Martial Artist Lee Gwak

Light Novel: Volume 2 Chapter 1

Manhwa: Chapter 50-51

The old Taoist’s eyes were extremely clouded. They were like a pit where numerous impurities had gathered and mixed together, making it impossible to peer inside. This made his gaze all the more fearsome.

Anyone with a weak heart would have already been overwhelmed by fear just by looking into his eyes.

In fact, even new martial artists to the Outer Hall like Go Cheon-gwang and Woo Il-yeong could dare not look at the old Taoist directly and kept their heads down. They were crushed by the old Taoist’s qi.

The old Taoist opened his mouth again.

“I asked what it is.”

“We are martial artists of the Jade Heaven Alliance.”

“So?”

At Lee Gwak’s response, the old Taoist’s voice naturally rose.

“You shouldn’t be making a ruckus here.”

“Who says I’m causing a ruckus? Humph!”

The old Taoist snorted.

Lee Gwak pointed to the martial artists rolling on the ground with his finger.

“Isn’t it because of you that they are like that?”

“Why would you think that?”

The old Taoist’s dry lips twisted. It was a clear sneer to anyone who saw it.

There was no evidence that he had driven the martial artists into madness. This was because the technique he used was a spell that affected the human mind and could not be seen with the naked eye.

The old Taoist’s Taoist name was Go Cheon. In the vicinity of Maoshan, Taoist Go Cheon was an object of fear. It was because of his short-tempered and quirky personality and inability to tolerate even the slightest insult.

The incident at the guest house was also due to this reason. Drunk young martial artists laughed at the old master, and the old master, unable to withstand the insult, cast his spell.

The spell he cast was a curse technique that caused hallucinations.

The martial artists who had insulted him were seeing hallucinations of what they feared the most.

They would be haunted by these hallucinations until Taoist Go Cheon chose to dispel it. If he chose not to dispel them, those with weak mental strength could die from exhaustion of their mental energy. And Go Cheon Taoist had no intention of easily performing the dispelling.

Taoist Go Cheon looked at Lee Gwak, who had daringly interrupted his event without fear.

No matter how he looked, Lee Gwak was an ordinary martial artist. Apart from being a member of the Jade Heaven Alliance, he was just an unremarkable person.

If it had been the usual Taoist Go Cheon, he would never have let someone like Lee Gwak off the hook. It was only because Lee Gwak was a member of the Jade Heaven Alliance that he showed this much patience.

It was one thing to discipline the riffraff who came here clinging to the prestige of the Jade Heaven Alliance, but it was tricky to mess with an official martial artist of the Alliance. However, playing a little prank was not a problem.

Taoist Go Cheon’s finger subtly moved.

He was writing characters in the empty air.

The curse of illusion.

Without the use of a talisman as a medium, its power was incomparably weak, but it was still far beyond what a low-level warrior could endure.

A deeper smile formed on Taoist Go Cheon’s lips. He imagined that soon Lee Gwak would be trembling and wetting himself. However, contrary to his expectations, Lee Gwak was unharmed.

‘What?’

For the first time, a look of confusion appeared on his face.

Even though he hadn’t used a talisman, he hadn’t expected a mere Outer Hall martial artist to so easily overcome his curse technique.

Lee Gwak looked at Taoist Go Cheon with cold eyes.

Just moments ago, Lee Gwak had felt a foreign qi trying to penetrate his body. Although it disappeared quickly as if being devoured by a snake, the foreign qi was undoubtedly connected to Taoist Go Cheon.

It wasn’t a guess based on sixth sense or qi sense. He had seen it with his own eyes. It was possible because his spiritual or mind’s eye had opened.

Having seen it directly, Lee Gwak knew that Taoist Go Cheon was trying to play tricks on him.

Taoist Go Cheon’s gaze turned fierce.

“You brat, who are you?”

“I am Lee Gwak, a squad leader of the Outer Hall. May I know your identity, Taoist?”

“I am…”

Taoist Go Cheon looked uncomfortable.

He didn’t like the situation where he seemed to be revealing his identity under the pressure of Lee Gwak.

“If you do not reveal your identity, I will have no choice but to send you to the Jade Heaven Alliance.”

“Huh! This is ridiculous. Are you threatening me?”

“This place belongs to the Jade Heaven Alliance. We cannot overlook someone causing trouble without a clear identity.”

“A mere squad leader of the Outer Hall is threatening me, a senior?”

Taoist Go Cheon’s eyebrows shot up into the air. He was determined to punish Lee Gwak, who dared to stand up to him so boldly.

No matter the reason, he, one of the top spellcasters of the Maoshan Sect, couldn’t allow himself to be overpowered and pushed aside by a mere squad leader of the Outer Hall.

