Chasing the Crow (1)
Bi Ryudam, the One Strike One Flash, Lord of Quick Sword Hall and one of Sapa's Ten Great Experts.
After the disappearance of the Demon Sword Ghost Lord Cheon Baeksang, he had boasted the mightiest quick sword in all of Sapa. Yet his end was a pathetic one.
Kuuuung!
In the end, Bi Ryudam toppled over right there on the spot, dead.
Even in his dying moment, his face was filled with shock, mingled with bewilderment at having glimpsed the heaven beyond heaven—the Cheonoecheon.
He had witnessed a mad genius surpassing him in the very field where he believed himself supreme. At least it was a death without regrets.
“Ah, aah!”
“Lord!”
“How could this…!”
The moment Bi Ryudam perished, the surviving elders of Elder Hall wailed in despair.
They had anticipated a grueling battle, but never such a one-sided slaughter.
“As expected of our sect leader.”
“Warriors of Quick Sword Hall! Did you see that?”
“This is the power of our Demon Sword Young Master, Sect Leader Hyeon Yucheon!”
In stark contrast, the Black Wolf Three Swords roared in triumph, reveling in their joy.
With Hyeon Yucheon suddenly appearing to snap the necks of Sapa's great experts one by one, how could their hearts not sing with satisfaction?
And it didn't end there.
“Warriors of Quick Sword Hall! If you truly follow our Demon Sword Sect… you can shatter the martial world alongside a new Sapa sovereign!”
Captain Dohyeonbo of the Flash Light Demon Sword Squad was flushed with elation, his face beaming.
His subordinates needed no further encouragement.
—The Demon Sword Sect's second golden age has finally dawned!
Having annexed Quick Sword Hall after Great Dark Valley and Blood Dragon Room, it was as good as conquering Sapa's Five Great Sects.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say these five sects dominated old Sapa. They now controlled half.
“Black Wolf Three Swords! Flash Light Demon Sword Captain!”
The man who had felled Bi Ryudam, Hyeon Yucheon, called to his subordinates without a trace of joy.
“Yes!”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
Sensing his gravity, they dropped to one knee, heads bowed.
“Send the remaining Elder Hall fossils on their way—without suffering.”
Hyeon Yucheon was ice-cold.
He knew the agony of sect annihilation better than anyone, having endured it himself. But for a greater goal, there was no choice.
“Understood!”
While his men dispatched the remnants of Elder Hall, Hyeon Yucheon turned to Ok Jangcheon, the Latent Dragon Quick Sword.
“New Lord of Quick Sword Hall, care to make a pact with me?”
Back at the Black Heaven Gathering, they had been mere green late-generation talents. Now, fate had thrust them to Sapa's forefront.
“What sort of pact, sir?”
Gulp!
Overwhelmed by Hyeon Yucheon's unyielding presence, Ok Jangcheon swallowed hard.
“Never betray the Demon Sword Sect. If you harbor grudges, challenge me openly. Abide by that, and Quick Sword Hall preserves its history and traditions.”
A radical declaration.
Better a fair fight than a backstab—pure Sapa ethos.
“No grievances here. Quick Sword Hall will support the Demon Sword Sect and Young Master Hyeon Yucheon more fiercely than any other.”
Ok Jangcheon was no ordinary man. His eyes gleamed with sharp wit as he met the gaze.
True heroes are born in chaos.
Amid unprecedented turmoil, the young and brilliant Ok Jangcheon had risen as lord. A pivotal turning point for Quick Sword Hall—and Sapa.
“Good. Trust and follow me. Let's smash the 'true martial world' they prattle about.”
Thus, with Demon Sword Sect Leader and Quick Sword Hall Lord aligned, all conflict dissolved.
Having crushed Quick Sword Hall utterly, Hyeon Yucheon and his entourage departed the territory, heading home.
Overcoming the invasion crisis, they celebrated awhile, shedding their fatigue.
“Truly, thank you, sister.”
Hyeon Yucheon expressed his gratitude first to Jeong Se-in, owner of Haeha Guest House, the moment reconstruction began.
Without her, the Demon Sword Sect would have faced dire peril.
“No need. You and I aren't strangers—the Demon Sword Sect is like my natal home, replacing the Mangeum Clan. How could I treat it as an outsider?”
Ooooh!
Her words drew cheers from the Demon Sword Sect warriors, who whooped in delight.
Her subtext—that she and Hyeon Yucheon were one—sparked their mischievous glee.
“Sapa logic demands we repay favors received. Brother Eum!”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
Addressing Eum Ji-myeong formally, Hyeon Yucheon prompted a polite bow and cupped-fist salute.
“Station some of our men at Haeha Guest House henceforth. Ensure no raids or disturbances.”
Stunned by the bold offer, Jeong Se-in waved it off frantically.
“Young Master Hyeon, that's unnecessary.”
“No. By now, they've likely caught on… the Beggars' Sect.”
Mention of the Beggars' Sect sobered the mood instantly.
