Chapter 62: Chapter 62
The feast at Hongam Mountain Villa continued the following day as well. In truth, it was only now that the true festivities had begun.
To heighten the revelry, bands and acrobatic troupes had been invited. Musicians played rousing tunes while performers from the troupes showcased various feats of skill.
“Waaah!”
“This is the best!”
The excitement of the crowd reached its peak, and cries of wonder erupted from all around.
As time passed, even more people poured into Hongam Mountain Villa. The ones who suffered for it were the kitchen’s cooks and servants. The cooks had been hard at work since dawn, utterly consumed with food preparation, while the servants were run to the bone ferrying the dishes they produced.
“What a chaos. One wonders if we’ll even be able to eat properly amid all this.”
Cho Yeon-woon surveyed the interior of Hongam Mountain Villa, which resembled a battlefield, and muttered to himself. Despite his words, a mutton skewer dangled from his hand.
He bit into a piece of mutton and surveyed his surroundings.
Among the throng of people, there was someone he was searching for.
*’Dam Ho.’*
Clad in a black leather robe, standing alone and aloof, was none other than Dam Ho. While countless others gathered in groups of three and five, chattering away, only he stood apart from all of them.
At his proposal to become friends, Dam Ho had offered no response at all. Any other person might have taken offense, yet Cho Yeon-woon smiled as though nothing were amiss.
*’He trusts no one.’*
Cho Yeon-woon saw the light of distrust in Dam Ho’s eyes. His gaze trusted no one and allowed no one close, a stubbornness that radiated from him like an invisible, massive wall. An ordinary person would never have dared think of scaling that wall. But Cho Yeon-woon was no ordinary person either.
In Cho Yeon-woon’s view, Dam Ho’s problem was not the limp. Though he didn’t know the exact details, Dam Ho had suffered a great wound to his heart, and because of it, he harbored distrust toward the world itself.
He liked Dam Ho. Everyone lived behind masks. But Dam Ho, at the very least, showed his raw, unvarnished self.
*’Well, time will take care of it.’*
Bonds could not be forced into being. They could only be forged when the will of heaven aligned.
Cho Yeon-woon looked up at the sky.
*’Was I guided here merely to encounter that young man? Or is there another reason?’*
The will of heaven was profoundly mysterious and unfathomable, beyond the comprehension or understanding of mortal men.
He wished he could stay a while longer and deepen his bond with Dam Ho. But he had matters to attend to and no more leisure to remain.
*’If the thread of fate still connects us, we shall meet again someday.’*
Promising himself a future reunion with Dam Ho, Cho Yeon-woon quietly slipped out of Hongam Mountain Villa.
Dam Ho had no interest in the feast. The acrobatic troupe performed their feats nearby, and the musicians stoked the crowd’s excitement, but none of it captured his attention.
His gaze swept across the people coming and going within the villa. He observed a martial artist with a fine sword at his waist, another who wielded a steel folding fan while dressed in silks embroidered with lavish designs, and a portly fist master who slapped his protruding belly while exchanging words over a meal.
“Ha ha! Our martial academy has taken in a new disciple this time, and his talent is quite remarkable.”
“Everyone knows how extraordinary Sect Leader Jeong’s martial arts are. To think his disciple is equally gifted, the future of Cheongpung Martial Academy is truly something to look forward to.”
“I hear Sect Leader Yoo has expanded his academy?”
“Ha ha! It just sort of happened that way. My back is bent from the strain. Well, if Great Hero Lee Sin-pung lends even a little assistance, I might finally catch my breath. I wonder if I’ll get to meet him today.”
“He should be coming out shortly. You’ll meet him soon enough. Great Hero Lee Sin-pung will surely help you.”
“You think so?”
“Of course! Ha ha ha!”
“I can hardly wait to meet Great Hero Lee Sin-pung.”
They spoke with loud laughter and great bluster, but they were people unworthy of even meeting Lee Sin-pung. Had they been worthy, they would have met him the previous night.
Most people in attendance were like them, brimming with false bravado. One might compare them to domesticated animals. Wild beasts that hunted their prey in the mountains never bluffed or showed themselves. They concealed themselves, hid, and hid still further, baring themselves at the very end only to sever their quarry’s life in a single strike.
