Chapter 31
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Five Great Clans' Meeting (1)
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“Argh! Argh! Grandmaster! No! This is a setup!”
The Sword Fiend, Nam Jong, dragged Go Yi-hyeon by the hair toward the agency director’s office.
Go Yi-hyeon screamed and struggled, but he couldn't break free from the man’s iron grip.
“You didn’t just insult our school!”
The childlike Sword Fiend was gone, replaced by a demon.
Neither Ham Jeong-eun, who had confessed his sins, nor the staff rushing about the agency dared to stop him.
“You tried to drag our Qingcheng Sect into the gutter!”
He threw Go Yi-hyeon into the office.
“Find it.”
“F-find what?”
“Everything related to the Soul Revival Pills.”
“Th-there’s nothing like that!”
“Fine. For every piece I find, I’ll slice you up that many times.”
“Hiek!”
The enraged Sword Fiend was no different from a fiend.
Terrified, Go Yi-hyeon opened a safe hidden behind a bookshelf. But his hands trembled so badly from fear that he couldn't work the lock.
Jin Je-yong, who had been watching idly from behind, solved the problem.
He thrust his sword in and sliced sideways, and the metal safe split open with ease.
“Let’s hurry this up.”
“Hieeek!”
Go Yi-hyeon shrieked in surprise at the sudden appearance of the sword.
Jin Je-yong ignored him and examined the contents of the safe. He had to find the materials related to Je Yung-geon before anyone else.
‘Is this it?’
A single book caught his eye. It was in Je Yung-geon’s handwriting. Inside were instructions on how to produce and handle the Soul Revival Pills after his death.
Jin Je-yong smirked and tucked it into his robes.
“You bastard! What do you think you’re doing?”
“Yes?”
The Sword Fiend glared at him and demanded an answer.
But Jin Je-yong simply asked what the problem was.
“What did you just pocket?”
“That’s none of your concern, old man.”
“Hand it over! That is our Qingcheng’s…”
“Qingcheng’s what? This has nothing to do with the Qingcheng Sect.”
Jin Je-yong played innocent and turned to leave the office.
His purpose was fulfilled; there was no reason to stay.
*Clang!*
A flash of a sword blocked Jin Je-yong’s path.
“I’ll ask again. What is that?”
“It’s nothing. But if you insist on checking…”
Jin Je-yong drew his own sword.
The silently drawn blade cut lightly through the air, and a massive wave of energy, like a tsunami, crashed over the Sword Fiend.
Drenched in that energy, the Sword Fiend felt his burning rage instantly cool.
Just moments ago, he had nearly died by Jin Je-yong’s sword. Yet, blinded by fury, he had forgotten.
“I will erase this place today.”
Someone gulped at the voice, which was devoid of any emotion.
As the tension mounted, Jin Je-yong’s gaze fell upon Go Yi-hyeon.
“…What should I do?”
Go Yi-hyeon flinched and stumbled backward.
Jin Je-yong’s gaze then shifted to the Sword Fiend.
“Or I will end this with a warning.”
“A warning?”
Go Yi-hyeon let out a sigh of relief.
Jin Je-yong was terrifying, but he had survived a near-death experience with just a few words.
However, there was something Go Yi-hyeon had overlooked. When Jin Je-yong was serious, he didn't speak with his mouth.
A sword was now poised before Go Yi-hyeon’s eyes.
“Huk!”
“The things related to the Tang Clan—swallow them until you die. No, even after you die. The moment you let a single word slip to anyone…”
The tip of the sword slowly began to pierce the space between Go Yi-hyeon’s eyebrows. He felt no pain, yet a chilling sensation of the blade spread across his brow and into his mind.
Jin Je-yong was doing to Go Yi-hyeon what he had done to Nam Jong. Only this time, very slowly.
“The moment you utter a single word, this sword will be embedded in your head.”
Jin Je-yong’s sword withdrew from Go Yi-hyeon’s head.
Not a single drop of blood stained the blade.
It wasn't just Go Yi-hyeon, the one who had been stabbed, who was shocked.
The Sword Fiend, watching from the side, was on the verge of fainting.
“You… you… you, what did you just do?”
“I just stuck a sword in and pulled it out.”
Jin Je-yong said it as if it were nothing.
But the Sword Fiend couldn't hide his astonishment.
