Chapter 77: Lesser Sword Immortal (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 77: Lesser Sword Immortal (1)
About five days had passed since the various incidents on the Yangtze River.
During that time, I had traveled alone to the headquarters of the Yangtze River Waterway Eighteen Strongholds in the guise of the Blood Demon. To be more precise, it would be more accurate to say I went to the stronghold of the Great Leader.
The ships of the Waterway Strongholds were scattered across the Yangtze, operating in their respective territories, and I was told that only half of the fleet had gathered this time.
Surprisingly, the stronghold where the Great Leader resided was near Jianli County. It wasn't far from Wuhan, where the Martial Alliance had its fortress.
While I visited them to discuss future plans and exchange opinions regarding the Golden Eye organization, Jo Seong-won headed to Hebei Province to hold a funeral for the former Chamber Leader, Hong Gu-ga, and to officially undergo the inauguration ceremony as the Chamber Leader of the Beggar’s Sect.
It was to my advantage for him to take control of the Beggar’s Sect as quickly as possible.
As for the others—Sama Yeong, Song Jwa-baek, and Song Woo-hyeon—we had agreed to meet in Honghu County.
-That guy should be awake by now, right?
Probably.
The "guy" the Lesser Conversation Sword was referring to was the Ghost-Slaying Fist Demon, Jang Mun-ryang. After transferring all his internal energy to Song Jwa-baek, he had fallen into a state of suspended animation, breathing faintly and failing to wake up.
-Is your stomach okay?
I could really go for some warm soup. My stomach feels hollow after spending five days straight drinking with those pirates. I can deal with the headaches and hangovers using internal energy, but there’s nothing I can do about this emptiness.
-It’s land!
We finally arrived at the ferry point. I could see crowds of people bustling about.
In the case of Honghu County, there is a fairly large lake not far from the Yangtze River. Perhaps because of that, the surrounding area was densely populated.
-But these guys are something else. Or are they just thick-skinned?
Why? Because they operate merchant ships?
To be honest, I was also quite surprised to hear that the Waterway Strongholds operated merchant vessels. They didn't just commit piracy; they hid their identities by working as merchants or sailors in their daily lives. They had their own means of making a living.
-They have a secret to surviving a long time.
In any case, the ship I was on ostensibly belonged to the Daesan Merchant Group. The sails were a plain white instead of the black that symbolized the pirates. That was why we could pull into the ferry point so nonchalantly.
-Hey, Un-hwi. Isn't that Sama Yeong crouching over there?
Where?
-Look over there, near the yellow awning.
Just as the Lesser Conversation Sword said, I saw her crouching at the edge of a street stall, staring toward the river and nodding off. She must have been bored waiting for so long with nothing to do.
'She’s cute.'
-You find the strangest things cute.
'Don't you start nitpicking over every little thing.'
-Hmph.
While I bickered with the sword, the ship docked at the ferry point. The pirates, disguised as merchants, bid me farewell and looked forward to our next meeting.
After parting ways with them, I went to a secluded spot, took off the human skin mask, changed my clothes, and then stealthily approached Sama Yeong.
-What are you doing?
I thought I’d give her a surprise.
Approaching from behind, I carefully extended my index finger and placed it on her right shoulder as she continued to doze. I expected her to turn her head, but—
-Whap!
the moment my hand touched her shoulder, Sama Yeong rolled forward and threw a kick at me. I hurriedly caught her foot.
"Huh? Young Master?"
'......I messed up.'
Right. This is the natural result of trying to startle someone trained in martial arts.
When I let go of her foot, she beamed with joy and tried to give me a hug.
"Ahem."
Realizing our surroundings at the sound of my fake cough, she stopped herself. I knew who she was, but how would it look to the people around us if a woman wearing a human skin mask suddenly hugged me?
Sama Yeong spoke to me with a playful smile.
"Did the talks go well?"
"More or less."
"Judging by your answer and your expression, it doesn't seem like things went that great."
It seemed she had come to know me quite well. To be able to guess that much just from my tone and expression.
In fact, after dealing with the pirates of the Waterway Strongholds for the past five days, I had become certain of one thing.
-They aren't the kind of people you should associate with.
Exactly.
Their foundation is fundamentally different. Even though they are called the Evil Faction just like the Blood Cult, their roots are as bandits. They were fundamentally untrustworthy. They had a tendency to let their mouths run ahead of them, and the Yangtze River Three Guests were no different.
I whispered to her.
"They’re the type to stab you in the back the moment things get disadvantageous."
"You expected that to some extent, didn't you?"
"I did."
"They aren't pirates for nothing. As long as we both get what we want, that's enough."
