Moorim Pochang - Chapter 103

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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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Chapter 103. The Banquet (1).

Thud.
As the wild boar collapsed, the startled others scattered in all directions and fled.
Shin Pung-gae watched the scene in a daze.
Once the boar fell, something rose smoothly from the ground.
“Barely managed it.”
Yang Jung approached the fallen boar, then turned his gaze toward Shin Pung-gae, who hung back at a distance.
“Since I caught it, don’t ask me to share.”
At those words, Shin Pung-gae finally came to his senses.
“W-what were you doing over there?”
Yang Jung’s expression went blank at the question.
What was he doing?
Wasn’t he catching a wild boar?
For four days now, since spotting them, he had been deploying the Swae Sim Sa and Saryeom Eumgyeong techniques to catch the boar.
The Saryeom Eumgyeong remained clumsy, but fortunately he’d managed to bring down the beast.
“I was catching the wild boar.”
“Is there no meat at the Guest Inn?”
Yang Jung answered in the same dull tone.
He’d forgotten entirely why he’d ever found the Gae Bang leader so intimidating.
“I was simply training my martial arts as usual.”
At his answer, Shin Pung-gae’s heart sank.
What he’d just witnessed with his own eyes was no martial art—it was an assassin’s Sal Gong technique.
“Surely you’re not thinking of becoming an assassin?”
The one he’d marked as Gae Bang’s successor, employing an assassin’s lethal technique?
It was something that shouldn’t exist, much less something that should be permitted.
“Who said I’m becoming an assassin? I was simply training my martial arts.”
Yang Jung had no intention whatsoever of becoming an assassin.
He was only cultivating the Sal Gong technique to ensure his own survival.
“Y-yes, that’s right? You have no intention of becoming an assassin, right? Of course—unless you’d taken leave of your senses entirely, you couldn’t harbor such a thought.”
At Shin Pung-gae’s words, Yang Jung felt his mood darken for no good reason.
He turned away from the man and grabbed the boar’s leg, hoisting it up.
As he dragged the leg, the massive, stone-like creature was pulled along behind him.
Shin Pung-gae trotted after him.
“Are you going to eat all of it alone?”
“How could I eat such a large beast by myself? I’ll share it with you and use some for cooking.”
“It’ll probably smell quite strong…”
Yang Jung stopped walking and turned to glare at him.
“Are you looking down on me?”
‘This… this bastard…?’
Shin Pung-gae was taken aback.
Not long ago, this man would do nothing but run whenever he saw him—now he was glaring with open hostility.
Yet Shin Pung-gae quickly concealed his surprise.
‘Right. The successor to Gae Bang should be at least this level.’
“What will you do about the organs? The gaminess will be hard to remove.”
“I’ll wash them thoroughly, then remove the smell through several treatments with wine and flour, and braise them with pine needles, garlic, and various medicinal herbs.”
Shin Pung-gae swallowed hard without realizing it.
It sounded far more credible than the method the Geol-gae used in Gae Bang.
“You have some skill in cooking, then?”
“I can’t cook, but I watched my brother remove the gaminess from meat many times.”
“Is that so? Couldn’t you spare just a portion of the organs for charity?”
Tsk.
Yang Jung clicked his tongue, stopped walking again, and turned to face Shin Pung-gae.
“Give me one silver coin.”
“This bastard…!”
In the end, Shin Pung-gae erupted in rage.
He could forgive it from Kang Jo, but he never imagined hearing such words from this boy’s mouth.
But Yang Jung moved his feet as if nothing were amiss.
“If you dislike it, leave it be.”
Everything he had endured thus far felt unbearably unjust.
That was why he had deliberately chosen harsh words to speak.

