The Magistrate's Peril
Dan Hyunwoo's gaze drifted toward a particular direction.
He stared intently at that spot before speaking.
"Sucheon, take Akgwan with you and head to the county office."
"But it's time to sleep, isn't it?"
Yu Sucheon, who had just finished a grueling day of work and was heading to his room to rest, answered with a sullen expression.
On top of that, he was being told to go to the county office where that irritating magistrate lived.
Dan Hyunwoo spoke again.
"Right now."
"What exactly am I supposed to do there? Even if I go, I should at least know the situation first."
"The air feels off."
"What? The air?"
Yu Sucheon looked at Dan Hyunwoo with an expression that clearly said, 'What kind of crazy person is this?' while Dan Hyunwoo maintained a calm face that seemed to reply, 'Just go already. What are you standing around for?'
"Haa... So I just need to go now?"
Yu Sucheon let out a deep sigh and grabbed his sword.
As a servant, he had no choice but to obey when told.
Taking Jeon Akgwan with him, Yu Sucheon left the Dan Manor.
He was dead tired, yet here he was doing who-knows-what in the middle of the night.
"This time, I really should just finish off that magistrate bastard. Maybe bury him secretly in the back mountain."
He was grumbling like that when—
Thwack!
A teacup flew from beyond the Dan Manor and struck the back of Yu Sucheon's head.
"Aigoo! Damn it. I won't finish him off. I said I won't!"
* * *
Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan arrived at the front gate of the county office using their lightness skills and wore expressions of utter disgust.
'Dan Hyunwoo, that damned bastard. How the hell did he know something was happening here?'
The county office's front gate lay shattered into pieces. The constables and runners stood frozen in place.
And blood—dark and red—had been splattered across the ground.
This definitely felt like trouble.
If it weren't for Dan Hyunwoo's orders, they would have turned around without a second glance.
Yu Sucheon stepped into the county office.
"What happened here? Why is everyone standing around like that? Tell me."
"M-Master Yu Sucheon, the great hero! What brings you here?"
"That guy— I mean, he told me to come check things out."
"Ah! So that person sent you again this time..."
No, he said 'he,' not 'that person.'
This guy must have been an assassin too.
Brushing off the broken teacup shards from the back of his head, Yu Sucheon continued.
"Where did that unlucky magi— I mean, where did the magistrate go?"
"Well, you see..."
Constable Gu Hyeonwi explained what had happened earlier.
How they had been powerless to do anything, and how the culprits had worn black clothes with their faces covered, making it impossible to identify them.
'They froze people just with their killing intent? They're stronger than I thought.'
Yu Sucheon clicked his tongue.
The opponent was probably on par with him, or perhaps a step above.
Should he just tell Dan Hyunwoo they couldn't find the magistrate? The temptation was strong...
No, that wouldn't work. If he did that, then...
"Ah! Damn it."
Yu Sucheon began searching the ground for traces.
According to Gu Hyeonwi, quite a few people had come. Not all of them could be experts.
There was a high chance that one or two had left some kind of trail.
'As expected, there are traces... No... perhaps...'
For some reason, the traces were unusually clear.
It was as if they were inviting pursuit, deliberately showing the way they had gone.
The confidence of someone who believed no one in Hangzhou was stronger than them.
Or perhaps it was meant to lure someone in.
Yu Sucheon spoke to Jeon Akgwan.
"Don't even think about running this time. If you do, you'll really die by my hand."
* * *
The world, which had gone dark, began to come back into blurry focus.
Song Wolun realized his body was bound.
And that there were eyes watching him, filled with rage.
"Y-You're Cho Hoseon, the second son of the Choryang Trading Company!"
"Kekeke, so you recognize me? The magistrate who slaughtered my parents and siblings."
"Those people committed crimes worthy of death. And so have you! Didn't you trap other trading companies into ruin and sell their daughters into brothels? Do you have any idea how many people shed tears of blood because of you?"
"Thanks to that, I lived well. Until you showed up, that is. You ruined everything. You killed them all and took everything away. Do you know how long I've been waiting for the day I could kill you? KHAHAHAHA!"
Cho Hoseon's mad laughter echoed loudly.
The laughter of a vengeful demon who had burned everything for revenge continued.
He was half-mad.
Then, suddenly, he composed himself and let out a dry chuckle.
"Kekeke. I want to kill you right now, but there's something I need to ask, so your life gets extended a little. The Six-Horse Golden Plaque. The Six Sword Palace's monsters died there, and it was done by a female martial artist. Tell me who she is."
"A female martial artist?"
It was probably referring to Moyong Sehui.
