Chapter 276: Jiangsu Province-2
Chapter 276: Jiangsu Province-2
Yeon Taejin beat Jeon Seok-gu and his gang like dogs.
She had apparently gotten quite good at regulating her strength, as she didn't even make them pass out.
Ppeok! Ppak! Puk! Kwajik!
"Aaaagh!"
"Please spare us!"
"M-My lady! I have a sickly old mother at home and... kkuaaagh!"
"Fairy maiden! Please! Aaaagh!"
As the beating dragged on, everyone around, including Seonwoo Jin, had no choice but to gaze upon the Mad Dog's gang with pitying eyes.
It was so pitiful that it was reaching the point of being heartbreaking.
And just as the thought of whether they should stop her now was beginning to arise, Yeon Taejin finally stopped her hand, stretched, and wore a refreshed expression.
"Ahh, how refreshing! Lately I've kept running into only masters, so I was feeling a bit stifled. Now I finally feel alive!"
Hearing that, the party could understand why she had accepted the Mad Dog gang's provocation.
It seemed that recently she had kept encountering only masters she couldn't defeat, so things had been building up inside her.
But still, to take out those feelings on complete strangers...
Seonwoo Jin conveyed an apology in his heart to the Mad Dog gang, who had become her sacrificial offerings, as he climbed up onto the duel stage.
Now that Yeon Taejin had achieved her objective, it was his turn to achieve his.
Seonwoo Jin looked around with a greasy smirk and spoke.
"Is the level of martial artists in Soju, Jiangsu Province, really only this much? I had some expectations since it's the territory of the Four Kings Alliance, but I'm far too disappointed."
At that, the surroundings went quiet for a moment.
And then exploded in an instant.
"Woooooo!"
"What bullshit is that?!"
"To spout such nonsense just because you beat the Mad Dog gang!"
"Do you dare to disrespect us, the martial artists of Soju?!"
The atmosphere here was certainly free-spirited.
After all, a spectacle of ordinary citizens jeering at murim warriors was something rarely seen anywhere else.
But while Seonwoo Jin inwardly admired that atmosphere, outwardly he didn't show it at all.
Rather, he looked down at them with an arrogant expression and spoke.
"Why? Shouldn't I disrespect you? When it's said that those with this level of skill are the representatives of Soju?"
At that, people shouted with furious expressions.
"How are those bastards the representatives of Soju's martial artists?!"
"That's right! To disrespect Soju's martial artists just because you beat the Mad Dog gang of all people!"
"Hey! Someone go call the martial artists of the Ho-tu Association!"
"I'll go! I'll be right back with masters who will smash you to pieces, so just wait right there!"
As several people urgently dashed off somewhere at those words, Seonwoo Jin smiled faintly.
The situation was flowing exactly as he had hoped.
The reason Seonwoo Jin had accepted their provocation from the start was not, like Yeon Taejin, to relieve his mood.
It was because, in that moment, he had formulated a plan in his head.
It was a plan built on the intelligence he had heard from the Hao Gate, and it seemed the first step was fitting into place very nicely.
Then Yeon Taejin, who had been watching with a slight frown, asked him.
"What? You've got some other scheme going on?"
At her question, Seonwoo Jin simply smiled faintly at her.
And he glanced over at the other party members.
When he did, he could see they were already looking at him with expressions that said 'that figures.'
They wore expressions that suggested if Seonwoo Jin was doing something, there must be a reason for it.
Suddenly, Mukrang spoke.
- There is nothing as valuable as trust earned through experience. In that respect, you are receiving nearly wholehearted trust.
At those words, Seonwoo Jin suddenly felt a warmth blooming in his chest.
Seol Pung, Jeung Chil, Jin So-eun.
There was no better feeling than sensing the solid trust from the people he liked.
So Seonwoo Jin, who had originally intended to explain to them one by one using telepathic transmission, simply grinned and threw out a single line to the party.
"Today, let us try conquering Soju from this very spot."
It was a brief explanation made possible because Seonwoo Jin also firmly trusted his party.
***
It was when Seonwoo Jin's party had waited about a quarter-hour at the duel stage.
Soon, a fierce-looking martial artist with the build of a bear came running and shouted.
"I am Gu Hang, the leader of the Ho-tu Association! Which bastard is it?! Which bastard dares to look down on the martial artists of our Soju?!"
He was certainly someone who looked far more skilled than the earlier man called Jeon Seok-gu.
Judging by his aura, a martial artist who appeared to be at least above mid-level first-rate.
