Chapter 122: The Yongbong Gathering (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122: The Yongbong Gathering (3)
Hyeon-wol readily shared everything he knew about the Blood Crow Sect.
Though he claimed he didn't really need an information fee, Seo-jun currently had money to burn. He paid the man handsomely, even throwing in a generous tip.
"Hmm... I can't just give you a half-hearted answer after taking all this money."
Hyeon-wol mentioned that to provide more detailed information, he would need to dig through his records. He promised to organize everything and bring it to Seo-jun later.
After that, Seo-jun simply kicked back and enjoyed himself without a second thought. Perhaps because he owned a gisaeng house, Hyeon-wol certainly knew how to show a guest a good time, making for a highly pleasant conversation.
Upon returning to the villa, Seo-jun immediately grabbed the first Namgung Clan martial artist he saw.
"Do you happen to know where those assassins we caught earlier are being kept?"
"Ah, Young Master!"
The martial artist bowed deeply.
"We have them temporarily confined in the back. We've finished a basic interrogation, but... being assassins, they're incredibly tight-lipped. We haven't been able to extract much significant information yet. Rest assured, whoever they are, they won't get away with daring to touch the Young Master."
"Aigo, you've worked hard. Thank you."
"It was nothing, sir."
Once the martial artist bowed and took his leave, Seo-jun sent Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah back to their rooms and headed toward the holding cells.
"Why can't I go too?!"
"Chun-bu-i is just a baby, so she can't."
"You said I was an adult!"
"Uh-huh!"
Chun-bong grumbled, but it wasn't a problem. She was a good sister; if her brother told her something about sixteen times, she would eventually listen.
The state of his new assassin friends was far from good. It was only natural, considering the 'hardships' they must have endured during interrogation.
Seo-jun didn't expect much information from them anyway. It was enough to just confirm whether or not they were sent by the Blood Crow Sect.
"I'll just use one of you."
"Yes!"
Seo-jun grabbed one man's head and activated the Star-Absorbing Great Art. However, unlike his usual method, he toyed with the man's Primordial True Qi.
He repeatedly absorbed and expelled the man's life force, throwing his soul into absolute chaos. While the assassin was in that vulnerable state, Seo-jun poured Demonic Qi directly into the skull he was clutching.
"Kruuugh...!"
The man's body trembled violently. His eyes rolled back, and saliva dripped from his mouth. Perhaps because he had been raised as a suicide assassin, his tongue and vocal cords had been severed, preventing him from even screaming properly. Instead, a grotesque, grating sound leaked from his throat.
The Namgung martial artist watching from behind shuddered at the sight.
Torturing an assassin wasn't unusual, but there was an eerie, sinister quality to this scene that made him hesitate to look too closely.
The Young Master was usually energetic and gentle. But right now, the word 'gentle' couldn't be further from the truth. Anyone who heard that stifled scream—which sounded like a soul being vomited out—would feel the exact same way.
The martial artist instinctively straightened his posture.
Seo-jun, paying him no mind, only let go of the assassin's head once the man's eyes had gone completely vacant and dull.
"Let's see..."
He held up his index finger and waved it back and forth. There was no movement in the man's eyes.
"Follow this with your eyes."
The moment the words left his mouth, the man's eyes rolled busily, tracking the finger.
"Hmm."
Seo-jun nodded in satisfaction.
What he had just performed wasn't exactly a Soul-Stealing Technique. He had simply soaked the man's brain in Demonic Qi. That alone was enough to turn the hardened assassin into an obedient dog.
As expected of Demonic Qi.
The guy was very sharp now. With a smirk, Seo-jun spoke to the man.
"Alright, if you're the ones who took a request from the Blood Crow Sect, nod. If not, shake your head. Begin."
Nod—
It seemed it was indeed the Blood Crow Sect.
Seo-jun furrowed his brow and let out a heavy sigh.
Those bastards came all this way just to start shit.
He didn't know exactly where these assassins had traveled from, but the Blood Crow Sect itself was located toward Southern Mongolia. To be precise, it was near the Yellow River, a bit north of Shanxi. Just thinking about traveling that far made him angry.