*

Kang Jo regarded Yang Jung with eyes full of irritation.
“Are you trying to make more work for me?”
The meat he had procured from the village butcher was the most convenient to work with.
But now that this fool had brought back a wild boar, it seemed the labor would only multiply.
Yang Jung quickly wove together a lie.
“I was practicing the Saryeom Eumgyeong technique when this beast happened to brush past me—what else could I do? I wanted to let it go, but it charged at me, and I had no choice but to kill it.”
A sigh.
Kang Jo exhaled heavily and opened the cauldron.
Fortunately, water was already bubbling vigorously inside.
“Bring me a bucket of hot water.”
“Yes.”
Kang Jo took two kitchen knives in hand and headed toward the stream.
Yang Jung poured the hot water into the wooden bucket and followed after him.
At the stream lay a large wild boar, sprawled across the rocks.
On the opposite bank, Shin Pung-gae crouched, watching intently.
“What are you doing over there?”
“Is it forbidden to simply observe?”
Kang Jo shook his head and turned back to Yang Jung.
“Pour it.”
He meant to pour the hot water over the boar’s body and scrape away its bristles with the flat of the blade.
“Wait a moment. This is where I practice the Swae Sim Sa technique, so I’d prefer we did this downstream.”
Yang Jung set down the bucket and dragged the boar downward.
“Why not just practice upstream?”
“The water runs deeper here, and it’s better suited for practicing the Swae Sim Sa technique.”
Shin Pung-gae, who had been watching quietly, asked a question.
“What is this Swae Sim Sa technique?”
Kang Jo and Yang Jung did not even answer.
Once they indulged him with a reply, an endless stream of questions would surely follow.
When the two men did not respond, Shin Pung-gae moved downstream and settled onto his haunches.
Then he began to speak.
“I went out to Gangho this time on a matter concerning Moyong Se and a certain person. When I first visited the Moyong residence, the gate was sealed, so I had no choice but to climb over the wall………….”
While he prattled on, Kang Jo drained the blood from the boar.
Yang Jung poured hot water over the boar’s bristles and returned to the Guest Inn to fetch more.
Splash… splash… splash…
Kang Jo began scraping away the bristles from the boar, now limp in the hot water.
Yang Jung, who had brought back the hot water, grasped a small kitchen knife.
Splash… splash… splash…
“Even the Chief Administrator was nowhere to be found. Every master and expert has vanished without a trace. Those infuriating wretches wept before this old man, prostrating themselves in anguish. I felt sorry for them, but did I not see through their schemes? And so I sentenced them to fifty years of sealed seclusion……………….”
Shin Pung-gae continued his incessant chatter.
An exasperated Kang Jo stopped his work and stared at him.
With Shin Pung-gae running his mouth instead of Yang Jung, it was enough to drive a man mad.
“What is it you want?”
At that question, Shin Pung-gae answered readily.
“Give me a bit of the meat and offal.”
Then Yang Jung, who had been scraping away the bristles, whispered.
“Don’t give it to him for nothing. Take at least a silver coin. Do you know how much trouble I went through dragging this beast here? And now you have to dress it besides—a silver coin is more than fair. Your prepared meat isn’t worth comparing to what they sell at the butcher’s……………….”
Once Shin Pung-gae fell silent, it was Yang Jung’s turn to run his mouth.
‘I’m going to lose my mind.’
“If you close that mouth of yours, I’ll give you some meat and offal.”
Kang Jo finally gave in to Shin Pung-gae’s pleas.
Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle…
“Much obliged. I had nothing more to say anyway.”

