The Rain Master Appears
That… man… is definitely him.
The instant Mun Gu laid eyes on him, his body reacted of its own accord. The yellow-robed figure who had entered with Dokjeonhwa was a face he had never seen before. Yet the moment he met those eyes—slender brows framing a gaze that burned with yellow light—he knew exactly who it was.
The Golden Masked Man…!
When he first came to Tangshan he had half-expected the Golden Masked Man might appear. Even if the man showed himself, Mun Gu had believed there would be no trouble so long as they never crossed paths directly.
Of all places… to meet him here.
That man’s martial arts were nothing like those of the ordinary Central Plains. To face him properly, not a mere Yacha but the Ghost King himself would have to step forward.
Jeokbalgoein watched Mun Gu’s sudden tension.
So he knows who that is.
The aura flowing from the yellow-robed man’s body was unnervingly similar to Mu-hong’s—the presence that had vanished only a short while ago.
Every existence that once hid in the world’s deepest shadows is crawling out into the open.
Jeokbalgoein understood then that the age was no longer merely sliding toward chaos and turmoil. It had already stepped fully into an era of chaos.
Dokjeonhwa looked at the black-hatted Mun Gu and greeted him as though they were old acquaintances.
“It has been a long time, has it not?”
“Wolyeonggwangheun…”
“As I made my way to Tangshan I hoped I might meet you. To find you exactly as I wished is a genuine pleasure.”
“Those words just now—do they mean you think you can beat me?”
“Is there any reason I should not be able to?”
A faint smile curved Dokjeonhwa’s lips. His martial prowess was no longer what it had been when they last met. With the skill he possessed now, he would not be crushed one-sidedly as before.
Mun Gu’s brow furrowed.
This bastard…
He had been restraining himself because of the Golden Masked Man, yet the provocation still made his body answer. Mun Gu’s eyes sharpened to blades as he lunged to seize Dokjeonhwa by the throat.
Taat.
Dokjeonhwa casually flicked the approaching hand aside. He moved faster than the man who had struck first.
Not bad.
Mun Gu conceded that the other truly had grown stronger.
But… let’s see whether you can stop the Honggihwa.
Crimson inner energy burst from Mun Gu’s body. The Honggihwa lunged like a wild beast straight for Dokjeonhwa’s heart.
Dokjeonhwa knew exactly what technique that crimson blaze was.
Not this time. Not according to your will.
Paaat—!!
A razor-thin strand of silver light leapt from the tip of Dokjeonhwa’s sword and sliced the onrushing Honggihwa cleanly in two.
Mun Gu recoiled in shock. The attack had erupted from a space where no sword should have been able to appear.
“You’ve changed a great deal.”
He acknowledged the feat of completely nullifying the Honggihwa. Even without it, he still had more than enough means to fight.
I wonder whether you can stop the Blood Flame as well.
A technique that could be mastered only after ascending to Yacha with the aid of the Earth Yacha. Flames of pure incineration erupted from Mun Gu’s body.
For an instant Dokjeonhwa felt as though he had plunged into a hell of fire-demons. A cold smile touched Mun Gu’s lips.
No matter how strong you’ve become, you cannot overcome the Blood Flame.
He was certain Dokjeonhwa’s body would vanish in a single breath beneath those flames. He realized his mistake almost at once.
This… energy…
Mun Gu had momentarily forgotten the other man was still there.
Sharr-rr-rr.
Golden qi rolled forward and snuffed out the Blood Flame that had enveloped Dokjeonhwa as though it had never existed. Mun Gu’s eyes widened in pure shock at how effortlessly the technique had been extinguished.
Even the Blood Flame is useless against him?
In that moment Mun Gu finally understood the true identity of the man who had released the golden qi. The yellow-robed man’s power was overwhelming—enough to suppress even the Blood Flame with casual ease. Boundless, bottomless internal energy filled that body to the brim.
…Is he trying to break my will?
The will to fight drained from Mun Gu as if he had already surrendered. The difference in power was absolute. If he continued to meet that gaze, he felt his own eyes would burst. Unable to endure the crushing pressure, he turned his head away.
