My Younger Siblings Are the Greatest Masters in the World - Chapter 140

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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140.

“There are only five enemies! Surround and attack them!”

A man who appeared to be in his late forties raised his voice with bulging veins on his neck.

Hwangbo Hyeonguk shouted toward that man.

“Uncle Peng! What’s the reason for going this far?”

The one called Uncle Peng was Paeng Jieung, the third younger brother of the current family head.

“There’s no personal reason. It’s because you and we are enemies.”

I see.

Enemy. With that single word, all this killing is rationalized.

Seol Mujin launched his body toward Paeng Jieung.

Three men intervened between them, but not one could withstand Seol Mujin’s single strike.

Seol Mujin’s sword cut through everything in its path, whether tree or person, all at once.

Clang!

The first person to block Seol Mujin’s sword was indeed Paeng Jieung.

Paeng Jieung retreated two steps and hit his back against a tree.

If there hadn’t been a tree, he might have rolled on the ground.

“What kind of strength…!”

Seol Mujin didn’t even give Paeng Jieung time to finish speaking.

The second sword broke Paeng Jieung’s sword in half, and the third sword severed Paeng Jieung’s head.

Paeng Jieung was probably the best among the warriors dispatched by Habuk Paengga.

When Paeng Jieung died, the remaining warriors became scattered and demoralized.

Fighting in a forest thick with trees where weapons couldn’t be properly wielded was bound to favor the skilled fighters.

Still, the fighting spirit of the Habuk Paengga warriors had to be acknowledged.

Among the hundred or so warriors, not a single one showed their back.

Seol Mujin swung his sword to shake off the blood on the blade.

“Go to Jinan and wait. I’ll finish things here and catch up.”

Seol Mujin tried to retrace his path without resting even for a moment.

Jegal Jaeryeong blocked Seol Mujin’s path.

A question of ‘What are you doing?’ flew through her gaze.

“Brother, catch your breath for a moment. Whew—!”

Jegal Jaeryeong wiped her palms on her pants and turned around.

“Let’s go.”

“Jinan isn’t in that direction though?”

Jegal Jaeryeong smiled brightly at Seol Mujin.

“I don’t like Jinan without Brother Mujin because it’s boring.”

“That’s true.”

Hwangbo Ryeoseon and Sang Chiyeon also followed Seol Mujin.

“I can’t stand boring things either.”

Hwangbo Hyeonguk joined as well.

“You might regret this.”

Hwangbo Ryeoseon said.

“A comrade who fought through battlefields with us is charging at enemies, and you want us to show our backs? What exactly do you take us for?”

Hwangbo Hyeonguk stepped ahead of Seol Mujin.

“Since it’s come to this, let’s sweep them all away.”

Jegal Jaeryeong said.

“Uncle Peng said it earlier. The reason to kill is enemy. That single word is enough. If they try to kill me, they must pay the price.”

Killing people on the battlefield was natural.

Giving meaning to killing on the battlefield was nothing but cowardly hypocrisy.

They stepped forward toward the moths climbing the mountain.

***

Yeongchun Wang staggered into his bedroom.

“Stupid fools! Incompetent idiots in the world!”

He mobilized three thousand cavalry but couldn’t kill just five people.

They didn’t just let them escape—they lost over a thousand subordinates to those five people.

No, it was as if they had lost all three thousand men.

The surviving cavalry scattered in all directions and fled somewhere, with only one hundred fifty returning.

The cavalry he had spent five years cultivating was completely annihilated by five people in a single day!

“That bastard Cheon Hyeok…!”

Prince Ju Cheonhyeok might have anticipated this situation.

Otherwise, there was no reason to put such a huge bounty of three hundred thousand nyang on Seol Mujin’s head.

Raising eight thousand private soldiers—three thousand cavalry and five thousand infantry—was no easy task.

No matter how much wealth he had and how much support he received, it was truly like pouring water into a bottomless jar.

When his wealth gradually disappeared and money hit rock bottom, the three hundred thousand nyang that Ju Cheonhyeok offered was too sweet a temptation.

He believed that no matter how great Seol Mujin was, three thousand cavalry could kill him without much difficulty.

