Moorim Pochang - Chapter 97

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 97. The Final Assault.

Jamryong-hoe and the Seongma Group built a fire and settled in a circle around it.
By now, even the daylight hours carried a sharp chill, and without a fire at night, sleep was nearly impossible.
“If there’s no attack by dawn, we’ll move as quickly as possible in that direction.”
At Cho Yak’s words, one of the skilled personnel spoke up.
“That’s not the direction toward the Murim Alliance.”
It was a somewhat dull remark, but she didn’t chide him for it.
After successive attacks, there would have been little time to think deeply.
“If there’s no attack by dawn, it means they’re laying an ambush ahead. So even if we take a longer route, it’s better to move in a different direction.”
“How much longer do you think the attacks and ambushes will continue?”
At Dok-go Il’s question, she nodded slowly.
It was the most pertinent question anyone could have asked in this situation.
“The attacks will continue until we arrive near the Murim Alliance. My guess could be wrong, but that’s what I would do.”

*

Eon-ga’s Retainer knelt before Cheol-goe and delivered his report.
Upon hearing it, Cheol-goe fell into deep thought for a moment.
‘So Yeo Hwa is pursuing the successors of the Hundred Heroes…’
It might very well be a good opportunity.
No—if he joined in, success was certain.
When he said nothing, Eon-ga’s Retainer grew anxious.
“Yeo Hwa has requested your assistance.”
“Understood. You may go.”
“I will inform Yeo Hwa that Cheol-goe has given his consent.”
The moment Eon-ga’s Retainer left the room, Cheol-goe picked up his iron spear.
Whiiiii…
Upon leaving the room, he vaulted over the wall and made his way into the forest.
Jamryong-hoe and the Seongma Group would eventually return to the Murim Alliance.
So it was most convenient to estimate the date and wait at the entrance to the Murim Alliance.
Crunch-crunch…
He gathered a few stones, and the moment a pheasant took flight, he sent one hurling after it.
Thwack!
The pheasant struck the ground and tumbled into the undergrowth.
‘I’ll need at least three of these to have a proper meal.’

*

Yang Jung thrust a secret manual directly under Kang Jo’s nose.
It was a gift Dok-go Yeop had given him.
“Elder brother, please decode it for me right away.”
“You have eyes and a mind of your own.”
“Ah, come on—you’re much faster and more accurate at it than I am.”
At his wheedling tone, Kang Jo had no choice but to unfold the secret manual.
The first of the Mumi Salgong was the Mumi Gong.
The Mumi Gong was the foundational meditation technique of the Mumi Salgong.
‘The meditation is trivial, but the breathing spans are enormous.’
As Kang Jo examined the Mumi Gong carefully, he turned the page.
The second was the Swaesimsa.
The Swaesimsa was a martial art that deadened the very mind itself; its practitioner could maintain the form of a corpse.
‘It must be refined in cold water…’
Kang Jo turned the pages, studying the Mumi Salgong.
The third was the Yeokhang Hapbo.
This martial art allowed one to display light-body skill and then vanish in an instant—a technique that permitted sudden ambush even while fleeing from pursuers.
The fourth was the Mumi Salgong.
The Mumi Salgong contained sword techniques that allowed the wielder to kill their opponent from any position and in any circumstance.
The fifth was a movement technique called the Death-Form-Sound Concealment Art, a discipline in which one moved while gradually deadening both form and sound during an assassination.
‘An uncommon assassination technique.’
In the past, Baek Won-yeong had also passed down an assassination technique to Yang Jung—one of considerable merit.
But compared to this art, it fell short by far.
“…………….Elder brother……………….Elder brother.”
“……………What?”
Kang Jo lifted his head and looked at Yang Jung.
“You’ve been staring at the secret manual for over an hour now, sir.”
“Ah…………have I?”
He’d thought it was only the briefest moment—so lost was he in the manual’s depths—yet an hour had slipped away.
“Please, Elder brother, explain it to me now.”
Yang Jung’s eyes gleamed as he pressed him urgently.
“The training requires conditioning in cold water. Are you certain about that?”
“What? Truly? I do dislike cold water…….”
His face twisted at once.
“Then I’ll burn you instead.”
“No, Elder brother. I shall absolutely undergo the training.”
“Why not simply practice your martial arts?”
Yang Jung shook his head with firm resolve.
“No, Elder brother. I wish to become an assassin.”
“It’s not that you wish to become an assassin—you wish to disappear. In any case, I’ll prepare the explanation. Collect it once the inn is finished.”
“I shall complete it today, Elder brother.”
Ah………
Kang Jo felt the strain all the way to the back of his skull.
How much time had he wasted dragging out work that could have been finished so quickly?
“Is your body fully healed? You can’t enter the water if you’re still injured.”
“No cause for concern, Elder brother.”
“Is that so? Then let’s settle the beatings you’ve owed me.”
Agh…
Whoosh……..
Yang Jung vanished with a cry, his form disappearing from view.
Yet Kang Jo had no intention of letting him off lightly.
Whoosh………

