Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 90 - Run, Rabbit (1)

Chapter 90 – Run, Rabbit (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“It was a fine match.”

“You’ve grown very relaxed just because you won.”

“Not at all. People will speak more of the Zhuge Clan’s rise than of the Wudang Sect’s victory.”

“Hmph. For now, I shall leave satisfied with this much.”

After the formal match ended, Cheong-ui and Zhuge Gyeom exchanged their thoughts. Zhuge Gyeom turned his gaze over Cheong-ui’s shoulder and looked at me.

“You there, lay disciple.”

“Yes?”

“I apologize.”

Zhuge Gyeom said something unexpected. My face brightened.

From my point of view as well, it was not a bad thing to hear. No matter that I had the solid backing of the Wudang Sect, remaining openly hostile to the Zhuge Clan would still be inconvenient. Smiling, I tried to accept the apology, but Zhuge Gyeom’s next words were different.

“I underestimated you too much. Next time I will come having prepared thoroughly.”

“…”

So it wasn’t an apology after all. Truly, one had to listen to the end of what people said.

Like that, the Zhuge Clan left the Wudang Sect. Only after the Zhuge Clan had completely gone down Wudang Mountain did Wudang’s people finally burst into cheers. They had been holding their joy in until now.

“We actually won this!”

“Wow. That final spar was insane. That Flowing Cloud Sword Art was no joke.”

Wudang’s disciples instantly crowded around us. Among them, as expected, the one who drew the most interest was me.

After all, if the other disciples had all fought defensively and therefore lacked a certain excitement to watch, I had offered the refreshing feeling of nothing but offense from the very start. Of course, the only reason I could fight that offensively was thanks to the many senior brothers before me continuing to show the Zhuge Clan’s martial arts. But the disciples who did not know that were far too busy crowding around me alone.

With an embarrassed look, I glanced at Myeong-yeop beside me, but Myeong-yeop simply smiled with his eyes and gave a slight nod. It seemed he was telling me not to watch my expression and to enjoy it when there was something to enjoy.

“I really thought we were going to lose.”

“Ugh, terrifying.”

The reason everyone was so happy was that we really could have lost. Especially since we had been down two to four at one point, then won by taking three straight victories, the thrill could not help but be greater.

“But the Zhuge Clan really had become that strong.”

“They used to be weak.”

“That shocked me.”

Wudang’s disciples recalled the sword arts of the Zhuge Clan’s martial artists and rubbed their chests. Certainly, the Zhuge Clan’s martial arts had been threatening.

“Still, we only barely won.”

“That is true.”

Once the heat had died down to some extent, Wudang’s disciples regained their composure.

As Cheong-ui had said, the result of this formal match would cast more light upon the defeated Zhuge Clan than the victorious Wudang Sect. Everyone had thought that Wudang would win without giving up a single point, but unexpectedly the Zhuge Clan had produced an even result.

In that sense, from Wudang’s point of view, this formal match had in fact been one where breaking even was the best it could hope for. If we had even lost on top of that, it would have become a truly dreadful situation, so at least we had won and preserved appearances.

“Those children who took part in the formal match are to follow me. The other disciples are to clear the training ground and then each return to your own places.”

Cheong-ui brought the heated atmosphere under control. They could not remain intoxicated by victory forever. To speak honestly, it had been a nerve-wracking narrow win, so from the Sect Leader’s point of view it could not have been satisfying.

That was why the disciples who had participated in the formal match followed after Cheong-ui, who was walking some distance ahead, while whispering quietly among themselves.

“Do you think we’re going to the Cave of Repentance?”

“Maybe. Even so, isn’t that a good thing. If we’d really lost, we might have been driven not into the Cave of Repentance, but out of Wudang Mountain entirely.”

“I guess that’s true?”

How pitiful. To have won, yet still have to think like this. Well, the higher one’s position, the more was demanded of one. The place called the Mount Tai and Big Dipper of the martial world was not something that could be maintained lightly.

