I Became an Outcast the Martial Arts Masters are Obsessed With – Chapter 43

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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“Brother! It seems the family has heard about your decision to cut ties! A thousand-mile messenger pigeon just arrived!”

“Do-gyeong! It’s a letter with the family head’s seal! It says if you don’t cancel your declaration to cut ties, they’ll strip you of the Tang surname, seal your internal energy, and imprison you in the dungeon for ten years! Come back with us quickly!”

Tang Do-yeon.

Tang Do-yul.

They were Tang Do-gyeong’s close friends and relatives, having attended the same school around the same time.

They were each a year apart from Tang Do-gyeong.

“Haha, you came all this way to tell me that? I knew the family wouldn’t sit still when they heard this news.”

“How can you worry about our situation now? Brother, if you spend ten years in the dungeon without internal energy, you might die!”

Tang Do-yeon stamped her feet, and Tang Do-yul clutched his chest in frustration.

“Do-gyeong! I understand you have resentment towards the family. But how can you drive such a nail into your family’s heart!”

“I know this is regrettable for you and Do-yeon.”

“Brother… why are you doing this…”

Tears finally fell from Tang Do-yeon’s face.

Tang Do-gyeong quietly closed his eyes at the sight.

The sound of Tang Do-yeon’s sniffling quietly echoed through the room.

“Yeon-ah. Brother Do-yul. My decision now is not impulsive. If I return to the Tang family, what do you think will happen?”

“That is…”

“I’ll probably become someone who can’t leave the Tang compound. At least until the family believes I’ve thoroughly repented, I’ll have to stay only within the Tang compound. That would mean giving up fist techniques and learning assassination techniques, wouldn’t it? Isn’t that right?”

Do-yul couldn’t bring himself to answer.

It was too evident that such measures would be taken against Tang Do-gyeong.

“If that happens, what will become of the fist technique I’ve been creating? In the Tang family, where assassination and poison are the main focus, there’s no opportunity to gain experience in general martial arts. Even though swords and sabers are the most widely used weapons in the world, there’s no one in the Tang family who uses such weapons. There’s no need to mention fist techniques, and even palm techniques are mostly connected to poison techniques, completely different from general palm techniques. There’s no way I can complete my martial arts while confined in such a Tang family.”

“What about father… and mother…”

“What about Rye-ah! Are you going to drive a nail into that young child’s heart too!”

“…”

Tang Do-gyeong’s eyes trembled.

He hadn’t thought cutting ties would be easy, but he hadn’t realized it would be this heartbreaking.

“It’s my young body and the martial arts I’ve dedicated my life to. How can I, Tang Do-gyeong, abandon martial arts as both a member of the Tang family and as a martial artist? If I have to choose between the Tang family and martial arts, I choose martial arts.”

Faced with Tang Do-gyeong’s determination, Do-yul could only clench his fists, and Tang Do-yeon could only shed tears.

After sending off Tang Do-yul and Tang Do-yeon, Tang Do-gyeong closed his eyes.

After that, Tang Do-gyeong didn’t leave his room.

“Damn it all~”

Ho Cheon-an gave up on everything and slumped in his chair.

After seeing the female Tang family master leave the inn in tears, he instinctively realized it was over, and that intuition became reality as Tang Do-gyeong hadn’t left his room since that day.

“Brother Tang! What do you think about our match!”

“I’m sorry, Brother Ya. I just want to be alone.”

Even the shell game failed to draw Tang Do-gyeong out of his room.

Thinking that perhaps the outcasts’ shouts of encouragement might draw Tang Do-gyeong out, Ho Cheon-an gathered all the outcasts and tried raising a ruckus.

He even went as far as to release black smoke inside the inn, pretending there was a fire.

‘If only Yu Sa-yeon hadn’t come running and delivered that side kick, it might have worked.’

With blood rushing to his head and overcome with impatience, Ho Cheon-an had acted on the spot without prior agreement with Yu Sa-yeon.

Naturally, Yu Sa-yeon, who had rushed down thinking there was a real fire, was extremely angry.

Ho Cheon-an’s side was severely bruised, and there was a long nail mark on his right cheek.