*

“Hanan was weak after all.”
Cheol-goe’s expression darkened as he received the report.
Two branch locations had been wiped out completely, and a request for reinforcements had come through.
Yet he had no intention of sending them.
‘It’s too late to send reinforcements now. At best they’ll strike four or five more locations and retreat.’
Cho Yak, wary of counterattacks and traps, would not attempt to take more branches.
The fallen ones could simply be rebuilt.
The death of masters held no interest for him.
They were always meant to die anyway—this was simply happening a touch sooner.
In this world, the Murim held as little value as anything else.
“You’ve come out as well.”
Cheol-goe recognized Gu Ya approaching from a distance.
“You’ve been working hard.”
She smiled and greeted him in kind.
“Did the Blood Master call?”
“Just like you, Cheol-goe. If you’d called, I’d have come running. But some unlucky bastard called instead, so I’m a bit late.”
Gu Ya drew close and brushed her palm across his face.
“Stop.”
“Still won’t accept my affection?”
His cold response made tears suddenly glisten in her eyes.
“It’s repulsive. Move your hand.”
But Cheol-goe remained unmoved.
Kekekeke…………………!
Gu Ya laughed, flashing her white teeth.
“After all this time apart, you’re being so stingy.”
“You should be with the Blood Master. Why have you come here?”
“Ah…..I’m gathering together anyone useful. I was headed to the Green Forest and stopped by for a moment.”
Merely by walking through the streets, Gangho experts would follow in her wake.
What applied to ordinary Gangho people applied all the more to bandits in the Green Forest.
And the moment any of them showed lustful intent, their heads would fly—and if they possessed fine hair, it would become a garment to grace her person instead.
Cheol-goe, who had been watching her intently, opened his mouth.
“You won’t find bandits in this area.”
“Surely….you haven’t killed them all?”
She asked in surprise.
“Of course. The assassins in this region will disappear soon as well.”
“That’s a real shame. I was thinking of sorting out the useful ones from among them.”
Gu Ya acknowledged his words, yet her face showed no regret whatsoever.
Long ago she had sacrificed her life for the sick and the abandoned.
But after suffering great betrayal from them, she no longer pitied the sick or the forsaken.
“Since you’re here, help me with something.”
“Tell me. I’ll do anything if you ask, Cheol-goe. I’d even go into a room with you right now.”
Cheol-goe did not even acknowledge her seduction.
“In Hanan, the Jamryong-hoe and Ma-gyo appear to be attacking our branches.”
Gu Ya ceased her teasing.
“Ah…..those young bastards. They presume to be the successors of the Hundred Heroes?”
“Yes. I want you to handle them.”
Kekekeke………………….
“Young fools like that will be easy.”
“It may not be so simple. There’s a master named Cho Yak, and among them are the children and disciples of Mun Do and Yip.”
“I know those bastards too. I’ll head to Hanan at once.”
Cheol-goe shook his head.
“It may already be too late. In the past, whenever we finished a fight, we would raise our cups and honor those who had gone before. There is a Guest Inn in front of the Murim Alliance, and perhaps……..”
At his words, light flickered in Gu Ya’s eyes.
“I understand what you’re saying. And besides, I have business at that very inn.”
“You know that Guest Inn?”
Gu Ya smiled knowingly.
“I know it well. The food there is truly exceptional.”
“Even if you go, do not lay a hand on the innkeeper.”
*

Four entire branches had been annihilated.
Yet the Jamryong-hoe and Ma-gyo had suffered only minor losses.
About a dozen of their fighters were wounded, but none were disabled.
Their morale soaring, the skilled personnel wanted to press on and strike the remaining branches in Hanan.
But Cho Yak held them back.
“They’re not fools either. They’ll be digging in and preparing by now. We pull out here—that’s the smart move.”
This campaign’s success had come from striking fast and withdrawing faster.
Yet such a strategy couldn’t continue indefinitely.
At her words, the fighters reluctantly turned back toward the Murim Alliance.
“They might counterattack. Move as quickly as you can.”
Whee-whee…….whee……
Cho Yak and the fighters deployed their Lightness Skills.
The combat had given them no real rest, and their bodies ached for it—but their faces shone with exhilaration.
They ran on, using their Lightness Skills in bursts, pausing only when forced, sleep abandoned.
As they passed through a village, their hearts began to ease at last.
Or rather, relief had crept in once the distant forest came into view.
Even if enemies caught them now, they would not be afraid.
Once they reached that forest, any pursuit would be useless.
As the forest drew nearer, Cho Yak felt her own guard drop without thought.
‘We made it.’
Hahahaha……..
Laughter spilled from someone’s lips.
Hahahaha……..
Hohohoho……..
The other fighters joined in, laughing together.
But Cho Yak could not laugh with them.
This time, they had simply been fortunate.
‘Cheol-goe and Yeo Hwa won’t sit idle, though.’

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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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