Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Red Tiger Group

“Haa. Are you sure these monks really came from Shaolin?”

At Mu-gung’s naive reaction, Ou-yang Pae spoke with a look of disdain.

“Of course, being monks, they’re not immune to such things. But saying that while being carried on the back of a Shaolin monk doesn’t seem right.”

Nevertheless, it was Mu-jin who sided with Mu-gung, being sympathetic towards him.

However, despite Mu-jin’s scolding, Ou-yang Pae just snorted in response.

“If we had just let him go alone yesterday, it would have been fine. If he had left by himself earlier, he wouldn’t have needed to be carried like this.”

Retorting back to Mu-jin, Ou-yang Pae turned his head and shouted towards Mu-gung, who was still mesmerized by Su-linya’s allure.

“From now on, just focus on this guy’s back while moving! If he runs ahead and blocks your view of that woman, wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

At Ou-yang Pae’s clear solution, Mu-jin, instead of the still-dazed Mu-gung, expressed admiration.

“Oh? So there was such a method.”

It seemed that Mu-jin was also under mental attack, unable to come up with such an innovative (?) solution.

‘When I think about it, he’s quite different from Dao Yuetian.’

Unlike Dao Yuetian, who obeyed his every word, Ou-yang Pae retorted back and came up with solutions on the spot.

‘Well, to begin with, there was no guidance in Part 1.’

Ou-yang Pae was inherently an almost invincible character. Not only in combat, but he also handled strategy and tactics alone.

“Let’s get moving again!”

It was strange for such a person to be yelling orders from the back while being carried.

* * *

Thanks to Ou-yang Pae’s solution, Mu-jin’s party arrived near Maengdon Village by dusk.

“Hoo. If we’re unlucky, we’ll lose muscle today.”

While Mu-jin sighed in worry, Ou-yang Pae sighed in relief.

It had been a close call, but they had arrived at their destination within the agreed time.

“Thanks for the help. Since we’ve arrived at our destination, we’ll move separately from now.”

The Red Tiger Group was the armed force of the Demonic Sect.

Once gathered at the assembly point, they had to move for a specific mission, and confidentiality was of utmost importance.

Thus, Ou-yang Pae bid farewell and headed confidently towards Maengdon Village.

“…Why are you following me?”

For some reason, Mu-jin was also following him.

As Mu-jin followed, naturally, Mu-gung and Su-linya also trailed behind.

“I’m hungry. After running all the way here, can’t we at least eat before we go? You’re quite cold-hearted.”

Mu-jin answered, boldly entering Maengdon Village with Ou-yang Pae.

Of course, it wasn’t really because of hunger.

Since they had arrived just in time, it was to prepare for the impending incident.

With a shameless expression, Mu-jin confidently entered an inn with Ou-yang Pae.

“!!!”

The people in the inn were startled to see Ou-yang Pae arriving late.

However, being the armed force of the Demonic Sect, they quickly composed themselves and continued their meals, pretending to know nothing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ou-yang Pae approached a middle-aged man seated in a corner.

“May we join you?”

“In such a remote place, to meet someone from the same province. Please, have a seat.”

Pretending to be strangers, they exchanged greetings, but communicated their true intentions through secret transmissions.

– Apologies for being late, Branch Leader.

– Since you arrived by the agreed time, we can let it slide this time. The ‘mission’ will start around the hours of the Tiger (3-5 AM), so rest for now.

The branch leader, who had spoken to Ou-yang Pae, glanced at Mu-jin’s group and asked.

– But who are those people with you?

Ou-yang Pae pondered for a moment.

He thought about making up an excuse but felt it would seem unnatural.

Revealing they were from Shaolin could cause misunderstanding, so he decided to partially disguise the truth.

– Those with the leopard and the southern barbarian were encountered while dealing with bandits.

– Then why are they here with you?

– …During the bandit elimination, I got injured and needed their support.

The branch leader almost failed to maintain his composure upon hearing the unexpected news.

– Are you saying you got injured while fighting mere bandits?

– The fight with the bandits was easy, but during a small misunderstanding with them, I got injured.

– So, they helped you here because you got injured?

– Yes.

