Chapter 151

Clatter, clatter.

Neigh!

A carriage stopped on a low hill.

Mang Ryo stepped down from the carriage.

Ahead, a slender woman in a jade-colored skirt stood with her back turned.

Thump, thump.

Mang Ryo approached the woman without hesitation. Standing beside her, he looked down at the bottom of the hill.

Lan Family Village was engulfed in tremendous flames. Black smoke rose thickly.

“Kekeke! He’s set it ablaze quite spectacularly. Well, that’s just like him.”

At that moment, the woman’s hand moved.

Swish.

The thin silk cloth draped over the woman’s shoulders and arms stood stiffly and reached toward Mang Ryo’s throat.

Since the woman said nothing, Mang Ryo spoke first.

“Oh my… this is the first time I’m actually seeing your face, but your hand is quite fierce.”

The woman’s eyebrows furrowed and the end of the silk cloth sharpened like a blade. With just a flick of her finger, Mang Ryo’s neck would surely fly off.

“I am someone who greatly dislikes being manipulated by others’ intentions.”

Mang Ryo smiled calmly and responded.

“Ah, I know that. If there were any fool who dared to play such tricks on the Great Lady, their neck should rightfully be cut off in an instant.”

The woman, Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s eyes narrowed further and a chilling killing intent emanated from them.

“Are you trying to insult me?”

Mang Ryo chuckled audibly.

“Was the renowned Wishful Fairy Maiden just a petty fellow who resorts to threats? How disappointing. If so, it wouldn’t have been worth coming all this way.”

“Hmph.”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong glared at Mang Ryo before withdrawing her hand. The silk cloth slithered back to her shoulder like a living snake.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong looked at the burning village and asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Baek Li-gwon from the beginning? You only provided information about the Zhuge family but completely left out Baek Li-gwon.”

“Do you think he wouldn’t have noticed if I had?”

Unlike Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s increasingly cold gaze, Mang Ryo remained calm.

“If I had given you advance notice, some suspicious behavior would have emerged in some way… and then we couldn’t have deceived him. As we both know, he’s a very thorough and suspicious fellow.”

“You underestimate me. Do you see me as so trivial that I would go around leaking such information?”

“I was merely being cautious. As the old saying goes, to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies.”

“Don’t casually call us allies. You haven’t yet earned anyone’s trust. Don’t forget that there are still many on this side who suspect your intentions.”

“If you don’t trust me and we’re not on the same side, then pressing me like this also goes against propriety, doesn’t it? Let’s just exchange what we each need.”

When Dan Ryeong-gyeong frowned and remained silent for a moment, Mang Ryo urged her on.

“Is there nothing more to say? If we delay too much, everything will burn to ashes. Then all the efforts we’ve put into this will become meaningless.”

“The Jin family boy.”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong spoke curtly.

“What meaning does the Jin family boy have?”

“To whom are you referring? Me, or Pavilion Master Baek Li…”

Ping!

The tip of Mang Ryo’s eyebrow was sharply cut off. Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s silk cloth stood stiffly again.

That name must not be spoken carelessly in front of Dan Ryeong-gyeong.

The corner of Mang Ryo’s mouth twitched briefly. However, Mang Ryo suppressed his anger while touching his severed eyebrow.

“He’s a child I’m fond of. What meaning he has to that person is none of my concern.”

“You’re lying again.”

Mang Ryo changed the subject without concern.

“Baek Li-gwon has been poisoned. He won’t last long.”

“Baek Li-gwon is the most talented child in the Baek Li family. Do you think the Jin family boy is still alive? I think it’s impossible.”

Mang Ryo showed a smile filled with killing intent.

“If you knew what kind of fellow he really is, you couldn’t say such things.”

That smile was so eerie and sinister that Dan Ryeong-gyeong felt uncomfortable. It was exactly like the feeling of a lecher coveting a young boy.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s frown deepened.

“Hmm?”

Mang Ryo suddenly tilted his head. The villagers who had been gathering and murmuring at the village entrance were running farther and farther away.

Mang Ryo looked up at the rising smoke.

“The wind direction has changed. We must hurry. If the Zhuge family’s main force comes down, I have no confidence in escaping their Nine Palace Eight Trigram Formation either.”

Thump!

Mang Ryo boldly took a step forward and leaped down the hill as if flying.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong, who had been watching Mang Ryo’s figure, sighed softly and slowly began walking.

Behind Dan Ryeong-gyeong, two bald subordinates appeared from somewhere and began following her.

Mang Ryo stamped his feet while encountering villagers fleeing from the smoke.

“Hey, hurry and evacuate before the fire spreads further, hurry up. What b*st*rd set fire to these innocent people’s lifelong homes? Oh my, don’t cry but evacuate. Those who must live must live. Only by living can you rebuild houses and restore fields. You there, young fellow, help support this elder who’s sitting here and take him with you. His legs seem to have given out, so be careful. Come now, hurry and evacuate.”

Mang Ryo’s voice was full of sympathy.

Mang Ryo almost pushed the villagers out. The flustered villagers were driven out in confusion.

Mang Ryo spoke to Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s two bald subordinates who had followed.

“You fellows there, please help evacuate those poor people so they don’t get sick from breathing smoke.”

The two bald subordinates frowned. Dan Ryeong-gyeong sighed and gestured. One subordinate blocked and pushed away the villagers to prevent them from coming close.

Among them was Bian Bu. Seeing Bian Bu, one of the bald subordinates made eye contact.

After Mang Ryo went down and drove away the villagers to some extent, when there were no people around, Bian Bu came before Dan Ryeong-gyeong and knelt.

