WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

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◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈

Chapter 65: Jeok Chuyeong

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Seondo Mu's subordinates swung their blades viciously, as if they intended to break through in one go.

The guards protecting Wolong Hall were no pushovers either.

They did not easily give ground even under the fierce assault. Moving in pairs, they responded swiftly. The coordination between each group was fairly skilled as well.

They must have trained often, because they worked together seamlessly. Their movements brought soldiers to mind rather than Black Path martial artists.

I could clearly tell they were the elite Bok Hagyu had carefully selected.

After watching for a moment, I left the window and ran to the bedroom.

There was no reason for me to join that fight and go out of my way to battle Seondo Mu.

I was not interested in Bok Hagyu's subordinates or Wolong Hall. I only cared about Jeok Chuyeong.

Jeok Chuyeong was still unconscious and defenseless.

At the height of his power, he had subdued Seondo Mu and Im Jageon by force, made them kneel, and turned them into his subordinates. He had been an extraordinary master.

But now, he was nothing more than a frail invalid who could die at the hands of even a snot-nosed child.

If someone sneaked in while I was away fighting Seondo Mu, it would be over.

“Gang Leader Jeok. I don't know if you can hear me, but Seondo Mu has come to kill you. Let's get out of here first.”

I offered a quick apology and pulled back the blanket.

Carefully lifting Jeok Chuyeong's upper body, I found his head drooping helplessly forward. I pulled his arms over my shoulders, hoisted him onto my back, and stood.

Jeok Chuyeong's body, clad in a dark blue robe, was chillingly light.

He had lost so much flesh that hard bones pressed against my back and waist wherever he touched me.

Jeok Chuyeong's shallow breath against my neck was as cold as a ghost's.

Even though he had been under the blankets moments ago, there was barely any warmth left in him.

How had he endured for two years in this condition...

It would not have been strange if he died right now, let alone after another year.

I reached back to hold the limp Jeok Chuyeong tightly and left the bedroom.

Every time I moved, the thin arms draped over my shoulders swayed from side to side.

The servants must have evacuated beforehand, because there was no one inside the hall.

When I passed through the kitchen and opened the back door, the sounds of battle raging at the front of the building were deafening.

I had to escape the Black Night Gang while Bok Hagyu's subordinates held out.

The outer wall was higher than the roof of my house.

Even with internal energy, it was impossible to leap over it with Jeok Chuyeong on my back.

My best option was to use the escape route Bok Hagyu had told me about.

Had they considered a situation like this from the moment they built the Black Night Gang in Seochon? The back path behind Wolong Hall wound cleverly between the walls and buildings.

Looking up at the moon, it seemed about half a sijin had passed since the start of the Ox hour.

By now, a Hao clan carriage should be waiting at the back gate. Once I got out of the Black Night Gang, I would have nothing else to worry about.

Pheeeeeee!

A whistle shrieked sharply from somewhere above my head.

I stopped running and looked toward the sound.

It came from the roof of a three-story building some distance away.

I set Jeok Chuyeong down to one side, hurriedly drew the dagger strapped to my ankle, and threw it.

The startled Black Path martial artist quickly threw himself flat on the roof. The dagger struck the roof ridge and bounced away.

Pheee!

That bastard kept blowing the whistle. If I let him continue, every sword-wielding bastard nearby would come rushing here.

Keeping watch on my surroundings, I ran toward the building. Since it was three stories tall, its eaves were far too high. If I opened the first-floor door and climbed the stairs, I would be too late.

A carriage parked below caught my eye.

I gauged the height of the wooden crates piled in its cargo bed against the roof, then drew internal energy from my dantian.

Internal energy rapidly spread through my limbs along its circulation pathway.

Anger rose until my teeth ground together at the thought of using my precious internal energy. I clenched my fist, trembling as I steadied myself.

This was not the time to conserve it.

I could replenish my internal energy once I found spirit herbs. To find Soso's family, I had to keep Jeok Chuyeong alive and escape.

Just as I had practiced at home, I concentrated internal energy into the soles of my feet and kicked off the ground.

Bang!

I stepped on the top of the stacked crates and leaped onto the roof.

The instant my feet touched the roof tiles, I charged at him.

The Black Path martial artist's mouth fell open. He must not have expected me to reach the roof so quickly. The whistle stopped for a moment.

