Chapter 194 – Beating Both Fairly

===================

Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

-TAK. THWAK. TAT-TAK.

A rhythmic striking sound cut through the mountain path at night.

It was the sound of a certain woman striking the ground with her crutch.

But those strikes came separated by considerable distances… meaning the speed at which the one-legged woman moved on her crutch was remarkably fast.

“You one-legged wench! Stop running already! At most we’re asking you to side with your elder brother… what’s so hateful about it that you’re fleeing?!”

“That’s right, wench! Stop and let’s go to Young Master Gongsun! You’re not even from an opposing faction… what are you so afraid of?!”

Yi Pyo-eum, foster daughter of the Blood Flower Crone. Those chasing her were none other than Gongsun Su’s subordinates.

Gongsun Su was the Blood Flower Crone’s first foster son, and just recently, after a mere couple of months of seclusion, he had returned having reached the super-peak level.

After Ju-seong had subdued two of his younger siblings and casually left, he had been furious and immediately entered seclusion.

Then he had reappeared with an improbably rapid rise in realm.

What happened after that, Yi Pyo-eum didn’t even want to think about.

“…Damn it.”

As one of the Blood Flower Crone’s foster daughters, here she was being chased by mere rank-and-file Crimson Spider Sect members.

There were twenty of them… even if Pyo-eum was strong, she was outnumbered.

Moreover, with just one leg, sustaining a prolonged fight against many opponents was especially grueling.

“How far can you go on that leg?!”

One member shouted as he shot out a chain sickle.

-CHARARARAK!

Yi Pyo-eum grimaced and cursed.

“A bastard who couldn’t even meet my eyes normally…”

She caught the chain sickle as it came, then channeled internal force and swung it once with great power.

A dark red wave traveled along the chain sickle and exploded at its end.

-PU-GERK!

The overwhelming internal energy output, combined with the unique power of a chain weapon.

These two combined, and the man who had thrown the chain sickle had his upper body blown apart by his own weapon.

Dispatching the mouthy fellow was satisfying, but the distance had closed.

“Tch.”

Yi Pyo-eum discarded her crutch and channeled internal energy into her thigh until it felt about to burst, then leaped.

Until now she had been using the crutch’s assistance to flee at a stable speed, but from now on, she’d have to flee as fast as possible without thinking about conserving energy.

But she’d already consumed no small amount of internal energy.

‘Is this as far as I go…?’

At this rate, she’d be caught and dragged away.

Since she was one of the Blood Flower Crone’s foster daughters, she probably wouldn’t be treated too roughly…

‘But I can’t cooperate with that bastard who likely killed mother.’

She, along with the neutral faction, and the eldest daughter’s faction all pointed to Gongsun Su as the likely murderer of the Blood Flower Crone.

“Hoo, hoo…”

Her stamina was rapidly depleting. The members, annoyingly enough, were pacing themselves as they pursued right at her heels.

The mountain path was rough, with thick brush and shrubs.

Since most Crimson Spider sect members used chain weapons, if they were to fight, this would be a decent battlefield.

‘…But I’m too low on internal energy.’

Just as she was wiping sweat from her brow and gritting her teeth…

-FLUTTER.

A green robe fluttered, momentarily confusing her vision.

“My, it’s been a while, and the situation is terrible.”

The voice she’d thought of every day since parting just months ago. Pyo-eum exclaimed with an unconsciously flushed face.

“…Young Hero!”

The Ju-seong she met again had somehow settled into a more composed demeanor.

Ju-seong gazed at the approaching figures in the distance and murmured to himself.

‘Good to see a familiar face, at least.’

Walking alone, his dead master’s face kept rising in his mind. Along with it, killing intent and hatred repeatedly bloomed in his chest.

Killing intent and hatred mixed with desire for revenge… if he kept nurturing them, he worried his master would be disappointed.

Not wanting to disappoint his master, he suppressed his killing intent and carved it deep in his heart.

This made him feel like his mind was endlessly sinking and festering.

But meeting a welcome face after so long, his dreary mood seemed to lift somewhat.

“I should avoid walking alone from now on.”

Ju-seong murmured leisurely as he stood.