Even though he knew Tang Do-gyeong wouldn’t come out, Ho Cheon-an grumbled like this.

Knock, knock-

“Senior~ Can I come in?”

“Sure, come in…”

“Here’s some wound medicine. Oh, and I also found out about the punishment Tang Do-gyeong will receive if he’s captured.”

“…Tell me.”

“Sealing his internal energy and 10 years in the dungeon. It’s quite lenient for cutting ties. He’ll be able to function normally after being released in 10 years. Of course… whether he can survive 10 years in the notorious Tang family dungeon depends entirely on Tang Do-gyeong.”

“Damn it!”

He knew it was very lenient for cutting ties.

They would imprison him in the dungeon, but with such a lenient measure, they probably wouldn’t leave him to die.

However, spending 10 years without internal energy meant that Tang Do-gyeong, as a martial artist, would come to a halt.

Or perhaps it might mean death as a martial artist.

If his internal energy was sealed for 10 years, his qi and blood would be damaged, and his qi sense would also degenerate.

And he wouldn’t be able to practice his fist techniques either.

After all, practicing fist techniques without using qi-filling is just flailing around.

“Ah…”

Ho Cheon-an sighed.

Now, the only thing he could do was to shout enlightenment for Tang Do-gyeong to hear.

The situation was that outcasts concerned about Tang Do-gyeong were camped out in places where they could see the third floor.

Since Tang Do-gyeong had locked his door and become a recluse, there was no way to enter that room.

Tomorrow morning, the time Tang Do-gi had promised would come.

“Black Cat… No, never mind.”

He would have to go up to Tang Do-gyeong’s door to shout enlightenment.

Ho Cheon-an, who was about to ask Black Cat to set up a qi barrier, realized that the plan was unrealistic.

A qi barrier that blocks sound only blocks sound, but the flow of qi is almost like blowing a qi trumpet.

Even if the outcasts of the Outcast Inn, who were at the first-rate or peak level, were in a deep sleep, they would jump up at the flow of qi.

In the end, while they might not hear the sound, it would be the same as announcing to the world that Ho Cheon-an had enlightened Tang Do-gyeong.

“What are you going to do now?”

“…”

“Haven’t you done enough? You’ve done everything you could to save Tang Do-gyeong.”

At Black Cat’s words, Ho Cheon-an thought.

Maybe Black Cat was right.

He had done everything he could at this point.

As the saying goes, “Man proposes, God disposes.”

What more could he do if heaven wouldn’t help after he had done everything humanly possible?

With even his inner thoughts not going his way, Ho Cheon-an closed his eyes.

And stood up.

“Are you going?”

Black Cat asked Ho Cheon-an, who had his hand on the doorknob.

“What else?”

Ho Cheon-an glared at Black Cat, who looked pleased and spoke gruffly.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

“Ahahahahahaha!!”

Ho Cheon-an flinched as Black Cat suddenly burst into laughter.

Black Cat, bent over laughing and hitting the table, wiped away tears.

“Senior, you know what? Sometimes you’re too cute. Pretending not to care when you’re so desperate to save Tang Do-gyeong!”

“Wh-what are you talking about…”

“Se.cret.”

Ho Cheon-an saw Black Cat’s finger move.

He tried to dodge reflexively, but it was impossible to avoid the hidden weapon thrown by Black Cat, who was just one step away from the supreme realm.

Ho Cheon-an felt a sting in his neck.

“You… this…”

“Sleep well, Senior.”

“Ungrateful… cat…”

Black Cat pouted.

She had intended to catch him as he fell, but calling her an ungrateful cat was too much.

This was all for Senior’s sake.

Thud!

Black Cat grabbed the back of Ho Cheon-an’s neck as he fell and sprawled him on the chair.

Black Cat looked down at Ho Cheon-an’s face with a grin.

No matter how she looked at it, it was far from handsome, if not downright plain.

Or maybe not even plain?

It was such a standard face that if you were people-watching in the marketplace, you’d probably see someone who looked exactly like him about once every hour.

“Hmm~”

After momentarily putting Ho Cheon-an in the chair, Black Cat wrote something on a hidden weapon in her bosom and threw it outside.

