Chapter 113
“T-This-!”
“What kind of atrocious-!”
Seeing their comrade fall, the other Mount Hua Lay Disciples also became enraged and rushed at me.
It would have been nice if someone had drawn a Sword…, but they all just raised their fists.
‘I suppose…, drawing a Sword here just because they’re in a bad mood would make them a true Unorthodox Faction.’
I was about to respond with my fists as well, but instead, I just picked up a spoon from the table.
This way, I would have something to say when a dispute over responsibility arose later.
I picked up a spoon to Counterattack the Ruffians who dared to use a lethal Strike first.
If I said that, the Mount Hua Affiliated Family Bastards would take all the blame.
And well…, it’s not like you can’t hit someone painfully with a spoon.
Smack-!
“Kuaaagh-!”
A spoon wasn’t made to be used as a weapon in the first place, and since it was made of wood, it would break, unable to withstand it if I infused Internal Energy into it.
Therefore, rather than ignorantly swinging the spoon, I concisely struck down on their Temples.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwaack-!
“Aaaagh-!”
“Kuaagh-!”
“Kyaaagh-!”
Every time I struck down with the spoon, a feast of groans could be heard.
Like an orchestra conductor, I felt the notes and meticulously played a song of destruction.
“Kuuugh…, I will definitely…”
“Uh-uh? Don’t get up. If you get up, you’ll keep getting hit.”
Striking down with the spoon every time the fallen guys squirmed and tried to get up felt exactly like playing a game of whack-a-mole.
Like that, I swung the spoon at the Mount Hua Affiliated Family Bastards for a long time.
* * *
Slurp-.
In the end, my merciless spoon only stopped after the noodles I reordered came out.
This was all just so I could eat some food, so I couldn’t wait until the noodles got soggy.
After making the Mount Hua Affiliated Family Bastards kneel and raise their hands, I leisurely returned to the table and ate my noodles.
Seeing that, Yoo Somyung approached with a slightly worried expression and whispered to me.
“…Is that really going down your throat right now?”
“It’s very delicious, though?”
“No, that’s not what I mean…”
She let out a sigh and continued explaining into my ear.
“…You seem to have forgotten for a moment, but this is Anhui. It’s the Center / Hub of the Righteous Murim where the Murim Alliance Headquarters is located…! We should be keeping a low profile, but what you just did is too…”
“It stands out?”
“…Yes!”
“Hmm…”
Certainly, the number of Spectators around the Inn we were in had increased too much.
Even if they were from an Affiliated Family, Martial Artists kneeling and raising their hands like children being punished wasn’t a sight you could easily see anywhere.
However…
“Still, well…, this much is fine.”
“…What?”
“They were the ones who badmouthed us first, and they were the ones who threw the first punch, so if a problem arises, those guys will take all the responsibility.”
And there was another reason.
No matter how much Munseok had forcefully boosted Jongrimun’s prestige, in the end, Jongrimun was a Zhongnan Affiliated Family.
Having begun to be pushed back by the Mount Hua Sect, the Zhongnan Sect, whose Aura was broken, was truly a sinking ship. In fact, even in the original work, I knew they hadn’t performed particularly well at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
“Haha, serves those Mount Hua Affiliated Family Bastards right.”
“These are the Lay Disciples of the Zhongnan Sect. Huh? We’re on a different level from the Mount Hua Affiliated Family.”
But it could change from here.
Even if it was just an Affiliated Family, the Zhongnan Sect, which had been continuously pushed back by the Mount Hua Sect, had crushed the Mount Hua Sect for the first time in a while.
If this small flow and Aura that started from the Zhongnan Affiliated Family connected all the way to the Zhongnan Sect’s Main Sect/Branch.
Wouldn’t it become a massive flow, allowing the Zhongnan Sect to achieve decent results at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering? If only that could happen, I would also be able to hide my identity more stably by putting the Zhongnan Sect’s prestige at the forefront.
“Still, well…, I should head back now.”
I had finished eating, and if by chance nosy people gathered and started interfering, the matter would blow up.
I called out to Gamnyeong, who was kneeling at the very front among the Mount Hua Lay Disciples.
“Hey, you.”
“Y-Yes?”
“We’re going to leave now, so you guys pay for what we ate too.”
“…Yes.”
It created an atmosphere that looked exactly like I was extorting them. No, but they were the ones in the wrong first, so I could at least do this much, right?