The orthodox world's premier intelligence network could pierce the link between Demon Sword Sect and Haeha Guest House.
“Sect Leader, what's your plan for the Beggars' Sect?”
Cheonu, eldest of the Black Wolf Three Swords, inquired.
With Quick Sword Hall settled, vengeance against the Beggars' Sect burned in their minds.
They had incited Quick Sword Hall's folly, meddling in Sapa affairs as orthodox sects—a lesson was due.
“I'd love to storm their headquarters for a frontal clash.”
Hyeon Yucheon replied calmly.
“But their forces number in the thousands, backed by the Murim Alliance.”
He spoke true.
Even combining Great Dark Valley, Blood Dragon Room, and Quick Sword Hall couldn't match the Beggars' Sect's horde.
And beyond them loomed the Murim Alliance.
“Regrettably, you're right, Sect Leader. The Beggars' Sect has the Murim Alliance's Hebei branch—Hebei Pang Family and Jinju Yeon Clan—at their back.”
Dohyeonbo, the Flying Spirit Sword Guest leading the Flash Light Demon Sword Squad, recalled grimly.
The Murim Alliance united Nine Great Sects and Great Clans with all Central Plains orthodox warriors—its branches alone were formidable.
Hebei branch featured the Beggars' Sect, Hebei Pang Family, and Jinju Yeon Clan.
“Must we let them off forever? No. How to topple a giant? The game of janggi proves it.”
Hyeon Yucheon smiled.
As he said, janggi victory came from capturing the enemy king, regardless of remaining pawns and pieces.
His point was singular.
“You don't mean… a one-on-one duel with their Dragon Head Elder, Hong In-gyeol?”
Cheonjwa, youngest of the Black Wolf Three Swords, leaped in shock.
The Dragon Elder Hong In-gyeol was one of the orthodox world's mightiest five—the Cheon Ha Ojon—a super peak expert famed for bottomless inner power.
“Yes. But there's a catch.”
Many grasped it at once.
Finding the Dragon Elder Hong In-gyeol's whereabouts.
Sect leaders typically stayed put, but this eccentric wanderer was different.
The Dragon Elder was renowned as a wind-and-cloud child, drifting the world without fixed abode.
Wind-guided, cloud-followed—aimless wandering.
'Moreover, he's gone completely silent lately, skipping official events.'
Striking the Beggars' Sect Dragon Head would ignite vengeance, but without his location, it was frustrating.
Just then—
“There are folks who might know the Beggars' Sect Dragon Head's position.”
Jeong Se-in shot her hand up eagerly.
“Really?”
“Is that true?”
As skeptics eyed the non-martial Jeong Se-in,
“Could it be…”
Hyeon Yucheon and Elder Jeong Inheon trembled, intuition dawning.
“Orthodox has the Beggars' Sect; Sapa has Haomen. Surely their lord knows where the Dragon Elder lurks?”
Hyeon Yucheon nodded in agreement.
Indeed, Haomen was the Beggars' Sect's sole counterpart.
As beggars abounded, so did thieves, courtesans, and lowlifes.
While Beggars' Sect swelled with beggars, Haomen recruited dregs for vast intelligence.
“But that's tricky too. The Haomen Lord is as enigmatic as the Dragon Elder.”
Elder Plum Death Gentleman Jeong Inheon voiced concern.
Haomen, one of Sapa's Five Great Sects, was massive; its lord, a Ten Great Expert.
Yet Faceless Black Crow So Jaun shunned public view unless intimate.
Hence the moniker: faceless black crow.
“Even I, grizzled in Sapa, have never laid eyes on the Haomen Lord.”
Jeong Inheon scratched his head, troubled.
Even Sapa veterans often knew nothing of the lord's true form.
Some called an ancient crone; others, a peerless beauty.
“Ah, right! Sect Leader, you inherited the previous lord's memories and experiences, didn't you? Anything ring a bell?”
At Eum Ji-myeong's question, Hyeon Yucheon pondered deeply.
Concentrating—
“Master once met the Haomen Lord at Manrak Palace. But… not the current Faceless Black Crow—it was the previous one.”
True enough.
Demon Sword Ghost Lord Cheon Baeksang had met one, but Haomen had changed lords in the interim.
“Hold on—Manrak Palace?”
Jeong Se-in cried out, eyes wide.
Manrak Palace: Hebei's premier pleasure district, a nonstop hub of worldly delights.
She seemed to have caught a lead.
“Sister Hye Ryeong, wife of Hebei Castle Lord, once offhandedly told me: if ever curious, seek Manrak Palace. It must be the Haomen Lord's base.”
Convinced, Demon Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon nodded.
“Then we snag the Haomen Lord first—whose lair is known.”
As a Sapa Five Great Sect, cooperation would patch Demon Sword Sect's intelligence blind spot.
Secure Haomen, then strike Beggars' Sect Dragon Head, Dragon Elder Hong In-gyeol!
The plan was set.