Only those who had never risked their lives in combat could afford such posturing. The truly strong simply revealed themselves as they were. By that standard, no truly powerful person existed in this place.
At that moment, two martial artists entered the hall.
Though there were two of them, their faces were identical, as if cast from the same mold. Sharp, sword-like brows sat above piercing eyes; their skin was unusually pale, and their jawlines were razor-sharp. They appeared to be men in their mid-to-late thirties, a pair of twins rarely seen in the martial world.
Their arrival set the assembled martial artists murmuring.
“The Black and White Twin Ghosts!”
“Wow! Even they have come!”
The crowd let out cries of astonishment.
The Black and White Twin Ghosts.
They had originally been martial artists of the ambiguous moral middle ground who operated primarily in Shaanxi Province. With violent temperaments and utterly unpredictable behavior, they were formidable fighters whom no one dared provoke lightly. Moreover, as twins, they possessed a powerful mental synchronicity, they could read each other’s intentions from a mere glance. Thanks to this, even without practicing any formal combination techniques, they wielded greater power than such techniques could provide.
The Black and White Twin Ghosts surveyed the hall with cold eyes. At their gaze, people lowered their heads in terror, fearful of meeting their stare.
Arrogant smiles appeared on the faces of the Black and White Twin Ghosts at the crowd’s reaction.
“Hmph! I expected to see proper martial artists at Lee Sin-pung’s sixtieth birthday celebration, but as I suspected, nothing impressive.”
“Heh heh! What more did you expect? We need only uphold Lee Sin-pung’s reputation.”
At the arrival of the Black and White Twin Ghosts, Steward Gu Jung-myeong rushed out like a hound.
“Welcome, welcome! Your esteemed presences are most heartily welcomed.”
“It’s been a long time, Steward Gu.”
“Indeed! We have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Please allow me to guide you to your seats.”
“Mm.”
“If you wait just a moment, the Sect Master will appear.”
“Is the old man in good health?”
“Thanks to your concern, he is in excellent form.”
“That is fortunate.”
The Black and White Twin Ghosts wore sinister smiles as they took the seats Steward Gu had indicated. Their seats were on a temporary platform erected above the martial grounds where the feast was being held. A dozen or so more chairs were arranged upon it.
Seated upon the platform, the Black and White Twin Ghosts exuded an air of supreme arrogance. They were, after all, beings for whom such behavior was entirely warranted.
Dam Ho quickly averted his gaze from the Black and White Twin Ghosts. No trace of emotion appeared on his face.
At that moment, two people approached him, a woman of fresh, radiant beauty and a handsome young man with upswept eyebrows.
They were Mun Su-gyeong and Jwa Sang-cheon.
Jwa Sang-cheon addressed Dam Ho familiarly.
“So we meet again.”
Dam Ho regarded Jwa Sang-cheon in silence. Jwa Sang-cheon’s face flushed red.
“Have you no manners? When someone greets you, you ought to return the greeting.”
“Was that a greeting?”
“What?”
“I thought I heard a dog barking.”
“You—!”
Jwa Sang-cheon’s shoulders trembled with rage. He looked as though he might strike Dam Ho at any moment.
Just then, Mun Su-gyeong placed a hand on Jwa Sang-cheon’s shoulder.
“Senior Brother! Please maintain your decorum.”
“Guh!”
Jwa Sang-cheon’s face twisted in revulsion. The previous day, he had waited to meet Lee Sin-pung, but his turn never came. Lee Sin-pung had ceased receiving guests after meeting the Southern Scholar from the Tongtong Sect, leaving an indelible sense of humiliation in Jwa Sang-cheon’s heart.
He had tried to vent his frustration on Dam Ho, but Mun Su-gyeong would not allow it.
“Senior Brother, let’s go.”
“But, “
“This benefits neither the Hyunhyeon Sect nor you, Senior Brother. If you insist on causing trouble, I will report everything that has happened here to Father.”
“Damn it!”
