Chapter 185: Are You Ready To Be Beaten (2)
Chapter 184 – Are You Ready To Be Beaten (2)
Thud! Thud! Thud, thud!
The sound of rough blows echoed continuously.
People, who had watched with expectant eyes at first, now looked on with expressions filled with pity.
Thack!
“Keu-huk!”
Struck by the kicks, the battered Do Ji-baek tumbled away.
It was a truly brutal sight.
At this point, it was impossible to tell whether it was a fight or a one-sided beating.
Absurdly, Do Ji-baek, who had severed his own wrist, could not pose any threat to Namgung Cheon.
Just as Namgung Cheon said, getting beaten up was all he did.
Even Chae Seon-il, who had felt refreshed at first, eventually stepped forward to stop Namgung Cheon.
“Yo-Young Hero. That is enough now. I am fine, so…”
“No, it is not! This bastard dared to threaten you, Leader, and disturbed our comfortable rest, so he deserves to die! As if I were not already tired to death! Playing tricks in the middle! To make me do all this extra work? Huh?”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Namgung Cheon stomped on the fallen Do Ji-baek again.
Chae Seon-il, who had been trying to pull him away, turned pale again and quietly stepped back.
‘Somehow, those words sound like they were meant for me to hear… Sigh.’
Indeed, while Namgung Cheon kept stomping on Do Ji-baek, he poured out the thoughts he had been holding inside.
“Because you played those tricks!”
Thack!
“Leader could not even see the truth!”
Crack!
“And he badgered only us, who are innocent!”
Thud!
“So I, who traveled a long way, could not even rest!”
Thack!
“And I am suffering like this!”
Bam!
“Keu-huk!”
Do Ji-baek, who had completely lost consciousness, flew quite a distance before collapsing limply like a rag.
Where Do Ji-baek fell, Gang Sang-do stood awkwardly with his sword drawn.
He had hesitated out of sheer shock the moment Do Ji-baek cut his own wrist, and was now frozen like stone after witnessing Namgung Cheon’s terrifying violence.
It was so bad that even the cadets and other martial artists looked at Do Ji-baek with pity.
Of course, there was someone who looked at him in a slightly different light.
‘I am envious. He must be so happy. He is truly a blessed man.’
Only Baek Mu-geuk watched with an endlessly envious gaze.
Anyway, as the situation grew complicated, Gang Sang-do did not know what to do and looked back and forth between Do Ji-baek and Namgung Cheon.
If they were to fight properly, there were too many enemies.
Yes, the problem was that there were too many enemies.
He was by no means intimidated by Namgung Cheon’s harsh violence.
‘That is absolutely not the case!’
Until now, the Black Mountain Stronghold had never once fought at a numerical disadvantage. Their foundation was always human wave tactics.
But now, the situation was reversed.
The enemies were many, but he was alone.
Since they had also lost the hostage, blindly fighting would only lead to a bloodbath.
Just as Namgung Cheon’s eyes met Gang Sang-do’s, he knitted his brows and asked.
“Who are you?”
“Yes? Ah, I am… an attendant. I only do as the Sect Leader orders…”
“So, what are you going to do now?”
Gang Sang-do glanced at the fallen Do Ji-baek, then sheathed his sword.
Click.
“I will return quietly.”
“Aren’t you going to take care of your master?”
“The Sect Leader committed an act that discarded righteousness. I believe he should be imprisoned in the Alliance dungeon to reflect and reform.”
“Ho, you speak quite right for someone with a mouth.”
“Thank you.”
Gang Sang-do bowed his head deeply, abandoning even his pride.
It could not be helped.
He would surely kill that bastard if they met again in the future, but for now, shouldn’t he prioritize his own safety?
Fortunately, the atmosphere flowed in a good…
“You see, in my life, which is long if long, and short if short, I have walked on eggshells quite a lot.”
“…?”
Namgung Cheon strode forward and stared intently at Gang Sang-do.