“You are…”
“I know what you wish to say. There is no need to confirm it with words.”
“…Understood. May I ask your identity?”
“You will learn it soon enough even if I do not tell you. I am called Woo-sa—the Rain Master.”
“You… are truly one of the Gwangmyeong Eight Hall Masters of that place?”
“Not bad. The fact that you know of our palace means your people have been watching us carefully as well, does it not?”
“……”
If he was Woo-sa of the Gwangmyeong Eight Hall Masters, he was without question one of the highest existences. The reason Mun Gu had been completely overpowered in that brief exchange suddenly made perfect sense.
The inn once more filled with taut silence at the yellow-robed man’s arrival. Uncheon realized the figure who had calmed the atmosphere was that same yellow-robed man. He had not recognized him at first entrance, yet recognition came swiftly thereafter.
It was the Golden Masked Man.
Just as before, Uncheon could read nothing whatsoever from the man’s eyes. He bowed at the waist in greeting.
“It has been a long time.”
“Huhu. Good to see you.”
Woo-sa smiled as he examined Uncheon’s internal energy. Uncheon himself was startled by the change he saw in the other man.
“You’ve improved considerably. I don’t know what happened in the meantime, but you’ve grown remarkably strong.”
“Thank you. I hated being helplessly beaten. I trained with everything I had.”
“That day must have been an excellent lesson, then. In any case, I’m glad you trained hard.”
As he spoke, the yellow-robed man swept his gaze around the room.
He came here after sensing Senior Brother Mu-hong’s energy. Of course—someone of his caliber would have recognized it at once.
Uncheon pretended ignorance and waited for the question.
“I no longer sense that person’s energy. He has already left this place.”
“He has departed.”
Woo-sa regarded Uncheon and asked,
“You seem to know whom I am looking for.”
“If it is someone worthy of your search, I could think of no one else.”
“Clever. Do you know his true identity?”
“I spent a short time with him, yet I know absolutely nothing. I cannot even say whether our meeting was coincidence or whether he sought me out deliberately.”
“You know nothing… That may well be true.”
Woo-sa detected no falsehood in the answer. He turned his gaze and calmly examined Jeokbalgoein from head to toe.
“Hmph. You’ve played quite a few tricks on that body of yours.”
“……”
Woo-sa spoke almost the exact same words Mu-hong had once used.
“Keep it up and your head may burst; you’ll die young. Everything in moderation. Lean too far in one direction and the result is never good.”
“I am grateful for your counsel.”
Jeokbalgoein clasped his fist in formal greeting. He knew full well that his own skill was far too lacking to challenge Woo-sa, and so he showed no will to fight.
Uncheon made space beside him.
“Please, sit here.”
“My thanks.”
Woo-sa took a seat with Dokjeonhwa and asked,
“All of you have gathered in Tangshan because you seek the Cheonhwangdo Map, correct?”
“Yes, that is so.”
“Has the Moyong Family still failed to find the one who absconded with it? Or are they deliberately not looking? I am curious.”
“They had arranged a meeting with people from the Hebei Peng Family, but once so many martial artists flooded into Tangshan he abandoned the original location and hid elsewhere.”
“In any case he is still hiding somewhere in Tangshan, is he not?”
“Yes. Our best guess is that he slipped into one of the coal mines around Tangshan.”
“On what grounds?”
“After the Hebei Peng Family met an old man who had worked the mines for decades, they tried to smuggle him out of Tangshan in secret—and were discovered.”
“Aigoo, how foolish.”
“……”
“Why take the old man?”
“There are countless entrances leading down into the abandoned mine shafts. They claimed no one else knows the layout of those mines as well as that old man.”
“Then why not simply enter the mines and search?”
“There are many entrances, but once inside the tunnels branch into an endless maze. Without knowing the precise location, no one can say how long a search would take. And if someone recklessly enters and the mine collapses…”
“Instant burial. You’re saying someone with ill intent could simply detonate the mine?”
