Chapter 50: In the Rain (3)
Chapter 50: In the Rain (3)
"What on earth is that pill? It draws out the power of the Peak Realm in an instant without any apparent side effects. It’s practically a divine artifact."
"A legacy left by a very close old friend."
"Ah, I’m sorry to hear that. If it’s not too rude… how did he pass?"
"I killed him."
"Are you out of your mind?"
We sat in a small cave around a crackling bonfire, drying our soaked robes and singeing strips of jerky to eat.
To my surprise, Murong Cheong had produced a small iron kettle from her pack. She filled it with rainwater, added tea leaves, and set it to boil.
The lady certainly knew how to camp.
As I stared blankly into the flames, trying my hardest to remember the recipe for marshmallows, Murong Cheong suddenly spoke.
"By the way, is it really alright to let that man live? Shouldn't we have eliminated any future trouble?"
"Are you from the Black Path or something?"
"What?"
"How can you talk about killing someone so easily… I’m getting scared."
"Stop that nonsense! Is 'Beheading Blood Wolf' really the title of someone who holds life so dear?"
"Barbarian."
"Ugh!"
Murong Cheong and I shared a small laugh as we sipped our tea.
Feeling a bit awkward, I looked away, and I could feel Murong Cheong straightening her posture and turning her head as well.
"I had two reasons, actually."
"Two reasons?"
"First, it would be troublesome if that guy died alone here on some random hill. He’s someone who needs to die in Tianjin, in broad daylight. Only by revealing that a White Lotus cultist was inside the Dragon Slaying Alliance while Peng Hyeon-ryang was acting as the Alliance Leader can I strike a blow to his prestige."
That was the whole reason I had been playing secret agent and meeting with the Hao Clan members in the first place.
It was a small checkmate move to tarnish Peng Hyeon-ryang’s authority and reputation.
Within the Hebei Peng Family, the perception of the White Lotus Cult is akin to subhuman filth that deserves to be torn apart.
They are, quite literally, mortal enemies.
It started when a White Lotus cultist tried to assassinate me when I was seven, but over nearly ten years of searching and purging, quite a few members of the Peng Family had also died.
They aren't classified as one of the Three Great Demonic Cults for nothing.
The resentment built up over that time is no small matter.
Furthermore, the 'me' they tried to kill back then is practically the idol of the Peng Family today.
I had been upgraded from the cute youngest grandson to the brilliant, cute, genius youngest grandson.
If a White Lotus cultist were discovered in Tianjin, the very headquarters of the Dragon Slaying Alliance, the blow would be immense.
If he knew and left him be, it’s betrayal; if he didn't know, it’s incompetence.
This was the checkmate I had prepared for Peng Hyeon-ryang.
‘He probably expected it.’
The moment I, a member of the Hao Clan, appeared in Tianjin without any apparent connection, he would have suspected something.
In fact, I moved specifically hoping for that.
The more he guarded against me, the more tense he became, the more his vulnerabilities would stand out.
I wanted him to focus all his attention on me while I used the Hao Clan members to hunt for the White Lotus cultists.
And then this girl appeared. Murong Cheong.
A clumsy girl who couldn't even disguise herself properly, yet insisted on charging straight into the jaws of death.
I couldn't just let her die, and since the expected benefits of sending her back alive were significant, I had no choice but to tag along.
"Besides, that guy isn't the only White Lotus cultist in Tianjin."
"Pardon?"
"From the White Lotus Cult's perspective, my eldest brother is an important collaborator and, at the same time, their most critical target for surveillance. Since our family is currently uprooting the White Lotus Cult in Hebei, it’s obvious that without information on my brother, every cultist in the region would be slaughtered."
In the midst of their ongoing war with the Peng Family, the White Lotus Cult desperately needs internal information.
In that regard, my brother is the perfect person to peer over the Peng Family’s walls.
Publicly, he is the acting leader of the Dragon Slaying Alliance, and internally, he is the eldest grandson of the Family Head.
Isn't he the one everyone expects to become the next-next Family Head?
Would the cult really have only one person watching someone like Peng Hyeon-ryang?
Even a Peak Realm master needs time to eat, sleep, and rest. To maintain 24-hour close surveillance, it’s only natural to rotate personnel.
"I cut off one of his arms and I know his face. In a situation where the investigation was stalling due to a lack of clues, letting him live was the best option."
