When the News Reaches Them (2)
Baekya-bang leader Jo Chang-su passed through the grand hanok gate. He was the very man who had met Information Bureau Chief Jeong Yeong-gi at the Fairy Orchid Pavilion.
Following the guidance of the martial artist guarding the entrance, he crossed the impeccably manicured lawn courtyard.
There weren't many warriors guarding this place. Just one or two here and there, but those one or two were all proper high experts.
Through them, one could gauge the extraordinary caliber of the person residing here.
After passing several walls, a stately tiled-roof house revealed itself in elegant splendor.
A neatly dressed man stood in front of the house, a sword at his waist.
He appeared to be a young man in his mid-twenties, yet he exuded an aura that overwhelmed even Baekya-bang leader Jo Chang-su.
"The elder is waiting for you."
The young man's words were polite, but his gaze was sharp.
Jo Chang-su ascended the porch and entered the room.
Inside, an old man was polishing his sword. Though small in stature, he radiated the presence of an immense high expert.
Especially with the sword in the old man's hand, Jo Chang-su found he couldn't even draw a deep breath.
"Elder, have you been well?"
Jo Chang-su bowed deeply and respectfully.
There was good reason why the leader of the fairly renowned Baekya-bang was acting so deferential.
The old man was none other than U Myeong-hwan, lord of Dae Jeong San Jang—one of Korea's two great sects—and one of the White Path's Ten Absolutes.
"Jang Cheon has returned."
The hand polishing the sword paused for a moment. It resumed, then soon set the blade down as if concentration had faltered.
"So he has come back after all."
Jo Chang-su knew the rough outlines of Jang Cheon's story. What had happened in the past, why he had left, and what sort of grudge tied them together.
Twenty years ago, three families had risen like a storm, making their mark.
They had survived the checks of other sects by banding together like blood allies, aiding and protecting one another.
Gwang-sa-mun.
Dae Jeong San Jang.
Gangnam-il-mun.
They were called Korea's three rising great sects and grew rapidly.
Then, fourteen years ago, at the height of their glory, Gwang-sa-mun's lord and his key retainers were massacred by Jang Cheon's hand, annihilating the sect overnight.
The remaining two families, Dae Jeong San Jang and Gangnam-il-mun, were enraged.
Yet neither Dae Jeong San Jang nor Gangnam-il-mun ever exacted revenge on Jang Cheon.
Even though a close ally like blood kin had been wiped out, they never sought vengeance.
When Jang Cheon, the destroyer of Gwang-sa-mun, left Korea, why hadn't they sent anyone to kill him?
It was a question Jo Chang-su had always wondered about but never dared ask.
The three great sects of the past had become the two great sects: Dae Jeong San Jang and Gangnam-il-mun.
People called them Korea's two great sects.
These two great sects now wielded power on an entirely different level from before.
They had grown from rising stars through the mid-tier to represent Korea itself—not just thriving, but massive sects commanding thousands of martial artists.
There were regional overlords representing each city and province. Some sects walked their own paths, while others were tied to the two great sects.
Baekya-bang, led by Jo Chang-su, was one such sect. Jo Chang-su had aligned himself with Dae Jeong San Jang of the two great sects.
"What do you think? Will you take on Jang Cheon yourself?"
It was both opportunity and crisis.
If he could capture Jang Cheon, he would monopolize U Myeong-hwan's trust.
U Myeong-hwan was a man of clear rewards and punishments, so Baekya-bang would seize a chance for massive growth.
But Jo Chang-su knew just how dangerous this Jang Cheon was.
"As you know, I'm far too lacking for anything more than running errands."
U Myeong-hwan nodded, as if agreeing entirely, which inwardly bruised Jo Chang-su's pride.
But he knew full well that suffering a hit to his pride was a hundred times better than dying from bravado.
"You've done well. You may withdraw now."
"Yes, lord."
