Moorim Pochang - Chapter 23

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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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Episode 23. Rising Killing Intent (2)

The blade pierced straight through Gang Jo’s back, emerging from his chest.
A wet, sickening sound.
In the instant Gang Jo’s body was impaled, his form scattered into the darkness—and the attacker’s head rolled away.
A terrible shriek erupted, then another, and another.
At once, screaming figures rushed forward.
A slash, a crunch of bone.
Gang Jo’s form dispersed in all directions, rending their bellies open, severing their necks.
Half-mangled bodies sprayed blood across the ground, writhing in their death throes.
It was a scene from hell itself—yet Gang Jo saw none of it.
An intense exhilaration seized him entirely, beyond all restraint.
Killing Intent boiled up from every fiber of his being, erupting into the darkness.
A sound like wind tearing through silk.
The Killing Intent spreading from his entire body shook the Old Mansion to its foundation.
Cracking wood, splitting supports, beams groaning under strain.
Halls screamed in protest, tiles shattering as they fell, and the very pillars supporting the roof twisted and warped under the onslaught of Killing Intent.
Even the wild-eyed attackers convulsed violently in its grip.
Slash, slash.
Gang Jo missed not a single opening.
Where the Black Sword passed, flesh split open and blood fountained up.

*

Ja Seol’s mouth had fallen open in shock.
There was no doubt about it—the figure dancing a mad swordplay in that darkness was Gang Jo, the owner of the Guest Inn.
A slash, the crunch of bone.
Each time the Black Sword cut through the air, unidentified figures’ bodies split open and their heads rolled away.
What struck her most was that her own eyes could not track his movements properly.
Because of that, Gang Jo appeared to be dozens of people at once.
Terrible shrieks pierced the night, over and over.
Each cry brought with it a foul stench.
That reek—unmistakably the stench of rotting flesh.
These things reeking of decay, attacking like madmen—they could not possibly be chivalrous swordsmen of the Martial World.
So transfixed was she by the ferocity of the battle that she did not even notice how tightly her hands were gripping the pillar that concealed her.
A sudden surge of Killing Intent came howling through.
As Ja Seol watched Gang Jo’s form, an abrupt wave of Killing Intent came roaring down.
It was so overwhelming that her body shook involuntarily.
With a sharp groan.
The wooden pillar she was gripping twisted as its bark screamed under the assault of Killing Intent.
‘Perhaps… he is even stronger than Father.’
As Ja Seol watched from behind the pillar, the number of unidentified attackers steadily dwindled.
None of those with rolled-back eyes showing only whites survived.
A sharp whistle.
The dark blade cut through the sky, and following it, the chest of a tattooed man split open.
A wretched cry tore through the night sky.
As the agonized scream echoed upward, the surviving attackers retreated as one.
But Gang Jo would not allow even that retreat.
A sound like a whip cracking.
The Black Sword flew through the night sky, piercing another attacker’s throat.
The blade that had pierced the throat reversed direction in an instant, returning to Gang Jo’s hand.
‘A Sentient Sword…’
Before Ja Seol could even react in alarm, Gang Jo’s form was already closing in on the retreating enemies.
In that instant, twin blades flashed from both sides, slashing at his throat and abdomen.
Gang Jo’s neck was severed and his abdomen torn open.
A wet, sickening sound.
Whoosh….
The moment his Body Technique scattered into the darkness, two heads rose into the air.
Thud… clang… clang..
The heads and their bodies tumbled to the ground almost simultaneously.
Gang Jo had cut down even those who fled.

*

Breathe……….
Gang Jo exhaled a long, shuddering breath.
The uncontrollable exhilaration and Killing Intent began to subside.
“Who are you?”
Steadying his breath, Gang Jo turned his head toward the darkness.
In that instant, something moved swiftly away into the shadows, catching his eye.
‘A Martial Artist?’
The shadowy figure bore a sword at their waist.
Whissshhh……….
Gang Jo’s Body Technique surged forward in pursuit.
The figure was withdrawing in the direction of the Murim Alliance.
‘One of the Alliance?’
Gang Jo ceased his pursuit.
“So they were a guest after all. Damned intruders…”
If not for those cursed invaders, he’d be entertaining a visitor by now.
Ah…..
‘Might as well dig some graves.’

