The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 497

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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 497. You. Have You Ever Starved?

 

 

“Please make some porridge.”

Ha Mu-baek said, holding out two nyang of coins to the Head Cook.

Even for porridge, one nyang would be more than enough to make a feast.

With such generous payment, the Head Cook quickly made quite a lot of warm porridge.

Ha Mu-baek took the bowl of porridge and headed back to the hut.

The children were still awake, clutching their hungry stomachs.

Ha Mu-baek sat down and placed the bowl of porridge he had brought.

He ladled some into small bowls he had brought separately and placed them in front of the children.

“There’s plenty, so eat slowly. Since you’ve been starving for a long time, eating too quickly will actually make you sick.”

The boy, who had been startled by the sudden food and was about to rush at it, hesitated at Ha Mu-baek’s words.

And at his sister’s restraint, he only swallowed his saliva gulp by gulp.

The girl scooped an appropriate amount of porridge with a wooden spoon and blew on it to cool it down.

Then she put it into her younger brother’s mouth.

“Slowly. Chew thoroughly.”

Though there was nothing to chew in the porridge, it seemed she was worried he might eat too quickly.

Ha Mu-baek quietly watched the scene.

The girl slowly fed her younger sibling like that.

It seemed she was acting this way because she was worried he might get sick from eating too hastily if she let him eat by himself.

Only after her younger sibling had eaten some porridge did she hand him the spoon.

“Eat slowly.”

After giving that instruction and picking up her own bowl, the porridge had already cooled down.

As if lukewarm was better than hot, the girl ate it deliciously, chewing slowly.

Ha Mu-baek just watched quietly.

How much time had passed?

“Stop eating now. If you eat too much suddenly after starving, you’ll get sick. You can eat what’s left tomorrow morning.”

Ha Mu-baek spoke up as the boy was about to ladle more porridge from the large bowl into his small bowl.

The boy looked at the still-abundant remaining porridge with eyes dripping with regret.

However, perhaps because his stomach was somewhat full?

He didn’t throw a tantrum.

The girl, who had already finished her bowl, stood up and bowed deeply toward Ha Mu-baek.

“Thank you, truly thank you so much.”

Though she had many questions, the girl knew well that expressing gratitude should come first.

How had he found their home, how had he opened the locked door of their shabby hut, why was he showing them such kindness?

Though she had countless questions.

Expressing gratitude for the help came first.

The boy also followed his sister’s example and bowed his head.

“I was passing by when I heard that child’s voice. So I stopped by briefly to see what the situation was. I’m sorry for suddenly entering without permission.”

As if he knew well what questions the girl had, Ha Mu-baek spoke calmly.

“I’m Jo Hyang-a. My younger sibling is Jo Hu-pyo.”

Her brother’s complaining about being hungry hadn’t been loud enough for a passerby to hear.

It had been weak whimpering, so it couldn’t have been heard outside the house.

No matter how shabby the hut was.

But since he said he had heard such sounds, he must not be an ordinary person.

The girl Jo Hyang-a introduced herself and her younger sibling with an even more cautious attitude.

“Your parents left home three days ago?”

At Ha Mu-baek’s question, Jo Hyang-a and Jo Hu-pyo nodded.

“Do you know where they went?”

“Yes.”

Jo Hyang-a answered quietly.

“You’re saying they left without leaving any food for you children?”

Ha Mu-baek confirmed once more, step by step.

Jo Hyang-a shook her head.

“No. On the day they left, they left a little food for us to eat.”

“After eating one meal, there was nothing left to eat!”

Jo Hu-pyo continued as if tattling on his sister’s words.

Still young, Hu-pyo seemed to want to pour out his hungry grievances to someone.

“They said since we’re young, we only need to eat a little… to save it until our parents return.”

Ha Mu-baek forcibly suppressed the urge to frown at Jo Hyang-a’s words.

If he scowled, these children would obviously be frightened.

“The place they went to is Gwanje Temple on the village outskirts, right?”

At Ha Mu-baek’s question, Jo Hyang-a’s eyes widened.

