Moorim Pochang - Chapter 92

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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 92. The Trap (3).

Once again, the Yigi Sword came flying through the air alongside arrows.
Kang Jo, already completely overwhelmed by killing intent, swung his blade too late.
Clang-clang-clang-bang…………….!
He knocked the Yigi Sword aside, but failed to fully block the arrow.
The shaft tore away a strip of flesh from his neck.

*

Neigh-neigh-neighhhhhh…………….!
The chestnut horse bolted back and forth across the yellowed grassland, shrieking wildly.
It had charged all the way to the gates of the Murim Alliance and stood there wailing.
The beast was so frenzied and crazed in its cries that the sentries on watch had hands upon their sword hilts.
“Why is that damned horse acting up today of all days?”
“Should we just kill the thing outright?”
The exasperated guards shouted from atop the fortress walls.
“Quiet now, damn beast…….!”
“We’ll slaughter you………….!”
Their voices carried to the ears of other warriors patrolling inside the walls.
“What is it?”
The sentries standing watch on the ramparts turned and gave their answer.
“That damned horse has gone absolutely wild today, sir.”
“Wild, you say?”
The warriors asking the question bent their ears to listen.
Neigh……….
Indeed, just as they had said, the faint cry of a horse drifted in from beyond the fortress walls.
Ha ha…
“Must be rutting season, I’d wager?”
The warriors laughed.
They all knew full well that the beast was a notorious stallion—a rarer sight indeed for its excessive appetite.
“No, sir. It’s just running about savagely in all directions, neighing and crying out.”
Only then did the patrolling warriors sense that something was amiss.
There was no reason for the horse to be crying out so viciously.
“Perhaps one of the mares has fallen ill?”
“Should we report this to the Commander?”
“Thanks to the brothers from the Guest Inn, did not Jamryong-hoe and Seong Ma Dan avoid death? This could be a fine opportunity to repay some small measure of their debt.”
The patrolling warriors hurried toward the Commander’s quarters.
“Are you awake, Commander?”
The Commander, hearing a warrior’s voice outside his door, rose and dressed himself.
“What is the matter?”
“The stallion from the Guest Inn is raging and crying out. We wondered if perhaps one of the mares has taken ill, and came to report it.”
It was a trivial report, truly.
Yet the Commander did not dismiss it.
This was an opportunity to repay, at least in part, the debt owed to the Guest Inn.
“Then take the stable master and the physician who tends the horses with you. And… just to be safe, bring along a few skilled personnel from Jamryong-hoe.”
“Understood, Commander.”
The warrior who had made the report glanced back at his companions standing nearby.
“I’ll head to Jamryong-hoe’s quarters while you two wake the stable master and physician.”
“Understood.”

*

The warrior had no need to enter the quarters at all.
None of the skilled personnel from Jamryong-hoe and Seong Ma Dan were sleeping.
They had been cultivating their martial arts deep into the night.
The warrior approached Baek Won-yeong and bowed at the waist.
“A stallion has drawn close to the Murim Alliance and won’t stop screaming. The general seems intent on sending out the physician and stable hands, but it appears Baek needs to accompany them.”
“Understood.”
Baek Won-yeong nodded readily and left the training ground.
“I’m coming with you, brother.”
Yeon Ja-seol followed after him, and Dok-go Il and Dok-go Eun departed the training ground without a word.
Then half a dozen more skilled personnel trailed behind them.
By the time they reached the Murim Alliance’s front gate, the stable hand and physician were already waiting outside.
Creak…..
The gate swung open late into the night, and they departed the Murim Alliance alongside the skilled personnel.
Neigh—neigh—NEIGH……..!
The moment they stepped through the gate, the stallion that had been screaming fell silent, then bolted toward where the Guest Inn stood.
Huh..
“The beast seems to be playing tricks.”
One of the skilled personnel spoke, bewildered.
But the stallion that had been galloping toward the inn suddenly stopped and wheeled around.
Neigh—neigh—neigh—NEIGH…………….!
Then it began shrieking savagely once more.
The moment they saw this, Baek Won-yeong, Yeon Ja-seol, Dok-go Il, and Dok-go Eun’s eyes darkened with understanding.
The horse was not screaming mindlessly.
It was leading them toward the inn.
Whoosh…………..
Baek Won-yeong moved first, summoning wind as he deployed his Body Technique.
“Return to the Murim Alliance and wake every fighter—now……!”
Whoosh…..
Yeon Ja-seol, Dok-go Il, and Dok-go Eun unfurled their Lightness Skills.
The remaining skilled personnel understood at once that something was gravely amiss.
They turned to the stable hands and physician, shouting:
“Get inside, quickly!”

