If It Hurts, Say So
Imagining what would become of you as his enemy was one thing. Walking into the Namgung Clan's dungeon, you could see it with your own two eyes — just how terrifying Sun Wukong was when he met you as a foe.
"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
The instant Baek-an-magun sensed Sun Wukong's presence beyond the iron bars, he shrieked as if seized by a fit. Before Sun Wukong could even answer, the words came tumbling out in a frantic, indiscriminate rush.
"I— I'm what the organization calls the Dosan Sect— ghk!"
Sun Wukong reached through and struck him in the throat. Baek-an-magun, who had been so desperate to speak, coughed up a spray of blood and gagged. Sun Wukong's voice dropped lower than usual.
"I told you I don't want to hear it."
"I-I'll talk. Ev-everything I know!"
"No. Don't need it."
Sun Wukong grinned. He seized Baek-an-magun's hair in a rough grip and yanked his head up, then crouched down and shoved his own face right up to the man's.
The unfocused pupils trembled in their cloudy whites. Baek-an-magun could not see — and yet his entire body shook. It was as if he could see Sun Wukong's eyes. A gaze utterly devoid of feeling, cold and desolate, and within it a depth like a bottomless abyss.
Sun Wukong looked at the writhing centipede of a man and smiled, playful as a cat with a mouse.
"Don't talk. I don't want to hear it from you."
"Why...?"
"Why? Because of the binding seal, obviously."
Baek-an-magun's words died in his throat. Because of the seal, he could not say what Sun Wukong wanted to know. The moment he spoke it, he would die.
"Tsk. Who said you could go around flapping your mouth, trying to die?"
Sun Wukong's eyes curved into crescents. Baek-an-magun, unable to endure the unending agony, had been intending to trigger the seal and kill himself.
"Suicide is a sin. It surely is."
"......"
A look of stunned horror dawned on Baek-an-magun's face. Sun Wukong's hand pressed down on his scalp.
"Right then. Shall we do a little practice today?"
Sun Wukong grinned.
Baek-an-magun's body shuddered. This was the horrific situation he had wanted to escape even if it meant killing himself. A binding seal was a brand burned into a person's mind. And if this was practice at undoing such a seal...
He's going to rummage through my brain again...
The pain he had already endured flashed through his mind like a brand of its own. Baek-an-magun trembled violently. A thick, acrid stench filled the air. Baek-an-magun — the monstrous expert who had put Muhwa on a sickbed — had wet himself.
Physical pain, he could have endured. The grinding of bone and flesh was a process every martial artist went through, no matter how wicked. But Sun Wukong was on another level entirely.
In that instant, Sun Wukong sealed his pressure points. His voice was cut off. No sound would come.
"You scream so loud it hurts my ears. So keep your mouth shut."
...He'd just said to speak up if it hurt.
Baek-an-magun's mind burned white.
Yangha Ironworks now belonged to the Namgung Clan. The Qingxia Guild martial artists who had once guarded the place were all gone. A single Namgung Clan warrior stood watch, and that was more than enough. In all of Anhui Province, there was no one reckless enough to pick a fight with a man wearing Namgung Clan robes.
Even the renowned martial artists who had once swaggered into Yangha Ironworks now conducted themselves with caution. The Namgung warrior regarded this as only natural. But even that Namgung warrior bent at the waist the moment a certain someone walked in.
"Teacher Sun? What brings you here...?"
"Don't worry about it. I came to pick up an order of my own."
"If that's the case, you should have told me beforehand. I could have brought it back to the estate for you."
Was this not the man who shared drinks with the clan lord himself? Even the elders were often startled by how casually Sun Wukong treated Namgung Jinbaek. Naturally, the Namgung Clan's attitude toward him had grown correspondingly careful.
When a warrior of the great Namgung Clan showed such deference, every gaze in the vicinity snapped toward them at once. Sun Wukong, who already drew stares wherever he went thanks to his distinctive appearance, paid it no mind.
"It's heavy. How could I ask you to carry that?"
"Haha, I've handled greatswords of a good fifteen catties. What's a little hauling compared to that?"
"I don't think so."
Sun Wukong smiled mischievously. The Namgung warrior tilted his head.
That was when Master Hyuk, recognizing Sun Wukong, came rushing over.
"You've arrived, sir! The weapon you ordered last time is complete!"
Sun Wukong nodded. Master Hyuk gestured, and several burly craftsmen moved as one. Master Hyuk smiled bitterly.
"I apologize that it took longer than expected."
"That's because I kept sticking my nose in, isn't it?"
"And, well... this is the first time we've ever refined and forged this much steel..."
The Namgung warrior, listening in, cocked his head. They were just picking up a single weapon — why were that many craftsmen swarming over?
The craftsmen came groaning under a massive crate. Five grown men, faces flushed crimson, carrying something that did not look ordinary in the slightest. They set the crate down in front of Sun Wukong. They had clearly meant to lower it gently — and yet the floor boomed with a heavy crash.
"Please take a look, Teacher Sun."
What appeared when the crate was opened was a steel staff with no particular ornamentation. Except...
That's just a solid chunk of steel, isn't it?
That was a staff? The Namgung warrior's jaw dropped. Even at a glance, the weight looked extraordinary — a dull, floor-shaking heaviness. Sun Wukong picked it up with one hand as if it were nothing.
That much, in itself, was not so strange. One might marvel at the monstrous strength, but the Namgung warrior could have lifted it too. His martial arts specialized in inner energy, but he had trained his outer strength as well. What made his mouth fall open was the sight of Sun Wukong twirling it in one hand, spinning it around and around.
Whoom! Whoom! Whoooom! Whoom!
A piercing whistle of torn air. The noise was like the atmosphere itself being ripped apart, and it sent a chill down every spine. With every swing, a violent wind made the flesh of their cheeks tremble.
