Chapter 112: Chapter 112

Instantly, the atmosphere of the inn sank heavily.

Not even the bustling voices were heard anymore, and only the settled air and the corresponding silence enveloped the inn. Even those who were using chopsticks and those who were chewing food stopped like stone statues and did not move.

The gazes of everyone were directed toward the man who shouted inside the inn. A group was gathered and a man with a flushed face was seen panting.

Probably, that fellow was the one who shouted.

However, the one who became the problem was someone else.

The one quietly leaning his back against the wall and watching the situation. A person with spiky hair, a rugged build, and a large saber on his back.

Someone uttered the identity of the man in that group.

“T… That, Ma… Ma Jang-gang?”

“Seeing that saber, there is no mistake indeed.”

The sound of swallowing saliva was heard with a gulp.

Ma Jang-gang.

He was a saber expert from a vagabond background who had built a power. Instead of active in the shade like the Black Way Sect, he established his power in the light.

Therefore, he received an evaluation entirely different from the Black Way Sect, which was because he did work in the light rather than the shade, and even as a power, instead of gathering groups to form factions, he introduced work to powerless vagabonds and received rewards, giving a feeling of a kind of agency.

If many vagabonds gathered to the Black Way Sect in the past, now that the Black Way Sect had vanished, Ma Jang-gang’s embrace was the only place where vagabonds could reside.

Furthermore, his personal martial prowess was also considerably high.

Since he was said to be of similar skill to the Black Way Sect Leader before it collapsed, he was thought to easily enter Under Heaven’s Hundred Great Experts.

And now that the Black Way Sect Leader had died.

The title attached to his name was only one.

Vagabond King Ma Jang-gang

That was the title he held now.

“I… I am sorry, customer, but this child is from the annex, so she is different from those who are waiting.”

“Where is such a thing, you bastards?”

A subordinate beside Ma Jang-gang shouted loudly.

If they were the same humans, why did someone wait and someone sit and eat? Furthermore, for the impatient vagabonds who had been waiting for nearly an hour, it was bound to explode.

“What do you take us for? Huh? Does it make sense to treat us the same as other fellows? Just when I kept watching, these guys!”

The man, panting and stepping forward, drew his sword.

As the killing intent spread thickly, a tense air hovered inside the inn once more.

In this situation, everyone present came to have the same thought. That if only the Namgung Family were here, such ruffians would not have been able to act carelessly.

How great their existence had been to the people living in Anhui, that is.

“Quiet. Stop making a fuss.”

At that time, Ma Jang-gang stepped forward and turned his gaze around crookedly. Although he spoke calmly, judging by his fierce frown, he too was holding back considerably.

And he stepped forward.

Thump, thump.

The sound of walking resounded throughout the entire inn.

One step, two steps, Ma Jang-gang, who approached slowly, stopped in front of Dan So-mi before she knew it. Because he was tall, he had to look down for a long time to see this tiny child.

Ma Jang-gang slowly reached out his hand.

“Ugh?!”

The innkeeper was startled and tried to block the space between them. She was none other than the guest of the Sword Emperor. If something went wrong, a situation that could not be taken lightly might occur.

However, whether she knew that situation or not, Dan So-mi’s face, peeking up, was just staring at the approaching hand.

Soon, that rough hand brushed past Dan So-mi’s cheek.

“Something is on your face. Kid.”

“Ah? It is true. Hehehe. Thank you.”

Seeing her giggle, Ma Jang-gang’s face flushed in an instant. Perhaps unable to look directly at that bright expression, he quietly turned his head.

Watching that, the innkeeper thought.

Could it be! Could it be!

The great Ma Jang-gang?

‘Ah…… does he like children?’

Since he did not cause a disturbance in the inn immediately, it was a good thing in its own way, but looking at that flushed face, an anxiety arose that perhaps it might lead to a bigger accident.

“I am called Ma Jang-gang. Is that delicious?”

“Ah! So-mi is Dan So-mi! And the dumplings here are super delicious.”

“Ahem…… I see.”

Ma Jang-gang reached out his hand again and stroked her head.

So-mi closed her eyes unconsciously at the rough touch.

The tiny child’s face moved here and there following Ma Jang-gang’s hand movement.

The innkeeper thought.

This is quite dangerous.

‘Should I stop him? However, the opponent was Ma Jang-gang, and if he caused a disturbance, uncontrollable things might happen. If the inn being destroyed did not matter, the customers might get hurt……’

In the moment she was restless with such thoughts.

With a click, the door opened and people with familiar faces entered inside.

Two people wearing white and black masks were visible at the very front, and on their sides were one person with a sharp spirit and another who was shabby but possessed a strange momentum.

Flinch!

Soon, as the last person entered inside, everyone inside the inn flinched. He was someone with no spirit or momentum, but when he glanced around the surroundings, an unknown chill seeped in.

“Dad!”

Dan So-mi, looking at him, jumped up and threw herself into his embrace. As if she wanted to be held in his arms and show off her cuteness to her heart’s content, she buried her face in his chest and rubbed it several times.

Her giggling expression did not disappear.

“You…… have returned?”

“Hmm? The atmosphere is strange, did something happen?”

Namgung Cheon tilted his head at the innkeeper’s strange behavior.

He had detected strangeness in the slightly stiff face of the innkeeper.

However, the innkeeper shook her head.

He must not cause unnecessary trouble.

Especially in front of this person.

“It is nothing. That aside, did the matter you went for go well?”

