Chapter 27

Hidden near Muwol Pavilion, Jegal Geun watched the unfolding scene in utter disbelief.

He had come after hearing that Jinmu’s party had headed to the tavern with Geum Jeoksan, master of the Cheongyang Merchant Guild.

“What’s he doing here?”

Gong Sacheok had appeared out of nowhere.

Even the Jegal Clan knew him as a fairly accomplished martial artist.

He might have been a back-alley thug, but he had reached Qi Manifestation and could wield saber qi at will. He also had ties to Heuksabang.

The Jegal Clan’s Danjiangkou branch left him alone so long as he stayed out of their territory.

They did not want some trivial matter to provoke friction with Heuksabang.

But if Jinmu’s party committed any crimes with Geum Jeoksan, Jegal Geun intended to intervene, no matter who stood in his way.

And yet—

Geum Jeoksan is trying to kill Jinmu and his companions? Why?

It made no sense at all.

Before long, however, he understood the meaning of his father Jegal Murin’s muttered words.

Jinhye, a first-generation disciple of Wudang.

And his family, the U Family Estate.

In their efforts to make Jinhye head disciple, they meant to eliminate Jinmu, a potential rival.

Hiring assassins to kill a fellow disciple? Things at Wudang are going swimmingly.

Just as Jegal Geun was sneering to himself—

Jinmu suddenly came flying out and vomited blood, and the entire building collapsed.

Then, after apparently fighting Gong Sacheok, he abruptly shouted toward them.

“What took you so long? I really did almost die! Ah, if it weren’t for these internal injuries.”

What?

Jegal Geun could not make sense of his words.

Then Jinmu’s party retreated, while Gong Sacheok simply glared, radiating a fierce presence.

“All right, then. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“…”

Having retreated far enough to pass Jegal Geun, Jinmu gave him a friendly wink.

Th-this bastard. Don’t tell me—

He had been used. Jinmu had realized they were there and used them to escape.

Dumping Gong Sacheok on him in the process.

That son of a bitch!

“Second Young Master. What should we do?”

“…”

A warrior of the Blue Flower Corps addressed Jegal Geun as his face twisted in realization.

“Damn it.”

Meanwhile, Jinmu and his companions fled Muwol Pavilion without looking back.

“Hah, hah… Damn it, we nearly got screwed.”

Jinmu was gasping for breath. He had scraped together every last trace of internal energy, leaving his body in a wretched state.

And he was dizzy on top of it all.

But for now, he had to keep running.

“Martial Uncle, why are we heading into the town center? Wouldn’t the mountains be better, where there are fewer people?”

Rather than answer Cheongsang, Jinmu shook his head.

Idiot.

The darkest place was beneath the lamp. Always had been.

Those bastards would never dream they had fled into the heart of Danjiangkou, straight into the enemy’s den.

They were probably scouring the roads to Wudang instead.

Only after hastily securing a room at an inn in the town center did Jinmu breathe a sigh of relief.

His anger, however, would not subside.

“Gong Sacheok. Geum Jeoksan. Those sons of bitches. And the U Family Estate? A pack of bastards I’ve never even heard of dares try to kill me?”

After everything it had taken to come back to life.

He knew nothing about the U Family Estate.

But Geum Jeoksan, who had put him in danger, and Gong Sacheok, who had attacked him—those two were not getting away with this.

“Cheongu! Cheongsang!”

“Yes, Martial Uncle.”

“You have healing pills, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Take them all out!”

“…”

Healing pills were a type of medicine used to treat internal injuries.

Jinmu swallowed all ten pills Cheongsang and Cheongu produced from their robes in one gulp.

“M-Martial Uncle. All of them?”

Cheongsang looked alarmed, but ten pills or a hundred, it made no difference.

He would recover as quickly as possible and strike Gong Sacheok.

Sleep? Rest? Did this look like the time for that shit?

By now, the Jegal Clan would have withdrawn, and Gong Sacheok would surely be searching for them.

Jinmu knew the ways of unorthodox martial artists very well.

They would pursue his party for exactly one day.

If they failed to find them within that time, they would flee.

When hunting a tiger, you had to kill it on the spot.

Nothing was more terrifying than a wounded beast. And behind Jinmu waited a mother called Wudang.

One day was very little time to recover from internal injuries.

But that did not matter.

Jinmu searched his old memories and dredged up a method.

The Raging Blood Soul-Severing Qi Art.

An acupoint technique that temporarily unleashed an explosive surge of internal energy within the body.

Since it used the energy one already possessed, it made no difference whether one practiced an orthodox or an unorthodox art.

It was dangerous enough to be described as sending the blood and qi rampaging and severing the soul.

The aftereffects were severe, too, but right now—

“Scrub your necks clean and wait, you bastards. I’ll make sure you never see this world again except as ghosts.”

His anger was greater.

The ten healing pills he had swallowed were already giving off tremendous heat, goading his dantian into action.

---

“You imbecile!”

Thwack!

The hurled inkstone struck Jegal Geun’s head and shattered.

Blood ran from a gash in his forehead, but he did not move a muscle.

“What? You helped them? When even helping to kill them wouldn’t have been enough?”

It was late at night. Jegal Murin’s furious roar rang through the Jegal estate.

Jegal Geun had taken twenty warriors of the Blue Flower Corps to watch Jinmu’s party, only to end up helping them escape against his own intentions.

The pointless standoff with Gong Sacheok had lasted longer than it took to eat a meal. By the time both sides cautiously withdrew, Jinmu’s party had vanished without a trace.

That damned bastard…

Listening to his father’s tirade, Jegal Geun clenched his teeth hard enough to crack his jaw.

“Father, please give me another chance. I will find them without fail.”

“Find? Find what?”