“H-how can you stab a man with a sword and he’s perfectly fine? Is it an illusion?”
“An illusion? Honestly, I don’t know why everyone is so surprised by this.”
“Wh-what?”
Even seeing it with his own eyes, the Sword Fiend simply couldn't comprehend the divine skill Jin Je-yong had displayed.
And this was the second time. He had been shocked when it happened to him, but seeing it happen to another made his mind go blank.
“My master said a swordsman must distinguish between what to cut and what not to cut. Don't you know that, old man?”
“I do. I do, but… I don’t think that’s what he meant.”
That was a lesson about not drawing one’s sword recklessly, not about using some insane technique like this.
Jin Je-yong’s words only made Nam Jong’s head spin even more.
“Forget it. I won’t ask anymore. Talking to you gives me a headache.”
He waved his hand at Jin Je-yong, gesturing for him to leave quickly.
The venom that had been seeping from the murderous Sword Fiend drained away completely.
“Thank you, old man.”
As if his business was done, Jin Je-yong even gave a slight bow before briskly walking out.
He glanced back at Go Yi-hyeon. In just a short time, the man looked as if he had lost a significant amount of weight. His hollow eyes stared blankly as he muttered incomprehensibly.
“Hah, what am I to do about this?”
The Sword Fiend let out a long sigh.
***
I took out the book Je Yung-geon had left behind and examined it.
He had written down how Go Yi-hyeon should acquire and create the Soul Revival Pills in the event of his death.
“You villain!”
As I was returning to my companions, a sharp voice echoed from the agency.
A middle-aged woman was throwing something and cursing at me.
“You killed my son!”
“The ones I killed deserved to die.”
The woman’s face contorted in rage.
Embroidered on her clothes was the symbol of the Tang Clan, a poison dragon.
I couldn’t remember her name, but I had killed a member of the Tang Clan who had insulted my master and my school.
“I have no intention of killing both mother and son.”
Even a worthless son is still a son. I could understand her burning desire for revenge.
I used my sword to strike her acupressure point.
“Gurgle!”
Mrs. Tang collapsed mid-stride.
I sheathed my sword and left the Yangcheong Escort Agency.
Outside, only Warrior Lee Geum-yeong remained.
“Where are Escort Master Pyo and Sect Leader Ha?”
“They both said they’re staying here with Warrior Ham.”
“Why?”
“Because of Go Yi-hyeon and the Soul Revival Pills.”
It seemed they intended to get full compensation for the damages Go Yi-hyeon had caused them.
Although the Yangcheong Escort Agency was one of the most prominent in Sichuan, the damages suffered by the Yichi Sect and the Aro Faction were not just financial but also included significant human losses.
‘To repay the Yichi Sect and Aro Faction, the Yangcheong Escort Agency is going to be shaken to its core.’
It would be one thing if the agency director was an outsider, but he was the younger brother of the Yangcheong Sect’s leader.
On top of that, he was deeply connected to the Qingcheng Sect, so they would undoubtedly face difficulties as well. It was no wonder Nam Jong was so angry.
“It’s none of our business anyway.”
I said, burning the book Je Yung-geon had left behind.
“…Is that Samadhi True Fire?”
“Samadhi… what? It’s just a substitute for flint.”
“Ah, yes, well. I suppose it is. Good grief, who uses Samadhi True Fire as a substitute for flint?”
Warrior Lee Geum-yeong muttered with a look of resignation.
Sometimes, I couldn't understand what Warrior Lee Geum-yeong was trying to say.
‘Is this the difference in sensibilities between a country person and a city person?’
I dismissed Lee Geum-yeong’s attitude and walked with her toward the inn.
“Jin Je-yong?”
Just then, a man with a catfish mustache called out to me.
When I turned, I saw a man of small stature looking at me with a slightly surprised expression.
“Who are you?”
“Ah! My apologies. I work over there. Uh, that is, the director handed out a description of you a little while ago.”
The way the man with the catfish mustache darted his eyes around as he made excuses was suspicious.
What was even more suspicious was the feeling that his body was unnaturally hunched.
It looked like he had altered his face and body with the Bone Shrinking Art and a Disguise Art.
“Hmm, I’ll kill him.”
The energy emanating from the man with the catfish mustache was far from ordinary.
Rather than pure energy, it had a foul, almost demonic scent.
In short, he was a scoundrel from the Unorthodox Faction.
