The Jang Family Clan

Dokgo Ho-in simply would not listen.

"Big Brother, I'm coming with you. How can we send you off alone?"

The protest had erupted the moment Seo Joo-cheon announced that he would accompany Jang Hyeon-nam to the Jang Family Clan Estate, while instructing his three younger sworn siblings to find a safe house and remain there.

"Listen to me. Finding a safe house and stationing a carriage there matters more than anything else. Sending only two of you would leave me too uneasy, so I'm sending all three."

Watching his sworn siblings handle the Four Shadows of Black Darkness without difficulty had given him confidence that even if they ran into a Peak master, they could at least extract themselves unharmed. Even so, two felt too few, and he had settled on sending all three.

Had he not, Seo Joo-cheon would have gone with them to the Jang Family Clan Estate first and found a safe house afterward. But that would delay securing the place, and he would have to drag the Kangshin Assassins along with him—an inconvenience he preferred to avoid.

"And above all, once you've found the safe house, don't do anything else. Focus on accumulating inner energy. Train until I return. Think of it as closed-door cultivation."

Seo Joo-cheon drew the Stalactite Milk from his robes and handed it to Ham Cheon-yeong.

"I'd like all of you to have built up one Gapja by the time I get there."

Ham Cheon-yeong understood what his eldest brother intended, and so he could not throw a tantrum the way Dokgo Ho-in had.

"We don't have much time. If we linger in Xi'an and arrive late at the Yongcheon Sect, we won't hear anything kind. You need to forge one Gapja of inner energy as quickly as possible."

"Yes, Big Brother. But shouldn't we leave some for you to take?"

"No. I've already set aside my own share. That is for all of you to consume."

"Understood, Big Brother."

"Don't go getting full of yourselves and wandering around. Put everything into accumulating energy. If you haven't reached one Gapja by the time I return, I won't take you to the Yongcheon Sect. If you can't even manage one Gapja with Stalactite Milk in your hands, you're of no use to me. So do it as if your lives depend on it."

"We will. Without fail."

Once Ham Cheon-yeong had answered, Seo Joo-cheon demanded the same from Dokgo Ho-in and Kang Chu-mi.

"All right."

"If that is Big Brother's will."

Seo Joo-cheon added one last instruction.

"And the safe house must be somewhere we can move in secret."

"Yes. Don't worry. Please see your sworn younger brother home safely."

"I will."

Jang Hyeon-nam exchanged a brief farewell with the three of them, then they parted ways. Having shared life and death together since the Namcheon Inn, the affection between them ran deep, and he could not hide his reluctance at the parting.

He was still a tender-hearted protagonist.

"I believe this is where I should take my leave as well."

Jeong Geum-sik spoke up once the three had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gone.

"Oh? Great Hero Jeong, you should stop by our estate as well. We'll receive you as an honored guest."

"Hahaha, I'm grateful for the thought, little brother. But I have business of my own in Xi'an, so I cannot accept."

"Ah, you have matters to attend to."

"That's right. A few things I need to take care of before I enter the Yongcheon Sect."

"Then it can't be helped. Still, it's a shame."

"We'll meet again. The Jang Family Clan is in Xi'an, after all."

"Yes. Then please visit often, Great Hero Jeong. Since I'll be heading to the Yongcheon Sect myself…"

"I will."

Jeong Geum-sik exchanged farewells with Sang Ryo as well, then approached Seo Joo-cheon.

"Hero Po, then I'll see you at the Yongcheon Sect. You're not going to slip off somewhere else, I trust?"

"I won't. I'll go to the Yongcheon Sect. If you arrive first, please tell them I have circumstances that will delay me. If Great Hero Jeong puts in a word, they might cut me some slack, no?"

"Hahaha, understood."

Jeong Geum-sik offered his farewells and departed as if the wind had taken him. He left without so much as a backward glance, and Jang Hyeon-nam's face fell with disappointment.

Seo Joo-cheon had a fair idea why Jeong Geum-sik was leaving.

In the original work, Jeong Geum-sik entered the Yongcheon Sect accompanied by two subordinates. A genius strategist expelled from his clan, and a master of disguise skilled in the Bone-Shrinking Art, the Bone-Expanding Art, and appearance-changing techniques. He's going to fetch those two now.

Seo Joo-cheon spoke brightly on purpose, hoping to lift Jang Hyeon-nam's spirits.

"Well then, shall we go? As I said before, I'll only stay at the Jang Family Clan Estate for about three days."

"I know, I know. It's really too much, though. Couldn't you stay a month?"

"I'd like to, but I have to enter the Yongcheon Sect."

At that, Jang Hyeon-nam muttered to himself.

"You could just stay at the Jang Family Clan…"

He seemed hurt that his sworn older brother kept heading off somewhere else.

Seo Joo-cheon had originally intended to deliver Jang Hyeon-nam to the Jang Family Clan Estate and immediately rejoin his three sworn siblings. But since he had no idea where they would find a safe house, he had decided to wait at the estate until they secured one. He figured three days would be more than enough for his siblings to find a place.