He really needed to hit the Transcendent Realm soon, if only to save time on travel.
"Bleargh...!"
While Seo-jun was lost in thought, the man vomited black blood and died. He had perished because the Demonic Qi had delved too deeply into his brain.
"Good grief. You resisted so much that even a nice guy like me got angry."
Recovering the Demonic Qi from the corpse, Seo-jun turned to the martial artist behind him.
"If there's more information you need to find out, should I do the same to the rest of them?"
"N-No, that's quite alright!"
"Really? Well... if you say so."
What a shame.
* * *
The next morning. More accurately, late morning—around the time Chun-bong usually woke up.
Guests arrived at the Namgung Clan's villa.
"Brother, these are my friends."
According to Namgung Myeong's introduction, they were Mu-hye of the Wudang Sect and Cheong-song of the Qingcheng Sect. Seo-jun had expected them all to be men since they were his 'friends,' but surprisingly, Mu-hye was a woman.
There was also a martial artist who seemed to be their guardian, likely at the Super Peak Realm; he was Wol-mang of the Qingcheng Sect.
Seo-jun had assumed Great Clans only associated with other Great Clans, but it seemed Namgung Myeong had quite a few connections within the Nine Great Sects as well.
"Brother? I didn't know you had an older brother."
At Cheong-song's question, Namgung Myeong shook his head.
"Not a brother, he's my brother-in-law."
"Ah, you did mention you had an older sister. Come to think of it, I've never had the chance to meet her."
"You'll get to see her today."
Unlike the two who were chatting away, Mu-hye and Wol-mang stared intently at Seo-jun.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"Hmm, it is nothing."
Wol-mang adjusted his bamboo hat and bowed his head slightly.
Wol-mang had felt a strange sensation and tried to gauge Seo-jun's aura, but he was intrigued because he couldn't feel a single thing. Seo-jun didn't seem like an ordinary person, yet his realm couldn't be measured...
That meant he was either a master of a higher level than Wol-mang himself, or he practiced a very specialized martial art.
Seo-jun ignored his probing gaze and focused on the presences approaching just in time.
Tap, tap. Light, dainty footsteps. It was Chun-bong.
The footsteps following hers, slightly quieter and more elegant, belonged to Namgung Su-ah.
As Seo-jun stared toward the entrance, the others' gazes naturally followed.
"Ah, they've arrived."
Namgung Myeong smiled brightly as he introduced the two.
"This is my elder sister."
"Oh my, are these your friends?"
"Yes, Sister."
"Fufu, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Namgung Su-ah."
"And this is my brother-in-law's younger sister."
"I'm Chun-bong."
"Chun-bong...?"
Cheong-song looked at Namgung Su-ah, then at Chun-bong.
"...She's small."
At those carelessly spilled words, Chun-bong felt a sharp sting to her pride.
"...What exactly is small?"
"Well, your height... Ah. My apologies. That was rude of me."
Cheong-song apologized quickly. Chun-bong, who had been offended thinking he was talking about her chest, forgave him magnanimously.
"Well, it's fine."
"Haha, thank you. I really need to learn how to control this thoughtless mouth of mine."
Cheong-song had narrowly escaped a brush with death.
"Everyone, let's not stand out here. Let's go inside and talk. ...Hmm?"
Namgung Myeong was about to lead the guests inside when he tilted his head in confusion.
"Mu-hye, what's wrong?"
"I cannot gauge this one's realm either."
Mu-hye stared intently at Chun-bong. Not to be outdone, Chun-bong glared back at her sullenly.
"She looks young, but is she above me? No. Is her martial art simply unique?"
Chun-bong merely snorted in response.
Chun-bong's realm was slightly higher, but the difference wasn't massive. The reason Mu-hye couldn't grasp Chun-bong's level wasn't because of the gap in their realms, but rather because of the Stealth Qi Art Seo-jun had created for her to hide her Azure Cloud Divine Art.
But there was no way Mu-hye could know that.