“I’ll find them so Gong Sacheok can kill them…”

His father’s face turned scarlet, and Jegal Geun realized he had made a terrible mistake.

“What an utter moron. Must you spew whatever comes into your head just because you have a mouth? What? So Gong Sacheok can kill them? Are you telling me you intend to help some back-alley thug murder disciples of Wudang?”

“F-forgive me. What I meant was—”

“Shut up!”

“…”

Jegal Geun’s face crumpled in misery.

In his desperation, he had let the wrong words slip.

“You could not disappoint me more.”

“Father, that isn’t—”

“I said shut up.”

“…”

“Commander Mo! Are you outside?”

At Jegal Murin’s call, Mo Iksang, commander of the Blue Flower Corps, entered from where the commander had been waiting outside the office.

“Take this fool to his quarters at once.”

“Father…”

“I don’t want to hear it. You will remain confined to your quarters until I order otherwise! Take so much as one step outside, and I’ll break your legs!”

What a cruel father.

When Jegal Geun had brought up Wudang, he had lavished him with encouragement and even given him warriors from the Blue Flower Corps. The moment he made a mistake, his father cast him aside without hesitation.

But Jegal Geun could say nothing.

Any further words would only fuel his father’s anger.

“Get out of my sight!”

At the harsh dismissal, Jegal Geun bowed respectfully and left his father’s hall.

Jinmu, you damned Wudang Taoist. This is all your fault.

Twice.

Once he had been humiliated, and once he had been used.

Because of it, he had even lost the trust he had worked so hard to earn from his father.

“From the look of you, Father’s been scolding you again.”

Someone was waiting when Jegal Geun emerged from the hall with Mo Iksang.

“…”

The owner of that mocking voice.

Jegal Gak, his older half brother by a different mother and the eldest young master of the Jegal Clan’s Danjiangkou branch.

“Greetings, Elder Brother.”

“Spare me the insincere courtesies.”

“…”

His head bowed, Jegal Geun’s face twisted into a hideous scowl at the reply.

“Tsk, tsk. You idiot. I thought you’d lucked into something, like an ox catching a rat with a stray kick. But then, how could a lowborn wretch like you manage even a simple surveillance job?”

Jegal Geun offered no answer to his brother’s almost abusive words.

He was used to it.

It had always been this way.

“Why don’t you leave the family and join a Taoist sect even now? You saved Wudang’s disciples. I’m sure they’d welcome you.”

“…”

“Fool.”

Jegal Gak gave him a scornful glance and approached the office.

“Father, it’s Gak.”

“Come in.”

Only after Jegal Gak disappeared inside did Jegal Geun raise his bowed head.

His teeth ground together.

“Just you wait. Watch me become heir. We’ll see how long you can hold that precious head of yours so high.”

After glaring at the office with eyes that seemed to blaze, Jegal Geun returned to his quarters.

---

A sizable manor stood in an outlying alley where Danjiangkou’s night market was located.

It was the Sacheok Gang’s headquarters, standing brazenly in plain sight despite the lawless world its occupants inhabited.

They could commit countless crimes without going into hiding thanks to endless bribes and the powerful backing of Heuksabang.

Dawn was approaching.

Even with many of its occupants out, the great manor, lit by braziers, held more people than usual.

Back-alley vagrants, pickpockets, thieves.

Gong Sacheok had mobilized everyone in Danjiangkou within his reach.

Whether they knew martial arts made no difference.

All they wanted was the location of Jinmu’s party.

Close to a hundred people had been mobilized. Concerned that a fight might break out, Gong Sacheok had included his best fighters in the search.

The martial artist called Jinmu had seemed fairly skilled, but he had internal injuries. Gong Sacheok believed those men would be enough.

“Still no word?”

“No. It seems they haven’t found them yet.”

“Useless idiots!”

In a fit of rage, Gong Sacheok kicked over the brazier beside him.

The bronze brazier, big enough to encircle with both arms, toppled violently, spilling burning coals across the floor.

Only after the Jegal Clan’s Blue Flower Corps withdrew had Gong Sacheok realized he had been thoroughly duped.

He had immediately sent his men to the roads leading to Mount Wudang.

Nighttime? That was hardly a concern.

If those Taoists escaped and reached Wudang, then he would have a real problem.

He had tried to kill disciples of Wudang.

If word got out, the sect’s Taoists would undoubtedly descend on him in droves.

Then there would be no turning back.

They were ferociously relentless when it came to the death of one of their own.

Even if he escaped for the moment, they would clearly hunt him for the rest of his life.

Heuksabang might be backing him through their tenuous connection, but it would be no help.

They would certainly sever that tie before provoking a conflict with Wudang.

He had to find them.

Whatever it took, he had to find and kill them.

Gong Sacheok bit his nails anxiously.

“Gwak Gi!”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Go to the U Family Estate at once. Tell them the Wudang disciples escaped and ask for help.”

“Will they help us?”

“Hmph. If we go down, they won’t get away unscathed either. They’ll help.”

“Understood.”

The more people searching, the better.

And the U Family Estate’s martial artists were fairly capable.

They would be far more useful than his own men.

“Hurry.”

At Gong Sacheok’s order, Gwak Gi rushed out.

At that moment—

Kraaash!

A tremendous explosion.

The manor’s main gate burst apart, and Gwak Gi, who had just left on Gong Sacheok’s orders, came flying back, face beaten to a bloody pulp.

“Wh-what?”

“What’s happening?”

It had happened so suddenly that everyone could only stare blankly.

“Well, look at this. You even have a manor standing out in the open. Nice and easy to find.”

With those sarcastic words, three men strode boldly through the thick dust, the hems of their Taoist robes fluttering.

Jinmu, Cheongsang, and Cheongu.