I chuckled at her words. She was right.
I only wanted one thing from them: to hinder the Martial Alliance as they tried to cross the Yangtze and move south. And even if it was only nominal, having them under the cult's umbrella allowed us to use them as a bluff.
'Will this card be more useful, I wonder?'
Inside my robe was the sect token given to me by the Wolf King, Hyeok Cheon-man. Having failed a mission for the first time in over ten years, he said he would return half of the agreed-upon commission and go back to his hometown in Shanxi Province. He gave me this token and told me to find him if I ever needed him.
-The next time we meet, won't you actually be able to perform Sword Flight?
Maybe.
He left after making a grand boast—that the next time we met, he would show me a realm of the sword beyond what I had displayed. Given his innate talent, it was entirely possible.
"Where are Jwa-baek and Woo-hyeon?"
"They’re waiting at a place called the Blue Gate Inn. Oh, right."
Sama Yeong switched to sound transmission.
[Jang Mun-ryang woke up yesterday.]
[He did? Is his mind back to normal?]
Since all his internal energy had been transferred to Song Jwa-baek, the broken blade lodged in his head had also been removed. Since he had acted like a child because of that blade, he might have returned to his original state.
[His mind seems to be back to normal.]
Then that’s good. I had been wanting to interrogate him. The fact that he kept getting involved with the Golden Eye organization was suspicious. Since they had openly targeted me now, I needed to prepare myself.
[But his condition is a bit strange.]
[Strange?]
[As soon as he woke up, he started wailing at the top of his lungs, and then he tried to smash all the furniture in the inn. I had to use a pressure point technique to knock him out again.]
Huh? Why was he wailing?
-Didn't you say that for a martial artist, their life is their Dantian?
Ah... I see. Was it because he lost the internal energy he had spent his whole life accumulating? If that was the case, it was understandable. Regardless, she did the right thing by subduing him before he caused a scene.
[Good job.]
[Hehe. Young Master, now that the business with the Yangtze River Waterway Eighteen Strongholds is finished, are we going back to the main cult?]
[There’s a place I need to stop by first.]
[Where?]
How should I put this? Should I just tell her the truth?
[There’s something I need to check.]
[What is it?]
[I think I need to go inside a tomb.]
[......!?]
Sama Yeong wore an expression of utter confusion. It was only natural. Usually, a tomb meant burying a coffin and piling up a small mound of grass. But the tomb of a king was on a completely different scale.
I had heard that King Ping of the Chu State, which was a great power at the time, had a mausoleum the size of a small mountain, spanning hundreds of pyeong.
However, there was one thing bothering me.
-What is it?
The cipher of the five Demon Swords made by the master blacksmith Gu Yaja undoubtedly pointed to the Tomb of King Ping. However, there was an extremely high probability that the tomb of a king from a fallen kingdom had already been plundered by someone else. This was because treasures belonging to the king during his lifetime would have been buried within.
-Aren't you just going to be wasting your time?
I won't know until I go there. They went to such lengths to hide something by engraving patterns on the sword blades. They must have taken measures to ensure it wouldn't be easily discovered.
Anyway, explaining about the Demon Swords and Gu Yaja was complicated, so I decided to give a vague excuse for now.
"You'll see when we get there. Let's head to the inn first. I've been drinking for five days straight, and my stomach feels empty."
"Five days? You're going to ruin your health. The inn we're staying at simmers their noodle broth with pork and chicken bones. A bowl of that will make your stomach feel much better."
That sounded very tempting.
As we were about to move, Sama Yeong suddenly remembered something.
"I almost forgot."
"Hmm?"
"Young Master, I met your younger sister."
"Yeong-yeong?"
I thought she would be with the Martial Alliance or the Hengshan Sect. But she was in this town?
"Yes. She said she was with some hall of the Martial Alliance—oh! The Phoenix Hall. She said she was returning from a mission and was waiting for you. She’s staying at another inn near ours."
"Her?"
She stayed here to wait for me? Even if our relationship had improved, she wasn't usually that attentive.
"She’s been here for two days already. She kept popping into our room unexpectedly; it gave me quite a scare."
Since they were holding Jang Mun-ryang captive, it was no wonder she was startled. I stared intently at Sama Yeong. It seemed unlikely that Yeong-yeong was doing this because of me.
I didn't want to shatter the girl's illusions just yet, but it might be better to tell her that Sama Yeong is a woman before she falls any deeper.
*
The Yongmyeong Inn, located behind the fabric shop street in the east of Honghu County.
There, three women were drinking tea and chatting boisterously. Judging by the fact that all three carried weapons, anyone could tell they were from martial families or were martial artists themselves.
