Chapter 78
Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Eunuch, You Say? (3)
"Have you heard of the Wanxian Escort Agency?"
"Wanxian Escort Agency?"
"It's the third-largest escort agency in Shanxi Province. It used to be second, but the Diamond Escort Agency pushed it down a notch."
"Sounds familiar."
He hadn't recalled it at first, but chewing it over, it rang a bell from something his eldest brother had mentioned.
'The ones who run the Black Market, right?'
The Black Market, a shadowy bazaar dealing in goods unavailable through legitimate channels, was operated by different unorthodox factions in each province.
But the Black Market in Shanxi, where Moo-jin resided, was uniquely run by the Wanxian Escort Agency—formerly an unorthodox group known as the Wanxian Hall.
"I think I've heard it's an escort agency run by unorthodox scum."
"Yes, exactly. They've laundered their image well enough to live respectable lives now, but they were infamous villains at heart. Especially their leader, the Pale-Faced Trickster Yu Heum—the Jeon-gal Family once mobilized for a full-scale subjugation against him."
"Pale-Faced Trickster Yu Heum, was it?"
A white face brimming with scheming hands.
'Quite the unique moniker for an unorthodox title.'
"Yes. He's long been renowned for his exceptional stratagems. Word is, he's sharp enough to have placed first in the provincial exams."
"But instead of entering officialdom, he chose the unorthodox path?"
"Yes. No one knows his exact reasons but him, but his top score is undisputed."
"Hmph."
Moo-jin found the man intriguingly peculiar.
A provincial top scorer could have risen to high office, yet he'd thrown it all away for a life of villainy.
'All kinds of lunatics out there.'
"Anyway, what I meant to say is that behind the Five Great Righteous Sects and Two Great Evil Factions gunning for the Diamond Escort Agency stands this Pale-Faced Trickster Yu Heum. And that black-hatted man? He's an escort from the Wanxian Agency."
"So the brain pulling the strings on those idiots is this white-handed whatever."
To sum up An Ji-so's report:
Irked by the Diamond Escort Agency's rise, Wanxian leader Yu Heum had placed the Five Great Righteous Sects and Two Great Evil Factions out front to crush it.
And the scheme kicked off with that secret escort commission from the black-hatted man.
"So that commission was the trigger. That's why they threw in extra pay to hook us."
Now the missing pieces clicked into place for Moo-jin.
There had to be a reason they'd fronted five times the usual rate for a secret escort—and promised no compensation if it failed, like bait on a hook.
"Yes. So you must refuse that secret escort, no matter what. Who knows what nefarious plot that wicked Yu Heum has cooked up."
"Hmm..."
"S-Surely you haven't already accepted it?"
An Ji-so's voice trembled with panic at Moo-jin's expression.
"G-Great hero Kang! You just took the job from those shady bastards? The kind that reeks of trouble from a mile away?!"
An Ji-so stared at Moo-jin in disbelief.
Normally, escort agencies took at least a week to decide on secret commissions—careful deliberation was basic protocol given the risks.
Yet this dangerous job, from an anonymous client no less, had been snapped up without a second thought!?
Why!?
Meeting An Ji-so's baffled gaze, Moo-jin scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Heh. They offered too much money to turn down."
"..."
An Ji-so was left utterly speechless.
'Is he insane?'
* * *
The vast Yellow River flowed between Shaanxi and Shanxi Provinces.
A single ferry boat drifted leisurely atop waves dyed orange by the sunset. It bore the plain markings of the Wanxian Escort Agency.
"Did you deliver the goods?"
A gray-bearded elder rowing the oars spoke. His eyebrows had faded to stark white, but oddly, his voice sounded more like a young woman's than an aged man's.
"Yes, we did."
The black-hatted man, sitting ramrod straight, nodded.
He'd pulled the hat low to conceal his face as much as possible—the same man who'd commissioned the secret escort at the Diamond Agency days earlier.
"No suspicions?"
