BXBX NOVEL Chapter 114. Five Dragons Fight for a Pearl (10)
Chapter 114. Five Dragons Fight for a Pearl (10)
“Oh my, Alcohol Grasp! You’re a real master, Uncle! Have you been practicing that a lot?”
“Of course, of course. If you practice your techniques enough, they can even become helpful in real life.”
“Still, please exercise some restraint! Don’t you know how envious we, normal people, are of your ability?”
“Hmpf. Why should I give up convenience because you have a complex?” Woo-Moon responded, pouting.
“Sigh...”
Neither Woo-Moon nor Ma-Ra used their qi to drive out the effects of the alcohol. Thus, Ma-Ra’s pale face began to flush like a peach blossom as the banquet went on.
While she was already stunning to begin with, the blush added a subtle cuteness, giving her a unique charm.
“They look good together, those two.”
It was the same, no matter where they went. Although they lived in the murim, where sharp blades hit sharp blades and blood splattered, young ladies still retained their girlish sensibilities in the depths of their hearts. To them, Woo-Moon and Ma-Ra, who were sitting and casually drinking together, were the very embodiment of their fantasies.
Not only was Ma-Ra gorgeous, but Woo-Moon, in spite of being less flamboyant than others, was very much on par in terms of looks.
“It’s not just a man and a woman. They’re a pair, a perfect couple. They almost look like a painting.”
Meanwhile, Hyeon Yu-Yeon was sitting alone and sipping a drink. Although countless young men showed interest and tried to get her attention, she coldly scolded and chased them away every time they asked her to join them. So, they just surrounded her like a wall, wanting to approach but also too scared to do so.
She continued to drink, something seemingly on her mind, until hearing the voices of the other ladies admiring Woo-Moon and Ma-Ra, even saying that they looked like a painting.
This, plus the constant praise toward Woo-Moon that basically made him seem like a mighty yet benevolent saint, made her extremely irritable.
“Hmpf!”
She didn’t like it.
It was only just a few days ago that they were practically competing with each other on who insulted Woo-Moon. They were snobs who ignored and mocked him to the point where she, a bystander, couldn’t help but get enraged.
‘You bastard!’
Of course, she knew that she had been the one to misunderstand Woo-Moon’s intentions by now, considering she had been by Woo-Gang’s side all this time. However, she just became even more upset and angry at him after hearing the other girls squeal about him.
‘Are you looking down on me? How dare you?!’
If Woo-Gang was right, then didn’t that mean that Woo-Moon actually had zero interest in her? To be frank, that felt more offensive than if he was intentionally mocking her!
Suddenly, Hyeon Yu-Yeon jumped up with a bottle of alcohol in one hand. She walked briskly to where Woo-Moon and Ma-Ra were.
Coincidentally, there was another girl who did the same thing as her at the same time.
It was Baekri Hye-Min from the Baekri family.
Kya?
Eun-Ah, who was lying down at Woo-Moon\'s feet and grooming herself, tilted her head slightly, confused at the sight of two girls suddenly approaching them with their hackles raised.
Hyeon Yu-Yeon and Baekri Hye-Min ran into each other on the way to Woo-Moon. And if the gazes of the two girls could materialize as they glared at each other, the phenomenon would be nothing short of a thunderstorm.
“Huh? Oh, you must have come to drink with us. Welcome, welcome! Kekeke.”
While Ma-Ra continued to drink without paying them any attention, Woo-Moon greeted them with a smile.
However, neither Hyeon Yu-Yeon or Baekri Hye-Min paid him any attention, only glaring at each other.
‘How dare you, bitch!’
‘Where do you think you’re going? You, of all people!’
Of course, Woo-Moon had absolutely no idea why they were just standing there, glaring at each other. Confused, he grabbed the passing Baek Yo and Baek Ryeong.
“Hey, what’s up with those two? Were they always on bad terms?”
“Huh? Uncle! Hehehe, what did you say? ...Ooohhh....”
