The Ways of Haomun
There was nothing.
It wasn’t just the horse that had vanished.
“No people either?”
He peered inside the carriage, but there was no sign of anyone.
The wrecked interior looked as if bandits had attacked.
When he examined the ground around the carriage, sure enough, dozens of footprints led toward the mountain.
“This is…”
If he hadn’t known, he might have ignored it. But knowing and simply passing by didn’t sit right with him.
Scratching his head, he turned his horse toward the mountain.
“If I can help, I should, right?”
As someone who had learned martial arts, he intended to do whatever he could.
Midway up Mabaek Mountain.
Around a shabby hut, a dozen or so men sat gathered.
Over a bonfire in the clearing in front of the hut, a dog skewered on a spit was roasting.
The men kept glancing between the cooking dog and the hut, chatting noisily.
“He’ll come out before we finish eating the dog, right?”
“We caught a pretty one for once, so he’ll probably take his time.”
Just then, a woman’s scream erupted from inside the hut.
The men paused their conversation for a moment, then continued.
“Tsk, he shouldn’t touch her face. That’ll lower the price.”
“With the big boss’s particular tastes, that’s going to be difficult. The prettier the woman, the rougher he gets, you know?”
“Ugh, that’s a sickness, a real sickness. He can’t just keep her to himself. We have to think about handing her over to the Amun. Same goes for you lot. Don’t touch their faces, got it?”
“Come on, Second Brother, when have we ever left marks? Save that lecture for the big boss. What about us who end up with the ones whose faces are already smashed in?”
“Exactly. From the sound of her sobbing, it’s pretty clear what’s happening.”
As the men snickered among themselves, a young man came up from below.
The chatter died instantly.
The burly man squatting by the bonfire jumped to his feet and hurried over to the newcomer.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Just a passing traveler. Down there, I saw a carriage…”
Dan Yeop trailed off.
He had spotted two corpses sprawled behind the burly man.
The burly man quickly circled behind the youth, cutting off his escape.
“Tsk tsk! If you’d just kept walking, you could’ve lived a long life. But you had to stick your nose in and now you’re gonna die?”
Three of the men by the bonfire walked forward to face the youth.
Among them, a greasy-faced man grinned obscenely.
“Whoa! What kind of luck is this today? Fuck, look at that face. Better than most women. I’ll take him instead. Anyone who wants to switch, line up behind me.”
Two men near the fire scrambled to their feet.
Dan Yeop asked the greasy man, “Did you kill everyone who was in the carriage?”
“Everyone except the woman. We’ll keep her through the winter for some fun before selling her. You’ve got a pretty face too, so if you behave, I won’t kill you.”
As he spoke, the greasy man ran his sticky gaze over the youth’s face.
Dan Yeop let out a light sigh.
He was already in a foul mood. To run into this kind of filth…
Maybe Lady Jin had suffered at the hands of men like these.
The moment he thought that, his blood began to boil.
“Haa… You people really are irredeemable.”
Disgusted at the thought of even touching them, Dan Yeop drew his horizontal saber.
The greasy man drew his straight sword and sneered, “Why take the hard road when there’s an easy one? You want me to gild your asshole or some—”
Before he could finish, the horizontal saber flashed past his neck.
With a dull thud, the greasy man’s head fell to the ground.
The bandits blinked in shock.
A moment later, the men still by the bonfire leapt up and shouted.
“Big Brother! Enemy! Come out!”
In the meantime, the burly man and two others charged at the youth with their straight swords drawn.
Dan Yeop used the footwork of Suweol Sinhang to slip past them, swinging his saber in a wide arc.
Before they could even scream, the heads of all three bandits separated from their bodies.
Dan Yeop continued straight toward the bonfire.
“Aaaah! Big Brother!”
“Big Brother!”
“S-Spare me!”
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
Some called for their leader, some begged for mercy, and some screamed as they fled with their tails between their legs.
Dan Yeop moved like a ghost, circling the bonfire once.
In a single breath, half of them lost their heads while the rest were pierced through the heart and died instantly.
At that moment, the door burst open and a middle-aged man stuck his head out.
It was the man the bandits had been desperately calling for—Seoak Blood Sword Jang Gak.
Jang Gak glanced across the yard, then slowly stepped outside.
Since he wore only pants, white steam rose from his bare upper body.
Strangely, what he held in his hand was a Songmun Ancient Sword.
It was a treasured blade carried only by disciples of the Mount Hua Sect’s main mountain, but Dan Yeop, who had only recently entered the Jianghu, did not recognize it.
“Tsk! You killed all my servants.”
Yet he showed no anger.
After all, he could gather that many again in just a few days of roaming.
Right then, a woman burst out onto the porch.
She had hastily thrown on torn clothes, but her face was strikingly beautiful.
Jang Gak looked at the youth and asked, “Which sect are you from?”
Dan Yeop, consumed by killing intent, answered coldly.
“Ask the King of Hell.”
“Hoho! You’ve got quite the spirit. I was like that once too. I am Seoak Blood Sword Jang Gak. If you’ve spent any time in the Guannei Circuit, you must have heard my name at least once.”
Seoak referred to Mount Hua.
Jang Gak was a former disciple of Mount Hua’s main sect who had killed so many people that he earned the title Blood Sword.
Eventually expelled for his crimes, he had become a bandit. But because he was so skilled, even Mount Hua could not easily deal with him.
They could have suppressed him by sending a large number of disciples, but the casualties would have been too great, so they had simply left him alone.
Lately, the Green Forest had been making efforts to recruit him.
“Never heard of you.”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to try harder. You use a horizontal saber, so you’re not from the Five Great Sword Sects.”
“Are the Five Great Sword Sects that scary?”
