Geongonmun (2)
There were two main routes to Baoji.
One was to secure a boat in Xi’an and travel along the Wei River.
The other was to follow the main roads on foot.
The party chose the boat—simply because it was the more efficient option.
Even with lightness skills, travel on foot meant taking mountain paths depending on the terrain, and the drain was real. A boat, riding the waterway, demanded far less of them.
So Cheonhwa went to the docks in Xi’an to find passage to Baoji.
“There are no boats bound for Baoji. None planned for some time, to be precise.”
The answer was not one he had expected.
“Elder, could you tell me why there are no boats?”
“Well, it’s no great secret. Black Path scum are running wild near Baoji, so no ships will go that way.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
Cheonhwa pressed a few coins into the local’s hand in thanks for the information, then hurried back to the inn where his companions waited.
When Jeokhwa heard the news from Cheonhwa, her face grew grave.
“No boats running to Baoji… the situation is worse than I thought.”
Even with the Black Path on the rampage, boat service rarely stopped entirely. Cutting the water route would damage Baoji’s commercial interests, and even profit-driven Black Path groups should have wanted to avoid that. That the boats had stopped at all was proof of how chaotic Baoji’s martial world had become.
“It seems we need to hurry on our way.”
“What a pain…”
Yeonhwa rarely scowled.
She had been looking forward to an easy ride by boat, only for the plan to switch without warning to travel on foot.
Jeokhwa leaned in and whispered to the sour-faced Yeonhwa.
“It’s all because of those Black Path thugs running wild in Baoji.”
“…”
Yeonhwa’s eyes sharpened.
One more reason to clean up the Black Path in Baoji had just been added.
Since the entire party had mastered the Cloud-Treading Free Roaming Art, their pace was quite fast. The road to Baoji was well maintained, and the journey proved more pleasant than expected. With about half a day’s travel still remaining, night fell, so they decided to rest at an inn in a nearby village.
The inn was busier than they had anticipated. From the uniform dress of the guests, it seemed a merchant caravan or escort agency was staying there.
Thinking there might be no rooms left, Cheonhwa asked the waiter.
“Are there any rooms remaining?”
“Exactly two.”
“Two rooms, and dinner for us as well, please.”
When Cheonhwa paid from his money pouch, the waiter’s eyes went wide.
“Guest, you’ve overpaid.”
“Please think of the extra as thanks for answering so kindly.”
“Th-thank you!”
An unexpected windfall brought a smile to the waiter’s face, and he continued to guide the party with a polite and upright manner.
I only gave a little tip, but I never expected it to come back like this.
The reason Cheonhwa had tipped the waiter was that receiving the Favor Token from the Hao Clan earlier still weighed on him. To ease that sense of debt, he had decided to show kindness—however small—to ordinary people, for the Hao Clan was a sect made up of ordinary folk.
If I help ordinary people, the day will come when I help a member of the Hao Clan as well.
It was pure self-satisfaction, but seeing the waiter’s reaction, it seemed a good choice.
Cheonhwa sipped the tea the waiter brought and surveyed the interior of the inn. The earlier group of guests were eating and drinking, and something about several of them tugged at his memory.
I feel as if I’ve seen them somewhere before.
The moment that sense of familiarity struck him, his eyes met those of one of the men.
“Cheonhwa Dojang?”
At the name that came from the man whose gaze he had met, the man rose from his seat, came forward, and offered a respectful bow.
“I never thought I’d run into you here.”
“Could you be from the Cheongun Merchant Group…?”
“Yes. I am Yang Maseung, caravan head of the Cheongun Merchant Group.”
The caravan head was none other than the man Cheonhwa had rescued with Myeonghwa and Yeobhwa from the Yeonggang Mountain Stronghold.
“Have you been well?”
“As you can see, I’m in fine shape.”
The two men smiled and exchanged greetings.
It felt as if the fall of Yeonggang Mountain Stronghold had been only yesterday, yet the full spring of that season had already passed into midsummer.
Cheonhwa introduced his companions to Yang Maseung and explained to the party how he knew him. Afterward, Cheonhwa spoke with Yang Maseung alone.
“But what brings you here, Head Yang?”
“What other reason would a caravan head have for being out on the road but a trade journey? We stopped in Gansu Province and are on our way back. And where might you and your companions be headed, Cheonhwa Dojang?”
“We were on our way to Baoji on business.”
“Baoji, you say.”
At the mention of Baoji, Yang Maseung’s expression darkened sharply.
“If you’re going to Baoji, please be careful. The atmosphere in Baoji and its surroundings has grown quite unsettled of late.”
“Is that because of the Black Path?”
“So you already knew, Dojang.”
Yang Maseung continued with a grave face.
“You know that the Black Path in Baoji was wiped out by Geongonmun, leaving a vacuum, correct?”
“Yes. I also heard that outside Black Path groups moved in to fill the empty seat.”
“That was the problem. Outside Black Path groups poured in one after another to seize the vacuum left by the destroyed Heukwibang.”
Baoji was the most developed region in western Shaanxi, and the interests held by Heukwibang—formed by an alliance of several Black Path sects—were enormous. No ordinary sect could swallow them whole in a single gulp.
“But the Black Path groups that set foot in Baoji grew greedy. They tried by any means to monopolize the interests Heukwibang had left behind.”
As a result, clashes broke out among the Black Path groups, and blood and steel had not ceased in Baoji of late.
Geongonmun had tried to suppress the chaos somehow, but they had not yet recovered from the damage taken in the fight with Heukwibang. Far from stabilizing, the martial world of Baoji was steadily worsening.