Jo Chang-su bowed once more and quietly exited. Outside stood the young man he had seen upon arrival.
"Cheong-ah."
At the voice from within, the young man called Cheong entered, and Jo Chang-su departed.
The young man knelt before U Myeong-hwan. His name was Seo Mal-cheong, the disciple U Myeong-hwan had taken in his later years.
"You've heard of Jang Cheon before, haven't you?"
"You mentioned him once in the past. The one who caused the Gwang-sa-mun upheaval, right?"
"Correct. That's the one. It seems he's returned to Korea."
"He's come to die, then."
"You think so?"
U Myeong-hwan asked calmly, eyeing Seo Mal-cheong, who seemed convinced there could be no other reason.
"Do you know why we never killed Jang Cheon?"
U Myeong-hwan broached a topic he had never once raised before.
"We were afraid."
"Pardon?"
Seo Mal-cheong looked up in surprise.
U Myeong-hwan closed his eyes as if recalling that time.
"Fourteen years ago, when I rushed to Gwang-sa-mun with Gangnam-il-mun's lord, it was already over.
Gwang-sa-mun was a field of ruins, and its lord was shattered to pieces, scattered everywhere. It was the most horrific sight I'd ever witnessed."
U Myeong-hwan shook his head, as if loath to remember it again.
"We never said it aloud, but our hearts whispered: Don't touch this one. Revenge or not, if we do, we're all dead.
A mere twenty-year-old boy planted that thought in us.
At the next gathering, as if by prior agreement, we said nothing about Gwang-sa-mun or Jang Cheon. In the end, it became a scar for us."
Seo Mal-cheong knew better than anyone how formidable U Myeong-hwan was as a high expert and how unyielding his mental fortitude. This tale from the past rang strangely hollow.
He ventured cautiously.
"The past is the past. Things are different now, aren't they? No need to hang a bell on a cat's neck ourselves. Just unleash the hunting dogs and be done with it."
"Would we worry like this over a cat?"
"Even a tiger's no issue. Just deploy capable hunters."
U Myeong-hwan offered only a faint smile.
Seo Mal-cheong couldn't comprehend. As far as he knew, neither U Myeong-hwan nor Dae Jeong San Jang could be challenged by a single high expert.
In the end, he thought:
The past gets romanticized and exaggerated.
But he didn't voice it. He could prove his point with skill when the chance came.
Whether sensing that or not, U Myeong-hwan's gaze deepened as he stared out the window.
Amid the deep wrinkles that seemed to laugh off the world's affairs, an unyielding ambition still clung stubbornly.
"We've reached another crossroads."
Jeong Yeong-gi was racing through Gwang-sa-mun's interior.
Splash.
He had thought ankle-deep blood was something from novels.
But here, blood truly rose to his ankles.
Corpses lay entangled everywhere. If hell had a painting, this would be it, he thought.
Urk.
Nausea surged, and he finally vomited up his stomach's contents.
But he had to press on, so he kept running.
The corridor behind the main hall was littered with corpses too—all martial artists.
Sword marks scarred the corridor walls everywhere: sharp, erratic lines.
He clambered over bodies, pushing deeper inside.
Cautiously, he opened the door at the corridor's end.
The body in the room was more gruesomely dismembered than any he'd seen so far.
There stood Jang Cheon, back turned, drenched in blood. Blood dripped steadily from the sword in his hand.
Jang Cheon slowly turned toward him.
His eyes brimmed with abyss-deep sorrow, rage, and emptiness.
"……Agent Jeong."
"Agent Jeong."
The voice calling from ahead snapped Jeong Yeong-gi from his reverie. He looked up to see Jang Cheon standing there.
"Why have you come again?"
This was the café in the residence lobby where Jang Cheon and Jeong Yeong-gi had first met. Jeong Yeong-gi had sought him out again today.
"I have something to tell you."
"Another warning?"
