Chapter 119: Chapter 119

A clamor arose.

Countless people gathered around the inn.

Every single one of them was a martial artist holding up a sword, and since they were active in Henan, most of them possessed decent skills.

They surrounded the inn as if besieging it, creating a situation where ordinary people could not even come and go.

“Just what is the Martial Alliance doing? At a time like this, when they should be arresting Gwon Mu-jin immediately!”

“That is true, but… in truth, there are only a few who hold a grudge… From the Martial Alliance’s perspective, arresting an unorthodox martial artist who has not even been declared a public enemy is a bit…”

A few people expressed their dissatisfaction with the Martial Alliance’s behavior, while others nodded in agreement.

Although the members of the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions had poor relations, the reality was that these three forces kept each other in check to avoid clashing as much as possible.

In a situation where Gwon Mu-jin had not even been declared a public enemy of Martial World, it would not be strange if the Martial Alliance, an official organization, executing him were perceived as a provocation toward the Unorthodox Faction.

Thus, most of those gathered around the inn now were either those who claimed righteousness to make a name for themselves, or those who held a grudge against Gwon Mu-jin.

Furthermore,

“Isn’t he someone who was already known to be dead?”

“I heard so as well, but…”

“But rumors were heard from time to time… There were a few who said they saw him in Hunan.”

The people gathered in small groups spoke one after another. Since he was practically the right-hand man of Ma Dok-jin, and had not been heard of for nearly a year nor made an official appearance, such rumors had circulated.

People looked at the inn with curious eyes.

Just how did they plan to resolve this situation?

It was highly intriguing.

“Quite a crowd has gathered.”

Inside a room on the second floor of the inn, Dan Woo-hyun looked at the scene outside the window and laughed in disbelief.

He had let them go because he could not commit murder right in front of the Martial Alliance, but he had not expected them to return with such numbers.

“I am sorry…”

Gwon Mu-jin bowed his head deeply.

Honestly, from the moment he heard they were going to Henan, he had wondered if something like this would happen. He was a member of the Unorthodox Faction, and those who held grudges against him, regardless of orthodox or demonic, were countless.

“No, it is fine. It needs to be a little noisy to feel like living.”

Seeing him chuckle, Sa Do-hak cast a dumbfounded look. ‘Then why does a guy like that build a house and live in a quiet place so far away from Yueyang?’

The words rose to his throat but went back down.

“Isn’t this drawing too much attention? I thought we were planning to stay quietly and leave quietly.”

Jang Sam-tae grumbled with a displeased look.

Gwon Mu-jin’s situation was extremely regrettable, but the plan to sightsee Henan with Dan So-mi had been completely ruined. Since they were already known to be Gwon Mu-jin’s companions, wandering around aimlessly would yield no good results.

Look at that.

The sound of countless martial artists surrounding the inn grinding their teeth.

It seemed they would swing their swords at anyone who was Gwon Mu-jin’s companion, regardless of age or gender. How could fellows like that babble about being from prestigious orthodox sects?

“Tsk, tsk.”

Jang Sam-tae clicked his tongue and turned his head.

Fortunately, Dan So-mi did not pay attention to the adults’ conversation and was busy playing with the doll they had bought a few days ago. The sight of her fiddling and playing with the doll was truly lovely.

“That aside, what do you plan to do now? We did come to Henan as you said…”

Dan Woo-hyun’s question reached Namgung Cheon’s ears.

Snapping out of it, he opened his mouth.

“One of the reasons I wanted to come to Henan was to verify the truth of the rumors. But if this is the kind of talk we hear, there is no need to verify it.”

Namgung Cheon looked at the Martial Alliance building in the distance with a bitter gaze.

“They say, ‘Where there is no fire in the chimney, there is no smoke.’ Even without verifying the truth, one can tell from this much.”

If there is no fire lit in the chimney, smoke does not rise.

In other words, such rumors would not circulate if nothing had happened at all, and if it was something known to most people rather than a rumor coming from just one or two mouths, the truth of the rumor was at least seventy to eighty percent correct.