“This bastard and that bastard only try to stab me in the back… Burp—!”

Yeongchun Wang threw himself onto the large bed.

Tomorrow when his clear mind returned, a solution would come to him.

He still had five thousand private soldiers.

Not a ragtag bunch, but soldiers trained better than regular troops.

“Kill that bastard Seol Mujin and give that bastard Cheon Hyeok a sharp lesson too…”

Then a chilling voice was heard.

“You’re going to kill me?”

He was so startled that his drunkenness instantly disappeared.

Yeongchun Wang bolted upright from the bed and looked around.

“Wh-who’s there!”

Yeongchun Wang soon saw a person emerging from the corner of the room.

A young man wearing clothes covered in dried blood all over his body, making it impossible to tell what the original color even was.

“Seol… Mujin?”

The name of someone he had never met came out like an instinct.

Seol Mujin slowly approached the bed.

As Yeongchun Wang scooted backward with his buttocks, the silk blanket moved with rustling sounds.

Thud!

Yeongchun Wang’s back hit the wall that met the bed.

As Seol Mujin drew closer to the bed, Yeongchun Wang screamed desperately.

“Anyone there! Is no one there! It’s an enemy! An enemy has invaded!”

Yeongchun Wang’s desperate voice couldn’t penetrate the wall of internal energy Seol Mujin had created and bounced back.

“Now that you’ve realized shouting is useless, shall you answer my questions? Why did you try to kill me?”

“Y-you bastard! I’m royalty! Don’t you know that harming royalty means the extermination of three generations?”

Seol Mujin had drawn his sword without him even seeing when.

“Aaaaah—!”

At the pain felt in his shoulder, Yeongchun Wang screamed so hard his uvula popped out.

No matter how loud his voice, the pain didn’t lessen.

“The reason you tried to kill me.”

Despite letting out such a loud scream, strangely Seol Mujin’s voice could be heard clearly.

“Th-the Second Prince Ju, Cheonhyeok… Th-that bastard said if I k-killed you, he’d give me three hundred thousand nyang…”

“Is that the only reason?”

“If not that, why would I kill you! Now that you know, get the hell out!”

“These imperial family members.”

As soon as the sword was pulled from his shoulder, it pierced through Yeongchun Wang’s throat.

“Gurgle….”

Yeongchun Wang died just that simply.

He was no different from the cavalry who had died by Seol Mujin’s hand.

‘So being of royal blood doesn’t make one’s life any more tenacious,’ Seol Mujin muttered as he wiped the blood from his sword on the blanket.

“Second Prince. Well played.”

Seol Mujin exited the room through the window.

Though security was tight on all sides, there were no masters skilled enough to detect Seol Mujin’s presence.

Seol Mujin returned to the inn where his companions were waiting.

Everyone had finished bathing and looked refreshed.

Seeing Seol Mujin enter through the window, Hwangbo Ryeoseon asked.

“How did it go?”

“It went well.”

“Why did Yeongchun Wang try to kill us?”

“Not us, precisely. He was trying to kill me.”

“What?”

“The Second Prince put a bounty of three hundred thousand nyang on my head.”

“Th-three hundred thousand nyang?”

“You think that’s a lot?”

Hwangbo Ryeoseon quickly shook her head.

“Not at all. Compared to Seol Podoo’s worth, that’s pocket change. Pocket change.”

Jegal Jaeryeong asked.

“Do you have some special grudge with the Second Prince?”

“I met him once. I refused when he asked me to join his side, but it seems these imperial family types aren’t used to being refused.”

“He put up three hundred thousand nyang just for that reason?”

“The Second Prince might have anticipated even this situation. If Yeongchun Wang killed me, he’d get me killed for three hundred thousand nyang, so no loss there. Conversely, if I killed Yeongchun Wang, he’d eliminate a troublesome enemy, which is also good for him.”

Jegal Jaeryeong nodded.

“A winning hand either way.”

“It’s annoying, but the biggest winner is the Second Prince. He got what he wanted without lifting a finger.”

“Yeongchun Wang was probably a troublesome enemy for Samhwangja Jeonha too, so we can’t say it’s entirely bad.”

Seol Mujin left with the words ‘I should wash up first’ and entered the bathhouse attached to the room.

