Chapter 83: Humiliating the Gwancheonbang Chief Steward...?
Gu Ja-ang was dumbfounded by the bolt from the blue, but he had no time to dwell on it.
He hurled the buoy away and plunged whoosh into the water.
Splat!
The sword gang sliced through the oil-smeared bamboo buoy and stabbed into the river, exploding with a boom.
Ugh!
Gu Ja-ang poured every ounce of his protective aura into defense, but his back still burned like fire. The shockwave churned his guts and muddled his mind.
Water flooded his mouth and choked his breath, snapping him awake instead.
Needing air meant he was still alive.
He yanked out the emergency breathing reed he'd brought and thrust it above the surface, gulping in air.
His insides roiled and his back stung, but luckily his limbs were intact. A direct hit would've torn him in half.
After a deep breath, Gu Ja-ang submerged again, swallowed an internal injury pill, and untied the bundle on his back, letting it sink to the riverbed.
It held his precious retirement fund—silver ingots and banknotes.
Then he unslung the steel crossbow from his back.
Both Gwancheonbang and Cheongsu Gate had to fight on water against boatmen, so crossbows were essential. The one Gu Ja-ang carried was a custom job, bought at great expense—bigger than standard, able to load three steel bolts at once.
Above all, it fired with ferocious power and speed, hard even for experts to dodge.
But that faceless mad old coot had unleashed a sword gang and even detonated it at will. A true master.
Gu Ja-ang doubted his crossbow would do much.
To run into a once-in-a-lifetime expert smack in the middle of the river... No, more importantly, why was the old bastard attacking him?
Who the hell was he?
Ah! Maybe a reinforcement from Geom Yak Jong?
That made sense. He was Gwancheonbang's chief steward, after all.
No? Even then, it didn't add up. How would anyone know he was in the river?
Gu Ja-ang racked his brains nonstop, trying to piece it together, as he raised the crossbow toward the surface. It was loaded with three steel bolts, and his waist quiver held twelve more. Worth a shot, he figured.
He'd spent his youth as a tout on the Sangyang docks, brawling through every kind of fight. Water battles? He was confident.
'Geom Yak Jong types are mountain hermits who've only swung swords. Never fought in water.'
Gu Ja-ang glared upward, straining his eyes through the water.
Sure enough, Yang Gwan was flustered.
Spotting the head bobbing in the river's midst, he'd charged in rage without a second thought.
One strike to split the skull.
But the bastard had vanished underwater.
Yang Gwan stood awkwardly atop the half-sliced, sinking buoy.
He'd mastered the One Leaf Floating Cloud technique, stepping on leaves to skim water. But this river was nothing like the calm lakes of Geom Yak Jong's Sword Mountain.
The current churned endlessly.
Channeling his qi to steady the wrecked buoy, he winced at the pain in his inner thigh from the paralyzing needle.
It had hit the tenderest spot. The throbbing fueled his fury.
He scanned with bulging eyes, but the black river swallowed all sight.
'Stay calm.'
Yang Gwan took a deep breath, steadying his mind and body, then glanced around. His gaze locked on the distant wooden pier at the warehouse wharf.
A figure in dark clothes emerged from the water, clambering onto the dock.
His hard-won calm shattered; his breathing quickened.
That was definitely the prey he'd chased.
But then doubt crept in.
'Then who's this one?'
His eyes flicked back to the river.
Ah! Not one man—a whole gang?
Yang Gwan's brow furrowed deeply.
They'd deliberately lured him to the river's center, knowing his weakness in water combat.
'You bastards deserve to die!'
As his eyes bulged, something snapped beneath his feet. He leaped and spun instantly.
Three steel bolts shattered the bamboo buoy, one embedding in his left thigh this time.
Gah!
A groan escaped despite himself.
Even masters feel pain from a blade. The bone-deep agony made him grit his teeth and bellow.
"You fuckers! I'll kill you all!"
Before the words finished, he plunged splash into the water.
"Pfuh!"
Surfacing, Yang Gwan ground his teeth. A Geom Yak Jong elder, suffering such humiliation? Unheard of.
"Argh!"
Channeling qi, he unleashed sword qi, slashing wildly in all directions.
Thwack!
Each swing split the river three zhang wide, spraying water like geysers.
Tremendous power.
Won Seung, who'd climbed onto the wharf, slipped past the eyes of Gwancheonbang and Cheongsu Gate warriors, hiding in the shadows under the training platform.
He flattened himself and watched Yang Gwan rage.
To retaliate, he needed to gauge the old man's skills fully. Yang Gwan was a monster far beyond expectations—and not too bright, it seemed.
No matter how deep his qi, flailing like that would drain him soon.
'Get in the water, you idiot. That's where your opponent's at.'
Ah, why am I rooting for that bastard?
You're the idiot. Won Seung smacked his own forehead.
