Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 91 - Same Bed, Different Dreams (3)
Chapter 91 – Same Bed, Different Dreams (3)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Kadeudeudeuk.
The muscles of the arm that pulled the string bulged tightly.
Duduk.
Thick veins sprouted on the forearm that choked the old man’s neck.
It was a sharp confrontation. With Baek Jung-cheon’s skill, he could aim for any part of Yeon Ho-jeong’s body revealed behind the old man.
The problem was that Yeon Ho-jeong was also no ordinary expert. If he were to miss by any chance, the old man’s neck would be broken immediately.
“…….”
A heavy silence settled.
Baek Jung-cheon, who glared at Yeon Ho-jeong with fierce eyes, slowly lowered his bow.
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.
“You’ve thought well.”
“Release the hostage.”
“As expected, he had utility value as a hostage. I absolutely shouldn’t let him go.”
Baek Jung-cheon’s face was distorted.
Yeon Ho-jeong opened his mouth.
“What is your name?”
“I have no name to tell you.”
“I thought so. Then I’ll ask just one thing.”
“…….”
“Are you a fellow disciple of Muk Bi?”
Baek Jung-cheon still did not answer.
He seemed to have no intention of answering at all. Yeon Ho-jeong applied force to his arm.
Duduk.
“Kkeureureuk.”
The old man’s face turned blue.
Baek Jung-cheon’s eyes trembled.
“Who is Muk Bi?”
“You don’t know Muk Bi?”
“I don’t know him.”
“The drawing method, the footwork, and even the lowering of the posture by half an inch to an inch before aimed fire.”
“……!”
“Moreover, you even used the Dragon Fang Cannon. Yet you don’t know Muk Bi?”
Astonishment was cast over Baek Jung-cheon’s face.
“To know the Dragon Fang Cannon, who on earth are you?!”
Yeon Ho-jeong was lost for words for a moment.
‘He’s an interesting fellow.’
The archery full of destructive power showcased yesterday was truly a great level. That level of archery and movement without waste was enough to be called an expert under heaven.
However, he was excessively honest. He was a person whose honest nature was revealed on his face as it was, even though he was blunt by nature.
“I’m the one who asked the question. I will ask for the last time. Do you really not know Muk Bi?”
“……I don’t know him. There is no Ghost Archer by that name.”
Unknowingly, he brought up the word ‘Ghost Archer’. However, he did not even perceive it himself.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.
‘Was it a pseudonym?’
That could be the case. After all, there were not many martial artists in the Jianghu who were active under their real names.
“What is a Ghost Archer?”
Baek Jung-cheon closed his mouth. Only then did he realize his mistake.
Yeon Ho-jeong continued.
“You killed a beggar of the Beggars’ Gang. The situation has grown sufficiently large. If you don’t intend to expand the stage further, it’s better to answer obediently.”
“……Release that man.”
“If I were to release him, I wouldn’t have captured him.”
“Do you have no pride? To take a powerless old man as a hostage with that skill, know shame.”
“Stop that provocation that won’t even work. This is a fight, not a duel.”
Yeon Ho-jeong glanced at the old man.
“And a powerless old man?”
“……?”
“He’s sealing usable internal energy. Even if his skin is sagging, his muscles are quite solid. To maintain this level of body and internal energy, quite a bit of training is necessary.”
“What……?”
“It seems you didn’t even check properly.”
Tuk.
Yeon Ho-jeong tapped the old man’s paralysis point. The old man’s body became paralyzed and stiff.
“The repulsive force is considerable even when tapping the paralysis point. If I hadn’t used more than twenty percent of my true qi, it wouldn’t have even been tapped.”
Baek Jung-cheon’s eyes shook.
He saw the process of tapping the paralysis point directly. Certainly, the opponent’s finger hesitated. He felt a strong resistance from the acupoint.
To cause that level of resistance unconsciously, a first-class internal strength was needed.
‘That level of internal energy? How?’
Baek Jung-cheon looked into the eyes of the old man, Go-pyeong.
Go-pyeong’s gaze was shaking as if an earthquake had occurred. As the paralysis point was tapped and even the muting point seemed to be tapped, he was in a state where he couldn’t even open his mouth.
“……Old Man Go?”
