Chapter 57
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Let's Have a Go? (2)
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The rumor that the Diamond Escort Agency was publicly recruiting escorts had spread across various parts of the Central Plains.
It wasn't one of the top escort agencies in the martial world or on par with the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, nor was it one of the Five Great Escort Agencies capable of dominating the region, so the news hadn't reached as far as Yunnan or Guangdong at the edges of the Central Plains. But the nearby provinces were already abuzz with excitement.
"They're recruiting escorts, huh."
An elder of the Sichuan Tang Family, Dang Ja-an, stroked his ash-gray beard that reached down to his Adam's apple.
"Perfect chance to plant someone. What do you think?"
"... "
The five Tang Family warriors who had been drinking tea with him lowered their heads and averted their gazes.
They were wisely dodging a response, anticipating the consequences of speaking rashly.
"Is there poison in the teacups or something? Why are you all just staring at your cups?"
Dang Ja-an clicked his tongue as he eyed the teacup, which gleamed with an ominous green hue like it truly contained poison.
"For men bearing the Tang name to lack such spirit."
"They're just aware of the risks, aren't they?"
Dang Yeop spoke up, fiddling with his empty teacup.
Unlike the others' cups brimming with green tea, his was bone-dry, not a drop of moisture in sight.
He was still facing discrimination as punishment for his previous blunder.
"Risks?"
"Kang Moo-jin possesses absurd strength—ripping a serpent demon in half with his innate physical power."
"How many warriors have died strutting around before our Tang poisons?"
"The problem is he's immune to poisons—'Thousand Poisons Immunity.' Even the Shadowless Soul Extinguishing Incense didn't work on him."
"...!"
The Tang Family warriors listening shook with shock, their pupils dilating wildly.
Bringing up the failed attempt to secretly poison him with the Shadowless Soul Extinguishing Incense in front of Dang Ja-an, who had ordered it, bordered on taboo.
"...You've spent a few hours with him and now you're his advocate?"
"I'm just stating facts. He broke the Yun Family's Five Elements Binding Array."
"So what if he passed some puny formation?"
"It was the formation that forced Elder Dang Geuk-san into seclusion with severe injuries."
"... "
About a year ago, during the height of the feud between the Tang and Yun Families.
Elder Dang Geuk-san of the Tang Family had tried to brute-force through the Yun Family warriors' Five Elements Binding Array and ended up gravely wounded.
Dang Yeop was subtly pointing out Dang Ja-an's dismissive attitude toward that very array.
"You've already been humiliated in front of everyone, yet you talk big."
"As they say, 'return from defeat stronger.' Loss is just a step forward. No shame in it."
Dang Yeop had become a completely different person since his crushing defeat at Kang Moo-jin's hands.
His arrogance, born of innate talent and inexperience, had vanished.
And because of that? He no longer harbored any resentment toward Kang Moo-jin.
If anything, he felt only gratitude for the man who had opened his eyes to a new perspective.
"Hah! You talk a good game. Fine then—if you're so eloquent, send someone yourself."
"To the Diamond Escort Agency?"
"Yes. It's just a mid-sized agency now, but it might soon rank among the Five Great Escort Agencies dominating the Central Plains."
Separate from his dislike for Kang Moo-jin, Elder Dang Ja-an was coldly assessing the agency's potential value.
"No harm in planting an informant early in a place that's about to shake up the Central Plains. Plant four of your people. Let's see how well they perform."
"...Understood."
Dang Yeop didn't like conspiring behind the back of the man who had enlightened him, but he nodded.
"Then I'll send my daughter."
"D-Dok Un-bi, the Poison Cloud Fly?"
The eyes of a Tang Family warrior who had been listening silently bulged wide.
Dang Hye, bearer of the moniker Poison Cloud Fly, was hailed as Sichuan's top beauty due to her stunning looks and was raised like a precious gem in the Tang Family.
"That's right."
"E-Even so, sending her seems a bit... "
"Any issue with me sending my own daughter?"
"N-No, but that lovely girl in rough escort work...? At least ask her opinion first, no?"
"She's interested in Kang Moo-jin anyway, so it'll be fine."
"...!!"
Hebei Province. Shijiazhuang.
Posters announcing the Diamond Escort Agency's public recruitment of escorts were plastered all over Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, which bordered Shanxi to the east.
"Ho, escorts, eh? Sounds fun."
"Fun? It's a job where you get stabbed if you're bored."
"Yeah. Only a madman would take that pay for escort duty. Bandit axes don't even heal right—rust makes the wounds fester."
Shijiazhuang and its surroundings were home to many unorthodox warriors and those walking the line between righteousness and evil.
This was because the province's sole major clan, the Jinju Eon Clan, trod the gray path between orthodox and unorthodox. As a result, finding orthodox warriors in Shijiazhuang was like spotting hens' teeth.
"Stuff like this is for orthodox fools. We unorthodox prey on escorts."
Unorthodox warriors, never shying from dirty work, showed far more interest in robbing escorts than becoming them. They didn't turn to banditry or overwhelming numbers with superior forces for nothing.
"Tch. Guess so?"
"Yeah. And haven't you heard? The Black Thorn Gang's planting people too. Don't get tangled up and die pointlessly—mind your own business."
The Black Thorn Gang was one of the Nine Evil Sects standing opposite the Nine Great Sects and One Gang of the orthodox factions, with its main branch in Shijiazhuang, Hebei's capital.
"Eek!? The Black Thorn Gang?"
"Yep. So let's just grab some drinks."
"Wait, hold on."
Normally, they'd have lost interest after a glance and headed for booze, but the unorthodox warriors' eyes fixed on the poster.
"It says they'll teach martial arts, separate from pay?"
"What? Like finding a hidden manual at the cliff base from some recluse?"
