Chapter 25: You’ve Come to the Right Place
Chapter 25: You’ve Come to the Right Place
“I asked you a question. Who the hell is that guy?”
Gwon barked the words, glaring at Yang Dang.
“Just a ronin I haven’t disposed of yet.”
“You should have killed him! The deal was to hand over only the woman and the child, wasn’t it?”
“I’ll handle it.”
“Do it now!”
Yang Dang drew his sword and approached me. He looked confident, certain of his victory. I wondered how much more arrogance and delusion my youthful face would provoke in the future, and how many more men like Yang Dang it would summon.
“From the look of it, you’re just a bunch of thugs who betrayed your master,” I said calmly. “Do you really think you’ll get paid? They’ll probably kill you to silence the witness and pocket your share, too.”
Gwon’s eyes flared with rage. “What? A thug who betrayed his master?”
“I’m keeping it civil since there’s a kid present.”
Gwon let out a hollow, incredulous laugh. “This bastard is out of his mind.”
“Struck a nerve, did I? You were really planning to kill him and keep the money, weren’t you? Don’t bother. I killed the rest of his comrades before I got here.”
Gwon’s face flushed, unable to hide his true intentions.
“You vermin-like ronin!” Gwon shouted to his subordinates. “Kill that bastard first!”
Three masked men stepped forward.
“See? He said ‘that bastard first,’” I remarked. “Doesn’t that mean you’re next?”
Yang Dang couldn’t hide his growing unease.
“If you’re going to run, you should at least get your money first.”
Yang Dang, who had taken a step back, flinched. “What nonsense are you talking about? When did I ever say I was running?”
Just as he roared in anger—
Swish!
A hidden weapon thrown by Gwon sliced through the air. Unable to dodge the sudden projectile, Yang Dang collapsed on the spot.
“Idiot. This is what happens when you handle things so sloppily.”
I looked down at the dead Yang Dang and spoke. “I told you—live like that, and it’ll come back to haunt you. Now, it’s your turn.”
This time, I addressed Gwon.
“You’re just like him. You should have kept at least one of them alive to help you face me. Why kill him just because you lost your temper? How do you expect to survive long if you can’t even control your anger?”
“How long are we going to listen to this brat’s lip?”
At Gwon’s shout, the three masked men drew their swords and closed in. They were indeed skilled—enough to feel they didn't need Yang Dang as a shield.
I glanced at the woman and gestured for her to cover the child’s eyes. She pulled the boy close, shielding his eyes and ears.
I didn't intend to drag this fight out. Before they could attack, I lunged forward.
I activated the Underworld King Step from the Wind God Four Steps.
Though I was only at the beginner stage of the technique, it was enough to make my opponents look like infants. They weren't even given a chance to defend. In a flash, I was right in front of them; by the time they realized I was there, their throats were already slit.
I saw the eyes of the second man widen behind his mask. If I could read his thoughts, they probably would have been something like, ‘Gah! What—’ before his throat was cut as well.
The third masked man failed to react even as his two comrades fell. In reality, not even a blink’s worth of time had passed.
With the Wind God Four Steps added to my original martial arts, this was an attack they couldn't have blocked even if they had prepared for a hundred years. Just like the others, I closed the distance with the Underworld King Step and cut the third man down with the Flying Heaven Sword Art.
Gwon stared at me, his face twisted in horror. To his eyes, it must have looked like three sword lines appeared simultaneously as his subordinates collapsed all at once.
“Fast Sword techniques?”
“I didn't even use Fast Sword techniques, but I suppose it looked that way to you.”
“W-who are you?” Gwon’s voice trembled with terror.
Instead of answering, I turned to the woman. “Who is this man?”
“His name is Kwon Won. He was one of the vassals protecting our family. I am Geum Sa-yeon, the daughter of the Golden Manor Lord.”
“The Golden Manor!”
I acted surprised, but I already knew exactly who she was. Her father was Geum A-su, a merchant said to be among the top ten in the Central Plains. He was the wealthiest man in Fujian and the master of the Golden Manor.
This was the reason I had traveled all this way.
The Rebellion of the Golden Manor.
This was the incident Im Chu had told me about—the event where the Golden Manor Lord lost his life after being betrayed by his most trusted vassal. The daughter of the Golden Manor Lord, who had narrowly escaped the trap due to a change in her schedule, had tried to flee by hiring ronin, but in the original timeline, they had all perished.
“I wish to hire you, young hero. Please, help us.”
“The situation has changed, so my price has gone up.”
