SERIES: Return Of The Divine Thief
CHAPTER: 17
“Welcome, thief.”
“……!”
Baekun froze in shock.
More unbelievable than the fact that his infiltration had been completely exposed was the boy’s nonchalant attitude toward him.
‘He’s definitely a master hiding his identity.’
Shaking off his shock, Baekun twisted his wrist, trying to escape from Muryang’s grasp.
As befitting a disciple of the Divine Thief, his wrist bent as flexibly as a snake in an attempt to break free.
However, Muryang’s hand was more cunning.
Just as Baekun’s wrist was about to slip away, Muryang’s iron-like grip miraculously loosened.
Baekun’s hand found freedom, but the sense of liberation was fleeting.
The moment Baekun’s wrist was free, Muryang’s other fingers had already snatched it again from the opposite direction.
Swish! Swish!
On the narrow bed, a silent exchange of moves occurred more than ten times.
Baekun displayed all the Chin Na grappling and joint-dislocation techniques he had honed his entire life.
But Muryang, as if toying with him, ensnared his arm, never letting it move more than a handspan away.
‘Wh-what!’
This level of skill was a different matter entirely from simply having deep internal energy or powerful martial arts.
Since childhood, Baekun had trained not only in martial arts but also in the auxiliary skills of subduing and trapping opponents.
For that reason, in this area at least, he was absolutely confident he could overpower even a master a level above him.
And yet, the boy before him was shattering all common sense.
‘Just what kind of old monster is hiding behind that human-skin mask?’
Whether Baekun mistook him for an old master or not, Muryang was busy assessing his senior brother’s achievements.
‘He has skill, but no variation. He’s too upright, doesn't know how to deceive an opponent.’
Muryang clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘At this rate, he’s just a third-rate pickpocket who can barely pick a lock. How can he call himself a disciple of the Divine Thief?’
Finally, realizing that all his techniques had been utterly toyed with, Baekun’s face flushed red with humiliation.
He gave up on escaping with skill.
“Keuk…!”
Baekun unleashed his internal energy through his captured wrist, forcibly breaking Muryang’s grip and leaping back.
The next moment, without a shred of hesitation, he took a stance and threw a punch.
His fist, laden with humiliation and rage, carried a power incomparable to before.
SWOOSH!
The sound of his fist cutting through the air alone was enough to make the lamp in the room flicker.
‘Oh?’
Muryang’s eyes widened slightly without him realizing.
He lightly dodged the punch, but Baekun’s assault didn’t stop.
The instant his first strike missed, Baekun spun as if he had been waiting for it, aiming his other elbow at Muryang’s temple.
The first attack was a feint; the second was the real one.
CRASH!
Muryang raised his arm to block the attack.
The heavy impact sent the bed he was sitting on sliding back until it slammed into the wall.
‘His striking is decent.’
For the first time, Muryang’s expression turned serious.
When their master had called his senior brother ‘immature,’ it seemed he didn’t mean his martial arts achievements were low.
Baekun’s fist technique was extremely orthodox, but the internal energy within it was heavy, and his movements were clean.
It had a solidity that could only be attained by one who had shed blood and sweat in training for a long time.
Riding his momentum, Baekun relentlessly unleashed a barrage of fierce attacks.
The small room was instantly filled with the intense clash between the two.
The table shattered, and the chair was smashed to pieces.
Muryang, narrowly dodging or parrying Baekun’s fierce onslaught, began to re-evaluate his opponent.
‘In terms of internal energy alone, he’s superior to my current self.’
Although he had absorbed the Poison Flame Lotus to near perfection, it still couldn’t match Baekun’s internal energy, cultivated for nearly a decade.
‘If this were a proper duel, I couldn’t guarantee victory as I am now.’
However,
‘This isn’t a duel.’
What Muryang excelled at wasn’t learning and mastering martial arts, but ‘fighting.’
Dodging Baekun’s fist once more, a cold smile graced Muryang’s lips.
‘Don’t blame me if you break a bone, senior brother.’
He was the one who attacked first, after all.
In an instant, Muryang’s movements completely changed.
Until now, he had been honestly blocking or dodging Baekun’s attacks, but he suddenly kicked a broken chair leg lying on the floor.
“!”
The chair leg spun with ferocious momentum, aiming for Baekun’s lower body.
The moment Baekun reflexively leaped to avoid it, Muryang grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it, obscuring his vision.
“You coward…!”
As Baekun cursed and swatted the pillow away, Muryang had already moved behind him.
“Did a thief just call the homeowner a coward?”
“……”
A single remark left him speechless.
Baekun’s powerful but honest martial arts began to lose their way against Muryang’s unorthodox methods.
“Your forms are too straightforward. I can see your next move coming a mile away.”
“Shut up!”
Muryang’s taunts made Baekun’s movements even more frantic.
And franticness created even bigger openings.
Muryang didn’t wait any longer.
His hand, shaped like a blade, shot into that opening like a snake.
“Keuk!”
Muryang’s hand-blade struck a pressure point near Baekun’s right shoulder joint with precision.
It didn’t break the bone, but it was a cunning technique that twisted the flow of his qi and blood.
Instantly, all strength drained from Baekun’s right arm, and his senses went numb.
“!”
Baekun’s mind naturally went blank.
He could only instinctively swing his left fist as he retreated.
Muryang was faster.
He kicked a silk cushion off the floor to strike Baekun’s lower body, and in the instant Baekun was distracted by it, Muryang was already behind him again.
‘Just… What is your identity?’
Baekun broke out in a cold sweat.
He had lost. It was a complete defeat.
This was not a fight he could win.
‘I have to escape.’
His upright pride screamed, but his survival instinct shouted louder.
