Chapter 88
When Baek Mu-Gun saw the bandits taking up arms again in order to survive, he held the Flying Golden Shield in his hands. Each of his movements made the bandits nervous.
“Aren’t you ashamed of using your artifact’s unique traits to gain an advantage over us?” Meng Heuk-San criticized Mu-Gun when he noticed Mu-Gun was about to throw the Flying Golden Shield again.
Mu-Gun’s outstanding martial arts aside, Heuk-San thought the Flying Golden Shield was a special artifact.
“Do you not find it cowardly for the entire Nine Dragon Stronghold to go up against me?”
“Joining forces against a master is definitely not considered cowardly,” Heuk-San replied proudly.
“So you’re telling me not to use this shield?”
“We are martial artists before we are bandits. Since you’ve decided to kill us, at least let us give it our all as martial artists before we die.”
“You do know better than I do that what you just said is ridiculous, don’t you?”
“If you’re truly a martial artist, shouldn’t you fight fair and square with martial arts rather than using a divine artifact?”
Mu-Gun scoffed at Heuk-San’s unreasonable demands. “That’s funny. Do you think you have a chance of winning if I don’t use this shield?”
“If you’re so confident, then why not throw your shield away?”
“Well, okay then.”
“Really?”
“This is nothing for you to be happy about. The result won’t change anyway.”
Mu-Gun hung the Flying Golden Shield on his back, then equipped his sword. It could be a little troublesome, but it did not matter to him even if he could only use his sword. Although slightly childish, he wanted to show Heuk-San the depth of his skills anyway. Heuk-San excitedly smiled when Mu-Gun unequipped the Flying Golden Shield. The bandits who were afraid of Mu-Gun’s Flying Golden Shield also regained their will to fight.
“Everyone, attack!”
As Heuk-San ordered, the bandits launched a fierce attack against Mu-Gun. They rushed in and encircled him, creating quite a threatening sight. However, from Mu-Gun’s point of view, they only looked like tiger moths flying into a bonfire.
Mu-Gun stomped on the ground and launched himself fifty feet into the sky. He then thrust his sword toward the bandits, unleashing full-moon-like energy. Countless moonlight qi waves poured toward the ground from the dazzling full moon.
With Mu-Gun out of their attacks’ reach, the bandits could only stare at him. As they watched moonlight-shaped sword shadows filling the sky and showering down toward them, the bandits finally realized that it wasn’t the Flying Golden Shield that was frightening. It was Mu-Gun himself. The countless moonlight qi unleashed by the full moon engulfed the land and generated a deafening blast.
The moonlight qi cleared up after a while, revealing Heuk-San and the Jiulong’s Four Tigers as the only ones left standing. To make matters worse, the Jiulong’s Four Tigers were covered in wounds.
“You fucker! What the hell are you?” After barely fending off the countless moonlight qi, Heuk-San looked at Mu-Gun as if he was some sort of monster.
“At this point, do you really still have to know? It’s time to put an end to this.”
Refusing to answer, Mu-Gun rushed toward Heuk-San. Heuk-San squeezed out all his remaining strength and launched a full-fledged attack in response. Mu-Gun easily evaded his attack using his movement art, however, and proceeded to thrust his sword into Heuk-San’s side. The Jiulong’s Four Tigers, who were behind Heuk-San, attacked Mu-Gun to save Heuk-San even though they were already tattered up.
Mu-Gun glided to the side one more time. After evading their attacks, he thrust his sword again, piercing the Four Tigers’ chests with moonlight qi. The Jiulong’s Four Tigers fell to the ground with blood splurting out of the hole in their chest.
“Aghh!”
Enraged by his subordinates’ deaths, Heuk-San desperately charged at Mu-Gun. However, he fell forward even before he could come closer to Mu-Gun, a hole having been drilled into his forehead by Mu-Gun’s Vajra Exorcism Finger.
The Nine Dragons Stronghold’s end came with his death. Corpses lay all over their base, the blood they had spilled spreading a fishy, metallic smell to the area.
Mu-Gun had a bitter expression as he looked at the wretched scene he had just caused. Although they deserved to die, he couldn’t feel at ease after ending so many lives. He did not regret it, though. If met with the same situation, he knew he would do the same.