Gang Sang-do met his gaze briefly before quietly lowering his eyes and looking away. Nevertheless, Namgung Cheon stared at him almost obsessively and continued.
“To what extent, even when eating a spoonful of rice, I would wonder if there was poison in it. Even when meeting someone for the first time, I would wonder if it was someone I had seen before. Even when urinating, I was startled by my own shadow more than once or twice.”
It was a story about his past life.
Indeed, was that not a time when his senses were sharp even at the passing of the wind?
However, upon hearing those words, Yun Jong-seung thought of something else.
‘Namgung Cheon. You were harassed to that extent by us.’
Namgung Cheon stepped so close that he was almost touching Gang Sang-do, and stared directly at his face.
“But these days, life has become quite livable. So there are times when I wonder if my senses have grown a bit dull.”
“…”
“Even so, this is a bit too much.”
“What do you mean…”
“If you want to disguise yourself, you should at least show some sincerity by altering your voice, you bandit bastard.”
“…!”
Gang Sang-do kicked the ground to retreat, but Namgung Cheon’s hand was faster.
Riiip!
The moment Namgung Cheon’s hand darted forward and grabbed Gang Sang-do’s cheek, the skin stretched stickily like glue and tore open.
The sight was so grotesque that the onlookers could not help but frown deeply.
“Wh-What is that…?”
“Ah! That bastard is!”
Yeon Chu-ryang and Yi Sa-heum shouted in shock.
Was the face revealed beneath the human skin mask not none other than the Black Mountain Stronghold Leader, Gang Sang-do?
Gang Sang-do clicked his tongue and spat out venomously.
“Tsk! For a young kid, you are quite sharp-witted!”
“I told you, didn’t I? I have walked on eggshells for decades.”
“Hmph! Bluff within reason. A guy who has not even passed the age of twenty talking about decades…”
“Ah, then I correct it to over a decade. No, wait, is that what is important right now, you bastard… Huh?”
Suddenly, Gang Sang-do twisted his body and fled using lightfoot art.
Knowing he had no chance of winning a fight here, Gang Sang-do attempted an escape.
‘Say what you want, but this is a lightfoot technique honed through plundering and staging chases in the wild mountains!’
If he quickly ran to the wall and threw himself over while everyone was surprised, escaping the estate would be nothing…
“Gasp!”
Suddenly, Gang Sang-do stopped in horror upon seeing Namgung Cheon drop from the sky.
Whoosh, boom!
“Keu-euk!”
Skrrrt!
Gang Sang-do, who blocked the heel kick by crossing his hands, slid backward for a long way.
Throbbing.
His wrists swelled up as if they would break at any moment.
‘Is th-this the martial power of the Divine Dragon of the Jianghu?’
He already knew about Namgung Cheon’s martial power to some extent.
When the battle took place in the canyon, the divine might Namgung Cheon showed was by no means something to be ignored.
But exchanging blows in person felt entirely different.
It was not a matter of being unable to ignore, but rather closer to being extremely dangerous.
Namgung Cheon cracked his neck.
“I do not mean to brag, but I was first in the Joint Conference lightfoot competition.”
That is bragging, is it not?
Gang Sang-do slowly retreated and scanned the surroundings.
Everyone around him wore expressions of pity, as if they had predicted Gang Sang-do’s future.
‘These bastards…!’
His pride wounded, Gang Sang-do grit his teeth and charged with a shout.
“Yaaah!”
“…!”
Whoosh!
Just before colliding with Namgung Cheon, he abruptly changed his mind and knelt down.
Thud!
“I was wrong!”
“Whoa, that startled me. Why is a guy who did wrong shouting and charging like that?”
Thack!
When Namgung Cheon smacked the back of his head, Gang Sang-do grit his teeth.
As expected, no matter how much he thought about it, there was no way out. Although it was humiliating, he did not want to end up like Do Ji-baek, who collapsed covered in blood.
Meanwhile, the others nodded and inwardly applauded Gang Sang-do’s choice.
‘At least he knows how to read people.’