She decided to kill time until the Wolbok-dang members she had on standby brought the items, watching as one of them picked up what she had thrown.

Black Cat pinched Ho Cheon-an’s cheek. She pinched and stretched the uninjured side, but as the facial skin stretched, it hurt the other cheek, too, causing his body to flinch.

Finding this quite comical, Black Cat burst into laughter, but her hand movements soon became delicate.

“Hmm… would he look a bit better if I tidied up this messy beard?”

As she was lost in thought, the words “ungrateful cat” came to mind again, and she pinched her lip.

“I work so hard for Senior~ But Senior doesn’t understand my feelings.”

Black Cat had done many things for Ho Cheon-an.

First, she had quashed the rumor that Yeo Il-ye had gained enlightenment from an outcast.

It couldn’t be helped that it had spread, but she had mobilized all of Wolbok-dang’s power to erase and cover up the rumor.

She had also thwarted the Hwang Gold Clan’s attempt to find Ho Cheon-an’s personal information.

The information about Ho Cheon-an that reached the Hwang Gold Clan was chaff with all the substance removed.

Why hadn’t Yeo Il-ye, who should have appeared with five taels of gold, shown her face until now?

It was all because Black Cat had guided Yeo Il-ye to a place other than Sacheon.

And even now.

She had decided to use a precious qi-invigorating treasure for Ho Cheon-an’s sake.

Ho Cheon-an’s value has been confirmed.

Black Cat could sufficiently guess what actions Ho Cheon-an would take.

He would probably give enlightenment to Tang Do-gyeong, and like Yeo Il-ye, Tang Do-gyeong would change as a person.

He would then respond to Tang Do-gi’s proposal.

‘Well, it’s common for people to change after experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime event.’

Because he was confident, he could change to Tang Do-gyeong.

And because he knew what situation he would be in if this event spread outside, he had agonized until now and finally left his seat.

Black Cat could be sure that Ho Cheon-an could see or know the enlightenment of others.

“Senior, if I had wanted to, I could have just kidnapped and imprisoned you, extracting only the necessary enlightenments.”

He’s just a second-rate who can’t even withstand a single poison needle.

If she didn’t have human emotions, she might have kidnapped him right now, imprisoned him somewhere, and then either fed him drugs, tortured him, or engraved restriction techniques on him.

Black Cat licked her lips.

This was also an attractive option in its own way.

Making this Ho Cheon-an, this ball of yarn, into her own ball of yarn and placing it in her garden.

But she didn’t want to do that.

“If he wasn’t such a good-natured person, I might have done it.”

Black Cat knew better than anyone in this world how despicable the deeds of those praised as reasonable people could be.

She thought both Do-gwi and Tang Do-gyeong seemed to be people who really liked others.

They had survived until now because of their extraordinary talents.

Otherwise, they would have been the kind of good-natured people who might have died in some back alley without anyone finding it strange.

The Gyeongsu Market incident, the magic performance in front of the Hwang Gold Clan, Literature Day, and the magic performance that unfolded within it.

After that, all of Ho Cheon-an’s bumbling actions were interesting when he was half out of his mind.

Black Cat had to admit that a fondness for Ho Cheon-an had sprouted in her heart.

After all, how could she deny those feelings when she had decided to use up a qi-invigorating treasure for Ho Cheon-an’s sake?

A kind, interesting, curiosity-stimulating ball of yarn.

But such a fragile second-rate that he would burn up instantly if he tasted just a bit of the world’s harshness.

‘I’ll have to protect him, what else can I do?’

If he barged in on Tang Do-gyeong, the outcasts would inevitably suspect that Ho Cheon-an possessed enlightenment.

Ho Cheon-an must have had some plan in his mind.

After all, Ho Cheon-an had always solved incidents with extraordinary answers.

However, the situation was too unfavorable.

The tangled situation was too much to unravel with just Ho Cheon-an’s ingenuity.

It might work out for now, but hastily handled matters inevitably leave gaps.

Those gaps would eventually widen and split, swallowing Ho Cheon-an.

So she decided to intervene.

To finish everything cleanly, leaving only minimal gaps.