It hadn't been part of the original plan, but as they drew nearer to the Jang Family Clan Estate, he found himself thinking he ought to make a few arrangements for Jang Hyeon-nam's sake.

That's why I have to go to the Jang Family Clan. To save one person. If that person lives, Jang Hyeon-nam won't fall into such danger. I'll have to keep alive someone who was originally supposed to die—I suppose this, too, will count as breaking the setting.

As they neared the main gate of the Jang Family Clan Estate, a group approached.

"Welcome home, Second Young Master."

"Oh! Isn't this the Chief of the Inner Guards?"

A middle-aged man appeared at the head of ten warriors. Sharp eyes, thin lips set against thick black eyebrows, an aquiline nose, and an angular jaw—he looked formidable at a glance.

I think I know who this is.

Seo Joo-cheon had put considerable care into designing the Jang Family Clan's characters, so he could roughly identify someone just by looking at their face. Even so, just to be sure, he sharpened his inner sight and attempted a Character Search.

When Seo Joo-cheon had created the character Wang Jae-gyeong, he had set him as the confidant of Jang Ho, the eldest son of the Jang Family Clan. A First-Rate martial artist serving as Chief of the Inner Guards, he commanded three or four secular disciples of the Mount Hua Sect under him.

To establish internal conflict within the Jang Family Clan, Seo Joo-cheon had written friction between Jang Ho and his father, Jang Yeong-in. Jang Ho despised the Unorthodox and Black Path martial artists who stayed at the estate as retainers and guests, and so he had filled the Inner Guard with secular disciples of Mount Hua and martial artists of the Orthodox Path. In this way, he had sown discord within the clan and set the eldest son, Jang Ho, against the second son, Jang Hyeon-nam.

Once Jang Hyeon-nam ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠returned to the Jang Family Clan, he would be swept up in that infighting and have no time to catch his breath.

That Jang Hyeon-nam had become a secular disciple of the Wudang Sect was largely his mother's doing. The clan patriarch, Jang Yeong-in, associated so freely with Black Path and Unorthodox crowds that their mother had sent her children to prestigious Orthodox sects outright—Jang Ho to Mount Hua, Jang Hyeon-nam to Wudang. She had expected that when one of the two sons eventually became clan patriarch, he would naturally drive the Black Path and Unorthodox martial artists from the estate.

And that expectation had been half fulfilled. After the eldest son, Jang Ho, returned from five years of training as a secular disciple of Mount Hua, he had filled the Inner Guard entirely with martial artists of the Orthodox Path—as if in protest that more than half the guards of the Patriarch's Hall were Black Path or Unorthodox martial artists.

And so, at present, the eldest son Jang Ho and his mother Oh Sook-jeong had formed an alliance and were plotting to expel the Black Path and Unorthodox martial artists from the Jang Family Clan. It was only natural, then, that Wang Jae-gyeong's expression soured the moment Jang Hyeon-nam introduced Sang Ryo. Wang Jae-gyeong, too, was a retainer who shared Jang Ho and Oh Sook-jeong's convictions.

Above all, the clan matriarch Oh Sook-jeong was a descendant of a renowned house that held one of the Five Great Spear Arts of the martial world. The Zhao Family Spear, the Yang Family Spear, the Namgung Spear, the Emei Spear, and the Oh Family Spear were counted as the great houses of spear arts, and in Shaanxi the Oh Family Spear flourished so thoroughly that even the Mount Hua Sect could not afford to slight the Oh Family Manor. Renowned masters produced by the Oh Family Manor were spread throughout the martial world, and the clan's prestige soared.

Oh Sook-jeong herself was already a master of the Oh Family Spear technique, and she commanded the Oh Family Six Spears—who had come from the Oh Family Manor—as if they were her own limbs. The two spear-wielding martial artists behind Wang Jae-gyeong were two of that number. The look in their eyes had already run Sang Ryo through with a spear several times over.

But neither Wang Jae-gyeong nor the Oh Family Six Spears dared to reproach the Second Young Master. The Jang Family Clan had, after all, built its present prosperity with the long-standing help of Black Path and Unorthodox martial artists. Some mocked the clan as straddling the Orthodox and Unorthodox Paths, but the Jang Family Clan's vast wealth funded the current Murim Alliance—the Orthodox Alliance—so heavily that no one dared speak such words lightly.

"Congratulations on your return, Second Young Master."

Wang Jae-gyeong was Jang Ho's confidant, but he could not afford to slight Jang Hyeon-nam. Jang Hyeon-nam was the younger brother Jang Ho cherished.

Originally, they had intended to send the Patriarch's Hall guards to greet him. But Oh Sook-jeong had judged it better to send Orthodox Path martial artists than Black Path or Unorthodox ones, and so she had dispatched the Inner Guards instead—on the grounds that it would be unseemly for Unorthodox or Black Path martial artists to receive a returning secular disciple of Wudang.

