I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 71

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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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Obtained Guan Yu’s Martial Arts – Episode 71
Taking What One Wants (3)
Shaanxi Province. Mount Taiping.
Upon a barren mountain perpetually filled with yellow-leafed trees stood a lone Taoist.
For more than a decade, he had sought secluded places untouched by human feet, cultivating the Way in solitude.
Zhang Chuoshan—the Great Worthy and Good Teacher—with his gaunt frame, pallid countenance, and eyes that shone with an uncanny light, could not suppress his sighs as he gazed at the heavens.
“Ah… I cannot comprehend it. How can this be?”
Worry creased his face as he read the Celestial Divination.
The sky above was cloudless and clear, yet his expression was shrouded in gloom.
“Why does the light of the White Light Star flicker so violently?”
Seven weeks he had spent gazing at the heavens alone.
In the heart of the Taoist who sought to divine Heaven’s will through the Celestial Divination, a small Heart Demon had begun to grow.
It arose from his concern for the young man with whom he had forged a bond through the Yellow Heaven.
“It is strange. The way other stars vanish, and how the Celestial Divination shakes so—has there ever been such turbulence?”
Stars that had rarely wavered had recently begun to disappear in rapid succession.
One hundred and eight stars—the 108 Stars.
Three of them had lately lost their radiance and declined.
The Heaven Loss Star, the Earth Flying Star, and the Earth Craft Star.
And on top of that, the Heaven Wisdom Star and the Heaven Peace Star.
Never in all of Central Plains history had so many stars declined at once.
Even in the age known as the Reign of Heaven, when great generals’ lives vanished like bamboo shoots after rain, nothing of this magnitude had occurred.
“What in the world is happening…?”
Never had the flow of Heaven been so turbulent, nor had its meaning been so difficult to discern.
Worry settled unbidden upon Zhang Chuoshan’s brow.
“If even the White Light Star—which commands the 108 Stars—trembles… a Chaotic Era approaches.”
Zhang Chuoshan exhaled a heavy sigh, his heart laden with dread.
It seemed only moments ago that he had found reassurance in watching Guan Hui, who carried the White Light Star, and his temperament.
How could Heaven’s will have become so turbid?
“Unless someone deliberately obscures the Celestial Divination…”
Zhang Chuoshan lowered his gaze from the sky and settled into a cross-legged seated position on the rock.
It was to quell the Heart Demon that had recently disturbed his mind.
Rustling leaves and the fragrant scent of grass drifted between the trees.
Even as Zhang Chuoshan turned his attention inward to his Spirit Cultivation, his eyes flew open.
“…What?!”
The forest was as silent as always.
Yet to Zhang Chuoshan’s ears came the sound of something detonating repeatedly.
The dozen or so Formation Techniques he had set throughout Mount Taiping were exploding in rapid succession.
“What—?!”
The formations were being shattered with each passing moment.
He thought it might be the intrusion of a Daoist sorcerer, but it was too brutal for that.
Rather than breaking through the formations skillfully, it was as though someone was simply seizing the flow of Qi and tearing it apart.
“Who in the world…?!”
Zhang Chuoshan leaped to his feet, unable to conceal his shock.
“…!!”
Someone materialized before his eyes.
* * *
Zhang Cheng’s mouth fell open.
“Cho… Cho Seol?”
“What injuries—!”
Huang Xiaozhe caught the staggering figure of Cho Seol in her arms.
Whatever she had endured, her condition was grave.
Her entire body was drenched in blood, and deep lacerations marked her shoulders and ribs.
Her body was in tatters, too damaged even for acupressure points to take hold.
She was in a state where death would have been no surprise.
Thump.
Cho Seol’s body then collapsed fully into Huang Xiaozhe’s embrace.
She had lost consciousness.
Looking at her state, her arrival here seemed little short of a miracle.
“Come inside, quickly.”
Guan Hui swiftly opened the family gates and dispatched a servant to summon Guan Yuhua, the Hundred Herb Maiden.
She possessed exceptional knowledge of medicine, and recently had even taken up the study of medical arts.
“Family Head! Injured again? How many times must I tell you not to fight alone…….”
Guan Yuhua scolded as she approached, but her expression hardened as she spoke.
“Quickly. To my apothecary.”
