Chapter 160: Chapter 160
“Aaaaaagh!”
Snake Evil screamed as he looked at Sword Evil’s sword, which had dug deep into his thigh.
While the Mukhyul Gang was also flustered by the sudden situation and did not know what to do, Sword Evil, who had flown five jang away, rose from his place while bleeding.
“Promissory note…… I will kill you…….”
“It was Snake Evil who hit you, so why are you killing me?”
Sword Evil looked once at the suffering Snake Evil, then said,
“……I will hit Snake Evil later. For now, I will kill you.”
I nodded.
“That makes somewhat more sense. Of course, only if you can catch me.”
Before Sword Evil and the Mukhyul Gang members could move, I unfolded Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art and leaped into the sky.
POP!
As the earth’s surface rippled like a wave and blocked Sword Evil’s vision while he rushed in, I stepped on the pavilion and immediately escaped the Mukhyul Gang.
I heard Sword Evil’s scream as he desperately tried to follow.
“My promissory note!!”
I said stop treating people like objects.
I headed straight for Hao Gate’s branch.
Time was short, but there should be some leeway before news from the Mukhyul Gang was delivered to the Yujang Sect.
Still, just in case, I increased my speed and headed for the fabric shop, but when I arrived, I could not help tilting my head.
“Huh?”
Since it was the middle of the night, I had even been prepared to wake the fabric shop owner, but the fabric shop’s lights were on, and Hae-ryeong was standing in front of it.
“What happened?”
“I thought you would come, so I was waiting.”
As expected, one did not become the Hao Gate Master’s first disciple for nothing.
“I am sorry, but I have no time, so I will get straight to the point.”
“Yes. Please speak.”
“Please spread a rumor. Say that the Yujang Sect and the Orthodox Path sects gathered money and hired assassins, and that those assassins are about to begin operating in earnest.”
“Will they believe that?”
“They will not. But that is fine. I only intend to make it bother them.”
If they were the Orthodox Path, they would not care much even if such a rumor spread.
On the other hand, from the perspective of the Black Path, who considered hiring assassins only natural, such a choice would feel reasonable, so they would feel pressure.
“What do you intend to do after that?”
“It has already become the momentum of riding a tiger, so it is too late to stop Yueyang’s Black Path forces. Instead, I intend to trip them.”
“……Are you thinking of a Decisive Martial Duel?”
“Yes.”
Concern settled on Hae-ryeong’s face.
“Even if a Decisive Martial Duel takes place, the Eight Evils will probably come out. The Eight Evils are not easy opponents.”
I knew that from having faced them.
If two people who had coordinated their hands and feet for a long time had not let their guard down, the move using Transplanting Flower and Grafting Tree Art would not have worked.
“I have thought of ways to respond.”
“……Understood. Is there anything else you need?”
“By any chance, how many people in Hao Gate know how to use martial arts?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because of this incident, several Orthodox Path sects collapsed, and the aftershock will also strike the Black Path sects. Is this not an opportunity to lead your people and seize interests?”
“……May we do that?”
Hae-ryeong seemed deeply ashamed that her spoon would be set upon the feast I had prepared.
If this tug-of-war between the Black Path and the Orthodox Path was going to continue in the future, it would be better to divide Yueyang into three.
Then neither the Orthodox Path nor the Black Path would be able to move rashly.
At the very least, the small and mid-sized sects would not be swept away by the aftermath of the storm.
I deliberately reassured her.
“Did you not say you would share the profits with me? If there is not at least this much compensation, I will not feel any desire to work either.”
I returned to the Yujang Sect as fast as if I were about to lose my breath.
Unlike when I had left, this time I simply made noise and landed inside the Yujang Sect.
THUD!
At the sudden commotion, there was a stir outside the Yujang Sect, but no one took any action.
“Good heavens! Young Master Jin, what were you doing?”
“Pardon?”
“What are all these wounds? Good heavens, what happened to your hand?”
Only then did I examine my body and saw that not only my left hand, but also my arms and legs were covered in wounds.