“Young Master Jin!”
Just as I had half-drawn my sword, I heard Warrior Lee Geum-yeong’s scream.
I turned to see her, who had been walking ahead, rushing back breathlessly.
“What are you doing? In broad daylight! With so many people around!”
Given its nature as an escort agency that transported goods, the Yangcheong Escort Agency was always bustling with people.
Although I could have targeted only the man with the catfish mustache, I decided to listen to the city person, Lee Geum-yeong, for now.
“Hiek!”
The man with the catfish mustache let out an uncharacteristically loud yelp and fled into the agency.
Lee Geum-yeong sighed and opened her mouth.
“Young Master Jin, no matter how confident you are with your sword, cutting down an innocent commoner is something only the Unorthodox Faction or demonic beings would do.”
“Innocent… He was a very suspicious fellow, though.”
I thought that someone who would go so far as to change their face and body to enter an escort agency couldn't be a good person.
A man who would use a disguise to get a job at an escort agency must be an enemy of the agency, and the only enemies of an agency are bandits.
“…Well, the important work is done.”
I sheathed my sword and headed for the inn.
I had to pack my things and return to the Tang Clan.
***
“Haha, he walked out of there in one piece with the Sword Fiend around?”
Upon hearing that the Sword Fiend had visited the agency, the man with the catfish mustache, a man from the Greenwood, had avoided the agency for a while.
He thought Go Yi-hyeon’s plan to pit Jin Je-yong against the Sword Fiend wasn't bad. The Sword Fiend was considered a supreme master on par with the Twenty-Two Masters Under Heaven, not someone a young up-and-comer could handle.
But somehow, Jin Je-yong had used some kind of trick and walked out of the agency on his own two feet.
“Interesting. This is very interesting.”
The man with the catfish mustache greeted the agency staff and walked toward the director’s office.
The menacing aura emanating from it surely belonged to the Sword Fiend, Nam Jong.
“A remarkable man.”
When the man opened the door to the director’s office, he saw Nam Jong, a ferocious expression on his face, gripping Go Yi-hyeon by the hair.
“Who are you!”
“The… the Blackmailing Scholar.”
“What?”
The man with the catfish mustache had been cooperating with Go Yi-hyeon under the name "the Blackmailing Scholar" for about five years. Alongside Je Yung-geon and Go Yi-hyeon, he had been involved in producing the Soul Revival Pills and was in the distribution phase.
Go Yi-hyeon looked as pathetic as a drenched dog, pleading for help from the man.
“You, you are…”
The Sword Fiend kicked Go Yi-hyeon aside and drew his sword.
His tense posture suggested he had realized the man’s true identity.
“Well, I suppose I can’t hide it from a supreme master?”
“Why are you here?”
Nam Jong asked, having guessed the man's identity.
The man with the catfish mustache peeled the fake mustache from his lip and spoke.
“Everyone calls me simple and foolish. I hate those words more than anything.”
“Hmph! You bandit.”
“That’s right! There’s this perception that if you’re from the Greenwood, you must be stupid, right? But it’s not true. Bandits are incredibly cunning. Do you think guys like that can be subdued by force alone? You have to coax them, appease them… managing an organization isn’t easy if you’re an idiot.”
As the man spoke, Go Yi-hyeon’s face grew paler and paler. He had only thought of the man as a scholar with connections to the Greenwood. Of course, the man had hidden his identity to make him think that.
“So, I tried my hand at scheming in a completely unrelated place, without using any force at all. For five years, I had some success and even enjoyed it. But well, I failed.”
The man’s body began to swell.
The hemp clothes he wore tore as his muscles expanded, and his pants ripped at his bulging thighs.
In an instant, the Blackmailing Scholar, who had stood at a mere five feet, grew to a towering seven feet.
“Hey, Sword Fiend. You always said you wanted to test yourself against one of the Twenty-Two Masters Under Heaven, didn’t you? Since we’ve met like this, it must be fate. I’ll show you. A glimpse of the Twenty-Two Masters, one of the Five Emperors. The power of me, the Great Emperor of the Greenwood, Kang Gwi-jong.”
Kang Gwi-jong raised his rock-like fist and slammed it into the ground. The floor exploded, and the earth rose up like a tidal wave.
“Although I hate such brutish methods.”
Kang Gwi-jong said with a bitter expression.