Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 100
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 100. Counter Greater Force with Even Greater Force (5)
Moyong Su Hyang, who had been staring at the alcohol as if entranced, cleared her throat.
“I’m fine.”
“Really? It’s alcohol that’s hard to taste easily, you know?”
Myeong Ho Lim’s smile deepened.
“If converted to silver, it would be about twenty nyang per cup. Do you still not want to drink it?”
Moyong Su Hyang flinched.
Moyong Bi waved his hand dismissively as if annoyed.
“One drunkard in our family is enough with our youngest. Go back to your seat.”
Myeong Ho Lim’s cheek twitched.
“You said your name was Moyong Bi?”
“Haven’t you left yet?”
“You said you live in Wuhan? Maybe because I wasn’t interested, I didn’t even know there was a surname like Moyong.”
Moyong Su Hyang’s face instantly turned cold.
Moyong Bi tilted his head.
“Didn’t you study history? There are quite a lot of Moyongs around. Did you come here to boast about being ignorant?”
“What?”
“Congratulations. I don’t know why you’d want to boast about such a thing, but you gained some good knowledge today. Should I pour you a drink?”
Myeong Ho Lim’s face flushed red.
Moyong Bi’s voice wasn’t much different from other people’s. Neither loud nor quiet.
But his voice had a unique presence.
Thanks to this, people’s gazes began to focus on this spot.
“Hey, Mr. Moyong.”
“Why… wait a moment.”
“…?”
“What’s your name?”
Instantly, snickering sounds could be heard from here and there.
Myeong Ho Lim shouted angrily.
“I’m Myeong Ho Lim of the Nine Swords Famous Family!”
“Where is the Nine Swords Famous Family located? Sorry, I don’t know much.”
He truly didn’t know.
It seemed countless sects and martial families had sprung up like mushrooms after rain following the war. Even if they had existed back then, he couldn’t memorize all those numerous small and medium sects scattered across the land.
Myeong Ho Lim’s face turned bright red. Whether from alcohol or anger was unclear.
Then, a woman sitting at a table shouted.
“Brother Myeong, just come over here. What good is there in picking fights with such lowly people?”
Her clear voice was full of arrogance.
Birds of a feather flock together, and it seemed these mediocre people had gathered together quite well.
Moyong Bi waved his hand dismissively.
“That lowly girl is calling you, so hurry along.”
Making two people angry with one remark could be considered a talent.
Bang!
A young man who had been sitting at the same spot stood up, hitting the table with his fist.
“How dare you speak such nonsense to the precious daughter of Hwageum Fortress!”
The bustling second floor fell into silence.
Hwageum Fortress was one of the secular families under the Martial Arts Sect, and while not particularly famous, no one could easily mess with them since they had the Martial Arts Sect’s backing.
Moyong Bi chuckled.
“What nonsense are you speaking to the Young Master of the Moyong Family?”
“Shut up! How dare a dirty bloodline from a family of fraudsters speak about Hwageum Fortress!”
“Do you like that lowly girl?”
“Wh-what did you say?”
“Why are you so excited? Just drink your alcohol quietly and go. Who started the fight first, yet you’re throwing a tantrum?”
The way he even clicked his tongue made him look like an adult scolding hot-blooded brats.
All four men and women reached the peak of anger.
“That crazy bastard!”
“Stop it!”
At Myeong Ho Lim’s shout, the young man bit his lips.
“Hey, Mr. Moyong.”
“Why… ah, damn it. What’s your name again?”
“Myeong Ho Lim!”
“Right, Myeong Ho Lim.”
Moyong Bi’s eyes turned cold.
Myeong Ho Lim, who was about to throw a tantrum, swallowed his saliva at the intimidating aura that suddenly emanated.
“This is a place for giving our youngest hangover cure. I’ll tolerate the noise in the tavern, but if you keep picking fights, I’ll make the same mark on your butt as the one on your forehead.”
“…!”
“But why did you write ‘Hero’ on there? Are you that embarrassed?”
“You bastard!”
He was angry, but strangely found it difficult to pick more fights.
It was because of Moyong Bi’s gaze.