“If you want to tattle to the Mount Hua Main Headquarters, go ahead. For your information, we’re also going to tattle to the Zhongnan Main Headquarters about the fact that you guys insulted the Zhongnan Sect and even used violence first.”
“Keugh…”
Even if we didn’t tell our respective Main Headquarters, there were many Spectators who had witnessed the current situation anyway.
In less than a day, rumors that the Zhongnan Affiliated Family had taught the Mount Hua Affiliated Family a harsh lesson would spread widely throughout Anhui.
I stood up from my seat along with Dongryong-i and the other Zhongnan Lay Disciples, who were smiling like Victors.
Then, after giving a rough nod of greeting to Yoo Somyung and Yu Jinmyeong, I spoke to them via Sound Transmission.
‘I’ll be going now. Keep the secret well, and let’s see each other later at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, alright?’
“…Yes, Great Hero. I will see you then.”
“…”
Yu Jinmyeong replied immediately via Sound Transmission, but no answer came from Somyung-i.
Does she have nothing to say? Well…, that’s possible.
Thinking she had nothing to say, I turned my back, and only then did her voice reach me via Sound Transmission.
“…Be careful.”
What a tsundere girl.
I smiled briefly to myself and stepped right out of the Inn. It had truly been a lunch outing full of twists and turns.
* * *
What happened during the day between the Mount Hua and Zhongnan Affiliated Family spread immediately.
“Hoh, even if it’s an Affiliated Family, the Zhongnan Sect beat the Mount Hua Sect? Hasn’t the Zhongnan Sect been pushed back a lot lately?”
“I heard the disciples of that rumored Jongrimun did it?”
“This is truly surprising. Perhaps the Zhongnan Sect might put up an unexpectedly good fight at this Dragon-Phoenix Gathering too…”
Most showed a surprised reaction. Gazes anticipating the Zhongnan Sect’s good performance at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering also emerged.
And the place that showed a more intense reaction than anyone else upon hearing this news was…
“What is the meaning of this-!”
…Naturally, the Mount Hua Sect’s Main Sect.
In particular, the Second Generation Disciples of the Mount Hua Sect who were directly participating in this Dragon-Phoenix Gathering screamed as if they were foaming at the mouth upon hearing this news.
“The Mount Hua Sect was pushed back by the Zhongnan Sect? This is impossible-!”
“Calm down for now… It was something that happened between Affiliated Families…”
“Is an Affiliated Family not part of the Mount Hua Sect? I heard those Bastards called our Lay Disciples a Fake Mount Hua that can’t even bloom plum blossoms! Senior Martial Brother, can you endure hearing this?”
“Of course I’m angry too, but…, if you scream so loudly right now, the hurt Lay Disciples will only be hurt even more.”
“Ah…”
Just like other Sects, the Mount Hua Sect also used the same Lodging as the invited Lay Disciples. If they shouted this loudly, the Lay Disciples inside would hear their voices.
It was truly trampling on the pride of the Lay Disciples twice.
Realizing this, the Disciple lowered his voice and asked.
“Then, Senior-most Martial Brother… What should we do? Honestly, if it were up to me, I’d want to just storm into the Zhongnan Sect’s Lodging…”
Originally, a fight between younger brothers becomes a fight between older brothers.
The Direct Disciples of the Mount Hua Sect had the intention of fighting the Zhongnan Sect on behalf of the Lay Disciples who had suffered humiliation, if they had their way.
However…
“That would be an act that truly drives the Mount Hua Sect’s majesty into the ground…”
…There was no justification.
Because from what they heard, it was the Mount Hua Affiliated Family that picked a fight with the Zhongnan Affiliated Family first.
“Such idiots…”
Un-Hyeon, the Chief Disciple among the Mount Hua Sect’s Second Generation Disciples, blamed the foolishness of the Lay Disciples.
If they were going to talk behind someone’s back, they shouldn’t have gotten caught, and if they picked a fight, they shouldn’t have lost.
It was neither this nor that, with no justification and no practical benefit; what was this? Even in the public eye, the atmosphere of blaming the Mount Hua Sect for starting the fight first was prevalent.
“Huu…, Jinseong. What do you think the Mount Hua Sect should do right now?”
“…”
Un-Hyeon asked Ha Jinseong with familiarity now. Although Un-Hyeon was the Chief Disciple, it was practically Ha Jinseong who led the Second Generation Disciples.