"One subordinate had doubts, but the Golden Ghost Indestructible took the job the moment he heard the pay, no questions asked."
"Hmph. The rumors paint him as a righteous hero who follows principles over coin. Unexpected."
"Just the usual righteous sect exaggerations."
"Hmm."
Righteous factions' rumors were invariably bloated with hype.
Yet even accounting for exaggeration, the tales about this Kang Moo-jin seemed excessively overblown.
Valuing a poor child's single copper coin over a rich man's thousands of taels of gold.
A paragon of chivalric spirit revered by Mount Hua and Mount Zhongnan Taoists alike.
A lofty sage who scorned mere money.
"Keep a close watch, just in case. We must succeed this time to topple the Diamond Escort Agency."
"No need to worry, Agency Head."
The black-hatted man replied with confident assurance.
"No matter how formidable the Golden Ghost Indestructible, he can't escape the trap you've laid."
"Heh. True enough. It's a snare no one survives, whoever the prey."
Yu Heum didn't underestimate the Golden Ghost even if the rumors were inflated.
Even a one-in-ten chance they were true prompted him to prepare an utterly meticulous scheme.
"No matter how tough his body, the Golden Ghost won't return alive from this."
"Precisely, Agency Head. What good is a sturdy frame against superior wits?"
The black-hatted man flashed a sinister grin.
Intellect trumps force.
It was the mantra every Wanxian member swore by blindly.
"The Golden Ghost, armed only with his durable flesh, will never return. Mount Wutai will be his grave."
"Heh. I can already picture the Golden Ghost's pathetic end, crushed in our trap."
Wanxian Agency Head Yu Heum gazed at his sunset reflection on the riverbank with leisurely poise.
"The Diamond Escort Agency is ours now."
* * *
"Haa... Brother. This is a total trap. We're dead if we go."
Ma Du-gwang trailed behind Moo-jin, face ashen as dirt, grumbling nonstop.
He loved following Kang Moo-jin more than anyone, but not today.
This secret escort reeked of ambush from every angle.
"You know how my gut acts up on bad days? Starts hurting from morning? Today I was stuck in the outhouse for two whole hours! It's a sign from heaven!"
Thwack-!
Moo-jin smashed the back of Du-gwang's noisy head with his palm.
"Quiet down. Why so chatty?"
"Aren't you worried at all, Brother?!"
Kang Moo-jin snorted derisively.
"Should I worry about them or fear them? They should fear me."
He didn't care that even the Hao Clan knew nothing of their plot.
'I'll just smash them all to bits.'
No matter how the unorthodox vermin schemed, they couldn't scratch him.
"What if you get hurt?!"
"Me? You seriously think I'll get hurt?"
Ma Du-gwang shook his head gravely.
"No way! How could a monster like you... I mean, how could you get hurt? You're worrying about me!"
"...?"
"You'll be fine, but fragile little me could die! What about all the women I haven't held yet?!"
"Ah."
"I haven't even sired a rice cake toad of a kid."
Moo-jin patted the dejected Ma Du-gwang's shoulder lightly.
"Don't worry. If it's your kid, it won't be a rice cake toad—just a plain toad."
"...?"
Ma Du-gwang blinked at the bizarre consolation(?).
"Besides, you're a peak realm expert now. When will you stop cowering?"
"It's not fear—it's worry!"
"Same difference. Relax. Whatever they've plotted, it won't go as planned."
Patting Ma Du-gwang's shoulder, Kang Moo-jin halted.
They'd arrived at Mount Wutai, destination of the secret escort.
"Hmph. Quite the jagged peaks and cliffs."
Mount Wutai lay north of Taiyuan, a treacherous range of bizarre rocks and sheer drops.
Like a place where ten hikers climbing might see seven bash their skulls on rocks and die.
"Looks like we deliver inside that cave down there, Brother."
Ma Du-gwang pointed to a massive cavern at the cliff base.
Big enough for three wagons, it housed a village of some forty souls.
