even an inch visible ahead.
Yang-hui was utterly alone in the space.
Then, in that moment.
"Forgive me, Best Sword Among Wanderers."
"Forgive me, Best Sword Among Wanderers." The words he had heard on the last day of his previous life.
Yang-hui realized what the tenth gate was testing.