CRS Chapter 34

A young martial artist with a sturdy countenance and a middle-aged martial artist with slightly raised eyebrows giving him a somewhat fierce look were conversing.

“Elder, reports of the Blood Cult’s atrocities have been coming in from various places recently.”

“Hmm.”

The one who let out a deep hum was Tae-heo, the head of the Medicine Hall of Wudang and an elder of the Martial Alliance.

“I hear the Emperor has sent an imperial edict?”

“Yes, we’ll need to continue investigating, but it seems the Blood Cult’s goal is within the Imperial Palace. I heard Elder Chu also arrived just now for the investigation.”

“Huh, is Elder Chu the only capable person in the Beggar’s Sect? Come to think of it, he always seems to be the busiest.”

The young martial artist gave a bitter smile.

“Haha, I heard he recently visited the Cheonha Merchant Guild regarding the Divine Thief incident. I suppose it can’t be helped since he’s so capable.”

“Ah! How did that turn out? Our handsome junior… I mean, the Cheonha Merchant Guild should be safe…”

Bang! Kwang-!

A loud explosion from somewhere swallowed Tae-heo’s words.

“Ahem, seems someone is training. Anyway, as I was saying, I should personally go to the Cheonha Merchant Guild…”

Kwa-ang-!

“…”

Once again, his words were cut off.

“Who is it!”

Tae-heo walked irritably towards the source of the sound.

“Huh?”

The scene he encountered there was truly bewildering.

-Ca-Captain! Are you alright?

-Oh, you were the captain? You should take some hits too.

-Thud! Crack!

Five or six Martial Alliance martial artists were clinging to Eunho, while Eunho persistently continued smashing someone’s face.

Tae-heo ran over, shouting with all his might.

“Stooop!”

Peng Jeo-ak, who had taken over receiving the beating after the junior fainted, saw hope in his eyes. Isn’t that Elder Tae-heo, famous for his strictness!

“Elder! This bastard dares to in the Martial Alliance…!”

Whack!

Tae-heo swung his palm without hesitation, striking Peng Jeo-ak’s forehead.

Peng Jeo-ak, who had been in Eunho’s grip, immediately lost consciousness and went limp.

“…”

Everyone, especially Peng Jeo-ak’s squad members, looked back and forth between Tae-heo and Eunho with shocked eyes.

Tae-heo’s eyes lit up.

“Isn’t it Eunho!”

The squad members’ expressions changed instantly.

“Eunho? The young master of the Cheonha Merchant Guild?”

“Could it be that Bloody Heavens Renewing Sword Eunho?”

Elder Tae-heo looked in their direction.

His face quickly turned red and blue.

“Let go.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, let go of him.”

The martial artists slowly withdrew their hands that were holding Eunho.

Their knees went weak as Elder Tae-heo, famous for his strictness, glared at them as if he would kill them.

Tae-heo’s gaze turned to Eunho.

Huh? The corners of his mouth were twitching.

“Don’t tell me you came to see me?”

***

Eunho, Hwa-yeon, and Tae-heo.

The three were walking across the Martial Alliance grounds.

Judging by how all the passing martial artists bowed respectfully to Tae-heo, it was clear how solid his position was within the Martial Alliance.

“It’s good to see you. I’m Tae-heo, in charge of the Martial Alliance’s Medicine Hall.”

“Ah! I’m Hwa-yeon.”

Hwa-yeon was somewhat stiff as Tae-heo greeted her with a friendly smile. It was understandable, as an elder of the Martial Alliance was one of the most capable and prestigious positions in the righteous martial world.

“Would you mind if we talk while walking? I was working until just now, so I’d like to stretch my legs a bit.”

“Yes, of course…”

“No. Let’s talk in the reception hall. We’ve walked a lot already.”

Hwa-yeon looked at Eunho with a shocked expression.

From Hwa-yeon’s perspective, who had come to ask for help, there was nothing good about irritating a Martial Alliance elder.

Look, the elder’s eyes have widened a bit.

“Ah! Right, I didn’t think of that. Have you eaten yet? If not, how about some tea at least?”

“That’s fine, let’s go quickly. We’ve waited long enough.”

“Yes, yes, let’s go then.”

Eunho took the lead, and Tae-heo followed, chuckling and saying, “Hey, it’s not that way, it’s this way.”

Hwa-yeon watched the two with a blank expression.

He was already an incomprehensible person, but the more she learned about him, the more incomprehensible he became.

***

After hearing Hwa-yeon’s story, the playfulness disappeared from Tae-heo’s face.

