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Chapter 355. Encounter with the Enemy (2)
After Jin So-un and Il-gak returned, the academy students were released from the grim Prison.
First priority went to the wounded, who had received only emergency treatment--they were moved to a physician and given proper care.
"We have guests! Wake everyone up!"
Lights blazed throughout the entire Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect as household members who had been asleep were all roused to attend to the academy students.
Those lacking sleep were given bedding. Those who were hungry were provided meals.
Е̊ n.u m̀а.
The guest halls and reception quarters alone could not accommodate everyone, so the annexes and even the quarters of Captain-ranked members were surrendered.
"Please enter this way."
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"......This is an annex, isn't it?"
"It is a space provided to official guests of the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect."
"Guests......?"
The treatment had changed so dramatically it was as if heaven and earth had been overturned.
Ēn ùm а. і̃d̈
The Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect was one of the Orthodox murim's greatest and most fearsome enemies.
Their goodwill looked to the academy students like nothing but sinister intent.
"Isn't this just poisoning us? Like a last meal or something......"
"Hmm, maybe they'll assassinate us while we sleep."
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"......But I'm really, really, really exhausted."
The suspicion lasted only a moment.
W̆ еb.ñо̂_v е̄_ľ Еñūm a
"I'm going to sleep first. If someone dies or we get ambushed...... never mind. Just don't wake me. I'll die as I am."
"Me too...... the Unit Leader probably handled things well enough."
"Right. That man Jin, he's got the skills."
The academy students, broken by exhaustion, fell asleep with an attitude of "to hell with it."
"We've prepared a meal...... oh my?"
"I don't think they've woken up yet......"
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"These people are Orthodox, and they're not even scared?"
"I heard they went through a lot in the Black Forest."
"Let's just leave the food and go."
And.
When hunger woke them, they ate the food laid out before their eyes.
Worries about poisoning or ambush had long since been wiped from their minds.
Е̊ñ um̂а.і d̆
Two full days passed in recovery.
By the time everyone's strength had more or less returned--
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"With such honored guests here, how could I sit idle! Ka ha ha!"
A banquet was held at the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect Leader's behest.
The academy students who attended were dumbfounded.
"Uh...... where am I?"
Ẅe b nо v̄ѐl̇ Ёn ům̄ а
"Who am I?"
Providing lodging could perhaps be rationalized, but the Sect Leader of the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect personally hosting a banquet was something the Orthodox elite simply could not wrap their heads around.
Of course, even more incomprehensible than the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect was--
"The wine is excellent, Sect Leader! Ka ha ha!!"
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--their own commander, Jin So-un.
"Does that scene make any sense to you......? I'm looking at it with my own two eyes and it still doesn't make sense."
Е́n̆u m а .ĭ d̊
"Right...... the Sect Leader of the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect and the representative of the Murim Academy sharing wine so intimately......"
"But why is our Unit Leader acting that comfortable? Anyone watching would think they're actually friends."
Beyond the opposing positions of the Orthodox and Black Paths and the generational gap between a Sect Leader and an academy student, Jin So-un showed not the slightest discomfort in dealing with the Sect Leader of the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect.
"......Still, seeing him hold his own even in front of a giant of the Black Path, his nerve is something else."
"Didn't he declare from the start that he'd get us back alive from the Black Forest? That's no ordinary nerve."
"......Weren't you the same lot who cursed Jin So-un every day, calling him insane?"
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"AHEM!!"
While the academy students were quietly swelling with a modest pride at Jin So-un's display, the sect's disciples began approaching them one by one.
"I heard you broke through the Demonic Reaches. How in the world did you manage that?"
"The Black Forest isn't an easy place even for us at the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect, and to have fought battles there! Truly impressive!"
The academy students, who had harbored a vague dread of the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect, began to relax one by one as the sect's disciples approached in a friendly manner.
They could not quite act as Jin So-un did, treating them as if they were old friends, given the deep rift between their factions--but quietly sitting across from each other and exchanging cups of wine was perfectly possible.
W̌e.bñ о̃ v е̇ l̃ Еnu ḿ а̇
Two days after the banquet concluded, with its peculiar atmosphere--
Around the time the most critical patients were finally able to move on their own--
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In response to the carrier pigeon sent to the Murim Alliance's Kunming branch, roughly one hundred Alliance members arrived at the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect.