Baek Yo belatedly processed Woo-Moon’s question before bursting out in peals of laughter at the brutal staredown between the two beauties.
“You really don’t know, Uncle?”
“No, I don’t. What’s going on all of a sudden?”
“Hehe. Well, if you don’t know, then I really don’t want to tell you!”
“Our Uncle, the playboy!” Baek Ryeong interjected, joining Baek Yo in her teasing.
“A-a playboy? What do you mean?”
“You don’t have to worry about it! You’ll find out later, anyway.”
“Ah~~ how envious the other big brothers must be~”
“Hehe, and this isn’t even all of them, right? There’s also his junior sister, Young Lady Yeon.”
“That’s right! Our Uncle really is mean, isn’t he?!”
Before he knew it, Baek Yo and Baek Ryeong were engrossed in their conversation and walked away, chattering without showing the slightest interest in Woo-Moon.
“Huh? Hey, Hey! Where are you two going?! Hey, you audacious little nieces, come back right now! At least explain what you mean before you leave!”
When he turned back around, he saw Ma-Ra just calmly drinking, not even dignifying Woo-Moon with a look. On his other side, Eun-Ah had already fallen asleep again.
By now, Baeri Hye-Min and Hyeon Yu-Yeon had already progressed from their staring contest to a full-blown argument. They were now shouting at each other, saying incomprehensible words that Woo-Moon, as the man he was, couldn’t process. He was certainly the fastest fighter of the younger generation, but the speed at which they were throwing veiled insults and barbed compliments made even him dizzy.
Because of their terrifying aura, no one could come near Woo-Moon any longer, as if his surroundings had become a restricted area.
Completely bored now, Woo-Moon suddenly looked over at Baek Jeong-Woo, Namgoong Sung, and Baekri Yeong-Woon, who also seemed to be fighting somewhere in the distance.
In contrast to the two ladies, they had actually become close friends, almost sworn brothers. However, they had suddenly got into an argument about whose martial arts were better and whatnot, and they had eventually found a place to settle the argument through a brawl.
Jeong-Woo was, in fact, the one with the lowest cultivation out of the three of them. However, his martial arts were rapidly increasing recently, possibly because he was originally talented in the first place, or because of how much time he spent with Woo-Moon. Although he was the weakest right now, no one knew what would happen in a year or two.
“Hmm...”
Woo-Moon suddenly felt lonely.
“What the hell is this? Wasn’t I supposed to be the main character today?”
***
At the same time, Woo-Gang left the banquet hall. He had been drinking and smiling brightly, surrounded by admirers, but in truth, there was something that had been bothering him for a while.
As he walked outside, he suddenly ran across a slender figure sitting by a small stream behind the banquet hall.
Junior sister...
It was Bi Yeo-Jeong.
As Woo-Gang walked toward her, Bi Yeo-Jeong could feel every step of his, every breath.
‘Senior brother Song...’
She didn’t have to turn around. She was able to tell who he was just from the sound of his steps.
Woo-Gang stopped about half a zhang behind Bi Yeo-Jeong. Without saying a word, he just looked at her back, the back he saw every night he closed his eyes.
A back he was still so familiar with.
Both Woo-Gang and Bi Yeo-Jeong were silent.
Time passed as they stood motionlessly as if they were statues. Just listening to each other’s breathing—it was sweeter than any music in the world.
Even as the moon waxed and waned, the two spent the time together without speaking.
***
“Hey, you. There are a bunch of people acting suspiciously these days, are you one of them? Identify yourself,” ordered the leader of the ten warriors of the Eagle Talon Squadron.
A man responded in a gloomy voice, “Just turn and leave. You still have time to walk away.”
“What? What do you mean, walk a—”
Before he could even finish his sentence, the Eagle Talon Unit leader was abruptly cut off.
“Agh!!!”
The bystanders on the first floor of the inn screamed as the entire inn was coated in blood.
The moment the man in red swung his sword, none of the ten Eagle Talon Squadron warriors were able to avoid it, and they were all bisected at the waist.
