Tonight, the Black Dragon Sect Falls
"…For the first sacrifice, this one will do. Rank 100. Young Sect Leader of the Black Dragon Sect, So Ryong."
Yun Cheon pressed his finger against the very last line of the Wind Cloud Board.
"The Black Dragon Sect? That's a mid-small sect of ours known for external body arts. Still, not bad. Climbing onto the Wind Cloud Board with external cultivation alone—even if it's the bottom rung."
Yayul Hui cast a sidelong glance at the board in Yun Cheon's hand, the corner of her mouth curling up in evident interest.
"Do you know him?"
"By face, at least? I may not look it, but I am from one of the Twelve Guardian Families, you know."
A confident smile spread across Yayul Hui's face. She tapped the name So Ryong on the Wind Cloud Board and added her explanation.
"I hear he's mastered an external art called the Black Dragon Rigid Body. Word is that despite being external cultivation, he outclasses even ordinary first-rate masters."
Yun Cheon nodded. For someone like him, who knew little of the cult's internal affairs, the information network of a great family scion like Yayul Hui would prove genuinely useful.
"Then if it was helpful, you'll pay for it, won't you?"
Yayul Hui planted herself squarely in front of Yun Cheon, as if she had been waiting for just this moment. Her eyes gleamed sharply.
"I'm coming too. On the mission."
"…You as well?"
"That's right. Sparring a hundred days inside the Mad Path Pavilion makes nothing but a frog in a well. I need real combat too. And more than anything…."
Her gaze lingered for a moment on the name 'Yayul Cheok' written near the top of the Wind Cloud Board, then returned to Yun Cheon.
"I have no intention of just standing around watching you climb up there alone. Someday, I'm going to overtake you."
Yun Cheon let out a quiet laugh. It was brazen, but the fighting spirit behind it wasn't unwelcome. A traveling companion could only be a good thing—and Yayul Hui, who knew the Demon Cult's geography and ways so well, would make an excellent guide.
"Fine. But there's something we need to settle first."
"What's that?"
"We're still members of the Mad Path Pavilion. Without the Pavilion Lord's permission, we can't set out."
At his words, Yayul Hui made a rueful face. The two of them headed straight for the office of Gal Mu-heun, the Pavilion Lord of the Mad Path Pavilion.
"The mission, is it…."
The air in the office was heavy. Gal Mu-heun toyed with his teacup as his eyes moved between the two of them. Had Yun Cheon come alone, he would have sent him off without a word.
Tch. Now that I've joined hands with those Inspection Bureau dogs, I can hardly refuse at this stage. But… I didn't expect Yayul Hui to go as well.
His eyes narrowed to slits.
"Barely made full warriors, and already your bodies itch to stretch their legs outside, is that it?"
"The training in the Inner Library alone has proven insufficient. We require more real combat experience."
It was precisely because Yayul Hui had come along that Gal Mu-heun put on a show of hesitation.
No… if anything, having her along—the daughter of the Wild Wind Yayul Family—may work out better in more ways than one.
Having settled the matter in his mind, Gal Mu-heun drew two plaques from a drawer.
Clack.
"Pavilion entry plaques. Carry these, and you may come and go from the Mad Path Pavilion freely."
It was an easier approval than expected. Yayul Hui's eyes went round with surprise.
"Truly… you're letting us go? Without any conditions?"
"Conditions… well, there is one."
Gal Mu-heun's gaze sank, cold as still water. He flipped a plaque over and carved characters into it with his judge's brush.
Defeat is not an option
Defeat Will Not Be Tolerated
"Defeat is not tolerated."
The overwhelming presence pouring from Gal Mu-heun's calligraphy bore down on the two of them.
"You are my direct subordinates, and the face of the Mad Path Pavilion. If you go outside and get broken by every half-wit who crosses your path, my reputation would be beyond repair."
He added with a slow smile:
"If you return having lost, I'll work you so hard you'd wish you'd died out there instead."
Yun Cheon and Yayul Hui bowed their heads in a fist-palm salute at the same moment.
"We will keep it in mind."
"We'll return safely!"
After the two had withdrawn, Gal Mu-heun, left alone in his office, stared out the window. Two silhouettes were visible passing through the Mad Path Pavilion's gates.
"…The mission, is it. Their spirits run hot. If it's those two, making it onto the Wind Cloud Board itself is no problem. However…."
Gal Mu-heun took out a letter he had drafted in advance and summoned his aide.
"Aide. Send this letter to the Sun Moon Merchant Guild by courier. The time has come to honor our promise."
"Understood."
Once even his aide had vanished, Gal Mu-heun chuckled to himself, alone.
"I worry about what comes after their names reach the Wind Cloud Board… tch. That's a wild hunt unlike the competition within the Pavilion."
But recalling the schemes and political cunning Yun Cheon had already displayed—and the recipient of the letter he had just sent—he soon shook his head.
"…Well, those two aren't exactly pushovers either. Perhaps it's just an old man's needless worry."