“Hahaha, that is so. It is all thanks to you. Since people will soon visit the inn carrying goods, I leave it to you.”

“Do not worry.”

The moment the innkeeper bowed deeply, people could not close their mouths. They knew that the innkeeper here was by no means someone who bowed head easily.

Considering that no matter how high a status person came, she served them without negligence yet had never bowed her head even once, it was a highly shocking event.

Soon, as Namgung Cheon patted his shoulder and headed to the annex, and Dan Woo-hyun and Dan So-mi disappeared following behind him, a silence of surprise hovered inside the inn.

“Who…… Who on earth are those people? For that innkeeper to…….”

“They do not seem to be ordinary people. First of all, those masked ones.”

“Didn’t the one who came last also feel somewhat chilling?”

Whispering voices were heard.

Ma Jang-gang, who was listening quietly to that, stroked his chin.

‘They are certainly a strange group.’

It was not that he was interested because the child was pretty. The attitude of this innkeeper, and the fact that they did not care in the least despite feeling his subordinates’ momentum when they entered the inn.

“Leader, who might those people be?”

“Well. Let us leave for now. I lost my appetite. I think it would be better to chase behind that fellow now.”

“Understood.”

“Ma Jang-gang? That child said so?”

“Yes, that face is unmistakable.”

Gwon Mu-jin had seen Ma Jang-gang once when he was in the Unorthodox Faction.

Although it was only for about fifteen minutes, because the impression remained originally, he was a man he still remembered. That was three years ago, but seeing him now, his spirit became even more grand than at that time.

“Vagabond King? He made an interesting title. To follow in the footsteps of the Black Way Sect?”

Sa Do-hak sighed with a displeased expression. The Black Way Sect was a considerably troublesome existence even for the Demonic Cult.

Because they had ruined many of the Demonic Cult’s affairs secretly.

If that Sect Leader guy had still been alive, he might have torn his limbs apart immediately.

“It does not seem to be so. It is said his livelihood is introducing work to other vagabonds recently. Although it is somewhat strange for such a person to be in this place……”

Gwon Mu-jin muttered with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

Ma Jang-gang did not move from his original location. Because his role in commanding the vagabonds was very large.

Yet seeing him come all the way to Anhui, he thought there might be something.

They might easily clash with them.

“Anything is fine. Rather, prepare. The wind is gradually shaking.”

Dan Woo-hyun muttered while looking out the window.

In his gaze, people moving here and there were visible.

There were merchants and playing children. However, what stimulated his gaze was a strange group that looked ordinary but headed somewhere with quite agile movements.

‘It is strange.’

Dan Woo-hyun chewed on those words repeatedly.

The Body Strengthening Method which was said to have appeared a thousand years ago and vanished now. It was hard to believe it suddenly appeared in this Martial World. It was correct to say someone recreated it with some purpose.

But who?

Surely the lineage of spells must have already been cut off, and he heard that even the survivors of the clan were completely subjugated and killed.

It was a situation where they could not leave their secret manuals to future generations.

Because those who tried to grasp the Body Strengthening Method searched, destroyed, and dug up to the ends of the Central Plains wherever they stayed. Nevertheless, no sound of finding it was heard, and since even Namgung Cheon or Sa Do-hak did not know about the Body Strengthening Method, it was correct to view it as already lost.

That it was revealed in this current situation was somewhat strange.

‘Besides that, there are a few things that bother me, but……’

The energy of those who mastered the Body Strengthening Method.

It gave off a strange feeling somehow. It felt like something else was mixed besides the originally possessed internal power, but although it was familiar, it did not strike him clearly, so he could not remember.

It was also the reason he decided to go to Henan now.

The agent of those who made Namgung Cheon like that was surely in the Martial Alliance. Naturally, that person must have ordered the raid on the Namgung Family, and he thought that if he recognized his energy, something might come to mind.

‘Whichever it is, it will be a relationship inseparable from the Martial World.’

Smiling bitterly, he caught his breath.

In the end, a martial artist is an existence with a fate unable to escape from this hell of the Central Plains. Dan Woo-hyun felt that once again and turned his head.

Before they knew it, those who finished preparations slung their bundles on their backs.

“You carry your own bundle.”

Sa Do-hak threw Dan Woo-hyun’s bundle with a toss.

His expression was obvious, telling him to be grateful just for packing it.

Dan Woo-hyun, smirking, slung it on his back.

“Now…… let us leave for Henan.”

Dan Woo-hyun led Dan So-mi’s hand and moved.

Meanwhile, at that time.

In some unknown deep place, a man was listening to his subordinate. The several people gathered in groups of three and five gave off a strange feeling somehow.

It was not to the extent of hiding their faces with masks.

The clothes they wore themselves wrapped their entire bodies. Since not only their faces but even their body shapes were not visible properly, could this only be called bizarre?

“The masked group that came to the inn?”

“Yes, they are the most suspicious ones among those who entered recently. Also, judging by the innkeeper’s behavior, it is assumed they have a deep connection…… as you know……”

“That inn is a place associated with the Sword Emperor.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm!”

One of the men smirked.

The probability that the Sword Emperor was truly alive was gradually rising. However, a report was a simple report and a suspicion was merely a suspicion.

Unless one confirms it, one cannot know.

“Are the Twenty Ghosts here?”

“Yes! Ma Jang-gang is pursuing behind them.”

“Leave the insect alone. Send the Twenty Ghosts to that group. I will go there directly to confirm.”

“Order!”

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