Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 258

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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 258
Chapter 1
The region governed by Hwa Mu-ryeong was Cheongju Region.
The path leading there was shrouded in silence.
Though moonlight illuminated the way, her heart dwelt in darkness far deeper than the night itself.
She still could not shake her doubts about the decision she had made during her conversation with Seol Woon-hwi.
‘Ten days….’
Hwa Mu-ryeong ceased her lightness technique and descended upon a towering tree. In the distance, the faint lights of Cheongju flickered into view. The wind swept through, scattering her hair.
‘If that child truly is alive….’
Seol Woon-hwi’s conjecture had been precise.
I am of Hondo Maryeom Palace, yet I harbor the will to annihilate it entirely.
This determination had its origin in Dong Yu-seong’s death, and now his youngest son was living under a different surname?
I had seen the corpse with my own eyes.
I had witnessed the cremation myself.
It was all a deception?
My thoughts grew tangled.
‘Who was it? Who spirited him away?’
Dong Mu-rin’s corpse.
I had certainly collected it, yet if he lived now, someone must have acted behind the scenes to save him.
He had diverted not only my attention but that of Hondo Maryeom Palace itself.
I had devised plans, but circumstances had grown strange.
Yet if Dong Mu-rin truly lived, I would alter my strategy.
So long as he lived.
It was then.
“It has been a long time, Mu-ryeong.”
My body stiffened instantly.
A voice I had not heard in eleven years—yet one I could never forget.
I turned slowly, and from the shadows beneath the tree, a man emerged.
Flame King Hwa Mu-nyeom.
Clad in a crimson daopo, he appeared little changed from eleven years past. Yet his gaze had grown deeper still, and his bearing carried unmistakable traces of weariness.
I leaped down from the tree and spoke.
“I thought you were dead, with no word from you all this time.”
My voice was laden with conflicting emotions.
Hwa Mu-nyeom remained silent. He knew well that resentment burned most fiercely among those tangled feelings.
“Seeing you reveal yourself like this, it seems what that man said was true. What exactly have you been doing?”
My tone grew increasingly harsh. Everything I had suppressed for over a decade was erupting.
“I have embraced a new purpose.”
At my father’s terse reply, my brow furrowed sharply.
“What purpose? Why would someone who once severed all worldly ties and lived in seclusion suddenly crawl back into the Murim?”
“Your tone has become quite aggressive.”
There was a hint of reproach in Hwa Mu-nyeom’s voice.
“Is there a reason not to?”
Hwa Mu-ryeong shot back. Tears glistened in her eyes, yet flames of fury burned within them simultaneously.
Hwa Mu-nyeom drew a deep breath. He understood that his daughter’s anger was justified.
“I understand your feelings. But….”
“You understand?”
Seeing his daughter cut him off, Hwa Mu-nyeom fell silent once more.
“Father, you knew how much I admired that man, so why didn’t you appear then?”
“….”
“Did you really not know? Did you truly not know that Seong Yang-ho and my sister were brutally slaughtered, that all the children and relatives would have their heads severed?”
Hwa Mu-ryeong’s voice trembled.
The memory of that day remained vivid. The moment her beloved collapsed, coughing blood. And the despair of no one coming to save him.
Though that man had not chosen Hwa Mu-ryeong, she could not suppress the emotions of more than a decade and tried to overwhelm him, only to be rejected—a year where they turned away from each other.
Hwa Mu-ryeong had genuinely tried to apologize and had prepared a gift. And that day was the day Dong Yu-seong died.
Hwa Mu-ryeong’s emotions were truly complex. There was resentment, self-reproach, and regret.
After a long silence, Hwa Mu-nyeom spoke briefly.
“I did not know.”
“…How convenient your answer is.”
Hwa Mu-ryeong let out a hollow laugh.
“Even if you didn’t know then, you know now, don’t you? Why are you just sitting idle? Shouldn’t you be destroying Hondo Maryeom Palace? Break your seclusion—what are you doing wandering about that you can meet that man before me!”
Hwa Mu-nyeom slowly approached Hwa Mu-ryeong, his movements careful as if to soothe his daughter’s fury.
“Mu-ryeong, listen to me….”
“Listen to what? What excuse will you make this time?”
Hwa Mu-ryeong stepped back.
Hwa Mu-nyeom sighed quietly and spoke.
“Mu-rin is alive.”
Hwa Mu-ryeong’s eyes widened.
“…What did you say?”
“Did you not hear from inside? Seol Woon-hwi—his words are true. Han Mu-rin, his subordinate, is Dong Yu-seong’s son.”
Hwa Mu-ryeong’s pupils began to tremble violently. Could it be? Was it truly so?
“…How long… have you known?”
“From the beginning.”
At Hwa Mu-nyeom’s answer, Hwa Mu-ryeong let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
“Ha ha… You are truly remarkable, Father.”
When one thought about it.
On the day of the catastrophe, there was only one person who could have spirited away Dong Yu-seong’s bloodline.
The Flame King, Hwa Mu-nyeom.
Though he had already entered seclusion, if he had heard the news and rushed straight to Hondo Maryeom Palace.
He could have saved at least one person.
A being who could obscure Shin Ju-eon’s gaze and conceal the sight of the palace’s martial artists.
Hwa Mu-nyeom, already a master who had ascended to Limitless Divine Manifestation by that time, would have been more than capable of it.