*

Crack-crack-crack….
Kang Jo laughed.
Today was the day he would kill that wretch once and for all.
But another cursed thing kept whining like a mosquito in midsummer.
Now there were two he had to exterminate, not one.
Clash-clash-bang……………!
As he parried the Yigi Sword, an arrow tore through the flesh of his ribs.
Though his flesh was ripped open, he felt no pain.
In truth, he hadn’t even registered that it happened.
Once more the arrow and the Yigi Sword came hurtling at him.
Clash-clash-bang…………..!
He knocked away both arrow and blade, but blood sprayed from his shoulder.
He had to kill those wretches, yet his sword could not find them.
Whistle……..
Another arrow streaked toward him.
Kang Jo threw his Body Technique toward the incoming arrow, wielding his blade.
Clash……….!
At that same instant, Moyong Jak hurled his sword toward Kang Jo’s back.
But something burrowed into his ribs.
‘This bastard…’
Whistle……
The moment he shifted his Body Technique, the blade that had been boring into Kang Jo’s back abruptly changed direction.
The returning sword pierced through the darkness.
Bang……!
In that instant, a line of blood was drawn across Moyong Jak’s throat.
His head flew upward into the void.
Crack-crack-crack……..
Having severed Moyong Jak’s head, Kang Jo moved his Body Technique toward Hyeol Je.
But Hyeol Je’s Body Technique stirred a tempest as he withdrew into the distance.
Whirrr……
Kang Jo swept forward with a gust of wind, pursuing the man’s Body Technique.

*

Whirrr…….
The moment Kang Jo vanished, Baek Won-yeong appeared in his place.
Around the shattered Guest Inn, corpses lay scattered like a Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood.
Before the walls, across the stream, along the main road leading to the Murim Alliance, and through the grassland beyond—bodies everywhere.
Yet he scarcely noticed them.
“Brother………!”
He raised his voice, searching for Kang Jo and Yang Jung.
As Baek Won-yeong called out, Yeon Ja-seol, Dok-go Il, and Dok-go Eun arrived at the scene.
“Kang Jo…..!”
“Kang Jo…..!”
Yeon Ja-seol and Dok-go Eun raised their voices, searching for him.
“Here…!”
Dok-go Il, examining the bodies, cried out.
The others rushed over to find Yang Jung sprawled on the ground, bleeding.
“He’s still breathing. We need to move him to the inn at once.”
The inn and kitchen were already nearly destroyed.
Though the rooms adjoining the inn had also sustained damage, there was nowhere else to take him.
“I’ll fetch the physician.”
As Baek Won-yeong moved Yang Jung, Dok-go Il deployed his Body Technique toward the Murim Alliance.
Yeon Ja-seol and Dok-go Eun searched through the bodies for Kang Jo.
But nowhere could they find him.

