#158. Black Flame Dragon Quieting the Chaos (3)
The sun rose, and new information arrived through Haomen.
“Whew……”
“What’s wrong?”
I handed over the message without a word in response to Seong Moran’s question. She still hadn’t washed away the traces of last night’s brutal battle.
“In the world……”
Her reaction wasn’t much different from mine.
One sect. Three academies. Annihilated.
That was the count of Baekdo forces that had vanished overnight. Yujangmun would have been included in that list if things had gone differently.
“What the hell are they thinking? Do these bastards really plan to go to war with the Murim Alliance?”
Considering that most of the targeted sects were mid- or small-sized ones with no ties to the Murim Alliance, their goal was clear: instill terror.
Grind.
Fraud deceives and misleads the enemy, demons overwhelm and eliminate them, and black breeds fear to make them flee. Fear of no compromise. A declaration that mercy is futile. Despair that survival is impossible. For those who had made enemies of the Black Path, all that was left was surrender or flight.
And it was working perfectly. Already, two academies had hastily shuttered their doors overnight, and two sects had packed light and fled. Terror had swallowed all of Akyang.
“Representative.”
I turned toward the voice. There stood the academy students, friends of Jang Ujae. They bore the same unwashed scars of last night’s desperate fight as our group.
“What’s going on?”
“……”
The man who seemed to be their leader slowly dropped to his knees. The others followed one by one.
“……What are you doing?”
They stared straight at me, ignoring my attempt to stop them.
“Please don’t abandon Yujangmun.”
“……”
“We know we must have seemed pathetic, always watching and waiting. That’s why we’re here on our knees, begging. Don’t abandon Ujae, that friend of ours.”
I’d thought their group was no different from the others—like Jeongdohoe or Baekdohoe, or even the Twelve Bongseong. A faction formed by the powerless for their own sake. One concerned only with self-preservation.
“We’ve all received grace from Ujae at least once. We hope he doesn’t die before we can repay it.”
“……”
“We’ll do our utmost too. Please, Representative, be his strength.”
But their eyes burned with sincerity, far beyond mere shared interests. I let out a small sigh.
“Get up.”
“Representative……”
“I was already planning to, even without your plea. I made a declaration at Mokhyeolbang last night, after all.”
“……Thank you! Thank you! We’ll never forget this grace!”
They had embraced another’s war as their own, as if it were natural. Like the hidden masters who emerged into the secular world during the previous life’s Undefeated War between righteousness and demons. They weren’t cowards obsessed with their own safety.
At that moment, Jang Ujae emerged from the main hall and approached slowly.
“Representative Jin. The sect leader calls for you.”
He was trying to act nonchalant, but I could feel the emotions ready to crumble at any second. I pretended not to notice the feelings he didn’t want seen.
“Got it.”
# Eighty-seven coffins.
That was the number stacked in the drill hall of Yujangmun. For a sect of only three hundred souls, it meant a third had perished in that brief clash. That was war. That was battle.
Dying alone in a fight was one thing. But while I fought, the people around me died like this.
It was why I’d desperately pushed for Taeulmun’s growth all this time. Hong Saryeon and the gold-silver-bronze brothers, who followed with lips pressed tight, must have felt the weight of Yujangmun’s grief.
“You’ve come.”
The sect leader’s face, seen after just one night, looked as if he’d weathered a decade of storms—haggard and worn.
Uncannily like Hong Moon-gi from my previous life.
“Are you alright?”
“……”
My usual greeting got no reply. Instead, he looked at us and Jang Ujae’s group.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that none of you were hurt last night. Something to thank heaven and earth for.”
“……”
“I have a request for you, Jin Gongja, and everyone gathered here.”
“Speak.”
The Yujangmun lord parted his parched lips heavily.
“Go your own ways from here.”
“……What do you……”
“As of today, Yujangmun will vanish from the jianghu.”
I glanced at Jang Ujae. He seemed to have known already, biting his lip until it bled to hold back tears.
