Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 346

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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 346
Seo Hyo emerged slowly from behind the tree.
In his black daopo bearing the emblem of the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance, he cut a figure vastly different from his days of activity in Cheon Rim.
He had grown more confident, more sharp.
Yu Cheong swept his gaze up and down Seo Hyo’s form before speaking.
“The Heavenly Righteousness Alliance’s ceremony today is both the Alliance Leader’s inauguration and the Vice Alliance Leader’s inauguration, yet you’ve abandoned your post.”
Seo Hyo answered with an impassive expression.
“The position of Vice Alliance Leader is nothing but a shadow anyway. It matters little whether I’m there or not. Besides, all the introductions have already concluded and the courtesies have been observed, so I judged that a brief absence would pose no problem.”
Yu Cheong let out a soft laugh. That laughter carried both mockery and admiration simultaneously.
“Do you truly believe that?”
“I see no reason to believe otherwise.”
Yu Cheong regarded Seo Hyo in silence.
Seo Hyo was intelligent.
The fact that he uttered such words was no mere self-deprecation. It was a form of expressing kinship.
The way Seo Hyo moved freely from his position as Vice Alliance Leader and the way Yu Cheong moved from his position as Vice Sect Leader.
Beyond those titles lay dreams they were cultivating together.
“I am satisfied with this much.”
…
“I do not covet what lies above. I, Seo Hyo, have never been insincere about the Thousand Year Demon Cult’s reconstruction, not for a single moment, nor have I ever coveted the Cult Leader’s seat.”
Yu Cheong said nothing. He understood that the true question Seo Hyo wished to ask was not that.
Between them lay a deeper, darker past.
Soon after, Seo Hyo voiced what he truly wished to say.
“Why did you attempt to kill me?”
“That troubled you?”
“I could not help but be troubled. I am a man who wishes to witness the Demon Cult’s reconstruction with my own eyes. What meaning would there be in a Demon Cult built upon my death?”
Yu Cheong clasped his hands behind his back and spoke slowly. His voice carried the chill of harsh reality.
“Since you seek a proper answer, I shall give you one. You were unnecessary, and so I sought to end you.”
“…Then I truly amounted to no more than that in your eyes, Master?”
“The world is filled with talent. Yet among them, those hounds who bare the desires they should not possess will inevitably snap their leash and bite their master’s throat.”
Seo Hyo’s fists trembled ever so slightly.
“Then you possess no desires, Master?”
“Desire and knowing one’s place are different things.”
“Knowing one’s place…”
Yu Cheong’s eyes grew cold.
“You desired the position of Vice Sect Leader. No—you desired positions even higher than that. That is not what was wrong. But the manner in which you revealed that desire displeased me.”
“What manner would have been correct?”
“To wait. You should have remained in your place, receiving only what your master deigned to grant you.”
Seo Hyo offered a bitter smile.
“Then I might wait my entire life and receive nothing, might I not?”
“That is the fate of a servant.”
The word “servant” cut through the air, and Seo Hyo’s face hardened. Yet he did not lose his temper. Rather, he became even more composed.
Yu Cheong then posed a question to him.
“Why have you come to this place alone?”
“….”
“There are no witnesses here now. Have you come to die?”
Yu Cheong’s brow twitched slightly.
“I wished to hear an answer to your question.”
“You give a different answer to the question. I asked if you came to die.”
“Can you kill me?”
“Why do you think I cannot?”
A composed smile played at the corners of Seo Hyo’s mouth—one remarkably similar to the expression he wore in his days as Cheon Lim’s Daughter.
“You just spoke to me of a hunting dog fitted with a leash.”
“I did.”
“I too can see it. The leash wound about your neck, Master.”
Yu Cheong made no particular response.
He gazed at Seo Hyo with an untroubled expression, and meeting that gaze, Seo Hyo continued.
“Because you harbored no doubt of my abilities, you resolved to come. Surely such a one as I would not fail to perceive this.”
Seo Hyo’s voice dropped lower still.
“To come to this place today, you would have required someone’s permission. The wounds upon your body—courtesy itself—are plainly grave to any eye. Though I know not why you are bound to the Blood Cult, until you unwind that leash or chain that binds you, you cannot act directly. Am I wrong?”
Yu Cheong said nothing.
In the life-and-death struggle with Cheon Do-ja, I had suffered a devastating defeat.
When I had expounded to Woon-hwi the greatness of Cheon Do-ja, it was not to emphasize his greatness—it was the literal truth itself.
Yu Cheong let out a soft laugh.
“Impressive.”
“Thank you.”
“The leash about my neck, I shall loosen myself. And on that day, when the time comes, you must clarify your own position once more.”
Seo Hyo’s brow furrowed slightly.
The astute Seo Hyo grasped the true meaning concealed within Yu Cheong’s words.
“Do you intend to sway me again?”
“The choice is yours to make.”
“Then there is no need to deliberate. I have already decided.”
“Does that man please you so greatly?”
“It is not a matter of pleasure or displeasure. I have already sworn an oath.”
“To what?”
“An oath of master and servant.”
Yu Cheong’s face turned cold and rigid.
“…You were hasty.”
“I would prefer you call it wisdom.”
Yu Cheong shook his head.
“Then there is no further need for discourse.”
“….”
“I wish you well on your journey.”
With that, Yu Cheong took a step forward. It was the moment he was about to pass by Seo Hyo.
