“Why haven’t the reports come in yet?”
Lee Cheongmyeong asked the Nechonggwan. The Nechonggwan was the one who relayed information from the middle. If nothing came from the Seong Gajang, there was nothing to report.
“At this rate, even if they had started from Hyeong-bong instead of Yeogang, they should have arrived by now.”
“I sent some reliable Bochae and a few Bodyguards.”
Lee Cheongmyeong sighed. The Nechonggwan was too slow. Their relationship was purely transactional, so there was no sense of loyalty. Of course, it was also because Lee Cheongmyeong himself had been rough on him that he couldn’t become truly loyal.
“Shouldn’t this have been done earlier? Much earlier.”
The Nechonggwan felt wronged. Lee Cheongmyeong always spoke as if he predicted things no one else could foresee and acted accordingly. Still, the Nechonggwan had no choice but to accept it. It wasn’t just about martial skill—he was paid handsomely by Lee Cheongmyeong, after all.
“Any contact from that side?”
“No. Nothing yet.”
Lee Cheongmyeong immediately grabbed a wooden box nearby and threw it at the Nechonggwan. The box shattered, and blood ran down the Nechonggwan’s mouth.
Lee Cheongmyeong was always like that. If contact with the ‘other side’—wherever that was—was delayed even slightly, he reacted violently. If he had known exactly where it was, he probably wouldn’t have exploded like that.
The Nechonggwan didn’t know, but the reason Lee Cheongmyeong was so desperate was that it concerned Cheonjuseong. More than the Seong Gajang, Cheonjuseong was what weighed on his mind.
Originally, they were supposed to maintain regular contact, but at some point, communication with Cheonjuseong was cut off. Lee Cheongmyeong bit his thumb and cursed. Though the loss of contact with Seong Gajang and Cheonjuseong simultaneously might be unrelated, it left him uneasy.
“This won’t do. Nechonggwan, go see for yourself.”
“What?”
“I don’t trust those kids. Take Jin-cheol and Seong-beom with you. If you ride horses, you can make a round trip in two si-jin.”
The Nechonggwan was dumbfounded by Lee Cheongmyeong’s impromptu plan, but he had no choice. Lee Cheongmyeong and the Nechonggwan were, in a way, bound by fate—they had to follow his orders.
“…Yes. I’ll go and return.”
Both Lee Cheongmyeong and the Nechonggwan wondered how they had gotten entangled with such a reckless person.
***
Jungwon was vast. There were many who lived their whole lives never leaving their own fortress.
I, in my past life, was no different. I hadn’t even had time to visit all the places within Gwangseo Province. So moving freely like this, without worrying about who was watching, felt strange.
But it was interesting. Walking, sometimes encountering unfamiliar people on forest paths or country roads was common.
“Heh heh. Hey, you lost your way?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Judging by your clothes, you seem to be from a noble family. Why are you wandering alone?”
The man, wearing shabby clothes, carried a jige—a wooden frame packed neatly with firewood and lumber—on his back.
“Don’t walk alone from now on. Just because you carry a sword at your waist doesn’t mean you’re invincible.”
He spoke while slyly turning his hand behind his back.
“What if you meet a bad adult like me?”
Then he swiftly pulled out a dokki (short dagger) and struck down toward me.
“Ugh!”
The dokki sliced through the air, but the man’s balance was broken by the full force of my counterstrike. With his balance lost, he exposed his pale neck to me, and all I had to do was finish the move. I severed his neck and tied it to a nearby tree.
The road to Yeogang was always like this. Maybe it was because I wore fine clothes and looked young.
But most of those people never realized they smelled the bloodline of their target and approached with a false sense of familiarity. Even if I had looked, they were just common riffraff I could easily avoid.
Only a handful of people genuinely worried about me. To be precise, they wore looks of pity. They seemed to think I was going to die soon.
Walking from Okhwasan to Yeogang took about six si-jin. That meant traveling nonstop for half a day. It wasn’t urgent. If it had been, I would have arranged a horse from the village.
