Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 373

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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 373
“That man died without pain.”
“….”
“I’m going to ask you all a question.”
The blade’s tip pointed at Jin Mu’s neck.
“Whoever answers me truthfully will die as peacefully as he did.”
The blade’s tip shifted between Bang Seok-yun and Seo Ho-jun.
“The other one will be tortured repeatedly before answering my questions, and only then will he die.”
“…T-that….”
“Of course, I won’t be doing the torturing myself.”
Before the words had even finished, a man positioned himself between the two.
It was Manager Seong.
“First question. Who is your superior?”
Manager Seong casually drew out a hidden dagger.
The blade sang as it slid free.
It was clearly intentional, and it hit its mark perfectly.
It was the faint-hearted Bang Seok-yun who cried out.
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!!”
“Who?”
“The Hwan-myeong Emissary! I know the name of the Hwan-myeong Emissary!”
According to my investigation in my previous life, the Hwan-myeong Group’s hierarchy consisted of the Group Leader who commanded the organization, the direct subordinates called Hwan-ryeong under that leader, and the Hwan-myeong Emissaries who handled practical affairs in each region.
“A Hwan-myeong Emissary… What’s his name?”
“Hyeol Mu! The Hwan-myeong Emissary Hyeol Mu!!”
Bang Seok-yun cried out with tears streaming down his face.
“H-he recruited us! He said that precious members of the Hwan-myeong Group had died, that we needed to avenge them, that we would only cause minimal damage to Yang Ryeong-ju….”
“Minimal damage?”
“…That… He ordered us to sprinkle poison on the Divine Ginseng Pills.”
“Only you?”
“…No. I was to guard the warehouse and sprinkle the poison, and Jin Mu over there was also ordered to sprinkle it.”
“Then what about Seo Ho-jun here?”
“…I don’t know.”
I turned my gaze toward Seo Ho-jun.
I was about to ask what mission he had been given separately when—
“I… was to open the back gate.”
“The back gate?”
“…Yes. At a set time, when everyone was asleep, my role was to open the back gate.”
“You were planning to?”
“….”
“So all the members of Yang Woon Dan who couldn’t raise their internal energy with the poison, as well as Ju So-ah and Namgung Won Yang over there, could have all died.”
“…B-but how could that poison have such an effect? It’s merely temporary….”
“Is it merely a temporary poison?”
“…”
“You heard the name and yet pretend ignorance? The Hwan-myeong Group—regardless of what they’ve done, they retaliate whenever one of their own falls. A life for a life, blood repaid with blood. And they’re the type to bear any collateral casualties that arise in the process of settling that debt.”
“…”
“It seems you’re underestimating the will of fanatics who would throw away their own lives to see their convictions through.”
Having said that much, I turned my gaze toward Ju So-ah.
“Go check the warehouse immediately.”
“…Yes.”
I turned my head again to look at Bang Seok-yun.
“Hyeol Mu—I’ll remember that name.”
“Then… what about me…?”
“I keep my promises.”
As my gaze shifted toward Manager Seong, he drove the hidden dagger he’d been holding into Bang Seok-yun’s temple as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
Thud.
The moment he withdrew it, Bang Seok-yun’s body crumpled.
There was no pain.
Now only Seo Ho-jun remained.
Our eyes met.
Seo Ho-jun read the truth in my cold, sunken gaze.
There was no path to survival.
None.
“I… have one more piece of information.”
“Speak.”
“…I know the place and time where I’m to meet with Hyeol Mu of the Hwan-myeong Group.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“You were supposed to meet?”
“…Yes.”
“Tell me the details.”
“Today—at an abandoned house on the northern outskirts of Yang Ryeong-ju, at the beginning of the Insi hour!”
“An abandoned house…”
I paused to consider.
The northern outskirts of Yang Ryeong-ju.
There was an abandoned village there.
It had burned during the war.
“The exact location?”
“Thirty li from the North Gate, one hundred paces east from the entrance to the Abandoned Village, in an old house beside a large tree!!”
I nodded.
“Well spoken.”
“Then… then…!!”
Hope bloomed across Seo Ho-jun’s face.
“Please… spare me…!”
“I made no such promise.”
I placed the Jinwha Cheonryeong Geom into the Storage Bag. In that same instant, Manager Seong’s Hidden Dagger pierced through Seo Ho-jun’s crown.
Thud—!
Seo Ho-jun’s corpse crumbled to dust.
Three bodies now lay scattered across the Training Ground.
I opened my mouth.
“Han Seok-hyeon.”
Han Seok-hyeon, who had been waiting, rushed to my side without hesitation.
“You heard everything. You know what must be done.”
“…Of course.”
“Dispose of the bodies cleanly.”
“Yes.”
“And Namgung Won Yang.”
“…Yes, Master.”
“That matter we discussed earlier—it will have to wait.”
“…It’s fine.”
“No one present here today shall leave this place. Not a single soul will escape until the Insi hour arrives.”
Namgung Won Yang assumed a resolute stance and offered a Cupped Fist Salute.
“Yes Sir.”
* * *
The Insi hour.
The Abandoned Village in the Northern Outskirts of Yang Ryeong-ju.
Only moonlight illuminated the forsaken hamlet.
Beside a weathered structure leaning against a massive tree stood a man.
He possessed an ordinary build and an unremarkable face.
Seo Ho-jun.
Or rather, Seol Woon-hwi wearing Seo Ho-jun’s visage.
I surveyed my surroundings.
The Abandoned House remained silent.
It was beginning to feel like the time for his arrival had come.
-When is that bastard arriving?
At the sudden transmission, I couldn’t help but smile inwardly.
-He should arrive soon.
-Is that so? Well, setting that aside—you wretch. If you’re going to show up, at least reveal your face first. Why does trouble keep erupting in your life day after day?