Seeing him, Yeon Taejin's eyes sparkled and she muttered gladly.
"Oh my, this fish has quite the thick body. There'll be some flavor to this."
To her, the martial artists rushing over seemed to appear as nothing more than fish caught on a fishing line.
And what she wanted to do after catching that fish was probably slice it up into sashimi.
Watching Gu Hang, Seonwoo Jin suddenly let out a sigh, feeling a mix of guilt over what was about to happen to him and doubt about the past decision to move together with Yeon Taejin.
"Huuuuu."
Had it really been a wise choice to go along with her?
A sudden wave of doubt was washing over him.
That was when.
Jeung Chil suddenly sprang up onto the duel stage and shouted.
"Heh! You half-naked wench! Do you think you're the only one who gets to have fun?! You just had your turn, so now it's mine!"
...And it seemed it wasn't only Yeon Taejin either.
Seonwoo Jin had no choice but to let out another deep sigh, covering his face with his hand.
That was when.
The man called Gu Hang finally leaped up onto the duel stage.
Then he scowled deeply.
He was angered by the sight of Jeung Chil, a diminutive old man, attempting to face him.
He looked at the sturdily built Seonwoo Jin and shouted.
"To send out such a skinny, beanpole-like old man as your front! Are you truly a man...!"
It was when his shout reached that point.
The enraged Jeung Chil shot forward like a beam of light.
"What, you punk!"
Pueoooook!
It was a powerful straight punch that felt as though it would pierce through the stomach.
Gu Hang's body bent like a shrimp.
"Kkueoooook!"
"What was that about a skinny beanpole?!"
Unfortunately for Gu Hang, that was only the beginning.
The furious Jeung Chil's flurry of blows began to sweep over Gu Hang like a storm.
Ppeobeobeobeobeok!
"Kkueoooooo!"
It was far too brutal a beating.
To the extent that even Yeon Taejin, who had just beaten Jeon Seok-gu's gang like dogs, wore a sickened expression.
Gu Hang could not endure for long and had no choice but to tearfully and pitifully beg, tears and snot streaming down.
"Uwoaaaa, S-Sir, P-Please, S-Spare..."
But Jeung Chil never stopped his hand.
And finally, only when Gu Hang's body had been nearly pulverized did he stop, panting heavily.
As if still not having vented all his anger, he huffed and shouted toward the people.
"Are all the martial artists of Soju nothing but wretched beanpoles like this?! I can't tell if this is a martial artist or a scarecrow!"
At that provocation, the people began to seethe once more.
"H-How can this be! Even the leader of the Ho-tu Association was taken down!"
"Tsk! We can't just leave it like this! Hurry, go inform the White Feather Hall!"
"Right! I'll go!"
"We'll show you the true skill of Soju's martial artists!"
As yet another few people dashed off with those words, Jeung Chil, who had been watching the scene, grinned toward Seonwoo Jin.
It was a smile that seemed to ask, 'I did well, right?'
At that sight, Seonwoo Jin let out a hollow laugh.
It seemed Jeung Chil had grasped that Seonwoo Jin was deliberately provoking people to summon stronger martial artists.
That Jeung Chil's thinking had reached that point was nothing short of an astonishing development.
Seonwoo Jin smiled faintly and gave him a thumbs-up.
Then, a short while later, yet another group of martial artists came running.
"I am Jo Du-seok, the leader of Soju's White Feather Hall! Which bastard...!"
Ppeobeobeobeobeok!
"Kueoooook!"
The man called Jo Du-seok, the leader of the White Feather Hall, was a martial artist who had reached the initial stage of the peak realm.
And one at the initial stage of the peak realm was certainly a master who could even become the ruler of a small city.
But unfortunately, his opponent was Yeon Taejin, who had again switched with Jeung Chil.
Before her, a transcendent peak master, the skill of someone at the initial stage of the peak realm was not much different from Jeon Seok-gu, who had been second-rate.
After a brief moment, Jo Du-seok, the leader of the White Feather Hall, had no choice but to be laid out beside the man called Gu Hang, reduced to rags.
Then, having witnessed even Jo Du-seok, a peak-level martial artist who could be called a true master, get helplessly beaten, the people of Soju now wore expressions of disbelief.
"H-how could this be! Even Branch Leader Jo has fallen!"
"And so easily at that! Who in the world are these people?"
"Is that really what matters right now?! At this rate, our Soju's prestige will be completely shattered by these outsiders!"
