Chapter 26. The Many Young Heroes
The road to Anhui Province was short.
Mount Bokryong was not far from Anhui Province to begin with, and on top of that, if I watched Sohui and Paeng Hoyeon bicker the whole way, the sun that had only just risen seemed to set before I knew it.
Until we reached Anhui Province, Sohui and Paeng Hoyeon kept up a strange contest of nerves, disagreeing over even the smallest things, and I spent the entire day mediating between them.
Just like that, we arrived in Anhui Province before long.
"Oh! So this is Anhui Province? It definitely feels different from Hebei."
Paeng Hoyeon had apparently never been to a city like this after leaving Hebei, because she kept turning her head in every direction, looking around with obvious fascination.
I wanted to show her around Anhui Province, but first we needed to go to the Martial Alliance and meet the Alliance Leader and Chief Military Advisor.
"Are you Young Master Han and Miss Jegal? The Alliance Leader and Military Advisor are waiting inside."
From the gate itself, the guards recognized us and let us in at once.
Once we entered the familiar inner grounds of the Martial Alliance and headed to the office, the Alliance Leader and the Military Advisor were waiting for us.
"You came quickly!"
The Alliance Leader greeted us with unusual enthusiasm.
He seemed glad to see us, probably because our arrival meant release from the pile of documents stacked on his desk.
"First, we should explain the situation."
Jegal Jinhyeon gave Namgung Taeseong a look to get on with it.
"Ahem. First, according to the report from Sichuan, after we were told that an unknown man had stolen Tang Ak's Jiangshi research journal and fled, we kept pursuing him."
Jegal Jinhyeon unfolded a map and continued.
"After escaping Sichuan, he vanished for a time. So we cooperated with the Beggars' Sect and focused our search on regions where missing persons cases or strange illnesses were breaking out."
Jegal Jinhyeon's markings moved gradually westward from Sichuan.
"Following those traces, we became certain he was hiding in a mountain somewhere in Qinghai. We also confirmed that Jiangshi were wandering around in various places."
When Jegal Jinhyeon finished his explanation, Namgung Taeseong picked up where he left off.
"We have named that man the Blood-Drinking Demon, and we intend to launch a punitive expedition."
"So that is why you called me here to serve as the backbone of that expedition force?"
"Exactly. We expect the Blood-Drinking Demon's martial ability to be nothing extraordinary. He has avoided battle and chosen flight and concealment, so that much can be inferred. But since his martial art is certainly demonic, we want to use this as a symbol for the orthodox world to eradicate demonic arts and stand united. That is why we plan to gather the young heroes of each clan and sect and form a strike force."
The fact that they intended to build the punitive expedition against the Blood-Drinking Demon out of young heroes made me uneasy all over again.
Seeing my concern, Namgung Taeseong opened his mouth.
"You don't need to worry too much. I'll be going along as well, so there won't be any major variables."
Knowing the Alliance Leader would accompany us in person eased my anxiety a great deal.
The Alliance Leader was strong enough to be spoken of as the greatest master under heaven, so if he came with us, there shouldn't be a problem.
"That's a relief. Then when do we leave?"
"Everyone who wanted to take part has already arrived. We informed Young Master Han at the Ice Palace, but then heard you had gone to Hebei, so we sent a letter there. Then we were told you'd gone to the Jegal Clan, so we kept having to resend the letter. That's why the news reached you so late."
Jegal Jinhyeon gave me a faint look as he spoke.
"Haha... I had a bit of business to take care of..."
"Well, thanks to that, Miss Paeng came with you too, didn't she!"
"By the way, may I ask who has gathered here?"
"They're all staying inside the Martial Alliance, so you'll meet them soon enough. I'll order everyone assembled at the training ground."
Sohui apparently had something to discuss with her father, so the two of them remained in the office.
That left Paeng Hoyeon and me to follow Namgung Taeseong to the training ground.
When we arrived and waited for a while, people began gathering little by little.
A few familiar faces were among them.
Namgung Hyeongeom, Jinmu, and Tang Jin were there.
"Hmm... looks like my brother isn't here?"
Paeng Hoyeon said, sounding disappointed that Paeng Hosik wasn't in sight.
"Looks like just about everyone is here. Then let me introduce you all. This is Han Yugang, the one who will lead the punitive expedition and the North Sea Divine Dragon."
"Greetings. I am Han Yugang, though I seem to be burdened with the excessive title of North Sea Divine Dragon. I look forward to working with you."
At my greeting, Namgung Hyeongeom and Tang Jin applauded.
Then the introductions began.
There were many young heroes gathered from all over, but a few stood out in particular.
"Hello. I'm Shin Yu-eun, here as the representative of the Emei Sect. I'll do my best to help, however little it may be."
Shin Yu-eun, who had come from Emei Sect, was a truly delicate beauty.
She seemed calm and composed.
"I am Geumgang of Shaolin. Amitabha."
Anyone could tell at a glance that he was from Shaolin. He had a shaved head, and six dots were marked on it.
He wore prayer beads on his left wrist, and he was rolling them as he chanted Buddhist scriptures.