-Indeed, it seems that way.
We fell silent for a moment.
-I didn’t think he was the type to meet a tragic death, yet I find myself worried regardless.
-…
-Welcome back, you wretch.
Seol Woon-hwi smiled.
-It’s been a while, Noh Senior.
-Senior? So you’ve created something called the Divine Three Realm or whatever?
-That’s what has come to pass.
-You bastard… You’re simply beyond explanation.
-I’ll take it as a compliment.
No Cheon-myeong was clearly still in the sky.
-I mention this just in case, but please conceal your presence as much as possible.
-I’m not some Flame Qi Four Stages fool wandering the streets. Would I make such a mistake?
-Even monkeys fall from trees.
-In any case, this Hwan-myeong Group you speak of—what kind of people are they?
-A gathering of those filled with malice.
-What sort of malice?
-Malice directed at the world itself.
-Malice… Isn’t it the way of the world that everyone carries some malice like that?
-I don’t deny it, but if that malice passes through me, then it becomes a problem.
-They’re the kind that can’t be resolved through words?
-Consolidated malice differs from individual malice.
-Individual malice can also consolidate other malices.
-Then all the more reason I cannot let it be. I’m already entangled in it.
-Tsk tsk… You live a difficult life.
No Cheon-myeong’s transmission ceased.
Seol Woon-hwi did not send another transmission either.
The reason was simple.
The wind had shifted.
Someone was approaching.
A silhouette suddenly emerged from the darkness.
He had his face covered with black cloth and wore a crimson daopo.
The aura felt like at least the Four Stages of Heaven and Earth.
Because he had properly concealed his presence, I couldn’t be certain, but he appeared to be at the Divine Transformation Realm or perhaps the Heaven-Human Realm.
It was unmistakably Hyeol Mu of the Hwan-myeong Group.
“You’re not late.”
Hyeol Mu murmured as he approached Seol Woon-hwi.
“Seo Ho-jun.”
At those words, Seol Woon-hwi cupped his fist in salute.
“Yes.”
The voice was perfectly that of Seo Ho-jun, yet Hyeol Mu’s brow furrowed slightly.
An inexplicable sense of discord arose.
He extended his perception. It was certainly Seo Ho-jun’s presence, yet something was subtly different.
“…Seo Ho-jun?”
“Yes.”
“…What happened?”
“Supreme Commander Seol Woon-hwi has returned.”
“…I see…”
“The plan will face complications.”
“Since this morning, no one has left the Main Branch. How did you manage to get out?”
“I appealed to Namgung Won Yang. I said I had somewhere to visit briefly.”
“Somewhere to visit… You certainly made a convincing excuse.”
“Yes.”
Hyeol Mu stepped closer.
“Unfortunately, the plan will be suspended.”
“What?”
“You’ve become useless.”
“…”
“What did you do with the hundred nyang of gold I gave you before?”
“…You’re going to take it back…”
“There’s no choice. Proceeding with a compromised plan means accepting a high risk of failure, and the group’s will is not to take such unnecessary risks.”
“…”
“If you hand it over willingly, you’ll die without pain. But if you refuse, you’ll die after enduring all manner of torture.”
Seo Ho-jun, who had been staring at Hyeol Mu, let out a hollow laugh.
“…You’re laughing?”
Seo Ho-jun—or rather, I—tapped my own face.
Tap, tap-tap.
With rhythmic sounds, Seo Ho-jun’s face crumbled away, revealing another beneath it.
A face that transcended mere handsomeness—one of extraordinary distinction.
Eyes gleaming with cold intensity.
Hyeol Mu stumbled backward in shock.
This was the first time I’d seen him witness it in person.
Though I’d seen portraits of my face before, given how famous it was.
“…Seol… Woon-hwi…? That Cheon Ui Jung-jeong…?”
I nodded and approached slowly.
“Seo Ho-jun is dead. So are Jin Mu and Bang Seok-yun.”
“…!”
“I heard about you from them. Hyeol Mu of the Hwan-myeong Group.”
Hyeol Mu’s face hardened.
“…How…”
“How did I find out?”
I smiled.
“Do I really need to explain?”
“…”
“It’s hard to believe, I know. But look at the results. Here we stand, face to face, do we not?”
I came to a halt.
The distance between Hyeol Mu and me was roughly three zhang.
“The Hwan-myeong Group.”
I spoke quietly.
“A fascinating organization, truly.”
“…What could you possibly know?”
“Much. A congregation of those who have lost everything. Descendants of fallen houses, survivors of collapsed sects, incarnations of vengeance whose targets have vanished.”
Hyeol Mu’s eyes widened considerably.
Even beneath the cloth that concealed his face, I could sense it.
“You gathered only those with nothing left to lose. That’s why they can abandon their lives so easily.”
“…”
“Revenge against the world. That is your reason for existence, is it not?”
Hyeol Mu fell silent. Not a deliberate silence. He had no choice but to remain silent. The accuracy was simply too devastating.
“…Who are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Even ordinary members couldn’t know such details. Only someone of my caliber within the Hwan-myeong Group could possess such knowledge. For you to speak of it? There must be a traitor among us.”
“Unfortunately, there is no traitor.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“If you wish to believe otherwise, I won’t stop you.”
Hyeol Mu, grinding his teeth and glaring at me, slowly opened his mouth.
“…Very well. If there’s no traitor and you’ve simply deduced the Hwan-myeong Group’s purpose through sheer genius, then you must know this as well. Why we exist.”
“I do.”
“We were abandoned by the world.”
Hyeol Mu’s voice grew quieter.
“Our houses fell. Our sects crumbled. What wrong did we commit? None. We were simply weak.”

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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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