That man had now become like a cockroach that had eaten poisoned bait.
He would return to the nest and leave a trail.
Once I finished helping Murong Cheong in Qinghe County and returned to Tianjin, I would be able to wrap up my business immediately.
No matter how clever Peng Hyeon-ryang might be, he wouldn't have anticipated this far.
I had taken the disadvantage of being one step behind and turned it back on him tenfold.
Now, I was the one leading the play again.
"But what if he just flees? Wouldn't the trail go cold then?"
"Oh, not a chance."
"Why? Wouldn't he expect you to follow him?"
"He might, but it doesn't matter. A Peak Realm master with one arm missing, whose face is known—he can't hide from the eyes of the Hao Clan forever. Even if he runs, finding him again is easy. And if we find him then, we can wipe out all the White Lotus cultists in whatever region he’s hiding in at once."
He has no other moves.
If he flees Tianjin, he’d be announcing to his own cult that he’s being tracked.
Unless he wants to be purged by the White Lotus Cult, he has to feign composure.
If he hides in Tianjin, he’ll be caught in the intelligence web of the Hao Clan members I had prepared.
If he runs away like this, his only option is to betray the White Lotus Cult.
It’s obvious he’d be abandoned by them.
If I capture a guy like that again… well, then I might really not need to kill him.
Once he’s betrayed his sect and is being hunted by the Hao Clan, what choice would he have but to hold my hand?
Then I use him to tighten the noose around Peng Hyeon-ryang’s neck. That is my best-case scenario.
If he returns to Tianjin, I root out and eliminate the other cultists there. That is the second-best scenario.
With this move, I’ve essentially completed the means to suppress my eldest brother.
He is an enemy far more valuable alive and fleeing than dead alone on this mountain.
"…I heard the Peng Family wasn't very bright, but…"
"That’s true."
"Usually, shouldn't you defend your own sect…?"
"It’s the truth, so why lie?"
"Goodness."
We both broke into small laughs again.
"In any case, this means you plan to return to Tianjin and deal with him once this is over, right? I will help you then. It’s an opportunity to repay my debt."
"You want me to accept help from the Murong Family in broad daylight? Are you trying to get me killed?"
"Ah, right. You’re from the Unorthodox Faction."
"Ugh."
Murong Cheong chuckled and asked, "Didn't you say there were two reasons? What’s the second one?"
"I didn't have the strength to kill him then."
"What?"
"I was barely holding it together myself."
So, if we go back to that moment for a second.
"Whew… haaa…"
I really almost died.
My nose had started bleeding, and even breathing was getting difficult.
I had to quickly disperse the internal energy in my Middle Dantian and regulate my breathing.
I could feel the True Qi that had been rampaging wildly outside my body gradually settling down.
I had put out the immediate fire.
It didn't seem this bad when Won-ho used the doping pill.
‘Does using the Astral Energy Skill cause it to go out of control?’
That was highly likely.
Despite awakening his Middle Dantian, Won-ho hadn't been able to use Astral Energy.
Presumably, back then, he hadn't been initiated into an Astral Energy Skill.
Therefore, the maximum performance this medicine guaranteed was likely only up to awakening the Middle Dantian.
Squeezing the acupoints beyond that seemed to trigger the side effects.
It was a relief. Even if the Five Poisons Sect mass-produced this medicine and supplied it to the Western Depot, it didn't mean they could churn out Peak Realm masters like crazy.
"Go."
"…Haa… what?"
"I’m letting you live, so get lost."
The nameless, pathetic White Lotus cultist seemed deeply moved by my words and hesitated for a moment.
He quickly struck the acupoints on his shoulder to stop the bleeding and backed away.
In the gaze he held on me for a long time, I could feel complex emotions.
His eyes narrowed as if trying to gauge my condition, yet he looked flustered, as if he hadn't even considered the possibility of surviving.
"Is your Innate True Qi depleted…?"
"Don't test me. Just leave while I’m being nice."
"…What are you up to?"
"Go tell my brother. Tell him we should each go our own way quietly. Because if I return to Tianjin, I feel like he’ll do everything in his power to take my head. I’m letting you live because Peng Hyeon-ryang in Tianjin is more bothersome than you."
"Even so… fine, I owe you a debt…"
He seemed to be a guy who understood a bit of honor.
With a heavy gaze, he glanced at his shoulder and backed away from me.