But I wanted to enjoy walking outside peacefully like this. Of course, it wasn’t truly peaceful, but it had its own charm.
I never stopped walking toward Yeogang. Without taking Haemo Pills, I would have had to rest several times along the way.
However, now the balanced energy from the Hadanjeon steadily supplied my arms and legs with stable qi, and I felt no fatigue.
By sunset, I arrived in Yeogang.
“Come to think of it, this is my first time visiting Yeogang.”
It was one of the villages near Namchang but the first time I had come. Naturally, it was no more bustling than Namchang.
Small inns fluttered their flags sparsely. It wasn’t yet fully night, so a few people still roamed the streets. I stopped a random merchant and asked,
“Excuse me, sir, do you know where the Seong Gajang is?”
“Seong Gajang? Oh, that place.”
The man roughly explained. After passing the market, turn right three times. I thanked him and set off to find the Seong Gajang.
Though the directions were simple, it still took half a si-jin, but I eventually found the Seong Gajang’s place.
It was suspicious at a glance. There were no houses nearby, only a solitary estate. A huge spider web hung across one corner of the gate, and the signboard was on the verge of falling apart, though the gate was well-maintained.
They disguised it as much as possible to seem abandoned, but many people must have come and gone. Geumwolsang clearly had good informants. I’d ask more later.
There was no hurry. The big fight was over, but I had no intention of wasting time. I walked up to the main gate and rattled the door. It was unlocked.
“Anyone here?”
I shouted loudly as I entered. There was evidence of many people living here, but no one was in sight.
That made sense. The Seong Gajang’s people were buried underground at Okhwasan after all.
But I hadn’t come here for that reason.
They must have had communication books they exchanged, and at least one person should still remain.
“Who the hell barges in without knocking?”
As expected, someone inside opened the door with a bothered expression. He looked like he’d just woken up, with sleep crust in his eyes reflecting the moonlight.
“What? What time is it now?”
He glanced at the moon in the sky and frowned.
“There’s no way they wouldn’t have returned by now.”
Ignoring him, I went about my business, but the man’s eyes finally landed on me.
“Are you sent by the elder brother?”
His voice held a faint hope, wishing that I was a messenger from the Seong Gajang’s people and that there was a reasonable explanation for the delay.
His eyes were unfocused—probably due to the moon’s backlight—and he didn’t even recognize me.
“Then who are you? From a Sega?”
“Yes. From the Hwanggeum Family.”
“Is that so? Then come inside…”
He started to say, then abruptly stopped. I watched quietly as he drew a hidden dagger from his sleeve.
Though I couldn’t see his face well, I could hear the tension in his voice.
Just then, a sudden sound of a door opening came from behind.
I looked back—and smiled as I recognized a familiar face.
It was the Nechonggwan. Flanking him were two Bodyguards. Our eyes met. From his angle and distance, my face must have been clear.
“…Gongja-nim, what brings you here?”
The Nechonggwan asked. I asked the same question back.
“Nechonggwan, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here on Sega business.”
“So am I.”
At my words, the Nechonggwan frowned and looked around.
“You came without the Oejonggwan?”
“Yeah.”
“Bold to come outside the walls like this.”
His expression relaxed noticeably. He must have always assumed that if I was here, the Oejonggwan would be nearby.
“I don’t know why you came here, but as Nechonggwan, I have the responsibility to oversee your actions.”
“Still that line, Nechonggwan?”
Looking at him, I realized Lee Cheongmyeong still didn’t know the situation was over. If he’d been a bit smarter, I expected he would have already fled the Sega.
But sending the Nechonggwan here meant he still hadn’t grasped what was going on.
The alliance between Lee Cheongmyeong and the Nechonggwan was no secret. It wasn’t a great secret, really—Lee Cheongmyeong often summoned the Nechonggwan to the Geumjeongwon.
“Elder Lee Cheongmyeong is already finished. The people who worked with him will soon be finished as well.”
