Chapter 23 - Each One's Thoughts
A few days later, at Cheongsu's quarters.
The bamboo grove surrounding the medical ward stood tall as ever, basking in the sunlight and breeze. Sunlight poured through the leaves, turning into streaks of green and gold that dappled the ground in irregular patterns. Whenever the wind blew, the bamboos rustled their leaves with a soft swish-swish, whispering secrets.
"Hah! Hup! Hah! Hup-hup-hup!"
In the midst of that forest, Oepari swung his sword with fervor. The blade flashed brilliantly in the sunlight, scattering light everywhere. It was quite the martial artist's form.
"Hmm. He's recovering fast. Looks like he's already fully healed."
Han Somwol, who had been watching, nodded with a pleased smile.
"What the hell is that crude swordplay? Jin Family Head. That guy's just flailing around like that. You gonna leave him be?"
In contrast, Ak Manho, the Long River Bandits' chief, frowned and belittled Oepari's swings. Jin Muhon, lounging in a chair and enjoying the spring breeze, replied indifferently.
"So what."
"It's a waste, ain't it? He looks sturdy enough. Teach him a decent sword style, and he'd earn his keep. Jin Family Head. If you ain't using him, give him to me. I'll make a real man outta him."
"Pass. But why're you here anyway."
Jin Muhon turned to look at Ak Manho. The bandit chief grinned and slapped his chest with a thwack.
"Why d'you think? My one and only brother-in-arms is in a bind. How could I just sit back?"
"A bind? What bind?"
"Come on. I heard it all. You're the one who smashed the Ghost Soul Sect, right? And you're gearing up to fight the Iron Blood Society."
With that, Ak Manho leaned in and whispered into Jin Muhon's ear.
"Word is, the Demonic Cult's planning to hit Wudang first."
Irritated by the hot breath on his ear, Jin Muhon scowled and stood up.
"What bullshit. Keep it up."
"No, no! Haha! Lots of eyes watching."
"Tch. Madman."
After Jin Muhon had taken the Four Emperors Alliance Lord's elixir and sword and vanished.
Ak Manho had mobilized every scrap of intelligence from his waterways to investigate Jin Muhon's recent movements. The Sword Demon who was said to have lost his inner energy and been chased from the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. Yet suddenly, he pops up in the heart of the Central Plains, in Unbong County, claiming to be the head of a crumbling family.
'And his actions after that were even more outrageous.'
In no time at all, he'd taken over Unbong County, then come to Yichang and seized the Ghost Soul Sect. But this was just groundwork for the next target. Ak Manho's eyes gleamed. What the Sword Demon was really after wasn't the Ghost Soul Sect or the Iron Blood Society—it was Wudang Sect, backing the Iron Blood Society.
'Hit Wudang? Then I gotta get my share. Who knows, maybe they'll toss me an elder seat. Heh heh heh.'
In that brief moment, Ak Manho envisioned himself waving the Demonic Cult's banner, rampaging along the Yangtze. With the Heavenly Demon behind him, who would dare challenge? A few clever underlings wondered if Jin Muhon had truly been exiled, but that was just the small fry's delusion.
'If he really lost his dantian and got chased out like the rumors say, how's he using inner energy?'
And it wasn't just any inner energy. That gloomy, sinister red mist. Someone wielding demonic arts like that without a dantian? Ridiculous.
"Um... what're you thinking so deeply about, sir friend of the Family Head?"
His thoughts had dragged on, and Han Somwol looked at Ak Manho with concern in her voice. Jin Muhon dismissed it casually.
"Not a friend."
"Pardon? But you said you were the Family Head's longtime brother-in-arms..."
"Some river rat. Don't mind him."
"Ah... yes."
In the midst of their conversation, Han Somwol accidentally met Jin Muhon's eyes. She quickly looked away. The misunderstanding from a few days ago flashed in her mind, making her ears burn.
'Ah... so embarrassing.'
A few days earlier.
As promised, Jin Muhon had shown up at Cheongsu's quarters in the dead of night. But when he actually stood before her, Han Somwol panicked badly.
"- I've come for my reward."
"- Ah... yes. I... prepared..."
"Prepared? For what?"
"Pardon? Well... I washed clean, and the bedding is all fluffy..."
With a face that said he had no idea what she meant, Jin Muhon stated what he wanted: a full accounting of his one and only niece's well-being. Only then did Han Somwol realize her massive misunderstanding, wishing she could crawl into a hole. Desperate to escape his presence, she agreed without hesitation—but on the condition that they wait until her master returned from her travels.
"So when's your master coming back?"
"Pardon? Ah! M-my master?"
Han Somwol flinched and looked at Jin Muhon.
"It's been months since she left, so she'll be back soon."
"Months? Where'd she go?"
"Not sure exactly. She just said she was heading to Anhui."
"Hmm..."
Anhui. The name brought the Nangong Family Estate to mind, but Jin Muhon didn't dwell on it. Then—
"My lord. You're here."
An old man with a stern face approached from the medical ward and bowed to Jin Muhon. It was the former Ghost Soul Sect Leader whose dantian Jin Muhon had shattered.
"Shouldn't you be resting? Why're you out?"
"How could I lie idle when my lord is here?"
"Enough with the 'my lord' crap. You'll give yourself gray hairs. Rest up."
"Worry not. The physician here has tended me well—I'm nearly recovered."