"How fascinating."
With a blank expression, Mu-hye approached Chun-bong and suddenly reached out to grab her wrist.
BOOM—!
Or rather, she tried to grab it, but a fist slammed into the crown of her head instead.
"Guh...!"
Mu-hye's body trembled as her head was driven halfway into the ground.
Seo-jun, who had thrown the punch, looked down at her with eyes tinged with a reddish hue.
"What do you think you're doing?"
A chilling aura radiated from him. He looked as if he might draw his sword at any moment. Though he didn't show it, Seo-jun was in a highly sensitive state after recently encountering assassins.
A flustered Namgung Myeong hurriedly stepped in.
"I am sorry, Brother! This friend of mine has always lacked a bit of common sense... No, she's usually not this bad, though..."
"Ugh."
Mu-hye stood up shakily, rubbing the massive lump swelling on her head.
"Ah... come to think of it, that was a rude action. My apologies."
Indeed, as she bowed her head with a dazed look, Mu-hye seemed to have no ulterior motives at all.
Seo-jun, staring at her, poked Chun-bong in the side. It was a signal for her to handle it.
Chun-bong stared at Mu-hye for a moment before nodding.
Honestly, it felt less rude than some of the other insults she'd endured. Besides, having her wrist grabbed wasn't that big of a deal.
The real danger was allowing someone else's internal energy into her body, but simply being grabbed was just that—being grabbed. At most, it would lead to a contest of internal strength or a grappling technique.
Of course, it was rude and could have sparked a major incident, but after spending so much time around Lee Seo-jun, she had developed the magnanimity to think, Well, this much is fine.
Her threshold for rudeness had become absurdly high.
Though it might have been a different story if Mu-hye had done it to her brother...
"I'm fine."
"Mm, thank you."
Mu-hye, brushing the dirt off her head, bowed to Seo-jun as well.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"My actions tend to precede my thoughts."
Seo-jun scratched his chin as he watched her.
What a bizarre woman.
It was as if her mind was constantly elsewhere. And yet, she had managed to deflect his fist slightly just as it slammed into her head.
The way her head had moved in a small circle to shed the force of the punch was funny to look at, but if she hadn't done that, her skull would have been crushed. After all, he had swung with the intent to crush it.
He had roughly figured out what kind of person this Mu-hye was.
Either she was completely obsessed with martial arts, or she was just born dim-witted. As a disciple of the Wudang Sect—one of the pillars of the martial world—few would have dared to cross her even if she lived her whole life like that.
Since there seemed to be no ill intent, he could let it slide this once.
"Well, if you say so."
Seo-jun waved his hand dismissively and locked eyes with Wol-mang.
The man had reacted the instant Seo-jun made his move. Perhaps because he had been a step too late to stop it, his eyes were now full of intense curiosity as he looked at Seo-jun.
Seriously, none of these martial artists are normal.
Clicking his tongue, Seo-jun waved them off and turned around.
"Then have a good time."
"Brother! I am truly sorry!"
"Hey, I said it's fine. It's not like you did anything."
Namgung Myeong kept bowing as if he had committed a mortal sin. Mu-hye, watching him blankly, seemed to realize something and bowed deeply as well.
"I am sorry."
* * *
The moment they entered the room, Namgung Myeong let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Cheong-song and Mu-hye. Both were good-hearted people, which was why he stayed close to them, but having been raised as precious gems within their respective sects, they both lacked common sense in certain areas.
It wasn't entirely unusual for disciples of the Nine Great Sects, who had fewer opportunities to interact with outsiders compared to the Great Clans. For those of their status, such quirks usually weren't a problem.
But this time, she had crossed the line.
If something had gone wrong and Mu-hye had been seriously hurt, it could have caused major friction between Wudang and the Namgung Clan. Even if the justification lay with Seo-jun, the situation would have become complicated if the elders started debating whether it was an offense worthy of death.
Above all, both Seo-jun and Mu-hye were precious to Namgung Myeong. He didn't want their relationship to be completely ruined.
