Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 92

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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 92

 

The two men looked at each other for a moment. A strange tension hung in the air.

 

It was not so much hostility as the kind of tension that seemed to gauge each other’s depth.

 

Wang Mu-ha spoke first.

 

“I heard you personally dealt with Su Gwang-ho of Sangcheol Pavilion.”

 

“Yes. I handled it personally.”

 

“You must know what kind of ripple effects that result will cause?”

 

A smile crossed Woon-hwi’s lips.

 

“Ripple effects… From the Martial Alliance’s perspective, it could be a major ripple. But from my perspective, it’s just one ‘move.'”

 

Wang Mu-ha’s eyebrows twitched.

 

“One move… That’s an interesting expression. This letter too, and it seems you play baduk.”

 

“I just enjoy it to some extent.”

 

“Just enjoy it…”

 

Wang Mu-ha looked around.

 

“The Martial Alliance has given me full authority. How to handle this matter has been left entirely to my judgment.”

 

“I see. I too have been given full authority from the Snow Palace.”

 

Woon-hwi’s voice was calm.

 

“However, the difference is that the full authority I received was mine from the beginning.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Whatever the Martial Alliance is plotting, it can be handled at my level. Because it’s just that level of scheme.”

 

Wang Mu-ha was now beginning to feel genuine interest.

 

When he heard the news that a Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown warrior had killed a Harmony Realm warrior, he had been skeptical. But looking at this young man before his eyes, he could instinctively tell that it was by no means a coincidence.

 

There are things that only those who have reached the realm of Heaven-Human Unity can know. The aura he felt from this young man before him was certainly special.

 

He needed to see this person’s depth once.

 

It was then.

 

Wang Mu-ha frowned at Woon-hwi’s following words.

 

“I recently faced someone called the Gangnam Chess Master.”

 

“…Gangnam Chess Master… You mean that scoundrel?”

 

“That’s right. His name is Sim Mun-ryong.”

 

“Did you really beat him?”

 

“Yes. I won by fifteen and a half points.”

 

“…I once went to Gangnam to try playing against him.”

 

Wang Mu-ha’s voice contained memories of the past.

 

“Did you play against him?”

 

The old man shook his head.

 

“He told me to put down one nyang of gold if I wanted to play baduk. With his terrible way of speaking and provocations that only street thugs would fall for, I could see his true nature and turned away.”

 

“I see.”

 

Woon-hwi’s words contained deep understanding. Although Sim Mun-ryong had shown a reliable side recently, he was originally a man whom even Hyeon Sim-jo, the leader of Baekryeong-wi, called a ‘scoundrel.’

 

Nevertheless, no one doubted his baduk skills.

 

Because he truly had a history of being called the Gangnam Chess Master.

 

“Really… you make it impossible to just let this pass. You seem to know me well?”

 

“I only know about the level of stories I’ve heard.”

 

“Stories… Very well. As you say, let’s play a game of baduk.”

 

Then, as if he had been waiting, Manager Seong, who had been standing by in the corner of the Great Hall, brought a go board and placed it between the two men.

 

Looking at Manager Seong, Wang Mu-ha said casually.

 

“Good movement. You’re Seong Yang-ho of Baekseol Wiryeong-dan?”

 

“That’s correct.”

 

“I heard you’re at Body Establishment Boundary… Do you not regret it?”

 

Manager Seong chuckled.

 

“Do I look like I regret it?”

 

“Not at all, which is why I asked… You have an edge to you.”

 

“How could I not have an edge? I never really liked the Martial Alliance to begin with.”

 

There was someone who stopped Manager Seong.

 

It was Woon-hwi.

 

“Manager Seong.”

 

“…Yes, Young Master.”

 

“He is a guest. How can you show such an attitude to a guest?”

 

“…I apologize.”

 

He then bowed to Wang Mu-ha as well, but Wang Mu-ha waved it off as if it was fine.

 

With Manager Seong standing guard, the two men naturally took their seats.

 

Wang Mu-ha looked at the go board and spoke.

 

“Will you go first?”

 

Woon-hwi shook his head.

 

“Since you are a guest who came here, I will yield the first move to you.”

 

“Good. But there’s something we need to decide before we start.”

 

“What is that?”

 

“Since you said with your own mouth that you have full authority, I want to finish this cleanly with this baduk game.”

 

“It seems you have something you want.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“Please tell me once. I will listen carefully.”

 

To such Woon-hwi, Wang Mu-ha presented his demands.

 

“I have three demands. First, withdraw from Yang-ryeong. Second, from now on, Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace must not occupy any territory, not only outside the Central Plains but anywhere else. And third, the Palace Lord of Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace must personally visit the Main Alliance and apologize for this incident.”

 

Woon-hwi’s hand paused.

 

“Didn’t you say you have full authority?”

 

Both Woon-hwi and Wang Mu-ha know.

 

What does the Martial Alliance want most?

 

To prevent Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace from entering the Central Plains.

 

What happened in Oksu Village is just a pretext. Something that allows the Martial Alliance to speak loudly, and even if direct friction with Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace arises from it, they can actively respond to it.

 

Since the Martial Alliance already has hundreds of sects belonging to it, such procedures were absolutely necessary for them.

 

Woon-hwi asked.

 

“Those three things are enough?”

 

Wang Mu-ha nodded.

 

“Good. If I lose, I will definitely carry out those three things. Yang-ryeong will be returned to Yang-je Kingdom, and from now on Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace will not occupy any territory, not only outside the Central Plains but anywhere else, and the Palace Lord of Snow Palace will personally go to the Martial Alliance and apologize for this incident.”