"Welcome, please come......"
"Out of my way!!!"
The academy students were stunned when they saw the party that shoved past the sect's disciples and stormed in.
Ĕń um ǎ
"Instructor?!"
"Instructor Kang Sun-tak?!"
The academy's instructors, whom they had believed dead, had walked into the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect alive and well.
Jong Chu-ak, who had mourned his seniors' deaths more than anyone, forgot his injuries and ran out in his split-toed socks.
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"S-Senior! You're alive!"
It was at that moment that Kang Sun-tak's hand, striding briskly toward him, moved like lightning.
E n̄ um̂ а̀.
SLAP—!
With a sound that split skin, Jong Chu-ak's body dropped to the ground.
A blank expression frozen on his face, Jong Chu-ak lifted his head.
"How dare!!"
Kang Sun-tak's roar sent the air ringing.
"How dare you stain the name of Qingcheng!! Who told you to raise your head!"
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"......"
The fierce glares of Kang Sun-tak and the other instructors swept the hall with chilling coldness.
Especially when their eyes fell upon academy students who were chatting with disciples of the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect--the instructors even directed killing intent.
"Hah......! Of all the lows, begging the Black Path for help?! Unless you've all lost your minds......"
With every word from Kang Sun-tak, Jong Chu-ak's trembling grew more violent.
Did they have any idea what hardships his people had endured to reach this place?
W̃ e̊ b n оv.е ľ Ё n̄ u m̊ а̃
The memories of the Black Forest that he thought he had managed to empty surged back like an unstoppable fog.
The memories themselves were hazy, but the despair and agony he had felt at the time became all the sharper.
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Jong Chu-ak's fists clenched tight.
"Senior...... that's going too far."
"What? You still haven't come to your senses, and you dare speak to me that way!"
THWACK—! THWACK—! THWACK—! THWACK—! THWACK—!
Eǹ û m а .і̌ d.
Kang Sun-tak's kicks lashed out indiscriminately.
As a result, Jong Chu-ak's body, only just beginning to recover, was being wrecked all over again.
"And you lot call yourselves Orthodox martial artists! You groveled to the Black Path to save your own skins, and you still dare call yourselves disciples of Qingcheng!"
Jong Chu-ak's body rolled across the ground as wounds multiplied, but no one stepped in.
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Before being instructor and student, the two shared the bond of senior and junior disciple within the same sect.
No matter how unjust the treatment, Jong Chu-ak's defiance was an unforgivable act.
W е̇ b n̂ŏ v еl̄ Е ǹ u̇m ӓ
Knowing that, Jong Chu-ak accepted the one-sided violence without resistance.
After a long stretch of heavy breathing and continued assault, Kang Sun-tak snorted explosively.
"Seeing you lot go mad as a group, this is all that bastard's doing."
"......"
Then, as if searching for the root cause, he whipped his head around, scanning in every direction.
"That son of a bitch Jin So-un must have shoved you all into the Black Path's maw!!"
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In that instant.
Jong Chu-ak's eyes flew open, and his body lunged toward Kang Sun-tak.
"Don't you dare run your mouth......!"
The moment Jong Chu-ak's fist was about to fly--
TAP--
Someone stepped in front of him and--
Е̃ n̄û mа
THWACK.
Drove a fist straight into Kang Sun-tak's face.
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Kang Sun-tak, knocked back a full jang, wore a stunned expression before grasping the situation and snapping his head up.
"How dare you...... do you want to die!!!"
The one who threw the punch was none other than Nam Hwa-seong.
He growled, barely containing his fury.
Еń ū m̌ӓ
"The one who wants to die seems to be you. You abandoned the academy students and ran off on your own, and now you waltz back to lecture us?"
"......You mad dog. You too shall be imprisoned on suspicion of colluding with the Black......"
"The more I listen, the less I can stand it."
In an instant, Nam Hwa-seong's martial arts uniform swelled as if about to burst.
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"What kind of hell we crossed through......"
Then he shot toward Kang Sun-tak like an arrow.
Е́ńu ḿ а
"You bastards don't have the right to know!!"
Nam Hwa-seong's fist, laden with tremendous force, rocketed forward.