Guan Hui and his companions entered Guan Yuhua’s apothecary with the unconscious Cho Seol.
The medical attendants Guan Yuhua had recently taken on as disciples hurried to clear a space, and Cho Seol, covered in blood and wounds, was laid upon it.
“Her condition is grave. The wounds are far too numerous. As if someone deliberately sought to torment her…….”
Guan Yuhua set her expression and drew out needles and thread.
She would use the needles to stimulate her vital points and accelerate recovery, then stitch the wounds closed with thread.
“Where……?”
At that moment, Cho Seol’s eyes opened.
“You’re at the Guan Family Estate. Don’t worry.”
Guan Hui placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as she tried to rise.
For an instant, Huang Xiaozhe’s eyes flickered, but given the circumstances, she held her silence and watched.
“Would you tell us what happened?”
The original plan had been for Cho Seol to bring Cho Ryang to Guan Hui.
So that after Guan Hui finished the assassins, he could kill him himself.
But Cho Seol never appeared at the ravine.
Why was that?
“……I killed Cho Ryang myself.”
“……!”
“……!!”
Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
They were astonished that she had taken her own brother’s life by her own hand.
“Why did you do that? It was my burden to bear.”
“……It had to be me. When an elder brother errs, it falls to the younger sister to tie off the loose end.”
Cho Seol curved her lips into a faint smile.
Though dried blood stained her cheeks and her complexion was deathly pale, beauty still lingered in her face.
“That was a dangerous thing to do.”
“……If I hadn’t, the Guan Family would have suffered. We had to prevent the Heiying Assassin Guild from coming again.”
The Shaanxi branch of the Heiying Assassin Guild, an organization of hired killers, had been annihilated.
Whether they would let the matter rest, having lost their profit, or retaliate for the sake of pride was uncertain.
So Cho Seol had taken matters into her own hands.
If the Huazong Sect, known as Shaanxi’s foremost martial school, became entangled in this, even they would not move against her so easily.
“I owe you a debt.”
“I’m only sorry, that’s all.”
Cho Seol exhaled shallow breath and smiled fully.
“You look beautiful when you’re troubled…… Family Head.”
Cho Seol, who had been studying Guan Hui’s features as if savoring them, closed her eyes.
“Cho Seol!”
Zhang Cheng rushed to grasp her limp hand.
“She’s only lost consciousness.”
Guan Yuhua, still stitching her wounds, felt for her pulse.
“But her condition isn’t good. It will take time, so the rest of you should leave.”
“Please…… please heal her!”
Zhang Cheng’s eyes, glistening more than usual today, fixed on Guan Yuhua.
“……I understand, so leave quickly.”
At Guan Yuhua’s insistence, Guan Hui, Zhang Cheng, and Huang Xiaozhe left the apothecary and headed straight for the Administrative Hall.
Zhu Hu, who had been given advance notice, was waiting there and poured tea as Guan Hui took his seat and explained everything that had transpired.
“I see…… So Cho Seol has shouldered a burden meant for our house.”
Zhu Hu, who had poured the first and most fragrant tea for Guan Hui, now filled the remaining cups.
The second went to Huang Xiaozhe, the third to himself, and the last pale brew he quietly offered to Zhang Cheng.
“For our clan, it is a favorable turn of events. But for Cho Seol as an individual, it is not so.”
“……That’s true.”
Huang Xiaozhe, her gaze heavy with complexity, nodded gravely.
“Cho Seol? Why?!”
Today more than any other day, Zhang Cheng’s voice rose.
Zhu Hu regarded him with disdain and clicked his tongue lightly.
“Can’t you see what’s happened? Cho Seol drew her blade on our family’s behalf.”
“But why……?”
Zhang Cheng tilted his head, plainly confused.
He sipped the bitter tea with a slight wince, then fixed his gaze on Guan Hui.
His eyes posed a silent question: you know as well as I do, don’t you?
“Mm.”
Guan Hui deftly avoided his stare and drank deeply from his cup.
The art of preserving a Family Head’s dignity in such moments was elegantly simple.
Keep your mouth shut and listen with quiet composure.
Flash an expression of understanding now and then, nothing more.
“I understand perfectly well. It’s only Zhang Cheng who fails to grasp it. Hardly surprising—men and monkeys are different creatures, after all.”
“……!”