Jang Hyeon-nam, who had known the Inner Guards since childhood, greeted them warmly.

"Fifth Uncle, Sixth Uncle—have you both been well?"

The Oh Family Six Spears were composed of Oh Sook-jeong's kinsmen, so Jang Hyeon-nam naturally addressed them as uncles.

"We have. Did you obtain what you sought?"

Jang Hyeon-nam answered Fifth Uncle quietly.

"I did not accomplish everything I intended, but I gained enough that I shall not want."

"Good. That will suffice. We had meant to leave you at Wudang longer, but the clan stands as a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠candle in the wind, so we called you home."

"Yes, Fifth Uncle."

"You'll be weary from the long journey. We'll speak of the rest once we're inside."

"Yes."

Sixth Uncle asked,

"And who is this gentleman?"

He was looking at Seo Joo-cheon, who stood behind Jang Hyeon-nam. At first they had noticed Sang Ryo, whose aura of inner energy was outstanding, and had received an introduction to him. But now Seo Joo-cheon kept catching at their attention.

"Ah, look at me—I haven't even introduced him properly. This is the man I have taken as my sworn older brother."

"Sworn older brother?"

At Jang Hyeon-nam's words, Fifth Uncle, Sixth Uncle, and Wang Jae-gyeong all furrowed their brows slightly. Judging by the aura he gave off, he did not appear stronger than Sang Ryo—and yet Sang Ryo seemed a subordinate, while this man was a sworn older brother. It was puzzling.

Seo Joo-cheon stepped forward and answered.

"It is an honor to meet gentlemen of such renowned names. I am Po Un of the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes."

"The Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes."

"Po Un."

Fifth Uncle looked at Seo Joo-cheon with an expression of surprise.

"Then you are the Hero Po they call the First Hero?"

"I am called that, yes."

Wang Jae-gyeong, occupied with Inner Guard duties, was not well-versed in affairs beyond the estate, but Fifth Uncle and Sixth Uncle were thoroughly informed about the rising masters of Shaanxi's martial world.

"Hoh. I did not expect to meet the master who drove back the Undying Demon. I am Oh Jang-gwon of the Oh Family Six Spears."

"I am Oh Seung."

The fifth of the Oh Family Six Spears, Oh Jang-gwon, and the sixth, Oh Seung, clasped their hands in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠greeting. Now that they knew Seo Joo-cheon was no ordinary martial artist but the rumored master who had recently driven back the Undying Demon, they introduced themselves properly.

Even Wang Jae-gyeong, attached as he was to the Inner Courtyard, could not be ignorant of Seo Joo-cheon, who had risen as a nucleus of Shaanxi's martial world.

"I am Wang Jae-gyeong, Chief of the Inner Guards of the Jang Family Clan."

The reputation of the First Hero was such that Wang Jae-gyeong, too, offered a greeting of considerable formality.

"I am Po Un of the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes. At the Namcheon Inn, Young Master Jang and I fought the Undying Demon together, found our purposes aligned, and became sworn brothers. Should I have any great faults, I ask that you look upon them with a generous heart."

Their first impression had been of a man from whom not a drop of blood would come even if pricked with a needle—yet he had taken a humble stance first, and their wariness crumbled.

"Oho. Since you are Hyeon-nam's sworn older brother, we shall treat you a little more comfortably."

Their manner toward him was altogether different from how they had treated Sang Ryo. He was, after all, an Unorthodox martial artist who bore the title of Hero, and they held in high regard the fact that he was the master who had driven back the Undying Demon, one of the Twelve Demon Sovereigns of Macheonchong.

"Your mother will be waiting with her neck craned. Let us go."

"But how did you know I was coming, to come out and meet me?"

"We posted men at the entrance to Xi'an to keep watch. The moment they spotted you, they were to send word."

The Jang Family Clan's wealth reached deep into the government offices of Shaanxi. Most likely, when they passed through Xi'an's city gates, the government soldiers had recognized them and sent a messenger pigeon. The Jang Family Clan operated merchant caravans across the entire continent, and their messenger pigeon network was highly developed. Jang Hyeon-nam's movements could be tracked with ease, if they so wished.

"I had heard the Shaanxi Four Chivalrous Heroes numbered four in all. Why is Hero Po here alone?"

Wang Jae-gyeong asked, and Jang Hyeon-nam answered in his place.

"My sworn older brother sent his younger siblings on an errand, so unfortunately they cannot come to our estate."

"Ah, I see. A pity we cannot meet such renowned figures."

Wang Jae-gyeong said as much, but inwardly he regretted not getting to see Kang Chu-mi, whose beauty was the stuff of widespread rumor. It was said that even standing beside Baek I-jin of Mount Hua—called the foremost beauty of Shaanxi—her looks did not suffer in the slightest, and that had quietly stirred the curiosity of young masters everywhere.

"Come, let us go inside."

Jang Hyeon-nam's party proceeded toward the Jang Family Clan Estate together with the group that had come to greet them.