Her expression showed surprise at how this strange man knew about that place.

“Do your parents always leave home like this?”

Ha Mu-baek asked again.

Jo Hyang-a shook her head.

“They said they went because they received payment for this job. They said they had to offer tribute to Gwaneum so the new world would come even a little faster…”

“Every time?”

At Ha Mu-baek’s follow-up question, Jo Hyang-a gave no answer.

Even without hearing it, what kind of answer it would be was obvious.

“I see. I understand. Thank you for telling me what I was curious about. You must be tired, so go to sleep quickly. Make sure to eat the porridge tomorrow morning.”

Ha Mu-baek patted Jo Hyang-a’s head.

Perhaps because his hunger had subsided? Jo Hu-pyo was already nodding off drowsily.

“Thank you so much.”

Jo Hyang-a bowed deeply once more.

“Not at all. Rather, I’m sorry. For suddenly visiting and only asking various questions.”

With that, Ha Mu-baek left the hut.

Sensing the presence around this area, this wasn’t the only hut with only children and no parents.

About half of them had only children sleeping.

There were plenty of children like the siblings Jo Hyang-a and Jo Hu-pyo.

Among them, Hu-pyo had been particularly unable to endure his hunger and had whimpered, and those sounds had reached Ha Mu-baek’s ears.

Thud. Thud.

Ha Mu-baek’s footsteps dug deep into the ground.

Ha Mu-baek was heading toward the village outskirts again.

His destination was naturally Gwanje Temple.

How on earth could such a thing happen?

No matter how obsessed with religion they were, to abandon their own children and spend three days at Gwanje Temple.

To think money to offer to that damn Seseegwaneum Temple was more important than food for their own children.

“Fucking bastards.”

Ha Mu-baek muttered quietly.

Gwanje Temple came into view.

He briefly stopped walking and surveyed the surroundings.

He simply couldn’t understand it.

At first he had suspected mystical arts, but there were no signs of such things.

What on earth had they done?

Ha Mu-baek activated his Infinite Bright Wheel Eye and examined the surroundings.

The flow of energy visible to his eyes.

It wasn’t normal, but there wasn’t anything particularly special either.

He tilted his head and observed for a long while.

He wanted to know the cause of what had happened to this village.

After examining the flow of energy for a long time.

Some kind of pattern seemed to emerge.

He couldn’t tell what meaning it held, but if the surrounding energy flowed in such a pattern, he knew what it was.

‘A formation technique.’

Some kind of formation was spread around Gwanje Temple.

Confirming this, Ha Mu-baek slipped inside Gwanje Temple.

The sect messenger stood before the wooden statue, deeply absorbed in his sermon.

The villagers knelt and sat, looking at the messenger and concentrating on his words.

Ha Mu-baek watched the entire scene with his Infinite Bright Wheel Eye still activated.

The messenger’s sermon reached Ha Mu-baek’s ears clearly.

Even Ha Mu-baek, who had intended to observe what was happening here, found himself listening to the messenger’s sermon before he knew it.

Realizing this change in himself, Ha Mu-baek awakened his mind again.

To think he had unconsciously become absorbed in the other’s words without knowing it.

It wasn’t mystical arts, at least.

Mystical arts required the caster to clearly recognize and designate the target object, but the messenger currently didn’t know of Ha Mu-baek’s existence.

To call it the influence of the formation, the formation’s energy itself was minimal.

Ha Mu-baek retraced the messenger’s sermon.

Strange rhythm, emphasis, and changes.

And the repetition of it all.

There was power in those words.

‘Suggestion? No, hypnosis?’

The moment such thoughts arose.

He noticed that the formation’s energy was subtly spreading around the area centered on the wooden statue.

‘Brainwashing. The formation’s energy and the suggestion from that sermon work in combination.’

Ha Mu-baek roughly grasped the principle.

He frowned.

He understood the cause of their condition, but didn’t know how to break that brainwashing.

At the root of their falling into such brainwashing, their desires seated deep in their hearts must have played a part too.

The desire for this reality filled only with despair to crumble and disappear entirely.