"Listen, Mu-hye. I've told you before, but if you keep acting so thoughtlessly, one day you're going to face real consequences."
"Mm. I think so too. My apologies to you as well. I've brought shame to the person who introduced me."
"I'm fine, but..."
Mu-hye, still stroking the bulging lump on her head, suddenly touched her neck.
"To be honest, I thought my head was going to be lopped off right then and there."
"She is a sister that my brother-in-law cherishes dearly. If you do something like that again, there's no telling what might happen. If you ever meet Lady Geum again, think seven times before you act. Do you understand?"
"That is a good idea."
Cheong-song, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, suddenly asked.
"Wait, did you say Lady Geum?"
"I did."
"Then her name is Geum... Chun-bong...? Hmm..."
"...I'm starting to think inviting you two to the villa was a mistake."
"Now, now. Unlike that one over there, I don't say such things to people's faces."
"You too... Sigh... Never mind."
Namgung Myeong shook his head and took out the tea set to brew some tea.
All three of them enjoyed drinking, but it felt a bit much to start a drinking session in the middle of the day. More than anything, he felt uneasy about drinking in the villa so soon after Mu-hye's blunder.
Namgung Myeong cautioned Mu-hye once more.
"Anyway, she is a good person, so apologize again the next time you see her and try to strike up a conversation. Who knows? She might come to think well of you."
"Mm. I will. More importantly, about that Lady Geum... is she strong?"
"How can you say that in this situation...? Well, you'll likely run into her at the Yongbong Gathering anyway."
"She must be strong then. Will she be in the preliminaries?"
"She will. But you don't have to participate in the preliminaries, do you?"
"I am participating in the preliminaries as well."
"What? Why?"
"Why would I pass up an opportunity to fight?"
"What kind of logic is..."
Namgung Myeong and Cheong-song looked at Mu-hye as if she were insane.
But Mu-hye herself was just staring blankly into space.
"The Yongbong Gathering... I wonder how many opponents will be worth facing..."
She took a sip of tea and winced. The swollen lump on her head throbbed.
"...Mm. This will last a few days."
Namgung Myeong thought to himself that it might actually be a good thing, as the pain would keep her focused.
* * *
The day for the Yongbong Gathering preliminary registration arrived.
Fortunately, they didn't have to squeeze through the massive crowds to register. After all, didn't they have the Namgung Clan on their side?
A quick word to the organizers through the Namgung Clan made it incredibly easy to register Chun-bong for the preliminaries.
Ah, the sweet taste of power...
He planned to reveal the name 'Geum Hee' only after she reached the main tournament. That would surely leave a much stronger impression.
The announcer's voice would thunder across the main stage:
—Geum Hee of the Divine Sword Geum Family!
People who thought the Divine Sword Geum Family had been wiped out would be shocked and start whispering. And then, Geum Chun-bong would make her grand entrance and shout with absolute dignity...
Geum Chun-bong has arrived!
All the fellow martial artists of the world would have her title etched into their minds.
Adorably Tiny Geum Chun-bong.
A name that couldn't be anything but fearsome.
Seo-jun, chuckling to himself, stood with his hands behind his back in front of Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah.
"Now then, to make that happen, we can't have you failing in the preliminaries like a loser, right?"
It was highly unlikely she would lose, but you never knew. Who could say if another irregular like himself might suddenly pop up?
"You think there's another guy like you in the Murim?"
Chun-bong snorted. Namgung Su-ah giggled at her reaction.
"Even if they aren't as much of a monster as Seo-jun, a hidden master could always emerge from the shadows. It doesn't hurt to be prepared."
"But why are you here, Unni?"
"Huh?"
"You're going straight to the main tournament."
Chun-bong eyed Namgung Su-ah warily. She had narrowly lost to her last time, but she was determined not to lose again.
No, she wouldn't lose to Namgung Su-ah or anyone else.
The Great Restoration Pill...
An elixir of that caliber might never be obtainable again if not for this Yongbong Gathering. As such, she couldn't afford to miss this opportunity.
That pill was going to be a present for her brother.