A brief silence followed. Everyone except me looked tense. Only then did I finally draw my sword from the belt.
“Nechonggwan, you’ve worked hard so far in your devotion to the Sega.”
I let my true qi flow through my body. The fact that I could emit it outside my body meant I had certainly advanced in the art of Jin.
I emitted qi as I slowly walked toward the Nechonggwan.
How much pressure that was for him, I didn’t know, but both the Seong Gajang’s men behind him and the two Bodyguards in front lunged forward simultaneously from front and back.
***
The Nechonggwan felt the clear, white jin qi radiating from Gold-necked Hwan’s body. Even he, a martial artist, could feel it, so the nearby Bodyguards must have sensed it even more keenly.
He couldn’t understand it, but the closer Gold-necked Hwan came, the tighter his breath felt strangled.
Perhaps the Bodyguards and the Seong Gajang’s men reacted so desperately because of that—a blow to their pride as they felt their necks threatened by Gold-necked Hwan.
The Bodyguards and the Seong Gajang’s men pounced on Gold-necked Hwan, trampling forward. Since the Bodyguards were Lee Cheongmyeong’s own warriors, they had no hesitation in harming a direct subordinate.
The Nechonggwan tensed up slightly. Though he felt a threat from Gold-necked Hwan, was it not possible to deal with three men? His real worry was what would happen if the Youngest Master died.
But such worries proved unnecessary.
“Our Sega’s Bodyguards really are ruthless.”
Gold-necked Hwan pressed his sword horizontally and simultaneously blocked all three blades. Blue light shone from his sword, and a muffled explosion echoed.
“Inner power.”
Even if the Nechonggwan didn’t know much about martial arts, he could recognize the sound of inner qi colliding with inner qi. The threat Gold-necked Hwan had radiated earlier was no lie.
Surprised by the unexpected surge of inner power, the warriors recoiled but swung their swords again, their blades now shining with even stronger light.
Inner qi extended the effective range of their swords. To focus only on what was visible was to risk falling victim.
Gold-necked Hwan bent his knees slightly and leapt upward.
“You’re still green! Even third-rate fighters know that striking upward is a last resort!”
One of the Seong Gajang’s men shouted. He was right.
Movement in midair was restricted unless one was a master of void walking. Jumping up to evade was one of the last options.
The three warriors gathered beneath the probable landing spots and aimed upward kicks.
Whether they saw it or not, the Nechonggwan did. The faint smile on Gold-necked Hwan’s lips reflected in the moonlight.
Gold-necked Hwan stabbed his sword deep behind his own waist in midair and then swung it powerfully. White ki waves like ocean swells appeared from the sword, glowing beautifully and fiercely under the moonlight.
“How is that possible…”
One of the three whispered in disbelief.
Swoosh!
The sound of water splashing against the ground echoed as all three fell at once. Gold-necked Hwan swiftly swung his sword, severing the backs of their necks deeply.
“Striking downward is stronger than from above, even third-rate fighters know that.”
Gold-necked Hwan said that as if lecturing the bleeding men, then turned to face the Nechonggwan.
The Nechonggwan’s mind raced.
Should he beg now? Cry out that he had grown stronger? Threaten that killing him would strengthen the Elders’ opposition?
Just as he thought this, Gold-necked Hwan flew forward, sword pointed ahead, and swung.
The Nechonggwan felt a dull, crushing pain at his neck and lost consciousness.
***
How much time passed? The Nechonggwan opened his eyes. A cold aura lingered. His hands and feet were shackled and bound to the wall, restricting his movement. His neck throbbed, and his head was dull.
He was unsure whether he was alive or dead.
Then someone opened the door and entered. Of course, it was Gold-necked Hwan.
“You’re awake, Nechonggwan.”
Gold-necked Hwan pulled over a chair and sat in front of the shackled man.
“I have many questions for you.”
As he spoke, a faint blue gleam shone in Gold-necked Hwan’s eyes.
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