“And there’s even a mask…”

When he had come before, he had only grasped the overall situation and left, so he hadn’t noticed what now became visible.

The face of the human called messenger.

It wasn’t his real face.

He was hiding his real face with a precisely crafted mask and presenting a fake face.

“This concludes all three days of prayer. The next three-day prayer will begin in four days. Please prepare your devotion to offer to Goddess Guanyin by then.”

Before long, the messenger’s sermon ended, and as he announced the conclusion of this gathering, people rustled as they rose from their seats.

It was the time when dawn was breaking.

After all the villagers had left like that.

The messenger opened a small box.

It contained money – not a large amount, but not small either.

“Hmm. Have I squeezed out all I can squeeze from this village? It’s a small village so there doesn’t seem to be more to come out… Tsk. No matter how much dust makes a mountain, this is too much dust. It would be better to create doctrines that might tempt the wealthy…”

Ha Mu-baek appeared behind the muttering messenger.

“You seem to know something.”

Grip.

Ha Mu-baek grabbed the messenger by the throat.

“Gack. Wh-who…?”

The messenger was startled.

But he couldn’t move a muscle.

He was completely subdued by Ha Mu-baek.

“Where does this money go?”

Ha Mu-baek asked in a calm voice.

“I-I don’t know.”

The messenger answered in a trembling voice.

He was even more frightened since he could only hear the voice of the one who had subdued him and couldn’t even see his appearance.

Ha Mu-baek chuckled at the response.

It was the answer he had already expected.

“The Zhuge family must have told you to answer like that.”

“…”

The messenger kept his mouth tightly shut.

But his slightly trembling body answered in his place.

“What’s the purpose of the formation spread here?”

Even at the following question, the messenger kept his mouth tightly shut.

“What’s the purpose of the words and rhythm constantly repeated in your sermon?”

“…”

As expected, the messenger didn’t answer.

However, he couldn’t hide the slight trembling of his body.

“Good. What’s your position in Yungjoong Mountain?”

No answer came back.

Ha Mu-baek chuckled.

This bastard’s dantian was answering in his place.

While trying every means to somehow break free from being subdued, he had read the movement of internal energy in the dantian.

He had deliberately not suppressed the pressure points for this reason.

He was just gripping the throat and suppressing with overwhelming force.

If the guy desperately mobilized his internal energy to struggle, it would be easier to read the origin of that internal energy.

When exerting full power, one cannot hide their true mountain ultimate technique.

The flow of internal energy visible to Ha Mu-baek’s eyes.

“Small Heaven Mysterious Origin Art. So you are indeed from the Zhuge clan. Do they send family disciples to easy and safe work, and throw away disposable pawns for dangerous and difficult tasks?”

At Ha Mu-baek’s muttering, the messenger’s body stiffened.

He was startled.

How could he read the origin of his martial arts?

He hadn’t done anything.

He had only struggled by drawing up his internal energy to somehow escape from being subdued.

Whoosh.

Thud.

Ha Mu-baek threw the messenger, and he crashed to the ground before getting up.

“Y-you are…”

Only now confirming Ha Mu-baek’s face, he was so startled he couldn’t speak properly.

His expression asked why that monster was here.

At that reaction, Ha Mu-baek chuckled.

The fact that he recognized his face meant he was someone with a decent position in the Zhuge family.

Quite a few among the Zhuge family knew his face.

It was due to the battle fought at Yungjoong Mountain during the last Murim War.

At that time, Zhuge Ming must not have been at the family estate, as he hadn’t properly recognized Ha Mu-baek’s face.

“You. Have you ever starved?”

A question that flowed from Ha Mu-baek’s mouth.

To the messenger, it was a completely out-of-the-blue question.

After throwing only questions about The Sect until now, suddenly asking if he’d ever starved.

“Right. It seems you’ve lived in luxury and comfort.”

Ha Mu-baek’s face was coldly hardened as he moved his steps.

“Th, this.”

The messenger hastily kicked off the ground.

It was crystal clear that he couldn’t face that monster approaching him.

Escape was the only way.

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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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