“Many sects that had been preparing countermeasures have sent word they’ll depart. We’ve judged that leaving Akyang now will minimize further damage.”
The sect leader sighed deeply, shoulders slumped. Moments later, he raised his head, eyes filled with guilt as he met mine.
“We can’t put you in danger because of us, Jin Gongja.”
“I don’t mind.”
He nodded slowly.
“You know righteousness better than any Murim prodigy I’ve seen.”
“……”
“Even after Yujangmun is gone, we’ll remember the grace we received today. When Ujae has a child, I’ll teach them. And when that child has a child, they’ll pass it on too.”
For the first time, he gripped his hands with resolve, like a vow.
“……Someday, no matter how many years pass, we won’t forget. We’ll repay today’s debt.”
Everyone from Yujangmun who heard shed silent tears. Their long history, ended in one night. Unable to accept losing their home, unable to stay together.
“Where will you go?”
The lord slowly surveyed the hall.
“Each to their own homes. Those without will come with me to my wife’s family in Hubei Province.”
“It’ll be a long journey.”
“Probably.”
He seemed about to say more, lips twitching, but fell silent. I broke it.
“We’ll go with you.”
The trembling lord nodded.
“Until we’re out of Akyang? Would that be alright?”
His face flushed with shame at his own request. Our group and Jang Ujae’s were headed back to the academy anyway. As I opened my mouth to agree—
A warrior burst in, breathless and frantic.
“S-Sect leader! Big trouble!”
“……What trouble now?”
“You need to see this.”
“……?”
Starting with the lord, the division heads and our group followed the warrior to the main gate. Past the collapsed gate and gaping wall, we saw the outside—and the figures there. Curses erupted from us in unison.
“Fucking bastards……”
Warriors lined up beyond the massive hole. Dozens more auras pulsed from behind the wall. Black Path forces had completely surrounded Yujangmun.
One elder sighed at their blatant show of force.
“How can people be so vicious?”
# Not just Yujangmun’s warriors—our group couldn’t step foot outside either. When I tried to push forward in frustration, the sickle-wielding man from last night blocked me.
“If you move, not a single root of Yujangmun will remain.”
“……”
“Didn’t I warn you? Be prepared.”
“Why go this far?”
“Your petty sense of justice will spill more blood in Akyang. We’re just preventing that.”
Did Black Path dogs get smoother tongues with experience?
“What noble cause.”
“Still going out?”
“……Fine.”
I could force the gate open if I tried. But what came after was unbearable. Even in a favorable fight, Yujangmun would suffer the most. And now, openly, warriors from other Black Path sects beyond Mokhyeolbang were joining. Intent on overwhelming numbers for a swift end.
No plan to reverse this came to mind, no matter how I racked my brain.
Then, commotion erupted outside.
“Hey! Move it! I’ve got business inside!”
“No entry.”
“Listen! Fighting over Akyang’s hegemony is fine, but there are lines to respect. Do you think the Black Path can rule Akyang after blocking the Murim Alliance’s Akyang branch chief?”
A familiar voice. Moments later, Dang Hyeokjae entered with his escorts.
“Branch Chief.”
“Tch.”
Dang Hyeokjae grimaced at my face and signaled his men. They set down their packs, moving through the crowd to distribute rice balls and golden sore medicine.
“How did you know?”
I’d meant to contact him but had no means. He stared at me before speaking.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“Ease up that face first.”
“Pardon?”
“You look like a vengeful spirit.”
“What……”
I glanced at Eunho, who hesitated then nodded.
“That pissed?”
“……A bit.”
“More than me?”
“Huh?”
“Your investor’s about to die. You’ll have to unpack all the crap we’ve shipped.”
“What do you mean?”
“Know what Akyang’s Black Path prepared?”
“……A lot of them.”
“Not just local ronin—they’ve pulled in five of the Eight Evils.”
Everyone in the hall couldn’t hide their shock.
The unrivaled masters of the Black Path Murim, the Eight Evils. Their presence meant no intention of stopping midway.
“They really plan to war with the Murim Alliance?”
