The World’s Greatest Junior Martial Brother - Chapter 17

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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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Cheonha Jeil Sajae (17)
You owe me one, don’t you?
Death.
It isn’t a hidden weapon anymore. It’s death.
The moment Dang Cheon, that terrifying master, hurled it, an ordinary blade stopped being a hidden weapon and became death itself.
Whoosh!
Jin Muok threw himself aside on pure reflex, but the hidden weapon Dang Cheon had launched clung to him relentlessly, like a guided missile.
Like a guided missile.
‘Me…’
Am I going to die?
Against the frantic clash, the scene around him crept forward in slow motion, almost cruelly unhurried. The lantern light, stubbornly refusing to go out amid the violent fight, and Dang Cheon staring at it.
‘Old master…’
Tears welled in Dang Cheon’s eyes, catching the lantern light as it wavered violently, flickering and gleaming before they finally fell.
Jin Muok, who had meant to reach out and catch those tears, suddenly tilted his head back.
‘It’s not over yet…’
It’s not over!
Everything around him still drifted toward him as if in a painting, sluggish and distant.
Dang Cheon, the lantern, the tears.
And death, too.
Bang!
Jin Muok slammed his heel into the ground to halt his retreat, and from that point a towering wave of force surged outward.
Ssshhhhhhhhk—.
The ground split with sharp cracks, and the energy that tore up through the floor shoved Amyeong Muheun aside and shot straight toward Dang Cheon.
“Kyaaah!”
Dang Cheon leapt into the air, let out a grotesque howl, and raised both hands.
“I’ll kill you.”
Kwaaaaaaang!
As he brought both hands down on the ground, a massive boom rang out and the battlefield erupted into chaos.
“Kekekekek.”
Hwaaak—.
Eyes so bright they looked ready to burn the darkness itself!
Through the thick swirling dust, Dang Cheon’s eyes blazed with a frenzied light, and Jin Muok felt a strange thrill stir within him.
Ssshhhhhhk—!
A shiver began at his toes, climbed up his thighs, and pierced clean through the crown of his head.
‘It’s been a while.’
A fighting spirit like this.
Dang Cheon, fixing his gaze on Jin Muok, who had a curious slant of a smile tugging at his lips, let out a crow-like cackle.
“Hehehehehe. You used your heel to stomp a Jingak and erase Amyeong Muheun’s Death Qi?”
That’s right. Jin Muok had stamped down with his heel, using a Jingak to blow away the death energy of Amyeong Muheun.
“And you clung to this old man to keep him from using his hidden weapons. Admirable, I’ll grant you that.”
Drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth, Dang Cheon pulled something out.
“Do you know what this is?”
“…!”
A brand-new ornament, glinting as it caught the moonlight.
A head like a rooster, a neck like a snake, legs like a crane, a tail like a fish, plumage like a mandarin duck, a back like a tortoise, talons like a hawk, and a body shimmering with a dazzling spectrum of colors, proudly bearing crimson wings. That thing was—
‘The Blood Phoenix!’
“Kehehehe. So you recognize it.”
The Tang Clan has three legends.
A poison that can poison anything, a hidden weapon that never misses its mark, and the most beautiful sword form under heaven. Of these, the hidden weapon that never misses, hitting every target without fail, is the Blood Phoenix.
Yet the Blood Phoenix’s very existence had always been uncertain, a thing as elusive as a mirage.
‘So the Blood Phoenix really did exist!’
Just as Jin Muok flinched, Dang Cheon casually waved his hand.
“Die.”
Shhk—!
A sharp whistling sound, brief as a dying scream, and a very short distance!
They were so close that there was no way to dodge!
Then all he could do was take the hit.
But how should he take it so that it would look like he had been hit cleanly?
‘Li Dai Tao Jiang.’
The eleventh stratagem among the Thirty-Six Stratagems, from the category of Sacrificing Pawns to Save the King!
A technique that embodies the principle of “give up the small to seize the great”: sacrifice the flesh to take the bone!
Choosing the Li Dai Tao Jiang method against Dang Cheon, a martial artist of legendary notoriety, was undeniably a gamble. But what other option did he have?
He had no choice but to take the hit.
Fortunately, he had three things to rely on, didn’t he?
‘The Inner Power I had painstakingly built all the way to Sichuan.’
Wuuuum—.
‘The body I had tempered alongside Senior Brother.’
Kwoooooh—.
‘And finally.’
The Sword Empress’s Phoenix Technique, which he could only imitate clumsily!
Jin Muok watched the Blood Phoenix surging toward him without discrimination, then suddenly extended his hand.
Swish, swish.
Jin Muok’s hand undulated like a monk’s dance.
Curling and coiling, as if about to snare something, his fingers fluttered shyly before withdrawing; then, in an instant, the motion transformed abruptly, seizing the arena with something both rough and bewitching.
Pararararak—!
So this is what a phoenix’s wingbeat truly looks like!