“In the martial world, who can predict what might happen in a single moment?”
That was precisely why, even knowing Moyongjeok was hiding in a coal mine with the map, no one dared charge in blindly.
“What do you intend to do?”
“If time allows, why not simply wait for him to come out on his own? There seems little need to force our way inside.”
“Hmm… A sound thought. Time solves everything, in the end… Yet the problem is that no one knows how long he will remain hidden.”
“Otherwise we go in and find him ourselves.”
“Huhu. In the end, going inside will be faster.”
Woo-sa rose from his seat. He had hoped to meet the being of overwhelming energy, yet that person had already departed. Uncheon rose with him and asked,
“Are you leaving?”
“Would it not be rather uncomfortable for everyone if I remained? I have learned where that fellow is hiding; that is enough.”
“Where are you staying, sir?”
“I am lodging at Hocheon Manor. We are hardly close enough for you to come calling.”
“One never knows.”
“Hmph. Amusing brat. Ah, yes—when I asked Master Po about you, he told me of a rather interesting connection.”
“You met Uncle Po?”
“I believed his words were true, yet I still felt I should confirm them myself.”
“As it happens I was already planning to visit Myeongseon Palace and pay my respects.”
“Is that so? He will be pleased.”
As Woo-sa prepared to leave, Dokjeonhwa hurriedly stepped forward. Uncheon sent a quiet sound transmission after the departing Dokjeonhwa.
[Uncle Dok, Jeong Cheong is at the Yaweol Sect.]
Dokjeonhwa, walking ahead, faltered for a moment and glanced back at Uncheon. Another transmission arrived.
[He’s receiving assassin training there, so you needn’t worry. He also knows you’re still alive.]
Jeong Cheong is alive?
As Dokjeonhwa turned away again, the heavy weight that had long pressed on his chest lightened. He had constantly fretted over his disciple’s safety. Once he entered the martial world he had wanted nothing more than to search for the boy, yet circumstances had never allowed it. Fortunately Uncheon had brought him news of Jeong Cheong.
Thank heaven.
Now he could remain at Woo-sa’s side without that constant worry.
Two days had passed since the old man smuggled out by the Hebei Peng Family disappeared. There were no secrets in this world. Rumors of the coal mine had already spread throughout the whole of Tangshan.
Paeng Hu and Paeng Shin were thrown into disarray. They could not understand how a matter known only to members of the Hebei Peng Family had leaked across the entire Central Plains martial world.
“We’re finished. Everyone knows he’s hiding in the coal mine.”
“Elder Brother, we can wait no longer. We must move at once.”
“They still don’t know the exact location, do they?”
“They’re charging into the mines at random. We’ve already confirmed one group entered the very mine where he’s hiding.”
“……”
“If they wander long enough they might actually find him. We have to reach Moyongjeok before anyone else does.”
“Very well. We move now.”
Shortly thereafter the Byeokcheon Corps of the Hebei Peng Family set out from the Punghwa Guest Tower. Paeng Shin led them in a desperate rush toward the coal mines.
The Hebei Peng Family is on the move.
Paddeudeuk.
Messenger pigeons took flight from the roof of the Punghwa Guest Tower. At the same time, countless other auras began to race after the Byeokcheon Corps.
A quarter-hour later the guest tower was so silent that not a single human presence could be felt. A man carefully slipped outside. Paeng Hu had remained behind in secret, now disguised not in martial robes but in the clothes of a common laborer.
According to their prior plan, Paeng Shin was leading the Byeokcheon Corps toward a different mine entirely, drawing every eye away from the true hiding place. Once outside, Paeng Hu blended among ordinary townsfolk and began the climb toward the real coal mine.
Urrrrrrrr—
Martial artists who had flooded into Tangshan for the Cheonhwangdo Map now surged toward the mines. Most followed the Byeokcheon Corps; even those of lesser skill gathered out of sheer hope.
“This is… far too many people. Something terrible could happen at this rate.”
Moyongsan also set out with the Beidou Unit, trailing the Hebei Peng Family. Once the rumor had broken, even the Peng Family could no longer delay.