Just as he was about to reach into his robe to pull out a talisman he had prepared earlier—

“Goodness! Why are you all lying on the ground writhing? Look here. Go and talk in your sleep at home.”

Ki Jinhwi started helping up the writhing martial artists, patting them on the back.

“Huh?”

A martial artist, helped by Ki Jinhwi, seemed to suddenly regain consciousness as he looked around for a moment and then rushed outside.

Following him, the other martial artists also seemed to come to their senses and jumped to their feet as well. They looked at Taoist Go Cheon with fearful eyes before fleeing outside.

At that moment, Taoist Go Cheon’s eyebrows twitched.

He hadn’t yet undone the curse technique on the martial artist. For them to regain consciousness on their own in such a situation was impossible.

Taoist Go Cheon glared at Ki Jinhwi.

“What kind of trick did you pull?”

“Trick? I just helped them up because they seemed to be struggling.”

Ki Jinhwi shrugged his shoulders as if to ask what the problem was.

“You?”

“Squad leader, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, let’s go. We have plenty of other things to do, right? What’s good is good, isn’t it?”

Ki Jinhwi elbowed Lee Gwak in the ribs.

Ki Jinhwi was short with a pockmarked face. He was also missing a front tooth, giving him a somewhat comical appearance. That was why the moment he grinned, the serious atmosphere in the inn was instantly relieved.

Ki Jinhwi winked at Lee Gwak.

Lee Gwak looked at him for a moment and then nodded.

“Alright, everyone, let’s go out.”

“How dare you leave without my permission…”

Taoist Go Cheon was about to shout loudly but he suddenly stopped moving. It was as if he had turned into a stone statue.

The members of Squad 13 looked at him with puzzled eyes.

Taoist Go Cheon just glared fiercely at Lee Gwak and the others but took no further action. Squad 13 members thought that this behavior of his was a sign that he was letting them go.

Lee Gwak looked at Taoist Go Cheon for a moment, then led the squad members outside.

“Kheuk!”

The moment Squad 13 disappeared from sight, Taoist Go Cheon suddenly gasped for air.

“Huek! Huek!”

Like a person who had just been rescued from drowning, Taoist Go Cheon breathed heavily. Cold sweat was dripping down his face.

“What?”

His eyes, red and bloodshot as if they were about to spill blood, shook violently.

Puff!

Suddenly, a stream of flames burst out from the front of his chest.

“Kheuk!”

Taoist Go Cheon quickly extinguished the flame with his hand, but the talismans he had prepared inside his robe had all turned to a handful of ashes.

“My goodness!”

His hands trembled violently.

The talismans he had prepared would never ignite naturally without his will. Their ignition meant that a much greater and more powerful force had intervened.

The thought of entrusting himself to the Jade Heaven Alliance and receiving their hospitality vanished from his mind. He promptly packed his belongings and left the Jade Heaven Alliance.

* * *

Lee Gwak looked at Ki Jinhwi, as he joked and chatted with the rest of the squad members, with deeply sunken eyes.

Ki Jinhwi, with his characteristic knuckleheadedness, had already captured the hearts and minds of the members of Squad 13. They seemed to have forgotten the recent clash with Taoist Go Cheon, listening intently to Ki Jinhwi’s words.

To those who could not see the truth, the recent situation would have seemed to have been luckily resolved. However, Lee Gwak had seen it clearly with his own eyes.

He saw an alien qi move wildly near Taoist Go Cheon’s chest, and then, unbelievably, the way that alien qi was being cut and crushed piece by piece.

It was Ki Jinhwi who had severed and neutralized Taoist Go Cheon’s qi piece by piece. It was the qi manifested from Ki Jinhwi’s body that had done it.

Although Lee Gwak had already suspected that Ki Jinhwi was no ordinary person, he had not realized that he was capable of naturally dispelling a curse technique so effortlessly.

Lee Gwak and Ki Jinhwi’s eyes suddenly met. Then, Ki Jinhwi winked and sent a telepathic message.

—Let’s talk about this in private, squad leader.

Lee Gwak nodded silently.

Fortunately, no further incidents occurred that night. However, Lee Gwak couldn’t relax even after his shift ended because, as Ki Jinhwi had previously communicated via telepathy, he quietly visited Lee Gwak’s house.

“Squad leader!”

“Please, come in.”

“Just as I heard, your house is really nice.”

Ki Jinhwi looked around the inside of the house in admiration. Lee Gwak led him to a table.

“Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you, squad leader.”

Ki Jinhwi took a seat without hesitation.

Despite having stayed up all night, Ki Jinhwi showed no signs of fatigue. He quietly watched as Lee Gwak prepared tea.

Finally, when Lee Gwak served the tea, Ki Jinhwi said with a smile,

“Thank you.”

“No need for thanks.”