"People living in a cave? Odd."
"Heard they're afflicted with some disease that keeps them from sunlight."
"Right. Let's head in."
Ma Du-gwang, laden with heavy, dusty cargo on his back, and Moo-jin, crisp in his fluttering robe, approached the cave mouth.
"Heh heh. Visitors after so long. Welcome."
The gray-bearded elder at the entrance greeted them with a kindly smile.
Moo-jin returned a proper clasped-hands bow.
"We're escorts from the Diamond Escort Agency, elder. Here on commission to deliver this to someone named Man Heum."
"Ah, yes! I'm Man Heum, village chief here. Heh heh. Could you place it deeper inside? As you see, my back's too frail to lift it."
"Of course."
Moo-jin eyed the chief with a flicker of interest before entering.
"Tch. Hate going in there."
Grumbling sourly, Ma Du-gwang followed.
"Heh heh. Thanks much."
Village Chief Man Heum waved with a smile, subtly backing away.
"See that pile deep inside? Just leave it there."
Once the two escorts ventured deep, Man Heum slipped out with a venomous smirk.
And the instant he exited—
Rumble-!
The Mount Wutai cave shuddered violently. Rocks tumbled from the cliff, the cavern wall split, and earth poured down.
"...! B-Brother!"
"Heh heh heh. Farewell."
Man Heum waved mockingly at Ma Du-gwang.
* * *
Rumble rumble-!
The ground quaked like an earthquake. Chunks of ceiling rock and debris rained madly from the fracturing roof,
Boom boom boom-!
And with cannon-like blasts, the cave's interior collapsed in seconds.
"W-What the hell!"
Ma Du-gwang paled white.
The entrance sealed shut, trapping him and Kang Moo-jin in the ruined tunnel!
"T-Those crazy bastards! There are villagers inside!"
He didn't know how, but that explosion had caved in the entire inner section.
Meaning the forty-odd villagers living there were all buried alive!
"Damn it. Kids too!"
Blood trickled from Ma Du-gwang's clenched teeth in helpless rage.
"..."
Moo-jin's face hardened coldly as he surveyed the blocked passage.
He hadn't imagined these mad dogs would endanger an entire village.
'Filthy trash...'
Face icy, Moo-jin strode toward the debris.
"Where to, Brother?"
"To rescue them. The residents' area deeper in didn't fully collapse. Clear these rocks, and we can save them."
"Rescue? How the hell?!"
Du-gwang hurried after him.
"I trust and respect you more than anyone, Brother, but even you can't..."
Ma Du-gwang eyed the blockage.
Over a hundred ox-sized boulders packed tight, with earth filling every gap—no breathing holes.
"Brother, you could get hurt. That's what they want! Let me find another way. Conserve your strength..."
"Watch closely, Du-gwang."
Moo-jin rolled his shoulders, loosening up, then approached.
He clenched a fist, feet shoulder-width, knees slightly bent—one hand on hip, the other extended forward.
The first starting stance he'd assumed since returning to the mortal realm.
"...!"
Ma Du-gwang's eyes bulged.
Just the stance shifted his aura, overwhelming with sheer pressure!
'Is this... Brother's true power?'
"This is how you use a fist."
Moo-jin thrust his lightly cocked rear hand straight forward.
First Form. Flat Fist.
KABOOM-!
Over a hundred boulders shattered to powder, carving a long tunnel instantly.
One invincible punch tunneled dozens of feet!
"B-Brother... W-What technique is that?!"
Ma Du-gwang gawked in awe.
One fist pulverizing a hundred massive rocks?!
Was this humanly possible?
How profound a fist art's ultimate technique to achieve this!?
This had to be world-shaking supreme mastery!
"This? Just a plain straight punch."
"..."
Ma Du-gwang's eyes filled with betrayal.
'Sneaky bastard.'
Just say you won't tell.
Why lie and call that monstrous strike a 'plain straight punch'!?