Whenever a problem arose, Ha Jinseong would immediately come up with a countermeasure and save the Mount Hua Sect from crisis.
Un-Hyeon didn’t doubt that Ha Jinseong would do the same this time.
However…
“…Jinseong?”
“…”
“Jinseong.”
“…Ah, yes. Senior Martial Brother.”
Whatever Ha Jinseong was thinking so deeply about, his reaction was late even when Un-Hyeon called him.
For the first time in a while, Ha Jinseong’s eyes held bewilderment.
And rightfully so…
“In the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering of my Previous Life, nothing like this happened…”
…The future had changed once again.
“Why on Earth this time…?”
Ha Jinseong had thought that the changes in the future so far were related to the Hunan Green Forest.
But this time, the future had changed at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, which was purely a festival of the Righteous Faction.
“Could it be that multiple people were given a Second Life…?”
There were two others besides himself who were suspected of being a Regressor.
First…, someone among the members of the Hunan Green Forest. And…, the Disciple of Jongrimun who trampled the Mount Hua Affiliated Family this time.
A place called Jongrimun was a Sect that Ha Jinseong had never heard of even once in his past life.
But such a Sect suddenly made a name for itself as a rising supernova of the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering among the Gossips of Anhui and subdued the Mount Hua Affiliated Family?
“This is a bit Strange.”
With the will to investigate more closely, Ha Jinseong engraved the name of the Sect called Jongrimun into his heart.
Since the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was starting now anyway, he would be able to meet them even if he didn’t want to.
“The Disciple of Jongrimun…”
Like that, Ha Jinseong steadied his mind, erased the bewildered expression from his face again, and spoke to his other Martial Brothers.
“Right now, we have no justification to make a move. Let’s wait for now…, and resolve this anger at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.”
“Huu…, I suppose we should do that?”
When the Chief Disciple Un-Hyeon and the practical Chief Ha Jinseong said so, the other disciples couldn’t say anything more either.
“Zhongnan… And Jongrimun too…”
“I won’t let them off at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering…”
Like that, the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect ground their swords in anger while waiting for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, which was not far off.
At that time, in the Zhongnan Sect…
* * *
“Shadowless Taoist Priest! No, can I just call you Mu-Yeong?”
“You did well, you did really well!”
“The light of the Zhongnan Affiliated Family! No, just the light of the Zhongnan Sect!”
Fucking Hell.
That evening, after having a bout with the Mount Hua Affiliated Family.
It wasn’t just the Zhongnan Affiliated Family who were fussing over me; the Direct Disciples also chased after me into the Lay Disciples' room, looking for me.
Thanks to that, I, who had just wanted to rest, had no choice but to be pestered by those guys for a long time.
“Shadowless Taoist Priest! No, Mu-Yeong! I knew you would be like this from the first time we met!”
In particular, Geum Sa-Hwi, the Chief Disciple among the Zhongnan Second Generation, was praising me while even wearing a huge, beaming smile…
“Was this person originally this kind of image…?”
Seeing someone who had an expressionless and tired energy when we first met change to this extent, I could feel with my entire body just how much the Zhongnan Sect hated the Mount Hua Sect all over again.
‘To think they’d be overflowing with this much vitality just because I beat up some Mount Hua Affiliated Family Bastards a bit…’
And that didn’t just apply to the disciples of the Zhongnan Sect.
“Shadowless Taoist Priest! The Sect Leader is calling for you?!”
“…Yes?”
When I first heard that, I thought what was bound to come had come.
Because no matter how bad their relationship with the Mount Hua Sect was, there was no way the Sect Leader would leave a Disciple who had just beaten up members of the same Taoist Family alone.
In fact, when I stepped into the Sect Leader’s Quarters and looked at his expression, he was wearing a very stern look.
However…
“You did well.”
“I’m sorr…, yes?”
“No…, not that you did well, but…”
The Zhongnan Sect Leader was wearing a stern expression, but he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upwards.
“No matter how much the other side was in the wrong first, your method of response was too extreme. Reflect on this.”
“…Yes. I’m sorr…”
“But by any chance, do you have any thoughts of becoming a Direct Disciple?”
“…”
…Somehow, he wasn’t giving me a single chance to apologize.
At the Zhongnan Sect Leader’s question seriously asking if I wouldn’t become a Direct Disciple, I could feel that the Zhongnan Sect’s heart that hated the Mount Hua Sect did not distinguish between top and bottom.