The River Dragon's Challenge
"……"
A heavy silence fell at Jang Gwang's sudden words.
But Jang Gwang paid their silence no mind. He let out a crooked chuckle and slid his empty cup forward again.
"What's the matter with you all? Too good to waste wine on me? Or does sharing a table with an Unorthodox ruffian give you splinters in your mouth?"
He snickered as he went on.
"Don't be so stingy. We all make our living off the same rivers and lakes—surely we can spare a cup or two of wine for each other?"
At his sheer audacity, anger flickered across the faces of several of the later-stage prodigies.
And yet no one stepped forward.
Their opponent was the Young Fortress Master of the Janggang Water Fortress. One careless move, and the entire ship could end up at the bottom of the river.
Then, cutting through the silence, Namgung Hwi stepped forward. He fixed Jang Gwang with a level stare.
"I have no memory of inviting the Janggang Water Fortress."
"An invitation, is it? …Fair enough, no invitation was ever sent. But then."
Jang Gwang rapped his knuckles against the deck.
"Where do you think you are? This is the Yangtze. Our home. You're throwing a feast in our front yard—am I really committing some great crime by dropping by to pay my respects?"
"……"
"Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't come here to fight."
Jang Gwang raised both hands, grinning wide.
"So let's talk it out, then. When has our Water Fortress ever gone around plundering the common folk like those Green Forest bandits?"
He began counting off on his fingers.
"We dredge the waterways, we shore up collapsing dikes, and now and then we even pull drowning men out of the river. That's more than enough for us to be pulling our weight as members of the murim, wouldn't you say? Even if we do carry the label of Unorthodox."
It was true.
For all its notoriety, the Janggang Water Fortress was no gang of indiscriminate butchers and pillagers. Quite the opposite—it was famous for guiding merchants along the river more safely than any trading caravan, so long as the toll was paid without fail.
Namgung Hwi knew this as well as anyone, which was why he could not lightly draw his sword.
True, the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions clashed in the shadows—but only when their interests collided, or when some undeniable evil had been committed. Drawing a blade without cause would be nothing more than senseless slaughter.
At its heart, the murim was a place where light and shadow coexisted.
Just then, Jang Gwang's gaze drifted toward someone in the crowd.
"Oh? Now there's a familiar face."
Where his eyes had landed, Mujin stood with his arms crossed.
Jang Gwang's eyes went round.
"The Silent Extinction Sword? Well, well. What's an old man like you doing here? This is a playground for the young and green. Not that I've got any room to talk, seeing as I'm a legitimate later-stage prodigy myself."
Mujin's brow twitched. His face made his displeasure plain.
"If this is no place for me, then it's no place for you either. Same age, after all."
At those words, every head in the crowd swiveled back and forth between Mujin and Jang Gwang.
Jang Gwang looked at least ten years the elder. It was the scars, and the weathered hide of a man who had lived hard.
"Haha! Don't look at me like that. I've just been through some rough years—that's all it is. We really are the same age. But speaking of which…"
Jang Gwang's voice trailed off. His eyes narrowed, then slid to a man standing beside Mujin.
A man in black martial robes, two swords at his hip.
"Oh! The young master himself—Namgung Cheon, the man of every rumor. Word is you've taken him on as your retained swordsman, eh?"
Jang Gwang clapped his palms together with a shout, his eyes gleaming with interest. Then he strode straight toward Namgung Cheon.
The menace radiating from his scarred face and hulking frame was so overwhelming that no one dared to bar his path.
But not Namgung Hwi.
"Stand back. Come one step closer and I'll have no choice but to draw my sword."
A blue aura rose across Namgung Hwi's entire body. At that, Jang Gwang spread his hands in a calming gesture and retreated a step.
"Easy now. Didn't I tell you? I didn't come here to fight."
Having backed off a step, Jang Gwang turned to Mujin with a mischievous look.
"So tell me, Silent Extinction Sword. Is it true? Did you really lose to that young master?"
A brutally direct question. Every ear in the vicinity perked up. Everyone had been dying to know whether the famed Silent Extinction Sword had truly been defeated, or whether it was mere gossip.
Mujin gave a dry cough and answered with forced gravitas.
"I didn't lose. It would have been a close thing, at most."
"……?"
Namgung Cheon's gaze slid briefly toward Mujin.
Then Jang Gwang burst out laughing.
"Haha! So you lost, then. Lost and lost good."
Still chuckling, he turned to look at Namgung Cheon once more—and in an instant, the mirth in his eyes hardened into something serious. He swept his gaze over Namgung Cheon from head to toe, then gave a slow nod.
"Hm. Judging by your energy… yeah, you'd lose to him."
"I told you, I didn't lose!"
Mujin barked from the side, but Jang Gwang didn't so much as pretend to hear him.
"Right, right! Now that we've all made our greetings, let's have a drink!"
He raised his cup high, looking around at the assembled guests.
"……"
All that answered him was a frigid silence. The later-stage prodigies still had their hands resting on their sword hilts, glaring at Jang Gwang with cold eyes—the look of men who could not possibly tolerate the sight of an Unorthodox rogue presuming upon their company.