We entered the Sect Leader’s room in the Three Purities Hall. The disciples all wore anxious expressions.

It was true that they had been glad when they won, but all of them knew that the result had not been as satisfying as expected.

Cheong-ui looked at those disciples one by one. His eyes met mine too. The fact that he looked into our eyes and said nothing only seemed to worsen the disciples’ anxiety.

It was Cheong-ui’s hollow laugh that broke the long silence.

“Why do your faces all look as though someone has died?”

“…We are sorry, Sect Leader.”

At that, Myeong-yeop, the eldest senior brother among those present, answered as though he had been waiting for the chance.

“What are you sorry for?”

“We should have defeated the Zhuge Clan perfectly, but we failed to do so and thus damaged the Wudang Sect’s honor.”

“Hmm.”

“The junior brothers are not at fault. The junior brothers followed me in training without a single complaint. Therefore, this is entirely my fault.”

For training without complaint, the disciples certainly had sounded like they were dying often enough. Myeong-yeop’s training truly had been hard.

Then again, if it had not been for Myeong-yeop’s training like that, perhaps instead of winning five to four, we might have lost four to five. Leaving aside efficiency, it could not be denied that Myeong-yeop’s concentrated training had improved my skill.

“That is not so.”

At that moment, Myeong-hwa spoke from beside him. If Myeong-yeop was the eldest among the first-generation disciples gathered here, Myeong-hwa was the eldest among the second-generation disciples gathered here.

“Myeong-yeop Senior Brother is not at fault. This happened only because we had been lax in our training all this time. It is right that you punish us all.”

Why me? I didn’t want to be punished. But saying something like that felt like it would make me a traitor to the cause on the spot, so I simply stayed quiet.

But Cheong-ui did not leave me alone.

“What about Hui-yeong?”

“Pardon?”

“Hui-yeong’s opinion. Myeong-yeop has spoken representing the opinion of the first-generation disciples, and Myeong-hwa has spoken representing the opinion of the second-generation disciples.”

“There’s only me to represent myself.”

“Yes. That means I am asking you to speak your mind.”

At Cheong-ui’s words, the gaze of every disciple turned toward me. They were truly burdensome gazes.

Myeong-yeop, Myeong-hwa, and the other disciples genuinely seemed to think they had stained Wudang’s honor.

“…I.”

For a moment I hesitated. Should I read the room and follow the disciples. Or should I say what I truly thought.

The very fact that I had such a thought at all showed how much I had become assimilated into Wudang. If I alone had fought Zhuge Jun, I would have struck his neck without the slightest hesitation. After all, Zhuge Jun had first aimed a killing blow at me. But the reason I did not kill Zhuge Jun in the end was because I had Wudang in mind. If I killed him, Wudang would be placed in a difficult position.

“I?”

When I drew out my answer, Cheong-ui stared straight at me. And when I saw Cheong-ui’s eyes, certainty came to me. Cheong-ui wanted the genuine answer from me.

“I think we did well.”

The disciples’ eyes widened.

“It is true that the Zhuge Clan has made a remarkable advance. But as the Sect Leader himself saw, the Zhuge Clan really did come having sharpened its blades. The point is that they were not the Zhuge Clan we knew.”

“Ho.”

Cheong-ui’s lips curled upward. The expressions of the disciples grew even more uneasy. Their eyes tried to stop me, but I ignored them.

“The Zhuge Clan simply did well, nothing more. Would that clever Zhuge Clan have demanded a formal match for no reason. They demanded the formal match because they believed they would beat us. Yet we won. So we did well.”

“Hui-yeong’s opinion differs greatly from ours.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Myeong-yeop cut in, looking at me as though he would devour me.

The other disciples too seemed to think this was their chance and each added a word.

“Hui-yeong is a lay disciple who does not know well what sort of existence the Wudang Sect is within the martial world. Those words came from ignorance, so Sect Leader, please calm your anger.”