But who was the guy in the river? Dodging that sword gang meant he wasn't ordinary. No one fished at night like that... Probably no good guy.
Whoever he was, taking lightning for Won Seung and fighting in his stead? Right to root for him. But Yang Gwan had to survive too. If he died here, what was the point of saving him?
Ah, head hurts.
Unlike Won Seung's smirk, Yang Gwan's assault worked. He slashed sword qi at precise intervals, weaving a net that snared Gu Ja-ang.
As the net closed, Gu Ja-ang ditched the crossbow and drew his water-parting dagger to block.
Clang!
The clash echoed dully underwater with a shockwave. Yang Gwan pounced.
Swoosh!
A proper, mighty sword gang targeted him dead-on. Gu Ja-ang poured power into his dagger, but the gang split into upper, middle, and lower prongs, grazing him.
Two missed; one pierced his side.
Krrk!
The tearing agony nearly evicted his soul.
Blood gushed from the hole.
'Gotcha!'
Spotting the spreading blood, Yang Gwan dove, seized Gu Ja-ang's hair, and hauled him up.
"Pfuh!"
The two sprawled diagonally on the surface, panting raggedly.
Yang Gwan swiftly sealed Gu Ja-ang's pressure points and wrenched his face around.
A pudgy middle-aged face came into view.
Yang Gwan slapped him hard.
Smack!
"You dare target me? Who the hell are you?!"
Guh!
Pierced by sword qi, screamed at, and half-drowned, Gu Ja-ang could only gasp. No strength to answer.
Yang Gwan gripped the hair and swam for shore.
The scalp-tearing pain jolted Gu Ja-ang alert. His thinning hair felt like it was ripping out.
Onto the pier, Yang Gwan dragged him by the hair across the dock, bellowing.
"I've got your buddy! Show yourself, or his head rolls!"
Then he halted at the wharf's edge.
The scene had changed since he'd entered the water.
Why were so many crowding in?
The warehouse wharf's broad plaza teemed with torch-bearing men.
Pyeong In-gang frowned at the old man emerging from the water, dragging someone by the hair.
Yang Gwan looked unhinged: soaked, disheveled hair, bolt in his thigh, grinding teeth as he hauled his catch...
Not sane.
'?'
Glancing at the captive, Pyeong In-gang startled.
Familiar. Up close—Gu Ja-ang.
'That mad old fart...'
In night clothes, Gu Ja-ang bled from his side, vomiting water nonstop.
Rage boiled in Pyeong In-gang at the pitiful sight.
Humiliating Gwancheonbang's chief steward? Only Cheon Il-hae himself should lay hands on him.
And... Cheongsu Gate men were here too.
Cheongsu Gate warriors had gathered at their turf's warehouse edge after Gwancheonbang reinforcements arrived first.
Wary and anxious—'Why no backup for us?'
If those bastards blabbed, word of their chief steward dragged like a dog by a mad old man would blanket Sangyang by morning.
"Kill those fuckers."
Pyeong In-gang whispered to the squad leader.
The Gwancheonbang leader hesitated. 'Cheongsu Gate are enemies, but we just teamed up against that old nut?'
But Pyeong In-gang's glare made him back off meekly.
As the squad leader advanced with his men, Cheongsu Gate warriors surged from one side.
Leading: Hwa Ugeuk of Cheongsu Gate.
The squad leader halted, relieved, shooting Pyeong In-gang a 'What now?' look.
'Fuck.'
Gwancheonbang's honor was in the dirt.
Unknown to him, the rope binding Cheon Il-hae's neck was looped over his office beam...
As a new Gwancheonbang elder, how to handle this?
The mad old man seemed expert-level, and now Hwa Ugeuk too.
'That guy's no pushover...'
Hwa Ugeuk ranked top among Henan Province's later-generation experts, said to surpass his brother Hwa U-cheon in martial prowess.
Pyeong In-gang eyed his own men. Not enough for both.
"Call for reinforcements."
He ordered a subordinate, assessed the scene, and stepped forward. Test Hwa Ugeuk's reaction first.
"Young lord of Cheongsu Gate. What brings you and so many men out tonight?"
Hwa Ugeuk glanced at Pyeong In-gang but ignored him. As Cheongsu Gate's second young lord and top Henan later-gen expert, he was haughty—wouldn't stoop to chat with Cheon Il-hae's lapdog.
His gaze shifted to Yang Gwan. Nearly missed him. A Geom Yak Jong elder, drowned-rat miserable.
'That old guy's been through hell... What happened?'
Chased an assassin, by the looks. Got wrecked.
The culprit behind it all, Won Seung, lay prone under the platform, watching.
'Why's it escalating?'
He'd just planned a few slaps to Byeok Gyoo Un's mouth...
Now Cheongsu Gate and Gwancheonbang might clash for real.