Moorim Pochang - Chapter 81

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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 81. The Eon Family’s Wrath (1).

She stepped into the Guest Inn, set down the Mi-cheom Blade, and took her seat.
After waiting for some time, a sharp voice and cries of pain echoed from deeper within the residence.
“I told you to taste it, not to stuff yourself like a pig. You worthless fool.”
Ugh… ugh….
“It was just so delicious… Please, just this once, let it go.”
“Since our guest has already arrived, we’ll end this here. Consider yourself lucky.”
“Thank you… Thank you so much.”
As the sharp voice fell silent, Kang Jo emerged into view.
“Welcome. My apologies for keeping you waiting.”
Cho Yak spoke in a measured tone.
“It’s fine. But what was that about?”
Ha ha…
“Nothing serious. Just something that repeats itself every few days.”
Kang Jo chuckled easily and disappeared into the kitchen.
Thwack…! Thwack…!
As he began pulling noodles from the dough he’d prepared in advance, Yang Jung appeared with his face flushed and swollen.
“Welcome.”
He greeted her in a clear, bright voice.
Pfft..
The sight was so absurd that Cho Yak nearly burst out laughing despite herself.
As her face twisted in an odd way, Yang Jung glanced aside awkwardly.
“Should I bring out the vegetable side dishes?”
“Yes.”
It was as if the two had forgotten everything that had just happened—their manner remained as ordinary as ever.
‘Remarkable fellows, judging by their deeds. Quite extraordinary, these brothers.’

*

Cho Yak lifted noodles with her chopsticks.
The strands were slightly thinner than the fish noodles she’d eaten before.
Slurp slurp.
As she brought the noodles to her mouth, she couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
The cuisine at this inn was indeed quite different from other establishments.
Among the countless fish noodle dishes she’d tasted over the years, this ranked among the finest.
And yet, for some reason, it wasn’t quite like the fish noodles she remembered.
Those had carried a sharper, fishier aroma, thicker strands, and a broth that was heavier and more opaque.
She found herself missing that taste.
After finishing her bowl cleanly, Cho Yak retrieved a silver coin from her coin purse.
“Did you enjoy the meal?”
Kang Jo asked with concern in his voice.
“It was delicious. Though I would have preferred it a bit more fishy, with a heavier broth.”
“My apologies. Since this was my first attempt, I must have been clumsy. Please, consider this meal on the house.”
She shook her head and placed the silver coin on the table nonetheless.
“I’ll be back again.”
“Very good. Safe travels.”
Kang Jo bowed as she departed from the inn.
Taste varied from person to person.
But it was his first time meeting a guest who actually preferred the fishy flavor of meat.
“That guest’s palate seems a bit unusual.”
Yang Jung found it equally strange.
The fish noodles his brother had prepared were more than delicious.
They were good enough to open a shop selling just that.
Yet that guest didn’t seem to have cared for them at all.
“Let’s have something to eat ourselves.”
Kang Jo stepped into the kitchen and placed the remaining noodles into boiling water.
“I’ll have another bowl too, please.”
“Didn’t you eat plenty just now?”
“I ran so hard that my stomach emptied itself.”
“Alright, wait a moment.”

