Chapter 97: Chapter 97

Mao and Jang I-seo exchanged glances. He had vanished without even hearing the answer.

“Which way?”

Jang I-seo’s eyes flicked between the south entrance they had come through and the north gate on the opposite side. So-o turned his head toward the north gate.

Outside the cult.

The gate leading beyond the cult’s borders.

“Jang I-seo…”

“Hm.”

Jang I-seo and Mao’s expressions darkened.

A First Grade Ghost could enter and exit the cult freely with a divine token, no permit required. Naturally, he could leave through the north gate.

But the moment he stepped out, his safety was no longer guaranteed.

Moreover, the fact that he had left without a word meant he had found something inside.

Which meant…

“The kid’s in danger.”

Mao cried out, his face drained of color. Jang I-seo pressed So-o in as calm a voice as he could manage.

“You didn’t just let him go knowing who he was, did you?”

True. A figure like the Sixth Young Master was a giant among giants, a First Grade Ghost in the Demonic Cult. There was no way he would have just let such an inexplicable action slide.

However.

“I let him go. What was I supposed to do, stop him?”

“What?”

“I can’t go through that back gate either. Why do you think my counter is on the south side? That’s outside my territory.”

“Why can’t you go out? You’re an outsider.”

“What are you talking about? I belong to the cult too. Can’t you tell? Supreme Heavenly Demon! All demons bow!”

Clack. So-o produced a black token from the table. On one side was a demon insignia, and on the back, the character for “three.”

It was a divine token designating a Third Grade Ghost, identical to Jang I-seo’s.

Undeniably genuine.

“Huh?”

Jang I-seo’s eyes widened in disbelief, a stunned breath escaping him.

Wait, then what was the cross necklace? And the tinted glasses? Anyone would mistake him for a Western Regioner.

“I did grow up in the Western Regions, but my bloodline is Central Plains. Well, they told me I had to convert to do business here. My father was originally a priest, you know? You understand? A believer from birth. But what can you do to make a living. There’s no business in front of money. Adjutant Jang should understand how I feel.”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

Slam! Jang I-seo struck the table in frustration. If the boy had simply vanished, that would be one thing, but the north gate meant he had almost certainly chased after the Iron Horse Bandits.

And they were…

‘Gu-yu is a man who defeated even one of the Shan Wang Jia’s Five Military Masters. Moreover, according to Sa Ho-jeong, the lieutenants’ skills are no joke either.’

After agonizing, Jang I-seo fired another question.

“Are you certain he hasn’t come back?”

“Can’t say. He could have come in through the outer road. But no word yet.”

“What were you going to tell him about the men he asked about?”

The Iron Horse Bandits. The unspoken subject.

Even So-o was only just beginning to learn about them.

But one thing he knew for certain was that right now, at this very moment, they were inside this Bumun Inn.

Also, that the Flying Dragon Hall had agents hidden all around the building outside, tracking them.

In short, this place was about to become a battlefield.

‘Jang I-seo… Is it more profitable to drag you into this mess as a variable, or is it better to quietly usher everyone out?’

But right at that moment. Clack!

A silver ingot was placed on the table.

So-o snapped his head up. It was him.

Jang I-seo.

“Let’s end the deliberation here.”

At Jang I-seo’s words, So-o burst out laughing.

Pfft! Honestly, what an entertaining fellow. But he wasn’t telling him this for the money. He was telling him because he was his VIP customer.

He snapped his fingers and spoke.

“I don’t know much about them either. But the moment that person uttered their three-character name, he walked right out that door.”

He left the moment the name was spoken?

Instantly, Jang I-seo’s mind raced, and he quickly scanned the room.

So-o, telling him not to waste time, voiced their name himself.

“Iron. Horse. Bandits.”

Then he hunched over the table, slipped his index finger under his armpit, and pointed to one side.

Jang I-seo and Mao’s heads turned slowly, until they arrived at a single spot.

“Damn it…”

Their eyes locked with four men sitting in front of the north gate.

Even at a glance, their frames were massive. Despite wearing masks, their features were striking, like wild beasts. They wore thick fur coats.

Those were the ones!

“Scatter!”

CRASH! Sensing danger, they flipped their table in unison, scattering hidden weapons in all directions as they bolted.

Argh!

A customer beside Mao was struck by a hidden weapon and collapsed, and the inn descended into pandemonium.

Jang I-seo immediately overturned his own table and blocked the incoming weapons. Thwack, thwack!

“Watch things here!”

Then he leaped onto the table and gave chase.

“Hey, Jang I-seo! Goddamn it… Hey, you alright?”

Mao checked the people struck by the hidden weapons, biting his lip hard. Fortunately, none had hit vital points. Seeing this, So-o sighed and began managing the situation.

“Alright, cult members exit south, non-members exit north! Slowly, in an orderly line. Hey, you. You’re not a cult member, you can’t go through the south gate. You go there, you’ll never come out. Alright, move, move!”

With his guards stationed throughout joining in, the chaos quickly subsided, and a physician on standby rushed over to examine the wounded.

Then So-o patted Mao on the shoulder as he stood with a serious expression.

“Are you going to keep staying here? You should go after them.”

“Jang I-seo told me to stay.”

“He doesn’t look like the type who listens to orders.”

“What, you punk?”

“You’re not really going to let Adjutant Jang go just like that, are you? You know that leaving the cult without a permit or a First Grade Ghost escort is treason, right? And I don’t know if you heard earlier, but Adjutant Jang doesn’t get along with the Flying Dragon Hall.”

