The Cheonrang Sect sent a reply stating they would accept Pyo Seung’s proposal, on the condition that they would not harm the sect members or the people of Hangju.
Pyo Seung, holding the reply in his hand, suddenly felt a surge of irritation. Even though he had obtained the answer the Cheonrang Sect wanted, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going wrong.
Every time he received information about his opponent, the original plan and the current situation deviated slightly. However, Pyo Seung tried his best to ignore those thoughts.
‘As long as I keep Pang Gipyeong from stepping in, those guys are nothing…’
The difference in strength he had calculated made him turn a blind eye to reality.
The next morning, Pyo Seung led his subordinates and quickly entered Hangju. Upon arriving, he bypassed the main streets and circled around the outskirts toward the Heavenly Mandate Hall to keep his promise to the Cheonrang Sect.
The people on the street locked their doors at the sight of their murderous aura. Finally, a gate with a plaque inscribed with “Heavenly Mandate Hall” appeared ahead. Pyo Seung stopped about 10 yards from the gate.
His heart fluttered subtly. How long had it been since he felt this tension before a fight?
After calming his mind, he stepped forward and shouted.
“I am Pyo Seung, the Vice Sect Master of Haomun! Mo Seol, daughter of the traitor, come out immediately and receive the punishment for your father’s sins!”
Pyo Seung’s voice echoed in all directions.
*Creeeeak.*
Just then, the main gate slowly opened, and Nanseol and Bodyguard Gaho Wi appeared. Pang Gipyeong and Hong Hyeon stood behind Nanseol to prepare for any potential situation.
“Just take what you want. Don’t mention my father with that filthy mouth of yours.”
Pyo Seung’s face hardened at Nanseol’s sharp words spoken informally.
‘A brat with no respect… Let’s see if she can still wag her tongue like that in a moment.’
Suppressing his boiling anger, Pyo Seung stepped forward and looked at Pang Gipyeong.
“Junior Pyo Seung greets Senior Pang Gipyeong.”
“Do you know me?”
“I have never met you in person, but where in the martial world would there be a junior who does not know your fame?”
“Those are pleasant words. But I’m not sure if exchanging greetings is appropriate in this situation.”
“The situation is what it is, but there are laws in the martial world, so how could I pretend not to know you, Senior?”
“Is that so? Then I’ll consider the greeting received.”
“Thank you. But Senior, do you intend to get involved in this matter of Haomun?”
“Rather than involvement, I’ve been asked for a favor by the Hall Master of the Heavenly Mandate Hall, so what can I do? I have my reputation to uphold.”
“Then may I take this as the will of the Pang Family?”
Pang Gipyeong fell into thought at Pyo Seung’s question.
‘This is his preparation for me. He’s more of a fox than I thought.’
If he dragged the family into this, it would become an irreversible situation with Doak’s Haomun. Of course, it wouldn’t matter if they handled Doak as Gangchan planned. But when did things in the world ever go exactly as intended?
If anything went wrong, his position could become awkward. No matter what anyone said, his family was his top priority. Even if Pang Gipyeong was somewhat free from family constraints, he was still someone who had been educated by a Noble Family since childhood.
Everyone waited for Pang Gipyeong’s answer. From the atmosphere, it seemed that whether they would fight or not would be decided by this answer.
Finally, Pang Gipyeong spoke.
“It is my personal will.”
“Hahaha. Then I will take it as such and proceed with my sect’s business.”
With that, the battle was decided. Pyo Seung turned to the Seomyeongdae and shouted.
“Listen, everyone! From this moment on, we capture the traitor Mo Seol. You are free to kill anyone who interferes!”
“Waaaaah!!!”
Led by Pyo Seung, the Seomyeongdae charged toward the Cheongangmun.
***
Gangchan dropped through a hole in the ceiling into the room where the Haomun Sect Master was expected to be. Inside the room, an old man in shabby clothes was looking at him with fearful eyes. Additionally, a door that appeared to be a secret passage was open on one wall.
“Please spare me.”
The moment the old man bowed and asked for mercy, the door was smashed open, and ten guards entered the room at once.
“Who are you?”
As the ten guards entered the room simultaneously, the large room suddenly felt cramped.