"My name is Heo Jin. I won't forget today. To think I’d owe my life to a seed of the Peng Family."
"I’m going to kill you for real the next time we meet, so don't say things like that to get attached."
"…Understood."
Heo Jin immediately sprinted off into the forest path.
I watched his blurry figure running toward Tianjin until he vanished.
I stared in that direction through the rain for a long time before leaning against a tree with a long sigh.
"Are—are you alright?!"
"Yeah."
"You’re pouring blood from your orifices like someone about to die…?"
"Not all seven orifices."
Don't exaggerate.
"Let’s rest for a bit and then move."
"There’s a village nearby…"
"What village? we left the official road and came only through mountain paths."
"Then let’s return to Tianjin. You need an environment where you can recover. You don't look normal right now."
"What about your uncle?"
"…One mistake born of my greed is enough. It wasn't something I should have asked of you. I want to apologize."
"Accepted."
I pushed myself off the tree.
My Lower Dantian felt stiff, as if it had a cramp, and I could barely move it, but as long as I wasn't using lightfoot techniques, I could at least walk.
"There’s a cave a little further ahead. Let’s go there."
"How on earth do you even know the location of a cave around here? The forest looks the same to everyone at night."
"I didn't want to know either."
Did you know that tigers live in the Peng Family Forest located in Peng Family District?
These lunatics actually release and raise tigers in the forest in their own backyard. They’re out of their minds.
Fortunately, tigers are smarter than expected, so they don't jump over the walls of the Peng Family District where crazy monsters are everywhere, and the Peng people aren't so stupid that they don't keep the beasts fed.
Regardless, throwing a ten-year-old kid into a place like that for survival lessons felt like child abuse.
That was the first time I had ever heard a real tiger’s roar.
‘What is this, Kitalzer Hunter?’
Anyway, under Murong Cheong’s worried gaze, we had returned to the cave and prepared to camp—which brought us to the present.
"We should reach Qinghe County in a little over two days. No one is chasing us anymore, so we can take it a bit easy."
"How long will the Jongri Family’s Black Ship remain docked?"
"Who knows? I doubt anyone but the Zhuge Family could guess what’s on their minds."
They have similar traits, after all.
The Jongri Family is practically like a disciple of the Zhuge Family.
Especially in the sense that they’re like mischievous, gloomy brats.
"We have to believe they won't leave immediately. Hurrying the schedule would only be counterproductive. Jumping onto the Jongri Family’s Black Ship without managing our stamina is something only a moth to a flame would do."
"If… if things get dangerous, please run away, Young Master. You don't need to do what you did today twice."
"Let’s try to survive together if possible. It’d be a waste to have come all this way."
"Hehe, yes. I understand."
The stiff atmosphere around Murong Cheong softened slightly.
I slowly turned my gaze toward her and asked, feigning nonchalance.
It was a question that could be seen as prying into private family matters.
"That uncle of yours, he disappeared with the secret manual. Could there have been a reason for it?"
"I don't know… I have no idea, unfortunately. Uncle Tian Zhu-en was the head of the Tian family. He was a man of great responsibility, always loved for his warm and gentle nature. He was someone who doted on me quite a bit as well."
Murong Cheong’s eyes clouded over slightly.
She spoke while lost in memory.
Her voice was a mix of joy and a hint of sadness.
"My uncle has a three-year-old son. He had just started toddling and saying short words. I often visited to carry him on my back, and sometimes we’d ride a horse across the plains together. I can still see him grabbing my sleeve and bursting into laughter so clearly…"
I felt like I understood the family culture of the Murong Family.
Though they were called a clan, the core of the great sect was likely handled by the Murong line.
The families under them were probably classified as subordinate branches.
In other words, this lady was truly the precious daughter of a powerful local noble family.
If such a lady personally looked after and cared for the household servants, there was no way she wouldn't be loved.
Because of where I was born…
I couldn't easily imagine such a pastoral family scene.
Especially considering the case of Murong Jeon.
Both Murongs I had met were impossibly good people.
The land ruled by such upright individuals would certainly have a different feel from Shuntian Prefecture in Beijing.
"He wasn't the kind of person to leave such a child behind. He would have known that stealing the family’s secret manual and fleeing would inevitably result in a hunt-and-kill order. I want to ask him too. Why… why on earth did he do it?"
