Chapter 115 - Kidnapping
On the deck of a boat slicing through the rushing current, in one corner.
"Care for a drink?"
She shook her head vigorously: doridori doridori doridori.
"Not interested?"
She nodded emphatically: kkudeok kkudeok kkudeok kkudeok kkudeok.
"Why turn down something this good? No sense of flair at all, no flair."
"Smells bad."
"You saying I smell bad?!"
Jin Yeong Ryeong shot him a look of utter contempt.
"Heh heh heh. Still as entertaining as ever, even after all this time, Jin Family Head. But you know..."
Yu Il O continued.
"Why are you so terrified of the Sado Family Head?"
The words "Sado Family Head" had barely left his mouth when Jin Yeong Ryeong started mumbling like a madwoman.
"Scary scary scary scary scary."
"Yeah, but why?"
Yu Il O was genuinely curious.
"At our level, you can see right through the habits ingrained in someone's body. That guy—the Sado Family Head."
Yu Il O stated it with absolute certainty.
"He's not someone who's used to holding a sword."
"Scary scary scary scary scary."
"Quit freaking out like that."
Yu Il O grabbed Jin Yeong Ryeong's cheeks.
"Hm. Wasn't trying to grab on, but it sticks."
He twisted her cheeks this way and that as he spoke.
"Your cultivation's dropped, huh, Jin Family Head. Got something to do with the Sado Family Head?"
"Kieeeek!"
"Alright, alright. I won't ask. But just one last question."
Yu Il O's eyes gleamed as he said,
"If that guy and I threw down, who do you think would win?"
"......Dunno."
"Hm. I see."
Yu Il O stood up.
"Good talk, Jin Family Head."
"Warning. Careful."
"Oh? Worried about this old man?"
"Take it back. Contempt."
"That hurts."
With that, Yu Il O approached me—Sado Hwan.
"Hey, Sado Family Head. Didn't I say let's have a drink?"
Yu Il O shook the liquor bottle with a sly grin.
He looked about late thirties, but considering how all peak experts stayed eternally youthful, his real age had to be pushing late forties at least.
[Couldn't say for sure on the age. All I know is he's been wandering the martial world for quite a while.]
'Wandering the martial world.'
In the original Martial Returner, Yu Il O wasn't a major character.
As Pa Cheon said, he was a veteran of the jianghu, which led him to serve as a vanguard in the war.
And—
'Got sliced by Maeng Wi-hak.'
He was used as a device to show Maeng Wi-hak's strength and met a tragic end. He even had this weird obsession with Maeng Wi-hak.
'Maybe they crossed paths badly somewhere in the jianghu.'
That was when it happened.
"Sado Family Head, you. Got an interesting habit."
"What do you mean?"
"You pause mid-sentence and stare at your sword."
His words made me flinch.
"I get that the sword looks pretty nice, but staring at it with the enemy right in front of you? That's usually when someone's debating whether to cut 'em down or not."
Yu Il O chuckled creepily.
"What, you wanna slice me up too?"
His smile was chilling. No, what felt cold was my throat. It was like he'd draw his sword any second.
But in times like these, you bare your teeth. Back down, and you're done for.
"I don't draw my sword lightly."
I let the aura of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art pour from my eyes as I continued.
"But if it interferes with the investigation, I'll cut it down."
"Whoa, scary stuff. Threats from the rising star shaking up the cult."
But his face showed zero fear. If anything—
Whoooosh—
His hair was standing on end. His qi was surging out.
"If you're gonna play at a childish qi standoff, knock it off."
"The Supreme One appointed you as investigation leader, huh."
That's when Hwang So Gun appeared, sweating bullets, bandages wrapped tight around his upper body.
"Hahaha, wh-what's with the tension, everyone? Keep this up and you'll sink the boat."
Thanks, Hwang So Gun.
I turned away as if I'd lost interest.
[Gotta be careful with him, yeah. Demon, looks like you stare at the sword without realizing it when chatting with him.]
True enough. Since I was starting to see him as a conversation partner, it snuck up on me.
[Why'd he tag along anyway? Tch. That was deliberate provocation just now. Look, now he's cozying up to Hwang So Gun.]
He'd completely forgotten his own provocation and was shoving the bottle at Hwang So Gun, who was protesting, "My wounds are too severe; I must avoid alcohol."
Hearing that, Yu Il O muttered, "No flair, no flair," climbed the mast, and started drinking up top.
Is he nuts?
Actually, most Super Peak experts had their quirks.
It was inevitable—their gang qi was the culmination of a warrior's convictions.
Fine-sounding convictions to them, but to outsiders? Just pigheaded stubbornness or eccentricities.
'Exactly. No predicting how he'll act. Damn strength supremacy.'
If Yu Il O had been a bigger player in the original, it'd be less of an issue, but he wasn't.
Frustrated, I headed to the stern. Sa Wol emerged silently and followed.