– Quite an interesting fate.

Someone strong enough to injure Ou-yang Pae, who was stronger than the branch leader.

Yet judging by appearances, they seemed to be of similar age to Ou-yang Pae.

Naturally, the branch leader’s gaze turned towards Mu-jin’s group.

“Oh! Do you perhaps speak the southern barbarian language?”

As soon as their eyes met, Mu-jin spoke to the branch leader, as if greeting a compatriot in a foreign land.

While the branch leader was taken aback by the sudden conversation, Mu-jin continued.

“Sorry, but could you order some food for us? We don’t know the southern barbarian language.”

Being with a southern barbarian-looking woman and not knowing the language?

While the branch leader felt puzzled,

Ou-yang Pae sighed deeply and ordered food for them in place of the branch leader.

“Hahaha, you’re quite kind.”

Mu-jin acted as if they had just met while traveling.

Throughout, Mu-jin conversed with Mu-gung or tried to communicate with Su-linya through gestures.

And Mu-gung, feeling burdened by Su-linya’s blatant stares, choked on his tea.

“Choke. Choke.”

Then, just as the food ordered by the waiter was about to be served,

Bang!!!

Suddenly, the inn’s wall burst open.

In the unexpected attack, some people in the inn panicked, while others hastily drew hidden weapons.

‘Finally, it’s happening.’

Mu-jin, who had been waiting for this moment, calmly stood up.

“$#$@%@#@”

At the same time, incomprehensible southern barbarian language came from the attackers emerging through the dust cloud.

“Kill them all!!”

As the middle-aged man, who seemed to be the leader, shouted in the southern barbarian language, and the warriors charged,

“Who are you, attacking us like this?”

Ou-yang Pae quickly stepped forward and asked in the southern barbarian language.

“You think we didn’t know you were targeting our Taiyang Palace?”

At the head man’s shout, Ou-yang Pae’s expression turned to one of bewilderment.

“What are they saying?”

The branch leader asked Ou-yang Pae. Although he had studied the Southern Barbarian language for the mission, it was impossible to master it overnight like Ou-yang Pae did.

Since he had only learned a few basic phrases, he couldn’t understand what the man was saying.

“He said they know we are targeting Taiyang Palace.”

“How could they know?”

“Was our mission related to Taiyang Palace?”

At Ou-yang Pae’s question, the branch leader nodded with a perplexed expression.

‘A leak in information, but who?’

Before suspecting the members within the Red Tiger Group, the first suspects that came to mind were Mu-jin’s party.

After all, they were external individuals who had come along with Ou-yang Pae.

‘But Pae didn’t know about our mission. How did they get the information?’

Even the branch leader himself had only learned the target by opening the letter yesterday, so he was the only one within the Red Tiger Group who knew the information.

‘Could it be that someone within the sect has set us up?’

As the branch leader’s face darkened with the worst-case scenario in mind, Mu-jin suddenly stepped forward and instructed Ou-yang Pae to translate.

Mu-jin had known they would attack this place. This development mirrored exactly how it unfolded in the first part of the novel “The Return of the Heavenly Demon.”

In the novel, Ou-yang Pae, after gaining enlightenment through a duel with the Blood Monk, wiped out the attackers and engaged in a near full-scale battle with Taiyang Palace.

‘But I’m still not fully recovered, which makes it risky in many ways.’

Due to unexpected variables, things had gone awry.

Initially, Mu-jin had no intention of intervening in Ou-yang Pae’s affairs.

That brat had extraordinary talent, so he was bound to become the Heavenly Demon without Mu-jin’s intervention.

However, because of his involvement, the Blood Monk had disappeared, so he planned to only interfere a bit concerning the Blood Monk and then let it go.

But now, because he had turned Ou-yang Pae into a half-dead state with his own hands, he found himself in a situation where he had to intervene again.

Hence, Mu-jin intended to buy time until Ou-yang Pae was fully recovered and had already brought the most suitable person for this purpose.

“We don’t know why you are attacking us, but it’s all a misunderstanding.”

Mu-jin conveyed his words through Ou-yang Pae, but the middle-aged man from Taiyang Palace didn’t even pretend to listen.