*

Torches blazed around the inn, bright as daylight.
Warriors and skilled personnel from the Murim Alliance were gathering the corpses.
“This is a blade from the Moyong Family.”
One of the skilled personnel recognized the Moyong Family’s sword.
Baek Moon-do recognized it as well.
“Check every face…! If you recognize anyone, report it at once…!”
At his sharp command, the warriors and skilled personnel resumed their inspection of the corpses.
Black tattoos made it difficult to identify faces clearly.
Yet among them, some could still be recognized.
“This one appears to be an elder of the Moyong Family.”
“It’s Moyong Jak, the head of the Moyong Family.”
At Cho Yak’s words, Baek Moon-do quickly examined the rolling corpse.
Indeed, the heavily tattooed face belonged to Moyong Jak, the head of the Moyong Family.
“Has the Moyong Family itself turned to Hyeol-gyo? How could a family of heroes come to this……”
Tears streamed down Baek Moon-do’s face.
He quickly wiped them away, steadying his breathing.
No matter how shaken his heart, he could not show such weakness before his warriors and skilled personnel.
Cho Yak patted his shoulder.
“The Moyong Family is the enemy now. So don’t grieve for them.”
Her words may have been true.
Yet Moyong Se had been his disciple, and Moyong Se’s family had been the Moyong Family.
Affection could not help but grow.
“The ones who attacked the inn weren’t just Moyong Jak and the elders. There was someone far stronger here.”
Moyong Jak bore none of the signs of his former power.
Well, traces remained, but she could not discern if they were his.
Yet there was one place where the marks were unmistakable.
Cho Yak pointed to the inn’s kitchen.
Just as she said, the kitchen wall bore a massive hole.
The gaping wound extended through to the adjoining chamber.
“Fifty-seven bodies in total, Alliance Leader.”
At the warrior’s report, Baek Moon-do nodded and turned his steps toward the inn.
The Guest Inn’s outer wall had already collapsed, and half the kitchen wall was gone as well.
The inner wall beyond it bore a gaping hole.
When he opened the door, Baek Ha-yeong and the Physician came into view.
“How is he?”
At Baek Moon-do’s question, the elderly Physician let out a sigh.
Sigh……
“I cannot say, Alliance Leader. The wounds are so severe that I find it difficult to render a judgment.”
Sob……
“Young Master Yang……”
At his words, Baek Ha-yeong’s tears began to stream down her face.
“Do your utmost. You’re only in the way—step outside.”
At Baek Moon-do’s command, she left the room with tears flowing down her cheeks.
Cho Yak and he examined the arrows that had pierced through the opposite wall.
Two arrows were embedded deep in the wall.
“……A formidable opponent indeed.”

*

The moment his eyes opened, brilliant sunlight stabbed into them.
‘Where am I?’
Kang Jo turned his head to survey his surroundings.
Both sides were filled with withered grass and trees.
‘Why am I lying here?’
No matter how hard he tried to remember, he could not find a reason for lying in this place.
What remained clear in his mind was only Sam-ryong’s scream.
That fool had faced the enemy with inadequate concealment and poor ambush tactics.
It would have been far better to meet them head-on without fear.
“Sam-ryong……”
Recalling his memories, Kang Jo quickly tried to raise himself up.
But his body refused to obey.
Groan……
When he forced himself upright, his entire frame was drenched in blood—a dark crimson from head to toe.
Kang Jo looked down at the sword clenched in his grip.
Even the blade was caked thick with dark red blood.
‘I was fortunate.’
Had Hyeol Je returned, he would surely be dead.
Kang Jo began to move forward slowly.
Not knowing where this place was, he could not know where the inn lay.
“Have I been punished for not heeding my master’s words?”
His master had always told him to suppress his killing intent.
He too had tried to suppress it, but it had not gone as he wished.
Fortunately, the village was not far.
As he entered the village, the people started in alarm and hurriedly retreated.
“Where is the Murim Alliance?”
At Kang Jo’s question, someone pointed with an outstretched hand.
“That way… just keep going straight……”
“Thank you.”
Kang Jo moved his Body Technique along the path the man had indicated.
With each step, a sharp pain coursed through his entire body.
But he had to go faster.
Sam-ryong would be waiting at the inn.
‘Please be safe.’

*

The Physician who had left the room sat in a corner and sighed.
Sigh…………
How fortunate it would be if his medical skill were as superior as Hua Tuo or Bian Que.
Others praised him endlessly as the greatest physician under heaven, yet here he was—unable even to determine whether his patient would live or die. How could such a man deserve the title of greatest?
This fellow Sam-ryong was not a disagreeable man.
Even physicians are human, and there are patients toward whom they naturally grow fond.
This man called Sam-ryong was among those patients who drew out a particular tenderness from the old doctor.
The physician, who had done nothing but sigh and blame himself, gazed quietly at the collapsed roof.
This place certainly had poor fortune.
How cursed must the land be if the Guest Inn had crumbled three times over?
And who was to say it wouldn’t collapse again in the future.
As he stared at the roof, his eyes caught something protruding from beneath it—a sack.
And from inside the sack, what looked like roots were sticking out.
‘What is this?’
The old physician pulled the sack out from under the rubble.
Then he peered inside.
Hmm?
Within the sack lay one root thicker than a forearm, and another root about the thickness of a wrist.
“What in the world……….?”

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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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