Well, considering that I had faced two of the Eight Evils, ending with this level of injury was a good outcome.
“It is nothing. More importantly, what is everyone doing right now?”
“They were standing watch and sleeping in shifts, as Young Master Jin instructed.”
Since they had at least slept in short snatches, their fatigue should have eased somewhat.
“Please wake everyone and tell them to prepare for battle.”
“Pardon?”
“This time, tell them not to spread out widely and to gather here at the Grand Riding Ground.”
“Did something happen?”
“The enemies will move soon.”
Seong Mo-ran went to wake the people while still half-doubting me, and I roughly finished emergency treatment.
People gathered, and the air of the Grand Riding Ground settled into silence.
A short while later, a commotion began outside the wall.
“What kind of bullshit is that!”
“An intruder? A fire?”
“What? Who?”
The commotion, as if they were looking for someone, grew larger and soon began to sound like shouting, and the rough Fighting Spirit was strong enough to carry over the walls and into the Yujang Sect.
Gulp.
The people gathered in the Grand Riding Ground swallowed hard as they watched the situation outside turn unusual, and they readjusted their grips on their swords.
CRASH!
The already half-broken wall collapsed, and the Black Path warriors, led by the man holding the scythe, surged into the Yujang Sect.
“Jin So-un!”
When the Black Path warriors looked for me right away, Seong Mo-ran and the rest of my group all looked at me at once.
Their eyes seemed to ask what in the world I had been doing this time.
I began gathering the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm in my hand.
RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE.
“Uhh?”
“Th-that is.”
Perhaps because they had already tasted the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm once, the warriors of the Mukhyul Gang faltered and did not try to enter.
Only the man holding the scythe stepped forward before us without fear.
“Was it truly you who attacked the Mukhyul Gang?”
“What are you talking about?”
At my calm reaction, the man holding the scythe ground his teeth.
“Just now, the main gang sent news. An intruder burned down the Mukjon Pavilion.”
“Goodness! Did such a thing happen? Should you not hurry and go there?”
“Jin So-un!!”
“Take even one more step. I will let you taste the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm you tasted yesterday once more.”
The man holding the scythe flinched, but he did not step forward.
“Do you think one hand can handle ten?”
“Bring the Deputy Gang Chief. I have something to say.”
In an instant, the man’s face crumpled.
“……Why are you asking for the Deputy Gang Chief and not the Gang Chief? I said there was a fire. I never mentioned the Gang Chief’s death.”
I answered while deliberately pretending to be surprised.
“Oops! My mistake.”
“……So it was indeed you who assassinated the Gang Chief.”
At the man holding the scythe’s words, the people of the Yujang Sect silently gasped in shock.
Gold-Silver-Copper looked as if they might faint at any moment.
“Tell the Deputy Gang Chief. If he does not come tomorrow, even if the Yujang Sect is exterminated, the next one to die will be you, Deputy Gang Chief.”
“Grrr.”
The taut air continued for a while.
The man holding the scythe looked at me as if he would shatter his teeth, then soon turned and went back.
When the tension passed, not only the people of the Yujang Sect, but even the children of the Taeul Sect sank to the ground one after another.
“Phew……. I thought I would die from fear.”
At Geum-pyo’s words, I withdrew the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm and clicked my tongue.
“If you are afraid of mere Black Path trash like that, do you think you can live in the Jianghu?”
But for some reason, the people’s expressions twisted strangely.
“Eh? What are you talking about?”
“……Hm?”
Geum-pyo looked at me as if he found it absurd.
“I meant Senior Brother is frightening. ‘Oops! My mistake??’ What was that creepy line? I nearly wet myself.”
Eun-ho trembled and chimed in.
“Brother, did you see how you grinned while saying that? I thought you were a ghost.”
Calling the Eldest Senior Brother a ghost, of all things.
“…….”
Tsk.
Was it that strange?
When day broke, a small table was set in the front yard of the Yujang Sect.
It had been brought from the Murim Alliance’s Yueyang Branch, and three chairs were placed around the table.
The future of the Yujang Sect would be decided at this simple place.
