Chapter 94
Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Shadow Gate Sect Leader
Shadow Gate Sect Leader.
He was someone I desperately tried to meet back in my Lecherous Demon days but could never track down.
Why did I want to meet the Shadow Gate Sect Leader?
"To half-kill the bastard."
Or maybe I would've just outright killed him.
How many times had the Shadow Gate Sect screwed me over?
"Well, to be fair, it wasn't just the Shadow Gate Sect."
The Murim Alliance, the Four Black Alliance, the Demonic Cult, even the Outer Frontier Martial World.
The entire martial world was my enemy.
Out of all of them, the Shadow Gate Sect Leader rubbed me the wrong way by slinking around in the shadows, peddling my information. That was the only reason I wanted to see his face someday.
Anyway, back then, I wanted to meet him so badly but couldn't. Now here he was, offering spiritual medicines to boot.
Of course, it wouldn't be the same Shadow Gate Sect Leader from back then, but from my perspective, there was no reason to turn him down.
"Shandong Province isn't too far out of the way on the road to the Murim Alliance anyway."
My destination, the Murim Alliance's exact location, was Zhengzhou in Henan Province.
And Zhengzhou was pretty close to Shandong Province.
"Of course, it's a ways from Jining City where the Shadow Gate Sect Leader is…"
Going from Beiping to the Murim Alliance this way would add about ten extra days compared to the direct route.
Still, ten days for a Death Guard Squad was a steal.
"If you drag us all the way to Jining City and don't deliver the Death Guard Squad, it'll be no fun at all."
"Don't worry. It's not like I'm giving away someone else's stuff. This is mine to give, and there's no way Father would refuse."
Beomseok thumped his chest confidently.
Looking at him, it didn't seem like he'd try to stiff us.
"If he does try to back out, I'll just collect the other two squads as interest."
After all, squeezing interest out of deadbeats who don't want to pay up was one of my specialties.
As the conversation wrapped up there, it suddenly hit me why I'd come here in the first place.
"By the way, are you planning to drive the carriage all the way to Beiping?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Somwol continuing her courtesan work while the Brothel Hall heir drove a carriage wasn't all that strange.
But following me to another region? That was different.
"Isn't asking you to meet the Shadow Gate Sect Leader the end of it?"
But as if reading my mind, he grinned and answered.
"The reason I was in Shude was because Somwol—no, the Brothel Hall successor—asked me to keep an eye on the Red Serpent Sect. Now that they've vanished, it's time for me to head back."
"Ah, the Red Serpent Sect."
Come to think of it, when I left Beiping, I'd asked Somwol to look after the Eun Merchant Group separately.
Back then, the Red Serpent Sect was their biggest threat, so she'd sent this guy to handle it.
"Do I rub you the wrong way because I'm a martial artist? Should I swap in a regular coachman?"
He was still grinning at me, eyeing my reaction.
"Cute."
As if I'd react to a punk like him.
If he were at the pinnacle realm, maybe, but a mere first-rate? Moyong Hui or Cheon Woojin could handle him without me lifting a finger.
"Forget it. You drive. Just don't tell my group about you, or the Shadow Gate Sect."
"Understood. Shall we head out now?"
"One more thing before we go. There were a ton of beggar punks outside. Something going on in Shude?"
He furrowed his brow at my question.
"Hmm… You wouldn't happen to be unaware of why the Beggars' Sect gathered here?"
I didn't know.
Or more precisely, I had too many guesses.
"Chumunrak? Or did they hear I clashed with my father-in-law? Or something else happen in Shude?"
But his answer blew all my guesses out of the water.
"The Sword Phoenix emerged from the Liaoning region, didn't she? That's someone the Beggars' Sect would care about."
"Because of Hui?"
It was surprisingly unexpected, but made sense in a way.
The weight of the Five Dragons and Five Phoenixes title wasn't light.
That explained why those Beggars' Sect guys on the street had eyed me so intently—not because of me, but because I was with the Sword Phoenix's group.
"…Hui?"
He looked shocked at the nickname I used for Moyong Hui.
Seemed the Shadow Gate Sect didn't know about our relationship yet.
Instead of explaining, I asked something else.
"So the Beggars' Sect doesn't know about me yet?"
"Anything that happened in Beiping? They probably don't know. Our Shadow Gate Sect has been putting a lot of effort into keeping it quiet. Though we can't hide that you crushed the Red Serpent Sect yesterday, young master."
"Yeah, figured."
I'd let plenty of Red Serpent Sect survivors go, and there were beggars crawling all over outside.
As long as they didn't catch wind of Chumunrak's death, it'd be fine.
"Wait. If we head straight to the Eun Merchant Group like this, won't it raise suspicions?"