It was at that very moment.
“Faction Leader!”
An urgent voice came from outside the door.
It was the warriors of the Red Bridge Faction, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion inside.
“What’s going on in there! Are you alright!”
At the sound of the voice, Muryang’s head turned toward the door for a fleeting moment.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Baekun did not miss the opportunity.
Just as Muryang answered nonchalantly.
Baekun gathered all his remaining internal energy into his left arm and threw a desperate, straight punch at Muryang.
It looked like a final, all-or-nothing attack.
But the moment Muryang prepared to counter the attack, Baekun pulled a small smoke bomb from his robes and smashed it on the floor.
Poof!
In an instant, the room was filled with thick, acrid smoke.
His true intention wasn't to attack, but to use the smoke as cover for his escape.
Of course, Muryang saw Baekun’s intentions clearly.
He simply let him escape.
“Lop-Ear.”
At Muryang’s low call, the door burst open.
“Yes, Faction Leader! You called… Eek!”
Lop-Ear, stepping into the room, swallowed a scream at the sight before him.
The room was in utter chaos.
“Wh-what is all this?! Faction Leader, are you hurt?!”
As a pale-faced Lop-Ear rushed over, Muryang stopped him with a hand.
Despite standing at the center of all this destruction, he was perfectly fine, without a speck of dust on him.
“As you can see, my senior brother is a bit energetic. The room got messy.”
“Ah… senior brother, senior… Huh?! Senior brother?!”
Ignoring Lop-Ear, Muryang glanced around the wrecked room and walked toward the broken window.
“I need to step out for a bit.”
“St-step out, you say? At this time of night?”
Lop-Ear asked back, flustered.
Muryang, lightly stepping onto the windowsill, answered over his shoulder.
“Have it cleaned up by the time I get back.”
With those final words, Muryang picked up his bag and vanished silently into the pitch-black darkness.
* * *
Baekun ran for his life.
Despite his nimble movements, his mind was in turmoil from the terrible nightmare he had just experienced.
‘There’s no doubt. That’s an old monster wearing a boy's mask!’
Not only had the boy seen through his perfect infiltration, but he had toyed with him like a child in a battle of techniques—Baekun’s own specialty.
It was impossible for someone in their mid-teens to display such divine skill.
‘Just what is his true identity…?’
Baekun gasped for breath and corrected his line of thought.
‘No, his purpose is more important than his identity. I have to find out why that old monster in a mask is doing this.’
What if he was pretending to reform the underworld, but was actually laying the groundwork for a much greater evil?
Not just Wuyi County, but the entire Guangxi Province could be in trouble.
But for now, the most important thing was to escape that monster's grasp.
He had already suffered severe internal injuries from forcefully drawing out his internal energy during the fight.
‘Still…!’
Baekun gritted his teeth.
‘When it comes to Qinggong, I will never lose to that bastard!’
Baekun's master, the Divine Thief, had the best Qinggong under heaven.
This was the Qinggong he had learned from such a master.
No matter how skilled that old monster was, he couldn't surpass him in Qinggong alone.
Baekun squeezed out every last bit of his strength, pushing his movement technique to its absolute limit.
How long had he run like that?
By sunrise, he had completely left Wuyi County and arrived in a small village in the adjacent county.
At this distance, that unidentified old monster must have lost him.
“Huuu….”
As he thought that, the tension gripping his body eased, and hunger and exhaustion washed over him like a wave.
Baekun blended in with the merchants preparing for the morning market and staggered into an open inn.
The inn was moderately busy with a few customers having breakfast.
The smell of boiling noodles and steaming dumplings stimulated his empty stomach.
Baekun asked the waiter who approached him.
“What’s the quickest thing you have?”
“Noodle soup and dumplings.”
Baekun placed a generous amount of coins on the table and said.
“Please make it quick.”
“Oh, thank you! I'll bring it right out!”
The waiter ran to the kitchen, and Baekun took a seat while waiting for his food.
He sat in a corner with a clear view of the door and unconsciously scanned the inside of the inn.
‘There shouldn't be any pursuers. But…’
Places like inns, where many people gathered, were always dangerous spots where one could easily get into a fight.
With his internal injuries, it was best to be as cautious as possible.
His eyes passed over a few martial artists with swords at their waists.
Most were insignificant, third-rate mercenaries.
He didn't see anyone who looked like a threat.
Just as he was about to lower his guard.
His eyes met those of a middle-aged man sitting alone by the window.
‘……!’
Baekun tensed up involuntarily.
The man had been staring intently at him from the very beginning.
His gaze was as persistent and sharp as a hawk that had spotted its prey.
‘Does he know me?’
Baekun's mind raced.
But no matter how he searched his memory, he couldn't recall seeing a man with such features.
In the first place, almost no one knew his true face.
As he used human-skin masks for long-term missions.
‘D-don't tell me…’
There was one person who knew this face.
Muryang. If that middle-aged man was Muryang's true form, it would make sense.
As Baekun met his gaze without looking away, the man moved.
And with unhesitating steps, he began to walk straight toward the table where Baekun was sitting.
Thud. Thud.
Amidst the noise of the inn, only his footsteps sounded clearly in Baekun's ears.
Cold sweat trickled down Baekun's back as he gripped on his dagger.
But the words that came from the man's mouth were completely different from what he expected.
“Oh, my.”
The man clicked his tongue as if in pity.
There was no hostility in his expression.
Only the pure concern and compassion of a physician looking at a patient.
“Judging by your complexion, young brother, you've suffered an internal injury.”
“W-who are you?”
“Ah, my apologies. It's this blasted occupational hazard of mine....”
He scratched his head with an awkward laugh.
“My name is Hwa Un. I'm just a passing physician.”
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