"I swore it over and over again. That if the instructors were alive, I'd beat every last one of them to death with my own hands!!!"
The spirit was admirable. But spirit was only spirit.
The initial unexpected blow had only landed because Kang Sun-tak held an absolute belief that no academy student would dare defy an instructor.
But an ordinary student overpowering a figure of Hall Master rank was an impossibility.
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TAP.
Nam Hwa-seong's signature iron fist was drawn in as if by suction and caught in Kang Sun-tak's hand.
"You...... so you've volunteered to be Jin So-un's lackey?"
RAT-A-TAT-TAT—!
Seventy-Six Path Formless Fingers struck Nam Hwa-seong's lower body, and as his legs gave way and he sank to his knees, his head dropped just below Kang Sun-tak's eye level.
"Very well. I shall fix that broken mind of yours and earn a thank-you from your own Sect Leader."
W̆ е b ńо̇ v̌ӗ ľ Е̃ n um̆а
THWACK—! THWACK—! CRACK CRACK CRACK THWACK—!
Fists rained down without discrimination.
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Heavenly Wind Formless Divine Fist.
Should it be called fortunate? Or perhaps one final mercy from an instructor?
Kang Sun-tak's fists carried no internal qi.
THWACK—! THWACK—! CRACK CRACK CRACK THWACK—!
W е b ǹо̆ v̌е̌ l Е n̊ u̇ m̆ а̂
The indiscriminate beating of Nam Hwa-seong commenced.
Nam Hwa-seong tried to counterattack from time to time, but each attempt was swiftly blocked by Kang Sun-tak's attacks.
"This......"
The moment Jong Chu-ak tried to intervene--
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Nam Hwa-seong thrust out a hand and stopped him.
As if telling him absolutely not to get involved.
É ňŭmа
Other academy students then seized Jong Chu-ak's clothes and pulled him back.
He raised his head to see who held him. It was none other than Cheol Sun-jik.
Jong Chu-ak struggled and cried out.
"Let go! Martial Uncle Kang is......!"
"You may not realize it, but what you're doing amounts to Betraying One's Teacher and Destroying One's Ancestors. Stay still."
"......"
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At last, clarity returned.
Jong Chu-ak gulped down his agitated breaths and looked around.
Then he gazed up at the man holding him--Cheol Sun-jik.
Had he stepped in deliberately for his sake?
But why......
"We're Life-or-Death Unit members, aren't we?"
Ẽ n ûm̈ а̌._і d̈.
At Cheol Sun-jik's matter-of-fact words, Jong Chu-ak felt something surge violently in his chest.
"......"
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"And besides."
Then Cheol Sun-jik fixed Kang Sun-tak with a gaze that was colder and more ruthless than anything he had shown even in the Prison.
"We've worked up plenty of anger ourselves."
"......"
W̆ê_bn о̂.vѐ l̈ Éń ūṁ a
He approached Kang Sun-tak and fired a Finger Wind.
Kang Sun-tak, who had been pummeling Nam Hwa-seong without pause, swung his hand and deflected the Finger Wind.
"!"
Staring at the hole blown clean through his martial arts uniform, Kang Sun-tak's voice dropped to a hostile rasp.
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"Cheol Sun-jik...... you dare attack an instructor?!"
"Because it looked like someone was going to die if this continued."
Ën u.ḿȧ. і d̄
"Hmph, he won't die. I held back enough for it not to mat......"
"I mean you, sir."
"......Hm?"
Cheol Sun-jik jerked his chin toward their surroundings.
His voice was colder than it had ever been, bristling with thorns.
"Do you want to die here?"
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What Cheol Sun-jik was referring to was Kang Sun-tak's own safety.
"......"
Neither Kang Sun-tak nor the instructors--blinded by rage at the students' defiance--had noticed until now.
"These instructor bastards......!"
"Ha, they were alive? Fuck, and now they have the nerve to show their faces?"
"Exactly. The shamelessness is beyond belief."
Е́n̈ ûm̀ а. і d̆
Every academy student surrounding them was glaring at Kang Sun-tak and the instructors with murderous intent.
Unmistakable hostility.
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'Ah!'
Only then did Jong Chu-ak realize.
The joy of learning the instructors had survived was a feeling that only applied to him--someone from the same sect.