The water that had been hot had cooled to lukewarm, but he was satisfied with that much.

Seol Mujin organized his thoughts while bathing.

The four people stared intently at Seol Mujin as he came out, toweling his wet hair.

“What’s with these burdensome stares?”

Jegal Jaeryeong asked.

“You killed Yeongchun Wang, so why didn’t you go to Habuk Paengga? It can’t be because you’re afraid of Peng Uncle.”

“I have two ideas. One is to eliminate Habuk Paengga, and the other is to make them our allies.”

“I understand eliminating them, but can we make them our allies?”

“The situation changed with Yeongchun Wang’s death.”

The shackle called Yeongchun Wang that had been holding back Habuk Paengga was now removed.

There was plenty of possibility that Habuk Paengga, with their expanded room for maneuvering, would walk a different path than before.

“But we killed the family head’s brother.”

“He died trying to kill us. Would the Peng family head hold a grudge in this situation?”

“What do you think, Seol Podoo?”

At Sang Chiyeon’s question, Seol Mujin poured cold tea into a cup and said.

“Eliminating Habuk Paengga wouldn’t be difficult. We have justification on our side. But would it be easy to create a martial arts force as large as Habuk Paengga in Hebei Province?”

It was because Habuk Paengga had hundreds of years of history that they had established themselves in Hebei Province; a new force wouldn’t be able to grow as large as Habuk Paengga.

“It wouldn’t be bad to have a time for negotiation. If Habuk Paengga ultimately refuses to bow their heads, it won’t be too late to cut them down then.”

Jegal Jaeryeong asked.

“You killed Yeongchun Wang so easily, so why give Habuk Paengga a chance?”

“Yeongchun Wang had no possibility of becoming an ally, but Habuk Paengga can become our allies. It’s simple.”

Jegal Jaeryeong chuckled.

“I thought it was because Habuk Paengga are martial artists.”

“I don’t have any affection for the martial world. I’m not a martial artist to begin with.”

Seol Mujin drove the three women from the room with the words ‘Let’s rest now.’

And early the next morning, they departed for Jinan.

Once Yeongchun Wang’s body was discovered, there would be a massive search to catch the culprit.

***

“It’s my first time meeting you. I’m called Hyeon-ya.”

The old man with neatly combed white hair bowed politely toward Seol Mujin.

Seol Mujin returned the greeting.

“I’m Seol Mujin. I think I’ve heard of you before.”

It was Hyeon-ya who had recruited Oryongbang to Ju Cheonmyeong’s side, but when Oryongbang turned back to Myeoncheonhoe, Seol Mujin hadn’t had a chance to meet him.

“Thanks to Lord Seol, my work has been greatly reduced. Hehehe!”

“You don’t dislike me for stealing your chance to achieve merit, do you?”

When Seol Mujin probed slightly, Hyeon-ya waved his hands dismissively.

“What ambitions could an old eunuch have? If I can contribute even a small amount to the birth of a wise ruler, that’s enough for me.”

Seol Mujin inevitably had preconceptions about eunuchs too.

But he didn’t sense any of that sinister aura that would disrupt government affairs from Hyeon-ya.

“I spoke rudely. I apologize.”

A smile appeared on Hyeon-ya’s lips as he looked at Seol Mujin.

“I heard you went through great hardship this time.”

“Can this end with just my hardship? A member of the imperial family died.”

“Things will be chaotic for quite a while, but the sparks won’t fly as far as Lord Seol. I came all the way to Jinan in such haste to tell you this. Samhwangja Jeonha said not to worry and to do what you need to do. He also asked me to convey his apologies.”

“What does Samhwangja Jeonha have to apologize to me for?”

“He said he should have known about the Second Prince’s plot in advance and prevented it, and he feels sorry for always placing such heavy burdens on Lord Seol.”

“Since Samhwangja Jeonha puts it that way, it really does seem like that.”

Hyeon-ya laughed heartily at Seol Mujin’s joke.

“Since you’re here anyway, how about you handle the matter with the Minister of the Left, Hyeon-ya?”

“You mean the matter of summoning Byeokseojin, the County Magistrate’s father?”

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