The members noticed Ju-seong suddenly blocking the path but sensed no martial artist’s aura from him.

“What’s he?”

“Hey, if you don’t move, you’ll be chopped up right there?”

The Crimson Spider Sect was fundamentally evil path.

Of course, as the leader of Guizhou’s martial world, there was a degree of propriety, but that was by evil path standards.

After all, the evil path were those who lacked orthodox legitimacy and pride, who didn’t strictly separate the common world from the martial world.

A random commoner suddenly blocking the road was merely an obstacle to be casually removed.

“Move aside from that woman, bastard!”

Move or die… five chain sickles flew in with that attitude.

Ju-seong narrowed his eyes and stepped forward without even using internal energy.

His upper body swayed like a willow branch, evading the chain sickles.

-CHARARUK.

His hand, clad in black gauntlets, softly brushed along the chains.

-KA-DUD-DEUK!

Drawing a circle with his arm and one strong sweep, all five chains were suddenly tucked under Ju-seong’s armpit.

The Crimson Spider members belatedly realized Ju-seong was quite a strong martial artist, but by then it was too late.

“You people call your superiors ‘wench’ and such? Rude bastards.”

Ju-seong displayed the demeanor of a gentleman reproving discourtesy while rotating his body.

“Wh-whoa!”

“What strength!”

Without even using internal energy, using only his waist strength, he sent all five armed martial artists tumbling at once.

And then…

“Huh.”

“He disappeared.”

When your opponent’s form vanished in a jianghu fight, nine times out of ten they were either above or behind you.

“Above!”

This time it was above, and one sharp fellow quickly shouted, but it was already too late.

-HWIR-RIK…

Ju-seong had extended his leg and spun once in the air. A vermilion circle was drawn in the night sky…

One point of the circle snapped off, becoming a straight line that traced a vertical trajectory.

A kick delivered with a thousand-catty drop and Sword Aura wrapped around his heel.

He didn’t aim at a person, but when he struck the ground, the power was more than sufficient.

-KWAAA-ANG…!

Vermilion light burst forth, dirt and rocks scattered, and the surrounding shrubs were uprooted.

Every single Crimson Spider member was caught in the energy wave and knocked down.

Ju-seong sent out point strikes to subdue every last one of them without fail.

Now that his skill had reached this solid foundation, he could, like his master, perform acupoint sealing from a distance.

-PU-SHUK, PUK!

Yi Pyo-eum watched the groaning members collapse one by one and lose consciousness, then asked as if suddenly realizing.

“Your skill has advanced beyond before?”

Ju-seong nodded.

“I worked hard.”

“Working hard doesn’t make it happen…”

Ju-seong cut off Pyo-eum’s words and asked.

“I’ve roughly heard the news, but what exactly happened?”

“Gongsun Su is leading his faction’s forces to seize the Crimson Spider Sect. Those of us in the neutral faction, and the siblings in the eldest daughter’s faction, are opposing him.”

“Hmm.”

Ju-seong stroked his chin and asked.

“Has the Blood Flower Crone truly passed?”

At his words, Yi Pyo-eum nodded with tears in her eyes.

“Yes, mother has passed. From the circumstances, it seems Gongsun Su murdered her.”

“Truly no better than a beast.”

Ju-seong quietly lamented, then spoke.

“If the Crimson Spider Sect falls, it’ll be troublesome in many ways. For Guizhou to be stable, the Green Forest bandits of Guangxi can afford to watch their backs…”

Guizhou wasn’t a major strategic chokepoint, but its adjacency to Guangxi and Yunnan made it somewhat problematic.

Ju-seong wasn’t a great strategist, nor did he have complete knowledge of jianghu’s situation.

But traveling with Won-gong had taught him the method of surveying the ‘big picture.’

In other words, he had gained the discernment to keep the whole map of the Central Plains in his head and assess the situation.

In Ju-seong’s estimation, the evil factions of Guangdong could strike the Green Forest’s rear just by launching ships.

At such a time, the Crimson Spider Sect and the martial artists of Guizhou should be there to watch their backs.

If they were in confusion due to civil war, the Green Forest forming the front line in Guangxi would be uneasy about their rear.

Ju-seong decided he should resolve Guizhou’s problem before moving on.