When Mun Su-gyeong took a firm stance, Jwa Sang-cheon could act no further. He glared at Dam Ho.
*’You will kneel before me and beg yet.’*
Jwa Sang-cheon spun around with a dramatic flourish.
Mun Su-gyeong sighed and offered Dam Ho a fist-and-palm salute.
“Please forgive my Senior Brother’s rudeness. He is not normally like this, but his mood has been sour of late, and he keeps committing breaches of etiquette.”
Unlike Jwa Sang-cheon, Mun Su-gyeong was the embodiment of courtesy.
“Oh, has Jin-bo arrived as well?”
When Dam Ho nodded silently, Mun Su-gyeong smiled.
“Please give him my regards as well. Then, “
Mun Su-gyeong departed.
Dam Ho gazed after her retreating figure for a long moment.
Just then, the voices of nearby merchants reached his ears.
“Have you heard the news?”
“What news?”
People showed interest in the merchant’s words.
“Hah! You haven’t heard it yet?”
“Come now, what is this news that you keep us in such suspense?”
“There’s been a bloodbath in Xinjiang.”
“A bloodbath?”
A mysterious expression settled over the listeners’ faces. Xinjiang was a region they frequently visited, and news of such an incident naturally drew their attention.
“You’ve heard of Seocheon Mountain Villa, haven’t you?”
“Would a merchant who travels between the Central Plains and the Western Regions not know Seocheon Mountain Villa? What on earth happened? Stop keeping us in suspense and tell us plainly.”
“Very well, I’ll tell you. Seocheon Mountain Villa was subjected to a massacre.”
“What do you mean? Seocheon Mountain Villa is one of the most prominent powers even in Xinjiang. How could they be massacred?”
“It’s true. My younger brother resides at the Blood Forest Fort, you know that, don’t you? He told me himself.”
“Haah!”
The merchant’s eyes lit up at his loquacious friend’s words. Instinctively, he knew his friend spoke the truth.
“Seocheon Mountain Villa was massacred? Then the losses must have been catastrophic.”
“It goes beyond what you’d call mere losses. They were virtually annihilated. The Villa Master, Eun Ha-seong, and most of their elite were completely wiped out—every last one.”
“That’s impossible…”
The merchant wore an expression of disbelief.
What manner of place was Seocheon Mountain Villa? While not widely known in the Central Plains, merchants who traveled to the Western Regions knew well that Seocheon Mountain Villa’s military strength was in no way inferior to the great sects of the Central Plains.
“What sect could possibly have waged war against Seocheon Mountain Villa? Was it the Blood Forest Fort?”
“The Blood Forest Fort had prepared for battle as well, but they never even had a chance to draw their swords.”
“If not the Blood Forest Fort, then which sect could it possibly be?”
“Don’t be shocked.”
The man’s voice dropped low. But the concentration of those gathered around him only intensified.
“It was a single person.”
“What?”
“A single man drenched Seocheon Mountain Villa in blood.”
“That’s impossible, “
“It’s the truth. My brother said the scene was a hellscape beyond comprehension. Corpses piled like mountains, and the blood they spilled formed rivers. The path that man walked was nothing but death from beginning to end. It was so terrible that the surviving martial artist of Seocheon Mountain Villa called him the Reaper.”
“The Reaper?”
“Yes! Because of that, the areas around Seocheon Mountain Villa have been in utter chaos.”
“Surely not?”
Distrust flickered across the listeners’ faces. But the man continued without a change in expression.
“The Blood Star of Xinjiang, the bloody star that descended upon Xinjiang. Those who witnessed the scene call him by that name.”
*Gulp!*
The sheer terror of the epithet made the listeners swallow dryly.
At that moment, the man looked around.
“I wonder, could the Blood Star of Xinjiang be here among us?”
“…?”
Everyone froze.
Then, in the next instant, the man burst out laughing.
“Ha ha ha! It was a joke! He must be a monster with three heads and six arms, wouldn’t you say? A creature like that could never set foot in a place like this.”
“Oh! You nearly scared us to death!”
“You trying to give people heart attacks?”
Relieved laughter and exclamations of exasperation echoed from all around.
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