Five days had passed since the incident on the Yangtze River.
During that time, I visited the base of the 18 River Families along the Yangtze River as the Blood Demon.
To be precise, I went there as their leader.
Their ships were typically spread all over the Yangtze River, each with its own area. The ships gathered at their base were just half of their total number. Surprisingly, the leader’s residence was near Gamri province, not too far from Wuhan City, where the Murim Alliance’s headquarters was located.
During my visit to discuss their group’s future direction and share opinions regarding the golden-eyed man’s organization, Cho Seong-won headed to Hebei province. He went there to hold a funeral for the former leader and was inducted as the new leader of the Beggars Union.
It would be to my advantage if he took control of the Beggars Union quickly.
The rest of them, Sima Young, Song Woo-hyun, and Song Jwa-baek, were supposed to meet me in Hongu County.
-That man must have woken up now, right?
Probably.
The person Short Sword referred to was Jang Mun-ryang.
After passing on all of his internal qi to Song Jwa-baek, he did not wake up and simply slept as if he was in a deep slumber.
-Are you alright?
I wanted to eat something like warm soup. I felt empty after drinking with pirates for the past five days.
Hangovers and headaches could be dealt with using internal qi, but it couldn’t remove this emptiness.
-It is land!
We finally arrived at the port. As I approached, I saw that it was crowded with people.
In Hongho County, there was a fairly large lake not far from the Yangtze River.
Perhaps that was why so many people had gathered nearby.
-But they’re something too… or are they just thick-faced?
Why? Because the opponents used ships?
Well, I was quite surprised to discover that the river families were operating traditional ships. They didn’t simply waste their time away.
They usually acted as members of higher ranks or soldiers to hide their identities and make their own living.
-There is a secret to surviving this long, then.
Well, the ship I was on was supposedly from the Great Mountain.
The sail was white instead of a pirate’s black, and that was why we could arrive without incident.
-Yah. Wonhwi, isn’t that Sima Young there?
Where?
-Look there, the yellow sunshade.
As Short Sword said, Sima Young was dozing off at the end of a street near a vendor as she stared into the river. She must have been bored waiting without anything to do.
‘Cute.’
-After all, everything about her is cute to you.
‘You really should really take out the words ‘after all’.’
-Seriously.
The ship docked into port while I argued with Short Sword. The pirates were dressed like merchants and greeted me.
After I parted with them, I went into a place that was out of sight of most of the people, took off my face mask, changed my clothes, and then sneaked to Sima Young.
-What are you doing?
I wanted to surprise her.
I approached her from behind and carefully stretched out my index finger to tap her shoulder as she dozed off.
Of course, I thought she would simply turn her head, but the moment I touched her shoulder, she rolled forward and launched a kick at me.
Pak!
I caught it in a hurry.
“Uh? Young lord?”
‘… I see I made a mistake.’
That’s right. If you surprised someone who learned martial arts, this would be the expected result. When I let go of her feet, she smiled and tried to hug me.
“Hmm.”
She stopped trying to hug me as she became aware of the surroundings and cleared her throat.
How would the people around us feel if they saw her hugging me?
Sima Young smiled and said to me,
“Didn’t it all go well?”
“Well.”
“Your answer and your expression don’t look so good?”
She understood me too well now.
She could guess how it all went by, just how I answered and my expression. Actually, there was one thing that I was sure of after dealing with the pirates for the past five days.
-They aren’t the kind of people one would want to associate with.
Right.
Certainly, even the foundation was slightly different.
They were part of the Evil Faction, just like the Blood Sect, but they were thieves to their souls. Basically, their reliability was quite low.
Their words came out quicker, but the people of the Yangtze River weren’t all that different.
I whispered to her.
“They are the ones who will always stab one in the back when they are at a disadvantage.”
“You expected it to some extent.”
“Right.”
“They aren’t just pirates. We just got what we wanted from each other.
Hearing her words, I smiled.
That was the right answer.