"If it’s for a trivial reason, let’s give him a good smack."
"Haha! Yes! If it’s a trivial reason, he definitely deserves a good smack!"
Murong Cheong laughed clearly at my words.
We talked for a long while before leaning against the cave wall near the fire to get some sleep.
For a while after that, I had trouble sleeping because of the sound of her soft breathing.
I’m a light sleeper.
In the middle of the night, she sniffled quietly to herself, then, glancing at me, went outside the cave to wash her face in the rain before returning.
*
"By the way, why don't you know how to use Sound Transmission?"
"My family is a bit clumsy with those kinds of tricks."
"What about Acupuncture Striking?"
"I know one way. Want me to teach you?"
"…Isn't an acupuncture technique part of a sect’s secret legacy? Is it alright to leak such a thing?"
"You probably know the method too."
Three days later, by the time we reached the entrance to Qinghe County, both of us looked like people the Beggars' Sect would welcome with open arms.
"…A method I know too? I only know one way to strike acupoints."
"If you grab the neck tight and squeeze for a long time, they pass out. That’s my family’s acupuncture technique."
"That’s not acupuncture!"
"Now, now. There are so many acupoints in the neck. If you strike an acupoint, it’s acupuncture."
"Honestly!"
Since we arrived during the day, the port bordering the sea was clearly visible.
For starters, I didn't see any Black Ships in the harbor.
I had never seen a Black Ship in person, but no giant ships painted black stood out.
Instead, in front of the narrow pass leading to the official road of Qinghe County, a group of men stood with swords at their waists.
"Who goes there?"
"Just travelers. Who are you?"
"Entry to Qinghe County is currently forbidden. Get lost!"
"Come now, let us at least have a meal before we go. Don't be so harsh. If you’re from the Heavenly Thunder Alliance, we can pay a toll."
When I stepped forward to speak, a middle-aged man with a deep scar near his eye scowled.
"Who are you calling a lowly bandit? You must have a death wish!"
"The way you’re acting, you’re either bandits or officials. You don't look like the latter, so you must be the former, right?"
"This brat…!"
"Hold it! Didn't the Great One tell us not to cause a commotion!"
"Is catching these runts really a commotion?"
"The Great One is waiting for an auspicious day; we can't have any ill omens. You fellows over there, it’s better if you don't enter Qinghe County for the time being. Turn back."
Fortunately, there was one guy who could be reasoned with.
When I bowed my head slightly in thanks, their atmosphere relaxed a bit.
"We’ll go, we’ll go. But could you tell us what’s happening? Even if we head to the nearest county in Hejian Prefecture from here, it’ll take at least seven days. We need to buy at least a peck of rice so we don't starve to death on the road, don't we?"
"Judging by the sword at your waist, you look like a martial artist."
"This is just something I picked up for self-defense. We are traveling merchants from Jiangnan. we earned some silver in Hejian Prefecture, and we can't go back empty-handed, so we were hoping to browse the market."
"Hmm… you certainly don't look very formidable."
I’m the man who killed the Divine Spear Yang Jeok-yo in a single blow, yet here I am hearing that I don't look formidable.
Swallowing that thought, I gave a naive smile, and the guy who was at least somewhat reasonable nodded.
"I suppose our job is just to block those Orthodox Faction bastards anyway. Wait, you aren't from the Beggars' Sect, are you?"
"Would a beggar be carrying silver? Here, here’s proof."
As I spoke, I handed over a couple of pieces of broken silver, and the atmosphere among them became much more cordial.
As I’ve said before, silver holds quite a bit of value even after being broken.
Considering the cost of living, the money I just handed over was probably worth about 150,000 won.
Enough for these guys to have a nice dinner at a tavern.
"Haha, true enough. Alright, move aside."
"Thank you!"
As Murong Cheong and I slowly moved forward, the man standing at the very back of the group suddenly muttered.
"Wait."
"Hmm?"
"Did you say you came from Jiangnan?"
"That’s right."
"You don't have a Jiangnan accent."
"Ah."
Busted.
With those words, they all gripped their sword hilts simultaneously.
I let out a deep sigh and turned around.
In front of the men whose alertness had spiked, I gave them a bright smile.
"Then die."
I shook my left hand, and my gauntlet settled into place.
Murong Cheong, who had been standing quietly behind me, sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead.
"There’s never a dull moment with you."