Early in the morning, I sought out the Yujang Sect Leader and tried to tell him the things that needed to be said today and the contents to negotiate.
However, the Yujang Sect Leader firmly refused.
“This is not something I can do. Please go out in my place.”
“Pardon?”
“If not for you, the Yujang Sect would already have been exterminated, and everyone here would have become Lonely Ghosts. Therefore, the person who sits there should be you, not me.”
Of course, his words were not wrong, but this was a place where the survival of his sect was at stake.
It was not a place where a disciple from another sect should step forward.
“I do not know how to deal with Black Path warriors who possess overwhelmingly greater power than I do. But you struck the Mukhyul Gang and even took the Mukhyul Gang Chief’s life. The one who should sit here now is not me, but you.”
“…….”
“Do not worry. Just because I did not make the choice myself does not mean I will evade responsibility.”
Since he spoke that far, I had no choice but to nod and say,
“Understood. In that case, there are two things I wish to ask.”
“What are they?”
I stared into the Sect Leader’s eyes, which were still weakly wavering.
“How much can you stake?”
“…….”
“I need to know what you can stake in order to negotiate.”
After thinking for a moment, the Sect Leader nodded once and looked straight into my eyes.
“……I will stake my neck and the Yujang Sect’s signboard.”
“Father!”
“““Sect Leader!”””
Jang Woo-jae and the disciples of the Yujang Sect stepped forward in shock, but the Sect Leader raised his hand and stopped them.
“I want nothing. Please only ensure that our people of the Yujang Sect do not die because they came from the Yujang Sect.”
His ruined appearance remained unchanged, but his eyes alone were burning hot.
It was the appearance of someone determined to fulfill his responsibility to his place until the very end.
Looking into his eyes, I somehow felt a strong conviction that the Yujang Sect’s end would not be today.
Because the heads of the sects that had maintained their line to the end even after the Great Righteous-Demonic War had usually had those eyes.
At that moment, Jang Woo-jae, who had been standing beside him, spoke with the same eyes as his father.
“In that case, I will stake mine too!”
“Woo-jae!”
“Father! I cannot drive only you into the jaws of death. Representative Jin! I will take responsibility with him.”
Jang Woo-jae’s attitude and eyes were so firm that even the Sect Leader could no longer think of stopping him.
“Understood. I have certainly received both of your lives. Then I will ask the second question.”
I caught my breath once.
Because it was a question that might offend not only the Sect Leader of the Yujang Sect, but everyone in the Yujang Sect.
“Can you, Sect Leader, seize victory against a master of the Mukhyul Gang?”
Asking a martial artist to state the measure by which his martial strength could be judged was an act that touched the most fundamental pride of martial artists.
Broadly speaking, it was no different from a nasty provocation used by Black Path warriors or thugs when trying to offend an opponent.
“…….”
As expected, the eyes of the Yujang Sect warriors were not kind.
Even so, I had to ask.
Because a plan could only be built perfectly when there was accurate information.
“Who…… must I face?”
The Sect Leader spoke as if he already knew what I was planning.
He was a fairly quick-witted person.
“The Deputy Gang Chief.”
“……!”
Although the Gang Chief of the Mukhyul Gang had died because vanity ruled his head, that did not mean the skills of the Mukhyul Gang Chief or Deputy Gang Chief could be looked down upon.
After all, they were the leaders of a Black Path sect that had endured for fifty years in Yueyang, which had been ruled by Wudang and Diancang.
Perhaps the disciples of the Yujang Sect also thought it was unreasonable, for their complexions turned ashen.
‘As expected, is it difficult?’
The Decisive Martial Duel needed to be carried out with the involved parties as much as possible.
The moment those from the Eight Evils all entered the Decisive Martial Duel, the match would be as good as over.
In any case, even if we gave those from the Eight Evils only the minimum number of seats, if the person from the Yujang Sect lost, that too would become a serious problem.
At the Sect Leader’s lack of an answer, I looked at Namgung Seon-hwa.
The second card I could use right now.