‘They’re actually helping me by coming in all at once.’
Gangchan gripped the Demon Axe without a word. And then, the brutal attack began. In a room with almost no space to dodge, Gangchan’s attack was practically invincible.
The Chuyeongmyeolhon unfolded along with the Soul Axe. The Demon Axe crushed everything in its path, and the Soul Axe floating in the air swept through the guards at random.
*Crack! Flash!*
Streaks of light illuminating the dark room bloomed everywhere, and after a brief period of noisy sounds, the world became quiet. The ten guards all collapsed to the floor without even being able to lift a finger.
The old man, who had been watching this scene while prostrate, was repeating his plea for mercy like a person who had lost his mind. Gangchan, who was quietly watching the old man, suddenly began to laugh loudly.
“Hahahaha!!”
At Gangchan’s sudden behavior, the old man seemed even more startled, shrinking back and moving into a corner. He pleaded desperately, rubbing his hands together.
“I don’t know anything. Please spare me. *Sob, sob, sob.*”
“Hey. Honestly, if I had more time, I’d keep watching, but you’re really amazing.”
“…”
“Other people would be completely fooled.”
In an instant, the eyes of the shabby-looking old man changed, and he slowly stood up. From his body, which now had its back and shoulders straightened, flowed the dignity of a strong man.
“How did you know?”
“Hahaha. I just knew.”
“Strange. I didn’t make any mistakes.”
“There probably wasn’t anything you did wrong.”
“Anyway, who are you?”
“Asking that early, aren’t you? I’m Gangchan.”
“Gangchan?”
“Ah, maybe you don’t know my name. Then how about this? I’m Nanseol’s friend.”
“Nanseol?”
The old man looked puzzled, as if wondering what he was talking about. Then he slowly nodded his head.
“I see. You are the Cheongung of the Heavenly Mandate Hall.”
“Hey, old man. Since you know, let’s start quickly.”
“What do you want? I will give you much more than that girl.”
“What should I do? I’ve already received something great as a down payment, so that’s going to be difficult.”
As he spoke, Gangchan took out the Mangwon-pae and showed it. In the eyes of Doak, who recognized the Mangwon-pae, immense greed rose alongside astonishment.
“You’re saving me the trouble. As a reward, I’ll kill you without pain.”
Doak stepped forward, and a large red light shaped like an eye appeared on his chest, completely enveloping his body. At ê·¸ moment, that red energy began to be visible through Gangchan’s eyes.
Gangchan instantly gathered the energy that had seeped into him and burned it away at his fingertips. Then, a vivid sight was revealed. Twelve entities were hovering around the large, eye-shaped red light.
Jeok-ryong-tal-hon-sip-i-bi.
The martial arts of the Yang-cheon-gi-sa Doak, which no one was said to have ever seen. Gangchan spoke.
“It’s really pretty.”
The moment Gangchan’s voice was heard, the red light began to fluctuate violently.
“You can see this?”
“I’m sorry, but you can’t do anything to me with that strange energy.”
Gangchan slowly raised the Demon Axe.
“I’d like to see more, but I don’t have time.”
Twelve energies from the fluctuating red light shot toward Gangchan’s entire body.
*Boom! Thud!*
The twelve incoming energies struck the air membrane created by Gangchan’s Jui Gi and began to melt into him little by little. At the same time, the Demon Axe split the fluctuating red light in half.
*Rrrrrip!*
As the split red light flickered and scattered into the sky, the figure of a 60-year-old man with a clean face was revealed. Lumps of blood were flowing steadily from his mouth.
“To think the Red Dragon Soul-Severing Twelve Steps could be broken…”
A red line appeared on the old man’s forehead and gradually spread downward. Soon, the old man’s body, split in half, collapsed to the floor.
Watching that scene, Gangchan began to search the old man’s belongings. Taking out a flat, round ring from the left chest, Gangchan inserted his Mangwon-pae into the center of the ring.
The medallion fit perfectly, as if they had been one from the beginning. After confirming this, Gangchan immediately moved outside.
Snow began to fall in the dark sky where not even moonlight could be seen. Gangchan spread his Jui Gi widely around him. As expected, an immense energy was approaching this place from about 200 yards away.