“Not that far. But they can handle you and clean up after.”
“……”
With this investment, they wouldn’t retreat until they seized Akyang’s hegemony.
I was dying to know.
“What the hell drives them this far?”
It defied logic. Beyond ‘risking danger’—dancing on a blade’s edge. One slip, and legs crushed, head lopped off.
“Even with their pretext, aren’t they afraid of the Alliance’s retaliation?”
Dang Hyeokjae scratched his head.
“It won’t roll that way.”
“What?”
“This expansion might stick.”
Akyang was a golden prize no giant power would yield. The Alliance or Jeomcheong wouldn’t let it slip.
“No Black Path Alliance?”
“Pardon?”
“Centered on the Four Evil Peaks, isn’t the Black Path Alliance forming? They’ll join early, raise their voice. Once it’s made, even the Alliance won’t move rashly. A gamble worth the risk.”
My head throbbed. Scattered puzzle pieces clicked into place.
“……Damn it.”
“Yeah, damn it.”
“They won’t back down.”
Not a situation for casual retreat. Seeing the Murim Alliance’s founding sects grow over five centuries, no Black Path would pass on being founders of this new alliance. Stir trouble, then hide behind it. Akyang theirs forever.
“Requested Alliance support, but dispatching warriors will take time.”
“They’ll come after Akyang falls.”
“What now?”
“……”
They’d be salivating over post-gamble riches. No stopping a winning gambler, not even parents.
“Branch Chief, mediate.”
“Ridiculous. You said they won’t retreat.”
“Exactly. Ask them for a non-lethal duel to settle it.”
“……Think they’ll accept?”
No way—they held the advantage. No reason for a duel.
“If not, make them.”
Mirror their methods.
# Mokhyeolbang and the Black Path didn’t budge till evening, encircling Yujangmun airtight—like hanging a corpse in the market to crush rebellion.
I gazed at the moon. As it hid behind dark clouds—
I unleashed Heavenly Lone Walker God Step, soaring skyward.
Ping-.
The ultra-quiet movement sacrificed speed, but enough to escape Yujangmun.
Thud.
Landing thirty zhang away, I headed straight for Mokhyeolbang. Akyang’s tense air had shut taverns early, lights out—but Mokhyeolbang blazed like day.
Lucky bastards.
Music and drunken revelry leaked from the largest hall. Two immense presences inside—likely a feast for two of the Eight Evils Dang Hyeokjae mentioned.
The other three at Heukbu Palace, then.
Hood up, I ghost-stepped onto the roof. Time passed. Snores rose, music faded.
I trailed one aura to the hall’s depths.
Confirming it entered the innermost room, I released qi to probe for shadow guards.
There they are……
As the saying goes: Baekdo die from righteousness, Heukdo from bravado. Mokhyeolbang’s lord embodied it—bravado ruling a fool’s head.
I pried a roof tile, squeezing through into the room.
The lord, stripping off booze-soaked clothes, spun like lightning, drawing his sword.
Ching-
“Who……”
But his words cut short.
Puk-.
The Black Dragon Sword in his chest stopped his heart.
“Y-You……”
I leaned close, reeking of liquor.
“Fear isn’t just yours to wield.”
His wide eyes, disbelieving even in death, as he collapsed.
“Who’s there!”
Two massive auras flashed toward me.
Boom!
I burst through the roof, airborne.
“Haha, sneaky bastard. How’d you evade our senses?”
Eye contact with Snake Evil Ak Jung-hak, swiftest in movement among the Eight Evils.
I charged both hands with Sacred Fire Demon-Exterminating Hand, unleashing Cartoon Invincible Fist.
Papapapapapapapung.
Booms, booms, booms, booms.
My flaming fists clashed with his blocks mid-air, sparks exploding everywhere.
“Urk! Sword Evil!”
Snake Evil staggered, engulfed in the flames. As Sword Evil stirred winds to douse them, I unleashed Heavenly Lone Walker God Step at full power and fled Mokhyeolbang.