*

Why was she fleeing?
Even as Ja Seol pushed her Light Body Technique to its limit, concealing herself as she ran, she couldn’t understand her own reason for escape.
When the Murim Alliance’s front gate came into view, she halted her Body Technique.
Glancing back, no one pursued her.
‘Thank goodness.’
Ja Seol placed a hand over her still-racing heart.
Everyone harbored secrets tucked away in the depths of their hearts.
But tonight, she had glimpsed Gang Jo’s—a staggering one at that.
The innkeeper and cook had been a Master of extraordinary skill.
A Master who wielded the Sentient Sword as though it were nothing.
The revelation shook her to her core.
‘Then why did I flee from that place?’
Ja Seol tilted her head in confusion, moving forward.
The moment Gang Jo had turned his gaze toward her hiding place, she’d instinctively unleashed her Body Technique.
There was no rational reason to run—her body had simply reacted of its own accord.
“Where have you been?”
She turned toward the voice.
Her senior martial brother, Baek Won Young, stood watching her with a bright smile.
Rather than answering, Ja Seol turned the question back on him.
“Where are you headed?”
Ha ha..
“Just stepping out for a drink.”
Her brother seemed delighted at the mere prospect of visiting the Guest Inn.
“I was hoping to have a meal there myself, but the lights were already out.”
She quickly fashioned a lie.
She couldn’t say why she felt compelled to deceive him, but it seemed necessary.
At her words, her brother’s face fell with disappointment.
“Is that so? I was hoping to share a drink with Gang and hear some tales…”
“Tomorrow they’re sure to stay open late.”
Ha ha…..
“How would my junior sister know such a thing?”
Faced with his question, she could only dodge a proper answer.
“It’s just…a feeling, I suppose.”
Baek Won Young nodded and shifted his Body Technique.
“Regardless, we’ll have to visit the Guest Inn another time.”
Ja Seol turned toward her lodgings as well.
For her, today had been nothing short of overwhelming.

*

Thud-thud-thud-thud…………
The horse that had been galloping wildly came to an abrupt halt.
Having stopped, it wandered into the forest and grazed with perfect composure.
“Move it, you stubborn beast…!”
Yang Jung kicked at the horse’s belly and gripped the reins tightly, but the stallion wouldn’t budge.
Frustrated, he leaped down and planted himself in front of the animal.
“Keep this up and you’ll never mate again—understand…?”
At that, the grazing stallion lifted its head.
But there was something wrong with its eyes.
As if seized by madness, its gaze blazed with wild fury, and it looked ready at any moment to rear up and trample him into the dust.
“Wh…what…?”
Startled, Yang Jung scrambled backward.
“Never mind… I must’ve imagined it.”
The stallion then lowered its head and returned to grazing.
There was a reason Yang Jung was in such haste to make the journey.
The moment he’d brought the Martial Arts Manual home, chaos had erupted.
His father proclaimed that the family treasure had been found and threw a grand celebration.
This was understandable, given that the martial arts techniques passed down through the family had always been ordinary.
But the martial arts he’d brought back transcended the merely exceptional—they were extraordinary.
“Where did you obtain this Martial Arts Manual?”
“My brother gave it to me.”
He couldn’t very well say he’d received it from the Alliance Lord, so he had no choice but to claim his brother had given it to him.
If he’d mentioned the Alliance Lord, his father would have pressed him with endless questions and inevitably sought out the Murim Alliance himself.
Sigh…………
“For your benefactor, the one who saved your life, to offer such a precious Martial Arts Manual… truly, you have been blessed by the heavens with a noble encounter.”
His father had been so moved that tears had welled in his eyes.
Two years of studying martial arts under his master, and when he’d returned home, his father had pestered him relentlessly with questions.
At the time, he’d simply deflected with vague answers.
Then he’d presented the silver.
Once he’d produced the money, his father had stopped wondering what he’d been doing all those years.
“You should cultivate this martial arts in the house from now on.”
Yang Jung shook his head.
“Father, wouldn’t it be better for me to learn these martial arts directly from my brother rather than cultivate them here alone?”
Ah…………
“Come to think of it, that makes perfect sense. You truly are my son.”
His father, greatly impressed, had wrapped up an armful of cakes and various provisions for the journey.
Because of this, he had to return to the Guest Inn within a day before the food spoiled.
Growing impatient, Yang Jung walked back toward the stallion.
“There’s a mare waiting for you at the Guest Inn. So let’s hurry.”
Tap…tap…
He wasn’t just talking.
He moved his hands in a mimicking gesture of mating.
Could the horse have understood his meaning?
The stallion, which had been grazing, suddenly blazed with wild fury and lifted its head.
Thud-thud-thud…………
And then it bolted like a madman.
“Wait, you fool…! You’re supposed to carry me…!”
Yang Jung raced after the fleeing horse.
“Stop…! You stubborn beast…!”