As far as the Beggars' Sect knew, me wiping out the Red Serpent Sect wasn't a big deal.
They'd seen me brawl with them yesterday afternoon and knew I was with Moyong Hui's group.
The only potential issue was that a young guy like me could crush the Red Serpent Sect…
"Ah, damn. Now that I think about it, the Red Serpent Sect used sword aura to show off and collapse that wall."
It belatedly hit me that they'd flaunted sword aura to wreck the wall.
If I went straight to the Eun Merchant Group now, they'd connect the dots to Chumunrak.
"The Beggars' Sect isn't just a bunch of idiots."
Having been chased by them myself, I had to admit their info-gathering skills were top-notch.
They might not be certain, but they'd suspect a link between me and Chumunrak nine times out of ten.
I pondered for a moment, but the answer was obvious.
"…Screw it. If they catch on, they catch on."
I couldn't worry about my identity and miss seeing my woman.
In the end, our group boarded the carriage led by this guy Beomseok and headed for Beiping.
True to the Shadow Gate Sect, he astutely stuck to his coachman role without prying.
I relaxed in the carriage for the first time in ages, enjoying sweet moments with Moyong Hui and Yang Hwajeong.
And the one having the most fun was Cheon Woojin.
"What, already out of breath and huffing? You gonna learn martial arts or not?!"
Without even getting permission from his father, he'd taken Baek Rihyeon as a disciple, and now he was venting all his pent-up frustration under the guise of teaching martial arts.
He was like a fish back in water.
"Don't you wanna be a master? Help tough people? And you're wasting time lounging around?"
"Huff… huff…"
Under the excuse of building stamina, Cheon Woojin was drilling an eight-year-old kid relentlessly.
Yang Hwajeong often looked worried…
—Isn't that too harsh? Nah, Sister Hwajeong. The Heavenly Warrior is already going easy on him. At that age, starting martial arts means stamina is everything.
Convinced by Moyong Hui's words, she left her son to it.
"…And that's supposed to be going easy?"
Moyong Hui said it like it was obvious, but honestly, even to my eyes as Mok Jimyeong, that training regimen looked brutally intense.
If anyone else had said it, I'd have thought they were joking.
"Is this the difference between the Five Great Families and our Mok Family Clan?"
It was so long ago I didn't remember clearly, but I'd learned martial arts pretty casually back then.
I'd never been pushed to the brink of collapse like that.
No, come to think of it, I'd never trained that hard period.
"That's why I stayed second-rate until I was past thirty?"
Meanwhile, Baek Rihyeon had already gathered a tiny speck of internal energy in his dantian after just four days of training.
His Heavenly Warrior Physique helped, sure, but that kid was basically a second-rate martial artist already.
"Though in a real fight, he'd still lose to a third-rate thug."
Obviously.
Realm divisions were based solely on internal energy.
Actual combat skill was a separate matter.
No matter how much Baek Rihyeon reinforced his body with internal energy, that speck and his scrawny frame couldn't handle a regular adult man.
So Moyong Hui was right—stamina and muscle were crucial…
"But still, rolling him that hard?"
Watching the kid dry-heave made my heart twinge uncomfortably.
Not because of Baek Rihyeon, though.
"Is our Yeon-i suffering like that at the Mount Hua Sect too…?"
My youngest sister, Mok Jiyeon.
She'd just entered the Mount Hua Sect as a disciple. Wonder if she was adjusting okay.
If that was standard training in the Five Great Families, the Nine Great Sects probably weren't much different.
I worried if Yeon-i, raised like a precious flower in the Mok Family Clan, could endure it.
I wanted to swing by the Mount Hua Sect before heading from Beiping to the Murim Alliance,
"But damn, the Mount Hua Sect's in Shaanxi Province."
Shaanxi was the exact opposite side of Henan from Shandong Province where the Shadow Gate Sect Leader was.
So seeing Yeon-i would have to wait until after the Orthodox-Demonic War and the Blood Cult business.
"…Eh, she's probably fine."
Recalling my past life, Yeon-i had stuck with the Mount Hua Sect to the end anyway.
She'd visit the clan now and then when she had time.
"Not the fondest memories, though."
The way she'd look at me pitifully every day as I caroused in the brothels.
Back then, I resented her sudden change in attitude, but now I got it.
"If I came home exhausted from that grind just to see my brother whoring around daily, I'd be pissed too."
Of course, that didn't mean I'd suddenly go mad with training.
Just my usual moderate pace.
Rest when needed, and charm the women who catch my eye. That was plenty.
"…I wonder if Somwol and little Eunso are doing okay?"
Then or now.
I'd always preferred women over training.