“Hardly. If they were, I would have left the Guannei Circuit long ago. What’s your name? It’s only fair I know the name of the man I’m about to kill.”
“Ask the King of Hell that too.”
“Hah! Are you afraid I’ll find your family and sect and slaughter them all?”
“Oh, you were thinking something that cute? Fine, I’ll tell you. I’m Dan Yeop, a disciple of Haomun. Now stop talking and come at me.”
“Ha! Haomun? There are always foolish puppies who don’t know how terrifying the tiger is. From now on, any Haomun member who crosses my path dies.”
“Sure. Go kill a lot of them in the afterlife.”
Unable to endure Dan Yeop’s mockery, Jang Gak shot forward like lightning.
Shishishik—!
Clangclangclang—!
The Songmun Ancient Sword and the horizontal saber clashed in midair.
The ancient sword tried to press forward but was repeatedly repelled by the saber.
Jang Gak swung his sword three times in the blink of an eye before leaping backward.
“You bastard! Haomun? Don’t lie to me!”
Jang Gak did not believe Dan Yeop’s words.
He had swung his sword three times, yet failed to break through the saber.
If the boy were truly a Haomun disciple, he should have been subdued in a single move.
“You’re quite the coward. With that much fear, why do you go around doing such evil things?”
“You fraud! Your provocation won’t work on me!”
Despite his words, Jang Gak’s eyes were bloodshot red.
Realizing his opponent was no ordinary foe, he gathered every ounce of his inner energy.
Then, from where he stood, he thrust his sword forward.
Tzztzztzzt—!
With a bizarre sound, hazy sword shadows poured from the tip of his blade.
Twenty-four plum blossom sword shadows!
It was the Mount Hua Sect’s secret technique, the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
As the plum blossom sword shadows flew toward him, Dan Yeop drew his horizontal saber upward in a smooth arc.
The saber qi clinging to the blade split into dozens of strands and scattered.
It was the first form of the Jinbaekryu Dobeop—Sucheonchu.
When the sword shadows collided with the saber qi, the twenty-four plum blossoms exploded in midair.
Papapapapat—!
“Huk! That’s impossible!”
Jang Gak unleashed the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art once more.
This time, only twelve sword shadows formed in the air.
Dan Yeop brought his raised saber down at a diagonal angle, executing the second form of the Jinbaekryu Dobeop—Suroedun.
Rumble—!
With a faint sound of thunder, the twelve plum blossoms melted away.
Immediately after, lightning wrapped around Jang Gak’s entire body.
Crackle—!
“Kuaaaaaagh!”
Jang Gak’s piercing scream echoed across the hut.
The smell of burnt flesh spread through the area.
The woman standing on the porch—Soyo—stared at Dan Yeop with wide, round eyes.
To kill Seoak Blood Sword Jang Gak, whose evil reputation was known throughout the Guannei Circuit, so easily?
Considering that even the Five Great Sword Sects hesitated to face this demonic practitioner, it was simply unbelievable.
Finally regaining her senses, Soyo bowed deeply to the young man.
“Thank you for saving me.”
“Ah, yes.”
Dan Yeop gave a half-hearted reply and pried the Songmun Ancient Sword from Jang Gak’s hand.
It’s a well-made sword. I should practice with a real sword when I have time.
While a horizontal saber was fine, the martial arts of the Taego Sect seemed better suited to the sword.
If he put it in his travel bag after parting with the woman, no one would know.
After securing the Songmun Ancient Sword, Dan Yeop turned to the woman.
Soyo, who had come down into the yard, spoke carefully.
“This humble one is Soyo of Jau Pavilion. Since you’ve already saved me, could you possibly escort me as far as Jau Pavilion?”
“Sure.”
Dan Yeop nodded readily.
Traveling to Chang’an Castle in the middle of winter in that state would not be easy.
He helped the woman onto the horse and took the reins himself.
About half a shichen (one hour) after descending the mountain, the woman began to struggle.
Dan Yeop decided to rest for a while.
A short while later, he set her down in a suitable spot, gathered some wood, and lit a fire using fire-starting stones.
Once the warmth of the bonfire had thawed her body, Soyo asked cautiously.
“Are you truly a disciple of Haomun, Young Hero?”
“Yes. Oh, and please don’t tell anyone what happened on the mountain. You were running away from bandits and happened to meet me on the road. Understood?”
“Yes. Don’t worry. My lips are sealed tight.”
Soyo glanced at the young man’s face.
Only now did she truly notice how strikingly handsome he was.
She let out a quiet sigh in her heart.
Haa…
Of all the times to meet such a man, why did it have to be when she was being violated by bandits?
Although she was a gisaeng, she had always entertained guests with song and poetry.
But after what this man had witnessed today, that no longer mattered.
To him, she would be nothing more than a gisaeng who had been defiled.
“Young Hero.”
“Yes?”
“If one becomes a disciple of Haomun, can they learn your martial arts?”
“Yes.”
“Then I want to become a disciple of Haomun too. What do I need to do?”
“Hmm… Why?”
Dan Yeop stared directly at the woman.
No matter how much it was Haomun, he believed they should be selective about who they accepted.
We Don’t Learn Haomun’s Martial Arts?
In Dan Yeop’s eyes, Haomun was like this:
It offered little help in life, yet earned scorn from the rest of the world.
What did that mean?
Haomun was originally composed of people who held lowly occupations.
That alone made them easy targets for discrimination, but the things they did were even more shameful.
For example, the Amun’s main business was human trafficking, and the other five branches secretly sold other people’s secrets for money.
For an ordinary person, it was better not to join Haomun.
Even if one held a lowly job, there was no problem living an ordinary life.
In reality, not everyone with a lowly occupation was a member of Haomun.
Haomun members made up less than ten percent of them.
Living normally like the other ninety percent was—