Chapter 316: Chapter 316

“Hey… Hey, is that by any chance…”

“Is, is that for real?”

“I cannot believe it even though I am seeing it with my own eyes.”

Everyone muttered as they watched those being dragged away in a line by binding ropes. They had seen many criminals being dragged to the Yueyang government office before, but this was the first time such giants had been captured.

Green Forest King Yu Deok-cheon.

River Water Fortress Leader Ga Dok-gun.

Since everyone else who could be considered their hands and feet was also being dragged away in a wretched state, it was only natural for the people to be astonished.

The same went for Ga Dok-gun and Yu Deok-cheon, who were bound helplessly by ropes.

Considering the value of their names, it would not have been strange if they put up violent resistance, but their eyes were filled with fear as if they were dead or terrified of something.

The reason they looked older than usual was undoubtedly because their dantian had been destroyed.

“There really must be someone behind the Yueyang government office. This is not something simple government soldiers could do.”

“Is the rumor about the Hunan Dan Family true?”

“Probably…”

Even those who gathered information, including the rogue martial artists, began to put forward various speculations.

Capturing Yu Deok-cheon and Ga Dok-gun was just that shocking.

“Even without this, the movements on the unorthodox path’s side are unusual… Perhaps the Hunan Dan Family might truly become the savior of our orthodox martial world.”

Many people spoke in unison.

It was an event that firmly engraved the name of the Hunan Dan Family in people’s minds.

***

“Ugh…”

Jang Sam-tae groaned.

He wanted to open his eyes, but his heavy eyelids, weighing a thousand geun, would not lift.

If the last thing he remembered had not flashed through his mind for a moment, he might have closed his eyes and slept a bit more.

“Gasp?!”

Jang Sam-tae jumped up from his seat and gasped.

Not knowing when a blade might fly in, he unconsciously reached out to shield his face. That natural gesture gave him the illusion that he was experiencing that event right now.

“You are acting foolish.”

However, no blade flew in; only a familiar voice was heard.

His eyelids trembling, Jang Sam-tae barely managed to open his eyes and looked around.

The bedroom scenery was extremely familiar.

Beside him, Dan Woo-hyun could also be seen with a sullen expression. On his lap was So-mi, who was sleeping soundly, and perhaps because she was quite exhausted, the sound of her soft breathing was very pleasant to hear.

Jang Sam-tae scratched his head with an awkward smile.

“Ah… hello?”

“The sun is already high in the sky.”

“Have you had lunch?”

“……”

“……”

Dan Woo-hyun let out a long sigh as he looked at the person speaking nonsense. Since the fellow who had barely survived still had his mouth working, Dan Woo-hyun seemed to be in a dilemma of whether to laugh or not.

Taking a deep breath, Dan Woo-hyun spoke.

“So, is your body alright?”

“It hurts.”

“I see.”

Normally, wouldn’t people say they were fine even if it hurt?

Dan Woo-hyun wondered more and more what was inside Jang Sam-tae’s head.

However, he did not care anymore and spoke.

“Your Qi passages are somewhat blocked. You must have overexerted yourself.”

“Fighting dozens against one, this Jang Sam-tae held out! Isn’t that amazing?”

“Getting beaten up is not called holding out.”

For a moment, Jang Sam-tae frowned.

‘Were you watching?’

Damn it! If he was watching, he should have helped.

He did not appear at times like that, only taking the good parts for himself. Jang Sam-tae unconsciously grumbled inside.

“I can tell just by looking at your wretched state.”

“Anyway, I did my best in my own way.”

“Right, otherwise you would have died.”

When Dan Woo-hyun chuckled, Jang Sam-tae’s face turned pale. He had faced death many times, but this was the first time he truly thought he was going to die.

It was such a terrifying situation. Just thinking about it made his hands tremble unconsciously.

“Still… I could have won.”

“I saw that you set a trap. Quite impressive of you to use your head that much. But it was shallow. If you had actually fought, you would have definitely lost. You wouldn’t have even lasted five moves.”

At Dan Woo-hyun’s confident words, Jang Sam-tae clenched his fists. He had tried his best in his own way, but being harshly criticized made him feel angry in spite of himself.

However, Jang Sam-tae was confident.

Because he had not tarnished the name of the Hunan Dan Family.

“Then, what should I have done to win?”

“Killing. The opponent… That is indeed the way to win.”

“……Damn it.”

The talk of killing came out all too easily.

If he had that kind of skill, he would not have gotten into such a dangerous situation in the first place.

Jang Sam-tae’s martial arts had improved significantly compared to the past, but he was still somewhat lacking to face experts like Yu Deok-cheon.

Seeing him frown with a dissatisfied expression, Dan Woo-hyun gently reached out. Then, he laid Dan So-mi, who was sleeping on his lap, onto the bed where Jang Sam-tae was sitting.

“If you cannot kill, you just need to subdue them. If even that is impossible, you just need to run away.”

“But that wouldn’t solve anything.”

“If even these are impossible…”

Standing up, Dan Woo-hyun looked down lightly. His eyes met with Jang Sam-tae, who was sitting on the bed with a disgruntled expression.

Then, Dan Woo-hyun unconsciously grinned. Words flowed from his mouth.