‘Just what are they doing in there!’

Namgung Cheon frowned.

This had to be verified.

Although doubting his old friend was reluctant, leaving the Martial Alliance unattended like this was by no means a good thing.

“I must enter the Martial Alliance.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Of course… inside the Alliance Leader’s Palace, there is a secret passage known only to the Alliance Leader.”

“I see… then the problem is… what do you plan to do about those people?”

Dan Woo-hyun pointed out the window.

At a conservative estimate, about fifty people were gathered. Since every single one of them was a master close to the first-rate level, they were by no means an ordinary crowd.

“I will…”

“I will step forward!”

Just as Gwon Mu-jin was about to speak first, it was Ma Jang-gang, who had followed Dan Woo-hyun all the way, who stepped forward.

He thumped his chest heartily and laughed, gripping a massive saber in his hand.

Dan Woo-hyun looked at him, then turned his gaze to the other two. He saw Ma Jang-gang, Jang Sam-tae, and Gwon Mu-jin standing side by side.

He pointed at them one by one and spoke.

“A guy who is stupider than expected… a guy who is surprisingly useful… and a guy who is useless but reliable…”

“W-what kind of evaluation is that…”

“Cough!”

“…”

Seeing them blush or look away, Dan Woo-hyun chuckled. He then tapped the window with his finger and moved his lips.

“Go out. Let’s see how much you have improved.”

At those words, Jang Sam-tae stared at Dan Woo-hyun with a stiff expression. Those words meant he should fight with the fellows out there.

His gaze asked, ‘Ma Jang-gang or Gwon Mu-jin aside, why me?’

“Since you have learned from this old man, shouldn’t you put it to use?”

“T-that is true, but… I will die? If things go wrong.”

“A martial artist is inherently one who stands on the edge of a blade. If you fear death, how can you swing a sword?”

“He-hehe. I am satisfied with being a cook at the manor, though…”

“Hmm…”

Dan Woo-hyun silently stared at Jang Sam-tae.

The silent gaze he sent was extremely stinging. It would have been better if he scolded him or said something else, but he did not even do that.

Furthermore, Sa Do-hak’s eyes changed.

The way he glared at him in a hurry was unusual.

If he persisted and did not go out like this, the aftermath would be terrifying.

“I-I am going! I said I’m going!”

Soon, Jang Sam-tae, Gwon Mu-jin, and Ma Jang-gang turned around and left the room.

The skills of the two did not seem to be a problem, but the other guy was somewhat worrying.

“Will it be fine? If a fight breaks out in a place like this, we will give the Martial Alliance a pretext to target us.”

“Fights between martial artists are common everywhere. Anyone who uses that as a pretext cannot be called a martial artist.”

“Bwahaha! That’s right. The heads of those orthodox bastards are filled with nothing but dung, and they think they are the laws of the Central Plains’ Martial World.”

Sa Do-hak roared with laughter and slapped his knee.

He did not seem to see Namgung Cheon’s frowning face at all.

“For us, we don’t care even if we fight in the Demonic Palace in broad daylight! Because that is what a martial artist is!”

Sa Do-hak said with a face full of pride. Perhaps he was extremely pleased to be of one mind with Dan Woo-hyun, as his laughter showed no signs of fading.

However, Namgung Cheon sighed, as if displeased even by that.

“That is why you fellows of the Demonic Cult are called uncivilized! What era is this that you draw swords so recklessly?”

“U-uncivilized?”

“You are worse than a common ant then!”

The corners of Sa Do-hak’s mouth trembled.

As if fully intending to have a bout right here on the spot, he gripped his saber that had been laid down neatly. If he were to draw and swing it just like that, Namgung Cheon’s body would be sliced in two.

But it was none other than Dan Woo-hyun who blocked them.

He lightly tapped the table with his index finger, breaking the tension.

“Stop it. You behave disgracefully in front of a child.”

“Cough!”