The Go-pyeong he knew was a commoner who hadn’t learned even a fingernail’s worth of internal energy. He was a famous doctor unknown to the world, who had devoted his whole life to medical arts.
“The Heart-Attaching Red is the same.”
Baek Jung-cheon looked at Yeon Ho-jeong again.
He tapped the hostage’s paralysis point and even sealed the muting point. Even so, there were no gaps. He wrapped his forearm around Go-pyeong’s neck, and even a little force would press the carotid artery.
“Since when did Heart-Attaching Red become a poison that sucks away human life force? Such poison is extremely rare even in the Gu poison lineage.”
“……Are you saying it isn’t?”
“Of course.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes as he looked down at Go-pyeong were extremely cold.
“Heart-Attaching Red is a type of deposition poison. It sticks to the internal organs of the body and causes degeneration. Among them, it uniquely has a strong action on the heart, which is a characteristic that comes because it was produced by refining poison obtained from minerals.”
“……!”
“But it doesn’t work on someone whose body is robust and who is somewhat free in the delivery of internal strength. This is because true qi discharges the poison before it is deposited in the organs. In other words, it is a medium-low grade poison that doesn’t work well on an expert who has cultivated internal energy beyond a certain level.”
Heart-Attaching Red was a poison used only by a few people who knew it in the back alleys of the Black Path.
In other words, even if one tried to find out about it, it was not easy to find out. Furthermore, there were not many people who tried to find out about it.
It was because there were countless poisons stronger than Heart-Attaching Red. It might work on the power of third-rate hoodlums or common Black Path sects, but it doesn’t work on experts.
Even Yeon Ho-jeong had once been covered in a bucket of Heart-Attaching Red.
Even then, he was fine. It was because the Red Heaven Qi discharged the toxic qi as soon as he inhaled it. Furthermore, because of the Vermilion Bird Qi, it vanished without even being able to touch the heart side.
That an expert of Baek Jung-cheon’s level was poisoned by such a medium-low grade poison? It was nonsense.
“In other words, I don’t know if this fellow is a doctor, but he isn’t the weakling you think he is, and you aren’t poisoned by Heart-Attaching Red either.”
Baek Jung-cheon’s expression was distorted.
He asked Go-pyeong.
“Is what that young man said true?”
He was in a state where he couldn’t speak because the muting point was tapped.
Baek Jung-cheon said to Yeon Ho-jeong.
“Unseal Old Man Go’s muting point.”
“I don’t want to.”
“What?”
Yeon Ho-jeong poured out cold words.
“I’ve peeled off the illusion and informed you of the truth. But I’m not a person who bestows groundless favors on someone unrelated.”
“……?!”
“What is a Ghost Archer? Explain that first.”
Chuchuchu.
Murderous intent bloomed from Baek Jung-cheon’s body.
It wasn’t simple murderous intent. An honest urgency was seeping out of that murderous intent. He was begrudging every moment.
“It is no time for wordplay! Quickly release him!”
“You are in no position to command me. If you don’t want to be robbed of more time, just answer my question.”
“I-ik!”
“Right now.”
He told him to speak in a hurry, but in fact, there was no sign of urgency on Yeon Ho-jeong’s face.
His cold expression and his words and actions of urging for an answer gave the opponent a strong sense of pressure. Even in a similar situation, the appearance he showed was completely different from Baek Jung-cheon.
In the end, Baek Jung-cheon opened his mouth.
“A Ghost Archer refers to a new God of Archery candidate of Sun-Piercing Valley.”
“Sun-Piercing Valley? What is that? Is it a group that possesses archers like you?”
Sun-Piercing Valley was a name that should not be known to the world.
But Baek Jung-cheon was in a hurry. If Go-pyeong was really not the doctor he knew, he had to obtain another doctor as soon as possible.
“That’s right.”
“A sect I’ve never heard of.”
“Sun-Piercing Valley is no mere Jianghu sect. It is a God-Killing Cult that serves the Sun God, and at the same time exists to kill him.”
God-Killing Cult, in other words, it meant a religion that kills gods.
Yeon Ho-jeong frowned.
‘God-Killing Cult……?’
He recalled Muk Bi’s words from the past.
‘Their god is base. That is why I dislike the Cult of Evil Desires.’