But she hadn't killed the Six Sword Palace's monsters.
Someone had helped her.
"I don't know."
"I figured you wouldn't talk easily. That's why I prepared this."
At Cho Hoseon's gesture, one of the men standing behind him stepped forward.
A man missing one eye, wearing leather gloves on his hands.
"He's a torturer I went through great trouble to obtain. They say no one lasts even half an hour, and he'll make anyone spill every secret. I wonder how long you'll hold out."
"I really don't know."
It was the truth.
He genuinely had no idea who it was.
But the torturer had already placed what looked like large needles and a sharply honed knife on the table.
He spoke.
"After half an hour... you'll regret not speaking sooner."
The one-eyed man picked up the knife and the needles.
Upon closer inspection, they weren't needles but slightly curved skewers.
What were those for?
Song Wolun's eyes trembled slightly.
And soon, he screamed.
* * *
"Master, what are you doing?"
Hwa Yuhwa approached quietly and asked, finding it strange that Dan Hyunwoo was staring at something.
But she knew that expression well.
She had seen it often during their time in the Mumyeongdae.
Dan Hyunwoo spoke.
"The air that was rippling has begun to move quickly."
* * *
Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan stood in a secluded area on the outskirts.
Before them was a small manor.
It had tall walls and an odd place where the earth's veins seemed strangely disturbed.
'What is this place? Was there somewhere like this in Hangzhou?'
If the earth's veins were disturbed, Hangzhou wouldn't have developed this far.
Yu Sucheon suspected a formation.
It seemed plausible, so he was cautious even about taking a single step.
While carefully examining their surroundings, they finally reached the front of the manor.
"Aaaaargh!"
A chilling scream came from inside.
Jeon Akgwan looked at Yu Sucheon with wide eyes.
"That sound brings back memories. Feels like I'm back at the Guryong Sect."
"You tortured people quite a bit, didn't you?"
"It was daily life."
"Damn it. If that voice was coming from the Guryong Sect, at least I'd feel better about it."
That clear, ringing voice definitely belonged to the magistrate.
It had been unpleasant from the moment he heard it.
'What do I do? Go in? Or not?'
If it was Dan Hyunwoo's order, he should go in.
But with the formation preventing him from knowing what was inside the manor, was it right to enter?
'Ugh...'
He hesitated for a moment.
But in the end, Yu Sucheon remembered that he had no cards to play.
Dan Hyunwoo! If it weren't for that bastard, he would just run away.
"Fine, whatever. Let's go in."
"Can't I go in later?"
"You're trying to run again, aren't you?"
Yu Sucheon grabbed Jeon Akgwan by the hair and kicked the door open.
Thinking he might gain some favor from the magistrate later, he shouted dramatically.
"I have arrived! You bastards! Release the magistrate right now... or... uh..."
"..."
His eyes met those of the people inside the manor.
Yu Sucheon thought, 'This isn't how it was supposed to go.'
His grip on Jeon Akgwan's hair loosened and released.
"I wasn't planning to run, so stop grabbing my hair! Uh... Gah?"
"Shit, we're fucked."
One hundred and fifty people were staring at them.
One hundred men in black clothes and fifty assassins.
And a long-haired man holding a long blade.
Byeok Gyeom smirked and drew his blade.
He had known someone was coming, but he hadn't expected only two people.
Because of the formation, they couldn't see inside from outside, but the reverse was also true, so they had been on edge.
"This won't even be a warm-up."
Shrrring.
Shrrring.
Shrrrrring.
Following Byeok Gyeom, all one hundred and fifty drew their swords and blades, laughing coldly.
"Kekekekeke..."
They were really fucked.
Yu Sucheon briefly considered running even now.
Then, his gaze shifted and he saw the magistrate, covered in blood.
"..."
The magistrate looked at him with pitiful, half-lidded eyes.
As if begging to be saved, as if he hadn't yet given up on life.
'...Damn it.'
The guy he had wanted to finish off was looking at him like that.
But at the same time, his chest stirred and churned.
It was an emotion he wouldn't have felt before.
'No. This is only because Dan Hyunwoo ordered it. Why would I want to save that bastard?'
Yu Sucheon gripped his sword hilt.
Whether he died here or went back and died at Dan Hyunwoo's hands, the decision wasn't his to begin with.
'One hundred and fifty against two. Shit.'
There was no time to think long.
He would quickly cut a path through, grab the magistrate, and run.
He had no intention of fighting them all, and they weren't familiar with Hangzhou's geography.
If he weaved through the alleys, he could escape.
He gave Jeon Akgwan a look.