“That is fine. We can afford any price, no matter how high. Please, kill that man and save my father.”
At that, Kwon Won began to plead with me. “Spare me and join our side! I’ll tell the Elder to give you more money than that woman ever could!”
“More money than the daughter of the Golden Manor Lord? How?”
Kwon Won was momentarily speechless. I walked toward him and rebuked him coldly.
“You said you were a vassal? Then your place should have been in front of that woman and child, protecting them.”
Kwon Won tried desperately to dodge my blade, but the gap in our skill was not something that could be bridged by a frantic struggle for survival. My sword sliced through Kwon Won’s bone and flesh, piercing his heart.
He collapsed with a single, short scream. Only then did Geum Sa-yeon look relieved, though she still kept the child’s eyes and ears covered.
I searched the bodies of Kwon Won and the masked men, collecting daggers to use as hidden weapons. The place we were headed would be crawling with enemies.
“Let’s go.”
“We have to take my Yang-i to a safe place first.”
I climbed onto the driver’s seat. “Get in. Right now, the safest place is by my side.”
Geum Sa-yeon didn't hesitate for long. She had seen my skill firsthand, and she would have been dead already if not for me. As she climbed in with the child, the carriage turned around and began to race back the way it had come.
* * *
Yeo Sang.
The Lord of the Yeo Family Manor, the guardian force of the Golden Manor, and the mastermind behind today’s betrayal.
He had prepared for this day for ten long years. During that time, he had won over the key martial artists of the Golden Manor, eliminated others by disguising their deaths as accidents, and sent those he couldn't sway or kill to distant locations.
He believed he had succeeded perfectly—until I reappeared with Geum Sa-yeon.
When Geum Sa-yeon and the child stepped out of the carriage, he smiled broadly. He mistakenly thought his subordinates had captured them alive.
“Hahaha!”
Had he lost this mother and son, he wouldn't have been able to sleep peacefully for the rest of his life.
“Where is Kwon Won?” he asked. He assumed I was one of Kwon Won’s subordinates.
“Dead. Everyone except me is dead.”
He must have felt a sense of dissonance from my tone, but he was more curious about the next question.
“By whose hand?”
“A young, handsome, mysterious master.”
“What?” Yeo Sang roared, his expression one of utter confusion. “You pathetic fool! What are you thinking, spouting such praise for an enemy?”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“Fine. Let’s say it is. Then how did you survive—”
Yeo Sang stiffened as he finally grasped the situation. “It’s you!”
I answered with a faint smile.
Yeo Sang shouted, summoning his subordinates. They swarmed out, surrounding me and the carriage.
“If you saved the woman and child, you should have run far away. Why return to the tiger’s den?”
I looked around. “Where’s the tiger? I only see a pack of dogs who bit the hand that fed them.”
Yeo Sang and the men surrounding me radiated killing intent. They were Yeo Sang’s henchmen and the traitorous martial artists of the Golden Manor. Because they had guilty consciences, they masked them with even colder fury.
Standing by the carriage, Geum Sa-yeon hugged her son tightly. It was a terrifying situation, but she didn't seem consumed by fear. She knew well that composure was a privilege of the strong, and as the daughter of a merchant, she was quick-witted. She took her son into the carriage so that I could fight without distraction.
Yeo Sang also sensed that I was no ordinary opponent and became extremely cautious.
“Who are you, young hero? First, let us go inside and share a drink while we talk. I will treat you to the finest wine.”
“No need for such formalities. I won't go easy on you even if you act nice. I won't spare you even if you beg. So feel free to curse and throw a fit all you want.”
Sensing that bribery wouldn't work, Yeo Sang gave a cold command. “Attack him together and kill him!”
He emphasized the words ‘attack together.’ As the command fell, men lunged from all sides.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
With the sound of a cool breeze, daggers flew from my hands. By the time they thought to dodge or deflect, the daggers had already cut through those thoughts and embedded themselves in their vitals. The charging martial artists tumbled to the ground one after another.
The flying dagger technique I had mastered in my previous life was the Life-Taking Flying Knife Technique of the Flying Dagger Grandmaster Seo Mun-cheol. I had never found a superior dagger technique before or since; it was a martial art worth keeping for a lifetime.
When I ran out of daggers, I saw the survivors looking relieved. It was a very brief moment of joy born from the misconception that I was only a master of throwing knives.
I drew my sword and charged. They ranged in skill from intermediate to expert, but against the Flying Heaven Sword Art at the stage of Great Achievement, they showed no distinction.