As though he had seen a ghost, he stared in shock before hurriedly reaching for the sword at his waist.

Before he could even grasp the hilt, my long saber pierced his chest. When I pulled it free, he collapsed.

I wiped the blood from the long saber, sheathed it, and retrieved my dagger.

As I searched the Black Path martial artist, I froze.

The whistle hung around his neck. It was tied tightly with a cord so he would not lose it. A bad feeling filled my mind with unease.

You could rob a hundred martial artists on the road and find men carrying erotic paintings, but not whistles.

Whistles were tools used by constables. They were not something martial artists normally carried around. The same was true for Black Path martial artists.

I went to where he had been standing and looked down.

It gave a clear view of the secret passage leading from Wolong Hall to the Black Night Gang's back gate.

Was this a coincidence...

The situation felt far too unsettling to simply turn away because I had removed him.

I lowered my body and silently climbed the sloping roof.

Peering over the roof ridge, I carefully examined the buildings scattered around the back path.

Thanks to the moonlight and the flames, the rooftops were fairly bright.

Just as I thought...

There was more than one Black Path martial artist in black, lying flat against the roofs. I could see at least three.

“Seondo Mu, that bastard...”

This was not a hastily assembled encirclement after Five-Phoenix Hall caught fire and Seondo Mu realized Bok Hagyu's scheme.

They had equipped themselves with whistles and stationed people without gaps along every part of the secret back path the Gang Leader might use to slip out.

They had clearly prepared thoroughly in advance to strike Wolong Hall soon. They may even have organized a separate pursuit squad.

If I had not urged Bok Hagyu to act first, Jeok Chuyeong would probably have been stabbed to death within a day or two.

If Im Jageon had joined in as well, Bok Hagyu would have struggled desperately before meeting his end.

It would be too troublesome to jump from roof to roof and remove them one by one. I did not know how many Black Path martial artists were hiding, and I could not afford to waste internal energy.

I went to the other side of the roof and looked down into the Black Night Gang.

Having heard the whistle, Black Path martial artists were running over from the burning Five-Phoenix Hall.

The escape route Jin Seokman had discovered was too far away. There was no guarantee it was safe either.

I could not leave Jeok Chuyeong exposed to the early winter cold for much longer.

Even if I had to use internal energy, I had no choice but to break through as quickly as possible.

Just as I made up my mind and prepared to climb down, someone crossed the wide open space between the buildings.

It was a man dressed like a servant.

He had no weapon, but he carried a huge bundle on his back. As if that were not enough, both hands were filled with luggage.

The sight of his face anxiously scanning his surroundings as he hurried along was strangely welcome.

I swiftly stepped onto the crates in the cargo bed and climbed down.

When a martial artist carrying a blade suddenly appeared, the man was so startled that he stumbled and fell onto his backside.

He looked up at me with wide eyes and desperately began making excuses.

“S-Squad Leader ordered me to gather the others...”

“Jin Seokman, it's me. Jeong Daecheon.”

Only after I called his name did he recognize my face and let out a relieved sigh.

“Whew, it was Hero Jeong.”

“Did you finish what you came to do?”

“Yes. Well... it was not too bad.”

It was obvious at a glance that he had made a tidy profit, but Jin Seokman chose his words carefully.

He quickly got up, holding his belongings in both hands. The wary look in his eyes showed that he feared I might take the wealth he had worked so hard to obtain.

“Are you leaving now?”

“I should.”

“Are you taking the escape route you told me about before?”

“No. Black Path martial artists are watching that place.”

“Then?”

“I found a little rat hole while looting earlier. It's perfect.”

“I'll come with you.”

“Will you? That would be good for me.”

Jin Seokman was relieved to hear that I would accompany him.

He had somehow managed to loot his way this far, but he had no sword and did not know how to fight. If he encountered Black Path martial artists, he would be as good as dead.

He seemed to have decided that safety was preferable, even if he had to give me some of what he had taken.

“Wait here a moment.”

When I returned carrying Jeok Chuyeong on my back, Jin Seokman looked at me strangely.

He must have thought I had made a fortune like him, so he could not understand why I had caused all this trouble for just one person.

Jeok Chuyeong looked so terrible that Jin Seokman did not even recognize who he was.

