The Man from Nine Years Ago
The flames roared wildly.
They spread without restraint through the harbor, the houses and inns, and across every corner of Hangzhou.
Geum Nak walked through the inferno with a massive harpoon resting on his shoulder and spoke up.
“Lord Eo Gwan, don’t you think this is a bit excessive? It’s not just one or two places—you’ve set fire to half the city.”
Though his words sounded like a complaint, he was grinning.
Eo Gwan answered his question while accompanied by Akgae, twenty subordinates from the Seven Evils Sect, and another twenty pirates dispatched from the Janggang Water Fortress.
“It rained until two days ago, so the fire won’t spread too violently. Besides, we need to burn the harbor if we want the Janggang Water Fortress ships to dock, don’t we?”
“Is that all?”
“People must die in the flames. That way, even if the owner of the manor changes, no one will suspect a thing. If the masters of the Danga Manor or the Danhwa Silk Shop suddenly changed overnight, wouldn’t people grow suspicious?”
“So a fire makes them assume the previous owner simply burned to death.”
“You catch on quickly. You’re not completely brainless after all. We must seize Hangzhou quietly and gradually. No one should notice anything until we’ve swallowed the entire city.”
“Puhahaha! My lord, aren’t you overcomplicating this? Just kill everyone. Kill anyone who suspects anything too.”
“Is that why Chun Ran despises you? Because you only ever spout that kind of nonsense?”
Geum Nak turned to look at Chun Ran.
She merely nodded without a word.
The gesture was heavy with utter disgust.
Geum Nak shrugged.
“Can’t change how I was born. By the way, my lord—was what you said true? That the Cheonsimcho might be at the Danga Manor?”
“They say someone is hauling dirt and cutting down trees to build something exactly the size of a small warehouse.”
“What does a warehouse have to do with dirt?”
“They’re trying to cultivate the herb.”
“Oho?”
Geum Nak shook his head as if he couldn’t understand.
If it were him, he would have simply devoured the Cheonsimcho that granted sixty years of inner force on the spot.
Eo Gwan, who had been smiling and chatting cheerfully with Geum Nak, changed his expression the moment the Danga Manor came into view.
Geum Nak received the sound transmission and let out a soft chuckle.
Geum Nak nodded.
The harpoon in his grip caught the moonlight and revealed its chilling form.
The exotic weapon Eosalbu.
A chain was attached so the harpoon could return to his hand no matter how far he threw it.
Geum Nak toyed with the weapon and asked, “So this is the Danga Manor? The location’s better than I expected. Nice neighborhood too.”
Having pushed through the acrid smoke, Geum Nak continued as he gazed at the tranquil air drifting around the Danga Manor.
“Looks like they deliberately spared this area from the fires.”
“Didn’t I say we would use it as our headquarters?”
Eo Gwan signaled Akgae with his eyes to open the gate.
Samdeok, one of Akgae’s subordinates, stepped forward.
He was a former safecracker who had gained some notoriety before being chased out by the authorities and joining the Seven Evils Sect.
Samdeok hurled a transparent cord fitted with a large needle over the main gate of the Danga Manor.
It was meant to hook the latch and lift it free.
Clack.
In the dark of night, the soft sound of the latch releasing echoed.
That was when it happened.
“Huh?”
Samdeok’s body, still gripping the cord, floated into the air.
His head slammed into the roof tiles above the gate.
Thud—!
Samdeok’s eyes rolled back, foam bubbled from his mouth, and he fainted on the spot.
Akgae and the Seven Evils Sect members staggered back in shock.
The main gate of the Danga Manor slowly creaked open.
Creeeeak.
When two figures became visible in the open doorway, Akgae swallowed hard.
Among the two standing with swords resting on their shoulders, the one with the exceptionally pale face.
It was the servant from the Danga Manor who had been hauling dirt.
Why is that bastard holding a sword…? No… more importantly, how can he look so calm after seeing this many of us?
The servant was smiling.
As if they were utterly beneath him.
The servant spoke.
“Too many for common thieves. About fifty, I’d say. If I want to clean this up quickly and get back to sleep, I’ll have to move fast.”
Bang!
Yu Sucheon’s figure shot forward in a blur. Akgae nearly screamed.
Fuck! I can’t even see him properly!
By the time that thought formed, Yu Sucheon’s sword had already sliced across Akgae’s nose bridge, drawing blood.
Had he been from Hangzhou, he would have known that Yu Sucheon was once the city’s greatest expert.
The greatest expert of Hangzhou, now a mere servant, spun once and thrust his blade.
Slaaash!
Akgae watched in blank disbelief as his own severed arm flew through the air.
And when his head was cut clean off and his gaze fell to the ground, he finally realized something had gone terribly wrong.
What kind of martial arts does a servant…
That was his final thought.