Ju-seong suddenly realized one fact.

‘Wait, if the Blood Flower Crone has passed…’

“Aren’t I now the strongest in Guizhou?”

Guizhou and Yunnan regions were sorely lacking in powerful figures. Even peak-level masters were hard to find.

Those who had attained Three Flowers Gathering and reached super-peak level were concentrated in the east of Jiangnan and among the Seven Sects and Three Families.

At Ju-seong’s muttering, Yi Pyo-eum replied.

“…You’ve achieved Three Flowers Gathering?”

Ju-seong nodded.

“Didn’t you see earlier?”

“Ah… Actually, I couldn’t see it properly.”

Having leaped an entire realm, Ju-seong now experienced the world differently from martial artists stuck at the peak level.

Ju-seong’s movements simply couldn’t be properly followed by Yi Pyo-eum.

Ju-seong wrapped his hand in Sword Aura so that Yi Pyo-eum could see clearly.

Yi Pyo-eum marveled and asked.

“How did you raise your realm in such a short time?”

“Recently I’ve had a great… mm, what to call it. An enlightenment, I suppose.”

In truth, the reason he’d broken through was due to a fortuitous encounter… and that encounter was none other than his first night with Wol-hyang.

When the memory of that night slyly raised its head, Ju-seong hastily glossed over his explanation.

“Anyway, what I’m saying is that I can quickly resolve Guizhou’s problem.”

At his words, Yi Pyo-eum wore a slightly troubled expression.

“Actually… Gongsun Su also appeared having raised his realm.”

“Huh?”

“After you left, Young Hero, he hurriedly entered seclusion and returned within just a couple of months having raised his realm. The civil war started after that.”

“My word… He’s impressive too. To be like that, he must have been right on the verge of Three Flowers Gathering.”

“The strange thing is…”

Yi Pyo-eum hesitated before speaking.

“The elder sister who was opposing Gongsun Su also appeared having raised her realm.”

“Mm, you mean that eldest daughter?”

Yi Pyo-eum nodded.

“Anyway, those of us in the neutral faction are hiding without siding with either party.”

“What name does that eldest daughter use?”

Yi Pyo-eum looked at Ju-seong as she answered.

“She’s called the Silver Thread Lady. Her real name isn’t known, and she’s usually just called Silver Thread.”

“Silver Thread… So she uses thread?”

Yi Pyo-eum nodded.

“She uses a considerable amount of Heavenly Silkworm Thread. Like the thread Young Hero uses.”

“That’s somewhat interesting.”

So it was a three-way standoff. The neutral faction, the Silver Thread Lady’s faction, and Gongsun Su’s faction.

“Currently, the strongest is Gongsun Su’s faction.”

“That’s right.”

“Shouldn’t you first ally with the Silver Thread Lady to drive out the biggest enemy?”

At Ju-seong’s question, Yi Pyo-eum sighed.

“Actually, sister is so inflexible in nature that she didn’t reach out to our side at all. From the beginning, she’s been facing off with just the few siblings who originally followed her and a handful of members.”

“Where are the rest?”

“Hiding near the Maling River.”

Ju-seong hesitated briefly before speaking.

“For now…”

The ways to break through this headache of a situation were probably endless if listed.

But among the various solutions, the most effective was usually the simplest approach.

Ju-seong’s expression hardened as he spoke.

“For now, let’s head to the Maling River. Whether it becomes porridge or rice, something has to happen there. Isn’t that so?”

The Maling River gorge where the Crimson Spider Sect was located.

That long, massive gorge stretched fully two hundred li.

He heard that the two factions had split the Maling gorge in two and were confronting each other.

“Even with all their numbers, could they possibly post sentries along two hundred li of gorge. If we want to infiltrate, we’ll infiltrate easily.”

Ju-seong said this and started walking.

He murmured to himself.

‘Let’s see… even if poison fog flows through the two hundred li gorge like a river, let’s see if they keep fighting.’

Ju-seong asked abruptly.

“Lady, do you know the most effective way to stop two people from fighting?”

“What is it?”

“Beat both of them fairly.”

“Good heavens…”

Yi Pyo-eum felt her mind go blank and clutched her forehead.