“My, you must have suffered a lot. Alright, you’ll stay at the Martial Alliance for the time being. I’ll put in a good word for you. I’m just glad you made it here safely.”

“It’s thanks to him that I was able to escape from those bastards.”

Tae-heo looked back and forth between Eunho and Hwa-yeon.

“By the way… is there something between you two?”

Eunho replied with an expression that seemed to say, “Why are you asking such a thing?”

“Ah, this woman is someone I lov-“

“By chance!”

Hwa-yeon hastily cut off Eunho’s words.

“We met by chance, and he ended up helping me.”

“Hmm, I see.”

A flicker of doubt appeared and disappeared in Tae-heo’s narrowed eyes.

“Anyway, it seems the Blood Cult bastards are causing trouble everywhere. Yesterday, the Emperor sent an imperial edict.”

-The Martial Alliance is to cooperate with the Embroidered Uniform Guard to eradicate the Blood Cult!

In reality, while it said “cooperate,” it basically meant cleaning up after the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Emperor’s personal guard.

Eunho, who had been pondering for a moment, spoke up.

“I’ll help, but in return, could you grant me a favor?”

He was planning to eradicate the Blood Cult anyway.

There was Hwa-yeon’s matter, and hadn’t his master also mentioned it?

If he was going to do it anyway, it was better to gain something extra.

“If you’re willing to help, what could I not grant? However, I doubt the Imperial Palace would allow it. If you’re not a Martial Alliance martial artist, they’re likely to refuse.”

Just then, the door of the reception hall opened with a thud.

“I can help with that.”

“Oh, if it isn’t Elder Chu. It’s been a while.”

Elder Chu, with dark circles under his eyes, acknowledged Tae-heo’s greeting and then looked at Eunho.

“I’ll have you temporarily join the Martial Alliance.”

Elder Chu recalled last night’s events.

Before coming to the Martial Alliance, he had stopped by the Peng family of Hebei.

“Fist King, tell me honestly. Did you really defeat them both? The Green King and the Evil King?”

“Ahem, that’s right.”

“It doesn’t seem so to me.”

“Wh-what are you saying!”

The Fist King had no talent for lying, and unfortunately, his opponent was the deeply calculating Elder Chu.

“I can tell just by looking at your eyes.”

He had known the young master wasn’t an ordinary martial talent since he brought in the Divine Thief. But he’s an even bigger figure than expected?

If Elder Chu’s guess was correct, it was truly unbelievable, but…

Eunho had already reached the Transformation Realm.

And now an opportunity to confirm this had presented itself.

“We already have Martial Alliance members dispatched to the Imperial Palace, but… knowing your personality, you’d find it bothersome to work with them, right?”

“I do prefer to work alone.”

“Let’s see. Alright, I’ll give you the temporary position of Alliance Branch Leader.”

Tae-heo intervened in surprise.

“Hey, Elder Chu. Isn’t that a bit excessive?”

“It was a position that one of our Beggar’s Sect strike team members was going to take anyway. It shouldn’t be a big deal to hand it over temporarily.”

No, it would be even better if he decided to stay.

The moment he had that thought, Elder Chu’s suppressed desires began to pour out like a flood.

“Do you know how beneficial it is to join the Martial Alliance? First, there’s educational support for your dependents. Ah, well, that might not apply to the Cheonha Merchant Guild. And also…”

Elder Chu suddenly started listing off the Martial Alliance’s benefits.

Recruiting and nurturing talent was his only hobby.

He had been too busy with recent events to indulge in it, but meeting Eunho again triggered this outburst.

However, the response was cold.

“That’s fine. Then shall we head to the Imperial Palace now? Ah, and remember you agreed to grant my favor.”

With that, Eunho abruptly stood up.

Everyone looked at Eunho with blinking eyes.

So quickly?

Eunho’s refreshingly swift decisiveness was as sharp as ever, almost chilling.

“What are you doing? Let’s go.”

As Hwa-yeon carefully stood up, watching the two elders’ reactions, Eunho strode out with a ‘whoosh’.

Hwa-yeon followed after giving an awkward smile and bidding farewell to the two.

***

The Imperial Palace wasn’t extremely far, but it was a distance that couldn’t be covered in a day without using lightness skills the entire way.

“We’ll have to stay here for the night.”

As Eunho and Hwa-yeon entered the inn, the attendant greeted them cheerfully.

“Welcome!”

“Do you have any rooms available?”

“Of course!”

The attendant asked with a bright expression.

“How many rooms should I prepare? Surely a grown man and woman wouldn’t sleep in the same room? No, no, as they say, men and women should not sit together after the age of seven…”

“T-two rooms, please!”

