Who Is the Mount Hua Sect Bastard? (5)
Jin Yang-geon was by no means a fool. On the contrary, he was quite clever. If he had been stupid, he never would have dared to scam the Geum-geom-bu in the first place.
And all through his flight, he had kept a precise grasp of his situation.
The chances of escaping safely were all but nonexistent.
For the moment, he had managed to shake them off by luck, but considering those men’s tracking skills and martial strength, he knew they’d catch him before half a day passed, even if he ran himself to the point of blowing out his dantian.
He could abandon the run and hide somewhere to wait it out, but that would still amount to nothing more than gambling on luck.
Fortune did not come twice.
He had already survived one brush with death by sheer luck—did he really expect to gamble on a second miracle? Not even an idiot would be that reckless.
After weighing all of that, Jin Yang-geon gave up on escape. Instead, he found the only way he might survive and acted on it.
“Huuuuum.”
Beon Song, the lord of the Cheol-mo-bang and the Red Spear Flash, stared down at the bundle of receipts on the table with a strange look in his eyes.
“So let me get this straight... you want us to protect you in exchange for this?”
“Yes! That’s right, gangju.”
“Hahaha! You little rat.”
Beon Song burst out laughing, then sprang to his feet.
“Some unknown bastards are tearing the Geum-geom-bu apart and chasing after you, and now you want us to protect you so you don’t die? You—the same bastard who was playing games in the Geum-geom-bu just moments ago?”
Jin Yang-geon swallowed hard. So tense that his words stumbled a little, he said, “T-the enemy of yesterday can become today’s ally, can’t he? If our interests match, then there’s no reason it can’t be—uh—possible!”
“Interests, huh? Interests? Yeah, that’s true enough.”
Beon Song twisted his mouth as he spoke.
“But it looks to me like I’ve already gotten my share of the interest. The money’s right here, so why should I bother protecting you? I could just take this money and hand you over.”
Jin Yang-geon looked up at him with trembling eyes.
Damn those bastards of the evil sect.
Still, he had expected something like this to happen.
“Take him out!”
“This isn’t all of it!”
“Hmm?”
Beon Song, who had turned away as if losing interest, snapped his head back and looked at Jin Yang-geon again.
“T-this money is only part of it! If you protect me, I’ll tell you where the rest of it is hidden.”
“You scammer bastard, you’ve got the nerve to bargain with me? Did you think I couldn’t just break every bone in your legs until you talked?”
“D-do you really need to go that far?”
“What?”
Wiping the sweat from his face, Jin Yang-geon said, “Those men will arrive soon. If you crush them, I’ll tell you where the money is, of course. They’ll get here faster than I’ll crack under torture, so why bother with the trouble?”
“Hah.”
Beon Song let out a laugh of disbelief.
“You’ve got a little confidence in your own head, don’t you? You know one thing, but not the other. Even after I deal with them, I can still strip your skin off. Do you really think some trash like you is in a position to bargain with me?”
“No, gangju!”
Jin Yang-geon hurriedly flattened himself to the ground.
“How could I possibly dare bargain with Gangju? I’m just a worthless worm begging to keep his life—nothing more.”
“Huuuuum.”
Beon Song still looked dissatisfied, as though something about it didn’t sit right with him.
But then—
“Think about it, gangju.”
Another voice cut in from the side. Beon Song turned immediately and asked, “Do you have something to say?”
“I don’t care what happens to that maggot, really... but I am interested in the people chasing him.”
“Those people, you say? But this place is—”
“That wouldn’t make sense.”
One of the men seated at the lavish table laughed softly.
“But those bastards are never sensible in the first place. Especially when it comes to their range of movement—it’s honestly astonishing. Whether it’s the southern or northern reaches of the Central Plains, it wouldn’t be strange for them to suddenly turn up anywhere.”
“...Even so, Shaanxi to here is a bit...”
“You don’t believe me?”
Beon Song hurriedly waved both hands. “Of course not! How could I possibly doubt you, honored sirs?”
