Chapter 246. Within Ten Paces, You’ll Find A Fragrant Flower (17)

Chapter 246. Within Ten Paces, You’ll Find A Fragrant Flower (17)

Moreover, Woo-Moon had the leisure to cremate the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor and collect his ashes before leaving through the main door. That was just adding insult to injury.

The first of the Four Great Attendants, Yang Moon-Yeol, gnashed his teeth.

“And the Lord of Heaven? Is he still there, unmoving?”

“Yes... If anyone comes near him or speaks to him, he slaughters them without question.”

If the Martial Heaven God hadn’t been acting strangely, this never would have happened. No matter how strong Song Woo-Moon was, he could never have defeated the Martial Heaven God.

“Just what, what the hell is going on? Damn it!”

Yang Moon-Yeol could do nothing but yell in anger.

***

“Mother!”

Woo-Moon descended from the sky, landed in front of Jin-Jin, and grabbed her hand.

“My son, my son!”

Jin-Jin couldn’t hold back her excitement and hugged Woo-Moon tightly. Woo-Moon’s tears flowed helplessly as he embraced Jin-Jin, feeling that she was even thinner and lighter than before.

‘Now, now I have both Father and Mother.’

In the midst of his joy, Woo-Moon thought of Gun-Ha, whom he still hadn’t been able to find.

‘Gun-Ha. I’ll save you too. No matter what.’

After the emotional reunion between the mother and son, Woo-Moon looked at Sang-Woon.

“What happened to you, Grandfather?”

Sang-Woon put on his usual shit-eating grin.

“You greedy little tyke. I heard that you took a whole three beauties as your wives.”

If it were before, Woo-Moon would have blushed at such teasing, but after all he’d been through, his face was thicker than a city wall, impervious to blades and arrows.

“Well, that’s just because I’m amazing. Why, are you jealous?”

“Y-you damned little tyke!”

“More importantly, what happened?”

Sang-Woon tried to satisfy Woo-Moon’s questions by telling him about the Hundred Deaths, Thousand Lives, the secret heretical art that he had learned.

“... and that’s how I eventually survived. Also, in that time, I gained some great enlightenment and was able to become the greatest assassin.”

“I wonder if the direction of your enlightenment was right, but I guess it’s a good thing nonetheless.”

“Are you looking down on assassins right now?”

“Of course not. I didn’t say anything of the sort.”

“Heh. I escaped unscathed even after seeing the face of the Martial Heaven God. Do you still think you can look down on me?”

“Are you proud of running away? Where did your spirit of never retreating in battle, the Palm Martial Emperor’s signature, go?”

“Dumbass. I don’t run away if I’m fighting, but that wasn’t the time to fight.”

“Yes, yes, I see, I see. Anyway, I’m really glad you’re alive. By the way, did you see Gun-Ha in Martial Heaven?”

He felt as though he was asking something pointless. If Sang-Woon had seen Gun-Ha, he would have definitely tried to save her, too.

“No, I didn’t. I went to every nook and cranny of Martial Heaven, but she was nowhere to be found.”

“Is that so...”

“Speaking of which, that young lady on your back... If I remember correctly, she’s that girl who was frozen underground. Why is she on your back? Are you trying to take her on as your new wife?”

“Of course not! Well, that’s... it’s a bit complicated.”

Woo-Moon slowly explained the story of the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor.

“Hm... so that’s how one of the Eight Heavenly Martial Emperors and Six Rising Challengers breathed his last. He might have been a villain, but his end was truly admirable. For that, I applaud him.”

Jin-Jin was wiping away her tears because of the sad story.

And there was one other person crying: Cho-Ah, who was still on Woo-Moon’s back.

She had been awake since Woo-Moon had started talking about the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor. Woo-Moon naturally realized it but continued his story nonetheless.

Yeo-Seol said everything she wanted to say, even while sobbing.

Unable to think of the words to apologize, Woo-Moon just walked up to them and hugged them tightly.

“Hiiiiiiing!”

Yeo-Seol burst into an even louder sob, while Si-Hyeon also began to cry. Woo-Moon conveyed his warmth to them, his embrace filled with his love and comforting them. It was only after a good while that they calmed down.

Then, right when Woo-Moon let go of the two and turned around—

Thud!

Someone had hit Woo-Moon in the cheek with a fist.

“Ugh!”

It was Ma-Ra. She hit Woo-Moon again and again, to the point that he couldn’t see properly. It was such a fierce barrage that it made everyone wince even though they were just spectators.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Woo-Moon didn’t dodge or block Ma-Ra’s punches. He didn’t use his qi to protect himself, either. He just took the hits and endured the pain.

Dae-Woong, who had been watching from the side, tried to step in, but Jin-Jin stopped him.

“Leave them. You know what our child feels.”

Dae-Woong scratched his head.

“What, are you going to hit me like that later if I do something wrong, too?”

“If you know what’s good for you, then don’t make me.”

Suddenly, Dae-Woong remembered the old Jin-Jin, who was weak but much gentler than she was now, and let out a low sigh.

‘It sure was tough back then, but maybe that was better...’

A person who is energetic when healthy could become temperamental when sick, and a person who is fearless might become a coward depending on the state of their body. It can’t be helped; one’s physical condition influences one’s mental state, and vice versa.

With her recovery and cultivation, Jin-Jin’s personality had changed as well, and she was a lot more active and prone to resorting to... direct methods.

Of course, just because Dae-Woong was thinking this way now didn’t mean he truly wanted Jin-Jin to become weak again. He was just grumbling that his peaceful days as the man of the house were over.

Meanwhile, Woo-Moon’s nose was bleeding, his eyelids were swollen, and his lips split.

“Ah...”

The world-renowned Song Woo-Moon, the Undefeatable Sword Immortal, the one and only Zenith Master in all of the murim, was being thrashed like a little boy.

They were at the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Cult, so there were naturally many cultists of the Heavenly Demon Cult present. In fact, there were also some people from the Righteous Faction as well. And they all looked at the scene, not knowing whether they should laugh or cry.

Ma-Ra’s fists were stained with blood.

She bit her lip and continued to hit Woo-Moon without saying a word. Meanwhile, Si-Hyeon and Yeo-Seol watched from the side, and their faces showed clear approval of her actions. The dainty and sensitive Yeo-Seol even encouraged her.

“Hit him harder! A bad man like him deserves to be punished!”

The beating lasted for a long time.

“Ugh... that hurts. Well, are you feeling better now?”

Looking at Woo-Moon, who was in a state of disarray, Ma-Ra wiped a tear off her cheek with her sleeve.

“You bastard.”

Before leaving for Martial Heaven, Woo-Moon had struck Ma-Ra’s acupoints and put her to sleep. Her surprise and disappointment when she woke up later were indescribable.

“Ughhhh, the pain.”

Yeo-Seol burst into tears again when she heard Woo-Moon say that it hurt. Up until a moment ago, she had pretended to be angry and encouraged Ma-Ra, but it seemed that she was actually really worried inside.

“Hiiiiih! Are you okay, Gege? Does it really hurt?”

Si-Hyeon directly interjected, “It’s fine. No matter how much it hurts, it wouldn’t be as much as he hurt us.”

She then turned to Woo-Moon.

“Now that she’s done venting, stop standing there like an idiot and heal your wounds. I don’t want to see you like that.”

“Ah... yes, sorry about that.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his nosebleed stopped, his torn lips healed, and his swollen eyelids subsided.

“If you pull that kind of trick again,” Si-Hyeon continued, “it’ll be the last time you see us.”