The man seemed to understand and nodded, drawing his sword.
Byeok Gyeom smiled crookedly at the two of them.
"...Kill them."
The one hundred men in black and fifty assassins charged toward Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan.
Biting his lip, he met them head-on.
Clang.
Clang!
Clang-clang-clang!
Yu Sucheon's sword unleashed the Yongcheon Chilsibil-geom.
Slashing, cutting, and breaking bones, he advanced.
Toward where the magistrate was.
Byeok Gyeom's eyes changed.
"So he wasn't just some insect."
He blocked Yu Sucheon, who was trying to reach the magistrate, with the long blade he had drawn.
Clang!
The heavy blade met Yu Sucheon's sword.
Yu Sucheon barely managed to suppress the blood that threatened to rise from his throat.
It was because he had misjudged Byeok Gyeom's martial arts and mishandled his internal energy.
'Kugh! He's much stronger than I thought! Is this the guy who took the magistrate?'
At that moment, Gwang Cheonhyeol also drew his sword and blocked Jeon Akgwan.
Clang!
"Kuhak!"
Jeon Akgwan coughed up blood.
Yu Sucheon's eyes widened.
He was an expert on par with the man holding the blade before him.
Maybe this guy was the bastard who had taken the magistrate.
Anyway, these two were the strongest.
Whoosh!
Yu Sucheon used a movement technique mixed with lightness skill to retreat, then sprang forward, spinning once in the air.
Byeok Gyeom and Gwang Cheonhyeol watched with surprised expressions.
Yu Sucheon had already slipped through the gap between the Black Wind Blood Unit and the assassins, reaching near the magistrate.
Even as his body was cut and blood poured out, he didn't hesitate for a moment as he moved toward the magistrate.
Byeok Gyeom spoke.
"It seems we underestimated him."
"Indeed. We left him alone thinking he was insignificant."
Bang!
Byeok Gyeom and Gwang Cheonhyeol chased after Yu Sucheon.
Reaching the magistrate's location in an instant, Byeok Gyeom aimed for Yu Sucheon's upper body while Gwang Cheonhyeol targeted his lower body, both swinging their blades at once.
Clang!
Gwang Cheonhyeol twisted his lips.
Jeon Akgwan had followed and deflected his sword.
Well, it wasn't exactly a deflection.
The man's skill didn't reach that level.
But the blade's path had curved, preventing it from cutting Yu Sucheon.
"You damned bastard!"
Slash!
Jeon Akgwan's back was cut.
Blood sprayed out as he staggered.
Clang!
Yu Sucheon blocked Byeok Gyeom's blade and cut the ropes binding the magistrate, then turned his back.
But Byeok Gyeom spun once, gathered internal energy in his leg, and delivered a powerful vertical slash toward Yu Sucheon's back.
Whoosh!
A chilling sound of air being cut rang out.
The back that had turned to save the magistrate was now empty.
For a moment, it felt as if the blade was approaching slowly.
As always, in moments of crisis, everything seemed to slow down.
'Damn it, this is close.'
Yu Sucheon left his back exposed and threw himself toward the magistrate.
He embraced him and reached out to untie the ropes binding his body.
"When I untie the ropes, don't look back. Just run, you bastard."
"...!"
The whispered voice rang clearly in Song Wolun's ears.
He immediately felt the ropes loosen. But Song Wolun was already in no condition to walk due to the torture.
He could only watch the blade flying toward Yu Sucheon.
After untying the ropes, Yu Sucheon turned his head and blocked the blade with his sword.
But—
Clang!
Yu Sucheon bit his lip.
The sword, unable to withstand the force, shattered into pieces.
Byeok Gyeom's blade broke Yu Sucheon's sword but didn't slow down.
As he looked at the brutally cruel and sharp blade, a sense of futility filled his eyes—
"...?!"
Byeok Gyeom's face twisted in shock.
Because another sword had intervened, stopping just five inches from Yu Sucheon and the blade.
Clang!
Incredibly, Byeok Gyeom's blade shattered.
The flying fragments scraped harshly across his face.
And then—
Thud!
Byeok Gyeom, who had been grimacing, soon raised his lips in astonishment.
The sword had broken Byeok Gyeom's blade and instantly cut across his chest.
Splat!
Blood sprayed and soaked Yu Sucheon's face.
Yu Sucheon's eyes trembled slightly as he was covered in the red, sticky blood.
It was a back he had seen many times before—massive and imposing.
A sword that never wavered.
And that arrogant tone.
"Still as pathetic as ever. I think I need to re-educate my servant."
Yes.
That damned human.
It was Dan Hyunwoo.