Among them, the person who appeared on the roof emitted a massive amount of Mage Energy at the end. With that level of Mage Energy, only someone like Gwang-hyeol-ma-gun Bang Geuk would be able to detect it.
That was why he had hurried the fight. Gangchan jumped over the wall without hesitation and performed the Cheonryeongchukji.
In less than 5 minutes after Gangchan disappeared, a man with a robust physique dropped into the courtyard of the manor. Gwang-hyeol-ma-gun Bang Geuk entered the destroyed building and first examined the dead people.
‘Only one culprit?’
Examining the wounds of the people, Bang Geuk shot toward the secret passage door like a bolt of lightning. Then, he grabbed the old man in fancy clothes by the neck and dragged him out.
“Explain.”
“I didn’t see anything. When the strategist went up to the roof and the sound of fighting was heard, the Sect Master told me to jump into that door… I just jumped.”
“He was so confident, but he was eventually discovered. Then what?”
“I was on my way back halfway through, just in case. Truly.”
“Did you really not see anything?”
“Yes. I swear by the heavens.”
“You’ve worked hard all this time.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Bang Geuk’s blade left its scabbard and disappeared. The head of the old man who had been acting as the Sect Master flew into the sky.
Bang Geuk came out to the courtyard and sensed the energy around him. It had been barely 15 minutes since he detected the Mage Energy exploding here.
It was such a subtle Mage Energy that no one but him could have detected it, but the fact that someone had unleashed Mage Energy here, where the Cheonyeon Union was located, meant that the situation was urgent. That was why he had rushed here following the Mage Energy.
He looked around for a moment, but he couldn’t even find the corpse of Shadow Number 5, who was presumed to have unleashed the Mage Energy.
A person with enough skill to kill Shadow Number 5, Doak, and even the guards in a short span of 15 minutes. Gwang-hyeol-ma-gun Bang Geuk stayed at the manor a little longer to search everywhere before quietly leaving.
After dealing with Doak, Gangchan mounted Mong, who was resting in the inn’s stable, and set out for Huangshan in Anhui Province without delay. Having taken his own version of a rest, Mong ran vigorously along the dark road.
***
Gangchan arrived at Huangshan after riding for two full days. He saw the Pungwon Inn, where he had promised to meet the Haomun disciples. Entering the inn, Gangchan asked the attendant to prepare a vacant room.
“Are you staying the night?”
“No, I’m just going to rest for a while.”
The attendant looked at Gangchan with an awkward expression and mustered the courage to explain the situation.
“Even if you only rest for a short while, you have to pay for a full day’s stay.”
“I understand, so just prepare it.”
About 2 hours later, someone knocked on Gangchan’s door.
“Come in.”
As soon as Gangchan’s answer fell, two men entered the room.
“I am Chu Gyeong, a Mang-jang of Haomun.”
“I am Jo Cheol-han.”
After receiving their greetings, Gangchan introduced himself.
“I am Gangchan. I heard there would be three of you; did I hear wrong?”
“One person is far away and hasn’t arrived yet.”
“I see. I don’t have time, so I’ll get straight to the point. You heard from Go Seok, right?”
“We heard, but it was such an absurd story that…”
Gangchan took out the Mangwon-cheon-pae and placed it before them. The two men picked up the medallion and examined it closely, then knelt with tears of emotion.
“Mang-jang Chu Gyeong of Haomun greets the Mangwon-cheon-pae.”
“Mang-jang Jo Cheol-han of Haomun greets the Mangwon-cheon-pae.”
Gangchan helped them up as they sobbed with their heads bowed.
“Get up for now. There’s no time.”
The two men stood up and sat down.
“I don’t know if you know, but Doak is gone. When the other person arrives, the three of you should organize Haomun so there is no confusion. Is it possible?”
“It is possible as long as we have an order stamped with the Mangwon-cheon-pae.”
“Then make the order quickly and settle things fast. If time is delayed, Haomun could fall into internal strife.”
“We will take care of that matter.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you two and be on my way. Good luck.”
Having finished speaking, Gangchan hurried away. Chu Gyeong and Jo Cheol-han couldn’t quite believe the current situation. They stood there blankly, staring in the direction Gangchan had gone.