At their first meeting, he had used the word "warning" while mentioning those who viewed Jang Cheon unfavorably.
Jeong Yeong-gi sighed and said,
"Whatever it is, sit down first."
Jang Cheon sat across from him.
"They've caught wind that you've returned."
The moment intel came in that Baekya-bang's Jo Chang-su had gone to meet U Myeong-hwan, Jeong Yeong-gi had rushed to Jang Cheon.
They had been discreetly tracking Jo Chang-su's movements since then.
Now he was here to inform Jang Cheon that they knew of his return to Korea.
"Be careful."
"You should be the one careful."
Before Jeong Yeong-gi could respond, Jang Cheon spoke first.
"Back then, all I saw was revenge. Self-recrimination for failing to protect my family.
I was furious and wronged at falling so easily to San-gong poison. Intoxicated by my own talent, I was arrogant.
Even hiding my skills, I was hailed a martial arts genius."
"You were only twenty back then."
And once more, Jeong Yeong-gi was certain: He would have done the same. If he had the power to kill, he would have acted like Jang Cheon.
That was why he had omitted Jang Cheon's name from his report to superiors. Why he had turned a blind eye to his departure abroad.
Of course, he knew full well that headquarters burying the incident wasn't solely due to his report.
Even knowing Jang Cheon was involved, they had covered it up entirely.
All related matters were scrapped and disposed of, leaving no trace afterward.
"Looking back, I realized killing them wasn't the ultimate revenge."
"Yes, the emptiness of vengeance."
"That's not it."
"Not it?"
"I should have been crueler. Tormented them more. Made them beg for death. I shouldn't have let them go so easily."
"Jang Cheon."
"Even in that mad frenzy, I couldn't kill his young son and wife. I vowed over and over to slaughter his family before his eyes."
"You did well! You're not like them! You're no monster!"
Jeong Yeong-gi raised his voice.
"That's why your revenge was just. That's why you can live on like this."
Compared to the agitated Jeong Yeong-gi, Jang Cheon remained calm.
"That boy must be an adult now. I'm curious how he'll respond—and his wife.
Will they live quietly as before, or step up to kill me?
If they come for revenge on father and husband, they'll no longer be boy and woman to me."
"Cheon-ah."
"I'll cut them down without hesitation. If they dare seek revenge knowing what their father and husband did, I won't forgive them."
Jeong Yeong-gi sighed. He knew how that son and wife had lived.
Perhaps Jang Cheon had investigated them all before returning to Korea.
Maybe everyone was now on his testing ground.
Perhaps accepting HT Group's commission was to finally clear the long-accumulated dregs in his heart.
Maybe he judged himself capable now.
"The two great sects are the same. If they seek revenge, I'll oblige—thoroughly."
Korea's two great sects had amassed untouchable power and influence. Even the Murim Alliance and the state couldn't touch them. Surely Jang Cheon knew that.
"Agent Jeong."
"Yes."
"Since that day, my heart has been empty. No matter how I try to fill it, it won't."
"I understand."
"A hollow box remains hollow, no matter how prettily wrapped."
"Jang Cheon."
"But…… I don't regret this emptiness. It's my life, my path. I chose not to fill it, and I won't in the future."
Jang Cheon rose from his seat.
"Thank you for the news."
He bowed politely and walked out.
A few steps in, Jang Cheon halted.
"If anything happens involving me from now on…… don't get involved. If possible, take a long vacation and travel with your family.
This is a request, in gratitude for your past kindness."
Jang Cheon walked out of the café.
Left alone, Jeong Yeong-gi murmured softly.
It was directed at Agent S, who had been listening to the conversation.
Jeong Yeong-gi rose and walked out of the café.
Jang Cheon emerged from the café and stood before the elevator.
Then, unexpectedly, his phone rang. It was Park In-hwan's second son, Park Jin-ho.
Hanging up, Jang Cheon immediately called Bishop.
The tidings continued to spread.