Moorim Pochang - Chapter 38

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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 38. Recurrence of Madness.

Baek Won-yeong opened his eyes.
“You’re awake, brother?”
“Oh? You’re up?”
The moment his eyes opened, Gang Jo and Yang Jeong greeted him.
Baek Won-yeong rose from his seat with a pleasant smile.
“Yesterday…”
“I think the drinking got a bit out of hand yesterday.”
Just as he was about to say something, Gang Jo spoke first.
‘My brother truly has… a generous heart.’
The moment called for some self-congratulation.
But was it merely that?
If asked for ten thousand taels, he’d give ten thousand; if asked for a hundred thousand, he’d give a hundred thousand.
Yet he showed not the slightest reluctance.
Hahahaha…!
“Seems like it. I was in such high spirits I drank far too much.”
Baek Won-yeong masked his feelings with a hearty laugh.
“At least have breakfast before you leave. It’s almost ready.”
“No. It’s already late. If I delay further, the Murim Alliance might come searching for me.”
He shook his head and drew a money pouch from his breast.
Then Gang Jo tried to stop him.
“Please, there’s no charge for the meal.”
But Baek Won-yeong insisted.
“I cannot impose on my younger brother as an elder. And never say such things again. I must preserve what dignity I have left.”
He began to pull out several taels of silver from the pouch, then broke into a quiet chuckle.
Then he set the entire pouch on the table.
“I should be going.”
“Safe travels.”
“Safe travels, brother. Please come again.”
Baek Won-yeong crossed the Stone Bridge and vanished, while Yang Jeong broke into a broad smile.
“Now the Alliance Lord’s son is my elder brother, brother.”
“You’re that pleased?”
“Of course. Aren’t you pleased, brother?”
Gang Jo’s smile turned cold.
“Then whenever a great matter arises in the Murim Alliance, you’ll have to rush to your brother’s side, sword in hand, and fight the enemies face to face.”
What?
Yang Jeong’s face paled to ash in an instant.
“Is that… how it works, brother?”
“And you were happy not knowing? You pathetic fool.”
Ah…
At Gang Jo’s words, Yang Jeong let out a groan and collapsed helplessly to the floor.
“It’s ruined… completely ruined.”
His goal had been to live in peace and comfort.
But now that he’d sworn brotherhood with Baek Won-yeong, a peaceful life had slipped through his fingers.
‘Should I just run home? Ah… I don’t know what to do.’

*

The moment Baek Won-yeong returned to the Murim Alliance, he sought out his father first.
“You spent the night away?”
At Baek Moon-do’s question, he bowed respectfully.
“There was a matter of great importance to attend to.”
“A matter of great importance, you say…”
As Baek Moon-do studied his son, a sharp light flashed in his eyes.
“You’ve completely opened your Upper Dantian.”
“It is thanks to my brothers, Father.”
Hahahaha……………!
The moment Baek Won-yeong answered, Baek Moon-do burst into hearty laughter.
“So you’ve sworn brotherhood with those fellows. Well, he’d never bring out that wine for anything less than something substantial.”
“You knew of it, Father?”
“Indeed. Hasn’t that wine improved things between you and your mother?”
Baek Moon-do’s face flushed slightly as he answered.
Baek Won-yeong had pretended not to know, but he understood it well.
“I know not how to repay this kindness from my brothers, Father.”
“Then pretend you don’t know. That will put them at ease as well. And speak of your sworn brotherhood with them to no one. If word spreads, they will not be pleased.”
“Understood, Father. I shall take my leave now.”
Once his son had left the room, Baek Moon-do settled deeper into his chair.
“Those two have become Won-yeong’s brothers—so I’ve gained two more sons?”
Hahahaha……………!
With two more sons, he could not have felt more secure.
‘Now that I have just cause, I shall never let the Demon Sect take my son from me.’