At the very least, they would not be able to object to a Decisive Martial Duel that Namgung Seon-hwa participated in.
While I was running various plans through my head, the Sect Leader of the Yujang Sect broke the silence.
“I can win.”
“Pardon?”
Oops, I was too surprised.
I was startled by the words that slipped out before I realized it and tried to smooth things over, but the Sect Leader nodded as if it was fine.
“It is all right. In the world, it is known that my skill is not that exceptional. But I have a hidden ultimate technique that I have kept concealed my entire life.”
The Sect Leader stopped speaking for a moment and looked around at the people of the Yujang Sect.
He caught his breath once, then spoke in an upright voice.
“So please make your plan assuming that I will win.”
In an instant, the surrounding air changed.
The faces of the people of the Yujang Sect looked as if emotion had welled up within them.
I nodded.
Had he always practiced the Jianghu proverb that said to hide thirty percent of one’s skill?
The Sect Leader of the Yujang Sect looked different to me now.
“Then that is settled. If we have one more person from the Yujang Sect……”
“Representative Jin!”
As expected, the first to answer was Jang Woo-jae.
He looked at me with unwavering eyes and nodded slightly.
He was certainly not strong, but his gaze and actions were full of courage and conviction that knew no fear.
It was no coincidence that those without power inside the Murim Academy followed Jang Woo-jae.
“Then that is settled.”
The moment I nodded, an administrative officer of the Murim Alliance approached and told us that everyone had gathered.
Just as I was about to move toward the negotiation table,
“Wait, is a Decisive Martial Duel not fought by a total of three people?”
The Sect Leader asked as if puzzled.
I stopped walking for a moment, looked at him once, and said,
“I will go out.”
The Mukhyul Gang, Black Axe Palace, Ghost Sword Pavilion, Spear Ghost Sect, Blood Serpent Sect, Western Evil Sect…… and so on.
Nine Black Path sects leading this matter in Yueyang had swarmed here.
Nearly three thousand people had gathered around the Yujang Sect alone.
Those who had been doing business nearby put away their stalls, and those who had opened their windows shut them tightly for fear their eyes might meet.
But the funny thing was that among them, there were also those who had experienced the matter of the Demon Spirit Plateau with me.
They waved their hands and raised their swords as if they had met an old friend, emphasizing their presence.
‘Lunatics.’
I slowly approached the table.
At the seat of honor, Dang Hyeok-je sat with his face deeply furrowed, and in front of him was someone who seemed to be the Gang Chief of the Mukhyul Gang, baring his teeth and growling.
Behind him stood Sword Evil and Snake Evil, whose leg was wrapped in bandages.
Beside him stood the Palace Lord of the Black Axe Palace, along with Spear Evil, Tiger Evil, and Axe Evil.
It was an open signal that if this meeting went wrong, they would wipe out the Yujang Sect.
“Where did the Sect Leader of the Yujang Sect go, and why is a bastard like you coming out?”
“I have been entrusted with all decision-making authority by the Sect Leader. In any case, was it not me you wanted to see?”
So Gyeong-chu, the Deputy Gang Chief of the Mukhyul Gang, made a face like an evil spirit.
“Do you think negotiations are possible after daring to do such a thing to the Mukhyul Gang?”
“Then why did you crawl all the way out here?”
“C-crawl out……?”
Dang Hyeok-je, whose face had been furrowed, gasped and sent a sound transmission.
-Can you not choose your words a little?
Of course I could not. Especially in a place like this.
I lightly ignored the sound transmission and continued speaking.
“Did you not come all the way out here because even you thought something was going wrong?”
“……Watch your tongue, brat. We may simply push everything down even now.”
“How very possible.”
“What?”
“If all of you begin acting collectively instead of as separate sects, the Murim Alliance will step forward in earnest. The Black Path Alliance has not even been founded yet. Can you wage war against the Murim Alliance?”
“…….”
Dang Hyeok-je’s face turned pale.
“Furthermore, even the Black Path Alliance would find it difficult to accept you as founding members after you offended the Murim Alliance. In any case, the Black Path Alliance cannot ignore the Murim Alliance.”