“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or the truth, we’ll find out by killing everyone!”

“I’ll prove to you why it’s a misunderstanding!”

Mu-jin shouted and then turned to look at Mu-gung, who was still disoriented behind him.

Naturally, the gazes of the Taiyang Palace warriors also shifted to Mu-gung.

“Me?”

When Mu-gung pointed at himself with a perplexed expression, Mu-jin nodded.

“We only came here for martial arts exchange with Taiyang Palace!”

Mu-jin shouted one last time, then sent a telepathic message solely to Mu-gung.

– Now! Show them the Buddha’s Palm, just like Mu-yul did!

This was Mu-jin’s plan.

Just like how the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace warriors showed goodwill towards Mu-yul when he fought alongside Ling-ling, the plan was to gain the favor of the Taiyang Palace warriors using martial arts involving the Solar Qi.

“Ah!”

Understanding Mu-jin’s plan, Mu-gung quickly took his stance.

The massive Solar Qi gathered in his dantian began to surge through his entire body like molten lava.

When Mu-gung, fully prepared, thrust his palm towards the air,

*Boooom!*

A massive fiery palm shot out, blasting through the already half-destroyed inn roof.

‘This should be enough, right?’

Mu-jin, having confirmed the impressive display of Mu-gung’s Buddha’s Palm, looked expectantly at the Taiyang Palace warriors, but to his surprise,

“How dare you provoke us now!”

Contrary to the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, the faces of the Taiyang Palace warriors were filled with anger.

“#@$@#$!”

As the Southern Barbarians shouted at the top of their lungs with reddened faces, Mu-jin looked at Ou-yang Pae with a disbelieving expression.

“……What are they saying?”

“Under heaven, there cannot be two suns! How dare you display the martial arts of the sun before us!” Ou-yang Pae answered Mu-jin with a disdainful expression.

‘……This is wrong.’

Mu-jin felt unjustly wronged.

Mu-jin had devised this plan not just based on Mu-yul’s experience.

‘That man was also an outsider, right?’

Taiyang Palace had a prominent figure who, despite being an outsider, held an important position because he mastered the Solar Qi martial arts.

This man was one of the key figures who appeared during the war between Ou-yang Pae and the Red Tiger Group against Taiyang Palace in the first part of the novel.

Using the case of this man and Mu-yul, Mu-jin had logically concluded that the Southern Barbarians would welcome someone who used similar martial arts.

But his supposedly logical plan had completely backfired, leaving Mu-jin wondering how to handle the aftermath.

“Who are you to dare speak of provocation!”

Suddenly, Su-linya shouted.

“How dare you step into the territory of the Beast Palace without permission!”

The middle-aged man, recognizing Su-linya who stepped forward, furrowed his brows.

“Still wearing such vulgar attire, Beast Palace warrior.”

“Hmph. It’s more amusing that you call it vulgar while harboring lewd thoughts inside.”

Proclaiming her body confidently, Su-linya shouted, and the middle-aged man stepped back in response.

“Lewd thoughts! Are you accusing me?”

“It’s a natural instinct for animals to want offspring. As long as you’re not a eunuch, you must have had such thoughts. Your demeanor is what’s truly lewd!”

Su-linya was expressing the Beast Palace’s animalistic philosophy.

Of course, the middle-aged man, who had no interest in this trivial conversation, pressed his temple as if he had a headache.

“Hoo. Let’s cut the nonsense. This matter has nothing to do with the Beast Palace, so step back.”

“The warriors of the Beast Palace never abandon their friends, no matter what.”

At Su-linya’s response, the middle-aged man’s expression changed drastically from one of irritation.

“You wench! So you’re saying it’s the will of the Beast Palace to involve them?”

Hearing their conversation a step behind through Ou-yang Pae’s translation, Mu-jin held his face in his hands.

‘Damn, things are getting messed up.’

Mu-jin, after rubbing his face, looked at Su-linya with eyes pleading her to stop talking.

“Hmph. Did you think the warriors of the Beast Palace would be afraid of Taiyang Palace?”

Su-linya boldly provoked the opponent, standing her ground confidently.