I wanted to make Jin Seokman carry him, but if I told him to abandon his bundle, he would surely run away halfway through.

He would be slow anyway, so it was better for me to carry Jeok Chuyeong myself.

“This way.”

Following Jin Seokman's lead, I slipped into a narrow space between warehouses.

The Black Night Gang was far too large to be called a Black Path faction from a rural village. It had many halls and buildings, and its interior layout was complicated.

Even while moving cautiously in this tense situation, I could not understand it.

Just how much income were they earning in Seochon...

“Who the hell are you!”

While crossing an open space between buildings, we encountered three Black Path martial artists who looked like roadside bandits.

“Move.”

Jin Seokman hurriedly stepped aside.

Drawing my long saber, I charged. I supported Jeok Chuyeong's lower body on my back with my left hand and swung the long saber with my right.

It was the continuous slashing technique from the First Eighteen Forms of the Heavenly Steel Saber Method, the one I used most often.

I only had one hand free, but I had infused it with internal energy, so its power was terrifying.

“Arrrgh!”

Before they could react properly, as if an enraged bear had pounced on them, all three Black Path martial artists were cut down at once.

Swords broke, arms and heads flew off, and torsos were nearly split in half. Even though I had used the technique myself, the result was appallingly brutal.

“Damn it...”

I checked my dantian and cursed without realizing it. The situation had been urgent, so I had poured in too much internal energy.

I sheathed my long saber and easily leaped over the gruesome corpses.

Jin Seokman was nowhere to be seen. When I turned around, he was standing frozen in place, his face pale.

“What are you doing? Are you coming, or do you want to die here?”

“Y-Yes! I'm coming!”

Jin Seokman finally came to his senses and hurriedly took the lead.

After that, it went smoothly. Everyone seemed to be doing something somewhere else, because I did not see a single Black Path martial artist, or even a shadow of a person.

Seondo Mu must not have expected another escape route to exist.

We safely reached the grain warehouse. When I flung open the door, a stale smell filled the air.

Two eyes gleamed from atop the rice sacks.

I gripped my long saber and glared at them. A cat with a mouse in its mouth quickly vanished onto a beam.

“You say there is a passage here?”

“Yes. I'm certain.”

At my doubtful question, Jin Seokman confidently walked into the farthest corner.

Just as he had said, there was a fist-sized hole gnawed by rats in one side of the wooden wall.

Jin Seokman set down the luggage in his hands and kicked the wall.

The old wooden wall was tougher and sturdier than it looked.

No matter how much he kicked, only small fragments scattered. It would not break easily.

It looked difficult to destroy with bare hands without a tool like an axe.

“Huh? Why won't this break?”

“Move.”

I stepped forward, patting the bewildered Jin Seokman on the shoulder. A few kicks reinforced with internal energy shattered a large section of the rotten wooden wall.

I barely managed to crawl through in a crouch and emerge outside.

After we passed through the narrow back path, where weeds and discarded straw sacks were rotting, my view suddenly opened wide.

Jin Seokman pointed to where I was looking.

“See? I was right. There, over there.”

His voice rose with the excitement and emotion of finally succeeding.

A strangely shaped building curving around one side of the wall.

Once we passed through there, we would reach the back gate Bok Hagyu had opened for us when we entered the Black Night Gang earlier.

We were almost there.

I quietly sighed and nodded.

We had agreed to escape separately, so there was no need to wait for the others.

Then a cold sensation spread across my back.

When I reached behind me, I felt a faint energy stirring somewhere on Jeok Chuyeong's body where he touched mine.

I felt around for its source, then recoiled in shock.

His dantian.

I remembered something I had heard before.

Could Hidden Force be reacting to my internal energy...

When the internal energy master Bok Hagyu had recruited injected internal energy into Jeok Chuyeong through true qi guidance, the Hidden Force had flared up.

If the Hidden Force went wild again here, Jeok Chuyeong's life could not be guaranteed.

I withdrew the minimal internal energy I had been circulating in preparation for an ambush. Then a faint, ghostly voice reached my ear.

“Who...”

A shudder that seemed to stop my breath ran through me as I slowly turned my head.

Two blurred, empty eyes without focus were looking at me. Moonlight glistened over his pupils.

Jeok Chuyeong blinked with difficulty and asked again.

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