“In any case...”
The man scratched his chin as he went on.
“If our guess is right, we may just have stumbled onto an unexpected big catch.”
Then the man beside him spoke up.
“We can’t go causing trouble without confirming whether it’s what the Patriarch wants.”
“What nonsense. Then we just capture them alive and take them with us. The Patriarch can sort it out himself.”
“...”
“For now, let’s wait and see. Whether this really is a big catch or not.”
When he finished speaking, the man jerked his chin.
“Gangju.”
“Yes!”
“Gather your underlings and prepare them.”
“Understood. But... what about the Geum-geom-bu matter...?”
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
The man waved a hand, as if telling him not to fuss.
“We keep our bargains. But there’s a proper order to things.”
And in a slightly gentler voice, he added as if soothing him, “I understand your wish to clean up the Geum-geom-bu while it’s in chaos. But for us, that chaos doesn’t mean much. Once this matter is settled, Nam-chang will be yours.”
“Of course! That’s exactly what I believe!”
Beon Song beamed and bowed repeatedly. The man stroked his chin and sank into thought.
The Mount Hua Divine Dragon...
A laugh almost escaped him.
For a figure great enough to catch even the Patriarch’s interest to appear in a place like this... I must be awfully lucky.
It felt like he had come to gather straw and found a jewel instead. And since he’d already come for the straw, no fool would leave the jewel sitting there and walk away.
Let’s see, then. Whether he really is the Mount Hua Divine Dragon.
A smile touched the man’s lips.
“Let’s go.”
Chung Myung walked forward at an even pace, neither too fast nor too slow, toward the huge fortress standing before him.
Yoon Jong turned to Baek Cheon with a hardened expression.
“Sasuk, this is...?”
“I know.”
Baek Cheon gave a slight nod, showing that he understood what Yoon Jong wanted to say.
This was on a completely different level from storming the Geum-geom-bu.
They had not gone to the Geum-geom-bu as enemies. There had been friction, yes, caused by a string of petty misunderstandings, but that much could still be repaired. If they explained the situation and offered appropriate compensation, the Geum-geom-bu might not make a major issue of it. There had been no casualties, after all.
But the place they were heading to now was the Cheol-mo-bang. The territory of an evil sect.
Charging into the main headquarters of an evil sect like this could not possibly end peacefully. In all likelihood, blood would be spilled.
Then could they handle the situation with just the few of them?
“However evil the sect may be, barging in without any justification is not a good choice. At the very least...”
“I know, Yoon Jong.”
Yoon Jong fell silent. Baek Cheon stared at Chung Myung’s back for a long moment, then let out a quiet sigh.
“I know. But I can’t stop him.”
“...”
“Let’s go. If we can’t stop him, then we at least need to support him. I don’t know why that bastard is doing this, but there must be a proper reason.”
Yoon Jong looked at Chung Myung’s back with concern.
He really did seem different from the way he usually was—different from the usual Chung Myung who charged forward with blazing fury whenever an enemy stood before him.
It feels strange.
Ever since he’d injured his shoulder a moment ago, Chung Myung had acted as though they weren’t even standing beside him.
He was still speaking briefly to them as usual, but it felt oddly dissonant, as though he had become a different person entirely.
Maybe that was why the present situation felt so unsettling.
“Let’s go.”
“Sasuk...”
Baek Cheon did not look back anymore. He only watched Chung Myung’s back and said in a steady voice, “Believing only after you understand everything, weigh right and wrong, and decide it’s acceptable—that isn’t trust.”
“...”
“If you can’t trust that bastard, then trust me.”
“...Understood.”
Yoon Jong nodded. Then Jo Gul and Yu I-seol each stepped forward. It was as if they were saying they were already ready.
Dang Soso, who had even knocked out the Taehang Three Swords and tied them up firmly before bringing them along, also stepped in, and Baek Cheon moved straight after Chung Myung.
By then, Chung Myung had already reached the massive main gate and stopped. The guards stationed there watched him with cold eyes.