Jang Gwang clicked his tongue.
"Tsk tsk. Tough crowd, truly."
He scratched his head in exasperation—then suddenly his eyes lit up as they settled on Namgung Cheon.
"Hey there, young master. As you can see, everyone's bristling at me like a pack of cats. Keep this up and forget the taste of wine—I'll be getting a taste of steel first."
He put on a look of exaggerated helplessness.
"So how about you help me break this stiff atmosphere, young master?"
Namgung Cheon regarded him coolly.
The man's intentions were transparent—but Namgung Cheon didn't mind. If anything, Jang Gwang struck him as the only living soul capable of breathing some life into this dull, hypocritical banquet.
"Speak."
The moment permission left Namgung Cheon's lips, Jang Gwang roared out as if he'd been waiting for just that.
"Haha! Now that's a man! You did say speak, didn't you? Very well!"
Jang Gwang backed away to the center of the deck, swept the crowd with a hearty gaze, and bellowed.
"A true martial artist makes friends with his fists, not his words! With blades, not wine! But I can hardly fight every last later-stage prodigy gathered here, so…"
He pointed a thick finger at Namgung Cheon.
"Young master. Have a spar with me."
The banquet hall erupted into murmurs.
It wasn't merely because of Jang Gwang's notoriety.
The Changjiang Eighteen Water Strongholds. For a disciple of their supreme Fortress Master to claim the title of Young Fortress Master, he had to defeat all eighteen fortress masters by force.
In other words, the seat of Young Fortress Master was not inherited by blood—it was seized through strength.
"Even for a young master of the Namgung Clan, he has no chance of winning."
"Better to decline. Besides, there's no real reason to fight him, is there?"
Most expected Namgung Cheon to refuse. Should he accept and lose, the reputation he had built could crumble in a single moment.
But.
'If he refuses, they'll say the Yangtze River Dragon frightened him away. I have to close off every avenue before he can answer either way.'
Just as Namgung Hwi began to edge forward with that thought—
"It's all right."
Namgung Cheon stopped him and walked ahead, a faint smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"Very well."
"Cheon-ah!"
The eyes of Namgung Hwi and everyone else went wide with shock.
Jang Gwang's grin, by contrast, stretched from ear to ear.
"Generous of you. But say—mind if I set one condition?"
Namgung Cheon nodded. Jang Gwang pointed past the deck railing, at the surging river below. A lone ferryboat floated forlornly on the darkened water—the very boat Jang Gwang had arrived on.
"Let's do it on that boat. First to concede defeat—or fall into the water—loses. Clean and simple, wouldn't you say?"
The Orthodox prodigies muttered at the proposal.
"That's cowardly!"
"Dragon or no, that's shameless beyond bearing!"
A swaying deck, and familiar waters. By any measure, the conditions were overwhelmingly in Jang Gwang's favor.
And yet.
"Not a bad idea. I accept."
Namgung Cheon agreed without a flicker of hesitation. If anything, he seemed almost pleased by it.
Jang Gwang's eyes went wide. He had half expected the man to refuse the conditions or demand they be changed.
"Oho. That's a sturdy spine you've got there."
With a booming laugh, Jang Gwang vaulted neatly over the railing.
"I'll go on ahead and wait for you, then!"
Tap.
With that single leap, Jang Gwang's massive frame landed lightly atop the small boat. The vessel did not so much as tremble. A feat of lightness skill worthy of the title Yangtze River Dragon.
Now it was Namgung Cheon's turn to approach the railing. The night wind rippled the hem of his robes.
Behind him, Mujin asked, unable to keep the worry from his voice.
"I'll stake my life that bastard will pull every dirty trick in the river book. If he does, you'll be hard-pressed just to keep your footing. And besides—why else do you think they call him the Dragon? That man won't just be a fish in water, he'll be a dragon in it… There's no need to do this."
Before Mujin could even finish, Namgung Hwi seized his younger brother's shoulder.
"He's right. There's no need to strain yourself. No reason to fall for that man's bait. And solid ground and a boat's deck are two very different things."
But Namgung Cheon gently eased his brother's hand away.
"Don't worry."
There was no wavering in Namgung Cheon's eyes.
"And besides—if you can stand on it at all…"
He took a step forward and finished.
"…it makes no difference."
With those final words, Namgung Cheon flung himself into the open air. His silhouette carved through the night sky like a bird—and then,
Tap.
He touched down lightly on the ferryboat. And just as it had for Jang Gwang before him, the boat did not so much as stir beneath his feet.
At the sight, the light in Jang Gwang's eyes turned razor-sharp.
'Even more of a monster than the rumors said.'
Jang Gwang smiled and drew the heavy curved broadsword from his back.
"I do hope you can swim. This river has a rather vicious current, you see."
The Heavenly Demon of Namgung
Author | Baek Rihaeng
Publisher | Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Managing Editor | Editorial Department
Published by | Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dreambooks
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ISBN | 979-11-7306-734-1
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