#52. A First-Rate Warrior Peeking into the Darkness (5)
Moyong Sangwon, en route to the Cheongmyeong Escort Agency in Mugang, suddenly halted and glanced back, a flicker of unease brushing through his mind.
'No way...'
He shook his head. No swordsman in the world would so easily risk their life for a stranger. Especially not a young man not yet twenty, willingly playing the bait to save him—that was hard to imagine.
Moyong Sangwon threw everything he had into storming the Cheongmyeong Escort Agency. The guards at the main gate started at his wild appearance—unkempt hair, rags for clothes—but quickly recognized him as the visitor from a few days prior.
"Young Master!"
The agency was empty of cargo. Instead, escorts and warriors packed the grounds, ready to deploy into battle at any moment.
"What happened to you? Every branch in Henan Province has been searching for you."
"Jin Sowoon! Has a man named Jin Sowoon come through?"
"Who's that?"
A bad premonition hit home. Had that kid really sacrificed himself for him?
"...No, that can't be."
If one of them had to die, it should have been him. He'd already owed Jin Sowoon his life once. He couldn't let it happen twice.
"Young Master. Are you alright?"
Moyong Sangwon barely registered the branch chief's concern as he asked, "How many are gathered here?"
"All personnel from nearby branches—three hundred in total. And the Namgung family sent a hundred reinforcements."
"Namgung family?"
Only then did Moyong Sangwon turn, spotting the ranks of differently attired warriors on one side. At their fore stood Namgung San, face grim, and Namgung Seonhwa, pale as a ghost.
"San, Seonhwa."
"...Greetings, Young Master."
"Thank heavens you're safe."
"You two came as well."
Namgung San cut straight to it. "Is the Jin Sowoon you mentioned the one from Tae-eul Gate?"
"You know him?"
Namgung San and Namgung Seonhwa exchanged glances.
"What happened?"
"We were ambushed by unknown assailants on Seoho Peak."
"Did Young Master Jin stay behind alone?"
Namgung Seonhwa, usually reserved, jumped in abruptly. Namgung San started to speak but stopped at her ashen face. She seemed beyond caring about manners.
"...I hope not, but it feels like he did."
Moyong Sangwon briefly recounted their parting moments.
"That man... he'd absolutely make that choice."
"...I had hoped otherwise."
"Young Master. We should move quickly."
"Right. Let's go."
[You're the one who wants to live the most out of all of us. You survive.]
After leaving the Small Justice Squad, I kept surviving. But that didn't mean I found peace.
Hiding in remote mountains far from the jianghu, I was never at ease, not for a moment. In that isolation, with no one around, I had to face everyone from my memories.
The endless Demonic Cult foes swarming in; the Murim Alliance leaders standing idly by as crisis loomed. Comrades I'd grown close to, rolling on the ground with me, cut down helplessly by demonic blades—and the Demonic Cult dogs mocking their agonizing deaths.
In those memories, I died tens of thousands of times.
One day, a memory surfaced of Go Tae, heir to the Vajra Divine Body, blocking a sword from the Flame Demon Ghost-Eye Squad. Having relived it hundreds of times, I finally spotted the enemy's weakness—a single point I'd never noticed before. Thrusting my sword there might yield a different outcome.
I imagined infusing the Socheon Sword Technique into that memory. The Flame Demon Ghost-Eye Squad member took a vital point strike, spraying blood like a fountain as he died.
For a fleeting moment, relief washed over me.
Another day, I recalled Yaryul Jae, heir to the Yuyun Divine Art, blasting away a Heavenly Demon Black Sword Squad member. A weakness appeared there too; I envisioned swinging the Thunderbolt Sword Technique to sever his throat.
By vividly overlaying countermeasures onto those hellish daily memories, I could finally sleep without torment.
Day by day, ten days, a hundred, a thousand. I studied and practiced responses to every foe the Small Justice Squad had faced, imagining countermeasures.
I obsessed over strategies I'd never use again, just to escape the agony of those days.
"Back then, it was just a futile escape from pain."
I never dreamed those self-serving deliberations would prove useful one day.
The Flame Demon Ghost-Eye Squad corpses scattered everywhere. In the past, had I ever seen so many of them?
"Those bastards would've hauled out booze and meat for a feast, howling like mad. Crazy fucks."
Before sentiment over slaying nearly twenty could settle, a wry chuckle escaped me. I buried most of the bodies, leaving only a few. If word got out that a Tae-eul Gate disciple had handled them all, it'd invite needless suspicion.
With the work done, tension ebbed away.
"The Azure Dragon Ring isn't omnipotent, huh."
Post-battle fatigue crashed in immediately. I'd sucked up their demonic arts and innate qi, but what filled me was pure true qi. My dantian still held over half its capacity, yet overwhelming drowsiness hit.
The Azure Dragon Ring must have accumulated unavoidable exhaustion while purifying the demonic qi.
"A quick nap... just a quick one should be fine, right?"