With all the bandits wiped out, Mu-Gun explored the Nine Dragons Stronghold to check if there was anything worth salvaging. He put in extra effort searching through what appeared to be the Nine Dragons Chief’s residence, finding quite a hefty amount of silver nyang and jewels in a secret safe connected to the bed. Mu-Gun took them all, then set fire to the Nine Dragons Stronghold’s base.
Traces that would lead to him could remain if the bandits’ corpses were left as they were, so he tried to eliminate his tracks by setting the whole place on fire. Of course, he made sure to tend to the trees around the Nine Dragons Stronghold so that the fire would not spread to Mount Jiulong.
Mu-Gun watched the base burn for a while before going on his way.
* * *
After crossing Mount Jiulong, Mu-Gun headed straight to Poyang Lake, where the Thunderous Wind Palm, Han Baek, was said to be living in seclusion. He reached Poyang, which was neighboring Poyang Lake, in five days. Mu-Gun looked for a boat that could take him from Poyang to Duchang, having decided to pass through Poyang Lake and cross over to Duchang, where Han Baek was.
He eventually discovered that there was a boat that sailed the Poyang-Duchang route every three days. Fortunately, he arrived at Poyang a day before its scheduled departure date. He stayed the night in Poyang and boarded the boat to Duchang the next day.
As the boat sailed through Poyang Lake, Mu-Gun recalled the times he had spent with Han Baek during his past reincarnation. Mu-Gun fought many battles with Han Baek and the other three Peerless Wanderers. They developed trust and friendship with each other as they fought, eventually creating a strong enough bond to trust each other with their backs.
Han Baek always said that he would introduce Mu-Gun to his sister whenever they had drinks after a battle. According to him, his younger sister was the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan, but Mu-Gun didn’t believe him. Han Baek was simply far too ugly for Mu-Gun to believe that his sister was the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan. Every time Mu-Gun expressed doubt, Han Baek would guarantee his sister’s beauty with his honor on the line.
Mu-Gun also wondered how Han Baek, who was now in his sixties, had changed. He was still reminiscing about his past life when the boat arrived at Duchang in the afternoon. After having a late lunch at a restaurant not far away from Duchang’s ferry dock, he called the waiter.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Do you happen to know where the Yunxia Manor is?” Mu-Gun asked.
The Yunxia Manor was where Han Baek was living in seclusion.
“Yes, I do. If you go about ten miles north along Poyang Lake from the ferry dock, you’ll find a shabby manor. That would be the Yunxia Manor.”
“Thank you. This is for your hard work.”
“Just for something like this?”
The waiter quickly snatched the coin Mu-Gun handed over and put it in his pocket. Afterward, Mu-Gun paid for lunch and left the restaurant. He then walked north along Poyang Lake just as the waiter had guided him, unconsciously picking up the pace because he wanted to meet Han Baek as soon as possible. Soon after, he saw a shabby manor from a distance away. If what the waiter said was correct, that manor was the Yunxia Manor.
Mu-Gun smiled at the thought of meeting Han Baek, but it only lasted for a moment.
Mu-Gun’s expression quickly stiffened when he discovered a group of people approaching the Yunxia Manor from the opposite side. From what he could sense, the people had ill intentions and did not visit the Yunxia Manor for a good reason. Hence, without further consideration, Mu-Gun rushed straight to his destination.
* * *
About fifty people approached the Yunxia Manor, each of them having a sturdy build and a saber strapped to their waist. They all had the same sharp glare and prominent temples as well, which evidenced their extraordinary martial arts.
After exchanging glances with each other, the group entered the Yunxia Manor and quickly headed to its main building with swift and well-coordinated movements.
They then surrounded the main building to prevent the people inside from escaping and gradually narrowed their encirclement. The way they executed their plan showed that this was not their first or second time doing something like this.
“Who are you bastards? How dare you trespass into my home like rats?”
At that moment, a loud and clear voice echoed from the roof of the main building. The people who had trespassed into the Yunxia Manor quickly turned their heads toward its source—an ugly five-foot man in his late forties standing on the roof. He had bulging eyes, protruding cheekbones, and a snub-like nose.
It was Han Baek, the Thunderous Wind Palm, owner of the Yunxia Manor, and one of the Four Peerless Wanderers.
“That’s definitely Han Baek, the Thunderous Wind Palm,” one of the intruders confirmed.
“I am indeed Han Baek. So, who are you fuckers?”