*

Crash! Bang!
Sword and blade clashed violently, then sprang apart.
Eon So-ryong, retreating, drove his blade through the gap in Yeohwa’s guard.
Crash!
Yet she parried and slipped her body movement slightly to the right.
Whoosh.
Eon So-ryong pivoted his stance, slashing through the space to his right.
But somehow Yeohwa’s Leaf Blade was already resting on his shoulder.
“Your Sword Technique is respectable. Who taught you?”
At her question, he hastily bowed and answered.
“The Alliance Leader taught me…no, rather Baek Moon-do gave me some brief instruction.”
Eon So-ryong was not the only one to receive instruction from the Alliance Leader.
All the talented personnel of Jamryong-hoe had benefited from his teaching.
Hehehehe…
Yeohwa laughed.
She had thought them mere silver or gold, but they were hidden jewels.
She had done well to spare him rather than kill him.
If she trained this one properly, he could become her fang or claw.
Since the man to whom she had given her heart had turned his back on her, she would use men to her fullest advantage.
“It’s Moon-do, after all. He’s an insufferable man, but his eye for martial arts is extraordinary. What you lack most, though, is your Body Movement Technique and Footwork.”
Hwiiiiii…
Her body movement vanished and reappeared before his eyes in rapid succession.
Thud! Thwack!
Each time Yeohwa’s form revealed itself, her Leaf Blade struck Eon So-ryong’s body.
Her countless overlapping images coalesced into one.
“Look at the ground.”
Eon So-ryong, his mind dazed, looked down at the earth.
Dozens of footprints marked the ground.
Yeohwa had deliberately impressed them there.
“Find the sequence yourself. If you cannot, I will slit your throat—not abandon you, but end you.”
When footwork changed, Sword Technique had to adapt accordingly.
Baek Moon-do would have found it difficult to drastically alter his Family Martial Art.
But she was not bound by such limitations.
“Thank you, Master.”
Eon So-ryong possessed an eye for martial arts as well.
He instinctively sensed the vast chasm between the Family Martial Art he had refined until now and the skill these footprints revealed.
“I will test you in five days.”
“Yes, Master.”

*

Leaving the Training Ground, Yeohwa sought out Cheol-goe.
He had ventured into Gangho and returned leading dozens of martial artists.
Among those Cheol-goe had brought, there was not a single one who was not a master.
“Had you helped back then, I could have killed Baek Moon-do’s wretched children.”
She still regretted not having slain Baek Won-yeong and Baek Ha-yeong.
Cheol-goe shook his head.
“See the forest, not the trees, Yeohwa. Compared to pacifying Gangho and building a new world, their deaths are merely trivial.”
“For me, Baek Moon-do’s death and his children’s deaths are the greatest matters.”
As Yeohwa continued to rage, Cheol-goe changed the subject.
Once they had been friends, after all, and so he yielded.
“What of the boy from the Eon Family?”
At his change of subject, Yeohwa, whose face had been flushed with anger, let her fury ease slightly.
She had no desire to fight Cheol-goe openly.
“You’re skilled. Perhaps you’ll catch up to the Moyong Family boy yet.”
“Good. The more masters we have, the better. I’m planning to visit the Moyong Family and the Eon Family myself.”
“Why there? Are you ordering an extermination?”
“No. Since their children are here, if we play it right, we can bring the entire family over to us.”
Hohoho……
Yeohwa laughed with unrestrained delight.
The prospect alone filled her with satisfaction.
“If that happens, we’ll gain many masters all at once.”
“That’s why I’m going.”

*

Twenty-odd martial artists set out for the Murim Alliance.
Among them were elderly men with weathered faces and those in their middle years.
All wore expensive martial robes.
They paused briefly and gazed toward the forest where the Guest Inn stood.
“Shouldn’t we first seek out the Alliance Leader?”
At the old martial artist’s words, the middle-aged man nodded.
“Yes, we should.”
They resumed their pace.
After a long walk, the Murim Alliance appeared before them, still imposing.
“Where are you from?”
The martial artist guarding the front gate bowed at the waist and inquired.
But the martial artists suddenly stiffened, their anger evident.
“You don’t know of the Eon Family from the capital?”
As the elderly martial artist raised his voice, another guard who had been standing behind quickly stepped forward.
“My apologies. This man has only recently taken his post at the gate and is unfamiliar with the Eon Family’s chivalrous warriors. Open the gates wide!”
Creak……
At his command, the gates of the Murim Alliance swung open.
The twenty-odd martial artists walked confidently through into the Alliance.
Once they had disappeared, the guard who had issued the order whispered low.
“The Eon Family is famous for their pride, so be especially careful with them.”