It was an intimidating presence his abilities couldn’t interpret. Still, he had instincts, so he knew this guy was dangerous.
Myeong Ho Lim, who had been trembling, took a deep breath.
“It seems you luckily learned a few martial arts moves somewhere. But know this. I was caught off guard by a surprise attack, but in actual combat, someone like you wouldn’t last even ten seconds.”
Moyong Bi waved his hand dismissively in annoyance.
“I got it, so get lost.”
“You don’t think so, right? If you want, I’ll fight you. Tomorrow evening in front of the tavern, let’s have a match. How about it? Do you have the courage?”
“…Do you even know what actual combat is?”
“Of course I do. You probably don’t. You’re nothing but third-rate unless you resort to dirty tricks like surprise attacks.”
He talked way too much.
Though these were words he originally wanted to say, they were too pride-damaging to utter in this situation.
Yet he unconsciously kept saying such things because he was stimulated by Moyong Bi’s killing intent.
“In the end, that’s all you amount to. You have no money and no skill, so you only read your opponent’s openings and decide matches with surprise attacks. You don’t know anything about the righteous martial arts spirit of fighting fair and square…”
That’s when it happened.
“I don’t know since when fair and square became synonymous with actual combat.”
“Which bastard is butting in!”
Myeong Ho Lim’s expression changed completely as he turned his head while shouting angrily.
Three men and women were coming down from the third floor, clearly young masters and misses from prestigious families.
“You want to engage in actual combat? In real battles where blood splatters and flesh flies, surprise attacks are something both sides tacitly allow.”
It was a pleasant voice to hear.
Serious and weighty. Yet cold anger could be felt, and that aura alone made everyone on this floor hold their breath.
“What are you trying to teach a master of actual combat when you don’t even know real combat?”
“Wh-who are you?”
“I am Gwan of the Namgung Clan of Anhui.”
Though everyone would know anyway, he deliberately mentioned his family name.
It meant Namgung Gwan had made up his mind.
“Gasp!”
Not only Myeong Ho Lim but all the men and women sitting at the table turned pale.
The Namgung Clan of Anhui Province.
Their alias was the Sword King Family.
Among secular martial families, it was a family with no equal in swordsmanship, and some called them the Greatest Sword Family Under Heaven.
The hegemon of Anhui Province, wielding power that didn’t fall behind the Nine Great Sects despite being just a martial family.
Naturally, it was a martial family that couldn’t even be compared to Myeong Ho Lim’s family ‘or the like’.
Myeong Ho Lim cupped his fists in greeting.
“I, I greet you! I am the eldest son of the Nine Provinces Myeong Family, Myeong Ho Lim…!”
“I don’t want to hear your filthy name, so shut your mouth.”
“…Pardon?”
“Your behavior is too despicable, isn’t it? What? Is being defeated in one blow at the tournament so shameful? Then instead of guzzling alcohol here, you should go home and train diligently. Why are you causing a fuss by picking fights with the victor?”
“Th-that is…!”
“I heard that tournament participants who engage in pointless fights outside the duel stage have their tournament qualifications revoked.”
Namgung Gwan’s gaze grew increasingly cold.
It was a gaze so frigid it could freeze even a wildfire solid with a single look.
“If you’re human, you can’t possibly not know that Moyong Sohyeop is stronger than you. Yet picking such nonsensical fights can only mean you’re trying to bring down Moyong Sohyeop.”
“…!”
“Is there anyone in this world so ugly and petty? Does the head of the Nine Swords Myeong Family know that his son possesses character worse than back alley thugs?”
Myeong Ho Lim’s face went blank.
Namgung Gwan’s words were formal yet incredibly brutal beyond description.
It was such merciless verbal violence that drawing a sword and slashing would have been preferable.
The drunk patrons and Murim Warriors watching the situation gulped nervously.
Even though I wasn’t Myeong Ho Lim, I felt as if I were the victim, with each word dismembering my limbs.
“And.”
Namgung Gwan’s eyes turned toward the woman called the Young Miss of Hwageum Fortress.
The woman involuntarily hiccupped. Normally, she would have corrected her posture to appear elegant somehow, but now she couldn’t.