After I swept through the area, the enemies were all down, and Yeo Sang’s face had turned pale.
“Who are you, Great Hero?”
A blood-dripping sword had turned a ‘young hero’ into a ‘Great Hero.’
“Great Hero, my foot. I’m just a swordsman who smelled money while passing by.”
“How much will it take for you to just walk away?”
“Are you rich?”
“I have enough to change a man’s life.”
“If you have that much money, why did you do this? If you wanted to change your life, you should have used your own money. Why touch someone else’s? Especially the money of the master you served.”
Lacking an answer, Yeo Sang could only bite his lip. Just as he was hesitating, trying to figure out his next move—
“Drop your sword!”
From a building in the back, one of his subordinates emerged, holding a sword to Geum A-su’s throat. The subordinate likely thought he could force me to submit by taking a hostage, but at that sight, Yeo Sang let out a groan of despair.
He had intended to keep Geum A-su hidden to negotiate with me, but his stupid subordinate had dragged him out. Regardless, the deed was done, so Yeo Sang shouted to pressure me.
“Drop your sword this instant! Or the Golden Manor Lord dies!”
In that moment, a streak of sword qi tore through the air.
Flying Heaven Sword Technique, Fourth Form: Blazing Heaven Form.
It was originally a rough and domineering technique for emitting sword qi, but when channeled through the Black Demonic Sword with my powerful internal energy, its momentum was enough to startle the heavens and overturn the earth.
Rumble!
The sword qi, spiraling as if alive, struck the martial artist. He had been using Geum A-su as a shield, hiding two-thirds of his body, but the exposed third simply vanished. The man’s dead body slumped to the ground, leaving Geum A-su standing alone.
Thinking this was his chance while my internal energy was spent from the sword qi, Yeo Sang lunged with a lightning-fast surprise attack.
Since I was prepared, his decisive strike naturally missed. In his subsequent attacks, Yeo Sang’s openings were glaringly obvious. Even if he had spent his whole life training, he wouldn't have been a match for me. But since greed had taken the place where discipline should have been, he stood no chance at all.
I could have suppressed him immediately, but I gave him a few more openings. If I defeated the Lord of the Yeo Family Manor too easily, the mystique surrounding me would become too great.
Yeo Sang’s sword flew toward my vital points in a continuous barrage. Since his life was on the line, his attacks were desperate. To an onlooker, it might have looked like a breathtakingly close match, but my mind was like Clear Mirror, Still Water.
After about thirty exchanges—
Thwack.
The fight ended with the sound of flesh tearing.
Yeo Sang’s thrusting sword stopped in mid-air. Reflected on the blade was the sight of Geum A-su’s joyful expression. My sword, which had crossed Yeo Sang’s attack at an angle, was buried in his heart.
Yeo Sang’s eyes were full of resentment as he looked at me, but I spoke to him calmly.
“You were the head of a guardian family, weren't you? You, of all people, shouldn't have done this. In your next life, if you want to make money, become a merchant. If you want to kill people, become an assassin.”
Already dead, Yeo Sang couldn't answer. When I pulled my sword out, he collapsed.
Geum Sa-yeon, who had been watching from the carriage window with bated breath, let out a cheer and stepped out with her son.
“Father!”
“Grandfather!”
Geum Sa-yeon and the child ran to Geum A-su and embraced him.
“Sa-yeon! Yang-i!”
Geum Sa-yeon wept as she hugged her father, and seeing his mother cry, the child began to cry as well.
A short while later, the imprisoned martial artists of the Golden Manor were released. Once the area was settled, Geum A-su expressed his gratitude to me once more. Having heard the story from Geum Sa-yeon, his gratitude for saving his daughter and grandson far outweighed his thanks for his own rescue.
“I will never forget this debt. You are the benefactor who saved our family from annihilation. May I ask your honorable name?”
I could imagine how curious he was, considering I had handled Yeo Sang and his subordinates single-handedly.
“I am merely a passing ronin.”
“Even if the Wandering Warrior King himself had come, he wouldn't have handled them so easily.”
“You flatter me.”
When I continued to withhold my identity, Geum A-su stopped asking. Geum Sa-yeon relayed the promise I had made with her earlier to Geum A-su.
“I promised our benefactor that his reward would be in gold.”
Geum A-su praised his daughter with a satisfied expression. “Well done. You made the most reliable promise of all.”
Having regained his composure, he finally showed the true colors of the wealthiest man in Fujian.
“If what our benefactor needs is money, then you’ve certainly come to the right place today.”