“Because of this, traffic through Baoji has dried up almost completely. Even we chose to bypass Baoji and rest here instead.”
“If it’s that bad, it seems strange the authorities haven’t intervened.”
“Whether they took bribes from the Black Path scum or not, they claim that as long as no one outside the martial world has been harmed, they will not move—citing the principle of non-interference between official and martial.”
Official-Martial Non-Interference.
The unspoken agreement that officialdom and the martial world would not encroach on each other’s domains. It was said to have begun because the government’s influence could not reach every corner of the vast Central Plains, and thus people were allowed the means to protect themselves.
Ordinarily it’s a phrase used so that martial problems are settled within the martial world—yet the authorities are borrowing it now.
Whatever their true motives, it was clear the government had no intention of involving itself in this matter.
The situation is more serious than I thought.
He had had a bad feeling ever since hearing the news at the Xi’an docks, but he had not realized Baoji’s condition was this dire.
If the information Geongonmun provided was not wrong, then this all happened in a matter of mere days…
Half a day remained to Baoji. He could only hope the situation would not grow any worse.
The next day, Cheonhwa and his companions hurried their steps toward Baoji.
Even in broad daylight, few people walked the streets of the city they arrived in. A faint stench of blood hung in the air, and a heavy, gloomy atmosphere pressed down over everything.
“I’d heard the stories, but it’s worse than I expected.”
“This feels awful.”
Jeokhwa frowned at the lifeless state of Baoji, while Yeonhwa spoke up at an atmosphere that went beyond quiet into something eerie.
Meanwhile, Cheonhwa surveyed the surroundings through the Six Harmony Sensory Path. Every gaze that fell upon the party was filled with fear and wariness toward outsiders. Given that outside Black Path groups had caused this chaos, such vigilance was only natural.
When the party finally reached Geongonmun, they beheld a manor of considerable scale—truly the imposing presence of a secular sect that had long held its place in Baoji. Yet the plaque above the gate, marred by various damages, made it clear that Geongonmun was far from its normal state.
“Is anyone there?”
When Cheonhwa knocked on Geongonmun’s main gate, someone soon emerged from within. A young man of similar age to the party, he looked them over and spoke in surprise.
“Ubo—and even Yeonhwa Sajeo and Jeokhwa Sajeo—what on earth are you doing here?”
At the young man’s question, Cheonhwa smiled and offered a formal bow.
“Cheonhwa, senior disciple of the Hwa generation of the Zhongnan Sect. I have come by order of the main mountain to aid Geongonmun.”
At Cheonhwa’s answer, the young man seemed overcome with emotion and his eyes glistened with tears, but he soon wiped them away and offered proper respects to the disciples of the main mountain.
“I am Wijiun, young master of Geongonmun and secular disciple of the Hwa generation. My secular name is Wijiun; my Taoist name is Unhwa. I greet the martial artists of the main mountain who have come to support our secular branch.”
The young man was none other than a secular disciple of the Hwa generation who had trained as an entry-level disciple alongside the party.
“It’s been a long time, Unhwa Sahyeong. It seems you haven’t… been well in the meantime.”
Cheonhwa corrected himself mid-sentence as he took in Wijiun’s appearance. Not only was his complexion poor, but the exhaustion etched into his face was plain to see.
Wijiun gave a bitter smile.
“Just as you say, these past few days have been one hardship after another. Let’s continue the details inside.”
The party was guided deeper into Geongonmun by Wijiun.
Once settled in the guest hall, the four of them heard about the current state of Geongonmun and Baoji.
At present, the only First-class martial artist left unharmed in Geongonmun was Wijiun himself. The sect master and all the injured were recovering in the infirmary. Because of that, he was acting as sect master in his capacity as young master.
From Wijiun’s gloomy expression, it seemed the condition of the First-class martial artists was worse than expected.
“How much do you know about the situation in Baoji?”
“I know the rough outline. Geongonmun is paralyzed from the fight with Heukwibang, and Black Path sects have poured in to seize the empty seat and interests left by the destroyed Heukwibang, creating chaos.”
“You know almost everything. Except for one thing.”
“What is that?”
“Those Black Path scum aren’t running wild just for Heukwibang’s interests. They’re after the peerless martial art left behind by Heukwibang’s former master.”
The unexpected reason made the party look at Wijiun with startled eyes.
“Is that true?”
“If it were true, Geongonmun wouldn’t still be standing after the clash with Heukwibang.”
Wijiun shook his head with a bitter smile, denying the rumor.
“I suspect the fact that the master of Heukwibang attacked Geongonmun with some new martial art—and that we took massive damage as a result—got twisted and exaggerated.”
The distortion of the rumor was quite severe, however.
A peerless martial art that could take a beginner to First-class in a month, and to the realm of a Peak Expert in a year of training?
It was absurdly far-fetched, yet the Black Path groups seemed to treat the exaggerated rumor as genuine.
“Then the Black Path groups locked in a bloodbath in Baoji are…”
“Fighting over a secret manual of a peerless martial art that may not even exist.”
Even if the Black Path and the heretical martial world followed the logic of the strong and hungered after powerful martial arts, to cause this much chaos over a manual whose very existence was uncertain…
Cheonhwa was left speechless by the sheer absurdity of it.
Boom!
Just then, a tremendous noise came from somewhere.
Boom! Boom!
As if to prove it was no illusion, the sounds continued, growing louder. Sensing something amiss, the four of them rushed out of the guest hall and ran toward the source of the noise.
The sound was coming from the main gate, which was already cracked as if it would shatter at any moment.
Crunch! Crash!
At last the gate could take no more and shattered into pieces—and the one who had destroyed it revealed himself.