Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 50

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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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Chapter 50

Manager Seong quietly moved his steps and carefully brushed away the snow piled on one side of the ground.

Footprints were visible.

How deep those footprints were dug, where the balance had shifted, whether internal energy was used and if so, whether that internal energy was channeled through the entire sole, only the toes, or only the heels.

Everything entered his sight.

He was certain.

It started from here.

From here, internal energy was drawn up. It was clearly a trace drawn up in the process of taking a defensive stance after discovering someone.

His fingers traced the wound on the tree behind it.

The depth and angle of the wound told the story.

It was thin but definitely a sword mark.

‘From top to bottom, and while withdrawing the sword, rotated to the right.’

Someone had crossed swords here.

There were no traces of the opponent’s footprints, only the footprints of two people.

Manager Seong took a short deep breath, stood up from his position, and surveyed the surroundings.

This time, traces of footwork were visible.

Though covered with snow, it couldn’t deceive his eyes.

‘Jin So-hyeop’s Gunjinbo (Military Advance Step)… and…’

He brushed away the snow again.

‘Baek Myeong-gaek’s Sunbo-beop (Sequential Step Method).’

During his time in Seol-ap, Manager Seong had observed Jin So-hyeop and Baek Myeong-gaek.

Even though the two had received martial arts and mental cultivation methods from Woon-hwi, Manager Seong knew their footwork.

In Jin So-hyeop’s case, he was from the cavalry unit.

But being from the cavalry didn’t mean fighting only on horseback.

The name of the footwork that cavalryman displayed when he came down to the ground was Gunjinbo.

Baek Myeong-gaek used Sunbo-beop, one of the Cheongseong Sect’s footwork techniques, and that Sunbo-beop contained the orderliness of the Wol Kingdom Infantry.

These two’s footwork was correct.

The situation that unfolded here was drawn before Manager Seong’s eyes.

These two had encountered someone and drawn their swords.

And a fight had broken out.

From the intermittent stops, it appeared they had exchanged words.

Manager Seong silently walked following the footprints.

Sometimes reading the direction tree branches had swayed.

Sometimes reading the minute scratches left on stones.

Walking like this, Manager Seong stopped in front of a cliff.

His eyes sparkled.

“Indeed…”

He bent his waist and cleared away the snow at the cliff’s edge.

Red stains.

They were old bloodstains.

He needed to look below.

He naturally kicked off from his position and slowly descended while gripping the wall.

Scattered bloodstains were visible.

This wasn’t… something like being cut in mid-air.

Someone had been thrown toward the cliff, and there they flailed their hands to survive. The purpose was one thing. To grip this wall.

But the result wouldn’t have been good.

The bloodstains were completely cut off from a certain point, so that was correct.

Manager Seong naturally relaxed the strength in his arm that was gripping the wall. His body descended toward the bottom.

The height was about a hundred zhang, but his landing was as light as a feather.

Examining that place closely again, he discovered a spot carved into the cliff, and there he found a corpse in a wretched state.

There were clear traces of wild dogs having damaged it, but the cause of death was obvious.

A sword wound.

A single strike that had penetrated deeply.

This corpse was Baek Myeong-gaek.

Manager Seong looked at it with cold eyes.

People live making choices of their own.

If there’s no regret about those choices, that’s enough.

Baek Myeong-gaek had chosen. To leave.

To uphold his beliefs.

One must abandon the delusion that the results would always be good.

This place is Murim.

Murim’s romance died long ago.

He thought quietly.

‘Baek Myeong-gaek’s corpse is here, but those bloodstains around here are definitely not Baek Myeong-gaek’s but Jin So-hyeop’s. But why is there no corpse?’

This amount of bleeding would mean he suffered serious injuries or worse…

Strange.

He needed to add certainty to certainty.

After walking to the back, he took in the entire scene at a glance.

Footprints were visible, and broken tree branches were visible.

The situation was drawn.

Baek Myeong-gaek was injured by someone and thrown toward the cliff.

After that, Jin So-hyeop kicked off from his position to save Baek Myeong-gaek, and he landed on the ground breaking tree branches.

And there, he engaged in fierce battle with someone who had followed Jin So-hyeop down.

The opponent had toyed with Jin So-hyeop.

From the fact that every corner of the wall was carved out and bloodstains and broken branches were visible there, it was certain he had been thrown against the wall about eight times.

Certainty arose.

Jin So-hyeop had suffered serious injuries or worse.

The kind of wounds that would be hard to survive without treatment, but from the fact that the bleeding had stopped at some point, it was clear the opponent had applied hemostasis.

This meant it was necessary and there was something to take.

Also.

Certainty arose.

The culprit was one person.

Manager Seong’s eyes narrowed.

It would have been difficult to take both of them. So one was disposed of.

All the traces discovered so far connected into one.

The opponent was definitely a master.

At least Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, no, Five Energy Harmonizing Origin.

That level would be necessary for such clean handling to be possible.

Above all, the opponent hadn’t revealed their footwork, let alone their martial arts.

They had subdued and killed with ordinary swordplay.

In that process, Jin So-hyeop and Baek Myeong-gaek had displayed everything they possessed, but it was insufficient.

They couldn’t inflict a single wound.

That was enough.

This much was sufficient.

Baek Myeong-gaek was dead, and Jin So-hyeop had been kidnapped.

Manager Seong gathered Baek Myeong-gaek’s corpse and left that place.

He had to report.

To Woon-hwi.