*

There was a man.
He had lived diligently, and had even won a beautiful wife—he could not have asked for more happiness.
As years passed and children came, there was no better life to be found.
Yet as the children grew, suspicion began to gnaw at him.
The faces of the children resembled not him, but his closest friend.
That friend was like family to him—an intimate as a brother.
Once suspicion took root, the man began to follow his wife.
And he witnessed her meeting secretly with his friend.
“He won’t die even after I gave him poison?”
“Here, use this Extreme Poison on him. Then not only will you have his wealth, but you can claim my children as well.”
The words they exchanged were like a thunderbolt from clear sky.
All the happiness of his life became hell in an instant.
The man sought an inn and drank himself into oblivion.
His body was too intoxicated to move, yet his mind remained clear.
Rather, those words and that voice returned to him with even sharper clarity.
Reeling drunk, he wandered the streets.
He didn’t even know where his feet were taking him.
Tears streaming down his face, he stumbled aimlessly until he collapsed in the forest, when someone spoke to him.
“What troubles you so?”
The man tried to lift his head and see who it was.
But whether from the wine that clouded his senses or the tears that blurred his vision, he could not see clearly.
By her voice alone, he judged her to be a woman.
The addled man began pouring out everything that had befallen him.
When the woman had heard him through to the end, she laughed.
Hehehehe……..
“You suffer needlessly. Hatred is washed clean by blood.”
“You mean…I should kill them all…?”
“Will you only weep like this instead?”
“I have…no strength left…now.”
Hehehehe……
“Then I shall give you that strength.”
The woman parted the man’s mouth and let fall a single drop of Black Liquid.
Within the black droplet, something like a small worm writhed and twisted.
Then she turned and nodded to someone behind her.
At that, a man of unknown identity appeared and pressed a blade with a sharpened edge into the man’s hand.
“When what you desire comes to pass, seek out the Celestial Demon Sect.”
With those words, the woman took her leave.
How much time had passed?
Groooaaahhhhh……
The man who had lain in the forest rose slowly to his feet with a terrible cry.
His eyes grew clouded and murky, as if a thick mist had settled within them.
“I’ll kill them. I’ll kill every last one of those bastards.”
The man strode toward the village with long steps, sword gripped in one hand.

*

Dok-go Yeop stood atop the City Wall, peering into the darkness.
His face was suffused with anger as he stared out into the gloom.
“Moon-do. That bastard…………..”
According to the letter Baek Moon-do had sent, Jo Bi-ja and Ma So-hye had led over a thousand subordinates in an assault before retreating with slightly more than half their forces.
So Dok-go Yeop had conservatively estimated the enemy at a thousand strong.
To annihilate them in one fell stroke, he’d need over two thousand—so he’d prepared three thousand.
Yet in the darkness, the tide of enemies surging forward looked easily three thousand strong.
Grind, grind…
Gnashing his teeth, he unleashed his Body Technique beyond the wall.
It was far better to strike before the enemy arrived than to wait for them to breach the gates.
The moment he launched himself outside the wall, the city gates swung wide open.
“Demon Sect Undefeated Way………!”
“Ten Thousand Demons Obey………!”
The Demon Sect warriors felt no fear of death.
Rather, they surged forward as if they’d been waiting for this battle all along.
Swish… swish…
Dok-go Yeop moved his blade with economical precision, severing the throats of his enemies.
When he’d felled about a dozen, a man wielding a spear emerged from the throng.
At the same moment, a woman carrying a Willow-leaf Blade came into view.
“It’s been a while, Yeop.”
The woman smiled brightly.
Yet that smile, framed by the tattoos that covered her face, was grotesque beyond measure.
“So-hye. You were alive after all.”
Hehehehe…….
“If you already knew, why pretend you didn’t?”
Dok-go Yeop met her laughter with a cold, bitter smile of his own.
“I carved memorial tablets for all of you and performed the rites. Even did so this year.”
The woman let out a derisive laugh.
“Well, all that effort went to waste, didn’t it?”
Having mocked him, she turned her gaze toward Jo Bi-ja.
“Should I do it? Or will you? Or shall we do it together?”
Jo Bi-ja didn’t even spare her a glance.
“I’ll do it.”
“Then Moon-do is mine.”
When he nodded, the woman stepped back.
“I suppose I’ll go and kill the old men of the Demon Sect.”
As she withdrew, Jo Bi-ja raised his spear.
“Shall we begin, Yeop?”
Dok-go Yeop lifted his sword to his shoulder.
“Let’s begin.”