“You just need to crush the opponent’s momentum with overwhelming strength.”

“……”

Jang Sam-tae shut his mouth at those words.

Since he sat blankly without saying anything, Dan Woo-hyun turned his back.

As if he had no intention of saying anything more, he opened the door and walked out.

Watching that figure for a long time, Jang Sam-tae frowned.

“Crazy bastard, speaking nonsense. Am I him?”

He unconsciously spat out an oath at the ridiculous words.

Suddenly.

Thack!

“Aaaaargh!”

Something that flew in out of nowhere struck his head.

***

“Tsk, tsk, that guy doesn’t seem to grow up at all.”

Sa Do-hak looked toward the detached house with an absurd expression.

By this point, shouldn’t he realize that no matter how quietly he muttered, it couldn’t possibly go unheard?

But Jang Sam-tae still spat out curses.

As if he wanted Dan Woo-hyun to hear it.

That was why he got hit.

“Hahaha, but shouldn’t this place be like this?”

Namgung Cheon chuckled with a very pleasant expression. During the few days Jang Sam-tae was away, the Hunan Dan Family had been very quiet.

Although Dan So-mi and the children came by to make noise, it was also true that there was a feeling that something was lacking.

Since that was precisely the person named Jang Sam-tae, they themselves knew well how big his absence was.

Although Sa Do-hak also seemed to curse the fellow while grumbling, the fact that he was secretly smiling showed that this situation did not seem bad to him.

At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun, who had left the detached house, approached.

He frowned slightly, seemingly not in a very good mood after hearing the insults.

“Hahaha. So, how is his condition?”

“He does not seem like he will die.”

“Which means he needs more rest, right?”

“……”

Dan Woo-hyun was speechless at Namgung Cheon’s words.

How could one hear that he wouldn’t die and take it that way?

Dan Woo-hyun twitched his brow and picked up the cup of alcohol that was set down.

“So, does it seem like he grew up a little?”

“Hmm… it seems I did not see such a good display.”

Setting up a trap and still not losing his momentum even when facing an opponent he could not defeat was definitely better than before.

But he still had a long way to go.

In such a situation, he should have acted calmly, but Jang Sam-tae moved solely with the single-minded determination to get revenge.

In the end, that became a disaster, causing him to do nothing and instead lead himself and his companions to the brink of death.

While it was the worst as a martial artist, looking at Jang Sam-tae himself, it was clear that he had grown compared to before.

Because in the past, he would have fled in a hurry without even looking back.

As Dan Woo-hyun chuckled, the three people nodded.

Since they had heard the general story and knew it, they seemed to guess to some extent what Dan Woo-hyun was thinking.

“That aside, now that the Green Forest King and the River Water Fortress Leader have been captured, there will be a huge uproar.”

“Is it that big of a deal?”

Everyone nodded at Dan Woo-hyun’s words.

In particular, Jeok Mu-seong’s complexion was not very good, because although the Green Forest was somewhat separate from the unorthodox path, they were still entities that influenced it.

Because of this, it was no different from the military strength of the unorthodox path being blown away.

“I am not sure about the River Water Fortress, but the Green Forest is an organization with a fairly large influence on the unorthodox path. Since such a place was crushed and the Green Forest King imprisoned, it won’t end well.”

Perhaps those of the unorthodox path would conspire to rescue Yu Deok-cheon. The weight that the name Yu Deok-cheon carried for the unorthodox path was just that great.

“I see.”

Dan Woo-hyun nodded indifferently.

Whether they had influence or not made no difference to him.

It was just a matter of whether they touched the Hunan Dan Family or not, but Yu Deok-cheon made the worst choice, and in the end, this was the result.

“Leave the Green Forest alone. There is no longer even any value in paying attention to them.”

“You stepped on them thoroughly.”

Sa Do-hak clicked his tongue and laughed.

He even showed some regret, saying it would have been fun if he had been there.

Bang!

At that moment, the main gate of the Hunan Dan Family suddenly burst open.

The sudden noise drew everyone’s gaze to one spot.

Zhuge Un could be seen running inside in a hurry, and since he usually acted like that, Dan Woo-hyun wore an expression that said, ‘Again?’

However, the expression of Zhuge Yeon, who was chasing from behind, was the same.

If the always calm Zhuge Yeon had her complexion change, something truly major had happened.

The gazes of Namgung Cheon, Sa Do-hak, and Jeok Mu-seong turned toward them.

“Something terrible has happened!”

“What is it now that you are making such a fuss again?”

Sa Do-hak frowned.

He clenched his fist as if he would hit him on the head this time if it was useless talk again.

Watching that, Zhuge Un flinched.

But this time was absolutely not a simple matter. Perhaps it was something that could change this Central Plains entirely.

Zhuge Un swallowed his saliva once and uttered the words that had risen to his throat.

“The Martial…”

“The Murim Alliance has fallen!”

Zhuge Yeon, who came running out of breath, finished the sentence.

However, the words that came out were by no means easy to accept.

“What…?”

“Is that true?!”

Namgung Cheon and Sa Do-hak jumped up from their seats, opening their eyes wide in surprise.

Since the Murim Alliance had never fallen once in the history of the Central Plains martial world, their astonishment was even greater.

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