Chapter 275: Chapter 275

“This is…”

“…This guy.”

Namgung Cheon and Sa Do-hak broke into a cold sweat.

They seemed at a loss for words as they looked at the person Mae Hyang and Jang Sam-tae had dragged in.

He was undoubtedly Bang No-baek, one of the Five Emperors of the world, but he looked like someone who had been beaten to a pulp by street thugs.

Their gazes naturally turned toward Dan Woo-hyun.

Even Zhuge Un and Zhuge Yeon had expressions of utter disbelief.

The two of them knew that Dan Woo-hyun was strong, but they had not expected at all that he would beat up the Beggar Emperor Bang No-baek without a sound.

“Do you know him?”

Dan Woo-hyun asked, looking down at Bang No-baek, who had been tossed away like an old shoe.

An expression of displeasure was clear on his face.

It seemed that something unpleasant had certainly occurred between the two.

Those who knew Bang No-baek’s fiery temperament clicked their tongues inwardly.

Of course, while Bang No-baek had quite a temper, Dan Woo-hyun was no less formidable, so a clash must have occurred between them.

No matter who was at fault first, provoking Dan Woo-hyun’s temper was a mistake in itself.

“He… He is Elder Bang No-baek, one of the Five Emperors of the world.”

Namgung So-hye mumbled with an awkward expression.

As Bang No-baek’s identity came out of her mouth, Jang Sam-tae and Mae Hyang looked at each other in horror.

They had dared to act that way only because they knew nothing; had they known his identity, they would have bowed their heads and rubbed their palms together on their own.

But what could they do about what had already happened?

They coughed dryly and tried to look away.

“Are those who call themselves the Five Emperors all fools who only snap out of it after being beaten?”

Dan Woo-hyun muttered, furrowing his brow.

Sa Do-hak and Namgung Cheon winced and trembled.

For some reason, the words that came out of his mouth carried hidden thorns.

Dan Woo-hyun, who had a crooked expression, looked at the two of them and asked.

“Is that not so?”

“Ahem-! Well… it depends on the person’s personality. And this beggar was famous from the start for having a filthy temper.”

“Haha! That is right. I saw him for the first time just now, and he was as nasty as Elder Sa!”

Jang Sam-tae clapped his hands and chimed in.

Then, receiving Sa Do-hak’s sharp glare, he hurriedly shut his mouth.

He tapped his own lips, blaming himself for speaking unnecessarily.

“Hehehe, of… of course, Elder Sa is much better.”

“Damn it…”

Sa Do-hak clenched his fists tightly but slowly lowered his hands, as if he could not bring himself to hit him in front of Mae Hyang.

He saw Mae Hyang’s glaring eyes gradually calm down.

‘How frustrating!’

How could a man live miserably without a companion?

Sa Do-hak felt as if he had lost to someone like Jang Sam-tae for no reason.

“So, why did this man come here?”

“He likely came to meet me.”

Zhuge Un, who stepped forward slightly, said as he examined Bang No-baek’s condition.

His expression suggested there was no need to think deeply about the reason he had come here.

If he had not come to see Namgung Cheon, it would be Zhuge Un.

Given the current situation in the Martial World, it was reasonable to assume he had sought out Zhuge Un rather than Namgung Cheon.

“Give him a room in the corner of the storehouse and lay him down.”

Dan Woo-hyun spat out a word and stood up from his seat.

An expression of annoyance was clear on his face.

However, everyone present shared a common thought.

In the first place, there was no room inside the storehouse.

In the end, it meant to just throw him into the dirty storehouse.

Everyone broke into a cold sweat, but no one could refuse Dan Woo-hyun’s words.

* * *

“Aaaargh!”

An unnamed cave.

The scream of a man echoed from within.

Every time he pulled out the hidden weapons embedded in his body one by one, his mad shrieks revealed the immense pain he was experiencing.

“Pant… Pant…”

He groaned through his disheveled hair and caught his ragged breath. He had already pulled out so many hidden weapons from his body that he could not even count them.

The hidden weapons scattered on the ground were of various kinds.

Long needles, daggers, throwing stars, and the like.

It looked as if a diverse array of hidden weapon techniques, the kind only seen in the Sichuan Tang Clan, had been fully deployed.

“Damn it… those bastards…”

The man gnashed his teeth as he recalled the events of that time.

He had been attacked by surprise, with even the subordinates by his side betraying him.

Hundreds of people had fired hidden weapons all at once, throwing poison and targeting his weaknesses, so even Jeok Mu-seong, who held the grand title of one of the Five Emperors, had no choice but to take the hit with his eyes wide open.

Furthermore, there were some quite strong individuals mixed among them.

Jeok Mu-seong recalled the face of the person he had seen last in his fading memory.

Holding a long sword in his hand, his swordsmanship was rather bizarre. Although Jeok Mu-seong had avoided his vital points by a hair’s breadth, he had ended up suffering many more wounds because of it.

‘For me… to be defeated…’

He had been betrayed.

The great Jeok Mu-seong.

It was quite painful because he had been stabbed in the back by those who claimed to be his subordinates.

One who stands at the highest point must always watch their back.

Even though he knew this, it was Jeok Mu-seong’s blunder to have ignored it.

If he resolved to take revenge on the traitors who dared to show their teeth, it would be entirely possible.

However.

‘The problem is… those guys.’

The ones who instigated and led the traitors.

The skills of those guys, who had appeared dressed in blood-red robes, were by no means ordinary.