"I am Seongsin of the Qingcheng Sect. I've heard that Young Master Han is also a master of swift swordplay, so I'd like to test my skill against you someday."
Seongsin was of a fairly small build, and he kept fiddling with the sword at his waist, looking as though he was itching to move.
"I... am Hwangbo Seok... from the Hwangbo Clan..."
The one standing next to Seongsin, and therefore looking even larger, introduced himself as Hwangbo Seok of the Hwangbo Clan.
Surprisingly, he seemed to be timid, and he barely managed to finish his introduction in a tiny voice.
"Tch. A frail-looking guy like you won the Martial Arts Tournament?"
At the sneering tone, Namgung Hyeongeom and Jinmu, both of whom had taken part in the tournament, glared at the speaker.
"I am Huyu, the next sect leader of the Qingcheng Sect, and Qingcheng's number one sword. I couldn't participate in the Martial Arts Tournament because I was in closed-door training, and yet some strange nobody is strutting around calling himself the winner."
He spoke with an obnoxious, arrogant tone, looking down on everyone gathered here.
Thanks to him, the atmosphere turned cold in an instant.
Then someone suddenly raised a hand and shouted, "Am I the last one?! I'm Cheongpung! I'm from the Mount Hua Sect!"
He carried on with his introduction in a bright, cheerful voice.
"You're the one they say is our leader, right? Then are you stronger than me?"
It was a similar kind of question to Huyu's, but the feeling was completely different.
He seemed like a truly innocent man, asking simply whether I was stronger than him out of pure curiosity.
"All right, all right. It looks like everyone's introduced themselves. Seems a few of you aren't too happy that the North Sea Divine Dragon is the representative."
Namgung Taeseong stepped in personally and calmed the mood.
"In that case, we'll need to spar and see whether the North Sea Divine Dragon is truly fit to be the representative, and to gauge each other's abilities!"
As soon as Namgung Taeseong finished speaking, Huyu quietly raised a hand and asked, "Then can the representative change depending on the result of that spar?"
At Huyu's question, Namgung Taeseong looked at me and grinned.
"Of course."
"Then I accept."
"Wow! A match! A match!"
"Then we'll do one-on-one sparring so we can confirm everyone's abilities. The winners will keep facing each other until we determine the final winner, who will take the representative position. Does that sound good?"
Everyone agreed to Namgung Taeseong's proposal.
"For the first match, everyone must participate without forfeiting. After that, you may withdraw freely."
And so the sparring to determine the leader of the Blood-Drinking Demon's punitive expedition began.
In the first round of one-on-one matches, most of the representatives from each clan or sect who had caught the eye during the introductions won smoothly.
Namgung Hyeongeom and Jinmu also secured easy victories.
I watched closely, paying attention to what sort of martial arts each person used.
For one thing, Tang Jin's martial arts were new to me. He threw out a variety of hidden weapons and mainly used short daggers, martial arts specialized in disruption and ambush.
Shin Yu-eun used a spear, which I'd only seen in this life for the first time.
Her spear techniques, sweeping in dazzling arcs at a distance, were so beautiful and graceful that I almost found myself entranced.
Geumgang was a master of solid bodily techniques.
Like my second brother or Father, he seemed to circulate internal energy through his body to reinforce it, using martial arts specialized in defense.
The unusual part was that even during the sparring, he kept muttering Buddhist scriptures while rolling his prayer beads.
Seongsin was a man who used swift swordplay much like I did.
The difference was that his sword art specialized in thrusts rather than slashing with the blade.
His swordsmanship drove out relentless thrusts at a terrifying speed, and it looked remarkably sharp.
Hwangbo Seok, as his appearance suggested, used heavy, grounded fist techniques.
He seemed to use a style of boxing not unlike my second brother's.
Huyu's sword style was rather peculiar.
It was neither as soft as the Wudang sword, nor as heavy as the Namgung sword, nor as sharp as the Peng blade, nor as fast as Seongsin's sword art.
It didn't excel at any one thing, and yet it felt as though it held every kind of momentum in balanced measure.
The most surprising person was Cheongpung.
Cheongpung's swordsmanship was as free and lively as his personality.
When he circulated his internal energy, splendid plum blossoms bloomed, and his sword light painted vivid pictures in the air.
By the time everyone's first bouts were over, the winners were, as expected, Paeng Hoyeon, Namgung Hyeongeom, Jinmu, Tang Jin, Shin Yu-eun, Geumgang, Seongsin, Hwangbo Seok, Huyu, and Cheongpung.
Once the first round had ended, the ones left standing to continue challenging for the representative position were Namgung Hyeongeom, Huyu, and, somewhat unexpectedly, Cheongpung.
The others either had no interest in the position of representative or found it too burdensome and withdrew, so the winner would have to be chosen from among the four remaining.
"This time, I'll win and earn Father's recognition."
Namgung Hyeongeom quietly expressed his determination to take first place.
"Hehe, this is going to be fun!"
Cheongpung didn't seem to want the representative position at all; he looked as if he simply wanted to keep sparring.
"I can't lose to a bunch of trash like this."
Huyu was still muttering obnoxiously.
I'm definitely going to beat that guy.