The fact that Ho Cheon-an had hesitated so much before finally moving at the very end was proof of how difficult it was to wrap things up.

So she judged that it was right to forcibly intervene this time.

‘I wonder what expression Senior will make when he wakes up.’

Black Cat smiled as she imagined Ho Cheon-an’s expression.

Due to its effects, he probably wouldn’t remember anything before or after the needle.

So, she would have to tell him directly that Tang Do-gyeong had gained enlightenment.

In Ho Cheon-an’s memory, he would have lost consciousness after agonizing for a long time, so he might have made a stupid expression, but somehow, even that imagined expression now felt endearing.

Black Cat stroked Ho Cheon-an’s face.

It was not long until the Wolbok-dang member handed over the items.

But it wasn’t such a boring time.

[Come out]

Tang Do-gyeong, wrapped in endless anguish, furrowed his brow at the sound transmission resonating in his mind.

Black Cat.

The female outcast, whose name Tang Do-gyeong, didn’t know.

Tang Do-gyeong, who had tried to ignore it, opened his eyes at the killing intent directed at him.

[I’m different from my Senior. If you don’t come out, I might really set fire to the inn.]

Tang Do-gyeong let out a deep sigh.

That female outcast who used assassination qi techniques was suspicious and extraordinary even to Tang Do-gyeong.

He had seen her watching the outcasts’ movements from a distance while eating popped rice more than once or twice.

‘She had quite a few peculiar aspects, so I can’t just ignore her.’

In the middle of the night, Tang Do-gyeong, who had nothing to gain from being seen leaving his room, quietly descended to the first floor.

‘Brother Ya…’

He saw Ho Cheon-an sitting in a chair with his head down.

Black Cat stood beside him.

[Senior says he has something to say, so come closer.]

[What’s this commotion in the middle of the night? This isn’t Brother Ya’s way. Did you orchestrate this, miss?]

[Of course, I orchestrated it. But Hero Tang Do-gyeong, it’s true that Senior would step forward for your sake. If this matter spreads outside, it could be troublesome for Senior, so I set the stage. Everything tonight is a secret. Not just from others, but from Senior too.]

What is she talking about?

Tang Do-gyeong frowned at these abrupt words.

Meanwhile, Black Cat took out some beads, rolled them on the floor, and sprinkled them in the air.

The beads, which looked extraordinary with their unusual colors, released wind gusts.

Swish, swish, swish…

The eight beads exchanged winds, forming a complete wind barrier.

Except for the faint sound of wind leaking, no sound from inside this barrier would leak to the outside.

‘Spiritual treasures, huh.’

What could she have to say that required using such things?

Tang Do-gyeong frowned as he watched Black Cat whispering something into Ho Cheon-an’s ear.

“You, what have you done to Brother Ya…?”

Just as Tang Do-gyeong sensed something was off about Ho Cheon-an’s state, he was about to say something…

“How can a plant with weak roots become a great tree? If we speak of a person’s roots, they are family and blood ties, so those who neglect them can never flourish or become great. Some might think life is lived alone, but how can one forget that relationships are the roots?”

Tang Do-gyeong’s movement stopped at this sudden topic.

“Those called great trees are those who have acted righteously. What is righteousness? Only when one establishes and acts on the intention to protect the good, like sheep, with oneself, does it become righteousness. Why do those without sheep to protect, without connections to protect, seek to become great trees?”

“A plant with lonely roots is weak. The unrighteous cannot ask about greatness.”

‘Is this enlightenment?’

Black Cat watched Tang Do-gyeong, whose eyes were half-open and seemed to have all sorts of thoughts swirling in his pupils.

After removing the needle with the truth serum component that was circulating through Ho Cheon-an’s body and inserting a needle with an antidote component, Black Cat quietly retrieved the wind spirit jades.

If she disappeared quietly like this, the outcasts heading out for morning training would discover Tang Do-gyeong, and they would make a fuss pretending to protect the law.

Then, it would be a perfect crime if she naturally woke up Ho Cheon-an and headed to the first floor at that time.

Black Cat, carrying Ho Cheon-an on her back, went up to the second floor without making a sound.

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