Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 250
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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 250
“…On the contrary, things might improve. The future is something even the Buddha finds difficult to predict.”
Seol Woon-hwi shook his head.
“Unfortunately, even if you were the Buddha, you would have thought the same as me. They are people who understand the Way of the Beggar Sect and know what it means to earn martial arts. The talented individuals who entered the Beggar Sect to become the freest beings in this world, and the core figures who will shoulder the sect’s future—they will witness the reality of the Beggar Sect. Will such people truly follow the Beggar Sect that the current Deputy Sect Leader will create?”
“….”
“If the Beggar Sect degenerates into merely laying the foundation for the Original Blood Sect, they will naturally turn their backs on it. Or they will attempt to change it, but before long, they will be discovered as corpses. The Deputy Sect Leader would never allow such people to exist peacefully.”
“….”
“Jin Mu-hyeok is not the type of person broad-minded enough to simply watch those who criticize him leave. To expect such loyalty from someone who has sold out his sect would be a matter of intelligence.”
“Hah….”
“I can stake my head and swear. In five years, no—in just ten years, the current Beggar Sect will become a gathering place for vermin, the luster of its name will fade, and the talented individuals brimming with ambition will abandon the sect….”
“That’s enough.”
Hye Jung-san crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
Every word was painfully correct.
The Beggar Sect’s problem ultimately came down to one thing.
The complacency of Hye Jung-san, the Sect Leader. The Deputy Sect Leader causing problems within the Beggar Sect was his only disciple.
He had strayed from the path, and it was clear he would ultimately ruin the Beggar Sect, yet Hye Jung-san could not bring himself to act.
He had indecisively waited, thinking the deviation was merely a fleeting moment.
That period had lasted fifteen years.
He opened his eyes.
“So what do you intend to do now? Will the Beggar Sect stop the slaughter?”
Seol Woon-hwi let out a scoff.
“Not a chance. I will continue to kill every member of the Beggar Sect I lay eyes on.”
“…We’ve had this entire conversation, yet how does the conclusion become that?”
“Because this conversation has made me regard the Beggar Sect even more contemptibly than before.”
“My mood is beginning to sour.”
“Should I concern myself with that?”
The disrespect he displayed before the Sect Leader of the Beggar Sect was beyond measure, but there was reason for it.
“You failed to correct your wayward disciple. As a result, the Beggar Sect is divided, its future darkened, and yet you turn away from an opportunity to set things right. Surely you don’t intend to make me your enemy as well?”
At these words, Hye Jung-san’s eyes widened.
“You know well. If you kill me in this place, the Beggar Sect will face annihilation.”
“…You gamble with your life.”
“It’s not gambling—it’s enlightenment, is it not?”
Something stirred within Hye Jung-san’s chest. It was not anger. It was shame.
“You still waver even as you attempt to show benevolence, Senior. A single decision in this moment determines the future of decades, centuries. The Beggar Sect is the only sect that succeeded in rebuilding after the Thousand Year Chaos brought annihilation. Now it stands at another crossroads.”
Seol Woon-hwi drained the bamboo leaf liquor placed on the table in one gulp and continued.
“I will continue to kill members of the Beggar Sect. At least, anyone wearing a belt around their waist in this Seongchakju will be put to death without exception. If you ask how long, I will answer: until I grow weary of it.”
“…You’re asking me to give you justification to stop?”
“Not quite. I am offering you an opportunity.”
Hye Jung-san understood.
Frankly, coming to this place was meant to warn Seol Woon-hwi.
I believed that if I told the Beggar Sect Leader himself not to kill Seol Woon-hwi, he would be persuaded—after all, his very existence was the Beggar Sect itself.
His existence was the Beggar Sect incarnate.
Yet here I was, coercing that very leader. No, not coercing—forcing him to confront reality.
“You’re trapped between impossible choices, utterly cornered and helpless. Here stands a mere boy like me, brazenly spouting nonsense about killing Seol Woon-hwi right before a master of Great Void Formless, and yet you cannot even silence my mouth.”
If Seol Woon-hwi died, the Eternal Snow Palace would become the Beggar Sect’s enemy, and the Beggar Sect would have to wage war against them.
Now that Seol Jung-cheon had ascended through Primordial Sole Existence and Seol Ho-ryeong had been appointed as Young Palace Lord, they would need achievements worthy of historical record.
The Eternal Snow Palace was treated as a nation in the Outer Martial World.
A nation’s achievements meant unity, and the Beggar Sect would make an excellent sacrifice.
Above all, Seol Woon-hwi had no intention of stopping—he would kill Beggar Sect disciples until he grew tired of it.
To prevent this, Hye Jung-san had to make a decision.
To purge the impure faction within the Beggar Sect—the radical newcomers.
Once that was done, the Beggar Sect would become unified, Seol Woon-hwi would have shown Hye Jung-san favor, and Hye Jung-san would owe Seol Woon-hwi a debt.
The cycle of gratitude and grudges spoken of in the Martial World would be perfectly complete.
“You’re turning eighteen soon, aren’t you?”
The year hadn’t quite ended, but in another month it would change completely.
Eighteen was correct. When Seol Woon-hwi nodded, Hye Jung-san let out a hollow laugh.
“Unbelievable. A mind capable of such deep schemes, and you’re not even of age yet… The Palace Lord must be quite pleased.”
Hye Jung-san, lost in thought for a moment, asked Seol Woon-hwi a question.