Hwa Mu-ryeong’s laughter was tinged with both anger and despair.
“You knew, so why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was waiting.”
Hwa Mu-nyeom spoke after a brief silence.
“What do you mean? What were you waiting for?”
“I watched as Mu-rin lived under the Han surname, as you harbored dreams of revenge while facing unfavorable gazes within Hondo Maryeom Palace. But the time was not right.”
Hwa Mu-ryeong’s anger erupted.
“The time was not right? Do you have any idea how much I suffered? Wretches like Woo Rin, who died not long ago, became unit leaders of the strike force, and inferiors became elders above me.”
“….”
“I was stripped of my position as elder and spent over ten years as an instructor training strike force members. Just an instructor—a mere instructor—bowing my head and showing courtesy to elder bastards inferior to me, all while dreaming of revenge day after day, waiting for my moment. And now you tell me the time wasn’t right? I….”
“Now it is.”
She fell silent.
“Now?”
“Mu-ryeong. The true force behind Dong Yu-seong’s death is not merely Shin Ju-eon. There are deeper roots.”
Hwa Mu-ryeong’s expression hardened. Until now, she had believed only Shin Ju-eon, the Palace Lord of Hondo Maryeom Palace, was her enemy. But there was a deeper conspirator behind it all?
“The judgment is yours to make. As a martial artist, make the right choice.”
“…You keep saying strange things, and you keep trailing off. Why won’t you finish?”
“For your sake.”
“Don’t say ridiculous things.”
Hwa Mu-nyeom shook his head as he spoke.
“Meet Han Mu-rin. And if you wish to protect him, enter the ‘game.'”
“…To know the roots, I must make a choice?”
She gazed quietly at her father as he nodded.
Suddenly, curiosity stirred within her.
“Father, what do you think of Seol Woon-hwi?”
His answer was resolute.
“A dangerous yet necessary existence.”
Hwa Mu-nyeom spoke while gazing toward Cheon Ryong Palace in the distance.
“He will completely overturn the power structure of the Murim. And within that chaos, you will be able to obtain what you desire.”
“And you, Father?”
“I cannot be certain whether I can achieve the purpose I vowed to accomplish by breaking my seclusion, but I am confident I can at least take revenge upon Hondo Maryeom Palace.”
The wind swept across them, rustling the hems of their robes. The decade-long gap between father and daughter could not be completely bridged by this brief conversation, but at least they now gazed in the same direction.
“Mu-rin is… truly alive, isn’t he?”
Her voice trembled with longing.
“Yes. And you will meet him soon.”
At Hwa Mu-nyeom’s confident words, Hwa Mu-ryeong nodded quietly.
“Let us go.”
“…You’re just leaving like this?”
Hwa Mu-nyeom, who seemed to be thinking for a moment, spoke briefly.
“I’ll be back soon enough.”
* * *
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
Deep within Seong Lim Mountain, a place ordinarily devoid of visitors, several figures had gathered this day.
A strange aura flowed between the rugged peaks, and at the source of that energy, a faintly luminous rift in space hung open.
It was the entrance to the Secret Realm.
Standing before it with arms crossed was a man—Jang I-cheong, the Manhwa Geom-je.
Though his face still bore an arrogant smile, his eyes had grown cold and sharp.
“You arrived without delay.”
Jang I-cheong murmured to himself.
His gaze was fixed downslope.
Besides Jang I-cheong, roughly a dozen figures occupied this place.
All possessed considerable renown within the Murim, yet were known to have no direct connection to Cheon Rim or Muk Se-hoe.
Among them, two figures stood out distinctly.
Jeok Yeon-ik, Sect Master of Akseong Geompa—a man in his mid-forties who had already ascended to the Divine Transformation Realm.
Behind him stood five elite disciples of Akseong Geompa, and at some distance away was In Hwa-rang, the Deputy Palace Lord of Hyeolryeom Magung.
This man too had reached the Divine Transformation Realm and had made a name for himself throughout the Central Plains; clad in a crimson daopo, he emanated a palpable aura of danger even at a glance. He likewise commanded five subordinates at his back.
Then it happened.
A man walked toward where they stood.
It was Seol Woon-hwi.
Jeok Yeon-ik let out a hollow laugh.
“I say, Great One Jang, you mentioned there was someone we absolutely had to wait for—surely you weren’t waiting for that ‘corpse’ over there?”
Though Seol Woon-hwi was unmistakably alive, Jeok Yeon-ik’s description was not without merit.
Even Jang I-cheong found himself at a loss for words.
Seol Woon-hwi’s appearance was that extraordinary.
His entire frame had withered away, and his face was deathly pale. Most striking of all was his hair.
What had once been ash-gray had now faded to nearly white, as though bleached of all color.
He looked as though he had aged a full decade.
Jang I-cheong addressed Seol Woon-hwi.
“Remarkable that you didn’t flee, looking like that.”
Contempt seeped through the mockery in his tone.
“To arrive here in such a state—fools might call it audacious, but I see only the height of stupidity. And above all, that parasite Seong Yang-ho who clung to your side is nowhere to be found… I haven’t the faintest idea what you think you’re accomplishing.”
Seol Woon-hwi showed no particular reaction to Jang I-cheong’s words. Instead, he slowly surveyed his surroundings and spoke in an unhurried voice.
“I had much to prepare, so I’m somewhat late, but it seems you’ve gathered quite the crowd.”
“….”

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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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