Chapter 29 - The Road Home
Two weeks later.
A warm afternoon sun poured down.
Clop. Clop. Clop.
A carriage pulled by a pair of horses raced down the wide avenue.
The horses' hooves drummed the earth, kicking up clouds of dust.
The carriage itself was nothing special.
But the coachman and the man seated beside him drew endless stares from passersby.
"Hey? The coachman's got one arm?"
"Tsk tsk. Poor bastard. The guy next to him's got both arms just fine. Can't he give him a hand?"
"Shh! They're looking! That glare—he's got a nasty temper! Keep it down!"
They thought they were whispering, but how could the words not carry?
Chusahwan, the former lord of the Ghost Soul Sect, let out a deep sigh and turned to the one-armed man beside him.
"Hand me the reins, Oepari."
The one-armed man quickly pulled his hand holding the reins aside.
The horses whinnied and tossed their heads.
"No, no! I couldn't, sir! It's bad enough having you sit up here with me—reins? No way!"
"You've got ears, don't you? You can hear them talking smack. And drop the 'sir.' Just call me Old Chu."
"Oh dear! Oh dear! Old Chu? I couldn't possibly! Yes, sir!"
Chusahwan had lost his dantian to Jin Muhon and voluntarily pledged himself as a subordinate.
He conducted himself appropriately as a servant, but Oepari still found it uncomfortable.
That was when it happened.
Bang! Bang!
Someone inside the carriage pounded on the wall and shouted.
- Who cares about sir this and sir that! Drive the damn carriage properly! My back hurts!
It was Muheo's voice.
The old man's bellow was so loud that birds perched on the roadside branches scattered into the sky with a flurry of wings.
Even Oepari flinched and shrank his neck.
"Sorry, Elder!"
- If you get it, do it right, you fool!
"Yes, sir!"
Oepari's lip jutted out at the sudden scolding, and he smacked the reins sharply.
"Drive this carriage right, you worthless nags!"
Neighhh!
The horses jerked their heads violently.
The carriage lurched and rattled.
***
"Whoa!"
Muheo, lounging comfortably inside, smacked his head against the wall as the carriage jolted.
Rubbing his throbbing head, he sat up straight.
"That damn bastard! He's doing it on purpose!"
Muheo glared daggers and made to leap out of the carriage.
Han Sowol, seated opposite, smiled and held him back.
"Elder, you don't think Oepari would do that on purpose, do you? The road's just rough."
"Nonsense! The road's fine! Healer Han, take a look outside! Not a single big rock on the ground!"
"Is that so?"
"I tell you it is! That cheeky punk's messing with us on purpose! Right, Jin family head?"
Muheo turned to Jin Muhon, seated beside Han Sowol.
Jin Muhon, arms crossed and eyes closed, slowly opened them.
Before him sat Han Sowol, staring openly, and Muheo, back to his mad old self.
"……."
Since that day he had created the Dual Intent Divine Art with Muheo,
Jin Muhon had returned to the Cheongsu Clinic with Han Sowol to await her master.
Fortunately, the master returned just days later.
A mild-mannered old man in his mid-sixties.
Jin Muhon had wondered if the trip to An-hui meant ties to the Nangong family, but the master approved Han Sowol's house call without hesitation.
"Family head… sir?"
"Hm? Jin family head. Didn't you hear? What's got you spacing out?"
With Jin Muhon just staring blankly, Han Sowol peered at him with concern.
He brushed off her hand reaching for his pulse and fixed Muheo with a steady gaze.
"Old man. Aren't you going?"
"Huh?"
Since boarding the carriage, Jin Muhon had barely spoken.
Knowing it was part of mastering the new technique, Muheo hadn't pressed him.
But now, after so long, this was what he said?
Muheo blinked, feigning ignorance.
"Going? Me? Where to?"
Jin Muhon had grown numb to Muheo's shamelessness by now.
"Your business is done. Get lost. Don't the Nine Great Sects' elders have better things to do?"
"Hey now! Hey now! You don't know what you're talking about!"
Muheo slapped the seat emphatically, raising his voice.
Han Sowol rolled her eyes and tuned into their exchange.
"I'm on a vital mission for the peace of the murim—one more important than anything!"
"…What?"
Even Jin Muhon looked baffled this time.
Undeterred, Muheo proudly spread his fingers.
"First! Protecting you! Second! Looking after your blood kin! And last! Testing the Dual Intent Divine Art!"
"……."
Jin Muhon furrowed his brow.
Seeing it, Han Sowol bowed her head.
"Sorry, family head. I didn't know it was a secret…."
"Hey now! Hey now! What's Healer Han got to be sorry for? I figured it out myself! No need to bow to this guy!"
"Still…."
"Hey now! It's fine. He doesn't care about that stuff. It's okay. Okay."
While Jin Muhon stayed at the clinic,
Muheo had hovered nearby and learned of Jin Hayeon's existence through Han Sowol by chance.
The Sword Demon's blood kin in the Central Plains.
Muheo had been shocked at first but quickly composed himself and followed Jin Muhon onto the carriage.
'His niece….'