Seo Hyo, who had been lost in thought, turned his body. Then, with great reverence, he performed the Cupped Fist Salute. In that posture lay both gratitude for the past and resolve for the future.
“I shall never forget the kindness of my teacher, who nurtured my dreams, taught me martial arts, and gave me this opportunity.”
Yu Cheong turned his head. His eyes held no emotion whatsoever.
“It has been an honor to serve you all this time.”
“….”
“Should my keen blade aim for your neck next time, I hope you will harbor no resentment.”
Yu Cheong let out a soft chuckle.
Then he turned away and continued walking.
There was no need for many words. What more could possibly be needed? And so Yu Cheong’s figure vanished into the darkness.
Left alone, Seo Hyo nearly stumbled backward in shock the moment he turned his head.
Seol Woon-hwi was standing there.
An awkward smile graced his face.
“My goodness… how long have you been standing there?”
“Since the part where he said ‘it has been an honor to serve you.'”
“…You’re not upset, are you?”
Seol Woon-hwi shook his head. His face bore the same composed expression as always.
“If a man takes offense at another man’s way of closing a chapter, then he is no man at all.”
Seo Hyo’s expression softened with relief. Of course it was Seol Woon-hwi. He was a man of such magnanimous character that he did not cling to such trifles.
“Has your resolve become firm?”
“It has been firm all along.”
“Then go. The Vice Alliance Leader of the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance cannot afford to be absent during the ceremony.”
Seo Hyo smiled faintly.
“I shall attend you. Let us depart.”
* * *
Now alone once more, Yu Cheong walked slowly, feeling the landscape around him.
Though Cheonsu had long since faded away, the night air remained bitterly cold.
Wind sweeping down from the mountain carried his long black hair in its wake, while moonlight painted his pale face in silver.
Each footfall echoed through the quiet night, cleaving the silence.
As he walked, I recalled the people I had met today. Seol Woon-hwi’s sharp insight, Seo Hyo’s transformation. And above all, that composure Seol Woon-hwi had displayed weighed on my mind. That calm demeanor, as though he were a master strategist who had calculated everything.
Grass along the roadside swayed in the wind, rustling softly.
The cries of insects pierced the silence, and from far away came the call of an owl.
To anyone’s eye, it was truly a peaceful night.
Yet Yu Cheong’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt at this very moment, and a faint Demonic Energy began to seep from his physical body.
It was true that Yu Cheong rarely appeared in the Central Plains.
Over the span of more than twenty years, it could be counted on one hand.
This journey abroad was not at Cheon Do-ja’s command.
Yu Cheong had requested it directly from Cheon Do-ja.
I wanted to see for myself and make my own judgment.
I came only to observe that, but I never expected it would become this bothersome.
“I understand the Beom Cheon Sect has much work to attend to, yet you seem quite at leisure.”
At Yu Cheong’s words, the Old Man who had been performing a salute atop a large boulder across the way chuckled.
Though he appeared to be well past seventy, the energy emanating from his body was potent enough to crumble mountains.
His shaved head, tattered monk’s robes, and the perpetual smile adorning his face.
Yet beneath that smile lurked a savage ferocity.
Immortal Maitreya. The patriarch of the Maitreya Brahma Heaven Sect and an absolute master who had attained the realm of Primordial Sole Existence.
“Amitabha Buddha. You, honored patron, must have gone to considerable trouble coming all the way out here.”
His voice was gentle, yet brimming with mischief—like a child who had discovered an amusing toy.
“This humble monk’s presence here is the will of Buddha, so why does the honored patron seem so eager to depart?”
Yu Cheong’s eyes turned cold.
“Whether I leave or stay, whether I remain in this place or not—such matters are not your concern, Immortal Maitreya.”
“Hehehehe.”
“So spare me the deflections. If you have something to say, say it.”
“Ah, there is no need to rush so. We have not met in ages—surely we could share a cup of tea together….”
“I have no time.”
Immortal Maitreya descended from the boulder. His movements were as soft as drifting clouds, yet simultaneously swift as lightning.
“No time? It seems to this humble monk that you simply do not wish to spend the time.”
“Your interpretation is free to make, but you came close to the truth.”
To any observer, these two men were acquainted, yet their relationship appeared far from cordial.
Immortal Maitreya let out a dry laugh and spoke.
“Now that I think of it, there is one thing I am curious about.”
“What is that?”
“Those tasks that Cheon No-ya instructed. This humble monk has been gathering materials as instructed, but I am curious how the progress is proceeding.”
Yu Cheong did not answer.
Immortal Maitreya’s smile deepened.
“Surely you do not think this humble monk has no need to know?”
“I do not know.”
A simple answer. Yet within it lay the resolve to speak no further.
Immortal Maitreya let out a hollow laugh.
“Amitabha Buddha. Do you not think you are treating this humble monk with contempt?”
“It is not contempt, merely a judgment that there is no necessity.”
“No necessity….”
A dangerous light flickered in Immortal Maitreya’s eyes. Golden energy began to seep from his clasped hands.
“Then this humble monk shall have no choice but to verify it directly.”
Yu Cheong laughed.
“My body is not in peak condition, but I can manage to face you alone.”
“…Ah….”
“If you have questions, go ask Cheon No-ya directly. Whatever your reason for revealing yourself before me, your actions now appear nothing more than the tantrum of a frightened child afraid of Cheon No-ya.”

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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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