I just wanted one thing from them anyway.
I just needed them to shackle the ankles of the Murim Alliance when they tried to cross the Yangtze River.
Even if it was nominal, as long as they were a power under the sect, I could use them when needed.
‘Is this more useful?’
With me was the plaque that the Wind Wave King, Hyuk Cheon-man, had given me.
Since he said he had failed a mission for the first time in over a decade, he had returned half the promised fee and then returned to his hometown in Shaanxi.
He gave me the plaque and told me to find him when needed.
-When we meet again, won’t he be able to use the Air Sword?
Probably.
He had joked with me about that. He said that the next time we met, he would show me the state of the sword beyond what I had shown him.
I wasn’t sure if this was a natural talent.
“Jwa-baek and Woo-hyun?”
“They are waiting for you in this guesthouse. Ah, right.”
Sima Young then messaged me silently.
[Jang Mun-ryang woke up yesterday.]
[Woke up? Is he all right now?]
Since he had passed on all his skills to Song Jwa-baek, I pulled out the broken blade from his head. Since his child-like behavior was because of that, he should have returned to his original state of mind.
[I think he is all back to normal.]
Well done.
This was the part of him that I wanted to interrogate further. It would be unusual to continue being involved with the golden-eyed man’s group any further before that.
Since they were now openly targeting me, I needed to know things for my own safety.
[But his current condition is weird.]
[Weird how?]
[He woke up and then cried out loud as if he wanted to destroy everything in the guesthouse. He fainted again after we sealed his blood points.]
Huh?
Why did he end up crying?
-Didn’t you say that the dantian is life for Murim people?
Ahh… was it because he lost something he had struggled his whole life for?
If that was the case, then I could understand it. In any case, subduing him was a good call.
[You did well.]
[Hehe~ Young Lord, since our mission with the 18 River Families is done, will you head back to the main sect?]
[I need to go somewhere else before that.]
[Where?]
How should I respond? Should I tell her the truth?
[Something I need to confirm.]
[What is that?]
[I think we should go inside the tomb]
“…?”
Sima Young’s expression clearly said that she didn’t understand.
Of course, she wouldn’t. No one would care if it was a normal person’s tomb, such as a coffin buried under a small hill with some grass growing over it.
But the size of the Tomb King was of a different scale.
I heard that King Pyung, a king of the great nations, also built a tomb resembling a small hill and carved the character for ascension upon it.
There was only one thing there.
-What is that?
Undoubtedly, the Tomb of King Pyung was pointed by the code on the five yokai swords made by Master Gu Yaja.
However, the probability that the tomb had already been dug up was also high. This was because the king was buried with treasures he had gathered over a lifetime.
-Couldn’t it possibly end up being a waste of time?
We will know that when we go.
He had carefully carved the pattern on the black surface to hide something this way.
If that were the case, they probably would have taken measures to ensure it was not discovered easily. Anyway, it was ambiguous to explain by just using words.
“We will find out if we go. Let’s head to the guest house for now. I’ve been drinking for the past five days. Everything inside me feels empty.”
“Five days? You must want to puke your guts out. As usual, the noodle soup with pork and chicken bones from the guest house is fine. One bowl and your stomach will settle.”
Oh, how tempting.
I was about to move, but then Sima Young said,
“Ah, I almost forgot.”
“Uh?”
“Young lord, I met your sister.”
“Yong Yong?”
I thought she would have met the Murim Alliance, but it turned out to be something else.
Their sect was in this town?
“Yes. They said they were here as part of a delegation to the Murim Alliance. Ah! They said they would be returning from the mission as part of the hall, but she said she would wait for the young lord. She’s in another guest house close to where we are staying.”
“She is?”
Did she really wait for me?
No matter how close we were, she wasn’t someone to do such a thing.
“She’s been waiting for two days already. I was actually surprised at how suddenly she arrived.”
She must have been surprised to see Jang Mun-ryang. I then stared at Sima Young.