*

Shin Pung Gae left the Murim Alliance with leaden steps.
‘Where in the world could he be?’
No matter how hard he searched, the man wasn’t anywhere in the Murim Alliance.
Even asking the Alliance Master yielded nothing, and the senior members all claimed they knew of no such person.
As he walked, his gaze drifted toward the stream.
By chance, Gang Jo stood by the water’s edge, bowl in hand, washing dishes.
‘I would have liked to taste that cooking he raves about.’
For the first time since becoming the king of beggars, there was something he wanted to eat but couldn’t.
That made the regret cut all the deeper.
But after hearing the past from Gang Jo’s lips, he couldn’t bring himself to visit that Guest Inn.
‘Infuriating bastards.’
He had already sent word through the beggars already stationed at the Murim Alliance.
Soon information would flow back from the beggars scattered across all quarters.
Though it was such a trivial matter from long ago that he might never uncover the exact details of what happened then.
But since his organization had suffered such grave humiliation over it, he meant to get to the bottom of it somehow.
“Prosper well.”
Shin Pung Gae offered a cordial farewell.
At this, Gang Jo, who had been washing, looked up at him.
“Go in peace. Let us not meet again.”
Sigh……
‘Narrow-minded fool.’
Muttering under his breath, he turned toward the village.
After walking for some time and entering the settlement, the aroma of food wafted from every direction.
‘Where should I fill my belly before I leave?’
He had already eaten his fill at the Murim Alliance just moments ago.
But once he left this village, there would be no large settlement for a long while.
Sniff…sniff..
Shin Pung Gae wrinkled his nose and deliberately sought out the Guest Inn with the most enticing aroma.
Thud-thud-thud…………
Then he heard the sound of hoofbeats from somewhere.
‘What madman rides a horse at full gallop through a crowded place?’
Irritated, he turned his head toward the sound of the hoofbeats.
Yikes….!
Gasp..!
As people scattered in all directions, a horse thundered through the village at tremendous speed, its rider barely clinging on.
“Please slow down, you damned beast! Everyone, move! Move…!”
The rider atop the horse screamed at the top of his lungs.
Tsk tsk….
“Seems the horse has gone mad.”
Shin Pung Gae clicked his tongue and turned away.
But then, something about the rider’s face suddenly caught his attention.
What?
He spun around sharply and rushed after the path the horse had taken.
But the horse was already disappearing into the distance.
“Could it be… a face handsomer than Song Ok or Ban An?”
Found him.
He had finally found him.
Shin Pung Gae did not rush.
This road led only back to the Murim Alliance.
‘So the bastard wasn’t at the Murim Alliance all this time.’
Once he left the village, he deployed his Light Body Technique and began to run.
Hehehehe…………..
“You think you can escape me, you little worm?”
His dejection transformed into elation.

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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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