*

Yang Jeong, who had gone to the village, entered the Kitchen carrying a bundle.
“I’m back, sir.”
“Set it down there.”
At Gang Jo’s words, he unpacked meat and mushrooms from the bundle.
“The butcher didn’t have fresh pork, so I bought some chicken and beef instead.”
“No pork at the butcher, but beef? That’s unusual.”
Cattle were needed for farm work, so they were never common in any village.
That’s why Gang Jo had eaten beef noodles before but had never cooked with it himself.
Above all, his master had always preferred braised pork belly, so he’d always cooked with pork.
When pork grew tiresome, he’d cook with chicken, and sometimes he’d catch fish or eel from the stream.
“The pork was slaughtered days ago, but the beef was butchered just last night, they said.”
“I’m not confident about beef noodles.”
“Still, your cooking skills haven’t gone anywhere, have they? Give it a try.”
“Fine, fine. Now go fix the front gate.”
Yang Jeong watched Gang Jo’s face carefully, his own expression downcast.
“The thing is… I was thinking of going home for a while.”
“Is that so? Go ahead, then. But take a few swords with you when you go.”
“That’s just it… it might take several months.”
Only then did Gang Jo understand why Yang Jeong had been feeling him out.
The man was clearly burdened by Baek Won-yeong’s presence—that much was certain.
If Gang Jo himself found it taxing, what of his sworn brother?
“What, has the greatest Chivalrous Hero in all the land—the one who stood firm at Stone Bridge—lost his nerve?”
Gang Jo’s teasing words sent color flooding into Yang Jeong’s face.
“Why do you always mock your younger brother? Think about it yourself. If enemies attack again, the Murim Alliance will be in danger, and then won’t I need to help the Great Hero—or rather, my older brother?”
“He wouldn’t want that, so don’t worry about it.”
“Wanting it or not, how can I stand idle now that we’re sworn brothers?”
Yang Jeong had put his finger on the real problem.
Now that they were sworn brothers, Gang Jo couldn’t help but stand with him when his life was in danger.
But Gang Jo didn’t want to burden himself with worry now.
“If you run away out of fear, I won’t treat you as my brother anymore.”
“Brother…”
Yang Jeong’s expression grew even darker.
He could handle bandits without hesitation, but that master he’d faced before—that one genuinely frightened him.
“When you swore brotherhood with Baek Won-yeong, not just you but your entire family got drawn into this affair. So you must never reveal where your family is. Don’t even think of going back home.”
“Good heavens… what have I done?”
Yang Jeong’s face crumpled into a grimace.
Until now, he’d never considered that his decision would bring consequences upon his household.
He’d only felt pride at becoming sworn brothers with the Alliance Lord’s son.
Hah…
Gang Jo watched him and laughed.
“I’ll always be at your side. What have you to fear?”
At those words, some courage returned to Yang Jeong, and his face brightened.
“That’s true. Brother. I’ll always have you there beside me.”
“Then stop second-guessing yourself and just fix the front gate.”
“Understood, brother.”
Emboldened, he left the kitchen.
‘I have no idea how to fix that temperament of his.’
Gang Jo watched his retreating figure and began trimming mushrooms.
“Brother…! Something terrible…!”
But Yang Jeong’s melancholy didn’t last long.
As though he’d forgotten his gloom entirely, he came running back with his voice raised in alarm.
“Why? Why? Why?”
Gang Jo glared at him as he rushed into the kitchen, irritation plain on his face.
“The man… he’s acting strange again.”
“How is he acting strange?”
“He’s sprawled out as if he’s dying again. This time there’s even foam coming from his mouth.”
At Yang Jeong’s urgent words, Gang Jo grabbed a kitchen knife.
“Let’s just kill him.”

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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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