"...?"
"It's nonsense, that's what."
"Look here. It says they teach martial arts."
Escort agencies were fundamentally commercial enterprises. One could even call them caravans run by warriors.
In other words, they didn't teach martial arts or take disciples like clans or sects did.
To the agency head, escorts were hired hands paid for labor; to escorts, the head was the employer footing the bill.
"What lunatic escort agency teaches martial arts? Ridiculous... Wait, it's real?"
The unorthodox warriors' eyes widened in shock.
The poster truly claimed to impart martial arts—first-class techniques, no less.
"...Not a scam?"
"Feels scammy. My gut vibrates when lies are told—it smells like shit."
"That's your breath. How's a poster gonna smell?"
As the warriors bickered over the poster's authenticity—
"I think it's legit, though."
"...? What kinda bone-gnawing bullshit... Huh?!"
The unorthodox warriors, ready to curse and shut it down, gaped with bulging eyes.
"B-Black Panther?"
With bronze skin, muscles brimming with vitality as if bursting through his windbreaker robes, and a panther-like sleek appearance, he was known in the unorthodox world as the Black Panther, Beom Heuk.
"Look here, folks. Under the Diamond Escort Agency name, it lists Golden Ghost Indestructible Kang Moo-jin."
"Y-Yes."
"Golden Ghost Indestructible isn't some word-playing orthodox nerd. Fist wielders like him are real men among men. They don't speak lightly."
"...I-Is that so?"
"Yes. That's why I call men like him true studs."
Having spread his opinion to the unorthodox warriors, Black Panther Beom Heuk flashed a grin.
"If Golden Ghost Indestructible teaches martial arts that well, I'm heading over. Care to join?"
"N-No thanks. We're out."
Sweating profusely, the unorthodox warriors fled the scene.
The first-rate master Black Panther Beom Heuk was more infamous for his deranged personality than his skills.
Some even called him "the Mad One" instead of Black Panther when he wasn't around.
"Diamond Escort Agency... Sounds fun. Shall I go right now?"
Behind the Diamond Escort Agency lay a spacious makeshift training ground, leveled flat for the occasion.
This ground had been personally built by Kang Moo-jin and the escorts for the recruitment, large enough to comfortably hold over three hundred warriors.
"Hmm. Should've made it bigger."
Kang Moo-jin scratched his head, eyeing the training ground packed beyond capacity—overflowing with over five hundred people.
"Exactly! I told you, boss! We needed it wider!"
Ma Du-gwang thumped his chest in frustration.
He alone in the agency had insisted on a size for five to eight hundred.
"Shut it. I didn't expect this many either."
"How not? Sigh, really."
Ma Du-gwang thumped his chest again in exasperation.
"Our boss only knows breaking and tearing. Lacks brains for planning... "
Thwack—!
Kang Moo-jin yanked Ma Du-gwang's head back by the hair and headbutted his forehead using the momentum.
"Gahk!"
"Want me to use my head more?"
"S-Sorry, boss."
Ma Du-gwang rubbed his reddening eyes, a massive lump already forming.
They said one word repaid a thousand-nyang debt. But for him, one word always meant three extra beatings.
"Worried it'd just be riffraff, but this is good, leader."
Iron Fist Brigade's leader, Do Ryang, smiled warmly.
He was already thrilled at the thought of drilling the new recruits.
"With so many escorts joining, we should reorganize the ranks, leader."
"Maybe expand the Iron Fist Brigade too, Chief Escort."
Jo Yu and Eun Do-hyeon, Iron Fist Brigade's deputy leaders, chimed in.
"First, we need to standardize titles."
Leader, brigade head, chief escort, boss—the varied ways of addressing Kang Moo-jin were chaotic.
For the new recruits passing trials, unifying his title was essential.
Otherwise, rumors of the agency lacking structure might spread.
"That's why I reorganized your positions. Moo-jin."
Kang Moo-seon approached from behind, slinging an arm over Moo-jin's shoulder—but quickly removed it due to the height difference.
"Reorganized?"
"Yeah. From now on, you're a Hall Leader."
"You made halls?"
"Yep. Just two for now, but we'll add more."
Like other agencies, the Diamond Escort Agency now had two halls.
Considering mid-sized agencies typically had two or three, this was a bit late.
"Gold Escort Hall and Ironclad Hall. You're leader of Ironclad Hall."
"Ironclad? Standing firm and unyielding?"
"Exactly. You saved Father from near-death, us from the brink, and kept this agency standing. Nothing fits better."
No one in the Diamond Escort Agency was unaware of Kang Moo-jin's contributions.
From lowly porters at the bottom to the Escort Agency Leader at the top, all carried his great favor in their hearts.
"No need to hype it up like that."
Kang Moo-seon smirked as Moo-jin sheepishly scratched his nose.
Despite his awe-inspiring might and drive, he always seemed like a ten-year-old in moments like this.
"Gold Escort Hall will handle most standard escort duties."
"Then Ironclad Hall?"
"Ironclad will take high-risk requests normal escorts can't handle, plus secret escorts."
"Simple. I like it."
Division of labor was key for smooth operations.
Safe, easy jobs to Gold Escort Hall; tough, dangerous ones to Ironclad Hall—far more systematic.
"Ironclad gets your Redemption Squad and Iron Fist Brigade; the rest go to Gold Escort."
"Then we sort the new arrivals here into the two halls."
"Right. Count on you."
"Wait, hold up."
Moo-jin grabbed Kang Moo-seon, who was turning back to agency business.
"Who's Gold Escort Hall Leader then?"
"You'll remember. Escort Inspector Pyo Sa-gam."
"...?"
That name sparked a memory: the escort who got drunk, shat big, and fell into the latrine.
"That idiot's a Hall Leader?"