She'd probably been hidden, ready to intervene if things got dicey earlier.
The boat cut swiftly against the current.
"How long till the outpost village, did you say?"
"According to Hwang So Gun, about two days. Since we're going upstream."
I nodded.
We were poling up the rapids of the Baekhoe River.
No world-breaking high-tech engine here, obviously.
Pure manpower.
Meaning dozens of cultists belowdecks were rowing like mad right now.
Correction.
Strength supremacy? Could be a good thing.
"Family Head."
"What is it?"
"If Maeng Wi-hak really shows up, what should we do?"
"Run."
"Run, sir?"
I nodded.
"Why do you think Maeng Wi-hak came here?"
"To track the cultists, obviously."
"Not that."
"Not that?"
Others might not know, but I did—Maeng Wi-hak's true nature.
He wasn't some righteous hero. He wore hypocrisy like a mask and guarded his interests viciously.
"Maeng Wi-hak knows full well: one more step here, and it's war."
"The jianghu's always ready to persecute cultists."
"The jianghu, sure. But not Maeng Wi-hak. Know why he holds the Murim Alliance Lord's seat so firmly?"
"Why?"
"Thanks to the cult."
The Murim Alliance—what they called themselves—was ostensibly the righteous sects united "to protect the jianghu's order from evil forces."
If war actually broke out and one side won decisively?
"He couldn't keep his throne anymore."
"Then it makes even less sense. Why show up here?"
"That's what we need to find out, starting now. But it's unlikely he came hunting cultists like we think."
Piiik—!
Mugyeok-i cried out overhead.
My ace in the hole: Mugyeok-i, scouting from the sky and emergency mount if needed.
If Maeng Wi-hak really appeared, I'd grab Sa Wol and bolt on Mugyeok-i.
Even if he fell short of the Heavenly Demon, he was still a generational genius.
And so the boat pressed on through the waves.
The boat docked at a bend in one of the Baekhoe River's tributaries, thick foliage cleverly blocking the view along the curving riverbank.
The climate was bizarre—jungle-thick undergrowth everywhere.
"This way."
Hwang So Gun led. On first pass, you'd never spot it—treacherous terrain.
"Still hurting bad? You're sweating buckets."
Yu Il O prodded. Hwang So Gun stammered.
"Th-that's... embarrassing, but I'm just... scared..."
"No worries. We've got the Sado Family Head here."
"Eh? Y-yes, haha."
Yu Il O was slyly testing me again. I ignored him flat-out.
"F-follow my exact path, please. We erase all traces to minimize contact with the cult."
"Bit late for that."
"Pardon?"
"Look."
Yu Il O tapped a tree with the hilt of his sword from his belt.
"Burn marks. From the first victim passing through."
A bit odd, but Rank 8 wasn't bought with booze—his eye was sharp.
"Follow these straight, and we'll find where it started."
"Impressive as always!"
"Haha, I am pretty great, right? Let's go!"
Yu Il O strode ahead.
At least he wasn't flying ahead with lightness skill, focused on the trail.
Chasing the marks through the brush, we emerged to—
Caw! Caw—!
A village swarming with crows.
Or what used to be a village.
It was ruins now. A decent-sized place, maybe a hundred households, all burned to ash.
Scattered everywhere: corpses.
"Urk!"
Hwang So Gun bolted and started puking.
Without the Heavenly Demon Divine Art's aura, even I might not have stayed sane amid this tragedy.
Grind—
Sa Wol ground her teeth beside me, the sound vicious.
"Whew. Expected bad, but this... way worse. Way worse."
Even cultists numb to death felt different seeing innocent villagers massacred like this.
"How do we even investigate this?"
"Jin Yeong Ryeong checks the blood first."
She scowled at my words.
"Rotten blood. Hate."
I stared at her silently.
She shook her head wildly: doridori doridori doridori.
I hadn't said a word, but she bolted forward anyway.
She reached a relatively intact(?) corpse and dabbed the blood into her mouth.
"Urk!"
Vomiting fits aside, Jin Yeong Ryeong said,
"Man. White hair. Young. Old?"
"Maeng Wi-hak, confirmed."
Yu Il O grinned. His hand trembled faintly.
"Anything else?"
Jin Yeong Ryeong scowled, smacked her lips, and said,
"Kids. Kidnapped? No."
After days with her, I'd mastered Jin-speak enough to parse it.
"Took the kids, but not kidnapping?"
She nodded: kkudeok kkudeok kkudeok kkudeok.
But then—
Shing—!
Yu Il O had drawn his sword unnoticed and aimed it at the village entrance.
"Who goes there."
There stood an elderly man, middle-aged on the surface, left arm severed below the wrist.
"Kidnapping... yes... my grandson... that man..."
He spoke so slowly and dazedly, he could pass for a corpse. The sole survivor of the outpost village.
Pretending to be the Heavenly Demon