“Why does that matter?”

“Because the Flying Dragon Hall is crawling all over this area.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that sooner!”

Mao’s face contorted. Seeing this, So-o’s eyes gleamed with interest.

‘What’s this. He’s different from what I heard. He actually cares about Jang I-seo? The troublemaker Seventh Young Master?’

For someone who bought and sold information, not knowing the Seventh Young Master was nonsense. Naturally, he knew all about Mao too.

A boy who treated people like jokes, who had never learned a single martial art. A talentless spoiled brat.

‘Jang I-seo is competent. He has a lot of money. For a man with no backing to secretly amass that much wealth makes him a top-tier talent.’

So-o was the Deputy Master of the White Crow Gate and Jang I-seo’s handler. Having cleaned up after him all this time, the assets he estimated were beyond imagination.

In short, he had a nose for money that was second to none.

‘But why would a man like that choose to become an adjutant? And the adjutant of the hopeless Seventh Young Master, no less.’

At first, he had thought it was simple ambition for prestige. After all, no matter how capable he was, he was still Seventh Grade Ghost. He had earned enough money, so he figured it was time to chase honor.

But wasn’t he working too hard for that?

He had even secretly eliminated Sa Do-cheol.

‘What if. Just what if. The Seventh Young Master that everyone ignored actually became the Young Cult Leader? What if Jang I-seo is scheming a game board so massive it defies imagination? Then… wouldn’t this be huge?’

So-o’s jaw dropped. He could smell it. He could smell it. The scent of a gambling table big enough to stake his life on.

“Do you know where Jang I-seo went?”

Mao shattered his reverie with an urgent question.

Burning eyes. Tightly pressed lips.

He was certain.

The Seventh Young Master, this kid… was no longer the troublemaker he used to be.

“I don’t know. But I know how to find out.”

So-o smiled meaningfully.

Mao nodded and stepped forward.

“Let’s go.”

And with that, the two headed for the north gate.

*

Meanwhile, outside, Jang I-seo clenched his jaw at the sound of a whistle piercing the air. FWEEE! Leaving the cult without a permit had already been spotted by the internal watchers.

And the first to mobilize in situations like this was the Flying Dragon Hall, which handled external affairs. They did not have a good relationship with Jang I-seo.

Clatter, clatter!

But he cast aside all distracting thoughts at the receding sound of hooves and surveyed his surroundings.

The men who had slipped out ahead of him.

Seeing that they had horses tethered in front of the inn, they were definitely men with something to hide.

Moreover, they were scattering into different alleys, a feat that clearly wasn’t practiced just once or twice.

An meticulously planned escape with secured retreats.

‘Catching all of them is impossible.’

Dash! Jang I-seo activated his lightness technique and landed atop a three-story building, his robes fluttering. He scanned the dust clouds rising between the buildings. Two on the left, one on the right, one to the north.

But the left and right had no exits. Men who had prepared horses wouldn’t have been ignorant of this.

In other words, the three weren’t trying to escape.

‘Those three are decoys!’

Then the real one was singular. Jang I-seo’s gaze locked onto the north. A man riding a horse, kicking up dust and galloping away at breakneck speed.

‘That one’s the leader!’

Dash dash dash! Making an instant judgment, Jang I-seo began sprinting across the rooftops like an assassin.

However, the distance didn’t close easily.

The horse the man rode was a short-legged, small-framed northern pony. It looked frail, but it was descended from the wild horses of cold climates, boasting excellent mobility and turning radius, ideal for retreat tactics.

Moreover.

‘Horseback skills of the northern tribes are second to none. But this man surpasses even their average by a wide margin.’

The way he pivoted and slipped through the alleys was the skill of someone properly trained in equestrial arts. At this rate, losing him was a foregone conclusion.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

The moment Jang I-seo steeled his resolve. BZZZT! Black lightning qi began to crackle from his running body.

『Thunder Circulation Method』

Long distance might be another matter, but short distance was enough.

Nothing was faster than light.

KWAANG! Pushing himself to the limit in one burst, internal energy swirled through his entire body like an explosion.

The Great Heavenly Circuit was already complete.

And CRACK!

The roof tiles where he had stood shattered into fragments, and his form vanished like a lightning bolt.

*

“Damn it! So the Bumun Inn is finished too.”

Meanwhile, the man fleeing on a gray pony looked back at the empty road behind him and let out a breath of relief.

His skin tone was Central Plains, but his features and bushy eyebrows resembled those of the Western Regions.

His name was Gwa-pyeong.

He was the Iron Horse Bandit lieutenant that everyone was searching for, the very man who had been scheduled to make the deal with Sa Ho-jeong.

And though he didn’t know the details, he could read the general flow of things.

The Slaughterhouse had been taken down, and the Demonic Cult had begun tracking them.

Yet despite this, he had risked the danger to scout for a new buyer.

But to think that the Bumun Inn’s proprietor, whom he had trusted, would betray them so openly.

“Treacherous wretches. First, I need to get out of here and return to the Captain.”

Gwa-pyeong contorted his brow and drove his horse harder.

And the moment the road leading to the steppes finally came into view.

NEIIIIGH!

“Gah?!”

Instantly, his horse let out a death knell scream, lost its balance, and tumbled into a cloud of dust.

Gritting his teeth against the excruciating pain, Gwa-pyeong scrambled to his feet.

And the moment he reached out to help his horse up.

“Dead…?”