“Why do you wish to offer me such help?”
Seol Woon-hwi pondered briefly before answering slowly.
“I’ll speak without reservation, exactly as it is.”
“Go ahead.”
“I was filled with the intention of using the Beggar Sect as my personal subordinate organization.”
“Ambitious dreams. And here I am, still standing strong—you’d simply devour my Beggar Sect?”
“As I said, I speak without reservation, exactly as it is. Setting aside whether it’s realistic, I’m telling you what my intention is.”
“So has that intention changed now?”
“Not yet, but if Senior Hye makes a decision and transforms the Beggar Sect anew, then rather than a subordinate organization, we could move toward a relationship where we join hands and help one another. That would be the best intention.”
“Joining hands and helping each other… Do you have the authority to decide such a thing?”
Seol Woon-hwi smiled faintly.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s not about joining hands with the Eternal Snow Palace—it’s about joining hands with ‘me.'”
Hye Jung-san fell silent.
After a long moment of silence, studying Seol Woon-hwi, Hye Jung-san slowly rose from his seat.
“That was a good conversation.”
“Indeed.”
Hye Jung-san’s heart was turbulent. He had lived fifty years as the leader of the Beggar Sect.
In those fifty years, he had made countless decisions and weathered countless crises.
Yet now, standing before a boy not yet eighteen, he was awakening to how complacent he had become.
More devastating was the fact that the boy’s words were not wrong.
The values I have upheld within the Beggar Sect, those sublime ideals—they were crumbling before my very eyes in this moment.
And only I possessed the power to stop it.
Yet that path demanded I abandon my disciple.
My sole disciple, the one I had raised as a son—I would have to execute him with my own hands.
Such a decision pierced my heart unbearably. But only through this sacrifice could the Beggar Sect survive. I spoke not of Seol Woon-hwi’s personal fate, but of the very “future” of the Beggar Sect as an organization itself.
Hye Jung-san released a heavy sigh and spoke.
“Still, we’ve come this far—will you at least preserve my honor?”
“Of course. Since you, Senior, have come in person, I shall halt the massacre of the Beggar Sect disciples.”
“And this Seongchakju is vast. I had considered establishing a Main Branch here—but what of the intelligence gap?”
“The Beggar Sect must move in.”
Hye Jung-san let out a hollow laugh.
He was perceptive.
Our conversation was drawing toward its conclusion, and now we needed to find common ground. Yet the Beggar Sect would need to establish itself in the very region where its disciples had been slaughtered? There was only one explanation.
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“Jang Seok of Yang-ryeong.”
“…You speak of that man, famous as your own subordinate.”
“Precisely. Please appoint him as Branch Chief of this Seongchakju.”
“Hmm….”
“He currently holds the rank of Three Knot Beggar, but this was originally a ‘branch,’ was it not? Then promote him to Four Knot Beggar, assign him to oversee this place, and when he is later promoted to Main Branch, grant him one additional promotion at that time.”
“My word… did you calculate even this far ahead?”
“I calculated beyond this point, but I did not anticipate the Beggar Sect Leader coming in person. Fortunately, our conversation has proceeded peacefully, and I am merely executing the plan I had originally devised.”
“You understand as well as I do—if I do this, the appearance becomes strange. This is not me preserving your honor, but rather me yielding to you, is it not?”
I understood completely.
Looking at the situation alone: Beggar Sect Leader Hye Jung-san came directly to confront me, and the result is that Jang Seok, my man, receives a promotion and takes the position of Branch Chief of Seongchakju.
To any observer, it would appear that Hye Jung-san had been defeated.
Rather than preserving honor, it would be stripped away.
I extended my hand to the side.
“The Hidden Dagger.”
At my brief words, Hye Jung-san tilted his head in confusion, and Manager Seong in the distance did the same.
“Give me the Hidden Dagger.”
I spoke again, and Manager Seong quickly approached, withdrawing the Hidden Dagger from his robes and handing it to me.
What followed.
An act so shocking that both men—save myself—gasped in horror.
Gripping the Hidden Dagger firmly, I began to slash a long wound across my own forehead.
With a wet, tearing sound, an enormous torrent of blood poured forth.
“You… what are you doing…?”
“Young Master… Young Master!”
It was not finished.
This time, I reversed my grip on the Hidden Dagger and drove it into my left shoulder.
A deep, wet sound.
Blood drips down.
“Stop… Young Master!”
Manager Seong tried to intervene, but Seol Woon-hwi raised his other hand to stop him.
“Wait.”
Finally, he drove the Hidden Dagger into his right thigh.
Thud.
Blood surges forth.
Manager Seong stood frozen in shock while Hye Jung-san stared at Seol Woon-hwi with a face gone rigid.
Seol Woon-hwi continued quietly.
“Today, Senior Hye came to meet me, and at this place, you subdued me.”
“….”
“You ordered me to stop killing the Beggar Sect Leader at once, but I refused to yield. Impressed by my audacity, Senior Hye judged it advantageous to establish a cordial relationship with me.”
Though Seol Woon-hwi spoke in a quiet voice, his words struck Hye Jung-san’s mind like thunder.
“Having evaluated me highly, Senior Hye stationed Jang Seok—someone closely connected to me—at the vacant Seongchakju branch, then withdrew after threatening to watch how things unfold.”
“…You….”
“With this, we can both preserve your honor and my own. What do you think of that?”
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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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