“My Lord!”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong asked.

“Are you certain that the one called Baek Li-gwon is inside there?”

“Yes. I saw with my own two eyes as he passed by here and entered the village.”

“Well done. What about the Jin family child?”

“I’m sorry, but since he had me evacuate and went in, I don’t know what happened after that. After the one called Baek Li-gwon entered, the Zhuge family warriors came back out.”

Killing intent swirled in Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s eyes.

Anger toward Baek Li-gwon, or more precisely toward Baek Li-jung, was being expressed as anger toward all those that Baek Li-jung cherished.

Bian Bu watched this with a worried expression.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong would do anything to kill Baek Li-gwon, and then Jin Ja-gang would inevitably become more dangerous as well.

“Hmm…”

Bian Bu fell into thought while twisting his rat whiskers with his fingers.

Mang Ryo, who had left the villagers to Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s group, directly entered the village entrance. At the village entrance were Zhuge family warriors who had temporarily withdrawn.

The warriors were in terrible condition from chasing Jin Ja-gang in the tea tree field. Their clothes were all scorched and blackened from burning in places. Some had suffered severe injuries.

“Well, you’ve been badly beaten.”

The warriors looked at Mang Ryo wondering who he was.

Mang Ryo looked around at the warriors and made eye contact with Jeok Yul, whose face was pale blue from poisoning. Jeok Yul was sitting cross-legged with one leg tightly bound, trying to expel the poison through breathing exercises.

“Oh my, look at that. There’s a fellow who’s become quite a sight.”

Thump, thump.

Mang Ryo approached Jeok Yul without hesitation and tried to flip back Jeok Yul’s eyelids to examine them.

Jeok Yul was annoyed that his breathing exercises were being interrupted and someone was trying to touch his body carelessly.

“What are you suddenly doing…”

“Hey, just stay still for a moment.”

Mang Ryo grabbed the sitting Jeok Yul’s head with one hand and turned it.

Crack!

The touch was so natural that there was no thought at all that he would use deadly force.

Jeok Yul had been defeated by Jin Ja-gang but wasn’t without skill. The moment his neck turned and his neck bones shifted, he formed sword fingers with his index and middle fingers and stabbed at Mang Ryo’s heart.

Mang Ryo, while holding Jeok Yul’s head, floated in the air and did a handstand while twisting and contorting his body. While avoiding the sword fingers, he applied force to his hand again.

Crack.

The head turned a little more. Jeok Yul was horrified and squeezed out all his remaining strength to hold his jaw with one hand while swinging sword fingers with the other.

Mang Ryo swung his staff to block the sword fingers.

Thwack!

Jeok Yul sitting cross-legged and Mang Ryo doing a handstand in the air while gripping his head were fighting!

One tried to turn the neck while the other blocked it. One tried to strike upward with sword fingers while the other blocked with his staff.

The warriors and Yi Rim were momentarily stunned by this bizarre spectacle.

Mang Ryo tried to strike away Jeok Yul’s hand that was holding his jaw with his staff. Jeok Yul desperately interfered with the staff’s movement.

Tat tat tat!

The staff and sword fingers clashed in the air at unbelievable speed. Mang Ryo twisted his body a bit more.

Crack.

Jeok Yul’s neck turned beyond his shoulder line. His eyes bulged and his tongue began to protrude in front of his teeth. If it turned just a little more, he would be looking behind him.

Jeok Yul realized that facing such a master in an unfavorable situation was something that would be insufficient even if he risked his life, let alone with a normal body.

Jeok Yul stopped striking the staff and extended his sword fingers upward. He completely abandoned defense and aimed for Mang Ryo’s one eye.

At that moment, Mang Ryo unwound his twisted body and rotated in the opposite direction. Simultaneously, Jeok Yul’s head, which had been turned to the right, instantly turned to the left, in the completely opposite direction from before.

Crack!

Jeok Yul’s head drooped lifelessly.

Mang Ryo gracefully came down from his handstand and flipped back the eyelids of Jeok Yul, who could no longer resist. He observed the protruding tongue and even tasted the blood foam flowing from his mouth.

“No smell but it has a spicy and bitter taste. Seeing that clear nasal discharge came out, it has properties that expel wind and dampness. Then it seems like poison obtained from a plant resembling chrysanthemum…”

When Mang Ryo finished his analysis and stood up, Yi Rim stepped back in horror.

“Who are you to carelessly touch the Zhuge family’s…”

The moment the warriors stepped forward to protect Yi Rim, Mang Ryo was already breaking the neck of the warrior in front.

“What’s the Zhuge family.”

Mang Ryo twisted another warrior’s neck while speaking.

“Someone said this before – that it’s called being unable to eat for fear of choking. Do you fellows also think that way about fearing the Zhuge family?”

Yi Rim took out flags.

“How dare you!”

Though only about twenty warriors remained, it was sufficient to face one opponent.

“Formation…”

Before Yi Rim could unfurl the flags, both his wrists separated from his arms and shot into the sky.

Behind him stood one of Dan Ryeong-gyeong’s bald subordinates holding a curved blade.

“Uh, uaaaah!”

Yi Rim screamed and knelt with his severed hands.

Mang Ryo looked at the bald subordinate and scolded.

“You’re late. With such sluggish actions, tsk.”

The bald subordinate glared at Mang Ryo with a frightening expression. It meant that he served Dan Ryeong-gyeong, not Mang Ryo.

However, Mang Ryo immediately turned his head as if uninterested and looked toward the inner part of the village that was emitting heavy smoke.

Jin Ja-gang…

He was fighting Baek Li-gwon in there.

Mang Ryo smiled with satisfaction.