The former sect leader, Chusa Hwan—known in the jianghu as the Poison Eagle Twins. Unlike his son Chukang, he was a man brimming with venomous ambition, having built the Ghost Soul Sect with his bare hands. His martial prowess aside, he was quick on the uptake. That's why he immediately grasped why Jin Muhon had spared him.
'He kept me alive to control Gang.'
If so, even without inner energy—a useless husk—he had to bow his head first and foremost. Even if the man was the enemy who'd taken everything. To preserve his pathetic life. That was the way of the jianghu, the weak's survival. Fortunately, Jin Muhon didn't reject Chusa Hwan's efforts.
"Tch-tch-tch."
Ak Manho glanced at Chusa Hwan and clicked his tongue.
"Aigoo. What happened to the Poison Eagle Twins."
Chusa Hwan smiled thinly at Ak Manho.
"Chief. Why not serve my lord yourself?"
"Hey now! I'm the Jin Family Head's one true brother-in-arms. No serving between bros."
"Is that so?"
"Damn right! Ain't that right, Jin Family Head?"
"Shut it."
"...Ahem! Hem!"
An awkward silence fell over the group. But in each mind swirled thoughts of their ties to Jin Muhon: Ak Manho dreamed of wealth and glory, Chusa Hwan of survival, Han Somwol of tangled, messy emotions.
"Hah! Hup! Uratchacha!"
As they silently watched Oepari's swings—
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Two men came dashing through the bamboo grove. One was Chukang, the other Bang Cheolsan.
"F-F-Family Head! Huff-huff. F-Father's here too... huff... huff..."
Chukang's face was beet red. He'd run so hard he was gasping, sweat streaming down his forehead. Jin Muhon turned to him.
"What."
"The Iron Blood Society! They've arrived near Yichang!"
Ak Manho and Chusa Hwan's eyes flashed simultaneously. Jin Muhon showed no reaction. Ak Manho probed casually.
"Jin Family Head. Want me to lead the vanguard?"
Ignoring Ak Manho, Jin Muhon suddenly brightened as something occurred to him.
"Any Taoists mixed in?"
"N-No such report!"
"Too bad."
Too bad about what? Everyone stared at him, baffled. Jin Muhon stood.
"Let's go."
"Pardon? W-Where to?"
Jin Muhon strode off. Chukang flailed his head around in confusion. Chusa Hwan, now beside him, patted his back.
"Ah! Got it! Let's go! Family Head!"
Chukang hurried after Jin Muhon.
***
There was a wide clearing at the entrance to Yichang. Open on all sides with no spots for ambushes, the hard-packed dirt ground kicked up dust on the spring breeze. Swirls of yellowish-brown dust rose and faded repeatedly.
"Fuck. Here they come."
"Bastards. Time to taste some real blood today."
The fifty-odd Ghost Soul Sect warriors gathered in the clearing spat curses to shake off their tension. Meanwhile, the Iron Blood Society men in dark red uniforms marched in perfect ranks, steps synchronized, entering the clearing crisply.
"Shii... bal..."
Spears and swords glinted in the sun. Uniforms flapped in the wind, hands slick with sweat on their weapons. The fifty Iron Blood warriors eyed them with disciplined ferocity, ready to charge.
From the Ghost Soul Sect side came constant gulp-gulp swallows. Then, shoving past their fear, Chukang stepped forward.
"Who's your leader, you fuck! Show yourself!"
Unlike usual, Chukang shouted confidently. Backed by his firm belief that Jin Muhon would protect him.
"Scared, huh! You son of a—Gah!"
As he spat another curse—
Shing! Something streaked toward him. An arrow.
"Whoa! Sect Leader!"
Bang Cheolsan swung his sword clumsily. Naturally, it didn't come close to the arrow.
"Eeeek!"
Chukang screamed as the arrowhead neared his face. From behind, Jin Muhon flicked his middle finger lightly.
Ping—clang!
A small stone shattered the arrow in half. The sharp tip grazed Chukang's cheek by a hair, drawing a long gash and spurting red blood.
"Aigoo! I'm dead!"
"Sect Leader! Don't go out front! You'll get stabbed!"
"It's arrows! You bastards!"
Bang Cheolsan shielded Chukang with his bulk. He was faithfully carrying out his order to protect him with his life. Peeking from behind, Chukang yelled.
"Cowardly fucks! You call that justice?!"
Unable to stomach it anymore, a young Iron Blood warrior stepped forward.
"Shut your trap! You evil unorthodox scum are society's pests! Exterminating you all is for the good of the common folk!"
"Shove it up your ass! Who the hell made you leader?!"
"W-What did you say, you wretch!"
As the young warrior's eyes bulged and he reached for his sword—
"Enough."
A stern-faced Iron Blood Society Leader strode forward. Past sixty, yet his back was straight, shoulders broad and solid. His long white beard to his chest lent an air of dignity, but the sword scar from temple to cheek made him look savage. His eyes were sharp, lips pressed tight with power. The aura of a general who'd stormed battlefields for decades. Not a man to appear in a place like this.
"That's Ha Cheolgun of the Iron Blood Sword. No pushover."
Chusa Hwan, at Jin Muhon's side, quietly informed him. Jin Muhon nodded faintly, unimpressed. Instead, his gaze fixed on the one man among the Iron Blood group wearing a conical hat.
'Of course. You came.'
Hiding his identity with the hat and tattered uniform, but he couldn't conceal Wudang's distinctive lazy, stuffy aura. Jin Muhon's lips curved upward slyly.
'Hayeon. Wait just a bit. Your uncle'll snag a decent sword style for you.'
Mist began to slowly blanket the surroundings.