"Then what do you propose we do? Now that even Branch Leader Jo has fallen, the only ones who could face them now are... don't tell me?!"
"That's right! Do we not have the Baek Family?! Let us bring word to them!"
"But the Family Head of the Baek Family is..."
"The Baek Family Head may be bedridden with illness, but do they not have their young masters?! If it's Second Gongja, he will surely come!"
"Yes! If it's Second Gongja, he'll be more than enough!"
Seonwoo Jin listened to the people chattering away with serious voices and allowed himself a faint smile.
It was because the name of the place he'd been aiming for had finally come up.
The place Seonwoo Jin had been targeting from the very beginning: the Soju Baek Family.
In the past, the first Four Kings of the Four Kings Alliance, Gwae Jaun, had granted each of the sworn brothers of his father Gwangma—those who had shared his hardships—one territory of their choosing.
He had then recognized those territories as their domains, separate from the Four Kings Alliance itself, and left a will for his descendants instructing them never to interfere with those families, no matter what.
The entities created in this manner were precisely the Four Kings Thirteen Clans, the independent factions within the Four Kings Alliance.
And this city of Soju was, among those Four Kings Thirteen Clans, the domain of the Soju Baek Family.
The descendants of the So-myeon-won-hu Baek Dong-seong, the Soju Baek Family—a renowned name in staff techniques famous throughout the entire martial world.
In his previous life, Seol Pung had succeeded in becoming a candidate for successor to the next Four Kings.
However, according to the intelligence Seonwoo Jin had gathered because he was curious about his news, that was as far as he had been able to go.
'The current Four Kings, Goe Gal-hyeon, had declared that the next Four Kings would be decided through limitless competition among the successors. And in that competition, not only individual strength but also one's faction was an incredibly important factor. Brother Pung, who had no foundation whatsoever within the Four Kings Alliance, was therefore unable to achieve any accomplishments after entering the Alliance, unlike the other successors.'
And that situation, truthfully, was no different now.
No matter that Seonwoo Jin, Jeung Chil, and others were accompanying him now, unlike back then, compared to the other candidates who already had firmly established positions within the Four Kings Alliance, Seol Pung's forces were still practically nonexistent.
That was why Seonwoo Jin, while gathering intelligence on the Four Kings Alliance's internal affairs, had agonized over which factions might potentially become Seol Pung's strength.
And the ones that had stood out the most at the time were precisely the clans of the Four Kings Thirteen Clans, which held independent status even within the Four Kings Alliance itself.
'Of course, many of the Four Kings Thirteen Clans were already entangled with other candidates in one way or another. But according to Hao Gate's intelligence, the Soju Baek Family, which governs this city of Soju, was not yet affiliated.'
The reason Seonwoo Jin had inserted Soju into the route to the Four Kings Alliance from the very beginning was precisely to attempt to create a point of contact with the Soju Baek Family.
If he could forge some kind of connection with them by any means, they might be able to secure their support and faction when Seol Pung became a successor candidate.
And so, while he was pondering the method, what had caught his eye was precisely this series of duels.
In this place, duels between martial artists were such a natural occurrence, deeply intertwined with the lives of ordinary commoners, and their outcomes seemed directly tied to the pride they held for their hometown of Soju.
Therefore, Seonwoo Jin's thinking had been that if he could create a scenario of Soju martial artists versus outsiders and stir up their local patriotism, they might be able to meet the Baek Family right here without even having to go to their estate.
And judging by how things were unfolding, it seemed his idea was working out perfectly so far.
Seonwoo Jin listened closely to the people's conversations while they waited for the martial artists of the Soju Baek Family to be summoned.
As expected of locals, a few pieces of intelligence that even Hao Gate hadn't managed to obtain were reaching his ears.
'The Family Head of the Soju Baek Family is bedridden with illness, they say? I hadn't heard that piece of intelligence. Was it recent? And furthermore, why am I only hearing talk of Second Gongja? I heard there were three sons, but no one is mentioning the First Gongja or the Third Gongja by name.'
Seonwoo Jin recalled the intelligence on the Soju Baek Family he had obtained from Hao Gate.
The Family Head of the Soju Baek Family had three sons.
Among them, the most outstanding was the first, who was evaluated as being perfect in both conduct and martial arts to become the next Family Head.
In comparison, the second and third did not seem to have received very favorable evaluations.
The second was said to be exceptional in martial arts but had some personality issues, being a troublemaker who went around causing incidents everywhere. The third was assessed as neither particularly exceptional in martial arts nor particularly bold in character.