I guessed that my sister didn’t stay here because of me.
Let’s break the fantasy of that child. Before this goes any deeper, I think telling her that Sima Young was a woman would be good.
A guest house was located on the eastern side of Hongho County. Three people were there drinking tea and chatting loudly.
Seeing that all three of them had weapons, all could see that they were Murim people from the Wudang sect.
Among them, a woman with thick lips said with a hand on her cheek.
“Unnie. Unnie. When is your brother coming?”
Her name was Eon Yong-in.
She was the second daughter of the Eon family in Jinju, a famed family in Hubei. She was a new addition to a troop made for the Murim Alliance.
The unnie she was speaking to was So Yong-yong, who was dressed cutely in her uniform.
So Yong-yong waved her hand in response.
“I don’t know either. It is hard to meet when they are busy like this.”
“Oh my. Didn’t Yong-yong boast about your amazing brother?”
An elegant beauty sat with them, wearing white and blue clothes.
Her name was Gahui, the eldest daughter of the Namgung family.
She was called the White Peach Blossom by the sects of Murim and served as head of the new troops due to her excellent swordsmanship.
“Oh, my, unnie too.”
So Yong-yong continued to wave her hands as if she was flustered.
Actually, even with this attitude, she was just shrugging her shoulders.
After completing her mission, She stopped in this village and received shocking news.
It was news of her brother, So Wonwhi.
‘Did my older brother really defeat one of the Five Great Evils?’
The first time she heard this, she couldn’t believe it either.
She remembered seeing him at the family home. At that time, So Wonwhi had shown amazing skills that made it seem like his dantian was never broken.
However, his level wasn’t that high.
She couldn’t believe her brother, who had been beaten by her senior then, could defeat one of the best in Murim.
‘Is it really my older brother?’
None of this felt real.
Still, she couldn’t help but be proud of her blood brother being praised so much.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
So Yong-yong waved her hands at Namgung Gahui’s words and said,
“Ahh. Even if you say that…”
“What is this? He is the hero who defeated two of the Five Great Evils. If it was my brother, my shoulders would be shrugging so much that it would be dislocated.”
She lifted the clothes above both her shoulders to show them off proudly.
“Kekeke. Unnie, what is this? Hehe.”
Eon Yong-in laughed out loud at her joke.
Despite being the daughter of a prestigious family, she was popular with a lot of people due to her easy-going personality and wit.
“Are you trying to mock me?”
“Did you only realize it now? Hehehe.”
Just as the three of them were chatting happily, a group of men approached them. Naturally, their gaze changed.
“I apologize for interrupting you when you seem to be having so much fun.”
It was a young man with thick eyebrows and dressed in silk.
Looking at the jade around his waist, they could tell he was someone from Wudang.
Eon Yong-in opened her mouth.
“What is it?”
Eon Yong-in looked at the man, who frowned. He then looked at Namgung Gahui and So Yong-yong before taking a bow and saying,
“I was passing by and heard that beautiful people were around. I risked being rude to come and visit.”
Hearing this, Gahui sighed.
She was someone with a beautiful appearance, so she was used to being in such troublesome situations.
“I don’t know who you are, but we will leave this town soon, so you just have to continue walking.”
Hearing this, the young man grinned and said.
“That is fine. We are not just anyone. Meetings like this are meant to be, so how about chatting with us over a meal?”
Hearing the young man’s words, So Yong-yong sharply answered.
“I decline.”
Then one of the men behind him said,
“Do not refuse us so coldly and join us for a meal. This man here is Baek Hyun-ga, famous for his Herbal Medicine, and his friend here is Shin Gil-rip, successor to the Black Tortoise Sect.”
‘Black Tortoise?’
Eon Yong-in’s eyes shone at this name. It was one of the most prestigious families in the Northern side of the province.
Shin Gil-rip also had a reputation as a warrior who was equal to an elder.
They were a group of me with some prestige, which was probably why they had some confidence.