“Go find out in the underworld. Carry out the mission!” the man shouted, and the intruders rushed toward Han Baek in unison.
“Underworld my ass. Let’s see if you can still talk like that after being beaten to a pulp,” Han Baek responded in a baffled manner, then extended his hands toward the incoming intruders. The thunder qi that shot forth from both his hands spiraled out like a whirlwind and devoured his opponents, tearing five of them to shreds. Han Baek then unleashed another whirlwind of thunder qi toward the invaders rushing at him from the other side.
However, Han Baek’s expression stiffened as he flew off the roof. With the intruders coming from all sides at quite a high speed, he wouldn’t be able to repel them all even if he fired a series of thunder qi whirlwinds. As soon as he got down, the intruders’ fierce offensive poured in and destroyed the roof.
Meanwhile, the intruders chased after Han Baek and launched another attack. Like before, Han Baek unleashed a whirlwind of thunder qi to confront them. Those struck by the Thunderous Wind fell to the ground as mere lumps of flesh. However, one of his opponents rushed in from behind Han Baek and launched another attack.
‘Damn it!’
Han Baek hurriedly turned around and tried to defend himself. At that moment, a golden flash of light cut through the space and blasted the head of the intruder aiming for him. The sudden turn of events caused not only Han Baek but even the group of intruders to momentarily stop moving and focus on the golden flash’s source. There, they found Mu-Gun standing with a sword at his waist and a shield hung on his back.
“There are too many unwelcomed guests today,” Han Baek said after seeing Mu-Gun, who appeared after the group of intruders.
“You look uglier now that you’re older.” Mu-Gun chuckled upon seeing Han Baek’s old face.
“What? What did you just say to me?” Han Baek asked in bewilderment.
“Let’s deal with these rat bastards first.”
“Hah, young brat, have we met before? Why are you speaking informally to me? We’ll talk about this later.”
Han Baek’s words made Mu-Gun smile again before charging toward the invaders. Matching Mu-Gun’s movements, Han Baek also executed the Thunderous Wind toward the invaders who were surprised by Mu-Gun’s sudden appearance and martial arts, which could fire a flash of golden light from fifty feet away. Despite their surprise, they attacked Han Baek and Mu-Gun without panicking.
However, Mu-Gun’s martial arts soon proved to be much stronger than they had imagined. Since they had only prepared enough forces to fight Han Baek, dealing with Han Baek and Mu-Gun proved difficult. With their offense divided in half, Han Baek had a much easier time dealing with them.
The situation worsened for the intruders the longer the battle went on. Meanwhile, Mu-Gun realized while dealing with them that they exuded the Nine Celestial Demons Sect’s demonic qi.
“Now that I’ve gotten a closer look, you bastards are from the Nine Celestial Demons Sect, aren’t you?”
The intruders flinched. Although they quickly fixed their expressions, their behavior couldn’t get past Mu-Gun’s eyes. He was convinced that they were from the Nine Celestial Demons Sect. Soon after, he recalled that whenever the Nine Celestial Demons Sect began reappearing in murim, their strategy would be to find and kill murim’s hidden masters to weaken its combat forces.
“Among them, you’re all likely from the Heavenly Killer Sect.”
The Heavenly Killer Sect was a faction that specialized in assassinations. The confidence behind his words made the intruders waver.
“It seems I’m right. I can’t spare any of you, then.”
Mu-Gun proceeded to show them no mercy after confirming that the invaders were from the Nine Celestial Demons Sect. With his mind made up, he massacred them. As a result, the intruders fell like autumn leaves.
Han Baek, who observed Mu-Gun playing an active role in the battle against the intruders, shot forth an even fiercer Thunderous Wind as if not wanting to lose to him. With both of them pulling their own weight, they wiped out all the demonic practitioners who had broken into the Yunxia Manor except for two people.
Mu-Gun deliberately kept them alive since he needed captives to interrogate. Otherwise, they would have already been corpses by now, like the others. Mu-Gun suppressed their ma-hyeol and a-hyeol acupuncture points, then searched their mouths for poison pills and removed them. The Nine Celestial Demons Sect’s demonic practitioners always had poison pills in their mouths so they could commit suicide at any given time. Once caught by the enemy, they would consume it without hesitation.
Mu-Gun had experienced many such instances throughout his previous life. Hence, he now removed the poison pills first to prevent the captured demonic practitioners from taking their own lives.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om