*

“Welcome.”
Kang Jo greeted Cheol-goe with due courtesy.
The man nodded and held out three pheasants.
As always, the three birds had been dressed cleanly and with care.
“I caught them four days ago and kept them on ice until I arrived here.”
Once Kang Jo had accepted the pheasants, Cheol-goe surveyed the inn before taking a seat.
“There was an attack from Moyong Se’s household, I hear?”
“Yes. Hyeol-je came with them as well.”
Kang Jo salted the meat and kneaded it before roasting, working with practiced hands.
“You’ve managed to survive once more, then.”
“I nearly didn’t.”
“Do you know why Hyeol-je simply left?”
“I don’t. I only remember firing arrows.”
Cheol-goe nodded slowly.
He had always been brutally cruel.
His pleasure was to watch the dying fade slowly away while he sipped his wine.
Hyeol-je bore the shape of a man yet harbored the heart of a beast.
But in martial skill, he was formidable.
Across long years of waiting, what consumed him was the pursuit of the martial way.
As a result, there was hardly a weapon he could not master.
Hyeol-je had devoted himself to martial arts until he had transformed them entirely.
“Then he’ll die slowly.”
“Perhaps that is so.”
Cheol-goe’s lips curved into a thin smile.
He was truly a man worth admiring.
That’s why Cheol-goe hesitated to level his spear at him.
But someday he would have to kill him—though it wouldn’t be easy.
“Where’s your brother?”
The moment he asked after Yang Jung’s whereabouts, something pale and fleeting slipped past the Guest Inn.
Cheol-goe recognized what it was.
‘There he is.’
Yang Jung, who had passed the Guest Inn, turned back and bowed.
“Welcome.”
Whissssh……..
After the greeting, he vanished from sight again.
‘Is he imitating an assassin’s movements? His technique looks like how an assassin would move..’

*

Kang Jo set a roasted pheasant on the table.
“Sit.”
Cheol-goe didn’t even glance at the pheasant and pointed to the chair across from him.
Kang Jo then sat facing him.
Crunch, crunch……..
The two men ate in silence, shoving meat into their mouths.
Cheol-goe finished both legs and tore into the breast.
“Even kept in ice, the meat is still moist.”
“Thank you.”
Crunch, crunch…
“I should be the one grateful. Where else would you taste cooking like this?”
Having devoured one bird, he began on the second pheasant.
“Soon the Jamryong-hoe and Seongma Group will appear in front of the Guest Inn. I must kill them. What will you do?”
“What matters most to me is Baek Won-yeong and the Guest Inn.”
He nodded and stuffed more meat into his mouth.
Crunch, crunch…………
“Yeo Hwa asked for my help because she wants me to kill Cho Yak. She’ll leave Cho Yak to me and kill the sect disciples herself.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t know.”
Having finished both birds, he wiped the grease from his hands on his clothes.
Then he left three silver coins and picked up his iron spear.
“I’ll stop by again when I pass through.”
“Travel safely.”
Leaving the Guest Inn, Cheol-goe crossed the path and entered a dry grassland overgrown with withered weeds.
He walked deeper in and found a place to sit.
Then he looked up at the sky and let out a long breath.
Sigh……….
“The sky is still clear.”