*

Eon Ju-gwang, the patriarch of the Eon Family, was a man with sharp features and piercing eyes.
He had gained renown throughout the Gangho years ago by defeating Buk Yeom-ra.
Yet even he had to bow first before the Alliance Leader.
“It is my honor to meet you, Alliance Leader.”
“Welcome, Patriarch Eon.”
Baek Moon-do showed not a trace of discomfort.
There was no doubt that the Eon Family had come to the Murim Alliance because of Eon So-ryong.
Eon So-ryong was the patriarch’s son and had already earned a name for himself through his superior martial prowess.
But he had disappeared, and they still had no word of whether he lived or died.
The two men sat facing each other across a table.
“How fares the Eon Family these days?”
“We are well, thanks to your concern.”
A sharp reply came from Eon Ju-gwang’s lips.
With his son missing, there could be no peace in the family.
At this, Baek Moon-do moved to seize the initiative.
“The Murim Alliance’s martial artists and the Investigation Force are searching for your son. Please bear with us a little longer.”
Eon Ju-gwang’s response was equally formidable.
“That is precisely why I have come to the Murim Alliance with my family members. We too wish to contribute to the search for my boy.”
Baek Moon-do readily assented.
“Very well. The Murim Alliance will provide all necessary accommodations.”
How could one refuse a father seeking his son?
Eon Ju-gwang found his answer quite satisfactory.
The Alliance Leader had conceded ground.
“What do you believe has become of my son at this moment, Alliance Leader?”
Baek Moon-do already had his suspicions.
Moyong Se, who had gone missing, had reappeared as a master of Hyeol-gyo.
There was nothing to say that Eon So-ryong, having similarly vanished, might not emerge as a master of Hyeol-gyo himself.
Yet before the family head, he could not voice such a thing.
“He may be held captive by Hyeol-gyo.”
Eon Ju-gwang showed no surprise.
He too had considered that possibility.
“Then shouldn’t we be searching out Hyeol-gyo’s headquarters?”
“The Investigation Force is already exerting all its strength to find it, Head.”
“The moment you discover it, inform the family as well.”
“I shall do so.”
With his business concluded, Eon Ju-gwang rose from his seat.
“Then I shall take the family members and search for So-ryong at once.”
“Thank you for your efforts, Head Eon.”
As he left the room, Baek Moon-do’s expression darkened.
‘I shouldn’t have touched the Guest Inn.’
His deepest fear was that the Eon family would seek vengeance by visiting the Guest Inn.
If that worry became reality, a great conflict would surely break out.

*

The gates of the Murim Alliance opened wide once more, and the Eon family members filed out.
Their expressions were so grim that blood seemed ready to spill at any moment.
“The fact that So-ryong abandoned his revenge suggests the brothers at the Guest Inn are no ordinary masters.”
“That’s why we’ve stationed the family members fifty li away.”
“A clumsy approach would bring considerable losses, Head. We must sweep them away in one stroke.”
“First, it would be wise to observe them.”
The family members the Head had brought with him were not all they had.
Over fifty elite fighters waited fifty li away.
The finest the family had to offer.
“If they prove weaker than expected, don’t wait—sweep them away tonight.”
“Yes. I share that view.”
With so many eyes watching, they couldn’t act in daylight.
They would strike at dead of night, kill them all, and burn the Guest Inn to ash.
As the forest came into view, Head Eon Ju-gwang stopped.
The dense trees stretched far enough that a night raid seemed unlikely to be discovered.
‘Even assassins can’t be trusted.’
With such favorable conditions, the Black Heaven Veil had abandoned the contract.
‘Set the fire, they’ll rush out, and then I cut off their heads. Simple enough.’
After studying the forest for a moment, he resumed walking.
The Guest Inn drew closer when something suddenly burst from the trees.
The one who erupted forth was very young, his face extraordinarily handsome—beautiful enough to be called the finest under heaven.
“Ah… caught again. Brother…! How did you find me………..?”
The handsome young man cried out and vanished back into the forest.
‘What was that?’
Eon Ju-gwang and his men exchanged bewildered glances.

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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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