“What’s your business?”
“Just now.”
“...Just now?”
Chung Myung, who had been keeping his head lowered, lifted his gaze slightly to meet theirs. At that instant, the guards flinched and instinctively stumbled back.
What kind of eyes are those...?
They were warriors of the Cheol-mo-bang.
On the evil path, status was something you seized by winning fights. The warriors of the Cheol-mo-bang had fought plenty of battles and taken plenty of lives.
That was why they could tell instinctively how dangerous the owner of those eyes was.
“Some bastard who ran off must have gone inside. Is that right?”
No answer came. Only their expressions shifted slightly.
Chung Myung’s lips curled.
“Good.”
KWAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
The massive iron gate shattered into pieces, and the men guarding it were blasted backward in sprays of blood.
Step.
Step.
Yet the one who had caused all that chaos, Chung Myung, simply walked inside as if nothing had happened.
As the dust slowly settled, what he saw was the warriors of the Cheol-mo-bang already lined up and waiting, as if they had known he would come.
Holding long iron spears in one hand, they stood in strict formation and glared toward him with murderous intent, more like soldiers than martial artists.
Chung Myung silently swept his gaze over them.
Just then, the Five Swords who had followed him in stood behind him, ready to support him.
Chung Myung’s mouth opened slowly.
“I’m warning you.”
“...”
“Hand over the bastard who came here a little while ago. Then I’ll leave quietly.”
Chung Myung’s cold gaze swept across them all.
“If you don’t...”
Shrrrk.
Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword slid slowly from its scabbard. The sword light flowing from the blade was truly chilling.
“There’s no avoiding bloodshed.”
That impossible presence made the warriors lined up like soldiers hold their breath without realizing it.
There were, by rough estimate, more than three hundred people gathered here.
And yet over three hundred of them were being pressed down by the aura of a single man, unable even to breathe properly.
Bang!
At that moment, the hall behind the central courtyard gate flew open violently, and Beon Song strode out.
“How dare you brats think you can come here and—”
Chung Myung’s gaze slowly shifted to Beon Song.
“Gangju?”
“That’s right! I am Beon Song, the Red Spear Flash and gangju of the Cheol-mo-bang!”
“There should be one rat that crawled in here, right?”
Beon Song smiled mockingly.
“Hmm. From where I’m standing, I only see six rats.”
With no sign that he intended to hand the man over willingly, Chung Myung’s eyes turned dark.
“Really?”
FWAAAAAAAT!
In the next instant, a crescent-shaped red sword energy shot from the tip of Chung Myung’s swinging blade and flew straight toward Beon Song.
Startled by its terrifying speed, Beon Song quickly raised his spear.
KAGAGAGAGAK!
The spear, packed with inner force, collided with the sword energy. The instant they met, the sword energy scraped violently against the spear and began to wobble.
Crack. Crack!
His wrist twisted as though it might break under the strain. Beon Song let out a scream-like shout and wrenched the spear aside.
HRAAAAAAP!
At last, the deflected sword energy shot toward the hall, slicing through everything in its path as it soared into the sky.
In a single heartbeat, Beon Song’s face was slick with sweat, and he stared at Chung Myung with a pale expression.
“W-what are you doing? Kill those bastards now!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Cheol-mo-bang disciples roared and charged at once toward Chung Myung and the Mount Hua Five Swords.
Chung Myung, gripping his sword, glared coldly at the men rushing at him.
FWAAAAAAAT!
His sword flashed like lightning and burst forth with blood-red sword energy. Before the charging men could even react, the energy pierced through them and blood sprayed everywhere.
Thud. Thud.
The fallen men convulsed as blood spilled from them.
It was one strike. One single move. The momentum of those who had charged in died away as if cold water had been poured over them.
“I’m not in the mood to play around today.”
With his sword hanging low, Chung Myung stepped forward.
“Anyone who blocks me from here on dies. There won’t be another warning.”
The air inside the Cheol-mo-bang began to cool, growing colder by the second.