Of course, he couldn't be entirely confident that these rumors were completely accurate.
It was intelligence relayed from the distant Guizhou Fortress and Guangxi Province, making verification impossible. And above all, there was the possibility that the Soju Baek Family had deliberately fabricated these rumors to solidify the first son's succession ranking.
However, even taking that into consideration, the fact that people were only talking about Second Gongja right now was a little strange.
'Even if the two's martial arts were comparable, shouldn't the First Gongja's name be coming up more often than Second Gongja's?'
It seemed he would need to look into this matter a bit more in order to successfully approach the Soju Baek Family.
That was when it happened.
From far off in the distance, someone came dashing as if flying.
- Bwahahahaha! Who are the bold bastards who dared to slight the martial artists of Soju?!
A booming voice carrying powerful internal energy.
Nevertheless, it was the voice of a young man who did not seem to be very advanced in years.
At that, the ordinary citizens of Soju, who had been waiting with anxious expressions, burst into cheers.
"Waaaaaah! It's Second Gongja Baek Mu-ho!"
"The Soju Baek Family's Second Gongja, Baek Mu-ho, has come!"
"Gongja Baek! We have been waiting!"
It was an incredibly heated response unlike anything seen in the appearances of the other martial artists thus far.
If one had to compare, the reaction to the very first group, Jeon Seok-gu's Mad Dog Gang, who had seemed closest to the commoners, would be the only one even remotely comparable.
It seemed that this man called Baek Mu-ho was an immensely popular figure among the commoners of Soju.
And as if to prove Seonwoo Jin's thoughts, after landing lightly upon the dueling stage like a flying bird, he began displaying behavior where he communicated with the ordinary citizens first, rather than with Seonwoo Jin's party.
"You have waited long, everyone! Now that I, Baek Mu-ho, have arrived, you need not have a single worry! I shall! Show these outsiders the true might of Soju's martial artists!"
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"As expected of Second Gongja Baek Mu-ho!"
"Baek Mu-ho! Baek Mu-ho! Baek Mu-ho!"
All the citizens of Soju gathered around the dueling stage began chanting Baek Mu-ho's name in unison.
At that, he gazed up at the sky with a deeply moved expression and trembled.
It seemed he could hardly contain his excitement at the atmosphere of people chanting his name.
Baek Mu-ho was clearly no ordinary character.
He had been listening to the voices chanting his name with his eyes closed for a moment, then suddenly leaped into the crowd and began shouting his own name along with them.
"Baek Mu-ho! Baek Mu-ho! Baek Mu-ho!"
"Uwaaaaah! Baek Mu-ho! Baek Mu-ho! Baek Mu-ho!"
It was behavior unbefitting a scion of a prestigious family—free-spirited, to put it kindly, and utterly hammy, to put it poorly.
At his extraordinary behavior, Seonwoo Jin's party stared at him blankly with dumbfounded expressions.
Jeung Chil suddenly muttered.
"What the hell is that guy? Was he actually a medicine peddler and not a martial artist?"
At those words, everyone nodded blankly.
And it seemed that Seonwoo Jin's party was not the only one flustered by his behavior.
The group belatedly spotted a contingent of martial artists who had followed behind Baek Mu-ho, covering their faces as they watched his actions.
Seol Pung looked at them and voiced his question.
"Those people?"
At his words, Seonwoo Jin answered.
"They appear to be martial artists of the Soju Baek Family."
"Ah."
The Soju Baek Family martial artists who had followed Baek Mu-ho were ashamed of his behavior.
It seemed the rumor that Second Gongja Baek Mu-ho was the troublemaker of the Soju Baek Family was, at the very least, true.
That was when it happened.
Baek Mu-ho, who had been mingling with the commoners and chanting his own name for quite some time, leaped back up onto the dueling stage.
Then, he whirled the black rod he carried on his back, tucked it between his arms, and clasped his fists solemnly in a martial salute.
"I apologize for making you wait. I am the second son of the Soju Baek Family, called Baek Mu-ho. To my friends in the martial world, I am known by the undeserved sobriquet, the Fierce Tiger Rod."
He was a man of sturdy build who appeared to be in his late twenties.
His solid-looking physique and extraordinary presence made it clear he was a master of considerable skill, and his masculine face was filled with a mischievous grin.
Overall, he gave the impression of an overgrown, boyish prankster.
That was when it happened.
Mukrang suddenly spoke to Seonwoo Jin.
- Hm? That man, he's in a poisoned state.
'Excuse me?'
It was a truly unexpected remark.