Sleeping now felt like it'd summon the old Small Justice Squad faces. Ones I'd hated seeing—maybe glimpsing them briefly wouldn't be so bad.
"It's not you lot I miss. It's Moyong Seol."
I leaned against a rock and closed my eyes.
"Young Master Jin Sowoon!"
"Young Master Jin Sowoon!"
The mountain night was pitch black. Hundreds of torches pierced the darkness, illuminating Seoho Peak.
"This way."
Moyong Sangwon retraced his path, dispersing the men in groups of ten all around. Assailants might linger, and who knew where or how Jin Sowoon was hiding.
Namgung San, running closest, asked, "Young Master, can you tell us what happened?"
Namgung Seonhwa on the other side looked desperate to hear too.
"Ambushed on Seoho Peak—nearly died. That's when a friend named Jin Sowoon saved my life."
"...?"
"But on the way to Mugang with him, those same attackers were lying in wait."
"...Gasp!"
Namgung Seonhwa inhaled sharply without thinking.
"Sowoon's quick thinking got us away, but as you see, I was in no shape to keep going. So we split up to escape."
"Then..."
"But... I can't shake the feeling he became bait for me. It's eating at me."
No sooner had Moyong Sangwon finished than Namgung Seonhwa quickened her pace. Namgung San started to speak but clamped his mouth shut. He felt the same urgency.
"Signs of battle here."
The advance scouts had gathered. Moyong Sangwon hurried over. It was shortly after he'd split from Sowoon.
"A lot of blood..."
"Hmph."
Moyong Sangwon's brow furrowed deeply.
"Traces here too!"
"Heavy bloodstains here."
Chasing the next leads brought them exactly to the split point.
"Damn it, he really did it! He went and did it!"
Moyong Sangwon's emotion was closer to rage than regret. Why go so far for him? A life already lost once—delivering the news should've sufficed.
Namgung San, surveying the fierce battlefield, looked grave.
"Too much blood scattered around."
"If it was all from one person?"
"...They wouldn't have survived."
"Bodies... no! Traces! Find traces! Of Jin Sowoon or the attackers—anything! Search everywhere!"
"Yes, sir!"
The escorts and warriors moved with unprecedented sharpness, sensing the young Moyong heir's heavy resolve.
"Ah..."
Namgung Seonhwa collapsed, unable to bear it. Namgung San barely caught her arm.
"Pull yourself together. Nothing's confirmed yet."
"But, brother..."
"You know that guy? If he went down easy, he'd have died long ago."
"... "
"People are watching. Get up."
"...Yes."
Moyong Sangwon, overhearing, sensed something off. "What's your connection to Jin Sowoon?"
He owed the man his life—an unrepayable debt. But the Namgung siblings were acting much the same.
"Do you know about the Mareung Plateau incident?"
"I heard late—sorry. But you had a benefactor?"
"Yes. That was Young Master Jin Sowoon."
"The one who braved the Muryangbulgolmokhonjin countless times to save people...?"
"Yes."
"Heh..."
Now Moyong Sangwon understood Namgung Seonhwa's near-collapse. The hero who'd saved orthodox and unorthodox alike on Mareung Plateau was Jin Sowoon.
"To think he'd save me too..."
Self-loathing crept in. If he'd died off that cliff, Sowoon could've returned with the Hwahu inner core, becoming a legend in the jianghu.
If Sowoon really died like this, he'd have brought calamity to the martial world.
"What worth is this middle-aged life?"
Ignoring the Namgung siblings, Moyong Sangwon let tears stream freely.
And then—
"H-Here!!"
"I-Is that a person?"
"It's a person! There's someone here!"
A faint voice from the opposite woods. Moyong Sangwon, Namgung San, Namgung Seonhwa—their eyes met, and they shot forward like the wind.
"Where! Where is he!"
Moyong Sangwon shoved through escorts and warriors. There, in a small clearing, sat Jin Sowoon, blood-soaked, leaning against a rock.
"Is he alive?"
"He's okay, right?"
"Is he breathing?"
Bombarded by questions, the first escort to check nodded. "He's breathing."
Moyong Sangwon felt Sowoon's pulse—strong and steady. Checking arms, torso, legs for wounds under the blood-crusted clothes, he found none.
About then, Jin Sowoon stirred, eyes half-open from exhaustion.
"Haah... you made it?"
Moyong Sangwon barked a hollow laugh at the nonchalant response. "You fool! What the hell happened! Did you really play bait for me?"
"Ah... they had more traps set up here, figured I could use 'em."
"Haah! And then?"
"Fought a bit, and luckily, they ran off."
"Heh heh. If you survived that, you should've come straight back! Why sleep here!"
"Sorry. Just too tired."
Jin Sowoon apologized sheepishly, sorry for mobilizing all these warriors and escorts on his account.
Moyong Sangwon pulled him into a bear hug. "No! No need! You're alive—that's what matters. Truly a relief! Yes, a huge relief."
"Ugh, wh-what's this?"
Suddenly wide awake, Jin Sowoon squirmed to escape, but Moyong Sangwon wouldn't let go.