I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Obtained Gwan U’s Martial Techniques 016
A Mysterious Guest
Lost in thought, Gwan Hui stroked his chin.
The rough bristles of his beard prickled against his fingertips.
Originally, Gwan Hui had preferred to shave, but at Gwan U’s request, he had finally decided to grow out his beard.
“What on earth is this?”
In Gwan Hui’s hand lay a small vial filled with dark bluish liquid.
It was the only thing remaining after disposing of the Honnyak Bang’s assets.
“What could it possibly be that even merchants are reluctant to buy it?”
This small vial had been discovered in the possession of Gwang Sa Hoon, the director of the Honnyak Bang.
“I simply cannot fathom it.”
A peculiar liquid that emitted a strange fragrance—earthy yet strangely musty.
Wondering if it might be poison, he had even touched a bit to his lips to taste it, but his body showed no reaction whatsoever.
“You all have no idea what this is either, I suppose?”
“Of course not, sir.”
The martial artists of the family nodded as though baffled by such a question.
“So it seems. Where is the steward?”
“The steward? He’s gone out, sir.”
“These days it’s rare to see his face around.”
“He’s been starting a new venture with the funds the Family Patriarch gave him, so it seems.”
Thanks to the Honnyak Bang’s coffers, there were no immediate concerns about livelihood, but that did not mean the Gwan Estate was free from financial worries.
For the family to maintain its form, a steady means of generating income was necessary, and as yet, the Gwan Estate possessed no such thing.
“Business is certainly important.”
Ordinarily, the Family Patriarch himself ought to take an active hand in such matters, but Gwan Hui did not.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he could not.
‘I’ve never had a talent for managing money……’
Gwan Hui was a man wholly removed from such concerns as business and finance.
He did not even truly understand why his mind ought to be employed in such ways.
If one’s body was strong, one’s mind could be at ease.
Why trouble oneself with thinking at all?
“Ah, sir. Perhaps Gwan Yu Hwa would know?”
“That one. She’s returned?”
“Yes, she came back two days ago. And there she is now, just arriving.”
Gwan Hui turned his gaze toward the woman entering through the gates of the Estate Grounds.
Dressed in a pure white martial robe with a white cloth wound about her hair, she was Gwan Yu Hwa, one of the household’s members.
“Gwan Yu Hwa.”
“Older b—— Wait, sir, the Family Patriarch!”
“Mm. Did your training go well?”
“Yes! I’ve finished all my training.”
Hundred Herbs Maiden, Gwan Yu Hwa.
Having just turned eighteen, she was a physician.
More than that—a prodigy physician who had completed years of training under Unsung’s most renowned master of medicine.
Her talent was so exceptional that even the Sacheon Tang Family had once attempted to recruit her.
“You must have worked very hard.”
“Not at all. You have surely worked far harder than I, sir.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve heard everything. That you recovered the family’s Martial Techniques and destroyed the Honnyak Bang, that evil force of the Dark Path?”
Though she had been back for only two days, Gwan Yu Hwa already knew it all.
Every member of the household was so excited they spoke of nothing else—it was impossible not to hear it.
“People everywhere in the streets are singing your praises. It’s truly remarkable, sir.”
“Ah, it’s nothing worth such fuss.”
Gwan Yu Hwa spoke with eyes that seemed to hold starlight within them.
“I have always believed in you.”
She grasped both his hands firmly, joy radiating from her.
“I will work even harder. So please, older b—— I mean, sir, do your best as well.”
“Mm. Very well.”
At her sincere words, Gwan Hui scratched the bridge of his nose with some embarrassment.
Unwavering trust.
It was quite a pleasant thing to have someone always believing in you, always standing steadfast at your back.
Even if the whole world turned away, here was one who would remain by your side.
“……or so it would seem.”
Gwan Hui, standing there with an air of awkwardness, extended a Medicine Vial.
“This is…….”
“Do you know what it is?”
“Of course. It’s Thousand Li Enchanting Fragrance.”
True to her reputation as the White Maiden Apothecary, she identified the poison’s nature at a glance.