‘A stronghold is not led by just anyone.’
They were people who could not help but admire him in a rather strange aspect.
* * *
Whoosh!
A muggy wind blew through the canyon.
The wind was heavily laden with the scent of blood.
Collapsed cliffs and corpses lay scattered everywhere. Perhaps due to the hot and humid weather, the condition of the bodies was quite severe.
Caw!
A crow let out a caw and flew down into the canyon to peck at a corpse. However, if one looked closely, its eyes were somewhat bizarre.
They shone green, as if jade had been embedded in them.
It was a spiritual beast rarely seen in the Jianghu.
It was the Jade-Eyed Spiritual Crow ( / Ok-an-yeong-o).
At some point, the Jade-Eyed Spiritual Crow raised its head and looked around.
After a moment, it fluttered its wings and flew up, circling the sky once. With its wings spread wide, it looked almost like a black eagle.
Flutter!
After flying for a while, the crow perched on the shoulder of a man standing alone atop the cliff.
A man whose striking black hair and clear black eyes resembled the crow. A long scar ran diagonally across his face.
He stroked the back of the crow sitting on his shoulder and spoke in a husky voice.
“Did you fill your stomach?”
Caw!
The man chuckled and soon turned around with an indifferent expression.
He stared blankly at the ground where rocks and boulders had collapsed. It was the very exit that Namgung Cheon’s group had escaped through from the royal tomb.
“Tsk… Pathetic.”
The man let out a shallow sigh and slowly stretched out his hand.
The next moment,
Bang!
The moment the condensed qi shot from his palm hit the ground, a loud explosion occurred.
Boooom!
The collapsed rocks and boulders shattered wildly and scattered in all directions.
By the time the cloud of dust rose and settled, surprisingly, people crawled up from the hole in the ground, coughing.
“Cough, cough!”
“Keu-euk! Finally…!”
Those who staggered up onto the ground were none other than the unorthodox martial artists.
They were the Black Immortal, Crimson Anger Madam, and Young Master Jade Smile.
Having barely crawled up to the surface, they saw the man standing in front of them, and their expressions instantly stiffened.
“Vice Valley Leader…!”
The three of them knelt down and bowed their heads simultaneously on the spot.
The man called the Vice Valley Leader stared at the three of them with an extremely cold gaze.
“Excuse.”
“We-We are sorry! Bi Ryang did not enter the Demonic Pill Valley, and a cadet named Namgung Cheon became a variable…”
“A cadet?”
The Black Immortal flinched mid-speech and read the Vice Valley Leader’s countenance.
The Vice Valley Leader knitted his brows.
“Did you say a cadet just now?”
“I am sorry!”
A hint of ridicule flashed across the Vice Valley Leader’s face.
“A cadet. And Bi Ryang did not even get involved? Yet a cadet was the variable?”
“If you give us one more opportunity…”
“An opportunity is an opportunity. Responsibility is responsibility. Who was the person in charge among you?”
The Black Immortal bit his lip hard and replied.
“It was me.”
“And so?”
“I will take responsibility. Please give me just one more opportunity!”
Having finished speaking, the Black Immortal suddenly drew his sword from his waist and severed his own left arm without hesitation.
Slash!
Tap, tap, tap.
Quickly tapping his acupoints to stop the bleeding, the Black Immortal bit his lip until it bled to endure the excruciating pain.
The Vice Valley Leader looked at the severed arm with an indifferent gaze, then averted his eyes.
“Crimson Anger.”
“Yes, Vice Valley Leader.”
“You are the person in charge from now on.”
“I will keep it in mind.”
“What is the method to find the Demonic Pill Valley’s elixir?”
“The apprentice cadet Namgung Cheon took it. Since he participated in the escort mission, we can target the route he returns on.”
“The great undertaking is just around the corner. Do not disappoint me any longer.”
“I will keep it in mind.”
“I will watch directly this time.”
Crimson Anger Madam’s eyes trembled slightly.
She bowed her head deeply.
“It is an honor.”