“I shall educate Hui-yeong better myself. That is the duty of us, his senior brothers.”

No, who are you people calling a troublemaker all of a sudden.

Cheong-ui, however, only smiled more deeply as he watched them.

“That is enough.”

“Pardon?”

The stir among the disciples was neatly resolved by Cheong-ui’s single sentence.

“I too agree with Hui-yeong. If you had looked down on the Zhuge Clan and trained carelessly, you might have lost. Yet you won, so how fortunate is that.”

“Sect Leader, even so…”

“Myeong-yeop. The Wudang Sect is still too large for all of you to represent in full. Even I myself do not represent the whole of Wudang.”

Myeong-yeop’s mouth closed. Cheong-ui’s words were correct. I nodded smugly at the disciples. The expressions of the disciples crumpled as though paper had been crushed.

“Now the Zhuge Clan will surely try to display its own strength. The more sacrifices appear, the more people will once again discuss how formidable Wudang is.”

“Exactly. That’s exactly right.”

I chimed in at the end of the Sect Leader’s words. Even to my own ears, my voice sounded slippery.

“That is why I think you did well. Thank you. For protecting Wudang.”

“N-no, not at all.”

When Cheong-ui expressed gratitude, the disciples did not know how to bear themselves. Well, when in the world would disciples ever receive the gratitude of a Sect Leader as lofty as heaven.

Of course, my own thoughts were a little different.

“With empty hands?”

The disciples were aghast, and even Cheong-ui himself looked briefly as though his mind had gone blank. I was entirely confident. I had certainly protected Wudang, and I was someone who ought to receive a fitting reward in return.

“Naturally. How could it be right if there were no reward for you who protected Wudang.”

Cheong-ui immediately recovered his expression and said that solemnly.

At once the disciples all went pale and waved their hands.

“What are you saying. We are sinners.”

“I keep telling you we’re not.”

“That’s right!”

“We are not!”

Myeong-yeop and I raised our voices at each other. Myeong-yeop suddenly seemed to remember that the Sect Leader was in front of him, and his face reddened as he shut his mouth.

“Each of you speak of one thing you desire. If it is a request that does not go against Wudang’s rules, I will grant it.”

That was it. This was the right thing. Cheong-ui was wonderfully straightforward.

The disciples hesitated. It seemed they could not accept that they, who had thought themselves sinners, were about to receive rewards.

“Shall Myeong-yeop speak first?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes. Um, ahem.”

Myeong-yeop panicked. But they all knew this was an enormous opportunity.

“Then perhaps one Supreme Clarity Pill…”

“Good.”

“R-really? Is that all right? I heard the recent refining hasn’t been going well.”

“That is not for you to worry about. It is a matter for the elders to labor over all the harder.”

Myeong-yeop looked astonished, as though he had never thought what he said would actually be granted.

Desire had now entered the eyes of the disciples as well. Right. If rewards were being given, then one had to receive them.

Starting with Myeong-yeop, the other disciples each stated one thing they wanted. To be honest, it was a little boring. The things they wanted were either martial arts or spiritual medicines. What I had wanted was something like one hard slap across the face of a martial uncle I disliked, or being allowed to speak casually for a day regardless of generation rank, things like that.

“Hui-yeong too.”

At last it became my turn. I had already decided what reward I would ask for. I spoke proudly.

“I want the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company and the Wudang Sect to form an agreement.”

“…?”

It was so abrupt that even Cheong-ui blinked. The disciples looked as though they had not understood at all.

But Cheong-ui seemed to understand soon enough, and his expression turned grave.

“…The other disciples may step outside.”

“Ah, yes!”

Myeong-yeop took the children and streamed out like an ebbing tide.

Now only Cheong-ui and I remained in the Sect Leader’s room.

“Do you perhaps mean what I think you mean?”

“Exactly so.”

Cheong-ui asked. Smiling, I answered.

“Please permit the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company to conduct trade under the name of the Wudang Sect.”

Cheong-ui’s expression hardened completely.