Not as the Demonic Cult's vice leader, but as the apostate Sword Demon, there was no cause for the orthodox sects to worry from a righteous perspective.
Muheo knew Jin Muhon wasn't one to spill blood without reason.
The problem was the Sword Demon's kin.
The fact that his blood lived in the Central Plains was unknown to the world.
If stuffy Murim Alliance prigs found out, who knew what trouble it would stir.
If anything happened to the Sword Demon's niece, even by a fluke…
The orthodox murim might be uprooted in his revenge.
'Ugh… just thinking about it is terrifying. Primordial Heavenly Lord! I'll stop it at all costs!'
"Old man."
"Huh? Y-yeah?"
Muheo snapped out of his thoughts at Jin Muhon's call, startling as their eyes met.
Jin Muhon's impassive gaze seemed to pierce straight to his heart, deep and submerged.
"Mm…."
Muheo inexplicably felt a chill in his chest.
'He's a demon through and through.'
Muheo swallowed hard.
Things had gone smoothly so far, but if the Sword Demon flatly refused, he'd have no pretext to stay.
Without pretext, force wouldn't work either—and against the Sword Demon, that was impossible….
Jin Muhon slowly spoke.
"Old man. If you pull any useless stunts… you know what happens, right?"
For Jin Muhon, letting Muheo meet Jin Hayeon wasn't so bad.
Muheo was a Wudang elder, after all.
Ties to a Nine Great Sects elder would surely benefit her future.
'Better than her worthless uncle.'
"Hahaha!"
Muheo's face lit up at the words.
The Sword Demon had given his permission.
"You bet! Don't worry! Who am I? Dao Destroyer Muheo, Wudang's top sword! Would I do anything foolish?"
Muheo thumped his chest.
Han Sowol whispered softly.
"You probably will…."
"Hey now! Healer Han! I heard that!"
"Oh! Sorry!"
Han Sowol bowed her head again.
***
That night.
Jin Muhon's group decided to camp in a forest clearing by the road to Unbong County.
They could push and arrive at dawn, but delaying a day changed nothing major.
The acrid smoke from the crackling firewood quickly filled the air.
"Ugh! You fool! That's why you gotta think ahead when driving the carriage!"
"Sorry, Elder."
"Back in my day, I'd grab the reins and time it like clockwork!"
"Y-yes. Right."
For camping out, Oepari got dragged into a lecture by Muheo.
Muheo spat as he ranted, while Oepari nodded and sighed deeply.
Still, dinner was hearty for road fare.
Chusahwan, who had tended the group the whole way, was a master cook too.
"Family head. Was the meal to your liking?"
As Jin Muhon sat by the bonfire,
Chusahwan approached, having finished cleanup, and bowed.
Lost in thoughts of blood mist and the Dual Intent Divine Art while watching the flames, Jin Muhon turned to him.
Chusahwan's face in the firelight.
The deepened wrinkles from lost inner energy made his already venomous features even harsher.
Yet his gaze on Jin Muhon held no tremor.
For a moment, Jin Muhon recalled the subordinates who had followed him in his Sword Demon days.
"It was good."
"Good to hear."Chusahwan's wrinkles twitched.
He was a man as awkward with smiles as Jin Muhon.
"Ak Manho said he's sorry he couldn't greet you properly."
"That slippery eel. Still a pro at running." "Haha! Tell me about it."Ak Manho, the Long River Bandits' chief who had lingered near Jin Muhon hoping for scraps, had bolted back to his lair at Muheo's arrival.
He knew better than to tangle with the infamous Dao Destroyer.
Jin Muhon glanced at Muheo.
Still lecturing poor Oepari.
"Where'd that old man's apprentice go?"
"No idea. He woke up at the clinic and vanished. Even the elder seemed clueless."
"What a mess." "Yeah."With that, Jin Muhon fell silent.
His gaze fixed back on the crackling bonfire.
After a moment, Chusahwan standing behind bowed quietly and withdrew.
Han Sowol, approaching Jin Muhon, caught Chusahwan's headshake and retreated with a disappointed look.
Crackle—crackle—
Red flames lit the surroundings.
Long tree shadows danced like sword-wielding warriors, while scarlet embers floated skyward like scattered blood on smoke.
Hoot—hoot—
An owl hooted in the distance.
Leaves rustled in the night breeze.
'…Hm?'
A strange sensation.
He blinked, and the air had turned chilling.
'What….'
The roaring bonfire had weakened.
He scanned around.
Even the group snored soundly.
Oepari was meant to take first watch, but exhaustion had him dozing against a tree.
'When did time pass like this?'
In deep concentration, time and space warped.
But there had been no great insight this time.
Just pondering the nature of blood mist.
Then.
Whoooosh—
A chill seeped into the campsite.
The air grew cold. Gooseflesh rose.
"……."
Jin Muhon rose slowly, gripping the Four Emperors Sword.
Shhhh—
A bone-chilling aura, though no wind blew.
The energy of death.
'Evil spirit?'
Jin Muhon turned slowly.
In the dark forest.
Something approached through the thick blood mist.
His eyes turned ice-cold.