* * *

Right after reaching the Five Dragon Peak Realm, Woon-hwi began examining the changes that had occurred in his body one by one.

Inside his body, internal energy was circulating much more powerfully along the Chong and Dai meridians.

It was an incomparably stronger flow of internal energy compared to his previous Yang Gwang I Hyeon level.

It was like a small stream suddenly becoming a great river.

Thanks to his exceptionally thick blood vessels, he could gather more internal energy than other martial artists, but he couldn’t ignore the distinction between realms.

Even using Heo Hyeon Energy wouldn’t change that.

When he raised his palm and gathered internal energy, a pale white aura began swirling above his palm.

Previously, it took time to gather internal energy, but now it collected instantly just by thinking about it.

Opening the Middle Dantian meant exactly that.

Honestly, he still wasn’t entirely satisfied with it, but he tried to think as positively as possible.

He quietly regulated his breathing.

Internal energy swirled and circulated throughout his entire body.

Vibrations began beneath his skin, and soon fine water vapor rose up.

Impurities from within his body were being expelled.

After continuing his energy circulation for about another hour, Woon-hwi slowly rose from his position.

Just three hours in total.

When he reached higher realms in the future, the Ren and Du meridians would open, and beyond that, the complete opening of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians would await.

It was fine.

He wasn’t impatient.

Being impatient would cause his body to burst like other possessors of wide blood vessels.

He wasn’t a fool to make such a mistake.

Because Woon-hwi was that kind of person.

After changing his clothes and coming outside, Woon-hwi stopped dead in his tracks.

“…We found him on the Nine Dragon Trade Route.”

It was Baek Myeong-gaek’s corpse, dead in a miserable state.

Woon-hwi stared at the corpse silently for a long while.

His suspicions were correct.

But as is often the case with worldly affairs, not all premonitions come true. The same applied to Woon-hwi.

He had made countless predictions so far, and many of them had been wrong.

He had hoped that his worry about something happening to Jin So-hyeop and Baek Myeong-gaek would remain just a worry.

He rubbed his face.

This was clearly reality.

Woon-hwi asked.

“Who do you think it was?”

“…I’m not sure.”

He looked up at Han Mu-rin.

“Do you have something to say?”

“I’m telling you this just in case, but it wasn’t me.”

Woon-hwi, who had been staring at Han Mu-rin intently, continued in a quiet voice.

“Let me make one thing clear. I don’t suspect you.”

“…”

“Considering the timing, it absolutely couldn’t have been you. So don’t worry unnecessarily.”

Having said that, Woon-hwi looked at Manager Seong and asked.

“You think it was an expert above Five Energy Harmonizing Origin level?”

“Yes. In my opinion, at least Five Energy Harmon…”

Manager Seong trailed off mid-sentence. Caught up in the atmosphere, he had been speaking naturally without realizing it, but officially, Manager Seong was a ‘civilian.’

Looking at Manager Seong’s startled expression, Woon-hwi said quietly.

“Manager Seong is a member of the Baekseol Wiryeong Dan. His realm is Body Establishment Boundary.”

At those words, Won Yang, Cheon Pung, and Manager Seong himself were greatly surprised. Only Han Mu-rin wasn’t surprised.

“…No, Young Master. How can you just say that so casually…”

“They would find out eventually anyway. Instead of wasting time hesitating with your act, just answer the question.”

Manager Seong scratched his head and sighed before speaking.

“Alright, I understand. You must have your reasons. To answer your question first – yes. It’s at least a Five Energy Harmonizing Origin expert. If it were just Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown level, Jin So-hyeop and Baek Myeong-gaek wouldn’t have been subdued so easily.”

“Why?”

“You know this. I’ve been watching them train continuously, so I know – those two could at least inflict small wounds on a Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown expert’s body, and they could write their enemy’s name at the scene. If they were prepared for Donggwi-eojin… they could even inflict wounds about a span deep. But there was nothing there except those two’s blood.”

“Are you certain?”

“I’m certain. There wasn’t even a bloodstain, let alone clothing fragments or a single hair. They just toyed with them.”

“Toyed with them and then kidnapped one?”

“Yes. It was one person. One person came, killed one of the two, and took the other.”

“Do you think he’s alive?”

“…There’s a possibility, but I’m skeptical.”

He needed to return to the source.

Why did Woon-hwi think something might happen to these two?

He hadn’t made predictions based on non-existent information.

It was a matter of how to utilize existing information.

In cases like this, one person’s name should come up.

“Cho Se-hwi of Han Bing Gate – what’s his martial arts level?”

“…Five Energy Harmonizing Origin.”

“Four days ago, the day I entered Yang-ryeong, burned down the Four Major Sects, and killed the magistrate, I heard Cho Se-hwi left for Han Bing Gate. Is there definitive proof that he actually left?”

“…There’s no proof. Just testimonies from a few residents, but it’s certain he left the government office.”

“What if he left the office but watched from a distance?”

“…”

“Han Bing Gate is my maternal family’s sect and a sect I’ve been keeping in check. No, actually, calling it keeping in check is putting it mildly – they’re the ones who contributed most to making me a bastard.”

“…Young Master…”

“Before Han Jang-kwang died, he said this: If Ju-ryeong Sword Gate killed me, Han Bing Gate would handle the aftermath. He said they had made such an agreement.”

“…Did that really happen? I should report this to the Palace Lord immediately…”

Manager Seong wasn’t present at that scene.

He wasn’t there, so this was the first time he was hearing about it. That’s why he was unusually angry.

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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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