With the Beidou Unit of the Moyong Family gone as well, Yanghu Hall fell into a silence like that of a deserted temple. Only three people remained seated in the same places they had occupied while the inn was still crowded moments earlier.
Mun Gu rose first. He looked at Uncheon and Jeokbalgoein, who still appeared utterly uninterested, and asked,
“The Hebei Peng Family has moved. Do you two not intend to follow?”
“Go if you want. I don’t care for crowded places.”
Jeokbalgoein answered as though it were none of his concern.
“Do as you please. And you?”
“I ought to go as well… but it looks complicated.”
“Seems you’ve no interest. I shall be going.”
Mun Gu was privately pleased they would not accompany him into the mines. Their martial strength was high enough that a fight over the Cheonhwangdo Map would become a serious burden.
Hwiik.
Mun Gu’s form vanished from Yanghu Hall without a sound. Only Uncheon and Jeokbalgoein remained.
Jeokbalgoein looked at Uncheon.
“Why aren’t you going?”
“Charging up there blindly doesn’t seem right.”
“Is that so?”
Something in Uncheon’s reply felt false.
“You have a plan?”
“I need to look into things carefully first.”
“…Anyone can say that. From where I stand, you already have a plan.”
“Is that how it looks? Yes, you’re right. I always keep a plan in my head.”
“Will you tell me?”
“Well… the only people who know where Moyongjeok is are those of the Hebei Peng Family. But there are always exceptions in this world.”
Exceptions, he says…
Jeokbalgoein sensed something odd in the answer.
“You thought my words strange just now? Then that means you’re correct.”
“…Haaah, really.”
He stared straight at Uncheon and let out a helpless, incredulous laugh.
“You’re saying you know where Moyongjeok is hiding?”
Uncheon did not answer. He merely looked at him with the corner of his mouth curling upward.
“Hahahaha!”
Jeokbalgoein laughed from the depths of his gut. He had met countless people, yet never once had anyone made him laugh like this.
“How did you find out? Ah… when you followed that Moyong fellow, was it?”
“That’s right. After he tailed Master Moyongsan and they stormed the ancestral shrine, a brief opening appeared. I slipped in then and smuggled the old man out myself.”
“……”
The boy was truly absurd. And after all that, he had faced Mun Gu and Moyongsan with perfect nonchalance.
“If they ever learn of this they’ll fall over in shock.”
“They probably will.”
“So you already learned Moyongjeok’s location from the old man.”
“Yes. I know exactly which mine he’s hiding in.”
“Then why didn’t you go catch him right away?”
“Knowing the location is one thing; moving recklessly is another. I’ve never been inside a coal mine before. I have no idea what dangers await.”
Jeokbalgoein found the reasoning sound. Knowing the place was useless if one did not enter with caution.
“But shouldn’t you move now? Someone blundering around the mines might find him.”
“They won’t find him easily. The old man told me that even if you know the entrance, the tunnels inside are a labyrinth. Without the precise route you’ll hit dead ends or keep circling the same shafts forever.”
“Still, you’re not just going to sit here and watch, are you?”
“Now that martial artists are flooding the mines, I’ll go look for him too. He said that if there’s any place inside Moyongjeok’s mine where a man could stay for a long time, it would be near an underground spring.”
“Can you find that place?”
“If I follow the directions he gave me, I should be able to.”
Jeokbalgoein looked at Uncheon. The boy was still so young, yet both his thinking and his actions were those of a seasoned adult.
“I almost wonder if you lied to me about your age.”
“I look that clever, do I?”
“……”
“I’m thinking of heading up now. What will you do?”
“Would it be all right if I came along?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No problem. Only… if we meet him I might end up fighting you.”
“Because of the Cheonhwangdo Map?”
“…You don’t need it, then?”
“If it were something I could obtain just by wanting it, of course I’d want it.”
Uncheon turned and walked toward the door. Jeokbalgoein rose and followed, watching the boy’s back.
I still can’t tell what scheme is turning inside that head of his.