“Akgwan, take the left side.”
Jeon Akgwan stepped across the blood Akgae had sprayed and unleashed his footwork.
Yu Sucheon mercilessly carved through the Seven Evils Sect members clustered on the right.
“Kyaaaack!”
“Keurgh!”
“You bastards! Shut up and die quietly! Do you have any idea how terrifying it is if we wake Dan Hyunwoo?”
Tsk! Yu Sucheon clicked his tongue, stepped on a corpse still spurting fishy blood, and unleashed the Dragon-Treading Seventy-One Swords.
Each time his blade moved, the stench of blood thickened.
The once clean and peaceful air became drenched in gore.
Not a single member of the Seven Evils Sect witnessed the full arc of Yu Sucheon’s blade as it cut through bone and flesh.
Even though they wrapped themselves in killing intent and fought desperately to survive.
Even though they tried to block his sword while staring death in the face.
They collapsed along a gruesome path littered with spilled organs, eyes wide with resentment.
“The small fry are all cleaned up. You’re next!”
Yu Sucheon’s body bent like a drawn bow, using the recoil to hurl his blade at the large man.
Claaaaang—!
A sharp metallic ring echoed, and Yu Sucheon’s smile vanished.
The man had casually blocked the strike and was now grinning.
Their eyes met for a brief instant.
This one’s no pushover.
A true expert. I never heard there was someone like this at the Danga Manor.
Sparks flew from the sword and harpoon locked between Yu Sucheon and Geum Nak.
They lit up the darkness like lightning.
Geum Nak slowly revealed a savage, beast-like smile.
“Looks like framing the Seven Evils Sect for the fires in Hangzhou is off the table. You killed them all. However…”
Geum Nak’s smile froze.
“Why don’t you show me your real skill? Probing each other is enough with this.”
“You first.”
“You’ll regret it.”
The previously light atmosphere around Geum Nak shifted in an instant.
Dark inner energy like shadows coiled around his body.
Yu Sucheon’s eyes narrowed.
Shadow Cloud Energy?
A cultivation method that accumulated turbid, dark inner force in accordance with the character for “shadow.”
It wasn’t pure, but if one’s constitution matched, it produced a fierce and powerful energy.
Yu Sucheon recalled the few murim experts he knew who cultivated Shadow Cloud Energy.
It was an unpleasant, sticky, dark power he preferred not to remember.
Stronger than expected. A rare exotic weapon—the harpoon. This could be the worst-case scenario.
Once embedded in flesh, the harpoon’s tip would tear the insides apart; pulling it free usually required destroying the body first.
It was a weapon more vicious than any spear, one that could deliver death in a single strike.
And there was one more problem.
The old man and woman hiding in the darkness. They’re experts too.
They hadn’t intervened yet, but the moment they sensed any disadvantage, they would pounce.
Yu Sucheon flicked his gaze toward Jeon Akgwan, hoping for support.
He spotted the man who had already finished butchering the Seven Evils Sect and was now peeking out from behind the main gate with only his eyes visible.
That son of a bitch… You’re dead after this.
Hiding there with an expression that practically screamed ‘Good luck!’
Yu Sucheon remembered all too well how exceptionally fast the bastard was at running away.
Clang!
The sound of the harpoon being yanked free rang out.
The irritating metallic noise preceded the weapon flying straight at Yu Sucheon’s head.
Yu Sucheon leaned his upper body back and struck the harpoon aside.
Clang!
With an elegant motion, he retrieved the harpoon’s momentum and sent his sword streaking toward Geum Nak.
But Geum Nak slapped the flat of the blade away with his left hand.
The brute force of the palm strike was tremendous, yet Yu Sucheon used the rebound to spin once and slash at Geum Nak’s waist.
Tsk.
Geum Nak’s face twisted in annoyance.
This Yu Sucheon bastard clearly had experience fighting harpoons and understood Shadow Cloud Energy well.
The blade was already biting into his waist.
Whirr—!
At that moment, Eo Gwan tilted his weapon and sent the fish-dragon rope coiling around Yu Sucheon’s sword.
“Keuk!”
Dragged by the old man’s powerful pull, Yu Sucheon’s body slid across the ground, leaving a long furrow.
At the end of that path, Chun Ran waited with her twin blades drawn.
The fish-dragon rope shook Yu Sucheon’s sword violently, trying to wrench it from his grasp.
Thud.
Yu Sucheon released his sword at once.
But in that instant, Geum Nak—who had closed in from behind—hurled his harpoon.
It was already right before his eyes.
Thwack!
Yu Sucheon struck the side of the harpoon with his fist.
Geum Nak spun the chain once.
The rebounding harpoon rotated and shot upward from below, aiming for Yu Sucheon’s chin.
At the same time, the fish-dragon rope flew in from behind.