Among them, a woman with slightly drooping eyes and thick lips spoke while cupping her cheeks in her hands.
"Sister, sister. When is your brother finally coming?"
Her name was Eon Yeong-in. She was the second daughter of the Jinju Eon Family, a prestigious family in Hebei Province, and a member of the newly formed Phoenix Hall of the Martial Alliance.
The person she was shyly addressing was So Yeong-yeong, who had cute features and was wearing a Taoist robe.
So Yeong-yeong waved her hand dismissively.
"I don't know either. He’s so busy I can hardly catch a glimpse of him."
"Oh my. Yeong-yeong, you’ve had such an amazing brother all this time and never once bragged about him?"
The speaker was a refined beauty wearing clothes of white and blue. She was Namgung Ga-hee, the eldest daughter of the Namgung Family. Known as the "White Plum Blossom" (Baek Dohwa), one of the Three Peaks of the Orthodox Faction, she served as the Hall Master of the Phoenix Hall due to her exceptional swordsmanship.
"Oh, please, sister."
So Yeong-yeong continued to wave her hand as if embarrassed. In truth, despite her humble attitude, her shoulders were squared with pride. While returning from a mission for the Martial Alliance, she had stopped in this town and heard some astonishing news.
It was news regarding her brother, So Woon-hwi.
'My brother defeated the Ghost-Slaying Fist Demon, one of the Five Great Villains?'
She couldn't easily believe it when she first heard it. She remembered seeing him at the Yikyang So Family. At that time, So Woon-hwi had displayed martial prowess so great it made his past of having no Dantian seem like a lie.
However, that was strictly within the realm of the younger generation. She couldn't believe that her brother, who had even been pushed back when briefly sparring with their uncle, Hengshan's First Sword Jo Cheong-un, had defeated one of the top masters in the martial world.
'Is it really my brother?'
None of it felt real. But she couldn't help but feel proud in her heart that her only blood relative was gaining such fame.
"You seem to be secretly enjoying this."
At Namgung Ga-hee's teasing remark, So Yeong-yeong waved her hand again.
"No, I'm not."
"What do you mean, no? If a hero who defeated two of the Five Great Villains were my brother, my shoulders would be so high they’d dislocate. Like this!"
She pulled the shoulders of her clothes upward.
"Hahaha! Sister, what do you mean, dislocate?"
Eon Yeong-in burst into laughter at her joke. Despite being a daughter of the prestigious Namgung Family, Namgung Ga-hee was popular with everyone, young and old, due to her easygoing personality and wit.
"You're teasing me, aren't you?"
"You only just realized? Hohohoho."
As the three of them were chatting happily, a group of men approached their table. Naturally, their eyes were drawn to them.
"I apologize for interrupting your pleasant conversation."
It was a young man with thick eyebrows wearing silk clothes. One could tell he was from a martial family just by looking at the jade-inlaid scabbard at his waist.
Eon Yeong-in spoke up as their representative.
"What is it?"
The young man, who frowned slightly while looking at Eon Yeong-in, looked back and forth between Namgung Ga-hee and So Yeong-yeong before performing a fist-and-palm salute.
"I heard there were beautiful ladies here while passing by, so I took the liberty of coming to pay my respects."
At his words, Namgung Ga-hee let out a faint sigh. Being exceptionally beautiful, she was used to such occurrences.
"I don't know who you are, but we will be leaving this town shortly, so you can continue on your way."
The young man smirked at her words.
"That’s perfect. We aren't from around here either. Since this meeting is fate, why don't we have a meal together and talk?"
So Yeong-yeong cut him off bluntly.
"We’ll pass."
Then, one of the young men behind him stepped forward.
"Don't refuse so coldly; let's at least have a meal together. I am Bae Hyun-gak from the Baedo Manor in Gansu Province. This friend here is Shin Gil-lip, the Junior Sect Leader of the Wind Spirit Sect."
'Wind Spirit Sect?'
At the mention of the Wind Spirit Sect, a spark of interest appeared in Eon Yeong-in's eyes. It was a martial family renowned as the most prestigious in northern Gansu Province. Shin Gil-hwang, the Sect Leader of the Wind Spirit Sect, was famous for being a master on par with Taoist Master Jeongyang, the Sect Leader of the Gongdong Sect.
This group consisted of descendants of prestigious martial families. That was why they had approached the women with such confidence.
'Hmm?'
Normally, when they revealed their identities like this, women from martial families would show interest, but the reaction of these women was more indifferent than expected.
'Are they also from prestigious families?'
Otherwise, there was no way they would react like this. At this, Shin Gil-lip stepped forward again.