“Come to think of it, squad leader, you are pretty calm and composed for your age. Since I joined, I haven’t seen you panic or lose your temper even once.”

“……”

“Squad leader!”

“Go ahead”

“I was hoping it would go unnoticed, but squad leader’s eyes are truly sharp.”

Ki Jinhwi realized that Lee Gwak had noticed he had dispelled Taoist Go Cheon’s curse technique back at the guest house.

Lee Gwak neither confirmed nor denied it, but his deep and calm eyes seemed to confirm Ki Jinhwi’s guess.

When Ki Jinhwi first saw Lee Gwak, he thought he was no ordinary person, but he had never imagined that Lee Gwak would notice him dispelling a curse technique. He had simply assumed that Lee Gwak’s clear eyes meant he was more thoughtful than his peers.

“Squad leader!”

“I’m listening.”

“As you may have noticed I have a slight proficiency in techniques like curse techniques and spellcasting. So, I was fortunate to be able to dispel Taoist Go Cheon’s curse. However, I would prefer that others don’t know that I have studied such things. Of course, it might become known eventually, but until then, I would like to live ordinarily like the other squad members. So, I would appreciate it if you could keep this a secret.”

“Before I promise, I’ll ask you one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“With your skills, you could have easily entered the Inner Court instead of the Outer Hall. Why did you choose to join the Outer Hall?”

Although it was the Outer Hall, the Jade Heaven Alliance does not admit just anyone. The fact that Ki Jinhwi was assigned to the Outer Hall meant that his background had been vetted and approved. Therefore, Lee Gwak did not doubt Ki Jinhwi’s identity.

Instead, he was curious about his motives.

Ki Jinhwi’s answer was straightforward.

“There is someone I’m looking for.”

“……”

“I’m pretty sure they are in the Jade Heaven Alliance, but I can’t find their whereabouts, so I chose to enter the Outer Hall directly. It seems much freer to search here than in the Inner Court.”

“Who is it? The person you’re looking for.”

“I can’t tell you that yet, squad leader.”

“……”

“But I can promise that I won’t bring any trouble to Squad 13 or you.”

Ki Jinhwi was sincere.

Although he had not known that he would be assigned to Squad 13 when he joined, he was very satisfied with life in the squad.

He liked Seok Yi-cheon, who treated him like a younger brother, and he was fond of the Go Cheon-gwang and Woo Il-yeong, who were like children.

He also wanted to look after Cheon-wol, who practiced martial arts every day with eyes full of venom, and above all, he was curious about Lee Gwak.

At first, Lee Gwak seemed ordinary. Ki Jinhwi thought he had become the squad leader just by luck and didn’t pay much attention to him.

Indeed, during their time together, Lee Gwak hadn’t shown any extraordinary traits. Ki Jinhwi believed that this was Lee Gwak’s true nature. But it didn’t take long for him to realize it was an illusion.

Every once in a while, Lee Gwak would show a sharp gaze, and at those moments, Ki Jinhwi would feel a chill run down his spine. Lee Gwak’s eyes were triggering his sense of danger.

Such a thing would be impossible to happen if Lee Gwak was just an ordinary martial artist.

While Ki Jinhwi didn’t know the extent of Lee Gwak’s true abilities, he could at least guess that Lee Gwak was not just an ordinary martial artist. But even then, he never expected that Lee Gwak would notice him dispelling a curse technique.

‘The wise may appear stupid. Truly, That saying fits the squad leader perfectly.’³

Ki Jinhwi thought of the proverb that says that a man of great wisdom may often appear foolish.

At that moment, Lee Gwak asked,

“Can you really promise that?”

“I swear it.”

Ki Jinhwi replied without the slightest hesitation.

Lee Gwak closed his eyes for a moment.

His intuition, which had developed astonishingly since he acquired his mind’s eye, told him that Ki Jinhwi was telling the truth.

Lee Gwak nodded.

“I will trust you, brother.”

“Thank you, squad leader. I will not disappoint you.”

Only then did Ki Jinhwi relax.

If Lee Gwak had persisted in his skepticism, Ki Jinhwi would have been at a loss as to what to do.

Suddenly, Lee Gwak cleared away the teacups.

“It seems alcohol might be better than tea for this occasion.”

“Did I ever say I liked you, squad leader?”

“Men don’t need to be shy.”

“Hahaha!”

SoundlessWind21’s Notes:

If there are any errors, whether it be grammatical, spelling, translation, or website-related issues, feel free to let me know. (´◡`) Anyway, thank you for reading!

1. Go Cheon. Raws: 고천(孤泉).
   • 孤 gū – lone / lonely
   • 泉 quán – spring

2. The wise may appear stupid. Raws: 대지여우(大智如愚).
   • 大智如愚 dàzhìrúyú – the wise may appear stupid (idiom); a genius not appreciated in his own time

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