Suddenly transformed into a primate, Zhang Cheng’s mouth fell open.
Before a rebuttal or curse could escape his lips, Zhu Hu moved swiftly to elaborate.
“First, when Cho Seol drew her blade, it achieved two effects. One concerns the Heiying Assassin Guild. Now they must account for the Huazong Sect’s attention—they won’t move rashly.”
“Those dogs?”
“Yes. The cost-benefit of facing Huazong masters as well no longer favors them.”
Zhu Hu, having taken pity on the monkey, sipped his tea.
Tea was best enjoyed no later than the third infusion.
After that, it turned bitter and thin—scarcely worth drinking.
“And second—this is the truly critical part. We have Cho Seol to thank for absolving us of a blood debt to the Huazong Sect.”
“A blood debt?”
“Yes. Had the Family Head killed Cho Ryang, they would have demanded recompense in blood. A Life-Death Covenant would have been struck between Huazong and the Guan Clan. War might well have followed.”
Zhang Cheng’s brow furrowed at this.
“I still don’t see it. Cho Ryang started it—why would they seek vengeance? What we did was justice.”
“Isn’t that obvious? A Successor they groomed for the sect has been slain. The sect’s future—murdered. You yourself have done the same, have you not?”
“…….”
Zhang Cheng, a man with history, fell silent as a stone.
“All, all right. But is the Huazong Sect really such a threat?”
“How do you mean, sir?”
“Are they so formidable? We’re hardly weak ourselves, are we? We have the Family Head, I’m here, and so is Huang Xiaozhe.”
“I……”
Guan Hui began to voice his assent when Zhu Hu’s brow darkened.
“You speak like a monkey, sir.”
Guan Hui hastily raised his cup to his lips.
A Family Head’s dignity had to be preserved, after all.
“A mo—monkey. Now listen here, you……!”
“Zhang Cheng. The Huazong Sect is the premier power of Shaanxi Province.”
“And we are the premier house of Shanxi Province.”
“True. Yet the disparity in years is vast. Huazong is a formidable sect with deep historical roots.”
Zhu Hu held up three fingers.
“They boast three Peak Masters alone. And their sect leader, Deng Buying—known as the Straightforward Swordsman—ranks among the finest masters under heaven.”
“That… that much?”
Zhang Cheng feigned surprise.
“Yes. We too have our Peak Master—the Family Head has reached Peak Mastery. But surely the Family Head cannot face three Peak Masters single-handedly?”
“…….”
Zhang Cheng’s mouth sealed shut once more.
Not a word of it was false.
Even among peers of equal mastery, their opponents possessed vastly superior experience and inner force.
Their adversaries were aged monsters who had spent forty years more accumulating both.
“In any case. Cho Seol drew her blade and forestalled all of it. She protected the Guan Clan from harm.”
“…….”
With those words, silence descended upon the Administrative Hall.
The image rose unbidden—her form slick with blood from countless wounds.
A frail young woman’s sacrifice flickered before their eyes.
“……Then what becomes of Cho Seol?”
Guan Hui, who had held his silence to preserve his station, posed the question that had been waiting all along.
“What of her, who has borne all this burden in our stead?”
“She will likely face punishment under sect law. Killing a sect disciple violates the rules.”
“Explain.”
“……They will sever her limb meridians and seal her Dantian. She will be crippled and cast out.”
“……!”
Zhang Cheng’s face drained of color, and shadows gathered beneath Huang Xiaozhe’s eyes.
To a martial artist, sealing the Dantian and severing the Limb Meridians was no different from death.
She, already torn to shreds by her battle with Cho Ryang, would truly be meeting her end.
“But there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Zhu Hu spoke hurriedly, seeing the look on Guan Hui’s face.
“We need to deal with Tian Jiao and his rabble first. We don’t have the strength or the focus for anything else right now.”
…….
Guan Hui said nothing, staring down at his teacup.
The image of her — smiling faintly, caked in blood — flickered before his eyes.
He’d seen that face before.
It resembled the faces of those who had died powerless to resist, unable to fight back.
As the Guan Clan had done. Someone bearing another’s burden, then collapsing beneath it.
He never wanted to witness that again.
“I’ve decided.”
Guan Hui crushed the teacup in his grip, his voice steady.
“We go to the Huazong Sect.”

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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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