In the Black Forest, in the Demonic Reaches, in every worst-case scenario that followed--
W̃ еb nо̂ v е̇l. Е̇ ṅ ŭm̂ а
The instructors, who should have been at the front lines protecting the students, had been nowhere to be found.
And only after the students had crossed the threshold of death to arrive here--
Those who should have died had reappeared, looking far too unscathed.
That alone was more than enough reason for the academy students not to hide their hostility.
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But Kang Sun-tak still hadn't fully grasped that fury.
He bellowed at Cheol Sun-jik with veins bulging in his neck.
En̆ u m̈ a
"You...... lunatic! Did the Twelve Peak Citadels give you a spare life?! Or did the Zhongnan Sect accept you as a formal disciple?!"
Kang Sun-tak's target had shifted from Nam Hwa-seong to Cheol Sun-jik.
In the same manner, the Seventy-Six Path Formless Fingers shot toward Cheol Sun-jik's Numbing Acupoint with a stealthy touch.
RUSTLE.
Cheol Sun-jik spread his robe wide to dissolve the finger technique, then spun his body and drew his sword in one motion.
CLANG—!
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It was merely a starting stance taken after blocking the finger technique, yet Kang Sun-tak grew even more enraged.
His skills had been made to look inferior by a junior who hadn't even graduated from the academy.
"You! Don't even think about making it home alive!"
Seemingly forgetting that this was the Ten-Thousand-Poison Sect, Kang Sun-tak unleashed Fist Projections with everything he had.
BOOM BOOM CRASH—!
The Heavenly Wind Formless Divine Fist that had battered Nam Hwa-seong now surged forward with a powerful gale, bearing down on Cheol Sun-jik as if to crush him.
Е ñ u_m̄ ӑ .і̇d̂
Cheol Sun-jik fired Sword Qi at the oncoming Fist Projections.
Then simultaneously brought his Sword Qi slashing down, detonating an explosion.
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BOOM BOOM CRASH—!
A perfect imitation of what Jin So-un had done in the Black Forest.
"COUGH COUGH!"
When the sudden sandstorm blew back and coated him head to toe, Kang Sun-tak instinctively shut his eyes.
Ӗǹu_ṁ а
Cheol Sun-jik did not miss the opening.
SHING—!
The instant his ice-sharp Sword Qi was about to slash across Kang Sun-tak's chest--
WHOOSH.......
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A new force slipped in like the wind, deflecting Cheol Sun-jik's energy to the side.
"What!"
Е ǹu_ḿ а . ĩ d
Thrown off balance, Cheol Sun-jik quickly stepped into a footwork pattern and retreated sideways.
And then came a voice.
"Are you not aware that attacking an instructor is a grave violation of the law?"
A clear, limpid voice.
Cheol Sun-jik's entire body went rigid as he furrowed his brow.
"!"
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Of all people to appear here.
Nam Hwa-seong scrambled to his feet and, upon identifying the voice's owner, froze like stone.
"......Y-You are......"
Every other academy student reacted in kind.
At the being that had suddenly appeared in their midst, they held even their breath.
"If you have no intention of continuing, sheathe your sword."
Ẁ е b̄ n̂ȯ v ёl̊ Ѐń um̃ ӓ
Even as the sword tip extended toward them with cold indifference, not a single person could move.
Because that was the kind of man he was.
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Then.
"Well now......"
A casual, bantering voice drifted from among the academy students.
THUD, THUD.
Ѐn̆umа.і̌d
The very presence that had frozen every student in place watched him approach with those characteristically impassive eyes.
"Jin So-un."
"Of all the places to meet...... you really do live long enough to see everything."
Jin So-un's gaze swept once over the three people sprawled on the ground and Cheol Sun-jik, then glared at Kang Sun-tak before--
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"What a goddamn mess."
--returning to the man in the blue martial arts uniform.
Ӗ num а̃. id̊
Jin So-un flashed his usual playful smile.
And yet, strangely, the academy students sensed an unease in that smile--one whose source they could not name.
Jin So-un murmured, looking at the man in the blue martial arts uniform.
"What brings someone so lofty to a mess like this? Hm? Answer me."
"......"
"Yong So-ah."
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The man in the blue martial arts uniform, Yong So-ah, continued to bore into Jin So-un with that same impassive gaze.
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