Since there were some among them who were equal to Jeok Mu-seong, it seemed that revenge was already out of the question.

Jeok Mu-seong let out a sigh with a bitter smile.

The downfall of Jeok Mu-seong, who had once ruled the unorthodox path and accumulated many things, occurred in an instant.

“Haha…”

He stood up from his place with a bitter smile.

His pursuers were still chasing after him. Although he had been declared dead, there were those who would only accept it once they saw his corpse.

Furthermore, since it was better to dispose of him to leave no future trouble, those bastards would never stop chasing him.

Just then, footsteps were heard.

Jeok Mu-seong’s sunken eyes stared straight ahead.

If it were an enemy, he would strike them down and kill them with a single palm strike instantly.

In the first place, since the only ones who would walk into such a remote place on their own would be the enemies chasing him, he did not need to consider other possibilities.

Soon, the moment the owner of the footsteps revealed themselves.

Jeok Mu-seong’s entire body froze, and he could not move from his spot.

“Fufu.”

The one who appeared was a woman dressed in a colorful court gown.

She possessed a captivating charm that stole one’s gaze just by looking at her.

Her appearance held such immense magical allure that one might mistake her for having nine tails on her hips.

Even Jeok Mu-seong, who claimed his mental strength was second to none, could do nothing but look at the woman as if possessed.

“Do you want to live?”

At that sudden question, Jeok Mu-seong nodded his head before he knew it.

“There is a way to live.”

“What… What is it…”

The woman looked at Jeok Mu-seong for a moment.

Confirming that the desire to live was dwelt within his eyes, she smiled with satisfaction.

The woman really liked that kind of gaze.

“Go to Yueyang. The way for you to survive is there.”

Swoooosh-!

The front of his eyes suddenly turned hazy.

Jeok Mu-seong, who failed to perceive the sudden strange change, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

At that moment, the fog blocking his view gradually cleared, and the woman who had been before his eyes had already vanished without a trace.

* * *

There was a delicious smell.

Whether he had been sleeping or had just woken up from losing consciousness, Bang No-baek slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

He saw musty dust floating in the air.

He stood up with a puzzled expression.

‘I don’t recall sleeping in a place like this?’

He questioned it, but nothing in particular came to mind. As he stealthily tried to stand up, he felt his entire body aching.

“Ouch… Have I aged that much?”

Bang No-baek grimaced as he dragged his aching body.

Indeed, since he had aged quite a bit, it made sense for him to ache here and there.

The moment he stood up, thinking he should visit a skilled physician when he had time, something flashed through his mind.

“That… That guy!”

He realized that the situation that had just come to mind was by no means a dream.

Only then did he notice the fact that he was aching not because of his age, but because he had been beaten up.

‘Then where is this?’

Rising with a gaze full of resentment, Bang No-baek flung the door open and walked outside.

“Oh, are you awake?”

What appeared before him was the face of his familiar friend.

He was roasting a large pig, tearing at the meat, and drinking alcohol on one side of the yard.

Additionally, several people were visible. Some faces were familiar, but there were also those he was seeing for the first time.

Of course.

“You… You…!”

Looking closely at those he thought he was seeing for the first time, they were familiar faces as well. Bang No-baek pointed his finger at Jang Sam-tae, his hand trembling.

Seeing that face, he faced the reality that what he had experienced was indeed not a dream.

“Why are you acting like that?”

“Why… Why am I acting like this?!”

“Did I do something wrong?”

Jang Sam-tae looked at Mae Hyang with a bewildered expression.

She shook her head while chewing a small piece of meat. In the first place, it was that beggar who had picked the fight, and though Jang Sam-tae had spoken harshly, he had done nothing wrong when looking at the facts.

Even if he had done something, blood is thicker than water.

“Beggar, if you are awake, get your senses together and eat some food.”

At the sound that suddenly drifted over, Bang No-baek flushed and turned his gaze. Which bastard dared to call him a beggar so carelessly?

Not to mention the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Eight Great Families, or even all the martial artists of the Central Plains, there were very few who possessed the courage to call him a beggar.

Therefore, the moment he looked at the one who had uttered those words with a rather angry expression.

“Gasp!”

Bang No-baek gasped, his eyes flying wide.

It looked as though his eyeballs might pop out at any moment.

“Why… Why are… you… here…”

“Am I not allowed to be here?”

“Hic!”

Bang No-baek sucked in his breath and hiccuped.

Sa Do-hak.

It was undoubtedly that guy.

He could not believe that this was reality and not a dream.

How could that demon lord be together with Namgung Cheon?

When he whipped his head around to glare at Namgung Cheon, who was savoring the meat, he saw him drinking alcohol while avoiding his gaze.

It seemed he had no intention of explaining this bizarre situation.

“What on earth is going on?”

He pressed his hand to his forehead, feeling as if this were not reality.

He had known from the start that this was a strange family, but he had never imagined it would be to this extent.

‘Then, was the identity of the old man named Lord of the Demonic Sky actually Sa Do-hak?’

Bang No-baek looked at Zhuge Un with a trembling gaze.

Zhuge Un grinned at the look that implored him to explain the situation.

Soon, Zhuge Un stood up from his seat, walked slowly to Bang No-baek, handed him some meat, and spoke.

“Just don’t think about anything and eat, Elder. That is for the best.”

Zhuge Un muttered with an empty expression, just like an enlightened monk.

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