It was a rare moment when Muk Bi, who didn’t talk much and didn’t reveal his emotions well, showed anger.
“For someone who says it’s not a Murim sect, it seems to teach formidable archery.”
“Naturally. The only way to kill the Sun God is archery. Just as the mythological Hou Yi shot arrows to bring down nine suns, we too are those who seek to reach the heavens through archery.”
Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.
‘I have no idea what he’s talking about.’
Muk Bi had never told him about this. At any rate, they too seemed to be a type of religious group.
‘Hmm?’
At the thought that suddenly occurred, Yeon Ho-jeong asked again.
“It seems the number is small?”
“What do you mean?”
“The archers of the group you belong to, Sun-Piercing Valley. And what is this God of Archery?”
The urgency cast on Baek Jung-cheon’s face gradually deepened.
“Haven’t I told you enough! Immediately release him……!”
Duduk.
Go-pyeong’s face turned bright red.
Baek Jung-cheon grit his teeth.
“……In order to become the God of Archery of Sun-Piercing Valley, Ghost Archers must compete among themselves.”
“Compete?”
“It refers to a slaughter where they kill each other.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.
“Does the one person who survived become that God of Archery or whatever?”
“That’s right.”
“Surely you aren’t in the middle of that competition even now?”
“Yes! So immediately release him!”
A slaughter to become the God of Archery.
‘Then Muk Bi was?’
Was he the one person who survived?
However, why didn’t he go back and become the God of Archery or whatever? Was there some reason?
“I will ask the last question.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes sank steadily.
Even in the midst of urgency, Baek Jung-cheon realized. That the current question was the most important to that fellow.
“His current age would be approximately…… in his mid-twenties. He is tall, a little under six cheok, and mainly uses a horn bow instead of a great bow like you. His main martial art is……”
“Baek Hyang?!”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes widened.
“Baek Hyang?”
Baek Jung-cheon, who was unable to continue his words for a moment, stammered.
“You, are you an acquaintance of Hyang?”
It was a friendly tone. It was as if he were calling a brother, a cousin, or a close friend.
“I wouldn’t say an acquaintance…… well, hearing it, it seems correct.”
“If it’s the age and height you mentioned, it’s only Hyang. Among the Ghost Archers who participated in this competition, Hyang is the only one in his mid-twenties. And Hyang uses a horn bow.”
“……Fine. Then where is Baek Hyang?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t know the exact location. But there’s a high probability he is near Bagong Mountain. Because that fellow hasn’t moved once since the competition began.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who silently glared at Baek Jung-cheon, let Go-pyeong go.
Baek Jung-cheon’s eyes flashed.
Tu-ung!
“Keo-heok!”
Go-pyeong exhaled a rough breath. The finger wind that struck through the air had unsealed the muting point.
It was a high-level internal energy attainments. He didn’t just shoot arrows well, but his knowledge and training in overall martial arts were at a first-class level.
Baek Jung-cheon picked up Go-pyeong. It was an act close to grabbing him by the scruff of the neck.
“Is what that young man said true?”
“Kulleok! U-how could you do this! Surely you don’t think I deceived you!”
“……Forget it, I don’t need anything else. I’ll ask just this one thing.”
Baek Jung-cheon’s eyes spit fire.
An indescribable emotion was overwhelming the person he faced. Go-pyeong’s face froze as much as it could.
“You can fix Ga-ryeong’s body, right?”
“…….”
“Why can’t you speak! I asked if you can fix the Seven Yin Severed Meridians!”
At that moment, Yeon Ho-jeong said.
“Seven Yin Severed Meridians?”
Baek Jung-cheon looked at Yeon Ho-jeong.
Yeon Ho-jeong tilted his head.
“Seven Yin Severed Meridians? Not the Nine Yin Severed Meridians?”
“……What?”
“Where is such a thing as the Seven Yin Severed Meridians? Wasn’t it called the Nine Yin Severed Meridians because excessive yin qi accumulates, freezing all the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and eventually even cutting off life?”
“……?!”
“Does it choose only seven out of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and freeze them? Is there such a delicate disease?”
Baek Jung-cheon glared at Go-pyeong.
Yeon Ho-jeong frowned.
“Isn’t that guy a total fraud?”