“I’ve never heard of Hwageum Fortress, but no matter how great your family is, you shouldn’t treat or speak of others carelessly.”
“Y-yes, yes!”
“You should actually be grateful to me. When Moyong Sohyeop gets truly angry, there aren’t many who can stop her.”
The woman’s throat bobbed up and down.
Namgung Gwan turned his gaze back to Myeong Ho Lim.
He didn’t even glance at the young man who had struck the table or the woman beside him. He thought they were all birds of a feather from the start.
“Myeong Ho Lim.”
“…Yes?”
“I sincerely hope that the shameful behavior you displayed today will be talked about in this region for twenty years to come.”
These words were meant for all those who had gossiped about what happened at the Moyong Family twenty years ago.
Not only this floor but even the first floor fell quiet. While pretending otherwise, hearing Namgung Gwan’s words made them both angry and ashamed.
Namgung Gwan let out a sigh.
“I was taught to respect and love all people in the world, but seeing times like this, it’s truly not easy. A person’s honor lives or dies by a single word, yet how wicked must their nature be to thoughtlessly spout any words?”
The atmosphere became solemn.
But as in any group, there’s always someone who must nitpick out of pride.
“What Young Master Namgung says is right in every respect, but.”
One of the drinking Murim Warriors frowned and spoke.
“It’s true that the Moyong family did wrong, isn’t it? Just because someone said a few words while drunk, to lump everyone together…”
“Tell me your wrongdoings.”
“What, what did you say?”
“Tell me the wrongs you’ve committed in your life. Whether you’ve beaten or betrayed anyone, whether you’ve stolen anything, whether there were unavoidable killings – tell me everything according to your conscience.”
Disgust settled in Namgung Gwan’s eyes.
“When I return to Anhui and drink, I’ll mention your name and criticize your wrongs. That’s something one can do while drunk, isn’t it?”
The Murim Warrior’s face turned bright red.
“Speaking facts as facts? Fine. But why must blood relatives who didn’t even exist at the time face those hollow and cold arrows of criticism? Even if you had such a right, is it fun for you people to humiliate others to their faces? Do you know how these people have lived before spouting such nonsense?”
Moyong Su Hyang’s eyes wavered.
“I hope you’ll reflect on yourselves and realize how vulgar and shameful this is.”
Eventually, everyone lowered their heads.
No one met the eyes of Namgung Gwan, Namgung So So, or Jegal Lin who came with them.
Namgung Gwan, who had let out a deep sigh, smiled as he looked at Moyong Bi.
“I heard you won all your matches today.”
Moyong Bi propped his chin with an indifferent expression.
“I heard you swept them all clean too?”
“Ahaha, well. They were all opponents with clear strengths.”
“They must have been damn weak. I can tell from how you’re trying to dress up your words.”
Namgung Gwan scratched his head as if troubled.
Moyong Bi, who had been looking at him sulkily, glanced at Moyong Su Hyang.
Moyong Su Hyang’s face looked complicated. She was grateful to Namgung Gwan for stepping in, but she also wondered if it was really right.
“Damn it all!”
Bang!
The sound of his palm striking the table echoed throughout the entire tavern.
Myeong Ho Lim collapsed on the spot.
“I was going to quietly focus on training, but I guess I need to cheer up our youngest.”
“Ah, will you do that?”
Namgung Gwan’s face showed slight disappointment.
Moyong Bi pointed to the third floor with his chin.
“Go up.”
“Yes? Ah, yes!”
“Our youngest seems to like expensive alcohol. You silver-tongued young master will pay.”
Namgung Gwan’s face immediately brightened.
“Is, is that really okay?”
Namgung So So chuckled and said.
“Why should we pay for that?”
“You won’t pay?”
“We need to buy food too, not just alcohol. I’m still nauseous.”
“Our youngest couldn’t even come watch her elder brother’s match because of her hangover. That shows decent character.”
“Puhaha!”
Eventually, Moyong Su Hyang’s face turned bright red as she rushed up to the third floor.
When the entire group went up to the third floor, the people on this floor cleared their throats and lowered their heads.
The area between the legs of Myeong Ho Lim, who had collapsed on the floor, gradually, gradually turned a darker color.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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