“Originally, they say a single drop can be followed across a thousand leagues, but judging by the quality here, this one would only work for about a hundred leagues.”
The scent of Thousand Li Enchanting Fragrance ordinarily cannot be detected by the human nose.
Only a Martial Artist trained in special techniques or beasts like hounds are supposed to be able to smell it.
“Well, considering it was likely made by those Honnyak Bang dogs, one can’t expect superior quality.”
“But this……it looks like it’s already been used, Patriarch.”
“……!”
At those words, Gwan Hui’s gaze turned cold and sharp.
“I see. So that’s why you’ve come.”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. You haven’t fully recovered from your journey yet—rest for now.”
Gwan Hui moved away from Gwan Yu Hwa and carefully climbed onto the old roof.
-Why are you doing this?
“I have a suspicion that the Anmun Family is after this Medicine Vial.”
-You mean that one who came before?
“Yes. I suspect his subordinates will come sniffing around here soon enough.”
-How did you arrive at such a conclusion?
“The servants at the inn mentioned it. That man was searching for Gwang Sa Hoon, the Honnyak Bang patriarch.”
-……?
Gwan U couldn’t quite follow how one clue led to such a conclusion.
“There’s only one reason the Honnyak Bang would craft something like Thousand Li Enchanting Fragrance. A commission.”
Gwan Hui suspected the true owner of this Medicine Vial was the Anmun Family.
As a White Path family, they couldn’t openly purchase such a thing, so they’d had the Dark Path dogs make it for them.
“Here’s where it gets interesting—the Thousand Li Enchanting Fragrance has already been used.”
Commissioning merely the creation of Thousand Li Enchanting Fragrance and commissioning its actual use were vastly different things.
“The former is nothing more than covertly tracking someone. But the latter…….”
-To cause harm.
“Precisely. That’s why they went so far as to commission its use too. They have to maintain their appearance as White Path, after all.”
Hypocrisy.
Most White Path families presented themselves with decorum while concealing such deceit behind closed doors.
-Ha! I thought you dull, but you’re sharper than expected. Reading the entire scheme from just that single thread of evidence.
Gwan U felt genuine admiration.
For a moment, he saw in the young man the shadow of Kongming himself.
-Usually can’t even count coins, yet at times like this…….
Truly a peculiar descendant.
Most of the time he appeared lazy as a bear, yet occasionally he’d flash the cunning of a fox.
-Had he taken up the brush instead of the blade, he’d have made a fine Military Strategist.
“Ah, come now. Any fool can make that kind of deduction.”
-…….
The words “Then everyone else is a fool?” nearly escaped Gwan U’s lips, but he barely restrained himself.
He was already as good as buried in a tomb—no point in digging his own grave further.
-Then who do you think they’re after?
“For the Anmun Family to join hands with Unsung’s Dark Path and conduct a search…….”
Gwan Hui stroked his chin, his expression grave.
His eyes held the aura of one who knew all the world’s secrets.
“……I haven’t the faintest idea.”
-……?
Gwan U was taken aback.
Usually when he gives off that sort of presence, he knows everything.
Truly an impossible-to-read descendant.
“But well. We should find out soon enough, shouldn’t we?”
Shing—
Gwan Hui drew the Crescent Moon Blade strapped across his back.
“They’ll be coming shortly.”
-They’re coming?
“Yes.”
-What madman breaks into the Estate Grounds of a White Path family, knowing you’ve killed the Honnyak Bang’s master?
For once, Gwan U thought Gwan Hui was wrong.
-I suspect they’ll try a different approach.
“I’ve spent enough time tangled with those Honnyak Bang thugs to know how they think.”
Under the moonlight, Gwan Hui’s lips curled into a smile.
“Those idiots will definitely come here tonight.”

* * *
Behind the Estate Grounds of the Gwan Estate stood a stretch of Bamboo Forest, tall stalks lined in rows.
A night when the full moon hung like thread on a single stalk of bamboo.
Five martial artists in black robes lay hidden there.
“Remember. Leave no trace.”
Gu Man, sub-master of the Blood River Gate—men who’d do anything for a handful of silver—fingered the Hidden Blade at his waist.