"May I ask for the names of these ladies?"
So Yeong-yeong stood up and performed a polite fist-and-palm salute.
"I'm sorry. We are martial artists of the Phoenix Hall of the Martial Alliance, and we cannot reveal our identities due to our mission. We would just like to be left alone."
It was an appropriate response. She had turned them down politely without offending them. She thought that since she had mentioned the Martial Alliance, they wouldn't pester them further.
However, it was beyond her expectations.
"Wow! Then that’s even better. We were actually on our way to the Martial Alliance because we heard they were creating new halls. We should travel together."
It was a blunder. Their destination was also the Martial Alliance. Since she hadn't expected this, So Yeong-yeong looked at Namgung Ga-hee in distress.
Ga-hee also hadn't expected them to be this persistent. If they were still clinging on even after she mentioned the Phoenix Hall, it seemed likely they would do the same even if they revealed their true identities.
Then, Namgung Ga-hee thought of a good idea.
"If you keep this up despite our polite refusals, this lady's brother will be very displeased."
Shin Gil-lip looked puzzled at those words. Then he asked.
"And who might this brother be that he would be so displeased?"
"He is someone whose fame is at its peak these days. I wonder if you've heard of the Lesser Sword Immortal."
At Namgung Ga-hee's words, a stir went through the inn. When they were talking among themselves, they only spoke loudly when laughing or joking, so no one had heard them, but now all eyes were focused on them.
In the midst of this, quite a few people were startled when the name "Lesser Sword Immortal" was mentioned.
[Sister!]
[What’s wrong? We might as well borrow your brother's fame at a time like this.]
At So Yeong-yeong's scolding via sound transmission, Namgung Ga-hee smiled broadly. She thought that if she spoke this much, they would back off to some extent.
However, the reaction was not what she expected.
"Ah, so the lady's brother is the famous Great Hero So Woon-hwi, the Lesser Sword Immortal. It is an honor to meet the younger sister of such a famous person."
There was a hint of mockery in Shin Gil-lip's voice. His companions were also snickering, and it sounded very much like ridicule.
So Yeong-yeong asked, feeling offended.
"What’s with that laughter?"
"Oh, it’s nothing. I apologize if I offended you. It’s just that there are so many exaggerated rumors in the martial world that I couldn't help but laugh."
".......Exaggerated rumors?"
"Well, isn't it? A fellow barely in his early twenties performing Sword Flight and Self-Moving Sword Art? Do you really think that makes sense?"
Shin Gil-lip couldn't stop himself from snickering. He seemed certain that these rumors were absurd. His companions were the same.
After laughing like that, Shin Gil-lip regained his composure and spoke politely again.
"I'm sorry, miss. Jokes aside, what does a family or a relative matter? Ah... you seem quite upset. How about we treat you to dinner as an apology?"
"If you're busy, we can even escort you to the Alliance."
They were persistent to the end. At their attitude, Namgung Ga-hee was finally about to reveal her identity and tell them to stop.
That was when So Yeong-yeong grabbed her. She then looked at Shin Gil-lip and his companions and spoke.
"If you think the rumors are absurd, why don't you tell my brother yourself?"
"Directly?"
They turned their heads to where So Yeong-yeong was looking. Standing behind them was a tall young man with a wooden case on his back.
It was Jin Un-hwi.
Startled by his extraordinary presence, Shin Gil-lip spoke almost instinctively.
"Are you the Twin Hero So Woon..."
Cutting him off, Jin Un-hwi spoke in a cold voice.
"Are you pestering my sister right now?"
"I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I am Shin Gil-lip of the Wind Spirit Sect..."
"Enough. I'll count to three. If you leave quietly, I'll let this go."
Shin Gil-lip was dumbfounded by Jin Un-hwi's warning. His companions were the same. Although they were startled by the sudden appearance of the famous man himself, they were beyond offended that he was ordering them to leave.
Jin Un-hwi spoke first.
"Three."
"Look here, Brother So. You're treating us like some common thugs who only care about women..."
"Two."
"This man is really..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, Jin Un-hwi raised a finger and lightly flicked it against his forehead.
-Thwack!
"Gah!"
At the same time, Shin Gil-lip let out a short scream and collapsed on the spot, his eyes rolling back in his head.
Everyone was speechless at the sight. One of the top young masters of Hubei Province had been knocked unconscious by a mere flick of a finger.
Namgung Ga-hee spoke excitedly to So Yeong-yeong via sound transmission.
[Yeong-yeong, your brother is so cool!]
So Yeong-yeong bit her lip, desperately trying to suppress the smile that was threatening to spread across her face.