The two of them passed through the Mad Path Pavilion's main gate and headed straight for the Black Dragon Sect. Yayul Hui took point as guide.
"The Black Dragon Sect isn't far from the Pavilion. We'll arrive before sundown!"
The saber hanging at her waist swayed with a light clatter at every step.
"You seem excited."
"Of course I am! I thought I'd be rotting away in that stone cell for years more. Aren't you excited? It's finally our journey into the river and lakes!"
In answer to her question, Yun Cheon said nothing—only quietly ran his fingers over the Black Steel Cold Iron rings wrapped around his wrists.
"Excited… hm. I wonder."
His gaze bored into the distance, in the direction where the Black Dragon Sect lay.
"I simply want to confirm something."
"Confirm? Confirm what?"
"That the real senior disciples of the Demon Cult—unlike the pups of the Hidden Demon Cave—actually have skill worth the name."
"It's true… the senior disciples on the Wind Cloud Board will be on another level from the Hidden Demon Cave. Sects and families with real scale and power inside the cult have no need to enter the Hidden Demon Cave, after all…."
Yayul Hui herself was an exception, having left her family of her own will, and the Sa Gal Muk Family was likewise an exception, infamous for their thuggery long before.
"That makes me all the more eager."
A chill smile settled on Yun Cheon's lips. Seeing it, Yayul Hui couldn't help but think:
…The more I look at him, the less he seems like someone who was dragged here. Especially that fighting spirit of his… it's every bit as sharp as those born and raised in the Demon Cult.
By the time they descended Mount Kunlun and reached the edge of the village where the Black Dragon Sect stood, the sun was already sinking low. But the scene before them was a far cry from the quiet of a village settling in for the night.
Buzz and murmur—
"Damn it, look at this place! People packed in shoulder to shoulder!"
"The Black Dragon Sect will be sitting on a cushion of money again today."
"Tch, sun's almost down—no chance for me today either, huh?"
The area around the Black Dragon Sect seethed with crowds like a makeshift market. People had swarmed in like ants—and the vast majority of them were young ronin desperate to carve their three characters onto the Wind Cloud Board.
"Well, this… is even worse of a mess than I expected."
Yayul Hui muttered, knitting her brow.
"Is this all because of the Wind Cloud Board? Its reach is considerable."
Yun Cheon had known there were many martial artists in the Demon Cult, but he hadn't anticipated a crowd like this flooding into a backwater village.
A massive reception desk stood before the sect's main gate, and in front of it clustered warriors clutching money pouches.
"Come one, come all! No pushing! Today's challenges are closed!"
A Black Dragon Sect warrior seated behind the desk shouted with arrogance.
"Oh, come on! Closed again?!"
"I've been standing in line since dawn, and you're telling me it's closed?!"
Challengers' jeers erupted, but the Black Dragon Sect warriors only scoffed.
"Silence!"
"With challengers this many, can the Young Sect Leader possibly face them all?"
"You'd have him run some endless rotation? The Young Sect Leader needs rest too! Come back tomorrow!"
With such a flood of people, there was simply no way to accept every challenge—or so it sounded, perfectly reasonable at first glance.
"…No, still! Making us pay money just to register? Isn't that going too far…!"
"If you have complaints, then get lost!"
"The Young Sect Leader of the Black Dragon Sect is a master ranked on the Wind Cloud Board itself! Isn't one silver tael cheap, as a fee to seek instruction from such a master?"
"What's the point of registering! Wait all day and my turn never comes!"
The warrior jerked his chin toward another reception desk nearby.
"Then use the 'Expedited Screening Desk' over there. Of course, the fee is ten silver taels."
"What…?! Ten silver taels?!"
"That's… a year's worth of living!"
An unusual light dawned in Yun Cheon's eyes. It was an entertaining sight.
Only the top hundred, beginning from rank 100, had their names recorded on the Wind Cloud Board.
So he's holding that spot hostage and running a business off it.
So Ryong was raking in enormous registration fees under the pretense of accepting challenges. But registering didn't mean facing So Ryong right away. Even after registration, one had to pass through a tower of trials.
"The first stage is a physical trial, the second is a duel against the Black Dragon Sect's elites… and only after clearing all of that does one finally get to meet So Ryong…."
As Yun Cheon murmured low, Yayul Hui burst out a laugh of sheer incredulity.
"Ha! The challengers will be wrung dry just passing the trials before they ever lay eyes on So Ryong—and he'll be counting his money and conserving his strength the whole while, then fighting opponents who are already exhausted, isn't he?"
It was less a fair contest than a thoroughly calculated structure. He thinned out or wore down his challengers through the trials, then preserved his ranking by facing only those whose strength had bled away. And if he ever did accept a few challenges, all he had to do was slam the gates shut like this, leaving the disappointed challengers with no choice but to shuffle their feet in place.
"…The little weasel knows how to work his brain, I'll give him that."
Underhanded—but in the Demon Cult's world of the strong devouring the weak, it could be called 'clever survival.' Of course, even that was only possible because the organization called the Black Dragon Sect stood behind him.