“The objective is to slaughter them all without leaving a trace. And recover the Thousand Li Enchanting Fragrance.”
“Yes, sub-master. We understand.”
“What’s so hard about this job? The fuss.”
Unlike sub-master Gu Man, his men nodded with expressions of utter indifference.
To them, this work hardly warranted such concentration.
What was it but the extermination of some insignificant family tucked away in the backwoods of Unsung?
They’d done this sort of thing countless times; there was nothing novel about it, nothing to surprise them.
“What danger could there be in destroying a third-rate dying clan? The worry is misplaced, sir.”
“Fools. Every mission demands caution.”
“Come now. The five of us are already being plenty cautious.”
“Right. Don’t you know that back at Anmun, the five of us are enough to massacre the inner sects of even the Nine Schools?”
His men showed no deference to Gu Man’s warning.
They barely listened to him at all—he’d joined the Blood River Gate far later than they had.
A matter of territorial pride, one might say.
“……Sigh.”
Gu Man, who had been glaring at his subordinates, shook his head slowly.
He disliked it, but he couldn’t help it.
He couldn’t afford internal conflict on the eve of a mission.
“Still—be careful. Word has it this family’s patriarch once felled a First-Class Master.”
“Pah. You believe that?”
“What First-Class Master would ever come to a place like this? It’s obviously nonsense.”
At the continued mockery of his men, Gu Man’s face hardened like stone.
“……Fine. Let’s move in.”
Gu Man cast a sidelong glance at his subordinates and ventured deeper into the Bamboo Forest.
He had a feeling that once this mission was over, he’d need to leave this cursed sect.
Even if the Dark Path had no law or order, without respect for one’s superior, there was nothing to be done.
‘Sigh. Maybe I should just start my own sect. At least it wouldn’t be filthy.’
As Gu Man exhaled once more and pushed through the bamboo, stepping forward—
“Well. Quite the gathering.”
“……!?”
A strange voice came from above the bamboo stalks.
A deep, resonant tone that filled the space.
It came from a young man balanced on one foot atop a bamboo stalk, impossibly thin.
“……!?”
Gu Man’s eyes widened slightly at the sight.
Standing on one foot atop a bamboo stalk required either External Force mastered to its absolute limit, or Lightness Skill of the highest caliber.
“What brings you all out on such a late night? Looking for scraps to pick over?”
“Who is that bastard?”
“Is he insane? Doing calisthenics in the moonlight? Hah.”
While Gu Man, with his sharp eye, quickly gauged his opponent’s level, his men—derision curling their lips—drew their blades.
These fools hadn’t grasped the difference in power from what Gwan Hui had just displayed.
“Did Jang Ryu send you?”
“Hah. That’s right. You know him well.”
“Come down. If you want to die easy.”
“Keep mouthing off and you’ll catch hell from the elder brothers. Get down here. Kid.”
The Blood River Gate disciples taunted Gwan Hui, their fingers curling mockingly.
“Very well. I shall descend.”
Gwan Hui tightened his grip on the Crescent Moon Blade and pushed off the bamboo with his feet, dropping lightly.
Whoosh!—
As he fell, Gwan Hui raised the blade overhead and swung it in a vertical arc with tremendous force.
Crack!—
The blow, accelerated by gravity, fell like lightning from a clear sky, cleaving one of the Blood River Gate disciples cleanly in two.
Split precisely from crown to groin, the man died without even a scream.
“……!”
“……!!”
The faces of the Blood River Gate disciples drained of color.
“First come, first served—one of you lives.”
“……?”
Gwan Hui, having made a clean separation, called out to the remaining disciples.
“Answer my questions, and only one of you walks away. Who volunteers?”
“…….”
The men of the Dark Path, who knew nothing of loyalty even unto death, were exchanging wary glances when—
“Me! I will, Master! I’m different from these bastards! They’re the worst kind—won’t listen to orders, and yesterday they were harassing a girl from a respectable family!”
Gu Man’s hand shot up faster than anyone else’s.
“…….”
“…….”
The subordinates who had just been betrayed stared at him in disbelief.
A deputy branch master had his own way of betrayal, different from the rest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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