*

The Jamryong-hoe and Seongma Group entered the village.
Once through this village, the Murim Alliance lay ahead.
With the Murim Alliance so close, even the skilled personnel relaxed their vigilance.
But Cho Yak never let her guard down.
“Enemies may be waiting for us in the village. Be careful.”
If there was an attack, it would come here—their last chance.
At her words, those who had loosened their tension looked around cautiously as they walked.
Indeed, more Gangho martial artists than usual were visible in the village.
They glanced at the Jamryong-hoe and Seongma Group passing down the street, then turned away.
Cho Yak, leading the group, shifted her gaze to a building on the right.
In that instant, a Yuyeop Blade fell from the roof.
“Enemies……..!”
She raised her voice and swung her Micheum Blade.
Crash……………..!
The Yuyeop Blade and Micheum Blade collided with a harsh clang.
Ahhhhh…!
Kugh…!
The ki wave that burst outward sent pedestrians tumbling across the street.
In the same instant, the Gangho practitioners who had turned their heads rushed forward as one.
Behind them, the Tattooed Assassins deployed their body techniques, slipping into the village.
Crash-crash-boom…!
Scrape…scrape…
Baek Won-yeong and Yeon Ja-seol’s blades slashed through the cascading torrent of strikes, severing the necks of their enemies.
Dok-go Il, defending the rear, shouted.
“Get out of the village, quickly…!”
Jamryong-hoe and the Seongma Group pushed their bodies to the limit, launching themselves toward the Murim Alliance.
Crash-crash-boom…!
Cho Yak deflected the overwhelming ki force of the Yuyeop Blade while moving with swift body technique.
‘We weren’t supposed to enter the village.’
She had suspected there might be an ambush waiting in the village.
But she never imagined that Yeo Hwa would attack directly, in front of so many people.
Yeo Hwa withdrew her Yuyeop Blade with a laugh.
Ho, ho, ho…
“I have to repay the blood debts of my subordinates, don’t I?”
Using that moment, Cho Yak swiftly deployed her body technique.
Whoosh…
Her heart was pounding with unease.
‘Why did she withdraw her blade?’
As Cho Yak deployed her light-body skill, she looked far ahead.
Standing in the middle of the road was a man wielding an iron spear.
“Cheol-goe?”
When she turned her head, Yeo Hwa and her subordinates were chasing from behind.
‘We’ve walked right into a trap.’
Her body technique shot forward, and then her form appeared in midair.
“Cheol-goe…!”
Cho Yak’s Micheum Blade descended, splitting heaven and earth in two.
Cheol-goe thrust his spear toward the falling Micheum Blade.
Boom…!
The space shook, and the earth roared.
The moment spear and blade collided, the ki wave that spread outward swept away the dry grass in all directions.
Whoosh…
At the same time, Yeo Hwa’s form also shot upward into the air.
Her blade was aimed at Baek Won-yeong in front.
But before the blade could extend, two swords rose to meet it.
Boom…!
The Yuyeop Blade struck down the two swords.
Landing on the ground, Yeo Hwa looked at the beautiful man and woman.
They retreated a step and spread their distance to either side.
“So you really are the children of Dok-go Yeop, aren’t you?”
In the instant a cold smile crossed her lips, her blade was already upon Dok-go Il and Dok-go Eun.
*

Yang Jung watched the sudden clash unfold in silence.
He was hiding in the forest when Cheol-goe took his position in the middle of the road.
Soon Jamryong-hoe and the Seongma Group came rushing, and in an instant, Cho Yak and Cheol-goe clashed.
‘What do I do?’
His heart wanted to help Jamryong-hoe and the Seongma Group.
But if he carelessly joined in, it seemed his head would roll.
While he hesitated, Baek Ha-yeong burst into the forest.
“To the Guest Inn…!”
She knew, as before, that she could only survive by reaching the Guest Inn.
And the Tattooed Assassins pursued her.
Whoosh.
Yang Jung instinctively drew his sword.
The Tattooed Assassin groaned and crumpled to the ground.
Uuugh…………….
Baek Ha-yeong, who had plunged into the forest, shifted her body movement without even understanding what had happened.
Clang-clang-clang…….!
At once, a fierce exchange erupted between her and the Tattooed Assassins.
Yang Jung thrust his sword forward once more.
Thunk…
Ugh…!
The man clashing with her let out a scream and collapsed.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————