"Don't you whine! The Young Sect Leader cannot accept every last one of your challenges!"
"That's all for today! Everyone clear out and come back tomorrow!"
Boom!
The Black Dragon Sect's massive gates swung shut. The hollowed-out challengers cursed under their breath, yet couldn't bring themselves to leave. If they hoped to earn a challenge tomorrow, they had to wait close by.
"Ahh, hell. Blanked out again today. Let's just go drink."
"Wonder if the inn even has room left."
Dozens of warriors washed away like an ebbing tide toward the inns around the Black Dragon Sect.
"We're done for today too, then. Stuck sleeping here one more night."
Yayul Hui clicked her tongue. Yun Cheon nodded, and the two of them melted into the crowd toward the nearest inn. The village was so small it had only one.
— The Black Dragon Inn —
Even the signboard made it blatantly obvious that the place operated under the Black Dragon Sect's protection.
Inside, a riotous din and the smell of liquor rolled over them in waves.
"Any rooms left?"
When Yun Cheon asked, the innkeeper answered with a bored expression.
"The regular rooms are all taken. Only the special room remains. One silver tael a night."
"What? Not a copper—a silver tael?!"
Yayul Hui flared up. That kind of money would buy a whole sack of rice—a month's living for an ordinary family. An outrageous rip-off, more than ten times the price of an ordinary room.
"Hey, what kind of highway robbery is this?"
"Highway robbery?! People are lining up to pay that price! If you don't like it, go camp outside!"
The innkeeper blustered right back. It showed—he had clearly dealt with plenty of warriors who'd come to throw down a challenge. And with the Black Dragon Sect watching his back, he had no reason to be afraid.
Glancing around, Yun Cheon saw other warriors grimly paying up, eating bitter mustard with their tears. Squeeze them with the challenge fee, then squeeze them again with lodging fees. They're bleeding these people down to the marrow.
The structure was plain: the Black Dragon Sect controlled the surrounding commerce, and in exchange for tribute, the merchants were granted a monopoly and obscene profits.
Yun Cheon had the silver taels received from Sa Do-myeong after bringing down the Muk Family's Poison Fang Hall, so money itself was no problem. Nor was Yayul Hui without funds, being a daughter of the Wild Wind Yayul Family. They were merely startled by the sheer absurdity of the gouging.
"Innkeeper. Is the special room truly the only one left?"
Yun Cheon silently drew a silver tael from his robes and held it up for the innkeeper to see.
Jingle.
The moment the innkeeper confirmed the money pouch, his attitude groveled in an instant.
"Ah, of course, honored sir! Our humble inn never did have many rooms to begin with, you see… and besides…."
The innkeeper stopped mid-sentence and stole a glance at Yayul Hui.
"If the two of you mean to stay… the special room is all there is."
It was true that, even in Yun Cheon's eyes, calling the inn's facilities good would have been a stretch. He shook his head and paid the silver.
Sharing one room would be awkward for both of us. I'll put Yayul Hui up here and take a look around the Black Dragon Sect myself.
But as it turned out, Yayul Hui seemed to feel no particular qualms about sharing—no doubt from the barracks-like life they'd led together in the Hidden Demon Cave. Yet once they'd actually been shown to the room, it was from an entirely unexpected quarter that her complaints erupted.
"One silver tael for a dump like this! With that money I could get a room at any famous inn in the Central Plains!"
"…It's only one night. Still better than a stone cell in the Hidden Demon Cave, no?"
"I… well, that's true, but… there's only one bed! You sleep on the floor!"
"Fine, suit yourself. I'm stepping out for a while."
"…Where are you going at this hour?"
"I'm going to have a look around the Black Dragon Sect. Get some rest."
Yun Cheon left the inn without giving Yayul Hui so much as a chance to answer.
The night air was cold, but the area around the Black Dragon Sect still blazed with torchlight. Beyond the high walls came the sound of uproarious merrymaking, as if the sect's warriors were deep into a drinking party.
"Thanks to all those idiots clamoring to challenge the Young Sect Leader, we're making easy money sitting on our backsides!"
"Didn't I tell you? No need to struggle climbing any higher. Just squat down on that rank-100 spot playing gatekeeper, and the money rolls in on its own!"
"Heh heh heh…! The Young Sect Leader truly is wise!"
Yun Cheon hid his body in the darkness and gazed up at the sect's main gate.
Tch… what need is there to waste time paying some registration fee and waiting in line like a good little sheep?
The reception desk, the fees, the orderly lines—that was the Black Dragon Sect's way. But Yun Cheon felt no obligation to respect or follow it.
Creak.
Yun Cheon tightened the Black Steel Cold Iron rings around his wrists one final time. His eyes gleamed cold enough to pierce straight through the sect's nameplate.
Tonight, I smash the Black Dragon Sect.
Return of the Cloud Dragon
Author | Chu Sang (Autumn Frost)
Publisher | Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Managing Editor | Editorial Department
Published by | Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dream Books
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