He's... swinging that thing like that?
The jaws of the martial artists watching hung open.
That's a staff?
Even a glancing blow from that thing would tear flesh and shatter bone. That much was certain. Even protected by a barrier of protective qi, one would not feel safe.
What a vicious weapon.
Even the craftsmen who had forged the steel staff could not hide their shock. It had not originally been this heavy. A man of great strength could have handled the original weight well enough. But Sun Wukong had come by several times to interfere, and the result was this monstrous thing. They had hesitated more than once while making it — but they had not dared refuse.
He's a guest retainer of the Namgung Clan, and the owner of the Cloud Iron!
After swinging the staff for a good while, Sun Wukong nodded with a look of satisfaction.
"The bands at both ends — that's the Cloud Iron I gave you?"
"Ah, yes. That's correct. We melted down the sword fragments and wrapped them around both tips like bands."
"Not bad. Fine workmanship. A shame there's a bit too little of it, though."
"......"
Master Hyuk's words caught in his throat. That much Cloud Iron was enough to make any martial artist in Murim come running with bloodshot eyes. And he was calling that amount insufficient...?
Seeing the stunned expression, Sun Wukong chuckled.
"I'll bring more soon enough. When I do, let's just cover both ends completely."
That much... The craftsmen's faces went pale with shock. Sun Wukong cackled.
"That's the only way it'll be useful."
As for gathering the fragments of the Seven Star Sword... honestly, it was a pain. But he knew a shortcut.
They've already collected plenty.
He'd just take it from them.
Wuhan, Hubei Province.
Situated at the heart of the Yangtze's flow, it was the hub of water and land transport for Hubei — and, beyond that, for the entire Central Plains. Every day, great ships came upriver, unloading and loading countless cargoes. Naturally, some of the greatest merchant houses and escort agencies in the Central Plains had flourished with Wuhan as their center.
The Nanheo Escort Agency was a prime example. Having seized control of Hubei's waterways, it was the foremost escort agency in Hubei — and one of the five greatest in all the Central Plains. Befitting its reputation, it possessed a vast estate. But unlike the splendid, imposing exterior, the interior of the halls was relatively modest. No particular luxuries — only pure white porcelain set out here and there. No doubt a reflection of the agency master's temperament: a man who plucked the zither and recited poetry as he went about.
"Agency Master. The guest you mentioned from Shandong Province has arrived."
The agency master's eyes curved in a gentle smile.
"A guest from Shandong? We can hardly receive him simply. Show him to Zuijing Tower, where all of Wuhan's scenery unfolds at a glance. A fine night to drink with a guest, watching the night sky and the city lights."
The agency master greeted his guest with a generous smile. Unlike the stout, kindly agency master, the visitor had a sharp look about him — a gaunt frame, hair hanging long and lank, eyes half-lidded in languor.
"Welcome, Master Jiao."
"It's been a while. Baekga, you bastard."
There was a chill in Master Jiao's voice. The agency master quietly turned and looked up at the sky.
"Have you come because a star has vanished from the heavens?"
"A star? What the hell are you talking about?"
Master Jiao's face twisted. His body was stick-thin, but the murderous aura rolling off him was like a crashing wave. The agency master's face, however, remained perfectly at ease.
"The greatest star in the heavens has disappeared."
"Baekga, I know you read the constellations well, but that isn't what matters. The incident in Anhui Province. You've heard."
"I have. A great many of my children died."
"Our people have gone silent too. At first I thought it was the Namgung Clan's doing."
"......"
"Not that I was wrong. It was a guest retainer belonging to the Namgung Clan who did it."
The agency master listened in silence. Master Jiao frowned. It seemed the man already knew everything — there was no need to explain further.
"The bastard calls himself the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven."
"......"
"The Great Sage the King spoke of."
"......"
"The King does go on about it a bit... pathologically, even. But that man's skill is nothing to dismiss. Whether he's the real Great Sage or not."
"He will be the real one. The greatest star in the heavens has vanished — which means that star is probably on the earth right now."
"I didn't come here to listen to your astrology."
"Then what is it you wish to say, Master Jiao?"
"Just as the King instructed — if the Great Sage appears, hide yourselves — my Dosan Sect will halt all activity and watch. Baekga. What about you?"
"A difficult matter."
The agency master let out a peculiar smile. Master Jiao's face tightened.
"I still have much work left unfinished."
"You still haven't found those damned sword fragments?"
"We've found nearly all of them, save a few. The problem is that the last remaining piece is in that fellow's possession. But more than that, something else bothers me."
The agency master gazed out over Wuhan's nightscape with a strange look in his eyes.
"That's Mt. Wudang over there, isn't it."
"...Baekga. What are you thinking?"
"If the Great Sage has appeared, I too will cease my activities and watch. It won't be long until the King returns. But we ought to have a gift prepared for when he does, don't you think?"
Master Jiao let out a sigh. The agency master grinned.
"Don't worry. The work has already begun."
Master Jiao shook his head as if the man were beyond help. He waved a hand and started down from the pavilion. Then he stopped and looked back.
"...Whether it's the Seven Star Sword or the Golden Cord — no treasure means a thing if you don't live to claim it. Baekga."
"Which is why we must find them while we're still alive, no?"
At the agency master's smile, Master Jiao turned without another word and walked away. A faint shadow blurred, then vanished without a trace.
The generous smile faded from the agency master's face. His hardened gaze settled on the Buddhist mural painted across the pavilion ceiling.
Shakyamuni Buddha, radiating light. Beneath him, the armies of Heaven.
And opposite them, a golden monkey.
Right beside him, a monkey whose fur was white as frost.
The agency master smiled bitterly.
"So we are no longer on the same side."
The end of his words trembled, faintly.