‘Hmm?’
Typically, revealing their identities would make the women interested, yet there was not much reaction this time.
‘Are they children of prestigious families as well?’
This kind of reaction would be understandable, then. Shin Gil-rip then stepped forward and said,
“If I may, may I please have the name of the ladies?”
So Yong-yong stood up and bowed.
“I apologize. We are warriors for the Murim Alliance, and it is not right for us to reveal our identities due to our mission. So please just leave quietly.”
It was an appropriate response to allow the opponent to leave with their face intact.
Since she had mentioned the Murim Alliance, they probably wouldn’t flirt anymore. However, the unexpected happened.
“Oh! Then this is better. We were just about to head to the Murim Alliance when we heard they were making a new troop. We can accompany you.”
This was the worst.
Their eventual destination was also the Murim Alliance. At this unexpected news, Yong-yong turned to Gahui.
She didn’t think they would be this persistent. If they stayed like this despite the mention of their mission, revealing their identities would likely change nothing.
So Gahui then came up with a good idea.
“Even though we already declined you politely, her brother would be upset if you continued to persist this way.”
Hearing this, Shin Gil-rip looked shocked and asked.
“Who is her brother who will be so upset?”
“The most renowned person recently. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Little Immortal Swordsman?”
Her words did only agitate the men, but also the others in the inn.
When they talked with one another, they joked and spoke loudly. No one could hear them then, but now everyone focused on them.
It was because such a famous name was mentioned.
[Unnie!]
[What? These are the times you use your brother’s fame.]
Gahui smiled at Yong-tong. She thought that since they were persisting so strongly, this would at least make them step back.
But then came the unexpected response.
“Ah, so this miss’ brother is such a great person like Warrior So. It is an honor to meet such a famous person’s sister.”
There was a hint of playfulness in his voice. His companions were also laughing mockingly.
So Yong-yong then asked as her mood darkened.
“What is with your smile?”
“No, no. I apologize if I offended you. There are so many exaggerated rumors in Murim, so I simply laughed without much thought.”
“… exaggerated rumors?”
“Well, aren’t they? Someone who is barely over the age of 20 achieved victory using the Air Sword? Does that make sense?”
He then chuckled and laughed as if all of the rumors were lies. His cronies followed suit.
Shin Gil-rip laughed out loud and then spoke politely.
“I apologize, Miss. It is just a joke. What do family or blood relations matter? Ah… you must be quite upset. If so, how about we treat you to dinner in exchange?”
“If you are busy, we can escort you to the Alliance instead.”
They continued to push until the end.
Gahui tried to tell them to act moderately, but So Yong-yong stopped her and looked at Shin Gil-rip.
“Since you make it sound like they’re all false rumors, tell that directly to my brother.”
“Directly?”
They turned to look at where Yong-yong was looking at.
Behind them stood a young man with a large sheath on his back.
It was Jin Wonhwi.
Sensing something unusual, Shin Gil-rip was shocked.
“Y-You are So Won…”
But Jin Wonhwi interrupted him in a cold voice.
“Are you flirting with my sister now?”
“There seems to be some misunderstanding. I am Shin Gil-rip…”
“Enough. If you leave before the count of three, I will let this go.”
Hearing this, the man and his friends were stunned.
Seeing the appearance of such a famous person shocked them, but this order was unpleasant.
Jin Wonwhi then spoke first.
“Three.”
“Look here, Brother So, right now, we are the ones who…”
“Two.”
“This man is really…”
Before Shin Gil-rip could finish, Jin Wonwhi lifted his finger and flicked him on the forehead.
Flick!
“Kuak!”
As his fingers impacted, Shin Gil-rip’s eyes rolled, and he collapsed on the spot with a pitiful cry, leaving everyone speechless.
The best warrior in Hubei had been taken out with a single flick?
Gahui then spoke to Yong-yong.
[Yong, your brother is so cool?]
So Yong-yong was desperately holding her lips from twitching.
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