As the attendant rattled off at incredible speed, the attention of those around was immediately drawn, and Hwa-yeon shouted urgently with a slightly reddened face.

After sitting down and ordering two bowls of noodles, Eunho looked at Hwa-yeon.

“What do you plan to do after we eradicate the Blood Cult?”

“Pardon?”

As always, she felt this man spoke of tremendous things so casually. Wasn’t he talking about eradicating the Blood Cult as if it were just scolding some neighborhood kids?

Hwa-yeon fell into thought for a moment, then spoke.

“I haven’t thought specifically about what comes after, but if possible, I’d like to rebuild my family. We used to run a small martial arts school.”

“Why would the Blood Cult target such a family? From what I saw, they even spread a Heavens Encompassing Earth Net to chase you.”

At Eunho’s question, Hwa-yeon smiled bitterly.

“We have a family martial art. Among them, there’s an internal energy cultivation method that, while not a peerless technique, contains some principles of ascension. To be honest, I don’t think even that is worth the Blood Cult’s attention, but… for some reason, they’re after this martial art.”

Tak.

The two bowls of noodles were quickly served.

Eunho nodded as he picked up his chopsticks.

“Hmm, I see.”

It was a common story in the martial world.

However, it was certainly intriguing.

An organization as large as the Blood Cult targeting a martial arts school of similar scale?

“By any chance, is it an internal energy cultivation method that embodies the principle of balance?”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“How did you know?”

“It’s obvious. From what I’ve seen, those who’ve learned the Blood Cult’s martial arts all have unstable energy. There’s no yin, and they’re excessively focused on yang. They probably think they can achieve balance through your internal energy method.”

“To destroy someone’s family for such a reason…”

Hwa-yeon’s expression crumpled severely.

Eunho just shrugged once.

In fact, it was too common to say “just for that reason” – such tragedies were rampant throughout the Central Plains.

Hadn’t Hwa-yeon herself been fleeing at the risk of her life to protect her martial art?

Of course, he had no intention of voicing these thoughts.

“So your goal is to take revenge on the Blood Cult bastards and rebuild your family?”

“Yes, that’s the plan for now, but…”

In truth, she wasn’t confident.

Her own strength was far too meager.

“I’ll help you.”

“What?”

Her already large eyes grew even wider.

“I’ll help you eradicate the Blood Cult and rebuild your family.”

“Why?”

She wasn’t doubting him. From what she had seen so far, Eunho wasn’t the type to say things he didn’t mean – if he didn’t want to do something, he simply wouldn’t do it.

Of course, it was a good thing. A master of Eunho’s caliber would certainly be an enormous help.

She was just genuinely curious about his reasons for offering help.

“It’s my choice. And starting tomorrow morning, it would be better if you bought a mask or something to cover your face.”

Given Eunho’s dislike for troublesome things, Hwa-yeon’s beauty, which attracted attention from all around, was burdensome.

Look at that. All the men are pretending not to look while stealing glances this way.

Of course, Eunho also attracted the gazes of women, but with two such eye-catching individuals together, the attention doubled.

Not that Eunho had any intention of wearing a mask himself.

***

After finishing the meal, Eunho entered his room and pondered.

It was definitely demonic energy.

Very faint, but when the Blood Cult martial artists drew out their primal energy, he could feel traces of demonic energy.

Could something have happened in the demon realm?

While it wasn’t his business whether something happened there or not, it was a different story if it affected the human realm.

Eunho had no intention of being interfered with by demon bastards in this life too.

And then there was Hwa-yeon.

While he disliked troublesome things, Eunho was human now too.

Humanly speaking, he felt sorry for her and had a bit of guilt.

He felt that helping her rebuild her family would somewhat alleviate those feelings.

Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside.

“Come in.”

Hwa-yeon carefully opened the door and entered.

“Um…”

“What is it?”

“The Blood Cult bastards are still chasing me, aren’t they?”

“Probably. They have a purpose.”

Hwa-yeon’s expression darkened slightly.

Looking closely, there were faint shadows under her eyes, though they were hard to notice due to her striking appearance.

In fact, she had been attacked twice while sleeping.

“When I lay down to sleep, I couldn’t fall asleep due to anxiety.”

Eunho finally realized what Hwa-yeon was trying to say.

In the end, she was saying she was too scared to sleep, wasn’t she?

“So, you want to sleep together?”

“What!?”

Hwa-yeon, who had just come hoping to chat a bit since she couldn’t sleep, could only return to her room with her face flushed red and her head bowed low.