“Cough!”

Feeling the presence of the two coughing awkwardly, Dan Woo-hyun naturally turned his gaze out the window. The gathered martial artists hesitated as they looked at the three people who suddenly came outside.

They must have known the name of Small Twin Sabers Gwon Mu-jin.

Since those of the Orthodox Faction would have heard of it. Just as they were thinking of that, not one but three people appeared.

Moreover, the other person was…

The master called the Vagrant King.

Ma Jang-gang.

He was by no means someone to be taken lightly.

They could only draw their swords, unable to charge recklessly.

“If it is the Vagrant King Ma Jang-gang, even those fellows cannot act recklessly. Look at that, aren’t those who were vagrants slipping away one by one?”

“I see… Then if they deal with the remaining ones, it will be quiet for a while.”

Dan Woo-hyun stared out the window and nodded. However, his eyes were filled with doubt.

The people before them were certainly masters hovering around the first-rate level, and what they wanted was Gwon Mu-jin’s head and his reputation.

However, the strange thing was that those from the Eight Great Families or the Nine Great Sects and One Gang could not be seen.

If things had escalated to this point, shouldn’t they have crawled out, even if only to test Gwon Mu-jin’s skills?

Gwon Mu-jin was said to be a renowned master even within the Unorthodox Faction.

He would be the best opponent to test their own abilities, yet there was no sign of them coming out at all, making it a truly strange situation.

“Hmm? What is that?”

Just then, a group of people flocked to the front of the inn.

Men wearing Buddhist robes and holding staffs in one hand. Every single one of them had a sturdy build and exuded a powerful aura.

“Are they Shaolin monks?”

“…Indeed. And the one in the center is the man said to lead Shaolin in the future. The leader of the Eighteen Arhats Formation, a man named Mu-ho.”

Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze examined the man named Mu-ho.

He certainly possessed a stronger aura than the others. Although he did not know what the Eighteen Arhats Formation was, he figured the man must be one of the exceptionally outstanding individuals.

They parted the crowd gathered in front of the inn.

They blocked the space between Gwon Mu-jin and the crowd, slamming their staffs into the ground.

“What is all this clamor! Have you forgotten that this is the territory of the Alliance!”

Thundering!

His single sentence rang out loudly.

It spread so deeply that even those at a long distance could hear it clearly, to the point where there was no one who could not hear his voice.

Those with weak internal energy had to cover their ears.

Shaolin’s internal energy.

It was by no means at a level to be underestimated.

“T-that man is from the Unorthodox Faction! We want to settle our grudge…”

At those words, Mu-ho glanced back at Gwon Mu-jin.

A fighting spirit boiled in his eyes. He felt a competitive urge looking at the opponent in front of him. If it was Small Twin Sabers Gwon Mu-jin, he might be a suitable opponent for Mu-ho.

However, their purpose in coming here now was not such things.

“If you intend to point your swords at this young hero merely out of a desire for vanity and fame, this Mu-ho will not tolerate it!”

Thundering.

The people flinched at the voice that rang out once more. It was none other than Shaolin’s Mu-ho. Considering the power that name held, they must absolutely not swing their swords.

“Let those who hold a grudge step forward! This Mu-ho will act as the witness!”

Not a single person stepped forward.

Even the man who had shouted about holding a grudge hesitated. Anyone who knew the skill of the Small Twin Sabers could not easily step forward.

The reason they had surrounded the inn and raised their voices until now was because they judged that since orthodox martial artists had gathered, they could somehow crush him with overwhelming numbers.

“Hmph! Is this all it amounts to? A petty pride trying to avenge through others’ hands what you cannot avenge with your own! If it is such a thing, you should not even speak of seeking vengeance!”

Boom!

Mu-ho gripped his staff once again and slammed it against the ground.

Due to his immense internal energy, the surrounding ground was deeply gouged.

Soon, he looked around with a cold gaze and shouted.

“Everyone, go back!”

Thundering!

His single sentence spread out powerfully.

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