“Blood, bloood.”
He was the leader of the blood demons who had emerged to retrieve the Heavenly Demon Egg at the orders of the old lady alongside Annihilation.
Standing up from his chair, he stepped toward the middle of the room.
Squelch, squelch!
“Agh!!!”
“Ugh!”
It happened so quickly that it couldn’t even be called an instant.
The only one left alive and breathing inside the inn was the leader of the blood demons, the Blood Night Sword Demon.
"Blood...”
With a single gloomy word, the Blood Night Sword Demon put on his blood robe and left the Hefei inn.
***
“Huff, huff...”
It was early morning.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Someone was pounding on the gate of the Nanjing branch of the Justice Coalition with blood-covered hands. He immediately displayed his Justice Coalition identification plaque to the surprised guard.
“Urgent... The Yangzhou branch was destroyed by the Black Bull Gang... no survivors. Main forces marching toward Nanjing!”
Finally, having said everything he needed to, the Yangzhou branch warrior dropped to the ground, completely exhausted. He did not even have the energy to move a finger.
After hearing the report, Pristine Water Fist Yeon Hwi rushed over. He walked up to the warrior, made sure he was fine, then heaved a deep sigh. This was trouble.
“This is a level one emergency! Send a message to the headquarters immediately! Ring the emergency bell and summon everyone patrolling the area! Immediately send out ten scouting teams to all of the roads leading to Yangzhou and determine the enemy’s location and numbers!”
“Understood!”
The Nanjing Branch’s only frigatebird flapped its large wings and quickly made its way to Shijiazhuang, the headquarters of the Justice Coalition. Although the frigatebird was about three times faster than a Homing Pigeon, it was difficult to catch and tame. It was so rare that there was only one in each major branch.
True to its reputation, the frigatebird cut through the sky like a flash of light and flew to the headquarters of the Justice Coalition.
As soon as the message master in charge of tending to the Homing Pigeons saw the frigatebird in the air, his eyes widened, and he shouted to his adjutant.
“It’s a frigatebird! This is most likely an urgent matter. Immediately go find Martial Commander Palan Shin-Tong and inform him!”
***
A short while later, an emergency meeting was convened by the Chief Commander’s decree.
All of the heads and elders of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Eight Great Ancient Families that were currently at the alliance gathered here, and so did the heads of the Justice Coalition’s own forces.
“What’s going on? Who’s calling an emergency meeting?”
“Aren’t the kids returning after winning the spar with the Hegemon Clan? What’s the emergency?”
As the hall buzzed with conversation, Palan Shin-Tong entered, along with his two martial ministers and the Chief Commander of the Justice Coalition, Shaolin Temple Monk Mu Oh.
There were fourteen Absolute Masters standing at the peak of the murim in the Central Plains.
Mu Oh was one of these famed Absolute Masters, one of the Six Rising Challengers!
The Shaolin Temple hadn’t been able to produce an Absolute Master during the era of the Eight Heavenly Martial Emperors. Thus, Mu Oh was the Shaolin Temple’s pride, a master they had cultivated with the utmost care in the new era!
Palan Shin-Tong’s expression had hardened after receiving three separate frigatebird messages in a row. He looked around the quiet hall.
“This is an emergency. The Black Bull Gang has launched an all-out war. Currently, they’re advancing across three regions. Their first army gathered secretly on the outskirts of Jiangsu Province and annihilated the Yangzhou branch. They’re currently marching toward the Nanjing branch. The second is gathering at Heshan in the Guanxi Province and marching towards Uiju. Finally, the third force has gathered at Yunnan and is marching toward Sichuan Province. Of these, the largest force is the one threatening Sichuan.”
Sichuan had always been a place where the Righteous Faction’s influence was strong. It was inevitable—there was the Emei Sect there, as well as the Qingcheng Sect and the Tang Family. Thus, it made sense that their enemy was concentrating its forces on Sichuan.
It was truly unexpected news, and it left even these wise leaders in shock.