Thrusting outward and drawing inward, swallowing and then spewing forth.
His hand, which had shimmered brilliantly as it devoured Dang Cheon’s ghostly right hand and the watchers’ piercing gazes, suddenly dropped straight down.
Phoenix against phoenix, clashing head-on!
The Sword Empress’s graceful phoenix slipped in sideways against the Tang Clan’s Blood Phoenix, heavy with Poison Qi, and drew its force downward.
Ihwa Jeopmok!
Jin Muok, who had realized in a single move that ancient principle of dispersing an opponent’s force while strengthening one’s own attack, now stepped forward at once.
Li Dai Tao Jiang, alongside Gungsin Tanyeong, was among the most powerful counterattacks. If he struck back with it now, he would suffer only minor injuries, but Dang Cheon would not walk away with mere wounds.
His very life might be in danger!
With his right hand drawn far back, Jin Muok’s eyes took in the scene around him once more.
The lanterns still burned, the Demonic Qi had thinned like mist, and Dang Cheon’s eyes still wavered unsteadily.
‘……!’
Remarkably, Dang Cheon no longer shed tears. As the gloom that had dominated the arena gradually receded, Jin Muok halted every movement he had made.
Thud!
In that instant the Blood Phoenix drove into his chest, and Jin Muok was sent flying backward in a sharp, tumbling arc.
…Old man, this time you owe me one, don’t you?
* * *
Someone had appeared who could stand on equal footing with Sichuan’s living legend!
Though Dang Cheon’s mind was clouded by Maebyeong, he was a martial artist who rose above the Tang Clan to represent all of Sichuan. That is why he commanded the respect of everyone in Sichuan who made a living by the blade.
That someone had withstood Dang Cheon’s frenzied assault and even launched a counterattack was shocking enough, but learning that the one responsible was merely a boy of ten or so was astonishing in itself.
It was only natural, then, that every eye in the Tang Clan turned toward him once he was carried into the Infirmary.
And the boy became famous in another way as well.
“Young master, please, have some of this!”
“Take this, and the Poison Qi in your body will be drawn right out!”
When the crowd of women surrounding him pressed herbs and dishes upon him, claiming they were good for his health, Jin Muok gaped open-mouthed.
‘Oh, come on!’
Yes, Jin Muok was a born beauty!
His good looks had been hidden beneath shabby clothes and a gaunt frame, but once Baekri Unhak’s disciplined routine, steady exercise, and proper meals brought them out in full, the Tang Clan’s women went wild.
And he was only ten.
The healing women clinging to him were not trained physicians but midwives and assistant caregivers who looked after female patients or helped with simple treatments and medicine. They were the Uipa.
‘At this rate, he’ll outshine Song Yu in just five more years!’
The Uipa offering him a decoction of Korean ginseng brewed in water narrowed her eyes with interest.
‘Once he’s matured a bit more, he’ll outshine Pan An too! I’ll stake my claim before anyone else!’
The buxom Uipa kneading his arms and legs on the other side let her mind wander to scandalous fantasies and smacked her lips.
Who were Song Yu and Pan An? If anyone were to name the most handsome men under heaven, they would be at the very top of the list.
That he was being compared to men like them showed just how striking Jin Muok’s looks were.
But as the saying goes, a persistent suitor will not be refused forever… or rather, the pursuit grows tiresome.
‘I’m sick of this now!’
For a while, it had been pleasant. No, he had enjoyed it.
It would be a lie to say it was unpleasant, with blossom-like beauties vying to wait on him.
A single word from him and they brought water and snacks without fail; if he wished to stroll, they guided him to the loveliest garden within the Tang Clan; if his arms or legs ached, they massaged him with utmost devotion. How could that not be enjoyable?
But even the sweetest tune grows stale after a while, and now it was a nuisance!
As he turned his head with a weary expression, the voices of women whispering outside his sickbed pierced his ears.
“That’s him, that’s him.”
“Where? Where?”
Other women were pointing at his bed with great enthusiasm. They didn’t seem to be here to tend to patients at all, more likely staff from other duties who had heard the rumors about Jin Muok and come to gawk.
“Ohhh, he’s sooo pretty!”
“How can a boy have such striking features!”
‘Hah.’
Jin Muok let his shoulders sag in exasperation, and the healers rushed toward him in alarm.
“Young master! Are you in pain somewhere?”
“Don’t worry, Myomyo will take care of you!”
A buxom healer threw her arms around him, and Jin Muok let out a cry, his face mashed against her enormous chest.
“Gyaaaaah!”
“He must be hurting badly! Then I’ll hold you even tighter!”
Just as Myomyo leaned in to embrace Jin Muok once more, a man stepped into the infirmary.
“You’ve all done well. I’ll take over from here, so please go about your duties.”
Dang Jong-o shooed the healers away with his usual smile. They shot him resentful glances as they filed out, and Jin Muok swung his legs off the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to see that old geezer.”