 

“Can I trust you?”

 

“A man’s word is worth a thousand gold pieces. I am confident enough to keep it.”

 

“Good. Seeing you in person, you seem like someone whose depth is not ordinary, so if you don’t keep your promise, you’ll know what will happen after that.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Then now tell me your demands.”

 

Surprisingly, Woon-hwi shook his head at those words.

 

“I don’t particularly have anything to demand.”

 

“…Nothing to demand?”

 

“That’s right. If there’s something you want to give me, you can judge and give it to me directly after the game ends.”

 

“…Really, you’re a peculiar person. Everyone knows that the first move advantage makes the one who goes first favorable, yet you yield the first move and still have no demands… Judge directly and give it to me? I’ve never met someone like you.”

 

Wang Mu-ha slowly picked up a black stone.

 

“I’ll see with my own eyes. Whether yours is based on confidence or based on arrogance.”

 

The moment the stone touched the go board, the tension that had settled in the Great Hall deepened even further.

 

This was not simple baduk. It was the moment when two people’s depths collided.

 

Woon-hwi, who had been quietly watching Wang Mu-ha, picked up a white stone and placed it down.

 

Thud.

 

With that sound, a smile formed on Wang Mu-ha’s lips.

 

The first move was light. What could he have hidden in this light move?

 

What kind of move would greet him after this one?

 

And so their moves began to exchange back and forth.

 

With each exchange of moves, Wang Mu-ha’s expression grew deeper. Woon-hwi’s moves seemed ordinary at first, but as time passed, they gained more and more depth.

 

Ten moves, twenty moves… As the moves accumulated, Wang Mu-ha couldn’t help but increasingly admire this young man’s skill.

 

“Huh… It’s warm.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“You solidly keep your allies alive while your method of targeting weak points is very unique. Yet there are no gaps… You truly play remarkable moves.”

 

“Thank you for the praise.”

 

Wang Mu-ha, taking his gaze off the go board, looked at Woon-hwi.

 

“Do you know why I like baduk?”

 

At his deep voice, Woon-hwi also answered seriously.

 

“Well, I’m not sure. But I also like baduk. Would you like to hear my reason first?”

 

“Good.”

 

“Because baduk is a fight that can be fought as ‘person’ versus ‘person’.”

 

At those words, Wang Mu-ha’s eyes widened greatly. It was an expression as if he had discovered something he had been searching for a long time.

 

“…That’s right. I think the same way. Baduk is a way to fight equally on equal footing, regardless of what level your opponent is at, whether they’re a warrior or not, a scholar or a king, whatever. That’s why I like baduk.”

 

“We have something in common then.”

 

Woon-hwi’s white stone was placed down once more. It was a movement as natural as snowflakes on a spring day.

 

Wang Mu-ha looked at Woon-hwi silently before slowly opening his mouth.

 

“But how can someone who plays such moves commit such vicious acts? Massacre, and I heard you left those corpses abandoned in a corner. Like garbage.”

 

“Vicious moves… I believe I mentioned this earlier. Baduk is a fight fought as person versus person.”

 

“What does that have to do with it?”

 

“Why wouldn’t it matter? Within this small go board, countless moves are exchanged, and stones that aren’t real lives die and kill. But that’s just a fight between the people playing baduk.”

 

“…”

 

“How could a warrior’s fight become a person’s fight?”

 

“Hmm…”

 

Then.

 

“What do you think about Confucius’s concept of benevolence ?”

 

“Benevolence… Confucius said that Overcome Self, Return to Propriety is benevolence. Overcoming oneself and returning to propriety. But I have doubts about this.”

 

“What doubts?”

 

“Whether propriety can truly be absolute. Mencius emphasized righteousness , and Xunzi emphasized propriety , but on the warrior’s path, these sometimes conflict.”

 

Woon-hwi continued speaking as he placed down a white stone.

 

“Look at this go board. Black and white try to surround and kill each other, but within that, there is the Way . Similarly, shouldn’t there be a Way in the warrior’s path as well?”

 

“So you massacred the warriors at the Gold Mine for that reason?”

 

“Benevolence isn’t simply about showing mercy. Sometimes, if killing one person can save many more, and if how you handle the corpses can break the morale of other enemies, wouldn’t that also be benevolence?”

 

Wang Mu-ha’s eyes gleamed.

 

“Mencius said ‘The benevolent have no enemies’ . It means those who practice benevolence have no enemies.”

 

“That’s right. But after those words comes ‘invincible under heaven’ . Having no enemies under heaven doesn’t mean making everyone your ally, but rather understanding the true Way, doesn’t it?”

 

It was absurd.

 

Could these really be words that could come from the mouth of a man who was only seventeen?

 

“…An interesting interpretation.”

 

Wang Mu-ha said as he placed down a black stone.

 

“But Mencius also left the words ‘The people are most precious’ . It means the lives of the people are most precious.”

 

“That’s right. But there’s one thing to consider here. Does the ‘people’ that Mencius spoke of simply mean the people as a number?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Woon-hwi picked up a white stone and examined it.

 

“It was said ‘The people are the foundation of the state’ . It means the people are the foundation of the country. But the foundation mentioned here doesn’t mean a simple base, but the source of the Way .”

 

“Then what is this Way you speak of?”

 

Woon-hwi answered as he placed down the white stone.

 

“Like this go board, each move, each move gathers to create the overall situation. Just as individual people gather to form a nation. But what’s important is the flow.”

 

“The flow…”

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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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