Geum Nak spoke.
“Doesn’t look like there’ll be time for last words.”
“Like I’d leave any for a bastard like you, fucker.”
Even as he cursed, Yu Sucheon knew the truth.
There was no way out.
Struggling, flailing—none of it mattered. All he could do was watch the weapons flying toward him to claim his life.
He had wanted to beat Jeon Akgwan senseless before dying.
It was while having that absurd final thought that it happened.
Clang.
Swish—!
Yu Sucheon’s eyes trembled.
The harpoon bounced away, and the fish-dragon rope snapped with a sharp metallic whine before flying off.
And the only person Yu Sucheon knew who could display such godlike skill against two high-level experts was one man.
Goddammit… I really didn’t want to owe this guy. Dan Hyunwoo!
Even as he thought that, the sight of Dan Hyunwoo’s ferocious back radiating killing intent sent a shiver through him.
Standing before the rolling harpoon, Dan Hyunwoo turned his head and spoke.
“I was a little late. Had to put out the fire at the harbor.”
“Ahem! Well… I would have handled it myself even without your help.”
“We’ll go with that. Yuhwa and I will clean up here. You take Jeon Akgwan and go suppress the fires breaking out in the rest of Hangzhou.”
“They say alcohol and pork are good after inhaling smoke…”
“I’ll prepare some. Assuming you make it back alive.”
Dan Hyunwoo smiled.
Yu Sucheon would return safely, but Jeon Akgwan most certainly would not.
Yu Sucheon grabbed Jeon Akgwan by the hair and dragged him away.
While being smacked on the back of the head.
Hwa Yuhwa stepped up beside him.
These bastards…
Eo Gwan, Geum Nak, and Chun Ran frowned as they stared at Dan Hyunwoo and Hwa Yuhwa.
They could sense no inner energy from either of them.
Yet cold sweat was already pouring down their backs.
I couldn’t even see him deflect the fish-dragon rope and the Eosalbu just now.
Eo Gwan tilted his fish-dragon spear back, preparing to attack.
It did nothing to calm his heart, and he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking.
Dan Hyunwoo asked calmly, “Janggang Water Sect, correct? What business do you have in Hangzhou?”
“How can you be so certain we are from the Janggang Water Sect?”
“I’ve seen plenty of you before, so I know well. I’ve killed so many of you I grew sick of it. About nine years ago, was it?”
“Nine years ago?!”
Eo Gwan’s pupils shook violently.
There had been such an event.
Nine years ago.
The main headquarters of the Janggang Water Sect, its experts, and its branches had been brutally slaughtered and destroyed.
All of it had been the work of a single man.
A single man!
The experts had all died at that one man’s hands without even confirming his identity. The incident had driven the Janggang Water Sect to the brink of ruin.
After countless investigations, when they finally learned the man was connected to the imperial family, the Janggang Water Sect had already been reduced to ashes.
Even the previous fortress leader, praised as the strongest of his generation, had died in that catastrophe.
But.
That bastard is this man?!
Thud—!
It felt as if a club had struck his heart.
Cold sweat pooled and streamed down his cheeks to his chin.
They had barely managed to rebuild, yet the scars from that time still haunted the Janggang Water Sect.
“You bastard!”
Losing all reason, Eo Gwan launched his fish-dragon rope.
Loaded with every ounce of his power, the rope shot toward Dan Hyunwoo with terrifying speed.
The single thought that moved him, even fear forgotten:
If he did not kill this man here, the Janggang Water Sect would once again be annihilated.
Eo Gwan gritted his teeth.
Whoooosh—!
Weaker than the previous fortress leader, less skilled than the experts who had died nine years ago—yet the fish-dragon rope still moved along Eo Gwan’s wrist and coiled around Dan Hyunwoo’s body.
Eo Gwan laughed like a madman.
The bastard couldn’t react!
He had won.
He had avenged them and secured the future of the Janggang Water Sect.
Or so he believed.
When the transparent line, sharper than any blade, danced on the wind and prepared to tear into Dan Hyunwoo’s flesh, Eo Gwan even let out a crazed chuckle.
However.
Crunch.
“What…”
The fish-dragon rope scattered in the air.
The pieces, sliced into fragments, fluttered before Eo Gwan’s eyes on the breeze before falling at his feet.
Having witnessed the impossible, Eo Gwan’s face crumpled into a bitter, self-mocking smile.
“So this is the martial art that drove the Janggang Water Sect to the brink of destruction nine years ago. And… I was already…”
Whoosh—!
Belatedly, the sword wind swept across Eo Gwan’s body.
Spluuurt!
In an instant, Eo Gwan’s body split in two, spraying dark crimson blood.
Darkness descended.
Just like the previous fortress leader who had died, and all the others from the Janggang Water Sect who had perished nine years ago.