So Gyeong-chu’s face stiffened.
BANG!
At the sound of me striking the table, So Gyeong-chu flinched slightly and looked furious.
Everyone’s attention gathered on me.
“I am saying that you are now cornered in a shitty situation.”
“…….”
I could feel the initiative gradually entering my hands.
I leaned back and leisurely changed my tone.
“I will give you a chance. Let us end the war between the Mukhyul Gang and the Yujang Sect through a Decisive Martial Duel.”
“Do you think we will accept that?”
I quietly looked at So Gyeong-chu.
“…….”
I clasped my hands and covered my mouth, continuing to glare at him until he grew uncomfortable.
“My mood is currently very displeased.”
I took in, one by one, those from the Eight Evils and the heads of the Black Path sects with my eyes.
“You attacked opponents who had expressed surrender without mercy, and you chased down and killed those who had lost the will to fight.”
TAP. TAP.
I stopped speaking for a moment and tapped the table a couple of times with my fingers.
“……In my eyes right now, you do not look like human bastards. You look like beast bastards.”
“You bastard!”
“Hey! Watch your mouth!”
So Gyeong-chu and the heads of each Black Path sect showed their displeasure, but I did not care.
In the first place, the reason the Black Path Alliance was supposed to be made was to prepare together against a greater evil. It was not meant to swallow a rotten apple and pretend it was fine.
“If the Yujang Sect is ultimately exterminated by the hands of the Mukhyul Gang, I will cast aside everything else and kill the Gang Chief, Deputy Gang Chief, Hall Masters, Deputy Hall Masters—every single bastard in the Mukhyul Gang. The same way I killed your Gang Chief.”
“…Does the Mukhyul Gang look that easy to you?”
“You saw it, so you should know. My Concealment Art is difficult for anyone to detect, and my Movement Art cannot be chased by anyone in the Mukhyul Gang, not even Snake Evil. You people will have to sleep in discomfort and unease for the rest of your lives.”
“…….”
So Gyeong-chu turned his head and looked at Snake Evil.
Snake Evil merely glared at me with a face that looked as if he wanted to kill me and said nothing.
It was practically proof that my words were not wrong.
“If you commit such an act, it will be difficult for you to operate in the Murim Alliance as well.”
I let out a faint laugh.
“If I were worried about operating in the Murim Alliance, would I have done something like Black Path Night March in the first place?”
“…….”
So Gyeong-chu glared at me for a long time, then swallowed a groan.
“The result of the Decisive Martial Duel?”
“If the Yujang Sect loses, they will hand over their land, sect, signboard, businesses, and so on, then leave Yueyang. The name Yujang Sect will never again be heard anywhere. If the Mukhyul Gang loses, they will compensate the Yujang Sect for the damage suffered because of the war, and deliver consolation money to the families of the dead.”
“…….”
“I hope you do not spout the bullshit that this is unfair.”
“You bastard. You have a foul mouth.”
I pointed with my chin at Snake Evil and Sword Evil.
“If those two had not been there, the Gang Chief would not have been the only one to die yesterday.”
“…….”
“Do not even think about filling all three seats with the Five Evils you invited. At least two seats must be taken by warriors of the Mukhyul Gang. Do not forget that this is a war between the Yujang Sect and the Mukhyul Gang.”
So Gyeong-chu looked at the man holding the scythe.
The man holding the scythe nodded slightly.
“Fine.”
“The duel will be held one week later, here.”
“We will hold it right now.”
“Do you not even intend to clear away the Mukhyul Gang’s corpses?”
“……Then three days later, here.”
Three days…… three days…… no matter how I thought about it, it was a tight amount of time.
But judging from the dissatisfaction-filled expressions and killing gazes of those Black Path bastards, even that time looked precarious.
I nodded.
“Very well.”
After rising from my seat, I walked toward the Yujang Sect, then turned back again and pointed at Snake Evil.
“But why did you bother bringing that crippled foot?”
Snake Evil glared at me as if he would kill me.
What are you looking at? What are you going to do about it?
***
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