Jin Muok’s lips twisted.
“If he drove someone to this state, there has to be a reason. I need to know what it is.”
“Not yet!”
Dang Jong-o stopped Jin Muok as he reached for his shoes.
“You may be fine for now, but the Blood Phoenix struck your chest, so we must watch your progress carefully! As for meeting the Old Clan Head, that can wait until later…”
“I said I’m fine! I know my body better than anyone, so I’m seeing that old man first!”
He seemed at a loss, since he had arranged a meeting with Dang Cheon the moment Jin Muok arrived at the Tang Clan.
“The young lord is right!”
“The young master needs to rest a bit longer!”
Myomyo and the other healers hovered around the bed, and when Jin Muok made a move to get up, they swarmed him and blocked his way.
“I know it’s dull and stifling, but please bear with it a little longer! We’ll take good care of you!”
“You’ll make yourself worse!”
Bickering! Commotion! A complete uproar!
“What is all this racket?”
Ssssh-kwang―.
A single voice cut across the room.
“A patient needs rest above all else. Jong-o, why are you agitating someone who is ill?”
Perhaps this is what a low, rumbling thunder sounds like.
The door of the infirmary swung open, and a man slowly revealed himself.
‘Dang Junkyu.’
Yes, the man who appeared with a heavy resonance was none other than Dang Junkyu, the current head of the Tang Clan.
The master of the Tang Clan, with a firm yet composed jawline and deep eyes like an abyss that observed everything.
Dang Junkyu strode straight to the bed where Jin Muok lay, unwound the cloth binding his wound, and examined it closely.
“Bring warm water. And have them prepare a decoction of turmeric and curcuma as well.”
“Yes, Father.”
Dang Jong-o bowed with clasped fists and withdrew, and Dang Junkyu turned to assess Jin Muok’s condition.
“Fortunately, it only grazed the outer layer. The Blood Phoenix did not reach your vital organs. You have a remarkably sturdy body.”
The bleeding had already been stopped, but the wound where the Blood Phoenix had dug into his chest was far from small, and each time Dang Junkyu’s hands touched it, Jin Muok’s brow creased on its own.
“Ow, ow! That hurts! It hurts!”
Pain of this degree was nothing on the battlefield, but Jin Muok deliberately exaggerated his suffering and picked a pointless quarrel.
“Father or son, you’re both equally good at killing people!”
“My apologies.”
Calming him down, Dang Junkyu tended to the wound with meticulous care. Jin Muok narrowed his eyes at the man’s flawless composure.
Oh, now what’s this?
Dang Junkyu was not the man he used to be. Thirteen years ago, he had already been the head of the Tang Clan, yet somehow he had seemed unsteady.
But now, things were different.
The man before him now was remarkably calm and cool-headed, leaving almost no opening to exploit.
Mulberry fields turned to blue sea. The world had changed beyond recognition.
‘He must have mountains of questions for me, yet he doesn’t even skip a breath?’
Dang Cheon, once the pride of the Tang Clan, had now been reduced to a mere producer of herbs by someone within the clan.
In plain terms, he was being kept like livestock.
I had assumed the one who drove him to this state was none other than Dang Junkyu, the clan head. Could it be otherwise?
“Drink this, and you’ll feel a little better.”
Dang Junkyu lifted Jin Muok’s upper body and helped him drink the medicinal decoction. Watching his conduct, so like a physician’s textbook, one would think he had nothing to do with Dang Cheon’s Maebyeong, nor with the Demonic Qi hanging over the Tang Clan.
But…
‘Is that so?’
“Though I’m no physician by trade, I can read the wounds of a life-or-death duel better than any quack.”
“Life-or-death duel…”
“The Blood Phoenix is the pride and treasure of the Tang Clan. For the Old Clan Head to have drawn it out, there’s only one conclusion: it was a fight to the death.”
Dang Junkyu, who had been tending carefully to the area around the wound, suddenly stopped his hands.
‘This is!’
Glancing back and forth between the scar and Jin Muok, Dang Junkyu asked in an offhand tone.
“You said you’re Northern Storm’s disciple?”
“Probably.”
“So you learned martial arts from him, but never formally took him as your master?”
“Does it really matter?”
Dang Junkyu fell silent for a while at Jin Muok’s evasive reply, then soon nodded.
“A wise answer to a foolish question, I see.”
Nodding to himself, Dang Junkyu rose from his chair.
“You may think you’ve recovered, but as Jong-o said, we need to watch how things progress, so don’t stray far from the infirmary.”
Turning on his heel, he added almost as an afterthought.
“If you find yourself bored, spend your time doing whatever it is you usually enjoy.”
Glancing back at the Myomyo and the other Uipa women who kept stealing looks at him and Dang Junkyu, Jin Muok wore a meaningful expression.
“Whatever I usually enjoy, you say?”
It was a rather wicked smile.

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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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